Loaches 4ft ADA style tank & Loaches Shrimp :-)

Hey guys. Starting a new journal on the tank i picked up from Fish bowl and ponds yesterday. Thanks doug . And as he requested, Many pics to come.
So me and my friend spent a long time on the substrate. Here are the pics.

Empty tank


Scoria down


Dolomite lime to increase kh as my rainwater is near zero.


B&B and Trace element granules


Clay/Dirt mix


Big marble chips


Minerilized topsoil and small marble chips


25kg of pool sand


Layers


The rocks i picked at brighton beach


Your right doug, the silicone work is excellent


And fnally the first FTS


More pics to come once my equipment comes

tank stats:

tank: 215ltr Absolute aquariums 4ftx50cmx35cm
Filter: Pro Aqua 2000lr/h UV sterilized canister
Heater: Hagen Elite 300w heater
Lights: 3x DIY led floodlights making 60 watts of powerful leds
Plants: Wait and see folks
Stand: DIY

Looks amazing so far!

Jeff wrote:

Looks amazing so far!

thanks jeff

epic mate!!!!!!!!!

Looking good

Doug wrote:

epic mate!!!!!!!!!

thanks doug, tanks holding well

jim.and wrote:

Looking good

Thanks jim

well, hardscape done, and lights wired up. Wiring the lights was not very hard, just a light, cable and plug but i forgot the tape and the safety thing shut half the houses power off. I also put a couple of brackets up on the wall and hung the lights up
So anyway here are the pics.

looking good man!

thanks doug, A new update..... plants are in, just awaiting my eheim 2228 and my jager heater and some stuff to connect the co2 like tubing etc
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Most plants are from dave at aquagreen besides the rare Crinum calastrianum from dean on AL forum and Peackock moss from Ghoti on AL forum.
Now, dave is tooo generous as i got 4x the expected amont of HC, about 48x the expected HM, i ordered 2 bunches, got about 10 decent sized bunches... And the crinum is valued upto 150 bucks where as i got it for 40.
fiddling with camera












thats it for now, will update on friday or monday when equipment comes

Looking amazing already.

thanks jim

i connected the co2 today and it has been pumping nicely so far.

pics:


waters a bit murky from wood but should clear up when purigen goes in.

keep a very close eye on your pH as DIY CO2 can drop your pH very fast! Like 2-3 in the space of an hour! At that level even the plants will suffer. I have made all the mistakes with CO2, even with a full automatic system i still made errors that killed some of my prized discus

My fully automatic system is for sale if you want one.

thanks for the tip doug, will chech the ph now

Nice looking tank. Can't wait to follow the updates.
Carol

butterfly wrote:

Nice looking tank. Can't wait to follow the updates.
Carol

cheers carol, i got my Eheim 2228 filter and jager heater today but tank hasnt changed so no update.

Forgot to update
Heres the tank as of now... The HC looks dodgy in areas because while i was on holidays and duckweed covered the top and killed part of it from no light

Excuse the breeder box, tot some shrimp in there.


saddled female cherry


Common BN fry.


Some mildly obese neons (30 of them)


Pearl Gourami


A very clear male cherry

looks great mate. Id have to give your tank.......... 2 THUMBS UP!

kfenk wrote:

looks great mate. Id have to give your tank.......... 2 THUMBS UP!

Thanks Kfenk!

How are your tanks going?

WOW! that is one of the best tanks I have seen in a long time! You have a real ability with tanks and aquascaping!

Thanks heaps Doug .

Tank has started to marure a bit. I actually did a heap of replanting yesterday and it looks different now. Wll wait a few weeks before you guys get pics

Plant shuffle...

Oh yeah, and heres my other recent project

Nice!!