🐠 TOTM VOTE NOW - February 2024 Tank of the Month Contest (31 gal & larger)

[Fishmanic]

POLL IS NOW CLOSED

31 Gallons and Larger
​

Please Vote Now
We have 9 awesome tanks entered in Fishforums' February 2024 Tank of the Month contest featuring tanks sized at 31 gallons and larger. View all the tanks and descriptions below and then go to poll at the top of this thread, click on your choice for TOTM, and then click the "Cast" button.

Please DO NOT post any comments about any specific entry in this thread...such posts will promptly be deleted. You are not allowed to update your entry picture or video once voting has started.

Please Note:
Any attempt to influence competition results, other than by casting your allocated vote, is not permitted and may result in your entry being removed and / or further action being taken. You are not allowed to have friends or family join TFF for the main purpose of voting for you. This is a public poll so source of votes can be viewed.

Winner will be awarded a neat "Tank of the Month Winner" banner in their profile area and will be featured in a "TOTM Winner" thread for all to see and to comment on. Winner will also be added to our TOTM WALL OF FAME

You are allowed to change your vote if you wish.
This poll will end on February 14th at 4:05 PM ET (US).

 

[Ram419]

This is my 55 gallon

Tank Age: 1 year 8 months

Substrate: Small gravel and fine sand.

Lights: NICREW ClassicLED Aquarium Light, Fish Tank Light with Extendable Brackets, White and Blue LEDs 48 inch
Light Dimmer: NICREW Single Channel LED Light Timer Pro

Plants

• Java Fern
• Salvinia Minima - Water Spangle
• Amazon Frogbit
• Anacharis
• Lucky Bamboo
• Christmas Moss
• Vallisneria
• Giant Hairgrass (had to cut most of the orignal back so it's really short atm but growing new stems)
• Tiger Lotus
• Dwarf Hairgrass
• Frogbit
• Duckweed
• Golden Pothos

Livestock

• Tuxedo Guppy (4)
• Emerald Green Cory (5)
• Zebra Danio (3)
• Angel Fish (1)
• GloFish Danio (1)
• GloFish Tetra (4)
• Golddust Lyretail Molly (2)
• Hemigrammus levis Tetra (1)
• Neon Tetra (3)
• Panda Garra (1)
• Rummy Nose Tetra (3)
• Tiger Nerite Snail (19)
• Fancy Guppy (1)
• Guppy Fry (3) *at least, maybe more

Air pump filters: 2 Pawfly Large Aquarium Bio Sponge Filters
16 inch air stone bar
Air pump: Tetra Whisper for 40 - 60 gallon
Heater: 300W submersible Aquarium Heater

Ferts and Water Treatment

• API CO2 Booster 5ml once per day
• Seachem Root Tabs
• Seachem Flourish 4.6ml twice per week
• API Stress Zyme 20ml once per week

Water changes usually once per week, around 50% to 80%. I use API Ammo Lock and API Quick Start in all the new water.

Feeding once per day (TetraMin Tropical Fish Food Flakes). Multiple times per day of micro food (Hikari first bites) for fry that hide in planter boxes on top of tank.
Blanched kales from my outdoor garden or unsalted green beans on occasion for the snails, and the fish much on them too.
One time a week I'll feed frozen brine shrimp instead of flakes.

 

[Magnum Man]

I'll do my African River 45 gallon tank this contest...

this is a 45 gallon tall tank, with a strong, side to side flow, created with both a 10 inch air bar, & a Tidal 75 hang on tank filter, both on one end... this is a hard tank to work on, as it can be viewed from 3 sides... & is built in, so I can only work from above 1 narrow end, requiring special tools...

lights... are a pair of Nicrew 24/7 36 inch 24 Watt lights... ( I used 2, as the tank is so deep, challenge is they are programed from a remote, & they only use 1 remote code, so it's hard to make changes to one light, without it wanting to change the other at the same time... )

Plants... many Java "Lace" Ferns, in "tangles" on the bottom, African Water Lettuce floating, & Nile Lily's in hanging pots...

Substrate... water polished black stones, aproximately 1 inch in diameter

Drift Wood... 2 larger pieces, the one on the right is African Mopani Wood

Residents... 3 Coolie Loaches that live between the rocks on the bottom ( they were tiny when put in, now are the size of Giant Coolies ) because Africa is full of political unrest, the warring factions in this tank, is a battle between bladder snails, & Assassin snails, ( both of which have been breeding new soldiers for battle, in this tank ) there are approximately 15 adult Armano Shrimp ( they have been skeletonizing the Java ferns, enough, that I have begun calling them Java Lace plants )... next comes the African tetras, which so far have been peaceful, & all get along includes currently... 3 common Congo Tetras ( Phenacogrammus interruptus ), 4 Yellow Tail Congo's ( Alestopetersius caudalis ), 4 Blood Cap Moon Tetras ( Bathyaethiops breuseghemi ), 3 Golden, Blue eye Congo Tetras ( Phenacogrammus aurantiacus ), 3 Blue ( Alestopetersius brichardi ), 2 Red ( Alestopetersius brichardi ), 3 Fantastique Congo Tetras ( Phenacogrammus sp. fantastique ) there are also 4 African Glass cats, & 5 King Tiger Pleco's ( a small pleco that fits in the tank nicely, even though they are not African... honestly I can't catch them out now )... I forgot, 1 African Vampire Shrimp ( lives under one of the pieces of driftwood

 

[Tacocat]

my 48-ish gallon(according to my math) tropical tank

This is my 48ish gallon tank which I got as a hand-me down from a cousin. We're experiencing a couple of problems with individual fish but they're handling themselves and I'm doing my best. So far it's looking pretty good and I've only lost up to 3 fish so far from unknown causes but otherwise they're fine. When some of the fish fully grow the tank will be overstocked but for now I think the stocking is ok.

Age: 2 months
Lighting: Nicrew classic LED plus set to max brightness from 7:30 to 6:30
Filtration: Eheim 2213 canister filter
Heating: roundabout 25 C
Substrate: potting soil capped with sand
Plants:

• Weeping moss
• Some anubias species
• Bucephalandra crocodile
• Hygrophila pinnatifida
• Rotala blood red
• Mermaid weed
• Ludwigia palustris super red
• Some ludwigia species I forgot the name of
• Some hygrohpila species I forgot the name of
• Persicaria sp. são paulo
• Water lettuce
• Süsswassertang
• Failed monte carlo carpet attempt
• Fishing line

Inhabitants:

• 12 emperor tetra - Nematobrycon palmeri
• 8 rainbow emperor tetra - Nematobrycon lacortei
• 3 pearl gourami - Trichopodus leerii
• 3 bolivian rams - Mikrogeophagus altispinosus
• 5 or 6 corydoras sold as punctatus corys - Corydoras punctatus?
• 6 red lizard catfish - Rineloricaria sp. L010a
• 2 juvenile royal farlowella - Sturisomatichthys aureus
• 2 horned nerites
• 2 amano shrimp
• Various hitchhiker snails

feeding schedule: feed flakes every day in the morning and in afternoon, and every other day some sinking wafers. Every other day feed frozen brine shrimp or bloodworms
water changes 30% once a week or when I feel like there's too much poop

 

[Mazain]

Hi, everyone first time on TOTM. I went and post a thread my bad.
So this is my 100 gallon with description below.
Description of tank
Dimensions of the tank is 4 feet x 2 feet x 2 feet and Volume of 100 Gallons. Built on the wall to capture Natural Sunlight during the day and Circulate Fresh Air that comes down the Sun-shade Pearlings.

The Age of the tank
The tank is 9 years old however, Aquascaping with water plants and nano fish is just a year old which started in the month of January 2023.
Before the tank housed all types of Central and South American Cichlids .

The Setup
Leak seal tape is run around the front wall of the glass to avoid glass from cracks. Walls are painted in pale green to create brightness for the eye.

Substrate
I'm using Mix-gravel as the 1st layer for the base, Aquasoil New about 9 months old as the 2nd layer, Fine-sand New 1 month old as 3rd layer and Power-sand New 1 month old as the top layer.

Ferts
I used APT root capsules after 6 months as a supplement. When my plants aren't thriving changing the Aquasoil after a year or the Substrate or replacing it with new is another option, but can be very costly.

Hardscape
Bog wood and Driftwood about 7 years old are colonising infursuria along the log for my fish fry. The Granite Pebbles and River-stones I bought are not more than 1 month old. These help create a barrier from fish digging up the Water-plant roots avoiding the plants to emerge to the surface.

The Fish and plants
• 2 x Roseline barbs
• 6 x Rummynose Tetras
• 1 x Red Rainbow
• 5 x Bosemani Rainbow
• 2 x Dwarf Neon Rainbows
• 10 x Lemon Tetras
• 6 x Penguin Tetras
• 4 x Pencilfish
• 9 x Whitecloud and Golden Mountain Minnows
• 1 x Chinese Algae Eater
• 1 x Hillstream Loaches
• Amazon Sword
• Anubias Lanceolata
• Bolbitis Difformis
• Decumbens
• Cryptocoryne
• Cuba
• Ketala
• Pogostomon
• Sagittaria Subulata
• Siamensis
• Stricta
• Vallisnaria Nana

Water Parameters
• Ph 7.5 - 8.5
• Temp. 27c - 31c
• dKH 1 - 3, GH 6 - 7

Low tech tank with Boyu Air-pums, Gravel Filters 12 inch x 12 inch. Sponge filter regular size. DIY Filter 2000 lph with Filter Media above the fish tank and 100 cm LED Submersible Light.
50% Water change is done every once a month and 20% done every 3 days when water parameters are alarming along with maintenance on filters. Glass wall is cleaned every water change. Feeding happens once a day, Twice every other day.

Fish Foods products
Hikari Cichlid-gold grinded, Hikari Cichlid Bio-gold+ grined, Hikari Micro Pellets.

 

[Myrkk]

Apologies this isn’t a technical posting, my brain isn’t working properly today.

200L tank
4yrs old although moved house with it last August so it has been rejigged at that point.

Aiming for a South American biotope type tank but not quite there yet.

Plants
Twisted vallisineria which desperately needs a haircut but I quite like it long
Hygrophila Siamensis again needs some tlc but the fish love it
A lot of duckweed!
Lots of leaf litter which has all gone to behind the oak wood and can’t see it most of the time unless change direction of filter head.

Fish
3 male and 1 female long finned calico bristlenoses (2 males need rehoming, offspring of original pair)
4 red phantom tetras (left over from initial tank build, need to decide if getting more)
11 chilli rasboras
16 diamond headed tetras
2 Venezuelan black corys
2 leopard catfish (sadly both female)
3 snails (not sure what type)

Temp 24 - 27
Ph 6.5 - 7.5
GH1

LED light
External filter

Water change 30% once every 10days
Filter medium is noodles, foam blocks, filter floss. Gets rinsed once every 2mths in water from water change.

Feeding is once a day, with a couple of days off every so often. Feed a variety of dried flakes, algae wafers, Cory pellets, live food and frozen live food. Occasional courgette slice.

 

[simonas]

Here's my new to me predator tank which has caused me a few issues with build quality.

It is 9ft x 3ft x 28" and has a 6ft x2ft x 2ft sump. Evo Aqua 20000 return pump , 2 x D&D titanium heaters

Occupants are asian aro, silver arowana, fire eel, goonch cat, 2 x florida gar,3 bichirs, vittatus african tiger fish, armatus payara and a red tail payara and a pair of mini marble rays

I feed frozen lancefish, mussels and prawns every 2/3 days and massivore every night for the rays

I change about 50% of water each Sunday

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

I wish I had another tank to showcase but as a recovering MTS sufferer I have but only one.

This is my 240l Fluval Roma, home to Boesemani rainbows, Cherry Barbs, a Pelvicachromis Pulcher pair, a few shy Amano shrimps and a bunch of ramshorn snails.

I seem to do alright with Cryptocoryne so I've stuffed this tank full with different varieties. My favourite is the Balansae growing back and centre, it has taken a while to get going since I first planted it but seems to be taking off now. I've tried many different plants and none do as well as the crypts. I dot a few root tabs around and use TNC lite fertiliser once a week.

Lighting used is the generic lamp that came with the set up, if I'm not mistaken it's from the Aquasky range.

The canister filter I use is also from the Fluval range and came with the tank as well, it works really well and is simple to clean.

Hardscape includes dragon stone, mopani wood and limpopo black sand.

Maintenance is done weekly without fail, a scrub of the glass with my magnet cleaner and a 50% water change which I do with a siphon out the window onto the lawn and a pond pump in a bucket in the kitchen sink to return clean water to the tank. I pluck out the dead and damaged leaves as and when I see them.

The fish are fed as much variety as I can manage including live or frozen bugs and worms, spirulina flakes, bug bites, spinach and peas.

This is a very low maintenance tank and mostly looks after itself, it's been up and running 2-3 years? I forget. My little boy absolutely loves sitting in front of it with me and has taken a keen interest which I'm thrilled about. Hopefully he will find a love for fishkeeping himself and instill it into his own children one day...or at the very least do the water changes for me on this tank!

 

[Eskimo]

Aquarium:
• Running 1 year
• 48x18x18 60g Breeder
• Ecotech MP40
• Fluval planted 3.0
• Fluval FX6 w/pre-filter sponge
• 2 Fluval 150w heaters on inkbird controller set to 76-78°
• Ph 7.0
• Seachem flourite sub.

Livestock:
• Serrasalmus Rhombeus "Xingu" diamond
• Mystery snails
• Yellow spotted rabbit snails

Plants:
• Anubias
• Jungle Val.
• Crypts
• Amazon sword

Fert:
• API root tabs
• Seachem flourish comprehensive

Maintenance/care:
• Weekly 50% water change
• 2-3 times weekly feeding of frozen tilapia, trout, shrimp w/vita-chem. Pellets for snails.
• FX6 gets cleaned every 6-8 months

 

[WhistlingBadger]

This is my 55 Gallon Himalayan Foothills Paludarium. This setup has been running for approximately 3 months. It is loosely based on the foothill areas of Darjeeling, India, and Yunnan, China. I originally got interested in the ecology of these areas because they are my favorite tea-growing areas. Yes, I am a serious tea nerd. Even though they're separated by a few hundred miles, they have remarkably similar habitats and fish species.

Unfortunately, most of the fish species from these areas are either unavailable in the hobby, or too big for a 55g. So some of the fish are closely-related species from just over the hill in northern Myanmar and northern Vietnam. This isn't a true biotope; I'm just trying to capture the feel and look of the area. I recommend watching the video while drinking a cup of really good tea. It helps set the mood.

Setup and maintenance:
Walstad style; no filter except foam prefilters on manifold.
Directional flow provided by a 350 gph powerhead pulling water through a rivertank manifold.
Waterfall powered by a 520 gph external pump, with a mist maker that turns on several times per day, to keep the terrestrial plants moist.
Background hand-carved from blue insulation foam, coated with Drylok and concrete pigment.
Play sand supplemented with seachem root tabs every few months
Wood and rocks from the friendly neighborhood mountain creek
Weekly 70% water changes
And yeah, that's a real Yunnan teapot burried in the sand, with a sand loach hiding out in it most of the time.


Aquatic plants:
Various cryptocorynes (at least five different kinds; I lost count somewhere in there)
Willow moss (Fontinalis Antipyretica)
Java fern (Leptochilus pteropus)
Anubias coffeefolia
Anubias barteri

Terrestrial Plants:
Himalayan maidenhair fern (Adiantum venustum)
Bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta)
Java fern (Leptochilus pteropus)
Rice (Oryza sativa)
Various mosses from Asia and North America

Animals:
Fire-bellied toads (Bombina orientalis)
Choprae danios AKA glowlight danios (Celestichthys choprae)
Padamya barbs AKA Odessa barbs (Penthia padamya)
Reticulated hillstream loaches (Sewellia lineolata)
Himalayan sand loaches (Nemacheilus corica)
Amano shrimp (Caridina multidentata)
Ramshorn and pond snails
Terrestrial springtails and isopods