I have started a journal for my new setup to house my rainbowfish collection and some others. Instead of rewriting everything I thought I would post a link to the UKAPS site where I started it: http://ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=11386
I have been working hard over the last week to get it up and running, suprising how many man hours it takes. It is mostly planted although from the photos you would not think so. I may well be adding one or two more plant species but this is largely it, it just needs to start growing. Fauna will not be going in for another month or so until the plants are well rooted. Alot of the area (that looks bare in the photo) is going to be carpeted in hair grass.
Nice tank! One day I want to have a walk-around tank, Being able to see the tank from all sides really makes it feel like you have taken a chunk of nature and put it in your house. I really like your hardscape I can already imagine the rainbows schooling in and out of the stumps.
Thanks for the comments guys, this is my dream tank, dont think I would want to go much larger, things can start to get impracticle.
It is hard to come buy this kind of wood and for me it was just a lucky chance, i was actually looking at bogwood in an Aquarium store at the begining of this year when i saw these outside in the water garden section.
Hi, the wood is very dead and well weathered, it is grey out of the water when dry, the smaller one is hollow in the middle, im not sure they are even the same species. The smaller one has buttresses like a tropical hard wood. I did ask at the time of purchasing whether they were sutiable to use in an aquarium and they were from a LFS. Having said that I still have a small concern, but only a small one. If they had been recently cut, I would probably have had second thoughts. Both are quite heavy and did not have any buoyoncy.
There will be quite a few different species from my old tank, Boesmani, Kutubu, inornata, western australian (red tailed), but the major one will be my tribe of breeding M. Aru II which were discovered by Heiko Bleher in 2007. I was very lucky enough to find a breeder in Europe. I only breed my fish outside the main tank as I do not want hybridisation. Having said that no fry have ever survived in my main display tanks even though heavily planted.
I also have a group of 10 Puntius denisoni some of whom are fully matured at 6". Also have a school of P. lineatus (striped barb) and B.histronica and striata loaches.
later in the year i hope to be able to get hold of some Glosolepis dorityi "Jaigum" from a breeder in Europe.
:eek5: Hardscape is really nice. Hopefully you have a couch in front of that tank. Why didnt you go for a rimless tank? It would be expensive but it is a dream tank:icon_cool.
Everyone's got it right: that hardscape is amazing. It's your dream tank, and the dream tank for most everyone on this forum. I'd be blown away seeing that in somebody's house. And fantastic wood.
Here is an update at 2 months, things have been growing slowly, i was expecting the hairgrass to carpet by now. It is growing at least.
The right tree stump is not looking as good as the left at the moment, although the photo does not really do it justice. I have been pondering whether to see how things develop or just remove it. It is meant to be a supporting structure to provide balance to the main tree.
I would leave the second stup in there. Without it the empty space would be much too big! You have your light mounted extremely far away from your tank. Are you trying to reduce light levels that much? If you had it closer, the hairgrass should carpet better as well.
The light units are only 10" wide over a 36" wide tank, part of the reason for raising them that high (18") in order to get a good light spread. I tested with a PAR meter and at 50% lighting (half the tubes on) i get 23-40 at the bottom and around 100 at the top.
30-40 is good at substrate level, so yes I am a little on the low side at the exreme front an back and that is where most hair grass is.
Full lighting however is too powerfull to have it on full time. I might do so for 1-2 hours in the evening, but PAR is 35-60 at botton but 200+ at the surface.
I intended to, but I wanted the hairgrass to be more established. There are a dozen fish fry in there though. I did not realise my Rainbows had bred in the holding tank where the plants were waiting. So the eggs hatched and now i have 12-15mm long Melanotaenia Aru II fry. So thats another reason i have not put the adults in quite yet.
Within the next month some more fish will be in there.
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