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Rio 180 and the Rio 400 in their new positions

mbezik

mbezik

Seedling
Joined
11 Sep 2011
Messages
20
Location
Co. Durham






was a lot easier moving the 180 than id anticipated, jus wanted to thank Viv for the great advice, worked like a charm simply sliding it over the carpet at 25% full.
Now the fun begins, so far im leaning towards a bottom layer of sphagnum moss with ozmocote then topped with akadama, if anyone has any other suggestions on substrate id love to hear them, i considered using the tesco moler clay cat litter but i dont know if i can live with the orange colour.
 
Id go with Akadama over Cat litter any day but then I have a "history" with cat litter, LOL. Don't forget to get the right grade.
 
hinch said:
is that an epiphone in the background ?
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If its a kosher 'Gibson' I may have to do some Breaking and Entry ....
 
Looking great Bez,
that 180 looks awesome and im sure its big brother will too!
Looking forward to following its progress.
Ady.
 
lol, i wish it was a gibson, unfortunatly its just a washburn WI200pro i got myself to learn on, nice guitar all the same with some decent fittings on it.....but not worth breaking in for, lol.
@antipo yeah ive been looking for a good akadama, ive heard the company that makes the double line stuff has gone out of business, you didnt have a good experience with the tesco cat litter? ive got a 90L setup with it on a low light low tech setup and its doing great, plants are loving it and the fish, even a pair of apisto borellii "opal" are showing no negative signs, just the bright orange/pink colour is the only downside for me.
@ady thanks man! im itching to get started on the 400, i was looking at using flourite sand again but id need 12 bags, so thats looking like a no go......
 
Tanks look good and I'm glad moving the 180 went okay :D

In my first planted tank I mixed Tesco cat litter with eco-complete and overlaid it with black gravel. Over time I've found that as I've had to remove plants cat litter has been pulled through to the surface and I hate it :mad: I've nothing against the cat litter as a substrate on its own but personally speaking I will never use it as an underlying layer again.

Viv
 
ahhh Viv, thanks so much again, your advice was invaluable!
yeah a friend suggested doing exactly that with the layered substrates to save cash and straight away i said i envisage a mixed mess eventually and thats not what im wanting....
i found a bonsai store online, actually bought some bonsai from them recently and noticed the akadama they came with was a lovely dark brown, but a touch softer than id of liked, the guy said hed do it at £14 for 14kg and hed send 3 bags for £7 delivery
 
mbezik said:
ahhh Viv, thanks so much again, your advice was invaluable!
yeah a friend suggested doing exactly that with the layered substrates to save cash and straight away i said i envisage a mixed mess eventually and thats not what im wanting....
i found a bonsai store online, actually bought some bonsai from them recently and noticed the akadama they came with was a lovely dark brown, but a touch softer than id of liked, the guy said hed do it at £14 for 14kg and hed send 3 bags for £7 delivery
Click to expand...

Thats a bargain but are you sure he said 14kg and not 14Litres ? Its usually sold that way. Either way, if you need it I can show you the rough way to calculate how many litres you need :)
 
I keep reading about akadama but have never seen it - only photos. Why is it so good? I like the eco-complete I've used and its indistinguishable from the fine black gravel so I was thinking about using a mixture of these next time. I looked into ADA amazonia but tbh I'm put off by all the initial water changes. And the fact it sounds like it doesn't last. I'm a fan of setting up and leaving alone :D

Viv
 
Viv said:
I keep reading about akadama but have never seen it - only photos. Why is it so good? I like the eco-complete I've used and its indistinguishable from the fine black gravel so I was thinking about using a mixture of these next time. I looked into ADA amazonia but tbh I'm put off by all the initial water changes. And the fact it sounds like it doesn't last. I'm a fan of setting up and leaving alone :D

Viv
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Akadama is baked molar clay and as such has a high CEC (cation exchange capacity) which essentially means it will last for a long time, absorbing nutrients from the water column and then releasing them for use by the plants. It is half if not a third of the price of ADA amazonia. Cat litter is similar only the Tesco stuff and most others have a fragrance added (!) so you have to wash it more. But lots of people swear by it. I have not used Akadama but Cat litter and I have a disagreeable past so I would go with Akadama in the future, though I have actually gone the Colombo Florabase route, which also has a relatively high CEC :) To learn more about it, follow the link I have put below...

http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/akadama.htm
 
Viv said:
I keep reading about akadama but have never seen it - only photos. Why is it so good? I like the eco-complete I've used and its indistinguishable from the fine black gravel so I was thinking about using a mixture of these next time. I looked into ADA amazonia but tbh I'm put off by all the initial water changes. And the fact it sounds like it doesn't last. I'm a fan of setting up and leaving alone :D

Viv
Click to expand...

ADA is basically a clay, it will last. The only reall difference apart from the marketing and price tag is the organics it contains that help kick start plant growth. Florabase, ADA, TMC stuff are all pretty much the same regarding the substrate.

I think the advantage of these packaged substrates is in the first few months to a year, after that they act like any other clay including the cheaper althernatives.
 
picked up a bag of sphagnum moss today and some miracle grow slow release plant food (looks like the same size granules as the ozmocote and seems to have a similar npk), the guy at the garden centre said it was the same stuff as ozmocote, was just wondering if anyone can confirm this for me?
 
did a side by side pic today of the rio 180, 3 weeks seperate these 2 pics

fubv6
 
Crikey! Thats some pretty good growth!! Its looking really good :thumbup:

Viv
 
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