Long-Term Low Maintenance 120cmx60x60 Tank (new video on page 6)

[fandango]

Re: Low Maintenance 120cmx60x60 Tank

(...) there is about an inch of headroom at the bottom of the Eheim, amazing they can live there in the dark on a diet of flotsum! Your face must have been a picture the first time you found them there!

Hi Ray,
Yes- my face must have looked something like this 🙄 🙄 🙄 . They really do very well in there. For the tanks with fish hunting the baby shrimps it's a good way of protecting them until they have grown to a safe size. The darkness doesn't seem to affect them in any way- even the colouring is strong.

Well, my dwarf rasboras did the same and survived at the bottom of my Eheim filter... 🙂

Hi keymaker,
That's amazing. I was just thinking today incidentally- what about the eyesight of the shrimp or as in your case- the fish babies who end up living in a total darkness for a couple of months. Surely it must affect it in some way.

Here is an update of the tank after some re-shaping of the crypotcorines. Time to time I cut down the ones at the front -they re-grow so quickly. The one at the back (the one on the left- the reddish looking leave in front of the fern) must be almost 50cm long. I think they are Crypt Wendtii. I didn't know they could grow so big. Otherwise as you can see there is almost no change since the photos from August.

Best,
fandango[/quote]

 

[jay]

Re: Low Maintenance 120cmx60x60 Tank

NO pic.

 

[fandango]

Re: Low Maintenance 120cmx60x60 Tank

NO pic.

Perhaps I was editing the post at the time you looked at it

 

[sari]

Re: Low Maintenance 120cmx60x60 Tank

Gorgeous tank! 😀

 

[jay]

Re: Low Maintenance 120cmx60x60 Tank

Got it now!!

Lovely! Can't get over how much anubias is there.

 

[fandango]

Re: Low Maintenance 120cmx60x60 Tank

Thank you sari, thank you jay.

Regards,
fandango

 

[deMastro]

Re: Low Maintenance 120cmx60x60 Tank

I like your Apistogramma viejita!

 

[joyous214]

Re: Low Maintenance 120cmx60x60 Tank

nice tank! thats lovely

 

[zed]

Re: Low Maintenance 120cmx60x60 Tank

Lovely set up! Nice choice of plants and fish. What substrate are you using?

 

[fandango]

Re: Low Maintenance 120cmx60x60 Tank

I like your Apistogramma viejita!

Thank you deMastro. I actually do think it is mikrogeophagus ramirezi but I may be wrong- I'm no specialist 🙂

nice tank! thats lovely

Thank you joyous214!

Lovely set up! Nice choice of plants and fish. What substrate are you using?

Thank you zed. The substrate is the most basic gravel, which I bought from LFS 9 years ago. When I used to keep discus (had to give them away due to my travelling) I cleaned the gravel every week. There were no carpeting plants then. Now with echinodorus tenelus growing I haven't done anything to it for more than two years- so the debris and fish waste end up at the plant roots (the gravel size is perhaps 1-4 mm approximately- the debris eventually travels deep down).

Best,
fandango

 

[fandango]

Re: Low Maintenance 120cmx60x60 Tank

This is my first post in a while 😀 . In the meantime I have been reading up, learning from people here.

Here is an update



As you can see the principal look of the tank hasn't changed. Changes since the last post are:

Full EI fertilizing, dosing every day (I guess I really ought to change the title of this tread ),
Flourish Excel added to combat black beard algae,
New Fluval 305 linked with the existing 304 (Eheim on the other side) to increase water flow
4 Puntius denisonii (wouldn't recommend to Cherry keepers...)
Replaced the CO2 diffuser for a DIY reactor (an old Nitragone body). CO2 turned on 2 hours before lights on and 3 hours before lights off. I can still hear the gas bubbling inside the reactor till the lights off.
GH booster added to the RO water + some coral gravel in the RO storage tank
I've learned a lot from UKAPS forum' people in these couple years. I would gladly rewrite some of the things I wrote at the beginning of this tread. But then- this is after all an ongoing journal.


Thank you,
fandango

 

[LondonDragon]

Re: Low Maintenance 120cmx60x60 Tank

Looking great as always 🙂 due to the choice of plants the tank actually looks smaller than it is and therefore looks overstocked! Weird as usually we try to create the reverse effect hehe

 

[fandango]

Re: Low Maintenance 120cmx60x60 Tank

Thanks LondonDragon,

Yes, I can see your point, it's because of the size of the leaves of Java Fern and Anubias and the Puntius Denisonii. The tank obviously would look different if there were more delicate plants and only small fish. The leaves are growing much bigger now with a proper fertilizing regime in place. Some of the Java Fern leaves are probably 30cm+ and the Crypt wendtii on the left side is reaching the surface of the tank so they are about 50 cm. I like the big leaves though 😀

Regards,
fandango

 

[fandango]

Re: Low Maintenance 120cmx60x60 Tank

Every two months or so I trim tenellus and crypts (notice the difference in size of the ones on the left. They are the same species; only the front ones get a regular number 1 hair cut 8) ). You can cut crypts right down- all leaves off- and they will grow back nice and strong mini versions of themselves.

As you can see it looks very much the same as the picture on the first page from 2008, only now the plants are much healthier looking. I do like the consistency of this tank and only tweak things little at a time.

There is a moss wall crawling up the glass between the fern and anubias, holding on to the tiny specks of algae. I probably ought to cut it out to deepen the 'V' shape, but somehow I like the fact that plants are trying to evolve despite my control. And the cherries love it too. Now with the torpedoes in the tank they need lots of hiding places... Tenellus is good for them too. I still have hundreds of them in the tank though.

One thing I'm adamant about is I hate seeing any kind of equipment. That is why I've chosen a V shape so I can hide the heaters and filter inlets and outlets in the corners behind them. I can only just tolerate the drop chequer.

Thanks for looking.

regards,
fandango

 

[Ray]

Re: Low Maintenance 120cmx60x60 Tank

Lovely to see this tank still going - I always loved this tank. I do miss your Rams - not sure the torpedoes are suitable replacements... How are you keeping your moss and E Tenellus carpet maintained - do you rip it up and replant, or just trim?

 

[Themuleous]

Re: Low Maintenance 120cmx60x60 Tank

That is a glorious tank, just stunning.

I'd be over the moon if it were mine.

Sam

 

[sanj]

Re: Low Maintenance 120cmx60x60 Tank

One thing I'm adamant about is I hate seeing any kind of equipment... I can only just tolerate the drop chequer.

You need need to chill out more... 😛

No, but seriously i love your tank, I have denisonis aswell, 10 in total great fish. It is also great to see a long established evolving tank, that is what i prefer to do aswell, but life sometimes gets in the way. Oh and the desire for upgrades 😀

 

[fandango]

Re: Low Maintenance 120cmx60x60 Tank

Thank you Ray, Sam, thank you sanj,

I miss my rams too. They do not have a long lifespan- that's the only drawback when keeping them. I trim the grass and moss every now and then. I once uprooted the whole thing. That created a huge mess and biological imbalance and regrowth was much slower than after the trimming.

I'm away from my tank now for a month. I expect, as always (I hope 🙂 ), that the tank will be in a good state when I return. There is no fertilizing or water changes while I'm away. Fish get fed via Eheim auto-feeder. I will certainly post an update of my tank at the end of the month when I arrive back.
Have a nice rest of the summer everyone!

Best,
fandango

 

[glenn]

Re: Low Maintenance 120cmx60x60 Tank

wow nice tank and good journal, the plants do look alot more healthy since 2008.
and your photography has improved to, nice photos of the anubias!

 

[lil-lynx]

Re: Low Maintenance 120cmx60x60 Tank

Your pair of gold ? rams are amazing 🙂 Such lucky fish to live in a tank like that. well done keep it up !