camtang Posted September 19, 2012 Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 and decided to make a small tank(540w x 430l x 240 h) from some glass I got given from work, origianaly it was ment to be a fry tank but as the time went by it go no use. so the other day when I was ment to be studying but insteed I started looking through youtube for ideas for a future cichlid tank, I sore a tank with a real rock background and thought strait away that the little tank that I made months ago would look rad with something like that. So the thoughts became a brain storm session and within a week my little fry tank had a background on it. hmmm now what to do with it I think??? Plants, I have wanted to have a play with plants for some time so planting this bugger out was the new plan. :thup: I had a spare light, am happy with a DIY co2 unit for now and had a bag of peat floating about, so I went to Mitre10 looking for some of this daltons stuff everyone talks about, but couldnt find any. so I ended up geting a bag of aquatic plant soil, in a white bag for $11. has anyone used this before? Will it help or hinder my plants and fish? The lady said it should be fine so I trusted her.So far this tank has cost me only about $20 which I think is pretty cool :happy1: So I worked out that I had a very small peice of javefern floating somewhere and I can steal some dwarf sag off my flatmate, 2 plants sorted. Because of the size of the tank I want only to have 3 or maybe 4 types of plants, 1 being the sag, one being the javafern on the back ground and was thinking about some type of crypt and/or Polysperma. any issues thus far with my plan? Fish wise I was looking at geting a group of corydoras and some type of guppie/ some corydoras and a pair of Apisto's (dont know what sort yet) or last option some croydoras and some type of ram (again unsure of type) Does anybody see any issues with any of these combinations? Any help any experience any thoughts please let me know ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danilada Posted September 19, 2012 Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 Pictures please! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted September 19, 2012 Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 combos seem ok, just make sure you go for the smaller species of cory i.e. panda as some can get quite big i.e. the emerald green cory grows past 8cm and you'll need a few to get the cool actions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camtang Posted September 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 I will get a couple pics up asap, just gota go borrow a camera from my mate as my one got stolen. Dam I was thinking about emerald corys :slfg: I hadnt done any research into them I just thought that they looked cool when I sore them the other day. I was planing on at least 5 corys for the group. Buying fish that get bigger does give a great reason for a new project tank... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camtang Posted September 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 sorry saw, not sore :smot: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted September 19, 2012 Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 sorry saw, not sore :smot: Beat me to it. :slfg: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camtang Posted September 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 haha I am learning Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camtang Posted September 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 hopefuly this works :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophia Posted September 19, 2012 Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 I have 3 fat loxozonus corys in a tank similar to that size and they are quite happy in a little group, have dwarf chain loaches too. I reckon you could get 3 or 4 of the big corys and they'd be ok, though smaller fish would look better to the eye in a small tank. Depends what plants and other things you've got in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted September 19, 2012 Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 cool, how is the wall attached to the tank??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camtang Posted September 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 I have 3 fat loxozonus corys in a tank similar to that size and they are quite happy in a little group, have dwarf chain loaches too. I reckon you could get 3 or 4 of the big corys and they'd be ok, though smaller fish would look better to the eye in a small tank. Depends what plants and other things you've got in there. Excellent, I will keep that in mind when it comes to fish selectioncool, how is the wall attached to the tank??? About a tube of silicone, every stone got siliconed, started from the back and then filled in any gaps. most of it is only 2 deep some is 3 layers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted September 19, 2012 Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 wow, you did get bored , do you think there will be any issues with stuff getting trapped in it and rotting??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camtang Posted September 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 bored procrasting study same thing isnt it? Im planing on finding any possible gap and filling it with java fern. to hopfuly block off the holes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted September 19, 2012 Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 that'll look awesome. I'm the same, got 4 assignments due by the end of the month, only half way through the first, but during that time I have rearranged about 10 tanks, started a breeding tank, done a talk for the BFRC, moved house, bought a new car, fixed up said car........ hrmmm I really should go do some study Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camtang Posted September 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 that'll look awesome. I'm the same, got 4 assignments due by the end of the month, only half way through the first, but during that time I have rearranged about 10 tanks, started a breeding tank, done a talk for the BFRC, moved house, bought a new car, fixed up said car........ hrmmm I really should go do some study Pfft study is over rated! I am sure I can get this degree on hopes and dreams :sml1: :sml1: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camtang Posted October 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2012 tank is nowset up and eastablished in a window sill at home. I have been watching the tank heat levels rise during the day to around 31 degrees c figured that the direct sunlight and heater was attributing to this, so I have unpluged my heater but since then has risen 2 degrees c :dunno: then all of a sudden I had a thought :smln: the sun is heating the stones on the back and the stones are now heating the water. :thup: I see two possible outcomes from this, 1 my fish get boiled over summer :dead%fish or 2 i get free heating most of the year round Im hoping for option 2! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camtang Posted November 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2012 Have moved the tank, is now in its permanint home with its stock and plants in it now Fish are: 4 key hole cichlids (will reduce excess numbers when a pair is formed) 2 blackline flying fox's ( got dumped on my door step, will be rehomed in my flatmates 4 foot tank asap) a couple of golden bristlenose heaps of guppies Will be adding a group of dwarf chain loaches as there is a huge snail colony in the tank Plants are: Java fern attached to the back wall some kinda crypt dwarf sag (I think) java moss attached to the big bit of wood Please excuse my poor photos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted November 25, 2012 Report Share Posted November 25, 2012 not a lot of water to heat with all the rocks in there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camtang Posted November 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2012 sure isnt, but behind the rocks/wood at the front is basicly an open area of water, excluding a couple of small crypts. There isnt a lot of water to start with, i think its only about 60L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camtang Posted February 19, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2013 Current look and what will stay for a while I think as I am happy with it now. :ton: I am still fighting with the darn algae in this tank, lighting time is down to around 4 hours now. I think it is the sub that I used in it, as the tank beside it gets double the light ( exact same light set up) with no algae at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flosty Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 Tank looks great Cam,but time to give the glass a clean! :ton: :bggrn: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camtang Posted February 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 haha, maybe next photo opp that it gets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camtang Posted March 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2013 I have taken all the fish out of this now. I got my pressuerised c02 yesterday so I thought while I dont know what I am doing I will take them out. I have 2 questions. with out the fish do I need a filter for the plants or do they only need flow not flow and filtration. Secondly do I turn the co2 on before the lights, with the lights or run it 24/7? Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted March 3, 2013 Report Share Posted March 3, 2013 you will need to keep your bacteria in filter alive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godly3vil Posted March 3, 2013 Report Share Posted March 3, 2013 I run my co2 an hour before the lights come on and turns off an hour before they go off dude. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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