Staffylovers Rift Lake Tank(s)

[Staffylover]

So Staffylover is back with yet another new set up....surprisingly not just on impulse either...Here is how it came about...

I have been thinking of setting up a rift lake tank for some time, I did think of changing my largest 500L tank over back when it needed restocking, but that would be in at the deep end, having never kept this type of fish before, also the lack of both plants and wood was off putting, that tank has now gone in a different direction with tried and tested favourites - Danio's, Barbs, Rainbowfish plus now Orange Chromides. However I did lots of research at the time and my interest has only grown since then

Back in December while browsing in a (fairly) local shop I spotted some amazing shell dwellers, once back home I did some more 'emergency' research then went back pretty much the next day, luckily my spare tank upstairs had just become vacant, it is only a small tank and I just wanted to see how I got on with what is a new branch of the hobby to me, so I came home with just a single pair of Lamprologus Signatus

I find both the male and female to be very beautiful fish, the female is the braver of the 2 but difficult to picture as she is very small, plus the light on the tank is rubbish, the male is a little larger but both dive for the shells at any activity so this is about the best pic I have

[Staffylover]

In terms of care so far they have been trouble free, I shouldn't say that really so fingers crossed it stays that way, I do not think they eat any dried food I have tried so I just stick to live and frozen, the pygmy sunfish are the same it's not really too much of an issue,

Now I've had them for about 12 weeks I decided it might be safe to start planning a better set up, really the only space available is to the left of the Pantanal tank, it is infront of a window so not ideal, I am hoping to mitigate some of the issues by growing plants out of the top and also using floating plants, it will be my first attempt at an open top tank, lots of firsts here

I did originally want the superfish scaper 90 as the tank but it is out of stock everywhere, it has been for several weeks and is not likely to be back in stock until mid April after a couple of weeks waiting and considering other options I decided to go for the Jewel Primo 110 instead, this has the advantage of being lower in overall height so fits in the space better, it also has a filter I like, plus it's readily available!
Got myself the actual tank last weekend It feels like this has been a long time coming,
at the weekend I got the stand assembled, and a background on but that was it, that took me long enough to be honest!



Then today after buying the LFS out of all suitable rocks, I made myself a rock pile



I am now stalled, I think I would like a few more stones for the other side, I hope I can find some that don't look too drastically different, I might get in touch with Riverwood Aquatics, see what they got, hopefully I will be able to update this thread again soon if I pick some up locally, it's really amazing how many stones I have used for what is really quite a small tank, but to my relief I do quite like how it looks so far, hold on little fishies it shouldn't be too long to wait for better quarters

[Martinspuddle]

@Staffylover, would take some advice from an ex-marine reefer.

Normally with a African Cichlid aquarium most being larger have a thicker base glass, some are reinforced but with the Juwel Primo 110 is not. Please place something under those stones, egg crate, piece of pond liner, aquarium base mat or some I've seen have used short lengths of UPVC pipe siliconed to the base upright. Then add the deep layer of sand substrate.

With the weight of the stones, plus water it will place pressure points on the base glass and only being, what, 10mm glass is liable to crack.

[fr499y]

I can see an inch thick foam layer under the rocks

[Martinspuddle]

I been thinking, don't panic everyone!

Another idea is get a of sheet of 10 mm glass cut same size as the base and silicone this to bottom thus doubling the aquarium base.

[Staffylover]

@Martinspuddle fr499y is correct I have gone with filter foam under the rocks, it's black so quite difficult to see with the reflections, I did see egg crate recommended and got some, but then was worried the shellies might dig into it and injure themselves or more likely I might stub my fingers on it when doing maintenance, I got some more rock today as luckily I was passing near Aquarium Gardens for work, they have some really lovely stuff in there, some of the pieces were huge, despite many other temptations on offer I have stuck to the grey/ slightly orange theme so it shouldn't look too bad, think I would rather have too many rocks to start, then take some out if and when the plants fill in or more water space is needed.

[fr499y]

Just remember shellies will rescape the tank no matter what you do, so glue all the rock together and make sure it can’t fall. I’m actually thinking of going the same way with my shallow tank but I’m too attached to the Pleco to do it at the moment

[Staffylover]

@fr499y I think shellies would look great in a shallow tank, although they are not the most on show type of fish so it's nice to think I could have some kind of top swimmer in the Primo,
Some progress has been made, more rocks were found so I have been able to add the houseplants in more easily, also wedged in the rocks so they just touch the surface are 1 pot of stem plants (Hygrophila possibly) and a lace plant (bulb), I would like to extend some planting down the sides but think I will wait for the ordered floating plants to arrive first
Everything is ready I checked the temp today and that was good so I might transfer my pair tomorrow, depending on how the time goes
Really pleased with how this has turned out so much so that I have started another new project which is also open top, will post about that one shortly.

with the extra rocks


top view, no light yet so daylight pics only.

[Martinspuddle]

Looks great!

[Staffylover]

Thanks Martin (need a thumbs up icon)