Reefer 350 Planted

[sanj]

Yes, size was also a consideration for choosing those two. I like giving fish ample space

I live in Oslo (Norway in case you missed it). And the standard selection of rainbows is pretty poor.

However, One guy working at the LFS has been a long time member of a rainbow club, and he has some contacts. He showed me pictures of some fantastic rainbows. Those were very rarely for sale in Europe though.

If you have some suggestions/names of nice obtainable rainbows within my size range, I could check if he can get hold of them

Thanks in any case!

I just had a thought, rainbow fish do jump, not every day, but in open top you are likely to lose some at some point.

Europe has a good Rainbowfish network, but its more in the Germany-Nederlands-Belgium triangle. The UK has improved tremendously in the last few years with access to stock from the Europe based IRG.

Still, yes outside half a dozen commonly stocked varieties, obtaining other species in the average LFS is not readily available, but occasional.

IRG Belgium is a good resource: http://regenboogvissen.be/

Regards,
Sanj

 

[Kajpai]

naughty naughty, you need to leave the lights on one setting for a bit longer then a day as it will be tricky to work out the best setting, i do understand though, new toys and the rest

Yes I've been naughty, I am trying to pace myself now.

After the ATO incident the tank has stabilized, no more melt, and the diatoms are already cleared of. I have also added a stream pump for better circulation.

Plan going forward:
- gradually increasing the light
- gradually increase ferts (micro/iron in partiticular), since new leaves are full size, but to my eyes very pale when looking from above (will post picture to get some input on it)


Closing the three week mark I have also added fish. The JBL Soil doesn't leak nearly as much amonia as the ADA stuff, ammonia hit zero a while ago and nitrite is dropping fast. Currently 0.2 ppm, and adding a bit of Prime for safety.

First to go in was my tetras and Amanos from my nano tank (Finally decommissioned the Fluval Edge).
Everything went fine and I have now also added 20 Dwarf Neon Rainbow fish and 12 otos.
I really love those rainbows, peaceful and really active. They seem to thrive so far I just hope I don't loose too many jumpers.
I'll wait a while before introducing Furcata Rainbows, not to put too much bioload on the system.
Visually its already quite well stocked, so I hope I'm not overdoing it with another species.

I'm struggling to upload a picture from work, so I will post a new picture when I get back home

I just had a thought, rainbow fish do jump, not every day, but in open top you are likely to lose some at some point.

Europe has a good Rainbowfish network, but its more in the Germany-Nederlands-Belgium triangle. The UK has improved tremendously in the last few years with access to stock from the Europe based IRG.

Still, yes outside half a dozen commonly stocked varieties, obtaining other species in the average LFS is not readily available, but occasional.

IRG Belgium is a good resource: http://regenboogvissen.be/

Thanks for the input! A lot of lovely fish listed there. I'll go with my initial plan for now, and try to get hold of more exotic (expensive) fish later on. I plan to let this scape run for a longer period of time and mature. I can take my time finding some gems

 

[aaron.c]

Looking forward to seeing the picture!

 

[Kajpai]

Hi again.

Been really busy and been away for a long weekend.

Coming home I find the fish has settled in nicely, and good growth is finally showing (Macandra has been growing like weed since day 1)

Got some GSA on the lower parts of the glass, and some on exposed anubias and rock. I'll dial back the light slightly again, although in my experience, that algea will disappear once my plantmass gathers momentum.

I have been taking pictures along the way, but I'm so frustrated with the quality, that I havn't got myself exited about posting them.....

I will however post the best shot I was able to get of with the light/co2 bubbles i had this morning:

As you can see next to the macandra, the stellata is also stretching, Hippuroides in front of those has dense growth.
In the foreground the Lilaeopsis brasiliensis looks scruffy still, but i see signs of new shoots along the glass (tricky plant as far as I can tell)
Pintifirina and tripartia are doing really well.
Also added tons of wendtii from my Nano (started of as 1 very small plant). Uprooting that plant, was what started the end of that tank. The enormous root structure messed up everything. I might not keep it in here for that reason.

Very much a work in progress when it comes to plant and moss placement (especially the foreground)
Any tips on alternative plants and placements are appreiciated.

I'll clean of the algea, do a big WC, and cut back on stems tomorrow.

How do you get a decent picture of a tank? Do I need to black out the entire room in the evening and blast the tank with light? Also what setting would you use on the camera?


Kaj

 

[Alexander Belchenko]

About photo: make sure there is no light coming into lenses, I usually cover the top of the tank with some black thing. That really helps to get better contrast on photo. At least cover above the lens with your own hand to make sure there is no light from your light units, and lens in shade, tripod is also must have.

 

[Kajpai]

About photo: make sure there is no light coming into lenses, I usually cover the top of the tank with some black thing. That really helps to get better contrast on photo. At least cover above the lens with your own hand to make sure there is no light from your light units, and lens in shade, tripod is also must have.

Thanks for the tips. I will definitely get a tripod ( added to my Christmas wishlist ). Covering the lights will be tricky, but I will think of something. Build something out of dark painted cardboard I can fold away and have ready for photos probably.

 

[Wolf6]

so how did this tank fare after these pictures?