New Tank for cichlids!

[sen_jie]

Hi guys,

just received my tank from N30 on friday.



fish tank set up: 2 tier, top tank is 3x1.5ftx1.5ft braceless tank 10mm glass


bottom tier is the same as the top, just that it is divided into 3 compartment for my apistogrammas

[sen_jie]

With a budget of 200 bucks on a satuarday night i proceed to C328 to get some stuff

started off with the most important thing, canister filter. Doesn't have enough budget for a ehiem, thus plan to settle for a jebao. However uncle recommanded ATMAN instead. After going to take the ATMAN down from his store, he realised that his ATMAN is out of stock! Thus brought down a dolphin canister for me. He claimed that it is a japanese design but manufactured in China. With a limited budget on hand, i agreed to it.


Having a canister filter with no media for it sounds dumb yea?
so i gotten myself this -->



Next, it is shopping for lighting
i got a 3ft PL light. plan to have it for the top tank.
plans for my top tank?
Looking at cory+angel+rummynose combi. So with that in mind, i got some substrate which is cory friendly



So more or les the top tank is settled. lets move on to the bottom tank. Did i mentioned above it is for apistogramma?
How to miss this out when you are keeping apisto!

[Aquanoob]

Nice tank for your apisto. Any particular apisto you are looking at? By the way, can pm me the cost of your tank and stand?

[mobile2007]

Nice tank ! wondering how much it cost u to make that ??

Another mini LFS opening in progress.....

[sen_jie]

Just the tank and the rack cost me 500 bucks.

But i got thicker glass as i am looking at braceless tank and thicker material used for the rack (usual is 1inch by 1inch, mine is 1.5inch by 1.5inch) that is why it is solid as a rock!

particular apistogramma?
-Norberti Or Panduro
-manti red bit
-(have not decide)

[sen_jie]

Other additional purchase which i got




Time to do some setting up now! stay tune!

End month (after payday) my shopping list will be:
- DW from GC
- Air pump
- 5kg more of sudo sand
- 3kg more of biohome


Stock list to get:
- Either wild discus OR angel for top tank
- Short nose cory (which are more tolerant to room temperature)
- Shoal of rummynose and some jumbo cardinal
- A couple of zebra ottos


May need a couple of months to get the whole tank running. Hope it will be operational ready and viewable by July

[exotic_idiot]

Starting smoothly and Looking good...
Quick get it started soon..
Can't wait for the full setup with fishes in...

[tetrakid]

Very nice tanks. Good design too, especially the corner angled reinforcements on the glass and the vertsatile 3-compartments below. The last time I got a 3ft tank was when I kept my bumpless Loahan fish. Now I only have a 2ft tank plus a couple of nano tanks.

[stormhawk]

sen_jie, the workmanship is evident. Rack looks solid and tanks nicely done. By the way, for the top tank, don't need such a thick layer of sand if you don't want to plant anything. You can go cheap and tie Java Ferns etc on the driftwood.

By the way, nice shorts.

[Jitticus]

wow, this is more impressive in scale that that picture you showed me.
3 feet gives you so many alternate possibilities and fish choices.

Tetras - Bleeding heart, Weitzmani,

Plecos - bristlenoses (L144, 181, 183), bulldog plecos, L037 (hypostomus but remains small)

Cory - this one is a big headache. Which one to choose???

Angel or Discus - I find that angels are the easier choice because they almost never fall ill (once quarantined properly) and aren't picky about any food.

[sen_jie]

Thanks all for the kind comments

stormhawk: erm.. thanks for the comment about the shorts. From SAF wahaha. Any suggestion, if i am jus doing some plants such as ferns, do i need a PL Light? Or just a LED light or FL light will be good enough? Is there a need to get seachem flourish too?

Jit: this pictures are taken using my compact camera instead of my phone camera. Yea actually i am more incline towards german rams + angel fish (peruvian? or any others to recommand?; please spare a thought on my wallet....) combination, rather than discus.

[illumnae]

For a 3x1.5x1.5, I would agree angels would give you more room to play around with. Max number of adult discus you can keep is probably 5 (and even so, not those xlg kind) - and that will still leave you with not much space to play around with for tankmates. Nonetheless, if you do get 5x 4-5 incher discus, you can still go ahead with rams and some tetras as dithers.

For angelfish, Peruvians are nice of course...but so are Manacapurus, or even some leopoldis if you can find them (not sure if C328 still has stock of them left from a few weeks back). Some other interesting wildcaughts are the Altimiras (Xingu) ones I got recently from JZX. Don't think there are any left though. I personally have kept leopoldis and I think they're a unique choice and cute to boot

If you're going for a realistic Amazonian setup, then it would be best to go without plants and with the woodscape you planned. You won't find Java ferns or Anubias in S. America for sure However, it depends on how strict you want to be with your biotope set up. You can be liberal with floating plants like frogbit though. The fish will appreciate the shade/cover.

Just a suggestion for a simple blackwater biotope (choice of fish are my personal preferences...you can swap around similar species):

6-7 x Pt scalare/leopoldi OR 5 x Symphysodon discus/aquaefasciatus
4-5 x Microgeophagus ramirezi
20 x Paracheirodon axelrodi / Hemmigrammus bleheri
6-10 x Corydoras duplicareus
1 x L52 Dekeyseria sp. / L183 Ancistrus sp.

[sen_jie]

morning Illumnae,

thanks for the suggestion. Sounds like a great plan which you have suggested. most likely i will go ahead with

4x angel
1 pair of rams
a couple of male apistos
and some cories

any suggestion on the lighting? Is PL too strong? i am actually looking at some LED lights which i can attached on the side of the tank (as it is braceless i love the sleek look, thus does not want to make the top too complicated. actually i am looking at those LED bulbs from IKEA to be attached (1 on each side) shining in at a certain angle. Do you think it will look weird?

[illumnae]

I think the IKEA bulbs may end up too dim. Having both shine in from either end would look weird as in nature, usually you won't find the sun shining in opposite angles. I personally love LED lights for biotope tanks, and have been using either DIY or Maxspect Mazerra for over a year. Perhaps you could DIY your own LED setup using the frame from an existing PL fixture?

As for the fish, sounds good...I tend to like "busier" looking tanks so I have my tanks stocked more tightly. However, I would recommend at least 5 angels to spread aggression.

[tetrakid]

The more I look at the tanks you bought, the more I like it.

If I have a fish room or more space, I will definitely be getting two sets to be placed side by side, perhaps with one side having the big tank placed below, to be used as a daphnia culture tank.

[sen_jie]

out of those angels which you have recommanded, which breed is the smallest? (doesnt want to push my filter system to the limit as i am only running on 1 1100/h canister)

and may i know where i can DIY the lightings?


(this is getting really exciting haha)

[sen_jie]

The more I look at the tanks you bought, the more I like it.

If I have a fish room or more space, I will definitely be getting two sets to be placed side by side, perhaps with one side having the big tank placed below, to be used as a daphnia culture tank.

Thanks for the compliment

anyway just a short update, i have already filled the bottom with ADA soil

not sure is it me who feels this way, the soil seems dirtier as compared to the past. I wash it around 4 times and it is still very very dirty. So i gave up and just throw it into the bottom tank. (Have yet to add water in)

[illumnae]

It's not the speed of the pump that counts, but the amount of filter bacteria (aka your media). I think you should be fine in terms of filtration capacity - just make sure you cycle properly.

In the long run, Pt leopoldis would be the smallest. Pt scalare variants generally end up about the same size, and are larger than the Pt leopoldis. The Pt leopoldis are seasonal though, so they may not be readily available.

In terms of DIYing the lightings, search around in the DIY section - there are a number of threads where other forumers have DIY-ed and showcased the process. I personally went with Meanwell drivers and China LEDs (cheaper, but not as efficient as CREEs). You can order them in from www.cutter.com.au or www.rapidled.com. I may have some spare Meanwells that I'm salvaging from my previous DIY (which I've since decommissioned and upgraded to Maxspect Mazerra sets instead). I'll need to go take a look.

[Aquanoob]

I don't think there is a need to wash the ADA soil, in fact, you shouldn't wash any aquasoil.

[sen_jie]

I don't think there is a need to wash the ADA soil, in fact, you shouldn't wash any aquasoil.

Morning! Oh really? But it is really very dirty. lots of wood shaving, and the water is as dirty as carbon. eye sore! but after washing it is still the same.. lol. maybe just managed to remove the woods shavings thats all haha