10 gallon apisto setups...

[JasonC]

So a while back (on the order of several months+) someone posted some great pics of a rack of 10g tanks they were setting up with the short glass facing out. My google-fu/forum-search-fu is failing in being able to find the thread again. Anyone know what I am referencing and have a link? Or even better, anyone have tanks set up like this and want to share some pics on how you decorated to maximize visual depth in the tank?

Thanks!

 

[raymond82]

Pfff, I knew immediately which thread you meant cause I remember liking it a lot, went looking for it using every word I thought was in there, went completely crazy and was about to give it up but then I found it (hopefully)!

Did you mean this thread?

http://www.apistogramma.com/forum/index.php?threads/new-apisto-breeding-setup.11630/#post-62958

 

[gerald]

I have several tanks (10 and 15 gal) arranged short-end out. They're great for extrovert fish that come to the front and beg for food/attention, but for fish that hide a lot (some apistos, badis, elassoma, gobies, catfish, etc) the short-end out arrangement makes it hard to keep a close eye on aggression, spawning and general health, especially as my depth of focus range is getting worse with age.

 

[JasonC]

Pfff, I knew immediately which thread you meant cause I remember liking it a lot, went looking for it using every word I thought was in there, went completely crazy and was about to give it up but then I found it (hopefully)!

Did you mean this thread?

http://www.apistogramma.com/forum/index.php?threads/new-apisto-breeding-setup.11630/#post-62958

Ha! And we have a winner! Thanks! Did not remember it being a 40B, but same deal none the less.

I have several tanks (10 and 15 gal) arranged short-end out. They're great for extrovert fish that come to the front and beg for food/attention, but for fish that hide a lot (some apistos, badis, elassoma, gobies, catfish, etc) the short-end out arrangement makes it hard to keep a close eye on aggression, spawning and general health, especially as my depth of focus range is getting worse with age.

Gerald, do you happen to have any pictures of how you scaped these tanks? Interested in how people deal with the extreme depth vs. width. Part of the conditions of keeping my wife happy w/ the number of tanks I have/want is that they all need to look good since they are in full view.

Anyone else do tanks in this orientation?

Thanks again!

 

[regani]

I have experimented around with the decorations in that setup for a bit. I agree that it can sometimes be a bit tricky to get a good view of the fish in heavily decorated tanks, especially the females. I have two types of setup to work reasonably well; one has free space at the back and front with maybe a small pot as hiding spot and overlapping areas with decorations of medium hight in the middle, the other has the highest stuff all the way in the back with the medium hight in the middle and a free space in the front.
I'll take some more shots over the weekend and post some pics, although it may be a bit difficult to show the layout in 2D.
It still can be difficult at times to see everything that's going on, but for me it is the best way to fit enough tanks in a relatively small space.

 

[raymond82]

I'm curious to see the pictures! This was actually one of the first threads I ever read on this forum and I remember liking the setup a lot. The comments taught me the first things about how to set up breeding tanks.

I have a similar problem with two 11x17 inch aquariums that I have with wild betta's. With the short side to the front, I find it difficult to provide them with enough cover while still being able to see what they're up to. Fortunately they're in a place where I have a view from both short sides, that helps a little.

 

[Brown Water]

Just finished mine.

So far it seems to be working great, still tweeking it here and there daily, fort one I have done.

 

[slimbolen99]

I'll tell you what I have had difficulty with my 10 gallon setups; it's keeping the water quality in tip-top shape. This is the reason I don't like small tanks. I find that I have to do 50% water changes at least 3x a week if I want to keep everything in line as far as ammonia, nitrate, nitrites, etc. Even in my planted 10 gallons.

You can kind of see mine in this pic; two stands (one on each side of the walkway there) of thirteen 10 gallons each. A sponge filter takes up a lot of room in a 10 gallon; doesn't provide very good water flow, but you can cram a lot of hiding places in there if you make good use of your space; I've found that using 3/4" diameter PVC or smaller can allow almost an infinite amount of hiding places (thanks Mike W for that suggestion!).

 

[Brown Water]

I tied all mine together. High flow through 2 angel tanks and much lower on my apistos. All going into a 30 gallon dump to make around 90 gallons total volume. 2 things I would change if I ever drill tanks again, it I would do the fill and drains on the opisite sides of the tanks and change em from the narrow side to the long side. I would also use 20l for the apistos & fry and then 20h for my angel pairs. 3 racks, apistos no flow through fry and angels another flow through design, low pressure (200 gph or lower) and higher on the angels.

 

[regani]

Ok, here are a few more details about my setup and some pics to show how I decorate the tanks with the short side facing out.

In the picture below you see the breeding and fry tanks. on the left is a partitioned 4ftx2ft tank that is about 18 inches high (I don't fill them up all the way), on the right are individual 2ftx1ft tanks, 15 inches high. I run air-driven sponge filters in all tanks.

the top tanks genrally are the breeding tanks and below the fry tanks. I do the water changes by removing water from the fry tanks, siphoning water from the breeding tanks into the fry tanks, and then topping up the breeding tanks with fresh water. this way the water in the fry tanks is always the same as in the breeding tanks and I can siphon fry from one to the other without having to worry about the water parameters.
the other half of my fishroom are some 2ft and 3ft growout tanks. because of limited tank space I mix 2 types of fry that I can clearly tell apart in each growout tank.

as descibed in the earlier post, in the 2ft tanks with the short side facing out, I try to arrange the decorations in a way that they do provide shelter and break line-of-sight, but still allow me to observe what is going on in the tank most of the time. here are some examples.

the tank above has most of the decorations in the middle with swimming space in the back and front. there are three pieces of DW with java fern on them, which are placed alternating to the left and right and a small terracotta pot is placed in the middle so that it is still visible.

the tank below is set up with more decorations starting from the back and some swimming space in the front and on the left. again the terracotta pots for breeding are arranged so that they are still visible when looking from slightly different angles from the front.

above is another example of a setup with the decorations starting from the back. here the DW is again placed alternating left and right so that it provides some cover and does not allow the fish to see all the way from back to front, but by peeking in from the left or right front, you can still observe most areas of the tank.

below is an example for a tank with just some decorations in the middle and free space in the front and back. the DW hiding under the java moss now was placed so that the parts that allow easy access to some nooks and hollows are facing the front. this way breeding activity can still be seen.

the last one is again with most decorations in the middle, again staggered left and right. there are a few indian almond leaves in here to provide some additional cover.

I hope that illustrates some ways how to set up tanks that can be observed from the short end. it doesn't always work 100%, but pretty well most of the time. If it turns out that the fish prefer to stay in areas that I can't see, I rearrange the tank until both fish and I are happy with the result

 

[JasonC]

Regani,

These tanks are fantastic! Really great setup that you have going on there. you have given me a lot of ideas to mull over!

 

[regani]

thanks, Jason. I just wish I had a more suitable location for that setup. there is no water in the garage so I have to wheel everything in in 80L bins. but it is a labor of love, as they say
so I am really envious of slimbolen's setup with drains etc ...

 

[JasonC]

I think most of us are envious of slimbolen's setup. ;P

so I am really envious of slimbolen's setup with drains etc ...

 

[edwliang]

my set-up, 3 in 1 tank, rack.

 

[regani]

that looks very nice and clean

 

[JasonC]

Very nice edwliang! What size tank are you using?

my set-up, 3 in 1 tank, rack.

 

[edwliang]

Very nice edwliang! What size tank are you using?

108cm X 32cm X 30cm. the tank is separated by 2 pieces of glass into 3 tanks. each is 35cm X 32cm X 30cm.

 

[Angelman]

My fist attempt:

 

[regani]

that looks nice. I like the autumn colors. I am sure the fish will love it.
depending on aggression levels in the tank you may want to add some floating pipe for fish to hide in once the leaves have all sunk to the bottom.

 

[Mike Wise]

Question; why don't you have a lift tube on the sponge filter? It will increase filtration considerably. Right now the filter has almost no 'draw' (water exchange flowing through it).