Any fishkeepers out there?

Can't remember the name if I'm honest mate, I will dig out my old books and have a look, have you joined the UKAPS forum?? Great place for planted tanks
 
burrachaga said:
tank3.jpg
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Can I just drop in and ask...

That tank looks good and with the curved substrate, gravel on top of "earth" (what is that?) But how will you keep the gravel clean once the fish are in poo-ing etc?

I have to gravel clean mine using the syphon thingy pretty often and I know that if my gravel was only an inch thick with "earth" underneath it'd be chaos once I started. Im genuinely interested in how you will do it.

I have an external filter running also but that doesnt tackle the gravel "solids".

Thanks
 
just had a quick look at ukaps and it seems a great place for info, I will join later tonight.

im no expert keith and this is my first attempt at this sort of thing but from what I understand once the plants become settled and the root system establishes itself there will be little need to clean the gravel. I have a crew of cherry shrimp which are supposed to really help out too. I also have a wide mouthed syphon thingy as well which can clean the very top of the gravel without disturbing the substrate at all. I will have to keep a close eye on the build up of the nitrates once the fish start going in and I suppose any signs of ammonia will tell me if the tank needs more cleaning. I have no experience though so this info could be useless in the real world..

im sure the guys on here who are experienced will probably give you a better answer

oh and the earth is an aquatic soil on top of a very small amount of normal soil mixed with a few bits n bobs
 
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I love what you've done with the curved substrate Colin. It looks fantastic.

I'm in the same position, in that my substrate is an aquatic soil (Colombo Flora Base) so I can't use a gravel cleaner / syphon to clean it.

I find that by having a good water flow angled downwards it keeps a good movement across the substrate and stops too much settlement. Also, I gently disturb the water at base level, in front of the syphon tube during the water change. This tends to lift any muck off the substrate and up the tube :)
 
Hi everyone,


A friend of mine has just joined up, he specialises in cichlids with photography , superb pictures, he has just posted in the pets/zoo section.

Take a look!

Matt
 
On my way...... :thumbs:
 
Well I've finally got my Clowns in after a 6 week cycle :clap:

Here's the female...

035.jpg
 
Beautiful photo. I really must think about getting some photo's taken of my setup (or Matt will be getting cranky ;) :lol:)
 
Well, after a PM from Matt, I thought it best to attempt some photo's of the tank. They are not up to the standard of those above, but give some insight as to a couple of the residents of my tank. I'm hoping to get a bit more time to have a play with the camera over the coming few weeks, so with a bit of luck, I'll be able to improve and grab a few nicer shots.

What I discovered doing this:

  • Fish never stay still
  • Getting the lighting right is a PITA.
  • The glass isn't as clean as I thought! :lol:


Bolivian Ram (Mikrogeophagus altispinosus)

Bolivian_Ram_2.jpg


Bolivian_Ram.jpg



Theadfin Acara (Acarichthys heckelii)

Threadfin_Acara.jpg



Other can be found here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/110815264401963916296/Tank?authkey=Gv1sRgCP6s3cOAuILWowE


These have only been resized, and a few blotches cloned out on number 1
 
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mattd85 said:
Links broken mate ?
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Should be sorted now mate, Picassa link wouldn't work, then had issues uploading to Flickr

Ultimately I gave up and used the gallery here :lol:
 
mattd85 said:
Looking good mate, nice colours in those rams :)
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Cheers mate, yeah the rams do look pretty good, I've got a few of the German Blue Rams (Mikrogeophagus ramirezi) which are even more colourful but they were staying well out of the way :lol: and the X-Ray Tetra's (Pristella maxillaris) were too blinking fast for a first attempt :thumbs:
 
Jimbob89 said:
Glad to know there are more of us on here :)

If anyone would like to know more just ask, some great tanks in this thread!
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we ALWAYS want to know more :D :thumbs:

Hope you've got yours up and running soon. not much better than watching a nicely populated tank in the evening.

Nice photo's in the other thread too :thumbs:
 
AndrewA123 said:
we ALWAYS want to know more :D :thumbs:

Hope you've got yours up and running soon. not much better than watching a nicely populated tank in the evening.

Nice photo's in the other thread too :thumbs:
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I could sit for hours watching mine, even the cats used to do it lol
 
AndrewA123 said:
we ALWAYS want to know more :D :thumbs:

Hope you've got yours up and running soon. not much better than watching a nicely populated tank in the evening.

Nice photo's in the other thread too :thumbs:
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Thanks Andrew, because i am using Ceramics as appose to Live Rock they require special care to avoid later issues, they needed to be soaked for over a month in RO!! I am glad to be at the stage now where i can fill up and start cycling!
 
Jimbob89 said:
Thanks Andrew, because i am using Ceramics as appose to Live Rock they require special care to avoid later issues, they needed to be soaked for over a month in RO!! I am glad to be at the stage now where i can fill up and start cycling!
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A month!!! It was hard work waiting for mine to cycle with just the Bolivian Rams in, for a few weeks. never mind a month BEFORE cycling :gag:

As we know though, it's worth it in the end :thumbs:

mattd85 said:
I could sit for hours watching mine, even the cats used to do it lol
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I do that too Matt, beats the tosh that's on TV :lol:
 
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Thought i would give this thread a bump with a pic of my tank filling up with fresh RO.

20121231144044.jpg


Not long to go now!
 
Calling all planters (and those who know anything about aquarium plants)

I'm looking to replace a couple of plants in my tank, in order to give some surface cover.
What I'm looking for is something that can be planted into the substrate (sand) and will in time grow up to the surface where the leaves will sit on, or just under the surface producing both a little shelter and shade. (would prefer not to go full floating as have had Frogbit previously and wasn't a lover of it)

The tank is slightly acidic, 25-26 degrees, reasonably hard water (which I'm working to soften off over time with the introduction of RO every waterchange) and has a sand substrate and moderate surface movement. Tank is 18" in height (48"x12"x18")

I'm not too concerned if the under water parts of the plant are mainly stalk as there is plenty of other planting under the surface. Also with 3 Threadfin Acaras any plant is going to need to be relatively hardy so nothing too spindly :thumbs:


So...... what do people suggest ?
 
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Lilly or tiger Lilly, you buy it as a bulb, plant it half in/half out of the substrate and it shoots vines to the top where they turn into pads , if you look at my tank shot on a earlier page you will see it :)

Matt
 
mattd85 said:
Lilly or tiger Lilly, you buy it as a bulb, plant it half in/half out of the substrate and it shoots vines to the top where they turn into pads , if you look at my tank shot on a earlier page you will see it :)


Page 9 :)
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Cheers matt, I knew you'd drop in with some advice :)

Not sure what you mean by page 9 though (we're currently on page 7 :p), but I think I found the pictures :thumbs: ;)

off to search and check plant compatibility now :)
 
Aghh might be because I'm on my iPhone using the TP app. I think I paid 5 pounds a bulb and I bought 2 just incase :)

It should be ok in your water if the other plants grow well
 
mattd85 said:
Aghh might be because I'm on my iPhone using the TP app. I think I paid 5 pounds a bulb and I bought 2 just incase :)

It should be ok in your water if the other plants grow well
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That'll be it, I've been caught out before with that :)

All other plants seem to be doing pretty fine with a fortnightly dose of fertiliser. A few links say only to plant lilies with Forced CO2 systems, is this really necessary? (as you may guess, I've not opted fro CO2) :)
 
I can only suggest you buy one and try, I was dosing daily with liquid co2 which obviously had an effect, but if I was you I would defo give it a shot :)

Matt
 
Cheers matt, that's the plan. Do you recall where you ordered your bulbs from? None of the "Usual Suspects" seem to be carrying them currently.
 
AndrewA123 said:
Cheers matt, that's the plan. Do you recall where you ordered your bulbs from? None of the "Usual Suspects" seem to be carrying them currently.
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I bought them from a shop called oasis in Manchester , I've never used an online plant retailer unless it was for Ferts/carbon.
 
No worries, cheers mate, I'm going to try and phone a few local retailers tomorrow, and see if there's any joy. the main market online seems to be the Banana Lily which seems to grow only to 6", so not much use to me, despite how nice they look :)
 
AndrewA123 said:
No worries, cheers mate, I'm going to try and phone a few local retailers tomorrow, and see if there's any joy. the main market online seems to be the Banana Lily which seems to grow only to 6", so not much use to me, despite how nice they look :)
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Ok, if you don't get any luck let me know, I will see if I can sort something out :)
 
Just acquired another tank, needs two strips of glass replacing near the top, it's about 15 gallons, might turn it into a Tetra or Danio tank, not sure yet :)
 
mattd85 said:
Ok, if you don't get any luck let me know, I will see if I can sort something out :)
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No worries Matt, searching for Tiger Lotus has found them, Thanks for the offer though :thumbs:
 
Hi Guys, dont suppose any of you could reccomend a good online aquarium place? Need a new fluorescent and starter, mine's corroded through the connections.

Thanks.
 
I gave up my tank when i moved house nearly 2 years ago now, how i miss it! A few months back i had priced up a really nice custom built tank with oak cabinet and hood and then allowed for a fully planted and hopefully breeding discus set up but for some daft reason i bought more Canon L glass and they got forgot. Maybe sometime in the near future though.
 
I used to have a 8x2x2.5 marine tank, sold up 12 months ago and really don't miss the maintenance, still enjoy looking at marine tanks, maybe one day I will have another one!
 
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