Making a new 4 feet tank for Apistogramma

[bengalman]

hello members,i need your valuable suggestions for making a 4 feet tank. my wishlist is :

Tank: 48*18*21
Substrate: River sand
Hardscape: lots of branchy driftwoods
Filtration: 1*Eheim 2217 and 1*SunsunHW303B(?)
Light: LED light (yellow colour)
fish: 50 cardinal tetra, 2 apistogramma cacatuoides orange flash male and 4-5 female
Others: Indian almond leaf.

please feel free for any suggestions and changes can be done.
Thanx in advance...

 

[slimbolen99]

That should be a pretty neat tank. Might not be a bad idea to add some java moss. You can try tying small clumps to the driftwood, both at the upper parts of the tank, and the lower. This might help break up the sight lines of the female apistos and also provide some refuge for fry.

 

[bengalman]

thanx slim.i also think that adding some floating plants will not be a bad idea for this set up.
ok,i have to think about adding moss.
can you please put some light on "This might help break up the sight lines of the female apistos and also provide some refuge for fry".

here i upload pictures of my present 2 feeter where i have those apistos temporarily...

 

[loirUh]

seems to me like a very cool tank!

 

[slimbolen99]

Even in a 4' tank; depending on the species and actual temperament of the fishes, I've had females reduce two trios of apistos into a single pair. That's why I like adding as much cover as possible.

I like that wood. What kind is it and where did you get it?

 

[bengalman]

thanx loiruh for nice complement.

there's some more update of my present tank:

temperature:25-27 degree Celsius(this is summer here in india,and now it is scorching heat and humidity here).i use 3 CPU fan running 24*7 and use AC for at least 12 hours per day.
ph level:6.8-7(yes i know most of you'll say that this is preety high ph level for apisto.so i'll buy a RO system with in a year,have to wait for collecting that money).

@slim,i heard that apistogramma is a harem fish and many people keep 1 male with 2-3 female. also at present i have 2 apistogramma cacatuoides orange flash male.so what can i do!! i'll keep my agassizi double red pair in this very tank and wish to keep those 2 cacatuoides male along with few female in that 4 feeter.

but last but not the least,i am a newcomer in this apisto keeping.i know that your valuable suggestions are extremely helpful for me to make it successful.so please please corect me if i am wrong.

i have 3 branchy driftwoods in this tank.1 is moor wood and 1 is ADA wood and other one is our local chennai grade wood.actually chennai is a city in India where you can find lots of branchy driftwoods.


here i upload those 3 driftwoods that i have...

 

[loirUh]

ure welcome! i am really looking foward to see how this tank will grow and envolve. nice driftwood btw!

 

[Bilbo]

Sounds very cool and I would love to see it set up as well.
Just a thought, you are going to have a huge amount of water movement unless you are careful. The two filters you listed move about 2400 lp/h between them and your tank is about 300 litres. I think you would easily get away with just the Sunsun.

 

[bengalman]

thanx both of you.i feel honoured...

yes too much water circulation is a problem.that's why i need suggestions from you guys.so,now i can go with just 1 canister filter.ufff,atlast some money will be saved .

in my new set also i'll use these type of drifts.hopefully i'll start this project soon.

 

[loirUh]

i guess a 2217 will fit just fine remeber that apistogramma prefer slow moving water!

 

[bengalman]

ok,thanx loiruh.i may go for a eheim 2217 for this 4 feeter.
also can you suggest my a good filter for my 22 gallon tank?currently i have 1 HOB filter.can i go for sunsun HW302 or 303?

 

[loirUh]

i dont work on gallon but i guess 22 gallon are around 82 liter... so, in my opinion you can work around a Eheim 2217 too, i dont know the specs of that filter u mentioned but if it is similar its ok!

 

[bengalman]

eheim 2217 for 82 liter tank!!!it may be too much for that tank.IMO eheim 2215 should work well in this 22 gallon or 82 liter tank...

 

[loirUh]

a 2217 would be no problem at all! a 2213 is a little small i guess... for my 54 liter tank i have a 2213, for an 82 liter i woukd recomend at least a 2215!

 

[bengalman]

yes,that's why in my previous post i said that 2215 will be a better option for this.

 

[loirUh]

sorry lol i read 2213! my bad!!

 

[bengalman]

it's ok buddy.

 

[Gwendal]

Really nice tank!





1 saludo

 

[bengalman]

thanx gwendal...

 

[bengalman]

here's spme updates:
my agassizi double red pair spawned last week for the 1st time.but i was unsucessful to get fry from those.

here's my current tank look of my 2feter: