Aqua One Aquience 800R New Tank Journal

[mishmash]

Right those of you who have read some of my threads this past few weeks will know I have gone through a bit of a transition in terms of what tank I am starting with. Having initially bought a River Reef 94L, I decided the footprint for planting was not big enough. So now, I have a beeeoootiful 175L Aqua One Aquience. Its the baby of the range (and apparently discontinued) but it still packs a punch in terms of volume for a small tank. Measuring 80cm x 45cm x 55cm tall, it fits just right in my bedroom, and really looks the part. (Pic at bottom).

SO THE PLAN:

I'm going to put a small layer of JBL aquabasis+ on the bottom and then cover it with Unipac silica sand (which is fine but not as fine as Argos playsand, and also a darker colour which is my preference).

I am thinking of planting stuff like Twisted Vallis, Amazon Swords, Java Fern, Java Moss, Cryptocoryne, echinodorus tenellus, Banana Plant, Red Tiger Lily (any comments on those in terms of whats easy and whats not would be welcome, AND, I've seen the red tiger lily as stems, but thought they grew from bulbs ? The LFS independant owner said the stems would form their own tubors, but then he also had a handful of plants that I recognised as non aquatic for sale in his "aquatic plants" section, LOL.

Lighting is 2 x 24w standard T5's. Way less per gal than the River Reef (which was 3w/gal), so do you think I need to up it with an extra tube, or maybe some LED's ?

Decor will be some regular bogwood (have got one or two bits that will be nice and also provide something to munch on for the Ancistrus sp I am hoping to get at some point, as well as a nice cave for the fish I will tell you about in a bit), and some nice pieces of Sumatran driftwood or Red Moor root wood. (hopefully the latter, Im always open to hearing of places that sell it at reasonable prices). Im hoping to draw a pic of planned planting, but if someone has the time and inclination to draw a suggested planting scheme I would be well chuffed.

It came with an Aqua One Aquis Advance 750 external. I do have a thread on "what external" but if you have not read it and want to comment on the one I have or suggest better alternatives I am happy to hear your advice. I just want something that works, has decent flow and is Q U I E T !! (This tank is in my bedroom remember).

And finally.... The fish....

* I have a pair of Apistogramma sp. "Pebas Morado" waiting to join me when the tank is ready. And also some 3 month old Cacatuoides fry. Do you think I could get away with two species pairs in this tank or will it only support one pair ? (There may be some Cacs available !!! depending on consensus).

* I intend to keep a small group (5 or 7) Corydoras. Not sure which ones but may well be Julii as the first fish I EVER had when I started fishkeeping some 12 years ago was 7 Corydoras Julii

* I would LOVE a Pimlodella Pictus and my LFS has some super looking ones that are about 3" at the moment.

* Thinking a shoal of Dwarf Neon Rainbowfish and a shoal of tetras of some type. Poss rummynose, or Emporer.

Any thoughts on that ? Or additions to / advice against ?

Right, if you got this far, THANKS for reading and PLEASE add your comments. I intend to keep this thread going as a full journal with pics along the way. And on that note, here is a pic of the tank before the hard work begins....

 

[minnnt]

The Pms will decemate pretty much all of the fish you mentioned. They will certainly lower the numbers of the Tetra's... And probably the Apisto's too. They hunt at night when the fish go into a trance as they 'sleep.' They are also sociable species so do best in groups and will outgrow your tank.

With the exception of the Pims i would say it is a great planed out tank.

It would be fine for 2 pairs of Apisto's too.

This should be moved to the journal section of this forum rather than the general section.

 

[mishmash]

The Pms will decemate pretty much all of the fish you mentioned. They will certainly lower the numbers of the Tetra's... And probably the Apisto's too. They hunt at night when the fish go into a trance as they 'sleep.' They are also sociable species so do best in groups and will outgrow your tank.

With the exception of the Pims i would say it is a great planed out tank.

It would be fine for 2 pairs of Apisto's too.

This should be moved to the journal section of this forum rather than the general section.

Thanks Minnnt. Yeah I kind of thought thats what I would hear about the Pims Thanks for your comments.

And can a Mod please move this to the right section then ?

Happy to hear other comments.....

 

[minnnt]

It's been done mate.

Your lighting will be fine, my 180 runs the same lights. You will manage to grow the plants you mention, although twisted vallis is a little more harder to grow than normal vallis. I would also recommend looking into some dry ferts. If going with vallis though i wouldn't recommend liquid co2, it doesn't like it much.

With regards to your Tetra's, the Emperor's aren't very good with regards to shoaling, so if this is your aim then look elsewhere. Rummynoses, Cardinals, Neons, Glowlights would all be ideal.

It's a nice upgrade from the 94 litre model!

 

[mishmash]

It's been done mate.

Your lighting will be fine, my 180 runs the same lights. You will manage to grow the plants you mention, although twisted vallis is a little more harder to grow than normal vallis. I would also recommend looking into some dry ferts. If going with vallis though i wouldn't recommend liquid co2, it doesn't like it much.

Thats good

With regards to your Tetra's, the Emperor's aren't very good with regards to shoaling, so if this is your aim then look elsewhere. Rummynoses, Cardinals, Neons, Glowlights would all be ideal.

Fair enough. I like rummies and cardinals the best out of those. What about Columbians ?

It's a nice upgrade from the 94 litre model!

Thanks. It sure is. My pride and joy now

 

[minnnt]

Columbians shoal ok, but i had them in my 180 for a while and i felt it wasn't big enough in all fairness. Plus they will make the Apisto's look tiny. And when they're going to be the centrepiece fish it may feel a little strange so to speak.

A nice big group of Cardinals would look superb.

 

[mishmash]

Columbians shoal ok, but i had them in my 180 for a while and i felt it wasn't big enough in all fairness. Plus they will make the Apisto's look tiny. And when they're going to be the centrepiece fish it may feel a little strange so to speak.

A nice big group of Cardinals would look superb.

Have you also seen 'Puntius Rhomboocellatus' ? Here's a link.... http/www.seriouslyfish.com/profile.php?genus=Puntius&species=rhomboocellatus&id=978

I think they would look great too and they like the water parameters that I'm setting up, just not strictly from the same area.... TOO MANY CHOICES lol.

 

[minnnt]

Very nice. As mentioned in the article, Pentazona Barbs are very similar and more often seen, although they are shy so you would need a nice sized shoal and the aquarium to be well planted. You could go with a shoal of these and then a few Cherry Barbs (Preferably all males) as this would make for a very striking setup.

 

[mishmash]

Very nice. As mentioned in the article, Pentazona Barbs are very similar and more often seen, although they are shy so you would need a nice sized shoal and the aquarium to be well planted. You could go with a shoal of these and then a few Cherry Barbs (Preferably all males) as this would make for a very striking setup.

Hi Minnnt, indeed, those Pentazona's are lovely too I will have a look around for some next time I troll the LFS's and see what they are robbing us for them lol...

 

[mishmash]

UPDATE:


OK [font="'Comic Sans MS"]so I have a mini update. I have 25L of JBL aquabasis plus that I was going to put on top of some cat litter, and then sand on top of that. But damnit I have seen some tanks that people are using [/font][font="'Comic Sans MS"]Columbo florabase with tonight and I think I [/font][font="'Comic Sans MS"]much prefer[/font][font="'Comic Sans MS"] that look. [/font]
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[font="'Comic Sans MS"]To those of you who use it, I have read that it loses its properties after a year or so. In your experience is this the case ? does it require replacement ? And how do you clean it as I also read you cannot do "gravel vac" style cleaning.[/font]
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[font="'Comic Sans MS"]Thanks[/font]

 

[minnnt]

Not sure about the cleaning, but if you are dosing ferts aswell then i believe it will soak up any extra nutrients that the plants don't use, so it should never totally run out of nutrients. I believe Ian uses the Columbo that you mention, and he wouldn't use stuff that's rubbish. Alot of plants remove nutrients from the water column first and then their roots should they feel the need, but having a constant supply is always best.

Unsure if you get an ammonia spike using Florabase during the first week or two though.

 

[mishmash]

Is there a formula for working out how much substrate you need to use per area for a given depth of that substrate ? I.E. To get 1" depth for 30cmsx30cms you need 2.5L, or something like that ? I am still seriously contemplating changing the aquabasis plus that I have to colombo florabase. (#41#### I wish I had known about it before I bought the other stuff but not a prob as my LFS has agreed to swap it). Just thought by the time I have put the JBL aquabasis plus down, then covered it with sand, I may as well just have the Florabase instead. It ain't cheap though !!!.

Hope someone knows the best way to calculate this requirement, maybe some of you guys already using it ?

 

[mishmash]

Another question.... B L U E or BLACK for the tank background ???


I'm thinking blue. I bought a reversible one and the blue is quite a deep blue and seems to have quite a good hue to it. Its almost like its been printed to create depth of field. Whichever colour I finally go for, I have bought some of that Seaview adhesive that you smear over the background then smooth the background sheet onto the back of the tank. It is supposed to a) stick the background to the tank and b) as long as you have removed the bubbles, give the background a more vibrant appearance. I have long since hated those roll up backgrounds and having to stick them to the tank with sellotape or some such horrid method (Spend hundreds on a tank then make it look crap by sticking tape to it !!!) and have usually painted the rear of the tank. But that does not allow for easy change, so I thought I would give this method a go. It was only a few quid and has two chances

 

[mishmash]

Right, no one had an opinion so I made the choice myself, LOL (Was going to anyway )

Heres the pic.... Starting to look more than just a bit of glass.... Gonna sort the substrate in the next few days then fill it up by the weekend .

Its just a standard double sided background but I used an adhesive called SeaView from my LFS (Thanks for the tip Dave from Fish and Fins, Hailsham). Its easy to apply and meant to stop the horrid mess that some laminate backgrounds make when you try and sellotape them on then you get water running down the back from the filter and God knows what else. Best £3 I have spent as a fish tank accessory.

And an internal shot showing the lights...

 

[minnnt]

Coming along now mate! Bet you can't wait.

There is a formula for working out the substrate amount, but i can't remember it. 20-25kg should be plenty anyway. Thats what's in my 3ft.

With regards to the background... for the fish you want to keep and the style of the tank you like i would suggest black... but blue may still work!