New Tank Ordered

Hi guys just ordered the juwel vision 180.... excited. Need ideas on substrate etc as I've only had the dreaded Biorbs. Gonna do the fishless cycling so any help would be appreciated.

Forgot to mention -

The instructions will say to replace the sponges and cirax every few months. Don't replace them until they are literally falling apart.
The one exception is the white pad which goes on the top. That is just filter wool which Juwel place first in the direction of water flow and is to stop bits getting further down into the media. It will clog quickly and won't wash properly without going into holes. Replacement white pads work out expensive so buy a roll of filter wool and cut it to shape using a white pad as a template.
Filter wool is not a very good home for the filter bacteria so it won't build up many bacteria before you throw it away. It might be an idea to leave it out during the cycling process as you won't have any debris (unless you plant the tank right at the start and have the odd bit of dead leaf getting in).

The good news is that hard water and high pH both favour a fast cycle.

With a bigger tank your options for fish are wider. Apart from the obvious Rift Lake cichlids, which not community fish, you still have a good choice. Even fish that prefer softer water would be OK as long as they are tank bred not wild caught.
Eg emperor tetras are OK up to 215ppm (12 german deg) hardness. That's one of my males in my avatar. And my cherry barbs are fine up to 357ppm (luckily for me they are also OK down to 36ppm!)


Livebearers are another obvious choice but they do have the downside of all those fry if you had mixed sexes.
Many rainbowfish species like hard water - check with Seriously Fish as some get quite big (too big) and the odd one or two prefer soft water.
Red eye tetras, though be sure to have a biggish shoal to keep any fin nipping within the group
X-ray tetras
Central American cichlids, if there were any in your area - some get too big and others are aggressive, and they are not terribly common in shops. Eg firemouths, convicts, keyholes, to name a few.


If you were happy with smaller fish, a lot of the Pseudomugils like hard water but they could be tasty snacks if you wanted some larger fish as well.

I know very little about plants substrates I'm afraid. Hopefully someone who does know about them can help.

But I do know that sand needs a very thorough wash or it will make a mess of the water. It is quite simple - put some in a bucket, fill with water. Stir well, pour the cloudy water away, repeat until the water is clear (almost clear will do) then repeat with the next batch till it's all done. Since you only want a layer on top of a plant substrate it won't take as long as for those of us who have nothing but sand.

one thing to bear in mind if you are using soil substrate is that it will almost certainly contain nutrients and will need to be tested thoroughly  before stocking.
I set up a 30l planted betta tank a while back using dennerle scapers soil and found that the nutrients contained in it were enough to cycle the tank fishlessly without adding ammonia.
it took about 2 weeks to cycle (with live plants in situ).

I'd suggest John Innes No.1 rather than No. 3. No.3 has the highest level of fertilisers which might be too much for a new tank and lead to problems with green or cloudy water or other algae growth. Definitely don't use a soil-less compost which will break down over time and cause problems. Having been in my house for many years and knowing my soil well, I just used garden soil but if you are doubtful about yours, John Innes is certainly the most sensible option. Some of the specialist aquarium substrates are ridiculously overpriced. For the top layer, I prefer J Arthur Bower's lime-free horticultural grit which I've found to be excellent and much cheaper than aquarium gravel, a 20 kg bag costs £4 - £5 from a garden centre, which will only buy a small bag of so-called aquarium gravel, but there's very little difference between them. Be sure to get lime-free, whatever you use, especially with water that is already hard. Incidentally, I've found that Corydoras seem to do equally as well on the grit as on sand, whatever the "experts" may say.

Wow thankyou for all that information. Will get some john Innes no1 and some basic substrate.
Plant recommendations ?? Or get the tank cycing first ??

I wouldn't say that the grit I use or good aquarium gravel is sharp, the pieces are actually rounded. I literally put some under a low power microscope to look at it closely. The only truly sharp substrates I have seen were some of those horrible coloured (black, blue, red) artificial things which some people seem to like. I think they are actually made from some sort of crushed rock (or even a glass-like substance) whereas natural sand, gravel, grit or whatever all originated from river deposits and were rolled about for years (or centuries!) and therefore any sharp edges became rounded.

I think the secret to getting a fast cycle is to have plenty of bacteria to begin with. The people who have problems seem to be those who start with a clean tank and tap water, neither of which will have many (if any) bacteria to act as a starter culture. I only use dirty water from an established filter, soaking the new filter sponge in the water, but making sure that lots of bits of "muck" get into the new sponge as the bacteria will be attached to these bits rather than floating in the water. It's easier than chopping up an existing filter. The soil in the substrate and the plants will also help. Whatever, it only took me a week or so to cycle each of my tanks, though I left them a bit longer before adding fish as I wanted the fish to go into an already settled system.

I would definitely put the plants in first, I think it's a myth that they interfere with the cycle, or at least a case of "much ado about nothing". I put my soil layer in, then the gravel on top, then any bogwood or rocks. I add a little warmish water to warm up the substrate. I then plant the plants, it's much easier to do so before you fill up with water. When the tank is full, not only do the plants tend to float away as you try to push them into the substrate, but working with half of your arm in the water isn't particularly convenient ................. Once the plants are in, add a bucket or so of water, using the usual method of pouring it onto a saucer to avoid disturbing the gravel. The water might now be rather cloudy, if so syphon it off and then fill with clean water. When it's full and heated up to temperature start the cycle with ammonia as normal. By the time it has finished, the plants should be well rooted and growing so that your fish go into a developing ecosystem which should be more stable than one with bare substrate, plastic plants and "ornaments", which relies entirely on the filter and requires lots of maintenance. This has been my method for the past couple of years and I've had no problems in spite of rarely changing water or vacuuming the substrate, a change of about one bucket of water every couple of months is the most I do, except if I am adding new fish. But I am meticulous about filter maintenance.

For plants, I'd stick to easy ones such as Hygrophila, Vallisneria, Sagittaria, Amazon Sword, with Java Fern attached to bogwood or stones, the more difficult plants (including the red ones) do require a lot more trouble with regard to light, fertiliser, Carbon dioxide and trimming. I'd buy loose plants rather than potted, they are much cheaper and take very quickly. If you don't have too strong a flow across the surface, then the floating plant Amazon Frogbit will do well, it is fast growing, a great user of nitrates and fish do seem to enjoy its shelter. I do have bogwood in all of my tanks and I think it does have some beneficial effects as well as looking natural.

When the cycle is complete, I'd start with a decent number of fish rather than adding them in dribs and drabs. In fact, I stocked most of mine "fully" in one go, working on the principle that the fish I bought were only about half their adult size and so I was actually only half stocking to begin with. The fish have subsequently grown to fully stock the tanks as the tanks have matured which seems to me a natural way to do things.

Picked up tank. Put the cabinet together all on my own. Round of applause please, thought being a single mum I've put tons of flatpacks together in my time.
Washed the tank thoroughly now onto placing the filter in.
I have all the sponges but do I need cirax or anything else. It says optional on the leaflet but I assume I will need some ceramic noodles at some point.

Hi sue. Yeah it just came with the sponges which threw me. Substrate coming tomorrow and will get it all going when I get home from work. Got a bag for my biorb rocks so just need to get ammonia and I will be on my way.
Saw some lovely blue tetra yesterday and snow white cichlids. A bit torn, don't know what to get. Probably stick with what I know to start with. Luckily I have a month or so to decide 😁