Updating the convict tank

Hahahaha, ok Cool. Thought the outside/convicts got to them :tongue:.

Currently have 3 convicts, 2 black & 1 white. Thinking of getting a few more and selling the other fish I have cause I bought them on bad impulse and the miss doesn't want to allow another tank at this stage.

 

Not the cube has been standing full sun outside - for probably over 2 years, mainly because I did not trust my silicone job I did on it. Today I found some straps without the hooks. R200 for the pair - sold, better strapped up and not have a BIG leak than not. Done this before on a different cube that had seriously bad silicone- gave me an extra two years of tank before it gave.



Probably my imagination - but I think the de-lamination is becoming worst.



Hope this will hold, I really like the tank indoors.

Later Ferdie

 

Straps are still holding ..



Raspberry Pi 3 v2 camera doing the shooting.

Later Ferdie

 

Convicts went to town on the anubias and needle fern ... so a rescape was in order.



I am also thinking about doing either pebbles or gravel as a "substrate"

Hmmm

Later Ferdie

 

@Jwh you mentioned you use an HOB with batting, thought I would give it a try in the convict tank, I have hooked up a spare liberty 130 and at only 3w that is nothing. What are you using on your BIG tank and how did you arrange the media?

Later Ferdie

 

I found some tumbled marble stones ...

Now lets see if this little HOB can handle this, will probably regret adding this in a few weeks, for now I will like to see it covered with algae - moss would be great but probably not with these vegheads.





Later Ferdie

 

ferdi, 4x dophin c2400's, media is a bit of a mixed bag.
All the filters in the bottom tray have ceramic rings & black sponge that came with filter.
Filter 1 then has 3 trays with k1 tipe media.
filter 2 1 tray tetra bio balls, 2 trays ceramic rings + batting on top
filter 3 2 trays ceramic rings, 1 tray k1 + batting on top
filter 4 1 trays ceramic rings, 1 tray matrix, 1 tray bio balls
I kind of used media I had around, used scrubbies at some stage, but they tend to clog easily and are difficult to clean
im of the opinion that all media works, and am happy to use bio balls where others seem to have an adversion to these.
my water parameters are spot on, my water is very clear, so it works for me.
Don't use purigen at all anymore, occasionally charcoal to remove meds or tannins.
i want to add a HOB to the big tank, but the bracing makes this impossible, will probably fashion an above the tank type of contraption with a small pump.
im really amazed how well the HOB with batting worked for me.

 

Added some new tanks friends to the convict's tank ... was a bit touch and go but all seem to have be more comfortable now.



Later Ferdie

 

What barbs are they? Look very nice hey! Nice splash of colour amongst the convicts. I agree with the previous post where you say that bio balls are ok. They just need to be kept cleanish so that they don't clog. You do need a lot more of them to achieve the same amount of surface area that a more porous media would have. The advantage is a higher surface area in direct contact with water passing through. So IMO they're great for sumps in tanks with a high bio load, as they're better equipped to deal with heavy fluctuations in ammonia production.

 

I saw some stunning red barbs yesterday, think they were called flame barbs? Similar to rosy barbs but a deep red.

Tetra claims 62cm2 per bio ball, which is not insignificant, I have never seen consistent data on ceramic rings, a lot of it is conflicting or varies a lot, or just sounds dodgy, most of my media is ceramic rings though....they all seem to work...

 

Albino Tiger Barb, Initially I thought it was a hybrid - so stayed clear. Much like my white convicts, these are selective breeding morphs.

Yeah bioballs are probably OK in large numbers and big waste - but those plastic tubes you get as media in some canisters ... a waist of space or rather waste full use of space in a canister.

This is slowly starting to come back, bioball typically home to aerobic bacteria in our canisters - since the construction is plastic, good quality ceramics has both aerobic and anaerobic in the same water flow or something like that ... might be grabbing a straws here ;-) I'll need to go and dig to find the thread where this was highlighted to me.

Later Ferdie

 

http://www.seachem.com/matrix.php

"Plastic bio-materials provide only external surface area, whereas Matrix™ provides both external and internal macroporous surface area. These macropores are ideally sized for the support of nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria. This allows Matrix™, unlike other forms of biomedia, to remove nitrate along with ammonia and nitrite, simultaneously and in the same filter."

interesting read http://www.seachem.com/downloads/articles/Specific-Surface.pdf

 

Plant and bards did not workout in that tank ... but I was rather surprised to see many many many fry, esp when I noticed that the move between parents.



Wonder if they will make it in the long run.

Later Ferdie

 

Trying something different in the big convict tank ...



Reminds me of a cake ..or pudding.

Later Ferdie

 

I was happily making my way form northern Thailand to the south for some island R&R ... got to BKK on a late night flight ... got this hmm feeling. Now I have been doing the entire where to next based on simple coin flips .. following a LTRT (left turn, right turn) kinda plan when I hit a decision point. Flipped the coin ... south or back home ... twice heads came up .. OK home it is.

Did a flight change and got on the plane just after 01 .. get home and the other 1/4 says something is not lekker in the fishroom. She thinks I might have a dead fish ... turns out I had just under 2kg of dead convicts. It was only the BIG old fish that went. I suspect one of the very old convicts died a normal death, others feasted on it .. and then the tank's health just went south. So good thing I am back - would never have been allowed to walkabout if she had to clean that mess up. So now I only have smalls left .. after pulling everything out - I thought why not try something different, esp since I saw so many inspirational things the week before.

So saving the remaining convicts is priority 1 ... at the same time I want to play with the volume I have in that.



I think you can see where I am trying to go.



Clearly tanks like this is inspiring.





But then also these ...




So lots to think about .. lets see.

Later Ferdie

 

Sorry for the loss @f-fish ..
That's not nice.
Glad at least some are ok.
That' some stunning plant pictures... if I'm reading this right...Love the idea

 

indeed a bit sad but it does give me an opportunity to try some other thinking.

Clear I do not have those plants, but the details and how cool they look Ultimately want to try and get to that at some point ... but baby steps first.


I am such a believer that things happen for a reason, take this example - ordered these waterproof T8 holder 20 Jan 2018 ... - with tracking, tracking lost the package in early Feb. Get an SMS from SAPO collect .. ha ha .. so if I was still in Asia I might have missed out .. not that I could find them in any of the markets either.




Now I can do some safer DIY LED light ..

Later Ferdie

 

Shame. Not nice. Strongs on getting everything up again and making it better than before

 

Thanks .. yeah all we can do is try to do better.

Just messing around at the moment ... so starting with something like this.





thinking about adding a humidity sensor ...

Later Ferdie

 

Well.. its already looking awesome!!