1300 litre chocolate lake

[Alastair]

I thought id get under way with starting my newest journal as its only a few weeks away until its here.
I cant think of a name as yet but im sure it will be something with 'chocolate' in 😀.. 🙄🙄

I was originally going to have it acrylic and bigger in size but I would seriously have lost all my dining room space leaving a very tight space so no room for photo shots etc.

Tank: custom build 180cm x 110cm x 70cm height approx 1400 litres.

Cabinet: edited - now to a powder coated steel frame with adjustable feet, and cladded with mdf wrapped in white matt vinyl

Lighting: TMC 1500 nd's with multi controller

Filtration: eheim 2180's with tmc glass lily pipes and a new fluval FX6 with custom acrylic outlet

Media: Seachem Matrix with alfagrog, and purigen

Substrate: Tropica plant growth substrate capped with lots of Unipac Samoa fine and TMC Nutrasoil for helping with ph..

I also have 2 huge bags of alfa grog so might smash them up and use like the ada power sand special at the base and to add height.


Heating 2 x eheim jagers hidden out of view

Hard scape:
One enormous 5ft long by 3 foot high piece of driftwood and some smaller pieces.

Petrified wood from unipac to accent the wood and add moss

Ferts: aquarium plant food ei salts

Plants:

Anubias bonsai
Anubias nana petite and coffefolia cryptocoryne becketti petchi
C . willisii
C.wendtii green and tropica
C.parva
Echinodorus aquartica
Fontinalis sp willow
Taxiphylum spiky
Xmas mosw
Microsorum pteropus trident and narrow

Cladophorales or marimo moss ball torn up and attached to the wood. I saw this on the big pets at home tank and it looked really nice and imagine it wont need trimming either

Also maiden hair fern attached to the emmersed wood.

Fauna:
150 -200 chocolate gouramis
20 licorice gourami
a few cherries
30 to 40 corydoras habrosus

20 ish ottocinclus

Ive kind of got in my head how I want this to look and have done a few drawings which ill take a snap of at some point

Thats all I can think of for now thanks for looking everyone 🙂

 

[John S]

Sounds a monster. Hope you are not on a water meter?🙂

 

[Guest]

Holy moly😱 sounds like you've got your very own Pets @ Home project planned...you'll be roping us all in to help next😀

 

[Lindy]

Can't wait!

 

[island lad]

I'm going to follow this with great interest Alastair so keep us updated with loads of detail. What's your biggest tank to date compared to this one ?

 

[George Farmer]

I'm watching this bad boy.

Pity you live so far away mate - I'd love to help out.

 

[Gary Nelson]

Blimey, that's a biggy!!! Sounds great and your plans for it sound like a good solid foundation, I will be looking forward to following this mate and seeing some pics once you get started - Those 'chocs' will be in heaven 🙂

 

[George Farmer]

It should be called "Amazing Alastair's Chocolate Factory".

 

[Edvet]

Finally, a decent sized tank....😎

Please think about automated waterchanges, and hook it up to drain, makes life easier.
Pm me if you want to spar about it.

 

[Jason Stanford]

very interested in this, I have 500 litres, and my next tank is 900 litres, so will be interesting reading your setup and seeing how it all works out

 

[George Farmer]

Hi Alastair

Why do you intend to add CO2 eventually? Are you going for more demanding plants and higher lighting?

Personally I feel that part of the magic associated with your previous setups is that high impact can be created with lower energy. The breeding of delicate animals is testament to that.

Just curious. 🙂

 

[justin85]

Will be watching this! looking forward to seeing the cabinet you build to.

 

[Alastair]

Sounds a monster. Hope you are not on a water meter?🙂

Ha ha nope just an annual whopper of a water bill but given the water I use I dont mind paying all that lol...
Id be reduced to little nanos if I were on a meter.

Holy moly😱 sounds like you've got your very own Pets @ Home project planned...you'll be roping us all in to help next😀

It was the pets at home tank that's spurred me on to get this one up and running as looking at the shear size of p@h tank and the look on all the guys faces when theyd done was priceless.
Plus I want to get in my own tank 😉

Can't wait!

Hiya, me neither im getting stupidly excited with this one now. I shoulf be fighting fit by then too so full of energy.

I'm going to follow this with great interest Alastair so keep us updated with loads of detail. What's your biggest tank to date compared to this one ?

Thanks island lad ill definitely keep you all updated with any news or pictures or bits of hard scape that comes or bags of substrate ill have stacked up in the outhouse/garage.
Other than this my biggest is my currently running journal 'a box of chocolates licorice n allsorts' which is 4ftx4ft and around 550 lites.

Blimey, that's a biggy!!! Sounds great and your plans for it sound like a good solid foundation, I will be looking forward to following this mate and seeing some pics once you get started - Those 'chocs' will be in heaven 🙂

I know mate ha, I really have pushed my space limits on this one, I was ever so tempted to go 130 cm front to back but that really would be asking for knocks from taking my bikes past. Or SQUEEZING should I say.
Its quite a basic layout but one I hope will have lots of impact and all blend nicely. Probably be the hardest one ive ever done.
Chocolate heaven sounds like a possible title name thanks mate.
My quest is to have a tidy under cabinet too but doubt that.

Finally, a decent sized tank....😎

Please think about automated waterchanges, and hook it up to drain, makes life easier.
Pm me if you want to spar about it.

Hi edvet, I do my water changes by siphoning via hose straight to thr garden by suction alone and on this tank ill just fill back up with the hose from the mixer tap..

very interested in this, I have 500 litres, and my next tank is 900 litres, so will be interesting reading your setup and seeing how it all works out

Cheers jason... my first tank was a 450 few years back then went down slightly then back up in size then to this. But this is the last time now. Unless I move to a bigger house in a few years.

 

[Alastair]

I'm watching this bad boy.

Pity you live so far away mate - I'd love to help out.

" scratches head whilst thinking how much it would cost me to get you up here and back home" ha ha 😉 that's the only downside to where I live all the great scapers are below me or above

Hi Alastair

Why do you intend to add CO2 eventually? Are you going for more demanding plants and higher lighting?

Personally I feel that part of the magic associated with your previous setups is that high impact can be created with lower energy. The breeding of delicate animals is testament to that.

Just curious. 🙂

Very very valid point George and one I am toying with and stuck in two minds about.
Obviously it's less demanding low light plant species ill be using and running the leds isnt over kill in the light department.
Yout right ive had great success with my two previous lower energy set ups and with the breeding happening was one of the reasons I thought to postpone the co2 also.
I think ill go back and edit it and just put a note to say not going down that route now.

Your curiosity curbed my curiosity too mate and think youve helped me answer me own debate. Ill stick with low energy thanks George.

Ill just plant extremely heavy from the start so it looks grown in...

How far away do you live again??? Ha ha


Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Jason Stanford]

im really inexperienced so this maybe a stupid question, but can you not use co2, wait until they are grown in, then turn the co2 off? or do they die? melt or whatever.

 

[tim]

Massive, can't wait, you do know you could fit your current tank inside the cabinet for this one and have a double decker to keep the chocolate theme going 🙂 congrats on the babies mate top stuff al will be following this one for sure.

 

[kirk]

You going to loose yourself in that set up one you sit down infront of it when you Finnish . Sounds like hour upon hour of messing a tweeking things. I've just down sized our tank.🙂 but it is now 80cm wide instead of 60 and notice the fish sort of shoaling which they didn't before. I bet the fish pack into shoals nicely in the size your planning. Liking this journal.🙂

 

[nanocube]

Go on any pictures plz?

 

[Michael W]

Definitely looking forward for your new project, I'm sure it won't disappoint!

im really inexperienced so this maybe a stupid question, but can you not use co2, wait until they are grown in, then turn the co2 off? or do they die? melt or whatever.

Yes you can but the process in which you remove the CO2 must be very gradual or else the plants will melt or die. Giving plants CO2 is like giving them drugs, they won't go off the drugs as soon as you take it from them. Also, when you have CO2 its likely that you'll be keeping the more advanced plants which requires CO2 so there shouldn't be any reasons to remove it.

 

[Alastair]

im really inexperienced so this maybe a stupid question, but can you not use co2, wait until they are grown in, then turn the co2 off? or do they die? melt or whatever.

Hiya jason,
The thing with doing that is the plants will then be used to their fix of co2 and once its stopped theyll melt off for example the crypts will just totally melt away. Like george said my previous scapes have grown very quick, algae free pretty much and inhabitants have flourished. I dont think choccos like co2 much from past experience and hate lots of flow, they just sit in slow spots and dont come out.
Low energy means also less trouble with algae etc or ive found out anyway. Any signs of nutrient deficiency is also very slow and you have lots of time to correct it where as the co2 tank things can go wrong quite quickly.

Massive, can't wait, you do know you could fit your current tank inside the cabinet for this one and have a double decker to keep the chocolate theme going 🙂 congrats on the babies mate top stuff al will be following this one for sure.

Ha ha it would almosy fit yes mate lol. I think the chocolate theme is with me for life ive really fallen in love with them and to see a huge group of them thriving and hopefully breeding again too will be even more rewarding. This will be done to look both appealing but also for the conditions the inhabitants prefer so a happy medium.
Thanks for the congrats tim they are stunning little things. I need to try and video them at some point everyone whos been to see them have had that total look of shock and amazement. They true miniatures of the parents.