100L Journal - Beginners Upgrade

[thomtom]

Hi all,
 
So this is to follow up on another thread that I had opened when I first joined. I previously had a 54L tank with too many fish so I was (thankfully) forced to go to a bigger tank.....I have now upgraded to a 100L tank that I bought used from eBay for £31 which included the cabinet.
I apologise in advance if this gets a bit wordy, I have a tendency to blab.
 
 
5x Scissortails
5x Rosy Tetra
4x Albino Coradoras (It was 5 but one never recovered from moving tank)
5x Harlequins
4x Snails
2x Cherry barb
1x Guppy
 
Just to fill people in, this is how the tank looked before.

 
 
So now to show the new tank and explain the kit that has been changed to accommodate the increased capacity...
 

 

 
The stocking has not changed from above (yet) however the heater and filter had to change.
 
I bought a new 200W Betta heater as the old one was only 25W and definitely wasn't going to keep the new tank warm enough. The old Interpet PF1 also needed replacing however I didn't want to get an external filter because of the costs but this may well change in the future. In the end I went for an Aqua-internal filter XL which is made by Maidenhead Aquatics (my local LFS) which appears to be a re branding of an Aquafish Aqua Flow XL. It is MASSIVE but has ceramic media as well as the sponge that I am used to. I took the carbon out of the new filter and stuffed my old filter media in its place to keep the bacteria build up and to try and get it spreading/developing on the new filter as quickly as possible. I now have it on about 50% power which is fairly noisy but bearable in the front room.
 
 
I kept to the very fine gravel that was in the old tank and just transported it with a bit more added, I liked the look of the old layout so pretty much stuck with it. The greenery is all real, the tank hood has an 18W single bulb installed which is much better than a small LED interpet stick I was using before. I have slowly added the correct amount of fertiliser over the last 4 days for the water that was added and the plants seem to be growing (not flying up but definitely growing). I will continue to add a small about of fertiliser every other day from now on.
 
Since moving to the new tank I saw an increase of the PH from my normal 7.5 to around 8 for about 2 days but this appears to have dropped again....phew. Ammonia and Nitrite have always been 0 and the KH seems to sticking at around 3 ppm
 
I would love to hear the experts opinion on what I have changed and have a few questions of my own:
 
Levels of 3ppm KH seems low to me, should I be concerned about this?
How often should the ceramic media be cleaned, I have read that it will never need to be replaced?
I have always had a temp of 26 but others seem to go up to 28, is this better?
Any ideas what my plants are? (I will post in the planted section if I get no replies).
 
 
Thanks in advance! I have found this forum very helpful, I haven't posted many times but feel like I have read and absorbed half of the forum.

 

[Jack sparrow]

No advice mate, but what a bargain you got there, looks just the job.
 
Regards
Jack

 

[Lunar Jetman]

Looking good so far! A real bargain at £31!

I have had the same ceramic media in my filter for the last 7 years. In fact I think some of it came over from my tank before that so it could have been around 25 plus years old. I personally leave it alone, maybe rinse it in tank water every few months, if that.

My tank is sitting at around 25 degrees and I've found that perfectly fine. I guess the type of your fish will determine if you want to raise or lower it but personally I'd leave it at 25-6.

Not sure on the plants to be honest. It looks familiar but can't place it. If it comes to me before anyone else posts, I'll let you know.

 

[thomtom]

Going to go and get some bogwood tomorrow to replace the horrible plastic archway. May even get some java moss to go on there too .

 

[This Old Spouse]

The new tank is looking great, and as said before, what a bargain! Have you thought about upping your numbers on the fish, especially the cherry barbs?

 

[thomtom]

Keep considering getting some more chery barbs (probably another 5) bit concerned that I might be overstocking again based on the 1" per gallon rule?

Really happy with the tank, couldn't turn it down for the money. I'll post pics once the wood is in there. The plants are starting to shoot up now that I'm adding ferts regularly.

 

[This Old Spouse]

I wouldn't be too concerned about overstocking if you keep up good, regular maintenance.

 

[DrRob]

The kH will be fine for the fish you have. I'm guessing you have soft tap water. The snails may struggle though with very soft water.
 
Clean media when it gets dirty enough to impede flow, otherwise leave it alone. Only ever rinse it in tank water, never anything else. Throw it away if it falls apart, and not before.
 
From this distance that's a hygrophilia. Can't tell you what type without a closer picture.
 
Temperature is ideally a level that all of your fish are happy at.
 
 

 

[This Old Spouse]

Just to expand on cleaning the filter media, even when it falls apart, just add new media and don't throw the old away for at least a few weeks after that. You don't want to throw away your wonderful bacteria.

 

[thomtom]

Cool, thanks for the advice, I wont be in a rush to clean the filter media then! I have got the wood soaking in water right now so that it doesn't stain the tank water too much, the wood isn't quite what I was looking for so I may end up having to get some more. I like the wood you have in your elder beach tank DrRob. have still kept the old filter media in with the new stuff so that I can use it in a quarantine tank should I ever need to.
 
Funny you should say that about the snails, 2 have been lost since that original post. I have also moved the filter spray bar a bit because it was so noisy (still disturbing all of the surface).

 

[thomtom]

I have not kept this up to date but here is a (bad) pic of how it looks in there now. Plants have really grown out and a fair few more have been added including floating plants. I have added DIY Co2, changed the lighting added a black backing. A few fish have been added too (cherry barbs, dwarf gourami and guppies)
 

 

[Noahh]

Nice planted tank - maybe time to add a few more species and start pruning them?
 
Noahh