Great work Jason. Must bring you so much joy to sit back at the end of a build and admire your work and the fish in their new home. Thanks for sharing with us.
Thanks mate! yes when I was younger you want more and you seem to clutter up, now I'm enjoying having less and concentrating on them more, I think you get this with age, it's less work and you can sit and appreciate it more, I've even now got a lounge, fridge, kettle, and even aircon in my fish room, so I spend most of my free time in there, If you ever make it up this way feel free to pop in.
This is great work! Hard to scape (but you got good eyes!), but easy to mantain. Many years ago, I made a Tanganyika tank (660 liters), where I did the "cliffs" out of beton. I am fairly good at crafting, so when one of my friends visited, he said "You have some fairly big stones in there". Nope, just big and light constructions of beton, that provided a lot of hiding places for the fish. A great tank, I miss it. When thinking of this variant of P. signifer and Tanganyika, I draw some parallells to Tropheus. In the wild, ONE male can patrol a territory of 10-15 meters, and it is not a very big fish. In aquariums, if you keep enough of them, it actually works, because one male simply can´t beat up all of the other fish. I see you have fairly many signifer in there, and also some dither fish. Do you think it might work the same? A dominant male simply can´t beat up all the other fish, because there are too many?
Thanks mate! that does sound awesome, yes I was thinking the same thing, no one has much luck with them so I'm taking that approach to see if it works, so far so good, also most collect large adult fish and I think they are already pre programmed, so I'm hoping by getting them young and putting them into that smaller environment it also may work better as they are growing together in that smaller space.
@@australianbiotopes4563 that is a common approach for keeping Tropheus too. Get a group of juveniles, and let them grow up together. The "pecking order" is soon established and any big male gets a "split focus". I guess you will find out if it works, keep all of us posted!
Great tutorial another excellent video Jason. It's interesting to see the process that you take creating your aquascapes. No wonder your work always looks wonderful. 🎉
Thank you! yes I normally do a bit of planing ahead but it's all up in my brain where others jot it down, I have a head swell of others I want to do and already have them pictured in my mind, I just hold back until I find the right things for hardscape ext. I was hoping people would like this and I'm hoping these videos will help other be able to do the same.
This will be my next tank when I get the space. I saw the pacific blue eye display at the Cairns aquarium and was amazed with the colour and personality of this little fish. Looks great!
@australianbiotopes4563 we've succeeded with Praecox, Lacustrus, Australis, Boesmani so far so we can bring the price down. Herbertaxelrodi not successful yet. Some of the pseudomugils have bred yet. I wanted to bring in some M Parva, but costly. Imports from the east can be dodgy too. We brought in what was listed as M trifaciatus. But it's Australis. Red rainbowfish hopefully soon. Lot's of spawning activity.
I love your work, mate. I'm about to set up my first aquarium and I plan on setting it up with some southern blue eyes, mimicking the biotope from northern nsw creeks.
I've visited Harvey Creek many times over the years and you've done a hell of a job with your aquascape on this one. The rock layout is immaculate, and the shoreline plants are perfect as well! I didn't actually know these fish spawned in such open places. I always figured they would be up in amongst the roots to spawn. These are probably one of the most energetic fish in the hobby too and they are damn good jumpers as well! The filter intake placement and the geo fabric backing with all the nutrients behind was clever as well. I haven't seen this done before. Are you planning on entering this into a biotope competition this year?
Thank you! no they are very different to the southern ones, the ones down south spawn in plants, these big ones spawn in the gravel, they must of evolved due to the lack of plant matter in the creeks as the rains pretty much strip these creeks bare. I like to try new things and am always experimenting with my scapes to try and replicate more biotopes, the filter pipe was a last minute decision as I didn't want a big gap down the side, I left the left hand side for the inflow as I will later put something there like a pice of wood or a bit of root to hide it but left it like this so people could see it, It would of been a bit much with both sides like this. I don't think I'll bother entering the comps. I got plenty to do just fore this channel to keep me going.
@@australianbiotopes4563I reckon you'd do well some comps. I know there are a few biotope ones around all you need to do is enter a good picture usually with a description of your tank you you're good to go. What you say about the blue eyes makes a lot of sense too. Most of the streams in FNQ flow fast all year as well with very few plants in the water in some areas. The further into the mountains you get it turns into rock and sand almost entirely. So I wonder if they spawn anywhere they get the chance. I've honestly never paid much attention to them in the past but they do have quite a big range in terms of river length so I wouldn't be surprised.
Awesome video once again Jason, loved seeing your process, thanks for sharing (more of these too please if I can be greedy). What sand and clay products And ratio did you use in the back? This style takes up a fair bit of tank vol, I guess thats why you need to start with a big tank. Amazing finished product well done and thanks again.
Thank you! I'm building the last two tanks next week, then I will have 6 to rotate for these builds, the sand in the back is unwashed bedding sand from Bunnings and I actually used old ADA aqua soil clay in this one, most 4ft tanks are 2ft wide so it's pretty standard, the only difference is mine are 3ft long, I built these my self out of 10mm glass so they wouldn't need bracing.
@@australianbiotopes4563 the clean no bracing look is so awesome, I hate the ugly tops on so many braced tanks we get here, but then unbraced ones are pretty pricey. I see aquariums r us is closing down so there will be a gap in the tank building market in Brissy...
G'day Jason, another informative and interesting video. The use of the geofabric was a very useful tip. From laying the first lot of sand until you filled the tank with water, how long do you estimate the build took? It would be good to see some close up footage of the blue-eyes interacting with the scape.
Thank you! the build probably took a couple of hours, more if you include washing the sand and getting the gear ready, but once you got it all there it doesn't take to long, it also depends on how intricate you go, this was pretty strait forward, I will be doing update videos once the fish get a bit older, I will probably do some real closeups then.
Yes I agree 100% I did some, friends gave me some as well when they knew I was doing the setup, the Granite is actually from Stanthorpe, it's almost identical to the stuff in North Queensland.
How good are Pacific Blue Eyes? I set up a little plastic pot pond out on the patio, put two Blue Eyes in, and within days there was a fry swimming around, and a few weeks later there’s heaps of em, all different sizes, swimming around.
Thank you! it has plenty of flow, it can be hard to see as I topped the water before filming over the inlet, I actually wanted to plant more Blyxa on the other side as well but it flows in front of everything with the current, the filter pumps 2400lt an hour. In the next video when the fish have grown a bit I will drop the level so the flow can be seen more.
It was actually pretty bare last time I was up there from the cyclones, but it's slowly bouncing back, I saw a lot of fish fry in the shallows so that was good.
I love your vids, man. And they got me on to keepingfishsimple. Awesome scape and info. We build eco-billabongs the same way, building up a rock wall, wedging the gaps, backfill. Amazing how it looks in an aquarium.
Thanks Mate! yeah I used to be a landscaper and it's basically what you'd do with a pond except you'd use a liner instead of a glass tank, ponds look great like this to, it also gives the fish little places to hide and gives it the natural look, good for wedging plants in to.
@@australianbiotopes4563 thats it! We usually stock them with jade perch, rainbows and shrimp. They just love it. I just got a couple of aquariums secondhand so I'll be scaping them soon. It's addictive eh
What an amazing setup, looks very natural, great job🙂
Thank you!
Great work Jason. Must bring you so much joy to sit back at the end of a build and admire your work and the fish in their new home. Thanks for sharing with us.
Thanks mate! yes when I was younger you want more and you seem to clutter up, now I'm enjoying having less and concentrating on them more, I think you get this with age, it's less work and you can sit and appreciate it more, I've even now got a lounge, fridge, kettle, and even aircon in my fish room, so I spend most of my free time in there, If you ever make it up this way feel free to pop in.
the tank looks almost like a 60cm tank in the preview, this is insane!
Thank you for sharing you technique with us!!!
Yes it can be deceiving, Thanks for watching!
Nice job 😊
Thank you!
@australianbiotopes4563
I do have one question, is there flow in the tank like the river and do you need it?
That was awesome! Makes me miss my big tanks, used to love scaping them up & watch the fish explore it all & do their thing ha ha. Cheers!
Thanks for watching!
Another beauty Jason, well done mate
Thank you! 🙂
Superb work mate!
Stunning tank. Well Done, Mate. It brightened up my day; from grey and miserable London.
Thank you! I'm happy it brightened up your day.
Great build, cheers from Canada 🇨🇦!!
Thank you! 🙂
This is great work! Hard to scape (but you got good eyes!), but easy to mantain. Many years ago, I made a Tanganyika tank (660 liters), where I did the "cliffs" out of beton. I am fairly good at crafting, so when one of my friends visited, he said "You have some fairly big stones in there". Nope, just big and light constructions of beton, that provided a lot of hiding places for the fish. A great tank, I miss it. When thinking of this variant of P. signifer and Tanganyika, I draw some parallells to Tropheus. In the wild, ONE male can patrol a territory of 10-15 meters, and it is not a very big fish. In aquariums, if you keep enough of them, it actually works, because one male simply can´t beat up all of the other fish. I see you have fairly many signifer in there, and also some dither fish. Do you think it might work the same? A dominant male simply can´t beat up all the other fish, because there are too many?
Thanks mate! that does sound awesome, yes I was thinking the same thing, no one has much luck with them so I'm taking that approach to see if it works, so far so good, also most collect large adult fish and I think they are already pre programmed, so I'm hoping by getting them young and putting them into that smaller environment it also may work better as they are growing together in that smaller space.
@@australianbiotopes4563 that is a common approach for keeping Tropheus too. Get a group of juveniles, and let them grow up together. The "pecking order" is soon established and any big male gets a "split focus". I guess you will find out if it works, keep all of us posted!
Great tutorial another excellent video Jason. It's interesting to see the process that you take creating your aquascapes. No wonder your work always looks wonderful. 🎉
Thank you! yes I normally do a bit of planing ahead but it's all up in my brain where others jot it down, I have a head swell of others I want to do and already have them pictured in my mind, I just hold back until I find the right things for hardscape ext. I was hoping people would like this and I'm hoping these videos will help other be able to do the same.
amazing looking tank!
Thank you! 🙂
This will be my next tank when I get the space. I saw the pacific blue eye display at the Cairns aquarium and was amazed with the colour and personality of this little fish. Looks great!
I hope it goes well for you, now you have something to work off to help you out, yes they are great little fish, I never get sick of watching them 🙂
Great looking setup
Thank you! 🙂
Incredible.... thank you so much for showing your process
Thank you for watching!
Really beautiful setup❤
Thank you!
Very nice indeed 👍
Thank you! 🙂
Great rock set up.
Thank you! 🙂
Beautiful tank! Very lovely.
Thank you!
Well done!
Thank you! 🙂
Nice build. I'm hooked on rainbowfish. They are just so expensive in South Africa.
Thank you! they are easy to breed though so it might be worth looking into them.
@australianbiotopes4563 we've succeeded with Praecox, Lacustrus, Australis, Boesmani so far so we can bring the price down. Herbertaxelrodi not successful yet. Some of the pseudomugils have bred yet. I wanted to bring in some M Parva, but costly. Imports from the east can be dodgy too. We brought in what was listed as M trifaciatus. But it's Australis. Red rainbowfish hopefully soon. Lot's of spawning activity.
I love your work, mate. I'm about to set up my first aquarium and I plan on setting it up with some southern blue eyes, mimicking the biotope from northern nsw creeks.
Thank you! Nice, I hope it goes well for you 🙂
Fantastic!
Thank you! 🙂
Thanks for the inspiration!
Thank you for watching, I'm glad you enjoyed it.
I've visited Harvey Creek many times over the years and you've done a hell of a job with your aquascape on this one. The rock layout is immaculate, and the shoreline plants are perfect as well! I didn't actually know these fish spawned in such open places. I always figured they would be up in amongst the roots to spawn. These are probably one of the most energetic fish in the hobby too and they are damn good jumpers as well!
The filter intake placement and the geo fabric backing with all the nutrients behind was clever as well. I haven't seen this done before.
Are you planning on entering this into a biotope competition this year?
Thank you! no they are very different to the southern ones, the ones down south spawn in plants, these big ones spawn in the gravel, they must of evolved due to the lack of plant matter in the creeks as the rains pretty much strip these creeks bare.
I like to try new things and am always experimenting with my scapes to try and replicate more biotopes, the filter pipe was a last minute decision as I didn't want a big gap down the side, I left the left hand side for the inflow as I will later put something there like a pice of wood or a bit of root to hide it but left it like this so people could see it, It would of been a bit much with both sides like this.
I don't think I'll bother entering the comps. I got plenty to do just fore this channel to keep me going.
@@australianbiotopes4563I reckon you'd do well some comps. I know there are a few biotope ones around all you need to do is enter a good picture usually with a description of your tank you you're good to go.
What you say about the blue eyes makes a lot of sense too. Most of the streams in FNQ flow fast all year as well with very few plants in the water in some areas. The further into the mountains you get it turns into rock and sand almost entirely. So I wonder if they spawn anywhere they get the chance. I've honestly never paid much attention to them in the past but they do have quite a big range in terms of river length so I wouldn't be surprised.
I had a nice planted native gudgeon tank when i was a kid then i put a cherax destructor in there and it really did destructor everything.
Yes they are a species that live to their name, they must be kept in an aquarium setup just for them or they never work.
Awesome video once again Jason, loved seeing your process, thanks for sharing (more of these too please if I can be greedy). What sand and clay products And ratio did you use in the back? This style takes up a fair bit of tank vol, I guess thats why you need to start with a big tank. Amazing finished product well done and thanks again.
Thank you! I'm building the last two tanks next week, then I will have 6 to rotate for these builds, the sand in the back is unwashed bedding sand from Bunnings and I actually used old ADA aqua soil clay in this one, most 4ft tanks are 2ft wide so it's pretty standard, the only difference is mine are 3ft long, I built these my self out of 10mm glass so they wouldn't need bracing.
@@australianbiotopes4563 the clean no bracing look is so awesome, I hate the ugly tops on so many braced tanks we get here, but then unbraced ones are pretty pricey. I see aquariums r us is closing down so there will be a gap in the tank building market in Brissy...
G'day Jason, another informative and interesting video. The use of the geofabric was a very useful tip. From laying the first lot of sand until you filled the tank with water, how long do you estimate the build took? It would be good to see some close up footage of the blue-eyes interacting with the scape.
Thank you! the build probably took a couple of hours, more if you include washing the sand and getting the gear ready, but once you got it all there it doesn't take to long, it also depends on how intricate you go, this was pretty strait forward, I will be doing update videos once the fish get a bit older, I will probably do some real closeups then.
The natural look is best. Great rocks, did u collect them yourself?
Yes I agree 100% I did some, friends gave me some as well when they knew I was doing the setup, the Granite is actually from Stanthorpe, it's almost identical to the stuff in North Queensland.
How good are Pacific Blue Eyes? I set up a little plastic pot pond out on the patio, put two Blue Eyes in, and within days there was a fry swimming around, and a few weeks later there’s heaps of em, all different sizes, swimming around.
Yes they are a great little fish and breed really well, you should never have to worry about not having them now 🙂
This looks so awesome! However, .. is it just me or does it seem to calm? Like it needs a lot more flow.
Thank you! it has plenty of flow, it can be hard to see as I topped the water before filming over the inlet, I actually wanted to plant more Blyxa on the other side as well but it flows in front of everything with the current, the filter pumps 2400lt an hour.
In the next video when the fish have grown a bit I will drop the level so the flow can be seen more.
Do you get those Aussie amano shrimps there anymore?
It was actually pretty bare last time I was up there from the cyclones, but it's slowly bouncing back, I saw a lot of fish fry in the shallows so that was good.
I love your vids, man. And they got me on to keepingfishsimple. Awesome scape and info.
We build eco-billabongs the same way, building up a rock wall, wedging the gaps, backfill. Amazing how it looks in an aquarium.
Thanks Mate! yeah I used to be a landscaper and it's basically what you'd do with a pond except you'd use a liner instead of a glass tank, ponds look great like this to, it also gives the fish little places to hide and gives it the natural look, good for wedging plants in to.
@@australianbiotopes4563 thats it! We usually stock them with jade perch, rainbows and shrimp. They just love it. I just got a couple of aquariums secondhand so I'll be scaping them soon. It's addictive eh