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5 foot biotopish!

rr16

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
536
So decided to dismantle my 5 foot tank and redo it all with my new hood that I built with a viewing window. It had emergent Hydrocotyle leucocephala all around the ledges but this was recently destroyed by aphids! It also had an old undergravel filter at one end and gravel on top so I decided to take out the gravel and replace it all with sand (as over half of it was sand anyway). I also changed my filters so that the outlets for both external canisters were at one end, the inlets at the other.
It's not the most apisto-friendly in that it has a relatively strong water current, but then there are patches where the water current is quite slow.
But then I have A. barlowi in here and they're reported to be OK with stronger currents. I have leopard frog plecs in here also so there's a pile of rocks at one end with a water circulation fan close to them to hopefully encourage some spawning of these (we shall see!).
It is my community tank really, but with small niches for different fish. May need to add a bit more leaf litter but I also wanted to aim for more open sand areas with leaf litter around the edges of these near the wood piles.

Anyway, to get started I had to empty the tank and with around 3-4 inches of depth in there were still 3 discus hiding somewhere in the murk (and had pulled all the wood out - some of which I never even remembered buying or collecting.

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At this point I thought I had two green neons and an oto in here so I scooped away and managed to find the neons. The oto was nowhere to be seem so I assumed I must have been mistaken and continued to drain the water. When there was just about 1/2cm of water left I noticed a splashing in the mud!
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The wood I'd taken out!
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...and rocks!


So< i put it back together again with the hood that I'd built and it was all rather cloudy and sandy at first. Cleaned rather a lot of sand particles out of the filter sponges the next day!

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So, by the next day it had cleared up a bit more and I'd rearanged a few bits, hid the heater and moved some leaf litter around a bit, plus added more plants and a log to the top.
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Linus_Cello

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
276
Location
Washington DC
Love the tank. Hate the orchid. Phaleanopsis come from south east asia. Try a cattleya, or better yet a phragmapedium (they can grow with "wet feet").
 

rr16

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
536
Love the tank. Hate the orchid. Phaleanopsis come from south east asia. Try a cattleya, or better yet a phragmapedium (they can grow with "wet feet").
Ha ha, that's why it's biotopish! I don't drive so am limited to where I can get for different plants. This was just a random one I picked up in IKEA for a small cost so thought I'd give it a go. There's now also a bromeliad of some kind in there.
Thanks for the advice though, I'll have a look at these and see if I can locate them anywhere!
There is also java moss, anubias, java fern, random ivy, oak wood and leaves, a few other random plants, pothos and some ferns that are likely Asian too (Oh, and trachycarpus leaf litter), so it's far from botanically accurate.
 

rr16

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
536
Oh, and the bronze cories appear to be about to spawn!
 

rr16

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
536
Here are a few more - growth is filling in now.
 

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rr16

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
536
A couple more.
 

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rr16

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
536
A few I just took now.
 

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skoram

Active Member
Messages
135
wow, that is pretty cool. you caught them at just the right time. did they perhaps jump too high though? doesn't seem like the male will be able to splash that leaf easily.
 

rr16

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
536
It's only about 3 or 4 inches above water level. The males can easily splash that high. I removed the leaf and put it in a tub with my C. compta fry anyway.
 

rr16

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
536
Here are a few recent pics from this tank, including some emersed amazon sword leaves.
 

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rr16

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
536
Cheers, having a few teething problems with mold but we live and learn!
 

rr16

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
536
In the process of making a new opening bit for the lid to create better ventillation and replce the one that cracked, let mold in and was pretty much destroyed. Contemplating some red-eyed tree frog in here shortly.
 

rr16

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
536
So I went into the tank as I noticed my water circulation pump wasn't working. Must have just got jammed. It's in the back corner near some wood and filter inlets. Something kept banging against my hand quite hard when I was wiggling it to get it working again.
Sooo... I got my torch out and had a look, so then I got my camera out. The pics aren't great but you may be able to tell what's happening and what was attacking me!
 

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skoram

Active Member
Messages
135
this tank puts my riparium to shame. beautiful and inspiring growth. the copella spawning is a really cool added bonus. I see you even have some Sarracenia. I also have a few species but I'm wary of putting them in a riparium. Looks like yours is doing great in there!

By the way, is that emersed Hydrocotyle leucocephala growing all over? The leaves look huge ...
 

rr16

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
536
Oh, and a few photos from this tank today!
 

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