[Solid]

So ive been seeting up a new tank, a Osaka 320 ~84 gallon tank and figured id make a journal for it.

I decided id try the full ADA Soil system so here is a border of AS2 with a sprinkling of Tourmaline BC in the center.

Powersand Covering

And the final AS toppper, its sloped from about 2 inchs in the front right area to about 10" in the back left area.

It came with a Fluval 405 and i added a Fluval 305 from my old tank as well as the CO2 system.
This is the right hand cabinet. I was actually surprised it all fit, its tight but works pretty well.

This is the left hand cabinet.

Over the last 2 weeks Ive been running the filters and doing water changes because there was a TON of ammonia in the water even though there was no fish, Im guessing because of the aquasoil. I also migrated plants from the old tank into the new one and set up a hard-scape using granite rock and some nice manzanita wood (thank you badcopnofishtank). The tank finally cleared up from the ammonia so i was able to add fish.
And here are some shots of the tank now.
Left side.

Right side.

And some FTS.

It still needs to grow in alot, and there are actually alot of crypts around the rocks that all melted.

So far i have in the tank
Fish:
4 fancy guppies
4 neon tetras
3 Cardinal tetras
4 Otto Cats
2 German blue rams
1 Golden nugget pleco
1 Bamboo shrimp
a few surviving RCS

Plants:
Eleocharis sp. "belem"
Echrinodorus tenellus
Nymphaea stellata
Hygro. corymbosa 'angustifolia'
Ludwigia 'Cuba'
Polygonum 'Sao Paulo'
amazon swords
wisteria
Anubias nana 'cofeefolia'
Carolina fanwort
green tiger lotus
Red tiger lotus
crypt wendtii "red"
crypt wendtii "green"
crypt wendtii " florida sunset"
Crypt Cordata "rosanervig"
Crypt bangkaensis 'Bangka Giant'
Crypt x timahensis

On monday i should be getting some more fish. As of right now I'm thinking 4 more Rams and 30-40 more tetras, either rummy nose or more cardinals. I was thinking of putting in 4-6 discus, but i don't think ill do that for at least a few months. Looking for discus here in south Florida led me to a importer who is selling me 40 rummy nose or cardinals for ~$.50 each. Ive also ordered 12 Amano shrimp.

Anywho, this is only my second fish tank so any advice or criticism is very welcome.

 

[SearunSimpson]

Yeah, AS is known to release ammonia for a while after initial set up. Just keep doing water changes and things should get to normal over time. That hardscape is going to look really good once it all fills in. In a tank of that shape, I wouldn't really get alot of bigger fish (congo tetra size, even), but rather stick to a decent sized school of something smaller.

 

[isu712]

Those rocks and tree on the left side are pretty awesome, can't wait to see it fill in.

 

[hydrophyte]

That looks great so far. You have some cool plants in there. Is that the green tiger lotus to the far right? That is interesting I have never seen that plant before.

Hey those white mangrove propagules that you sent are all slowly sprouting and they look good. I hope that they will open up and show me leaves pretty soon. They already have good root development.

 

[Solid]

That looks great so far. You have some cool plants in there. Is that the green tiger lotus to the far right? That is interesting I have never seen that plant before.

Yea that's one of the first plants i got from a gold coast aquarium meeting. Its pretty cool i also have the red version but they are still tiny. You can see them in the very corner.

So any advice on tetras? Should i get 40 Rummy nose, 40 Cardinals or 20 of each?

 

[jmhart]

Looking goooood. That's pretty nice that the 2 filters and co2 all fit in that half of the stand.


What are the dimensions of this tank?

 

[Solid]

Thanks for the compliments.

What are the dimensions of this tank?

It's 120cm long x 64cm high x 45cm wide (48" x 18" x 25") which is basically the same footprint as a 90 but with rounded corners.

 

[EdTheEdge]

Lookin' good Solid! roud:

 

[NJAquaBarren]

Rummynose are a great Tetra option. I have 9 in my Osaka 320. Great schoolers, hardy, nice fish. I also have some cardinals. They're nice too, but the Rummynose are much more interesting and better schoolers....my opinion of course.

I also bought a pair if cichleds from SkiBoy on Aquabid. Check these out before you imake an Apisto decision. If your water is a little hard, these are easy to keep.

At Aquabid.com. Great experience with SkiBoy....Home > All Categories > Western > Auction # 1260759534

 

[Solid]

I tried but couldn't really find the fish you are talking about. But Yea i think i'm going to get a bunch of Rummy Nose tomorrow.

Heres a pic of my favorite plant.
Cryptocoryne Cordata 'Rosanervig'

 

[NJAquaBarren]

That is a nice plant. Tank is looking great.

It looks like that entry expired last night. Here's a similar one for reference: http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fwcichlidsw&1261129803

I had a great, quality experience with SkiBoy, so keep checking african/Western for his stuff if you like. Others may be good too, the transaction with him was just exceptional.

Also, my local LFS will look to see if a specfic species is available and order it for me if it is. Some of these more uncommon varieites they just can't get, or get in good quality.

I see that you upgraded your light. What did you move to and how is it working in comparison?

AB

 

[Solid]

I upgraded my lights to this fixture.
http://www.catalinaaquarium.com/product_info.php?cPath=71_167&products_id=1634
It's nice, but the LEDs do not add that much light. Not nearly as much as a 175w MH as they claim. They do add some light and a little bit of that nice shimmering effect. The moonlights are awesome, much better than the ones i had before. If i had known how much light the LED strips made i probably would have stuck with the original lights or gone with a 3x54 fixture, but it looks good so I'm happy. The guys at Catalina make great lights and have good customer service.

I plan on borrowing a PAR meter from the botony dept at my school and testing it one of these days.

 

[F22]

those osaka tanks are sweet, but super pricey.. the only downfall is that they come with a fluval filter... lol

they should come with a 2217.

 

[MONARK]

I saw Solid's tank yesterday and it is coming out really nice. It'll look awesome once filled in.
Keep up the good work man!!!!

(Thanks for the DW, I cut it and fitted perfectly in my tank)

 

[hydrophyte]

That 'Rosanervig' is such a cool plant.

Wow I never saw that light fixture till now.

That Osaka would be a cool tank for a riparium setup.

 

[F22]

awesome rock scape in the corner.. plants look good too... all in all a sweet tank.

 

[Solid]

So what does a bucket doing drip acclimation mean?

NEW FISH!!! WOOT!

So I got 50 rummy Nose tetras and 4 new GBRs! They were just put in the tank so they still haven't colored out yet.

Which one of these is not like the other?!?

This one. I guess i got 49 rummy nose and a hitch hiker.

Anyone know what kind of fish is this is? It came straight from an importer.

 

[tuonor]

Beautiful setup. If you don't mind me asking, how do you feel about the quality of the Osaka stand (can't find one on display locally)? Is it veneer over MDF or solid wood?

 

[PaulJ69]

looks kinda like a black neon tetra, they have that distinctive gold line going through them.

 

[MONARK]

How about a glow light tetra????