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Here are some photos of my aquarium at present.

All of the fish have been doing well. At present there are Glass Tailfin Tetras, a group of 6 Otocinclus catfish, 5 bronze corydorus catfish, and one of the angel fish from the tank before the rebuild.

Also the plants are doing well in the new tank. Especially the glosso is sending out runners with little leaves popping out. All of the plants in the tank need constant pruning.

When I was setting up the aquarium I took a bunch of photos as I went along. I have compiled these into a time lapse movie.

Couple of things to note:

The wires on the bottom at the start are a Red Sea Root therm system.

The bottom layer of substrate is laserite from Boronia Aquarium, then pool filter sand is the top layer.

When I started filling the tank I used an ice cream bucket but even this disturbed the sand and dug up the laterite. I then used a dinner plate and that didn’t cause any problems.

At the end the tank ‘fills itself’ without the hose being visible, I have a hose fitting on the filter system to make it easy to fill the tank.

Tank Setup Time lapse movie  (980k Quicktime Movie)

As setting up the new aquarium has involved a bunch of new equipment I have been looking online for the gear. This is less about price and more about choice. The online stores simply have a better range of gear and I am able to check out information online about the equipment before purchasing.

I bought two batches of gear, one from Age of Aquariums  and the other from Aquarium Supplies Australia. To be honest I was a bit dubious buying the gear from Age of Aquariums as their website looks a little shabby, but in the end they had the better pricing and figured I shouldn’t have to many problems as they were based in Australia.

I was surprised, the bigger order sent to Age of Aquariums made up of lights, fluro tubes, regulator, PH Controler and a few other bits and pieces, arrived first, 3 days after I placed the order online. Aquarium Supplies Australia were sending a a Red Sea root therm and bubble counter, this took two weeks to ship to me.

On the whole the Aquarium Supplies Australia web store is much better as you can track your order, but tracking is just a nicety I would much rather get the gear early. The tracking did let me see that it took them just over a week to despatch the order, I assume they were waiting on stock themselves.

Both stores sent me exactly what I wanted and I am guessing that any aquarium store in Melbourne would have had to order the equipment in and charged me extra for it as well.

The lighting on the aquarium is going to be upgraded from 1×55 watt power compact and a 14 watt regular globe, to a setup with 4 x 55 watt power compact globes. This will be achieved with 3 light fixtures, 1 double fixture which will run down one of the edges of the tank, and then a single globe fixture down the other side and the other single fixture in the front of the hood. The double will be over the area where predominately the ground cover plants will be, while the single will run along the edge where the taller plants will grow.

Two things need to be modified in the tank to take this configuration. First the hood needs to be modified to allow the two fixtures running along the sides to fit. The second modification is needed for the light mounted in the front of the tank. This is the main access to the tank and therefore needs to be easily removable for feeding etc. At this stage I am hoping to attach the light to the hood at the front. I will also need to make the switch easily accessible so that I can switch the light off before opening the hood.

The lights I am using are all Aqualina Power Compact hoods. They seems to be reasonable quallity hoods available in Australia at a reasonable price. I will initially setup the lighting without changing the substrate or CO2 injection. Worst case if I get an algae bloom I will simply turn off a couple of the lights.

Here is a photo of the first stage of the lighting complete. I am waiting for the glue on the hood to dry after a couple of modifications. The light along the front hasn’t been put in place, so the front is a little dark.

I have had a planted aquarium for a couple of years now, and plants have grown ok in it. For a while I have been thinking upgrading to a high growth ‘nature’ aquarium. Inspired by Takashi Amano and the showcase at Aquatic Gardeners, I hope to create something that looks at least 1/2 as good as the ones shown.

These aquariums don’t grow like that by chance. Unfortunately they use a high level of lighting and carbon dioxide (CO2) injected into the water to encourage plant growth and grow the harder plants. So the first thing that will be required in my tank is an upgrade in the equipment used.

At present the current setup is:

Tank: 1/4 Circle tank, 76cm wide, 45cm high, 205 litres (55 gallons)

Filter: Fluval 304, Undergravel Filter

Lighting: 1 x 14 watt 24 inch fluro, 1 x 55 watt 24 inch Compact Power Fluro

Heating: In tank heater

Substrate: Gravel

CO2: None

The tank will remain but the undergravel filter is going to be removed and the gravel replaced. The lighting is going to be upgraded, and CO2 injection used

Tank: 1/4 Circle tank, 76cm wide, 45cm high, 205 litres (55 gallons)

Filter: Fluval 304, No Undergravel Filter

Lighting: 4 x 55 watt 24 inch Compact Power Fluro

Heating: In tank heater, substrate heating

Substrate: Laterite, Peat Moss, Sand

CO2: Pressurised, with constant CO2 montioring

Once the tank is reconfigured I will start to procure the plants for the tank.

Here is a shot of the tank, and a shot of the inside of the tank.