# 125 Amazon Tank Photo Journal



## porksnorkel (Oct 6, 2006)

just documenting my tanks progress, so please enjoy the pics.

DIY 125g stand and canopy w/ marineland 125 tank

filtration.....twin emperor 400's and fluval fx5
lighting.......twin 96W AH Supply PC's on single ballast w/ 10,000K bulbs
cooling.......DIY mini fan from Skycraft Surplus
heaters......twin Stealth 200W's
timer/pwr....Coralife single digital and Leviton power strips 
backround...exterior black paint
substrate....white play sand from Home Depot
rock...........Tennessee river rounds from Pebble Junction
wood..........grapewood and unknown

flora..........Jungle Vallis [to be planted]

fauna[current]........2 angels
9 silver dollars [8 in QT]
5 silver hatchets
2 marble hatchets
1 clown pleco [to be removed if possible]
1 whiptail cat
2 spotted coris
1 glass cori
1 bolivian ram
2 ghost shrimp

fauna[to come]......1 whiptail cat
3 to 4 glass coris
6 bolivian rams
2 discus
10 to 15 small tetras of some sort [may not have room]


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## herefishy (Dec 14, 2006)

I've made a trip to the Amazon once, snorky. It's not that clear. lol

Nice tank, and set up. Are plants in the foreseeable future?


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## porksnorkel (Oct 6, 2006)

oh man i wanna go some day. yeah i know it's pretty muddy, but that doesn't do much for the home aquarium,lol.

should have some plants on the way in a few weeks. i'm thinking potted jungle vals from arizona gardens...assuming i can hide the pots. not sure if they'll do well in the sand, even w/ the peat underneath.


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## Dave66 (Mar 26, 2008)

porksnorkel said:


> oh man i wanna go some day. yeah i know it's pretty muddy, but that doesn't do much for the home aquarium,lol.
> 
> should have some plants on the way in a few weeks. i'm thinking potted jungle vals from arizona gardens...assuming i can hide the pots. not sure if they'll do well in the sand, even w/ the peat underneath.


Not muddy, per se, but dark from vegetative decay and roiling from current. Just a heads up on your stocking: the silver dollars will view the Vallisnerias as a salad bar. Would keep a bunch of them if they were such plant lawnmowers. View them as vegetarian piranhas, you get the idea. Though it chaffs me to say it, because I do only well-planted tanks, if you want to keep silver dollars, the plants should be silk. Sheesh. And you should stock up on Romaine lettuce (only Romaine), leaf spinach and other leafy vegetables in the produce isle at the grocery store as for optimum health and color of your SD's, they gotta have the greens.

Dave


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## herefishy (Dec 14, 2006)

I actually made my Amazon a blackwater tank. Not being a purist by any stretch of one's imagination, having "safari'd" to the Mecca of South American fishdom, I couldn't stand having my water THAT clear. lol I added some hard woods, teak and oak, some blackwater extract and Voila!!! (that's french by the way) my tank was at least closer to being Amazonic. 

If one ever makes the trip to the Amazon, I must recommend that you make sure the expedition goes to the Rio ***** and it confluence with the Amazon. The difference in water color is pronounced. And the mixing of the two waters is amazing. Quite a site to see.


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## GeegaFish (May 4, 2008)

It looks very pretty Snorky, but I'm confused. Is this the same tank you were working on before with the slate, foam, wrong silicone fiasco? Just curious....don't want to bring up bad memories for you.


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## porksnorkel (Oct 6, 2006)

well dern mon. i'm suprised i hadn't found that in my research, or maybe i did and forgot intentionally. but...gotta have the plants and the silvers can be replaced w/ something else. or perhaps i can find room in a non- planted tank.

[/quote]Not muddy, per se, but dark from vegetative decay and roiling from current. Just a heads up on your stocking: the silver dollars will view the Vallisnerias as a salad bar. Would keep a bunch of them if they were such plant lawnmowers. View them as vegetarian piranhas, you get the idea. Though it chaffs me to say it, because I do only well-planted tanks, if you want to keep silver dollars, the plants should be silk. Sheesh. And you should stock up on Romaine lettuce (only Romaine), leaf spinach and other leafy vegetables in the produce isle at the grocery store as for optimum health and color of your SD's, they gotta have the greens.

Dave[/quote]


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## porksnorkel (Oct 6, 2006)

herefishy said:


> I actually made my Amazon a blackwater tank. Not being a purist by any stretch of one's imagination, having "safari'd" to the Mecca of South American fishdom, I couldn't stand having my water THAT clear. lol I added some hard woods, teak and oak, some blackwater extract and Voila!!! (that's french by the way) my tank was at least closer to being Amazonic.
> 
> If one ever makes the trip to the Amazon, I must recommend that you make sure the expedition goes to the Rio ***** and it confluence with the Amazon. The difference in water color is pronounced. And the mixing of the two waters is amazing. Quite a site to see.


i like a bit of blackwater myself, but my wood seems to be running low on tannin. it was darker a few weeks ago, but i've had this wood for a few years now. i actually had collected and scrubbed a mess of dead cypress and oak, but it made a huge mess. i guess the wood was to soft. here's a shot at my original set up in this tank...








i would have included the shot originally, but i didn't want to make confusion. i have multiple threads running on my 2 -125 tanks.

i have seen the 2 rivers mix on that BBC show 'amazing amazon'. good show and some great habitat info.


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## porksnorkel (Oct 6, 2006)

GeegaFish said:


> It looks very pretty Snorky, but I'm confused. Is this the same tank you were working on before with the slate, foam, wrong silicone fiasco? Just curious....don't want to bring up bad memories for you.


this is the first tank Geega. i have 2- 125g tanks on identical stands/canopies. the tank u mentioned has been cleaned, but i need more substrate. also letting any remaining trace caulk, soften for a final scrub down. once i set it up w/ the new stuff, i'll put my tester fish [pair of rosy barbs] in for a week or 2, to start cycle, and make sure everything is ok for fancy fishies.








[pardon the baby birthday stuff]

oh...no bad memories...only learning experiences and new things to conquer!! let's call it a "bittersweet victory"


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## GeegaFish (May 4, 2008)

Thanks for clearing that up for me! Wow....what a nice set up with two huge tanks in your room!!! Wishing you better luck on your continued decoration adventures.


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## porksnorkel (Oct 6, 2006)

ty geega. i'm confident things will improve.[/code]


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## Skeeter (Dec 19, 2007)

porksnorkel said:


>


Holy mother of firehazards.
At least you have water nearby!


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## Skeeter (Dec 19, 2007)

porksnorkel said:


>


Holy mother of firehazards.
At least you have water nearby!


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## GeegaFish (May 4, 2008)

Your outlet strips look ok to me. It's just a lot of plugs, but then you do have a lot of equipment!


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## porksnorkel (Oct 6, 2006)

yeah...not sure why it would be a fire hazard? most of that equipement is low wattage, save the lights and heaters. everything is drip looped and the strips are elevated in case of flood. should be ok. 3 of the plugs will go, [from the 10g Q tank], and then be promptly replaced bt nano hydor pumps. should be ok i think.


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## GeegaFish (May 4, 2008)

Keep us posted! I can't wait to see the new set up in your other tank too. Hopefully, it will be soon ?! 8)


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## porksnorkel (Oct 6, 2006)

picked up 5 more green cories. they are in Q right now. sorry bout the crappy pic, but i can't get a good shot in this tank for some reason.










also added 3 hydor nano pumps for 600+ more gallons of circulation.


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## porksnorkel (Oct 6, 2006)

ty guys. i have rearranged things, as i felt the set up was to cluttery, and left little room for plantings. much of the rock has come out as well as the wood. not sure how i feel about the last piece of wood at this point. i'll have to see it w/ the plants in.




























as u can see, there are some nice cory and ram caves. hopefully some will be convinced to spawn at some point. 

i have added 2 more angels and the 5 cories that were in Q. also picked up 17 rummy nose tets, 8 scissortail tets, 4 bolivian rams, and 3 more panda cories. all the later are in Q.

on a different note, the last of the clown plecs was traded in, as well as all the silver dollars.


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## GeegaFish (May 4, 2008)

Looking good so far Porky! I see what you mean about the driftwood....looks a little lonely in the middle with rocks to either side. I think it will look better after some plants are added. That will hopefully make the wood seem equally proportioned to the rocks. 

How's the other tank coming? I've been really curious to see what you're going to do with it.


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## porksnorkel (Oct 6, 2006)

going well thus far geega. i've added 2 angels, a few more cories and 9 scissor tail tets. also have 3 panga cories and 14 rummy nose tets waiting in Q. as far as plants go, i just don't know where to order from AAZ but i hear they have a bad rep, and their method of billing is scary. by that i mean, they don't tell how much shipping will be, until it's already on the way.


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## porksnorkel (Oct 6, 2006)

woo hooo!!! plants!


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## GeegaFish (May 4, 2008)

It's coming along nicely! The plants add a lot to the tank, but it even looked nice before. 8) Keep up the good work, Porksnorkel!


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## gupgupgirl (Jun 20, 2008)

Skeeter said:


> porksnorkel said:
> 
> 
> >
> ...


Just a reminder NOT to put water on an electrical fire!


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## Amphitrite (Sep 8, 2006)

What an amazing difference the plants have made, it's looking fantastic!


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## porksnorkel (Oct 6, 2006)

thanks so much guys. i have to agree that the plants have made a world of difference. fish seem to enjoy them too. now if i can just keep them alive...


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## Amphitrite (Sep 8, 2006)

I've just noticed you have an algae magnet on the front of the tank. Just a quick heads up, and you probably don't need reminded - but be very careful with it. I had a magnet in one of my tanks and some grains of sand got caught between the magnet and the glass. It got really badly scored when I was cleaning it.


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## porksnorkel (Oct 6, 2006)

good heads up amph. i'll be sure and check it out!


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## porksnorkel (Oct 6, 2006)

update for july...

tank is coming around. i had to mow down most of the plants as they got beat up in shipping, and also the filters were destroying the valls. since then i have moved some of the plants away from the filters, removed the glass canopies, added a pressurized Co2 system, and another FX5. the emperors will go to the other tank, since using them is wasting the Co2. the plants are rooting well and have started to come back. it will be awhile till they get to the top i think. 



















this is the new FX5 and Co2 bottle. i'm using an Azoo regulator and needle valve, controlled by the timer. the gas is delivered in the aquarium via this easy lil DIY set up. basically i'm using a small internal Elite filter, to diffuse the Co2. it makes a tapping noise when the bubbles pass through it, so a bubble counter isn't really needed.


















twin intakes...


















current fauna is the angel pair, 5 bolivian rams, 9 scissortail tetras/rasboras, 1 whiptail cat, 4 hatchets[had a jumper and never found him], 1 rummy nose[the rest did not survive] and a mess of cories.

this tank has claimed many lives thus far, some do to my stupidity, and some do to unknown causes. things seem to be getting better though. i will likely order another light kit so i can replace the glass tops. the evaporation is obscene. several gallons a day go missing. also helps stabilize temps w/ the tops on. seems to stay at a nice 80d-F. twas to hot before so i flipped the fan upside down to blow cold air into the canopy. works much better. i have a set of night time LED's now too. should have those on by next week. check back then...

ps...the angel spawn yielded no fry this time...or the filters ate them!


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## iamntbatman (Jan 3, 2008)

Wow! Great looking tank! Glad to see it's coming along nicely. I'd like to see those night time LED pics.


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## porksnorkel (Oct 6, 2006)

appreciate the input guys as always. haven't searched for wood yet. been focusing on some other stuff. i think i may add some more plant varieties soon. currently still having algae issues. i'll get it figured out though. i added 2 t-5 light strips from coralife. very cheap regular t-5's. no HO or VHO. these 2 are around 40W a piece i think. i am using these from 12pm to 12am. the big Pc lamps come on at peak growth times. i'm trying 1pm to 11pm currently, but will likely lower that time cause algae. 

the lunars are working fine thus far. a bit clumsy looking and not quite bright enough, but worth a try on a smaller tank. this tank needs at least 6 more LED's. these are blue,wide angle LED's btw.



















night LED's. looks brighter in reality, but not much. puts a nice ambiance in the room, but not good for viewing.


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