Kierans Rio 180 Jornal

[BadBadger]

Well i've recently rescaped my tank (3 weeks ago) as i was loosing interest in it.
I'll start with the tank specs:
Rio 180
Original rio filter
Original rio lighting
Sand substrate
Bogwood decor

Plants:
Added 4-5 months ago: Vallis, Amazon Swords and one which i'll need i.d ing please
Added 3 weeks ago: Creeping Jenny, Dwarf Sagittaria and Pygmy Chain Swords.


I've currently upped the TPN+ from 20 ml a week to 5 ml a day with a 50% water change on a weekend. I think i'll be upping this again soon as the tank matures. Im also dosing easycarbo at 5 ml a day, which i may also up. Sound like a good idea? Theres also some TPN+ root tabs dotted all over the place.

EDIT: I have the lights on from 2p till 10pm

When i rescaped it i trimmed the vallis right down to about 100mm and has now grown quite alot. I did the same to the plant in question (pic up soon). The amazon swords had a lot of bad leaves on (from neglect), so i stripped them right down. They seem to be doing well. The pygmy's are looking good (IMO) and seem to be growing a lot, which im quite happy with. However, the creeping jenny and dwarf sag, although looking healthy, dont seem to be getting anywhere.

Anyways heres some pics

Whole tank shot. Not great because of the glare. I'll get a better one tonight.

Dwarf Sag. Not really doing much

Amazon Sword

Pygmys

Creeping jenny and the plant in question. Hard to get a pic of him because hes behing the woood, but once he peaks his head over i'll get a better shot.

Not quite sure if i like how its looking yet, but hopefully when the vallis reaches the top and mr unknown spreads across the back it might look a little better. What do you think? I'll be posting a pic once a week, so i/we can see it maturing.

All critique very very welcome.

Cheers

 

[BadBadger]

Some better pictures from last night

Pygmy's and vallis (Left hand side)

Bit of everything, including mr unknown at the back (Right hand side)

Whole tank

 

[BadBadger]

Just a little update...

A slight bit of growth?

Having a little bit of trouble with my Pygmy's. About 10% of them have got bad leaves on them. Going slightly brownish. Heres a pic...

Quite hard to see. Suggestions?

Cheers

 

[BadBadger]

Removed the Original filter this week and replaced it with a Eheim ecco pro. When i took the original filter out it leaked all sorts of horrible grimey stuff, thats now covered the leaves and sand. Really hard to get it out!

Still having trouble with the pygmy's There sending out chains, but a lot of the leaves are turning brown! Can anyone help?

Everything else seems to be going ok but the tanks starting to look a bit of mess to me. What do you think?



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Had to upload with image shack as photobuckets down, so you wont be able to see the previous pics.


Cheers

 

[KkAaNnEe]

Removed the Original filter this week and replaced it with a Eheim ecco pro. When i took the original filter out it leaked all sorts of horrible grimey stuff, thats now covered the leaves and sand. Really hard to get it out!

Still having trouble with the pygmy's There sending out chains, but a lot of the leaves are turning brown! Can anyone help?

Everything else seems to be going ok but the tanks starting to look a bit of mess to me. What do you think?



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Had to upload with image shack as photobuckets down, so you wont be able to see the previous pics.


Cheers

Hi, Ive also got a rio 180 so am following this... Did you run the new filter with the old filter at all? And what are your water tests saying now?

 

[BadBadger]

Yeah i ran them together for a week. Swapped half the sponges to the eheim after about 3 days and then took the old filter out today. I've only checked the ammonia recently and thats ok. Will check everything else tomorrow.

Cheers

EDIT: Not sure if its required to run them both together, but had some ammonia problems a couple of weeks ago so did it just to be sure.

 

[lljdma06]

Hmmm, Perhaps your pygmies need more food getting to them. IMO, plants compete for nutrients too. If you've got plants that are more agressive, the weaker plant will suffer. This is just my opinion. Or, the nutrients are just not reaching the pygmies. What's the flow?

Liz

 

[BadBadger]

Hey Liz. The flow rate of the recently added eheim is 600 l/h, which i've just bought a new spray bar for. Do you think this is enough?

Cheers

 

[Biulu]

Mmm, that is only a 3x turnover, so you probably will not have too much flow. Where is the spraybar placed with regard to the pygmy swords? Liz probably refers to the fact that even if you have a good flow, plants and/or ornaments can block the flow so it doesn't reach the swords.

 

[BadBadger]

Mmm, that is only a 3x turnover, so you probably will not have too much flow. Where is the spraybar placed with regard to the pygmy swords? Liz probably refers to the fact that even if you have a good flow, plants and/or ornaments can block the flow so it doesn't reach the swords.

The spray bar is up on the right. Maybe i should put it in the middle? Also, there is a large piece of wood right behind some of the swords and Dwarf Sag which, as you say, could be causing a problem.

I think i'll have to buy a powerhead to help the problem. Could anyone recommend me one?

Thankyou

 

[Biulu]

On this forum everybody recommends the koralia powerheads. I have only seen them once here in Mexico and they were awfully expensive... I think the most important thing is to look at the flow rate.

 

[BadBadger]

Oooo thats one pricey powerhead. Think i'll find a cheaper option How much flow rate am i looking for? 5X?

Removed the creeping jenny and added some Crypts yesterday. Also moved the pygmy's over to a place where the co2 and TPN+ has a better chance of reaching them. The move made the tank look a little better aswell

Cheers

 

[BadBadger]

Thinking of buying one of these.... http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/AQUARIUM-FISH-TANK-6000L-H-DUAL-POWER-HEAD-WAVE-MAKER-/180656011999?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Fish&hash=item2a0feffadf

Has anyone got one?

Cheers in advance

 

[lljdma06]

Mmm, that is only a 3x turnover, so you probably will not have too much flow. Where is the spraybar placed with regard to the pygmy swords? Liz probably refers to the fact that even if you have a good flow, plants and/or ornaments can block the flow so it doesn't reach the swords.

Well, there's that, and also, plants do consume nutrients at different rates and speeds. Some also better utilize the nutrients in the watercolumn better than others.

Liz

 

[BadBadger]

Haven't updated for a while....

I've took the creeping jenny out, moved the pgymy's and added some crypt's What you think?

Cheers

EDIT: Forgot to say i've added 10 cherry barbs. Well when i got home i found out that one was a glowlight tetra