Biulu
Fish Aficionado
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2007
- Messages
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Some of you might know that I am moving from Mexico to Canada. It is a rather long process but I have now about 3/4 of my fish here in Montreal. I have set up 3 tanks: 2 divided 5 gallons for my bettas and a 20 gallon long (hopefully soon to be replaced by a tank with the same footprint but higher). Although all of these tanks include plants, they are merely functional to provide a good climate for the fish I am keeping.
My new tank however should mix esthetics with functionality and seen the fact that most of my current fish are Asian, I have decided to make it a white water river biotope.
I bought the new tank just before Christmas but have not been able to set it up. I bought a Geo System 80 from Hagen. The kit was really a bargain as Hagen discontinued this line in this form. They say they have it 'upgraded' but in my opinion it is a 'downgrade' as the new model only includes 1 T8 fixture oppposed to the 2 T8s my model has. If the new model would have had a T5, I would have considered it an upgrade, but not now.
The kit came with the following:
* a black stand
* an all glass tank of 80 x 35 x 45 cm
* a Fluval 205 canister filter
* 2 20W lights. I chose 1 flora glo and 1 light glo
* 1 Fluval heater of 200 W
* some water conditioners and flakes
Here you see a picture of the box with the tank and the substrate in front:
Now I am not particularly impressed by Fluval (sorry guys! I know I am not really pro Canadian here...) so I have ordered a Rena filstar XP2 online which should arrive by the end of the week. I was very impressed by the Rena I bought for the goldfish tank and although the colours of the materials look a bit eastern european before the fall of the Berlin wall the filter is doing a great job!
So, the specifications for this set-up will be:
* 120 litre tank
* temperature 24 degrees
* pH 7.6
* hardness around 140 ppm
Substrate:
* organic soil substrate made for aquatic plants (a local product from Quebec, see the picture below)
* capped with Caribsea naturals Voodoo river.
Now, this soil substrate is new on the market and the advantage over buying a bag of mineral soil is that it is 'bagged'. It comes wrapped up in a kind of permeable bag which allows roots to grow through but at the same time will avoid that a lot of particles flow around your tank when you uproot a plant or you have digging fish in your tank. They claim it provides enough nutrients for several years. So, let's give it a try!
Sorry, but all the text is in French
as that is the official language here in Quebec.
Livestock:
* 6 zebra loaches (3 of them are already here)
* 12 T. hengeli (already here)
* 8 cherry barbs (still in Mexico)
* 1 pair of peacock gobies (to be purchased)
* 1 betta (already here)
Plants:
* Rotala rotundifolia
* C. balansae
* C. wendttii and others
* java fern and java fern windelov
* java moss
* aponogeton crispus
* red tiger lotus
* pellia (to be send by Liz hopefully!)
Hardscape:
* wood and rocks brought from China. If you are going Asian, you have to do it well, I always say
As you can see, plant and fish wise I have included several species that I would never be able to get in Mexico, but which I have always dreamt of having one day
. So, I am really treating myself!
I am now off to buy the last materials for the set-up. This weekend I will put the tank in its place, level it and start scaping.
Comments and suggestions are welcome! Thanks for reading, Eleonore
My new tank however should mix esthetics with functionality and seen the fact that most of my current fish are Asian, I have decided to make it a white water river biotope.
I bought the new tank just before Christmas but have not been able to set it up. I bought a Geo System 80 from Hagen. The kit was really a bargain as Hagen discontinued this line in this form. They say they have it 'upgraded' but in my opinion it is a 'downgrade' as the new model only includes 1 T8 fixture oppposed to the 2 T8s my model has. If the new model would have had a T5, I would have considered it an upgrade, but not now.
The kit came with the following:
* a black stand
* an all glass tank of 80 x 35 x 45 cm
* a Fluval 205 canister filter
* 2 20W lights. I chose 1 flora glo and 1 light glo
* 1 Fluval heater of 200 W
* some water conditioners and flakes
Here you see a picture of the box with the tank and the substrate in front:
Now I am not particularly impressed by Fluval (sorry guys! I know I am not really pro Canadian here...) so I have ordered a Rena filstar XP2 online which should arrive by the end of the week. I was very impressed by the Rena I bought for the goldfish tank and although the colours of the materials look a bit eastern european before the fall of the Berlin wall the filter is doing a great job!
So, the specifications for this set-up will be:
* 120 litre tank
* temperature 24 degrees
* pH 7.6
* hardness around 140 ppm
Substrate:
* organic soil substrate made for aquatic plants (a local product from Quebec, see the picture below)
* capped with Caribsea naturals Voodoo river.
Now, this soil substrate is new on the market and the advantage over buying a bag of mineral soil is that it is 'bagged'. It comes wrapped up in a kind of permeable bag which allows roots to grow through but at the same time will avoid that a lot of particles flow around your tank when you uproot a plant or you have digging fish in your tank. They claim it provides enough nutrients for several years. So, let's give it a try!
Sorry, but all the text is in French
as that is the official language here in Quebec.Livestock:
* 6 zebra loaches (3 of them are already here)
* 12 T. hengeli (already here)
* 8 cherry barbs (still in Mexico)
* 1 pair of peacock gobies (to be purchased)
* 1 betta (already here)
Plants:
* Rotala rotundifolia
* C. balansae
* C. wendttii and others
* java fern and java fern windelov
* java moss
* aponogeton crispus
* red tiger lotus
* pellia (to be send by Liz hopefully!)
Hardscape:
* wood and rocks brought from China. If you are going Asian, you have to do it well, I always say
As you can see, plant and fish wise I have included several species that I would never be able to get in Mexico, but which I have always dreamt of having one day
. So, I am really treating myself!I am now off to buy the last materials for the set-up. This weekend I will put the tank in its place, level it and start scaping.
Comments and suggestions are welcome! Thanks for reading, Eleonore
as they moved from South to North (only 1 hr difference between Mexico and this side of Canada). But the poor guys did arrive here with a midwinter syndrome; even though their bags were wrapped up well and in a styrofoam box, the water was pretty cold when they arrived!
