What's new
By:
Filters

My Plans For A Planted Tank

ok done a bit of a plan so people can visualise what im wanting to achieve.

not sure weather to use 3 piecess of bogwood

or one to make it look like a root that has grown up out of a river bed..

anyhow

 
hmmm just reading all this cycling lark...

now i know i can expect an algae festavle in the early stages... and was thinking of posibly getting some of the amano shrimps to combat this... but will they bugger up the cycle... or do i just keep waiting till things level out then go for the prawns?
 
thats true but is glosso that botherd by algae? and also would i need to actually plant the stem plants... or would letting them float about do the trick?
 
just got back from the local aquatics place

the first one i went to was brill

confirmed everything i had read on here

The price i got was this

Rrio 180 £280
( this looks like my best option for a tank. How hard is it to remove that black box thing?

Eheim professional 2224 £95.99 with pro medium

Lighting upgrade £55 to 4 high quality bulbs

Jbl Co2 with solenoid for night time £139

total of

£569

about what i can spend i think maximum on the setup which is cool and i think i will invest a bit later in an external thermostat.

oh and he also said he would order in anything that i wanted plant or fish wise

The 2nd place i went to... the guy said the oposite of everything said on here and tried to sell me a rio somat or other with a big scratch across the front. then went on to tell me the maximum to filter a planted tank is 2 times per hour... sure i read 3-4 on here a couple of times...

going to 2 more places this afternoon " slippery sales" and a palce idk the name of in kidiminster
 
speedingorange said:
just got back from the local aquatics place

the first one i went to was brill

confirmed everything i had read on here

The price i got was this

Rrio 180 £280
( this looks like my best option for a tank. How hard is it to remove that black box thing?

Eheim professional 2224 £95.99 with pro medium

Lighting upgrade £55 to 4 high quality bulbs

Jbl Co2 with solenoid for night time £139

total of

£569

about what i can spend i think maximum on the setup which is cool and i think i will invest a bit later in an external thermostat.

oh and he also said he would order in anything that i wanted plant or fish wise

The 2nd place i went to... the guy said the oposite of everything said on here and tried to sell me a rio somat or other with a big scratch across the front. then went on to tell me the maximum to filter a planted tank is 2 times per hour... sure i read 3-4 on here a couple of times...

going to 2 more places this afternoon " slippery sales" and a palce idk the name of in kidiminster
Click to expand...


Dude if you're going to spend this much money I have the following advice, get yourself to the gold fish bowl, oxford! I always plug this shop but its great, cheapest around and its only a hour or so from Worcester along the A44, its easy to get to I've done it myself several times.

Goldfishbowl - Rio 180 - £222 (you've saved youself the petrol money and more already just from this!)

Lighting - 4x Arcadia freshwater tubes (30w 36" long) - £51.96 (you adding new ballast/starter unit? As I think the Rio 180 only has two tubes built in?)

Filter from Living seas - Eheim 2224 - £65.95 with mediam, no deliver charge on orders over £35.

You getting refillable CO2 cylinders of disposable? And what substrate you going to have?

Hope this helps.

Sam
 
yeah ive been surfing mostly for advice from people and also to see what the tanks look like in person its ok spouting numbers and reading but sometimes you actually need to go see :lol:

um

yeah i will certainly be going to the goldfishbowl.

do they do any oher makes of tank as the shop i just went to will make them to custom size which is cool.

Um, the price you gave for the goldfish bowl is that with the stand?

as i got a price today for £218 with out the stand.

the lighting again i was told that all i needed was £55 and that would get me 4 x good tubes... not sure how exactly...

the co2 are the refilable Jbl system.

and the living seas have won by far on the price of the filter.

the substrate... all 3 places have told me that the stuff thats like from the bottum of a river? a bit like compost... didnt give me a name but that is how he described it... i want a dark / black substrate if posible that will super encorage plant growth.

james.
 
Yeh I know what you mean about seeing tanks 'in the flesh' makes a huge difference. Yes the gold fish bowl have loads of tanks (its one of the biggest fish shops in Europe!) and has all the major makes and models and nearly all are kept in stock, plus a few not so normal ones! That price I said was INCLUDING a stand, bargain hey?! :thumbs: check out the website it's kept up-to-date re prices and things, you can always phone the shop inadvance if needs be, save you the trip out, if they've not got it in stock.

Not sure about the lighting, I actually have to pop in there myself tomorrow so will check out the tube situation and get back to you, I suspect that price was just for the tubes themselves.

I cant find a cheaper CO2 kit, get it from the shop you visited!

If you want a dark/black substrate there is eco-complete (£22.99 per bag from the Gold fish bowl), which is what I use and is great. Its totally black so pretty much ideal. I do find its not very heavy though so trying to plant the plants under water can be a bit tricky. Or you could mix something like API laterite into black gravel that would probably do the job too, but Ive not used that stuff so cant comment, but I know Jimboo gets good (well excellent really!) results with it.

Sam
 
First I think is hemianuthus micranthoides (sp?), second looks like hairgrass.
 
I did indeed hold on will check and get back to you, give me five mins
 
Have had a quick look, yeh the Rio 240 is just under £300, but you're not allowed to get that one its MY dream tank, so no going stealing it! :lol: only kidding, yeh bigger tanks are always better, just remember that if you're going to do EI then that means replacing 120lt of water each and every week! Thats a lot of water, the Rio180 would obviously only need 90lt changes far more manageable, just a thought.
As you say you have budgeted more for the tank so if you have it to spend then yeh get the Rio240, will make an excellent centre piece for a living room.

As you say it will cost more, re substrate, lighting, etc, but sounds like you're wanting to put in the effort so go for it. The Eheim 2224 should still do fine, EI tanks should be under stocked anyway. Just check where the heater on the tank is, think it might be inside the black box thing with the filter, need to make sure you can take it out and have it on the tank just on its own, I would have thought this would be possible, but worth checking all the same.

Hope this helps.

Sam
 
awesome... with regards to the heater... i think i may swap to an external at some point... or ust go for the heated cable.... straight away... will have to think about that one
 
Cool, well let us know how you get on, when you planning to visit the shop/get all your equitment?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

M
Any suggestion on Filter for my nano tank
Replies
4
Views
188
Back in the fold
Back in the fold
Magnum Man
Trying something new to me… for my Asian water moss…
Replies
0
Views
166
Magnum Man
Magnum Man
J
Under gravel filter and Plants?
Replies
14
Views
435
Bamf Comics
B
Yossu
Plants not doing very, could do with some advice
2
Replies
27
Views
899
Crunchycrouton
Crunchycrouton
J
do zebra loach like eleocharis pusilla 'mini“
Replies
0
Views
108
janeywolf1
J

Most reactions

Useful Links

Back
Top