Planted Juwel Rio 180 Journal

[EX7EY]

This is my second foray into the world of fish keeping, a few years ago I had a juwel rekord which I got second hand but after a couple of years use it burst and I had to rehome the fish. Anyway, recently moved into a new house with a bit of space so decided to give it another go with a brand new tank. I'd had my eyes on the juwel rio for a while but at over £500 i found it a little pricey. Had almost decided on a 200L Eheim but then I stumbled across a Juewl Rio 180 on sale for £350 as it was ex display. Couldn't pass up a bargain so I ordered it!
It's been sat empty for a few weeks whilst I was in two minds about removing the internal filter. Last week I took the plunge and ordered an Eheim Ecco Pro 300. I removed the internal mid week and as soon as it was out I knew I'd made the right choice, looks a lot better IMO.
Went to LFS yesterday to buy plants so I could get the tank started. I'd been planning ages how I was going to scape it etc but when I was looking for plants my mind was blank. Ended up asking the guy what he recommended for back ground plants so I ended up with a few bunches of long bushy plants for either side at the back, and I also got an amazon sword as a centre piece. I also got a few smaller plants for the foreground. The plants were not labelled in the LFS so I don't know their names. All in I got 12 plants which cost me £28, think it's probably quite expensive and I'm not sure I'm happy with what I came away with. I'll let them get settled and see what I think in a week or so.
I plan on getting a few smallish rocks and a tall piece of bog wood for the right side of tank - so it's not quite finished yet. By all means thow me some suggestions because I'm not sure i'm happy so far!
A word on the Ecco Pro 300 - found it pretty easy to set up (never used an external before). It's supposed to self prime but this didnt quite work as it was supposed to so I had to use the priming lever as a manual pump at first to get it going. Seems to be working great now but I did notice it periodically belching micro bubbles. Think it I may have had the power cord under the filter when I primed it so it was tilted and mayb etrapped some air. Think I corrected it last night but havent had chance to check if its still blowing micro bubbles as Im at work. I also find the filter a little bit noisy as well so far. Annoying because the reviews said it was silent! If anybody has any experience with these filters please let me know what you think.
Tonight Im going to add some ammonia and start the cycle off. I'll update this journal as the tank progresses - stay tuned!

 

[EX7EY]

https://ibb.co/iq94Cc
https://ibb.co/cJaNyH
https://ibb.co/gK66Qx
https://ibb.co/i1xD5x
https://ibb.co/eCnD5x
https://ibb.co/iT2D5x

 

[EX7EY]

Links to pictures above - can't seem to work out how to do it properly!

 

[EX7EY]

 

[EX7EY]

Managed to include some pictures this time! I re arranged the tank slightly and I'm a bit happier with it now. Although I think I've made the mistake of going too symmetrical. Not quite sure, but something is bothering me about the scape. Wasn't really what I had in mind at the beginning. I may end up replacing one of the sides with some background plants that are a little more bushy but I think I'll get another piece of wood in there and a few stones or rocks and see how I feel then.
If anyone could shed some light on the plants I do have that would be appreciated! I know the plant at the back is an amazon sword but that's it!
I've been messing about with the filter over the last couple of days, it's really bugging me. There's a hum which I cant stop and I think it's the outlet pipe vibrating against the cabinet. I can also hear the impeller a bit when the cabinet door is open which is annoying because Im sure this filter is supposed to be nearly silent. I've re primed the canister multiple times but the problem persists!
Anyway - I began the cycle last night. Tested the water first of all with the API kit and got the following results - PH 7.4 / Ammonia 0 / Nitrite 0 / Nitrates 0 (or maybe slightly higher but not much). I added roughly 5.5ml of household ammonia and then tested the tank about an hour or so later. Got an ammonia reading of around 3ppm which is what I was aiming for - so now I will wait until Friday and re test.
Time to start thinking about fish, any stocking suggestions? I like the look of Galaxy rasbora, thinking about starting with 10 of those and possibly some sunset platies. Nothing set in stone as yet!

 

[fozziebear]

The plants from left side of picture to the right are, Java fern (planted in substrate like this it will die, tie it to your wood with some fishing line or sewing cotton) stem plants are cabomba and elodea/egeria, the smaller dark leafed plant infront is cryptocoryne wendtii or becketii, then you have the amazon sword in the middle (buy some root tabs for aquariums for this plant, it needs them.) then more cabomba and egeria/elodea and the plant infront on the right side of picture is cryptocoryne nevelii.

all these plants are great for a low maintenance planted tank, i would add more crypts and more stem plants if i were you just while the amazon sword is growing in as it will dominate the tank eventually, tie the java fern to the bogwood, and give the amazon sword some root tabs, other than that it looks great man.

 

[EX7EY]

Thanks for your reply. And thanks so much for the plant id. I had a feeling that was java fern, I will attach it to the bog wood tonight. I didnt mention it but I have put some API root tabs in the sand already and i also dosed some King British liquid fertz as well. Any recommendations on different types of stem plants to add? And could I add some shorter plants at the back but just in front of the sword and stem plants? And in the gaps? Or will they eventually just get lost as those ones grow out? Do the stem plants tend to bush out or just get taller?
Thanks again

 

[fozziebear]

Lovely stuff, you are well on your way to a nice low tech tank, i would recommend water wisteria, hygrophila polysperma, Ceratopteris thalictroides and rotala rotundifolia for stem plants, all really easy to grow.

As far as planting shorter plants in the back, it doesn't work long term for the reason you said, they will just get drowned out, better off filling the front of the tank with as much plant as you can afford, when i plant i literally try to cover all the substrate unless i want open areas for the fish, you could do with another 10 cryptocorynes at least, maybe some dwarf saggitaria would be good aswell as it is super easy.

 

[fozziebear]

Go easy on the lighting and ferts at first aswell, those plants don't need loads of either, i would recommend a 6-8 hour photoperiod, and if your light has a dimming mode to have a "peak" period in the middle of your light cycle, whilst having it lower either side a bit like the noon sun you would have outside during the day, ferts need to match the plants needs, so dose light at first, and then if you are noticing deficiencies with the plants, then up the dosing slowly but surely.

Also large waters changes never hurt during the beginning of a tanks life, they can be key to preventing algae outbreaks.

Just to give you an idea of the plant density that i'm using, this is my new tank 1 day after planting.

 

[EX7EY]

Nice tank! I did want quite a bit of open swimming space as well as plants but I do like the carpeting type plants so I may go all out.

Thanks again for your help, will look into your plant recommendations. Cheers

 

[fozziebear]

It's all about striking a balance, as you have sand in the tank it makes sense to keep a lot of open space maybe just fill on the left side and leave the front right side open for fishies!

wish you the best of luck.

Regards, Gus.

 

[EX7EY]

Ok, so today is the first day of testing following initiating the cycle. Will be doing that when I get home from work and will update the results on here later.

I've had an idea for a cool aquascape though now and I'm bummed that I'll need to empty the tank in order to do it, wish I had thought about it a bit more before rushing it initially. Does anybody know what the consequences of letting all the water out are during a cycle?

Also theres a small patch of weird looking brown looking 'gunk' on a bit of the sand. Thinking brown algae but its a bit strange because it's been there a few days and doesn't seem to be spreading, will post a pic when I can.

 

[fozziebear]

I've had an idea for a cool aquascape though now and I'm bummed that I'll need to empty the tank in order to do it, wish I had thought about it a bit more before rushing it initially. Does anybody know what the consequences of letting all the water out are during a cycle?

it depends what you want to do, you may not need to remove all the water, although removing all the water is not necessarily a bad thing, it will delay your cycle slightly, if it is just adding more sand, or moving or adding hardscape i would do it before your normal water change.

Also theres a small patch of weird looking brown looking 'gunk' on a bit of the sand. Thinking brown algae but its a bit strange because it's been there a few days and doesn't seem to be spreading, will post a pic when I can.

Sounds like filamentous algae, it's harmless and can be syphoned out during a water change.

 

[EX7EY]

hi again, and thanks!

I basically want to create a bit of a drop in the sand right in the middle of the aquarium. So I was thinking of using rock/stones as a kind of barrier for the sand and create a semi circle in the middle of the tank that's lower down and has no plants at all. And then have plants around that and at the back. I think it would look pretty cool but definitely would be easier to get it right if that tank was completely empty again...decisions decisions!

 

[fozziebear]

I would do it whilst cycling, the sooner the better then it is over and done with, you could place the rocks in the sand and push them to the bottom, then move the sand with a fish net or a mug, make sure to change something like 50% of the water afterwards as you will kick up a lot of debris.