Tobi’s contest thread -> 650 gallon build

[Tshethar]

Well, whatever the limits may be as far as the photography goes, the tank is awesome! Keep the fish pics coming--like the two starting to pair!

[Swedgin]

Well, whatever the limits may be as far as the photography goes, the tank is awesome! Keep the fish pics coming--like the two starting to pair!

Will do, Bill. Problem is they start begging as soon as I move an inch, so their behavior gets interrupted.

But stumbled across some older pics and quite cool the development these 2 took, though the second one was in fairly good shape to begin with.

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[Swedgin]

And a little post WC action.
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Meet “Cocky”, the Cuipeua:
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“Fabio”, always photogenic:
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Corydoras metae
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Corydoras oiapoquensis
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And let’s not forget the water change assistants. They’re spent
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[RogueDiscus]

You've probably told us before, but what are you using for tannins, dark look?

[Swedgin]

You've probably told us before, but what are you using for tannins, dark look?

4 different things:
Indian Almond Leaves
Alder cones
Humic acid
Fulvic acid

The IAL and the fulvic when used alone only give a very slight hint of brown. The alder cones leach a lot for quite some time, gets quite dark.
With the humic you can black out the whole tank if you want to, and you don’t need much.
These are a couple of pictures of the first test run, just to see what it looks like. 700 gallons of water vs 100ml 5% humic Acid concentrate

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The actual setup with added fish is done with IAL and Alder cones. Didn’t count at the time, but only maybe 20 large leaves and a good handful of cones. Took ages to get lighter, even with 160 watt uv running 24/7, due to the cones leaching for a while

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[Pices]

I was looking back and noticed it didn’t take them long to own that tank. They are front and center and seem very happy in their new fish mansion. I hope you keep posting pics of your tank after the contest ends as I’ve become a big fan of these beauties. Your photo skills are also excellent.
Patty

[Swedgin]

I was looking back and noticed it didn’t take them long to own that tank. They are front and center and seem very happy in their new fish mansion. I hope you keep posting pics of your tank after the contest ends

Yes they bave, and it’s incredibly interesting what’s going on there. The 11 old residents all had their fixed spots in the old 220, and for the most part they are occupying the same spots as before. I think it has to do also with the fact that the new tank is in the exact same spot as the old one, so when they look out they see the same environment they are used to. Except for the 2 that used to own the right quarter of the old tank, which is now kingdom of the Paraconi/Cuipeua couple. So the displaced ones are more in the back, staring at the wood.

I guess after the contest, depending on what Al has in mind, I will move or copy this into my homestead and keep going in there.

Your photo skills are also excellent.

My iPhone clicking skills, yes. I wish I could take credit for that, but the phone has such a good camera by now it’s ridiculous. Also you don’t get to see the 30 bad shots for each good one.

Case in point:

West coast still sunny, east coast going to sleep. Need to fix the timers.
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And the kids playing in the dirt:
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[plecocicho]

Gorgeous tank and fish, my dream tank (only i would go with true biotop). Care to share recipe for your homemade tanin/fulvic concentrate?

[Swedgin]

Gorgeous tank and fish, my dream tank (only i would go with true biotop). Care to share recipe for your homemade tanin/fulvic concentrate?

Thanks. True biotope would be nice, but species wise over here I take what I can get. And I got greedy with the plecos. Neither of my 3 groups qualify for B1 or even B2 due to the dithers, but I don’t mind.

The humic acid concentrate is made from TeraVita’s 90% humic acid powder

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The fulvic acid concentrate is made from a 90% powder as well, sold by customhydronutrients.com

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I use these instead of the ready made aquarium varieties due to cost. With my water volume combined it would cost me an arm and a leg to keep the tanks saturated with the commercial stuff. So this is the next best thing.

The humic clouds the water for a few days, the fulvic barely has a visual impact. I have been reading up on both compounds a lot recently, there’s a bit of controversy. Some say humic is indispensable to keep wild discus successfully, others say humic is useless as it does not dissolve properly. Fulvic as a stand-alone seems fairly new. Solubility is better, and from what I know SO FAR, it can replace the humic compounds 100%.
It’s virtually impossible to find hard data on what works best, so I am experimenting quite a bit.
Subjectively both have an equally positive impact on the fish. Their colors are more vibrant and they are more active when I use either these 2 or the alder/almond combo. It seems that as long as there are either of those substances in the water, it doesn’t matter which.
But I’m still learning about it and can’t give any qualified facts. What is fsct is that shortly after I started adding the humic concentrate to the greens tank, they started spawning, which they have never done before.

[sanjay21]

What an amazing setup Tobi !! right from Page 1 this thread has always had so much going on. Tank turned out beyond what I could have pictured !

I don't think I can ever get bored watching this tank Great job !!

[Jody]

Very impressive tank - I am just getting into the hobby with my first discus showing up next week.

This post has been very inspiring! How have the cories been doing in the warmer water?

[Swedgin]

What an amazing setup Tobi !! right from Page 1 this thread has always had so much going on. Tank turned out beyond what I could have pictured !

I don't think I can ever get bored watching this tank Great job !!

Hi Sanjay, thanks.
Yeah it turned out quite alright, still thinking of ways to improve things. I’m not 100% happy with the water flow, need to adjust some of the filter in- and outflows. I’ve just moved the Hyacinths to the back of the tank, the roots are too distracting to me, especially when the tannins are low.
But I am in fact spending a lot of time in front of it, always something going on.

Very impressive tank - I am just getting into the hobby with my first discus showing up next week.

This post has been very inspiring! How have the cories been doing in the warmer water?

Hi Jody, welcome to the forum. You found the right place, tons of knowledge for newbs and veterans alike on here.
Looking forward to seeing your new fish and tank, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.

The cories are doing great, but as I might have mentioned before, my temps are at the low end of the discus spectrum, barely going over 28 Celsius.

[Paul Sabucchi]

My compliments again Tobi and thank you for mentioning what you are using for humic and fulvic acid (watched a video some time ago by some chap who is an amateur fish trader, he was waxing lyrical about it). If you ever want any oak leaves let me know (possibly in autumn when there are readily available on my land), plenty of tannins there. I also have plenty of almond trees but unfortunately just the regular variety, not Catappa

[Swedgin]

My compliments again Tobi and thank you for mentioning what you are using for humic and fulvic acid (watched a video some time ago by some chap who is an amateur fish trader, he was waxing lyrical about it). If you ever want any oak leaves let me know (possibly in autumn when there are readily available on my land), plenty of tannins there. I also have plenty of almond trees but unfortunately just the regular variety, not Catappa

Wow, thanks Paul, appreciate the offer. We actually have Catappa growing in our garden and at my wife’s place of work, so we’re covered for now. Never tried oak, but I just might at some point.

Yes, the whole fulvic/humic thing is really intriguing, I guess there wil be more good info in the coming years. To be fair though, there are plenty of people who know what they are doing (breeding wilds etc) without using it. But as said, anecdotal evidence in my case is favorable

[Swedgin]

Some interesting material on fulvic acids:

https://discuswildlife.dk/gb/content/whyfulvic

http://www.fulvicacidminerals.com/wp...ances-pt-1.pdf

Interesting, but to be taken with a grain of salt as this is posted by the Danish company selling their commercial fulvic acid product.