17 replies to this topic

[Rampage]

Hey everybody, I recently bought a 5x2x2.5 with cabinet and hood from Juls. I have taken my time and tried to plan things out as much as i could and i'm pretty happy with how it has turned out in the end. I decided in the end to use coral sand in the tank as i love the natural look of it and i think that it goes well with the limestone rocks aswell. I am using a Jebao filter that came with the tank and a Otto powerhead filter that i got from Az (Midland pet) but i plan on changing the jebao for a FX5 in the next few months. Fish wise so far in the tank i have got:

Labidiochromis caeruleus 'Electric Yellow' x2
Labidochromis chisumulae - x2
Labidochromis nakali - x2
Protomelas sp. 'steveni taiwan' Chimoto - x2
Cynotilapia afra 'jalo reef' - x2
Metriaclima estherae 'minos reef' - x2
Labeotropheus trewavasae - x2
Pseudotropheus perspicax - x2
Aulonocara myalandi 'Sulpher crest peacock' x1
Cynotilapia Afra “Cobwe” - x1
Tropheops sp. “Chitimba” - x1
Pseudotropheus sp. "Acei" Tanzania - x1
Aulonocara Jacobfreibergi - x1
Pseudotropheus "Flavus" Chinyankwazi island - x1
Metriaclima 'Blueberry zebra' - x1
Aulonocara 'Maleri gold' - x1
Longfin common bristlenose - x1
Common bristlenose - x1

Here's a few pics, I hope you enjoy.

















Cheers,
Tristram.

Edited by Rampage, 10 April 2011 - 09:10 PM.

[Bowdy]

Looking good. Have you thort of putting the heater in the overflow so you can't see it.
Cheers.

[Rampage]

Yeah i did try to hide the heater in the overflow but with the intake and inflow pipes in there there isn't enough room to fit it in.

[Krystal]

Those fish look great in there! Fair amount of colour already considering their size

Some Vallis would look awesome in there and help with the height of the tank.....to stop most of the Cichlids digging it up just anchor it down with all that limestone you have left over

[bobby dazzla]

Could always go the in-line heater option, that's next on my list for the display tanks.

Good looking set up though i like the suggestion of some tall plants to fill the height, or some fake (good quality) large rocks that sit high up. I think that JWin has some good examples in the photo section. Dont think you will have to dig to far back.

[Juls]

Looking good Tristram, the heater goes in under the exit pipes. I just left it hanging in there.

I think I put it in there before the exits.

If u need any help with anything just let me know.

Juls

[knock]

really nice choice of fish Tristram

andy

[Rampage]

Thanks for all of the reply's and suggestions, The plan all along has been to put some plants and more limestone in there but time constraints didn't allow for it at the time of setting the tank up. I spent this afternoon planting some valis and adding some more limestone to the tank and i'm quite happy with the final result so far although i can still see some more spots in there for even more limestone. Also i have experimented with the lighting by adding a 6m Led rope light to the hood of the tank but it wasn't as bright as i thought it would be so i have left the original 3ft light in there to help boost it.I decided to put finally put the hood on to and i think that it finishes the tank off nicely. A few more fish have been added aswell since i first put the tank together and still have plans to add more. So far added have been: 1xRusty cichlid, 1xCynotilapia sp. “Lion” Lion’s Cove, 2xLabidochromis sp. “Mbamba”, 1x Otopharynx Lithobates, 1x Aulonocara "Iwanda", 2xSciaenochromis sp. 'White Knight', 2x Placidiochromis sp. 'mbamba'.

Here's some pic's of the new rescaping.


With led light's only.


And with 3ft light added.


A big thanks to Az from Midland pet and aquarium and to Krystal from Aquotix for all of their help patience and guidance so far.

Cheers,
Tristram.

[Bowdy]

Add another 2 rope light's to the hood that should be enough to light the tank. And still cost stuff off to run. I had the same idea to use rope lights but 1 is just mo where near enough.
Cheers.

[Rampage]

Yeah the 6m rope light isn't quite enough light but for $30 delivered via registered post from over east it was worth a try, The guy also has 10m,20m,30m,50m and 100m rolls available too.

[Bowdy]

If you could coil it nice and tight 20-30m would do the trick I reckon.

[dazzabozza]

Looks like the exact LED rope I used to light up the shed - http://www.perthcich...x...st&p=209537

A lot cheaper if u buy 10 6m lengths at once too

[Rampage]

It could be Daz, The pics of your fish shed is where i got the idea from in the first place.

[Juls]

Looking good mate,

Did you possibly consider just trying the 2x54 Linears that came in the hood?

They had powerglo bulbs in there and would light up the whole tank easily, as well as making your vallis grow they would drastically intensify fish colours.

Here is some pictures when i was using just the 2x54W powerglos on my discus 5x2x2 in that hood on that cabinet. You have 2 sets of them there, and those ballasts are near new.

[attachment=12261:DSCF1911.JPG]
[attachment=12262:DSCF1875.JPG]

You won't get the colour quality with the LED's and I'll be surprised if the vallis grows without "Alot" more of them, those strips are just low power low output LED's, not the kind used for Marine or Planted tank applications. If you where using high power LED's, you would only need about 12-18 individual high power LED's to light the whole tank. (for low light application, not mega plant growing ect). The problem is these LED's start at around the $10 per LED, up to $25+ per LED, plus you also need a driver for them.

Also be very very careful with ferts, do not use organic carbon suppliments with vallis as it causes it to melt off. (like Seachem Excel, or Dino Spit.)

You can use normal micro ferts but i wouldn't until the lighting is sorted, macros should be unnecessary with messy cichlids.

Juls

[Rampage]

Added some new family members to the tank today, 3x 6 bar barundi frontie's.

[Bowdy]

Nice one the fronts are lookin awesome.

Why didnt you use the lights juls gave you with the tank??

[Rampage]

Thanks Bowdy that pic was taken not long after getting them home and putting them in the tank yesterday. I have kept the original lighting that came with the hood form Jlus but i thought that i would experiment a little bit with differen't types of lighting.

Edited by Rampage, 10 May 2011 - 04:13 PM.

[Juls]

Well if u decide not to use the linear t5's i would happily buy them back off you.

Cheers
Juls