New 48 gal; Need Ideas

[Philosophos]

So I've got a new tank sitting empty in my living room. The price was right, but the dimensions are slightly frustrating. It's 48x13x18.

The idea here is that I want to give it some sort of feeling of depth rather than looking like a bad mural. At 13 inches width, it's not a lot of room to let larger stem plants grow out to full size without coming quite far forwards.

While I've sworn never to do a pure iwagumi tank, I could see doing this one as a hybrid with finer species added in.

Anyhow, ideas are wide open here. Plants are going to be ordered in, there's no planned hardscape yet. ADA AAS2 looks like the substrate of choice. I'll be trying for about 2wpg of light, spectrum is wide open to complement the layout, as is the background. Fauna will involve shrimp, but that's undecided as well. Filtration I was thinking on a canister rated for the tanks size, aided by a couple submersible pumps on needle wheel for compressed CO2. Maybe an in-line heater.

-Philosophos

*edit*

As an extension of the whole thing, I'm already wondering what happens with KH fluctuations and ADA AAS. The tap water here has a KH around 6-7. 50% water change seems like it'd make something around a 3-4dKH fluctuation. I'm guessing sensitive apistos wouldn't appreciate this. Anyone with experience willing to comment? Discus would be a good approximation.

 

[Tom Barr]

Fish will be fine with the water changes.
2x 54 W , say powerchrome's.

I'd got for a golden ratio and have the hill sides for a foreground plant.
Might use Hair grass in the rear and Staurogyne around the rocks' edges.

Actually Staurogyne might make a nice theme plant on it's own.
Cost a bit and take awhile to get that much however.

E. triandra would be nice also, but it's a weed, not too bad at with 2x 54W and 8 hours of light per day though.

If you can get separate switches for each bulb, that will be even better.

Go ADA AS1

I'd chose a horde of Cherries(easy to care for).
If the Apisto's eat a few, so what.
If they eat them all, well, then the Amano's are better(they are fine with Apisto's)
Or you might chose CRS and something else for fish.

Rena 3+ Hydor heater, say a Rio 600 and snip the impeller bades.


Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[Philosophos]

Fish will be fine with the water changes.
2x 54 W , say powerchrome's.

What's the reasoning behind your brand preference? It's one I've never heard of before.

I'd got for a golden ratio and have the hill sides for a foreground plant.
Might use Hair grass in the rear and Staurogyne around the rocks' edges.

Actually Staurogyne might make a nice theme plant on it's own.
Cost a bit and take awhile to get that much however.

Staurogyne with triandra might make a nice pair; slight height and size difference, similar texture. Same way glosso gets paired with HC repeatedly.

Where's a reliable place to buy both?

Go ADA AS1

Seriously? Even with a pH of 8.3 and KH of 8 at the worst times of the year? I thought it'd fog horribly?

I'd chose a horde of Cherries(easy to care for).
If the Apisto's eat a few, so what.
If they eat them all, well, then the Amano's are better(they are fine with Apisto's)
Or you might chose CRS and something else for fish.

Ya, shrimp really are up in the air. There's some consideration for blue and yellow Neocaridina spp. as well. What ever type we're keeping, we'll probably breed as well.

Rena 3+ Hydor heater, say a Rio 600 and snip the impeller bades.

Sounds good... fairly much the way we're headed. Loc-line is gaining more appeal by the day for me as well.

Thanks for the suggestion, Tom. The species you've recommended are going high up on my list.

-Philosophos