637 replies to this topic

[Alm0stAwesome]

I got my first fish after cycling my 48L tank on 10th March 2012 and by the 17th April I'd bought a Juwel Rio 180! Less than 6 weeks later haha.

If you want to see where I started, check out the topic I used for updates on the 48L HERE

Right! So I got this Juwel for £100 off ebay. It came with black sand, live plants and fish (but I didn't take the fish). It also had an *awesome* castle ornament which will be going on ebay quick-like. There's a small piece of wood with it too.

As with many bargains things don't always work out to plan. When we lifted the tank into our car the trim on the bottom just fell apart lol - also the tank had been quite neglected so was pretty manky. These things are both easily solved! BUT when we got home we saw that the lighting unit had obviously broken at some point so they had rigged up some interpet lighting unit to it while also "modifying" the original unit. It did not look safe at all. There was nothing for it I had to buy a new unit for £73.00 - ouch!

The tank has now cleaned up pretty well and I'm in the process of gluing the bottom frame back together.

Other things I've bought for the tank:
Black background
Hydor 300w External Heater
Tetra EX1200 External Filter

Unfortunately I'm away for the weekend because all I want to do is set up this tank! Here's some pictures!













These are the plants that came with it, there's quite a bit here! Please ID them for me?






And one tiny tuft of this stuff:


Also it looks like one of the plants has lots of "babies" attached to it and there is one clump with maybe 5 little ones attached...am I OK to separate these? Is there a correct way to do it? Here's just two stick together as an example.


Here's how I'm keeping them - if I'm lucky I'll be able to plant on Sunday but that may not happen. Should I do anything different?

Edited by Alm0stAwesome, 06 June 2012 - 02:51 PM.

[stu40]

1st dibs on that spooky castle.....just kidding.
you're right, that lighting unit looks like an accident waiting to happen.
Plant wise
plant pic 1 -group shot
plant pic 2 -i would say wisteria- Hygrophila difformis
plant pic 3 -bunch of crypts not sure what ones
plant pic4 -dwarf sag maybe, or a damaged vallis
once roots have grown on any new plant, it's ok to seperate.
Welcome to the planted Rio club

edit:when you bought new lights, what type did you replace with T8,T5?

Edited by stu40, 20 April 2012 - 06:57 PM.

[Alm0stAwesome]

Thanks stu!!

Replaced with the T5, it's coming with a daylight and a nature tube, whatever that means.

http://www.aquatics-...-100cms-t5.html

[ian]

that's probably the safest thing you could do looking at those lights!

[Alm0stAwesome]

Yeah that black box with the switches on it is what the bulb was attached to - it was all rusty looking inside!

[Alm0stAwesome]

Off to wash some DISGUSTING sand (a good £50 worth, booyah).

Meant to ask before, does anyone use the Juwel reflectors? Are they needed? Worth it?

[stu40]

Meant to ask before, does anyone use the Juwel reflectors? Are they needed? Worth it?

did you plan on co2?.There's already a fair bit of light without them

[KkAaNnEe]

Yeah forget those reflectors, only needed for matine I would think, would be OTT

Looks good!


Stu lol whats this planted rio club (PRC - I guess?) how comes its a secret, did you start it?

[Xraymark]

Ohh new tank time. Setting the scene very nicely.
Interested to to see what you do with this tank.

[Joshwainwright]

Wow, plenty of hidden problems

I suppose it's all fun though and you seem to have cleared the tank up nicely

[Alm0stAwesome]

Thanks folks! Nope not planning on using co2

Yep it's cleaned up really nicely, I think it had been empty for less than 24 hours so the gunk hadn't turned to concrete yet

[Alm0stAwesome]

lol turns out that castle is going for £35.00 on ebay - WIN!

it's a lot less green when new though, more scrubbing! Doh

Edited by Alm0stAwesome, 21 April 2012 - 11:38 AM.

[Joshwainwright]

£35

I binned all my old, cheesy ornaments!

[Man of fish]

Well the castle pays for more than half the new light unit
The old one doesn't look safe at all!
Looks to be a great deal when you really see all it came with though

[Alm0stAwesome]

Righteo well this has been far too slow moving for me but I was away all last weekend and.....blah blah blah - lame!

Let's walk and talk, shall we?

It took a while for all of my bits n bobs to arrive but I eventually got the pre-loved sand clean (spending ages picking out remnants of psychedelic gravel again!) and in the tank with a black background on. Woo! I had a ...."moment", shall we say, in another thread when I discovered the Tetra EX1200 doesn't fit in the side of my cabinet but in the end I'm not *that* offended by it



I toured all of the local mopani wood haunts and bought some from everywhere! (Dunelm Mill, The Range and Pets at Home!) I ended up with six bits that I like and started putting them in trying to decide where they should go. Here's what I came up with...









They have been soaking in the bathtub for less than 24 hours and the buoyancy has already left them - I just hope the tannins go quickly as well!











Now...you can basically forget the hardscape above! Because after soaking the colours have come up nicely and now I want to turn most of the pieces back-to-front to show the nice red...ugh. So please help!

Now, back to this fancy filter...turning it on was a terrifying experience - did anyone else feel this way? I was just ready for water to go shooting out every which way lol. But it didn't - there's been no leaks and it's silent as the grave. I'm sitting here swearing at the little 48L for being so freakin noisy! Never bothered me before!

Next issue that I need some help with is these jd;alsdj;a plants They were only in "fair" condition when they arrived but since then, due to me not being able to plant them for several days, they have completely melted away. Please give me some guidance on what to do. I have gone ahead and planted them after cutting away 90% of the leaves and stems (and trimming the roots back a bit) but in all honesty they are all going apart from maybe two or three leaves. Is there any coming back from this? I added a half dose of TPN when I added them to the tank last night and I'm trying to give them plenty of light. If I cut back all of the melted sections there won't be anything left, can they grow back?



The other plant melted back a little but is still looking pretty great really...



Here's the whole tank. I just put the plants in anywhere because I know I'm going to have to move them around when the wood is ready. Also there's no fish in yet because I'm treating for finrot in the little one and it's a lot easier to manage in a small tank. Also, I feel bad about chucking them into this naked tank??



The whole plants thing and the fact that it's not just getting set up "instantly" makes me depressed! I am toying with the thought of moving the fish tonight as finrot kid is on the mend..what do you guys think?

[Man of fish]

I didn't really like tour original wood hardscape, no offense to you, but even though the plants melted that's a start , I'm pretty sure they'll grow back so thats good. Did you get a new light unit??
I wouldn't move the fish because the last thing you wanna do is move them into this tank then develop finrot too :scream: this tank is cursed forever!!!!!

[Biulu]

Congratulations with your new tank! Don't worry about the crypts melting; they would have done that probably anyway. They will most likely grow back. Looking forward to your new wood layout!

[Alm0stAwesome]

Thanks Biulu It's still soaking, my husband is really pressuring me to put it in the tank but I really want clear water lol

[Biulu]

Getting clear water might take a while.... It took me 2 months! I think though that if you put it in your tank with a filter you might get rid of it quicker.

[Salam]

Love your wood! And the tank. And the plants Looking forward to reading your updates.