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Post by vraev on May 31, 2012 0:56:36 GMT -5
Hi guys, I have been away for a while now from the CP hobby. Things are still slow and chugging along and the remake of my terrariums is still sometime in the future. But in the meanwhile, this is what I have been up to. Still having issues a bit with water clarity..it looks just a bit green and hazy...not the crystal clear from ADA aquaria. I do have glass lily pipes, but they are soaking in bleach as I am waiting for the brush to clean off the building of algae. Similarly, took out the CO2 diffuser to clean it, but ended up snapping it in my hand and cutting myself, so for now, using a red sea air stone which works surprisingly well. Without further due, My very first aquarium right after a trim and a 75% + 50% watert change. The best look so far. cheers, Varun PS: I must say...this thing is a tremendous PITA. Almost everyday maintenance. My CPs are sooo much easier to care for. I don't think I'll be having aquaria for too long. Just too much work to and a lot more expensive in maintenance than CPs. But hey..atleast till my school is done, I'm going to indulge. OLDER PICS. Some older pics in the last 3-4 weeks. This setup was started almost two months ago. Started initially, broke it down 4 weeks later, then remade it. Original version: Version 2: With ADA materials..riccia stone + riccia line.
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Post by shoggoths on May 31, 2012 9:36:57 GMT -5
Wow, pretty nice set-up.
Thank you for sharing the pics and your experience.
I would have liked to try it too but I'm already extremely busy so I think this project will be put on ice for a time.
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Post by 31drew31 on May 31, 2012 9:48:04 GMT -5
Looks great vraev! Yes the aquarium hobby is a pricey one. I worked at a Big Al's out of highschool and the money some people would put into this hobby was scary.
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Post by Kase on May 31, 2012 10:21:13 GMT -5
Vraev, that looks amazing!!! What do you have for live stock in there? You make me want to clean my tank up and take some pics lol
Cheers Roger
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Post by lloyd on May 31, 2012 12:19:10 GMT -5
I felt the same way when I had aquaria. The flora and fauna would be really good for years and then suddenly die-back, disease and it would look horrible. Nothing seemed to have changed. I'd look at the pictures of planted tanks in pictures and books and just couldn't understand why mine failed so badly.
I began to think that people who were successful were supernaturally gifted, spent tons of money or unbearable amounts of time on their set-ups. Or maybe I just wasn't that good at it. Then I gave everything away.
Your set-up does look healthy, though.
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Post by vraev on May 31, 2012 13:02:15 GMT -5
Thanks for the comments guys. I tell u ..I still can't believe how much time commitment it takes to keep it running nice and clean. Just a couple of days before i took this picture, the tank looked very messy. I don't have good quality lights (I have a lot of watts over it though) and the plants grow, but not optimally. But once the trim was done, it looked a lot cleaner. Basically there is almost everyday maintenance involved. Something to do...and before I realize, I already spent like 3-4h doing it. Currently, still need to do a 20% water change every couple of days. Its a chore.
Regarding livestock: 10-11 : Amano shrimp 10: Cardinal tetra (actually 9 cardinals and 1 neon) 3: Otocinculus 3: Crossocheilus atrilimes NOT the true SAE...but still does a decent job at eating algae. 1: Vampire shrimp .. very shy..haven't seen it out and about yet...always hiding in the plants
Regarding price..I agree. I have dumped a lot of money into this. The tank, stand, lights, filter, CO2 system, glass lily pipes, diffusers, the freaking substrate, the stones, plants...it adds up. Funny enough, the fish were the cheapest. lol! The whole setup cost almost as much or more than my two huge terraria (not including plants).
Interesting point Lloyd. I read that apparently that is due to the buildup of anaerobic bacteria that produce dangerous levels of hydrogen sulphide. In Amano's books, he talks about how the substrate additives that ADA sells may be useful for the long life of a layout, but a typical layout with this substrate level is only good for about 2-3 years before it has to be broken down. Not to mention riccia itself isn't that good as a long term plant.
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Post by lloyd on May 31, 2012 14:31:56 GMT -5
Hard to believe it was hydrogen sulfide. That stuff stinks and I never noticed the typical smell even at the yearly complete cleanup. Obviously some sort of toxic build up or disease. Also I had an undergravel filtration system so I don't see how it could have been anaerobic in the substrate.
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Post by nwflytrap on May 31, 2012 14:54:19 GMT -5
That's a great looking aquarium Varun. I've been keeping aquariums for over 30 years and spent 10 years making my living from maintaining them. Planted tanks were my specialty, and I haven't seen many that good from experienced keepers. Not many people go for high light CO2 systems on their first go. Kudos for you for going for it. None of my tanks now are high light, but they're all jungles. I don't have time for maintenance so they're all fairly simple. They still look nice though. I've been trying to find a vampire shrimp for a while now. They're one of the few crustaceans large enough to survive with my fish. None have been available for some time though. I must sya I've never noticed any of my tanks go into decline after a number of years. I had planted tanks that I maintained in seniors complexes running for around 8 years, and the plants were growing just as well as when the tanks were setup. Good root growth should prevent any hydrogen sulphide buildup, as does rearranging plants occasionally. Keep up the good work!
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Post by Devon on May 31, 2012 18:01:33 GMT -5
I love freshwater aquariums - that looks really nice! I hope to see more pics of this in the future.
Thanks for sharing!
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Post by vraev on May 31, 2012 19:03:44 GMT -5
Roger, I would love to see ur tanks too man. Everyone do share. I would love to see the aquaria that people here have. Thanks James. Yeah... I figured the only reason I want an aquarium was to make something like one of the ADA displays. I have no other inclination to have a regular fish tank. That meant I had to go all out to get what I wanted. And I indeed did. This is the whole setup. Still waiting for a new diffuser to replace the one I broke. Regarding the vampire shrimp. Well...if u do manage to get any... realize that they are very very very shy. I haven't seen this one out at all. Maybe having more than one helps, but mine is very shy and always hiding. Today is the first time I have seen it feed. Hard to capture a good shot of it. I found it at Big Als in Hamilton.
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Post by Kase on May 31, 2012 19:24:33 GMT -5
I'll try and clean my tank for some pics. Regarding the vampire shrimp, they are only shy shortly after introduction to change, after they get settled in they will sit in areas of flow and wave their fans for food
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Post by nwflytrap on May 31, 2012 19:46:10 GMT -5
I've brought them in through my store before, and had one in a tank I looked after, just never had my own. The one I looked after scared the bejesus out of me when I when to move the driftwood and grabbed him as well. I had forgot he was under there.
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Post by nwflytrap on May 31, 2012 20:12:48 GMT -5
Here's some shots of some of my tanks. My tastes run to the prehistoric for fish, especially West African ones. This is my old 50 gallon. It was just replaced with a 65 riparium setup. This is my 130 West African setup. I'm using LED spotlights on this. Looks really cool and grows the plants great as well. One of my four Polypterus lapredei that I've had for seven years now. I can never get a pic of my favourite one, the one eyed female. And my most favourite, my big ornate bichir, and her smaller roomie. The big girl is 18" long. I've had her for 12 years now. She was about 3" when I got her. She's the one in the back.
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Post by vraev on May 31, 2012 22:02:06 GMT -5
Wow james. Very naturalistic. Looks awsome. Those are some big fish too. What do u feed them? Feeder goldfish?
Yeah! I can't wait to see the little vampire on the stone sifting for algae. That would be one cool picture. lol! My hobbies are all in pursuit of cool pictures. lol!
@ Lloyd...perhaps the undergravel filter may be at fault too. I remember reading somewhere that undergravel filters many not be that good. Not to mention that substrate generally looses its nutrients...and once the nutrient levels crash, the plants slowly start to decline. More declining plants, more dead material breakdown to ammonia. Those ammonia spikes/nitrite spikes can be silent killers. Now that I think about it, there is documented accounts of people talking about the inverse for new tank syndrome....kinda like an old tank syndrome or something. Do u used to check water parameters regularly?
Thats another expensive I forgot to mention...I got a nutrafin master kit (10 parameters...checks ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, gH, kH, pH, phosphates, iron...and couple od other things). Got it from a closing down Big Als at half the regular price.
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Post by dvg on Jun 1, 2012 12:55:10 GMT -5
Here's some shots of some of my tanks. My tastes run to the prehistoric for fish, especially West African ones. This is my old 50 gallon. It was just replaced with a 65 riparium setup. This is my 130 West African setup. I'm using LED spotlights on this. Looks really cool and grows the plants great as well. One of my four Polypterus lapredei that I've had for seven years now. I can never get a pic of my favourite one, the one eyed female. And my most favourite, my big ornate bichir, and her smaller roomie. The big girl is 18" long. I've had her for 12 years now. She was about 3" when I got her. She's the one in the back. Great looking jungle tanks you have there NWflytrap! Impressive primitive looking fishes you have in there also. Thanks for sharing! dvg
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