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Re: Rio Xingu biotope

Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2010 7:22 am
by coralite
another full tank shot
Image

Re: Rio Xingu biotope

Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2010 1:41 pm
by Joby
Great picture, its good to see your zebs out and about :)

Re: Rio Xingu biotope

Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2010 3:43 pm
by coralite
Thanks for the compliments everyone. Many people complain that they never see their zebs but mine are always in plain view. I feed often, have a few ground dither fish and the light is on the dim to moderate side. I think feeding them a lot of food, and often, keeps them hanging out expecting more. Now I just need to get the right caves for these guys to breed in.

Re: Rio Xingu biotope

Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2010 10:15 pm
by Rob
Hi Coralite, the set-up looks excellent.

Definately some of the nicest specimens I have seen. Have a search through the site as there is some good advice on selecting cave sizes.

Rob

Re: Rio Xingu biotope

Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2010 5:12 am
by coralite
thanks again for the props, here is a video of the zebras at feeding time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AKFZH6qwKA

Re: Rio Xingu biotope

Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2010 7:06 am
by John
Nice movie :)

Re: Rio Xingu biotope

Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2010 8:07 am
by Joby
Thats a great video :)

Re: Rio Xingu biotope

Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2010 9:12 am
by Linzi Zeb
Hi,

Excellent tank! I was just wondering how you go about cleaning the substrate? Do the banks at either side provide the support for the rocks or are the rocks secured in some other way? I've tried to make a deep substrate in my tank but I'm worried about potential rock movement/landslides during maintenance. You've managed it effortlessly!

Linzi

Re: Rio Xingu biotope

Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2010 3:09 pm
by Jacqueline
Absolutely love this tank :luw:
You've done a great job!! Very nice zebra's too 8)

Re: Rio Xingu biotope

Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2010 5:10 pm
by shamrock
can't wait till i move so i can get set up a tank :D

ps. as above, how do you actually clean this tank out? with all the additional rocks and scaping must get tricky?

Re: Rio Xingu biotope

Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2010 10:59 pm
by coralite
Yes the sand banks gradually level out with the center valley. I do a siphon change every couple weeks or so and when I have my gravel siphon full of gravel, I just dump the cleaned gravel in the back corners while taking care not to bury anyone. Sounds like a pain but it makes for a pleasant slightly shifting, organic layout. That and the flatness of the sandbed is an indicator of when it's time for a water change.

Re: Rio Xingu biotope

Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2010 7:57 am
by shamrock
did you opt to go for larger substrate? easier to maintain maybe vs finer ie sand? is it the rio xingu substrate that you use?

Re: Rio Xingu biotope

Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2010 8:35 pm
by coralite
Hey Shamrock, I use the ADA Rio Xingu substrate as it is quite fitting to do a Rio Xingu biotope. When the gravel is fresh cleaned the homgeneity of the mix is apparent but once it's been a while since a water change, the coarse grains will be on top as in the image of the zebras and corydoras gossei.

Re: Rio Xingu biotope

Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2010 8:58 pm
by Linzi Zeb
Where abouts are you based? I've been trying to source this substrate in the UK with difficulty...

Re: Rio Xingu biotope

Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2010 4:36 am
by coralite
I live in the central part of the United States. You can probably order some from either Aquarium Design Group in Texas or Aqua Forrest in San Francisco. One of them should be able to ship to you