River Reef 94L Apisto / S American Biotope Setup

[mishmash]

Hi there, Im a new member to the forums and having been back in the UK for just over a year having lived in New Zealand, (and suffered the restriction of livestock choice that they do over there, because of an over zealous fisheries department) I have decided to rekindle my love of fishkeeping. Im on a budget, and have been lucky enough to purchase a practically new Interpet River Reef 50 (94litre version) for a bargain price of £50 off Ebay

Having spent a few weeks deciding what to set it up as, I have settled on a South American biotope "style". I say "style" because Im not really a purist and dont mind if its not absolutely true to nature, LOL.

I'm going to have some Apistogrammas in there and have some baby Ap. Cacatuoides on the way as well as a "possible pair" of Ap. Pebas Morado (though it could be a big and small male at this stage, time will tell). On top of that I love my Corys so there will be a handful of those in there eventually, as well as a shoal of tetras and possible some gold Rams or EB rams perhaps.

I want to decorate it with bogwood and plants such as Amazon sword, Echinodorus Tennellus, Cryptocorynes, java fern etc (so if anyone has any spare, please let me know. My PM access is not activated yet but I will make sure I make enough responsive posts on the forum in the next few days to get there, so please dont worry if I dont reply for a couple of days, I'm not being rude, but I gather I have to have acquired 20 posts before I can use the service !! Grrr).

My dilemma is, as with many, with the substrate. My initial thoughts were for sand, but Im wondering if it would be too light and not enable the Apisto's to colour up as much as they might ? What are your thoughts? Also, would you folks suggest spot feeding the plants that need it such as the swords, or using a liquid fertiliser additive ? I did originally think about putting in a plant growth substrate with sand on top but someone said its a bit of a time bomb as it would eventually need to be replaced and that would cause a problem with the sand being on top. Also they suggested the plant substrate would get mixed in with the sand ? Im not convinced about that yet so does anyone have experience of this ?

FINALLY, water parameters. I want to mirror (or at least REFLECT) the natural water parameters and to that end was looking at getting my pH down to say 6.3/6.4 (I know some rivers are a fair bit lower too but I want it to suit all the tank members) with a nice softness to it. I seem to have got lucky as I took my tap water sample to the three LFS's I will be using to supply me and got them all to do a test. I got them all to do it a) to test their willingness to provide good service... pleased to report that ALL passed and b) to see what kits they used. My pH came out at bang on 7 and the general hardness was 30ppm practically no carbonate hardness readable and less than 5ppm nitrates. So thats a good start.

What I want to establish is that if its going to be possible just to use something like Black water extract (in conjunction with a couple of bits of bogwood in the tank) to drop the pH down to the required level and for it to STAY there !! Any thoughts ? The alternative is for me to buy RO water (I can get it for a couple of quid per 25l and my tank is only 94l remember). If i do that, what do I use to get my pH to the required level. I was a bit confused because one LFS said RO water comes out at pH 4 or 5 and no buffering capacity at all, and another said it comes out neutral (which I dont believe!).

I will add some pics to this later so you can see the tank in its various stages of development, but in the meantime would welcome as many comments and observations on my plans and questions as possible.

Thanks

 

[minnnt]

Blimey, that took some reading!

No reason for you to use light coloured sand. I have found that the darker the substrate the better the colouration of the fish, so something darker would be good. I use Unipac Limpopo in my planted tanks and it looks great. Another option would be to use Unipac Senegal. It is more of a natural colour and also looks fantastic.

As for your water, 7 would probably be ok, but the addition of bog wood, alder cones and indian almond leaves would all help to lower the ph gradually over time. You can also add peat to you filter to create the black water look. RO is usually very soft and acidic rather than neutral iirc.

 

[minnnt]

Most planted substrates release ammonia for the first few days, so water changes are a must, but after that they are fine. If you are dosing ferts then the substrate will soak up any left over nutrients and replenish itself once it becomes a little exhausted. It's not necessary by any means, but does give them a bit of goodness to fall back on should they start to feel the need for more nutrients. Usually just dosing ferts will be enough for the less demanding plants. Inevitably, your choice of plants will determine which way you will need to go/ Co2, ferts, substrate, or all three.

 

[ApistoNut]

do you want my apistogramma macmasteri?

 

[mishmash]

do you want my apistogramma macmasteri?

Hi L&C, have replied by PM now my access is working, thanks.

Blimey, that took some reading!

No reason for you to use light coloured sand. I have found that the darker the substrate the better the colouration of the fish, so something darker would be good. I use Unipac Limpopo in my planted tanks and it looks great. Another option would be to use Unipac Senegal. It is more of a natural colour and also looks fantastic.

As for your water, 7 would probably be ok, but the addition of bog wood, alder cones and indian almond leaves would all help to lower the ph gradually over time. You can also add peat to you filter to create the black water look. RO is usually very soft and acidic rather than neutral iirc.

Hi minnnt, well thanks for reading it all It took some writing too, lol. The sands you mentioned, am I right in assuming they are totally inert and will not contribute any carbonate hardness or mineralisation to the water ? I've found someone on ebay that sells the cones and leaves, unless you can suggest anyone on here that also supplies ?

 

[minnnt]

The woods. Lol. I use oak leaves and alder cones that I have picked up myself as I'm tight. Lol.

I have had no issues with the sand, but another member commented that he believed it had raised his ph. My tap water is around 7.2 and in the tank its 6.5. Not dosing carbon so it has to be the wood and leaves/cones that is bringing it down.

 

[Essjay]

I bought some black limpopo sand and tested it before putting it in my tank. Firstly, it fizzed when tested with vinegar.

So then I set up 2 identical tubs of water and put limpopo sand in the bottom of one. Here are the results - note that the pH of both rose after standing 24 hours, which is quite common.


As soon as set up, both tubs
pH 7.1 GH 9 KH 3

After 24 hours
plain water -
pH 7.3 GH 9 KH 3
with sand -
pH 7.4 GH 10 KH 3

After 7 days
plain water -
pH 7.3 GH 9 KH 3
with sand -
pH 7.6 GH 11 KH 5


I do realise this is not a scientific analysis of how the sand alters the water chemistry, but it gives an idea of what it is capable of doing. This was using a thin layer of sand in the bottom of a plastic tub for one week. Since I didn't use the sand (it's still in the shed) I don't know what the results would have been in tank conditions over months or years.

 

[mishmash]

Thanks essjay...interesting results !

minnnt, I would not recognise an alder cone if it jumped up and smacked me in the face, lol. I would just about "think" i got the right thing only to find it had some nasty resin in it to leec into the aqaurium and kill everything. Oak leaves I CAN cope with lol.

 

[loneranger]

hi. Alder cones are easy to id, they're small, round and on a stalk, also it's the only broadleaf tree in the uk that produces cones and grows in damp areas like marshes or alone streams. Hope that helps. Ad

 

[loneranger]

i'm new to this dwarfe cichlid business, and an going down the same road with my osaka. Would all those cichlids be ok in a 94ltr tank?