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The
Dungeon Of The Oblivion
I
have to admit it: the best part of this tank is the peculiar shape!
What you're watching, is the bottom part of the counter in my shop.
My computer stands on it as I am writing these lines. Making this
tank was a eye-blinded bet, because using 2 convex and 3 plain
glass pieces to build a 180 x 190 X 60 cm. was actually a very
difficult matter! One thousand litres of water that exert their
pressure on the glass are always unpredictable, when the shape is
not cubic! And, of course (as Murphy's law teaches) the first tank
we built was a failure! Have you an idea how 1000 litres will look
if you pour it on the floor? A LOT! We had to built it again and,
finally, the tank was perfect.
Data:
Tank
: cm. 180 X 190 X 60 in a "S" shape
Temperature : 28-30° C.
Lights: 2 fluorescnet tubes 60 watt each.
Mechanical parts: 1 biological filter (volume: 100
litres) plus 3 pumps 1200 lt/h each.
Plants: no
Animals: 1 superb Cyphotilapia frontosa (11 years old!), tons
of Melanochromis auratus (in the beginning there were also
Pseudothopheus, Julidochromis, Nimbochromis, Neolamprologus, but,
because of the reproduction ability of the Melanochromis auratus
(impossible to net the carrying female in such a big tank), I had to
remove them.
Chemistry : KH=10, pH=8.2, NO2=0,
NO3=0,5-15
Notes:
This tank is right
on the floor and the space over the top, to work inside, is only 17
cm, so it is impossible to siphon the gravel and build a more
complicated landscape. But the rocks are very good-looking and give
the feeling I was looking for, and African Cichlids are very clean
fish, so I use just a pump for the changing of the water.
The light you see in the pictures, are 60-watt normal (tungsten)
bulbs. I chose them because, in the beginning, I used 2 blue
fluorescent tubes (see photo below) , but I was looking for a
dramatic effect, to give the feeling of a "hell's cave". I
liked this "dry" yellow light and the sharp shadows it
creates, bouncing on the rocks a lot.
See
next
page for more shots of this tank.
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