My 75 Gallon Amazon inspired tank

[Jungle Fan]

My 75 gallon dream tank which I finally managed to put together last year after collecting and saving for a good long while. The fish are strictly South American, the plants, snails, and shrimp are a more fishkeeper friendly combo designed to recreate the spirit of the Amazon jungle rather than to be an "Amazon biotope". The Cardinals and Rummynose are wild caughts from my LFS and Project Piaba sourced. After seeing one of Aquarium Co Op Cory's tanks with crypts in the foreground I decided to forego the S. repens lawn and just place a few interlaced with crypts and my fish love it; although the Rummynose and Rams now love to hide and the only time I see everyone together is feeding time LOL.  My wife calls it our "Mini Jungle Book". The shimmer from the surface movement under the Kessil lights lets the Cardinals shine like little jewels; an old man's 52 year long dream since I started keeping fish. Let me know what you think, or if you like it.

Here are the specs:

Livestock:

-35 Cardinal Tetras (Paracheirodon axelrodi)

-13 Rummynose Tetras (Hemigrammus bleheri)

-8 Otocinclus

-6 Bolivian Rams (Mikrogeophagus altispinosa)

-15 Amano Shrimp (Caridina multidentata)

-at least 50 Blue Velvet Shrimp as they have multiplied rapidly and some in genetic throwbacks are red, some Crystal shrimp now and some Black Riilis

-several Zebra Nerite snails, some other Nerites, including Military Helmet snails, and the occasional bladder snail hitchhiker.

 

Hardscape:

Substrate:

One thin layer of Mironekuton Deep Sea Mineral Powder, followed by ADA Tourmaline BC. ADA Clear Super, ADA Bacter 100 sprinkled over the Deep Sea minerals. Next a layer of small crushed lava rock, a thin layer of pebbles mixed with Fluval Shrimp Substrate, and finally a thick layer of Soft Belly Amazon Soil.

Mopani, Pacific driftwood, & Spiderwood (well pre-soaked for about three months with frequent water changes), diverse rocks among them Brazilian Carnelian, Flint, Agate, and Obsidian, a few pieces of lava rock on which I mounted Anubias

 

Plants:

-Echinodorus Red Flame

-Echinodorus Rubin

-Echinodorus Ozelot Green

-Pogostemon erectus (Gone, as of July 2020 because my now huge Amano shrimp developed a distinct hankering for the fine leaves of this Pogostemon, expensive salad for shrimp)

-Ludwigia repens

-Lobelia cardinalis

-Java Fern (Microsorum pteropus)

-Anubias afzelli

-Anubias nana

-Anubias nana petite

-Cryptocoryne wendtii Green Gecko

-Cryptocoryne willisii

-Cryptocoryne parva

-Bucephalandra wavy green

-Bucephalandra biblis blue

-Bucephalandra Kedagang

-Staurogyne repens

-Christmas moss (Vesicularia montagnei)

 

Equipment:

Stand:

(manufactured locally to my design) White oak treated like a boat with polyurethane finish in mission style with slate inserts in doors( gotta keep my wife happy), doors can be opened to 170 degrees, or removed completely with two clicks each, built in metal square tubing frame rests on 8 adjustable feet which can hold 2,500 lbs. each (the living room floor turned out to be uneven) the back of the stand is open to reach the power strip I mounted on the wall for better access and to allow for drip loops, the CO2 cylinders (1 active, 1 spare) rest in a box which keeps them from falling over, the bottom wood plates can be removed to adjust the feet

Lights:

-2EA Kessil A360X Tuna Sun on Goosenecks with Spectral X Controller

-small lunar light (blue) on night timer for 6 hours

Filtration:

-Fluval 407 Canister Filter, loaded with fine and coarse sponge mechanical filtration, and Sera Siporax sintered glass biological filtration, as well as a polishing pad, also equipped with an Eheim Pre-filter with two sponges

-Eheim Skim 350 Surface Skimmer

Oxygen:

-Tetra 100 Whisper Air pump with air wand on timer for night oxygen

Heater:

-Eheim Ebo/Jaeger fully submersible 300 Watt Heater

CO2 System:

Operating one hour before photo period and shutting off one hour before end of photo period

-GreenLeaf Aquarium Dual Stage CO2 Regulator w/solenoid & bubble counter

-CO2 line

-Dennerle CO2 Check Valve

-Aquario Neo CO2 Diffuser L from Aquarium Co-Op

-Glass CO2 Drop Checker

 

Edited July 26, 2021 by Jungle Fan
Pogostemon eliminated by shrimp, Equipment update after death of API Filstar L Canister Filter

[Colu]

Beautiful tank great fish selection love Bolivian rams and cardinals

[Jungle Fan]

The Rummys at feeding time. I love the way the sunset program brings out the colors in the Rams with its shades and the shimmer. The Rams love to hide in the assorted caves I built for them with the driftwood.

 

Edited February 15, 2021 by Jungle Fan
Wrong picture

[Jungle Fan]

[Lemon]

 the tank looks amazing and the shimmer from the kessil looks amazing

[Jungle Fan]

Not intentionally at least, a few of the "Blue Velvet" offspring look like Cherries but have a white belly, and like I said a few are actually Crystals, and a few are Black Riilis. Must've been different strains they were breeding to get to the original six "Blue Velvets" I started with, now there are at least 50. Had several people tell me the Rams would take care of them in a New York minute but they aren't even interested in any of the shrimp and live with them in harmony as the increasing population proves.

Edited February 15, 2021 by Jungle Fan
typo

[FrozenFins]

It looks awesome! The plants have really been growing in and the rummy nose are looking so nice! I will never understand how one can take that good of a picture with rummynose tetras who are ALWAYS moving. Some platinum Angelfish would look really nice.

I have often thought about doing a 180 gallon amazon biotope with altum angels, uaru, sevrums, rummy nose tetra, etc. 

The Lights shimmer looks so awesome!

Well Done!

[Jungle Fan]

Would insert an MP4 file of the Kessils but is not one of the acceptable file types the shimmer is an active thing. I used to take pictures for a living, hummingbirds was my specialty but I've even got some fairly decent ones of dragonflies in flight. This one is of a Blue Darner. The trick is to use the right timing and have decent light, usually 1/1600s will work too freeze movement. With dragonflies you have to watch them; they are territorial and have a return point when they patrol the edge of a pond. At the return point they linger just a little while when they turn, get the autofocus in between the wings, and Bingo with a little experience and skill, like about 40 years worth.LOL

[CorydorasEthan]

Wow nice tank! I wish I could so something like this.

A nice school of Corydoras catfish would look great in this aquarium. Maybe some green aeneus, false juliis, sterbais, or emerald green Brochis.

[Jungle Fan]

I love Corydoras but left them out of this tank deliberately because the soft belly soil is so light and they would end up getting the S. repens to float in perpetuity in this one. I had a good long time to think about this tank and plan in detail. It's been running since end of July last year now and I'm happy the way it is coming together. I would've loved putting a Discus tank together with German Blue Rams, Cardinals, and Rummys but I didn't have the space for a 125, or 150 gallon tank and Cardinals and Bolivian Rams are what I started with many years ago.

[Lemon]

you can upload a video via youtube

[Jungle Fan]

I'll have to look into how that works. I've viewed stuff on YouTube just never uploaded anything. Thanks for letting me know though.

When I looked through my files I found this picture I had taken of what my hardscape looked like after the four weeks of dark start cycling during which I ran only the filter, heater, surface skimmer, and the Marineland Magnum Polishing Internal Canister Filter of which I had preloaded the micron cartridge with diatomaceous earth to remove all dust particles.  The Magnum ran only during the dark start, after which I removed it. I keep this filter only for removing particles and unclarities, much like my internal UV filter which only gets into use when algae, or disease necessitate it, otherwise it stays in its box to keep it from messing with the liquid iron's chelation which would render it non-useful for the plants. I had kept adding Seachem stability, and between it and the original ADA Bacter 100, some of which I had also added into the Canister filter's Siporax media, the tank's cycle was running pretty well. I added the plants and after about a week the snails and shrimp, after another week the fish. Never had an issue with any of the elements of the ammonia cycle, and very little algae. I do minor things every day and a 50% water change once a week. I dose liquid iron from Aquarium Co-Op, liquid all in one, and Brightwell Aquatics Blackwater for Shrimp twice a week, Mironekuton Deep Sea Mineral Powder once a month, and I've got root tabs at regular intervals throughout the tank for the swords and crypts.

Also one of my pictures of my favorites, the Cardinal Tetra, the fish that got me started in the aquarium hobby when I saw them in the pet department of a department store in Germany 52 years ago. I have now lived 30 years in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and dealt with water that was super hard, some super soft, and some that had a lot of phosphates from farming in the area, so I've learnt that water tests and frequent large water changes are a fishkeepers best friend.

[Jungle Fan]

Two more photos of a Rummynose, and an Amano climbing downward on the stump in the left of the tank who was photo bombed by a Nerite.

[Jungle Fan]

I know several people who say don't mix aquarium wood types in your tank, but that's nonsense the wood always darkens within the first six months and you can't tell the difference in my tank now between Pacific driftwood, Spiderwood, and Mopani. The same goes for Mopani wood being "dangerous" to shrimp, if you soak the Mopani for several months before placing it in the tank as I do with all my driftwood there is no issue.

[Jess]

Your tank is basically my dream tank... and the Kessil A360X Tuna Sun is my dream light!!!   I'd need 2 even on my 36" x 12" x 24"h tank, and $900 is just too much for now.  I made my own LED light for my 17-gallon (no shimmer though, not a puck light), but I can't quite figure out how to make something similar to the Kessil.  I know some people dislike that shimmer effect, but I absolutely love it.  That lunar light was a great idea...that's something that was missing from the Kessil that I wanted to incorporate into my own light design. I have the new tank I'm setting up now in my bedroom and I think the lunar light would be very peaceful and help me get to sleep at night.  

I got Echinodorus Aflame a month ago (from ALA) and I'm still waiting for it to arrive!  If you wanted to post more pictures that show off how you've arranged your various Echinodorus species, I wouldn't complain... 😆  This is a really great tank...you should show it off with more pics, LOL.  Nice job!  Enjoy it!

[Jungle Fan]

Jess,

I can certainly understand the part of "just too much for now", for the most part of my life I was right there, and even now I had to keep putting money aside, and had it not been for a bonus I had earned in 2019 this tank would've probably sported different lights. After all was said and done with two Kessil A360X, two goosenecks, another K-link cable, and Spectral X controller the whole thing was closer to $1,300. Well worth it though but financially not pain free.

I will get some more pics of the swords, and post by sometime next week.

[Jungle Fan]

Jess,

Just a few quick cell phone shots to illustrate the placement of the Red Flame Sword off center to the left of the right root, and the Green Ocelot Sword(s) on its right in front of the pre-filter. I had to give the Green Ocelot a major haircut because it had reached the surface, and was so thick it restricted flow, so I trimmed out the largest leaves. I didn't take pictures of the plants that are on the left in the background of the root located there, they are a Red Flame Sword, and a Rubin Sword, both are offspring from plants I had in other tanks and so far only about 4 inches tall and hard to take pictures of at that size because of obstruction by the stump, and the CO2 diffuser. I also took a shot in which you can see the Java fern and my crypts pearling, as well as two night pictures of "The Jungle Book" with the lunar lights on.

[Streetwise]

@Jungle Fan, beautiful. So many plants!

Edited February 20, 2021 by Streetwise

[Jungle Fan]

Thanks, they are great for the water quality and the shrimp and fish love them. However, sometimes all I see are my cardinals and the rest hide in the jungle, but usually not for long. Some of our guests are quite surprised when they've admired the plants and shimmer of the Kessils for a while and it happens to be feeding time and I place some food in the floating feeder ring to keep the surface skimmer from fouling up too fast; all of a sudden everyone appears out of the plants, and they understand that my tank is fairly well stocked with variety and color. It always amuses my wife to no end.

[CorydorasEthan]

@Jungle Fan I remembered what you had said on why you don't keep cories, and now I have found a solution. In my experience and research online, pygmy cories (Corydoras pygmaeus) don't dig around too much or uproot any plants, so I think they would be fine with your Staurogyne repens. If you do decide to get them, do a huge school of at least 15 that would look so cool in your aquarium.

[Jungle Fan]

I used to have a 125 gallon several years ago, I had a swarm of about 30 in it, loved those little guys. I've now already got the Otos and I tend to stick with a concept unless something turns out not to work. I love the Otocinclus as well, especially since they seem to be different types among them that's why I don't refer to them as Otocinclus affinis. Different patterns but they all love to clean leaves, and sometimes I find each one of them adhered to crypt leaves. Between the Nerites, black military helmet snailsAmano and Blue Velvet shrimp, and the Otos they are a ferocious team of algae and food seekers and it helps to keep them well fed with some fresh greens as well.

[Colu]

Have your otos started to breed yet 

[Jungle Fan]

No Oto breeding that I've seen, and as I've said I have a very efficient cleaner crew that would probably not stop for eggs. The Blue Velvet shrimp have been very prolific however, and starting with an all blue crew I now have some that are white and red striped crystal shrimp, and some that are black Riliis, and some that look like Cherry shrimp with complete white bellies. Very interesting to see genetic recombination at work.

[Jungle Fan]

Here's a picture of a full view of the tank with the goosenecks, you can see the stand a little better that way, The photos on the wall were all taken by me; it's our wall where we display our own work, my photos and my wife's acrylic gouache nature artwork done from my photos. I had to Dremel two short portions of the inside lip of the aquarium frame out for the goosenecks.

[Daniel]

12 minutes ago, Jungle Fan said:

Here's a picture of a full view of the tank with the goosenecks, you can see the stand a little better that way,

 

How do you like those Kessils?