Name - John Smith
Chosen Biotope - Malawi.
Tank Dimensions - 4 x 2 x 2 ft.
Start Date - 07/04/15.
07/04/15 - To start my project I bought a second hand tank. 4 x 2 x 2 foot with cabinet and hood.
I had to clean it to remove residue and calcium build up.
I wanted a 3D Background that looked like a ledge. To fit this in I had to remove the support strut and re-silicone it.
08/04/15 - Went to LFS and bought RedSea Reef base as substrate. i wanted a sandy look and needed the pH stability. i may have sand sifters so wanted a fine sand. I filled the substrate to 5cm thick.
10/04/15 - Using an Eheim 2200 EJ filter. I used XX medium in the top and XXX medium in the bottom. I didnt use activated carbon at this point.
12/04/15 - Added water. Used Seachem Prime to condition water and build up bacteria. I used 20mL of Aqua-Pics Malawi Salt/Nutrients to bring up my salinity and magnesium. Added 3 spoons of XXX hardener to reach a kH of 11. Had to add 5ml of buffer to get my pH to 8.4. Quite happy.
19/04/15 - Got a new LED light today. White and Actinic LED's to give it a deeper lake feel.
27/04/15 - Added 20kg limestone rocks. The rocks were placed to form caves for hiding and protection as i have 10 species going into my biotope. Matches well to my sand substrate and brings out the colour on malawi's. Keeps my pH up also.
07/05/15 - Added 2 x Aulonocara sp. 'Mbenji' to tank. They settled in fine. Feeding them on NLS and Brine Shrimp.
11/05/15 - Added 3 x Cyrtocara moorii to tank. A few tussles for territory, but settled in. found they love a bit of Spiriluna as a treat.
28/05/15 - Didnt like the limestone. Changed it to larger rocks that are African type granite. Looks better and more suited to biotope. Fish seem happier. Able to maintain pH and kH without the limestone.