Macman6
Member
Hi, so where should I start? Roughly this time last year I got the ok off the boss to set up a 4ft X 18inch shallow, I’d found one locally for £70 (it’s not the nearest job but a glass box all the same) and promptly stored it away knowing I had to clear out the spare room to be able to set it up.
Finally, the Christmas break came around and I managed to get my act together and build a stand (2 builders pallets cut in half, interlocked and stacked with an off cut from the kitchen worktop to flatten it all out and a block of polystyrene) get my substrate and get going.
But that really isn’t the start, the start came one day bored at work looking for an interesting catfish to keep, I settled on Farlowella and promptly searched articles for their care. What I stumbled across was UKAPS, and @BigTom ‘s poco pozo in particular. I was awestruck, and it changed the way I keep fish completely.
With this in mind my goal for this new tank is a slice of natural, not a perfectly manicured lawn of whichever carpeting plant you choose, or a Forrest of beautifully curated stems pearling away in a soup of fertiliser, but a dark, dirty hopefully appealing piece of rainforest ditch.
So that’s my intro, sorry it’s long but I’ve been a bit excited about this project for a while and presumably like many in the hobby don’t really have anyone in my day to day life that will show an interest.
So how did I set up?
I have a tight budget so this was the tricky part.
ericaceous soil was bought from B&Q to provide a substrate, this was then capped off with play sand.
There is a large brook near my house, so I collected some river stones.
And there was a great tree stump in the LFS that I knew would make an excellent addition as I knew I would be able to plant emerald growth in the centre (this was soaked for nearly a year too)
The filter I am using is a Ziss bio, can’t say much, it’s JUST short enough for the tank and as you’ll see at the moment everyone seems happy.
I set up, dumped a load of water from the tap / rainwater from my daphnia tub / a bit of RO and let it all sit then I added the plants
A couple of crypts, hydrocytle tripartita some java fern narrow leaf, weeping moss and pogostemon stellata.
The crypts promptly melted.
Everything else since has slowly started growing.
After a couple of weeks the daphnia has exploded and I decided to throw a few neons in.
Success, no one died.
Next the long term dither for what will be the star of the show I moved across 10 beckfordi pencilfish.
And at the end of January I added 6 spotted headstanders.
So far I have had nothing but success, there are loads of pencil fry of all sizes. There’s been zero losses and today I spotted a tiny neon Tetra.
So that’s where I’m at, and I’ve just found out I can’t add pictures using Tapatalk so tomorrow I’ll have to add a load as a time line for you at work.
I hope you like this journal and if it can have anywhere near the influence on someone that Poco Pozo has on me, well then I’ll be absolutely delighted
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Finally, the Christmas break came around and I managed to get my act together and build a stand (2 builders pallets cut in half, interlocked and stacked with an off cut from the kitchen worktop to flatten it all out and a block of polystyrene) get my substrate and get going.
But that really isn’t the start, the start came one day bored at work looking for an interesting catfish to keep, I settled on Farlowella and promptly searched articles for their care. What I stumbled across was UKAPS, and @BigTom ‘s poco pozo in particular. I was awestruck, and it changed the way I keep fish completely.
With this in mind my goal for this new tank is a slice of natural, not a perfectly manicured lawn of whichever carpeting plant you choose, or a Forrest of beautifully curated stems pearling away in a soup of fertiliser, but a dark, dirty hopefully appealing piece of rainforest ditch.
So that’s my intro, sorry it’s long but I’ve been a bit excited about this project for a while and presumably like many in the hobby don’t really have anyone in my day to day life that will show an interest.
So how did I set up?
I have a tight budget so this was the tricky part.
ericaceous soil was bought from B&Q to provide a substrate, this was then capped off with play sand.
There is a large brook near my house, so I collected some river stones.
And there was a great tree stump in the LFS that I knew would make an excellent addition as I knew I would be able to plant emerald growth in the centre (this was soaked for nearly a year too)
The filter I am using is a Ziss bio, can’t say much, it’s JUST short enough for the tank and as you’ll see at the moment everyone seems happy.
I set up, dumped a load of water from the tap / rainwater from my daphnia tub / a bit of RO and let it all sit then I added the plants
A couple of crypts, hydrocytle tripartita some java fern narrow leaf, weeping moss and pogostemon stellata.
The crypts promptly melted.
Everything else since has slowly started growing.
After a couple of weeks the daphnia has exploded and I decided to throw a few neons in.
Success, no one died.
Next the long term dither for what will be the star of the show I moved across 10 beckfordi pencilfish.
And at the end of January I added 6 spotted headstanders.
So far I have had nothing but success, there are loads of pencil fry of all sizes. There’s been zero losses and today I spotted a tiny neon Tetra.
So that’s where I’m at, and I’ve just found out I can’t add pictures using Tapatalk so tomorrow I’ll have to add a load as a time line for you at work.
I hope you like this journal and if it can have anywhere near the influence on someone that Poco Pozo has on me, well then I’ll be absolutely delighted
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk