Show Me Your Tank...

[tenohfive]

I'm another sand lover - aside from the fact that it looks better, is suited to every type of fish (gravel isn't) it's also much cheaper - Argos play sand was £3.00 a 15kg bag last time I bought any and B&Q/Tesco etc do cheaper versions. Handy when you're filling up a 300L+ tank.

[skip_1]

Mr Trophy said:

Really like the sand look...

Has anyone ever taken the stones they have in the tank out and changed them for something else?

I did this to our tank. I first washed the play sand and put into a black bag ready for transfer to the tank. I then took all of the decor out and put into a bucket with a little old tank water, leaving the fish in with the filter running, (important as there is a lot of muck in the gravel).

I then scooped all the gravel out using a small scoop, (e.g washing powder scoop). Using a mug I then placed the damp sand into the tank. With the sand being damp and placed carefully with the mug, very little dispersed into the water. Once the sand was in place, I did a 50% water change and put all the decor back.

I used one of my wife's stocking socks to place some gravel in, and rested this on the sand for a week to allow the bacteria to spread to the sand. After about a day all the sand in suspension in the water had settled and the tank looked amazing. The fish were loving the sand, especially the bottom dwellers.

[Comacchio]

Some fish are in!


Stocked Tank by Allan.Jones, on Flickr


Keyhole Cichlid-2 by Allan.Jones, on Flickr


Albino Bristlenose Pleco by Allan.Jones, on Flickr

[Turn7]

Excellent pics, I know how hard it is to snap these little sods!

[Comacchio]

Turn7 said:

Excellent pics, I know how hard it is to snap these little sods!

Cheers Trick is a dSLR and high ISO :P

[Turn7]

Comacchio said:

Turn7 said:

Excellent pics, I know how hard it is to snap these little sods!

Cheers Trick is a dSLR and high ISO :P

I know, its getting them to sit still long enough.


barb by mark_p99, on Flickr

Edited by Turn7 on Sunday 16th October 20:58

[Hysteria1983]

otolith said:

I used to soften our aggressively hard tapwater for my Amazonian tank by percolating it through a big bin of peat.

Your tank set up looks a lot like mine! Even the shape if the bog wood is similar

[Hysteria1983]

Comacchio said:

Cheers Trick is a dSLR and high ISO :P

I concur, my Nikon takes excellent pics of the fish. The I phone is good for snapping too.

[therealpigdog]

So I thought it was about time I posted some pics up - apologies though as they are only iPhone pics:

These are my four breeding/nursery tanks:



Of course, that was the plan when I started. Far left is a quarantine tank with some plastic plants in (boiled after use). Nothing exciting in there at the moment. Next is a nursery tank, just a couple of young platies in there, but also some Amano Shrimp who seem to have a riot chasing each other around. Next is my red cherry shrimp breeding tank. Furthest right tank got hijacked and now houses a red spotted newt.
Overall the capacity for fry has been reduced, but I've managed to get rid of the breeders for the moment so no real need for lots of nursery tanks.



Amano Shrimp carrying her eggs. Unfortunately these won't hatch as they need salt water to hatch, and then a steady desalination. It's a bit beyond me at the moment but I might have a go when I have more time - it's supposed to be incredibly difficult so a good job that I like a challenge.



This is my Red Cherry Shrimp breeding tank. Not hugely populated at the moment though, just a handful of youngsters and a bristlenose plec.


Best shot of an RCS I could get on my phone. Unfortunately he's not a very red one, and the camera didn't help.



One of my bristlenose plecs. Still a youngster, but I've got a few in various tanks so will try to have a go at breeding them when they are a bit older. You can just see an RCS in the background with a truer reflection of their colour.

And finally a few of my Rainbowfish - anyone who knows these beautiful fish will appreciate that they are no the most helpful models - darting all over the place. The fact that I only have four Rainbows and a few Glowlights in a 260l tank means they have plenty of room to keep just out of shot!


Bosemi Rainbowfish


Dwarf Neon Rainbowfish - although no-one told him he's supposed to be a dwarf!


Dwarf Neon and Bosemi.

As you may be able to tell, I like my tanks to be fairly densely planted and pretty unkempt.

And finally a shot of Isaac, a red spotted newt:

[JFReturns]

So many tanks! All brilliant too

[tenohfive]

Nice.

I'd up the numbers of rainbows if I were you though - they are a naturally schooling fish which should ideally be kept in groups of 6 or more. Aside from feeling more secure and confident in a group they look brilliant schooling. Don't worry about room - they naturally choose to share the same space, so if you're not overstocked it's well worth doing. Praecox rainbows (dwarf neons most shops call them) are one of my favourite types of dither fish - they look bland in the shop but colour up brilliantly when you get them home. Although they do need good water quality and don't tolerate stress very well.

If I remember I'll post a photo of my P&J tank later this week - 370L CA cichlid tank. Took me months to get the equipment, decor and stocking the way I wanted it but I'm there now.

[therealpigdog]

Plan is to get a couple more Rainbows, they really are stunning, especially first thing in the morning - plenty of displays from the boys!

[Guffy]

I've recently built a 400 litre marine set-up, one of my main design drivers was no buckets! So i have it plumbed in such a way that there is a drain point under the display tank for when i do a 10% water change and the RO water is collected in a 70 litre water storage tank c/w heater and powerhead for salt mixing. This then drains into the sump underneath for the water change. I now have an auto-top up device, so when new RO water is back in the 70 litre storage tank, it keeps the sump topped up via a simple ballcock arrangement until the next water change. I also have overflows in the sump and the storage tank which have saved me from disaster a few times!!

I also had to drill holes in the tank and through a brick wall into the downstairs toilet that I had already converted into a utility room. Having the sump in another room ensures minimal noise in the living room.

These pics are when i just built it and i've made a couple of changes to the sump set-up, but it's been running sweetly for 6-months now, just don't have any recent pics yet.

Current stock:
Yellow Tang
2 x Clown fish
Sailfin
Niger Trigger
Cleaner wrasse
Bicolour Angel
2 x Peppermint Shrimps
Mine urchin
Turbo snails

Filtration is mainly via the 40kg of live rock and a protein skimmer which is also connected to an Ozoniser (Not convinced about that though). I spend about 20-30 minutes in total on weekley maintenance, including a water change, which in itself takes less than 15 minutes and really just involves turning valves, bliss!!

The fish all get on very well and all have great characters, they're just always hungry!

[therealpigdog]

Awesome set up!

15 minutes a week?! I thought I was smart putting my nursery tanks on a shelf above a sink! You have a brilliantly thought out set up - look forward to some pics of the fish.

[Hysteria1983]

therealpigdog said:

Plan is to get a couple more Rainbows, they really are stunning, especially first thing in the morning - plenty of displays from the boys!

I have six at the moment, two 'bossies', two lake terbera (forget the spelling) a red male and a silver female of unknown species, but those two have paired up nicely.

Mine do not school together at all, I didn't think that rainbow fish tended to live in schools as such, like tetras do for example.
I have always thought that they are happy in any number, but usually a 1:2 male to female population is best, as with most species.

I agree that seeing them all show off in the morning is great. I love the summer mornings as the light comes direct into the tank first thing, just at the right time
It has encouraged them to spawn several times, but I have never managed to catch any eggs before they are eaten by the rest of the tank mates.

[littleandy0410]

Another Rainbowfish fan here. I've currently got 3 Blue Kutubu, 3 Boesmani, a pair of New Guinea Red, and a pair of Banded. The Boesmani are definitely my favourite. Their colours are amazing.

[tenohfive]

Hysteria1983 said:

Mine do not school together at all, I didn't think that rainbow fish tended to live in schools as such, like tetras do for example. mates.

You might find that yours aren't schooling together as you've got a number of different types. I've kept reasonably large groups of praecox rainbows and they are very much a schooling species. In fact mine would school with danio's and even pentazona barbs on occasion.

A bit of light reading:

http://www.seriouslyfish.com/profile.php?genus=Mel...
http://www.seriouslyfish.com/profile.php?genus=Mel...

[Hysteria1983]

tenohfive said:

You might find that yours aren't schooling together as you've got a number of different types. I've kept reasonably large groups of praecox rainbows and they are very much a schooling species. In fact mine would school with danio's and even pentazona barbs on occasion.

A bit of light reading:

http://www.seriouslyfish.com/profile.php?genus=Mel...
http://www.seriouslyfish.com/profile.php?genus=Mel...

Thanks for that, the different species is probably why they don't school.

[therealpigdog]

tenohfive said:

You might find that yours aren't schooling together as you've got a number of different types. I've kept reasonably large groups of praecox rainbows and they are very much a schooling species. In fact mine would school with danio's and even pentazona barbs on occasion.

A bit of light reading:

http://www.seriouslyfish.com/profile.php?genus=Mel...
http://www.seriouslyfish.com/profile.php?genus=Mel...

Appreciated - looks like a slight rise in temperature is also required.

I'll stick to Bosemi's then - the Praecox will have to cope schooling with them (he seems to enjoy their company).

[Hysteria1983]

My red rainbow