75 Gallon Apisto Tank

[DanielG]

So I've decided that I will be setting up a 75 gallon apisto tank.

Currently I have a 20 gallon high that I am wanting to disassemble, which would include a Marineland C-220 filter, Aquaticlife 24" quad bulb fixture, and a fully pressurized co2 system. I'm wanting to know what the best route to go would be. None of this may be used, and I may have to just start over in terms of equipment.

I don't intend to have any live plants in the tank, just sand and some driftwood. The wood I plan on getting from ADA as well. I've bought some of the hornwood which looks awesome, but the branch wood may be the better way to go in this case. What do you think?

I also plan on building my own stand for it.

 

[Josh]

Sounds like you've got a nice project ahead of you!
I prefer the hornwood myself but that's just because it looks so cool.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I don't intend to have any live plants in the tank, just sand and some driftwood.

As I assume that you have plants already? I'd definitely keep some of them, or just add a floater like Limnobium or Pistia. Plants are a great help in maintaining water quality. I'd also add some dead leaves to break up line of sight.

We had/have a Polish member "Ruki" who had some lovely tanks with just wood, sand, leaves and floaters (below).

and this one from this thread <http://www.apistogramma.com/forum/i...inguishing-orinoco-and-rio-negro-types.15009/>

I'm not a CO2 enthusiast, but plants like Cryptocoryne spp., Echinodorus ssp., Ceratopteris, Microsorum, Bolbitis etc. are all fine without CO2.

cheers Darrel

 

[DanielG]

The 75 I was going to buy got snagged up from under me. I'll have tovre evaluate my coarse of action.

 

[DanielG]

Good news! The 75 has been bought and is now waiting for me to go pick it up. It's a black rimmed tank that I got at Petsmart for $190 after taxes.

Also, my filter has been down for the past week due to what I believe to be a failed impeller. I have the filter filter with tank water but it has been unheated. Has all my beneficial bacteria died off?

 

[DanielG]

Bump!

 

[DanielG]

Also, what kind of lighting should I use? The 75 I bought came with a normal fluorescent light. Can it be used?

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I have the filter filter with tank water but it has been unheated. Has all my beneficial bacteria died off?

Possibly, being cool is an advantage, but the water in the filter may have become de-oxygenated. You can always store filter sponges in the tank, or with a canister filter just leave a an inch or so of water in the bottom of the filter, and open the taps (so you get gas exchange). In your situation I would give the filter media a rinse (but not too thorough), and then set the filter running. I'm not a great believer in cycling a tank with ammonia, so I would recommend planting the tank and then just waiting until the plants are in active growth before adding any fish. You can carry on with some filter cleaning and water changes during this time. I like to set the tanks up for ~6 weeks before adding any fish, but that is a "belt and braces" approach.

Also, what kind of lighting should I use? The 75 I bought came with a normal fluorescent light. Can it be used?

Yes, you probably can, most slow growing "low light" plants don't need huge amounts of light. <http://www.dwarfcichlid.com/Aquarium_plants.php>. Can you run your Aqualife fixture on 2 lamps? if you can I'd go with that for the while. If you have to use all 4 lamps you need to have a large initial plant mass (Ceratophyllum is good for this) as well as the permanent planting and some floaters.

cheers Darrel

 

[DanielG]

So I'm building an ADA copy stand with a friend of mine...

the 3d design a friend of mine made up. The blue box is going to be my 20 gallon high tank to be used as a sump.

 

[DanielG]

There is still some painting going on. Here's another update pic though!

 

[DanielG]

Project cost so far...this is excluding one or two receipts. Current total is estimated at approximately $700.

 

[regani]

looks very nice. can you come and build one for me?

 

[DanielG]

The stand still needs more paint and touch-ups as well as hinges mounted. The doors need more sanding & painting too. Almost done!

My friend Jeff's stand we're building simultaneously... I hope he doesn't mind me showing it off! It looks pretty damn good!

 

[DanielG]

 

[DanielG]

I bought some pool filter sand from Ace Hardware (100lbs for $25) and now have an order of three units of the ADA 'Hornwood' on the way...pics to follow soon.

 

[danbb]

Very nice so far. I agree with Darrel, some plants are welcome, maybe you consider some surface plants. I just started a new tank few days ago with only sand, leaves, some drift wood and surface plants.

 

[Culprit]

Very nice !

 

[DanielG]

 

[tom prakash]

Nice more pictures please

 

[DanielG]

I'm thinking about buying another piece of wood...Not sure how i feel about it yet. Seems like there should be more....some sort of stone layout maybe? Manten Stone maybe ?!