Custom fluidized k1 tank

Had some cracking advise so far, and tweaked accordingly.
My only wish, is i had more space to have this at least double its size, grrrr.
Its not pretty, well actually i think it is, the future wife not so much lol.
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125ltrs of amazing filtration with UV.
couple of u series fluvals sat in it at the mo, while i get the other tank cleaned up and moved, keeps the filters alive while ive been mad busy and a few fish to help mature the system (not really needed as all the K1 was fully mature when i got it), which will probably be sold soon. well given in to work, accept my L260 which ill sell, she is sooooooo pretty.

So now im thinking, bare bottom or not, first thoughts were bare bottom, just because i can keep it cleaner?

Bare bottoms are not so good, due to bacteria growth. You will need to scrub them regularly. If you don't want much gravel etc in the bottom because its not going to be planted then a light dusting (couple of mil) of sand or fine gravel is best.

Just as easy to keep clean with less chance of the bad bacteria, which cankill your fish. Pleanty of threads on the site with more explanations.



Jon

Had been using RO, but just dawned on me how god dam stupid that is, ive been so fixated on getting the filtration right, id completely over looked how stripped out RO is, crap.
So either i mix RO 50/50 with tap water or HMA (more expense) or scrap the RO idea all together.
or use some re mineralisation powder.?

I use RO too

I used to keep discus and the RO was great. The water where I live is terrible, I mean really shocking. pH of about 8, hard as a rock and tastes like rubbish. International ships refuse to take on water her as it scales up their pipes with lime. So RO was really the only option for me. I used to use a 5:1 mix of RO:tap water because, as you correctly mention the RO is way too clean. That mix used to give me a stable pH of about 6.7 and a hardness of 1-2 degrees. I have recently switched to using a buffering powder as to avoid tap water all together. It is a pH/KH buffer which buffers to pH 7.0. 2 tea spoons into my 100ltr barrel and its pH 7 and 2 degrees of KH. Perfect for my current fish (Oscars, geophagus, texas cichlid, lots of bristlenose (1000s) and a few other random South American fish). The powder is cheap as, it is not a name branded one, just a simple buffer to stop the pH from dropping too much with the tannins from the driftwood etc.

I use a smear of sand across the bottom of my tanks. If it was all leveled out it would prob be under a centimeter deep but cos of the current and fish it does get moved about a bit so there is bit of bare bottom and bits with sand. I find this helps as the fish can choose where they want to be. I used sand because it was cheap. It's silica sand (used in pool filters) and easy to come past. way less than half price of proper 'aquarium' sand or gravel.

I work in the trade so get huge discounts on dry goods and livestock, so nipped in to work today (supposed to be on holiday and ive nipped in everyday since ive been off lol) and brought some AquaDur Plus.
Instructions are very vague though.
Brought some Nordic gravel as my first choice silica sand was out of stock grrrr.

Also came up with an in genus idea to top up the tank, as you can see from the picture, it is impossible to pour in water from a 25Ltr jerry can.
So im going drill two holes in the lid, one hole to fit a hozetail with a hard pipe extending to the bottom of the jerry can.
Then the second hole, ill fit a brass quick coupling air valve. Then all i do is attach my air compressor and problem solved.

What would you recommend i aim for kh/gh, ph?
Im focusing on bristlenose for now, cutting my teeth you might say. but as i can get cheap fish, breeding L046 would be amazing (not just to make money) i love these little fish to bits, they really are up there with bristlenose plecos.

buffers are always general. it depends on your water as to how much you need to add. just do a water change and test it in the old water.

thats what I did. 2 teaspoons in to 100ltrs works well for me. pH of 7 and KH of 2 degrees. Thats for my oscar tank though.

For bristlenose i would be aim for pH from 6.5-6.8 and KH of 2-4 degrees.

Ok been at this all day, adding small amounts through out the day.
my ph has risen to 7.6PH, GH to 4.48dGH, but my KH has remained at 1.68dKH for most of the day despite adding more.
starting to doubt the reliability of this test kit, it is a few years old.

I generally run off the KH more than the pH. It seems to be more reliable. KH that low with a pH that high is very unusual. its not impossible but its unusual.

I also dont use drop pH test kits anymore. I got a digital one (with calibrating fluid) and use that on a constant basis (i.e. its always on, so i can see the pH at a moments glance)

i dont trust these test kits one little bit, grrrrr

Test kits are good.
figured out whats happening, my filtration system is so full of bacteria its eating the KH like crazy, trying to buffer Ro is going to be costly and time consuming, back to the drawing board.
Need to run the system on my tap water, which to be far aint that bad. 3.3 dKH, ill probabley still have to use some buffer, but no were near as much.
Think, i may even look at HMA.

Well a long time since my last update, but here's how it's gone.
I ended up having a space saver 125ltr water in my dinning room, which I put peat and alder cones in, the bring the ph right down, then I treat with some aquadur which in turn brings the ph and kh back up to where I want it. Works a treat.

I installed a seneye to closely watch this custom tank and I couldn't be happier.

Long story short.
3 spawns in and everything is ticking on nicely.
Can't express how amazing and easy it is to do filter maintenance on this tank and very very cheap to run.