waruna

Hi everyone,

I'm new here. I am hoping to create a heavily planted aquarium with a few Altum Angels and a few Discus. My tank dimensions are 1850 x 700 x 800 and it is currently under construction. So far i have bought these:

4 x 120W LED light units ( 2 units: 112 x 1W 6500k bulbs, 2 units 80 x 1W 6500k and 32 x 460nm Blue bulbs. Blue bulbs are mainly for the look, will NOT run these for long periods at a time, these units have an option to have these on or off) )

2 x Ehiem 2260 (Pump output approx 2240L), one canister with Seachem Matrix ( Matrix not purchased yet), the other mechanical (sponge) filtration.

100kg of Aquasoil Amazonia Normal

Substrate heating: Dupla Therm Set 1000 and a Dupla T control Alpha.

Still researching on (which to purchase) automatic dosing units, UV sterilization units, CO2 units.

I have a few questions (sorry came across this forum today, after i have purchased some of the equipment already),

What do you guys think about my filtration?

LED lights are relatively new to the hobby so i understand this is a big gamble..! Any thoughts on these units?

http://www.bsled.com/led-aquarium-li...m-light-bs-56a

I am planning on adding a 1cm layer of play sand before i set up the substrate heating system, i've read this is a much effective way of doing this, any advice?

Do i need to mix anything else with Aquasoil?

Tank and stand will be ready in a week. Thank you in advance, i would greatly appreciate all your advice.

Waruna

waruna

It's going to be a bit longer than a week for my cabinet to finish i should say, however i'm extremely happy with all the hard work my Cabi has done. Very neat, he has even built in an optional shelving space in front where the two Eheim's are going to be. It's a shame i can't use them, but i need room for the Co2 unit.

Ordered an Aqua Twist 25 UV unit today and also a back up heater, Hydor ETH 300W.



The stand is 2400mm long even though my tank is 1850mm. The tank is curved in at the front, two corners are 500mm deep and the middle is 700mm deep, height is 800m.

Dupla Therm set and the controller will be here in about two weeks.

waruna

Instead of a heavily planted tank i decided on Crypts, Anubias and ferns, sort of a "slow growing plants" type of tank. I want to give as much swimming room for my fish as possible, they are the main attraction. I want a tank with minimum maintenance, my tank is pretty deep so i want to keep things simple.

The tank should be here within the next few days.
I'm still waiting for my Co2 system and the substrate heating system to arrive.

This is where its at now...

Snakeskin Discus

That tank is going to be Hot ! Looks like a great set-up so far cant wait to see it finished .

faltaren

Update?

Sent from my X10i using Tapatalk

waruna

Pictures speak thousands of words



I'm using "BryceM method" to distribute Co2 in to the tank. Even though the left hand side black PVC pipe looks like it is connected to the spray bar siting on the soil, it is not. This is the inlet from the 2 x Eheim filters, i drilled holes on each side of the pipe so the water is sprayed towards the left and right hand sides of the tank.



The rocks are there to hold the wood in place, after soaking for weeks for some reason the wood decided to float again once placed in the tank




The day after



A week after adding more plants, quality of some of the plants i managed to find here in WA was shocking. We are not allowed to bring plants from even another AUS state, so not much of a choice here. Some small ferns died and i had to replant again.



This is where it is now, i have 12 WC beautiful Green Discus



I have a fair bit of BBA which i'm trying to get rid of. This has (still is) been a great learning experience for me. I think when i over come this algae problem i'll finally get to enjoy this tank to the fullest.

Any advice is much appreciated.

Peterjay

Waruna, that's well on its way to being one stunning tank. Wish I had the room for something that size, not to mention the expertise. Maybe it's time to start thinking about a fish room in the basement. (LOL) Congrats!

Bunnie1978

That tank is so awesome I can hardly stand it! Beautiful stand and I just love non-rectangular tanks!

SergioTheFishDude

Waruna, those are some gorgeous Discus


See, it's people like you that never allow me to save any money :P. I spend like, all my time now daydreaming about new biotopes n stuff

waruna

Thanks peterjay, Bunnie1978 and SergioTheFishDude, appreciate your feedback

Sorry for not posting, my tank went through an ugly algae phase..

Here's a pic of it @ 12 weeks.. After some research i decided to cut old leaves from some of the ferns, it definitely made the tank look a bit neater..