Emmas Rio 125l (33us Gallon) Planted Adventure

[ebrcknrdg]

With the sand you get hold of the plant with your tweezers...?? You have?

at a 45 degree angle and holding the base of the stem or roots push straight down to the bottom.

Slowly let them open

then slowly wiggle them away.

The sand will fall into the hole created.

Andy

oopsy

 

[ebrcknrdg]

Was hoping i could introduce fish tomorrow but looks like the tank has other ideas. I think ripping everything out and turning off the filter for a couple of hours has messed things up bacteria wise. As soon as the water was topped back up i added more ammonia and a few hours later i tested, the readings i got were

Ammonia 0.25ppm
Nitrites 1ppm

Nearly there i thought so added more ammonia up to 4ppm and waited till this morning to test again. Readings were

Ammonia 0.50ppm
Nitrites 0.50ppm

Added more ammonia and tested tonight

Ammonia 0.50ppm
Nitrites 1ppm

Am i going to have to wait for Nitrites to peak again or will they drop? Rather confused now. Has adding the external filter also messed everything up?

Water cleared alot this morning

CO2 entering diffuser (it works finally!)

Bubble releasing

Bubbles starting to diffuse into water

Have now moved diffuser to the back of the tank under the spray bar so bubbles are blown all around the tank. Lots of bubbles coming out of diffuser now. I had to soak it in a bleach solution then rinse in water

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Looking good. Plants look a lot better in this layout now and will look great once they all grow in.

How much was your diffusor as I want to get a couple for the nano tanks I'm planning (If I dont give in to temptation and go for a marine setup ).

 

[ebrcknrdg]

Looking good. Plants look a lot better in this layout now and will look great once they all grow in.

How much was your diffusor as I want to get a couple for the nano tanks I'm planning (If I dont give in to temptation and go for a marine setup ).

Thanx Phil. Have got the floating plant you sent me in the other tank as theres too much surface movement in this one! Hopefully, when i get more plants i can start desiging the aquascape. These were just dumped in as i couldnt see what i was doing due to cloudy water.
Heres the diffuser im using. Works great once soaked in the bleach solution. It was £5.29

 

[ebrcknrdg]

Tank fully cycled this morning!

Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrites 0ppm
Nitrates 10ppm
Ph 7.2

Did a 40% water change to try and lower nitrates then went and bought some fish

5 golden/albino Danios
2 Ottos

These to go in tank with

1 golden/albino Danio
3 platies
1 neon (got to get more in a couple of weeks!)
1 clown loach (yes i know they should be kept in groups and the tank is too small. Plan to pass him on when hes grown, dont know if to get him a tank mate?)

Here are some of my fish

Otto

Danios

Platies

I plan to get

5 Panda Cory cats
A gourami or two. I dont know what sort to get, ive seen silver ones and powder blue ones. Dont know if to get one male and one female or two males?
3 Zebra Loaches

Will test water tonight to see if there are any changes!

 

[DanielG]

how long have you been cycling? i am also waiting for the nitrites to drop, did you use any bacterial additives?

 

[ebrcknrdg]

how long have you been cycling? i am also waiting for the nitrites to drop, did you use any bacterial additives?

3-4 weeks. Cant quite remember! Nitrites dropped fairly quickly for me (after a week) I only used pure ammonia. Seriously its worth the wait!

 

[RadaR]

I think you have progressed very well. The final layout will look great.
Is that otto carrying eggs?!

 

[ebrcknrdg]

I think you have progressed very well. The final layout will look great.
Is that otto carrying eggs?!

wwwwooooo i think you might be right! She does look that way, any ideas how i can get her to drop? I need to research on that.......

Will take photos tonight where they should be better quality!

 

[SuperColey1]

A cold water change and hope the other oto is male, then you got to get in quick and protect the eggs frm the danios and platies who will be seeing FOOD FOOD FOOD.

Bring the temp (If you can under lights) to around 22degrees.

Don't worry about matching temperatures on tanks. I never do and a lot of breeders don't either. I only ever use the water direct from the cold tap, add chlorinator and I change 50% of my water each week. Brings the temp from 25 to 21/22. leave the heater turned off and let the room temp bring the tank very slowly back to your room's temp.

Good Luck

Andy

 

[ebrcknrdg]

A cold water change and hope the other oto is male, then you got to get in quick and protect the eggs frm the danios and platies who will be seeing FOOD FOOD FOOD.

Bring the temp (If you can under lights) to around 22degrees.

Don't worry about matching temperatures on tanks. I never do and a lot of breeders don't either. I only ever use the water direct from the cold tap, add chlorinator and I change 50% of my water each week. Brings the temp from 25 to 21/22. leave the heater turned off and let the room temp bring the tank very slowly back to your room's temp.

Good Luck

Andy

The temp was actually 22degrees when i put them in as i did a water change before they were floated. They both look swollen so i think they are both females Will they suffer if they dont release the eggs? I am going to get 2 more of the little critters as i tink they are quirky, so hopefully ill get a male in there and ill try and do what you said.

 

[SuperColey1]

I would post your question in the plecos section which is in catfish. They will have your full list of answers in there.

Andy

 

[ebrcknrdg]

Since adding bogwood my Ph has dropped from 7ppm (my tap water also 7ppm) to 6ppm! Ive been doing 25% daily water changes to try and raise it up a little as i dont think my Platies are appreciating it. Other than that water parameters are perfect and fish seeming to be loving the space. Im understocked at the moment but will be adding 5 more neons in the next week hopefully. Then will get 2 more ottos (love those guys!) and 5 zebra loaches in the following weeks. Im pondering whether to get some Panda corys also but will see how it goes. I need more plants and need to replace the non aquatics; Aqua fern and fountain plants. Have some kind members sending me plants so they will be put in within the next week. I also need a black background but my LFS wont have a delivery for a couple of weeks so that has to wait. I think that will really make the plants stand out. Also waiting for some digital jewelry scales so i can start dosing EI, they should be here in the nex week also.My Glomat starter is playing up, it keeps going off and i have to fiddle with the end caps. There doesnt seem to be a tight enough connection. My brother is pretty handy so hes going to solder (sp?) it for me.Its all coming together slowly! Its been worth the money and stress. I think im going to be lost when its all finished and will want another tank

Heres some updated pics of my tank!

2 days after changing to sand and 1 day after adding fish. Still a bit cloudy

Aqua fern and fountain plants, they have to go! Not keen on where the diffuser is as the tube looks unsightly but its the most efficient place i can put it. When plants grow they should hide it.

Anyone know what those white stringy bits are coming off the Cabomba? Oh and i have trimmed that stocking over the filter outlet

TANK TONIGHT

With just one 18W tube on. Much clearer

Three tubes on (one wont come on, needs fixing)

Bogwood

Cute otto

Rainbow Platy. Queen of the tank

Wagtail Platy-female

 

[ebrcknrdg]

Would love to know what people think and if you have any advice that would be great!

 

[ShoC]

Looks Fantastic emma,

Hope mine can be as nice as yours one day,