AL's 130ltr Jungle

[Little-AL]

Hi Guys, I've been away from trops for a while whilst keeping a Marine setup - i've lost the love for marines somewhat and have been wanting something a little easier to maintain. I have been admiring some of the beautifully aquascaped tanks on the web and in mags like PFK and kept a longing for my last trop setup - it housed a stupid amount of Vallis, some Apisto's and a group of Koi Angels:









So anyway... a long story short: I used to work for Maidenhead Aquatics and have always maintained a good relationship with the staff there. I managed to strike a deal with my old boss to credit me for my fish, coral and live rock from my marine setup and put that towards my new tank:





Having checked the dimensions with a tape measure, the capacity before dispersal will be around 130 litres. It has twin 28watt T5's and I have chosen to upgrade the filter to a 1000 l/ph model 🙂
Have also ordered a JBL 602m CO2 kit, a JBL test kit and purchased a few other bits for the setup:



Will be collecting the tank & cab a week on Saturday. Unsure of when it will be filled, need to choose a plant supplier and make sure I arrange delivery to co-incide with a weekend that i'm not way for work! As the title suggests, i'm going for a jungle style - the hardscape will be a very simple few bits of wood then there will be LOTS of planting! Hoping to keep it fairly low maintenance but time will tell now that works out!

 

[spyder]

Sounds like you are about to have some fun! 😀

Some would say, save your money and cancel the order of the test kit if you can. Spend it on something more useful, like plants. 😉

Looking forward to see what you do with the tank. Do you have any thought's on livestock yet?

 

[creg]

you had some lovely trop fish, great pics

 

[jbirley]

I have to say i'm not quiet sure how suitable my protein products are for aquarium use 😛
all joking aside looks like a good start to me and you old tank housed some beautiful fish

 

[Alastair]

How on earth did you drive the car with all that in the way ha ha 😉


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[Little-AL]

Thanks for the comments folks! Just need to empty the rest of the livestock from my Marine tank, remove the old cabinet then can get the new one in place!

Some would say, save your money and cancel the order of the test kit if you can. Spend it on something more useful, like plants. 😉

Looking forward to see what you do with the tank. Do you have any thought's on livestock yet?

Test kit is coming at a much lower price than retail so it'll be worth having - don't worry theres plenty of funds for plants 🙂
As for livestock... Definitely want Apisto's again! Was planning on another Double Red male with two females but am going to review the stock list of an importer (trade only) to see what is available when i'm ready! Probably ply it sife with a nice shoal of Cardinals too...

I have to say i'm not quiet sure how suitable my protein products are for aquarium use 😛

I want my fish to be muscley 😉

How on earth did you drive the car with all that in the way ha ha 😉

Ha I was waiting for that comment! I've chucked the stuff in to my storage shed... aka my broken Fiesta that gets pushed in and out of my garage when I need somewhere to put stuff

 

[Little-AL]

Got my tank today! Picked it up from Maidenhead Aquatics in Shirley this morning... Didn't realise the cabinet was quite so heavy! Had to unpack the pieces from the box so that I could move it all upstairs
Was easy enough to put together - well constructed and ****** solid!



Then I brought the tank up - again not particularly light! 12mm glass, decent bracing and very neat silicone. The trim is all aluminium too! Nice and bright with the T5's running...



Stuck my JBL surface skim in place to see how it looked... Not too fussed about posh glass lily pipes and 100% hidden equipment. I've always been a function over form sort of chap 🙂



Hoping to get down to Sweet Knowle Aquatics to buy some wood tomorrow then can finalise the plants that I want!

 

[JenCliBee]

Nice looking tank mate, will watch with interest in the progress

 

[1stgolf]

Lovely looking tank mate 🙂

 

[Little-AL]

Brought all my JBL substrate up from the garage last night...



T5's are pretty damn bright at night!



Went out to a local store today and picked up some nice bits of 'swamp root' (big thanks to JenCliBee on the UKAPS for the tip!) - stuck them in the tank to see how they would look...



Bit of a trim and a move around plus my JBL Aquabasis went in... Wanted to leave a small channel in the centre where I won't plant anything. All being well once the carpet has taken hold at the front and everything else has grown up it will stand out quite nicely!



Then the Manado went in. Its sloped up to the back corners, particularly on the right so will hopefully look great once it is filled out.



Just need to finalise my plant list no! Hopefully place the order for those at the weekend 🙂

 

[JenCliBee]

Nice mate, glad you found some pieces you liked

 

[Nathaniel Whiteside]

I like your valis setup at the top with the angels, simple yet very attractive.

Good luck with the new setup, will be watching this.

 

[Little-AL]

Thanks 🙂 To be fair I had little knowledge of plants/maintenance back then! The tank was originally rammed full of rainbows etc... I removed them, replanted and stuck the Angels in (whilst I was working at MA) - there wasn't really a scape to speak of! Just a tonne of plants chucked in haha... Didn't look too bad though 🙂

 

[Little-AL]

Quick update... My JBL m602 CO2 kit and JBL Combi Test Kit arrived at MA Shirley so I collected them this morning...



CO2 Cylinder JUST fit in the cabinet with the filter...



Decided on the majority of my plants... Need to figure out something for the background. Was thinking a bit of vallis but very much open to suggestions!

Foreground:
Eleocharis parvula
Pogostemon helferi

Midground:
Cryptocoryne wendtii brown
Cryptocoryne wendtii green
(lots of both)

Attatched to my Redmoor:
Anubias barteri (var nana)
Microsorium pteropus
Vesicularia dubyana
(and probably another type of moss)

Hopefully that little lot will give a nice mix of colours, shapes and textures once it starts growing out!

 

[Alastair]

all sounding great so far mate, nice choice with plants too

 

[Little-AL]

all sounding great so far mate, nice choice with plants too

Thanks Alastair! I was fortunate enough to have one of the Dutch suppliers (Aqua Fleur) catalogues in front of me when I was deciding what to have... Hopefully it will be a nice mix!
Just cant decide on background plants! Had considered some Hygrophylia but concerned about light requirements as I want to run the lights for 5-6 hours max until later in the year when I am home more often.
Hoping the Java Fern will fill out on the wood once it is attached and will create the effect i'm after!

On a side note, LOVE your tank!

 

[Alastair]

all sounding great so far mate, nice choice with plants too

Thanks Alastair! I was fortunate enough to have one of the Dutch suppliers (Aqua Fleur) catalogues in front of me when I was deciding what to have... Hopefully it will be a nice mix!
Just cant decide on background plants! Had considered some Hygrophylia but concerned about light requirements as I want to run the lights for 5-6 hours max until later in the year when I am home more often.
Hoping the Java Fern will fill out on the wood once it is attached and will create the effect i'm after!

On a side note, LOVE your tank!

The hygro will be fine just under 5-6 hours of light. Nearly all the hygrophilias are pretty easy to keep mate. I had a fair few different ones in my co2 tank and they were all fairly hardy.
Ermmmm how did you get the aqua fleur catalogue??? From MA?
And thanks mate. I'm liking the low maintenance approach with this new one


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[Little-AL]

The hygro will be fine just under 5-6 hours of light. Nearly all the hygrophilias are pretty easy to keep mate. I had a fair few different ones in my co2 tank and they were all fairly hardy.
Ermmmm how did you get the aqua fleur catalogue??? From MA?
And thanks mate. I'm liking the low maintenance approach with this new one


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Thats good to know.. Typical web info confusing matters Probably going to continue with my current list then add further plants in the future. Just want to get the carpet/mid ground/wood attached plants in place before the big fill!

And yes, the Aqua Fleur catalogue was borrowed from MA... Got all the books at my disposal 🙂

 

[Little-AL]

Not had any chance to mess with the tank... Work work work at present! Finally had a tidy up tonight and did a few small bits:
Fitted black background properly.
Sorted pipework for filter and changed to the supplied intake rather than the JBL Surfaceskim for now - need to mod the JBL to fit properly due to the rim on the tank!
Put CO2 its in place!

Cupboards at present:



Tank:



Would like a nicer CO2 diffuser for in the tank - any body got any suggestions?

Going to order plants this week with the view to filling next weekend!

 

[Polyester]

Have you thought about a external reaktor?

I use http://www.us-aquaristikshop.com/co2-reaktoren/co2-reaktor-ar-us32-ohne-blasenzaehler.html

Very happy about it so far 🙂