120 Litre Planted

[Ps3Steveo]

Not so much, I'd use big bottles otherwise you'll have CO2 peaks and drop offs and this will cause major algae, I'd go with dome electric blue rams, they're stunning

 

[Flubberlump]

Ok. Electric blue rams are gorgeous! But I've read that they need soft, acidic water? I don't know whether my water quality will be right for them. Do you have them?

 

[Ps3Steveo]

No I don't but you can get RO water from your lfs choice is yours anyway, could always soften the water yourself . I should shut up lol otherwise I may talk you into spending money you don't want too lol.

 

[FishFanatic04]

Love your ideas so far...the slope will be nice planted, can't wait to see more

 

[Flubberlump]

Haha! Well I don't think any dwarf cichlids are particularly cheap! I'm looking for opinions anyway!

Thanks fishfanatic can't wait for the cycle to finish so I can stuck in planting! I've even done a sketch of a plant layout to keep busy sad I know lol.

 

[FishFanatic04]

Better to have plan! My plants came in a big pack and I wasn't sure what all would be in it, so I had to plant everything without a plan...now I'll have to rescape once things start growing good. You'll have a much easier time with your plan

 

[Flubberlump]

I just wanted to be able to do something lol! So I researched which plants I wanted and then thought about how I could arrange them to get the natural, different textured effect I wanted. Didn't want all of the green plants in the same place and then the red ones stuck in the corner as an afterthought. That's not to say it'll look totally rubbish in real life! I'll probably end up playing around with them for a bit before they're planted.

 

[Flubberlump]

So I just checked my water parameters this morning. They are all pretty much 0 from the tap.

Ammonia - 3
Nitrites - 0.2
Nitrates - 7

So the cycle is well underway thanks to my bit of mature media

I also tested my water hardness from the tap.

Gh - 400
Kh - 140

Can the gh really be 400? I don't know a huge amount about water hardness, but from the booklet it said that anything over 200 is high? Please could someone clear this up for me?

 

[Flubberlump]

Does anyone have any suggestions for surface dwellers? I'm still yet to decide whether I like hatchetfish. I've read they have great character though! I'd love non annual killies but can't seem to find any anywhere.

 

[Ps3Steveo]

Lampeyes are quite popular killi's in lfs's, I had a nice school of them but they like jumping out of my open topped tank.

 

[Flubberlump]

Water parameters this morning were ammonia 3, nitrite 0.3, nitrate 7.

I've never seen lamp eye killies Steveo. I saw some yellow panchax a couple of weeks ago. The lamp eyes look like they'll be gorgeous when the light hits them I have a secure lid on my tank so they wouldn't be able to jump out! How many did you have?

 

[KkAaNnEe]

Lamp eyes are really nice but pretty tiny little things, i had a Rachovii killie but i reckon they are best in a dedicated setup, plus they need fresh/frozen raher than dried food everyday. I cant really recommend many top top dwellers as most seem to be livebearers

So are you cycling with mature media?

 

[Flubberlump]

I took a bit of mature media out of my existing filter to kick start it a bit. Didn't have enough to put a lot in though.

Yeah a lot of them are live bearers it seems. Not that I have a problem with livebearers, it'd just be nice to have something I haven't kept before.

 

[KkAaNnEe]

Yeah I agree, although I would consider angels to be top dwellers

 

[Biulu]

I wonder why you are cycling before putting the plants in? With your mature media and a well planted tank you don't need to really cycle as the plants will take up the ammonia. I did not cycle my tank and am just being careful with adding livestock little by little.