Welcome one and all to the 180 Gallon Tank Blog, Strap in it's going to be a long ride.
First I shall start by saying the tank is forthcoming (next week) so no pics yet.... We'll start off by giving you the rundown of What's going in the tank the current aquascape. Now first off the tank itself is going to be (as close as possible) a simulated West African Congo Drainage Biotope. What do I mean by that is simple anything from the Western part of the Congo that feasibly (by reality or a hair bit of 'Imagination') would be found there. This would exclude for instance Madagascar or the Drakensburg and almost all Rift Lake Cichlids (excluding tributaries of Lake Tanganyika).
Now the Plants in this tank will be geared towards low to medium light plants these consist of: Anubias sp. Valsneria sp. Elocharis sp.(Hairgrass), Red Tiger Lotus, Aponotogen sp., Water Lettuce, Hornwort, and Bolbitis sp. I'm also planning on getting strictly Mopani Wood and Manzanita so if you know where to get cheap Mopani Wood in big sizes/bulk let me know.
Secondly, the reason this tank is being set up is the fish! I shall have my Endlicheri Bichir(now known as Parvo), Lapradei Bichir(now known as Nephertiti), Weeksii Bichir(now known as Happi) Ornate Bichir(now known as Argus), and African Arowana (now known as Morpheus) that I have now along with new fish such as two African Pikes, and Mono sebae. I may perhaps add Jewels to the mix to allow them to breed and create a semi-mini-environment.
Lastly, the Layout and set-up plans are as such I plan to have not one but two Xp2 Rena filters followed by a 30gal Rubbermaid Sump looking for around 1800gph or equivalent. The tank shall look like a tree has fallen into the swampy area and parts have rotted away. I'm going to get a tannish/red colored Estes Medium sand at about 2"-4" depth. The Following image is the layout the Orange things are pieces of Mopani Wood and the brown is the "logs".
So for now these are the Plans I'd really like to get some feedback on what kind of cheap lighting I could use that would work for such a tank....So from this day it begins!
First I shall start by saying the tank is forthcoming (next week) so no pics yet.... We'll start off by giving you the rundown of What's going in the tank the current aquascape. Now first off the tank itself is going to be (as close as possible) a simulated West African Congo Drainage Biotope. What do I mean by that is simple anything from the Western part of the Congo that feasibly (by reality or a hair bit of 'Imagination') would be found there. This would exclude for instance Madagascar or the Drakensburg and almost all Rift Lake Cichlids (excluding tributaries of Lake Tanganyika).
Now the Plants in this tank will be geared towards low to medium light plants these consist of: Anubias sp. Valsneria sp. Elocharis sp.(Hairgrass), Red Tiger Lotus, Aponotogen sp., Water Lettuce, Hornwort, and Bolbitis sp. I'm also planning on getting strictly Mopani Wood and Manzanita so if you know where to get cheap Mopani Wood in big sizes/bulk let me know.
Secondly, the reason this tank is being set up is the fish! I shall have my Endlicheri Bichir(now known as Parvo), Lapradei Bichir(now known as Nephertiti), Weeksii Bichir(now known as Happi) Ornate Bichir(now known as Argus), and African Arowana (now known as Morpheus) that I have now along with new fish such as two African Pikes, and Mono sebae. I may perhaps add Jewels to the mix to allow them to breed and create a semi-mini-environment.
Lastly, the Layout and set-up plans are as such I plan to have not one but two Xp2 Rena filters followed by a 30gal Rubbermaid Sump looking for around 1800gph or equivalent. The tank shall look like a tree has fallen into the swampy area and parts have rotted away. I'm going to get a tannish/red colored Estes Medium sand at about 2"-4" depth. The Following image is the layout the Orange things are pieces of Mopani Wood and the brown is the "logs".
So for now these are the Plans I'd really like to get some feedback on what kind of cheap lighting I could use that would work for such a tank....So from this day it begins!
