9 replies to this topic

[Westie]

Name: Jason82
Chosen Biotope: Fulwe Rocks in Lake Tanganyika
Tank Dimensions: 18"x18"x12" (approx 65 litres)
 
Introduction: I have taken quite a bit of time to decide what I want to do. Last year, I did a planted tank and spent quite a bit of money on plants, equipment, and fish. This year I have decided to try something a bit different. I'll be going for a miniature version of a great lake setup (non-planted, and other side of Africa). I did consider doing a dwarf south american setup, and toyed with the idea of doing a blackwater setup or a planted riverine scape, but I felt that would be too similar to what I have already done. I also feel that aquascaping is a bit poofy, especially when people "name their scape". Therefore I'm going to try my hand at a biotope.
 
After chatting to a couple of people for ideas, I decided that fish with personality (lake tanganyika cichlids) would be the way to go. I will try and utilize the equipment that I already have to save on money. 
 
24/6/16: Here is a photo of the tank I will use for this biotope. It's a little small, but should do the trick for what I want to achieve

 
This tank is Aquotix built (probably 6 years old now) as well as the stand being a raw pine custom job from Aquotix (about 2 or 3 years old now). I stained it myself with some wood stain from Masters. 
 
Tomorrow I plan to look at a couple of fish shops to get and idea on the cost of the rocks and substrate I need. I will also have a look at my books on Lake Tanganyika, as well as watch some youtube videos of underwater footage of Lake Tanganyika. I have found some good photos and basic information in the Tanganyika Magazine that I recently purchased here: CLICK ME
 
Fish I will look for in this tank will be either a couple of "neolamprologus brichardi fulwe rocks" or a couple of "neolamprologus pulcher". I have kept the neolamprologus pulcher before, and they're a really pretty fish with that yellow in their fins, so I would prefer to source the neolamprologus brichardi fulwe rocks if I can find them. I do know that both Vebas and Aquotix have had them in the past. 
 
I also need to give the tank I am using a thorough clean, as well as possibly relocate it inside my house somewhere, as the heater will be on quite a bit if I leave the tank in the garage in this cooler weather. The only filtration I have for this tank (as it was my quarantine tank) is an air driven double sponge filter. I plan to get either an internal power filter or a hang-on back filter, as I don't want to run an air driven sponge filter at night. Being a light sleeper, it would keep me up at night if I were to have the tank inside the house with the air pump running. At the moment I am leaning towards an internal power filter though, as getting a HOB filter would mean having to get the lid cut. 
 
Lighting will probably be a 12 inch LED light which I got ages ago. Kleinz sorted the aussie power adapter for me a couple of years back. Heater is a 100w Whale heater I got from Aquotix about a year ago. I like these heaters, as they are well priced and do a good job. 
 
I'll update this journal as I go. Thanks for reading so far, and stay tuned.......

[Westie]

25/06/2016: I popped in to a few local fish shops to have a look at fish and equipment. I found some fake rocks at Aquotix, so I purchased a few of them and got a bag of crushed coral. Managed to find the fish I will use at Vebas. I was going to head down to Fishroom in Mandurah, but ran out of time. I didn't find anything at Pet Magic Success that I could use for this biotope. Saw some cool eel tail catfish though.

 

26/06/2016: I cleaned the stand for the fish tank that I will be using. Couldn't believe how many cobwebs I had on the stand with it sitting in the garage! I moved the stand in to the house, and placed the tank on it. I also got a spare 1 foot LED light and put that on top of the tank. Turning the light on, it was obvious that I needed to give the tank a really good clean. I also took the time to arrange the 3 fake rocks until I was happy with the layout (only took about 5 minutes of fiddling).

 

Here are a couple of happy snaps of the tank, one with the white light on:

And one with the blue light on:

I really like the look of the blue night light. If I can get some decent photos of this tank once it's up and running with the blue light, it can look like a "Midnight @ Lake Tanganyika" scene.

 

Next thing for me to do is:

• Buy some rift lake salts and tanganyika buffer. I have decided to get that from Aquotix, as part proceeds go to the Stuart Grant Cichlid Preservation Fund.


• Buy an internal power filter suitable for this sized tank. Undecided on which internal filter to go for. Definately want something that runs quietly at night.


• Wash the crushed coral substrate and put in the tank.


• Fill and cycle the tank.


• Buy the fish that I saw at Vebas on the weekend.

Thanks again for taking the time to look

[Westie]

29/6/16: Purchased an internal power filter from Age of Aquariums as it was 50% off. The filter I chose is an Eden 346. I think it's an italian brand. The instructions in the box are german though (cue "occupation" joke)

 

2/7/16: Popped in to Aquotix to purchase the Rift Lake Salts and Tang Buffer. Saw young Rovik, who explained how the salts and buffer work. As I already had a tub of the AquaRealm kh powder, I was advised that I could substitute the Tang Buffer for that, so I only needed to buy the Rift Lake Salts. Score! 

 

6/7/16: The internal filter that I purchased from AoA arrived, so when I got home I decided to start setting up the tank. I washed about half of the 10kg bag of crushed coral and put that in the tank. It was funny stuff to wash, as it had a brown foam come off the substrate when I washed it. Looked like the gunk that goes in to a protein skimmer on a salt water tank. Funny enough, the crushed coral smelled a little like salt when I was washing it. I checked the media that came with the internal filter. It's got 4 media chambers, with the first 3 being filter sponge (my favorite media for internal filters). The 4th media chamber had carbon in it. I took that out and replaced with filter wool. I might replace the filter wool with macropore if I can find a media bag that I can stitch up and fit in the media chamber. I then put the heater in the tank and the filter. The venturi for this filter is FAR too big to fit under the lid of the tank, so I had to do some modifications (used the Mrs good kitchen scissors ha ha). Then I put the fake rocks on top of the crushed coral,and slowly filled the tank with tap water. I used a lid from an icecream container to stop the water from disturbing the substrate while filling it up. Then once the tank was full, I switched on the heater and filter. I put a small amount of Seachem Prime water conditioner in, as well as a cap full of Seachem Seed (which I won at a PCS raffle). 

 

7/7/16: I work 5 minutes drive from Vebas, so after work I popped in to get some sacrificial goldfish to cycle the tank. I got 2 gold comets and 2 blackmoores. My daughter is quite attached to them and has named them all. Their names are Marlin, Coral, Nemo, and Pickles. I'll probably have to set up another tank for them once this tank is cycled, as I doubt I'll be allowed to move them on once I get the cichlids. 

 

8/7/16: I used a spare digital plug timer for the light which I got from Bunnings a few years back. I'll probably run the light from 12 noon to 8pm and see how that goes. Gave the fish a feed of Seachem Chlorella Flake food (another thing I won at a PCS raffle). Then I decided it was photo time.

 

Here is a photo of the tank:

 

And then I put a little algae sinker in the tank and took a short 20 second video. Here is the video:

 

I'm going to be away for a couple of days next week, and got a fair bit on after that, so I won't be updating this thread for a while. Will do water tests to follow the nitrogen cycle. I decided against using a seeded sponge, as the tanks I have a seeded sponge with have a snail problem at the moment, and I really don't want to introduce any pests to this new setup. 

[Westie]

16/7/16: I added a digital thermometer to this tank (Chinese made no doubt  ), as the Aqua One stick on thermometer is about as useful as double d's on a nun. 

 

23/7/16: Looking at the rocks sitting in the tank,  I didn't like the way they looked. Almost disproportionate to the size of the tank. Therefore I took the lid off the tank and moved the rocks against the back right corner, which I think looks a lot better.  

 

30/7/16: As much as the tank looked better with the rocks up against the back right corner, I was left with a bare front of the tank. Therefore, I went to Bunnings to see if they had any small similar coloured rocks to match the fake rocks. I ended up picking up a bag of tuscan garden rocks for under $10. Cheap cheap! I stuck the small rocks in a bucket, and poured 2 kettles full of hot water over them, just to make sure there are no nasties introduced to the fish tank. I then placed the small rocks in the tank. I did this by putting the rocks in a small fish net scoop, and then gently turn the net upside down so the rocks landed on the floor of the tank without much of a drop.  

 

6/8/16: I decided to pop in to Vebas today to have a look at the cichlids I will eventually purchase, as I was visit someone down the road from there at lunch time. Therefore I took a water sample with me, as I was in a rush and didn't have time to test my water before lunch. The chap that tested my water said not to buy any fish, as the tank is still cycling. Bummer......... High Nitrites, and Nitrates. He told me to do a 30% water change, so when I got home, I did just that. I also tested the water that I had removed just to double check.

 

The readings were as follows:

PH: 7.6

Ammonia (NH3): 0 - yay!

Nitrite (NO2): 5ppm (mg/L) - whoa that's high!!!! poor gold fish......

Nitrate (NO3): 5ppm (mg/L) - looking forward to the cycle finishing

 

Photo of test results:

 

And here is a photo of the tank tonight:

I think it definitely looks better with the rocks pushed up against the back wall. I'm a little unsure of the small rocks at the moment, although I think they will look better once they have been in the tank for a few months. Get the more natural look to them once a bit of algae grows on them.

 

Close up shot of the tank:

 

And just to finish off with a 30 second video:

 

Thanks for looking, and I'd like to read your thoughts on this tank on the discussion thread. 

Also, just to add, when doing the water change I sucked up some of the substrate with the gravel vac and spread it on top of the fake rocks. I'm trying to make it look as natural as possible. 

[Westie]

17/8/16: Tested the water and levels are friendly enough to swap out the goldfish for the fulwe cichlids. Put the 4 goldfish on a Facebook buy and sell page for free, and they went pretty quick (people love free stuff). Whipped past Vebas and picked 3 adult Neolamprologus Brichardi "fulwe rock" cichlids. Guy that served me was mega patient, as I attempted to pick out both genders. Hoping for them to breed, although this may pose a problem for such a small tank. 

 

2/9/16: I get home from work and notice 2 pretty looking fish, and 1 scared fish that has been bashed badly, as well as have his tail chewed off. I watch the fish for all of about 20 seconds and notice that the 2 pretty fish are beating up the sorry looking fish. I then put that fish in a fry saver in that tank.

 

5/9/16: I gave it a few days, then gave a friend a call to see if he has space for the spare fish in his mixed lake tanganyika themed tank. He came over and took the fish.

 

6/9/16: Day after the fish is removed, I notice a cloud of fry.  That explains the aggression then! Going to be a problem with maintaining water quality in such a small tank. Just been doing a weekly water change on this tank.

 

7/9/16: Mandatory monthly photo of the tank:

 

Pretty happy with the look of the algae growing on the rocks. Fish seem to like grazing on it too. I think I'll do a basic tank layout in the future utilising more of these large fake rocks, probably on a 4 footer (or larger) as they look really nice. 

 

And what's a post without a quick video:

I'm really happy that these fish have bred in this tank. Once the fry are of a size to move, I will have to look at getting a tank for them. Don't know how that will go with the Minister of Finances, but see how we go. Who knows, some people get excited when babies are involved........

 

And unfortunately when taking this video I noticed the water temp was a little cold. Heater is plugged in, and temperature was at a steady 26.1 degrees. Now it fluctuates between 23.0 and 24.2 degrees. I'll have to get a new heater tomorrow, as the heater is obviously cactus. 

 

Well, that's enough waffle from me. Hope you enjoy the pic and short video of the parents with their babies. I look forward to your comments (if any) in the discussion thread. 

[Westie]

4/10/16: I attended the October monthly meeting by PCS, and put $10 in the raffle. My ticket was drawn, and I got a packet of Hikari First Bites which was donated by Pet Magic. 

 

5/10/16: I scrubbed the algae off the front and side panels of the aquarium, and did a 30% water change using the salts and buffer previously purchased. Didn't see much of the larger of the two adult fish. Wondering if they have spawned again. 

 

9/10/16: I finally see both adult cichlids, along with a fresh lot of free swimming fry. Unfortunately, I lost the fry from the first lot as I didn't have any microworm cultures or baby food at the time. I'm now feeding the fry with the Hikari baby food every day. 

 

Photo taken today:

 

Video taken today:

 

 

I didn't bother adding background music to this video, as I took the video with my SLR camera instead of iPad. 

 

As always thanks for looking, and I look forward to reading other peoples biotope and aquascape journals. 

Edited by Jason82, 09 October 2016 - 04:56 PM.

[Westie]

8/11/16: Update time, and nothing exciting to report. I spent a couple of weeks in Bali at the end of October, and came back to a tank full of overfed fish. I showed my father-in-law how much food to give the fish, and explained how I would rather he feeds less them than over feed them. Unfortunately he must have forgotten that bit of advice. And now I have about 4 or 5 babies left. Mum and Dad are doing well, and have a really good appetite. I enjoy watching them rearrange the crushed coral substrate after I do a water change. I decided that since there is nothing too exciting to say about the tank, I would spam this post with some photos and a video. I hope you enjoy the pics.

 

Photo of the tank:

 

Photo of Mum and Dad:

 

One of the Parents:

 

The other Parent fish:

 

My pathetic attempt at getting a photo of one of the babies (agains black background):

 

And a pic I like of an Adult with the baby nearby:

 

Since I couldn't get a good photo of the babies, I took a video of the tank. You will see some of the fry swimming near the fake rocks. If you have the ability to do so, please ensure you watch the video on the highest resolution possible:

 

Edited by Jason82, 08 November 2016 - 07:24 PM.

[Westie]

16/11/16: Today I got an sms from my wife while I was at work saying the fish have bred again. As soon as I got home from work, I took some photos for the thread and gave the fry some fry food. Here are some photos:

 

Full tank shot-

 

Fry with the parents in the back corner-

 

And another photo of fry with parents. Probably a slightly better pic than the previous one-

 

Only 4 babies from the previous batch have survived so far. Can you see them in the photos above? That's 4 more than the first batch of fry

And this lot are the third batch of fry since putting these fish in the tank.

 

Here's a video to show the parents and babies:

Thanks again for looking

[Westie]

Introduction: I've been feeling a bit bad about having a breeding pair of fish in a 65 litre tank, so much so that I've been on the hunt for a larger tank. The plan is to find a bigger tank, get it cycled, try and match the water parameters to the existing tank (ph, hardness, etc.) and transfer the fish, any fry, substrate, and rocks across to a bigger tank. 

 

28/11/16: Bingo! I get a PM from a mate that lives in Aveley that he has a 4 foot tank going cheap cheap (including hood, lighting, and cabinet). He gets home from up north in a couple of days, so I organise to see him on the thursday night that week. 

 

1/12/16:  It's thursday night and I get the wifes car and drive up to Aveley. Beautiful area, but far out its a long way away! 120km round trip. Good thing is I get to meet up with a mate off PCS forum and have a beer with him and check out his fish tanks. Thanks for the beer Karlos! Load up the tank and head home. I back in to the driveway, open the boot, and the Mrs can't believe how big it is!!! (the tank of course). She helps me unload the tank and put in the corner of the garage. 

 

2/12/16: I'm pretty excited about this tank, so I look around the house as to where I can set it up. Wife says "no room, leave it in the garage" soooooooo it stays in the garage. I sweep the garage, do some tidying up, and hey presto there's a nice spot for the tank! I gave the tank a really good clean, and checked in the cupboard to see if there is anything in there. I found the handle that's missing on one of the doors. I checked my jar of spare screws and found 2 screws just the right length. I checked the lights (2x30 watt t8 lights) and one is working but the other is not. I also had a look at my spare fish gear, and tried to decide what kind of filtration to use. Since the tank is not within listening distance, I decide that air driven sponge filtration is the way to go. It's good for fry, and easy to clean. I have a 100 metre roll of aquarium airline, so I don't need any of that. No check valves, so I need a couple of them. I find a sponge filter that I won on the PCS raffle table. Only need 1 more for the tank. Got a near new 2 outlet aqua one airpump spare, yep that'll do the trick! Need a background too, as my OCD won't allow me to have a tank without a background. Also got a 300 watt eheim jager heater that kept losing its calibration every couple of months. That'll be ok for the time being as well. 300 watt heater for a 250 litre tank will be just fine. I also have a new digital thermometer in my fish stuff that I can use. Winning!

 

3/12/16: I washed the half bag of crushed coral substrate (bag left over from setting up the biotope tank) and put in the tank evenly. I then filled the tank with water. And then it's off to Aquotix to buy a sponge filter, check valves, and  a plain black background. I also bump in to a mate from work while I'm at Aquotix, so that was a pleasant surprise. I got the rolls-royce treatment at Aquotix, as Chris cut the background to size (well..... close enough) while Mattia showed me the LED lighting I could use for my tank, since the t8 light unit on this newly acquired tank is known to trip the power. I decide against LED lighting for the time being, as I really can't afford it at the moment. I may use the little LED light on the smaller tank if I can get it to fit on the middle tank braces on the bigger tank. I also got a sponge filter and a couple of check valves. I also got to submit my receipt for the new Sponsor Stimulus competition!!!!! I got home and recalibrated the heater since it's had time to heat up the water. I dislike eheim jager heaters, but hopefully this spare will do the job. I cut the airline to length, put the check valves on, connect the sponge filters, and put in the tank. Flick the power on the air pump and hey presto there's bubbles. I then decide to go to Bunnings to get a pack of fluoro starters and a 30 watt t8 tube. While I was at Bunnings, I went to the Pet Shop nearby (which will remain nameless as they aren't a sponsor) as my wife wanted to look at puppies (DANGER! DANGER! ABORT! ABORT!). I look at the fish, and there are a couple of fake aquarium rocks for sale. 1 bigger and 1 smaller than the 3 I already have. Pretty well priced too, so I buy them. Get home, put the fake rocks in, and replace the fluoro starters and the tube that isn't working. Tube still isn't working, so will not worry about it. I have 1 tube that works if I want to use the light. 

 

4/12/16: I flicked a message to Pacco (Vebas) to ask if he had any hybrids or culls I can get off him to cycle this tank. He says come see him, and he'll try and help. I race in, and Pacco is kind enough to give me 4 malawi peacocks. One has a funky lump on it's bottom jaw, which looks really cool. Thanks Pacco! I've already got a "forever home" for these peacocks once this tank is cycled. 

 

8/12/16: I thought tonight before doing my update, that an update really isn't an update without photos and a quick video, so here you go: 

 

Photo of the newly acquired tank:

 

And an attempt at taking a photo of the peacocks with the PCS date page in the photo:

 

And a video:

 

Future plans for this Biotope: I need to get a dirty sponge from one of my other tanks and squeeze it in to the new tank. This will speed up the cycle. I will also need to match the water parameters, give the peacocks to a friend of mine that wants them, and move the brichardi fulwe cichlids in to the bigger tank (along with the substrate and fake rocks in the small tank). Once the fish are settled in the tank, I will take some more photos. I want to layer the fake rocks so it gives a natural look. I may also gut the t8 lighting from the hood and go for LED. Either the small LED I have already in my smaller tank, or a bigger LED light (price dependant). 

 

Thanks for looking. Sorry if I waffled on too much, I'm just really excited to have a larger tank for these fish. And when cichlids breed in my tank, it makes the hobby more exciting for me. I love the look of display tanks, but nothing looks better than a big cloud of fry in a fish tank. 

[Westie]

Introduction: This will be my last journal entry for this thread, as it closes at the end of the month, and I will be working away down south and won't be back until the new year. I want to cover off what I have done in this Biotope comp, and I am happy with the end result. 

 

10/12/2016: I popped in to Vebas to get some more Hikari fry food, as the old pack was running low and I don't want the fry to go without. Fry are growing out nicely. Such a small tank for so many fish. Will need to get cracking with moving the fish over in to the bigger tank ASAP!

 

12/12/2016: I spent about an hour gutting all the electrics out of the hood of the tank, as I managed to get a 4 foot Beamswork LED light unit extremely cheap online. The LED light fits nicely under the hood, and above the water line. Tank should run cooler now, and I'll use less electricity. I also squeezed a seeded sponge from the tank I have running from the 2015 Aquascape/Biotope comp. I'm hoping this will finish off the cycle. 

 

17/12/2016: I did some water tests on the small tank that contains the Brichardi Fulwe cichlids, as well as the bigger tank where the Peacocks are currently in. I performed a water change on both tanks, then added the required buffer and salts to the larger tank. This tank is pretty much ready for the big move, and then I can shut down the smaller tank. 

 

20/12/2016: My friend that comes over to collect the peacocks and put in one of his spare tanks rocks up with some julidochromis regani as a present. I then decide that I will put them in the smaller tank once I've moved the Brichardi Fulwe in to the larger tank. With the help of my wife (netting duties) and kid (the spotter - "look dad! another baby fish!!!!!") I collected and moved all the Brichardi Fulwe in to the larger tank. Wow catching fry is a long and tedious process! I then plonked the julies in this smaller tank. About an hour after catching all the fry (or so I thought) there were 6 fry swimming around with the julies. I was happy to leave them there, but the Mrs demanded they grow up with their family (nawwwww how sweet!). So they were caught and put in the bigger tank. About 30 minutes after that, I saw another fry. Caught and moved. Mission accomplished! Here are some photos and a video of the tanks right after the move:

 

Photos:

The smaller tank now containing 4 small julies:

 

Big tank about 5 minutes after the Brichardi Fulwe were put in there:

They've got a lot more room now. That should keep them happy. 

 

One of the adults poking it's head out:

"Peekaboo!"

 

And the other adult trying to hide behind a rock with some of the fry:

 

And a very unexciting video:

 

 

21/12/2016: Tonight I decided to take some more photos and a video to show how settled in the fish are after just 1 day! I can't believe how many fry are in the tank!!!!!!!! Ok here are the photos and video:

 

Photo 1:

 

Photo 2:

 

And the last video to show off the fish:

 

Conclusion: As I did with last year's comp, I have really enjoyed being part of this comp. I've also managed to add an aquarium to my collection at home. Gotta love Multiple Tank Syndrome! I have also enjoyed reading other people's entries, and I encourage other club members to enter if this comp is run again next year. I have sat down and decided to work out a costing for this comp, and have been carrying all the receipts for this comp in my wallet. After emptying my wallet of these receipts, I have a lot more room in my pocket. Check out the amount of receipts that I had:

 

Costing for this entry as follows:

25/6/16 - $125 - fake rocks and crushed coral substrate - Aquotix

29/6/16 - $43 - filter (inc postage) - Age of Aquariums

2/7/16 - $20 - rift lake salts - Aquotix

7/7/16 - $$12 - sacrificial goldfish - Vebas

30/7/16 - $9 - small pebbles - Hardware Store

17/8/16 - $39 - cichlids - Vebas

1/12/16 - $100 - big tank - PCS member Karlos

3/12/16 - $35 - background, check valves, sponge filter - Aquotix

3/12/16 - $9 - light tube & starter - Hardware Store

3/12/16 - $55 - more fake rocks - Pet Shop

10/12/16 - $13 - adult and fry food - Vebas

12/12/16 - $60 - LED light - Online Shop

Total cost just over $500. I may have missed a couple of things, and that isn't including all the stuff I purchased before this comp that I utilised. Glad it cost me less than the previous year's comp, which was about $600 from memory? 

 

And to finish off this thread, here is a photo of the fish I have just taken tonight:

 

Thanks for looking, and good luck to all the other entrants.

Thanks to PCS for another fun competition.