Caliban's 46G Dirted Bowfront Evolved

[Caliban07]

Well I've been meaning to do this for a while now. I didn't want to risk losing my angel fish so was hanging back but since it died last week I have finally took the plunge.

Here is the tank beforehand. It's a 46 bow with dual T8's plus reflectors. No ferts and no co2. Jungle val took over (as always) seems to like my water and out competed everything else because the conditions were so poor. My water is very soft so I needed to be dosing ferts but I wanted to try the Walstad method.



If I am honest, it was a mess. Very natural looking though. My girlfriend said it looked like the bottom of a swamp...I knew it needed sorting and now I have finally done it. And here is how....



Prepared some clay pellets for the base using this popular brand.



Here is the base.



Then a layer of John innes no.3


A bit of crushed coral to prevent the substrate from being too acid and increasing CEC.








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[Caliban07]

Continued....



Then I added the black gravel back on top and began to scape (best I could do) I don't have the eye for it, or the patience.





Then the refill.



And this is how it looks at moment.

Cont...


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[Caliban07]

I lost a cherry barb during the transition. Either it jumped out of the bucket or I missed when I tried to put it in. I won't go in to too much detail but it was a pretty graphic death and I feel a little ashamed.

So all fish are back in. Temp is matched and they all look ok at the moment.

The plants I added were

Bacopa Carolina
Ludwigia repens Red or summat.
Wisteria
And lost of swords.

I already had some crypts and Anubis so the generic low light plants really. Will be adding more crypts at some stage but for now that's it. I'll post another picture when the cloudiness disappears.

My concerns are:

the depth of substrate. It's probably about 3.5 inches total but I don't think it will be too bad

My fish:

Such are massive change. Hopefully they will all pull through. Will have to supplement the ottos now there is no algae.

Feel free to ask questions.


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[coralbandit]

I got to follow and know you know your stuff.
Can't wait till it grows in!
Good luck,sorry about your angel.

[Caliban07]

Originally Posted by coralbandit

I got to follow and know you know your stuff.
Can't wait till it grows in!
Good luck,sorry about your angel.

Thanks CB. Fingers crossed eh? Although I'm not one to go in without trying it out first. I set up a shrimp tank in the same way as an experiment which is doing really well.

I just wish I took more time planning scapes.

No water changes baby!

I can see you cringing right now haha.


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[Fishobsessed7]

Beautiful scape!


Fishobsessed7

Money Can't Buy Happiness, But It Can Buy Fish Which Is Pretty Much The Same Thing

[coralbandit]

Originally Posted by Caliban07

Thanks CB. Fingers crossed eh?
No water changes baby!
I can see you cringing right now haha.
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I don't really cringe at all with you...
You taught the me the math!
You got try to say it won't work huh?
I think I have tried my fair share of 'safe experiments'!

I don't change water on my reefs!

[Caliban07]

Originally Posted by Fishobsessed7

Beautiful scape!


Fishobsessed7

Money Can't Buy Happiness, But It Can Buy Fish Which Is Pretty Much The Same Thing

Why thank you. I will probably make a few changes yet. The plate in the picture didn't really stop the water from hitting the gravel so it stirred up some dirt hence the cloudiness but it will get there. Will have to watch ammonia levels now though. Hopefully the plants and the established media in the canister will take up most of it but I will eventually remove the 205 and just use a pump for water moment and surface agitation.


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[Caliban07]

Originally Posted by coralbandit

I don't really cringe at all with you...

You taught the me the math!

You got try to say it won't work huh?

I think I have tried my fair share of 'safe experiments'!



I don't change water on my reefs!

Haha. Will be interesting to see what the TDS settles at.


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[Caliban07]

Well after one day the TDS is sitting around 120ppm which is about 30ppm less than what is was before the change. I lost my last two neons who were not very healthy before the change. Will not be purchasing neons again though now. Will be getting some cardinals in a months time. All other fish seem much happier.

I only have 18 small fish in there at the moment and will definitely be bumping that number up soon. I'm contemplating doing Rams again or a gourami as the centrepiece.

Tank is much less cloudier today and so far there has been no tannin leaching from the soil like in my smaller tank.

I'll post another full tank shot tomorrow. I reckon it will probably take about 6 months before this tank starts to spring to life fully.


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[Caliban07]

FTS now the cloudiness has settled. I'm amazed at how clear the water is.



Some plants uprooted but I can't be bothered replanting yet.


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[coralbandit]

tank is looking good.
Very clear.
sorry on losing the neons.

[Caliban07]

Originally Posted by coralbandit

tank is looking good.
Very clear.
sorry on losing the neons.

Thanks. I had resigned to losing w few fish beforehand but the remaining ones look so happy now. I can't wait to add a few more fish.

Suggestions on stock welcome.

I have a lot of orange and black at the moment so would need to break that up.


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[Caliban07]

Ok I think these are the last plant additions. Also got me a dwarf gourami who seems happy enough already. Let's see how this tank turns out!

Going to add 6 cardinals, 1 harlequin and 2 cherry barbs over the course of the next few weeks to bump all my shoaling fish up to 6




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[Laeris]

💕 That gourami! I hope we can get a closeup. You weren't fooling around with breaking up the colors!

[Brookster123]

I'm in!! Can wait to see this fill in!

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[TheresaM]

Somehow missed this, definitely following!

What stock do you currently have?

[Caliban07]

Originally Posted by Laeris

💕 That gourami! I hope we can get a closeup. You weren't fooling around with breaking up the colors!

It was the best one at the store. Really good looking fish and has settled instantly


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[Caliban07]

Originally Posted by Brookster123

I'm in!! Can wait to see this fill in!

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Let's up it does! No ferts no nuttin


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[Caliban07]

Originally Posted by TheresaM

Somehow missed this, definitely following!



What stock do you currently have?

I have 4 cherry barbs. Bought 6 but one was deformed and died and I killed another changing that tank. Ratio is one male to 3 females. They are all bigger than him, I don't know if that is normal.

5 harlequin rasbora. Had 10 originally 2.5 years ago.

5 ottos
2 swords mail and female.
And the gourami.


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