[traumatic]

The tank:

South American biotope:
120 wide, 4x2x2
20gal wet dry/sump filter
300w stealth heater
not sure about lights yet.

sand substrate, back 1/3 filled with driftwood

fish:

1 green severum
2 rotkeil severum
2 redline severum
3 curviceps
3 steindachneri
4 spotted silver dollars
12 colombian tetras
1 striped rapheal cat
1 spotted rapheal cat
1 rhino pleco
1 BN pleco

I'm thinkin about getting a chocolate or two and possibly a couple keyholes

Lemme know what you all think :dancing:

 

[traumatic]

I know these arent' africans, but c'mon.... j/k

heres a sneak preview of all the wood I'll be using. This is my 75gal:

 

[dwarfpike]

I hope you are planning on removing some of the sevs if/when they pair up? 5 Sevs won't last long in a 4' tank, even with the increased depth/width.

Otherwise though, seems like a workable list. Just keep an eye on the curviceps, they tend to be shy fish and the active "geo" red humps might stress them a bit, but the driftwood should help with that.

 

[Laurel]

the 75 gallon is beautiful!

 

[traumatic]

thanks for the replys. I'm hoping to have this tank setup by the end of the summer. As busy as it is I'm having a hard time getting things done lately.

dwarfpike, we'll see about them pairing up. I agree w/ the numbers, I'm sure it'll be fine for a while till they all get too big. Right now only the big greeny is over 3 inches. The geos will possibly be booted out eventually once they start to get too big. They are only about 3 inches now. As far as the curviceps go, I'm depending on them calling that wood pile home. I feel fortunate to have them. I saved them from a tank full of firemouths at petsmart for $1.75 each. They are nice lookin fish. I'm truly glad I found them.

I'll most likely stay away from the chocolates for now. But I really wouldn't mind 2 or 3 keyholes.

thanks laurel...

 

[traumatic]

I've been working on this tank for a few weeks now, I've been inspired by mongabay.com as well as other setups I've seen around the net (see my thread called "What's your favorite biotope?"
Stats:

120 gal A.G.A. 2x2x4
filtration: homemade sump 20L w/ bioballs magdrive 1200 HOB overflow
water flow is 1200gph from pump and 937gph from powerhead
hardscape: driftwood, rounded stones, sticks, almond leaves
substrate: mix of multi purpose sand, playsand, and couple handfulls of mixed natural gravel

projected fish stock:

5 spotted silver dollars
4 severums
7 BN plecos
1 L075 pleco
1 adonis pleco ( juvenile 3")
1 rhino pleco ( 6")
1 striped rapheal
1 spotted rapheal
1 megalodoras irwini
1 pseudodoras niger
1 hoplosternum thoracatum
couple random others...

This my favorite tank by far to date - and there are NO plants whatsoever!!! You may probably see some minor changes to the hardscape on the right hand side in the future...

Full tank shot

Left hand side

Right hand side

 

[traumatic]

new pics:

 

[dwarfpike]

Excellant blackwater tank!! :thumb:

 

[xoxemoneyxox]

how do you clean under the wood when you do water changes?

 

[traumatic]

thanks.

the filter output and powerhead blows everthing out into the open area dead spot on the right. I vac it out from there. If I dont' get it all, I'll just move the output head and it will blow in a different direction to reach any other areas that need it. The only problem with that is that it can blow sand all over the place. Easy does it.

 

[JohnBob]

Very unique tank, traumatic :dancing: I think some better quality pics would do your fish more justice but I love the look you achieved.

 

[traumatic]

thanks, I agree. I use a so/so camera and was eager to get some pics up asap so I figured I'd go with them. The next photography session will be a little cleaner. :thumb:

 

[traumatic]

Did a little tweeking to the scape, tried moving some wood around to see what I could do to make it look a little more full. Hopefully it added some depth and a more natural look. Any suggestions welcome! :fish: :thumb:

 

[traumatic]

Tank and most all the fish are up for sale!!! :roll:

 

[drungil14]

Why do you have to sell it?. Just curious to know where you got all of the driftwood from?

 

[traumatic]

I'm moving, so all the big tanks have to go, lol. I got the wood from a friend. It's malaysian driftwood I think.