My project 180 gallon Aggressive CA tank
- Thread starter vaypourus
- Start date
Very Nice Build. 
I would have loved to see your Festae breeding in that 180 gallon, but whatever ends up in there will be nice.
Do you have a video of your Festae in action?
I would have loved to see your Festae breeding in that 180 gallon, but whatever ends up in there will be nice.Do you have a video of your Festae in action?
Thanks for the compliments all.
No video of the festae yet...I'll see how well my digital camera does video later.
I did just snap a picture of the male festae...the picture is really washed out, but you get the idea. He was flaring at me during this morning's feeding...notice he is stripe-less. You can really see the blue spangling on the back half of his body and fins.
No video of the festae yet...I'll see how well my digital camera does video later.
I did just snap a picture of the male festae...the picture is really washed out, but you get the idea. He was flaring at me during this morning's feeding...notice he is stripe-less. You can really see the blue spangling on the back half of his body and fins.
*update*
The tank is looking great, although the direction it is going is a bit different than expected. I realized that it would be difficult to do a large aggressive tank AND planted at the same time. Being that I really like the look of a planted tank, the aggressive diggers had to go. The festae have been removed from the tank. I sold the female to a friend as my male was hurting himself trying to kill her. I have him back in his own 75 gallon, where he will stay for a while. His fresh measurement is 10 3/8" long; at the rate he is growing I expect him to grow at least another 3-4 inches minimum. He is sort of a wet pet, as he is too aggressive to be housed with other fish.
Here is my tank room as it stands; the stand is unfinished still as I just dropped some seroius coin on the CO2 injection.
My water change system has been upgraded again; I wanted a higher flow to the upstairs tank, so the Mag 9.5 has been replaced with a Mag 24. It's a beast! The Mag 9.5 is now used as the transfer pump from the 55 gallon collection barrel.
The CO2 system is completed and is working wonders. It was a pricey addition but worth every penny. Here are the specs:
-VWR High Purity Dual Stage Reg Model 55850-632
-Burkert 6011
-Ideal V 54-4-12 (My step father, a machinist, swears by SS over brass for needle valves)
-JBJ Bubble Counter
The reg setup sits on a 20 lb cylinder. The reactor is a Tom Barr style venturi PVC unit; I'm not impressed with the performance of this, so I am in the process of re designing something more conducive to this size of a drilled tank.
Plants include:
-Anubias Barteri
-Anubias Congensis
-Anubias Hastifolia
-Anubias sp. Nana 'Dwarf'
-Ceratopteris Thalictroides
-Crypt Wendtii (sp. red, green, & bronze)
-Crypt Undulata
-Crypt Walkeri
-Crypt Affinis
-Common Java Fern
-Needleleaf Java Fern
-Echinodorus Barthii sp. 'Red Melon'
-Java Moss
-Lysimachia Nummularia
-Ludwigia Repens
-Nymphaea Zenkeri
-Vallisneria Gigantea
-Vallisneria Americana sp. Red (not sure about the name of this)
The current tank stock includes:
breeding pair of common B. Ancistrus
(3) Microgeophagus Ramirezi
(12) Rummynose Tetras
(9) Flame Tetras
(3) Rotkeil Severums
I will be adding a trio of Geophagus; still contemplating other stock options as the tetras are probably not long term.
Now it's just a matter of the tank growing out a bit.
-
The tank is looking great, although the direction it is going is a bit different than expected. I realized that it would be difficult to do a large aggressive tank AND planted at the same time. Being that I really like the look of a planted tank, the aggressive diggers had to go. The festae have been removed from the tank. I sold the female to a friend as my male was hurting himself trying to kill her. I have him back in his own 75 gallon, where he will stay for a while. His fresh measurement is 10 3/8" long; at the rate he is growing I expect him to grow at least another 3-4 inches minimum. He is sort of a wet pet, as he is too aggressive to be housed with other fish.
Here is my tank room as it stands; the stand is unfinished still as I just dropped some seroius coin on the CO2 injection.
My water change system has been upgraded again; I wanted a higher flow to the upstairs tank, so the Mag 9.5 has been replaced with a Mag 24. It's a beast! The Mag 9.5 is now used as the transfer pump from the 55 gallon collection barrel.
The CO2 system is completed and is working wonders. It was a pricey addition but worth every penny. Here are the specs:
-VWR High Purity Dual Stage Reg Model 55850-632
-Burkert 6011
-Ideal V 54-4-12 (My step father, a machinist, swears by SS over brass for needle valves)
-JBJ Bubble Counter
The reg setup sits on a 20 lb cylinder. The reactor is a Tom Barr style venturi PVC unit; I'm not impressed with the performance of this, so I am in the process of re designing something more conducive to this size of a drilled tank.
Plants include:
-Anubias Barteri
-Anubias Congensis
-Anubias Hastifolia
-Anubias sp. Nana 'Dwarf'
-Ceratopteris Thalictroides
-Crypt Wendtii (sp. red, green, & bronze)
-Crypt Undulata
-Crypt Walkeri
-Crypt Affinis
-Common Java Fern
-Needleleaf Java Fern
-Echinodorus Barthii sp. 'Red Melon'
-Java Moss
-Lysimachia Nummularia
-Ludwigia Repens
-Nymphaea Zenkeri
-Vallisneria Gigantea
-Vallisneria Americana sp. Red (not sure about the name of this)
The current tank stock includes:
breeding pair of common B. Ancistrus
(3) Microgeophagus Ramirezi
(12) Rummynose Tetras
(9) Flame Tetras
(3) Rotkeil Severums
I will be adding a trio of Geophagus; still contemplating other stock options as the tetras are probably not long term.
Now it's just a matter of the tank growing out a bit.
-
Cool tank. Geos might not be the best idea for a planted tank... IME. You might already know that though. Most species really live up to their Latin name of eartheaters and uproot everything.
