Journal 120P Nature Aquarium

[Noahspapa]

Sharing my first 120P aquarium and hoping to obtain feedback and guidance as it progresses.

I purchased the ADA 120P tank, AFA stand, mat and ADA substrate set from AFA in San Francisco. The set cost approx $2,000 including shipping. The set arrived as a set of boxes on a pallet which was loaded into my garage by a local delivery service using a small fork lift. The delivery process took approximately 4 weeks.

The substrate set included one large bag of ADA power sand, the three ADA additives - bacter 100, tourmaline and super clear, five bags of Amazonia 2 regular, and two bags of Amazonia 2 powder.

The tank is 120 x 50 x 50 cm, so roughly 48” x 20” x 20” and holds approximately 80 gallons.

All items arrived in excellent condition. Helpers and I moved the items to the basement. The stand was easy to put together. Plywood based. Sturdy. I drilled some additional 4” holes in the left side and rear panels for access. I put down the mat, and added the tank.

I chose a chihiros 1200 wrgb2 pro light. I hung an IKEA adjustable rod holder over the tank to suspend the light from which has been working out well for my tanks.

For other mechanicals: these have evolved since initial setup

• Oase BIomaseter 2 thermo 350 canister filter loaded up with seachem matrix, seachem matrix carbon and seachem purigen.
• Cuboid aquatics UV disinfection unit.
• Oase Biomaster 2 850 canister filter loaded up similar to 350 and with all pre filter stuff (outer housing, center pipe, pads) removed
• Netlea pre filter
• ARC small acrylic yugang horizontal reactor
• five pound co2 tank
• CO2 Art pro CO2 regulator
• soft, gray silicone 16/22 hosing used throughout
• two sets of quick disconnects for the hosing
• Jardli glass Lily pipe outlets
• Hydra aquatics stainless steel inflow with skimmer
• some inexpensive motion sensing led panels for light within the cabinet
• two kasa smart plug strips

I’ve attempted to include some photos here but they don’t seem to be being pulled in.




The hardscape for the tank was selected collaboratively with the team at cuboid aquatics in Pipersville, PA. I became aware they carried a wide range of hardscape including the WIO product line and they were within driving distance (6 hours), so I drove down and spent the next day with them. They were well stocked and were incredible people! Their lead designer Maddie lead the effort. The design uses large WIO black venom and jade rocks to support a hefty set of Galapagos and WIO Centurian wood. I packed up the hardscape, brought it home and put together the current design. I chose the larger Galapagos pieces as I liked the dark highly contoured lines.

The design is a triangular layout as the tank will be viewed from the right side as well as the front and we wanted to keep that right side looking similar to the front.

The left side and rear are filled with the ADA substrate set. In two areas just in front of hardscape there are areas of substrate set where I intend to plant dwarf lilies and crypt spiralis tiger. The remainder of the front and right side uses WIO Everglades riverbed which includes tan sand, pebbles, twigs, leaves, and cones. I also added WIO black venom and jade pebbles and twigs.

My friend and I primarily used seachem epoxy to epoxy the hardscape together. It was easy to use. It does put off quite an odor. We also used a glue product call R6000 which seems to have worked out quite well. The tank has been in water for two weeks now. Some of the putty connected to wood has come loose. Best I can tell the R6000 joints are holding.



This is the current layout and you can see there is the normal whiteish “stuff” growing on some of the driftwood.

My friend and I filled the tank and started up the equipment to check for leaks and flow. We encountered a few small issues that were quickly resolved.

In 1-2 hours it was obvious there were loads of tannins in the water. I had read an article on cycling on 2hr that suggested turning off the equipment, letting the hardscape soak for 48 hours, draining, refilling and restarting, so this is what I did.

Once I had that new water……

Oh, water here comes from RO water normally remineralized with APT Sky up to a TDS of 100-120, however I had read that it’s best to make sure.KH is present to support the cycling process so this water was remineralized with APT Sky plus to a KH of 2-3.

To help boost the cycling process I started with Microbe-lift gel filter inoculation in both canisters, and Microbe-lift Nite-out and special blend products.

Water tests show that two weeks in I have high ammonia and nitrite. Tank is running with no light.

I did start up the co2 reactor as I’ve never used the horizontal yugang reactor and wanted to see what sort of co2 levels I could reach. I measured 40-50 ppm with the Hanna test set which is great and turned the co2 back off for now.

I will continue to monitor ammonia and nitrite near daily.

In the mean time I will be working on a planting plan.

Please get back to me with any comments, suggestions for sustainability, improvement, etc.

 

[Noahspapa]

One additional photo

 

[Naturescapes_Rocco]

What a setup! It looks awesome, please keep us updated.

I believe dark starts should be considered the top way for cycling a tank, especially with Aquasoil as rich as Amazonia V2. It took my 150p Aquasoil tank 4 weeks in dark start to cycle. Warmer temps help speed it up, so increase your heater to max if you can!

 

[Noahspapa]

Thank you Rocco. I think I have the temp at 75. Warmer than that? Do you think a Kh of 2-3 is good for dark start? It would normally be lower than that assuming the rock doesn’t elevate it. Thanks again.

 

[Naturescapes_Rocco]

The warmer the better, as long as they're not being cooked in 95°F water! 80-86 would be fine.

My tank cycled just fine at 0KH. I think most do, I've not heard of KH affecting nitrifying bacteria.

In fact, adding KH in Aquasoil tanks is a it counterproductive, because Aquasoil removes KH from the water, which causes swings. Better to just run 0KH, unless you have very specific livestock that needs KH. Unless the stones add KH, the Aquasoil will continue to absorb KH for months.

I’m sure you'll still get cycled and a little KH never hurt anyone, but if it was me I'd forgo adding KH at all when using RO water. None of my tanks have ever had KH Remineralization, I always run my tanks ~0 KH.

 

[Noahspapa]

Thank you

 

[Koan]

Sharing my first 120P aquarium and hoping to obtain feedback and guidance as it progresses.

Bravo! What a cool setup, looks like that will be a lot of fun

Thanks for the pointer to Cuboid! I'm in their Free Shipping Zone too

Just remember as you go forward, plants grow back.. hardscape comes unglued and can be reglued.. algae will eventually settle down.. Everything can be fixed

 

[Noahspapa]

Thank you Koan

 

[Noahspapa]

I’m expecting to monitor the cycle, clean up the driftwood at some point but I think the tremendous opportunity and also challenge is putting together the planting plan. I’ve been experimenting quite a bit and the size of this tank gives me a large footprint to plant in.

I know I can (have) plant Eleocharis, Marsilea hirsuta, hydrocoytle, crypt parcel in the sand. Do you think I could get away with a crypt nurii in the sand?

 

[Noahspapa]

Ammonia is zero now, nitrite still present. Working on a planting list now, hoping to be able to plant by end of next week. Was hoping to get planted and stocked before cold temps hit, but - too late for that!

Question - after nitrogen cycling is complete, do you all tend to plant the full set of plants at once or do you have any sort of phasing approach you take?

 

[Kwyet]

I generally plant all of them except Buce and Anubias towards the end of cycling. I wait until the cycle is fully complete to plant those.

 

[Naturescapes_Rocco]

As someone who just lost a bunch of buce to a new setup (even when the ammonia and nitrites are at zero) I'd also second waiting to plant buces. They really do seem to appreciate a biologically mature setup -- and not just one where the nitrogen cycle has been established.

 

[techman81]

As someone who just lost a bunch of buce to a new setup (even when the ammonia and nitrites are at zero) I'd also second waiting to plant buces. They really do seem to appreciate a biologically mature setup -- and not just one where the nitrogen cycle has been established.

I will third this. Planted Buce and Anubias too soon in my nano tank. Anubias were a little more tolerant but buce didn't like it at all. Took several months for them to recover.

 

[gnatster]

I generally plant all of them except Buce and Anubias towards the end of cycling. I wait until the cycle is fully complete to plant those.

As someone who just lost a bunch of buce to a new setup (even when the ammonia and nitrites are at zero) I'd also second waiting to plant buces. They really do seem to appreciate a biologically mature setup -- and not just one where the nitrogen cycle has been established.

How would one go about planting a mostly Anubias and Buce layout after the dark start? I've got a cart full of TC Anubias picked out.

 

[Kwyet]

I’ve never done a dark start, but I would say continue as normal with whatever the other plants are and the fish etc, then attach the epiphytes about a month later. You can use a small amount of cyanoacrylate gel (it dries white though) or tie them with black thread or fishing line. You can actually plant them in the substrate too, as long as you don’t bury the rhizomes.

 

[Koan]

tie them with black thread or fishing line

Do you find the Buce will attach on their own as the thread degrades?

 

[Kwyet]

Do you find the Buce will attach on their own as the thread degrades?

I really think they should, but I usually just use a tiny drop of glue. I believe I’ve even seen some kind of thumbtack used and later removed in one of @Burr740 ‘s journals.

 

[techman81]

Once dark start is complete, drain water down below level of hard scape you're attaching epiphytes to. As Kwyet said, use a very tiny drop of thick gel super glue on the rhizome (not the roots) and stick it to the spot you want it. You can also just stuff the plant into nooks and crannies (gently) and as long as it stays in place, the roots will eventually take hold of the wood or rock they're up against.

 

[Sb1415]

Ammonia is zero now, nitrite still present. Working on a planting list now, hoping to be able to plant by end of next week. Was hoping to get planted and stocked before cold temps hit, but - too late for that!

Question - after nitrogen cycling is complete, do you all tend to plant the full set of plants at once or do you have any sort of phasing approach you

Based on my recent tank experience, I think cycling is more than nitrogen; and in general plants need maturity. In my future tanks, I plan to run it for a month or two with just easy fast growing plants like pearl weed. Recommend reading this post, where these are called baby sitter plants - 3 Hacks when starting a new tank

 

[*Ci*]

Based on my recent tank experience, I think cycling is more than nitrogen; and in general plants need maturity. In my future tanks, I plan to run it for a month or two with just easy fast growing plants like pearl weed. Recommend reading this post, where these are called baby sitter plants - 3 Hacks when starting a new tank

Thanks for this link. I’m wondering what other plants would be considered “babysitters” besides pearl weed …