Back for more!!! 65g wild tank

[zchauvin]

Well for those who don't know, two years or so ago I had a 75g tank with 4 tefe greens and a few santarems from Snookn21 and chuckbam. I had no RO unit and no grasp of what I was really doing... While my wilds did OK in tap water of 8.2ph and tds of 440, it wasn't the best. My tank was a biotope and I'm OCD soooo, I spent more time messing with tank than fish and they suffered. So with that said, I now have a 65g painted blue on four sides, bare bottom with a 1:10 ratio of tap/RO to bring tds in at 147 and ph of 6.7. Have a 44g brute for mixing and heating the water for water changes, which will be done twice weekly at 80%. Temp will be 85 and the first fish in will be four 4" demeni blue heckels. Next season I plan to add reds or royal blues to the mix, specifically those from curuai area. Stay tuned for pics tomorrow!!!!



Just if anyone wonders, filtration will only be two sponge filters and feeding four to six times a day of live black worms, beef heart, brine shrimp, and frozen? black worms. Will siphon enough water daily to clean bottom so roughly 10% wc daily and 80% bi-weekly.

[Bud Smith]

I will be interested in seeing the progress of your tank as I plan to set up a 65 gal. wilds tank this fall. Pics are good

[zchauvin]

Good man, mine will be bare bottom though so I can focus on the fish more than the tank if you understand. Most wilds tanks are biotope setups.

[Bud Smith]

Good man, mine will be bare bottom though so I can focus on the fish more than the tank if you understand. Most wilds tanks are biotope setups.

I will have a light coating of sand, driftwood - fluval 405 and LED lighting I like Pat's idea of a darker yellow or tan paint. So that is what I will paint the sides with. The water in my storage tanks is at what you are seeking and I plan to add a RO unit down the road for breeding

[zchauvin]

I will have a light coating of sand, driftwood - fluval 405 and LED lighting I like Pat's idea of a darker yellow or tan paint. So that is what I will paint the sides with. The water in my storage tanks is at what you are seeking and I plan to add a RO unit down the road for breeding

Just be wary of the amount of driftwood you use. A sixty five has good dimensions for discus and Angels with the height and depth it offers but it can fill up very quickly. If anything I would put it coming down from top to simulate them being under tree roots as you see in many videos of there nature areas.

[Bud Smith]

Just be wary of the amount of driftwood you use. A sixty five has good dimensions for discus and Angels with the height and depth it offers but it can fill up very quickly. If anything I would put it coming down from top to simulate them being under tree roots as you see in many videos of there nature areas.

Yes - I had a couple of tanks set up with wood hanging down from the top - I also like the roots - PCI always has some nice pieces

[zchauvin]

Yeah when you can get a hold of him lol

[Bud Smith]

Yeah when you can get a hold of him lol

I agree - I been looking around for the right piece - still looking

[zchauvin]

I got the heckels in the tank this morning, plop and drop then had to leave for work. Fingers crosses they are all doing good when I get home.

[Bud Smith]

I got the heckels in the tank this morning, plop and drop then had to leave for work. Fingers crosses they are all doing good when I get home.

Look forward to pics

[zchauvin]

Me too, I get to use my 60d for something useful !!

[zchauvin]

Ok issues already, Tds is only at 60 and ph at over 7.6 according to API... That is with 1 gallon tap to 5 gallons RO. What to do??

[Second Hand Pat]

Zach, stable for now is more important

[zchauvin]

Zach, stable for now is more important

Do I need to age the tap now, I just did 20% ish wc with straight RO, can I just prime and add tap until it gives me tds of mid 100s. I did the wc to drop ammonia.

[zchauvin]

This is them huddle up in the corner lol.ImageUploadedByTapatalk 21372893386.780387.jpg