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Posted by Sie1808 on December 22, 2009, 6:30 pm
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I apologise in advance, I want to be as consise as I can! For three
years we
(well, I have done all the maintence etc) have succesfully
kept a 30ltr tropical
tank and have now bought a 225ltr tank. It was
sencond hand and cleaned it with
a water and vinegar as I was told was
suitable, rinsed the hell out of it and
leak tested, we seem all set to
go. As this is a whole new venture, I want to
make sure I am starting
out the best I/we can.
Equipment I have so far chosen are 2x 200w heaters (interpet probably)
and an
Eheim Ecco pro.
Rather than going out and buying plants here and there from the two
decent shops
to select from in Aberdeen, we were looking to buy the
following;
http://tinyurl.com/yesuwan
After lots of research, ThinkFish as my primary source, the comunity
we are
looking to build to so far is; penguin, black phantom and neon
tetras, white
cloud minnows, marble hatchets, 2x angels and a few
japonica shrimp. And also my
new colleagues yet to be identified bottom
feeder from her tropical tank which
she is giving up (brown stripes,
about 7cm long so far)
Now, I have two main questions. firstly, I am unsure which substrate
would best
suit the fish and plants? I have been looking a pea gravel,
though I do not know
when sand is most suitable or the planting
substrate.
Secondly, when I trailed my partner around to check out the
competition (which
wasn't that difficult I am afraid to say), one shop
advised my partner that we
could happily keep a blue lobster/crayfish
in the tank we were intending to
keep. This seems to conflict with
everything I have read. And also that we could
get hermit crabs,
however I can only find info on marine hermits. Could someone
please
help me, as my partner is now convinced that we should get a crayfish
and/or crabs for our tank, and I feel like fish will end up as feed!
I would be extemely grateful to anyone who will pick apart the plan and
put me
straight, and all suggestions appreciated!
(BTW why hasn't Practical Fishkeeping got back up yet? I was advised
they had a
security problem 04/12 and that the website would be closed
down until further
notice!)
--
Sie1808
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Posted by Rodney Pont on December 23, 2009, 2:26 am
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On Tue, 22 Dec 2009 23:30:36 +0000, Sie1808 wrote:
>I apologise in advance, I want to be as consise as I can! For three
>years we (well, I have done all the maintence etc) have succesfully
>kept a 30ltr tropical tank and have now bought a 225ltr tank. It was
>sencond hand and cleaned it with a water and vinegar as I was told was
>suitable, rinsed the hell out of it and leak tested, we seem all set to
>go. As this is a whole new venture, I want to make sure I am starting
>out the best I/we can.
The Ecco pro is a good filter but I suggest you also have a look at the
Tetratec EX1200
http://www.aquatics-online.co.uk/catalogue/tetratec-ex-external-filters.
asp as it's had good comments in the PFK forum. I don't have one but am
likely to replace my Fluval 305 with one next year. I use an Ecco Pro
200 to power the reverse flow undergravel filter.
I regret using Dorset gravel in my 120cm tank. I was considering black
gravel and wish I had gone with that. I painted the back and one side
of the aquarium with Blackboard paint so that I couldn't see the pipes
and cables and the tank contents do really show up with the contrast.
It would have looked a lot better if the gravel was black as well.
I suspect the blue lobster will eat anything it can grab. If you think
you might want some of the smaller shrimps, such as CRS or Cherry I'd
ditch the Angels since they would love a shrimp snack when fully grown,
presumably you have seen a fully grown Angel :-)
White Clouds like cooler temps but I'm not sure of the upper limit so I
suggest you look into that.
For the first time ever I didn't go for Neon Tetras and got Cardinals
instead. They grow slightly larger but the red stripe runs the length
of the body.
I looked at those plant sets but didn't think I'd have the patience to
plant that many all at once so I bought individually from several
places over a few months. The best quality ones came from eBay which
surprised me.
I hope everything goes well for you.
--
Regards - Rodney Pont
The from address exists but is mostly dumped,
please send any emails to the address below
e-mail ngpsm4 (at) infohitsystems (dot) ltd (dot) uk
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Posted by Rodney Pont on December 23, 2009, 3:42 am
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On Wed, 23 Dec 2009 07:26:05 +0000 (GMT), Rodney Pont wrote:
>The Ecco pro is a good filter but I suggest you also have a look at the
>Tetratec EX1200
>http://www.aquatics-online.co.uk/catalogue/tetratec-ex-external-filters.
>asp as it's had good comments in the PFK forum. I don't have one but am
>likely to replace my Fluval 305 with one next year. I use an Ecco Pro
>200 to power the reverse flow undergravel filter.
That url wrapped so I've posted it again with wrap turned off:
http://www.aquatics-online.co.uk/catalogue/tetratec-ex-external-filters.asp
--
Regards - Rodney Pont
The from address exists but is mostly dumped,
please send any emails to the address below
e-mail ngpsm4 (at) infohitsystems (dot) ltd (dot) uk
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>years we (well, I have done all the maintence etc) have succesfully
>kept a 30ltr tropical tank and have now bought a 225ltr tank. It was
>sencond hand and cleaned it with a water and vinegar as I was told was
>suitable, rinsed the hell out of it and leak tested, we seem all set to
>go. As this is a whole new venture, I want to make sure I am starting
>out the best I/we can.