465 Gallon Planted Amazon Biotope

[Pleco]

Well i pulled the trigger on what will be my Amazon Biotope. I ordered a stand/hood/tank combo today.

Here are the tank stats
465 Gal. 3/4" glass
96 x 37 1/2 x 30 1/2 Tall

I really would like to stick to Amazon native plants, and wood. Does anyone know where i can get Amazon native plants and wood on the interwebs? I would rather pay more from a reliable source than less and get ripped off.

Discus will be the showcase fish in the tank, I am thinking i can probably house 8 Discus in a tank this size? Other fish i were thinking would be GBR's, Rams, apistos, tetras, any other ideas?

After talking with LWB I will order 3 XP4's tomorrow from BigAls, for a left/middle/right configuration.

Lighting is something i will need help with as this will be planted tank. I will be adding a C02 system to it. Any suggestions and/or links to sites that sell light kits for a tank like this would be awesome.

Thanks guys, you've helped me a lot in the past with my fish and my love for the hobby. You can all pat yourselves on the back for turning another forum user to MTS

-Pleco

[Lonewolfblue]

Cool... Wish I had that, lol. Gonna set it up at my place? I promise, I'll let you visit, lol.

[Zagz]

465 gals? 8O 8O Did you mean 65 gals? If 65 gals then 8 discus should be fine, if you mean 465 gals, then a heck of a lot more.

[Lonewolfblue]

Originally Posted by Zagz

465 gals? 8O 8O Did you mean 65 gals? If 65 gals then 8 discus should be fine, if you mean 465 gals, then a heck of a lot more.

No, he means 465G, lol. An 8 foot tank, and just over 3 feet from front to back, and about 2.5 feet deep.

[newfound77951]

Oh my.....you could swim with your discus in a tank that size!

We definitely need lots and lots of pictures as this goes together. That's an order!

[Corey]

Mbu puffer Mbu puffer Mbu puffer Mbu puffer Mbu pufferMbu puffer Mbu puffer Mbu puffer Mbu puffer Mbu puffer Mbu puffer

[GlitcH]

Whoa!........that's not a tank.......that's an indoor pond.

Can't wait to see that come together!!

EDIT: http://ahsupply.com/ has some good stuff!

[Glenc]

Lots of pics please!

[spyyro]

That sounds awesome! Wow, the things you could do with that setup. Definitely pics.

[Pleco]

I ordered 3 XP4's and inline heaters for all three this morning at work along with looking at how the heck im gonna light this thing. It looks like im going to have to get 2 fixtures as i dont think there is one long enough for a 1 piece setup. I am going to go with Eco Complete, i figure i will order 20 bags of it and hope that is enough.

What plants/wood are in the Discus natural environment, and can you buy them anywhere? I am worried with the higher temps that the Discus will need that a lot of plants amazon native or not may not grow in the tank. I am severely underestimating how large this tank is, my guess is now that i can fit around 18 Discus in it. Of course my local fish store wants in on that huge heap of cash action, but maybe i should buy from a reputable breeder instead.

I called the place i bought the setup from and they said its around a 6-9 week lead time to build everything. Once its done Ill have to pay them to deliver it as i have nothing that can transport this tank vehicle wise.

I need help with plant finding/selection, fish finding/selection, lighting, C02 setups, well basically a lot. If anyone has resources that they can post links to here or give me contact info to it would be much appreciated. I'm in to this tank nearly $4k and the fish aren't even in it, quality means more to me than price at this point

Photos will be taken, lots of them I will probably put up a photoblog of sorts on my .mac account once things start rolling in

Thanks for all the support

-Pleco

[tropicfishman]

sweet!! 465 gallons!! man that sucker is gonna be huge!!!

[plecoperson]

Wheee! What an exciting project. I'm really happy for you, and we will all enjoy seeing it come together.


Oh,



PS:

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[SparKy697]

I can't even imagine what a tank like that will look like! You know, questions have been raised about weight and flooring support under tanks in the past. I would be interested in hearing how you are dealing with this monster in your home.

Here is a link for a calculator that may help you decide on your substrate order. For your tank size it says that for a 3" bed you need 600lbs of eco

The votes are in... You must provide pictures, and lots of them.

[WaterPond]

Originally Posted by plecoperson

PS:

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I couldn't agree more. That tank needs some plecos. Lots of em. forget the discus, LOL :lol: :P

[Pleco]

I live in a typical California house which is on a concrete slab, the only thing i worry about is cracking or otherwise damaging the hardwood flooring from the weight. I think i may put something between the tank and the flooring to try to prevent this. its 10lbs per gallon right? that would be 4,650lbs just in water.. looks like 600lbs of substrate, the stand and hood, lighting, then the plants, wood, fish.. definitely need a buffer for the flooring.

If I need 600 lbs of Eco then it would be 30 bags, I'm not even going to begin to wonder what that will cost. I am just going to hope i can find somewhere local that i can get it from and get a bulk discount on it. Thanks for the calculator.

Should i go with CF lighting or a CF/Hylide mixture?

Thanks again guys,
-Pleco

[severum mama]

First of all, I'll start off by saying

SWEEEEEEEEEEEET! 8)

You may want to go with halides for this tank. On one hand, it completely depends on what species of plants you choose, but on the other hand it seems to me that it would be pretty difficult to get the light from CF bulbs alone to penetrate 30.5 inches of water. Normally, you'd have to worry about the tank heating up a lot from the MH bulbs (they get VERY hot), but discus are a different story... I'm sure you already know that 85-88 is a good temp for them. Will this tank have a canopy? If so, you'll need to use fans inside the canopy to keep your equipment from overheating. You'll also need to make sure the stand is well-ventilated if you mount the ballasts inside it, as these get very hot as well.

High output T5s may be an option for you also. Just like any other type of lighting, you can find HO T5 strip lights or retrofit kits. I've seen T5 fixtures with as many as 8 bulbs (4' strip); maybe 2 of these would do the job? These bulbs stay much cooler than MHs.

I'd research the plants that you want, and their lighting requirements, before you make up your mind. As for the Eco, if you can't find anyone that will sell you 30 bags at wholesale prices, then you're looking at about 600 bucks for it- YIKES! 8O

Lastly, I'll just mention how insanely jealous I am of this project. Good luck, and we expect a photo journal just so you know.

[Pleco]

Originally Posted by severum mama

First of all, I'll start off by saying

SWEEEEEEEEEEEET! 8)

You may want to go with halides for this tank. On one hand, it completely depends on what species of plants you choose, but on the other hand it seems to me that it would be pretty difficult to get the light from CF bulbs alone to penetrate 30.5 inches of water. Normally, you'd have to worry about the tank heating up a lot from the MH bulbs (they get VERY hot), but discus are a different story... I'm sure you already know that 85-88 is a good temp for them. Will this tank have a canopy? If so, you'll need to use fans inside the canopy to keep your equipment from overheating. You'll also need to make sure the stand is well-ventilated if you mount the ballasts inside it, as these get very hot as well.

High output T5s may be an option for you also. Just like any other type of lighting, you can find HO T5 strip lights or retrofit kits. I've seen T5 fixtures with as many as 8 bulbs (4' strip); maybe 2 of these would do the job? These bulbs stay much cooler than MHs.

I'd research the plants that you want, and their lighting requirements, before you make up your mind. As for the Eco, if you can't find anyone that will sell you 30 bags at wholesale prices, then you're looking at about 600 bucks for it- YIKES! 8O

Lastly, I'll just mention how insanely jealous I am of this project. Good luck, and we expect a photo journal just so you know.

The hood/canopy will have fans built in to it, along with the stand. This was a design requirement that i made.

I am going to talk to the manager of a local shop that carries eco to see if they will give me a bulk discount tomorrow.

What plants are native to the discus environment? I tried searching but i can't seem to find any. Maybe swords, but there has to be more than that i think?

Thanks for the advice, many pictures will be posted

Maybe the mods can rename this thread to something more appropriate?

With all your guys advice in here I kinda think of it as our project, hope you all don't mind. I certainly couldn't do it alone with no advice!

-Pleco

[severum mama]

Pleco, I'm not too good with biotopes really. If you need some suggestions, I'd suggest hittin' up the planted tank forum for some ideas, or maybe Plantgeeks?

[SparKy697]

Maybe the mods can rename this thread to something more appropriate?

You can rename it by going to the first post in the thread and clicking the edit button in the upper right corner.

When do you expect to take delivery of your masterpiece?

[Lonewolfblue]

Originally Posted by Pleco

I live in a typical California house which is on a concrete slab, the only thing i worry about is cracking or otherwise damaging the hardwood flooring from the weight. I think i may put something between the tank and the flooring to try to prevent this. its 10lbs per gallon right? that would be 4,650lbs just in water.. looks like 600lbs of substrate, the stand and hood, lighting, then the plants, wood, fish.. definitely need a buffer for the flooring.

If I need 600 lbs of Eco then it would be 30 bags, I'm not even going to begin to wonder what that will cost. I am just going to hope i can find somewhere local that i can get it from and get a bulk discount on it. Thanks for the calculator.

Should i go with CF lighting or a CF/Hylide mixture?

Thanks again guys,
-Pleco

And don't forget the weight of the glass, lol. When I inquired about the 300G Wide I'm looking at, they told me it was just over 500lbs just for the tank.

For plants, Swords, Swords, Swords, Sword, lol......... Then a few other Swords, lol. Maybe a couple anubias and larger java ferns.