Thought I would make a thread as I haven't in ages.
This is my 75gal tank that was scaped to replicate a slow stream in the jungle. It is centred around the kribensis as I wanted a group of them as the focal point.
In the back left corner is a waterfall made from corrugated plastic board and disguised by siliconing stones on to it. The intake is in the right corner.
There is a circulation pump in the right corner above the intake to the canister that is on the timer with the lights. This gets the water flowing nicely in a circle around the tank when lights are on and gives a nice stream effect.
Aquatic Plants:
Anubias nana Java moss Java fern Windolev fern Sag grass Cryptocoryne and somthing tall
Emersed/terrestrial plants:
Artillery Fern Creeping Ficus Anubias nana Arrowhead plant Windolev Fern Java Moss and something very similar to pennywort that grows as a weed in my bonsai pots
Livestock:
11 Kribensis pulcher - believe it or not 10 males and only one female
5 Congo tetras - Phenacogrammus interruptus - All male (had 6 but one got lost in the jungle)
2 Clown loaches - These will be moved once I have set up another of my larger tanks in the next year
1 Long-Finned Ancistrus - adult male - he too will be rehomed into another tank in time.
Once the tourists in the tank have gone to other tanks I will be adding a group of 6 Pareutropius buffei (African glass catfish). I could kick myself for not getting them when I saw them at a great price.
Substrate:
Black gravel with some amazonian aquarium soil mixed in. This is covering a 1/2"-1" thick clay layer in the corners for planted plants.
Lighting:
Nothing special - 2 4' bulbs white light
Filtration:
1 1200l/h jebao canister filter
Plants
Maintenance
Weekly 40-50% water change with "mulm vac" once a month refilled with straight tap water from the garden hose. Tanks has been running for about 11 months.
After adding more plants. There was an algal bloom that would not go away.
At this point I was sure the soil was leaching way too many nutrients and the algae was coming fast and furious with no respite even with weekly large water changes.
Turns out the curtain by the window was not being closed properly and the sun was getting about 1-1.5 hrs of direct subtropical sunlight in the mornings over the patch of cryptocorynes. Once I discovered this I closed the curtain and the problem subsided.
The tank with new circulation and algae under control.
This is my 75gal tank that was scaped to replicate a slow stream in the jungle. It is centred around the kribensis as I wanted a group of them as the focal point.
In the back left corner is a waterfall made from corrugated plastic board and disguised by siliconing stones on to it. The intake is in the right corner.
There is a circulation pump in the right corner above the intake to the canister that is on the timer with the lights. This gets the water flowing nicely in a circle around the tank when lights are on and gives a nice stream effect.
Aquatic Plants:
Anubias nana Java moss Java fern Windolev fern Sag grass Cryptocoryne and somthing tall
Emersed/terrestrial plants:
Artillery Fern Creeping Ficus Anubias nana Arrowhead plant Windolev Fern Java Moss and something very similar to pennywort that grows as a weed in my bonsai pots
Livestock:
11 Kribensis pulcher - believe it or not 10 males and only one female
5 Congo tetras - Phenacogrammus interruptus - All male (had 6 but one got lost in the jungle)
2 Clown loaches - These will be moved once I have set up another of my larger tanks in the next year
1 Long-Finned Ancistrus - adult male - he too will be rehomed into another tank in time.
Once the tourists in the tank have gone to other tanks I will be adding a group of 6 Pareutropius buffei (African glass catfish). I could kick myself for not getting them when I saw them at a great price.
Substrate:
Black gravel with some amazonian aquarium soil mixed in. This is covering a 1/2"-1" thick clay layer in the corners for planted plants.
Lighting:
Nothing special - 2 4' bulbs white light
Filtration:
1 1200l/h jebao canister filter
Plants
Maintenance
Weekly 40-50% water change with "mulm vac" once a month refilled with straight tap water from the garden hose. Tanks has been running for about 11 months.
After adding more plants. There was an algal bloom that would not go away.
At this point I was sure the soil was leaching way too many nutrients and the algae was coming fast and furious with no respite even with weekly large water changes.
Turns out the curtain by the window was not being closed properly and the sun was getting about 1-1.5 hrs of direct subtropical sunlight in the mornings over the patch of cryptocorynes. Once I discovered this I closed the curtain and the problem subsided.
The tank with new circulation and algae under control.
