MitchM indoor tanks

[MitchM]

I've had aquariums of one sort of another since I was 10, life just doesn't seem right without one.

This is my 320g fresh planted.



In it I have
6 angelfish
20 cardinal tetras
20 silvertip tetras
6 corydoras catfish
6 otocinclus algae eaters
1 plecostomus algae eater

I did some pruning this afternoon and this is what it looked like before



I dose fertilizers and inject Co2 into the tank
Here is the CO2 injection manifold



This is where the dosing enters the tank and where I have probes set up for water level, PH (which controls the CO2 injection) and temperture.



The silvertip tetras are frequently spawning and it's fun to watch the males flash each other as they compete for females. The cardinals have exhibited some spawning behaviour as well, but are not as active as the silvertips.

The angelfish are still a little young to pair off, but I expect that they will do so in time.

I've had cories spawn in another tank before, so I hope these will do likewise.

 

[MitchM]

I also have a 600g reef tank that I rebuilt this past summer.
I am still doing the landscaping. That will be ongoing as the tank develops.



I also dose chemicals into the tank, mainly calcium, alkalinity and magnesium.
I am trying out a bacterial dosing method on it as well, a product line called Zeovit, in order to better control excess nutrients.
Here is the dosing station for both the saltwater and freshwater setups.



Here are some of the inhabitants. I picked these up a couple of weeks ago.

A ritteri anemone with a couple of snowflake clownfish.



An acropora coral.



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[MitchM]

A favia coral



I have other corals, macro algae and fish as well, but I need to set up my camera better in order to take pictures of those.
I took a course in invertebrate zoology a number of years ago and gained a great appreciation for all things marine.
I tried setting up a deep sand bed tank before but discovered that it was impractical to try and get the proper animals into Canada. US suppliers don't want to go through the hassle and it was going to be a lucky chance of me trying to deal with the border guards and whatever paperwork I would need in order to bring them back here legally.
- so I decided to go with a bare bottom reef tank and be satisfied with what was already available here.


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[addy1]

Wow love them! I have never dosed a tank in the manner you are doing. That is a neat set up you have, looks well thought out and complicated. My stuff is so simplistic!

 

[Tula]

Beautiful tanks, look like a sophisticated setup. Kim

 

[MitchM]

Thanks Tula. I tried to set them up so I can have more enjoyment out of them, instead of work.

 

[MitchM]

Wow love them! I have never dosed a tank in the manner you are doing. That is a neat set up you have, looks well thought out and complicated. My stuff is so simplistic!

Thanks addy.
I found that larger tanks are much more stable and let the fish behave much more naturally.
Once set up they don't really require that much work.

 

[addy1]

Thanks Tula. I tried to set them up so I can have more enjoyment out of them, instead of work.

That is why I made my pond the way I did, almost no care.

Very good thing to do, if you constantly fuss with them a lot of the enjoyment is gone.

 

[j.w]

Huge tanks and you are an expert at it for sure and they look wonderful. I used to have just the fresh water ones. Have had tanks since I was a kid. I found them very relaxing to look at till I had to clean them. Now I'm sorry I am just too lazy but love looking at others :cheerful:

 

[MitchM]

Thank you, jw.

During the winter, I place a piece of corrugated plastic over the freshwater tank to minimize evaporation and heat loss.
The reef tank is acrylic and it is covered full time with Lexan.
Freshwater plants don't seem to mind the diffused light.



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[CountryEscape]

Those are some gorgeous tanks, Mitch. What is the bottom substance in the angel tank? Looks like dirt, and since it's a planted tank, wondering what you have used to plant things in, and yet keep your tank clear.
Snowflake clowns? Never heard of them, but as soon as I saw them, I knew they were different! VERY pretty, absolutely love their markings. Did you buy them along with the anemone? Went to a really nice salt water set up store, and they more or less said that to get clowns that will inhabit the anemones it's best to buy them along with the coral after they have taken up residence. Just curious ...

 

[koiguy1969]

nice setups Mitch.

 

[MitchM]

Thanks CE!
In the freshwater tank I'm using some ADA Aquasoil - (Aqua Design Amano) It's made specifically for planted tanks.
Here is their website: http://www.adana-usa.com/
Plus some silica sand for the light colored part. The light colored area is supposed to look like a stream going off to the back left but I disturbed some aquasoil during my pruning, I need to clean that area off better. I did a pretty heavy pruning this time.

The snowflake clowns are captive bred from Indonesia where breeders are breeding all kinds of patterns nowadays.
Clownfish are not too picky as to what they will host in. They'll even host in some species of corals. If you were looking at getting an anemone, I would get the anemone first, being more concerned with getting an appropriate anemone for your tank and letting it settle in before getting the clownfish.
I did buy these clowns along with the anemone, but only because I have a long relationship with the particular LFS and I knew that the anemone had been in his tanks for a long time and was very stable and healthy.

 

[MitchM]

Thanks koiguy!

 

[CountryEscape]

I only had a salt water tank set up in my small 29 gallon that I now have brackish water fish in. I didn't understand fish nearly well enough to have them when I did. I had a maroon clown for the whole time, though, never died. I think it was maybe 8 years old when I found it a new home and took down the tank. Never had any live coral, just fish. And, I'm hating the brackish water tank, because of the "creeping salt" out the back. What do you do to keep that from happening? It's really hard to get at to clean off without it going behind the tank on the floor.
Your systems look very complicated to me! I'm sure they are very handy to have that set up, though. If I ever have the money, I would want to have a very large tank, and someone like you to pay to come take care of it for me. :claphands: :biggrin: