Steves Jewul Re-Vamp

[RadaR]

I found that the pump (600lph) supplied with the Juwel Rio 125 filter was rubbish. Always had bits floating around the tank. Upgraded it with the 1000lph version which was much better. Ripped out the filter now though, what an eye soar.

 

[NewbeeSteve]

Been considering my options and im getting a jewul 1500 litre pump currently around £50 and a Koralia pump of somesort maybe a cheap one for flow.

On a good note had a nice parcel, java moss! Thanks to Guppy77 quality portion

Java fern next on the list of things to plant whohooo!

 

[NewbeeSteve]

Ok Guys big update today.

1st put the following plants in:

Anaubis 'nana' and attached to bog wood,
Java fern attached to large wood and stone,
Java Moss attached to large and small stone.

Heres some pics now its settled a bit.

Before shot

Quite a difference as you can see

Found a little sand in the motor housing today so cleaned it all out and the propeller and put a little bit of fine filter mesh in (juwel white pads) down the intake slot below the motor. In doing so ive cut flow around 25ish percent i would think so now gone from around 600lph to maybe 350 - 400ish? But on a positive note it may have just saved my motor so im happy with the sacrifice. I can always add another internal filter if needed or powerhead for flow.

Also tiger barbs have now been sorced on a buy 6 get one free so 9 tiger barbs for £10 down the lfs aint bad i think. Hope you enjoy any comments welcome.

 

[Jinty McGinty]

Looks great

 

[Tizer]

Dirt cheap tigers, i think mine were about £50 for 16.

 

[L_Plates]

Looking good. Just one thing, did you tie that moss down at all? If not you will fid it floating around your tank fairly soon mate.

LP

 

[NewbeeSteve]

ye moss and fern tied with brown thread

thanks

 

[minnnt]

What a difference mate. The plants looks really healthy. Great quality.

Any more thoughts on the stocking?

 

[NewbeeSteve]

What a difference mate. The plants looks really healthy. Great quality.

Any more thoughts on the stocking?

Im picking up either tiger barbs or maybe a coupe of angel fish. Would bolivian rams be ok with my setup or do they need a bit more cover than what i have?

Ive just ordered some plant nutrition plus so should see a big difference soon

 

[minnnt]

You may want to order yourself some liquid carbon or add injected C02 if dosing TPN+

2/3 Bolivians should work well. Especially as the plants grow and you add the odd bit of decor every now and then. Tiger barbs are very active and will need to be kept in a big group such as 10 in an attempt to disperse any aggression. Personally i would go with a shoaling species such as one of the Tetra's or Rasbora's which will still be active but will go better with a planted setup.

 

[NewbeeSteve]

Ye is see your point, they're so nice though

Still beauty over terrorizing other fish? maybe get them in their own tank in the near future. . My second thought was a cherry barb shoal as they look nice also and are very timid. Active but timid anyway.

I got the idea from the tropica website on plant nutrition and they dont mention anything about co2 or liquid carbon so thanks for the mention. I know that i would have to be dosing 10ml a week of TPN+ so would i have to dose the liquid carbon along side it?

Any good recommendations? May pop into the green machine as its only 5 minutes down the road from me and they specialize in planted aquariums

Cheers

 

[minnnt]

Cherry barbs are very nice but don't shoal anything like a shoal. lol! I'm not saying don't go for Tigers, just beaware that you would probably have them and nothing else in a tank of your size unless it was something very hardy. The Bolivians would probably not be suited to a tank with extremely boisterous fish as they can be a bit skittish and timid themselves.

I am currently dosing TPN+ with Flourish Excel. I am dosing daily rather than weekly so to even out the nutrient content. I am also doing 25% water changes twice weekly.

And yes, pay the green machine a visit, they're excellent.

 

[NewbeeSteve]

Ok thanks. Ye i like the rams but heard they are quite hard for beginners.

Thanks anyway minnt i love an excuse to go down the lfs

 

[minnnt]

Also redo your maths on the 10ml a week, im dosing 1.75mls A DAY of TPN+ on a 35 litre tank.

Ok thanks. Ye i like the rams but heard they are quite hard for beginners.

Thanks anyway minnt i love an excuse to go down the lfs

Bolivian Rams are alot more forgiving of water stats than GBR's are, so should make for a good choice.

Another thing, bit of a ball ache, but try a plain black back ground to see if you like it better than the current one.

 

[RadaR]

As mentioned, when someone doses liquid carbon or injects CO2 then the nutrient demand goes up and so people need to supply extra nutrients, most importantly the macro nutrients, NPK.
If you're dosing TPN+ but no carbon then its just a waste of money really because the plants wont be using the nutrients at any quick rate.
Some folks have found that aswell as an increase in CO2 causing an increase in nutrients, it works vice versa. An increase in nutrients can cause a higher demand for CO2.