169 replies to this topic

[waruna]

Hi,

It's been a while since i've had a tank. Losing almost all my fish ( apart from one) after a power failure while i was away kinda made me feel guilty to buy more fish. After much thought i decided on a planted tank, i guess i wanted a challenge, something new to learn. So the past few months i have been busy buying bits by bits The tank will be here latest Saturday. The Dupla Therm set and the controller any day now.. My Co2 system is getting custom made, will post more info on this soon..

This is my system:
Tank: 1850 x 700 (500 in the corners) x 800 deep
2 x Eheim 2260
1 x Eheim 5000 (Adjustable pump 2500l - 5000l)
1 x Aqua UV 25W
Dupla Therm Set 1000
Dupla T control Alpha
Pentair Aquatics inline heater module
4 x 120W LED light units. Custom made in China, 2 units 112 x 1W 6500k whites, 2units 80 x 1W 6500k whites and 32 x 1W Blue globes. Blues are purely for the look, will not run longer than half hour each time. I know going with LEDs are a big gamble, if i'm not happy with them in the future i'll go with a combination of MH and T5s.
Co2 system info to come.
ADA Aquasoil Amazonia and Power sand

Any comments?

An excellent article on lighting:

http://www.americana...m_Lighting.html

My other thread on ADA Aquasoil:

http://www.perthcich...showtopic=39598

Now to some photos..









Regards,

[Westie]

very nice, looking forward to seeing the end product

[JimmyTheFish]

After all that nice filter set up I would recommend drilling holes in your tank for the inlets/outlets. You can keep the look inside the tank very nice with minimal un-natural things like hoses and tubing. Something to consider.

[waruna]

After all that nice filter set up I would recommend drilling holes in your tank for the inlets/outlets. You can keep the look inside the tank very nice with minimal un-natural things like hoses and tubing. Something to consider.

Hi, did consider this at the start, wasn't possible for two reasons (my last project which was a SW tank and that was drilled). I had to work with 32mm at the back. The wall on the right hand side is curved, this in turn gave me a limited number of depth to work with. I had a choice to have a much smaller tank with holes drilled at the back or a tank this big. And the Cabi made a few mistakes, i originally asked him to give me 50mm at the back but he left me with 32mm. And on the left hand side he came in 17mm short, see pic below. The more we brought the tank forward the bigger the gap became, because the cabinet had to be in line with the right hand side curved wall. I'm still trying to sort this mess.

[waruna]

@JimmyTheFish, have been thinking about your comments.. I could have drilled the bottom glass, didn't think about this at the time, was only considering the back glass, so thank you for the advice..

I finally received the substrate heating system!! After almost five weeks! Also i ordered another 2 light units, 2 x 9500k 120W LEDs, this should give me 2.5wpg. I managed to complete all the plumbing inside the tank, this is how it looks now.



With power sand special


Even though the two 25mm black pipes look like they are connected to the one sitting on top of the substrate, they are not. The black pipe on the left is the return from the two canisters. The one on the right is the return from the in-line pump which will be distributing CO2, in-line heating and the UV sterilization. I drilled more than 100 holes each on both pipes. This is the best way i could do to evenly distribute CO2 in the tank. Hopefully this will circulate the water nicely.





Hoping to fill the tank this weekend.

Would love some advice on choosing plants, anyone? Not interested in stem/fast growing plants..

[Brett]

Not interested in stem/fast growing plants..

Perhaps you might like to reconsider this, fast growing plants are an important "insurance" against nutrient imbalances that are common during the set up of planted tanks.
You can always remove them later.
They are also a lot cheaper, it would be very expensive to fill a 6 foot tank with slow growing plants.

Cheers
Brett

ps forgot to say that your tank looks fabulous

Edited by Brett, 26 February 2011 - 01:01 PM.

[waruna]

Thanks Brett. Temporarily i will put some stem plants while the tank is cycling, sorry i should have explained this better. This is what a few people suggested as well. I'm not planning on setting up a "Dutch style" or heavily planted tank. I want a fair bit of green but Altums and Discus will be the main focus. It's nice when it's green with a lot of swimming space. I've seen some good pics, i'll try my best to create this idea in my head

[waruna]

I filled up the tank on Saturday morning. I added 20g of Aquasonic KH generator in the morning and aonother 20g after 8 hours. I also added a huge colony of mature bacteria when i filled up the tank.These are the readings of the tests i performed on Saturday night: Ammonia 8ppm, PH 6.6, KH4.

On Sunday afternoon i did a big water change and added the main pieces of wood with some plants i intend on keeping permanently. I also added a dozen cheap stem plants. I added 20g of KH generator after filling up the tank. Here's a pic: (the two big pieces of rocks are there to hold the wood sink, they are a bit floaty still)




The readings this morning:
PH 7.2, Ammonia 2ppm , KH 6. Here's a pic:



Still a long way to go with decorating. Some of the plants I purchased yesterday looks very good, but the two big Java ferns are in shocking condition

[Neddy]

Looks awesome mate, well done.

[waruna]

Thank you.

[Juls]

Looks pretty awesome, personally i would forget the discus and just keep the altums, get a big school of suitably sized Rasboras to go with them (read 3-4" Rasboras, adult altums will make a very short meal out of a group rummys or cardinals)

Unless you plan to keep Wild Type discus with the Altums that might be ok, but domestic discus plus altums.. not my thing, and the discus will make the water messy quickly, and heating the tank expensive.

Keep in mind that you cannot feed discus the usual beef heart included dinners if the water is below 29 degree's as land based animal fats remain solidified if the water temp is 28 or lower, and the discus cannot properly process the solidified saturated fat leading to all kinds of health problems.

keeping 1000L at 30 Deg won't be cheap, in perth power your talking $450 a year alone for a 500W running 6 hours a day all year, if your not using aircon in summer then only count 6 months of the year. (one jager 300W won't be enough to keep 1000L at 30Deg through winter.)

Keeping only altums will mean not needing to keep at 30 deg, 26/27 will be acceptable saving alot of power/money, and no need to feed beef heart based meals.

Filter wise you need to calculate $1.72 per Watt for a filter running 24hrs a day 365 days (taking into consideration all times of day/week with the 40/20/16/10c rates for time of the day, the 1.72 per watt only works with 24hrs a day items as it considers all rates combined not averaged).


The filters your running I'm guessing 50W each, 100W all up so only $172 a year running the filters.

Not sure on your lighting, but if your running 8 hours a day, i suggest 1pm to 9pm, then calculate 4 hrs 20c per kwh and 4hrs 40c per kwh all year.

500W of lighting 8hrs a day will be about $450-500 a year.

Although i'm guessing if you can afford to build that tank that sweet power cost isn't a issue.

Juls

[Brett]

500W of lighting 8hrs a day will be about $450-500 a year.

Such a spoil sport, working out the running costs. I tell my wife the hobby is free, I swap plants for fish food so it costs me nothing

I am afraid I can't tell what you have planted in the tank, perhaps you could post a list. I really love the wood, its going to look fantastic.

Agreed on the Altums, they will be sensational in a big tank like that. The vertical striping would be complemented by some tall thin plants.
I like spiral vallis, but it tends to get too long and float across the surface of the tank which tends to spoil the appearance somewhat.
Crypt balansea is awesome, but I could never really get it to thrive and mutliply, perhaps you will have more luck.

Java fern often gets very tatty after transplanting, but it tends to come back quickly in good conditions.

Nice to see the ammonia falling, but I would still like to see more plants

Cheers
Brett

[waruna]

Ok i'm a little colour blind, did another Ammonia test and the reading is 4ppm, quite sure this is the same colour it was this morning, will check in the morning again, oops.

Looks pretty awesome, personally i would forget the discus and just keep the altums, get a big school of suitably sized Rasboras to go with them (read 3-4" Rasboras, adult altums will make a very short meal out of a group rummys or cardinals)

Thanks Juls Rasboras look pretty nice, specially the Mosquito rasboras(Boraras brigittae), will research more..

Unless you plan to keep Wild Type discus with the Altums that might be ok, but domestic discus plus altums.. not my thing, and the discus will make the water messy quickly, and heating the tank expensive.

Keep in mind that you cannot feed discus the usual beef heart included dinners if the water is below 29 degree's as land based animal fats remain solidified if the water temp is 28 or lower, and the discus cannot properly process the solidified saturated fat leading to all kinds of health problems.

Before i even decided on a tank me and my partner decided to get solar power, so during the day while the tank is in full action the solar system will run the whole tank. Discus and Altums in one tank is such a touchy subject it seems. I'm definitely getting some wild Discus, was at Malaga today talking to Kev trying to figure out which ones are nicer looking..?! Would love everyones thoughts. Altums are hard to come by, i know a couple of importers who brings them in from time to time. So with some luck i hope i'll have a group of Altums one day soon. Definitely not feeding beef heart

Thanks for the run down of the power bill, i never ever wanna see that again ha.

Such a spoil sport, working out the running costs. I tell my wife the hobby is free, I swap plants for fish food so it costs me nothing

I am afraid I can't tell what you have planted in the tank, perhaps you could post a list. I really love the wood, its going to look fantastic.

Agreed on the Altums, they will be sensational in a big tank like that. The vertical striping would be complemented by some tall thin plants.

Java fern often gets very tatty after transplanting, but it tends to come back quickly in good conditions.

Nice to see the ammonia falling, but I would still like to see more plants

Cheers
Brett

Thanks Brett. Ok so far i have these plants (i may have miss one or two)

Microsorium pteropus (Java fern)
Narrow leaf Java Fern
Microsorium pteropus Windelow
cryptocoryne wendtii tropica
Echinodorus schlueteri 'Leopard'
Cryptocoryne balansae (getting more)
Blyxa Japonica
Nymphaea zenkeri
Echinodorus red melone x
Anubias Barteri Var Nana 'petite'
cryptocoryne undulata

I will be getting these in the next few days:
Crinum calamistratum x 1
Echinodorus horemanii (red) x 3

I'm looking for more Crypts, Anubias Swords...

I like spiral vallis, but it tends to get too long and float across the surface of the tank which tends to spoil the appearance somewhat.
Crypt balansea is awesome, but I could never really get it to thrive and mutliply, perhaps you will have more luck.

Vallis tend to be a bit invasive, they need a bit of work as weel. I'm not keeping any plants that tend to produce runners. I am looking for more Crypt Balansae and similarly taller non invasive plants

Java fern often gets very tatty after transplanting, but it tends to come back quickly in good conditions.

Nice to see the ammonia falling, but I would still like to see more plants

Cheers
Brett

It's difficult to plant a tank this big all at once. Will plant more during the weekend.

[waruna]

These are the test results today:

Ammonia 2ppm
Nitrite: 0.25ppm
Nitrate: 20ppm
PH: 6.6
KH:4

Any thoughts?

[Juls]

What are your phosphates? Need to watch them on any planted tank if the nitrate/phosphate balance is wrong then.. = Algae hell.

If your tanks still cycling nothing wrong with those figures, but the nitrates seem high, I would aim for.

Nitrates 10ppm
Phosphates 0.5-1.5ppm (1ppm prefered)

If your phosphates become too far from a 10/1 ratio then algae may kick in, getting phosphates down without fast growing stem plants is almost impossible,
especially since phosphate removing resins are virtually ineffective in fresh water.

Do not use buffers unless they do not contain Phosphates, PH Controlling buffers always contain phosphates, normally pushing you off the scale in one dose.

High phosphates will lead to hair algae, or worse Clado.

Since your keeping Altums, string algae eating shrimp will be a impossible option, no shrimp at all will be suitable with adult altums.

I would suggest a 50-70% water change right now get the nitrates back under control, 20ppm nitrates is ok, but if it's that high already won't take long to hit 40ppm, i'd be worried about keeping altums in that level of nitrates, commercial discus would be fine, Wild discus probably no way.

BTW Boraras Briggitae only grow to 18mm, 5cm baby altums will make them dissapear instantly, Boraras briggitae will be eaten by small blue rams, even lemon tetras, serpae tetras ect.

Consider larger rasboras that grow at least 7.5-10cm too keep them out of your altums tummys, Bleeding heart tetras might be a option since they get quite big, also congo tetras.

Juls

Edited by Juls, 01 March 2011 - 08:49 PM.

[fish]

wow, the tank has come up really nice, well done

[mattt]

So thorough, love the wood, be great to see when the jungle of plants start to take hold.

[kesaph]

Nitrates don't pose a problem if doing a fishless cycle as you should be doing a 100% change once cycled, a day before putting fish in.
Your PH is looking low and this could stall the cycle. (BicarbSoda is a good buffer, though a more permanent option is crushed coral to keep the PH up.) Ideal cycling levels are low 8's.

[Brett]

I would just add some floating plants, they will remove the ammonia preferentially and then the nitrate.
Remove them when you are done.

Cheers
Brett

[waruna]

What are your phosphates? Need to watch them on any planted tank if the nitrate/phosphate balance is wrong then.. = Algae hell.

If your tanks still cycling nothing wrong with those figures, but the nitrates seem high, I would aim for.

Nitrates 10ppm
Phosphates 0.5-1.5ppm (1ppm prefered)

If your phosphates become too far from a 10/1 ratio then algae may kick in, getting phosphates down without fast growing stem plants is almost impossible,
especially since phosphate removing resins are virtually ineffective in fresh water.

Do not use buffers unless they do not contain Phosphates, PH Controlling buffers always contain phosphates, normally pushing you off the scale in one dose.

High phosphates will lead to hair algae, or worse Clado.

Since your keeping Altums, string algae eating shrimp will be a impossible option, no shrimp at all will be suitable with adult altums.

I would suggest a 50-70% water change right now get the nitrates back under control, 20ppm nitrates is ok, but if it's that high already won't take long to hit 40ppm, i'd be worried about keeping altums in that level of nitrates, commercial discus would be fine, Wild discus probably no way.

Hi, didn't have a phosphate test kit so had to buy one today The readings today are:

Phosphate: .07
Ammonia: 2ppm
Nitrite: 1ppm
Nitrate: 20ppm
KH:4
PH:6.8
PH from the tap (Filtered for chlorine and heavy metals): 7.0

I added 30g of KH generator this morning, the readings were taken late afternoon.

BTW Boraras Briggitae only grow to 18mm, 5cm baby altums will make them dissapear instantly, Boraras briggitae will be eaten by small blue rams, even lemon tetras, serpae tetras ect.

Consider larger rasboras that grow at least 7.5-10cm too keep them out of your altums tummys, Bleeding heart tetras might be a option since they get quite big, also congo tetras.

Juls

Only had a quick look the other day, without reading just had a quick look at a few pics.. Will do some research in to biggish Tetras

wow, the tank has come up really nice, well done

Thanks, it's getting there slowly.

So thorough, love the wood, be great to see when the jungle of plants start to take hold.

Thank you. Bit hard to find good plants. Picked up 8 Red Wendtii Crypts today, should be good to add some colour to the tank.

Nitrates don't pose a problem if doing a fishless cycle as you should be doing a 100% change once cycled, a day before putting fish in.
Your PH is looking low and this could stall the cycle. (BicarbSoda is a good buffer, though a more permanent option is crushed coral to keep the PH up.) Ideal cycling levels are low 8's

This may be an affect of AS, i've read over and over again how it lowers PH. Will keep an eye on this.. I'm slowly trying to raise the PH, what's the max i can raise each day?

I would just add some floating plants, they will remove the ammonia preferentially and then the nitrate.
Remove them when you are done.

Cheers
Brett

Thanks, but i'm going to leave it as it is for the time being.. No alarming levels from all the tests. Adding the mature colony at the beginning is definitely paying off.

Looking for bottom feeding fish, any suggestions? I'd love to get a colony of 30 or so of Corys, and some L numbers. Anyone keeping any in planted tanks? Which ones are safe?Any suggestions?