My 4ft. 300l Community Tank

[SHiBBY]

http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/attachment.php?attachmentid=6435

This is my 4ft 300l community tank with the following:

Tank:

1200x500x500 (braced) 5mm sides/10mm bottom with custom canopy holding primary lighting in the back and sliding glass under hoods in front.

Lighting:

1x Boyu 25W White Aquarium Lamp
1x Boyu 25W Pink Aquarium Lamp
2x Hopar 25W T5 Hoods

Heating:

1x ViaAqua 300W Submersible heater

Filtration:

Corner overflow into a 25l Sump with filter wool and lava rock, returned at 2000l/h with a ViaAqua PowerHead through a custom 400mm spraybar.

Substrate & Contents:

Silica based rocks from a South African mountain range and hollow driftwood on a fine sand substrate.

[Q89]

I really love this tank!! Really nice SHiBBY

[shihr]

looks good man! :)

[speedz]

I want that piece of wood lol jk. Looks good!

[SHiBBY]

Thanks guys!

speedz LOL! That is my eel's hideout... I've been hunting for a non-retarded piece of driftwood for a long time, and landed this baby at Pet Stop (moment of silence) a while back! It's not hard wood so I guess I'll have to part with it some day, but for now it looks goooooood!

[Linga]

looks good man, thats some nice lighting units, pitty the severums like to chomp on plants, maybe try some java fern on that wood, it will look awesome, with some anubia at the base

[SHiBBY]

I want to get Java moss from Slojo and let it graze on the log, but firstly those Severums need to get going so that I can tame my fire eel...

PS: Those hoods were on special for R 150 each ;) Can you say bargain..?

[Apoc]

Wow - Great scape, well done !

[SHiBBY]

Thank you kindly :D

It does need some green. I'm also hunting for those dual-spectrum T5 replacement globes that incorporate both the white and blue, which will break the brown and give a nice clean white underwater glow. They are a little expensive though... But then again, so are famous paintings, yet we pay the price without hesitation because we like the way they look in our homes. Aquariums are one and the same thing. ;)

[shihr]

try www.thelamphouse.co.za (http://www.thelamphouse.co.za/) thats where i got my t5's from..

thanks again neilh

[SHiBBY]

Thanks! I'll give them a shout... ;-)

[Slojo]

I want to get Java moss from Slojo and let it graze on the log, but firstly those Severums need to get going so that I can tame my fire eel...

PS: Those hoods were on special for R 150 each ;) Can you say bargain..?
You are more than welcome.I'm back Today.

[SHiBBY]

Yaaay! Thanks Slojo! Rookie1 is coming to relieve my severums from active duty this weekend, so I'll give you a ring and swing by.

Thanks!

[mxz]

Looks really good. Do you plan on adding a background? Black will be nice.

[Keshen Singh]

Nice thanks there. Bit off the topic don't mean to hijack your thread but can a T5 Flourescent work on a normal Ballast??

[SHiBBY]

Looks really good. Do you plan on adding a background? Black will be nice.

Yes I definately want to make a background. Have a look in the DIY section I've got a thread on the background I want to make ;-)

[SHiBBY]

Nice thanks there. Bit off the topic don't mean to hijack your thread but can a T5 Flourescent work on a normal Ballast??

Yup, far as I know. I bought those Hopar hoods with the T5s in so I really can't comment on the ballast they have installed...

[SHiBBY]

Hey guys,



It's been a while since my last tank update, and a few things has changed, the biggest of which is my new 3ft sump which has been optimized to contain everything that is good and right.

This is what my water looks like with the new sump...

http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/attachment.php?attachmentid=7178
http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/attachment.php?attachmentid=7180
http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/attachment.php?attachmentid=7182
http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/attachment.php?attachmentid=7179
http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/attachment.php?attachmentid=7181

[SHiBBY]

PS these pictures were taken with my cellphone so excuse the noise...

[mydummyname]

that looks way cool!

so what happened to the wood?

and i see you've changed substrate as well?

[SHiBBY]

The wood has been temporarily removed pending investigation into the death of 4 of my fish, as the disease stopped as soon as I removed it.

The pebble substrate is easier to clean thoroughly with a gravel vacuum, plus I don't get sand on everything in the tank every time a fish flexes it's tail ;-) The sand that was in the tank now populates my DSB in my sump, so it was already loaded with bacteria and started working from the word GO!

[mydummyname]

this susbtrate actually looks very nice in the tank, its important not to disturb the gravel too much when vacuuming tho, this might release trapped ammonia or nitrites, which happens more easily with courser gravels, and might setup a nitrite or ammonia spike.

i love those big rocks!

looks almost like a desert / rocky mountain scape!!

way cool!

[SHiBBY]

Thanks man! Got those rocks from a hill on a family farm near Bronkhorstspruit. I want to go back and see if I can get some bigger ones...

[Vez]

hey Shibby

looking good, if i may, you said, after the the wood was removed, the tank was better? where did you get the wood from? the reason why im asking is, where will be going to the Vaal soon, and the farm has very nice wood, so i want to put some in my 2ft i need a nice looking wood for my moss, just want to know how to treat it?

thanks

Vez

[SHiBBY]

I bought the wood from a LPS, but I found it in the reptile section and the assistant warned that it might not be suitable for aquarium use. I however liked the look of it, and decided to take my chances. Bad idea. I don't know what the active ingredient was, but something in that wood changed my tank. From the moment it was in, my fish appeared scared, always hiding and hardly ever coming out. I thought that they'd get used to it, and that it was only temporary. 2 weeks later, I only had one fish left.

I was too hasty to get it into my aquarium. That wood should've been left in a seperate tank/container for a month or two, being exposed to high temperatures and salt to ensure that it gave off everything it could before I added it to my tank. Rest assured, I've still got it at home. I'm going to chuck it back into the koi pond till April and try it again. It will eventually reach a point where it's no longer toxic.

[Vez]

oh okay, thanks,

and the same for rocks???as the farm has the coolest looking rock, do i just chucked it in a bucket and add some rock salt and warm water?

[hein24]

SHiBBY and Vez you can boil the wood as well if you want to kill what ever toxins are in it just don't boil too long else you'll end up with popwood...

[Vez]

haha, jip, but the dof thing is, you have to soak it for so long......can take up to TWO months,,,,,

[SHiBBY]

oh okay, thanks,

and the same for rocks???as the farm has the coolest looking rock, do i just chucked it in a bucket and add some rock salt and warm water?

With rocks you'll firstly chuck some vinegar onto it. If it doesn't fizz, THEN you can boil it in salt water for a while. But if its silica based, scrub it down and chuck it it. Silica is safe!

[Vez]

With rocks you'll firstly chuck some vinegar onto it. If it doesn't fizz, THEN you can boil it in salt water for a while. But if its silica based, scrub it down and chuck it it. Silica is safe!

and if it does FIZZ? and what is Silica? what type of rock?

[SHiBBY]

shihr would be able to clarify, but as far as I know, if it fizzes, it's unsafe for aquarium use. Silica (silicon dioxide) is most commonly found in nature as sand or quartz, although it sometimes gets fused together under pressure and heat to form rocks. These silica rocks will have the same characteristics as the glass your tank is made of.

[Vez]

thanks shibby, the farm has really good looking rocks and wood, and after the floods, i think i might find a few good looking wood... if anyone wants, let me know, think we might be going down next month, or easter weekend

[shihr]

if it fizzes, it contains traces of of minerals that i cannot rem, think its calcium. those minerals fluctuate the ph of your tank.

[Vez]

thanks shihr, did not know that, will take one of my rocks/pebbles from my tank, and test it tonight..

[SHiBBY]

The new population is as follows:

(From top to bottom of the food chain)

1x Jack Dempsey (Juvi)
1x Dwarf Gourami (Adult)
5x Zebra Danio
5x Leopard Danio
10x White Cloud Minnow

The JD showed some initial threat dispays when his new tank buddies arrived, but now they're as thick as thieves!

[Vez]

sounds cool, post some pics!!!

[SHiBBY]

Will do! The JD keeps the danio and white cloud in schools which looks cool. He's like a sheep dog, keeping the group nice and tight. And stragglers quickly gets chased back into formation... Unfortunately, he's growing by the day. Pretty soon those minnows will be snacks...