Rio 125 - High Tech - "Orphans Island"

spyderuk · 11-19-2011, 06:22 PM

Thought I would share this tank here as I got it posted on a UK based forum.

Tank - Juwel Rio 125l

Filter. Internal removed. Eheim Pro 3 600 (2075) Rated 1250 lph. Stock media for now.

Lighting - Stock Juwel twin T5's plus reflectors.

Co2 - 3kg pressurised. TMC dual guage reg with solonoid and valve. UP inline atomizer. Currently set around 4 bps.

Fert's - Ei.

Substrate - Tesco's cat litter (molar clay). £3 per 10l bag. Used 2 bags.

Hardscape - Some green rockey rock from local garden centre/fish shop, 26p per kg. The wood I've picked up here and there over the last 6 months or so.

Plant list.

Alternanthera Reinecki "pink" (Roseafolia)
Blyxa Japonica
Cryptocoryne crispulata var Balansae
Cryptocoryne Petchi
Cryptocoryne Wendetii Green
Cryptocoryne Walkerii
Echinodorus Quadricostatus
Echinodorus Vesuvius
Hemianthus Callitrichodes "Cuba"
Hygrophila Corymbosa
Limnophila Aromatica
Pogostomen Helferi
Staurogyne Repens

I wasn't planning an island scape but the large piece of wood I wanted to use just didn't seem to "fit" with everything else so I switched it out and used 2 other pieces and tried an island with the rocks and wood.

Hardscape pic.

I had a couple of weeks before I could plant it out and opened up the island a little.

Planted pic.

I'm almost happy with the placement now just the odd Wendetii green at the front. I may move those to the island and I think I may grab a pot of Wendetii brown for the front right of the island. The HC is stuffed in gaps in the rocks and wood like moss. Inspiration came from TGM's "Natures Chaos" scape for that one. I may grab another pot and pop a few more in of just wait until I can split some clumps up. The L Aromatica is behind the Vesuius, hoping this will cover the intake pipe a little. Some of the crypt leaves have stood up a little although I'm removing melting leaves daily.

Thanks for looking. Comments and criticism appreciated.

Cheers.

sssnel · 11-19-2011, 06:30 PM

beautiful!

spyderuk · 11-27-2011, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sssnel

beautiful!

Cheers. got a way to go yet

Weekly update.

Water change 1st thing this morning with a coffee. As I'm new to external filters I took the opportunity to clean the sponge prefilter during the refill. Quite straight forward and quickly done. Time for a 2nd coffee while tank refills.

Staurogyne is on the move and the crypts are on the melt. Installed 4 Oto's during the week and 6 Black Phantom Tetra yesterday. The L Aromatica melted by the intake but there were some healthy side shoots at the base, so I've trimmed n moved them to the centre to see if they pick up a little. The clumps of HC are slowly spreading and some have been pushed back into the crevices. Moved 1 Vesuvius to the island as it was a little crowded and struggling.

Oh added a few sprigs of crypt Undulatus Brown too. Still need something for the filter pipe corner. Maybe another Hygro.

Shot tonight.

green_valley · 11-27-2011, 09:10 PM

Great picture. Awesome green.

spyderuk · 12-07-2011, 09:49 PM

Cheers,

Was working the weekend so did wc on Monday before co2 on and dosed, all good. Added a C Helferi, trimmed a few longer S Repens shoots and replanted and had a general tidy. Also clipped the Hygro back and planted tips on the other side by the intake. Cleaned start of GSA off front glass and tweaked Ei mix.

Pre maintenance.

And after.

The Limnophilia Aromatica has started to move a bit now which I'm pleased with but the HC around the rocks has started melting after doing so well. I've upped the co2, never was quite happy with the shade of the DC now it looks much better.

The Vesuvius runner is being grown out. I'm going for 4-5 young plantlets to replant the area. The plants were all scrunched up but in good flow they seem to hold vertical and avoid getting knotted up so much so I'm going to grow them in fresh.

My fave plant at the moment has to be the Staurogyne. I tried it a while back but it didn't do too well for me. I found 2 pics of the left side of the tank. Tropica has it listed on the slow side but I would say it's faster, maybe medium.

27/11

5/12

I also got around to tidying this up underneath too.

Thanks for looking.

ibmikmaq · 12-08-2011, 01:13 AM

wow looking really nice! cant wait to see it progress and grow out!

spyderuk · 12-18-2011, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ibmikmaq

wow looking really nice! cant wait to see it progress and grow out!

Thanks, I'm really enjoying this tank so far. It feels more like 8 weeks though and it's only been a few days over 4 weeks.

Week 4 Update.

I'm holding off all major trimming till after boxing day as we are entertaining friends and family boxing night. Don't want the tank looking all bare and naked after a big trim.

Working this weekend so no weekly WC yet but snapped these last night to keep the journal going. The Alternanthera is going mental and will be hacked back soon. I'm hoping the new growth will come with smaller leaves and be a bit more compact. I'm still struggling with Blyxa so may have to get more crypts in the new year to fill it out. Also I was surprised that the Hygrophila Corymbosa started melting after it's little trim. There were a few pieces floating around the tank.

Staurogyne is doing great, probably the most consistent performer after the Alternanthera. I think I'm gonna trim and replant this next Wednesday on my day off. The plan is to spread across the front and have a clumpy row of Pogostemon Helferi behind it in the centre. Will soon be time to replant the Vesuvius and move some of them to another tank.

Staurogyne.

Now onto the algae. I've have a little BBA appear on rocks and wood in high flow area so more co2 tweaking to do. I have gas on 2 hours prior to lights which I have moved to 2.5 hours now as I upped the injection rate last week. The bubble count is uncountable, so I'd rather move the timings before upping gas again. I have dropped down to 6.5 hours photoperiod. I'll shave another hour off that tonight.

I'm also considering trying taping up every other hole on the spray bar. The flow comes out diagonally with more force towards the blocked end, giving more flow to the RHS of the tank. This should even out the flow a little.

Algae

Drop checker colour is better towards the end of the photoperiod, being a little darker at the start, as we're 2 hours behind I think I'm close to getting it "dialed in" now.

Dropchecker Omg, more GSA

And finally, a group shot of the new inhabitants.

Little Orphans.

Thanks for looking, Merry Christmas,

aretreesfree · 12-18-2011, 01:21 PM

Beautiful tank you have here! I love it. What are the dimensions?

shrimpo · 12-18-2011, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spyderuk

Thanks for looking. Comments and criticism appreciated.

Cheers.

Neat and very nice looking tank, I think it will look better by adding dark background sheet.

spyderuk · 12-18-2011, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aretreesfree

Beautiful tank you have here! I love it. What are the dimensions?

Thanks, it's coming together slowly. It's a Rio 125 here's the bits from their site.

Volume: approx. 125 Litres
Measurements: 81 x 36 x 50 cm

Quote:

Originally Posted by shrimpo

Neat and very nice looking tank, I think it will look better by adding dark background sheet.

Hi and thanks. I've not even thought about a background yet, with the time of year and only 4 weeks old. I may look into that in the new year. Cheers.

spyderuk · 12-28-2011, 11:53 AM

So a day off yesterday gave an opportunity to catch up on tank maintenance before a shopping trip to get a few items so we can start making candles. :mrgreen: I've ordered a pipe cleaning brush as the filter pipes need a good clean out.

Here's where we are at prior to maintenance.

FTS Pre Maintenance

Time to hack down the Alternanthera and remove the odd old algae infected crypt leaves. It's just the odd bits of algae that don't seem to be spreading fast but just bits here and there. Removed some melting leaves from the Echindorus Quadricostatus. What's left from my chunky lumps of Blyxa after they melted into oblivion are now front center to see if they pick up.

Filling back up

Here's a shot of refilling after WC. It shows the diagonal flow from the spraybar which gives little co2 issues on the left hand side although the Staurogyne is doing better on the left than the right. Go figure.

FTS last night after trim.

I don't know whether I should try another pot of HC in between the rocks at the front now my co2 seems a little better than it was. Either that or some Hydro sp Japan. I've got some baby needle leaf JF in another tank. Must get some superglue and stick them to some tiny rocks to drop in here and there. The L Aromatica will be trimmed soon and tidied up a little. It bounced back well fron the black stems with green buds I had.

Thanks for looking and a happy new year.

P.s. Just snagged a Tropica pot of Hygrophilia Pinnatifida to throw in somehwere tonight.

spyderuk · 02-14-2012, 08:12 PM

Been a while since I updated this over here, about 6 weeks or so. Not much moved or changed just growing, trimming, dosing and water changes.

This is how it looked last week. Have had another trim since then including the S Repens and L Aromatica, have been pruned hard. Managed to clear all the BBA on the wood and infected plants and now only have a touch of GDA/GSA on rocks, I can live with that.

Sliderman · 02-14-2012, 09:12 PM

Nice progress!

I've just set up one of these exact same tanks. I used some of that tesco cat litter too.

Weird.

Where abouts in the UK are you?

Are you not a little worried about keeping 3 angels in a tank that small? I ask as it was my plan, but after reading into it I decided to go for a pair of Bolivian rams instead. Angels get quite big!

spyderuk · 02-14-2012, 09:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sliderman

Nice progress!

I've just set up one of these exact same tanks. I used some of that tesco cat litter too.

Weird.

Where abouts in the UK are you?

Are you not a little worried about keeping 3 angels in a tank that small? I ask as it was my plan, but after reading into it I decided to go for a pair of Bolivian rams instead. Angels get quite big!

Thanks I love the dimensions when the internal is removed. We can fit a Rio 240 where the 125 sits and plan to upgrade at a later date. They won't be in there all their lives that's for sure.

I'm in Rugeley, Staffordshire. The journal is posted up on Ukaps, I update it more frequently there.

spyderuk · 05-03-2012, 07:05 PM

It's been a while since my last update, not much changes just the plant mass increases, then I hack some out.

Here it is before any maintenance. April 10th.

Staurogyne was hacked out, right down to the wood as they say. I can't wait to see how it responds to that. A few Vesuvius runners were removed from the island, they are popping up all over the place now.

After brutally hacking back the Stauro.

Quite a bit came out of there and I think some clippings are stuck in other plants in the tank.

April 30th.

3 weeks after the brutal hacking of the Stauro, it's bouncing back. :mrgreen:

Here it was Sunday morning prior to maintenance.

I somehow skipped last weekends WC due to a busy schedule and started having little outbreaks of algae, especially on old leaves. Combined with the flow reduction due to plant mass a good thin out was in order. I originally planned to mow most things back a lot harder but when it came around to it, I kinda wussed out. :shh:

After Maintenance and light haircut. :thumbup:

A little BBA back on the wood in places, been scrubbed with EC & toothbrush, will hit any surviving BBA again this weekend.

And 3 weeks after it's ordeal here's the Stauro coming back. Complete with invasive Quadricostatus and Vesuvius runners. :lol:

11-19-2011, 06:22 PM	#1
spyderuk Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: UK Posts: 55	Rio 125 - High Tech - "Orphans Island" Thought I would share this tank here as I got it posted on a UK based forum. Tank - Juwel Rio 125l Filter. Internal removed. Eheim Pro 3 600 (2075) Rated 1250 lph. Stock media for now. Lighting - Stock Juwel twin T5's plus reflectors. Co2 - 3kg pressurised. TMC dual guage reg with solonoid and valve. UP inline atomizer. Currently set around 4 bps. Fert's - Ei. Substrate - Tesco's cat litter (molar clay). £3 per 10l bag. Used 2 bags. Hardscape - Some green rockey rock from local garden centre/fish shop, 26p per kg. The wood I've picked up here and there over the last 6 months or so. Plant list. Alternanthera Reinecki "pink" (Roseafolia) Blyxa Japonica Cryptocoryne crispulata var Balansae Cryptocoryne Petchi Cryptocoryne Wendetii Green Cryptocoryne Walkerii Echinodorus Quadricostatus Echinodorus Vesuvius Hemianthus Callitrichodes "Cuba" Hygrophila Corymbosa Limnophila Aromatica Pogostomen Helferi Staurogyne Repens I wasn't planning an island scape but the large piece of wood I wanted to use just didn't seem to "fit" with everything else so I switched it out and used 2 other pieces and tried an island with the rocks and wood. Hardscape pic. I had a couple of weeks before I could plant it out and opened up the island a little. Planted pic. I'm almost happy with the placement now just the odd Wendetii green at the front. I may move those to the island and I think I may grab a pot of Wendetii brown for the front right of the island. The HC is stuffed in gaps in the rocks and wood like moss. Inspiration came from TGM's "Natures Chaos" scape for that one. I may grab another pot and pop a few more in of just wait until I can split some clumps up. The L Aromatica is behind the Vesuius, hoping this will cover the intake pipe a little. Some of the crypt leaves have stood up a little although I'm removing melting leaves daily. Thanks for looking. Comments and criticism appreciated. Cheers.

11-27-2011, 09:10 PM	#4
green_valley Wannabe Guru (View User Tanks) PTrader: (11/100%) Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: California Posts: 1,098	Great picture. Awesome green. __________________ *********** Green ********* Green's Resurrection Aquarium Gallery**

02-14-2012, 09:12 PM	#13
Sliderman Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Scotland Posts: 7	Nice progress! I've just set up one of these exact same tanks. I used some of that tesco cat litter too. Weird. Where abouts in the UK are you? Are you not a little worried about keeping 3 angels in a tank that small? I ask as it was my plan, but after reading into it I decided to go for a pair of Bolivian rams instead. Angels get quite big! __________________

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11-19-2011, 06:30 PM	#2
sssnel Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (1/100%) Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: USA Posts: 89	beautiful!

12-07-2011, 09:49 PM	#5
spyderuk Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: UK Posts: 55	Cheers, Was working the weekend so did wc on Monday before co2 on and dosed, all good. Added a C Helferi, trimmed a few longer S Repens shoots and replanted and had a general tidy. Also clipped the Hygro back and planted tips on the other side by the intake. Cleaned start of GSA off front glass and tweaked Ei mix. Pre maintenance. And after. The Limnophilia Aromatica has started to move a bit now which I'm pleased with but the HC around the rocks has started melting after doing so well. I've upped the co2, never was quite happy with the shade of the DC now it looks much better. The Vesuvius runner is being grown out. I'm going for 4-5 young plantlets to replant the area. The plants were all scrunched up but in good flow they seem to hold vertical and avoid getting knotted up so much so I'm going to grow them in fresh. My fave plant at the moment has to be the Staurogyne. I tried it a while back but it didn't do too well for me. I found 2 pics of the left side of the tank. Tropica has it listed on the slow side but I would say it's faster, maybe medium. 27/11 5/12 I also got around to tidying this up underneath too. Thanks for looking.

12-08-2011, 01:13 AM	#6
ibmikmaq Planted Member (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Nova Scotia, canada Posts: 249	wow looking really nice! cant wait to see it progress and grow out!

12-18-2011, 01:21 PM	#8
aretreesfree Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: SOUTHCALIF Posts: 74	Beautiful tank you have here! I love it. What are the dimensions?

12-28-2011, 11:53 AM	#11
spyderuk Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: UK Posts: 55	So a day off yesterday gave an opportunity to catch up on tank maintenance before a shopping trip to get a few items so we can start making candles. :mrgreen: I've ordered a pipe cleaning brush as the filter pipes need a good clean out. Here's where we are at prior to maintenance. FTS Pre Maintenance Time to hack down the Alternanthera and remove the odd old algae infected crypt leaves. It's just the odd bits of algae that don't seem to be spreading fast but just bits here and there. Removed some melting leaves from the Echindorus Quadricostatus. What's left from my chunky lumps of Blyxa after they melted into oblivion are now front center to see if they pick up. Filling back up Here's a shot of refilling after WC. It shows the diagonal flow from the spraybar which gives little co2 issues on the left hand side although the Staurogyne is doing better on the left than the right. Go figure. FTS last night after trim. I don't know whether I should try another pot of HC in between the rocks at the front now my co2 seems a little better than it was. Either that or some Hydro sp Japan. I've got some baby needle leaf JF in another tank. Must get some superglue and stick them to some tiny rocks to drop in here and there. The L Aromatica will be trimmed soon and tidied up a little. It bounced back well fron the black stems with green buds I had. Thanks for looking and a happy new year. P.s. Just snagged a Tropica pot of Hygrophilia Pinnatifida to throw in somehwere tonight.

02-14-2012, 08:12 PM	#12
spyderuk Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: UK Posts: 55	Been a while since I updated this over here, about 6 weeks or so. Not much moved or changed just growing, trimming, dosing and water changes. This is how it looked last week. Have had another trim since then including the S Repens and L Aromatica, have been pruned hard. Managed to clear all the BBA on the wood and infected plants and now only have a touch of GDA/GSA on rocks, I can live with that.

05-03-2012, 07:05 PM	#15
spyderuk Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: UK Posts: 55	It's been a while since my last update, not much changes just the plant mass increases, then I hack some out. Here it is before any maintenance. April 10th. Staurogyne was hacked out, right down to the wood as they say. I can't wait to see how it responds to that. A few Vesuvius runners were removed from the island, they are popping up all over the place now. After brutally hacking back the Stauro. Quite a bit came out of there and I think some clippings are stuck in other plants in the tank. April 30th. 3 weeks after the brutal hacking of the Stauro, it's bouncing back. :mrgreen: Here it was Sunday morning prior to maintenance. I somehow skipped last weekends WC due to a busy schedule and started having little outbreaks of algae, especially on old leaves. Combined with the flow reduction due to plant mass a good thin out was in order. I originally planned to mow most things back a lot harder but when it came around to it, I kinda wussed out. :shh: After Maintenance and light haircut. :thumbup: A little BBA back on the wood in places, been scrubbed with EC & toothbrush, will hit any surviving BBA again this weekend. And 3 weeks after it's ordeal here's the Stauro coming back. Complete with invasive Quadricostatus and Vesuvius runners. :lol: