Floater Posted December 16, 2009 Report Share Posted December 16, 2009 Dimensions: 151 x 51 x 66 cm Approx. 450L Filtration: Eheim Pro3e 2078 (1850 LPH) Blue Planet UView Aquarium Purifier 24 watt (430LPH) Heating: Jager 300watt Fertilizers: Flourish Flourish Excel Lighting: 2x 1200mm 54watt T5 Juwel Day 9000K 2x 1200mm 54watt T5 Juwel Nature 4100K Lights are on 12hrs a day. Current stocking: 4x Otocinclus 10x Neon Tetra 6x Corydoras Sterbai 2x Blue Rams 17th December just after initial planting: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted December 16, 2009 Report Share Posted December 16, 2009 nice work. be prepared for a big brown algae mess which is quite common for new setups, i will reduce over time & depending on what fish you intend to have a GAE or similar could be a good idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floater Posted December 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2009 Yeah my sister's tank, (juwel rio 240) has exploded with algae. As soon as my Jager heater gets here I'm going to dump some ottos in there hopefully they help a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer Posted December 17, 2009 Report Share Posted December 17, 2009 Looks excellent! So much fun setting up a new tank, eh? :lol: Don't know what your plans are (and I am certainly no plant expert :roll: ), but I have found that when setting up a planted tank that it is helpful to wait until the plants have time to settle in and begin growing before you add too much light or any added nutrients. If the plants aren't growing yet, they won't be utilising the nutrients (fertilisers, fish waste, etc.) so the algae will be able to flourish with all the excess nutrients and light. It doesn't take long though before they start taking hold. Flourish excel helps with preventing some algae. Also, brown algae can be helped a lot by temporarily reducing the photo period and adding plenty of surface agitation. HTH Have fun!!!! :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
land_lubber Posted December 17, 2009 Report Share Posted December 17, 2009 Nice one. I got my jewel rio 180 about 1 week ago and love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted December 17, 2009 Report Share Posted December 17, 2009 you're one of those plant- grower uppers aren't you? :lol: Tank looks great, will be even better in a couple of months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floater Posted December 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2009 you're one of those plant- grower uppers aren't you? :lol: Tank looks great, will be even better in a couple of months. Haha yeah I got my plants from a guy in Christchurch off trademe "Waterplantz". Got 75 stems atleast 20 diff variaties for $30. He put them in bags according to their height (tall, med, short) and gave me a list of everything that he gave me. I have no real idea what is what so just went off his bag labels. Will be interesting to see what it looks like in a few months for sure! Thanks for the advice Jenniferh, I think I will put a few Otto's in at the end of the week will probably be able to gorge themselves by then. There aren't even any fish in it yet and I like watching it haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted December 17, 2009 Report Share Posted December 17, 2009 Be careful with the ottos, they can be rather sensitive to water conditions, and possibly not the best to cycle with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer Posted December 17, 2009 Report Share Posted December 17, 2009 Be careful with the ottos, they can be rather sensitive to water conditions, and possibly not the best to cycle with. +1 agreed Are you adding mature media from your other tank to the canister? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neon Posted December 17, 2009 Report Share Posted December 17, 2009 Be careful with the ottos, they can be rather sensitive to water conditions, and possibly not the best to cycle with. Yep I second Zev - my experience with ottos is that they don't last very long Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floater Posted December 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2009 There is no mature media. I've had 3 ottos in my 60L for about a year now, although it was cycled when I added them. Only problem I've ever had with them is that one of them kept getting stuck in things, first it got stuck in the cap on the bottom of a cheap heater (to stop it smacking against the glass) I saved it from that fortunately. Unfortunately I lost one of the three otto's a couple days ago, was looking for them and eventually found the third, dead, stuck in a small hole on the underside of a piece of driftwood I bet it was the same one . Surely 2 ottos in a 450L body of water wouldn't cause an ammonia spike? Maybe I'll find some other random fish to throw in there. Thanks for the heads up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted December 17, 2009 Report Share Posted December 17, 2009 Like rams, ottos require a mature tank that has stable water conditions, if the tank has not cycled yet, it will get spikes of ammonia and nitrate no matter how big the tank is and small the fish are. Neons are no good for cycling either, prone to whitespot and dropping dead for no apparent reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamH Posted December 17, 2009 Report Share Posted December 17, 2009 Is it possible to do a fishless cycle? I'd hope in a tank like this, large fish are avoided to keep a sense of scale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
land_lubber Posted December 17, 2009 Report Share Posted December 17, 2009 Is it possible to do a fishless cycle? I'd hope in a tank like this, large fish are avoided to keep a sense of scale. It is a 450L tank. I reckon it'd look cool with a massive school of some kind of tetras. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floater Posted December 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2009 Is it possible to do a fishless cycle? I'd hope in a tank like this, large fish are avoided to keep a sense of scale. Biggest thing going in will eventually be 5 discus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southerrrngirrl Posted December 18, 2009 Report Share Posted December 18, 2009 Looks good so far. Maybe try cycling with Glowlight Tetras or Black Neon Tetras. I've found them quite a bit hardier than the ordinary Neons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted January 14, 2010 Report Share Posted January 14, 2010 ahem. time for an update I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floater Posted January 14, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2010 ahem. time for an update I think. I was going to post some on Sunday seeing that is a full month... but... I just picked up my old mans camera (as mine ain't to hot) and I don't think I can wait so I think tomorrow at around 10am you'll see some pics (lights come on at 9.30 ). Fair bit of growth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floater Posted January 14, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2010 So here are some updated pics of my tank, 4 weeks to the day (basically) since planting. The grassy looking stuff in the front is covered in brown algae but it appears to be starting to clear up . Enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floater Posted February 23, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 Two months on from initial setup. Have added 5 young sterbai cory. Possibly getting some discus in a couple weeks . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 That looks awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floater Posted February 23, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 The stargrass has really filled out, and the algae growing on the large piece of driftwood gives it a good natural look I think. I need the background plants to fill out some more, but I think time will fix that. Oh and js on the forums here got me a nice big piece of black card to put on the back awhile go, makes a big improvement I think! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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