Podzys' 180 Gallon Tank Journal

I'm really excited to share with everyone what I have done so far and what i will be doing in the weeks to come. I will start out by giving everyone a bit of backround to what it is I am trying to accomplish . I am attempting to recreate an South American river Biotope.

Stocklist

Wild Heckel Discus x6
Bleeding Heart tetra x6
Corydora Sterbai x6
Cardinal Tetra x20

I'm possibly thinking of also adding a few Rummynose tetra or some black neon tetra. I do not want to overcrowd the tank so we will see how it works out with what is there so far.

The Tank

The tank is a 180 Gallon Marineland tank 72''x24''x24'' with a black painted pine stand. Purchased at Big Als Aquarium services in Mississauga , ON. No I did not purchase all the ridiculous stuff inside the tank


Tank finally delivered to my Apartment ! taking residence in the living room next to the couch for optimum viewing of course



Filtration
So , I decided I would go with two Fluval FX 6's . I know some of you may be thinking "Why didn't you go with a sump ? " My honest answer is this , I just really like the FX 6. I like the look , also have quiet it has been and plus lots of great reviews. I have done sump before and just wanted to try something new that's all.


Aquarium Backround

I decided that I would purchase a 3D Aquarium backround from a dealer in Canada who imports them from aqua-maniac.com . The specific backround I went with is called the "amazon 3D backround , which is what you will see in the picture below. it Should be arriving in the next two weeks. I will be hiding everything behind it , holes will be drilled to allow for maximum flow through the backround.



Substrate

Bomix natural beach sand purchased from Rona here in Toronto. also went with Estes Spectrastone Gravel , doing a mix of the two.



Decor

To keep it natural looking I decided to stick to just wood for decor. Manzanita wood to be precise. these are the exact pieces that I am using .
the first two had to be trimmed down to fit in the tank , those pieces may end up as litter in the substrate or , suspended as a root system into the water
not sure yet , we will see.



The Prototype

Quick photoshopped mock up of how the aquarium might look. it's quite funny to look now that I think of it...



actual photo's

Water is completely full of tanins' at the moment , but thats okay , Im only on week two of my Fishless cycle. sorry for the quality of the photos lol.



So this is what I have so far , in the next few weeks , I will be adding lighting which is still to be determined at the moment and also some hanging plants
on the glass top , roots dangling into the water. However I will need to find something that isn't poisonous to these two.. who i'm sure will have a hay day once they see the plants...



And also some floating plants and possibly a few in the tank....
What do you all think so far ?!

Stay Tuned for more

Hey it's been a few weeks since the last update so I will bring everyone up to speed on what has transpired . The tank is fully cycled. took just over 4 weeks with a fishless cycle. If there is one thing I may add about cycling a tank that way is this.. DO NOT feed ammonia more than once in 24 hours. even if it has dropped to 0 PPM in 8-12 hours , this will unnecessarily prolong the time it takes for the nitrobacter bacteria to develop. raising ammonia to over 1 PPM after the initial 5 PPM is useless and unless you plan on putting "free willy" in your aquarium it is not needed.

Here is my stock list : 5 x Corydora Julii , 2 x Corydora Paleatus , 1 x bristlenose Plecostomus , 6 x Bleeding Heart Tetra, 7 x Rummynose Tetra , 17 Cardinal Tetra , 2 x Zebra Danio (Not on purpose) , 1 x Unknown tetra sold mistakenly as a rummy nose.

I've added a Fluval T5 HO Quad light with two Actinic bulbs and 2 day glo bulbs , its only 36" much to small for my aquarium . I will be purchasing another one in a few weeks. So there was a delay in receiving my 3D aquarium backround ,Due to that huge storm in Kentucky, it was delayed at the warehouse. Hopefully this week !.

I also decided to do a bit of aquascaping. THIS IS MY FIRST SCAPE , go easy on me ha ha . It's a bit unorganized, lets just say i might as well called it "DrunkScaping" as I was a bit... But , I do enjoy the rustic look to it , after all I will be adding some wild looking discus (NOT wild, just wild looking).
Alas , here are some photos. ALSO , still waiting on aquarium canopy to be built , shouldn't be more than a month. well , until next time guys !