Electric Warrior
Fishaholic
Hello to all. My first post here, and I apologise if it's a bit of a long winded one. I had a couple of tanks when I was younger, going into my teenage years, and have been thinking about starting up again for a while. I have decided to take the plunge and enter the world of freshwater fish keeping again, and I have always wanted to attempt a biotope setup. The one I am going to do is the Southeast Asian river biotope, so first I will give a rough sketch of what I am planning (this is pretty much the final plan, but of course could be subject to small changes over the next few months:
Tank: Juwel Rio 180 - Not too familiar with Juwel tanks, but found one for a decent price, and it's the right size for my place and the environment that I am trying to recreate.
Substrate: either a laterite or some red Flourite with a thin layer of sand spread over the top. Scattered over this would be some pebbles and small rocks with some larger pieces of bogwood/driftwood, and a bit more scattered sand. This will slope a bit from back to front with a bit of height along the back and corners to resemble a bit of a "bank." A cave of some sort, possibly if I can't find the exact pieces of wood to get the exact labyrinth effect that I am thinking of in my mind.
Plants: undecided but was thinking about some onion plants and Vallisneria along the front of the tank (because plants in this area usually grow in the centre of the river), but they are still "stringy" enough to get a great view through the tank, and maybe some hairgrass, and Crypts (eventually) around the back along the bank. Maybe some bamboo plant? I have read a lot of conflicting info about when to plant the plants? Some people seem to say after cycling has finished completely, others say it's fine to do it near the end of the cycle, and I have even seen some people say that you can do it whenever you want? The Crypts I won't be planting until the tank has been up and running for a bit.
Lighting: Not too sure yet, but maybe some low lighting with additional CO2, but this is still a bit up in the air until I decide exactly what plants...
Heating: Now this Juwel tank comes with the Juwel 200W heater, but I was wondering if this would be sufficient enough, or whether it would be better to get two 100W heaters to attach to opposite sides of the tank to distribute a more even temp.? I am only really familiar with the submersible heater elements.
Filtration: Now this I am still unsure about? The tank comes with an internal Juwel Bioflow 3.0. I have never had a tank with an internal filter. I lived in the States before, and the external HOB types of filters were much more popular there when I was keeping fish, and I am not familiar with these types of intern filters. Anyone have experience with these and how are they? I was thinking about using a second filter since I don't think that you can have too much filtration, but I am worried about making the water too turbulent? How string are these internal filters? Could I possibly use a HOB external filter in combination with the internal one, maybe with a spray bar? Would like opinions on this as this environment is basically like a very slow moving river with hardly any current.
The Fish: Well, really 100% undecided, but thinking about a combination of a shoal of some type of barb, a shoal of scissor tails, red tail sharks, maybe a few glass cats, and possibly a pair of Loaches (I love Clowns, but I feel that 180L will be too small for them, so not sure about what type of Loach yet). Anyone have any opinions/ideas about my thoughts on the stock?
Like I said this is still in the planning stage, and I probably won't be getting the tank for another month or so, and then it's cycling...
Tank: Juwel Rio 180 - Not too familiar with Juwel tanks, but found one for a decent price, and it's the right size for my place and the environment that I am trying to recreate.
Substrate: either a laterite or some red Flourite with a thin layer of sand spread over the top. Scattered over this would be some pebbles and small rocks with some larger pieces of bogwood/driftwood, and a bit more scattered sand. This will slope a bit from back to front with a bit of height along the back and corners to resemble a bit of a "bank." A cave of some sort, possibly if I can't find the exact pieces of wood to get the exact labyrinth effect that I am thinking of in my mind.
Plants: undecided but was thinking about some onion plants and Vallisneria along the front of the tank (because plants in this area usually grow in the centre of the river), but they are still "stringy" enough to get a great view through the tank, and maybe some hairgrass, and Crypts (eventually) around the back along the bank. Maybe some bamboo plant? I have read a lot of conflicting info about when to plant the plants? Some people seem to say after cycling has finished completely, others say it's fine to do it near the end of the cycle, and I have even seen some people say that you can do it whenever you want? The Crypts I won't be planting until the tank has been up and running for a bit.
Lighting: Not too sure yet, but maybe some low lighting with additional CO2, but this is still a bit up in the air until I decide exactly what plants...
Heating: Now this Juwel tank comes with the Juwel 200W heater, but I was wondering if this would be sufficient enough, or whether it would be better to get two 100W heaters to attach to opposite sides of the tank to distribute a more even temp.? I am only really familiar with the submersible heater elements.
Filtration: Now this I am still unsure about? The tank comes with an internal Juwel Bioflow 3.0. I have never had a tank with an internal filter. I lived in the States before, and the external HOB types of filters were much more popular there when I was keeping fish, and I am not familiar with these types of intern filters. Anyone have experience with these and how are they? I was thinking about using a second filter since I don't think that you can have too much filtration, but I am worried about making the water too turbulent? How string are these internal filters? Could I possibly use a HOB external filter in combination with the internal one, maybe with a spray bar? Would like opinions on this as this environment is basically like a very slow moving river with hardly any current.
The Fish: Well, really 100% undecided, but thinking about a combination of a shoal of some type of barb, a shoal of scissor tails, red tail sharks, maybe a few glass cats, and possibly a pair of Loaches (I love Clowns, but I feel that 180L will be too small for them, so not sure about what type of Loach yet). Anyone have any opinions/ideas about my thoughts on the stock?
Like I said this is still in the planning stage, and I probably won't be getting the tank for another month or so, and then it's cycling...
lol what about yoyo loach or dwarf chain loach theyre quite nice little characters 
Electric Warrior...T.REX fan ?
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