New Rio 125 Planted Journal

[aaronc]

We are already pretty soft here, so keen to avoid too much of a drop.
 
Still deliberating over substrate! Proving really tricky, each time I find somthing that I think fits the bill, I find a whole bunch of reports telling me it is no good for bottom dwellers!
 
Will probably end up going for play sand, but not sure how good this is for plants.
 
I will putting a base of Tropica Plant Substrate down before the sand
 
Any thoughts?

 

[Aquamaniac]

The tropica plant substrate is quite good if you  keep in mind the price quality relation.
As for bottom dwellers i had corys with sand once with problems, which bottom dwellers are you looking to get?

 

[aaronc]

Hey Aquamaniac
 
We are going to get 6 Panda Corys
 
I know they will be fine on sand, I am more worried about plants with sand?
 
I really want a dark substrate to bring out the colour of the Neon tetra and dwarf blue neon rainbows
 
Aaron

 

[Aquamaniac]

There was a thread around the other day where they used black gravel but the grain was so small it looked like sand. I think the brand was unipac. It caught my attention and it should do fine eith bottom dwellers.

 

[Joshwainwright]

There was a thread around the other day where they used black gravel but the grain was so small it looked like sand. I think the brand was unipac. It caught my attention and it should do fine eith bottom dwellers.

 
This might have been it, which Shelster posted

 

[Mamashack]

Fascinating thread aaron - thanks for the link!
Will be watching with interest!

 

[aaronc]

Thanks Mamashack! Hope it proves to be interesting and not an Algae journal

 

[aaronc]

JOURNAL POST
 
Not a lot going on over the last few days.
 
It is now just over 2 weeks until we will start setting up the tank which is exciting.
 
Been out today and bought a load of power timers, extensions leads and a big plastic bucket, yawn!
 

 

[Aquamaniac]

Honestly for me the all setting up part is one of the things I love more about planted tanks.
I love to exercise my mind planning what I want to create. And arranging the proper setup to create it.
Of course things never go according to plan but thats the fun part.
And time showed planning and patience is never too much to prevent trouble in the future.
Those timers atleast will make your life much easier. Wish I had some at hand 9 years ago when I started.always having to call home to remember the missus to turn the light of the tank on.
Half the time it was off all day.
But I know the wait is a pain. When I buy a tank can't wait to see it set up full of fish and plants fully grown.
Experience teached me to ignore these impulses but the urge is still there.
Hang in there and keep updating.

 

[aaronc]

JOURNAL POST
 
Time for some updates as the tank is now set up

 
So this weekend we were finally able to set up the tank 
 
Here is the stand in situ.
 

 
Now the full tank shot

 

 
This is the Tropica Plant Nutrition going in (it really does cloud the water)
 

 
Spent forever moving bog wood around before deciding where to have it, it has since moved, twice

 

 
 


JOURNAL POST
 
Next it was time to get all of the plants from AE in.  They arrived in fantastic condition.
 
I am afraid I wimped out on sorting the HC into single plants.  I was shattered and soaking wet by this point.
 
Here is the tank as it was the next morning (not a great picture)
 

 
Once the water has fully cleared I will post a new picture.  
 
Here is the Koralia 1600lph in place, pumping away merrily
 

 
For the moment those plants are just to get us started.  Hoping they will fill out nicely.
 
The plan is in a few months once the water is stable and fish are in, we will slowly start changing things.  Would prefer it to be iterative, as opposed to ripping it all out and starting again every 6 months

 
Next job is to sort out the cupboard under the tank.  The CO2 is in there, along with all the plugs and timers.


JOURNAL POST
 
The cabinet under the tank - some what a work in progress

 
The cord on the 6 way adapter is not quite long enough to mount as I would like so need to get new one.  Struggling to find one with a 3m cord.
 
Obviously the FE means we can't have the shelf in there.  So need to find a creative way to reintroduce some kind of shelving to keep things organise.  I am always wary of drilling or screwing things into the cabinet for fear of it splitting.  So I think I will construct a free standing shelving unit.
 
Also going to be adding a magnetic knive rack in there for all of the tools.  Went to get one from Ikea this weekend but they were sold out completely doh!
 

 

[Aquamaniac]

Well done.Really nice. The tank, the stand looks really good.
The scape looks good too. Plsnts and wood blend well from the start.Actually I love thst wood. When it grows it will look awesome.
Keep posting and good work.

 

[aaronc]

Thanks Aquamaniac
 
Having a fun time at the moment trying to get the CO2 right, well actually a bit higher than normal
 
As there are no fish I am going to get the CO2 level a little higher to try and keep the algae at bay.
 
I have also opted for a rather odd, 1 hour on, 1 hour off photoperiod to try and trick the algae.
 

 

[Aquamaniac]

Thats a first.never heard of it before. I did use a 4 hour morning and 4 hour evening photoperiod in one of my tanks years ago.
Someone suggested to me to keep algae under control but used most because I was working different shifts all the time and this way I was sure to able to enjoy my time a bit everyday.
Good luck with that snd tell me how it's going.
Question though. Won' t the constant switch off and on of the lights cause co2 flutuations? A stable amount of co2 in the tank is important to keep algae at bay. A smaller photoperiod in the beggining might be a better alternative.

 

[aaronc]

Good point.  I have changed to 4 hours on, twice a day
 
Aaron

 

[aaronc]

JOURNAL POST
 
Having some real issues with the Koralia Nano, it moves the water no doubt, but it is very noisy and visibly shakes.
 
I have tried taking apart, cleaning, and reseating the impeller, which works for a time, but not long.
 
I have contacted Hydor to see what they can do.
 
Plants are starting to show some growth now which is good.  Hopefully they will start to consume some of the ammonia in the tank.
 
If not, then the bacteria soon will, as we now have a nitrite reading of 0.5, so someone is home in the filter.
 
Also having some woes with my CO2.
 
I am currently injecting at 3 bubbles a second in a 125litre tank to get 30ppm, seems way too much.  I have checked for leaks and can't find any.
 
The drop checker is the opposite side of the tank to the diffuser, and the diffuser is right in the path of the Juwel filter pump.