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ThePizzaMan
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It's official. I'm back in the hobby.

I've been saving a little while to get back into the hobby and here it is. It's happened. my order has been submitted.

Mind if I run my ginormous shopping list by you guys to make sure I didn't forget anything?

- Juwel Rio 350 LED (350l tank, will be removing the fitted internal filter).
- Eheim 1500XL Classic (although I've got hard water, I'm not going to be overstocking cichlids so thought that the thru-put of this filter to likely be adequate)
- API Master Test Kit for Freshwater
- A veritable BUTT LOAD of Seachem Flourite
- Seachem PRIME
- Seachem Flourish (and Flourish Trace, just in case)
- Python Gravel Cleaner
- Black backdrop and adhesive
- JBL CO2 system (comes with CO2 test I believe)
- A few different size nets
- 30cm Tweezers to help
- Pretty sure I've got some Acrylic egg crate stuff knocking around that I can use to protect the base of my tank
- Digital thermometer

Besides any live stock, I think that's enough to get started right? Once I've inspected the tank to make sure it hasn't been cracked during delivery or the silicon isn't dodgy I'll go out and start looking for some plants!

I've done planted tanks before but only used the liquid carbon solutions. It's never seemed to be very effective to me, but I thought this time - since I'm all grown up and saved up especially for it - I'd give it a go.

SO! Have I missed anything? Any tips? It's been a VERRRRY long time since I've done this for realsies. :)
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Stephen
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The Eheim 1500XL Classic has a lot of power (2400L/h) which will be a lot for a community 350L aquarium (almost 7 x turnover).
I'm not going to be overstocking cichlids so thought that the thru-put of this filter to likely be adequate
What fish do you intend to eventually stock?
425L SeaBray Elite aquarium - Rio Mamoré (Bolivia) theme
4 x Cupid Cichlids, 14 x Cory caudimaculatus, 13 x Cory sterbai 52 x Reed Tetra, 4 x Honeycomb Bristlenose (L519)

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ThePizzaMan
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Yeah, I plan to dissipate the power from the output of the filter through daisy chaining a couple spray bars together across the length of the aquarium if needs be. I have seen and heard of some horror stories where filtration and CO2 are regarded too, though I'm certain that this filter is still 'over kill' for a reasonably stocked tank. I nearly opted for two smaller filters but with some mini people in the house, space is a commodity and if I can get a "one box" solution then I should. I need to be able to keep everything I can inside the cabinet the tank comes with. I also have done A LOOOOOT of reading this afternoon since it's been a slow day at work so things might be a little fuzzy/patchy where I'm trying to jog my memory.

I hope this seems like a reasonable/rational thing to have done!

I'm going to try my hand and do a planted setup including a good amount of Emerald Dwarf Rasboras (Celestichthys Erythromicron I think?) if only I can find some!
Last edited by ThePizzaMan on Tue Jan 21, 2020 17:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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ThePizzaMan
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Haven't got a plan B yet, but I love Danionids in general. I wanted to get my aquascape done and the tank cycle started while I did some more reading on the side!
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Stephen
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Plan A sounds fine.
How hard is the water where you live? Which is your closest town?
425L SeaBray Elite aquarium - Rio Mamoré (Bolivia) theme
4 x Cupid Cichlids, 14 x Cory caudimaculatus, 13 x Cory sterbai 52 x Reed Tetra, 4 x Honeycomb Bristlenose (L519)

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ThePizzaMan
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My water supplier is Severn Trent Water.

https://www.stwater.co.uk/my-supply/wat ... r-quality/

Slap in my postcode [TF5 0ND] and it'll tell you my out of the tap parameters. EDIT; I have a master test kit coming, I just dont have one to hand right this second.

In a nutshell, I have very hard, slightly alkaline water with an average pH of 7.37 (7.2 min - 7.6 max) and 18.8 degrees of hardness (German) over the last quarter.

Latent nitrates sit around the 21ppm mark.
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Stephen
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ThePizzaMan wrote: Tue Jan 21, 2020 18:10 pm My water supplier is Severn Trent Water.

https://www.stwater.co.uk/my-supply/wat ... r-quality/

Slap in my postcode [TF5 0ND] and it'll tell you my out of the tap parameters. EDIT; I have a master test kit coming, I just dont have one to hand right this second.

In a nutshell, I have very hard, slightly alkaline water with an average pH of 7.37 (7.2 min - 7.6 max) and 18.8 degrees of hardness (German) over the last quarter.

Latent nitrates sit around the 21ppm mark.
Wow! The water in your area is very hard (18.8dGH German).
The water should be fine for the Emerald Dwarf Rasboras (Celestichthys erythromicron) that you mentioned.
Water temp is best at around 22C long-term.
They are small (just under an inch when fully grown) so room for quite a few. :)

All the best
425L SeaBray Elite aquarium - Rio Mamoré (Bolivia) theme
4 x Cupid Cichlids, 14 x Cory caudimaculatus, 13 x Cory sterbai 52 x Reed Tetra, 4 x Honeycomb Bristlenose (L519)

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Martinspuddle
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Stephen wrote: Tue Jan 21, 2020 16:32 pm The Eheim 1500XL Classic has a lot of power (2400L/h) which will be a lot for a community 350L aquarium (almost 7 x turnover).
If @ThePizzaMan is running a CO2 injection planted aquarium you need a turn a volume turnover of at lease 10 x per hour for it to be successful.

Image

Juwel Rio 240 with two TetraTec 1200 external filters, with CO2 in-line injection. Water volume turnover was at 10 times per hour.
WARNING - DO NOT BREED, FEED OR PET THE PUDDLE! :dodgy2:
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ThePizzaMan
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Thanks Martinspuddle. When you take displacement into account it will balance out the turnover of water much closer to the desired level of filtration. Not a perfect 10, but then I don't intend on running very much CO2 into the tank compared to those with very densely planted tanks.

I mean, I'm certainly not rebutting any advice. I've never used CO2 injection - but I like to think I've at least done my homework on the matter (a task that is unending) and I likely won't actually learn any practical experience stuff until I have all the kit in my hand.

I just want to make it absolutely clear that I do NOT intend to stock this tank with fish until I find the perfect balance. I refuse to put any kind of sentient life at stake while I'm on a learning curve. Until I know I can do this right, it will be an aquatic garden.
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Martinspuddle
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@ThePizzaMan Just for reference and further reading I have posted this link for you.

https://www.ukaps.org/index.php?page=se ... anted-tank
WARNING - DO NOT BREED, FEED OR PET THE PUDDLE! :dodgy2:
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