Reply With Quote
Hi Luc,
Simple and effective layout, perhaps you can add a few more driftwood to the right, to cover that grey pipe.
Adding some ketapang leaves might just be what you need, to round off the look.
Hi guys,
just a show of my current setup. comments are most welcomed!
front
left
right
its usually not so bright, this is how it looks normally.
this is a 4 x 2 x 1.5(height) feet tank. with 0.5 feet allocated to IOS. actual swimming space 3.5 x 2 x 1.5.
current live stock:
4 x Heckel discus (still rather shy as they just got in last Friday)
some 50 odd rummy nose tetras. (I enjoy their schooling, damn tight!)
2 x Gymnogeophagus Meridionalis (delightful little cichlids!)
looking to add another 10 pieces of Corydoras Arcuatus and maybe another 2 G. Meridonalis.
is it overstocked or will be overstocked after adding in another 10 pieces of corys?
(pardon me on picture quality, taken from phone camera.)
Last edited by Luc Tango; 29th Dec 2011 at 01:53. Reason: alignment
You can call me Luc.
Hi Luc,
Simple and effective layout, perhaps you can add a few more driftwood to the right, to cover that grey pipe.
Adding some ketapang leaves might just be what you need, to round off the look.
Fish.. Simply Irresistable
Back to Killies... slowly.
Agree with adding the wood. that pipe is an eyesore! but I did not want to reduce anymore swimming space. oh well, time to head down to GC again for more wonderful shopping!
I did not want to add ketapang leaves as i had previously used those in another tank. it was very very messy when they start breaking up! hmmm, i might just get a few small pieces of driftwood to make the ground more 'rooty'. would that be a good idea?
You can call me Luc.
Nice scape, what subtrate are you using?
Spreading the rocks at the side may look nicer, just my humble opinon.
the substrate is from ANS, orange quartz. I pretty much like the color a lot. filling up the substrate bit by bit as I did not build the tank up from scratch. about the rocks, they are not supposed to be there (just there to give the wood some height. I will be replacing it with a piece of wood soon.
You can call me Luc.
Hi Luc,
Since you have Corydoras in the tank, adding more driftwood to the ground zone may not be good. In this manner with the roots pointing downwards and more ground space for the corys to root about, is good for them. They'll spend some time in the shadows under the driftwood pieces and come out mostly at night or during feeding time. With a layout that optimises more bottom space for them, you can observe them easily.
Fish.. Simply Irresistable
Back to Killies... slowly.
Since you're keeping discus, don't cramp the tank with too much wood. Wild discus appreciate a "grazing area" where they can come out to forage once in awhile. The current patch at the front right hand side is pretty good for that. If you want to add more driftwood, just get 1 branchy piece to add behind vertically to cover the grey pipe - don't let it intrude into the grazing patch.
In terms of the sand, it will be good to add more. Again, wild discus enjoy foraging for food in the sand. At least have enough sand to cover the entire bottom with a thin layer. If the sand is fine enough, you will be able to observe your discus foraging for food as they do in nature - by blowing the substrate and letting the sand fly up. It's very interesting to watch, and not an often observed behaviour as most people don't keep their wild discus in this kind of fine sand substrate.
Stormhawk,
well, in that case, i will leave the ground part untouched for the moment. for the cories sake and for the grazing ground for the heckels.
illumnae,
i am definitely adding more sand in and i have seen the discus trying to do what you described but i think my sand is a little too heavy. I see dirt flying around instead.I wouldn't mind changing the sand to maybe SUDO sand but I am pretty sure it will get sucked into the underflow system. maybe i will try some and see how things go. by the way, hope you get your discus soon, really sad to hear the loss of such beautiful fishes.
You can call me Luc.
I hope to get a replacement shipment in a week or 2, depending on Hudson's schedule - he's on vacation this week.
I use SUDO sand with a sump and it's ok for both my biotope set ups. Some of the sand does get sucked into the sump via the underflow, but it's not a big deal and you won't lose a whole lot, just a bit. After awhile, the flow will bring away a little of the sand, and the rest of the sand will be untouched, even when it's constantly being disturbed by cories and eartheaters (My Rio Orinocco tank is CHOCK FULL of eartheaters and I don't have a problem). If your flow is low (I like high flow tanks), you'll lose even less sand to the underflow.
Frankly, it's well worth it to get a little sand in the sump and filter wool to see the natural discus behaviour
do show us pictures when the fish arrive. can't wait to see them!
If some of the sand does get sucked into the underflow, won't you be topping up every now and then? I don't know whether mine would be considered high flow, it was on 2000l/hr before, now its 1200l/hr. I will need to get the sand out and change the placement of the rain bar (now its right at the bottom so it blows away the sand). I can see what you mean by how interesting the behaviour is. I just looked closely this morning and saw one of the heckels blowing at the sand. though the sand is heavier than SUDO sand, it still spreads open. my entire sand has patches of bald sand created by them! lol.
Could you share the current biotopes you have? would like to have a look and learn from them.
You can call me Luc.
Hi Luc,
your setup looks great! However the tetras seem to be a little cluttered to the bottom, and the mid-water and top region untouched. Can try adding some hatchet fish to liven up the top water region.
I've got some pictures already up at the thread I created in AF. Hudson took some pictures for me
In relation to the sand, I find that after awhile the sump stops sucking it in. I think that only the really fine bits will get sucked in initially, but the rest of the sand is heavy enough to resist it. If your flow is low, then even less will get sucked in. Using an eheim 1262 on a 422 and an OR6500 on a 6x2.4x2.4, I find that less than 10% of the sand ends up in the sump even after 1 year. My flow is fairly strong as you can see.
Current biotope I have is only a Rio Orinocco one. I tore down the Rio Negro one to make way for the new discus. Due to lack of solid information about the Alenquer region in general, my 422 will now be a generic South American setup as well. At the moment I'm trying to see if I can at least narrow it down to a "lower amazon" biotope, with fish from regions such as the Alenquer, Tapajos, Santarem etc.
Originally Posted by Luc Tango
do show us pictures when the fish arrive. can't wait to see them!
If some of the sand does get sucked into the underflow, won't you be topping up every now and then? I don't know whether mine would be considered high flow, it was on 2000l/hr before, now its 1200l/hr. I will need to get the sand out and change the placement of the rain bar (now its right at the bottom so it blows away the sand). I can see what you mean by how interesting the behaviour is. I just looked closely this morning and saw one of the heckels blowing at the sand. though the sand is heavier than SUDO sand, it still spreads open. my entire sand has patches of bald sand created by them! lol.
Could you share the current biotopes you have? would like to have a look and learn from them.
ahhian, well... they do occupy the entire tank (top to bottom) but as they were schooling, just nice they were at the bottom part when i took the photo. :P
illumnae,
will try to switch over to SUDO soon. currently stuck in ICT so not much time to do a makeover. have seen the photos over at AF and man are they splendid looking fishes! wished i had the budget to get those. but since i am pretty new to discus, i wouldn't want to risk killing such beautiful fishes. I do hope you get them this time round and SIA does not cock up again. I have a number of bad experiences with them, luckily not live goods though!
You can call me Luc.
Hi Luc, why not come down this Saturday when the fish arrive (barring any SIA mistakes again)? As far as I am aware, there are some pretty affordable and yet beautiful discus coming in.
sure! I'd like to go down if time permits but do you think i should put in other discus? JZX's boss wanted me to get all 6 from him the last time round but i only took 4.and I wouldn't want to overcrowd my tank.
sigh, sometimes i can't resist beautiful fishes. have to control! anyways, i think it'd be great to go down and have a chat with you. i am sure there is lots for me to learn from you. try my best to go down lah!
You can call me Luc.
The shipment got delayed. I'll pm you my hp number and we can have a chat when you're free
that is sad news. i can't help but think that SQ might be the cause why many online retailers don't want to ship to Singapore. I've tried to order stuff from US and UK previously and was told they do not ship to Singapore due to many lost packages. i seriously hope these fishes will come in soon. really a good eye opener for many hobbyist.
well, I guess i'd only be free after chinese new year, cause my ICT only ends on 25th!
You can call me Luc.
It's not SQ at fault where shipments are concerned. The whole issue with Customs on both ends etc can be very troublesome, let alone confusing for a normal hobbyist.
Fish.. Simply Irresistable
Back to Killies... slowly.
Stormhawk, both times shipment problem with Hudson discus were SQ fault, not customs. The first was when SQ sold cargo space on a "direct" flight to Singapore from Brazil. The fish were loaded onto that flight no problem. The plane apparently stopped at Barcelona to refuel (not a cargo stop), and somehow the fish all got unloaded in Barcelona. Due to Christmas weekend, they only arrived in Singapore after 48 extra hours. They arrived all dead. This is clearly SQ ground staff fault, not customs. SATs staff admitted it was Spain SIA ground staff who made the mistake, and SQ refunded the cost of the shipment.
In the most recent case, the cargo space was booked, and SQ Singapore repeatedly confirmed the shipment. However, SQ Brazil repeatedly claimed not to have received any confirmation from SQ Singapore. The fish were packed and sent to the airport, only to be rejected by SQ Brazil at the airport. They had to be sent back to Hudson's facility, and arrangements were made to send via Emirates instead. Hudson then went to the Brazilian courts and obtained an urgent injunction against SQ Brazil, forcing them to accept the shipment as agreed (since they sold the cargo space, they cannot back out of the contract). The Brazilian courts granted Hudson's application, and now SQ had no choice but to accept the shipment, and it is now back on schedule and flying over to Singapore.
Hence, as mentioned above, in both cases, the fault fell squarely on SQ, whether it's SQ singapore or SQ spain or SQ brazil.
Hi illumnae, I will be heading down to Seaview tomorrow. what time will the fish be arriving and i will try to swing by JZX to chat and peek at the fishes.
stormhawk, well... i ever had shipments going overseas and SQ apparently lost the cargo somehow somewhere. its pretty weird when... 98% of one shipment arrive and 2% went missing.guess sometimes its luck on whether shipments make it through. anyways, its already very out of topic.
You can call me Luc.
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks