330 Litre Amazon Rainforest Tank (With discus)

[dwiles]

I don't really post here much but I thought it would be nice to share my new tank build with you guys, plus it acts as a little diary for me

I used to keep marines but quit the hobby about 5 years ago. Last November I decided to get back into it, so re setup an old JBL nano I had in the shed. I converted it for freshwater, and it was set up successfully until about a week ago. Here are some pictures of what the end product looked like:

Inhabitants were 7 cardinals, 4 sterbai corys, 3 lyretail killifish & 2 otocinclus. They are all still doing great, the corys and the killifish often spawn.

Killifish Spawning (not that I ever keep the eggs)

The tank got a little over grown in the end and I thought it would be a great time for an upgrade!

I got a custom built tank from ND aquatics - 140cm long, 50cm high, 50cm deep... Just a plain glass tank.

I then bought a second hand Arcadia OT2 pendant at the bargain price of £25, it looked all tatty and worn but it didn't matter as I built a pelmet/hood for it to sit in. This was just made out of pine and sprayed black like the rest of my cabinetry (I'm a carpenter hence have built my own cupboard for the tank also). I bought a load of new bulbs for it too and fitted them, I also installed two slow close hinges to make it easy to open and close.

I searched around and bought a load of rock, sand & bogwood and began soaking the bogwood early. Once the light was finished and I had bought the fluval 406 it was ready to set up.
I broke down the nano and took all the hardscape out, leaving just the fish and plants, using it now as just a temp holding tank.

Then I began dismantling all the desk and cupboards

Put the new tank in place

Bedroom became a tip...

Played around with some bogwood and smashed up some slate, tried getting a scape together.

Added the sand, and began filling the tank! Luckily the tank is right next to an ensuite bathroom, So using a pump, tubing and a big flexitub, I let the shower run into the tub and pumped the water straight into the tank, adding water conditioner accordingly.

I bought a load of potted plants that same day and held them in my nano. Some I planted during the filling up. I use JBL kugeln nutrient balls underneath the plants to help them grow, to compensate for the lack of nutrients in the sand.

The tank was full and a few of the plants were in! Filter switched on, lights on + set on timers and ready to go. I added a load of beneficial bacteria from the bottle (think it was an interpet product) also added my eheim surface skimmer that I used on my nano. Also set on timers. And of course the heater.

The long wait of clearing begins... The way Fluval recommend you set up the 406 is certainly not how it should be - they give you ONE tiny bag of bio ceramic media for the whole filter! Anyway the filter was modified and things were put in the right order - water passes through coarse sponge first - then through slightly finer sponge - then very fine sponge - then into one comparment completely full of my old bio media from the other tank (mixed with new fluval media) - then into another compartment full of the exact same thing - then into the final compartment full of half bio media and two bags of seachem purigen. They give you 4 bags of carbon which I will definitely not be using. Its all about maximising the bio filtration!
Anyway seeing as all my media was already well established there hasn't been a need for cycling.
I have tested params daily (as well as adding a small amount of food on the first day) and still no sign of ammonia... this is about a week and a half on.

Since then I've just been letting it do its thing. Theres a lot of tannin leaking into the water from all the bogwood, which is just the way its going to be for the first few months lol

Moved my corys and cardinals over from the holding tank yesterday. Did the first water change today, about 35%.

How the water change pump works ^

I can just sit back and let the pump do the work. Then just turn it off and put it away ready for next time.

You'll have to excuse the poor quality pics I just took them using my mobile.
I am taking the killifish back to the fish store this weekend and moving a load of more plants into the tank!

Stock list will go something a little like this I believe:
20 x Cardinal tetra
8 x Sterbai corydora
6 x Otocinclus
6 x Discus
2 x Apistogramma (not sure what species yet)
2 x German rams

PH is at 7.5.
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 4

Thanks for reading guys, will post an update soon

 

[alexge]

This looks lovely!
Aren't you worried about the tank weight on top of your drawer or have you custom built it?

 

[dwiles]

This looks lovely!
Aren't you worried about the tank weight on top of your drawer or have you custom built it?

Thanks! No they are very strong lol, the framework also runs all the way down to the floor, as well as thick mdf end panels which cover every side as well as the top. So it is very well supported

 

[BettaBettas]

stunning tank! This tank will look really great with discus in it discus sometimes stay stationary and then sometimes move around and there is obviously plenty of space in the tank for them to do both! good choice of a tank as well, long and just the right height. My questions are simple lol, what type of plants do you have or do plan on getting? also what type of wood did you use if you know?
Also I suggest tying (if your into it) some java moss, or other kind of moss, maybe fire moss, to the wood in some spots to give it that, "I've been here for a few years" feeling.
When you made the top of the tank (the cover) and installed the lights to it, what type of lights did you end up using?

 

[Toney]

Nice

 

[dwiles]

stunning tank! This tank will look really great with discus in it discus sometimes stay stationary and then sometimes move around and there is obviously plenty of space in the tank for them to do both! good choice of a tank as well, long and just the right height. My questions are simple lol, what type of plants do you have or do plan on getting? also what type of wood did you use if you know?
Also I suggest tying (if your into it) some java moss, or other kind of moss, maybe fire moss, to the wood in some spots to give it that, "I've been here for a few years" feeling.
When you made the top of the tank (the cover) and installed the lights to it, what type of lights did you end up using?

Thanks a lot, glad you like it! Most of my plants are just your average, easy to look after kind of stuff - java ferns, anubias, crypts and amazon swords. I think I will definitely get some java moss in the near future to put on the drift wood the wood itself was called "vine wood" in my local store, the other more chunky pieces are redmoor driftwood I believe.

For the light I used a pendant by arcadia called the OT2, the combination of bulbs is 2x plant pro, 1x freshwater pro and 1x tropical pro, they run for 8 and a half hours a day. I will add some more pics soon when the water gets a little less yellow!