Aquaoak 360L - Fresh Build From The Ground Up - EvolutionStu.

I use both tactics to ensure my otos, gbr, and rcs all get some algae wafer, multiple pieces in favourite hang out zones for each fish and after lights out to favour shrimp and otos.  They both work well.

Thanks folks, appreciate the advice.
Sorry for the radio silence... caused as usual by the pains of self employment.

Ive been playing with my RO mixing station over the last few nights and now have a depth measure in there, a heater and a circulation pump.
So now I can accurately mix directly in there the day before WC day, pop the pump and heater on and next day I am good to pump across to the tank after a quick dose of prime.


Not the best pic... But it is what it is:




In terms of water, doing a smallish change every couple of days with 50/50 has brought me down to nearer target.





And fathers day saw me with £50 from my daughter to spend on whatever fish I liked... so I brought home some new guys... The Cats!



They are Corydoras Loxozonus, about 40mm long at the moment and I love them... They are so much more interesting than I expected.
I love how they occasionally group up like this and move around in unison. After some initial inspection, the Cichlids couldnt care less about them either, they even eat tablets together with the Cichlids being very careful to stay away from their sharp spines. Amusing to watch.

My LFS has some rather nice Corys im still considering too. very expensive compared to these guys. Will give it a few days as I want to monitor for an ammonia spike first.

The tapajos are doing well, and looking brighter every day...



And the Altiforns are looking happy too.

Cories are real charactors.... some day, some day. *wistful sigh while looking in to the distance*

Hi folks,

In terms of water quality we are now here:



Im sure the 0.25 Ammonia is a "false positive" from Seachem Prime as its always there.

As all is running well it was time to add some more fish.

I bought:

5x Small Bolivian Rams

5x Manacapuru Red Back Angel Fish

I am pleased to say they all get on great (so far) the Angels dont put up with any rubbish from the Geo's and the much larger Geo's seem to have taken to the little rams and are happy to share their caves with them. Pretty surprised, and very pleased.

Some pics:

Beautiful fish. 
Also great to hear that they are all getting along so well. That's always a relief. 

Thanks folks,
As the filters have been up and running over a month I figured it was a good time to get them opened up and give them a quick clean down. No scrubbing, just removing loose mulm and checking all is well as they have essentially been on two new tanks, not one and I wanted to take a look inside.

This is the Fluval 106:
Inside it has, in order of water flow:

• Main Fluval Pre Sponge
• Fluval fine sponge (not in shot)
• Fluval Biomax
• Fluval polishing matt
• Seachem Matrix
• Fluval Polishing matt

My 1st Fluval 406:
Inside it has, in order of water flow:

• Main Fluval Pre Sponge
• Fluval fine sponge
• Fluval Biomax
• Seachem Purigen
• Fluval Polishing matt

My 2nd Fluval 406:No image, its essentially the same as the other one bar it has Seachem Matrix instead of Biomax, and it has no Purigen.... which brings me to the reason for posting. That Purigen has done a great job, look at the colour of it now after only a few weeks. I had some new to go in, then will have a go at recharging this with bleach ready to go back in when the new stuff fills up.

Here is Seachem Matrix, New Vs Old.



Cant say that hasnt absorbed anything... great stuff!

Purigen is amazing stuff, and Bolivian Rams (like all Rams) are so beautiful.

The main reason for buying Bolivian rams over rams is that they can cope with a wider range of water parameters. I've kept Bolivians with no problems* while rams just die within a couple of months.

*Except for when the female got gravel stuck in her throat and died, then the male pined away  That wasn't due to the water parameters.

How's the tank now... Considered the 'Whippies' yet?

I have indeed considered them, but not done anything about it yet.

No major updates bar a sad one... The Altifrons took a sudden disliek to anything with fins. Complete line of sight territory and started chasing off any fish that came anywhere near them. Since I was sold them as a different smaller fish and knowing they were going to outgrow the tank, I decided they had to go. I bought an awesome little fish trap and had the greedy idiots captured within ten minutes! Off to the shop they went.

In terms of water chemistry, ive been doing 100litre 50/50 Tap/RO water changes every 3 days since build and a fortnight ago swopped to once weekly as it began to stabilise around the hardness I wanted.

Current figures are thus:



And you can see my TDS trend here over the past month.



Fish are all happy and growing nicely. Here are a few images from yesterday.

The bolivians randomly bite the Tapajos side. He doesnt even turn round. It was originally concerning to watch, but now its just amusing. Its always at feeding time, and one "rams" him repeatedly and he just carries on eating. When he finally raises his fins and turns, the ram shoots off at speed. LOL




Feeding time... Everyone up!



Its taken a month but the Queen Arabeque now comes out every feeding time and eats with the rest, only shuffling off if anyone gets too close.



The Rio Curua has taken a liking to this cave I installed, which is nice as we can see her most of the time now.



The Corys... well they just go about as though there are no other fish in the tank. Love these guys, they never stop moving.



Rummys and Angels... just going about their day swimming back and forth.




And the Green phantom again, a month later has started to show himself, partially at least.



But when he does come out, its great to see.



And thats it from me really. I will start remineralising pure RO next as I want my KH a tad higher, but thats for later as its stable now.

Awesome update as usual Stu, cheers for sharing... I did think even for your big tank, 100 litres changed every 3 days seems a tad much... I change 25% every 8 days in my 180 litre which keeps everything nice and clear looking.

Really really really want a DSLR... Come on lottery!!