gltjc
Member
Hello everyone. I’m a long-term fishkeeper and persistent lurker on this and various other fora. Thought it was about time I took the plunge and started sharing my thought process and plans for a new project, as tank and stand are now (hopefully…..) ~4 weeks away from delivery.
Been without anything fishy since a house move 18 months ago, so a lot of thinking/research/dreaming to communicate and get reactions to.
Definitely more of a fish person (been through killifish, anabantoid and cichlid phases at one time or another) than a ‘planted tank’ person historically, so will need to learn a lot as I go.
Itching to get started...
My overall aim it so satisfy a few different long-held desires at once:
Major inspirations are Tom’s peerless Bucket O’Mud and his Poco Pozo. I definitely tend towards the natural style rather than the manicured ‘nature aquarium’ style (particularly in its recent ‘aquascaping contest’ manifestations which to my eye can be very artificial).
Tank will be a big one: 3100 x 45 x 54, but will only be filled to 35ish deep – looking to get towards the shallow style of tank within the constraints of the space I have along one wall. Will definitely be a challenge to create any sense of depth with these dimensions…
Plan I have settled on is a biotope tank (without being 100% strict) set somewhere in the middle Congo basin / Lefini River / Ubangi River area.
There is a good list of potential inhabitants with at least some chance of getting hold of them over time from this broad area, but particular targets are some of the beautiful new tetras that have entered the hobby over the last few years, such as Phenacogrammus aurantiacus, Bathyaethiops breuseghemi, Alestopetersius hilgendorfi (or whatever the species being sold under that name eventually turns out to be..) and Distichodus teugelsi (if I can get comfortable they won’t completely de-forest the tank), in combination with a couple of local killies (e.g. Aphyosemion ogoense – worth googling if you want some immediate fish lust), a Ctenopoma/Microctenopoma, a mid-sized cichlid or two and perhaps some central African oddballs and catfish.
Been without anything fishy since a house move 18 months ago, so a lot of thinking/research/dreaming to communicate and get reactions to.
Definitely more of a fish person (been through killifish, anabantoid and cichlid phases at one time or another) than a ‘planted tank’ person historically, so will need to learn a lot as I go.
Itching to get started...
My overall aim it so satisfy a few different long-held desires at once:
- A broadly biotope-ish home for a community of more unusual fish, with enough space to allow me to find, collect and breed things over a few years
- A shallow tank with lots of emersed plant growth
- Growing water lilies indoors and being able to view them from underneath and on top (not sure where this came from)
- Keeping killifish in a large tank / community setting
Major inspirations are Tom’s peerless Bucket O’Mud and his Poco Pozo. I definitely tend towards the natural style rather than the manicured ‘nature aquarium’ style (particularly in its recent ‘aquascaping contest’ manifestations which to my eye can be very artificial).
Tank will be a big one: 3100 x 45 x 54, but will only be filled to 35ish deep – looking to get towards the shallow style of tank within the constraints of the space I have along one wall. Will definitely be a challenge to create any sense of depth with these dimensions…
Plan I have settled on is a biotope tank (without being 100% strict) set somewhere in the middle Congo basin / Lefini River / Ubangi River area.
There is a good list of potential inhabitants with at least some chance of getting hold of them over time from this broad area, but particular targets are some of the beautiful new tetras that have entered the hobby over the last few years, such as Phenacogrammus aurantiacus, Bathyaethiops breuseghemi, Alestopetersius hilgendorfi (or whatever the species being sold under that name eventually turns out to be..) and Distichodus teugelsi (if I can get comfortable they won’t completely de-forest the tank), in combination with a couple of local killies (e.g. Aphyosemion ogoense – worth googling if you want some immediate fish lust), a Ctenopoma/Microctenopoma, a mid-sized cichlid or two and perhaps some central African oddballs and catfish.