davidb Posted June 30, 2007 Report Share Posted June 30, 2007 Hey Guys I am finally gonna be setting up my 4ft Tank as a communty tank. The tank is 123Long, 40 front to back and 60 deep. (Just under 300L) The plan is to have low lighting and moderate water movement. So far I only have the tank and stand but I have big plans! I have been tossing up Malawi vs Community and Community won :lol: The fish I want so far are: -4 discus (50mm?) -6 BN's or clown loaches (Unsure yet) -4 German blue rams -20 Tetra's. Glowlights (Can they handle the higher temps? Otherwise rummynoses ) -10 Corys (unsure of species) The plants I want are: -African fern -Anubias -Crypts -Lace Java fern -Christmas moss -Pygmy crypt Other stuff Filtration- AquaOne CF1200 (Good enough?) Substrate-Dalatons propogating and Sand(Dark) Bogwood-Lots! Background-Black Lighting- Single 120cm 30Watt flouro. CO2- DIY with diffuser Any comments? Too many fish? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markoshark Posted June 30, 2007 Report Share Posted June 30, 2007 thats very low light I'm running dual 3foot T8s on mine currently, and the plants are stringy and weedy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted June 30, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2007 I was thinking the same thing but I don't know if that will be a problem as most of my plants i selected are fern types etc, rather than stem plants. Maybe 2x30W bulbs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted June 30, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2007 First part of tank build done- 2 Nice pieces of bogwood and 20kg of sand added Sand is a nice brown color-looks pretty cool but still waiting for the water to clear- I spent 2 hours washing the sand but still got really murky. I also painted the whole back black... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilson Posted June 30, 2007 Report Share Posted June 30, 2007 any pics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted June 30, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2007 Half fill a bucket with dirt, then fill it to the top with water and you won't need to see my dirty water Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilson Posted June 30, 2007 Report Share Posted June 30, 2007 :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted July 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2007 sorry couldn't move far enough back to fit the whole tank in the pic. And sorry for the reflections and dirty water- its still clearing up. I hope to start puttling fish in in 2 weeks or so but at least there is something to look at now. Just a recap of what I have done since last post: -Bought Wood -Bought 4 ft T8 dual 20Watt light -Bought Aquaone CF1200 -Plants: Java fern, Java moss Anubias nana. Looking for other plants which will survive in the low water movement, low light sandy tank??? Might add some more driftwood pieces to the sides but want to leave the middle area mostly open. Changed fish list slightly -Elephantnose -School of Neon and Glowlight tetras (30-40 of each) -German blue rams (4-5?) -Corys (15) -6x clown loach Comments? and yes i'm gonna do another big water change today to get rid of the tannins and the last muck from 25kg's of sand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milet Posted July 12, 2007 Report Share Posted July 12, 2007 very cool :D What sort of sand is that Those are sweet pieces of driftwood too. looks like my tank i was setting up till it burst all over my floor at 2:28am on monday Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rozski Posted July 12, 2007 Report Share Posted July 12, 2007 Oooo looking good. I especially like pieces of driftwood that look almost like tree stumps, so *thumbs up* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilson Posted July 12, 2007 Report Share Posted July 12, 2007 good work david it looks great Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted July 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2007 I dunno the name of the sand, I got it from Hollywood fish farm in Mt. Roskill. They normally divvy it out in small 2kg or 5kg bags for 8 bucks or 10 bucks or something but I bought a whole 25kg bag off them for only 20 bucks, I like the look of it. I bought the wood from the same place. Those pieces were really expensive ($40 each) but I got them coz my tank is so deep and smaller, less rooty pieces would have made the top half of the tank look really bare, especially as the tank is not going to be heavily planted. thanks for the compliments guys, suggestions are more than welcome also Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted July 12, 2007 Report Share Posted July 12, 2007 Sand and Wood both look amazing. Well done. You gunna have crypts in there? they do well in low light... Looking good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milet Posted July 12, 2007 Report Share Posted July 12, 2007 I cant think of much more to do, it looks great Exactly how mine was going to be :evil: before it burst : Sandy bottom with two big pieces of driftwood to the left and right But i like your sand sooo much better. Keep it up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted July 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2007 yeah the problem with crypts is that the sand is really really fine grained and the way i have it now being in rolling hills 6-10 cm thick means its not very stable and i dunno if they will take off in it. I will give it a go though probably. I dunno any other plants i could use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HummingBird Posted July 12, 2007 Report Share Posted July 12, 2007 Quite an impressive tank, really like the effect of the tall driftwood. Crypts should be fine even in your sand, they're pretty hardy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Afrikan Posted July 12, 2007 Report Share Posted July 12, 2007 Looks great davidb, can't wait to see more pics as it progresses 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishandchips Posted July 12, 2007 Report Share Posted July 12, 2007 awesome looking tank. I love the wood and the sand. It is going to give great contrast for the fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon1990 Posted August 18, 2007 Report Share Posted August 18, 2007 Any more pics? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicolette Posted August 19, 2007 Report Share Posted August 19, 2007 The fish I want so far are: -4 discus (50mm?) -6 BN's or clown loaches (Unsure yet) -4 German blue rams -20 Tetra's. Glowlights (Can they handle the higher temps? Otherwise rummynoses ) -10 Corys (unsure of species) I have my glowlights at 26 degrees and they are thriving... My black neons are also doing great at that temp but my neons are not doing so well but that could be from anything really?! What temp are you planning on having the tank at? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted August 19, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2007 24 currently. I'm trying to find my camera at the moment. It has been missing for a week. Tank now has 15 glowlights and the Anubias nana is growing like a weed in the 40Watts of lighting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vegemite Posted August 19, 2007 Report Share Posted August 19, 2007 Tank looks sweet, I think 24 is a bit cool for the discus - I had a discus community setup for a few years and it was awesome. Ran it at 26-27 and other fish were fine. Rummy nose are a great choice ( when they're bright red it's all good and they love the warmth too). I took my big clowns out after a while - the discus didn't like them much. The greatest challenge with a discus community is feeding time, they are very timid eaters and anything with a big appetite will always get to the food first. I was gutted to lose the clowns but couln't have both. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted August 19, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2007 Thanks. I am not going to get Discus anymore... My New Wishlist for that tank is as follows: 40x Glowlights 40xNeons 15x corys 6x Blue rams 6x clown loaches and Maybe: 1x elephantnose 6x Gourami Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael.qian Posted August 19, 2007 Report Share Posted August 19, 2007 Clown loaches like higher temperatures as well, otherwise at 24 or 25 they are more likely to get ICH. I keep my ones at 26.5-27.5 But 26 would be a good temperature for your tank I reckon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted August 19, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2007 yeah i will be increasing the temp when I get more fish... Elephantnoses need higher temps too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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