Hello everyone!
I have never done a "journal" about a tank before, but I figured I might as well with this one.
2013-01-23 full tank by eaglesfan54, on Flickr
This tank is a South American biotype tank that a friend and I are pointing together at work. He and I have been talking about doing this for a while, and we've finally taken the plunge.
Tank dimensions: 6 feet x 18 inches x 22 inches ~ 120 Gallons.
Substrate: playsand ~ 2 inches deep throughout...
Filtration: 2 Penguin 350 filters, with a small powerhead to increase circulation.
Lighting: 4 32W industrial (T8) flourescent bulbs "Daylight" - 6500K for 8 hours a day. (These are the same exact bulbs I use for starting vegetable seedlings.)
The rocks were locally obtained from area streams and creeks and were previously used in a turtle tank (actually the same tank). The turtles were rehomed about two years ago, after students brought them to us (I work in a high school).
The plants you see are (left to right): An unidentified fern plant on the rock, jungle vallis in the back, java fern on the mopani (Yeah, I know its not S.A.), Java fern in the midground and on the rock on the left-center,
2013-01-23 left side by eaglesfan54, on Flickr
dwarf hairgrass sprinkled throughout the foreground, freshly added cabomba (purple) across the back, hidden by the large rocks in the center, more of the unidentified fern on the wood to the right, a tiny java fern on the wood at the top, a dwarf amazon sword in front of the wood, italian vallis behind the wood.
2013-01-23 right side by eaglesfan54, on Flickr
This tank has been set-up with water since the middle of December. We put the substrate in during that time, and started the hardscape. Some of the plants were added just before Christmas break, with a quick dose of ammonia to give them access to some nitrogen as well as some seeding of the filter. (The unidentified fern, the java fern and the amazon sword came from my tank at home, as I was looking to thin some of those plants and were added first.)
Since the new year has begun, we've added the dwarf hairgrass and it has already started to spread out sending out shoots in all directions. And two days ago, I made a journey to "That Pet Place" and bought the rest of their italian vallis and the jungle vallis, as well as the purple cabomba. The cabomba was just cuttings and I've separated the stalks and have spread them out, I'm hoping they will start to form roots soon - occasionally the powerhead pushes them out of the sand.
I've been dosing the tank with ammonia for the past two weeks, since I brought some filter material in from my home tank (56 gallon column style tank, running 2 Penguin 200s - same filter media as the 350s). The tank started turning over 1ppm completely in 24 hours, with some traces of nitrite. I started dosing to 2ppm, and the AOBs (and plants) turned that over immediately in 24 hours, while the NOBs were a little more sluggish catching up. Three days later, and the AOBs and NOBs were turning over a 2 ppm dose, and I bumped the dose up to 3ppm. Currently the tank turns 3ppm of ammonia over each 24 hours easily, but doesn't quite get rid of it all in 16.
(Interesting to note: I've heard all sorts of horror stories regarding ammonia dosing with a fishless cycle and plants. I've had only 3 small specks of diatoms show up this entire time. That's it. I think part of it is the fact that the filter media is actually turning over the vast majority of the ammonia rather quickly, plus the fact that I dose the ammonia about 2 hours before the lights go off, and then the ammonia is gone by the time the lights come back on the next day.)
Stocking plans: (Fish already ordered)
24 bloodfin tetras - arrive in 6 days
8 julii corydoras - arrive in 6 days
6 three-lined corydoras - arrive in 6 days
(I'll be rehoming 1 julii and 3 three-lined corys from my home tank here - as the pandas just keep reproducing, I need the extra space in my home tank!)
We are going to let these fish settle in and then add another 24 cardinal tetras to the tank after that. Our supplier will be holding the fish in a QT for us, so we don't have to worry about that. (Supplier is a buddy of the friend that's putting this tank together with me.)
And we are going to go "blackwater" eventually. Once the fish have arrived, we will start to add "peat filtered" water to the tank during water changes, until we are satisfied with the color. We'll add it slowly at first and then build it up to the point that we are satisfied with the color.
We are also going to be adding a black background to the tank sometime this week.
Thanks for sticking with this LONG post. Any comments are welcome!
Future updates will be coming shortly.
I have never done a "journal" about a tank before, but I figured I might as well with this one.
2013-01-23 full tank by eaglesfan54, on Flickr
This tank is a South American biotype tank that a friend and I are pointing together at work. He and I have been talking about doing this for a while, and we've finally taken the plunge.
Tank dimensions: 6 feet x 18 inches x 22 inches ~ 120 Gallons.
Substrate: playsand ~ 2 inches deep throughout...
Filtration: 2 Penguin 350 filters, with a small powerhead to increase circulation.
Lighting: 4 32W industrial (T8) flourescent bulbs "Daylight" - 6500K for 8 hours a day. (These are the same exact bulbs I use for starting vegetable seedlings.)
The rocks were locally obtained from area streams and creeks and were previously used in a turtle tank (actually the same tank). The turtles were rehomed about two years ago, after students brought them to us (I work in a high school).
The plants you see are (left to right): An unidentified fern plant on the rock, jungle vallis in the back, java fern on the mopani (Yeah, I know its not S.A.), Java fern in the midground and on the rock on the left-center,
2013-01-23 left side by eaglesfan54, on Flickr
dwarf hairgrass sprinkled throughout the foreground, freshly added cabomba (purple) across the back, hidden by the large rocks in the center, more of the unidentified fern on the wood to the right, a tiny java fern on the wood at the top, a dwarf amazon sword in front of the wood, italian vallis behind the wood.
2013-01-23 right side by eaglesfan54, on Flickr
This tank has been set-up with water since the middle of December. We put the substrate in during that time, and started the hardscape. Some of the plants were added just before Christmas break, with a quick dose of ammonia to give them access to some nitrogen as well as some seeding of the filter. (The unidentified fern, the java fern and the amazon sword came from my tank at home, as I was looking to thin some of those plants and were added first.)
Since the new year has begun, we've added the dwarf hairgrass and it has already started to spread out sending out shoots in all directions. And two days ago, I made a journey to "That Pet Place" and bought the rest of their italian vallis and the jungle vallis, as well as the purple cabomba. The cabomba was just cuttings and I've separated the stalks and have spread them out, I'm hoping they will start to form roots soon - occasionally the powerhead pushes them out of the sand.
I've been dosing the tank with ammonia for the past two weeks, since I brought some filter material in from my home tank (56 gallon column style tank, running 2 Penguin 200s - same filter media as the 350s). The tank started turning over 1ppm completely in 24 hours, with some traces of nitrite. I started dosing to 2ppm, and the AOBs (and plants) turned that over immediately in 24 hours, while the NOBs were a little more sluggish catching up. Three days later, and the AOBs and NOBs were turning over a 2 ppm dose, and I bumped the dose up to 3ppm. Currently the tank turns 3ppm of ammonia over each 24 hours easily, but doesn't quite get rid of it all in 16.
(Interesting to note: I've heard all sorts of horror stories regarding ammonia dosing with a fishless cycle and plants. I've had only 3 small specks of diatoms show up this entire time. That's it. I think part of it is the fact that the filter media is actually turning over the vast majority of the ammonia rather quickly, plus the fact that I dose the ammonia about 2 hours before the lights go off, and then the ammonia is gone by the time the lights come back on the next day.)
Stocking plans: (Fish already ordered)
24 bloodfin tetras - arrive in 6 days
8 julii corydoras - arrive in 6 days
6 three-lined corydoras - arrive in 6 days
(I'll be rehoming 1 julii and 3 three-lined corys from my home tank here - as the pandas just keep reproducing, I need the extra space in my home tank!)
We are going to let these fish settle in and then add another 24 cardinal tetras to the tank after that. Our supplier will be holding the fish in a QT for us, so we don't have to worry about that. (Supplier is a buddy of the friend that's putting this tank together with me.)
And we are going to go "blackwater" eventually. Once the fish have arrived, we will start to add "peat filtered" water to the tank during water changes, until we are satisfied with the color. We'll add it slowly at first and then build it up to the point that we are satisfied with the color.
We are also going to be adding a black background to the tank sometime this week.
Thanks for sticking with this LONG post. Any comments are welcome!
Future updates will be coming shortly.
Its all good! 
