The Behemoth Tank

[Genesis]

amazing!

 

[plantbrain]

For those keeping up on this thread vs the newest pics:

Pictures cannot do this tank justice, nor can they detail the smaller fine points or give a sense of depth.
I am going to do a nice photo shoot sometime in the next 1-2 months with an nice wide angle lens since the others never capture the essence or depth.

Rose lines bullied everyone in the tank, they turned into an unruly mob with 30 or them in here.
They are fine in smaller numbers and in smaller tanks.
Owner likes gaudy discus more than anything.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[puppyjess123]

All I can say is wow! Then discus have such nice colours and all those littlens look beautiful

 

[RadaR]

Proof that EI does not harm fish, nor inverts for that matter.
Nice one, Tom.

 

[aaronnorth]

Proof that EI does not harm fish, nor inverts for that matter.
Nice one, Tom.

or that it doesnt cause algae lol

 

[s007]

Ive got a question how do you manage to keep giant angel fish with cardinals?

Cheers

 

[plantbrain]

Ive got a question how do you manage to keep giant angel fish with cardinals?

Cheers

They are slow and plenty of hiding spots.
Discus are worse, once the cards get fattened up, we put them in and not much issue.
Shrimp are pretty good, but they are cheap relative to the cost of the tank and other considerations. They hide really well and clean okay.

No algae other than some diatoms of all things about 1 years ago and that was about the only algae issue I've seen so far. We changed the CO2(go figure.......and got some nice equipment to control and monitor the CO2 better, dialed the light down, now it's relatively easy to manage and growth rates are slowed but healthy.

Light and CO2 are the real issue for tanks, not the nutrients so much, but folks focus only where the old advice mentions and where their test kits and LFS tell them. Few use light meters and CO2 meters, but that's where all growth, the rates of growth are determined, not nutrients alone.

CO2 will dramatically affect NO3, PO4 etc if there are plants there............and the proof is clear when you measure these other 2 parameters critically.
We use colorimeters for NO3, PO4, but it's more to check once the plants are doign well, the plants and fish are the real "test kits". That and developing a new model for growing aqutic plants is what I did. Then you go back and try and see what and why, how.

You do not start with a conclusion, then run around trying to fit evidence to your conclusion.
You start with observations, many folks have a wide range of nutrients all over the place...and many of those routines work................others have issues.........so.........just maybe..........it's not the nutrients alone, it's something other than then nutrients causing issues and controlling things?

Common sense would suggest so.
Such as light and CO2, the two most poorly measured parameters that drive growth rates far more than any nutrient might.

Does not matter to me, not one person can tell me that high NO3 or PO4 or some ratio influences algae etc, when this tank has been up and running well for sometime now with those high levels, high fish load, and at such a large scale. That cannot possibly be a correct accepted hypothesis, otherwise if it was..........why don't I have algae? Tank after tank after tank, year after year. Folks do not pay you well to louse their tanks up and cause algae blooms.

You must address those questions to support such and hypothesis. Most say "well, I cannot answer that.... but........." they just ignore that part and wander off on why they mess up and have algae or what they think, not what they critically tested, why they have algae if they dose. sometimes they turn on me personally, which is not the topic one bit. Doesn't make me any pals, but that's not the goal or the topic, the topic is the hypothesis that these folks keep on claiming, "the earth is flat". I suppose if you wanna believe that, but the facts are quite different and not in their favor. It's a basic principle of falsifying something, the same logic is used in law, Critical thinking, writing etc. It does not say why/how you personally screwed something up or not. Just test that dependent variable, nutrient/s. Good testing and monitoring uncovers a lot more than the same old tired methods and cheapo test kits. You measure a nice well run tank, not one that's all messed up, for a control, then treat with high PO4, CO2, NO3 etc one by one and in conjunction. You do not start with assuming everything is fine with an algae covered tank. There are many confounding factors there, but few if any, in a well run tank. Good CO2/light is critical in comparing treatments as well. Most have trouble with those, so they really cannot say that much about nutrients. This is not just about nutrients.

Other folks have stopped over and seen this tank, my tanks, open house meetings etc. So there are no secrets.
I should get a video and post it sometime in the next month or two. That is the best way to see it minus being there.
I'll see.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[nel5on]

Ive got to say this tank is THE best tank i have EVER seen, Your aquascaping skills are out of this world.

Wish i had the money to do such a tank, i dont think i would keep discus in it though, or the angels. For somebody just startingout in teh aqua scaping world, what would you reccoemend as a good way to learn? im always scared to mess the tank up so i jsut do it once ever y few months, if it doesnt work out right, i put up with it for months on end.

If you ever vivist the UK, send me a pm, could have a job for you. (7' x 3' x 3' in the stages of planning)

nel5on

 

[greenscooby]

OMFG!! Gimme Gimme Gimme.

 

[plantbrain]

It's more a deep forest, more natural feel than a scape pre se................
That's what the client wanted and wanted to view the fish more.
Plants are secondary. The wild fish where added but he likes the color more...........

They stand out a lot more. Wild species have trouble adapting and would need to be raised up from small fry to do well.
The client did not want to wait for that.

I'm going to go there and redo some of the design a little and try and balancing things more, then do a video and a pic shoot.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[plantbrain]

Ive got to say this tank is THE best tank i have EVER seen, Your aquascaping skills are out of this world.

Wish i had the money to do such a tank, i dont think i would keep discus in it though, or the angels. For somebody just startingout in teh aqua scaping world, what would you reccoemend as a good way to learn? im always scared to mess the tank up so i jsut do it once ever y few months, if it doesnt work out right, i put up with it for months on end.

If you ever vivist the UK, send me a pm, could have a job for you. (7' x 3' x 3' in the stages of planning)

nel5on

Well, it's been 3 decades since I've been to the UK,Wales and Scotland, but I was in Portugal last fall.
So I do get around. The latest tank is for the same client, but is a bit larger than yours, another 1 ft longer is all.
450 Gal.

Manzanita wood, less open space. They broke the tank 2x now trying to transport it, it's starfire glass etc.
Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[nel5on]

Ive got to say this tank is THE best tank i have EVER seen, Your aquascaping skills are out of this world.

Wish i had the money to do such a tank, i dont think i would keep discus in it though, or the angels. For somebody just startingout in teh aqua scaping world, what would you reccoemend as a good way to learn? im always scared to mess the tank up so i jsut do it once ever y few months, if it doesnt work out right, i put up with it for months on end.

If you ever vivist the UK, send me a pm, could have a job for you. (7' x 3' x 3' in the stages of planning)

nel5on

Well, it's been 3 decades since I've been to the UK,Wales and Scotland, but I was in Portugal last fall.
So I do get around. The latest tank is for the same client, but is a bit larger than yours, another 1 ft longer is all.
450 Gal.

Manzanita wood, less open space. They broke the tank 2x now trying to transport it, it's starfire glass etc.
Regards,
Tom Barr

When i get the tank all sorted ill have to give you a call, if it could even hold a candle to this tank then it would be amazing. would give you a free rain on the tank as long as it was well planted lol.

thanks for showing us the new pics of the tank, it really is out of this world.

thanks, nel5on

 

[plantbrain]

Hell had an ice storm too, more pics:

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[Underwurlde]

Someone ban this man! This is pure pornography!

 

[stang1]

@ Underwurlde.
That is the most stunning tank I've ever seen!