Aquatopia - 6x2x2 Low-Med Light, High Tech Nature Aquarium

[Aquatopia]

JuiceBox52 just pointed out that I should post about the changes I make to my stocking lists in my journal as well, so here you go.

First the fish list. I think I originally started off with this list:

15 Angelfish.
200 Cardinal Tetra.
6 Honeycomb Bristlenose Pleco.
2 Kribensis (pair).
10 Kuhli Loaches.
20 Red Wagtail Platys.
20 Orange Venezuela Corydoras.
20 Otocinclus.

I looked at switching out the Angelfish and the Kribensis because I decided I wanted a more peaceful community this time. I went for Pearl Gouramis and an Apistogramma pair instead. At the same time I also wanted to change the Cardinal Tetras. I do love them but I've had them loads of times (same as the Angelfish and Kribensis) and I wanted to try something different so I went for Congo Tetras and Lemon Tetras to add some colour variety.

My second fish list then looked like this:

2 Apistogramma cacatuoides (pair).
30 Congo Tetra.
6 Honeycomb Bristlenose Pleco.
10 Kuhli Loaches.
20 Lemon Tetra.
20 Orange Venezuela Corydoras.
20 Otocinclus.
10 Pearl Gourami.
20 Red Wagtail Platys.

I then looked at alternatives to the Bristlenose Plecos and decided I'd prefer the Reticulated Hillstream Loaches instead (you can see that mentioned in this thread previously).

My third fish list then looked like this:

2 Apistogramma cacatuoides (pair).
30 Congo Tetra.
10 Kuhli Loaches.
20 Lemon Tetra.
20 Orange Venezuela Corys
30 Otocinclus.
10 Pearl Gourami.
20 Red Wagtail Platys
10 Reticulated Hillstream Loaches

I then decided to have Panda Garra (another fish I've never had) and not bother with the Otocinclus, which I was dubious about getting anyway.

My fourth fish list then looked like this:

2 Apistogramma cacatuoides (pair).
30 Congo Tetra.
10 Kuhli Loaches.
20 Lemon Tetra.
20 Orange Venezuela Corys
10 Panda Garra
10 Pearl Gourami.
20 Red Wagtail Platys
10 Reticulated Hillstream Loaches

I then decided I wanted more active fish than the Pearl Gourami. I settled on the Roseline Sharks (or Denisons Barbs) as I liked them and have never kept them before.

My fifth fish list then looked like this:

2 Apistogramma cacatuoides (pair).
30 Congo Tetra.
10 Kuhli Loaches.
20 Lemon Tetra.
20 Orange Venezuela Corys
10 Panda Garra
10 Roseline Sharks.
20 Red Wagtail Platys
10 Reticulated Hillstream Loaches

I then found out that the Congo Tetra can actually be aggressive, by several accounts, one person even stating that they were the most aggressive tetra they had ever kept and they had ripped adult Amano shrimp apart. This wasn't what I wanted so I looked for alternatives and settled on the Rummynose Tetras, which I have kept before but they are stunning shoaling fish.

I also decided to drop the pair of Apistogramma and add a Royal Farlowella catfish. I've only ever kept one before and it was a very long time ago, so I thought it would be cool to have another and I think it will go well in this aquarium.

I've also been debating for ages on whether or not to add a Red Tailed Black Shark. I know what they are like, I've had them loads and they are one of my favourite fish from when I first started fish keeping. Anyway, I finally decided to add one after I saw someone else with a shoal of Roseline Sharks and two Red Tailed Black Sharks all doing well together.

Oh, I also changed the Platys from Red to Gold, I just thought there was too much red going on in the other fish now.

My sixth, and current (possibly final?) fish list now looks like this:

20 Gold Wagtail Platys.
10 Kuhli Loaches.
20 Lemon Tetra.
20 Orange Venezuela Corys
10 Panda Garra
1 Red Tailed Black Shark
10 Roseline Sharks.
10 Reticulated Hillstream Loaches.
1 Royal Farlowella.
50 Rummynose Tetra.

When it comes to the plants there hasn't been that many changes to the plants list.

I know I switched out a couple of red sword plants, just because I thought there was too much red and I needed more bright green. I added in more stem plants - Rotala Blood Red, Limnophila hippuridoides and Rotala wallichi 'bangladesh' for more colour variety. I also removed the Ludwigia Super Red stems as there was now too much red and I preferred the Rotala Blood Red.

I recently also added Subwassertang to the list as I had forgotten about it and I've always wanted to try it. Other than that I think the rest of the plants were part of the plan from the beginning.

 

[Aquatopia]

I'm now considering whether or not to include a pair of Dwarf Cichlids. I'm more inclinded not to as I really don't want any aggression and when they breed even the most peaceful dwarf cichlids are aggressive and can damage corys, cause stress, etc.

Another option that someone suggested elsewhere is to have 2 male Apistogrammas but everything I have read suggests they would fight, possibly to the death. The person suggesting it says they think they will be okay in a tank this size. Has anyone here got any experience keeping 2 male Apistos together?

 

[Aquatopia]

Today I've mixed the 'dirt' substrate together and put it in the tank. I ended up using just half of what I had bought though. This is because I bought enough to do a banked dirt substrate across the entire length of the tank and I've ended up only doing a full bank of the dirt substrate on the left hand side.

With my aquascape I'm going to have an open area of the blush brown sand (where I won't be planting anything) just to the left of the middle of the tank going back to the right. I'm also having a large mass of wood/rocks on the right hand side, which is going to mean there are not going to be any plants going into the substrate in the right hand side of the tank, apart from the foreground and a group of Crypts at the very right hand side near the front.

With that in mind I won't need the 'dirt' substrate under those areas.

The mixture was made up of Westlands Aquatic Soil (I used 20L), Irish Moss Peat (I used 15L), Black Sand for grit (I used 10Kg) and 160 Clay Peat Balls (crushed up). I just mixed it all together a bit at a time in a bucket then added it to the tank.

Anyway, here's a couple of pics.

The mound on the left is about 5 inches deep at the back, the smaller mound on the right is about 4 inches deep at the side.

This is looking more down on it.

Hopefully you can see what I mean about the areas where it will be open and under the large pieces of wood.

The next job is going to be adding all the black sand to cap it all. I have to wash all of it though so that's going to be a pain, which I'm not looking forward to.

I'll hopefully get started on that in the next few days.

 

[Aquatopia]

After speaking more with some Apisto experts, who have assured me a pair of Apistogramma macmasteri would be fine, I have decided to add a pair to my fish list.

 

[Aquatopia]

Another busy day today, this time washing sand and getting it in the tank!

I've also placed the pleco caves in where they are going but I haven't finished with the ones on the left yet.

The pleco caves on the left I am using to from a sort of trough to hold more substrate (which is yet to go in). Once it is in place it will form a higher platform for planting the backround plants in that corner. Before I can add that substrate in behind the pleco caves though I need to block the gaps between them and the tank so the substrate doesn't just come through the gaps. I'll be doing this next, possibly tomorrow. I'm going to use cotton wool to jam in the gaps and then liquid super glue on that to turn it into a solid block, which will then seal those gaps up and stop the substrate from coming through from behind.

Hopefully you can see what I mean here.

The pleco cave at the right hand side is just sat in that corner. None of the pleco caves should be visible (apart from around the side) once the aquascape is complete.

You can see in the pic below that the sand cap is a good couple of inches.

That's it for today. Like I said hopefully tomorrow I should get the pleco caves sealed and the substrate put in behind them.

After that it's time for the hardscape!

 

[Aquatopia]

After thinking about it some more I've decided not to have the Red Tailed Black Shark after all. I do love them but it's going to be too aggressive and I just don't want that in the tank.

 

[Aquatopia]

Today I got the vinyl tint for the LCD temperature display to dim it down. I got 15% vinyl tint (which lets 15% light through).

You can see in the side by side pic below what a difference it has made to the brightness of the display. Before (on the right) it was that bright it was blowing out in the pics.

As an added bonus it has also hidden the branding that was on the front of the LCD Display.

I've also finished up the pleco cave planting 'trough' today. You can see below I stuffed cotton wool in the gaps, soaked it in liquid super glue, left that to set and then poured more substrate behind them to create a planting 'trough' of greater height. I'll be planting a mix of the Cryptocoryne crispatula v. balansae and Cryptocoryne spiralis 'red' here.

You can see the gaps are well sealed and I now have a much higher planting platform, which means I can get the background plants to reach the surface quicker and they will be able to grow further across the surface, which I want.

Thats all for today. Next will be the start of the hardscape going in.

 

[Aquatopia]

Another busy day... ...today I did this:

It's hard to see exactly how the aquscape is in photos. I am going to do a video before long.

I think that's going to be it, for a few days at least now. Next will be gluing it all in place, once I am certain I'm happy with it. I think I am.

 

[Aquatopia]

I just calibrated my pH meter and then tested my tap water - pH 7.2, which will do me. Once it's in the tank with all that peat it should drop down.

I've also changed my mind on the Rummynose Tetras. Their swimming style and colouration is too similar to the Roseline Sharks so I've gone back to the Cardinal Tetras.

My fish list now looks like this:

2 Apistogramma macmasteri (pair)
150 Cardinal Tetra.
20 Gold Wagtail Platys.
10 Kuhli Loaches
20 Lemon Tetra.
20 Orange Venezuela Corys
10 Panda Garra
10 Reticulated Hillstream Loaches.
10 Roseline Sharks.
1 Royal Farlowella.

I've also made changes to the plant list.

I've added these:

Anubias barteri v. nana 'dark angel'
Anubias barteri v. nana 'gold'
Anubias barteri v. nana 'kirin'
Echinodorus Red Diamond
Eriocaulon quinquangulare red
Rotala wallichi 'bangladesh'

Mostly for variety. I always new I wanted more varieties of Anubias, it's taken me a while to settle on these. The Echinodorus Red Diamond is for the centre back of the tank, sort of alongside the background crypts. The Eriocaulon quinquangulare red is to add more variety to the foregound here and there. The Rotala wallichi 'bangladesh' is to add more variety to the stems.

I've also switched out Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Green Gecko' for Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Tropica', just a matter of preference and variety.

So now my full plant list looks like this:

Anubias barteri v. coffeefolia
Anubias barteri v. nana
Anubias barteri v. nana 'dark angel'
Anubias barteri v. nana 'gold'
Anubias barteri v. nana 'kirin'
Anubias barteri v. nana 'petite'
Anubias barteri v. nana 'pinto'
Aponogeton madagascariensis
Bolbitis heudelotii
Bucephalandra - several species
Christmas moss
Crinum calamistratum
Cryptocoryne crispatula v. balansae
Cryptocoryne spiralis 'red'
Cryptocoryne 'Flamingo'
Cryptocoryne hudoroi
Cryptocoryne nurii
Cryptocoryne parva
Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Tropica'
Echinodorus ozelot green
Echinodorus Red Diamond
Eleocharis acicularis
Eriocaulon quinquangulare red
Fissidens fontanus
Hygrophila pinnatifida
Java Fern Trident
Limnophila hippuridoides
Limnophila sessiliflora
Nymphaea tiger lotus red
Nymphaea tiger lotus green
Red Root Floaters
Rotala Blood Red
Rotala wallichi 'bangladesh'
Subwassertang

 

[Aquatopia]

As I haven't been doing anything on the tank for a couple of days I got around to making that video!

 

[Aquatopia]

Guess what I've been doing today?

I got about 2/3 of the tank glued down. Hoping to finish it off tomorrow and get the brown sand washed and put in place.

I also had to deal with some mould.

I never thought about it or I could have avoided it. With the water still in the washed sand and what was left in the bottom of the tank it's made it pretty humid in the tank and I've had it shut up.

It was only in a couple of places. I gave it all a spray with Hydrogen Peroxide, which will kill it off, the same as it does with algae. If you haven't used it before it fizzes up on organics and kills spores off.

I left it while I glued the wood down then I scrubbed the dead mould off. I've also now added a fan pointing down into the tank and left the glass and hood open to allow air flow. This should stop it coming back.

Tomorrow I should have the rest of the hardscape glued down, the foreground sand in and maybe make a start on adding the detail roots.

Once all that is done the hardscape will be finished.

 

[Aquatopia]

After the concerns about the Hillstream Loaches and whether or not they would be okay I've decided not to risk it and stick to the Honeycomb Bristlenose Plecos I was originally going to get.

This makes my fish list look like this now:

2 Apistogramma macmasteri (pair)
150 Cardinal Tetra.
20 Gold Wagtail Platys.
6 Honeycomb Bristlenose Plecos.
10 Kuhli Loaches
20 Lemon Tetra.
20 Orange Venezuela Corys
10 Panda Garra
10 Roseline Sharks.
1 Royal Farlowella.

 

[Aquatopia]

Today I glued down the rest of the hardscape and added in the blush brown sand!

Tomorrow I'll be adding in some detail roots and then that's it for the hardscape until after it's planted, when I may end up adding in some more detail roots.

 

[Aquatopia]

I spent today gluing spider roots in the tank. Time consuming but worth it I think.

That's it for the hardscape now.

I have a floating plant corral to make but the next major thing will be fitting the filters and CO2 stuff but that won't be until 3 weeks time.

I've also changed my fish list again. This time because I've found a breeder of some very nice Swordtails so I'll be getting those instead of the Platies.

My Fish List now looks like this:

2 Apistogramma macmasteri (pair)
150 Cardinal Tetra.
6 Honeycomb Bristlenose Plecos.
10 Kuhli Loaches
20 Lemon Tetra.
20 Orange Venezuela Corys
10 Panda Garra
10 Roseline Sharks.
1 Royal Farlowella.
15 Kohaku Berlin Swordtails.

 

[Aquatopia]

Today I labelled the plugs, added the air pump / discs to the tank and added the surface skimmer.

Note the air pump is on a smart plug, this is so I can use that to schedule it coming on/off and turn it on/off if needed.

The other smart plug in this side is for the CO2 Solenoid when I get it, again so I can schedule it.