Setting up a 180 Litre, stocking, plants, cycling? Help!

[milliemouse]

Hey everyone

I'm now in the process of gathering everything for my new tank set up, its a Jewel Rio 180 Litres (second hand) which I'm planning to have a natural set up with lots of plants in!

So far I have got the plant soil base, sand as substrate, various stones for decor as well as different sized pieces of Mopani wood. I've got a Fluval U4 filter and an Interpet 300W Heater.. but before I get going with it is there anything I'm forgetting?

I'm also not sure on what to stock for this tank, in another tank I currently have 7 Mollies (1 adult and 6 fry), 2 Oto catfish, 1 platy and 5 neon tetras which would be going into the new tank once it is fully set up! I'm looking to add more colour as well as more of a clean up crew, what ones would work with what I already have?

This is the biggest tank I've had this far and it will be the first time trying new things, like a complete fish-less cycle as well as having sand as a substrate so any advice would be appreciated. I would also love to see some of your tanks for inspiration so feel free to leave them below! I'll be using this thread to keep track of my progress

Thanks in advance!

 

[milliemouse]

Started to soak some of the wood in the bath today as one of the pieces is quite big. Also going to wash the sand later too! Can't wait for things to come together

 

[flchamp89]

Sounds like your on track. Ill be following along. Waiting for some cool pictures.

 

[milliemouse]

Sounds like your on track. Ill be following along. Waiting for some cool pictures.

Hope so! Thanks I'll be posting some on here this week. Do you have any ideas on what I could stock?

 

[flchamp89]

What is ph, kh, gh?

 

[milliemouse]

What is ph, kh, gh?

PH is generally quite high, usually around 7.4 - 7.8. GH in my area is hard. Not sure how to find out KH?

 

[flchamp89]

About 50g so you have lots choices. I prefer big schools vs community tanks.

 

[milliemouse]

So today consisted of adding a background to the tank, laying down the plant soil base, washing 16kg of sand (which took way longer than anticipated! ) and laying it all out in the tank.

This is how I've decided to lay out the soil, concentrated on the back portion of the tank as I'm not planning on having many plants in the foreground.

I then put the sand down and laid out a design with sand. Still not 100% sure how I feel about it, I think I would have preferred more height along the back then what it has currently but maybe I can achieve that with plants.. hmm.. ignore the loose plants that are floating, I'm still figuring out where I want them. I've also got some anubias to attach to the pieces of wood which I'll do later tonight!

This is what I'm working with currently though can anyone suggest any low light, easy to keep plants? would also really appreciate any suggestions on how to improve it so far!

 

[SherLar]

Can't advise you on plant selection, but I think you're on your way to a great looking tank.

 

[milliemouse]

Can't advise you on plant selection, but I think you're on your way to a great looking tank.

Thanks! I usually rush into tank set ups because I want to get on with the cycle but this time I'm enjoying taking my time! Hopefully the end result is good

 

[flchamp89]

What fixture are you running? And our you commited to using nutrients and co2?

 

[milliemouse]

What fixture are you running? And our you commited to using nutrients and co2?

Just two 30w fluorescent light tubes.. not too knowledgable about tank lighting. Also, nutrients yes, but don't know how to go about using Co2. Please feel free to advise me

 

[milliemouse]

Current situation. Going to get some more plants tomorrow to add more height in the back and to the right of the tank.. Not sure where else to go from here now, maybe add a Co2 system for the plants?

Any suggestions for improvement are very much welcome

 

[flchamp89]

Looks great. You can grow those plants without co2. There are some articles in our forum discussing co2 basics.

I do vote for more plants. Cant have to many.