jamesmacc
Fishaholic
Hi folks,
been around here a few years but been quiet after i shut down my malawi tank to do some upgrades and lost track and never got around to starting it back up. I pulled the tank out as i wasnt happy with the access to it , wasn't happy with the lack of surround/frame, wasnt happy with the lights etc.
i raised the access into the rear of the tank and insulated the bottom, sides and above the tank. I built a new oak frame and bought a fluval fx6. I wasn't happy with the standard outlet on it which seemed to just blast one area of the tank and leave the other half with little circulation . I made a spray bar from 3/4" pvc which i was happy with until i added plants and realized the flow was far to strong and it up rooted the plants overnight. i enlarged the holes quite a bit which has me with a nice even flow. My malawi tank was full of rocks and although it looked ok i really wanted a tank with plants. I bought a huge piece of bogwood and spent a decent bit of money on plants listed below .
I am happy with the tank just now but i am very worried about the plants dying or loseing the nice colour they have . i am dosing them once a week and have almost finsihed my led light build which will have 120w controlled over 4 channels with timer etc .
anyway enough rambling on here is some photos
before
+
its taking me a few months to do the upgrades and cycle the tank etc but i feel its worth it. Been wanting puffer fish for years so this tank is based around 2 amazon puffers and a nice peaceful community
current stock :
1x red finned ruby shark
1x garra rufa
1x peacock goby
3x golden leopard corydoras
2x red strped killi
20x cardinal tetras
1x opaline gourami
4x blue rams
5x redline torpedo barbs
2x apistogramma cacatuoides
3x bumblebee platys
2x amazon puffers- colomesus asellus
plants:
TBC
been around here a few years but been quiet after i shut down my malawi tank to do some upgrades and lost track and never got around to starting it back up. I pulled the tank out as i wasnt happy with the access to it , wasn't happy with the lack of surround/frame, wasnt happy with the lights etc.
i raised the access into the rear of the tank and insulated the bottom, sides and above the tank. I built a new oak frame and bought a fluval fx6. I wasn't happy with the standard outlet on it which seemed to just blast one area of the tank and leave the other half with little circulation . I made a spray bar from 3/4" pvc which i was happy with until i added plants and realized the flow was far to strong and it up rooted the plants overnight. i enlarged the holes quite a bit which has me with a nice even flow. My malawi tank was full of rocks and although it looked ok i really wanted a tank with plants. I bought a huge piece of bogwood and spent a decent bit of money on plants listed below .
I am happy with the tank just now but i am very worried about the plants dying or loseing the nice colour they have . i am dosing them once a week and have almost finsihed my led light build which will have 120w controlled over 4 channels with timer etc .
anyway enough rambling on here is some photos
before
+
its taking me a few months to do the upgrades and cycle the tank etc but i feel its worth it. Been wanting puffer fish for years so this tank is based around 2 amazon puffers and a nice peaceful community
current stock :
1x red finned ruby shark
1x garra rufa
1x peacock goby
3x golden leopard corydoras
2x red strped killi
20x cardinal tetras
1x opaline gourami
4x blue rams
5x redline torpedo barbs
2x apistogramma cacatuoides
3x bumblebee platys
2x amazon puffers- colomesus asellus
plants:
TBC
/www.ebay.com/itm/6-in-PVC-Pipe-Schedule-80-Cut-Pieces-1-2-3-4-or-5-Ft-S80-6inch-Gray-PVC-Pipe-/252341586916?var=&hash=item3ac0bb0be4:m:m4tM0-Esc1HCqP05DMNPqfw
had the fish a week and they had settled well but two of them had been hanging out at the top of the tank above the spray bar out of the current and always looked a bit weak. they died and i also lost a tetra, thinking i might have stressed them out when adding more plants and doing the water change ? i temperature matched the water in the sink before diverting to the tank and adding seachem prime. the tank never dropped above or below 25 degrees 
