Tank Advice Please

[boxman]

I'm about to take on a Rio 180 bow tank (36x18x18 I believe) which currently has silica sand (to be changed to fine gravel) and the stock Jewel filter / thermostat in the ugly black box will be ripped out at some stage and replaced with either my Rena +2 or my Fluval 204 (both with spraybar).

The tank unfortunately has occupants, I say unfortunate because I would have rather set the tank up properly first but that is a luxury I'm not going to have this time. Some of the fish I may have chosen but I'm not planning to keep them all. The current occupants are

A couple of neon tetras, 3 black widow tetras (one looks a bit bloated so am worried it has some disease), some sort of synodontis (sorry I can't be more specific but it's a charcoal colour with orangy/yellow spots), two pearl gourami and a couple of other larger gourami and I'm pretty sure that's it.

I'll be getting rid of the three widow tetras to my LFS but at present I'm planning to keep the remaining occupants. As I'll be dumping (or bagging and flogging) the silica sand I'm going to have to make sure it's all clear from remaining sand as I want to setup a planted tank (aiming for the stunning look of Jimboo's tanks!!!!) As I said before I'll be replacing this with fine gravel.


Right, my questions are

1) How deep should the gravel be for a good planted tank (I want to put in ricca and a good range of plants in).

2) The fish will be transported in special containers to regulate the temperature but obviously the quality of the water etc is going to be very different - I use RO water for my regular water changes. Should I use RO in the new setup, if so what percentage of the water should have as RO (usually I do 1/5 RO) - the current owner just uses tap water but I'm not sure if he even uses dechlorinator - all this obviously to create the least amount of stress for the current occupants.

3) I'm planning to get a few more neons and perhaps a few zebra danios once the tank has settled (a good month or so) - would these be ok with the present occupants (especially the synodontis)?

4) I've been running my 22gal with UGF and have had some excellent (if not selected variety) plant success. Certain plants grow amazingly well but as I plan to setup more of a feature tank for plants I dont want the UGF to be a hinderance to the growth - only thing is I very much like the thought that I have some sort of backup if my canister filter goes wrong - if you advise against UGF for a planted tank please could alternative backup filters be recommended (I don't want to go to the expense of another canister filter) - probably £40 would be my limit to cover some sort of backup. (I don't want to use an air pump either as I don't get on with them).

5) I have a 300w Interpet thermostat - will this heat up the Rio 180?


I don't want to get too specific with regards to individual fish and things like lighting, CO2 and plant varieties but obviously I want to make sure things like moving the tank etc and the re-setting up of the tank goes smoothy.

I will have a good deal of the gravel ready to put into the tank as well as a few plants to get started.

Thanks for your time - sorry it's a long thread!

 

[Torrean]

look into putting a layer of laterite under the gravel I believe plants appreciate that. I think the gravel should be around 2" thick. I suggest you use whatever water your going to use for water changes when you fill the tank. You should salvage as much of the original water as possible. distilled water jugs are good for this. Lacking that you could use rubbermaid totes half full of old tank water. I don't know about neons but danios are fast little buggers. I think they should be ok. Undergravel filters airate the gravel. Some plants like to have as little oxygen around there roots as possible. I believe this is why it was sort of hit and miss with plants and your UGF. Take a look at the convertors and calculators pinned topic. The third one should be very helpful. If you need a link I'll hunt one up for you. I'll edit this with instructions on moving the tank.

edit: first get a large (5 gallon bucket) put the filter pads in there if it's a short trip. then completely drain the tank remove the sand and move it to your home saving as much water as you can. Then set it back up get the temp right and acclimate the fish. test the water every day for a few weeks and do water changes as needed. Anything else?

 

[Ethos]

It sound ok, but I don't know about the neons.
They aren't very stable fish for a new aquarium, but the danios are a very good idea. I think a pearl danio might be a little more hearty, but the zebras should be fine.

 

[boxman]

Thanks for that. One question I did forget to ask was I'm looking at moving my smaller tanks occupants (see sig) into the new Rio 180 - can anyone see any potential problems with current stocking (main concern is my juvinile male crowntail betta).

Thanks again, you guys are great

 

[emma12321]

Hi,

If the tank has a curved front its the vision 180 as rios are rectangular. Try to id the syno as some get huge, you may have problems putting the honey gourami with the new big ones, generally not a good combination. I wouldn't risk the betta with the gourami as they will probably kill it. Great tank i have one too.

Emma

 

[boxman]

Sorry, I meant the 14gal occupants would be going into the 'vision' 180.