Stephen's 6 foot (600L) tank log & stocking evolution

[SnowAddict]

I've just popped in to register my excitement!   Everyone budge over, please, so I can have a seat at the front.

Saved you a seat, did you manage to sneak some sweats in?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[TropicalFishForums]

[scoobiemandan]

Whoop there it is 

[sie84]

Looks amazing and there's nothing even in it yet

[xxSJTxx]

I think there may be an obvious spot to fill here (grins widely). Your giving me some good ideas (and ways to work on the Mrs).

Your tank looks great, is there a hood (difficult to see in pics) or are you somehow suspending the lights?

Glad it's arrived finally for you, must have seemed like a long wait (kid at Xmas comes to mind).





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Stephen]

Looks amazing and there's nothing even in it yet

There is .... air 

In "real life" this tank and cabinet looks amazing much better than any photo floating on the internet.

Just arrived back home after treating Gill to lunch, I even bought her some flowers which is probably the first time in 15 years (and last). 

I forgot the paint and rollers; no not for Gill, to paint the background black. Will pop out again a little later, Hobbycraft is only up the road.

Stephen

more photos to follow ...

[sie84]

I forgot the paint and rollers; no not for Gill, to paint the background black.

Oh and here's me thinking you was treating Gill to her hair doing hahaha




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Stephen]

I forgot the paint and rollers; no not for Gill, to paint the background black.

Oh and here's me thinking you was treating Gill to her hair doing hahaha

[Stephen]

Just ordered some plants.
Aquarium Gardens are "out of stock" of the ones I wanted so ordered elsewhere (I thought AG had a delivery on Tuesdays), never mind.

[sie84]

What have you decided to go with mate?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Feliss]

ooooh so exciting to watch this unfold :D

[Stephen]

What have you decided to go with mate?

Some:-
Echinodorus ozelot - green
Echinodorus ozelot - red
Echinodorus magdalensis
Heteranthera zosterifolia (Stargrass)
Ceratophyllum demersum (Hornwort)

plus I have the plants I saved:-
Nymphoides Hydrophylla Taiwan (I love this plant)
Tiger Lotus "Nymphea Zenkeri" Red (I love this too, started with one bulb and now have 4 or 5 plants).

The tank theme is "Bolivia" for the fish but not necessarily for all the plants; which is why my tank will be a theme as opposed to a biotope 

Too dark to paint the tank now so will start in the morning.
This is the outside of the tank (back) so should not interfere too much with my setting up.

Stephen

[taffy72]

Looks a nice tank Stephen .

[Stephen]

Looks a nice tank Stephen .

It is mate, much nicer than I originally thought; I would say it's gorgeous, I'm well pleased.
I will be more pleased when the set up is done as I'm off to Cornwall next week, so basically 4 days which should be plenty of time.
The actual background painting is my only real concern, the rest I will do in 24 hours (he says).

[taffy72]

I'm sure with your eye for detail it will look great .
When you say your doing a theme as such what type of plants would be needed for a specific biotope ?

[Stephen]

When you say your doing a theme as such what type of plants would be needed for a specific biotope ?

Basically those found in Bolivia but as my theme is mainly based on the Rio Mamore then for a biotope then both fish and plants would need to be found there.
A biotope would also have to resemble the river/stream or location, a bit like actually visiting the area and taking a section out, water (pH & hardness etc..), substrate, plants and fish and recreating that section in the aquarium.
Some biotopes do not actually include plants as plants are not present at the location.
Although Echinodorus plant species come from south America (Amazonian area) as does the Heteranthera zosterifolia and the Ceratophyllum demersum (originates in Bolivia), whilst the Tiger Lotus "Nymphea Zenkeri" Red comes from West Africa and the Nymphoides Hydrophylla Taiwan grows in Asia and Africa with this variant originating from southern Taiwan.
So my tank fish species are themed on Bolivia whilst the majority of plants also originate from south America, not all the plants do.

I hope that makes sense
Stephen