New Tank - New Ideas

[michmash/eddie]

It has been a while since i sold my last tank, i had a juwel trigon 350 and a vision 260. After telling the lovely wife 'no more' i have now bought another tank. I am still unsure if she is happy with my decision or not.

I won a rio 125 on ebay tonight which i am collecting tomorrow. I was looking for a larger tank, around 200 ltrs plus but i got this one as a complete set up for £121 which i think is a very reasonable price so i bought it. I didnt actually think that i would get it for anything under £150. It is a beech one complete with stand, lights etc and a few ornaments.

I am looking for some inspiration now, i have had all sorts of fish in the past from community through to malawi cichlids etc. I really have no idea where to go this time, planted, community etc. Do i use ornaments, or go for a natural look with plants, rock and wood?

If anyone could be kind enough to post up some pictures for some inspiration i would be most greatfull.

Thankyou for taking the time to read this.

Ben

 

[Carlovel1]

I'd go for either a simple Iwagumi style or a South American style tank, with tetras, corys, rams/apistos...

 

[michmash/eddie]

I'd go for either a simple Iwagumi style or a South American style tank, with tetras, corys, rams/apistos...

what does 'Iwagumi' mean? I have no idea, sorry

 

[fluttermoth]

http/theaquariumwiki.com/Iwagumi

(Google is your friend )

 

[AmazonFTW]

It's only a small tank, so nothing too big, obviously. But I would go for a biotope set up in a tank that size, pick a river or lake, find out the fish from the place and get them. There are many good biotopes out there usually involving wood, rocks and sand and not too many plants. An Asian biotope would include barbs, gouramies and loaches, whereas a South American biotope would be tetras, dwarf cichlids and plecs. I believe biotopes look very goo and effective due to looking natural - a proper balance.
Here are some biotopes from the practicalfishkeeping website:
http/www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/content.php?sid=66
http/www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/content.php?sid=3032
http/www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/content.php?sid=2950

Good Luck with the tank,
AmazonFTW

 

[michmash/eddie]

thanks for all the advice, i have gone for sand at the bottom and im using bogwood, some rocks and plants.

I collected the tank today and was pleasently suprised to find out that the tank has t5 lighting. I really would like to go for a nice planted tank but i have never really had much luck with plants.

any advice is good, but i really want to avoid spending a fortune on a co2 system.

 

[OldMan47]

If you are not too set in your ways with plants, you might give the NPT approach a try. The essence of it is that you first put some soil in the tank followed by some gravel. The idea is to place a semi-fertile soil at the bottom for the plants and cover it with enough gravel to keep the soil from becoming muddy water in the tank. I used the cheapest potting soil I could find because I knew that meant it would have no added fertilizers. Once you have the soil and gravel in place you set up bright lighting, say about 2 watts per gallon of water, and plant a large variety of plants that should do well with your lighting. The plants get the most basic of fertilizer by you feeding the fish generously and allowing their waste to be your fertilizer. I have done a few tanks using this basic approach and have always loved the outcome. The reason you plant lots of plants that are about right for your lighting is that the ones that survive can fill the spaces left by the ones that don't, but you really don't care about which ones do well, some will.
This is a tank I have been keeping in that fashion for about 3 years now as an experiment with the NPT approach. It is doing well enough that I am encouraged to try other NPT tanks.

It turns out the vals, crytocorynes and even the java ferns are loving that tank. No fertilizers or CO2 are being used, just fish food and a water change every 6 months whether it needs it or not. The nitrates are totally controlled by the plants but the plants need an occasional influx of minerals which the water change provides. You can just see the layer of potting soil showing above the bottom trim of the tank.

 

[michmash/eddie]

i have already started my cycle and have sand in the bottom, now im really not sure of what to do.

Is there anyone local to gillingham, kent who can help set up/ rescape for a fee?