Newbie Fluval Vicenza 180 Setup

[Quinnj3]

As I’ve been looking into the possibility of buying discus fish to add to my tank I’ve decided to do a little bit closer monitoring of my nitrates to see how much waste is currently being produced by my stock.  I really don’t want to be doing any more maintenance than my usual once weekly approx 1hr sessions.  Currently I’m more than happy with a once a week spruce up but I don’t think I could commit to more on a regular basis.  I’ve just too many other interests and family life, especially in the summer months, that eat into my time.

I’ve just done a 50-60% water change and my nitrates are currently 10ppm taken 2 hrs after the service.  I’ll check my nitrates every day or so for the next week to see how quickly they rise.  From this information I should be able to determine how heavily stocked my tank really is and if there is biological space to add around 4 discus.  My inclination is that I’m already heavily stocked and I don’t have space for anything else.  I’ll update this thread later in the week with my results.  Fingers crossed it works out ok.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[TropicalFishForums]

[plankton]

I'd be loathe to commit to a fish that needs careful keeping if I didn't have the time to do it, especially an expensive one......

[Quinnj3]

I'd be loathe to commit to a fish that needs careful keeping if I didn't have the time to do it, especially an expensive one......

I understand your concern.  I do look after my fish and will only consider Discus if I feel there is both physical and biological space and that I can give them what they need to thrive.  I just don’t want to have to increase my maintenance schedule due to them.  My current tank isn’t really big enough for adults with my current stocking but by the time they would be fully grown I’ll have a slightly larger tank better suited to Discus and some of my current stock should have died off, maybe

[plankton]

Would it be possible to set up a constant refresh system? A lot of discus keepers do that to avoid the heavy maintenance.

[Quinnj3]

That would be ideal and if I was building my house again I would leave plumbing for a fresh water source and drain at the fish tank area.  My tap water is perfect for Discus if it was dechlorinated.  I don’t think I have space to keep even a couple of fresh and foul water buckets in the tank area as a constant drip system.  It might be something to look into though. Thanks.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Quinnj3]

Ok I have just performed my weekly maintenance and have taken before and after nitrate readings.  I’ve been taking these readings all week and really struggling to interpret them properly.  In different lights I get a different reading!  I’ve included photos so you get the idea.   I can’t decide if my nitrates have climbed 5ppm or 10ppm.  Either way they are at or below 20ppm at the end of the week. Today I changed about 60% water and used the waste water to water my garden as we have a hose pipe ban here.

Can anyone offer an opinion as to what reading is more likely correct?

Without flash:

Before:


After:


With flash:

Before:


After:



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[plankton]

Probably 10 after and 20 before.

[Quinnj3]

Is a rise of 10ppm a lot during a week?  I’m considering buying more plants for my tank anyway as it’s looking a little bare.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[plankton]

Possible overfeeding can cause it.

[Quinnj3]

Well it’s been a while since I’ve been on here.  I now have my tank stocked for just over a year so thought I’d give a quick update.

Recently I haven’t had the same interest in my tank; just doing the necessary maintenance and feeding.  I used to sit for a half hour at a time just watching the tank but haven’t done that for a while now. 

It was a comment from a viewer on a short video I’d put up on YouTube that made me realise why I haven’t had the interest of late.  I didn’t realise that my plants had taken such a battering.  A before and after photo shows then and now. 

I blame my Bristlenose for constantly uprooting plants and my flying fox for nibbling at the leaves as he is stripping algae.  Some other fish also stripped some soft leaves plants that they were really partial to.

My current stocking is on the high side but I do have an updated filter to cope with it and water parameters are good.  I need more dense planting to break up sight lines and give the fish a break from each other; something that wasn’t such a problem before my BN pleco started uprooting the plants.

Previously:


Latest:



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[thebendyfox]

Wow that is a battering... I think I have just replied to your thread elsewhere, hopefully it will be useful.

For what its worth, I really like the natural layout of your tank, and with a bit of TLC for the plants, it will look even better.

[Quinnj3]

Well I haven’t updated in a while mainly because there’s not too much to report.  As my previous posting my plants weren’t doing great.  I took the decision to pull most of them up and replace around Christmas.  I bought low nitrate fertiliser at the same time as I’m heavily stocked and didn’t want to put the fish under any more strain.

Again these plants didn’t thrive and quickly began turning brown.  I tried upping the lighting and reduced the temperature from 26 to 25 degrees.  Again no difference so I bit the bullet and setup my CO2 canister.  Within days the difference was noticeable.  I weeded out the weak and dead plant matter and, well, the pictures speak for themselves!

From this:



To this:








Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[plankton]

That is a difference!