July '10 - George Sena's 240 L Amazon Aquarium. (Brazil)

This month we feature a very nice Amazon aquarium owned by novice Brazilian aquarist George Sena, who used his background as a Biology teacher to start the hobby on the right foot. Enjoy!

Owner:	George Sena, 26, from União dos Palmares (Brazil), 1 year of fishkeeping (at the time of submission).
Setup:	Marc 2008.
Dimensions:	120x40x50 cm.
Volume:	240 L (nominal), 210 L (effective).
Filtration:	Marineland Magnum 220 canister filter (810 L/h) with perlon, ceramics and 1 liter of Seachem Matrix media in the central cylinder + Jebo 502 power filter, with perlon and no activated carbon (450 L/h).
Lighting:	3x40 W T8 fluorescents (6400 K) with photoperiod of 12 hours/day.
Substrate:	Common laterite, concentrated laterite, peat (1st layer of 1.5 cm), 200 g of concentrated Azoo fertilizer, 1 kg of Prodac Humus at the base of the more demanding plants (2nd layer of 1.0 cm) and inert layer (7 to 11 cm) of about 50 kg of river sand.
Decoration:	2 straight pieces of wood with ~60 cm + 1 with ~30 cm length.
Others:	Key West mechanical timer; DIY CO2 injection.
Water:	Temp 28-29°C; pH 6.6
Maintenance:	Weekly 25% water changes; perlon change and media cleaning every 2 weeks; application of Tetra Aquasafe and Tetra Flora Pride.
Fauna:	Corydoras schwartzi (2); Corydoras anaeus (3); Gymnocorymbus ternetzi - white tetra (3); Hemigrammus rhodostomus - rummynose tetra (10); Hyphessobrycon eques - serpae tetra (5); Nematobrycon palmeri - emperor tetra (2); Otocinclus sp. - oto (2); Paracheirodon axelrodi - cardinal tetra (21).
Flora:	Aponogeton crispus; Bacopa monnieri; Cabomba caroliniana; Cabomba furcata; Cryptocoryne beckettii; Cryptocoryne nurii; Cryptocoryne wendtii; Echinodorus amazonicus; Echinodorus bleheri; Echinodorus tenellus; Hemianthus micranthemoides; Hygrophila corymbosa; Hygrophila polysperma; Ludwigia repens; Microsorum pteropus; Nymphaea rudgeana; Rotala macrandra; Rotala rotundifolia; Rotala wallichii; Sagittaria latifolia; Vallisneria nana.
Comments:	The setup initially had few plants, but they developed very quickly and well. After a week, I had to do a total water change due to the high turbidity (from the river sand). To speed up the process of bacterial colonization I used Seachem Stability, and started introducing fish gradually after 20 days (4 to 6 at a time). Two months later the setup had a bit of a problem with cianobacteria (bluegreen algae that was developing on the leaves of some plants and over the sand parts exposed to direct lighting. I solved this with partial water changes and syphoning. After 4 months of setup the tank started showing signs of biological stability, with an apparently ideal bacterial colonization for the involved ecological parameters. I don't have algae problems any longer.

If you'd like to submit an aquarium for Tank of the Month, just contact me.

Earlier photo, with the Amazon plant dominating the central part

Photos taken by George Sena and displayed here with his permission.