LOL, you have a battleship in your tank. Reminds me of the scene in Friends when Chandler is in the tub with his boat.
The "Dream Tank" is becoming a reality!!!
- Thread starter Kannan Fodder
- Start date
The wrecked battleship is going to be part of a little diorama involving another resin decoration that looks like a monster fish skeleton - which I just discovered glows in the dark. Just gotta get that stubborn piece of driftwood to waterlog!!! I was originally going to put the shipwreck in my 29g, but it was just too big. LOL! Literally took up the entire length of the tank.
I've added more hornwort and picked up more wisteria, ferns, and anubias. Figure Skippy will eventually shred the wisteria and hornwort, but that should give the anubias and ferns some time to establish and start filling in. Scaping this thing revolves around placing the larger pieces of driftwood, as I'm planning on attaching plants and moss to the piece that still floats.
I decided to add some rosy reds to get a cycle going, but my coworker seems to have netted out the sickest of the sick, and 5 out of 10 died the very first night in the tank. (I added the Tetra products - AquaSafe and SafeStart Plus about an hour before adding the fish.) So I bought 10 more healthier ones Tuesday, and added 3 tiny BNs yesterday. (They come in soooo freaking small that they'd instantly become snacks for my bichir, so I have to allow them time to grow some before I can add my bigger fish.) Also added 15 ghost shrimp, most of which are carrying eggs, so I might end up with a small colony going - which will then stock the additional 29g I just bought. (My sis will keep the 25g and 46bow we set up as temp homes when I had to relocate my fish while moving, and she's keeping tetras, so will give her some shrimp if mine breed.)
Just had my first crash course in sump maintenance, as mine suddenly started spurting water all over the place. So unplugged the pump, took the filter part apart, rinsed the pad in a bucket of treated water, and reassembled the works. The next day it was spurting water again, and it looks like there is a definite trick to getting the spacing just right so the water spills downward instead of hitting the side of the filter box and flying everywhere. But discovered that there's a colony of gammarus shrimp/scuds living in the sump. (They hitchhiked in on the hornwort.)
This tank is 180g with a 72" by 24" footprint... 6 feet by 2 feet! The reason I added 3 BNs is because the pair I have in my 29g are very active and entertaining, and I really enjoy watching them. I'd move them to the bigger tank, but I'd also have to totally dismantle the 29g to catch them. Is 6 feet by 2 feet enough room for 3 BNs? Or could I possibly add a fourth one? (The current ones are brown, and I'm debating on adding an albino.) I'm adding lots of wood, plants, and will be adding rocks and pebbles, so there's going to be plenty of hiding places and territories.
Again, thanks for all the kind words!
Beautiful tank, you have a lot to work with too, I have a 120g 4x2x2 and there is a nice amount of room for everyone, 2 feet of width really is a blessing in this hobby lol.
I used to have a 225 that was 5'long 2' high and 3' wide. It was like a small pond. I had a group of 12 tinfoil barbs in there and they used every inch of space, they will really enjoy your tank.
one thing to note though, my 12 tinfoils were about 8"-9" and they would eat feeder goldfish meant for the bichirs and achara catfish. So I have witnessed them eat small fish when they are large, just something to consider.
Good job and keep up the good work!
I used to have a 225 that was 5'long 2' high and 3' wide. It was like a small pond. I had a group of 12 tinfoil barbs in there and they used every inch of space, they will really enjoy your tank.
one thing to note though, my 12 tinfoils were about 8"-9" and they would eat feeder goldfish meant for the bichirs and achara catfish. So I have witnessed them eat small fish when they are large, just something to consider.
Good job and keep up the good work!
Sick tank so far, man. Super awesome. I would worry about small fish, as Rafini said, in that tank. Just in case 
EDIT: I use manzanita in my two freshwater. LOVE the look when it's slightly charred or weather-beaten. Fish love it, too. Mopani is good for planted tanks that don't have heavy root feeding plants, but it's the equivalent to manzanita in my opinion
EDIT: I use manzanita in my two freshwater. LOVE the look when it's slightly charred or weather-beaten. Fish love it, too. Mopani is good for planted tanks that don't have heavy root feeding plants, but it's the equivalent to manzanita in my opinion
I have a couple short but large pieces of Malaysia driftwood, which I think may have been the bases of a couple trees. One resembles a crashed airplane, which is why I bought it. The other sorta resembles a large vertebrae, but it also has a deep hollow that would be an ideal fish cave. Both of these sink. The third piece is the taller one that I was going to use as the focal point for the aquascape, but it's still floating. All my mopani are nice showy pieces, but very small in a 180g! I prefer the mopani because of the two tone coloring and unusual shapes. Haven't found any manzanita locally, and my erratic work schedule has made it very difficult to get to any LFS that are more than 15 minutes from where I live.
I added the minnows to get the cycle going while I work on aquascaping, and the ghost shrimp to help clean up some of the debris and control any fungus that may start colonizing the wood. However I've lost over half the shrimp and minnows and the shrimp all died in the 6 hours I was out running errands and visiting with a couple friends who got stranded in town due to car trouble. I left my house and everyone was fine, got back and there were dead shrimp everywhere, including in the sump. I expected some of the minnows to go belly up, as they weren't in that great of shape when I bought them. The shrimp are a mystery tho, and I'm wondering if the "design a vine" moss "vine" I bought a couple weeks ago has copper wire in it.
I'm also trying to figure out why the water pump is suddenly so noisy. It's a Rio+ 3100, and has gotten noisier since I had to unplug it to clean out the sump - which I've had to do a couple times already. The last time I plugged it back in, it made a crunching sound like a snail had gotten into the impeller, and I'm wondering if I can put a put a piece of filter sponge in the housing in front of the water intake. (It's a plastic housing that easily slips off, and really looks like it's intended to hold a sponge.) I'm so new to this sump thing, and I've never dealt with a water pump this size before. I talked to the owner of the LFS that sold me the tank and set it up, and he thinks a sponge might restrict the water intake.
So if anyone else has used a Rio brand water pump, I'd appreciate feedback on it.
My next dilemma is doing a massive water change on a massive tank I can't physically reach the bottom of without getting up on a step ladder and hanging halfway into the tank! Should be an interesting diversion, and I'm suddenly regretting not buying a couple beach towels on my last trip to Costco....
I added the minnows to get the cycle going while I work on aquascaping, and the ghost shrimp to help clean up some of the debris and control any fungus that may start colonizing the wood. However I've lost over half the shrimp and minnows and the shrimp all died in the 6 hours I was out running errands and visiting with a couple friends who got stranded in town due to car trouble. I left my house and everyone was fine, got back and there were dead shrimp everywhere, including in the sump. I expected some of the minnows to go belly up, as they weren't in that great of shape when I bought them. The shrimp are a mystery tho, and I'm wondering if the "design a vine" moss "vine" I bought a couple weeks ago has copper wire in it.
I'm also trying to figure out why the water pump is suddenly so noisy. It's a Rio+ 3100, and has gotten noisier since I had to unplug it to clean out the sump - which I've had to do a couple times already. The last time I plugged it back in, it made a crunching sound like a snail had gotten into the impeller, and I'm wondering if I can put a put a piece of filter sponge in the housing in front of the water intake. (It's a plastic housing that easily slips off, and really looks like it's intended to hold a sponge.) I'm so new to this sump thing, and I've never dealt with a water pump this size before. I talked to the owner of the LFS that sold me the tank and set it up, and he thinks a sponge might restrict the water intake.
So if anyone else has used a Rio brand water pump, I'd appreciate feedback on it.
My next dilemma is doing a massive water change on a massive tank I can't physically reach the bottom of without getting up on a step ladder and hanging halfway into the tank! Should be an interesting diversion, and I'm suddenly regretting not buying a couple beach towels on my last trip to Costco....
I went with minnows because I'm eventually going to be moving a 6 inch Senegal bichir and a very large tinfoil barb into this tank. I've had rotten luck with mollies before, so might grab some gambusia out of my 29. The irony is that I was looking at some swordtails and wondering if they'd get big enough to survive the bichir.
So after things settled down, I'm left with 9 rosy reds/minnows and one BN (the others are probably hiding). All the ghost shrimp went belly up, so I bought a copper test kit, and it reads zero copper. The tank ran for a week before I added critters, so I'm at a loss to explain the mass shrimp die off. The minnows were questionable, and we've been getting batches of feeders that are pretty pathetic, so I'm not surprised that the majority died. (Combined with the fact that my coworker apparently netted out the sickest of the sick, while acting like it was a major inconvenience to have to do his job.)
I tested the water last night. Minimal ammonia, zero nitrite, minimal nitrate, and a pH around 8.2. The tank should not be cycled, but I did add a 8.45 oz bottle of Tetra SafeStart Plus with Tetra AquaSafe. Waited several days and then added Prime. The tank had been slightly cloudy, but has cleared up in the past couple days, after I added more bunches of hornwort. The temp has been holding steady at 75-77°, so I'm wondering if I'll really need a heater. (Haven't bought one yet, because we're heading into summer, and I keep my AC at 80 to cut energy costs.)
My driftwood is still floating, and it's now soaking in a large storage bin out in my backyard. (I was worried about it staining my bathtub, and wanted something I could completely submerge all the wood in.)
I'm debating on picking up 4 -6 Denison's barbs/roseline sharks and cycling/scaping with them in the tank so they'll grow up some before I transfer my bichir. All the Denison's I find are on the small side, small enough that the bichir could easily eat them. Denison's are on the stocking list because I already have a few, and need to up their numbers. I was also considering a group of neon rosy barbs for some color, because some sources say they get to be around 5 inches. If anyone is familiar with neon rosy barbs, I'd appreciate feedback.
I bought some coarse filter sponges, so am going to try to use them in my water pump to keep it from sucking up snails and debris. Not familiar with sumps and water pumps, but the pump looks like it's got something that is intended to hold a sponge. My sump only has the white filter pad, so I'm going to add some charcoal infused pieces to help filter out the debris and ammonia - and to help stop debris from getting into the water pump section. (It's a Rio+ 3100 water pump.)
I tested the water last night. Minimal ammonia, zero nitrite, minimal nitrate, and a pH around 8.2. The tank should not be cycled, but I did add a 8.45 oz bottle of Tetra SafeStart Plus with Tetra AquaSafe. Waited several days and then added Prime. The tank had been slightly cloudy, but has cleared up in the past couple days, after I added more bunches of hornwort. The temp has been holding steady at 75-77°, so I'm wondering if I'll really need a heater. (Haven't bought one yet, because we're heading into summer, and I keep my AC at 80 to cut energy costs.)
My driftwood is still floating, and it's now soaking in a large storage bin out in my backyard. (I was worried about it staining my bathtub, and wanted something I could completely submerge all the wood in.)
I'm debating on picking up 4 -6 Denison's barbs/roseline sharks and cycling/scaping with them in the tank so they'll grow up some before I transfer my bichir. All the Denison's I find are on the small side, small enough that the bichir could easily eat them. Denison's are on the stocking list because I already have a few, and need to up their numbers. I was also considering a group of neon rosy barbs for some color, because some sources say they get to be around 5 inches. If anyone is familiar with neon rosy barbs, I'd appreciate feedback.
I bought some coarse filter sponges, so am going to try to use them in my water pump to keep it from sucking up snails and debris. Not familiar with sumps and water pumps, but the pump looks like it's got something that is intended to hold a sponge. My sump only has the white filter pad, so I'm going to add some charcoal infused pieces to help filter out the debris and ammonia - and to help stop debris from getting into the water pump section. (It's a Rio+ 3100 water pump.)
Update.
I checked the driftwood last week, and the piece I intended as the focal point was still floating with absolutely no signs of ever becoming waterlogged. So I changed direction and bought a large piece of mopani as an alternate. It's not as attractive, but the reason I wanted wood was to naturally combat my 8.2 pH. I went ahead and attached ferns and anubias to the existing mopani, and it doesn't look as miniature anymore.
I've had nothing but problems with this tank, and I'm having a love/hate relationship with it. I'm SURE it hasn't cycled yet, as I've yet to see any measurable nitrite. Ammonia has held at .25 or lower, and nitrate is holding around 5-10ppm even tho there is a TON of plant debris. The sump keeps spitting water out the top and flooding, and just doesn't seem to be working. I bought some charcoal impregnated sponge cubes and put them in a media bag to help keep debris from spilling out into the pump chamber, but that only encouraged more flooding problems. Last night I dismantled it again, cleaned the filter pad, and added a new plain white pad. Seems to be working properly now.
Did a serious tank cleaning last night too, because the hornwort shed all sorts of debris, and it was pretty much covering the bottom of the tank. Ended up pulling out all the wood to make it easier to get to the bottom. The whole process just absolutely fascinated the juvenile sunfish I'd "rescued" from work - it was mixed in a batch of feeders. It followed me all over the tank, investigating the gravel vac, and poking around whatever I was working on. It's too big to get into the gravel vac, or it probably would have tried to see where all the gunk was going. Anyway, got a good portion of the debris removed, then started the laboriously slow process of refilling the tank, which kicked out a ton more debris, which in turn demanded another round of vacuuming.
Because I pulled all the wood out, I went ahead and re-scaped the tank. The wisteria did not do well where I'd first planted it, and the hornwort did better on one side than the other, so I moved the plants around hoping to get better growth. Then I went ahead and placed the wood, and arranged my shipwreck scene. I also added another bag of sand, so the tank is a bit cloudy.
Anyway, here's some pictures of the updated 180g.
Full tank:
Shipwreck:
I checked the driftwood last week, and the piece I intended as the focal point was still floating with absolutely no signs of ever becoming waterlogged. So I changed direction and bought a large piece of mopani as an alternate. It's not as attractive, but the reason I wanted wood was to naturally combat my 8.2 pH. I went ahead and attached ferns and anubias to the existing mopani, and it doesn't look as miniature anymore.
I've had nothing but problems with this tank, and I'm having a love/hate relationship with it. I'm SURE it hasn't cycled yet, as I've yet to see any measurable nitrite. Ammonia has held at .25 or lower, and nitrate is holding around 5-10ppm even tho there is a TON of plant debris. The sump keeps spitting water out the top and flooding, and just doesn't seem to be working. I bought some charcoal impregnated sponge cubes and put them in a media bag to help keep debris from spilling out into the pump chamber, but that only encouraged more flooding problems. Last night I dismantled it again, cleaned the filter pad, and added a new plain white pad. Seems to be working properly now.
Did a serious tank cleaning last night too, because the hornwort shed all sorts of debris, and it was pretty much covering the bottom of the tank. Ended up pulling out all the wood to make it easier to get to the bottom. The whole process just absolutely fascinated the juvenile sunfish I'd "rescued" from work - it was mixed in a batch of feeders. It followed me all over the tank, investigating the gravel vac, and poking around whatever I was working on. It's too big to get into the gravel vac, or it probably would have tried to see where all the gunk was going. Anyway, got a good portion of the debris removed, then started the laboriously slow process of refilling the tank, which kicked out a ton more debris, which in turn demanded another round of vacuuming.
Because I pulled all the wood out, I went ahead and re-scaped the tank. The wisteria did not do well where I'd first planted it, and the hornwort did better on one side than the other, so I moved the plants around hoping to get better growth. Then I went ahead and placed the wood, and arranged my shipwreck scene. I also added another bag of sand, so the tank is a bit cloudy.
Anyway, here's some pictures of the updated 180g.
Full tank:
Shipwreck:
