Community tank advise please -200l

[CFoster89]

Hi All

Looking for opinions and ideas on my current setup please
All feedback welcome

I've got a external filter on order, currently a fluval u4 but upgrading to a fluval 30 - anyone had experience with in line heaters? Anything else I need to get during change of filter to external, I've ordered the size up and also the spray bar incase flow is too much

Thinking about changing the background to black? What are your thoughts, also what bulbs look best with a black background on this size, I have a 6.5k and 8k led

Have attached a photo of the stock list (please note the neons are all relocated)

 

[charliebankston]

I was given 2 hydor in line heaters with a tank I bought. He didn't use them because he didn't trust them. I read reviews and the were poorly received, so I sold them on ebay. But, I know a guy near me that has several big tanks and runs hydor in lines on all of his and loves them. Never had issues

 

[charliebankston]

For a 200l tank, I'd go with the fluval 70. You are referring to a hang on the back type filter right? Also, if so, an inline heater is not compatible. I have several tanks with a black background, but I personally like the picture background (like rocks etc, that you have) better. My wife likes a dark blue back

 

[charliebankston]

Very pretty tank btw

 

[Tbox]

You'll need a canister filter to connect an inline heater to the return hose. I haven't used one either, so I can't review their performance.
The aquascape looks great! I wont tell you how to change it up if it looks good to you most importantly. It is fun to make aquarium adjustments as we learn more and when we want to just spend more money and need a new project to do.
I have tried the a background similar to yours and found that inevitably water would drip in between the the glass and the laminated background. This would leave unsightly watermarks over time. It bugged me, so now I paint all backgrounds black and haven't looked back.

 

[Tbox]

The chart journal is also a very good idea to do for keeping tabs of water changes, feeding, ferts dosing, filter cleaning, and whatever else deemed necessary. Your column for "status....alive" made me giggle a bit.

 

[skitty]

Nice tank. One thing I would say is that you have a number of schooling fish that would be happier with more conspecifics.

Get more of the same danios, corys, etc. The fish will feel safer and act more naturally.

I have a black background on my planted 180 gallon and I like it because I find it does not give the fake feeling that plastic plants and pictures of plants give. I more or less don't see it or think about it much. Also, my filter and heater accessories are black, so they don't stand out so much against it. That said, I really like the 3D backgrounds that the "kind of DIY" uses, and I understand you can hide things behind them if you really want to.

For light I am using an led bar , 72" long for planted tanks. It's nothing special, but I wanted to point out that it has a blue mode that can be turned on with or without the "warm" mode, so you get three choices of warmth. I expect other aquarium lights have this too.

Use super glue to stick more moss to your rocks. Use styrene egg crate (used in lighting and available at hardware stores) to put more/larger rocks in, pile them up to make caves if you like...

Lastly, I just got mexican dwarf crayfish and they are cute (but one of them died on the first day :shrug: )