Yo-han

I've been gathering info on this forum for a long time and wanted to share one of my tanks with you.

It is mentioned as a planted Vietnamese biotope on a budget resembling a Vietnamese river stream. I've a 100 gallon planted community tank and used this 10 gallon as a breeding tank for my angelfish. I sold my angelfish and wanted to turn it over cheap. I took out the corner filter and used the pump only with a sponge. Took out the broken 15W ballast and replaced it with a 36W and added another 15W t8 (see pictures), one 3.000K and one 14.000K old but still grows plants and algae Painted the inside white to save on reflectors and added a free 95gram co2 set which I later replaced with the 500gram spare bottle of my big tank.

There is no heater because I the room won't come below 18 degree celcius and the tank is usual a few degree warmer thanks to the lighting.

Flora & fauna:
25 x Tanichthys micagemmae
4 x Sewellia lineolata
10 x Paracaridina sp. Princess bee (lost a few)

Rotala sp. 'vietnam'
Ultricularia graminifolia
Limnophila aromatica
Riccardia chamedryfolia
(Blyxa japonica)


All fish and plants are from Vietnam but the Blyxa japonica didn't do very well. I will try again later because I've enough in my big tank.

As you can see in the pictures I had some trouble with snails (there number decreases a lot) and also cyano bacter, staghorn algae and some other algae (morning sun on the tank). The algae on the stones is intended as food for the sewellia's.


Modified hood:



The setup:



Growth:




Details:





The tank isn't finished jet but getting better more bushy and healthier every week so I was even thinking about entering the iaplc contest. (Although it will be hard to get the UG good with the Sewellia's in the tank) Was wondering whether you think I need to clean the stones before a final picture or not. And also all comments regarding layout are welcome!

Yo-han

Yo-han

Took the time to make a proper photo without equipment and clean sand although the UG still needs time to grow in nice, hope you like it!

Michael

Beautiful, and a very interesting combination of fish!

Opinions will differ, but I like the growth of algae on the rocks. It certainly is not excessive or unhealthy, and looks very appropriate in a biotope.

bratyboy2

I love the algae on the rocks myself!

Yo-han

Why do you think it is an interesting combination of fish? At first I also had 4 pseudogastromyzon fasciatus planned to be added to this aquarium, but I thought that would overcrowd the rocks so I resigned from that idea and added these four fellows to my 100G.

About the algae, it looks appropriate for a biotope, but what if I would enter a contest like IAPLC for example, just as planted tank. Would the algae still be appreciated or would it be better off with me cleaning rocks?

GOJIRADOR

well the algae looks good to me. unless there's a rule against algae i don't see why they'd mark you down for it

Michael

It's interesting because most hillstream loach tanks I've seen do not include a small schooling fish.

I am far from an expert on any of the aquascaping contests. But I notice in the judge's remarks that visible algae often brings a negative comment. The assumption may be that algae means neglect, except in biotopes. If you enter in a general category, but explain why the algae is present in your notes, it should prevent any negative judgement.

You'll have less competition in the biotope category, and few entries will look as good as this tank.

blue thumb

The tank looks great. I think the algae on the stones looks natural. As long as it not on the plants the gravel and the glass and its not Brush Algae!

Yo-han

Plants are (now) free of algae, the glass of course does have a little from time to time and no bad algae at the moment, I'm pleased!

Moved the L. aromatica a little to the left yesterday after trimming, to see whether it looks better than straight in the middle. Hoping it fills in before my vacation. If in time, I'll show the picture here!

K Randall

There is nothing in the judging guidelines for either the ADA or AGA contests that would preclude algae on rocks. Algae on the PLANTS would be a problem, but it is a design decision whether or not to leave it on the rocks.