Unexpected Tank Upgrade Help

[liamhuckle]

Hi all

Upgraded my tank out of the blue didnt plan it or anything

I had a roma 90 which is still running and upgraded to a roma 240

Couple of questions

The roma 240 came with an external fluval 305 the people i got it of said it had water in up till the morning of ne collecting it so im unsure if it cycled so if i out my soonges from my internal filter in my roma 90 does this make the tank fully cycled ?

Then i need to work my stocking out

 

[leighton_87]

If you take the sponges out of your current filter then yes it will be cycled enough to cope with your current bioload

After that just add fish slowly as you normally would and keep testing the water to check for ammonia spikes

 

[liamhuckle]

Thats great now the hard bit of trying to sort stocking out so many choices

 

[liamhuckle]

Substrate next people 2-3mm black gravel or sand pros and cons of both ?

 

[dougie]

Sand, looks natural (and better IMO) no or little waste gets trapped in sand, unlike gravel, so better for water quality. When cleaning (during water changes) i just siphon waste from the surface of the sand. Easy.

Many fish, bottom dwellers & certain other fish sift through sand to feed.
On the downside, quite a few rooting plants struggle in sand but are fine in gravel. All my plants are rooted to driftwood, so I'm limited, unless I use potted plants, but I think pots look unnatural.

It's whatever you prefer really, and of course your future stock.

Good luck!

 

[frapadoodle]

Which plants struggle in sand?
Rhizome plants of course should not be covered by sand, but niether should they be covered by gravel.
Root plants I have never had a problem with in sand.
As with many bottom dwellers prefering sand I believe most plants would as well.

 

[dougie]

Which plants struggle in sand?
Rhizome plants of course should not be covered by sand, but niether should they be covered by gravel.
Root plants I have never had a problem with in sand.
As with many bottom dwellers prefering sand I believe most plants would as well.

Most of the plants I've tried in sand don't do well in the long run. I've got a couple of vallis that have done ok (6 months & counting).
All rhizomes are no problem at all & thrive. Then again it could be just me. I am no gardener, aquatic or otherwise!

 

[liamhuckle]

Right fish and plants moved what does everyone think of it

https/www.dropbox.com/sc/t2yfug9obfvhsqm/E7_wrriTl5

 

[Lunar Jetman]

Like the gravel and looks ok to me! How about moving the Vallis further back though?

 

[liamhuckle]

Yeah possible im just going to leabe it to settle but i probably will do that

 

[sadguppy]

It might be too late but run both filters in it if you can. In my Roma 240 i run the fluval and an additional external filter for the other end of the tank, for better flow and circulation, and to act as a back up.

I would also add a background, it makes a hell of a difference. I have picture of my Roma 240 in my journal likned in my sig, you can see if you scroll down the difference a background can make.

 

[liamhuckle]

Wow it does make a big difference

And it is to late i took the media out and pkaced it in the external filter but never mind fingers crossed i dont get a spike