South American Biotope (Planning)

[davidjp1982]

Hi Claire,

Yes sure, here is the link https://picasaweb.google.com/117494409427154646135/DorryADAAnubiasApril202013?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCLXmvfLowYLzIg

Just a warning, there is a lot of photos, but you can see ADA's Colorado Sand in a couple there.

Njoy

wow some gorgeous tanks in that gallery

 

[morris]

Beautiful project!

you don't washed the sand before?

Hi Claire,

On the packet it states that its all ready pre-washed, but even if it does say that, the water still turns out a bit hazy

 

[lurch1000]

Heh, I've had pre-washed sand before... I rinsed it anyway. But it was only 25kg.

 

[Claire M.]

Hi,

I washed it real good and when I sank the tank the water was crystal clear.

Tanks

 

[morris]

Great news!

Any updated pics of the filled tank

 

[Claire M.]

Hi Morris,

I haven't take time to take pics...
I'm still waiting for my supplier to get a new shipment of Redmoor Wood, so I still don't have any hardscape besides the sand and a couple of almond leaves that can be seen in the pics I already posted.

The main reason for filling it up was to put the external filter with cycled biologic material from my other tank and black peat, so next week it can receive it's main fauna, I also put about 20 Angelfish fry from my breeding tank to build up waste and keep the bacterial build up.
I hope to lower my water hardness a bit before putting the Apistogrammas in.

I'm thinking on buying a three-stage RO Water System, but not really sure if will really need this just for keeping them... I really hope I can breed bouth Bitaeniata and Eremnopyge so in that stage it will be fundamental.
http://catalogue.tropicalmarinecentre.co.uk/Detail.aspx?sku=5851&lang=pt

I'm hopping this week my supplier will receive the Redmoor wood batch so I can choose some good pieces

Regards, Claire M.

 

[Claire M.]

Hi there,

Good news here, I found some nice pieces of Redmoor Wood and as a photo is better than thousand words ...

Still want to push it a bit to the left and keep it 2-3cm from the glass in the right side...

The values are cumming to the place I want ...
nitrite - 0,1ppm almost 0
amonia - 0ppm
nnitrate - 0-5ppm
gh - 4
kh - 4
ph - 6,8

The Apistogrammas should arrive this week or at the start of the next one, my supplier managed to get on his listing
N. Marginatus and I ordered 20 of those ...

Also a friend is going to give me some Limnobium Laevigatum so the hardscape and plants are in place, now just have to wait for the fish

Things are coming along real nice, hope you like it ...

Claire M.

 

[madmike]

Wow, that is a wonderful piece of Redmoor wood!

 

[lurch1000]

That is superb! I want!

 

[morris]

Looking great Claire,

You talking about plants? What plants are you putting in?

I have to agree with you on the placement of the wood, it should look more natural if it isn't dead centre

 

[Claire M.]

Thank you all,


I don't plan on having plants apart from floating ones , I'm waiting for some limnobium laevigatum to cover the surface...

Current Values:

pH - 7.2
dKH - 3
dGH - 3
Amonia - 0.6ppm
Nitrite - 0.1ppm
Nitrate - 5ppm

I received today 5g of cattapa bark and a couple more cattapa leaves, by sunday if the pH doesn't drops I will do a TPA with bottled water...

Regards, Claire M.

 

[davidjp1982]

Looking good

 

[Claire M.]

Setup complete .
Waiting for the fish.










Limnobium Laevigatum







Claire M.

 

[Claire M.]

While waiting for the Eremnopyge I'm watching my Bitaeniatas






Maybe try to group them together in the same tank, but there is always the risk of not getting along ... I'll ponder.

Claire M.

 

[Josh]

Wow that setup turned out fantastic! I really really like how gnarled and shaped the wood is. Very well done! Thank you for sharing

 

[cichlidmac]

What type of wood is that and where did you get it?

Sent from my Android using Tapatalk 2

 

[Claire M.]

Is Redmoor Wood, I got it on my LFS

Thanks all

Claire M.

 

[davidjp1982]

I'm currently cycling a 64 litre aquarium with a similar setup in mind and I was curious - are you going to provide caves for example coconut shells or would a dense arrangement of redmoor offer enough cover for your apistogramma?

 

[Claire M.]

Hi David,

I don't want to put coconuts shells as I don't like the way they look , the Red Moor branches were chosen and placed carefully along with Cattapa Leaves to provide many burrows and the dim lighting provided by the Limnobium Laevigatum helps in the welfare of the fish.

In a smaller layout it will be difficult to find good wood pieces to make such an ambiance, and the coconut shells will provide them good hiding places ...

 

[davidjp1982]

that's what I am hoping. I am using your aquarium as inspiration and hope to achieve something similar on a smaller scale