Upgrading To A Juwel Rekord 800 From 55 L

[matthewgardner]

Hi all,

I have just got a new Juwel Rekord 800 (110l). Its my second tank which was a well planted 55 l, so this is an up grade. will post pics soon on it progrss. so far i am very happy and have completed the hardscape. Want to take my time, but it will be a well planted tank with small fish.

Could i get some advice on how many 2cm fish i could get away with. stocking advice seems a bit varied.

Many thanks

Matt.

 

[waterdrop]

Congrats on your new tank Matt and on taking it slow.. Large shoals of harlequin rasboras or just about any tetra can be stunning in a well-planted tank when done as a single species without other species to distract from the scene. If you go with neons/cardinals or even smaller tetras then you can add some more fish over what the one inch guideline would have you think if you just based it on horizontal length.

So the one inch guideline on your 110L/30G would have you looking at the mature adult size of the selected species. If the fish matures to 1 inch then you could stock 30 fish. I recommend that beginners not exceed the one inch guideline for the first two years so that they will have a maximum chance of getting baseline experience with a successfully balanced tank. After that, if they are willing to do the excess maintenance, are willing to take the risk and are just dying to overstock then they could look into the cost of extra filtration (not that that helps much as compared to extra maintenance, but hey!) and give it a careful try. One of the worst parts about overstocking is when you have a powerfailure, not to mention all the extra water changes.

I assume you know the basics of the one-inch guideline, ie. that its based on medium small fish bodies and changes if the bodies are smaller (as per the neon example) or later (as per cichlids or other large-bodied fish.) Its also based on typical tank geometry and doesn't work with taller tanks that have relatively less surface area.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[matthewgardner]

Congrats on your new tank Matt and on taking it slow.. Large shoals of harlequin rasboras or just about any tetra can be stunning in a well-planted tank when done as a single species without other species to distract from the scene. If you go with neons/cardinals or even smaller tetras then you can add some more fish over what the one inch guideline would have you think if you just based it on horizontal length.

So the one inch guideline on your 110L/30G would have you looking at the mature adult size of the selected species. If the fish matures to 1 inch then you could stock 30 fish. I recommend that beginners not exceed the one inch guideline for the first two years so that they will have a maximum chance of getting baseline experience with a successfully balanced tank. After that, if they are willing to do the excess maintenance, are willing to take the risk and are just dying to overstock then they could look into the cost of extra filtration (not that that helps much as compared to extra maintenance, but hey!) and give it a careful try. One of the worst parts about overstocking is when you have a powerfailure, not to mention all the extra water changes.

I assume you know the basics of the one-inch guideline, ie. that its based on medium small fish bodies and changes if the bodies are smaller (as per the neon example) or later (as per cichlids or other large-bodied fish.) Its also based on typical tank geometry and doesn't work with taller tanks that have relatively less surface area.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[matthewgardner]

Thanks Waterdrop,

Here is a pic of my hardscape so far; My main aim at the start for this tank is to get a good well balanced planted tank and then add fish gradually once they are estabished.

i am thinking of a mix of nean tetras, Harlequins but i also want some corys and ottos.

Think i will go far a max 25 1 inch fish.

Got a week to wait for my plants! Give the wife and me time to think.

 

[waterdrop]

Very nice hardscape there Matthew. Has the wood been soaked or weighted or is a pre-prepared decoration? I like the rock layout, it follows the landscaping principle of having something that seems to lead somewhere.

How is the gravel between your fingers? A gravel that has been worn away and the individual grains rounded somewhat will work well with cories. A gravel that feels as if it might cut your fingers will often be damaging to their barbels.

I recommend that you plan to add plants and begin caring for them around the time that the first fish are introduced, either a little before, a little after or at the same time. Heavily planting a tank during the add and wait fishless cycle can make it more difficult to interpret the trend of results you are getting in your log. This is of course totally up to you though as the fishless cycle can be done all sorts of ways as long as the tank is not planted so heavily as to reach "planted tank" status (perhaps 70 percent of the substrate planted or more.) (An advanced technique once experienced aquarists are confident in their ability to grow and maintain a variety of plants is to perform what is sometimes called a "silent cycle" using the plants in a fish-in cycle instead of water changes - the technique can backfire if the plants begin to die, so we often recommend the experience of a "normal" community aquarium prior to trying this technique.) A new aquarium is a very sterile environment for plants, so you will have had to learn about plant nutrition and bits of that can be learned during the weeks/months of cycling.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[matthewgardner]

Thanks again water drop.

Sorry for the late reply.

At the momment i am more interested in getting my plants established, after about a mounth i intend to put some mature filter media in and slowley add fish. The hard scape is bog wood from my prevoius tank. here is picture of my tank with my new plants! with more wood and a coconut shell(old bird feeder) that i made for my old tank.

Have used old a mature substrate from my old tank and some tetra substate.



Here are the plants all from Java:

Crypt Nevilli
Ech Tennellus
Pygmy Chain Sword
Crypt Wendtii
Green Ludwigia
Amazon Swords
Red Amazon
Lobelia Cardinalis

Vallis Corkscrew l
rg Hygro Polysperma
Vallis Torta
Barclaya Longifolia
Crypt Balansae
Aponogeton Crispus
Nymphea Stellata (VERY EXICITED ABOUT THIS ONE)
Lilaeopsis Brasiliensis I have a home made CO2 system in at the momment, but i am going to add a pressuised one very soon, don't want to mess about with a home made system as i do not want fiddle with a bottle under pressure. Can any one advise on a good system for under £200.

Thinking of taking this over to the planted section, is that possible?

Please give me feedback and advice.

thanks

Matt.

 

[matthewgardner]

Thanks again water drop.

Sorry for the late reply.

At the momment i am more interested in getting my plants established, after about a mounth i intend to put some mature filter media in and slowley add fish. The hard scape is bog wood from my prevoius tank. here is picture of my tank with my new plants! with more wood and a coconut shell(old bird feeder) that i made for my old tank.

Have used old a mature substrate from my old tank and some tetra substate.



Here are the plants all from Java:

Crypt Nevilli
Ech Tennellus
Pygmy Chain Sword
Crypt Wendtii
Green Ludwigia
Amazon Swords
Red Amazon
Lobelia Cardinalis

Vallis Corkscrew l
rg Hygro Polysperma
Vallis Torta
Barclaya Longifolia
Crypt Balansae
Aponogeton Crispus
Nymphea Stellata (VERY EXICITED ABOUT THIS ONE)
Lilaeopsis Brasiliensis

I have a home made CO2 system in at the momment, but i am going to add a pressuised one very soon, don't want to mess about with a home made system as i do not want fiddle with a bottle under pressure. Can any one advise on a good system for under £200.

Thinking of taking this over to the planted section, is that possible?

Please give me feedback and advice.

thanks

Matt.

 

[waterdrop]

Very, very nice aquascape there Matt! I particularly like those corkscrew-looking stems or whatever they are joining the vals on the right side. What are they??

Yes, you are definately getting in to planted tank territory and should start a thread over there, perhaps even a planted tank journal so that llj, supercoley, radar, aaron and Dave and the others can give you good advice! Of course we'd love the occasional update of this thread over here to remind us to check on your journal over there!

I think Aaron North's article on making a pressurized system starting from a fire extinguisher should still be there somewhere in the PARC in the top of the planted section. He and the others are great at helping hobbyists stop the equipment costs from getting out of control. I feel our planted crew is one of the best at letting knowledge play a role rather than overly fancy equipment, as compared to some of the other sites one might run across out there.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[matthewgardner]

wow thanks for the kind words.

it did take a while and some of the plants are from the old tank - that plant on the right is Vallis Corkscrew. never had it before does a good job of hiding the filter.

matt.

 

[waterdrop]

Interesting. I'm quite familiar with the different types of Vallisneria (corkscrew and others) from my tanks back in the late 60's and early 70's (these plants were quite popular back then too and I had quite a lot of them.)

BUT, somehow I'd forgotten or never seen the Vallisneria flower stems going upward in such a perfect large spiral as you've got there. I just now glanced at the google images of vallisneria and sure enough, there was an example, though not as beautifully and evenly coiled as yours.

I still assume the "corkscrew val" is so named because the flat -leaf- twists in a corkscrew coil, but this nice little flower stem of yours has given me pause. Perhaps there was a glint in the eye of the old scientist who named them, who knows when lol.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[matthewgardner]

Interesting. I'm quite familiar with the different types of Vallisneria (corkscrew and others) from my tanks back in the late 60's and early 70's (these plants were quite popular back then too and I had quite a lot of them.)

BUT, somehow I'd forgotten or never seen the Vallisneria flower stems going upward in such a perfect large spiral as you've got there. I just now glanced at the google images of vallisneria and sure enough, there was an example, though not as beautifully and evenly coiled as yours.

I still assume the "corkscrew val" is so named because the flat -leaf- twists in a corkscrew coil, but this nice little flower stem of yours has given me pause. Perhaps there was a glint in the eye of the old scientist who named them, who knows when lol.

~~waterdrop~~

lol,

very happy with them as well - got them from java plants if you fancy some.

thanks for all your kind comments

Matt

 

[waterdrop]

So you're saying "Java Plants" is an online place somewhere?

 

[matthewgardner]

So you're saying "Java Plants" is an online place somewhere?

It is, they are fairly cheap, take a bit of time to send thier plants out - i have used them twice and not had any probs. Hers is a link.

https/www.java-plants.com/index.php?osCsid=3fda0249fba168cbb5aff13120c4f641

Hope it works - if not Java Plants into google. Quite friendly on the phone to.

thanks again.

Matt

 

[waterdrop]

Ah, UK as I thought. I'm in USA Matt. But thanks and we'll keep your place in mind for UKers who are looking. WD

 

[OldMan47]

If you want a pressurized CO2 system, try one of the on line stores or auction sites. I know prices in the UK vary quite a bit from what I find here but I bought my regulator/solenoid/bubble counter for under $100 US. The bottle, filled with gas, cost me under $100 again and I was in business. If the exchange rates were actually true, in terms of prices reflecting the difference, that would be well under 150 GBP. I know the exchange rate is not truly reflective of prices. I have spent some time in the UK and found everything there expensive compared to at home but I also found that prices of $10 in the US made me expect to pay about 10 GBP in the UK for the same product so all new equipment should be in reach of your budget.