Yar180 (yet Another Rio 180)

[DevUK]

After thinking it through I decided to abandon the 4ft tank idea and go back to my Rio 180, as I prefer the proportions and it looks a little nicer. Glass is in similar condition to the 4ft so no difference there.

Anyhow. This is still a work in progress. I think I've got the hard scape/substrate sorted and layed out. Just spent the last hour or so doing this

So far, the definates are:

Tropica plant substrate
Unipac Zambezi sand on top
large chunk of wood for hardscape

Definate plants so far are:

Eleocharis Acicularis
Eleocharis Vivipara
Blyxia Japonica

Other hardware:
Tetratec EX1200
Pressurised CO2 via 5kg FE
Rhinox 5000 - Thinking directly under filter intake
Juwel T8 lightbar (60w) with additional light unit to make up to approx 90w.

Some pics:

Tropica substrate is very dusty. Hopefully I've used enough!

Bought a glass tank edge connector from AE. Seems reasonable quality though I'm wondering if I should of paid the extra £2 or £3 for the ADA one!

Thankfully it fitted over the edge of the tank perfectly

And this is the hardscape layout I've settled on:

That's it for now. Need to get a feel for the planting, and actually buy some

 

[DevUK]

This is the sort of look I'm wanting. Need to add on some Blyxa and maybe either some Ludwigia arcuata or some other needle leaf style stem on the left where that big "U" shape in the wood is.

Moss will hopefully be some Fissidens if I can get hold of some.

 

[aaronnorth]

looking forward to it mate

 

[Gill]

Okay Okay, so you did pick the right peice of wood then. still say you should have got that larger peice with all the caves in it.
Looks like its another stunner.


So now that you are not using the 4footer, is the rooom still a tip. since the last time i saw it.
My mother would probably beat you black and blue of she saw how many tanks you have in that space. The wife already says You are a bad influence on me, as we end up spending more and more money when we go out.

PS i found 3 more Big LFS within 20-30 Mins of us and i have already been speaking to them on the phone for ages. They sound Great. Need to go when feeling up to it.

 

[DevUK]

Okay Okay, so you did pick the right peice of wood then. still say you should have got that larger peice with all the caves in it.
Looks like its another stunner.

I was a bit unsure but after I snapped off the broken bit and arranged it in the sand, like a root poking out it all seemed to fit

PS i found 3 more Big LFS within 20-30 Mins of us and i have already been speaking to them on the phone for ages. They sound Great. Need to go when feeling up to it.

Ah cool. Let me know if you want to go this weekend

I ordered plants the other day. Not many, just some E. vivipara and some stems. I need to find some Pogostemon Helferi from somewhere. I'd love to give that plant a go...

 

[lljdma06]

This is the sort of look I'm wanting. Need to add on some Blyxa and maybe either some Ludwigia arcuata or some other needle leaf style stem on the left where that big "U" shape in the wood is.

Moss will hopefully be some Fissidens if I can get hold of some.

This is a lovely layout, I am going to steal your wood now, you know that right?

On a less happy note, don't use Fissidens as a moss choice, too expensive and there's debate as to whether or not it is even aquatic. No sense spending hard-earned money on a plant that may die on you. Stick with one of the tried-and-true mosses that we know can survive submerged. There are multiple Fissidens species and since it is a newer plant, you'll have no idea what you're really getting more than likely and moss identification is pretty hard (whip out the microscope!). IMO, not worth the money to take the risk. I love the other plant choices, though.

llj

 

[Gill]

Steve,

All that moss i grabbed from the garden is doing great and growing. you might wanna grab some of it and try some on the scape.

 

[DevUK]

So, these are the plants I'm currently waiting for:

Eleocharis Vivipara Tall hairgrass
Quantity - 25

Ludwigia Arcuata or Needle leaf Ludwigia
Quantity - 25

Hydrocotyle Leucocephala or Mushroom Pennywort
Quantity - 5

Micranthemum Micranthemoides or Small Hezine
Quantity - 25

I'm also looking for some Pogestomon Helferi (Downoi) at the moment. Not having a great deal of luck though I've heard Maidenhead Aquatics sometimes have it in, and I might get to an MA this weekend (Gill, up for the trip?)

 

[DevUK]

Well, I've just managed to sell the 4ft tank to maz (mk47) along with some other bits and bobs. I now have £60 burning a hole in my pocket

I'm thinking one or two of the following:

External hydor heater (300w) - £35 ish
Lilly pipes - £30 ish
twin 39w T5 light unit - £27 ish + tubes at about £10 all in (lamp sepcs).
Fish stocking - £??

Can't think of anything else off the top of my head... I guess I need to prioratise. I'm sort of assuming fish will be bought whatever, so I'm not counting them I don't think

Already got substrate, hard scape, plants (on the way), filter, CO2, ferts and the Rio 180 (T8 30w tubes x3).

Anything I'm missing?

My initial thoughts are to go with the hydor heater (one less thing inside the tank). Not sure about lights, maybe I should spend the money on some new tubes instead of a light unit.

Plants were delayed as Plants Alive had run out of some things but they're due to arrive tomorrow. Hopefully this means nice fresh plants but we'll see. The last lot of plants I had from them weren't in amazing condition. Fingers crossed!

Also, some P Helferi arrived thanks to JamesM on UKAPS today, along with some bacopa Australis. Should make a nice addition to the tank. I'll be filling it up with water tonight

 

[saintly]

looking forward to seeing it.

mark

 

[lljdma06]

Me too.

 

[DevUK]

Plants arrived at work today. Look to be in good condition, so my fears after my last Plants Alive order are unfounded. For the amount of plants I ordered, it really doesn't look like that much

Anyhow, also ordered my external heater last night so I hope that will arrive tomorrow!

 

[DevUK]

Ok, so a bit of an update. I planted the order from Plants alive last night, but didn't get a chance to plant the P helferi as yet. I spent some time adding more depth to the substrate as I realised it wasn't as deep as I'd thought. I banked up the back a little too (not much though). This made the 4 inches of water I'd put in very cloudy as you'd expect so I did a quick water change.

I've also re-positioned the hardscape a smidge, moving it left some more. I've decided to basically plant out the left corner with the Ludwigia. Unfortunately 25 stems sounds more than it actually is!

I also devided up and planted the Staurogyne (spelling?) that's been sitting in my other tank. It's gotten a bit branchy so I had to be mean and break it up a lot. On the plus side it fills in the front left corner very nicely

Sadly, the Blyxa I had has mostly died off due to unfavourable conditions that I stored it in. I managed to rescue 5 stems so hopefully I can coax them back from the brink! I might have to buy more if I can't source any from other members (tough one to get hold of!).

I also set up the filter last night. I've set it up with just filter wool inside for now as I have media from other filters to use but don't want to do that till I'm ready to stock. Also the water is still a bit cloudy.

So that left me with a late night, going to bed at 1.30am I woke up this morning at 9.05am thinking "WORK!?" I still managed to get a temporary heater and my CO2 running before I left for work

I'll post pics tonight or tomorrow, but I really need to order more plants! Specially as my Eleocharis Acicularis which has been growing outside for a few months has died (washing up liquid bottle blew out of my mate's upstairs flat kitchen window and managed to land in the bowl!) More expense...

 

[aaronnorth]

I'll post pics tonight or tomorrow, but I really need to order more plants! Specially as my Eleocharis Acicularis which has been growing outside for a few months has died (washing up liquid bottle blew out of my mate's upstairs flat kitchen window and managed to land in the bowl!) More expense...

how convenient

out of all the places it could of landed heh?

 

[lljdma06]

Ok, so a bit of an update. I planted the order from Plants alive last night, but didn't get a chance to plant the P helferi as yet. I spent some time adding more depth to the substrate as I realised it wasn't as deep as I'd thought. I banked up the back a little too (not much though). This made the 4 inches of water I'd put in very cloudy as you'd expect so I did a quick water change.

I've also re-positioned the hardscape a smidge, moving it left some more. I've decided to basically plant out the left corner with the Ludwigia. Unfortunately 25 stems sounds more than it actually is!

I also devided up and planted the Staurogyne (spelling?) that's been sitting in my other tank. It's gotten a bit branchy so I had to be mean and break it up a lot. On the plus side it fills in the front left corner very nicely

Sadly, the Blyxa I had has mostly died off due to unfavourable conditions that I stored it in. I managed to rescue 5 stems so hopefully I can coax them back from the brink! I might have to buy more if I can't source any from other members (tough one to get hold of!).

I also set up the filter last night. I've set it up with just filter wool inside for now as I have media from other filters to use but don't want to do that till I'm ready to stock. Also the water is still a bit cloudy.

So that left me with a late night, going to bed at 1.30am I woke up this morning at 9.05am thinking "WORK!?" I still managed to get a temporary heater and my CO2 running before I left for work

I'll post pics tonight or tomorrow, but I really need to order more plants! Specially as my Eleocharis Acicularis which has been growing outside for a few months has died (washing up liquid bottle blew out of my mate's upstairs flat kitchen window and managed to land in the bowl!) More expense...

So am I to understand that the tank we will finally see will bear little resemblance to that wonderful photoshop job in previous posts. How typical.

llj