The Bathtub, Outdoor 100 gallon

[ikuzo]

hello everyone, i just want to share one of my tank.

fts


left side


right side


i apreciate any comments and suggestions.
enjoy.

[Verminator]

Nice tank there. Subdued light for lower maintenance? Or is that just because of the camera. What crypts are they there behind the grass like plant, if they grow taller you'll be ok. Just feel they seem a little bit hidden at the moment.

Something like Crypt Balansae or Albida in the far right corner, probably balansae due to lower lighting. Alternatively Echinodorus Uruguayensis in the far right corner, just looks a little bare currently. Your Crinum Calamistratum will grow much taller, but will take time to fill out.

Any information on what lighting you use, photo period, fert regime, dimensions of tank?

[ikuzo]

hello Verminator, pictures are taken at night time with 2 flash above the tank. the ones behind sagittaria subulata are cryptocoryne wendtii. that is crinum natans at the right side, it has some growth problem with it's leaves tips turning yellow.

sorry i was in a hurry i forgot the tank's specs, here it is :

- dimension 150x50x50cm
- lighting is ambient sunlight with about 2 hours direct in the afternoon
- no CO2, no water change
- ferts is about 1/10 of regime applied to high light CO2 tank

current plant list :
- sagittaria subulata
- crypts : wendtii green, brown, mi oya, tropica, hudoroi, balansae
- anubias nana, nana golden, barteri, caladifolia, coffeefolia, minima, angustifolia, afzelii
- vallisneria nana
- flame moss
- crinum natans

fish load :
- 12 boesemani rainbow
- 35 rummy nose tetra
- 4 clown loach
- 1 chinese algae eater

[Jervis]

Nice choice of schooling fish... look harmonious yet distinct

[uklau]

Hi Ikuzo,

Nice tank. Good to see you in AQ.

When I read the title, I thought it is really a bathtube .

[ikuzo]

hi uklau
i bet you know me from other forum too

it is indeed like a bathtub when you see the initial construction photo :

[Verminator]

Wow! Suddenly the 'bathtub' part makes sense. Ingenious. I bet your fish are happy having three sides that are solid and none transparent. Quite simply brilliant!

[wks]

Wow, an outdoor tank! This can only be dream in land scarce Singapore.

[zenscape]

Very nice tank and indeed a 'natural aquarium' using sunlight as light source akin to what is given in nature. It reminds me of one of the earlier Amano's work.

[StanChung]

Inspirational! I like it very much. Was thinking of dumping some tall fish like altums and let them breed. [wishful thinking]
I think i'll make one of my garden corners like this and rid of dad's orchids or hang them above it.

[ikuzo]

Verminator, it does reduce their stress. there are some street cat fishing at times but the fish just simply hide behind the plants

wks, all you need is a small open space in your garden facing east / west. not much space needed here. it's lucky for me living in a tropical region since a lot of people can't build something like this because of the freezing winter.

zenscape, not sure about Amano's early works, but i'm not that good enough to be compared to him

StanChung, that could work! it's easy to build, don't cost much, and it's fun.

thanks everyone for the comments...

[Verminator]

Rainy/cold winters here in UK would kill off any plans i may have of achieving something like this. Never mind.

Great tank, great idea.

[StanChung]

Verminator, Koi, I heard can withstand freezing waters. My friend who lives outside of London says they freeze up in suspended animation and then defrost later... This I have yet to see. Frozen water may cause cracks to your tank so I think it's probably not a great idea.

Ikuzo, good thought on the East or West so that it only get direct sun at one point in the day. Was thinking of keeping it in the shade.

[Verminator]

I know koi can withstand the temperature drops. We don't get freezing temps often, but even so cold winters. My grandfather keeps koi, or did do so i know this. Tropical fish sush as those rainbows that Ikuzo is keeping is out of the question for myself. Unless i want to do it with goldfish haha

[StanChung]

LOL, we always want the impossible or hard to do stuff. Same here.

[ikuzo]

does adding heater help?

speaking of goldfish, i did a planted goldfish tank back then. it was not that succesfull though and teared the tank after a few months. here's the tank back then :

[Verminator]

Haha quality!

My goldfish are currently in a tank with no lights, and just about enough filtration. I need to invest in them a bit more i think, my tropical has sort of taken over recently

[zenscape]

That's a nice fat goodfish out there. Did the goldfish chomp clean the foreground plants?

Verminator, I was in UK for 3 years and the water was really chilled and does your goldfish adapt well without heater?

[zenscape]

Inspirational! I like it very much. Was thinking of dumping some tall fish like altums and let them breed. [wishful thinking]
I think i'll make one of my garden corners like this and rid of dad's orchids or hang them above it.

Yes, I agree, can imagine a stunning picture with about 15-20 small altums schooling stately in this tank

[Verminator]

Zenscape, my goldfish do indeed live perfectly happily within water without a heater. My goldfish tank quite happily sits at 24oC on its own, even in winter. On sunny days it can creep to 26/27oC but thats obviously no problem