Crazyairborne's Roma 90

[CrazyAirborne]

Well I figure I might as well start one of these. Ive been spending hours reading and reading on these forums. So much great info, its hard to keep track of it all. Only thing I havent been able to find is something like a "Product Review" type forum, I think that would be very helpful and easy to maintain, I would love to be able to read reviews from you guys before buying any new equipment. Anyhoo, started off with this pristine condition Fluval Roma 90.

I then got some playsand from homebase, and couldnt help myself at p@h (i know shame on me) and i threw some plants in there. (chuck em in) method. I need to get some more plants, and then I want to try a "silent cycle" Im still looking for advice if I should get a new more powerful filter to help my flow, or If i should just get a K. Nano 900 powerhead. The nano being cheaper than a new filter looks promising, but will I have adequate filtration with the little Fluval 2 Plus, that my tank came with?

As it sits right now. Got lucky to not have the sand do any clouding (washed it well i guess) and the bogwood I picked up today, boiled it for a couple hours, removing tannins, hopefully it wont leach much.

I feel like it definetly needs more well thought out plant locations, and I have no idea what kind of plants I bought, especially not the white and green one in the front, tho it looks just like the one I had growing in my first vivarium. Any thoughts? I think I need a little bit more hardscaping, and I dont want the main focal point to be in the center, so ill be messing with it a bit yet.

also should I cut off those yellowing tips in the back left? Or will they break down and give the filter something to help grow some bacteria?

 

[FishAreFriendsNotFood10]

Well I figure I might as well start one of these. Ive been spending hours reading and reading on these forums. So much great info, its hard to keep track of it all. Only thing I havent been able to find is something like a "Product Review" type forum, I think that would be very helpful and easy to maintain, I would love to be able to read reviews from you guys before buying any new equipment. Anyhoo, started off with this pristine condition Fluval Roma 90. Picked it up for a measly £40.

I then got some playsand from homebase, and couldnt help myself at p@h (i know shame on me) and i threw some plants in there. (chuck em in) method. I need to get some more plants, and then I want to try a "silent cycle" Im still looking for advice if I should get a new more powerful filter to help my flow, or If i should just get a K. Nano 900 powerhead. The nano being cheaper than a new filter looks promising, but will I have adequate filtration with the little Fluval 2 Plus, that my tank came with?

As it sits right now. Got lucky to not have the sand do any clouding (washed it well i guess) and the bogwood I picked up today, boiled it for a couple hours, removing tannins, hopefully it wont leach much.

I feel like it definetly needs more well thought out plant locations, and I have no idea what kind of plants I bought, especially not the white and green one in the front, tho it looks just like the one I had growing in my first vivarium. Any thoughts? I think I need a little bit more hardscaping, and I dont want the main focal point to be in the center, so ill be messing with it a bit yet.

also should I cut off those yellowing tips in the back left? Or will they break down and give the filter something to help grow some bacteria?

wow £40 !! what a bargain fair play... i bought mine brand new lol gutting now!

id definitly get some bigger tall plants to fill the back up and create some sort of background for it?

 

[ian]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but half of those plants are not all truly aquatic. The far left of the tank, there is some mondo grass and some on the front right. The green and white plants are a kind of spider plant (dracaena). They will need removing as they will eventually rot, causing ammonia spikes and algae outbreaks.

 

[CrazyAirborne]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but half of those plants are not all truly aquatic. The far left of the tank, there is some mondo grass and some on the front right. The green and white plants are a kind of spider plant (dracaena). They will need removing as they will eventually rot, causing ammonia spikes and algae outbreaks.

ok cool. Ill take care of them, the dracaena, the tag that came on the plant says dracaena sanderiana, i had a feeling that wasnt aquatic, since ive seen it before. but the mondo grass? pets at home had a bunch of them in there "aquatic plants" section. That kind of makes me angry that they would be selling them as such. I'd try to get my money back but its probably more of a hassle than its worth. I guess ill be buying plants only online, since I have no were else to get them locally.

 

[Jamepsss]

Im still looking for advice if I should get a new more powerful filter to help my flow, or If i should just get a K. Nano 900 powerhead. The nano being cheaper than a new filter looks promising, but will I have adequate filtration with the little Fluval 2 Plus, that my tank came with?

The Fluval 2 has a flow rate of 400 LPH which would give you about 4-5X turnover. Ideally you'd need a bit more flow in a planted tank. The Koralia nano would take care of that or you could look in to getting an external to free up space in your tank.

 

[CrazyAirborne]

Purchased a Koralia 900 on eBay today, along with some more plants and other random stuff i probably dont need. Since ill be moving back to the US in a couple years, i figure i shouldnt spend alot of money on external filters i wont be able to use once back home. I got lucky at my LFS and they just got a new shipment of plants in. I hope they are all aquatic this time!? the only ones I question are on the right front Number 4 in the pic, they look like weeping willow leaves to me. Also, I could use some ID's on all my plants really. Im finding it difficult to do myself.
As it sits right now, Im not happy with the hardscaping, Ill be messing with it more 2morow.

Im pretty sure 3 is an anubius of some sort right?

 

[Jamepsss]

Also, I could use some ID's on all my plants really. Im finding it difficult to do myself.

They all look ok to me. Number 3 could be a bit suspect, it could be a kind of sort but I really can't tell from the pic.

Number 1 is Egeria Densa and 2 I think is Bacopa. Number 4 is a Hygrophila species which has been grown emersed and will no doubt shed all it's leaves as it adapts to your tank. It looks the same as the hygro I've been using in my tank. Number 5 is water sprite.

 

[ian]

agree with the above^^^, number 3 is a young sword.

 

[CrazyAirborne]

thanks guys, thats what i wanted to hear! got a little rescape done today, also my pogostemon helferi came in today. i really like the way it looks, cant wait for it to fill out!

anyone have any fish suggestions?! oh and i got a dozen trumpet snails, do i need to feed them directly since i dont have fish yet?

 

[Sharpy14]

Id go for a Shoal of Neons or Cardinals, Maybe 10 Neons, and 2 Bolivian Rams?

 

[CrazyAirborne]

my wife went into labor this yesterday morning. (we had a beautful baby girl) last night when i got home, and turned the tank lights on (they were off all day), I see this weird clear wavy slime all over just the "red"/tan portion of my mopani wood. I find this very interesting. first, its only on the light colored wood, the black parts of the same piece of wood have none. also, the lights were off all day. I guess maybe the plants werent reducing the ammonia so this is a algae bloom of some sort? what can i do!? what is this stuff?!!!

 

[CrazyAirborne]

i could also add that when i tested my water the night before all this happened, I had 4ppm ammonia. but then the lights were off for 24 hours in the tank. hope u guys tell me this isnt the end of the world, as im going to have my hands full for a bit the next couple weeks (hence no fish or anything yet)

 

[Jamepsss]

Congrats on the baby

Are you still planning on doing a silent cycle or are you dosing ammonia? Just wondering where the 4ppm reading is coming from.

As for the white stuff, it's pretty common. Can't remember what it is exactly but I'm pretty sure it's harmless and common in new set-ups.

 

[CrazyAirborne]

well I dosed 2ml earlier that night, right after i had turned off my lights. I guess I just wanted to see how it would cope. I hope it all goes away, its really quite thick in a couple places on that piece of wood. Its really weird how its staying on the light colored area, but not spreading at all to the dark areas.

oh i never added the pic.

 

[CrazyAirborne]

as it sits today after a 30% water change. U can see i got my koralia in there, and also some xmas moss on some wood. having a hard time keeping some of those swords in the ground, now that theres more flow. any advice?

cell phone pic.