European 66 gallon (250l) aquascaped planted tank

[Vafloo]

Hello Guys,

 

I'm from Poland and I'm in aquarium hobby for about 2,5 years now. So far I had only nano tanks (25, 30, 40, 50 litres), but on March 27th I've set up my first large tank - 66 gallons (250l), dimensions 100 cm x 50 cm x 50 cm (40 in x 20 in x 20 in) and I would like to have nice community aquarium.

The equipment is the following.

VIV OptiWhite tank (100x50x50)

Chihiros WRGB II light 90 cm, 100W, 6200 lm

Filtration: canister filter Aquael Ultramax 1500 (1500 l/h)

There is some crushed lava rock in the bottom to build some hight and on top active soil: Maflora Rotala Intensive and then Maflora Rotala Light. Front and path made of Dennerle Red sand. 

Rocks: locally collected in mountains in Poland

Wood: beech roots, locally collected

 

List of plants:

Monte Carlo

Hemiantus Cuba

Rotala H'Ra

Rotala Walichii

Rotala Bonsai

Didiplis Diandra

Bacopa Caroliniana

Ludwigia Super Red

some moss

Cryptocoryne Wendtii Brown

Cryptocoryne Wendtii Green

Cryptocoryne costata

Cryptocoryne x willisii "Lucens"

Cryptocoryne Petchii Pink

Microsorium Pteropus

Microsorium Trident

Bolbitis Heulodoti

some Bucephalandra species 

Anubias Nana

Anubias Nana Petit

Eriocaulon cinereum

Eleocharis parvula mini

Eleocharis parvula 

 

As regards animals, at the moment there are 5 Otocinclus Catfish, 9 Amano shrimps and some snails (Clithon Corona, Onion snails, Zebra snails and a lot of pest snails which, I guess, came with plants). 

Now I'm considering different stocking ideas for this tank. Here is what I would like to have:

• 1 or 2 schools of some nice fish, not very big (2-3 inches max). I was thinking about:
  • Cherry Barbs and/or
  • some other barbs (not sure which ones - any recommendations) and/or
  • Rummynose tetras and/or
  • some Danios (not sure which ones) and/or
  • Platies + Guppies and/or
  • can you recommend something else, some schooling fish, not very big (max 2-3 inches)? 
• a pair of Cichlids (German Blue Ram or Apistogramma Cacatuoides or Bolivian Ram)
• 1 or 2 Plecos
• group of corrydoras (e.g. Corrydoras Sterbai or some other small corries)
• small group of rainbow stiphodon gobies (stiphodon ornatus)

As regards number of fish, would that work to have:

• school 1: 10 fish (e.g. barbs)
• school 2: 10 fish (e.g. danios)
• pair of small cichlids
• 1-2 plecos
• 8-10 corrydoras
• 4-5 rainbow stiphodon gobies

The tank has no lid and I would prefer to keep it without lid, so I need fish which do not have strong tendency to jump out.

What do you think? Any recommendations? Ideas? 

Many thanks in advance!

Tomek

[Vafloo]

Here are some more pictures from setting this up and how it looked at the beginning. 

 

[ndfi78]

Wow, that is a beautiful tank! The rock on the left and the "trees" on the right with a path down the middle. I can just see fish swimming down that path. 

[Hannah Parker]

You have an amazing eye for aqua scaping. Can't wait to see this tank full of inhabitants

[Colu]

Columbian blue tetras are stunning they get 2-3in  and African butterfly cichilds  are on the small side and do well in groups of 6 

Edited May 19, 2022 by Colu

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/11/2022 at 11:15 PM, Vafloo said:

The equipment is the following.

VIV OptiWhite tank (100x50x50)

Chihiros WRGB II light 90 cm, 100W, 6200 lm

Filtration: canister filter Aquael Ultramax 1500 (1500 l/h)

There is some crushed lava rock in the bottom to build some hight and on top active soil: Maflora Rotala Intensive and then Maflora Rotala Light. Front and path made of Dennerle Red sand. 

Rocks: locally collected in mountains in Poland

Wood: beech roots, locally collected

The post / concept just illustrates for me the difference between the US and EU hobby and the video Cory and Chris did on the topic.  This is SUCH a breathtaking setup before you've even added a fish or plant.  I look forward to seeing where you take it.

I really enjoy the layering and shelves on the left half with different tiers of grass. The way you're adding height to the design is really well done. I highlighted the above text because I wanted to ask about the substrate you've chosen.  As far as what is "regularly available" and you mentioned the red sand.  Is there a lot of choice in this medium available regularly for you?  A lot of colors or just 2-3 choices for the "dennerle sand"?

Something I tend to see and always have an itchy finger over is some of the ADA substrates (the natural ones, not just the aquasoil. I wish they were a bit easier to get for me.

On 5/12/2022 at 1:51 AM, Vafloo said:

What was the process like for you to get such big rocks into the tank and support them?

On 5/11/2022 at 11:15 PM, Vafloo said:

As regards animals, at the moment there are 5 Otocinclus Catfish, 9 Amano shrimps and some snails (Clithon Corona, Onion snails, Zebra snails and a lot of pest snails which, I guess, came with plants). 

Now I'm considering different stocking ideas for this tank. Here is what I would like to have:

• 1 or 2 schools of some nice fish, not very big (2-3 inches max). I was thinking about:
  • Cherry Barbs and/or
  • some other barbs (not sure which ones - any recommendations) and/or
  • Rummynose tetras and/or
  • some Danios (not sure which ones) and/or
  • Platies + Guppies and/or
  • can you recommend something else, some schooling fish, not very big (max 2-3 inches)? 
• a pair of Cichlids (German Blue Ram or Apistogramma Cacatuoides or Bolivian Ram)
• 1 or 2 Plecos
• group of corrydoras (e.g. Corrydoras Sterbai or some other small corries)
• small group of rainbow stiphodon gobies (stiphodon ornatus)

As regards number of fish, would that work to have:

• school 1: 10 fish (e.g. barbs)
• school 2: 10 fish (e.g. danios)
• pair of small cichlids
• 1-2 plecos
• 8-10 corrydoras
• 4-5 rainbow stiphodon gobies

The tank has no lid and I would prefer to keep it without lid, so I need fish which do not have strong tendency to jump out.

The gobies, barbs, danios, and (non-sterbai) corys would be pretty similar in terms of temp and requirement, typically.  Those will work well.  The ram is sort of a different animal depending on which of those you choose (if any).  The rams, for me, tend to do a lot better warmer while the others are "river species" or cooler water species in the 70-74 range. Cherry barbs would do well with the danios and corys, but the rummynose might need to be in with the rams depending on what temp you decide on.

I think this tank would do really well with a blue phantom and/or a nice clown pleco.  They would have very different places in the tank and would be in different surfaces as well. I vote blue phantom simply because a red or orange bristlenose might clash a bit harshly against what you have for the mood of the tank.

I would simply suggest to check with the source of where you're buying the fish with regards to what temp each one is kept in.  For example, some species I keep cooler (west coast, US) and talking with others on the east coast of the US have no issue keeping them warmer because that is traditionally what temp they are raised and adapted to.  It's hard to know which temp is "perfect" given the variety.

Tetras, rams, etc. should do well together with some corys.
Danios, barbs, gobys, etc. should do well with other cooler water corys.
Rasboras might thread the needle and work with both.

Edited May 14, 2022 by nabokovfan87

[DK-LordByron]

Nice tank... 👍

[Vafloo]

Hello!

 

Many thanks for all comments. Let me answer it one by one 🙂 

 

Quote

Columbian blue tetras are stunning they get 2-3in would and African butterfly cichilds  are on the small side and do well in groups of 6 

I've visited couple of fish stores recently and in one of them I've seen Columbian blue tetras. They are not very impressive at the store, but I guess they get much better once moved to proper tank 🙂.  They are quite pricy. Buying 10-15 of them is quite an expense, so I didn't bought them, but I'm still considering them as my second (smaller) school 🙂. 

 

Quote

The post / concept just illustrates for me the difference between the US and EU hobby and the video Cory and Chris did on the topic.  This is SUCH a breathtaking setup before you've even added a fish or plant.  I look forward to seeing where you take it.

Actually, it aquascaping and YouTube aquascape vidoes brought me to this hobby. Initially I was much more interested in aquascapes than in fish itself. But now I am slowly starting to appreciate and put more attention also to fish and other animals 🙂 

 

Quote

I highlighted the above text because I wanted to ask about the substrate you've chosen.  As far as what is "regularly available" and you mentioned the red sand.  Is there a lot of choice in this medium available regularly for you?  A lot of colors or just 2-3 choices for the "dennerle sand"?

Actually I made mistake in description about as this is not Dennerle sand, but JBL Sansibar Red sand (https://www.jbl.de/?mod=products&func=detail&country=us&lang=en&id=6117). First I tried with Sansibar Orange, but it was too bright. The red one matches the colours of my rocks much better. 

In general, at my place there are plenty of different sands and gravels to choose from. From less expensive ones (which sometimes looks like normal regular river gravel) to premium ADA ones (which are extremely expensive). 

 

@nabokovfan87: many thanks for all your suggestions regarding stocking. I've decided to go for red cherry barbs and I've bough 19 of them. I've also bought 3 Butterfly Hillstream Loaches, so currently in the tank I have:

* 19 cherry barbs (it looks that there are only three males among them, but maybe I'm wrong - let's wait and see)

* 5 otos 

* 3 Butterfly Hillstream Loaches

* 9 Amano shrimps

* different snails

 

I'm still planning to add:

* one school of fish (e.g. those Columbian Tetras or some Danios or something else) - are Danios OK for a tank without lid or will they massively jump out? 

* pair or harem of cichlids (I just need to find ones which are OK with a bit lower temps around 22-24 C [71-75F] - maybe some Appistos ?)

* I still want some stiphodon gobies, but it is hard to find them in my area, but I will surely buy some if I have occassion

* 1 or 2 plecos

* maybe some corries, but I'm not 100% sure - I'm a bit afraid that they might dig out the plants

 

 

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/18/2022 at 7:31 AM, Vafloo said:

are Danios OK for a tank without lid or will they massively jump out? 

I'm going to be a bit cautious and say they can most definitely jump out.  Some fish just naturally will do that regardless of species.  They have the bodyshape to do it. I've heard of them doing it, but I've never had a danio that would.

On 5/18/2022 at 7:31 AM, Vafloo said:

I'm a bit afraid that they might dig out the plants

Definitely wont!  They scooch around and are very polite in an established tank.  If you have any concern I'd recommend the pygmy cories.  When it comes to the other varieties and "established tanks" what I mean is that if the plants can be uprooted pretty easily it might happen.  It happened just with flow in my tank and hairgrass.  The corys today I watched them eating algae off of a bit of Staurogyne Repens and it hasn't been uprooted or had much issues from the corys themselves after fixing the issue of not having the hairgrass deep enough.  They tend to be very apt to avoid things honestly, but I totally understand the concern.

Edited May 18, 2022 by nabokovfan87

[Colu]

On 5/18/2022 at 3:31 PM, Vafloo said:

I've visited couple of fish stores recently and in one of them I've seen Columbian blue tetras. They are not very impressive at the store, but I guess they get much better once moved to proper tank 🙂.  They are quite pricy. Buying 10-15 of them is quite an expense, so I didn't bought them, but I'm still considering them as my second (smaller) school 🙂. 

My group took about 3 months to fully colour up mine were really small when I got them they can look washed out  when you see them in LFS   under the right light and feed  a variety of food they colours are stunning I feed mine a mixture of hikari micro pellets bug bites frozen Cyclops brine shrimp and blood worms 

Edited May 19, 2022 by Colu