Altum Angelfish Biotope Inspired Aquarium

yo what's going on serpa squad tanner here i got a really special one for you today as most of you know i've been into the hobbies that i portray on this channel since roughly around the age of six over lifetime of my hobby i've made countless enclosures and many of those you've seen on this channel from frogs to fish and just about everything in between i probably dabbled in it at one point or another and over the 22 plus years that i've been doing these things this hobby has been an absolute blessing in my life and i can't see it any other way from the beginning aquariums have always captivated me growing up we had a few but success was never great i always wanted one though because of an epic tank at the pediatrician's office some of my earliest memories are of that tank i vividly remember a beautiful planted tank full of java ferns and inhabited by bozemani rainbow fish and clown loaches the truth is i actually liked going there simply to watch the fish and to this day i'm just as easily captivated by this hobby sit me down in front of just about any tank and i'll be content i honestly believe that having an aquarium or something of the sort is one of the most enriching hobbies possible for people of all ages that's why i continually go to great lengths to explain what i'm doing in these videos i know it's not always the most popular format but i don't want there to be any question about how i build these things i also try my best not to perpetuate the stigma that this is an expensive and unattainable hobby sure you can spend a lot of money on this stuff and in some cases i have but the majority of things i've shown on this channel are budget conscious and easily repeatable with the right information while in this hobby i've crossed paths with and befriended a number of interesting characters to name a few there's jay wilson ken and harkin rachel o'leary ed baloo greg wittstock and weston zimmerman i want to focus on weston who's a certified aquascape contractor that i met through greg last summer aquascape and tussy landscaping helped me build a pond in my front yard which is where the journey begins it turns out that weston and i are kindred spirits we both enjoy water features build our own pcs enjoy cinematography and get this we both love moss needless to say we've kept in touch to this day and i consider him to be a good friend a few years back he had the opportunity to explore the amazon river and tributaries in colombia while there he saw cardinal tetras and other fish in their natural environment this experience captivated him so much that he wanted to bring the river home in the form of an aquarium despite the fact that he builds ponds for a living he didn't know much about aquariums when we met this is where i come in it didn't take long for him to tell me about the things i just described in his dream to one day have an amazon inspired aquarium of his own without hesitation i told him we would make it happen that was about 16 months ago eventually the window opened and in late july we made it happen to my excitement he got a 150 gallon aquarium from a local fish store although bigger tanks are more expensive this is a great option for a new hobbyist it's a lot easier to have consistent conditions in a larger setup which means a greater chance of success one of the first things i did was drill the tank for bulkheads he wanted a clean look with minimal equipment showing no doubt this is the way to go i also blacked out the sides with window tint film this will be an in-wall tank so doing this will hide off the plumbing components before i showed up westin cut a hole in the wall and built a stand out of two by fours we set the tank on this stand after the previous steps i installed the bulkheads and went on to escape the tank as with other tanks that include a lot of hardscape i first put down pieces of a crate light diffuser the escape will consist of 200 plus pounds of hardscape alone and this will evenly distribute that weight before adding those items i'll add the planting substrates per usual i used a mix of seachem fluoride dark and fluval stratum i rinsed them off and added it to the tank i'll cap this off with red flint sand which has a larger grain and nice coloration it will also complement the hardscape which consists of tan elephant skin stone and weathered driftwood while escaping i wanted to make a composition that could be viewed from the front and the back i wanted to fill the tank while also leaving room for plants and fish all the spaces will create a lot of territories for the fish once it's planted i foamed everything in place with black expanding foam and covered it with sand to secure the hardscape i didn't want the pieces to float away this will also make this skate more rigid which makes maintenance easier here's what i ended up with let's add the plants we got a great assortment of awesome plants from dustin's fish tanks i chose primarily low-light plants so this is easy to care for and because it will be dimly lit once the plants grow in i arrange the plants in a way that i felt would best serve the fish and to create good coverage after all that i could finally fill the tank [Music] i also added various botanicals to naturalize and finish the look that meant we could finally add the first round of fish i should mention that prior to this we dosed the tank with bacteria but i forgot to film it anyway we initially stalked it with 5 bristlenose plecos 9 a mono shrimp and a few handfuls of various narite snails that was back in july and the last time i saw the tank in person since then i know the plants melted back from acclimation the fish have grown and weston added a new group of fish in september 12 peruvian autumn angelfish i hadn't seen much of this in person and i wasn't maintaining the tank i didn't know what to expect almost 6 months later for my return visit here's how it looks as of early december [Music] i was ecstatic to see how much it has grown in and how it looks now it's very close to how i imagined it should when i set it up also all of the fish i added at least doubled in size my favorite part of the tank is how the lilies and valisneria cover the top it creates awesome coverage that shades the tank it looks incredible from a low angle as well although the tank looks great i will tidy things up a bit i also brought more plants 14 cardinal tetras and six peppered corydoras i let the fish float acclimate while i trimmed the plants and added the new ones before i show more on the tank's progress i wanted to show you how westin set up the stand he framed in the front with some reclaimed barnoid which looks incredible he used the same barnwood on the opposite side and covered the other areas with reclaimed tin i think it creates a really unique look the canopy flips up and gives you access to the top he has a single current usa serine sun le pro led light over the top of the tank and we use polycarbonate greenhouse panels for lids under the tank we have two whale 500 canister filters that were provided by our friends at cj there's also an aussie oxy max 400 air pump for aeration another cool feature is a retractable black curtain on the back which gives you the option to cover the back of the tank this allows you to appreciate the main viewing side even more this was a challenging build because of how it's installed on the wall i had to place an item and check it from the front to see if the placement was good and repeat i like the end result though my goal was to create a biotope inspired aquarium westin wanted something that resembles the underwater landscapes he saw in colombia let me clarify though this is not a true biotope setup most if not all the plants aren't found in the amazon neither are the hardscape items however it's all set up to resemble what you'd see in nature it's dimly lit there's botanicals with mom buildup the water is tinted with tannins and it's planted somewhat sparsely again this resembles what you'd see in an aquatic environment this is in contrast to our typical aquascape sure they look nice and are inspired by nature but they are far from being representative of it when it came to fish selection though we tried to keep it as close as possible excluding the snails and shrimp everything can be found in south america i also tried to keep the setup beginner friendly based on what i've learned over the years the plants are low tech and the fish selection overall is fairly easy to care for the botanicals and leaf litter break down and fertilize the plants alongside the fish waste that means no fertilizer is necessary they also add the necessary acidity and make the desired tint in the water in other words everything works in harmony with very little intervention based on what weston's told me this has been incredibly easy to maintain with virtually no issues at all keep in mind that he's had no experience with aquariums before this the cool thing about this build is that it brings everything full circle westin helped make my dream of having a beautiful pawn to reality and i helped fulfill his dream of having an aquarium it's fun to set up tanks for myself but i find even more fulfillment in this now he and his family spend quality time together watching the aquarium and are generally enriched by having it in their lives being able to extend my experience onto others so they too can be blessed by this hobby is incredible again that's why i put so much care into these videos and think of this much like the aquarium that inspired me as a child the setup and viewing of this tank will likely be some of the earliest memories of weston's kids apparently his son is always retelling about the time i stopped by to install the tank how cool is that nature has a real ability to bring people together that's only possible a few months out of the year in areas like where i live having an aquarium or similar setup allows us to enjoy nature year-round i continue to make friends through this hobby and hope to make many more although i only know a few of you personally it's crazy to think that there's nearly 750 000 like-minded people out there if you're still on the fence with trying these hobbies i highly recommend diving in make an eligible friend that can jump start your hobby watch some videos read into it etc there's so much more i could say but i think you get the idea i really hope you all enjoyed this one i know i had a fun time doing it and it's great to be able to give somebody else my art for a change as opposed to keeping it all for myself i'd like to do more builds for other people in the future and i actually have another one planned for the not so distant future a friend of mine has a certain desert dwelling species that a lot of you have been requesting to build on for years i don't want to keep on myself but he has one so we'll do that really soon i don't know when but definitely kind of soon anyway do what you can to help support the video give me a thumbs up subscribe if you haven't already maybe share it i don't know do whatever you can help support the video until next time surprise squad take care and peace [Music] you

Channel: SerpaDesign

Views: 173,354

Rating: 4.9771981 out of 5

Keywords: biotope, fish tank, aquarium, nature aquairum, aquascape, planted tank, low tech, angelfish, altum angelfish

Id: C-PWOYSvjlc

Length: 12min 39sec (759 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 12 2020