14 replies to this topic

[Kaydee]

Hi All

Hubby and I have just purchased and set up our new Aquareef 400 and, after a couple of suggestions in a previous post, I thought I would put up some pics and a description of the setup. Although marketed as a marine tank, we have decided to go freshwater as not quite ready for marine. Not entirely sure what we will keep, but probably South African cichlids with the obligatory bristlenose and so on. Any suggestions totally welcome.

I have kept a small 4 foot tank previously with community fish but had to give up due to living arangements and house moves. Since moving to WA two and a half years ago I have been desperately wanting to get another tank but have been renovating and didn't want to contemplate having to move a large tank to paint the walls. To keep myself going I have had a small benchtop tank with 3 goldfish from our pond and a BN catfish called Bob.

Well I finally got sick of waiting for the renos to be finished and just decided to paint the wall the wall behind the tank Job done!

Tank: 400 L, around 130 cm long x 52 deep x 60 high
Sump: came with tank, have addedd additional filtration media and the gravel from goldfish tank to help with cycling
Return pump: 3200 L/h
Lights: 4 x T5 lights (I think) - two white and two blue
Heaters: 2 x 300 W
Substrate: Aragonite and black sand in a 5:1 mix
Rocks: locally collected and pressure washed

Current stock: 3 goldfish and bristlenose

This is my first try at putting photos up, so hopefull it all works.

Thoughts, advice, suggestions all welcome.

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[Anka]

South African cichlids?

[Kaydee]

Yeah, sorry. African cichlids!

[Bowdy]

looking good i like your scapping,
so malawi , tang , victorian ? any ide what you want to keep.
some americans would look great in there

[Westie]

With 4 t5 lights a planted tank would go well in there. Change the 2 blue lights over to 2 pink plant spectrum bulbs and she's apples mate. just a suggestion. West African cichlids are good with plants (e.g. red jewel, kribensis etc)

Actually with that scaping scrap the plant idea. I agree with bowdy, SA cichlids

Edited by Jason82, 02 June 2012 - 10:37 PM.

[garlic shrimp]

how about some duboisi,red bemba,moliro,etc, love tropheus.

[Riggers]

I'm with Garlic shrimp, Tropheus are awesome!! it looks really good ey!! Why 2 heaters? Is just one not doing the job? The sump looks wicked, nice n clean with space to put extra media! I like it

[Anka]

That is a nice scape!

[Kaydee]

Thanks. Hubby put the rocks in for me as I can't reach the bottom of the tank and the idea of dropping one of those big rocks onto the glass was scary! Turns out he has a much better eye for it than me.

Both heaters came with the tank but only one is on for now. We have a wood heater in the room so it is pretty warm in here.

So far water parameters are:
pH - 8
dKH - 7
dGH - 8

Does that sound suitable for tropheus?

[Kaydee]

Some more pics. A close up of the substrate (aragonite and black gravel 5:1 mix). The pictures are very blue from the two blue lights but we're very happy with the substrate. It looks fantastic (if I do say so myself!).

My bristlenose 'Bob' has taken a fancy to one of the shells we put in. He has been excavating the inside of it and hanging around it all day. I sure hope he survives the tank cycling and will feel absolutely horrid if he does not, but unfortunately I have nowhere else to put him. I haven't seen him this active in ages but he has gone from a 30 L to a 400 L tank!



Substrate

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[Bowdy]

looking good have you thought of replacing the blue tubes with white ones ?

[Anka]

That 3rd photo is absolutely brilliant!

[Kaydee]

Haven't thought too much about the lights yet, but someone above did suggest replacing the blue lights with pink ones. I don't know too much about the lighting requirements yet - there is soooooo much reading to do!!!

[Bowdy]

the pink one's jason was talkin bout are plant tubes,

[Kaydee]

Quick update

Day 6 and ammonia is somewhere between 0.25 and 0.5 ppm, and first nitrites detected at 0.25 ppm. Does this mean the ammonia has peaked? It seems a bit low. I did put the gravel from my old goldfish tank in (only 30 litres, undergravel filter), but I didn't really expect it to make a huge difference.

Hubby whipped up a siphon thingy for me, so no more buckets and not jiggling the siphon filter up and down to try and get the water flowing. Outlet will eventually go through the wall to outside.

Siphon setup

Siphon in tank

Tap and hose connector

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Edited by Kaydee, 07 June 2012 - 07:48 PM.