My 86 g blackwater tank

[Kjaer]

Hello!
Heres a pic of my 86 g tank:

I´m not much of a photographer and the water is very cloudy at the picture, but I hope it will clear up soon (and i hope I´ll become a better photographer too:biggrin: )

Specifications:

Dimensions: 130x50x50cm

Lightning: 2 x 36 watt T8

Filtration: Eheim 2028 Pro 2

Heating: Jäger 300 watt

Substrate: Sand

Decoration: Rocks, Red moor wood

Plants: Limnobium laevigatum, I will plants some swordplants behind and between the driftwood soon.

Waterparameters:
KH 2.5
pH 6.5
GH about 4 I think...

Fish: None. The tanks is not finished cycling yet.
Suggestions is aprecciated!
I´m thinking of 1.2 Apistogrammas, angels or keyholes, Nannostomus and/or hatchetfishes, Corydoras and group of otocinclus.

 

[markus383]

Looks nice

 

[Mike Wise]

All it needs is some leaf litter and it will look like it is right out of the Rio Negro! I suggest the Keyhole cichlids are a better match with the apistos and pencilfish.

 

[Kjaer]

Looks nice

Thanks you!

All it needs is some leaf litter and it will look like it is right out of the Rio Negro! I suggest the Keyhole cichlids are a better match with the apistos and pencilfish.

Do you think I can add 20-30 ketapang leaves or will the pH get to low? I think you´re right about the keyholes is a better match with the other fishes. So a group of keyholes, apistogrammas, corydoras, otocinclus and pencilfishes it will be then.

 

[amazon dee]

amazon dee

Hi there,
I love the roots.
I started out with same idea but used pebble in natural colour so the water would be clearer.
After the driftwood roots I added some very twisted rock and made caves.
I spent an hour going through rock in the shop to find the right peices.
Then I added a few reed type plastic plants, which I change over every 4 weeks with similar peices to keep the lifelike look. I clean up the removed plant and place them in again next change.
Occasionally I will add a larger leafed plant (amazon jungle looking).
Since then I have added live plant,but kept the natural amazon river look.
The only aquarium shop item I added was a old urn shaped pot as when i had my Caccatoide it loved to get into a pot like holes.
I lost him so will remove this fake looking object.
Add a little at a time until the tank get the look you are after.
I would love to see what you do.

 

[Kjaer]

I think I added a bit too much peat extract i the water. I can´t even see the background of the tank!:biggrin: But i will change 50% of the water when the tank i cycled so that will probably help.

Do you think i should go for only one apistogramma species with 2 males and 4-6 females og to species with one male and and two females?

I´m not sure if there are room enough for some keyholes too, what do you think?

The apistogrammas don´t need caves if I add a lot of leaves do they?

 

[Mike Wise]

I think it's your choice if you want to use 1 or 2 species. I don't think you'll have problems in this size of tank if you add Keyholes. They tend to occupy a different part of the aquarium. I wouldn't cover more than 25% of the bottom with leaves. You could use openings in the leaf litter as caves or even hide some plastic tubes in the leaves, far enough back so that they are not visible. Remember the leaves do disintegrate over time.

 

[DH247]

I personally have alsofound pieces of driftwood that I can bury in the sand to make more 'natural' caves. My female Trifasciata loves them and spawns in them regularly. This way you can still have all those awesome roots but get some more natural looking caves. Another great way is with stones that have some curve to them. Anything to bury and make a cave out of and the fish will love them! If they are not big/deep enough your fish will dig them out to make them perfect.

You're tank is gonna be amazing. I'm defintely jealous!

 

[apisto-nut]

I don't think its too dark ( peat extract )

 

[Kjaer]

Thanks for your answers and comments everyone!

I think it's your choice if you want to use 1 or 2 species. I don't think you'll have problems in this size of tank if you add Keyholes. They tend to occupy a different part of the aquarium. I wouldn't cover more than 25% of the bottom with leaves. You could use openings in the leaf litter as caves or even hide some plastic tubes in the leaves, far enough back so that they are not visible. Remember the leaves do disintegrate over time.

Great that it will work with keyholes too!
I got some coconut shells, maybe I can hide them in the leaf litter...

I personally have alsofound pieces of driftwood that I can bury in the sand to make more 'natural' caves. My female Trifasciata loves them and spawns in them regularly. This way you can still have all those awesome roots but get some more natural looking caves. Another great way is with stones that have some curve to them. Anything to bury and make a cave out of and the fish will love them! If they are not big/deep enough your fish will dig them out to make them perfect.

Unfortunately I got no more driftwood and I can find any stones that matches these I already have in the tank.
So I think I´ll use the coconut shells for now...

You're tank is gonna be amazing. I'm defintely jealous!

I hope it will... Thank you.

I don't think its too dark ( peat extract )

Maybe not to dark, but too cloudy I think...

 

[Kjaer]

I found some rocks and changed the scape a bit.

I´m going to add some ferns a mosses at the driftwood so it will not be a real biotope...

 

[bigbird]

mornig from a wet sydney,

look absolutely great. would maybe add some giant val plants in the back of the tank, but that is a personal choice. The driftwood looks like it has a lot of hiding spaces and the rocks will help this. well done. send us more picturs once it is complete with fish in it. good luck:wink:

 

[Kjaer]

Thank you. I think i will add a crinum natans behind in the back of the tank.

 

[Apistomaster]

You are correct about the clarity. The tint is good but it should be crystal clear.
This is one of those times where a Diatom filter could be useful to clear it up fast. Otherwise it should eventually clear up on its own.

 

[Kjaer]

It is almost clear now... I´m going to make a change 50-70% of the water before I add fishes so then it will become even clearer.

 

[Kjaer]

How many apistos would you suggest in the tank?
I´ve changed the driftwood position a bit so there are more shelter in the left side. I will add a lot of ferns and mosses too.

 

[Kjaer]

I´ve changed my mind. I´m not going to add any mosses or ferns, only som echinodorus and i will keep the blackwater effect too.

But could anyone help me with the apistogramma number? I´m a bit confused about that...

 

[Mike Wise]

There really is not hard & fast rule on the number of apistos that an aquarium can adequately handle. A lot has to do with the species being kept, their temperament, maximum size, the layout of the aquarium, etc.

If you are primarily interested in breeding fish, then fewer fish should be used. I suggest that each female have a breeding territory about 12"/30 cm in diameter, centered on the breeding cave. This, of course, can be modified by aquarium layout. Size/temperament of the species is very important. Species like A. wapisana (Balzfleck) don't need large tanks/brood territories. Males don't establish territories & females don't usually claim large areas either. This fish is tiny - 1½"/3.5 cm max. A species like A. atahualpa, however, is large, rather agressive & tends to form (at least temporarily) pair bonds. This species will want a much larger territory. Polygamous males will try to claim as much territory as the physically can (with female territories within it). You just have to modify numbers based an the fish and aquarium.

 

[Kjaer]

Thanks Mike.
You have given me advice about this before and i haven´t forgot it, but i get a little confused when I read this: "German dwarf cichlid researcher Dr. Uwe Romer has found by studying apisto populations in the wild, that these little fish live in a fairly crowded environment. Perhaps as many as a thousand fish in an area of nine square meters, with leaf litter up to one meter thick on the bottom." (http://cichlid-forum.com/articles/apisto_care.php)
That would mean that about 50 apistos in my tank would not be more crowded then in the nature. So if I covered the bottom with a layer of leaves, could I keep so many with succes then?

 

[Mike Wise]

In the wild, apistos have millions of liters of water and hundreds of meters of bottom in which to live and escape agression. This is not the case with your aquarium. In the wild, the leaf litter can be 50+ centimeters deep with many places to hide from agression. Unless you fill your aquarium almost to the top with leaf litter, this is not the case with your aquarium. Even the most heavily planted aquarium has many many fewer hiding places than the biotopes in the wild.