Crazyairborne's 200L.

[CrazyAirborne]

Ok I nabbed this for cheap off Gumtree. I got the wife to agree to it as long as I sold my 90L. Which is for sale here. Im sad to see my 90L done, but it was a good run, even if it wasnt for all that long. fluval makes great looking tanks.


Ok so the new tank. After some mega searching, I found it for sale on German websites, and figured out its an Aquatlantis Elite Premium 118, which apparently is a Portugese company. Retails for 800 some euros on the german sites I found!!! The tank and stand look great and Im happy with it.

So first pic, got it home and cleaned, IT WAS SOO DIRTY.

First hurdle was fixing the light fixture, which needed a new ballast. It was rediculous working with this 4ft solid aluminum tube, trying to slide the old ballast out, and replace it. Took me 3 hours! but it now works and im very happy with the Twin T5 HO's!

Of course I had to try this out. This is my going on 3 year old not at all excited about being inside Daddys new tank! no children were hurt in the making of this tank.

Got the really BLACK sand in there, Its Caribsea Super Naturals Tahitian Moon sand. Looks great and its true black compared to alot of greys I see passed as black. First time putting plants in before the water. That makes me a true planted tank guy now i think.

Took a about an hour to fill up using a slow trickle to not disturb the plants. Then took a couple more hours to get to temp. it was hard waiting! I added an extra heater to speed it up.

Me on the counter top working at it. pics courtesy of wife.

And then after tidying up the cords, and getting it all how I wanted (for now).
as it sits now.

I wanted to make more swimming room on one end, which kinda resulted in a triangle scape. Wasnt on purpose, but I think it'll work. (for now) Im also very happy with the black sand, and will probably be getting more to fill in some. (its expensive!)

it has to be decent looking from both sides, so I tried to keep it tidy, and it'l be nice to view the fish from the dining room, and the kitchen!

 

[r.w.girard]

That is the same sand I have in my "Red." Greens just pop against it. Definitely could use more I think, to give a little "texture" to the floor. Did you put anything under it? But I love the tall side. What are you growing there? The shorter end of the triangle seems a little too deliberate but I am sure it will be great once it all grows in. Plus, the large piece of wood in fantastic.

What do you plan to stock?

-Robin

PS. Kid looks real sad, man.

 

[CrazyAirborne]

lol, yeah she was upset, she'll get over it Yeah once it grows in, it should look alot better, this is the first day Over in the back I have a plant im really falling in love with, Willow Leaf Hygro Hygrophilia salicifolia and then I have some Bacopa in there, along with some really large leaved amazon swords, along with some small amazon swords. In the foreground, Christmas Moss, Pogostemon Helferi, Micranthemum micranthemoides, and then the Caramine lyrata. One Anubias on the wood.

i will be adding more sand, but underneath i have a mixture of clay aggregate substrate and gravel.

currently im stocking 10 harelquins, a german blue ram, and a clown plec and otto. Im not sure where i want to go from here, Im thinking another 10 shoal of something, not sure yet. maybe a tetra of some sort.

 

[r.w.girard]

Im thinking another 10 shoal of something, not sure yet. maybe a tetra of some sort.

I've been "pushing" them all over, but check to see if you can get some green neon tetras. I have some photographed in my main tank. They look very similar to cardinal tetras and neon tetras, only they have less red, a longer, straighter blue stripe, and only grow half as long, meaning you can have twice as many. Be careful though, because I guess black neon tetra is sometimes called a green neon, but that one is a Hyphessobrycon herbertaxelrodi, which is an entirely different genus. Green neon tetras, Paracheirodon simulans. Cardinals and neons are both Paracheirodon.

People keep recommending Harlequins, and they are lovely. And since you already have some, a larger shoal of them would be better than a second smallish shoal?

Is the Hygrophilia salicifolia the wispy leafed one in back on the right? If so, it is lovely. I tried some Hygrophilia corymbosa but it was way to weedy looking.

 

[amy1994]

Nice tank
Do you use CO2?

 

[CrazyAirborne]

Nice tank
Do you use CO2?

the tanks only been running for 2 days, no Co2, but all the plants came from my previous tank

where i also did NOT use Co2.

thanks for the compliment

 

[CrazyAirborne]

Im thinking another 10 shoal of something, not sure yet. maybe a tetra of some sort.

People keep recommending Harlequins, and they are lovely. And since you already have some, a larger shoal of them would be better than a second smallish shoal?

Is the Hygrophilia salicifolia the wispy leafed one in back on the right? If so, it is lovely. I tried some Hygrophilia corymbosa but it was way to weedy looking.

I really like the 10 Harle's I have now, but, Im leaning towards a danio, I want to add a different shape and color to the tank.
Today I added 2 (hopefully will pair up) Rainbow Cichlids, Herotilapia multispinosa as kind of a centerpiece fish, they sound to be a relatively peaceful cichlid and they look great. I might not add any more fish now. We'll see how it fills out.

Yes the hygro is the one in the back right corner, and its lovely and grows great, once i figured out how to prune it, i love its leaf shape, and it grows very easily!

 

[BluePhantom]

How do you guys clean the sand in your tanks? and is it any harder then gravel cause im really thinking of getting that moon sand you have as well. I have a 180 gallon tank I just dot want to make super difficult to clean thanks!

 

[CrazyAirborne]

How do you guys clean the sand in your tanks? and is it any harder then gravel cause im really thinking of getting that moon sand you have as well. I have a 180 gallon tank I just dot want to make super difficult to clean thanks!

i find it quite easy, you kind of learn how to swirl the vac a little over the bottom, and it swirls up the waste. Its really easy. I would definitely say go for it, its so worth it, and most fish prefer sand anyways!

i dont really like the texture of my black moon sand, compared to regular sand, its more coarse and doesnt look as natural to me as regular play sand, its also very expensive!!!! (but it loooooks sooo nice!)


good luck and take pics!

 

[ian]

how did i miss this??!!

That's a very nice scape, love the wood, you hit that magic triangle, well done!

If i was to make one critique...have you thought about more moss on the left to get a nice carpet effect?

 

[CrazyAirborne]

yeah, that log covered in xmas moss for some reason, yesterday i noticed it had gone almost completely dead looking, pretty much over night.

its really weird, cuz it was doing so well, and as u can see in the pics above, was quite green and healthy. its now all grey and looks almost dead. I took it out tonight and pulled off alot of the excess, and put it back in, maybe the moss at the very bottom wasnt getting any light and started dieing, and spread outwards? idk. i almost started a new thread about it, but eh.

Ill be trying to fill in the open area a bit, it all depends on my newest fish, the rainbow cich's who arent being very friendly to any of my plants, especially the smaller ones i would use to fill in.

thanks for the compliments!!

 

[BluePhantom]

How do you guys clean the sand in your tanks? and is it any harder then gravel cause im really thinking of getting that moon sand you have as well. I have a 180 gallon tank I just dot want to make super difficult to clean thanks!

i find it quite easy, you kind of learn how to swirl the vac a little over the bottom, and it swirls up the waste. Its really easy. I would definitely say go for it, its so worth it, and most fish prefer sand anyways!

i dont really like the texture of my black moon sand, compared to regular sand, its more coarse and doesnt look as natural to me as regular play sand, its also very expensive!!!! (but it loooooks sooo nice!)


good luck and take pics!

Yeah I saw some of the moon sand and I love the look and after that im deff going that route and I will for sure take pics when I get it complete! Im taking pics of the whole process!! Thanks for the advice! Your setup is way nice too!

 

[StandbySetting]

That's a nice scape, what's the stem plant on the front corners on your 90L?

 

[CrazyAirborne]

That's a nice scape, what's the stem plant on the front corners on your 90L?

Bacopa, its simple but I like its looks and it grows like a weed

 

[coldcazzie]

Looks fab! You should be proud! It will look amazing once it's grown and filled out! Well done!

Also, my kids thought this picture was hilarious! (Like literally, 10 minutes of hysterical laughing!) But they definitely think I shouldn't do the same thing to them LOL