Need help with a 240l tank

[Kyle]

I'm going to be buying a Fluval roma 240 on monday and it's mainly going to be for apistogramma so I want a theme based on them but I'm unsure on what substrate and plants to use. I know I want the background to be a riccia net and I want a mantanzi branch with each arm covered in java moss, I was thinking about using terracotta pots but I'm not too keen anymore so I think I'm going to be using flat stone and blended rocks for caves. The tank is 2cm under 4ft if anyone isn't sure what tank it is. I will let it cycle for about 6 weeks before adding anything so hopefully the plants will grow a bit by then too. I have a few questions so here they are. Would I be able to keep a successful 3 female to 1 male harem spawning frequently or is it risky keeping 3 females in a 4ft tank as I understand 1 female takes 1.5/3ft of territory? I want floating plants to cut out a bit of the light and to fill the top area but is there any themed plants that will grow well under little light? Are pencil fish still the favorite for dither fish or is there any less harmful fish out there? What would be the best bulbs to use? My pH is (usually) 6.6 but it can creep a bit higher during water changes but I'm not too worried about that. Another thing I'm not too sure on is if I'm going to need CO2 for the plants or not.

 

[animalmgc]

Hornwort is a good floater as well as low light plant.for more info go to the following link http://www.plantgeek.net/ click on plant guide and it will tell you where the different plants are from and what requirements are needed.As for lighting I would suggest T5s I've went the route of T 8s and they only have a life span of 6 months to T5s might be a bit more costlier but they average 5 yrs.For substrate LFS or Pet Smart type I ve used other types but I'm sold on using a planted tank substrate Eco Complete or others it depends on what good prices you can get.I mixed mine with a substrate called Black Cinder which was only 99 cents a pound
http://fish.mongabay.com/biotope_amazon_blackwater.htm a good place to use4 as a reference for Bios

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
Kyle, you can use silica sand for the substrate, it's cheap, you can use it on it's own or you can mix it with other substrates to improve plant growth. My newer tanks are 80% sand, 10% leaf mould, 10% clay (I'm using "Seramis" could I had a large amount of it, but "Akadama" is also good (for "Bonsai" trees). I would have used ordinary clay, but I don't have access to any non-limy clay locally.

I like T5's as well, I use "undercabinet lights" but you can get "Hagen power glo" or similar pretty cheap (it may come with lights?). Riccia isn't self fastening, so you will spend all your time fastening it back down. I've got plenty of spare moss (and other plants) so PM if you want some, Xmas moss particularly is a great "clinger". Other floating plants I'd recommend as well as Hornwort are (Ceratophyllum), Floating Fern (Ceratopteris), Salvinia, Pistia and Limnobium (Amazon Frogbit). Java Fern and Anubias attached as well as mosses, and Cryptocoryne wendtii, Nymphaea, Potamogeton gayi and any "Sword's" (Echinodorus).

Have a look at ApistoBobs's recommendations <http://www.dwarfcichlid.com/Aquarium_care.php>, follow them and you won't go far wrong.

cheers Darrel

 

[Kyle]

Thanks for the reply, I'll pm you after christmas sometime. Has anyone used this? http://www.vyair.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idProduct=33