From Start to the half way mark

Well I started the tank a while back and Id like to think Ive pasted the half way mark now! Ill put loads of pics etc on when its completed,Im even thinking of using it as an article,perhaps for the competition even if I can get my skates on abit!
Anyhow here is the tank at the start!




And its now at the half way mark stage! I still have more tankmates to add as well as doing a cave feature with Java moss etc..But thats for another day! Here is a sneak preview of the tank at present.

Well done fishowner. Looks like the start of a good tread.

Very nice !

Thank you for whetting our appetites before sending the article in !

Can't wait to see the other half of this new project.

Valerie

Well did a few changes to the tank today. Since the last update,Ive added Java Moss attached to a large round fish divider plastic mesh. It will no doubt take a few months to grow around the divider at which point i will cut it in half and use the other half for my other tank. Until then its a large plastic mesh with some Java fern on it,while not overly pleasant on the eye at the moment I reckon within a few months it will look the business.(I have ordered 2 x half coconut shells also just in case the moss isnt growing well). So today I did alot to the tank! Firstly the water was beginning to cloud over the past week. I decided to open the filter and do a quick clean of it also. I changed the carbon in the filter and the filter floss (Which was sooo black with dirt). Ive ordered more filter floss but have some new stuff from a jewel filter box that I'll use until the correct sized filter floss arrive next week. I also added some more water as I felt it needed another bit of a top-up. I was operating two lights in the hood,one blue and one white. Ive changed the blue light (as I think it will contribute to algae). I got another white light but its not working at present,I had difficulty opening the casing as it was an ex marine tank so it was rightly stuck from the salt etc. I'll fix the light in the morning, one of the lights is working at the moment now anyhow. I also added alot of new fish today. Probably to many but the changes in the filter should be more than capable of dealing with the increased bio load.
I added 10 rummy nose tetra's to compliment my existing 8 Rummys. (Ive had mixed experiences with these fish so far,I hope this batch will survive better). I also added 12 neons (meant to get 10 but ended up with 12 for some reason!). Finally I added a female bolivan ram to compliment my male golden ram.
So the tank should begin to get less cloudy after the carbon change and filter clean. The fish initally all shoaled together but over the past hour or so the neons and the rummys have founds their own species and are all happy. The female ram is staying v quiet at present however,but the male ram was the same initally before ruling the roost now in the tank! I also ordered another heater as Im not hugely happy with the existing heater, again should arrive next week.

Tank now has.
18 Rummy nose tetras.
12 neon tetras
2 Corydoras sterbai
1 male gold Ram (beautiful fish)
1 female Bolivian Ram
3 molly fry
6 freshwater shrimp (who I never see)
Java fern, bogwood, java moss, and a few other plants inluding oxygen plants.

So I think thats going to take my tank a while to bed in etc, I wont be adding anything new for another while unless I see some v nice corys. I will be transferring a female guppy into the tank soon to accomadate my other tank for more male guppys.

So thats the latest update folks!

Gavin

very nice selection of fish there gavin hope all goes well for you

Well Im at the 99% finished stage,think there will always be something to do to a tank which is why we take the hobby up in the first case!
Ive learned alot going through it, I had a bad case of neon tetra disease that saw alot of rummys and neons die,I then had Ich / Whitespot which I overcame and many other unforeseen problems that one just cant predict,but now Im happy with the set up of the tank.
The stocking list is different again from the previous post and at present I think I have the following!

3 x Golden Rams (1 Male & 2 Females)
1 x Molly (reared from my other tank).
1 x Guppy (added tonight from my other tank as he was being a bully to the neons,hope he leaves this lot alone!)
2 x Sterbai corys
7 x Rummy Nose tetras
7 x Neon Tetras
Some freshwater shrimp (bought 6 but not sure how many are there now,they are always hiding!)
6 x Panda Cory
1 x Ancistrus Dolich

Lots of plants that are all live.(except one!).
So hope you guys like the video of my tank. Its been a great project,Ive put alot of time and money no doubt also into it but finally I present to you my special South American tank. Hope you like it.

Nice tank and nice video. What kind of substrate do you have, looks like sand? Also what size is the tank?

Sand substrate,160 litre tank.(herself wouldnt let me get any bigger )

What do you use to feed the plants?
Its looking good

Nothing used to feed the plants,they thrive as it is. I may consider using some but at the moment Ive not needed it.
I know I thought it unusual also!

Gavin

Well if your doing regular water changes there should be enough in the water but you might find over time your plants might be lacking trace elements, this is something I want to start looking into soon possibly EI dosing