55 gallon biotope journal

I’m so excited! I just got a new 55 gallon tank and I’m making this thread to track the progress of my biotope aquarium. The specific biotope is a small river tributary of the southern Irrawaddy river, Myanmar. I should have the stand set up soon, and then ill start the build itself! Here’s my list of plants that I’ll be using: Rotala rotundifolia, Cryptocoryne albida, Cryptocoryne retrospiralis, Hydrocotyle tripartita, Java fern, Java moss, Barclaya longfolia, and Water lettuce.

The fish are kind of rare, so I hope I’ll be able to find them somewhere. If all goes to plan, the livestock will be 6 Burmese loaches (Botia histrionica), 8 wild colour Thick Lipped gourami (Trichogaster labiosa), and 10-14 Indian glass fish (Parambassis ranga). There will inevitably be pest snails, but i think the loaches will eat them. I hope to feed the fish some live foods once in a while, any suggestions on what kind?

Substrate will be gravel for planting space and depth of the substrate, plus a sand capping. There will also be Aquarium Coop root tabs in the gravel for the crypts. I’ll probably dose 2hr aquarist fertilizer, because that is what works for me in my other tank. As for lighting, I’m looking into using LED floodlights to cut down the cost. I’ve seen some YouTubers use them with success (for example MD fish tanks), which leads me to believe I can use them too. I don’t want bright lights either though, so I hope I can dim the lights on the floodlights. I have 2 large sponge filters that I will use and I’ll add some filter media from my existing 29 gallon. And if I add some seeded media, how long would I need to wait to make sure the cycle is complete?

Ill keep this thread updated and let me know if I missed anything!

 

Good luck on this journey - I'll be watching!

Live foods. It depends a little on your space. If you have it, I'd suggest you have fun experimenting with different ones.
I lack the space myself, because everything is occupied with tanks

I mainly stick to artemia nauplii. Because of the nutritional value, because of how easy it is to produce on demand.

Roots tabs for crypts....sure go ahead, I'm sure it works. Required? Most definitely not.

 

I haven’t set up the tank yet, but the LFS had a 30% off sale p, so I had to take advantage. I bought the Rotala Rotundifolia, Hydrocotyle Tripartita, Java fern, Java moss, Barclaya Longfolia, and Eleocharis Parvula ( i know it wasn’t on the initial list but I’ve read that its from the right area. All the plants are sitting in my existing tank, in their pots.

 

I have the stand up with substrate and hard scape in! Definitely open to suggestions on the hardscape. Plants will be going in next, as lights arrive tomorrow. And sorry for the low quality photo.

 

take out that one small piece in the middle up front

 

Another suggestion: the stones look way to arranged.

Master aquascaping tip: grab the stones with your hands and gently release them and repeat this a couple of times. Let them pile up a little if this happens during release. This way, it is going to look more natural.

It's also OK if parts of the substrate are not covered with stones. Looks more natural also.

 

Thanks for the suggestions ruud and jackywacky. The lights are here (Nicrew) and I actually re-did the entire wood scape. Tell me if you like this better. I tried to have 2 points going in the same direction on the left, and a bit of detail on the right. I’ve taken out a few rocks to leave space in the center area, but im still going to take more out.

 

I like... but try to make the wood flow in one direction... in the end its your tank not mine so do what you like best!

 

As I’m testing where to put the sponge filters, I realize there’s only room for one to fit without being very striking and taking away from the aquascape. I assume ill just have to find a way to make it fit, but I might as well ask, can I just use one large sponge filters in this 55 gallon tank? I’ll be doing frequent water changes to clean the detritus out too.

 

As I’m testing where to put the sponge filters, I realize there’s only room for one to fit without being very striking and taking away from the aquascape. I assume ill just have to find a way to make it fit, but I might as well ask, can I just use one large sponge filters in this 55 gallon tank? I’ll be doing frequent water changes to clean the detritus out too.

Bump

 

I have tanks without filters, so it all depends.

 

Update: I decided on the final hard scape layout and glued it to rocks. Also got the water in aaand… the glue broke and now all the wood is floating. The plants are in as well as some crypt retrospiralis that I saw at the LFS while returning a Python water changer that didn’t fit my tap... Guess I’ll have to use buckets :/ . The water is quite cloudy too. Everything is a mess right now in the tank with random plants and leaves floating around, I’ll get it all sorted once the wood waterlogs.

 

You could try weighting the wood down with a rock that you could remove later on.

My husband made a simple adapter for the hosepipe to fit the tap. It is just another hose with a slightly bigger diameter and jubilee clips to secure to the hosepipe and the tap.

 

You could try weighting the wood down with a rock that you could remove later on.

My husband made a simple adapter for the hosepipe to fit the tap. It is just another hose with a slightly bigger diameter and jubilee clips to secure to the hosepipe and the tap.

That’s what I did with the wood on the far left, used elastic bands to attach the rocks to the wood. I tried using some large rocks on the big piece but it still floats… Anyway, thanks for the hose suggestion, I’ll make sure to look into that!

 

Ah, yes, floating wood .

I too place left-over stones for temporary purposes, until it is waterlogged.

 

I am very lucky in that I have a nice river just a few minutes walk from the house with unlimited stones!

 

Most stones I have are expensive ADA stones from Japan (that's what they tell me ).
Too expensive to serve as weights... ah well, they'll get their chance to shine some day.

 

Tank is still a mess, but I got two pieces of driftwood weighed down with many many many rocks. The biggest piece didn’t sink no matter how many rocks I tied to it (without having them fall onto the glass and break it). Its quite porous, so if it doesnt sink within a few weeks, then I might have to scratch it and do the aquascape without it. We’ll see.

 

Just came back from the LFS where I was picking up a black background for the tank, and noticed what I think might be a wild colour thick lipped? It was only one in the tank that wasn’t an opaline but if it is a thick lipped gourami it at least gives me hope that that LFS might have them in the future.

 

Just came back from the LFS where I was picking up a black background for the tank, and noticed what I think might be a wild colour thick lipped? It was only one in the tank that wasn’t an opaline but if it is a thick lipped gourami it at least gives me hope that that LFS might have them in the future.

It's either a T. labiosa or (slightly)more likely a T. fasciata.

 

Update: The tank is doing well and plants are growing in nicely! The barclaya bulb is growing like crazy so I bought 2 more because I love them. Java moss isn’t doing so well, I’ve never really had luck with it. The wood is still weighed down with rocks and tied by elastics. The water lettuce has grown like crazy too! I’ve got a pretty big population of ramshorn snails but the loaches will take care of that… when Im able to find them. I’ve asked a few of the fish stores near me about if they can order any of the desired fish in and 1 of the stores said I can make a request but no guarantee. Here’s a pic!

 

It is looking really good, love it!

I also have not usually had much luck with java moss, though strangely some has recently taken off in my big planted tank after I thought it had completely disappeared two years ago. Now I have quite a big clump growing on a log, as well as a few other smaller pieces in random places, not where I planted it initially! I have even been able to take some for my other tanks, though in the big cichlid tank the Uarus promptly scoffed it. I had read that no fish eats it but that proved to be false information!

 

Update: The tank is coming along nicely, and it’s cool to see all the tiny critters that are feeding of the decaying plant matter and mulm. Earlier today I saw a tiny what looked like shrimp crawling on the sand! And I’ve also been looking closer at the glass, and it’s scattered with these tiny white ovals that are moving around!
The Barclays bulbs are exploding and they look really cool! Unfortunately, the wood has started floating again, so I think I’ll have to go get some different wood from the LFS. Another negative: there’s duckweed

 

Pictures, pictures!

Tiny white ovals keep you glass clean, but I regard them as a pest myself. I rather observe a more evolved snail roaming the glass.

Floating wood....more patience.

Duckweed....net all floaters out, incl duckweed, and rinse the floaters in a bucket of water, and place them back in.

 

I just saw that the Thick lipped gourami are in stock on Aquarists Across Canada but unfortunately I am away from home right now. I just gotta hope that they’re not out of stock by when I get home!

 

Just tested the water in preparation for the gouramis, and I have what looks to be 0 ammonia and 0 Nitrite, and it looks like somewhere in between 0 and 5 ppm nitrate? So I hope this means it’s cycled and ready for fish.

 

So I was about to order the gourami, when I noticed that aquarists across Canada got a new shipment of brotia pagodula, which I am aware are endemic to the area I’m trying to recreate. But I remembered that the loaches I want might try to eat or bully the snails. So i could either go with the cool-looking snails right now, or wait and see if the loaches are even available around me ever and go with them. What’s your input?

 

I don't know much about snails but those look pretty spiky, well protected - do you think the loaches would eat them?

 

So the fish arrived… and I got 5 wild colour thick lipped and 4 sunset thick lipped?!? I don’t know if I should just put them in the tank and accept them as part of the biotope or contact the store and see what’s happened… at least I got the right snails!

 

I have some bad news. After closer inspection, I’ve realized that what I thought were wild type thick lipped gourami are probably not at all T. Labiosa, but actually female dwarf gourami, T. Laila. I will call the store and see if they just gave me the wrong fish, or if they don’t even have thick lips in the first place and just call female dwarves thick lips. I am very dissapointed, and I just don’t know what to do. Please confirm that these are dwarves if you can.

 

They do look like dwarf gouramis to me, but I am not a gourami expert. You should definitely contact the store.

 

I am very dissapointed to announce that the new fish seem to have Ich (ammonia: 0, nitrite 0, Nitrate 20) . I am very frustrated and don’t know what to do. I live in Canada and do not have access to meds. Please ensure that it is ich and if you have any advice, please provide.

 

It does look like ich I think. I believe raising the temperature and adding salt can cure it. Or methylene blue - can you get that? Would have to check the details though, it’s many years since I experienced it last.
Maybe make a new thread in the disease section?

 

It does look like ich I think. I believe raising the temperature and adding salt can cure it. Or methylene blue - can you get that? Would have to check the details though, it’s many years since I experienced it last.
Maybe make a new thread in the disease section?

I can raise the temp but I’ve heard that salt causes damage to plants? It seems I can get methylene blue . I’ll start a disease thread.

 

I used salt once together with methylene blue, the plants were not affected, it was only for a few days and the treatment worked (not for ich, another external parasite some Apistogrammas came with). Anyway see what others say. Otherwise I can look up the dosages I used.
I sent you a PM

 

I’ve completed the treatment that the Weco Nox-Ich bottle tells me to use, and as far as I can tell the ich is eliminate. I also raised the temp to 85 degrees farenheit. I have had 2 losses, both from the dwarf gourami. It’s quite interesting to see how differently the sunset thick lips are affected compared to the dwarves, like they generally seem normal while the dwarves are struggling. ill keep you posted