Rio 180

[Puffer punk]

Due to alot of family problems i have to moved and strip my planted tank so iv desided to put my breeding pair of chocolate cichlids in there

soo i have have everything that was in the plantd tank in a 30x12x18 tank just now soooooo i have the chance to do everything 'right' get everything i realy need , re do my fish stock , plant stock the works.

so im needing help on everything , lighting , co2 , fish , plants , aquascape , substrate , ferts ect

so this is what i have at the moment

lighting

can be either

4-5 30watt T8's
or
2x70watt plant halides

heating
200watt visitherm

filteration
fluval 305

aquascape

i would like a Amano look but im not very arti at all

Co2 and defusers

i realy dont mind spending money as long as my tank looks good

any help would be very nice thank you all

 

[Themuleous]

What’s the tank volume in Gals? I suspect either of those lighting rigs would be ok, just need plant light tubes in them.

You going for an EI tank?

CO2 - I would get a pressurised kit, it'll save you tons of hassle.

Substrate - saying you don’t mind sending money could open up a whole can of worms! And start the whole ADA plant soils debate again! Good substrates include eco-complete (my personal favourite, although I’ve only got one EI tank and never used anything else so I'm probably bias! ) fluorite (makes the water very cloudy but this does clear in a few days), laterite (I’m going to try this next, but that’ll be in my non-EI tank). There are others like the tetra one but I don’t really know much about them.

And yes then there are the ADA ones, but these are really expensive. Chuffing great products, but expensive. Unless you're will to spend lots, I would stick to the 'normal' ones. You can still achieve a great tank without ADA products but if it’s an Amano tank you’re after then they are widely considered to be the best on the market, he did design them himself after all!

What colour substrate do you want? This might affect what plant substrate you use.

As I’m sure Chris (craynerd) would agree, decide on what hard scaping (rocks/wood) you want to have and add these first, as adding them once the tank is established is a complete pain in the ass.

Sam

 

[Puffer punk]

yh i will prob use the EI method of ferts

i have all the bog wood i need for the tank i could use another peice though wich ill get tomorrow

yeah im going to use presurized Co2 but im still un-sure of a diffuser for it , iv been using the hegan ladder type one and i have had good results from it but i hear that the glass ones are by far the best . So i dont know wht to do so do i stick to with what oi know best or go for the ADA glass diffuser ?

lighting im not to fussed i would obvisly like my plant to grow and be healthy and i think i can get this with either of the 2 lighting options i have . so is it down to flip a coin?

Substrate i have only used the sera floredepot stuff with dorset pea gravel , then i put sand no top to make it look like it was a river bed but im not to fussed again as long as the tank is looking good . although i do like the look of sand. again dont mind spending the money on ADA stuff as long as it works


i know where i can get eco-complete localy and its not alot of money , i know this stuff is ment to be good ( you said so your self) so ill prob just go for that.


but i realy do need help with aquascaping

 

[Themuleous]

Sounds like you're good to go then. Re the lighting someone with more experience than me might be able to tell you if there is a difference between T8's and T5's of the same wattage, that might help you decide

Eco-complete is good, it is a bit light so planting can be a bit of a pain, but it is possible, you just have to be patient and is also worse with the like of HC and glosso, things with bigger roots are easier to plant in it.

Re the diffusers, I dont really know if there is a difference between all the cheaper ones, but from what Ive heard the ADA ones produce a finner mist of bubbles, which means more diffuses in to the water. I think it's also down to looks, the ADA ones do look class and are made of much better glass to should be less likely to break.

As for the scaping, if you want help I would put the substrate in the tank and then position the wood/rocks as you think you'd like then post some pics. Its far easier to comment on something that can be seen than just saying do this or do that.

Sam

 

[Puffer punk]

yh thanks sam ill post pics when iv moved ect

im leaning towards the metal halides just now unless anyone can say somthing

 

[Themuleous]

The only thing I would say about MH is that they get very hot and also that they tend to produce most of their light over a small area in the tank and so the edges tend to less than with stand T8 or T5 tubes. To overcome this people often have a pair of PC T5s as well and position these at the ends or in places that need a bit extra

Sam

 

[cheesemaker]

hiya, I've got a rio 180 with very similar setup to yours.
filter - bog standard internal and fluval 405 external.
Lights - 4 X 30watts
eco-complete substrate
CO2 - pressurised
EI dosing and also seachem Excel


Plants grow like there's no tomorrow, but i do think that the lighting is a little weak. Riccia do fine with the current setup, but i glosso and the front tend to grow upwards ALOT.

My discus are happy, beside some bullying, i don't think it's anything to do with the setup.

all in all, pretty happy with the setup, the only thing I would have changed is the lighting, but I like the neat look of the stock light, would probably contemplate T6 rather and T8 as they do fit the ballast. ( I'm told)

so good luck.

cheers

 

[Puffer punk]

yeah i was gonna put 2xT8s so i got even light spread over the tank , i know they get hot and can change the temp of the tank will this be a big problem??

yh cheesemaker

iv seen your tank the discus are lovly ( my fav type) , like you i keep discus , bred themabout a yr ago unfortunly the pair died

cheers for your in put

 

[Themuleous]

MHs tend to be ceiling mounted and hug over the tank dont they? If so the heat shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Puffer punk]

yh i had 2x150s over my reef tank and they heated the tank a degree or soo

 

[Puffer punk]

ok need to deside on a Co2 unit either the D&D one or the JBL one ??

the D&D is £99 and the JBL one is £170

 

[cheesemaker]

£170 for JBL? i think you can do better... see here

I've got JBL hooked upto a 2KG tank lasts forever.... well kinda

 

[Puffer punk]

how much eco complete have you got in your tank cheesemaker

 

[cheesemaker]

hum....? dont remember exactly, but i think there's 3-4 bags worth of that stuff in there. I like it very much, looks natural. Have noticed anaerobic bubbles building up though, despite having substrate heater.

 

[Puffer punk]

4x £23.95 = £95.80 on substrate lol

so its either tht or the ADA stuff