Oatfish Goes High Tech! 200l Tank

Well, thanks to everyone on here "putting ideas in my head" I decided to tear down my old vaguely planted tank and have a go at High Tech Planted and so far I am loving it. My boyfriend, however, is tearing his hair out at the amazing amount of mess I have managed to make in creating this tank so far and is also astonished at the amount of money some "leetle fishys" cost to keep

The fish are currently housed in an old Rio 180 on the floor of the living room while this is being set up.

The tank is a Fluval Roma 200, and so far I like it's dimensions (100 X 40 X 50cm I think!), it's a fair bit higher than the Rio 180 and that makes for a nice tall view. I removed the lid and siliconed in some bars for the 90 cm arcadia Luminaire to sit on as the top trim is not removable, I have also removed the black plastic brace bar and replaced it with a 6mm perspex bar so I don;t get shadowing.
There is a DIY CO2 external reactor with pressurised CO2 cannister inline with the Tetratec EX700 filter and I am using an inline external Hydor heater to minimise stuff in the tank. I have used Terralit as a substrate fertiliser (I got loads really cheap) mixed in with sand and some fine gravel.

The main prob I have is wanting to stuff loads of different types of plant in there! Around the slate "wall" bits I have attached peacock moss which I hope will grow up on the wall so it looks less like some garden fixture/campfire surround... I used a slate wall to divide the terralit from the sand as I plan to be putting C121 cories in there who just love mixing the Terralit with the sand and doing their own mixed substrate "Zen Gardens".

I have loads from the previous tank and a load of Fissidens fontanus that I want to put in this tank but I do not know where it would look best, any suggestions much appreciated! As I have now siliconed everything in place (wood siliconed to slate to hold it down/hold it where I want it!) I cannot change the hardscape, but any planting suggestions would be great!

Thanks guys and I really appreciate looking at other peoples tanks, keeps me busy at work....


Oh yeah, and I will be filling it up with water when I have finished planting...

That is some seriously sweet wood there. I drool in its presence. Good luck with your tank.

lljdma06 said:

That is some seriously sweet wood there. I drool in its presence. Good luck with your tank.

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Yeah I saw it and just HAD to get it although the whole lfs must have hear my *gulp* as he weighed it and told me the price....! I also moved some branches around by splicing them and tying them together with fishing line to get it to look a bit more natural... and to stay upright!

It's looking great and I have to agree the wood is fantastic.I'll be interested to see what more experienced people suggest about your planting because I'm just starting a planted tank too although I'm not using co2.

jayneg said:

It's looking great and I have to agree the wood is fantastic.I'll be interested to see what more experienced people suggest about your planting because I'm just starting a planted tank too although I'm not using co2.

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Yeah planting seems to be what I fall down on, I have some round leaved plants, but I am not sure whether to move them to another tank and concenrate on more "spikey" varieties? I guess I have bought a lot of plants when I was less exprienced and then I want to use them all and not waste them!

Plants I have at the moment:

Nesaea crassicaulis
Lysimachia nummularia
Hydrocotyle leucocephala
Cabomba carolina (just in there for fast growing stems at the begining and will be removed)
Pogostemon helferi
Bacopa caroliniana
Hydrocotyle verticillata
Rotala wallichii
Rotala rotundifolia
Heteranthera zosterifolia
Tonina fluvitalis
Hygrophila polysperma 'Rosanervig'
Peacock moss

Looks good so far, well done. The wood composition is very good, you obviously have an eye for design.

Have you planted the stems in bunches? If so I recommend seperating the individual stems. This allows for better light access to the plants and will fill out the layout better. Despite your considerably plant list the tanks looks a little bare.

May I ask why you went for the 90cm 4 x 24w T5 luminaire instead of the 100cm 4 x 39w? The 24w tubes are only 22" long, and your tank is 40". The 100cm model is only £8.00 more expensive and it will give you almost 3wpg instead of 1.8wpg and better light coverage.

What fert dosing will you be using?

I look forward to seeing this develop.

Hi George, thanks for the advice!

The luminaire is one not seen around much, it is an arcadia, although its 90cm in length it houses 4x39W bulbs. I managed to get it half price, hence going to the hassle of modding the tank since I was getting the same amount of light for half the money! (the 100cm 4x39W was not on offer).

I have got my ferts now and mixed them with RO water (EI dosing) but am waiting to make sure my CO2 is stable before starting to dose. I am new to this though so am anticipating an Algae outbreak!

Right well the plants I have "unbunched" an planted the stems seperatle and they are getting started nicely, no algae as yet! I added some inhabitats and could not resist a moonlight (which looks brighter in the pic than it actually is).I added some Dawn tetras, feisty little things but so far no probs with nipping etc, they tend to hang out at the top and let the cories do their own thing. The Neons have bacome more shy but still weave in and out of the plants so I am not worried about them getting chased lots, although we will have to see. there are some Amano shrimp in there too who always are carrying out some topiary on the moss. the C121s are busy rearranging the sand and covering the Peacock moss, but the moss is growing nicely and hopefully this will become less of a problem as the moss fills out.Some pics:I will be removing the internal filter (from another tank) once the external has matured and the branchy wood in the centre is just in this tank until I decide what to do with it! It has moss on it so I don't really want to store it outside of the tank. I might put it on another tank but not sure yet.

Some Dawn tetras, a couple have very pink bellies, are these females?

Some C121s and diamond neon tetra and one jealous rabbit wanting attention

Looks excellent, should turn into a quality scape

You have certainly laid down the foundations for an excellent aquascape.

Are your catfish Corydoras duplicareus?

Dave.

Those dawn tetras are awesome. I've been looking for something for Jeremy Gay's 120cm Iwagumi and they would go well indeed...

Do they normally stay near the surface or are they just feeding?

Very nice! I think the wood composition was fantastic in the first shot with no water. It looks as though you added another peice in the centre? personaly I prefered it before, just my opinion. The dawn tetras are very nice, you shouldnt have to much trouble getting those george!. Nice tank with lots of potential well done!

Planter - the wood in the centre is just there while I decide what to do with it, it might go in another tank, but it has moss growing on it that I don't want to kill by leaving it out of water!

George - the Dawn tetras tend to hang out near the surface when I am around, but they are always interested in being fed but they do dart around the other areas of the tank if food is not forthcoming. They do send some of the other fish (well, the neons) into hiding in the plants as they are so active. The neons seem fine, they just stay within the plants but I don't see them as much as I used to!

Dave - the catfish are C121s (they have a see through gill plate), I think this makes them different to duplicareus but they are very closely related.

Thanks for all your comments, I am going to let the tank get on with it for a couple of weeks, just dosing etc. and then try and tighten up the 'scape

Just a quickie - what size wood is that? XL?

George Farmer said:

Just a quickie - what size wood is that? XL?

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I guess it is, one piece is larger than the other. I found it in my local LFS, and they just priced it by weight. The piece on the right is 50 cm tall by 30cm wide and the other piece is 40 cm high (proped up by slate makes it higher) and 45 cm wide (Roughly!).