Matt's 220 Litre Aquaoak

Time for version 2. The aquasoil was a step too far I think... The ammonia release made everything massively more complicated, plus the fact you cant gravel vacuum it really put me off in the end.  Also the ability of the substrate to soften the water is much debated and probably wont make much of a differnece is seems... So I've gone back a step in my thinking and gone with an option I had previously researched - Caribsea Ecocomplete (lol... the cheap option... sounds like me!!)
Again, I would welcome any thoughts you may have to improve my plan.

Step 1 - Putting new tank in place
As per previous plan:
I want the new 220litre tank to be sited where my current 64 litre tank is already. Therefore I plan to remove as much water as possible from the current tank, before moving it to a temporary location a few feet away. I realise that ideally all water should be drained from the tank for this step but I feel that this is the best compromise rather than stressing the fish overly by attempting to catch them etc. I will store 24 litres of water removed from the tank in buckets. I'll have maybe an inch left in the tank - 10 or 15 litres whilst it is moved and then will refill with tap water as if Ive done a large water change. I should be able to gently lift the cabinet the tank is on with the water removed and move it slowly across to its temporary location.
Step 2 - Doing the hardscape in the new tank
I have produced a sketch of the layout for the new tank which I can follow in this step and so I know what I need to purchase. The substrate will be a combination of sand and Caribsea Ecocomplete, separated by rocks to form a path - I'll attach my sketch tomorrow to show what I mean. The Ecocomplete and rocks I want will need to be ordered and so this will likely take a few weeks to complete. As I will wait till after Xmas to move onto next step anyway (to ensure I dont have any distractions from daily water tests etc.) this isn't a problem. Set up electrics, lighting and filter pipework.
Step 3 - Taking the plunge (After xmas)
Do another big water change on the current tank, using the removed water to begin to fill the new tank so I can plant the first plants (I know there's not much bacteria in water but I feel like I may as well). Some of which I am growing currently and some of which will no doubt be new.
Step 4 - Water tests
Fill up and wet test tank and filter. A quick water test to confirm suitability for fish.
Step 5 - Adding the first fish... and some plants and filter bacteria
The new filter will now be set up to include half the media from the existing filter (placed first in the direction of flow) and fresh media will be added to the 64litre filter.  I plan to move across the harlequin rasbora, cardinal tetra and galaxy rasbora first (about half the stocking of the 64 litre) as the hardiest and non territorial fish.  My research has shown that the corys prefer a mature tank so they will remain for the time being.  Water testing to ensure no ammonia/nitrite spike. I will also transfer some plants over at this stage as well because these are likely to be responsible for some of my filtration capacity at present.  Of course if I identify any funny reading in one of the tanks I can transfer stocking or media between them to balance things out and take a more gradual approach if required.
Step 6 - Increasing stocking and planting
Gradually increase the numbers of harlequins, cardinal tetras and galaxy rasbora and the planting of the tank (by transferring plants from the 64litre into the 220litre. As such this will act to increase the biological capacity of both filters. Add the corys and increase their numbers.
Step 7 - Moving remaining plants and wood into the new tank
At this point I cant progress further without starting to break down my current 64litre tank as I want to reuse the wood and most if not all of the plants. These will therefore be moved into the new tank at this point.  However, the 64litre tank could become very bare as a result. The remaining stocking will be x1 otocinclis, x1 goby and x2 rams. The rams will need structure of some kind to form territories and have places for the other fish to hide, so I will add an old bogwood piece I have back into the tank and will go to the lfs to colect the new additional rams and then add them to the new tank along with the current rams at the same time. This will mean all rams enter the new tank at the same time and will stop any territories being set up before new cichlids are added, mitigating the risk of any in-fighting.The other inhabitants of the 64 litre tank would then be added to the new tank at the same time.
Step 8 - Transferring remaining livestock
At this point the 64 litre tank will be empty of fish. Decorations would be removed (stones, bogwood and a couple of plants) temporarily whilst an attempt is made to move as many shrimp as possible into the new tank. I realise I'll never be 100% successful in getting them all which is fine as I intend to keep the current 64litre tank running and am happy for this to contain shrimp and for subsequent transfers to be made. The 64 litre tank will then need some rescaping to make it look reasonable again and I need to add some fish back in to keep the filter bacteria alive. I believe I could add a maximum of 15cm of fish (the amount just removed). I now know what I want to do with this tank... but that's my secret for now!!! (I'll cover this in the 64 litre tank thread soon).
Step 9 - Further increasing stocking in the new tank
Purchase of new species of fish for 220litre. Then increasing numbers of gobies and otocinclus (left till last due to ditoms and algae needing to grow). Adding more red cherry shrimp to increase the gene pool.

A lot of people say that plant substrates are a waste of money. After about a year, they become inert and you have to feed the plants the same as you would if you'd started with much cheaper plain sand/gravel.

Having no experience in this area, I decided to google 'Caribsea Eco-complete inert' and it threw up quite a few threads from elsewhere on this issue, including comparing Caribsea to ADA Aquasoil, etc, as well as the fact that they tend to become inert over time - worth a look.

One thing I should add is that I've never had to use root tabs in my tank. To me it appears that the caribsea eco complete seems to 'hold onto' the mulm and therefore is able to continue to almost produce it's own fertiliser lower down in the substrate. I wonder if this has anything to do with the variety of grain size. Because physics means that over time it sorts itself out so the smallest grains are at the bottom and the grain size increases as you get closer to the surface of the substrate. Therefore the mulm falls in between the larger grain sizes at the top, but very little actually makes it all the way to the bottom of the substrate.

Also every time I move or remove a plant, the roots always have bits of eco complete stuck to them. In these cases, it seems porous and my plants seem very reluctant to let go! So over the years I've probably thrown out a fair amount with root trimmings.

Here is the sketch of the layout I promised showing two sections of wood, coming from 'rocky outcrops' with plant substrate behind them and sand in the valley floor.  The photo below it is the best match I could find, though as you can see, I want a larger sand path. The guy who was making this decided to go in a different direction with the tank after this photo, so the planting is also not developed.

My filter arrived yesterday, Eden 522 with integrated heater. It took me a while to get over how big it is! 
Anyway - the pipework etc has been built up and the filter itself disassembled and reassembled - so I feel confident I know how it all works now 

I'm hoping to go and get the tank and lights today and move my existing tank as per step 1 below - the weather/roads look ok so fingers crossed... I will put the filter into the new tank dry so it's ready and get the lights set up. I have an extension lead where each socket has its own switch arriving tomorrow so that will need to be installed then before the tank can be put into its final position. Then I need to get my act together a bit and order the substrate and rocks, and buy sand so I can do step 2... it's all happening so fast... 

Right... here's how things have ended up tonight... the aquarium is in, the lights installed (wow its bright on full power  ). Filter also installed including the plumbing.

I stopped off at Aquahome, Leyland and bought some beautiful rocks. Really happy with those - I didn't think I'd find anything quite that nice 

Next job is to install the extension lead into the rear of the cabinet so it is off the base and nice and tidy   . Then I need to set to washing the rocks. A quick scrub and a dunk in boiling water.  A sticker on the aquarium says not to put any water in it till 12th December... Presumably to let the silicone harden fully. I will need to give it a quick clean too.  Then I can set about starting to lay out the rocks.

This is all looking very excellent @Matt Two things crossed my mind, if you can fit a filter foam to the intake to prevent the larger particles entering the canister, it will save you a ton of work by cutting down on the build-up and keep it visible rather than let it hide in the external and produce Nitrates. I know you want to keep the tank uncluttered but this is worth a compromise or perhaps consider making something compact that suits. Secondly the tub is a good idea but don't rely on it, if a leak does start it will very quickly overfill. I have used a shallow tray before now, something considerably larger than the external to catch the drips and splashes when maintaining the filter. Low sides allows you to lift the filer out easier and also mop up spills. Oh and a third, if the cabinate edges aren't sealed run a bead of clear silicone to stop water wicking into the joints.

I think Andy meant that if you use a pre-filter it will mean you will have to open the external less often to clean that sponge in the first chamber. There are sponges you can buy specifically for this - usually a hollow cylinder that slots over the tube that takes the water out of the tank - or any sponge can be used, you just need to cut a slit in it so it goes over the tube.

The goo that builds up in filters is a nitrate factory so it needs to be removed before there is a lot of it. With an external, that means opening the filter casing on a regular basis, so anything that catches the bits that form the goo (fish poo, uneaten food, bits of dead plant) before they can enter the canister, the better.

Not having an external myself, I don't know. But I do know that the sponges in my internal have to be squeezed quite a lot to get the brown goo out of them.

Every filter seems to have its own set of rules, so it may be a matter of seeing how it goes. For example, I have two internal filters in my tank - the older one (20+ years old) is much more reliable* and less prone to brown goo and I could probably get away with giving its sponges a gentle squeeze in old tank water once a month although I do it fortnightly, whereas the newer one is prone to clogging very quickly and especially since I've had live plants and needs its brown goo squeezed out twice a week otherwise the filter output reduces to virtually nothing while a slight expansion of the filter sponge can also reduce the filter output to virtually nothing.

* They don't make things like they used to! 

Well work has been incredibly busy the last few days hence the lack of updates... no progress to update you on.

I was never quite happy with the rock layout in my previous post... it just didn't look natural. But today I started having a play with the wood I had been soaking... I thought this would be a quick thing whilst I changed the water it was in and then I would put the wood back in to soak over xmas.  I found though that by working with the rock and wood together I could create a much more natural feel by intertwining the wood and rock together rather than treating them as two separate things. I also got more height out of the rocks (with the help of a little polystyrene) which had also been playing on my mind. 

I've ended up with the image below for one side of the tank.  This took hours of playing to achieve this look and to do so without using up most of the rock on this one side, so I hope it comes across in the photo!!     There's loads of nooks and crannies, not just ones suitable for anubias, but ones which will work for other plants too as aquasoil will reach them, so im really pleased.

The left side of the tank is currently just the spare rocks I didn't use layed out in a similar way to my previous post for the time being. The wood I'll be using here will be the stuff currently in the 64 litre tank, so that will have to wait for another day.

Tomorrow I'm going to put some planting substrate in behind the rocks on the right hand side. Ive ended up going with JBL Manado. Not particularly nutrient rich, but high CEC, low weight, inexpensive and fine grain size with no problems for barbelled fish etc. I've had some in a glass of water for a few days and tested it and there is also no ammonia release to contend with. I'll be putting some Tetra Initial Sticks in with it to provide some nutrients. First though i need to cut away as much polystyrene as i can or it will just float when I add water and destroy my hard work. There will no doubt be some hoovering to do after that, it's messy stuff! 

I'll also be adding the sand to the right side of tank tomorrow. I can deal with any cloudiness through water changes. Again ive tested the sand I've bought in a glass of water and its surprisingly undusty so not causing much cloudiness at all. Doing the layout on the left side later on will not be inhibited by a bit of spare sand in the area.. and besides I'm too eager to sit on my hands anyway!! 

After all this, and a couple of photos, I will put about half the wood back in to soak. The rest is tied in with rocks so will remain, else I'll have to undo all my hard work again.  The wood didn't leach much tannins from the initial soak so hopefully having one unsoaked piece wont cause too many problems further down the line. It also cant float when the tank is filled due to the aforementioned rocks.

I'm glad this is the last weekend before Xmas as I feel like I'm already starting to rush things a bit so the festivities will be a welcome distraction. I'm staying strong and not putting any water in the tank till after Xmas when there will be more time to look after the fish which will inevitably follow and their water quality.