170L, Gotta Start Somewhere

[nortonmad213]

hi, so my 20 gallon seal failed along one seam, luckily i had a 170l cycling for an upgrade already, all tests have come back fine with api master test.
 
everything that is in there was in my old tank apart from the dwarf chain loaches, i saw them in my lfs and with my mates discount they were far too cheap to turn down.
 
there is also 2 lil gecko loaches along the bottom, ones always camera shy.
but the one i can get a picture of i don't know how to sex so help would be nice

 
although speak of the devil and he shall appear lol, he just showed up (i say he but i dunno)
 
i also managed to find a couple rocks at the local resivour washed, bleached, vinegar-ed and all came back fine, rinsed loadsa times and here they are. 
 
hopefully all the pics work, or else i'll have to try again.
hope you like and any criticisms welcome 

no idea how to add loads of pics onto one so here goes one at a time.
my tank before i added stuff

my dwarf chain loaches

first lil gecko loach

and the other

and how it looks now

 

[Fishmanic]

I like that air bubble curtain in the back---what brand  air pump are you using---what brand is the bubble wand?

 

[nortonmad213]

air pump is a interpret air-volution av1.
air wall is by The Penn Plax Aquarium Bubble Wall.
both were found at watermarque in taunton.
i originally bought a tetra aps 300 but was just far too powerful
my lfs refused to refund it, so now its on my shelf just looking at me annoying.
so anyone wanna buy one? brand new just too powerful.

 

[nortonmad213]

realised all i said about was my fish
if you were wondering about my gear under the tank
i got a ehiem classic 350 filter with 4 filter pads 1"of bioballs and a carbon and superfine on top
a lighting unit for 2 t5 lamps, got a red and a daylight
an ehiem 150w heater.
already mentioned the air pump,
ummmmmmm and thats as much as i can remember, i'll let you know when i get home
plus pictures if you want them

 

[nortonmad213]

so my dearly beloved light controller died today so had to get a new one.
its an arcadia ultra seal, capable of 2 t5's so hopefully it lasts a bit longer.

it is in the mess at the back under the air pump
i may of cut the air line a bit short lol 

here is the pain in the jerk ehiem classic 350 that will run lovely and quiet and then rattles like god knows what

so yea any ideas on that would be lovely cause i'm losing faith slowly

and my abysmal attempt at wiring.
trying to find some cable tidies somewhere cause i feel so ashamed every time i look in the cupboard

so as you can see i'm galaxies away from being even slightly close to being finished
so any ideas, criticisms or otherwise would be more than gratefully appreciated.
was thinking of planting amazon swords at the back to hide the filter inlet.
would love to have some sort of grass at the front and to make a better cave with the big rock and log maybe buying another log with something
i don't know,
but i want a aquascape comparable to the greats, i know i'm many years away but with help i'd like to think i could get there.
thanks for looking
 

 

[nortonmad213]

ok been a while, not a lot has changed really.
i bought some new plants, a bunch of amazon sword and some others which i dont know,
i got some more rocks and made a couple of caves. 
i bought a few more fish as can be seen here http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/427043-best-size-tank-and-occupants-for-angels-if-not-suggestions/

here is a fts.
also changed the way the spray bar faces so that it creates a rippling effect which i like the look of a lot

 

[daizeUK]

Looks nice!
I've recently bought an Eheim 350 and also had an Eheim 250 set up about a month, they seem to rattle when gas gets trapped in the system.  It might be your bubble curtain creating a lot of tiny oxygen bubbles in the system, they get trapped in the filter and build up into a big oxygen bubble and then the filter burps it out?  Mine does the same with CO2 bubbles.
 
You can get cable ties in B&Q in the electrical section.

 

[nortonmad213]

thanks daize
thats what i was thinking with the filter,
since ive adjusted the spray bar it hasn't happened at all because of the current pulling the bubbles away from the inlet,
so i think you are right
ordered my newplants so they should be in post soon.
want to get some nice wood

 

[greenmumma141]

You have dwarf chain loaches?!   I've really been wanting to get a group of them, but they're so expensive and hard to find, being endangered and all. Are yours very active???
 
The plants look great!!! And I also love the background, it's the perfect color blue!!!

 

[nortonmad213]

yea five of the little buggers
looking to get some more but like you said they are quite expensive
my mate managed to get me a discount so they were only 6 pound each so hopefully he can again
they are really quite active once they see me approach the tank, they interact really well with me, following my finger etc
thanks for the compliments,
just glad to be able to share it here so others than just me can enjoy it

[sharedmedia=core:attachments:72304]
so a lil pic update on this page as the ones here are a bit outdated
 

 

[Blobfish]

You have dwarf chain loaches?!

  I've really been wanting to get a group of them, but they're so expensive and hard to find, being endangered and all. Are yours very active???
 
 
I have a group of five which I bought a few years ago and find them very active fish.  Great snail eaters too.

Tank is coming along well.  Another vote for the bubble curtain and blue background here

 

[greenmumma141]

Now I want some even more. The only place I can find them would be $72 for 6 and that's without shipping...
 
 
Your pic didnt show again..... what site are you using to upload them? I use photobucket, works great

 

[nortonmad213]

Thanks for the kind words blob any ideas where to progress.
I'm uploading through my documents straight to the website
It's annoying because it's worked fine normally

 

[nortonmad213]

right lets try again with the photo thing
lemme know if you can see it

 

[greenmumma141]

I see it!!!!! Looks great!!
 
Man, I really love that blue! It's so bright and crisp looking... hmmmm....