Se Asian Biotope

[coldcazzie]

We've managed to train the cats in my flat to keep away from the tank by flicking water at them whenever they go near it, but I'm not sure if that works for toddlers

The soil was one of the John Innes mixes, afraid I can't remember exactly which number (maybe 5?), from Dobbies. I cut it about 50:50 with sand, and then capped it with 100% sand. Was quite messy to begin with but is fine now all the floaty bits have gone.

Haha, no I don't think it would!

I had planned on a sand/laterite mix, with sand cap. I already have peat because we use it for my eldest's gerbilarium so mixing that in too would be no bother.

 

[StandbySetting]

http/www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/content.php?sid=66

I set up something similar a few months ago, T.espei are striking fish, they're beautiful and not too big for a 60 litre, I ran a similar set up to the one linked, it worked well, the fish seemed to really like it.

 

[BigTom]

I agree on the espei, had some in a previous setup which a friend now looks after, and they're exceptionally pretty, tight schooling and robust little fish.

 

[coldcazzie]

Well, I have made some progress. The tank above was really not trustworthy (despite doing 6 weeks full of water & no leaks), found a crack and wasn't happy so I swapped it with the tank of the same size that DD1s gerbil were in. Most of the sealant was gone but the glass is in much better nick. Have removed all old silicone, cleaned and going to re-seal this afternoon and cure for the next 48 hours.

Currently also trying to source a two tier metal stand.

Think I'm going to go open topped... clip on light... the more I think about it the more I like this option.

 

[coldcazzie]

Flargh....! Silicone is strong! Like...I just nearly gassed myself a couple of times!

Now to cure ...

 

[coldcazzie]

Curing complete... water test proceeding... *drums fingers*

 

[SuperColey1]

Yes I had<---had, one of those Resuns's It was superb BUT I was using it on a very small 10 litre tank.

I know its a bio-tope and you want to try and emulate the natural 'non flow' elelment but heavy planting and low flow sounds like a waiting algae farm to me.

Personally whether you do use low flow or not I would forget the floaters and use lower light @ 1WPG or so T8 or T5NO. Using floaters to block highlight is a little pointless and wastes energy. Also non CO2 and no ferts means that even if plants were high light then you couldn't really risk the high light.

Look forward to see how it goes

AC

 

[coldcazzie]

Yes, so far this has been me changing my mind about everything... the clip on 11w light is what I'll be using I think, which would give me <1wpg. Not doing floating, going to investigate emergent species I think. We'll see...

 

[SuperColey1]

going to investigate emergent species I think. We'll see...

What's to investigate? If you buy a plant for the aquarium it will 99% likely be something that is actually normally found emergent.

Virtually all our plants are fin to leave to grow and poke out of the water No need to limit yourself to certain plants. Choose what you want in the tank and then just let it grow out of the tank rather than the continual trimming that takes place within the tank.

AC

 

[coldcazzie]

Random thought... tank has glass brace pieces across the front and back. Do you guys think I should take them off or leave them on? If I can take them off I would like to, but would it compromise the glass?

 

[SuperColey1]

I wouldn't have thought it would be a problem on that size tank. I would think it was just to rest the glass lid back in the day

For it to be a meaningful support brace it would have been stretched from largest pane to largest pane i.e. fron to back

AC

 

[coldcazzie]

fantastic, I was hoping you'd say that! I'll take them off once I've finished water testing.

 

[coldcazzie]

Week long test complete. Tank is watertight

Bought a 11w arcadia arc pod light from SBS, so that's the light taken care of.

Buying some black gravel from ChilliPepper. Will probably have more than I originally planned so might use this alone rather than mixing with other substrates. Will be using this to cap some mud I think. With the gravel I'll probably skip the khulis. Both the man-wife and I have recently become very taken with shrimp so I might go for some shrimp instead. Still thinking harlequins and sparkling gouramis though.

Stand is still under investigation as I want a 2 tier metal one, lfs is currently "having a scout round" for me because they're rarer than rocking horse poop!

I've purchased this wood from Rorie - it lends itself to an Island scape... not sure if I can pull off attempting stunning aquascaping and accurate biotope at the same time, but I'll give it a good shot!

On the subject of the filter, would one of these HOBs be suitable? (or one of their smaller ones) Andy, you said what I'd been feeling uneasy about for a while having pondered on it, but I'm not sure if one of these would be an improvement in terms of flow? The waterfall effect might not actually improve the flow at all... I've never used a HOB so I've no idea. Someone impart me some wisdom!

 

[SuperColey1]

I've never used a hob either

Is this blackwater biotope having plants in it? I thought they were all leafy setups with twiggy wod in them

Andy

 

[coldcazzie]

It is.

I suspect that will also change. As in, it won't be a blackwater bog, will still be se Asian, but will be a heavily planted pool/stream instead. As I've got harlequins I'm considering centering it completely around them, but not entirely sure on this... told you I was changing my mind about everything!

The more research I've done as I've progressed, the more I've realised acidic puddle that you can't see into is not my objective: not to that extreme. I wanted to try v.low tech/walstad centred around a se Asian theme, and I can't see that the two can be married successfully.