Pathway to Rio Negro 864L (biotope)

[Cayambe]

The aquarium will arrive on friday!

Meanwhile i've been testing out some sand. My goal was to find some light and soft sand to mimic that from Rio Negro .

The one on the right is "El Dorado White Cichlid Sand" 0,5-08mm, mostly used for african cichlids here in Denmark. The middle is a softer more "warm" colored "Light River Sand" 0,3-05mm. The left is a mix of the two.

Ill go for the middle one. My cories should love it.

 

[alto]

Not sure how deep a sand bed you're planning but beware of compacting once water pressure is a factor - including some larger 1-3 mm range sand will help, also less regular shaped particles & of course some nice sand shifting fish in addition to the sand sifters

In a heavily planted aquarium (you can see lots of sand/fine gravel substrate on Tropica's website) the plant roots will aerate the substrate to a certain degree though you can still experience significant compaction under hardscape - why I remove livestock if significant re-scaping or moving hardscape (I lost an entire tank of fish/shrimp despite (reasoned) precautions when thinning out a valisneria thicket intent on world domination)

Test for pH effects on any sands/gravels marketed for African cichlids

Friday will be dazzling I'm sure

 

[Cayambe]

Hi alto!

The manufacturer recommends no deeper than 3cm, for the same reason, which I will adhere to. I could add in some coarser sand, or pepples.. I will look into that.. Or simply mixing the two.

Soon now!

 

[Cayambe]

Some of the botanicals I got from Tannin Aquatics. I've been soaking some of this stuff for a week now.

 

[Eduard18]

Hi there ! I too am planning to order something from them - Tannin Aquatics - and I was wondering about the shipping cost ; could you please tell me how much did you pay ?

Envoyé de mon SM-G935F en utilisant Tapatalk

 

[Cayambe]

I think I paid 42usd.. Which is almost the third of the total price (to Denmark). If I added alittle bit more it would be 60usd. So I guess its about maxing out the shipping cost.

It did arrive within 3 days though!

 

[AverageWhiteBloke]

Just a suggestion. Seems to me like you're longing to have a piece of your fond memories of the Amazon in your living room, which I totally get but the problem is that you want some plants and a true biotope of the river wouldn't really have any or many. Looking at that last picture you posted why don't you revert back to shoreline like that picture and have one end of the tank with plants that are in amongst the roots and the remaining 2/3rd just roots. Then you get some interesting plants to look at and keep true to your initial goal. You still get your biotope but the setting for it is just when the river level is rising and some plants are under water.

If you like the tank would be a cross section of forest meeting river.

cross by AWB70, on Flickr

I get the feeling on this project if there was one thing not right about it it would drive you nuts. Try and stick with what you want. I'm thinking 1/3rd roots and plants fading into 1/3rd just roots and then a 1/3 open sandy area.

Could work.

 

[Cayambe]

That's not a bad idea at all. It will be a compromise of sorts thats for sure, I'm not trying to win any competitions, I just want to get close to that "black water" feel, within reason. The fading plants, from shoreline to sand, is something I will look at. Have spent all day trying to figure out how to place the roots. Hopefully it will all fall into place when the aquarium arrives

 

[AverageWhiteBloke]

I should put the disclaimer that I'm the author of the PlecoPlanet article first,

Never ceases to amaze As I was reading through this I thought this is right up Darrel's street he won't be far away and bang. There he is writing books on the subject. Probably the only man I know who has access to the £££££'s equipment we all dream of which would answer so many questions but doesn't bother with them preferring to put things in tanks he finds in the garden and will openly encourage algae because he find algae more interesting than the plants. You couldn't make it up

 

[AverageWhiteBloke]

It will be a compromise of sorts thats for sure

No compromise here brother. It is what it is, that's what the Amazon (I'm guessing) would look like as the river levels were rising then you've stayed true to your goal. Just need to get the marginal plants and the fish right and you're there. Other than obviously the African wood but hey, some people can't see the wood for the trees *ahem I'm here all week, tickets available at the bar

Linking the Tannin aquatics site has got my juices flowing now. I'm looking at 300x300 empty cube in among my huge collection of redundant fish keeping equipment and thinking of downloading Walsted for my ereader and grabbing a bag of John Innings out my shed.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Probably the only man I know who has access to the £££££'s equipment we all dream of which would answer so many questions but doesn't bother with them preferring to put things in tanks he finds in the garden and will openly encourage algae because he find algae more interesting than the plants. You couldn't make it up

I'm just really lazy and tight-fisted.

Somebody was asking the other day about the kit in the lab. I'll take some photos and put them up.

cheers Darrel

 

[AverageWhiteBloke]

Or what about I pop round with a sample of my water. I'll bring my dip tests with me and we'll play guess the margin of error. I actually saw something on the internet the other day where they had compared LFS tests against pro equipment but it was for reef stuff. Same thing probably applies though, Ironically they actually weren't that far out more inconsistent which is much and the same thing. Will I get banned from the forum for saying they weren't that far out?

Anyway, really interesting project this, I will be following. If the OP doesn't do it I am but obviously on a much,much smaller scale.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I actually saw something on the internet the other day where they had compared LFS tests against pro equipment but it was for reef stuff. Same thing probably applies though, Ironically they actually weren't that far out more inconsistent which is much and the same thing. Will I get banned from the forum for saying they weren't that far out?

I would expect that would be the answer, particularly as some monovalent anions (like NO3-) are easier to test for salt water, because you have a known amount of Cl- ions (about 17ppt), and you can take this into account.

It isn't that the values are always wrong, <"they are often right">, the problem is sorting out the "wrongs" from the "rights".

If @alto tells me he had ~10ppm NO3 (ideally a mean and related confidence interval) I would be confident that he does.The problem comes because their readings may not be comparable with some-body else's 10ppm NO3, particularly if one person has high conductivity, alkaline water, and the other person has soft, acidic water.

If two people, with very different water parameters, have large healthy dark green Amazon Frogbit plants, I can tell both of them straight away that they have plenty of nitrogen available, what-ever the results of their test kit shows.

Looking at that last picture you posted why don't you revert back to shoreline like that picture and have one end of the tank with plants that are in amongst the roots and the remaining 2/3rd just roots.

I don't know if the OP has seen Norwegian Apistogramma enthusiast TomC's travelogue pages. They don't cover the Rio Negro (you can't collect fish in Brazil), but they show black-water streams in the Peruvian Amazon.

<"Collecting in Río Tigre / Río Pucacuro 2010">

cheers Darrel

 

[Cayambe]

Im not sure where the roots are from actually. Its not malaysian, or asien. It looked to me like some hardwood from Africa. But then, it also looks a bit like the roots I have seen in the amazon. Anyway, my water definately aint from the Amazon, but you gotta draw the line somewhere!

That TomC looks really interesting, will read up on that.

 

[AverageWhiteBloke]

There's a saying in the construction industry I use all the time, "if it looks right, it is right"

 

[Cayambe]

The big day! And what a day..

Good and bad news.

The aquarium arrived in one piece, and with 4 people we managed to get in inside, which was, considering the massive 250kg weight, probably very fortunate. I underestimated how heavy a tank this size would be. At one point one of the guys holding one of the ends, lost his strength and had to drop the cabinet. It smashed one of the corners. Its only cosmetic, and it didn't impact the weight bearing parts, though If you are anything like me, you can feel my pain oozing through your computer screen..

Having waited so long, and paid sooooooooo much, for this day to finally happen, that was very unfortunate.

But life ain't perfect right!?

Anyway, its there, its finally in its place!

Need to go shopping tomorrow for the final bits and pieces before I can do a water/level test. But so far so good!

 

[sgdiscus]

The big day! And what a day..

Good and bad news.

The aquarium arrived in one piece, and with 4 people we managed to get in inside, which was, considering the massive 250kg weight, probably very fortunate. I underestimated how heavy a tank this size would be. At one point one of the guys holding one of the ends, lost his strength and had to drop the cabinet. It smashed one of the corners. Its only cosmetic, and it didn't impact the weight bearing parts, though If you are anything like me, you can feel my pain oozing through your computer screen..

Having waited so long, and paid sooooooooo much, for this day to finally happen, that was very unfortunate.

But life ain't perfect right!?

Anyway, its there, its finally in its place!

Need to go shopping tomorrow for the final bits and pieces before I can do a water/level test. But so far so good!

Mate, that's a proper tank!

Sent from my SM-N910G using Tapatalk

 

[Cayambe]

Steep learning curve going on here. And I haven't even added water! Had to redo the fittings. Also I'm waiting for that new front plate to arrive. Should be soon now. Its very hard for me to do all this, without making scratches and dents to the glass and furniture. I'm too eager and too clumsy. Had to go for a run, after making a small scratch on glass. The pain! Good lesson though, learning not to rush things, and accepting that nothing will ever be perfect.

Anyway, fittings are mostly done, and glued. (Second attempt. First one was all wrong). The lighting controller has been installed and updated with latest firmware. Added the 3 center driftwood pieces and most of the sand. Was worried about the weight of the bigger one, so added 2 supports (small 7x7cm slates). The bigger piece supports on 4 points, 2 of them takes most of the load. It probably won't matter much when its submerged in water. But it gave me a sleepless night.

I have also made the connection to my rainwater tank. Just need a few more bits for it to work.

Will update soon.

 

[nayr88]

This is going to be amazing!!!
Will be keeping an eye on this journal for sure

 

[Cayambe]

Update from day 1 through day 7!

I was able to use about 300L of the collected rainwater, and 3 days later, recycle it out into our kitchen garden, completing the circle rain/tank/garden, that has been one of my goals with the project, to make it somewhat more sustainable, and also get softer water. 300L is not enough to fill the entire tank, so I had to add tap water. What I will have to do is get a bigger rainwater container (1000L) and collect enough water to do these water changes. The current water change schedule is massive, 50% every 3 days, but when its cycled through I should only be using about 2-300L a week. If I can store 1000L, I should be able to do these water changes, even when it hasn't rained for a few weeks.

I'm pretty happy with the "Black Water" look I get when I look from the front of the tank. I have added some of the Tannin Aquatics botanicals, and done the planting.

The Echinodorus Tennelus I decided didnt fit, and removed it again. Will add Sagittaria Subulata at the front instead, in front of the smaller driftwood piece.

Its not really an attempt at a "natural aquarium" planted tank setup, more like using some of the incredible inspiration I have gotten from this site, and use it in my biotope.

One really cool effect is the Limnobium Laevigatum gliding through the top of the water. Ill make a video of it.

I added 20 amano shrimps. I could add more.. but its a compromise.. its not very biotope friendly. But I can't ignore the benefit they will give my setup. They are enjoying their space for sure! Water is at 25c right now.

The rocks are just to hold down the driftwood, that wanted to float, should be gone soon. Also I added silicone to the whole footprint of the tank, so that when I drop a bucket of water, which will happen any day now, at least it wont go under the aquarium.

Hope you enjoy the pics.