My First Planted Tank - Juwel Rio 125

[LondonDragon]

Your assumption on sexes is correct - even i could figure that one - have you got breeding aspirations at all?

Fish stocks are very low in this tank now, if they breed naturally then it would be great ;)

[arjenk]

Verry nice tank! Your Glosso look's verry nice.

[LondonDragon]

Was cleaning the tank and decided to take some photos of the Moss wall, its made of Weeping moss if you missed earlier posts ;)









Problem with a moss wall is keeping the top of it tidy and clean, after a prune it becomes cluttered with bits of the plants you just prunned, mine as taken life at the top, its growing glosso, HC and some riccia lol here a photo:



Water was still a little cloudy, thanks for looking

[LondonDragon]

Couple more, was just messing about with the camera, trying a few things since its playing up and took these:





Looks pretty cool when the neon is on, and you can see all the pearling in the tank.

[LondonDragon]

Just a quick update, after 4 monhs my CO2 bottle is running out, so it will be time to try a FE for the first time, going to be interesting that ;)

My glosso is filling in nicely, almost covered the front now, I prunned it at the weekend and now have new shoots going everywhere, here a quick photo:



Thanks for looking

[LondonDragon]

Took some more shots today, did a water change yesterday and gave things a good prune. Nothing much has changed, just letting things grow, have reduce the lighting back to 4x24w, think the 6x24w was a bit too much.
Been slacking a little on the EI dosing and water changes, so have noticed some algae, will do another water change mid week to get things on track.

Here some shots of the tank:






Comments and critics always welcomed

[LondonDragon]

Some photos of my fish the plants are just growing for now ;)













And the Betta:


Thanks for looking, comments and critics always welcomed

[LondonDragon]

Just a quick update with some photos, not a lot has changed, just letting things grow now and keeping the glosso trimmed and low, few photos for you to see whats going on so far.









The Staurogyne sp. is doing better now:


So is the P. Helferi:


Close-up of the Fissidens Fontanus:


Hope you liked the photos and tank, critics and comments always welcomed.

Thanks for looking

[pictus_man_77]

Excuse my ignorance, but could someone explain 'Pearling' to me?

[Gulper]

Very nice tank, i struggle to keep Java Fern alive !!!!

[LondonDragon]

Excuse my ignorance, but could someone explain 'Pearling' to me?

Pearling is when your plants are receiving enough light, nutrients and co2 to actually produce lots of oxygen bubbles.

Very nice tank, i struggle to keep Java Fern alive !!!!

Many thanks, Java fern is not the easiest of plants, it as a tendency to melt, just add some ferts like TPN+ and some light and it will grow nicely ;)

[LondonDragon]

Hi guys/gals, just a quick update.

Few things have changed in the tank, lost some of the fish in the tank for no apparent reason, added three new ottos and problems started after that so not sure if they were the cause, anyway I lost the corries, the Aspistogrammas, and some of the ottos including the new ones. So for now I will let things as they are regarding fish, now I have left the 2 rainbows, 10 harlequim rasbora, 2 ottos, 1 betta, 1 clown plec (I think its still there) and some amano and red cherry shrimp.

Also since I couldn't find the dead fish I had to strip the tank to clean it properly and decided to uproot the plants and redo the moss wall, took the oportunity to learn from the moss wall what I did wrong before and make it right this time.

Here the tank after the clean up, with no moss wall:



Here two days later with the new moss wall:









Here is yesterday:


Fissidens Fontanus:


Staurogyne sp.:


Helferi and glosso:


Thanks for looking, comments and critics always welcomed

[Martin S]

Hi
Just a question about the powerhead on the left hand side glass - is this on constantly, or do you have it on a timer? I'm looking at getting one to increase the flow in my new 30x18x18 tank (finally arriving at the end of this month) - am currently running my Rekord 70 with the built in filter/pump and an external Eheim 2224, but once I move to the new tank will only have the Eheim (which is running now so that it is cycled ready for the switch over). I've been offered two of the circulation pumps for £15 and was going to use 1, but just wondering about how best to inplement it. The plan is to hide it behind a piece of wood/rock just to ensure I don't end up with dead spots from the single flow of the Eheim.
I currently have excellent plant growth with a single T8 bulb and daily doses of EasyCarbo (which has kept the black hair algae completely at bay), and am moving up to a twin T5 setup for the new tank, so hope to have continued decent, but not over flowing, plant growth.
Thanks
Martin

[LondonDragon]

Hi Martin, the powerhead is great for moving things around, your need tank will be about the same size of the Rio 125 and let me warn you that the Eihem on its own is not good enough for this size tank, I would go for a turn over of about 10x the tank volume for good plant growth (Tetratec EX1200, Fluval 405 or an Ehiem of the same turnover). I have upgraded my internal filter pump to 1000lph, have a powerhead at the back which is not visible in the photos that does 400lph and the Koralia at the front (just above the CO2 diffusor) which is the one you mentioned that does 900lph. Hope that helps

Regards
Paulo

[Martin S]

Hi Martin, the powerhead is great for moving things around, your need tank will be about the same size of the Rio 125 and let me warn you that the Eihem on its own is not good enough for this size tank, I would go for a turn over of about 10x the tank volume for good plant growth (Tetratec EX1200, Fluval 405 or an Ehiem of the same turnover). I have upgraded my internal filter pump to 1000lph, have a powerhead at the back which is not visible in the photos that does 400lph and the Koralia at the front (just above the CO2 diffusor) which is the one you mentioned that does 900lph. Hope that helps

Regards
Paulo

Hi Paulo
Yes, I was beginning to realise that the Eheim is not going to give enough of a turnover in the new tank - will look at upgrading to a larger one I think and then sell the 2224 (only purchased new about three months ago). So you're suggesting a 1600LPH turnover - none of the standard (Pro/Pro II) Eheims give out that sort of output, but can't help think something that does (i.e. Eheim Pro 3e 2074 - 1500LPH) would be a huge filter for the size tank!
The pumps I have been offered are 2 x Seio 670s, and have a 670GPH turnover - do you have yours on continually? I was intending to use just 1, but I could use both pumps, I suppose?
Thanks
Martin

[LondonDragon]

Hi Paulo
Yes, I was beginning to realise that the Eheim is not going to give enough of a turnover in the new tank - will look at upgrading to a larger one I think and then sell the 2224 (only purchased new about three months ago). So you're suggesting a 1600LPH turnover - none of the standard (Pro/Pro II) Eheims give out that sort of output, but can't help think something that does (i.e. Eheim Pro 3e 2074 - 1500LPH) would be a huge filter for the size tank!
The pumps I have been offered are 2 x Seio 670s, and have a 670GPH turnover - do you have yours on continually? I was intending to use just 1, but I could use both pumps, I suppose?
Thanks
Martin

Hi Martin,
At least a 1200lph turnover would be nice, I know people that place an FX5 on that size tank, depends what you want to do with it really.
The two powerheads would help to start with, but in the long run you will have problems, so best to invest on a good filter to start with, I haven't upgraded my 2224 because I kept the internal otherwise would have done it by now.
The powerhead I have above the CO2 diffusor I only turn it on when the CO2 is on, this gives the fish a break during the night ;)

[Martin S]

OK, thanks.
Looks like a bigger filter then!
Thanks again
Martin

[LondonDragon]

Just a quick update, just letting things grow at the moment, haven't been to LFS so no new stems, just working with I got on the right hand side, still not happy about it. Have removed the Fissidens Fontanus from the redmoor wood and placed it in the shrimp tank as I had an algae issue with it, almost clearned now ;)
Got all the spare parts I ordered to sort out my external, it was leaking, new o-rings sorted everything

Some photos:






Taiwan Moss:


Spiky Moss:


Weeping moss wall:


Thanks for looking

[samc]

hi do you have any plants that you would sell thanks i like your glosso looks great do you have any of that i could buy?
also i like your weeping moss looks great iv got some on bogwood been there for a while and hasent changed any tips

[LondonDragon]

Quick update with some photos

Due to problem with my luminaire, one of the ballasts went about 3 weeks ago, so things in the tank have been suffering.
I have lost almost all my Blyxa, my Donoi is almost all gone too, and the glosso started suffering too, the right hand side is a little bare and the rest of the glosso started growing upwards rather than as a carpet, plenty of trimming to try and keep it low.

I managed to purchase a replacement ballast online (EJQ ignored all my emails regarding the ballast, luminaire was still under warranty) and yesterday attempted a DIY install with success I have now a fully working luminaira again.

Some photos:








Moss wall:


Taiwan moss:


Managed to get this side shot:


Thanks for looking, comments and critics always welcomed by everyone

[LondonDragon]

Just a little update, has some might have noticed on a old post I have a little bit of glosso growing emersed over the tubbing of my external filter spraybar, today while doing the weekly water change I noticed it was flowering

Overal photo of the glosso:


Closer up of the glosso:


Close shots of the two flowers:




Thanks for looking, comments and critics always welcomed

[LondonDragon]

Just a quick update on this tank, I am putting my rescape on hold so now I am testing a few things, I am running this pretty high light now and high CO2 and also the main reason for keeping it going full planted is to test the auto dosing system which has been running 3 weeks now, during this period I haven't dosed EasyCarbo at all, its working great.

Some photos of what the tank looks like at present:











Thanks for looking

[andywoolloo]

it's amazing! Simply great! I love how the wood on the bottom looks against the green.

[L number Banana]

Hey! You have my fantasy tank!

That is just heavenly! The flowers are sweet, I didn't see them last time. They look like flowers from the gourd family. Very nice.

What's the little green fluffs on the horizontal driftwood? It looks exactly natural, like moss or mistletoe one might see walking through a forest.

Also what fish are they? The betta is an elegant addition, nice red

[LondonDragon]

it's amazing! Simply great! I love how the wood on the bottom looks against the green.

Mant thanks this is an experimental tank now, until I get my external filter sorted and my inline CO2 reactor.

Hey! You have my fantasy tank!
That is just heavenly! The flowers are sweet, I didn't see them last time. They look like flowers from the gourd family. Very nice.
What's the little green fluffs on the horizontal driftwood? It looks exactly natural, like moss or mistletoe one might see walking through a forest.
Also what fish are they? The betta is an elegant addition, nice red

Many thanks the plant in the wood is Fissidens Fontanus.

Fish stock:

3 x Bosemani Rainbow (1 is a fry of the pair of adults)
3 x Ottos
10 x Harlequin Rasboras
1 x Clown Plec
1 X Betta Splender (missus idea)
Some shrimp

Cheers

[LondonDragon]

Been taking a few more photos today, the tank was starting to get some algae so I have now upped the CO2 and the dosing.
Rather than dosing 40ml per day I have set it to dose 40ml on Mondays, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, 80ml on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. I am also dosing a couple of tea spoons extra per week of Trace and the anubias are loving it.

Well lots of photos for you guys to see whats going on:























Thanks for looking critiques and comments always welcomed

[glenny]

this is a beautiful planted tank! a little bit dutchstyle with a little bit amano, a little precious "jungle", very good pics!

[LondonDragon]

this is a beautiful planted tank! a little bit dutchstyle with a little bit amano, a little precious "jungle", very good pics!

Many thanks Glenny

[LondonDragon]

Haven't updated this journal in a while, here is how the tank was looking before I planted the HC, and moving towards lower maintnance plants in half the tank.




After finishing planting the HC in the tank, I have some of it melting away, but that seems to have stopped and its pearling away everyday when I get home. I was not happy with the EI solution, it was getting my tank a little cloudy and was seeing some algae, so for a test I have been using TPN+ for the last couple of weeks.
Water has remained crystal clear all week and plants have developed much better colours too and the algae is gone.
Going to carry on using TPN+ for a few more weeks and then go back to EI and see the differences, might have to increase the EI solution, maybe it was not strong enough.

Photos right after planting:




Thanks for looking. Comments always appreciated.

[LondonDragon]

This tank is still going, here some of the latest photos:









Thanks for looking