My kubotai dream coming true

[AnneH]

Finally, after almost a year and a half of dreaming, my kubotai dream is coming true . I have ordered a tank big enough for botia kubotai (http://www.akvariebutikken.dk/product/a ... r-alu-771/), 360 litres, 130 x 50 x 55 cm.
It'll have a background filter installed in a beautiful 3D RockZolid background (http://unimati.biz/product.asp?product=3566).

The main attraction should be a nice group of botia kubotai, but I would love to have sids as well. If things go as planned, the tank should arrive mid-August. Then I'll start it up slowly adding decoration, driftwood, plants, snails and a few fish after some time, one species after the other. No loaches will be added before the tank is really mature, which could end up meaning late autumn. Furthermore, botia kubotai are not always easy to find in Denmark, so I'll take one step at a time and see when what happens.

So far I have thought of these fishes:
10 Botia kubotai
10 Yasuhikotakia sidthimunki
5 Crossocheilus siamensis (from my other tank, they'd enjoy some more space than they have now)
15 Danio tinwini
Any comments on the species or the numbers of fish?

I'll keep you updated step by step (man, am I looking forward to this adventure)

[DainBramage1991]

That will be a spectacular tank!

[redshark1]

I'm not really qualified to advise as I haven't kept those species but it sounds like a whole load of fun.

I'm sure it will be a great aquarium to own and to observe.

[NancyD]

I haven't kept all those fish but kubotai with sids sounds great...d. tinwini might be a bit small, hopefully not bite sized, I really like their looks. ..of course we'd love pics when the time comes...Maybe d. kyathit if tinwinii are not a good fit? I haven't seen either lately, might be seasonal or I haven't looked much lately.

[AnneH]

Thank you for the comments. I'll post photos as soon as the tank arrives and as the project evolves.

Maybe d. kyathit if tinwinii are not a good fit?

Interesting suggestion. The danio tinwini were suggested by a fish store with a lot of experience and respect for the animals. I'll think about it (and maybe try it out?)

I'd be grateful for more comments on the combination and number of fishes. It is my intention to keep it Asian style (at least regarding the animals, not the plants).

[Fishwife]

The tinwini and thekuboti will look amazing together. A nice pair of discrossus filimentosa (sp?) checkerboard chichlid would go great with those guys as well. Hope to see some pics!

[AnneH]

A nice pair of discrossus filimentosa (sp?) checkerboard chichlid would go great with those guys as well. Hope to see some pics!

I intend to keep it mainly Asian, so I guess I'll try the tinwini. But thanks for the interesting suggestion
Any comments on the number of fish?

The tank should arrive some time Friday afternoon , and I promise to share pics if everything goes as planned.

[AnneH]

Things move extremely slowly forward, but at least the tank arrived 10 days ago, and at last we got the cabinet together yesterday. Unfortunately, it will still take some time before I can start adding sand, plants, water, ect., but at any rate I can share the first photographs of the empty tank:





From the left side



Detail



From the right side, where you can clearly see the bioelements from the background filter



Filter intake

[Babakapusta]

That is an interesting tank. I haven't set one up in awhile and that background looks awesome. I don't understand it though. In your picture it looks like it is filled with hair curlers. I'm guessing this is some kind of filtration?

How much does that mountain thing decrease the size of your tank?

[AnneH]

I don't actually know how much the background decreases the tank, but you can read more about the size of it here: http://www.rockzolid.dk/en/node/65

You're absolutely right, the "hair curlers" (so-called sinking bioballs) are part of the filtration built into the background (you can see the grid where the water intake is on one of the photos). Of course some of the depth is decreased, but luckily the length is intact. This "tree trunk" background provides quite a few hiding places for the loaches (and more will be added with plants and decoration) and the filter volume should definately keep the fish happy. I have bought en extra powerhead for circulation.

This is the first time I try out a background filter and a loach tank, so I'm really excited about the project.

[Babakapusta]

I haven't kept up with advances in tank care for several years. I've never heard of a background filter. They sound interesting.

[NancyD]

Your set up looks very cool...Did you buy it that way or make it? Can you do a simple "flow chart" of how it will work? Should be awesome from my view! Will you have some plants? Even a few can really add to the atmosphere & loachy happiness IME.

[AnneH]

Thank you I bought it that way and payed a bit extra for the store to install the background and the bioballs etc. They have a guide for setting up a background filter here: http://www.unimati.biz/getdoc.asp?id=11 ... 4B8457E5A3 Although it is in Danish I hope that the pics speak for themselves

The water intake is in the left corner close to the bottom and a powerhead will lead the water through the filter.

There is another photo guide here: http://akvarist.dk/Baggrundsfilter.html - also in Danish, sorry - but again: step by step images. This guy used filter sponge instead of the bioballs that come with my background.

The store where I bought everything has exclusively used background filtration on ALL their tanks and have not yet had to clean a single one of them after two years. That's one of the reasons why I'm so excited about it - apart from the fact that I really find the background beautiful.
And YES, plants will be added (I love planted fish tanks) together with some more decoration.

[AnneH]

Hm... I suddenly started wondering if it would be a good idea to add my kuhli's to this tank, once it has matured for some time.
If I did that, the total of fish would be:

10 Botia kubotai
10 Yasuhikotakia sidthimunki
10 Pangio kuhlii
5 Crossocheilus siamensis (from my other tank, they'd enjoy some more space than they have now)
15 Danio tinwini

Would that be too crowded on the bottom?

[AnneH]

Finally it starts looking like a fish tank

Today I managed to add bottom fertilizer (clay, sphagnum and micro nutricient powder), a thin layer of sand, insect net in order to prevent the fish from digging down to the fertilizer, and sand on top of it all. Photos from the process:

The bottom fertilizer:


Insect net with sand under and over (a lot more was added on top of the net):


The fibreglass root (also from RockZolid like the background):


Then I spent the rest of the day adding surplus plants from the other tanks:




And finally the water was added


It still looks cloudy, but I'll show newer pics once it is crystal clear (hopefully in a few days).