james_fish
Chuck, Leader Of Ze People.
Well it’s about time I got this thing going!
Hey,
It’s not got plants in yet, but I’m putting this in the planted section. Ian will shout at me if I don’t!
I’ve been waiting on my substrate to get the project underway, and finally after 2 weeks it arrived at about 10am this morning. So here’s the specifications of the tank to give you an overview.
Tank: Fluval Roma 200
Volume: 200 litres
Heater: Fluval E300
Filtration: Aqua Manta EX300
Powerhead: SunSun JVP 100
Note: All the pictures i've took are with my phone, so aren't the best and don't always represent colours etc.
I’d been wanting to set up a nice dedicated biotope for a while now, and since I’m a big fan of South American fish I chose the river Orinoco in Venezuela. I already had some fish from that region, Keyhole Cichlids, Cardinal Tetra’s and my Peckoltia Lineola (spelling). So after research and help from some of the guys here on the forum (thanks guys! ) I was ready to go give it a shot.
Once the new substrate arrived I was ready to get underway. First job was to remove my current sand (which was a bit of a pain to get all of it) but I got it done.
Empty tank, just a few little fishes ready to be netted and removed. I split the fish I was keeping with the fish I was offloading.
I started to get the sand out with a small jug, as I had a 2” thick layer across the tank. Once I got most up, I siphoned the rest.
On it’s way down!
I had a chance to give the tank a scrub whilst the water level was done, and just give my equipment a bit of a clean. My powerhead for example.
Once I got most of my old sand out, I was ready to add my new substrate. Caribsea Eco-Complete for the planted aquarium.
And here is the Caribsea just after I added it, will have to watch for pH instability in the upcoming days. The water, as predicted went quite cloudy.
My external filter, EFX 300 by Aquamanta (made for Maidenhead Aquatics] A good piece of kit, and not bad at all for just over £80 with a 4! Year warranty
I have filter media, phosphate pads, sponge & peat media in it.
Next thing I did was get the water running through the filter.
Whilst I let that settle up and get the water moving I had a cheeky trip to McDonalds for a spot of lunch and got a free glass, RESULT.
Once the water was starting to settle I added the wood, and predictably it floated I’ve got some nice pieces however.
[
Meanwhile all was going well in the shrimp tank. It’s crawling with Cherry’s at the minute, and a few females are carrying eggs again. The fish in there are 3 spot Rasbora’s and Chilli Rasboras
Once the water had cleared up abit more, I was ready to add the fish.
6 Keyhole Cichlids
1 Peckoltia Lineola
15 Cardinal Tetra (got more to up the shoal)
2 Pim Pictus (much debate about minimum tank size for these due to their active nature, but after much debate and second opinions I decided to try a pair. Especially when I realised they were native to the Orinoco! They look fantastic over the black substrate, really happy with them.
This is how I’ll have to have the wood for the time being until it saturated and becomes sink wood.
Peckoltia Lineola (L202) Spelling alert!
Another shot of the tank.
Few fish knocking about
Again, sorry for the poor pictures quality, they don't really do the setup justice.
Future:
Wait for the wood to sink, add various plant species and increase the stocking.
Comments welcome!
Cheers everyone, James.
Hey,
It’s not got plants in yet, but I’m putting this in the planted section. Ian will shout at me if I don’t!
I’ve been waiting on my substrate to get the project underway, and finally after 2 weeks it arrived at about 10am this morning. So here’s the specifications of the tank to give you an overview.
Tank: Fluval Roma 200
Volume: 200 litres
Heater: Fluval E300
Filtration: Aqua Manta EX300
Powerhead: SunSun JVP 100
Note: All the pictures i've took are with my phone, so aren't the best and don't always represent colours etc.
I’d been wanting to set up a nice dedicated biotope for a while now, and since I’m a big fan of South American fish I chose the river Orinoco in Venezuela. I already had some fish from that region, Keyhole Cichlids, Cardinal Tetra’s and my Peckoltia Lineola (spelling). So after research and help from some of the guys here on the forum (thanks guys! ) I was ready to go give it a shot.
Once the new substrate arrived I was ready to get underway. First job was to remove my current sand (which was a bit of a pain to get all of it) but I got it done.
Empty tank, just a few little fishes ready to be netted and removed. I split the fish I was keeping with the fish I was offloading.
I started to get the sand out with a small jug, as I had a 2” thick layer across the tank. Once I got most up, I siphoned the rest.
On it’s way down!
I had a chance to give the tank a scrub whilst the water level was done, and just give my equipment a bit of a clean. My powerhead for example.
Once I got most of my old sand out, I was ready to add my new substrate. Caribsea Eco-Complete for the planted aquarium.
And here is the Caribsea just after I added it, will have to watch for pH instability in the upcoming days. The water, as predicted went quite cloudy.
My external filter, EFX 300 by Aquamanta (made for Maidenhead Aquatics] A good piece of kit, and not bad at all for just over £80 with a 4! Year warranty
I have filter media, phosphate pads, sponge & peat media in it.
Next thing I did was get the water running through the filter.
Whilst I let that settle up and get the water moving I had a cheeky trip to McDonalds for a spot of lunch and got a free glass, RESULT.
Once the water was starting to settle I added the wood, and predictably it floated I’ve got some nice pieces however.
[
Meanwhile all was going well in the shrimp tank. It’s crawling with Cherry’s at the minute, and a few females are carrying eggs again. The fish in there are 3 spot Rasbora’s and Chilli Rasboras
Once the water had cleared up abit more, I was ready to add the fish.
6 Keyhole Cichlids
1 Peckoltia Lineola
15 Cardinal Tetra (got more to up the shoal)
2 Pim Pictus (much debate about minimum tank size for these due to their active nature, but after much debate and second opinions I decided to try a pair. Especially when I realised they were native to the Orinoco! They look fantastic over the black substrate, really happy with them.
This is how I’ll have to have the wood for the time being until it saturated and becomes sink wood.
Peckoltia Lineola (L202) Spelling alert!
Another shot of the tank.
Few fish knocking about
Again, sorry for the poor pictures quality, they don't really do the setup justice.
Future:
Wait for the wood to sink, add various plant species and increase the stocking.
Comments welcome!
Cheers everyone, James.