Your current Fish tank Setups!

b0rn2sk8 · 3 Dec 2015 at 17:38

I use a Fluval CP2 along with a Fluval 306 in my Juwel Rio 180

http://www.swelluk.com/fluval-sea-circulation-pumps/

Was a bit noisy when I first set it up but it was silent after a week of running it in.

Hathaway · 4 Dec 2015 at 23:30

I've made some major alterations to the layout to accommodate a sandfall or "underwater waterfall" to the right. Haven't got the equipment yet to do testing but using my hand to simulate the sand falling I think I've set it up so that the sand will fall down the rocks and back towards the reservoir in the far right corner of the tank. Interestingly the sand will freefall over a gap which fish could swim through if they chose to. Not sure any will be that brave to try but will be fascinating to see!
Has meant all the greenery has moved mostly to the left but I'm liking the contrast it's created so far.
If I can coax the anubias to play ball I'll attach it to the branch which goes from the centre "tree" to the rock face, and may try to attach it to the new bogwood which breaches the waterline on the far left too.

I've decided to keep the intake line behind the 3D background as it seems to be doing okay from there. Though since I'll be getting an air pump for the sandfall, which has two lines, I'll try and get some more air flow and agitation there to avoid the water stagnating.

arc@css · 5 Dec 2015 at 00:42

That looks really nice; nice deep substrate, too. I've always liked white sand. That's what I had in a set up some years ago.

VFR_KID · 5 Dec 2015 at 14:15

Hi guys, could anyone advise on this. I have a 180l juwel rio tank, Jbl aquasoil then Jbl sansibar white sand. to me its heavily planted with anubias nana dwarf,amazon sword, Java fern and moss, Large Anubias, amazon frogbit, Crypts and a few other plants i cant remember the names of. My nitrates appear to sit 40+ ppm even the day after large water changes.
I do a 30% water change every week and once a month a 50% but still High. Im adding 26ml of micro and macro EI ferts on alternate days. following their schedule for adding ferts, also running a co2 fire extinguisher.

What im wondering is with it being planted should the nitrates be low, or are they high due to most of the plants being slow growing?

Spook187 · 5 Dec 2015 at 14:22

You get nitrates in tap water unless you use RO water, is the filter new or been going a while.

b0rn2sk8 · 5 Dec 2015 at 16:15

VFR_KID said:
Hi guys, could anyone advise on this. I have a 180l juwel rio tank, Jbl aquasoil then Jbl sansibar white sand. to me its heavily planted with anubias nana dwarf,amazon sword, Java fern and moss, Large Anubias, amazon frogbit, Crypts and a few other plants i cant remember the names of. My nitrates appear to sit 40+ ppm even the day after large water changes.
I do a 30% water change every week and once a month a 50% but still High. Im adding 26ml of micro and macro EI ferts on alternate days. following their schedule for adding ferts, also running a co2 fire extinguisher.

What im wondering is with it being planted should the nitrates be low, or are they high due to most of the plants being slow growing?

40ppm nitrate is not an issue, don't worry about it, my water tests at that out of the tap.

Nitrate test is very in accurate making it next to useless.

arc@css · 5 Dec 2015 at 16:24

b0rn2sk8 said:
40ppm nitrate is not an issue, don't worry about it, my water tests at that out of the tap.

Nitrate test is very in accurate making it next to useless.

It depends what you are keeping. Personally, I wouldn't want more than around 20ppm for freshwater.

Yup, some test kits are very inaccurate, such as the API ones. I used them until someone on here advised me for the better. Salifert / Seachem are a better option.

b0rn2sk8 · 5 Dec 2015 at 17:11

arc@css said:
It depends what you are keeping. Personally, I wouldn't want more than around 20ppm for freshwater.

Yup, some test kits are very inaccurate, such as the API ones. I used them until someone on here advised me for the better. Salifert / Seachem are a better option.

What I should have said is the vast majority of fresh water fish that are bread in captivity will be fine with 40ppm nitrate.

Most fish have been bread in normal tap water over multiple generations and no longer have their affinities to set water conditions. Just look at discus as an example. But there are some exceptions.

PH and hardness is a much bigger consideration for those exceptions.

If your really worried about nitrate, dose potassium sulphate in your mix rather than potassium nitrate.

http://www.co2art.co.uk/collections/aquarium-fertilizers/products/potassium-sulphate-k2so4

But what you need to do is answer this question yourself.

"Are my fish happy?" (i.e. color, temperament, eating, free from disease etc)

If the answer is yes, you don't need to worry about 40ppm nitrate.

EDIT:

VFR_KID can you confirm what is coming out of your tap?

Check your post code on the Scottish water website and it will tell you. I had a quick look at a few areas around Fife and and it suggests anything between 0 and 15, if that is the case and your getting up to 40 in the tank after a week is a bit of a worry.

If is the case it could be down to any number of reasons:
You test is inaccurate/wrong.
Your dosing way too much.
Your overstocked.
Feeding too much.

VFR_KID · 6 Dec 2015 at 19:38

Spook187 said:
You get nitrates in tap water unless you use RO water, is the filter new or been going a while.

Yeah i had also read that. The filter has been running since june.

b0rn2sk8 said:
40ppm nitrate is not an issue, don't worry about it, my water tests at that out of the tap.

Nitrate test is very in accurate making it next to useless.

Yeah the api one is pretty notorious for it.

craig_t · 6 Dec 2015 at 23:10

Hathaway said:
I've made some major alterations to the layout to accommodate a sandfall or "underwater waterfall" to the right. Haven't got the equipment yet to do testing but using my hand to simulate the sand falling I think I've set it up so that the sand will fall down the rocks and back towards the reservoir in the far right corner of the tank. Interestingly the sand will freefall over a gap which fish could swim through if they chose to. Not sure any will be that brave to try but will be fascinating to see!
Has meant all the greenery has moved mostly to the left but I'm liking the contrast it's created so far.
If I can coax the anubias to play ball I'll attach it to the branch which goes from the centre "tree" to the rock face, and may try to attach it to the new bogwood which breaches the waterline on the far left too.

I've decided to keep the intake line behind the 3D background as it seems to be doing okay from there. Though since I'll be getting an air pump for the sandfall, which has two lines, I'll try and get some more air flow and agitation there to avoid the water stagnating.

This looks very very nice, different but I like it a lot!

NoobCannon · 16 Dec 2015 at 20:12

set this up today. filled with pre mix from the LFS as my refractometer hasn't arrived

have bought 20kg of D-D H20 salts in prep for when it does. Gonna be keeping Sexy shrimp and some softys to start with and possibly a goby if I can find a matched pair [they match with shrimp] hopefully will be able to keep some higher grade corals once I get used to keeping levels etc

light is set at 5% white and 5% blue in this pic or the camera wont take the picture properly! [I assume due to the UV]

aready had the tank but everything else is new

3kg live rock
1kg Fiji pink live sand
hydor nano
1 x other power head I forgotten name of
marine reef LED controlled tile
hob modified into mini refugium and a lump of cheato with the tanks original LED light
eheim 50watt heater

changing to marine costs a fortune!

and a few pics of my Freshwater setup now its matured and my crystal shrimp have started breeding like crazy again

Spook187 · 16 Dec 2015 at 21:06

NoobCannon said:
changing to marine costs a ****** fortune!

Welcome to the money pit of marine fish keeping

It's well worth the stunning display you end up with

Unicorn · 16 Dec 2015 at 21:23

Bought myself a new Julii cory today to go with my 2 peppered corys as one mysteriously died and my pleco's ate him so i never found out if he had an issue.

Got a calico bn pleco on hold at the lfs now until he's a little bigger

Nice to have friends inside my lfs. Should go nicely with my Lemon bn and Brown bn i hope! Id love to have a big breeding set but with a 125 Liter tank i won't go above 3.

Anyone express grew algae before? Iv bought 2 roughed up rocks so it sticks well, a pot for the water i just need a good low powered (<5w if possible) lamp to leave on 24/7 to make the algae boom on the rock. Thinking of doing it this way for my pleco's instead of changing things on the display tank

NoobCannon · 18 Dec 2015 at 22:19

All those with marine setups. Just found a bristle worm in my tank prob 2 inches long. Hithiker on liverock. Do you remove them? Varying opinions from searching

Spook187 · 18 Dec 2015 at 22:24

NoobCannon said:
All those with marine setups. Just found a bristle worm in my tank prob 2 inches long. Hithiker on liverock. Do you remove them? Varying opinions from searching

I do, they can grow fairly big and you don't want to be putting your hand in without gloves.

I had three types of worms i found whilst dipping corals, make sure you do this when you get corals, always dip to try and stop pests getting into tank.

NoobCannon · 18 Dec 2015 at 22:43

Hmmm next time i see it ill try and grab it with my long tweezers. What gloves would yoy wear to try and find it? Rubber gloves do?

Have also seen a small star fish charging around and a couple different types of snails.

Spook187 · 18 Dec 2015 at 22:46

Have a read of this should give you more info.

http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f184/hitchhiker-id-guide-202739.html

rebel rebel · 19 Dec 2015 at 17:29

I move into a new flat next week so I can upgrade. I've been looking at the reefers and a aqua medic xenia.

rah^ · 19 Dec 2015 at 20:18

NoobCannon said:
All those with marine setups. Just found a bristle worm in my tank prob 2 inches long. Hithiker on liverock. Do you remove them? Varying opinions from searching

They are good CUC to an extent aslong as it is a bristle worm - they tend to regulate based on available food (you do get the exception where they get big and actively hunt food but its rare)

I do echo a comment below tho about dipping corals - normal dettol and some old tank water works wonders and is nice and cheap :cool:

w3bbo · 20 Dec 2015 at 10:43

I never remove bristelworms. Excellent detritus clean up crew who can get places your crabs and moluscs cant. Just make sure you have identified it correctly. Other worms that look a little similar are fireworms and Eunice worms which can cause major problems.