250 tank and 250 air

[HX67]

Thanks for the kind words, everyone.

To get a decent FTS I guess I'll have to get some sort of different lighting or something. Or then I just can't adjust the camera correctly. Without a flash, the upper part just burns:

Ain't life tough.

 

[Daeorn]

oh
my
god.

That is my dream tank. That is just really really awesome.

You'll really have to put some archers in there to get a great effect with all that empty air space.

 

[HX67]

Yes, I know. It just shouts for an archer or two... well, a school.

What I'm trying to find is a largish puffer, a largish flounder that can take care of itself and maybe a few Anableps.

There's ten monos (5+5), a knight goby and a G tile in there now. And the mudskipper, ofcourse.

 

[Tommydeal]

That is really a great tank! Thanks for sharing the pictures of the process. Your diy roots and rockwall are very realistic looking. The custom in-tank filter driven by the Koralia is ingenious. Is it doing the job well? I love Monos! I've got 4 in my brackish tank along with some flounders. Fantastic job!

 

[HX67]

Thanks and my pleasure. Hopefully I get some good feedback and ideas for how to go on with the tank.

The filter seems to be doing it's job surprisingly well. The bioload is not too heavy, but still, the nitrogen cyckle is up and running well. It also keeps the water moderately clear.
Koralia seems to do ok so far, too. I was a bit sceptic when I bought it a year ago, but for now it is still silent and working without a problem. Good value, if it keeps up for a few more years.

hey great, what kind of flounders do you have? I tried some soles in mine, but they ended up getting no food and seemed to be stressed by the monos. As I said, I'm looking for a hardy flounder species for mine.

Thanks again.

 

[Tommydeal]

Yeah, that's a one-of-a-kind filter. Very nice. One thing you could do, since your rockwork looks so cool is cover the entire back of the airspace with it and put in shelves for out-of-water plants. This picture is an approximate example of what I'm talking about:

I'm not sure if that would work with brackish water underneath, just an idea. Do you know of any underwater brackish plants (besides Mangroves)? I think my flounders are Achirus Lineatus but I never got the scientific name from the store I bought them from. They're slow growing, got them at .5" a year ago and they're about 2" now. My Monos never bothered them but I've had the two species together since they were all very small. Feeding the flounders is an issue and needs to be done after the lights go out. Before I turn the lights off, I drop in a bunch of bloodworms or blackworms or pieces of trout worms or mysis shrimp. If I turn the lights on again an hour or so later, they've all got bulging bellies. As long as the sand is fine enough for them to dissapear in, they should be ok. If you're going to have Archers and crickets in there it might be worth it to screen it in, although that would detract from the beauty a bit.

 

[Tommydeal]

Correction: the flounders were more like 1" when I got them.

 

[Nic]

awesome set up..... very nice

 

[HX67]

Yeah, that's a one-of-a-kind filter. Very nice. One thing you could do, since your rockwork looks so cool is cover the entire back of the airspace with it and put in shelves for out-of-water plants. This picture is an approximate example of what I'm talking about:


I'm not sure if that would work with brackish water underneath, just an idea. Do you know of any underwater brackish plants (besides Mangroves)?

If you're going to have Archers and crickets in there it might be worth it to screen it in, although that would detract from the beauty a bit.

I know that it would look nice if the whole upper part wall was stoned. But to tell you the truth, I made it like that to keep it airy...
I dont know, same with the tank itself. I wanted to keep it quite open.
I've been and still am, fussing with terrariums, all sorts of rainforesty things and I'm willing to try something different here.

Bare in mind that it's not finished yet. But any ideas are really appreciated, thanks.

There is a collection system in the rockwall for the beforementioned freshwater dripper system. I have a couple of washingmachine liquid dosing pumps that I'm planning to try on it. So some sort of vegetation up there is the idea.

If you go to Tropica's page (http://www.tropica.com/frameset_search.asp) and define "accepts brackish water" to "keyword", you get a nice list of underwater plants:

Aponogeton crispus
Bacopa monnieri
Cladophora aegagrophila
Crinum calamistratum
Crinum natans
Crinum thaianum
Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Mi Oya'
Glossostigma elatinoides
Lilaeopsis brasiliensis
Lilaeopsis macloviana
Microsorum pteropus ''Undulata''
Microsorum pteropus 'Narrow'
Microsorum pteropus 'Philippine'
Nymphaea lotus (zenkeri)
Samolus valerandi
Shinnersia rivularis
Taxiphyllum barbieri (Vesicularia)

I haven't done much trying. Will get around to it at some point...On the other hand, I'm not getting too good co-operation with java fern, or Microsorum, which should be a standard brackish plant.

You seem to have gotten the flounders to do just fine. I'll have to give them another try at some point. I like the buggers, and the fine sand in my tank is originally selected partly for the wellbeing of them. Yours seem to be nicely round versions of the theme.

Screen the box, you mean? It's glazed, actually. In the photo on this page you can see the two sliding glasses, the middle one is taken off to get a better pic...
The skipper would have gone carpetsurfing a long time ago, and I think the G tile would have as well, if it was open.

Thanks, Nic!

 

[Tommydeal]

Screen the box, you mean? It's glazed, actually. In the photo on this page you can see the two slidind glasses, the middle one is taken off to get a better pic...
The skipper would have gone carpetsurfing a long time ago, and I think the G tile would have as well, if it was open.

Ah yes, I see it now. Much better than screening. I hear you about keeping it more open looking. I always put a bunch of stuff in new tanks only to remove 80% of it later because it ends up looking too crowded. Thanks for that list of plants. I wonder if the submerged plants are getting enough light. Seems like it's hard to get the light-source close to the water surface in a paludarium. But then again, Java Fern is a low-light plant and I know my Monos prefer it when the tank isn't pummeled with light. I bet it will look even more amazing than it already does when those Mangroves start filling in. Got a pic of the eel? Again, awesome setup!