Luke's Planted Tank Journal

[Luke_e]

Ah, right.. well hopefully they will send a replacement, if not i dont know if i can be patient enough to send it back and get my postage refunded just for another to be sent. Do you know where i can get hold of the same ladder?

I'm not going to be planting the tank on the first page Digi, change of plans. Opting for a rekord 60 instead, gives me more room to improve lighting and more room to plant.
Thanks for the reply.

 

[Themuleous]

EDIT 2: Just checked terms and conditons

Orders over £50.00 are delivered free to Mainland UK*.

Good thinking, it shouldn't be to much i wouldnt have thought.

Glad to help out a friend the internet is a wonderful thing.

Sam

 

[Luke_e]

Yea, thanks, the internet sure is great. I mean if its more than a tenner i'll just get it from the other website..
Off to pets at home tomorrow to see if they have any, and much they are there, but if its more i'll just get it off one of those sites.

Got a reply from rocketrading:

Hi there thanks for your enquiry


All prices on our website include VAT and P+P

If you were to purchase that item we can dispatch it through initial
City Link and should be with you in 2 Working days


Regards

Tony
Rocketrading
www.rocketrading.co.uk
01525 719604

Thats good to know

 

[Themuleous]

Cool, go for it!

 

[Luke_e]

Got back from Pets@Home.
I looked around, couldnt find any rekords. They only have rio 125/180/vison 180/bio orbs etc..
I asked one of the staff if they could order me a rekord 60 or 70 in, and they said they only have whats here, they dont stock anything smaller.
So, i looked around and saw a fluval uno 600 for £80.00, comes with lighting, filter and some other stuff which is useless (platic plants lol).
I was like, this seems good enough, but when i looked in the hood, it has one light already, but the other half of the hood was taken up by the bit the light connects to, i think its called the ballast? Wasnt sure if i would be able to fit another light in there.
Can anyone tell me if the light starter kits have a ballast, or do they just have the end connectors? Also if someone have a fluval uno 600 and had modded their lighting that would be also useful to know what the rooms like..
If i cant be sure, i'll just opt for the rekord 60 off one of the above sights. I got an email from the quantumfish one you posted themuleous and the courier charge is £10.00. After reading the terms and conditions, the one for the rocktrading states that before you sign the delivery, you must open the box and if its damaged you must not accept the delivery. If you dont do this they wont refund or accept the return.
Where as the quantum one doesnt say anything like this, so i'll go with them probably, as i might not be in when they deliver it, may be a relative.

 

[Luke_e]

Update:
Ok, i ordered the 'Juwel Rekord 70' from http/www.quantumfish.co.uk/index.shtml. Price - £85.00, postage £15.00. It might be more than people cant get it for, but with no car and no where near selling them i had no choice. Plus it comes with heater, filtrations and one light already.
Also ordered my Arcadia lighting unit for my extra tube from http/www.aquatics-online.co.uk/default.asp. Also ordered one 15w freshwater light to fit into it. I'll upgrade the juwel light when i have more money, probably Friday.

So total money spent so far:
1) Co2 system, Nutrafin - £18.00 *inc postage*
2) Tank, Juwel Rekord 70 - £100.00 *inc postage*
3) Light stater unit, Arcadia - £15.00, 4) Arcadia freshwater light bulb - £9.28 Total £28.00 *inc postage*
Sub Total: £146.00


Still needed:
1) Plant suitable substrate
2) Gravel top
3) Arcadia original 15w tube.
4) Plants

Tank should arive wednesday, the chap sent me an email saying it would be around wednesday with it being bank holiday. Lights should be tues/wed, they send an email when its dispatched..

Coming along nicely.. .

 

[Luke_e]

Ok guys.
Tank and lighting arived today.
Filled tank up to check it was fine, it was . Lighting is fine too, but i need some nuts/bolts to fit them onto the hood. I've drilled some holes in the hood for the lighting fixtures to connect too.
Heres some pics:














Question about the filter sponges..
On the pic of setting the filter up for a rekord 70, it shows 2 blue sponges, and in mine i only have one. Its the finer blue sponge. Is this ok or will i need the other one?

Need to get planted substrate and some gravel to go over it. I'll get that monday.
Emptied the tank now and i'll fill it back up once i've got the planted substrate in and lights fixed to it. Then all i'll need is to get the test kits for GH and KH, and tweak my c02 mix, then i am ready for plants..

 

[Themuleous]

Looks good as to the sponge, I would use the ones that came with it. If you find that they dont fill the spounge compartment then get more. But I shouldnt to 'replace' any of the ones that came with it. That said I think juwel do a nitrate/nitrite sponge just make sure you've not got one of those, if so repace that one but only if its a nitrate one, otherwise should be fine.

What substrate you thinking of having?

 

[Qays]

Looks like a great tank.

I would really warn you about having a tank right infront of a plug hole. Youd be surprised how much water splashes about in maintenance, i would move it away from the plug a little.

Its a great sized tank and will look great!

 

[Luke_e]

Looks good as to the sponge, I would use the ones that came with it. If you find that they dont fill the spounge compartment then get more. But I shouldnt to 'replace' any of the ones that came with it. That said I think juwel do a nitrate/nitrite sponge just make sure you've not got one of those, if so repace that one but only if its a nitrate one, otherwise should be fine.

What substrate you thinking of having?

Cheers Sam.
I'll get the sponge thats missing then cheers
I've ordered some First Layer Laterite. I was going to buy the one Craynerd had but my paypal account was on the blink. Also ordered my GH and KH testers.

Looks like a great tank.

I would really warn you about having a tank right infront of a plug hole. Youd be surprised how much water splashes about in maintenance, i would move it away from the plug a little.

Its a great sized tank and will look great!

Cheers Quays. Thanks for the concern, i wanted the tank in my room but the furniture i wanted to have it on isnt really sturdy enough to take the weight, so i've got to have it in the kitchen. I'll probably move it to the right of the plug sockets and use the extention lead to its full length.

Can't wait to get it started. Once i have the laterite in, i'll fill it up and run my filter along side it to start the cycle. I'll then try get a good flow of Co2 and then i'll order the plants.

 

[Luke_e]

Ok everyone.. little update.
Fitted my lights, added my laterite and its all set up.
Still need to get the gravel, getting that on monday so i've just filled it up and put the laterite in. I've added all the first layer laterite (around 570g of it) and spread it evenly (as instructed). Looks a bit bare but it says to mix it with 2cm of gravel, and then to add a layer of gravel ontop so it isnt too bad.
And i know that the wires from my lights look a bit dodgy handing off like that but they have been tucked away so its safe .
Tested my GH and KH (from tap water), and i got 17.9ppm from each. Is this good or bad? I'll be adding c02 so once i've added the gravel i'll aim to get 30ppm using the co2 calc.
Pics so far, please excuse the dreadful walls, hopefully papering them soon
(click to increase size):

 

[lljdma06]

Looks good. I see it's not too cloudy, so I feel much better about the 4 boxes of laterite I ordered. That's enough for all my future planted tanks.

It does look a bit bare, but again, you're adding gravel, so it'll look much better. Great work!

What are you going to plant?

llj

 

[Luke_e]

llj, thanks for the reply.
On the box it said to rinse, i was rinsing it for over an hour and it wasnt getting any clearer (the water) so i had enough and plonked it in. Checked this morning and it still seems cloudy, maybe because i'm not using the filter at the moment. If its still cloudy this afternoon i'll try running the filter..
Yea it does look quite bare, but once i've got my gravel it should be nicer. I'm wanting a really small grain gravel.
I'm not sure what i'm going to plant. I deffinantly want to have a carpet of glosso at the front, and a centre piece bogwood with either riccia or java moss or even both. Other than that i'll see how it goes.

 

[Themuleous]

Looking good, you'll be able to start planting soon! Wooooohoooo!

 

[Luke_e]

Haha yea..
Got my gravel today, its very small size as i've heard its best rather than large mm gravel.
I'm wondering how deep my total substrate depth should be? I have laterite as you can see above and the gravel but what depth would be best?