Super Low Tech Juwel Rio 180

[ATK!!!]

Well... By Christmas I'll have a Juwel Rio 180 to go in my bedroom. Because of numerous problems and lack of time during a normal week I would really like to try and make this plant as low tech as is easily possible. Water changes are the main thing I want to cut down on. If it is possible I would like to try doing water changes every 3-6 months... Yes months. So, so far this is a rough outline of what I'm buying:

Juwel Rio 180 with the 2x45w T5 light unit (I am hoping to counteract this largish amount of light with floating plants and perhaps a translucent sheet of something if it really is too much)

Tetratec ex1200 (supposed 1200lph, probably just over half that)

Hydor Koralina 1 1500lph powerhead

Caribsea Eco-Complete Live Planted Substrate 9kg - Black (Will this be ok for a low tech tank? If so how much shall I use (bags are 9kgs)

Black sand of some sort (suggestions?)

A Massive amount of plants!!!! Hopefully 80-90% of the tank will be planted straight away but still giving enough room for the Corys to roam...

Outline of stocking:

1 Albino Bristlenose plec

1 large shoal of around 30 fish (still choosing, any help?)

10-15 Coryadas of some sort (again open to suggestions)

5 shrimp from my old tank (will likely breed rather quickly)

Some Dwarf Cichlids perhaps instead of the corys...


Can anyone see any big problems yet? I still have a lot of time to change my mind about anything on that list so any suggestions are welcome. The stocking itself is a very basic frame and any ideas about that are welcome. I hear that tanks like this should be relatively understocked so hows mine looking so far??

Any help would be really appreciated!

Oops I forgot to add that I will be leaving tank fully planted without any fish in for around a month as I will be attempting a silent cycle.

 

[kyleb2003]

Sounds like quite a heavy stocking plan for a 180l, unless the shoal of 30 are going to be tiny tiny fish and dwarf corys

 

[ATK!!!]

Oh btw the Dwarf cichlids were INSTEAD of the corys. I see your point though, the 30 shoaling fish are likely going to be Cardinal or Rummy nose tetra or maybe some rasboras.

 

[coldcazzie]

Some Dwarf Cichlids perhaps instead of the corys...

Dwarf cichlids will eat any dwarf shrimp that you have.... if the shrimp you already have are larger (ie, amanos for example) then that's ok, but Cherries or Tigers etc will be hunted and eaten.

I would think that:

30 cardinals
8 larger corydoras or 15 smaller corydoras (bear in mind that pygmys and hastatus will swim mid water rather than staying on the subtrate, habrosus stay on the subsrate though)
1 bristlenose
some shrimp

would be ok as a stocking, however, I would be inclined to start with smaller numbers of the shoals (ie, 16 tetras, 6 larger cories or 8 smaller cories) and then add to them as the tank matures and you feel it is able to support the numbers.

 

[ATK!!!]

Sadly I have CRS so the dwarf cichilds are looking less and less like a good idea. Having corys that don't always go on the substrate may be a bonus, maybe I could plant it out more... Definately a good idea to add them in smaller amounts though! I guess the plec would go in last? Thanks for the info Caz!

Will the 3-6 month water changes be possible like this then? If not, what would I need to change?

 

[Ps3Steveo]

If your wanting water changes every 3-6 months I'd lower the stock, but that's me.

 

[ATK!!!]

If your wanting water changes every 3-6 months I'd lower the stock, but that's me.

Yea I agree it does sound a little too much... Maybe if I have a few less Tetra.

 

[kyleb2003]

Oh btw the Dwarf cichlids were INSTEAD of the corys. I see your point though, the 30 shoaling fish are likely going to be Cardinal or Rummy nose tetra or maybe some rasboras.

Sorry mate missed that bit! But yeah I meant it was heavy stocking considering the water changes you want to do. Things tend to build up over time and that's why we remove water and dilute it with clean water. Hopefully someone with experience of doing water changes every few months can pipe up.

 

[coldcazzie]

Remember that even tanks that end up having few water changes start out with daily ones while everything settles in.

 

[ATK!!!]

Remember that even tanks that end up having few water changes start out with daily ones while everything settles in.

Yep that should be ok. Only later on down the line will I be looking to lower water changes. It really doesn't help that I've got my GCSE's to do now as well as all this!

 

[ATK!!!]

Well I'm finally back after a long silence Sadly some things have gone wrong since my last visit to the forums (Whilst on holiday the remaining platy decided to pop his clogs from old age (roughly 4 1/2 years old) that then created a knock on effect, killing a tetra and a shrimp before I got back home ) After quite a bit of maintenance on the tank to keep the remaining fish alive I have decided to finally decommission it.

This also means making the final decisions about what to get regarding the new tank. So... a slight budget drop has meant I wont be getting the powerhead straight away, and I may infact have to leave the tank empty for a few weeks before any plant buying can be done. So my main questions are:

Do you agree that this tank will not go straight through my ceiling as soon as it has been filled,

Do I have everything that I need on the list,

Are there any suggestions you would like to make before I go ahead and buy the tank (It's intended for Christmas so I doubt I'll be able to access it even if it's bought early)