Aqua One Aquience 800R New Tank Journal

[mishmash]

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!

LOL, its blue now !!! What would your thoughts be on a planted background image ? Some work some look hideous IMO. I can always take that off and redo it if I want.

Yes I can't wait indeed. see my next post with details of what Im doing substrate wise.... If I dont fall asleep I will post it up this evening otherwise it will be tomorrow after I have taken the car in for its MOT.

 

[mishmash]

SUBSTRATE
OK So after what seems FAR TOO LONG I have finally decided what I am doing with the substrate.

I have been yoyoing back and forth wanting this then that, not really knowing what to get, receiving lots of advice (thanks Guys

) but getting a tad confused. Into the mix is my tight budget which has prolonged the process probably. Not to worry, its ALL FIXED and this is what I'm doing.....


Bottom Layer: 2cm JBL Aquabasis Plus Calc is 80cmL x 45cmW x 2cm depth required = 7200 / 1000 = 7.2Litres required. Will use 1x5L and 1x2.5L and return the spare 2 x 2.5L to LFS (they have been Sooooo understanding with me lol).

Top Layer: 4cm to 6cm Tesco Cat Litter I have three bags and that should be enough but hey at about £3 a bag, who cares, LOL.

Can anyone confirm or correct me, I DO NOT NEED to wash the JBL AB+, but I DO NEED to wash (extensively) the Cat litter ?

Thanks.

I will have some pics of the substrate going in soon...

 

[dasmall1]

I'm sorry I can't help about the substrates question

But I like the blue background. I much prefer blue on lower lighting tanks because it is much brighter. High lighting tanks need the black to tone it down a bit. Just reading your journal now but will follow!

 

[mishmash]

I'm sorry I can't help about the substrates question

But I like the blue background. I much prefer blue on lower lighting tanks because it is much brighter. High lighting tanks need the black to tone it down a bit. Just reading your journal now but will follow!

Cheers. Substrate question sorted now thanks I preferred the blue when I held it up to the tank but I am thinking I may well change to black actually. Will see what I think of it for a while. I hope not to be able to see much of the background eventually anyway.





Right, JBL Aquabasis plus is now in. Ran out of time to wash the cat litter topping and now it may not be done till Sunday the way this week is panning out. Grrr! Oh well, at least I can look at it and think its a work in progress....

2.5cm layer of AB+ used just 7.5L, so Im trading in the other 2x2.5L bags I have for something else.

 

[minnnt]

The reason I suggested black was because of the fish you plan on keeping, especially if you decide to do the whole blackwater thing. The lighting you have isn't exactly poor.

Progress looks great!

 

[mishmash]

The reason I suggested black was because of the fish you plan on keeping, especially if you decide to do the whole blackwater thing. The lighting you have isn't exactly poor.

Progress looks great!

Thanks. Your suggestion makes sense. I had gone ahead and done it blue already though lol. Not to worry I will see what its like with the blue and if I get peed off with it I will just change it

 

[minnnt]

 

[mishmash]

OK so i used cat litter as my top layer. I rinsed and rinsed for about 2 hours. Now I have added water and its been in for 36 hours , the water is STILL not clear. Has anyone else had this issue ?

 

[mishmash]

OK , time for an update.

(To those of you also on UKAPS this is the same as what I put on my journal there. I am duplicating because there are some contributors on here who are not on UKAPS and I appreciate the input from all of you )

The smelly substrate saga is over (I hope). I have taken out the substrate I had just in case it was that, but I have to be honest, so many others have had success with JBL aquabasis+ and the Tesco cat litter that I think it must have been the bogwood I had in there. That is now back at the shop I bought it from and the owner has agreed it does indeed pong !

I have 1.5 bags of wet cat litter and 1.5 bags of dry cat litter. If anyone wants this and is near to Eastbourne, you are welcome to it. Just flick me a message. I will be listing the Aquabasis plus for sale, to see if there is any interest there. There is about £20 to 25 worth of it. Just got to weigh it first.

What I have chosen to do

After a LOT of deliberation and great advice and guidance from guys on here and elsewhere (some of whom are double ups, LOL) I have decided to go with the Colombo Florabase. One thing I did not realise about it in the first place was that it had a high CEC and the thing that put me off was that it might just become an inert substrate after a while. But now I have been put right on that I am far happier using it.

I have got 10L of brown and 2 x 5L of black. The shop only had that, and not all black. Actually I don't mind that. I have a few choices...

1) Put the brown under the black and keep a uniform colour. I perceive a problem though, in that if I pull plants out at any time, they will drag some of the other colour to the surface and I will have a blotchy affect.

2) Cut a swathe through with the black like a river bed or some such feature.

3) Have the black to the fore and the brown to the rear where there will be denser planting and less of it will be visible.

Any thoughts on this as to what would look best would be welcomed...

A few questions...

Do I wash it ?
Can i just chuck it in, plant, and fill, then deal with the ammonia leaching by frequent water changes, or should I let it soak with a number of water changes first ?

If (when) I put purigen in the filter, do i do it after the tank water is clear (a day or so I am anticipating) ?

Cheers.

Now finally you might start to see some movement on this.

 

[mishmash]

HOW MANY PLANTS ?

Hi, I am struggling with knowing how many of each thing to put in my aquarium ? I want to have quite a lot of plants in there but know that some of my choices will grow very quickly and do not want to get too many because as usual my budget it tight. If you could make any suggestions as to how big my favoured choices will get and over what timeframe, along with a good number to start with, that would be great.

My initial thoughts are stuff like....


Java ferns
Amazon swords
Bacopa
Vallis
Crypts (small ones as well as Balansae)
Red Tiger Lily
dwarf chain sword to create a bit of a carpet
Lilaeopsis
Aponogeton
Rotala Rotundifolia
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[size=2][font="Arial"]And can anyone suggest any others ? Especially some more red ones ?[/font][/size]

 

[ian]

could i suggest if you're getting Balansae, get the Tropica variety, they are much better that others available.


its all sounding good.

 

[mishmash]

could i suggest if you're getting Balansae, get the Tropica variety, they are much better that others available.


its all sounding good.

IF I buy them yes. Am hoping someone I spoke to has some plantlets, but otherwise I will go the tropic route. Do they grow quite fast Ian ?

 

[ian]

It depends on conditions, they do alright in my main tank as it has good C02, in a non C02 they grow a lot slower.

 

[mishmash]

It depends on conditions, they do alright in my main tank as it has good C02, in a non C02 they grow a lot slower.

Mine will be liquid CO2 for the first 3 months then pressurised once I have saved up

 

[mishmash]

Right, after some jiggory pokery I have sold the two filters I had acquired, being a Tetratec EX1200 and a JBL Cristalprofi e1500. I was going to go for the JBL e1501 Greenline as it uses 40% less power than its predecessor (none of them really use that much, but for me every little helps). However, I have managed to get an AMAZING deal on an Eheim Pro3 2075 8) It should be here on Tuesday :thumbup:

Also, I just noticed some white fungus on the redmoor wood I have. I recall seeing something about it... Is it right that it will disappear again after a few weeks, or do I need to do something about it ?


And some of the leaves on my blyxa seem to be breaking up a bit at the tips... losing their cell structure. What can be causing this ? Do I need to be adding ferts already even though I have the brand new florabase ? And CO2 ? (It will be liquid at this stage)