From empty tank to a thriving bustling community

Based upon my experience of losing a particularly pretty Oranda some years ago which I ascribe to Anglia Water flushing the pipes with some nasty chemicals (harmless to man but deadly to fish), I have now decided to go truly 'Natural Aquarium' and use rainwater collected from the roof of my garden greenhouse. It is chemically and hopefully pollutant  free and in the UK even in the summer it can be a guaranteed source:-)

The old tank thus cleaned and steeped in potassium permanganate for a week was flushed out, filled with tap water and left over night. Emptied and dried, the heating cable was placed in a serpentine fashion evenly over the bottom of the tank. It was then covered with the Hobbyfish Substore substrate, looking like a mix of silver sand and a light mix of peat. This was levelled out with the edge of a plastic ruler and the silver quartz added on top. I wasn't intending to aquascape with terraces and bogwood (maybe my next bigger tank ;-) ), just a simple flat plane on which to add my plants. Next with new substrate in place I added the CO2 diffuser and filter pipe work,  added the collected rainwater, put on the hood and lights and left the heated tank with the CO2 bubbling (1 bubble every 4 seconds) for a week, whilst my plants were delivered by mail order. After a couple of days the water had lost most of its milkiness and a quick siphon removed any peat debris which had escaped through the quartz layer of the substrate. The filter had already a matured bed which I had further fed with Interpet Trizyme Bio-Start, which led to a very speedy settlement of the completed tank.

My 48 inch tank selection of mail order plants arrived a little late, after being left by the courier with my neighbours who had forgotten to give them to me for a day or so. Nonetheless my plants had been well packed and sealed in labelled plastic bags and were a bargain compared to expensive shop bought varieties. The people at Java had done a great job in their packing department, only one plant had suffered in transit.

Half draining the tank and saving the water for refilling later, I followed the guidance on the included advice sheet and the plant labels and set my new plants out in groups in fore, mid and background with pride of place for 3 tubers of Nymphea Stellata, offset in mid ground.

Within a week my plants were bubbling oxygen like Alka Seltzer into the crystal clear water and filamentous roots and leaves budded from almost every plant. All that is except for the Stardust Ivy which eventually rotted at the root base, why I don't know, perhaps it was too slow to grow and got smothered by the other faster growing plants. Within the month, after adding the fish and Amano shrimp, I began pruning back the vigorous growth and replanting the cuttings. Some very pale algae just started to show on the top surface layer  so I cut back on feeding the fish and fertilising the plants.

In all this time my fish have gone from strength to strength, indeed they looked better the moment I released them into the new tank, feeding well and inquisitively exploring and interacting with their mates. I've kept the fish population deliberately low so as to place the smallest  burden upon the filter and to reduce the production of waste to a minimum, thus with the hope of keeping the plants bright and the growth of algae to a minimum.

How I get on from here is yet to be seen!

24:08:2002 As can be seen I've brought back into service my smaller 24"x12"x12" tank. It has had removed a canister filter and heater, after all it is only occupied by plants. I made up a substrate of my own, comprising 50:50 John Innes No.3, loam based potting compost and peat. This was layered to about 1" over the top of which was placed 0.5" of fine silver sand, and on top of it fine pea shingle. Finances or lack of dictated this move, in any case if it doesn't work out I can strip it and pop down for Hobbyfish for their good stuff.

If you've clicked on the tank image you might just see the home made CO2 unit I made from a 2 litre coke bottle and a bit of tubing and air diffuser. Inside I made up a cup of white sugar and water with bakers yeast. If I was making wine I'd have used a better yeast. In any case within an hour CO2 was bubbling through into the water. In retrospect I have too many varieties of plants, and I shall begin a management campaign which will reduce the numbers down to 3 or 4. The tank collection was good value,  but the jungle of plants looks chaotic rather than naturally groomed. As a beginner in 'aquascaping' I hope I can gradually correct this.

Summer 2004 The tank has now matured and gone through a number of prunings. I've also dosed the undergrave with laterite, about a year ago. I've lost all but one of the shrimp, but gained dozens of generations of the orange/red platy. One particularly dismal plant I kept over from my previous tank has now thrived in the centre of the tank, but prefers to have its roots above t he gravel!

I must get a new piece of plastic tubing to the co2 gizmo, it is the white tube in the top right of the tank. Also I've installed a large outside water butt to collect rainwater from my house roof. This provides me with FRESH and not polluted human drinkwater, as provided by Anglian Water. Now I am assured of a quantity of freely sourced water, untouched by so called helpful chemists! One off cost approx £45.

Note the input and output pipes - the output pipe is there to prevent the tank overflowing and flooding the surrounding area. These connectors costed extra and had to be spray painted black to blend in with the main down pipe.

23 October 2004

Major revamp to the aquaria stand and replacenet of the lower tank.

The main 4ft tank runs 3 - 30w tubes, the hood is lined with a metallic mirror finished Fablon, which relects much of the light downwards. At this time I am getting some algae problems which I may need to remedy with a treatment.

Above a Juwel Rekord 70 purchased to give 3 handsome goldfish a good home! The internal filter requires much more maintenance than I expected. A substrate of silver sand gravel and peat, which the trio enjoy sifting through. Later in February 2005 a 4th Black moor was donated to my lower tank, and in my upper main tank the last of the shrimp shed their skins for the last time, noticeably the snail population had increased and a mollusc killer sought. Two new tubes for the upper tank were also installed.

JANUARY 2006

The plants keep flourishing and I'm having to prune out excess growth every month or so! I've lost the Black Moor in the lower tank, he always seemed under par, and just wasted away:-( My neon tetras are pretty old now and somewhat less in number, I'll have to re-invigorate the community in the spring with a fresh intake.

SPRING 2007

Time for a change!

A kitchen re-fit led to us moving and replacing my aged 4ft tank to a new tank with a greater volume of water but only 1metre wide. We both felt we needed a new tank that would look more in keeping with our latest rebuilding and decoration, so out with the old and in with the new!

Out of the kitchen and into the lounge. The tank an Australian made Aqua One Regal 100:

My only gripe with this attractive aquarium is the low wattage for lighting and this will be next on my list to upgrade from 2*25watts to probably 140 watts. Unfortunately Aquaone don't make an assembly of that type for this tank, so it will have to be from some other third party source. I'm considering T5's with electronic ballasts.