# My new 185Ltr (40gallon) upgraded from my 23 Gallon Attempt



## Coltonorr (Mar 12, 2008)

I think it looks pretty good...your foreground plants look pretty good.
I would start by adding a filter...a Classic Eheim 2213 would not be a bad choice...and if it were my tank...a black background...
Good Luck!


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## hungtran10 (Jul 5, 2008)

Hello.

Your foreground has filled in very nicely. I think the biggest thing that you can do to improve your tank is to clean up the algae. From what I have read the best way to combat algae is to fight it with long stem fast growing plants. That is one thing that I notice you are missing. If you get some fast growing stem plants, it will out compete the algae for nutrients. The other thing I would recommend you get your hands on is the book, Ecology of the Planted Aquarium by Diana Walstad. She has a great chapter on combating algae. I think everybody should read that chapter before starting a fish tank.
Food for thought. Good luck and keep us posted.

best regards,

- Hung


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## Tex Gal (Mar 28, 2008)

That much algae will kill your plants. Once they are all covered they can't photosynthesize. I do think a filter would help. You need water movement. Have you thought about trying to spot dose flourish Excell on the algae. Just start at on side and each day put in an initial dose for the tank - but just on the algae. It has a 24 hr life so you can do it each day. In a few days you just might have much of it gone. If you can get some amanos and mollies they will eat it up.


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## re_hashed (May 31, 2007)

Thanks for the replys everyone. I've read them through and taken them on board.

I will hold my hands up though - I know that I've not done enough with the tank (maintenance wise) and basically just let it look after itself. I kinda got a little bored with it, after all my initial enthusiasm, when I didn't see much progress etc.

I've noticed a couple of people have mentioned that I should get a pump. I've had one in there from the start, at the rear left corner. It's a Fluval Internal 4 FYI.

I will also try to get hold of that book as well.

I don't know if I've got enough light in there to sustain much plant growth/life at all. At the moment I've only got 2 x 18w growlux bulbs, which going by calculations is:

*Results*

*Size* 76 x 30 x 38cm/30" x 12" x 15" 
*Surface area* 0.23 sq m/2.50 sq ft 
*Current lighting* 36 watts 
*Current intensity* 155.0 watts per m2 

*Recommendations*

*Suggested intensity* 1000 w per m2 
*Suggested wattage* 232.3 watts 
*Suggested upgrade* 196.3 watts 
*Suggested lighting* 0.9 MH lights @ 250w 
*Suggested upgrade* 0.8 MH lights @ 250w 

Whatever that means :iamwithst


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## Coltonorr (Mar 12, 2008)

I don't know about the calculations but I would shoot for about 2 wpg if you not going with CO2. Though you do seem to have growth on you tank...you may just want to stick with what you have. The Fluval 4 is fine for water movement and to clear out larger pieces of debris but it doesn't provide much of an area to establish a bacterial bed to keep your aquarium healthy and break down fish waste...ie; ammonia-nitrite. I'd add a canister filter....something like this...http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3579+3603&pcatid=3603


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## re_hashed (May 31, 2007)

Thanks, yeah I think that I will opt for a cannister filter. I've wanted one from the start as personally I think that internal filters take up to much space, but I had to make do with what I already had. When I get one of them (I think that I'll sneak out to the fish shop tomorrow as I know that the Mrs is working) I'll fill that vacent space with some fast growing stem plants to try and combat all that algae.

With regard to the lighting situation then I'll have a scout around and see what other information I can come up with. The bulbs that I've got in place at the moment seem to be the most wattage that I can get my hands on, and with the kit that I've got. Yeah, ok, I can go with those t-8 or whatever they're called but I'll need new starters. Besides, the hood that I've got with the tank is only a plastic jobbie, whith only enough room for 2 bulbs. I think that I may have to go for another lid that I can put more bulbs in, or at least some more powerfull ones. But this will be harder to get past the Mrs as she'll notice that.:icon_wink


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## Coltonorr (Mar 12, 2008)

I think you'd be looking a new light fixture if you wanted to upgrade...I think your maxed out with the fixture you have.
You also may want to keep that Fluval 4 in there. I will give you good water circulation and if I'm not mistaken you can set the flow to a lower rate...
it will keep your water cleaner as far as debri goes.


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## Tex Gal (Mar 28, 2008)

You might want to try some peroxide dosing to kill your algae unless you have excell. Peroxide is cheap and works. (link is below) Water changes will also help as it introduces new CO2 into your tank. 

Check out this link.
http://www.gpodio.com/h2o2.asp


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## Sticky230 (Mar 30, 2008)

I love the lighting.


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## re_hashed (May 31, 2007)

Time for a little update, I'd forgotten that this thread existed but as I've just got myself a new computer I was transferring over my bookmarks and came across this, so ............

Looking at my first post dated *28th August 2008*, just over a year has passed since I started with this tank, and to my surprise it's actually progressed. When you see it every day you tend to think that nothing much is happening, but going by the pictures it's definately filled out.

This has been a very very very low maintenance tank, almost to the point that it just about totally looks after itself :icon_conf










I gave up on Co2 pretty quickly, and continued with the same lighting that it's always had (a couple of stip light bulbs nicked from the office). I dose Excell ........ whenever I remember, and the other Flourish bottle of stuff ........ again when I remember. I think that I've only done one 30% water change in all my time, and continually top it up when the water level goes below the frame. Oh actually, I moved it over to the other side of the room a little while ago, so I suppose I would have had to remove a fair ammount of water to slide my cabilet across the floor - so I'm counting that as a water change.










My fish see totally happy, no problems with any of them. I've still got most of the origional fishes (zebra dino's minus one, neon tetras minus a couple), I've added in a few other ones - can't remember the name but it's one of those ones that sucks around on the glass. Oh yeah, I've also added a 4 albino shrimps which just spend all day zipping around everywhere, they're great! 

I've still got my guppies, think that there's 3 males and 4 females but I'll be damned if I can get them to breed. They're forever chasing each other around, doing the business, then nothing the females get a bit fatter, never like to exploding point, nor with a really black gravid spot, and that's it - I think that my males are firing blanks!










Well, as you can see I've included a couple of pics within this post so that you get an idea of what it's currently like. (taken very quickly last night)

Sssshhhsss, between you and me, I'm hoping to get some cash for Christmas from the rellies, and I've been saving a bit here-and-there, and I've kinda got my eye on a new tank for the new year anyway. Don't tell the Mrs though, yeah.

So there you go.

Cheers


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## Kittysnax (Dec 8, 2009)

lol your care-style seems to be like mine! I tend to explode at the beginning then kinda just drivel away. I am actually readin up on this thread just to see what someone like me would do! I know I can take care of fish and saltwater (used to have a 500 gallon reef tank, now it sits empty in my folks shed) but freshwater plants...........yea.........LOL!

The only aesthetic thing I would do would be to thin the algea out if not get rid of it, but everyone else has said that too so I think you know ;3

Keep updating, as I have enjoyed reading and seeing this thread from beginning-recent!


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

That looks a LOT like my own very first planted tank! LOL

I love no-maintenance tanks... why I've always stuck with low tech. :wink:


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## re_hashed (May 31, 2007)

Well hello strangers lol roud:

Here's the latest update of my low (well, NO) maintenance tank.

I think that there's only been one 'major' change since my last update, and that's the purchase of an external filter as someone suggested earlier on somewhere. Everything else is still the same, oh apart from a plant (the straggly one at the back-left. Can't remember the name, but I put it in there as it grows really quickly _apparently_)

I've recently got some enthusiasm back for this tank, as it was a little neglected for a while :frown: I wanted to keep guppies and platties, and let them have babies and stuff. I did get guppies, they had babies, but they just turned into a regular supply of live food for the zebra danios, and barbs, which is not what I wanted to happen. I was convinced that there was enough cover for the fry to stay safe in, but obviously there wasn't.

I've not bought any new fish for ages, as I still like the guppy idea - the other day I had a word with my local fish shop who said that they'd take the fish that I currently have to put in one of their display tanks and give me some guppies in return. 50/50 on that at the moment as the ones that I have left have been around for years.

Oh, and about a year ago I bought 4 albino shrimps - I've still got 3 zipping around like mad-men. Suppose that shows that the water quality is pretty decent.

So, on to the photos:

This is the whole tank - I'll try and get an original picture and get them side-by-side, if only for me to see the 'progress'



and this is a slightly closer look at the left hand side  :



I've not actually planted anything at the front of the tank or across the middle, they're springing up from an original plant that I planted at the rear left right at the start (don't think that it's even there any more). I seem to have some others appearing which look like the ones that I originally planted at the rear right of the tank.

and this is a slightly closer look at the right hand side  :



I know that it could do with a clean - I'll probably do it this afternoon - which in that case I should really post up pictures of my tank once it's done, but hey-ho.

*Water changes:* When I remember (or when I top it up as loads has evaporated) about one every six months.
*Excel doses: * When I remember - about once every 3 months.
*Plant pruning:* Never have done - apart from I got rid of my Java moss as that was just getting nasty and was taking over.
*General tank glass cleaning: * When the front starts going a mankey green colour then out comes the razor-blade stick cleaning thingie.
*General tank cleaning:* probably when I clean the glass I get a tube out, start to syphon, and give it a hoover up.


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## re_hashed (May 31, 2007)

*Right, unfortunately this is now the end of this thread.
(not that I guess anyone is bothered in the slightest as it's been running for 5 years and it's still on a single page)*​

I've not given up on fish keeping, but I have changed tanks - *NOT DUE TO CHOICE.* 

I came home last weekend, and walked into the front room and thought, oh no what's the matter with that filter on my tank, it's making a hell of a noise. Turned around and couldn't believe my eyes !!

The silica gel holing the panels together had perished .......... and the end panel had only gone and fallen clean off/out. 90 Ltrs of water dumped on my living room floor !!!!!!!!

Luckily I was running my fish stock down as I wanted a change of everything so it only housed 1 platty, and 3 golden barbs - RIP :icon_frow

Wasn't planned, but secretively I'm a little bit pleased inside as I've now been allowed to purchase a new and improved tank. It got delivered today, so a jump from a 90L to a 185L and a whole new opportunity *headache* has opened up to me.

A new photo journal will soon be up and running. Maybe actually on this thread just for continuity. 

roud:


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## re_hashed (May 31, 2007)

Right there, here goes, a continuation on my thread.


So, I purchased my new tank and all the necessary equipment (external filter, heater, substrate etc). 

With the knowledge available on here then I'm open to ideas if you can see that I'm going completely wrong.

*Tank* - Aqua One Eurostyle bow front 80
*Dims* - width 42cms, length 80cms, height 64cms
*Volume *- 185L
*Lighting *- 2 x 24w T5
*Filtration *- Advance 750

This was just a boring old pic of the tank from the top, whilst I was getting the internal filter gubbins set up:










And this is where it will eventually be situated:










So, here's the tank in his final resting place, with the substrate in, the internal bits and bobs in position, and a lump of bog-wood looking really lonely, but I wanted to at least put _something_ in there.










I part filled the tank this morning to start planting, I was going to re-plant from my old tank, but I was kinda surprised to see just how established they were, and they basically came out as one MASSIVE group with roots everywhere.










I tried sitting there and separating them, but in all honestly there wasn't much that I could salvage (well I could still be here now trying to pick them apart), so I was pretty ruthless and selected just the strongest, newest, and all-round decent plants. Binned the rest and am now going to buy some brand new ones.

So this is now how things are tonight - you can see 3 golden barbs in there that survived my previous catastrophe, which I had nowhere else to put them so they had to go in. Weather they survive is a different matter but they've been troopers so far.





































I've got improvement plans in my head, and a list of plants that I wish to go through in more detail, then decide on what as the right-hand side looks a touch bare.

Fish-wise I'm just going for the standard community set up - neons, platties etc. You know, just something nice to look at.

*Any suggestions on aqua-scape, plants (I'm assuming that his is considered to be a low/medium light set up), or anything like that then I'll all ears and open to criticism.*

I'll report back once I've researched and purchased my plants and fish, then hopefully watch it become a tank that I can be proud of.

Thank You


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## zoragen (Nov 3, 2009)

Nice tank!! I like the tall drift wood on the left.

I don't know about plant selection (I have mostly crypts) but some hard scape on the right would be nice.


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## Ptjameso (Jan 1, 2012)

Glad to see you have a new tank! Looking forward to see how it fills out! Good luck!


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## Aquatic Delight (Mar 2, 2012)

I've really enjoyed reading this thread over the past twenty min. i really dug the first tank you had running. i hope you keep this thread running so we can see how the new tank turns out.


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## re_hashed (May 31, 2007)

Just to add a bit of additional information: 

The substrate is *JBL Manado Natural Substrate*. I’ve never used this before as I’ve always previously used Eco-Complete, but I wanted a change from black, and wanted something slightly different (not sand). They were using this substrate in my LFS in some of their massive tanks where they keep their plants and I personally thought that it looked really nice, so I asked what it was and ended up buying a massive bag of the stuff. I’m happy with it, but it is incredibly _‘light’_. Maybe it’ll get _‘heavier’_ over time, but for the time being if the fish are snuffling around on the bottom and I make a sudden movement it scares them (which is fair enough considering all they’ve been through) and you can see the substrate move around with the water movement. My small plants have so far seemed to have remained in place which was one of my main concerns, so it’s now a waiting game to see if they root and grow ……..

http://www.aquaristikshop.com/e_Produktinformationen/JBL-Manado.htm

*External Filter Change:*

Used to have: Aqua One Advance 750
Have now got: Aqua Manta EFX 200

_Reason for change:_ The Aqua One started out fairly noisy, too noisy for me (just a low grumble and some slight impeller noise). I thought that I’d give it a couple of days to ‘bed in’ to see if it quietened down a bit, whereas it actually got louder. I stripped it down, checked the impeller, wiggled things about a bit, made sure everything was correctly fitted together, and put it all back together again. Obviously my golden-touch had deserted me as it actually became louder. So I took it back to the shop, and after 45mins of pretty hard-core arguing with shop assistants, assistant managers, and eventually with the manager over the phone I walked out with a new filter [result] I won’t go into depth but I went in their convinced that I was going to leave with a new filter and I did – and there was only one threat of “what time do you open tomorrow morning? Right, I’ll be waiting outside with my whole tank, substrate, the lot and you can have it all back!”. I argue for a job so I’m not going to let some spotty little oink beat me.

Got it home, set it up, and off it went, SILENT ! The only thing is that it seems an awful lot more powerful that the original one. It says up to a 200L tank, and mine is 185L so it’s fine, but blimey it aint half shifting the water around! _(see initial substrate worries – but at the moment it’s not all moved to the back of the tank due to the flow)_.

Is it possible to have too much flow in an aquarium? – I don’t want my little neons looking like they’ve been on steroids as they’re having a constant work-out.

Would having too much flow also limit me to what plants I can keep? – do some of them like less water movement? I’m sure that it’ll calm down once I’ve got more hardscape and plants in the tank.

I suppose re-positioning the spray-bar would change the water flow. It’s currently central on the back wall, about 5cms below the water level, with the jets pretty horizontal. – What do you recon guys about an alternative position?

*Hardscape* – stones for the right hand side. My father-in-law is a stone mason so I had a word with him last night and I’m going to pop down his yard sometime this week to have a snout around and pick out anything that I like. He’s also off to a granite quarry at the weekend so he said I can come with him and take a few bits out if I want to.

I’ve ordered some plants from the internet – hopefully be here in a couple of days. Never ordered online before so I’ll see what happens. FYI I’ve ordered some

*Java Moss* – to put on the driftwood somewhere, maybe around the bottom few pieces (one clump)
*Cryptocpryne Beckettii (x2)* – just to change the colour from all green, probably to go just to the right-hand-side of the drift wood base, forground/mid.
*Crypt Wendtii (x2)* – will mix these in with the above to give a bit of a mixture.
*Hemianthus Micranthrmoides* – to see if I can form a ‘carpet’ on the right hand side around my new stones (one ‘cup’).

I want to get some corkscrew Vals to go across the back of the right-hand-side, and a bunch in the rear-right corner – but for some reason the internet shop didn’t supply these. I can pick them up readily enough so I’m not that fussed.

All these are easy to care for and should be pretty quick growers so I can fill it out. All are suitable for low-level light tanks which mine currently is.

*Future:* 

Upgrade the lights. 
Think about Co2.

Oh …….. and buy some fish


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## zoragen (Nov 3, 2009)

Can you baffle the filter in any way? wrap a sponge around it??

I am SO jealous - I'd LOVE to be going to a stone quarry!!


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## Aquatic Delight (Mar 2, 2012)

re_hashed said:


> Is it possible to have too much flow in an aquarium? – I don’t want my little neons looking like they’ve been on steroids as they’re having a constant work-out.
> 
> Would having too much flow also limit me to what plants I can keep? – do some of them like less water movement? I’m sure that it’ll calm down once I’ve got more hardscape and plants in the tank.
> 
> ...


 
i have a 29 gal tank with two pumps rated for 20gal each, i'm pumping water for 40 gal in tank that has 28gal in it at best.i have one pump on each back corner, which creates a dead spot in the center back portion of my tank.

my little neons are just fine, but granted my tank is getting heavily planted.. i have plants that are in the strongest currents and they look pretty healthy. HOWEVER they are not growing at the rate of the same plants that are not in direct current.

i also put my rocks and branches in specific places to break up the flow before it hits my sand. (i Spent hours watching leaves and things flow through the current and then moving something one inch this way or that , and then readjusting it to get it just right) i have a bamboo flower, and a vampire shrimp that enjoy the current for feeding.


all of that said, please take what i have said with a grain of salt as i am new to planted tanks.



oh YEAH! please let us know how your plants come in. i'm getting tired of driving all around town looking for plants, only to find out a tank of gas later that no one has what i am looking for. :-(


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## EnigmaticGuppy92 (Jan 31, 2012)

nice setup cant wait to see it finished


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## re_hashed (May 31, 2007)

Aquatic Delight said:


> oh YEAH! please let us know how your plants come in. i'm getting tired of driving all around town looking for plants, only to find out a tank of gas later that no one has what i am looking for. :-(


One word of advice is to make sure that you're at home, rather than work, when the plants are delivered :icon_frow

I'm sitting here frustrated as hell, as my plants were attempted to be delivered this afternoon whilst I was at work. Instead of leaving them with a neighbour (like they do 99% of the time!) he decided to return them to the depot. So instead of me planting them tonight and admiring them, I know that I'm going to have to wait another day whilst they sit in the post office depot getting more and more withered as time passes.

Now I'm going to have to pop up there tomorrow lunch, take them back to work with me, and not get them into my tank until at least 6:00pm tomorrow.

What a nightmare!

Oh, and I also bought an API Mater Freshwater Liquid Test Kit that tests pH, High Range pH, Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate. Doubt that'll come tomorrow though as it was off [Ebay Link Removed] You never know, I may add my water parameters to bore you even more. :icon_smil (I've never done any water testing like)

(will update pics tomorrow)


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## re_hashed (May 31, 2007)

Right, here's where we stand as of now:

Plants collected from Post Office, and were surprisingly in pretty decent shape, not too many wilted leaves, but I still had to remove a few or the more ropey ones.

Plants planted, now just need some Valls then it's the start of the waiting game for it to fill out and see how it looks.

So pics time:

Here we have the *Cryptocoryne beckettii,* and the *Gymnocoronis Spilanthoides* behind them. I must admit that I'm a little disappointed that the Gym Spil isn't slightly larger to start out with, but I've read that it does grow to a decent size so this is going to be a long wait. I'm pleased with the Crypts though.










Oh, by the way, they came in pots (plastic mesh) and I buried the whole thing under the substrate. It's ok to plant in pots isn't it? Will it have any detrimental effects?

*My Java Moss.* I tied a fair amount to one sticking out bit of my bog wood, then the remaining bits I got my tweezers and stuffed it into the cracks further up. Hopefully it's not going to go too mad - I'll have to keep an eye on it.










*Hermianthus Calletrichoides Cuba*. Now, I think that this one was a 'mistake' after reading a little more about it. It loves the high light (which mine isn't) and Co2 (which mines not going to have initially) - so I'm kinda guessing that it's not going to last all that long, but we'll see. May as well get my £3.99 worth out of it though and see what happens.










And, the standard full tank shot. Still need the rocks - going in at the weekend, and hopefully before then my water test kit would have arrived so fingers crossed I'll be able to get some fish in there.










Oh, and put in some Flourish Excel and some Flourish Supplement. Not entirely sure why, but I keep hearing about it and I used to put it in my old tank when I remembered so I thought 'ahh why not?'

The substrate looks great, but is a fekkin nightmare to hold down the plants. It's just so light and barely sinks. Let's see how things pan out in the next few months, but I've got a niggley feeling in the back of my mind that the EcoComplete may have to make a re-appearance.


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## ikuzo (Jul 11, 2006)

hi
great start here
you might want to spread the cuba a little
i've grown this plant in some kind of low light (36 watts over 16 gallons) tank height about 36 cm. i think it needs good CO2 level. excel is good also

your tank height might be a bit problem because light diminish over water depth.
give it some time though.


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## re_hashed (May 31, 2007)

ikuzo said:


> you might want to spread the cuba a little


Yeah I did think of that, and I even gave it a go, but to be honest there was absolutely no chance that I could get it to remain in my substrate. I took out a bit about CM2 and tried to plant that seperately with no luck, it just kept floating upto the top, or getting displaced by the water movement. We'll see what happens.



ikuzo said:


> your tank height might be a bit problem because light diminish over water depth. give it some time though.


We'll have to see how things go over time. There's absolutely nothing that I can do about my tank height but if it does become a problem then I may have to re-think my plants and other things.

Thanks for taking the time to read, and comment. Anything else you want to add, comment on then I'm all ears ! :thumbsup:


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## re_hashed (May 31, 2007)

Well my water test kit arrived this morning, so I dove right in. 

Here are the results, I must admit that this is the first time ever that I've tested my water parameters so I'm not entirely sure what it means but here goes:

*pH - 7.6
High Range pH - 7.8
Ammonia - 0.25
Nitrate NO2 - 1
Nitrate NO3 - 40
*
So going on the little pamphlet that came supplied with the test kit this is what I can make of those numbers:

*pH *- slightly on the high side, but as I'm going to go for a community/livebearer tank then this should be ok (mollies, platties etc)

*High Range pH* - Alkaline. 7.5 is ideal so this isn't all that far off

*Ammonia* - High'ish

*Nitrate NO2* - High'ish but it's a new aquarium so I expect this to go down over time

*Nitrate NO3* - about on the upper-limit. I expect this to go down over time.

The tank has been full and cycling for 5 days now, with some plants, and 3 golden barbs, 1 platty, 4 albino shrimps that managed to survive my previous tank 'issues'. They didn't have anywhere else to go so in they went. They're looking surprisingly sprightly and eating well.


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## re_hashed (May 31, 2007)

Well I just couldn't resist keeping my hands out of my tank 

Did a quick minor re-scape - I say 're-scape' but all I did was remove my plants from the pots that they were origionally planted in, and actually seperated them and planted individually.

My big one at the back - still can't remember the name, but think that it may be some sort of sword (?) was actually 2 decent sized plants together, and the others were made up of individual stems with roots.

I wanted to break up the water-flow going across the bottom of my tank so I though that seperating the plants could have this effect. Oh, and I also popped into my LFS and picked up some valls which have gone in rear right corner, and mid-left-side.

This is how it looked as of the other day.










My Gymnocoronis Spilanthoides (surely there must be a shorter name that typing that!) have absolutely shot up since being individually planted.

The wife was nice and she actually went into the LFS on the way home from work last week and picked up some guppies (she must have heard me talking about them as she has absolutley no idea about anything fish related) so when I came home she'd put in 4 female and 3 male ones. Bless her ! I didn't have the heart to tell her that I was waiting for my water parameters to settle before I added fish - but 3 day later they're all still going strong.


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## magnum (Jun 23, 2011)

Wow I really like the color of the new stand and tank. The scaping looks really good I'm a fan of openness. As for the HC, in that type of substrate its easier to dry start to help it become rooted. But I would recommend waiting a couple weeks and snipping off a few growing branches and relocated them because they'll have longer roots.


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## re_hashed (May 31, 2007)

Just a quick update:

I took some more water tests over the weekend, and everything is looking pretty stable now. The standard stuff is ok, and the Nitrates etc are reducing somewhere close to 0. I won’t post the results as they’re dead boring.

I’ve now got my stone from the quarry and father-in-laws stone yard. Haven’t put it in my tank yet as the last re-scape of my tank kinda filled up the area on the right where I was planning my stone scape. So, in my back garden I now have a clonking pile of marble (mainly white blocks the size of footballs, also some grey), and some whopping lumps of slate (I can barely pick them up lol). I’m going to attack them with a sledge hammer when I get time and see what happens. The remainder will somehow be used in the garden – I’ll leave that to the Mrs. I knew that I had too much, but the father-in-law has a lorry so he didn’t care how much I took, and he said he’d be able to use it, and he didn’t want me to get back home without having enough. I tried to tell him that I wasn’t planning to aquascape an Olympic swimming pool ! 

History tells me that I’m pretty rubbish at keeping my plants alive unless they’re the most hardy plants known to man, so unfortunately I’m banking on some dying over the next few weeks/months, that should free up some space, and that’ll be where the stones will live.

Last night I knocked up a DIY CO2 system – I had a Nutrafin CO2 ladder thing in my previous tank, but didn’t particularly like it. The smaller fish kept swimming up it and getting stuck. So I got a 2 litre bottle out the recycling, I already had some air-tubing, I dug out and old air-stone (for some reason I had one in my man-draw) and quickly whipped one up. I had some yeast in the fridge, and some sugar in the jar – happy days, I had everything needed!

A quick look on the internet gave my about a million different recipes to follow. I ended up using 2 x cups of sugar diluted in 1.5 litres of warm water. 1 teaspoon of yeast hydrated in a cup of water for a couple of minutes, and all poured into the bottle, topped up by cold. That sounds like the one from memory.










Literally within a few minutes there was some life from the air-stone. I went out for a few hours, and blimey when I came back it was going absolutely bonkers, tiny little bubbles streaming out.

Now it works I need to move my air-stone to somewhere less visible. 










I’m having a read about where to place it:

1) Just next to the filter intake – the bubbles go up the filter inlet, get absorbed in the water throughout the canister, and the CO2 rich water squirted out of the spray-bar around the tank.

2) At the back, central, under the spray-bar – the bubbles rise, then get whacked around the tank with the flow of the water.

I think that I’ll go for option 2, unless anyone screams that I'm making a massive mistake.

I took a video of it this morning.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3HbDIfzKzw

(can't rotate it by 90 degrees - I don't have some anti-gravity weird set up)

I may have to quickly knock up a drop-checker just to see how much is getting produced as at the moment I have absolutely no idea.

And finally ....... the standard full tank shot. My plants are starting to fill out nicely now, and by the time I get home tonight I fully expect it to be a fully-grown out paradise as that's what happens when you add CO2 isn't it ?


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## zoragen (Nov 3, 2009)

Very nice! But you should have taken some pics of the rocks also:icon_lol:


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## re_hashed (May 31, 2007)

Just a quick update. The plants seem to be going great guns.

The reddish ones at the front have started sprouting leaves from the central cluster, and there are some more starting to come outwards.



















and my little green ones that I salvaged from my previous tank have seem to have taken off, and shooting runners all over the place:










Everything seems to be going great guns (touch wood). I've started dosing Flourish and Excel as the general consensus seems to be this is what I'm supposed to do when using any form of CO2. 

I think that I may have hit a fluke at the moment as nothing seems to have gone/been going wrong.

And finally ..... the obligatory full tank shot (which actually looking back has actually filled out bit.)

(There are some fish in there, it's just that when anyone goes near them they go bonkers at the top thinking that they're getting fed)


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## re_hashed (May 31, 2007)

Update as of a few minutes ago:

*Water Parameters* - everything's pretty much settled down over time as expected. I won't bother to post the results. I'll keep checking weekly and writing them down in the little booklet that was supplied to see if anything out of the ordinary happens.

*Fish* - Pretty much the original stock, plus a few that I found myself buying when I was last at the LFS. I picked up a couple of clown pleco's, looked great in the shop, haven't seen the little buggers since they've been in my tank. The odd cameo appearance so I know they're not dead. I've whacked in a ceramic plant pot, tied on some java-moss and placed it at the back behind the bogwood for them to hide in. I didn't want the pot in view hence the positioning. I've got a couple of cucumbers hanging on some string, which seem to be disappearing more and more during the night, so I'm guessing they're still alive.

*Plants* - no new ones, just seeing how the original ones are filling out, and they're stonking along. I've still got the pile of marble and slate out in the garden as I was expecting some of the plants to die off and I was going to fill the gaps, but to date there's no room.

Pics - 

The standard full tank shot:









A corner shot, showing that it's starting to fill out:









End Shot:









Now my shrimp that stayed still for 2 seconds (I love them, zipping around like absolute loons):


















I just want to get myself 10/15/20 neons to fill up the mid-water area of the tank and my guppies are all at the top, and I've only got 3 golden barbs that use the middle. I'm out at the footie tomorrow so they may have to wait till next weekend.


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## re_hashed (May 31, 2007)

Well not much to report recently, apart from (touch wood) everything seems to be going well ...... which is a first in my fishkeeping history :redface:

My little plants at the front have started sprouting runners all over the place, which is good to see:



















My amazon swords at the back are steaming along at full speed - getting the odd browning leaf, and the occasional one falling off, but that doesn't concern me. Looking deep into the middle of the tank there seems to be some new growth happening:










I've ordered some water lettuce thingies, to float at the rear left corner for a couple of reason. I want a dark area in the tank, and I really like the look of the roots when there's a clump of them together.

I've also come across a few fry recently (guppy) which may still be there or not, I've also seen quite a few being chased around by my golden barbs which we're eventually eaten. Having these may give them more of a fighting chance of survival by having somewhere else to hide.

I ditched the ceramic plant pot at the back as that just looked rubbish. I tried to spruce it up by tying on some java moss, but for some reason it was a nightmare to keep attached and ended up just floating around the tank and landing in places where I didn't want it to attach itself to, so I had no other option but to remove it all.

I'm actually doing water changes more often than I did in my previous tank, maybe 20~30% every week, and using some Flourish Excel Organic Carbon, and Flourish Comprehensive Suppliment for the Planted Aquarium kinda regular as well. They're actually running out so I'm just having a look around to see if there is anything else out there. I came across something called ....... green, some Chinese sounding name which is American. Yashimo Green, something like that anyway.

I'll read up about those in the other section here.

Thanks for reading.


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## re_hashed (May 31, 2007)

Popped out this morning, and found myself taking a detour to my LFS as I like to have a look around even if I'm not going to buy anything .... but this morning I did. I wanted something _'more'_ than my guppies and golden barbs that I've currently got.

I've got a _nice_ tank, so I really wanted some _nice_ fish to go in there.

I only purchased 3, but I'm more than happy with them, and they are my fist ever Cichlids. Spoke to the fella in the shop about tank size, other occupants, how heavily planted etc, and we came up with these:


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## re_hashed (May 31, 2007)

I knew that I'd jinx things by saying 'everything seems to be going well..'

Over the past week my plants have taken a turn for the worse, and I don't know why ! 

I've been doing regular water changes, my lighting's on exactly the same as ever 

on: *07:00 - 09:30* _(so it's on when I get up and getting ready for work)_ - 2.5hrs
off: *09:30 - 15:00* _(comes on just before the kids come home from school)_ - 5.5hrs
on: *15:00 - 23:00* _(on for my pleasure through the evening)_ - 8hrs
off: *23:00 - 07:00* _(I'm sleeping) _- 8hrs

I've been dosing the correct amount of Flourish Excel supplements (Flourish Excel Carbon for the planted aquarium & Flourish Comprehensive Supplement for the planted aquarium) maybe weekly, sometimes every other week if I forget the weekly one.

The water temperature is: 77~78 (25~26)

My water parameters are:

*pH *= 7.6 ~ 7.8
*high range pH* = 8 ~ 8.2
*Ammonia* = 0.25ppm
*Nitrate* = 40ppm
*Nitrite* = 0ppm

Here are some pics for you to see and hopefully diagnose what's going wrong.




























Any ideas ???


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## re_hashed (May 31, 2007)

Update time after a couple of months without one.

I let things 'grow' for a while but after looking at some of the fantastic tanks that people have on here I just couldn't help tinkering a little.

My main gripe was my small amount of Java Moss that I initially had secured to my driftwood had exploded to a massive ball about the size of a melon or pineapple. I took to it with some scissors, but when I was trying to catch all the bits that I'd cut off to stop them rooting somewhere else I grabbed a little and it came off. It was a really good feeling, so I went ahead and pulled off the rest. Then I thought that the tank looked a bit empty so I've ordered some plants online (more details later).

I had some fantastic water lettuce before I introduced my Rainbow fish. They have a nasty habit of smashing into them at 100mph from the underside and dragging them around the tank for a bit. Needless to say, they didn't like that, so I've only got a few small ones left now.

So, as of last night, this is what it looked like with a full tank shot:










As you can see, my small jungle vals I have in the right have completely taken over that corner - which I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing.

Now a few tank bits closer:

View from the left hand side:










View from the right hand side:










and looking down on the tank:










The plants that I've ordered online are:

5 x Java Fern
2 x Aponogeton Ulvaceus
3 x Crypt Balansae
2 x Anubia Nana

The Java Ferns I'm going to attach to a longish piece of driftwood and place them on the left hand side near the filter intake, directly behind the knobbly driftwood that's sticking out. I would attach them directly to the bit that sticks out, but I know my limitations, so I'd do it on another piece and pop it behind.  This is relatively low light (probably the lowest light level in the tank so it should suit them fine).

The Aponogeton Ulvaceus being a background plant with medium light, I'm thinking of taking out the furthest few Vals on the left of the group, and panting them there, or directly behind the large driftwood.

The Crypt Balansae are med light, and midground so I may pop them in front of the vals, directly at the end of the driftwood right end.

The Anubis Nanas may go directly onto the driftwood but I think that the light may be too high for them there, so I've got a smaller piece of driftwood going 'spare' so I may attach them to that and just see where looks best - I'm not actually sure.

My fish stock is kinda the same:

4 Rainbow
4 Blue Rainbow
3 Cherry Barbs
2 Guppies
8 Pristella Tetra
2 Clown Pleco
4 Albino shrimp

If anyone actually reads this, and thinks that something could be done better then I'm all ears. If I'm going to get my hands in there again once the plants come I may as well do other things as well. So any suggestions, on what I have in there already, or the new plants I've ordered then let me have them.

I know that the tank is actually pretty boring looking, so something to take it to the next level would be great.

Regular 50% water changes - weekly if I can, or fortnightly for sure.
When I do the water changes I give it a hoover and get some of the debris off the substrate
When I do the water changes I dose Flourish (stopped Excel as my plants didn't seem to like it)
No CO2, did have DIY, but it was far too much hassle so I stopped and now just saving and researching some pressurised systems.

Had some hair algae appearing, so I messed around with my lighting time and now reduced it to 8 hours and it's seemed to have stopped.

That's the lot, till I probably update with my new pants added.

T'ra


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## re_hashed (May 31, 2007)

I purchased some reflectors for my tank a couple of weeks ago, and posted a few bits and bobs over in the lighting section, but I'll update on here:



Seattle_Aquarist said:


> Watch your plants growth, they will tell you if they are getting more light or not.


FYI quick update, my plants are now going crazy ! Still no CO2, just as everything was before, just with reflectors.

I now have plants that I thought were completely dead reaching the top of the tank, and sprouting new leaves/stems daily.

This is how the LHS of my tank looked before I had the reflectors a few weeks ago:










This is how the LHS of my tank looks as of 5 minutes ago:



















I have plants appearing from all over the place, that I didn't even know were there in the first place. I've got one appearing that I didn't plant, and have no idea what it is, but it's looking pretty healthy. Give it a few more weeks and I'm sure that it would have grown into something that I can identify.










I had absolutely no idea that reflectors would make so much of a difference!

Pleased as punch I am, my aquarium is starting to look something like I set out to achieve.

and my anubis nana starting to look healthy:










I had absolutely no idea that reflectors made so much of a difference! I'm now converted.

Also, which is a bit of a bonus I've had absolutely no issues with algae (well no more than the normal 'issues')

Bought a couple of Nerite Snails to look after some BBA Algae that was appearing on my micro-swords. Nice little things they are


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## re_hashed (May 31, 2007)

I'll update this thread prob tomorrow after some changing around, but I've had a few days of work to use up my holiday, and did the family thing and popped round my grandparents. My grandad wanted to clear some stuff out of his shed (he's 90 so struggles a bit)

Going through some of his 'junk' I came across a cracking bit of driftwood behind a cabinet.

I pulled it out and asked what it was from, and after about 15 mins of him thinking he said that he used to have it when he was younger when he kept a lizzard.

He didn't want it anymore, so it came home with me

This pic doesn't give you an idea of how big it is, but it's about 1mtr






























As it's been out of water for about 30years, needless to say, it floats !!! I was surprised at just how buoyant it actually was  

It's currently soaking in my waterbutt, weighed down by a couple of bricks in plastic bags that I've tied to it.

Hopefully after a couple of days I'll be able to get it in my tank.

I'll see what it's like tomorrow, as I can always drill through it and screw it to a decent size chunk of slate that I've got laying around which I can drop in and it won't look out of place. I know where ideally I'd want it to go so that's not a problem either.

I have a ice cream tub of Java Moss that I've left in my garden for about 3 months now, which has doubled in size so I may pull some of that off and attach it to some of the thinner 'sticks' at the end as I'm planning on having it diagonally from bottom left, to top right.


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## re_hashed (May 31, 2007)

Well I was going to wait about a week before putting in my driftwood, but my impatience got the better of me.

I tried putting it in the tank as it was a needless to say there wasn't a hope in hell that it would stay down. I tried tucking it under the wood that's already there but that just lifted that up as well.

So I decided to get the tools out of the shed and attach it to a pretty substantial lump of slate. Needed to pop out to B&Q to pick up some brass screws, and whilst I was out I happened to drive past the fish shop and ended up coming away with a couple of new T5HO bulbs as the once I currently were the ones supplied.










Wow, what a difference new bulbs made !!!

Anyway.

This is my wood in situ:










I had some java moss in the shed, so I decided to put some on

(Java Moss is IMPOSSIBLE to kill - I went to get it, it had been knocked off the shelf and was behind a stack of stuff (absolutely no light), and when I took the lid off it water was frozen! Not solid, but I needed to break the ice to get at it - but it was in perfect condition, with new growth, about twice the size)










With the size of the stone, and the wood, my water level has risen quite a bit, so you can see the bottom of the glass shelf thingie for my lights.


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

re_hashed said:


> Full tank shot:


What are the low plants coming from the left to the right in front of the crypts?


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## re_hashed (May 31, 2007)

I've been thinking of ripping my tank down and doing a re-scape for a while now, but to be honest I've never really had the time as I know that it'll take me a good few days.

This morning however I popped into my LFS, and there was a monster piece of driftwood just calling me. 

I had an idea in my mind for a driftwood scape, with loads of Anubias.

Now I've got this wood home, I didn't realise how big that it was. It was only £20, and I knew that it was a biggun.

Now I need some ideas of what to do with it. I don't really want to take a saw to it and start hacking into smaller bits, but at the moment I'm at a bit of a loss.

I already have some pretty hefty pieces of wood in my aquarium.

Pics time:





















I suppose that really the only option for me is to get everything out of the tank, and get it in and start moving in around and incorporating the other driftwood around and within it.

Has anyone got an eureka moment just by looking at the pictures. I've tried to photograph it in a number of angles and closeness so you can get a rough idea of it.

This is a picture from a while ago, with what I've got in my tank at the moment (the plants have grown lots in there).


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## re_hashed (May 31, 2007)

Here we go then, I re-scaped yesterday.

Ever get the feeling that about 1/2 hour into the event, and you have a fish-tank full of what looks like dirty radiator water, you think to yourself "Oh Christ, I wish that I'd never started this!" But it's too late to back out now, you've removed all your fish, all the plants are out on the coffee table, the old aqua-scape is all over the sitting room - YOU GOTTA CONTINUE.

So, A few pics to show what I was coming from (these were taken over about a 12 month period)

12 Months ago it looked like this:










6 months ago I was looking like: 
(I was given some 'guppy grass' which went mad and started taking over)










Before the re-scape yesterday it looked like this:
(The guppy grass was too thick, even though I was pulling handfulls of it out weekly, the jungle vals had kicked off big time, and were growing at the front of the tank, not ideal considering it it a background plant etc)










This morning it was looking like this
(A slight change I think you'll agree)










I ditched all the jungle val which was taking over the tank, the other plants have gone, some of the old stones etc. I went for a more minimalistic style, mainly using my driftwood. I want to get some more anubius.

I know that the scape is somewhat central, but I was restricted to where that damn big central piece of wood could physically fit. I tried all sorts, at this was the only place that it would go that I could get the lid shut and the light fixtures seated correctly.

The scape is made up of 3 main pieces, the large one on the left kinda coming around towards the front, the central V bit with a decent chunk on the bottom and another bit behind coming up from the rear right. There are about 5 other small pieces in there, to fill gaps, make it look more 'stumpy' and with some anubias on it.

The tankmates are:

3 Bosemani rainbow
4 smaller blue rainbow fish
2 small plecos
3 female swordfish
1 male swordfish
7 tetra thingies (not sure of the name, not neons, silver, with yellow and black tips to their fins)
1 female platty 
1 platty fry (just big enough to survive the rainbows)
3 Albino shrimps
1 Assassin snail
1 Nerrite snail

The guppy grass went in the bin, 80% of the jungle vals went in the stream behind me, the other 20% into my other tank. Some of the java ferns went in my other tank, where some of them got 'damaged beyond repair' when I threw the peice of driftwood against the wall that I was trying to tie the damn things onto!

I like the clean look to the bottom of the tank though, I may invest in a couple of smaller corys to wizz around the now bare bottom.

Sorry about the quality of the picture, it was taken on my iPad. The glass needs a clean from water marks when I was re-filling it, but I thought that I should leave it for a day or two in order not to stress the fish more. I'll get my DLSR out tonight, turn the room lights off, and try and get a couple of decent pictures to show.


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## re_hashed (May 31, 2007)

I have just purchased some of this Osmocote Plus, and a load of 00 Gelotine Capsuals, so I'm going to make some DIY root tabs.

The plants .... well, they're not dying at least, but they're not exactly smashing the scape up either. The Amazon Sword is starting to yellow, and the others are just sitting there ..... being green ...... but not really doing anything else.

I've replaced one of my tank lights with some wicked bright bad-boy (can't exactly remember what one), given my reflectors a clean etc....

Gonna give the tank a kick up the backside to get something happening.



















Watch this space for updated pictures of my DIY root tab sucess, and lush green growing tank ! 

......... but actually, more likely, me moaning about a super algae boom as I've upset the balance somewhere


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## re_hashed (May 31, 2007)

Well, lets see how this goes then. I made a load of DIY tabs up yesterday, and put 5 in last night.

Here are the pics from last night – sorry about the quality, phone camera. Also the water is cloudy as I’d been rooting around pushing in my tabs, and also stirred things up with a water-change.

Full Tank Shot: 1 tab in the front’ish left, 1 x front’ish middle, 1 x right next to central amazon sword, 1 x middle of the brown (crypts?), 1 x rear right near the jungle valls. 










Left Hand Side where I put the tab: 










Central where I put two tabs:










Right Hand Side where I put a tab:










I’ll try and update a week from now, from roughly the same position and we’ll see what happens.


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## re_hashed (May 31, 2007)

Wowzers, 4 years since I logged into this forum. A lot has changed since my last post, mainly house moves etc, which unfortunately meant that I had to shut down my tank (I didn't think that it had been 4 years though). My tank has been bubble-wrapped up, and followed me around everywhere we've been, and carefully stored in the garage/shed/spare room. We have now put down our roots again, and moved into our 'forever' home. We've been there about a year now, and now that most of the decoration, refurbishment has been completed, I think that it may be time to get back.

Since my dog died I've been at a bit of a loss as to what to get stuck-into as she took up all of my spare time (not complaining though, I'd give anything to have her back again) - so when I was tidying out the garage (yeah, doing loads of fun things now) I found my tank stored carefully at the back. I now think that I've found a spot for it - so over the weekend I will remove the lid so I get an accurate size of the footprint, and tape it out on the floor just to see if it gets in the way of 'living' It's strange that we've moved into a house that's probably about 3 times as big as the house we were living in when I used to keep fish previously, but I'm really struggling to find a place.

So, I may, may, may be coming back into the hobby. I've just got to take a bit of time for a refresher course, and purchase some more hardscape as most of the rocks have disappeared in various rockeries over the years, the substrate has for some reason got less and less over time. Plants as well are needed obviously. I'm still planning on going low tech, low light - but I've got a lot more disposable income so I won't be so restricted in things (but I still don't want to be getting into Co2 and high light tanks.


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