# New (to me) 30 gallon long!



## automatic-hydromatic

Hopefully this weekend, I'll be able to get out of my little 10 gallon 

I'm going to look at a 30 gallon long Friday or this weekend that I might pick up if it all looks to be in good shape.

Comes with tank, stand, 200 watt heater, light ( not sure about the specifics, but I'll probably have to upgrade it ), and a Fluval 305 with all the hoses, all for $150, so I think it'll be a good deal if it's all in good shape!














It'll be a planted tank of coarse, and the first residents will just be my Dwarf Gouramis, and algae eater, and some shrimp out of my 10 gallon. Then I'll be able to use my 10 gallon for some Dwarf Gourami breeding *w3



I have to work small-scale here... I originally planned on at least a 55 gallon, but I don't think I have the room for it to be honest...


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## Zook

You scored on that deal!


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## automatic-hydromatic

yup 

going to pick it up tomorrow afternoon. I'll post more pics once I get everything home

not sure if I'll have it completely set up this weekend, but I'll try. I'll need to get the substrate which I'm undecided upon with yet, and I'll have to get plants at the same time too. not all of the plants, because I plan on completely tearing down my 10 gallon when I switch over for now, so I'll be able to use the plants, rocks, and driftwood from it, as well as the gravel substrate which I'll mix with the new substrate that I buy.

with all the reused plants, ornaments, and gravel, this tank should cycle in no time, lol


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## automatic-hydromatic

the person emailed me last night and said they threw in some more things, so I'm getting more for the same cost!

I'm not sure what else they're throwing in, but I'm definitely not passing it up 



I just got back from Home Depot and WalMart

$20 worth of beaslbob supplies! *Glasses*


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## mk4gti

30 gallon long is a cool tank, i have a 20 long, much easier to light than your standerd 30 gallon. I dont know if your going wit HoB or canister filter but it might be better to put 2 filters rated for a 15-20 gallon on each side so there is a good flow.


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## automatic-hydromatic

yeah that's why I wanted a long tank, so it's not so deep

and the buy comes with a Fluval 305 canister filter, which is rated for 70 gallons max 

the filter alone is worth the price I'm paying for the entire setup; gotta love craigslist, lol


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## automatic-hydromatic

I'd say I did good for $150 

sorry for the not-so-great pictures; I'm using my phone...








































the included light fixture is a single tube 24" T-8 bulb. it's pretty darn bright, and he included an extra bulb too, so we'll see how it works out. he said his plants grew like crazy with the bulb that's in it now, so we'll see





















and the Fluval 305 is like new. he said he bought it about a year ago





















and included with everything was a couple catch nets, a breeder net, the 200 watt heater of coarse, and a scrapper












of TON of chemicals like plant food, parasite treatment stuff, salt, and PH stabilizers, and a bunch of activated carbon












and a bag full of Cichlid breeding caves  which I may or may not use. I probably will use the tan colored arch one on the right, because it's the same color as the gravel I'm putting in the tank, so it'll fit right in if I do use it














not pictured is a bag of filter pad material as well




So I've got everything cleaned up and ready to go, and I'll start the build tomorrow!


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## Zook

sweet!


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## ValorieMackison

I am envious! I wish I had considered long tanks when I purchased my first mid-sized aquarium setup, lol. It was a 39 gallon extra tall. (So much so that my 5'7" self had to stand on a step ladder & still ended up with my chest in the tank to reach the bottom.) It was gorgeous & the occupants were very healthy, I'll give it that, but I don't wish that setup on anyone, nor the retail price! (unless they want a partial bath)


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## automatic-hydromatic

got her all set up today 

took a little trial and error to get the peat moss to stay in place... I originally put too much water in at the beginning, and the peat moss floated up and when I put the play sand in, it sank under the peat moss... so I had to take all of that mess out and start over...

but it came out GREAT! I'm astonished at just how clear the water is despite being just set up!





















































































half full; time for the plants from my established 10 gallon, along with some ornaments 

it's going to get more plants; this is just what I already had. I also plan on getting some more African drift wood































then filled it up, readied the Fluval 305, primed it, started it up, installed the aerator on the right of the tank by the filter outlet, and put the light on

I'm DEFINITELY going to need to upgrade this light... it doesn't even give full coverage in the tank...































next step; get a backdrop to hide all the wires and the filter hoses behind the tank


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## chevyboy_0

Awesome Score on that tank setup!!! Kinda reminds me of my 50Gallon I purchased

Is that rock formation you have in there something you built? of something you bought? I would LOVE to get or build something like that for my 50G, It would fit in perfectly.


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## automatic-hydromatic

The one on the left is a cave structure that I made a while ago out of blank CD cases, slate rock shards, gravel, and aquarium silicone. The structure on the right is just stacked slate rock. I bought an 8 lb or so slab from the LFS, took it home, and fractured it into a bunch of usable sized pieces with a hammer, and I use those pieces to stack into any structure I please


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## jrman83

Use plants to hide your wires/hoses. Tank needs some taller plants anyway. I would also ditch the hood and add a glass canopy and new light.


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## automatic-hydromatic

jrman83 said:


> Use plants to hide your wires/hoses. Tank needs some taller plants anyway. I would also ditch the hood and add a glass canopy and new light.






automatic-hydromatic said:


> it's going to get more plants; this is just what I already had. I also plan on getting some more African drift wood
> 
> I'm DEFINITELY going to need to upgrade this light... it doesn't even give full coverage in the tank...
> 
> next step; get a backdrop to hide all the wires and the filter hoses behind the tank



I'm not sure I like this hood anyhow... so we'll see what I do about it...

I'm not going to do anything expensive with it right now like a new light; probably just a backdrop (black more than likely) and a few cheap larger plants from the LFS


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## jrman83

36" long tank?


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## automatic-hydromatic

yes, 36"

which I read is actually the standard length of a 30 gallon; most people just choose to go with the taller but not as wide 30 gallon


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## jrman83

36" lights are in abundance...of course going to high light may force going with CO2. Are you doing a home brew CO2? Would be perfect for a tank that size.


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## automatic-hydromatic

no CO2 as of yet

I'd much rather go compressed CO2 instead of messing around with mixing the home brewed setup

but I don't think the tank is heavily planted enough yet to require it. once it really starts getting full of plants, I'll run CO2


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## chevyboy_0

As for the hood and light, I would reccommend this 

GLO t5 HO - Google Search

This is the setup Im running on my 50gallon, The one I have is 36" single bulb that I found on clearance at the LFS for 40 bucks  Currently I have a 6700k bulb in there. And I'm loving how clean it looks with just the light on there.


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## automatic-hydromatic

thanks for the recommendation 

I might actually see what I can do for making my own out of florescent light fixtures. I consider myself pretty crafty, and I'm sure I could make something work great after a little Googleing to get some ideas


nice Chevelle by the way *Glasses*


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## chevyboy_0

automatic-hydromatic said:


> thanks for the recommendation
> 
> 
> nice Chevelle by the way *Glasses*


Your welcome and thanks  its my pride and joy.


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## automatic-hydromatic

I definitely think that keeping the rocks and wood wet and reusing the gravel out of the 10 gallon and putting it all in this new tank build was a good idea 

water test today showed the following:


Ammonia - .75 (more than .5, but less than 1)
Nitrite - .1 (more than 0, but less than .25)
Nitrate - 0


so this new setup cycle shouldn't take long at all *w3


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## mk4gti

Looks great, this is my 20 gallon long. It use to house cherry barbs and red eyes but now there is just ottos corys and rcs, awaiting my shipments of crs. The tank is set up for about 15 months.


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## automatic-hydromatic

looks really good!

I honestly was going to go with a 20 gallon long, until I found this deal on craigslist


what plant is that in the far back near the left? (large plant)


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## mk4gti

wendtii in the far left, 2 anubuis, 1 red tiger lotus, java fern, micro sword, red melon sword, java moss behind the wood and 2 green crypts


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## automatic-hydromatic

ah okay

I only ask because it looks strangely similar to the larger Aponogeton in my tank 



water test today shows the cycle is about half way done

Ammonia - .1
Nitrite - 2
Nitrate - 5

I fully expect the Ammonia to completely disappear in the next couple of days, and the Nitrites should follow behind in a few days with the Nitrates leveling off at about 20 or so.

I haven't done any water changes yet, and I don't plan on doing so unless the Nitrates get above 20. But I do need to top the tank off; it's about 3/4" low right now since the tank stays right at about 78-79 degrees, and we just had a cold front push through and the temps in the house dropped a lot, and a lot of water condensed and evaporated.

All the fish are healthy as can be (the Dwarf Gouramis are fighting a lot less with the extra room, and the shrimp has already molted once), and the plants are thriving and shooting new stalks daily  the Anacharis is REALLY liking the larger tank. It's shooting a ton of runners out. Or maybe that's just the plant ferts I added, lol


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## mk4gti

Yeah its really easy to light a shallow tank i dont have Co2 because i recently just put 25 crystal red srhimp in there, so right now all there is is 4 otos and 2 small corys along with the srhimp.


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## automatic-hydromatic

not sure why I waited so late to do the little maintenance to it tonight, but I just got done topping the water level off and plucking out some randomly drifting small pieces of Anacharis

Here's some updated pics that I took with my actual camera in hopes that they would come out a little better.


here's a couple of the DG's pecking at a sinking pellet I dropped in for the shrimp...





















and here's an over-all shot












you'll notice the breeder net in the top-right. it's housing a Betta that's getting over a swim bladder infection (non contagious to the other fish; that's the only reason he's in the tank)


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## automatic-hydromatic

I laid a RGB LED strip in the light fixture that I had lying around last night  the blue makes for a neat effect at night


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## automatic-hydromatic

two days later (one week from tank setup)


Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - .25
Nitrate - 5

I think the plants are going to keep the Nitrates from raising too much higher 

I'm thinking about nabbing a Bristlenose tomorrow to introduce into the tank


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## automatic-hydromatic

So I put in an Albino Bristlenose Pleco today, and also got 4 small Guppies... apparently the Guppies were a bad idea 

I got two males and two females (a whopping $1.99 each). They were all introduced to the tank this morning at about 10am. By 6pm, both of the females were deceased; one floating upside down in the Anacharis, and the other floating in the little cave in the tank... both with their back fins almost completely missing; perfect half circles munched out of them...

The two males still look happy as can be. No nipped fins on them at all; craziest thing ever... so I dunno... if I notice they start to get nipped fins too, they're either getting taken back, or I'll set up my 10 gallon for them and let them have it until they grow a little bigger.

I just didn't think the DG's would be that aggressive; they've been really tame ever since moving them to the 30 gallon


on a lighter note, the Bristlenose is happy as can be though


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## jrman83

I've never had Gouramis do anything. That could have happened after the fish is dead. Hard to say when unless you witnessed it. Did you drip acclimate the fish?


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## automatic-hydromatic

jrman83 said:


> That could have happened after the fish is dead. Hard to say when unless you witnessed it.


that's true



jrman83 said:


> Did you drip acclimate the fish?


sure did; over the course of about an hour. it's never failed me before


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## mk4gti

I have a theory that guppys are usually weak fish due to massive ammounts of inbreeding, especially the ones u get for 2$ a pair at the LFS. You dont want guppies, trust me your gonna end up with a tank full of fry in less than a month.


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## automatic-hydromatic

that's fine; I'm sure the DG's wouldn't hesitate to take care of large numbers of fry, lol



here's the two survivors; they appear healthy as can be. they stay together pretty much














and here's the little Bristlenose, hanging out on the slate cave

I would have gotten one of the sail fin ones or whatever they're called, but if I wanted to pay $40 a fish, I'd convert this 30 gallon into a salt water tank 















Also, can someone confirm this is Wisteria? that's what I was told once before, but it doesn't really look like any photos I can find of Wisteria, and it's growing really slow and from what I read, that's not like a Wisteria plant...

I didn't intentionally but it; it came with the Anacharis I purchased a while back. It's only just started to actually show new growth, but it's interesting to watch because the top-most leaves fold upwards and close at night when the timer shuts the light off, and then reopen in the morning when the light kicks back on  which is something all of the other plants don't do; I guess that's the only reason I find it interesting, lol


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## mk4gti

def not wysteria. and that sunburst orange guppy looks like a female to me.


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## automatic-hydromatic

yeah then I have no idea what it is, lol


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## mk4gti

Your guppies are female too, well atleast that orange suburst one is. Thats a pretty good strain of gup.


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## jrman83

Your phtobucket account is not loading your pics very well. Why not post them on this site? Everyone gets quite a bit of storage for pics.


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## automatic-hydromatic

jrman83 said:


> Your phtobucket account is not loading your pics very well. Why not post them on this site? Everyone gets quite a bit of storage for pics.


I haven't been having any issues with it :/

it better not be messing up; it's a paid pro account!



any idea on what that plant is?


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## jrman83

It's good now. Definitely now wisteria....looks familiar, but I don't know.

Guppy pic not good enough for me. Usually the more colorful, the less likely it is a female.


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## jrman83

Mk - you need some moss in that tank. Good looking tank though....looks like it is in the attic


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## choylifutsoccer

Wow! This tank looks really good.


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## automatic-hydromatic

Thanks 

I have to get some updated pics. I moved some plant around on the left side. I originally had my two other Aponogetons up front, but they have recently exploded and have a few leaves that are close to reaching the water surface, so I moved them to the back.

I also picked up an auto feeder yesterday since I'm taking a little trip for Christmas


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## automatic-hydromatic

Well I finally upgraded the light today 

The plants on the sides were showing signs of struggling not being in good light, and I just worked on someone's car yesterday putting an extra $130 in my pocket, so I decided to invest in a new light setup!

Grabbed some egg-crate from Home Depot and cut it to fit, and placed the light on the tank. It's a Zoo-Med Aquasun dual T5 HO 36" light fixture, and in it I have installed a Flora Sun 5000k bulb, and an Ultra Sun 6500k bulbs, both 29 watts each, so it's basically 2 watts per gallon.

And MAN does the tank look better under good light!





































































You may have noticed the little white box sitting on top of it on the left side:














That's the control box for the red/green/blue LED strip that I installed  I reused the strip that I had installed in my last light fixture to keep the moon-light effect


Dimmed down:













Turned up:













Although I only make use of the blue, it also goes red, green, and mixing all 3 colors, white:
































With the blue turned way up at night, it's actually too bright













So I dim it down as low as it'll go, and it's just perfect. This camera doesn't even pick the light up enough, but it's just as bright as it needs to be to give the effect














Now I think I'll invest in a backdrop tomorrow; I don't know why I didn't think of getting one at the store...

Time will only tell how the plants will react to the new light. Hopefully well *Glasses*


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## danilykins

Wow that looks very nice  Good Job!!!


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## rtbob

Very Nice!


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## Niki7

automatic-hydromatic said:


> Well I finally upgraded the light today
> 
> Now I think I'll invest in a backdrop tomorrow; I don't know why I didn't think of getting one at the store...
> 
> *Glasses*


The backdrop on one of my tanks is painted wood, another is silvery wrapping paper loL! doesn't have to be fancy 

Nice tank btw! great price...


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## automatic-hydromatic

he's some more pics focusing a little more on the plants

over the Christmas I took a little vacation, and came back to find that the Apongetons exploded into life at the back of the tank








































In fact, since they're beginning to reproduce and spread out over the surface, I'll probably remove the Anacharis soon


The one the right of the tank was this large before going into the 30 gallon, but it hasn't been getting much light on the side where it's at with the old light. It should start taking off again now that it has good light 












The Java Ferns are doing great, and have been shooting out sprouts all over the place. The ones planted into the substrate are doing just as well as the ones anchored to the log












One little random string of Anacharis with an end pushed into the substrate. Seems to be growing. It was just an experiment to see how well it would work












Two randomly placed young Red Ludwigia's












A few of the Argentine Swords. These too use to in in bad light on the far left of the tank, so they should start growing better now.












And I still have yet to determine what this plant is. It came as a hitch-hiker when I bought my Anacharis from the LFS. I planted it in the substrate, and it seems to be doing really well!













And a random shot of the lonesome Ghost Shrimp going about his business. I plan on giving him a few friends soon 












I tried to get a shot of my Bristlenose as well, but he's hiding...


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## beaslbob

automatic-hydromatic said:


> the person emailed me last night and said they threw in some more things, so I'm getting more for the same cost!
> 
> I'm not sure what else they're throwing in, but I'm definitely not passing it up
> 
> 
> 
> I just got back from Home Depot and WalMart
> 
> *$20 worth of beaslbob supplies*! *Glasses*


How did I miss this. *r2

need to spend more time in the build forum

and read the rest of this one.


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## automatic-hydromatic

Introduced 4 little RCS today, and put a backdrop on it finally.

I also removed the Anacharis that I had floating in the tank, because the only thing it was doing was dropping small branches and pieces that were getting stuck to the intake of the filter, and it was getting aggravating having to remove them pretty much every day...

I'd have pics of the RCS, but their still hiding after being put in the tank.


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## automatic-hydromatic

the cherry shrimp love to hang out in the little crevices in the drift wood, but I managed to snap a pic of one that came out to do some foraging













and I tossed in about 10 more Aponogeton bulbs as well as two large Lilly bulbs today; netted and weighted, I'll pull them out in about a week to stir them and check for growth

I love growing the plants from bulbs; it's so much more exciting to start with nothing but a dried bulb and watch it sprout and grow  almost more exciting than the fish themselves!


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## automatic-hydromatic

nosy shrimp, lol












and short video tour 

YouTube - 30 Gallon Long (breeder) Planted Freshwater Aquarium


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## tscott

I love the tank, hey where do you get your bulbs from?


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## automatic-hydromatic

Petco and Walmart carries them in little packages; I picked these up from Walmart today. They run about $3.50 per package, and you usually get 4 to 5 bulbs in each package, and I've got about a 50% success rate with them. My last pack of 5 Aponogetons, 3 of them have done EXTREMELY well. They're the two large ones in the center back that have grown to the surface, and the large one on the right of the tank that's a darker green color. I've never tried the Lilly bulbs, so we'll see how they do. I'd like to have a few Lillys reach the surface. I'm sure my Gouramis would like it too


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## tscott

I went to Petco today and they had Lilly bulbs and Betta Bulbs. I bought a pack of the Betta Bulbs(3 in a pack for $3.50) and put them in the tank just like you have them. I read around the internet that they are likely Aponogeton bulbs, but some people got Lilly bulbs mixed in. Ill see what happens. I still have room in both my tanks for plants and im looking for more!

Here's the packaging:


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## automatic-hydromatic

yep, pretty much the same thing 

different brand, so you may have a higher success rate with them than I did


it's not a bad deal for the prices though; 3 plants for $3.50! it's just not "instant" like buying an already green plan. they'll start sprouting in about a week or two, and in a month they should have well defined stalks and leaves. they grow FAST, so they're fun to have in the tank 

my first go around I just threw them in the tank; some floated at the surface, some sank. but at the time I had a couple Cory Cats that just wouldn't leave the bulbs alone and were pushing them all over the place... finally when they started to sprout, I anchored them down into the gravel a little, and they grew really good in just plain gravel. but they're growing 10 x's better with the peat moss / play sand / gravel substrate. I seen on the web where someone netted them up like this and weighted them down, and it's much easier to keep an eye on them and keep them from bobbing all around the tank. they don't need light to start sprouting in their bulb state; the energy they need to start sprouting is stored in the bulb; all they need is to be introduced to water. but once they do show sprouts, you can anchor them into the substrate covering about 50% of the bulb (with the sprouts pointing up of course), and they'll take off from there. once they develop leaves and can make use of light, that's when they REALLY take off and start to grow



on another note, a routine water test today showed zero across the board - ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate all 0, and the PH has leveled off at 6.6

hurray for live plants and no water changes  just have to top off the tank ever 3 days or so because of all the evaporation with the new egg-crate top


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## automatic-hydromatic

one already started sprouting, so I pulled the netted bundle out and shuffled them around, pulled the sprouting one out to anchor it into the substrate, and got rid of some that were duds and were not going to sprout. you can tell which ones are duds after they soak in water for a day or two; they'll be squishy, and they'll smell like death *#3


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## tscott

I also got some of those Walmart ones and threw them in the tank yesterday, I got 6 for $3.66 hopefully some of the first ones pop soon.


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## automatic-hydromatic

for some it doesn't take long at all. that one pictured above started throwing sprouts out within a few days, but some may not do anything for a week or two

they're mixed species in the pack, and different ones grow at different rates 



oh and here's a bad update... I found my largest Dwarf Gourami at the bottom of the tank early this morning... looks like he must have got into a scuffle with the other large male sometime late last night, and he lost... I have updated my avatar because of it


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## majerah1

Aw i am so sorry to hear that.RIP Blue dude.

I bought some of the dwarf lillies from Walmart.Two bulbs in the package and both sprouted.I also bought some Apons as well, and none sprouted.I removed them and dried then for a month and now they are submerged once again.its a gamble for sure.If they dont grow,ill be sending them to the company.Supposedly they send some proven plants back.


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## tscott

Sorry to hear about your Dwarf Gourami


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## automatic-hydromatic

I still have no idea what this plant is...

but it's growing in pretty good considering what it looked like when I found it hitchhiking with the Anacharis it came in!


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## mk4gti

looks like a wysteria clipping, but dont quote me on that.


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## automatic-hydromatic

that's what I was told once before, but others though it wasn't either, and I don't think it quite looks like wysteria and doesn't grow as fast as wysteria tends to either...


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## tscott

This looks similar, but the stem is different.... and its "Wisteria Hygrophila difformis" so maybe, but i couldnt find anything that looks the same. Im gonna look through my books.


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## Niki7

My condolences on Big Blue, so very sorry...
*frown


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## automatic-hydromatic

Yeah those leaves look pretty similar tscott.


Thanks Niki, but I think I'm making up for him today  The tank's parameters have been spot on for a while, so I decided to pick up a few more inhabitants about 15 minutes ago. 2 more male Guppies (gives me a 3 males to one female ratio), a second Albino Bristlenose Pleco, and a female Veiltail Betta.

They're all fresh; the local Petco got a shipment in today and they were putting them in the tanks when I showed up  They're currently floating.


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## automatic-hydromatic

I think I'm going to need to pick up some more female Guppies. The males wont leave the one female alone...


EDIT - Nevermind, they seem to be getting better. Must have been a "new to the tank" thing, because an hour later they're not so bad.

We'll see how it works out.


The female Betta is hanging out at the back of the tank flaring up at her reflection in the glass, lol. That's starting to wear off to, and she's beginning to explore the tank 


I'll take some pics once the sun sets and there's not a glare from the window in the photo. The Betta is a really striking looking blue and black; one of the nicest looking females I've seen in a while in my opinion; that's kinda why I picked her up


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## automatic-hydromatic

little rascals are hard to get a picture of...

THEY WONT STOP MOVING!



group of the Guppies (all 4 of them actually)













new Albino Bristlenose, and the Betta peaking out from behind the log













and an attempt to take a picture of the Betta, but she started swimming at the last second and blurred the photo...


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## tscott

I like your new fish. I had two guppies, but the male died like two days after i got him(he looked like the runt), I was gonna get a few more but the female one I got is pregnant so I was going to wait and see if I get any babies.  I looked through the books that I have and couldn't find anything that looks like that plant lol. The closest thing is the one up above and (to me) that cant be it with the major stem coloring difference. I still have a couple books I am going to look at but I would have thought I would have found it by now.


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## Niki7

automatic-hydromatic said:


> I think I'm going to need to pick up some more female Guppies. The males wont leave the one female alone...
> 
> 
> EDIT - Nevermind, they seem to be getting better. Must have been a "new to the tank" thing, because an hour later they're not so bad.
> 
> We'll see how it works out.
> 
> 
> The female Betta is hanging out at the back of the tank flaring up at her reflection in the glass, lol. That's starting to wear off to, and she's beginning to explore the tank
> 
> 
> I'll take some pics once the sun sets and there's not a glare from the window in the photo. The Betta is a really striking looking blue and black; one of the nicest looking females I've seen in a while in my opinion; that's kinda why I picked her up


My female guppies always get "depressed" and hide if there aren't enough females. My males are relentless with the girls so I usually have at least 3 females to one male. The girls usually pair up and have a fave female to swim around with. All that female bonding and such lol. Not that I have to worry with my latest fry - out of 45 fry, only 3 or 4 males! I was amazed! Good luck with your gups!


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## automatic-hydromatic

well one of the new males must not have been too healthy when I got him, because I woke up this morning to find him on the bottom of the tank with the shrimp pecking at him... it's a shame; he was a really pretty guy too...

guess I'll go get a female to replace him this afternoon; maybe two


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## automatic-hydromatic

okay, restocked 

two more female Guppies, and I also picked up two more Ghost Shrimp since they just got more in









































I also had a random idea that I figured I'd try. As much as I DESPISE using any fake ornaments, ESPECIALLY plants, I found a pack for like $2 that looked like it would make a good floating plant. After messy experiences with Hornwort and Anacharis, I thought I'd buy the pack, cut them from their weighted bases, and tuck them around the filter inlet and outlet to both make them blend in, and give the Gouarmi's some areas to make some bubble nests in.

It actually worked out pretty well I think!








































The new female Betta was quick to claim the bunch by the heater home, as she's still a little stresses from the move (obvious from her horizontal stripes) and likes to stay hidden right now.












Couple more updates. The older full grown Apongetons are healthy and replicating. The one that blooms stalks has shot another up to the surface which I'll trim in a few days, and the others in the back that just send a stalk up and start a new plant has made a new plant-let that I cut off and planted today too.





















the plant-let that split off looks like it didn't like being so close to the light... it should turn around quick now that it's planted in the substrate












The new bulbs are still sprouting. The one that sprouted first is REALLY growing.











and another one began to sprout, so it got taken from the netted bag too












the others, including the lily bulbs, are still netted and weighted down












here's a few more random pictures



Bristlenoses hard at work












pretty sure this new female Guppy is pregnant...












Cherry Shrimp are happy as can be













up-to-date overall tank shot


----------



## Niki7

sorry to hear about your latest gup! Probably right in that he wasn't very healthy. Never an easy thing to find first thing in the morning.


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

Okay, I'm not getting any more Guppies from Petco... this is getting ridiculous...

The female that I pictured above that I believe was pregnant, I found on the bottom of the tank this morning... ALONG WITH THE BETTA... and to boot, one of the Dwarf Gouramis looks like he's on his last leg too  I don't know if it's parasitic or if he got into a scuffle with one of the other males, but he's not even moving accept for his gills...


I treated the tank with some ParaGuard and removed the Gouarmi and am going to set up my spare 10 gallon (once I dig all of it's components out) and use it as a QT, both for this guy and new fish later on.


----------



## majerah1

Oh gosh im so sorry to hear that.I hope your gourami recovers,and the rest of the tank stays healthy.


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

the Gourami made it to about 1:30 PM, and then he gave up  so now I have the one powder blue and the one red...


thinking about leaving it at that and not getting another male... they fought too much and they may have been what done him in. he looked like he had gotten into a battle with one of the others from the looks of him. I may get a female later and see how that goes. however the one blue that's left I may have to get rid of; he's been super aggressive lately


----------



## majerah1

Im sorry to hear that,i know they were your favs.You can always set the aggressor up in a tank of his own.


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

well the only other tank I have, and honestly have room for, is my 10 gallon, which I plan on using as a QT, and I'd rather not have an aggressive fish in there, lol

right now he's been put in a breeder net in the 30 gallon to keep him away from the other Gourami... he wont leave him alone...


----------



## tscott

Im sorry to hear about your fish. I refuse to buy anything alive from Petco. Each fish they have around here had Ick, and every tank has dead fish. And this has been going on for two months. I bought plants there once, and I had an instant algae breakout right after I planted them and they are the worst plants I have at the moment. They are coming back alright but it sucks. I have been traveling around all over to find new stores with fish and there are only two I would buy from. One I have never seen Ick on any of the fish, they treat everything that is sick and quarantine them, the other has a couple but they were actually in a separate tank being treated and all looked happy and healthy otherwise. At least in my area (Danbury CT right across the border from where I live in NY) Petco is a disgrace and they are killing 90% and selling 10%.


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

yeah I've had about a 50% success rate with my fish from there...


so far the oldest living thing I have from there is a single ghost shrimp


----------



## tscott

I was actually looking for shrimp while I was out yesterday and they didn't have any, Maybe ill call the one that's in NY to see if they have some  cause I will buy them and throw them in my QT tank for a little while. It doesn't seem like anyone has shrimp around here though.


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

they VERY rarely have them

last time I went up there they had about 5, and I took two of those. My LFS on the other hand keeps them in stock by the hundreds, which I wasn't aware of until the other day, lol


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

aggressive Dwarf Gouarmi in solitary confinement until Wednesday when I'm trading him in, lol























some more random pics


"nom nom nom" *Glasses*












newer Apongetons are still sprouting





















mysterious plant is still growing, even faster now, and is branching apart








































I do have a strange issue. I've recently began to notice an algae buildup on the rocks and some areas of the gravel. It's not accumulating on the log. The Pleco's seem to be keeping the tank sides and log clean, and the shrimp do a good job at eating excess food (not that there is a whole lot), but they are completely disregarding the rock and gravel bottom as far as algae goes.

Any suggestions on what would get rid of it? Maybe snails that won't multiply like mad and devour my plants?































and it's not everywhere either; only about half the tank


----------



## tscott

I hate when you get mean fish, I had a Rainbow shark that was really beating on everyone and he had plenty of room to himself, like him and 3 other fish so I had to move him to another tank. Long story short, he decided that he was pissed and jumped out to a terrible death. 

About the algae, do you run CO2? How long is the light on in the tank? My tank with DIY CO2 seems to kind of fight off the algae, I read somewhere its because the plants are growing more because of the CO2 and using up all the excess nutrients. In my tank I don't see much algae if any, and the lights are on 10-14 hours a day, a 27 watt florescent and a 13 watt squiggly on a 25 gallon. Also i have two yellow/orange Chinese Algae eaters and a red tailed shark in that tank that eat anything like that crazy fast. I really like the Chinese Algae eaters, even though it seems like most people don't. My 3 cory's also keep the gravel really clean, idk if they eat the algae though. 

My other tank however has no algae eaters, just 2 cory's that literally go everywhere, they are supposed to dwell at the bottom but they go everywhere even to the top to eat algae(I assume) and other things off of the rubber suction cups and stuff. The only thing that i have noticed in that tank is that on the fake plant i have there is some stringy algae growing. I just pull it off now and then, but Im geting rid of the fake plants soon when I get another plant that will have as much cover as that one.

Also your plant is growing like crazy kinda cool. I never did find anything on what it is. And I went to my LFS and asked about shrimp and they said that they can get them. There supposed to go get a shipment of fish tomorrow and said they would try to get some.


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

no CO2; not in the budget right now, and I don't want to fumble with the mess of a DIY yeast system. The roughly 60 watts of light is on about a 9 1/2 hour cycle daily


----------



## tscott

I didn't want to mess with the co2 thing either, but I looked at the jello one in the DIY section and it was like the easiest thing to throw together. I decided it was worth a try because i could just not refill it and toss it if it was too much of a pain. The only thing that I could think of is in the middle of your light cycle have it shut off for an hour or two, this can sometimes kill algae because they need a longer cycle of light to thrive. And the other plants couldn't really care otherwise.

Im going to PM you an excerpt from one of the books that I have because Its not something I really should post. It is about the nap time.


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

Well I made some changes today 

I took back the trouble making Dwarf Gourami to the LFS, and ended up coming home with a female Dwarf Gourami, and a male and female Sailfin Molly pair

Got back with them and decided the tank needed a new aquasacpe, so I uprooted all of the plants, pulled out the rocks and cleaned them, and rescaped the entire tank. I put the taller Apongetons in the back corners, moved the log to the left side along with the Ferns, and rebuilt the rock structure on the right side. I removed the air stone as I don't think I really need it anyways with all the O2 producing plants, and used the cave-like structure I was using to hide the air stone and just set it up as a cave on the right side and hid it with all of my Argentine Swords. Then I put my 3 Amazon Swords in the back center, and completely removed my home-made cave thingy since I don't think it fit in too well. So now there's a lot of swimming around room in the center of the tank, and a lot of hiding places with the log and bunched up plants in the back corners and sides.

I then proceeded to FINALLY clean my canister filter and replace the carbon and secondary filters in it, which is something I've been meaning to do for about 2 weeks now, lol. It really wasn't dirt at all. Were it not for the need to replace and replenish the carbon, I could probably let the filter run for 6 months at a time 


I'll have to get and post some pics tomorrow. The tank is still really cloudy since a lot of crap kicked up when I was moving the plants. Most of them were rooted all the way down to the peat moss, and it pulled a lot up and I uprooted them.


----------



## majerah1

Sounds eventful!Cant wait to see pics of the new scape and the lovely female dwarf,and sailfins.

Ya know the pic of the gourami in the net breeder,he looked so sad,lol.


----------



## tscott

Thats cause he knew he was in trouble


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

pics as promised  still a _little_ cloudy































































































The newer Apongetons are still sprouting. I've planted a couple in the substrate, and there's two left that I'm letting soak for about another week before I toss them. I also tossed out one of the Lily bulbs that started to get soggy and I knew was bad. There's still one left that floating that hasn't shown any signs of sprouting yet either, and if it doesn't do anything soon I'm going to toss it as well.
































The Ferns are still sprouting new plantlets like mad  I'm going to give them a little while longer, and then I'm going to get another log probably and attach the new little plantlets to it.
































Here's the new Sailfins. They seem to stick together. Sorry for the window glare. It's about the only shot I was able to get of them where they stayed still long enough to not blur the photo.













And I tied to get a pic of the new Dwarf Gourami, but she wouldn't stay still long enough either. You can kind of see her in a few of the photos above.



Two other random pics. Ghost Shrimp hanging out on a Java Fern leaf












Bristlenoses hanging out under the log


----------



## Scuff

The photo you posted of the Mystery Plant almost looks a little like pteridoides water sprite on the top of it.


----------



## jrman83

I personally don't think you had very much of an algae problem....very light. I'd try just shortening your light period by 1 hour, if it bothered you.


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

jrman83 said:


> I personally don't think you had very much of an algae problem....very light. I'd try just shortening your light period by 1 hour, if it bothered you.


yeah it wasn't too bad

yesterday when I pulled the rocks out to do the rescape, I scrubbed them all clean, so there's no algae buildup on them at all right now accept for what's on the gravel

I'm going to set the light to turn off an hour earlier tonight and see if that keeps it from coming back


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

water test today showed 0 across the board for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate, as usual (gotta love live plants  ) and 6.6 for the PH, as it's been for almost a month now after slowing coming down from the initial 7.2


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

Little update 


Picked up 4 more Cherry Shrimp today, and some little patches of Micro Sword. If the MS grows well in the tank, I'm going to put in more behind the rock structure and see if the Cherry Shrimp will spawn in them.














Also changed the top setup around a bit. Decided to go a bit more open. I still have a small section of the egg crate on the left to hold the auto feeder. I like this a little better because it allows me to moved the light a little further back, and now I don't have to remove it every time I need to do plant trimming and stuff.






















The Apongetons are still sprouting new plants like crazy 

New branch on the left most plant:












And one just reaching the top on the right:












Current overall shot:












A few of the Cherry Shrimp chowing down on an algae disc:












Moments before a Dwarf Gourami and the gang of Guppies stole it form the, lol













When I was at the LFS today, I asked the owner if he would be able to get a hold of any Tiger Lotus. I've LOVE to have one of those and have it bloom a flower or two  He said he's putting an order in tomorrow and he'll get it in Thursday if he can get it, so I'm just going to stop by again on Thursday and see if he was able to get it. That's actually one of the reasons for reconfiguring the cover setup.


----------



## majerah1

Lookin good.I have been searching for microswords for awhile now and no one in town sells any.


----------



## tscott

majerah1 said:


> Lookin good.I have been searching for microswords for awhile now and no one in town sells any.


Lol, the only things that I can get where I am is microswords and amazon swords, I have to special order everything else. All I am ever looking for is dwarf baby tears. 

The tank's really looking great! I also wish I could get some cherry shrimp. I was finally able to find some shrimp at the huge Petco around me, got two ghost scrimp and two of another kind, not really sure what they are. Ill take a pic when they emerge. They seem to be doing ok unlike the four fish I got with them, I never buy fish at Petco but they had oto's I was looking for and I needed some fish to start the cycle in another tank. Well before the cycle even started the two fish died and one of my oto's died really quick, the lady was smashing everything in the tank to catch them and I think she squished him. This really sucks because oto's are so hard to find around here.


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

tscott said:


> Lol, the only things that I can get where I am is microswords and amazon swords, I have to special order everything else. All I am ever looking for is dwarf baby tears.
> 
> The tank's really looking great! I also wish I could get some cherry shrimp. I was finally able to find some shrimp at the huge Petco around me, got two ghost scrimp and two of another kind, not really sure what they are. Ill take a pic when they emerge. They seem to be doing ok unlike the four fish I got with them, I never buy fish at Petco but they had oto's I was looking for and I needed some fish to start the cycle in another tank. Well before the cycle even started the two fish died and one of my oto's died really quick, the lady was smashing everything in the tank to catch them and I think she squished him. This really sucks because oto's are so hard to find around here.


The Petco around the corner from me only sells Ghost and Bamboo Shrimp. As a matter of fact, my very first shrimp came from that Petco; a Ghost Shrimp, that is still alive and is an ENORMOUS size I think for a ghost shrimp


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

I forgot I shot this little video

The cherry shrimp where sitting there minding their own business grazing on an algae wafer, and a hoard of Guppies came in and stole it from them...

LOL, and at the beginning two of the shrimp start fighting over the food, and the one starts hitting the other with his front legs. It's so funny to watch 


YouTube - Guppies steal algae wafer from Cherry Shrimp



anyone else thing that female guppy is pregnant, or does she just look like a healthy eater :/


----------



## tscott

The one near me has ghost, bamboo, and at least two other kinds. The ones i got and ones with lines down the back. Also that guppy is definitely pregos, well in my opinion, looks like mine, which is preggers.


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

great, lol

I expected the shrimp to breed, not the Guppies


I've got a breeding net, so I'll keep an eye on her and put her in there if she looks like she really starts to get large and ready to release fri


on that note, I've got some reading up I need to do on guppy young raising


----------



## beaslbob

automatic-hydromatic said:


> great, lol
> 
> I expected the shrimp to breed, not the Guppies
> 
> 
> I've got a breeding net, so I'll keep an eye on her and put her in there if she looks like she really starts to get large and ready to release fri
> 
> 
> on that note, *I've got some reading up I need to do on guppy young raising *


In a planted tank nothing.


my .02


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

you think?

can you elaborate?


----------



## beaslbob

automatic-hydromatic said:


> you think?
> 
> can you elaborate?


just feed normally and do nothing special.

babies will hide in plants and get food off the plants as well.

Over time as they get bigger and bigger they will venture out more and more.

eventually you will have many guppies and a more or less stable population.

my .02


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## jrman83

Nice looking Guppy, big and not just fat. I'd say she's pregnant and probably due some time in the next 10 days or so.


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## automatic-hydromatic

Well that's all pretty cool news!

I thought maybe she was just a glutton. She's done that in the past; ate a ton and bloated up, and then pooped steady for a day or two and then was back down to normal size. But she has been larger than normal for about a week or so now and has gradually gotten larger...


I'll keep my eyes on here for sure in the next couple of weeks  I'll try the "don't do anything special" technique and see if they survive. I will however pick up a sponge filter to cover the filter intake to at least keep them from getting sucked up, lol


----------



## beaslbob

automatic-hydromatic said:


> Well that's all pretty cool news!
> 
> I thought maybe she was just a glutton. She's done that in the past; ate a ton and bloated up, and then pooped steady for a day or two and then was back down to normal size. But she has been larger than normal for about a week or so now and has gradually gotten larger...
> 
> 
> I'll keep my eyes on here for sure in the next couple of weeks  I'll try the "don't do anything special" technique and see if they survive. *I will however pick up a sponge filter to cover the filter intake to at least keep them from getting sucked up,* lol


Probably a good idea.

Wouldn't know as I don't use filters. *old dude

my .02


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

so I woke up this morning and was glancing over the tank, and I found this









see if you can spot it





















YouTube - Guppy Fry




since I don't yet have a sponge to put over the filter intake, I've put the female in a breeder net for now, along with some of those fake plants to give whatever new fry she may give birth to a place to hide






















all I could see were those two. I don't know if maybe she gave birth to more and they've already been eat'n (my powder blue dwarf gourami has been hovering around over there like he knows what's around there), or if she only gave birth to the two and has more to come. so we'll see


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

okay, recount

there's 3 fry in the bunch of plants in the corner of the tank 


and I decided to go with the "do nothing" approach and take the female back out of the net and put her in the tank. if she gives birth in the net, then I have to worry about feeding the fry and taking care of them separate. I want to see what happens if I just let nature run it's course. plus the sudden change to being in the net might keep her from giving birth any more anyhow. I did however stuff a bunch more of those fake plants in that area, filing in some open gaps, and gave the little fry a little more security and places to hide


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

new plan... again, lol


put the one fish that seems to know what's going on (keeps hovering around the plants, looking for the fry to snack on) in the breeder net for a while














one and one more shot of one of the little guys  just about right in the center of the photo; their really hard to catch on camera


----------



## tscott

Nice I think my guppy has given birth a couple of times but all of her babies get eaten, i have only just recently added more plants to the tank shes in. Im just waiting for my molly to pop now


----------



## beaslbob

IME with my guppy or platy only tank what seems to happen is that at first only 1 (or a few) survive. And the adult fish do chase them.

But the fry are fast.

Then a few litters later it seems more and more of the fry survive. 

Perhaps the big fish just tired of chasing them and go back to the flake food.

At anyrate it doesn't take very many fry to survive so that in 6 months to a year you have 30 or more fish. In my tank that population remains more or less stable for years with 1/2 dozen or so adults and the rest juvies and fry.


my .02


----------



## Niki7

she def looks like she was not done by any means...any more fry?

I just got 27 more a couple days ago. About half were eaten, now the fry just hang out in the center of the tank and none of my other fish bother with them. I now have another guppy looking a bit fat, and she is my giant red albino. She has not given birth yet so I look forward to seeing what she gets.

Will need to do a craigslist ad if things don't slow down!


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

I have not seen any more fry yet, but she's still big

I'm keeping my eye on her. I was talking to the owner of my LFS today (was up there seeing if he got my Tiger Lotus in that I ordered... not yet...) and he told me they can spread their birth out over days. But I think these few might have came early. I didn't expect her to start giving birth for another week or so


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

well, she dropped the rest of he fry last night 


YouTube - Guppy Fry EVERYWHERE





an here's an odd discovery, lol. my Powder Blue Dwarf Gourami thinks he's an Archer Fish

YouTube - Dwarf Gourami thinks he's an Archer Fish


----------



## Niki7

LOL!!! He's mad at you for putting him in that box *r2

Seriously, that is super cool!! I never saw a fish do that before.

Your fry like the plants you put in the corners!  They will grow very fast. Did you get a count? I can never count them all unless I take a picture then count them on the picture lol


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

I counted about 21 of them swimming around and the ones I could find hiding in the plants earlier, but the little rascals wont stop moving around so I gave up. It's hard to get an accurate count, LOL

The ones that came out early a week ago have gotten big QUICK. Big enough to where I don't think that Gourami would mess with them, but I have to wait now until the others get that big before I let him loose back in the tank. I'm not sure why none of the other fish bother them. They swim circles around the red Dwarf Gourami and the Sailfin Mollys, and they don't even look twice at them.


----------



## Chino

This was a phenomenal thread to read through.


----------



## beaslbob

cool pics especially your "archerfish" LOL.

seems like the do nothing thing is working.

FWIW I gave up counting long time ago. And they do grow fast.

my .02


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

I'm running out of realestate for plants... I just put 6 more sprouts from my Apongetons into the substrate...






















The one random piece of Anacharis that I had that use to be about 4" long has suddenly exploded into life as well. As long as it's not loosing leaves like they were before, I'll let it grow.












And the Java Ferns, well, yeah they're budding like mad too. I picked these off last week (over 15 of them), and it's already budding more to take their place.


----------



## beaslbob

automatic-hydromatic said:


> I'm running out of realestate for plants... I just put 6 more sprouts from my Apongetons into the substrate...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The one random piece of Anacharis that I had that use to be about 4" long has suddenly exploded into life as well. As long as it's not loosing leaves like they were before, I'll let it grow.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And the Java Ferns, well, yeah they're budding like mad too. I picked these off last week (over 15 of them), and it's already budding more to take their place.


gee problem after problem after problem. *w3

Don't you wish newbies had all those problems. *old dude

my .02


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

lol

I tell ya, people complain about their plants not growing or dieing. I can't get mine to stop growing and reproducing :/


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

Video update 


The fry are getting brave and are venturing out from the plants. You can see the ones every once in a while in the video that were the first comers. They're about 3 x's the size of some of the fry that came a week later. I'm still baffled that she had the 4 or 5, and then a week later had the other 20+  but they're all healthy as can be!



YouTube - Planted 30 Gallon Update


----------



## M1ster Stanl3y

hey if you need a place to get rid of some "extra" plants i know a 10g, and 2 soon to be 55gs that will take them off of your hands...lol


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

well HOPEFULLY in not too long, I'm suppose to be acquiring a complete 55 gallon from my step father up north for FREE  so I'll have a little more room (although putting the tank in the place this 30 gallon in is going to be a tight fit to begin with) and it'll just be wide open spaces in the tank again, lol

I'm going up to the LFS tomorrow to see if the man got a Tiger Lotus in since he said he can get them, so that will be one more plant I have to find a spot for  I really want one of those. I like the lilies and the flowers they bloom. that's the reason I went to a full open top, so I could put a Tiger Lotus in the tank


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

Well the new Guppies are large enough to where I could safely take the blue DG out of the breeder net and put him back into the tank without the fear of him eating them all. I put him in, and it didn't take long and he and the other red DG were at it, chasing each other around, flaring up, and nipping at each other...

So I netted him and took him down to my LFS, and came back with 2 Cherry Barbs (he only had two left; I'll get about 3 more once he gets another shipment in), and a Gertrudae Rainbow. Mine's still young, and looks actually like the juvenile Guppies, but he had some older ones in there on display that were gorgeous fish, so I'm just going to wait on this little guy's fins to grow in


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

organizing 

just tired of trying to find my little scissors every time I have to trim a plant, lol. found a use for the breeder net while I'm not using it as, well, a breeder net... convenient food holder


----------



## jrman83

Just watch barbs...some can be pretty aggressive. Not good for Guppies.


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

everything I read about cherry barbs is that they're a peaceful species that can be kept in a community tank with other peaceful fishes. they're a schooling fish, and I only have the two that the LFS had in stock, but I plan on making that number 5 or so soon


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

how to tell your plants are rooted firmly, lol 































I'm almost concerned about them finding their way through the seal on the edges!


----------



## tscott

The barbs will probably be fine, also that is some sweet root structure


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

Those roots have developed like that in about a month's time. I uprooted them all about a month ago and rearranged the entire tank. I trimmed the roots (some where over 2 feet long!) and replanted them. The longest ones before were from the Argentine Swords (current roots in the first picture). Those things send out runner roots that are CRAZY long!

The second picture shows roots from 3 well developed Apongetons, and the last pic was of directly underneath the Amazon Swords (which I may have to give up on and take out of the tank; maybe set up my 10 gallon and put them in it. the Bristlenose Plecos are taring them up...)


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

what an exciting day!


so I set up my 10 gallon to use as a nursery tank for the now juvenile Guppies. Took a little while to catch all the rascals, but now they're all in the 10 gallon

here's about half of them; I took this photo half way through collecting them. I had to take a break stop fishing around for them for a few minutes so they would come out of hiding, lol






















So I got them all collected from the 30 gallon and acclimated and introduced them into their new home for a few more weeks as they grow in the 10 gallon.

I figured I might as well run to the store and pick up a bottom feeder to put in the 10 gallon too, just to help keep the tank tidy. A single Ghost Shrimp would do the trick since I know he wont bother the babies. I had to pick up some more water conditioner and a thermometer as well.

So I go up to Petco since I know they sell the shrimp for a whopping $0.50 each, and I look over and I see an OTO! I had no idea they stocked Otos; I have never seen them in there before! So I had to get one  but I also ended up getting more of the Cherry Barbs to round out the number to 5, and I also found some new fish that I really like the look of; Longfinned Blue Danios. So I ended up getting 4 of those little guys 













So within a few hours they were all in their tanks; all of the above in the 30 gallon, accept for the Ghost shrimp because he was destined for the 10 gallon (I may put the Oto in there too actually).

So just about 30 minutes ago I was looking over the tank, counting heads and making sure all the new guys were doing well. I was looking up at the corners where I have the fake plants stuffed around the filter intake and outlet pipes, and admiring how the Cherry Shrimp like to climb up into the plants and pick off the algae that's growing on them, when I noticed something amazing.


MORE BABY FISH!


I can only assume they're Guppies, because aside from the Sailfin Mollys, they're the only other live bearers in the tank. But strangely, neither the one female Sailfin or the two female Guppies appear to be pregnant, or have appeared to be pregnant for that matter. The Guppies look a little plump, but I also fed the tank with 2 algae wafers today, and they usually attack one of them and gorge on it and fatten up, so I figure maybe that's what it is. But in a few weeks I guess I'll figure out just what they are!


----------



## beaslbob

baby sailfin mollies are much larger then baby guppies. Should be wasy to tell the difference. If they are very small almost transparent, guppies. if 1/16-1/8" long or longer then probably mollies.


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

probably the gups then... I'm just not sure which one, lol

after giving birth, how quickly can a female turn around and have more?


----------



## tscott

I believe its give or take 28 days. They can also have some and hold some in for a week or so and finish up. It is usually less than a week though.


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

hmmm...

I'm willing to bet it was the other female then


----------



## jrman83

Yep, most livebearer gestation periods are 21-30 days.


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

Topping off the water today, I found the mother Guppy flopping around on the floor, LOL. I almost stepped on her! I quickly picked her up and put her back in the tank... She was a little sluggish at first and just gasping for air and was pretty pale looking, but within 10 minutes she was back to her normal self and active, color came back, and looked a lot better 

Also made another neat discovery. A Ghost Shrimp in the tank is carrying eggs! So we'll see how that goes.


----------



## RhumbaGirl

just read through this thread and it was really interesting! Loved all the pictures, just curious though, whats the moss stuff(i forgot what the name was sorry, peat moss?) you put in the bottom under the sand and gravel for? Is it like fertlilizer for the plants??


----------



## beaslbob

RhumbaGirl said:


> just read through this thread and it was really interesting! Loved all the pictures, just curious though, whats the moss stuff(i forgot what the name was sorry, peat moss?) you put in the bottom under the sand and gravel for? Is it like fertlilizer for the plants??


It's spaghum peat moss I buy in large plastic "bales" from home depot type stores. Something like 2/3 cubic yard for like $10. Not the smaller bags for house plants with added fertz.

It is very "dirty" and dark with lotsa twigs and so on. If you just put it on the bottom and pour water in you have a big mess. The layering under sand prevent that.

It may add nutrients but I have found that some fish like neon tetras don't do well with plain sand but live for years with the added peat moss.

Plus KH and GH (carbonate and general hardness) remian constant (4 degrees and 9 degrees) for years but with just sand both rise to very high levels.

there are other substrates that others report work well but the layered is extremely inexpensive and I have had great success with it. So I didn't fiand any need to try the other substrates.


my .02


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

haven't updated in a while 

things are still going great in the tank

the plants are growing as fast as usual, and all the fish are healthy as can be 















The Apongetons are pretty much taking over the left side of the tank































And it wont be long and the Westeria will own the right side, lol































one of the Bristlenose's going to work













The Cherry Shrimp pretty much live in the fake plants that I shoved in around the filter outlet































The single Oto













Cool little surface leaves one of the Apongetons are growing. I'm leaving these for a while, but I trim off the flowering blooms they have














And today, I took one of the Bristlenose Plecos, the two larger female Guppies and the larger male Guppy, as the largest young male and largest young female from my first batch of Guppies, down to the LFS and traded them in on a Longfinned Bristlenose Pleco, and 2 females and one male more fancy looking Guppies 

































I'll try to shoot a video in a little while. It's hard to get good photos, but the videos come out pretty good.


----------



## majerah1

Looking very good.Apons are great plants huh!


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

majerah1 said:


> Looking very good.Apons are great plants huh!


thanks 

the the Apons are rediculous! the only thing that's not growing very good at all is the Micro Sword. I'll probably remove all of it. It's just dieing and begin to grow "stuff" on it...



my new lighting schedule seems to really be cutting down on the algae growth on the tank sides, and the plants haven't seemed to be effected by it in any way. the light kicks on in 4 hour cycles. 4 hours on in the morning, turns off at noon, then comes back on in the afternoon for another 4 hours


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

the Longfinned Albino Bristlenose is already beginning to come out from hiding under the rocks like he was for the first 20 hours or so after being introduced to the tank 

I've been wanting one of these guys for a while, but my LFS has only had one for some time and they wanted $40 for him! But last time I was up there he had about 5 of these young ones for $20 each, so that's where he came from

some of his fins are a little tattered right now, but so was the other bristlenose's when I first got him and they grew back in nice, so I'm hoping the longfin's will do the same














you can see the other Bristlenose (non Longfinned) hanging out with him under the log in this picture


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

suspended my light today 


got room for the Tigar Lotus to bloom that I should be picking up this week!



I know it doesn't look level in the photos, but I assure you it is... it's just an odd camera angle, lol

I'll probably stick a shelf on the brackets and put some of the supplies up there. The cabinet under the tank is getting full 




































































Other updates, the Westeria is growing like a week, not surprisingly...





















and the new Longfinned Pleco has claimed a home, lol














I'm thinking about rearranging the tank this weekend...

I'm putting a divider in my 10 gallon that has the baby Guppies in it (before they make MORE guppies...), and I'll have to take out the log that's in it. I'll put it into this 30 gallon, but I want to do some moving plants around, and probably pull out two of the Apon's to put into the 10 gallon to better help with it's bioload (since there's 20+ Guppies growing in it)


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

tank got blown apart and rearranged this afternoon 

I'll post pics tomorrow once it clears up!

look's more natural now I think


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

In the rearrange, I also changed the direction of the filter's outlet, so now it pushed water across the back of the tank. Makes for a lot more circulation, and the taller long-leaved Aponogetons sway in the flow and it looks really neat  I also removed all Guppies from the tank, and I'm probably going to removed the two Sailfin Molleys as well. I don't know what's going to go in their place, but I'll figure something out. I'm tired of the Guppies breeding out of control, and the Molleys just don't look right in the tank for some reason...

I hate that there's a window on the wall directly across the room from the tank... any pictures taken of the tank during the day come out with a big glare on them. I'll have to get some more tonight, without the glare


----------



## jrman83

Looks good. Just keep in mind that elevating the light can have a negative effect on your plants. Although overall it may look roughly the same, your PAR will change. Most of your plants appear to be low-light plants and it may not have any effect, but they could slow in their growth rate. I think you could bump up your lighting period to compensate a little. Raising the light is another way to control algae also.


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

Yeah they're all pretty low light, minimal need plants. The only plant that doesn't seem to be doing too well is the Micro Sword bunches I put in about a month ago. At t least that's the way it appeared. All of the visible leaves/shoots were dead, turning black, and were starting to grow algae on them. When I pulled them up to move them, I found healthy green and white roots, so I just trimmed them up and replanted them, so we'll see how they do now. I think they might have just died at first because they were new to the tank. My Java Ferns did the same thing.


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

I've taken some more pictures now that the sun has set, and that made all the difference in the world 


























































YouTube - Planted 30 Gallon Aquarium update - 3/5/2011


----------



## M1ster Stanl3y

looking good i would just watch out for flying fish, you might end up with some more on the carpet if they are inclined to seek out a new life outside of your tank...


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

so far I've only had one fatality from fish jumping. a Juvenile Guppy. Then there's the pregnant female Guppy that jumped out and I found her in time, lol. so the Guppies seem to be the only ones that liked to jump, and there's no more of those in the tank now 


I'm thinking about getting a screen top like that's used on terrariums though. the hard part about using one of those would be the cutouts needed for the filter inlet and outlet... might end up just making one myself. that would be pretty easy. some 1/2" x 1/2" wood strips made into a frame with screen stretched over it and stapled to it. but I'll only bother if I start having jumpy fish problems


----------



## beaslbob

automatic-hydromatic said:


> so far I've only had one fatality from fish jumping. a Juvenile Guppy. Then there's the pregnant female Guppy that jumped out and I found her in time, lol. so the Guppies seem to be the only ones that liked to jump, and there's no more of those in the tank now
> 
> 
> I'm thinking about getting a screen top like that's used on terrariums though. the hard part about using one of those would be the cutouts needed for the filter inlet and outlet... might end up just making one myself. that would be pretty easy. some 1/2" x 1/2" wood strips made into a frame with screen stretched over it and stapled to it. but I'll only bother if I start having jumpy fish problems


Screens will work. You could also use egg crate.


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

made one yesterday out of an acrylic sheet 

originally bought one from Petco for like $40, and it didn't fit... go figure... so I ran across the street to Home Depot and picked up the acrylic sheet for $20, and a $2 handle and whipped this up!



























































stainless steel hardware of course


I have more than half the sheet still, and I plan on trying to make another one with a hinged front section so I don't have to pull off the entire lid at feeding time. That is, as soon as I figure out how I'm going to do the hinge part 

But I think this one came out pretty good for my first try! I expect it to REALLY help out with the evaporation. We'll find out; I just topped it off when I got home from work today. I use to be topping off about 2.5 gallons every 3rd day... so we'll see how long it takes to loose that much again.



The Danios are REALLY loving the new filter outlet configuration and how it jets water across the back of the tank and creates good circulation in the tank. They're constantly swimming up into the current right near the filter outlet  The Cherry Bards seem a little more happy too. They school together near the bottom where the circulation is turning around and coming the other way in the tank and they look really neat! I'm taking the two Sailfin Mollies for a trade in this Thursday when I go to pick up my Tiger Lotus plant that I had my LFS order in for me, and I think I might get about 3 or 4 more Cherry Barbs (because they just seem to look really nice in the tank) and a couple more Cherry Shrimp.



One more random shot I took today, just because I though this little guy looked neat standing on the log out in the open all alone


----------



## Niki7

wow!! that looks great! You should post a link to this on the DIY thread. I just bought a versatop for a new light I have coming but it has that ugly brown hinge in the middle. Maybe I'll make one like yours. They must have a clear plastic hinge out there somewhere!


----------



## M1ster Stanl3y

Watch for it to bend, i dunno how thick you got but I would watch out just in case it decides to start bowing on you. Might need to put a brace around the outside.


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

M1ster Stanl3y said:


> Watch for it to bend, i dunno how thick you got but I would watch out just in case it decides to start bowing on you. Might need to put a brace around the outside.


well like I said, this was just version 1 

I have enough left over to make another one and still have some pieces left over, so I'll probably use some scraps to make some perpendicular supports out of the acrylic and use silicone to attach them to give it a little more rigidity


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

well that lid is really dropping down already, lol

I'm in the process of making another now with a hinged lid, and this one uses two strips of angled aluminum across the center to act as part of the hinge, and provide support. If it works out like I hope then I'll post pics 

If this one droops too, then I'll just get two strips of glass cut from Home Depot or Lowes, put a piano hinge on it and be done FOR GOOD with it, but I'm trying to do it on the cheap first... so far I'm about $30 into it


----------



## M1ster Stanl3y

Ewww, sag sucks. Good luck with the new,one. I wobder if you double the plastic if it will mske a difference on the sag.


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

yeah doubling it up might help give it some rigidity

but if this doesn't work, I'll probably just go glass


----------



## M1ster Stanl3y

I've heard to use glass for tops n acryluc for the rest ...


----------



## majerah1

I have a thick piece of acrylic and it sags a bit.On my current two setups I have glass.I like that much better.Its clearer and doesnt bow.Plus they are somewhat hinged,where the acry is one piece.A PITA feeding the fishes.


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

yeah the 1st one-piece one really started to bow within a day, lol

I woke up this morning to this... although it's obviously doing it's job and catching the evaporation, this just wasn't going to cut it





















































So when I got home today, I devised a way to make a two piece lid with a hinged center support 














































































this stuff is AMAZING

we'll see how it holds up



































































































































my only complaint is the shadow line that the center piece makes across the tank now...













but eh, I can live with it...




if you didn't notice, I took the fake plants out that I had stuffed in around the filter outlet as well. I mainly had them in there as cover when I had the baby Guppies in the tank. but since I'm not going to breed those things again, and my Cherry Shrimp that use to pretty much live in them has found better places to hid in the new aquascape, I decided I'd just take them out completely














besides, the Wisteria is pretty much already covering the outlet 















and I pick up my Tiger Lotus tomorrow from the LFS, and it's going right here


----------



## M1ster Stanl3y

now thats purdy...


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

thanks!



was a super pain in the butt to get together though... mainly working with the acrylic; that's the hardest part. it's far from perfect; it got little scratches all over it... but it'll do fine for me


----------



## jrman83

Travis, I appreciate your DIY skill. Looks good. I don't like the hinged shadow line either. In one of my tanks I removed the hinge (glass canopy). Did you price glass canopies for your tank by chance? I started down the road to plexiglass/lexan for my 29g until I saw my cost would have been close to $35. Glass canopies ended up being under $20 for my tank, but didn't realize that until after. I have canopies on all of my tanks.


----------



## beaslbob

automatic-hydromatic said:


> ...
> 
> 
> So when I got home today, I devised a way to make a two piece lid with a hinged center support
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> this stuff is AMAZING
> 
> we'll see how it holds up
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ...
> 
> my only complaint is the shadow line that the center piece makes across the tank now...
> 
> ...


so why not use clear packing tape? *old dude

my .02


----------



## plecosrawesome

thats awesome im ive been looking all over for a 30 gallon long and i was wondering, how deep is it like 14-15 in. deep?


----------



## M1ster Stanl3y

i especially love the tape job, ******* enigeering degree at work there. I actually held on a fender of my car with that until i could get home. Stupid guard rail.


----------



## majerah1

Hey tape on tanks are awesome:


----------



## majerah1

Oh sorry.I forgot to say,the tank looks quite nice.And the afro engineering is a top notch job as well.

Mister Stanley,them guard rails jump out when you least expect them.Just like see saws cross the streets of Lawton....


----------



## M1ster Stanl3y

It prob helps.when u leave alcohol out of the equation as well


----------



## beaslbob

Couldn't see anything but the duct tape picture at work.

Now at home I can see all the pictures.

tanks looks good.


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

lol, well I thought about using clear packing tape, but there's still the aluminum supports running across, so there would have still been a shadow

plus the main reason I wanted to use a heavy duty tape like this is because of the fibers that are in it. it's not just a sticky cellophane strip, but rather a thick strip with fiber threads in it so it'll be much more resilient to the movement of the hind over time, and it's FAR more sticky so it should hold better


I actually started this after buying a hinged glass lid that was suppose to fit a 30 gallon breeder, and it ended up not fitting... it was $40. this project came to about $35 as well, assuming you have the right tools and the patients to do it



on another note, I picked up my Tiger Lotus this afternoon (still in bulb form... I though it was going to be sprouted already, but no big deal. the LFS owner guaranteed me it would sprout, and if it didn't bring it back), took the two Sailfin Mollies in, and came home with a Blue Ram and a few more Cherry Shrimp  they're getting acclimated to the tank water right now


----------



## mec102778

Awesome Auto!


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

the ever-curious Dwarf Gourami














and my new Blue Ram, now that he's beginning to venture out and explore his new home 














The DG was lunging at him and being a bully for the first day or two, but they're coming around now


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

well here's some great news...

I'm going to be moving in about 2 months.

I have to decide weather to risk it and try to break down the tank and transport it 3 hours away to where we're moving, granted I have the room to set it up in the new place (downgrading, big time...), or as much as I hate to, put the entire setup on craigslist and/or the classifieds here on the forum...


----------



## Niki7

automatic-hydromatic said:


> well here's some great news...
> 
> I'm going to be moving in about 2 months.
> 
> I have to decide weather to risk it and try to break down the tank and transport it 3 hours away to where we're moving, granted I have the room to set it up in the new place (downgrading, big time...), or as much as I hate to, put the entire setup on craigslist and/or the classifieds here on the forum...


Oh no! Don't sell it! I bet you can transport the tank, fish, and the rest just fine. I'm sure you can do it! After all the work you put into it...it would be a shame to give it up...


----------



## mec102778

automatic-hydromatic said:


> the ever-curious Dwarf Gourami
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> and my new Blue Ram, now that he's beginning to venture out and explore his new home
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The DG was lunging at him and being a bully for the first day or two, but they're coming around now


Look at that face of the gourami, how could you abandon him/her?? Don't abandon them and the tank/forum, I know you can find a place to keep it.  Inginuety(sp) I know you have it to find a good spot in your new place for them all!


----------



## Niki7

mec102778 said:


> Look at that face of the gourami, how could you abandon him/her??


yeah what Mike said!! look at that cute face!


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

I know 

the little guy is the background on my phone too...













we'll have to see... as long as I can find a spot for the tank, I'll make the move with it... I go next weekend to look at some places in the area, so I'll hopefully know then


----------



## M1ster Stanl3y

Ewwwww..


----------



## majerah1

Moving fish are easy.Just dont feed for two days before,bag them up,and place them in a box or cooler for the trip.The tanks are the hard part,keeping them from busting.I am in the process(like,right now...Im on a break and so the family can kiss me arse for a few,lol)of moving all mine too.Fun fun fun.


----------



## M1ster Stanl3y

automatic-hydromatic said:


> I know
> 
> the little guy is the background on my phone too...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> we'll have to see... as long as I can find a spot for the tank, I'll make the move with it... I go next weekend to look at some places in the area, so I'll hopefully know then



You've got mail! probably from here


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

M1ster Stanl3y said:


> You've got mail! probably from here


LOL, probably 


yeah I'm pretty sure the tank will be coming with me now, so I'll have to start making accommodations to move everything. I'll probably wait and bring the tank and fish on my last trip




on a side note, I took a second to reflect on the growth of my little Westeria plant today...

can't believe I got it on accident as a clipping that found it's way into a bushel of Anacharis looking like this:












stuck it in the 10 gallon just to see what would happen. it never wilted or anything, so it got moved to this 30 gallon when I set it up, where it stayed looking about the same for some time:












and then in the last 2 months, it has EXPLODED!





















:animated_fish_swimm


----------



## jrman83

Yep. I think the stuff would grow in a toilet. I have quite a bit of it and have thrown out at least a full 5-gallon bucket of it over time from regular pruning. Cut 4-5 tops off and plant bunched. Makes for a great shrub looking plants.


----------



## majerah1

I want some wisteria.I have a little sprig,not even worth the space it takes up.I think if it makes it to the new house,as they are all wrapped in paper towels and baggied up,Ill place it in more light.MAybe itll grow for me.


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

mine took almost 4 months to turn into what it is now  I'm honestly surprised it came back from the sad shape it was in to begin with


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

recent pics from today, after a little trimming and planting the trimmed stubs of Anacharis (stuff is growing like mad too...)













































































still waiting on my little Tiger Lotus to sprout


----------



## tscott

I havent been signed in in a while, make sure you bring your tank with you when you move. Its too nice to sell.


----------



## majerah1

The lotus looks furry.Sure you didnt drop in a mogwai?


----------



## M1ster Stanl3y

o noooooo grimlins!!!!!


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

LOL

well all of my bulb type plants were kinda like that when they were just bulbs. I guess it's just the fibers that make the bulb shell


----------



## theguppyman

I love those plecos they are so good looking and how far are you moving ?
any way good luck on the move


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

still in the process of getting ready to move. it'll be in about a month. sooner if I can get a promise date to start a new job

here's some updated photos 


last weekend I trimmed the towering Westeria in the back right corner. I just cut it clean about 4" form the gravel. It's already started sprouting new leaves where I cut it. This stuff is way to easy to propagate and spread in the tank, lol. I took what I cut off, cut it into another 4 or 5 pieces, and planted them on the other side of the tank and even put some in the little 10 gallon I have set up too. Yesterday I rolled up my sleeves and dug in and removed a TON of dead and dying plant matter... something I've been needing to do for quite some time. I even went ahead and pulled the new plantlets off that were sprouting from the Java and Lace Java Ferns, pushed a few into some cracks and crevices in the drift wood, and tossed a bunch in the 10 gallon as well just free floating until the get a little larger.






































































The Apongetons are still growing like weeds... constantly sprouting new plants at the end of long runners they send to the surface.































One last picture. My lonely Oto hanging out on an Argentine Sword


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

video update I forgot to upload until now 


YouTube - Planted 30 Gallon Aquarium Update - 3/31/2011


----------



## mec102778

Don't know why but I love your dwarf gourimi, it just always seems to have that smug but curious look to it. Is tht an albino cat in the video?

Again awesome tanks glad you were able to keep it and get it back up and runing!


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

the two Bristlenoses are both albino


I haven't made the move yet, but yeah I should be able to take the tank with

thanks for the compliments


----------



## Alaizabelle

I'm so glad that you decided to keep your tank! This progress thread is my role model for my tanks! *pc
Keep up all the great work!


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

thanks 



little update today, nothing crazy

I pulled the males out of my 10 gallon Guppy nursery tank and put them in this tank. A whole 4 of them  the rest were female and remain in the 10 gallon.















The trimmed Westeria is taking off again, not that I'm surprised with that stuff, lol. The bottom part that I lopped the top off of is now splitting out and growing TWO branches... so it's going to fill in thicker than it was before!











The the top part I cut off and replanted, it's doing fine well and is also growing ridiculously fast already...












some smaller pieces are filling in in front of the filter intake too












The one Amazon Sword in the tank is REALLY starting to take off now though. I need to get in and removed the dieing leaves that it's had since I bought it though. It's growing new leaves that are getting ENORMOUS.












Oto hanging out on an Apongeton leaf  it's where he seems to spend most of his days... hanging out on some leaf some where












and if you recall the little video I shot a while back about my spitting Dwarf Gourami that though he was an Archer Fish, well, this one in the tank now is the same way, lol. Apparently he's an impatient eater, and he KNOWS when it's about time to feed. I let the tank get fed with an auto feeder most of the time. Just one less thing I have to worry about. Well he likes to go to the opening and spit water all over the place when it's almost feeding time, lol.





















The little hole I cut in that spot of the lid works perfect for the auto feeder now, since it was originally cut for the filter outlet. I moved that over by the intake after the last time I overhauled the tank, so I just make use of the open hole 













I'm making the move in exactly 2 weeks though, so that's going to be an adventure! I think everything will turn out well though. I'll be taking down my 10 gallon for good, so I'm going to need to find a place for the plants in it in the new setup after I get moved, lol












But I should be able to find or make room no problem. I'm still astonished how well all the plants are doing considering I'm not running CO2


----------



## automatic-hydromatic

well, this will be my last little update until the move is done and the tank is moved and set back up

tore down the 10 gallon today, putting all the plants from it into this 30 gallon













I also took the Dwarf Gourami out of the tank... the Blue Ram and him were getting a little aggressive... so I decided I'm done putting up with the Gouramis for a while... all the ones I seem to get are super aggressive...

So I bagged him up, along with all the Guppies from the 10 gallon and took them down to the LFS to trade in. While I was there, I helped the owner load a 55 gallon and a stand into the back of his truck that he was going to install after he left the building, and for the trade in and helping him out, he gave me a HEFTY discount on this awesome root-like looking piece of wood that's going to make it's way into the tank when it's going back together after the move 















Yesterday I lost a Cherry Barb  came home and found her on the bottom, bloated, and pineconed... strange because it seemed to have happened out of no where... but none of the other fish seem to be affected.

Aside from that, the RCS have begun to breed!

I've found that breeding RCS is like getting a new car and seeing other cars on the road like yours... you don't really notice too many others at first, then you see the first one and start looking, and then they're all over the place, lol































They all seem to come to and from the drift wood, where there's a large area open that they can crawl under it. I have a feeling when I lift the log up and taking the tank down to move it, a bunch of them are going to SCATTER!




Here's my little mess-makers taring up an algae wafer that one of the Bristlenoses left behind... they just rip into them and fling little pieces all over the place... but that's fine because the baby RCS seem to be quick and close in and pick up the scraps


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## squishy

so this post motivated me to stalk out craigs list and look for giant cheap fishtanks......


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## majerah1

Good luck with the move,Travis!Will be awaiting the new build and hope you have fun setting it all back up.Sad to hear you got rid of the gourami,but I can understand with the aggression issue.


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## automatic-hydromatic

well today was a busy day... and I mean ALL DAY of it...

I decided to break the tank down today in preparation for the move

started by removing the filter and COMPLETELY taking it apart and meticulously cleaning every part of it, and put the bio-media in some carbon filter socks so I could keep them in the tank water during the move. then uprooted all of the plants, scrutinized them and pruned off any leaves that had a hint of dying, and trimming the roots (some of which were over a foot long, COUGH COUGH... Amazon Sword... COUGH COUGH...) to a manageable size for replanting. I went ahead and plucked the Java and Lace Java ferns from the wood too... they're not too hard to get to grab back on, and now I'll be able to transport the wood dry instead of trying to keep it in a bucket too. then took the task of netting all the fish and getting them into their temporary homes... I never knew these Cherry Barbs could swim that fast, LOL. netting the baby cherry shrimp was a task, to say the least. every time I thought I had them all, I found another one! I didn't bother counting how many there were, but there were definitely more than I originally thought there were...

I saved about 15 gallons or the original water, and put all the plants in one bucket, all of the danios, guppies, and shrimp in another, and the blue ram, oto, and cherry barbs in another. I split the Bristlenoses up between the two buckets too, because they aren't too friendly to each other in close quarters... 

the I set to the task of pulling the substrate out... that was a major pain... I kept all the gravel, but I thoroughly washed it, so I know I probably killed all the bacteria in it... but it was all mixed in with sand and peat moss, so I had no choice. I ended up scooping the sand and peat moss out of the tank and into a bucket. I dumped that bucket out into the flower bed in front of the house and washed it in with a hose, and the plants will probably grow there better and anywhere else in the future now, lol



















































I've set up a nice little temporary system using the "water bridge" concept  I took the pump from my spare 10 gallon I just broken down and hung it on one bucket and routed the intake to the other bucket. I then took a piece of hose filled it with water and bridged the two buckets. the main purpose of this was just to get the water flowing in both of them and add a heater... so I put in a 40 watt, because the water got cold quick out of the tank























that clear hose actually didn't work too well; it was too small, and the water started backing up. I ended up using one of the hoses from my canister filter between the two buckets instead, and it's working great now!





but now I just have to figure out how the new scape is going to be laid out after the move  should be exciting!


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## automatic-hydromatic

Well, made the move relatively unscaved  lost a couple baby cheery shrimp, but every one of the fish survived.






























































































The water is still a little cloudy, and I need to clean the glass, so it'll be a little more clear in future pics


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## mec102778

WOOOHOO, and I bet this was done prior to unpacking anything else.

Is that a new piece of driftwood?


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## majerah1

Looks great!I think you should send me that light though,just because,lol.

Really though good job getting it set up so fast and glad there were very little casualties.What happened to the other piece of wood,did you decide not to use it in there?


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## mec102778

I looked at his old pictures and I believe the wood is both pieces together.


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## majerah1

OK yeah looks it now.I didnt really pay attention until you pointed it out.


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## mec102778

I'm horrible I looked at the pictures for a while to see it. Just caught that he got a new piece so I think one of the originals didn't make it back into the tank.


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## automatic-hydromatic

Yeah I had one that was large and kinda flat and odd shaped, and I decided to just leave it out so the tank didn't get too cluttered looking. I put in one of the original ones I had, a small one, and the big root-looking one that I just got, sitting on top of that other one at and angle to give it some height. The fish and shrimp seem to love it! Tons of hiding places for them now  one of the Plecos has already found a little "hole" that he's claimed as his cave, lol. The plants didn't like the 2 days out of the tank, and they've got quite a few sad looking leaves right now, so I need to pluck all those off, but I'm going to wait a little bit first for some new growth and for the roots to take hold.

And yes, the tank got set up before I unpacked ANYTHING else


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## Alaizabelle

Yay!! I'm glad that the move went well! The tank looks great!


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## automatic-hydromatic

well it's been a little while since an update. been settling in, got a new job, and things are going good 


the tank is coming along; the plants are springing back from the move, but I'm still pulling off dead and wilting leaves, which is no surprise, but they're filling in nicely









































as you might have noticed, I added some little rocks in there. they're actually hollow rocks that I got originally with the tank. I was TOLD that they're Cichlid breeding rocks, and that may be true, but I put them in there for my BNP's. They LOVE them  they've already claimed their own and like to just hang out in them with their nose poking out
































I am fighting a little Staghorn Algae breakout though... I'm hoping I can find a local store that carries Siamese Algae Eaters, so I can toss 2 in the tank and let them go to work on it, but all I can find locally is Chinese Algae Eaters






















other than that, the tank's doing great! the water perimeters are perfect, and all the fish and inverts appear to be healthy!

they tank also has a neighbor now; my mother's Betta 





















here's a few more random pics


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## theguppyman

Im loving the new tank its awesome, Im going to make one the same way peat/sand/gravel, really just a great idea !


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## automatic-hydromatic

Got a new phone (HTC Thunderbolt), so that means no more crappy iPhone pictures, and NICE 8mp pictures and 720p video!


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## Alaizabelle

I use my phone for tank pics, too!  (same phone! How are you liking it?)

That ram is amazing!!


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## automatic-hydromatic

Alaizabelle said:


> I use my phone for tank pics, too!  (same phone! How are you liking it?)
> 
> That ram is amazing!!


love it  it's an awesome phone

thanks; the Ram is one of my favorite in the tank; it's a toss between him and the Longfinned BNP




as good as the tank's doing though, I may have some bad news in the near future... times are about to get real rough for me... after the move I had to find a new job, which I've done, but I'm making almost $800 less a month now than I was before I moved. I'm fixing to have to sell my new truck (which is $460 alone every month) and get a cheap one to drive around in, sell my custom build desktop computer and just rely on my laptop for my daily PC (which isn't a big deal; I don't use my desktop PC as a gaming PC any more like I built it for 2 1/2 years ago), and I'm probably going to end up parting with this tank as well  I hate to, but it might just make things easier on me as I make some transitions, because I'm about to move AGAIN... expenses are just piling up on me right now, and I'm having a hard time coping with it all, so I'm trying to take some little things out of my life and get to the bare basics and work my way back up... besides, getting rid of this 30 gallon with make roof for a bigger setup in the future once things are back in order for me


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## majerah1

Travis,I hate to hear that.Of course I completly understand,as I had to move a couple years ago(feels like yesterday)but in the process,I had to leave a whole mess of tanks,and my pond as well as a fenced in yard.Times are getting harder,but luckily business has picked up a little,and I have been able to hold on to some of my tanks,upgrade ahere and there,and of course let go of some of my fish to make room for new.

You are still going to hang around the forums,right?


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## automatic-hydromatic

majerah1 said:


> Travis,I hate to hear that.Of course I completly understand,as I had to move a couple years ago(feels like yesterday)but in the process,I had to leave a whole mess of tanks,and my pond as well as a fenced in yard.Times are getting harder,but luckily business has picked up a little,and I have been able to hold on to some of my tanks,upgrade ahere and there,and of course let go of some of my fish to make room for new.
> 
> You are still going to hang around the forums,right?


oh absolutely 


I'm still an active moderator on a Toyota forum too, and I haven't owned a Toyota in over a year, lol


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## majerah1

LOL.Glad to hear it!


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## automatic-hydromatic

well I still have the tank 

I've been battling an algae outbreak though... I though it was staghorn, and it really looked like staghorn at first, but now it's definitely black beard...

I ordered a few TRUE Siamese algae eaters off aquabid tonight, so hopefully the addition of those will get it under control

after it's all cleared up though, I more than likely will be ridding myself of this 30 gallon 

but I still have a 10 gallon that's empty that I'll probably set up as a low-tech planted tank and put an interesting critter or two in it; probably not a community tank, but rather a small "show tank". that or make it a tank made of locally collected stuff; plants AND inhabitants


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## automatic-hydromatic

the SAE's will be here Firday, AND I asked the seller if he had any Nerite snails  he's sending me a few mixed ones too! So I don't think it should take too long for the tank to clean up and stay clean after they're put in

I pulled the filter apart today for a little cleaning, and found about 20 baby Cherry Shrimp in the canister, LOL. Before I moved I had a net-like thing over the filter intake. Well I never put such a thing back on after setting the tank back up, and I guess I should have. I took some extra filter material and wrapped it around and rubber banded it to the intake for now.


YouTube - ‪Cherry Shrimp found alive in canister filter.mp4‬‏


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## automatic-hydromatic

algae assassination crew introduced 

we'll see how long it takes these guys to clean up the place. I ordered 3 SAE's and 6 Nerite Snails off aquabid from the same seller. he send me 4 SAE, and 8 Nerites :/ all 4 SAE's are in perfectly good shape, but I think one of the Nerites didn't survive the shipping... the other 7 are moving around and going about their business, but one Zebra hasn't came out of his shell since he's been in there for about 20 hours now...






















I shot a video of the Nerites working on the glass and driftwood earlier, so I'll see if I can't cut it down and upload it to YouTube and post it here. They're so interesting to watch


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## automatic-hydromatic

by the way, this is what I'm dealing with in the tank right now... some horrible looking stuff... NEVER had an issue with any algae until I moved and am in a different water source now...


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## jrman83

What type of light/wattage do you have?


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## scottprice

im new to planting tanke....and i didnt take the time to read all 11 pages lol so maybe the answer is here but....

what is the purpose of putting peat moss, then sand then the gravel? and does the sand/moss get sucked up when u vacuum the gravel?


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## automatic-hydromatic

jrman83 said:


> What type of light/wattage do you have?


dual T5 fixture with 2 30 watt blubs, so just 2 watts per gallon. use to have them on a 8 hour a day cycle, but I just bumped it up to 10 after adding the cleanup crew so they'll have a more stable supply of food. if they STILL manage to clean the tank completely up, then I'll move the tank to a 12 hour cycle, lol




scottprice said:


> im new to planting tanke....and i didnt take the time to read all 11 pages lol so maybe the answer is here but....
> 
> what is the purpose of putting peat moss, then sand then the gravel? and does the sand/moss get sucked up when u vacuum the gravel?


it's pretty much all for the rooting of the plants. the plants will take hold pretty well in just gravel or sand, but the layering of different medias seems to give the best of everything. the peat-moss gives a good nutrient holding bottom media for the roots to really absorb nutrients in, the sand is an excellent anchor for the plants as they root into it, and the gravel just makes clean up a little easier when I need to vacuum the tank of the wastes, which is only about every 3 weeks or so that it needs it

a little sand sometimes comes up into the vacuum if you stay in one spot for too long when siphoning, but it settles back down through the gravel and disappears  the peat-moss never surfaces, unless you have to uproot a plant for any reason... then the roots pull up a lot of it, lol


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## scottprice

thank you very much for that detailed response! ill keep that inmind for when i re-do a tank!


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## holly12

Those snails are gorgeous! The Zebra one has such cool zig zag stripes! (Love the Tire Track Nerite as well!) Planning on getting a bunch of those for my 36!


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## automatic-hydromatic

those pictured are some of the less attractive ones in my opinion. I'll try and get a few pics of the other Zebra's. Two of them have a REALLY nice looking pattern on them 

the SAE's are looking good too. they were all pretty pale after being boxed up and shipped, but they're getting their natural color back again, and are very active and eating all over the place  so they're all doing their job!


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## holly12

It's cool how the same breed of snail can look so different! I've got 3 Zebras, but they each look completely different! One is all black/brown with 3 yellow stripes (kinda' like racing stripes). One is black/brown with reeeeeally thin yellow stipes (almost hair width.) And the third is black/brown with really thick yellow stripes, (so it almost looks more yellow than black/brown.) Gives them their own 'flair', lol.


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## theguppyman

very cool set up loving it, Sure as hell hope I never have to deal with an algae outbreak like that, wishing you good luck from Brazil.


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## jrman83

I was thinking you need to reduce your light time until you get the BBA under control. If you don't want to use Excel on it, and it is very effective against it, then you should start reducing your light time and manually remove the leaves that have it. The leaves with a lot on them will start to die from lack of light.


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## automatic-hydromatic

that was my first impression too jrman, but that didn't seem to even slow the growth down. I tried a black out for two days, and then reduced my lighting to about 4 hours a day, and it didn't even make a dent...


I was watching my SAE's go to work on the stuff today though! They tend to group together, and they were munching down on it and almost had an entire leaf picked clean in about 20 minutes! So I think they're going to do a fine job of ridding the tank of the mess


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## jrman83

Blackouts won't kill BBA. But, reducing the light can slow down the spreading of it. Is it just a T5 light or T5HO?


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## automatic-hydromatic

T5HO, sorry


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## jrman83

So 36" long fixture, that would be 39W. You need to elevate that light a good ways off the tank, or get CO2. The problem is the light is driving the plants to grow and since the main thing the plant needs to grow with that light is CO2, when it is not there the plant actually suffers and will be taken over by algae. If you have stem plants you can actually see major visual changes.


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## automatic-hydromatic

I had the light raised above the tank before the move actually... but I'm not able to set it up like that in it's current location; not my walls to be mounting light hanging fixtures onto  but in about a month that will be a different story. I liked having the light elevated anyhow, because it made tank maintenance a TON easier, and I could actually use my custom made plexiglass cover. I'm not able to use it with the light sitting on the tank's edge because of the way the mounting feet protrude out and onto the inside edge.

And the bulbs are 30 watts each, according to the box they were in. The bulbs themselves are actually slightly shorter than a full 36", as strange as that may seem... I bought 36" long bulbs for the fixture when I first got it, and they were too long, lol


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## jrman83

Sitting it on top you will continue to have issues. If I read the chart right that I read, you should try to get it around 20" away from the substrate. Your lighting is toward the high end of what you'd call high light even. CO2 may not even help with it that low on your tank and its compounded by the tank being so short in heigth. I reduce your lighting time in half until you can do something with your light. Also may look into adding pressurized CO2.


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## automatic-hydromatic

what's this chart you're looking at? sounds like something I'd like to take a look at!

shot a little video today  the video really shows how horrible the tank looks right now, lol, but it shows the guys going to work. I'm probably going to go ahead and clean the front glass tomorrow; there's PLENTY of algae on the back glass for the snails to still feed on... the Pleco's don't touch the stuff... I guess they think they're too good for algae, lol, they'll only eat the "good stuff", which is usually just sinking wafers and the occasional veggy



YouTube - ‪Fresh Water Aquarium Cleaners going to work - Nerite Snails, Siamese Algae Eaters, and Ghost Shrimp‬‏


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## jrman83

Here is the chart: PAR vs Distance, T5, T12, PC - Updated Charts Still wondering if you have HO lighting or not. I'm very familiar with HO bulbs and the 24, 39, 54, 84 Watt sizes. Yours is not a wattage I've heard of.


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## automatic-hydromatic

it's this light here

!# Zoo Med AquaSun T5-HO Double Light Linear Fluorescent Hood - 36-Inch for Sale - Aquarium Light Comparison & Catalogs Online

I originally bought it from Petco because it was cheap, and a TON better than the single 24" tube that I got with the tank...

it's a 36" light, but for whatever reason the bulbs that go in it are 34"

these are the two I have in it


Zoo Med T-5 HO Flora Sun Max Plant Growth Fluorescent Bulb at PETCO

Zoo Med T-5 HO Ultra Sun Super Daylight Fluorescent Bulb at PETCO


and according to that, they're 39 watts a piece, not 30 like I thought! so I guess I'm closer to 80 watts, lol



I do like that chart though, thanks! according to the chart table on the bottom, not the graph on top, I do have high lighting for the tank... there are switches on the light, and I can turn off one bulb or the other and turn it into a single T5HO fixture, and I guess I could do that and see what happens

before I moved though, I did have the light roughly 12" above the tank


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## jrman83

Well...at least now you know what is causing the BBA. One bulb should really help, unless you're ready to go with CO2. Even with CO2, you don't want high lighting. It's just a pain to deal with. I have been working my way back from high light and trying to get my CO2 right for months now....and fighting BBA.


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## automatic-hydromatic

flipping a switch is much cheaper than going with a CO2 setup right now, lol


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## holly12

Most people only clean the front glass and leave the sides and back for the snails and algae eaters, so you should be fine doing that. Although, I've only got 3 Nerites and they are algae fiends! They even at the BBA! With the amount you have, you probably won't have to clean the front glass. Just give 'em a few more days - you'll see! Lol.


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## jrman83

automatic-hydromatic said:


> flipping a switch is much cheaper than going with a CO2 setup right now, lol


Grea way to look at it. Wish I'd thought of that


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## majerah1

I clean the front and sides of my glass.I have snails and am getting some assassin snails for the others.


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## Community Disorganizer

Great find automatic-hydromatic! Did you find it on Craigslist? Petco is having a $1 per gallon sale right now, but sometimes on Craigslist you can find even better deals. I've been looking to get a bigger, better home for my male convict.


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## automatic-hydromatic

Community Disorganizer said:


> Great find automatic-hydromatic! Did you find it on Craigslist? Petco is having a $1 per gallon sale right now, but sometimes on Craigslist you can find even better deals. I've been looking to get a bigger, better home for my male convict.


yeah the entire setup was a craigslist find 

Petco does their little $1 per gallon sell every once in a while, and I may have to do that later on for a larger tank, but right now it's not in the budget





I turned off one of the bulbs, so I'm just running a single T5HO bulb one a 10 hour a day cycle. The glass HAS started to clear up from the snails going at it non stop! After I acclimated them to the tank, I set 3 of the on the drift wood, and within 2 days they had it spotless, LOL. So yeah they do their job well


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## majerah1

So are ya keeping it?


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## automatic-hydromatic

for the time being, yes

I was just told that I may have a 55 gallon given to me  so now the question I have to ask myself is do I just move everything into it and have a bigger freshwater planted community tank, or jump out and go salt water... the problem with going salt water is the cost obviously...


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## theguppyman

I don't know if you should move over to saltwater, it's just to me it looks too complicated, I would stick with freshwater that way you can have bigger fish, and still have a 30 gallon as a breeding or hospital tank or as a spare tank if anything.


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## automatic-hydromatic

I flipped the blue background today. Although I figured I'd give the blue a shot when I set the tank up after I moved, I never did grow to it, so I turned it back to black today, and I really like it. There's a big glare in this picture because of the window on the other side of the room, so I'll have to try and get another once the sun goes down.














and the SAE's and Nerites are KICKING BUTT on the black beard algae! they've got almost ALL of it gone! I think I'm going to have to go back to using both T5HO bulbs on to keep them fed, LOL. they've got about 4 or 5 more leaves to take care of
































random shot of a SAE, once one sat still long enough... they're constantly active














Nerites






















and the Nerites are leaving their little eggs all over the drift wood, but they seem to disappear after a day or two. not sure if they just naturally fall off and float away, or if the shrimp or other fish picking them off and eating them. either way I know they wont hatch and overpopulate the tank, since it's pure fresh water


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## automatic-hydromatic

well, I do believe ever bit of the BBA has gone away  I LOVE these Nerites and SAE's! THEY'RE AMAZING! Maybe now that the leaves wont have a think coating of black algae on them, the Aponogetons will get the light they need and be able to grow back.












































































__
Sensitive content, not recommended for those under 18
Show Content






















the RCS are apparently still breeding... spotted another egg baring female today












and apparently Nerites like algae wafers... who knew


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## theguppyman

great pics


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## Pigeonfish

theguppyman said:


> great pics


Agreed! Automatic, you have a beautiful tank. (and a nice camera *y2)


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## holly12

automatic-hydromatic said:


> Petco does their little $1 per gallon sell every once in a while,


Does that include the canopy and lid? (That's insane!!!) If it included the canopy and lid for $1 per gallon, I'd be all over a 100-200 gallon tank!!!


Also, Nerites love zucchini! I put it in the tank for my Otos and I don't think the Otos actually ever get any, because the nerites devour it every time!! (In case you were looking for something new to feed yours - you said they liked algae wafers.)


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## automatic-hydromatic

holly12 said:


> Does that include the canopy and lid? (That's insane!!!) If it included the canopy and lid for $1 per gallon, I'd be all over a 100-200 gallon tank!!!
> 
> 
> Also, Nerites love zucchini! I put it in the tank for my Otos and I don't think the Otos actually ever get any, because the nerites devour it every time!! (In case you were looking for something new to feed yours - you said they liked algae wafers.)


that's just for the tank alone

and thanks  yeah I need to go shopping for some more produce for my tank this weekend anyway, lol


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## automatic-hydromatic

well I ordered an attachment tonight for my filter; a surface skimmer. should be here mid next week

I'm tired of looking at the film that develops on the surface, and maybe it will pick up that occasional Westeria leaf that comes off and floats around the tank, lol


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## automatic-hydromatic

got my surface skimmer in today 












putting together a DIY spray bar to install at the same time, across the back of the tank. hoping to change the water flow a little instead of using the stock Fluval outlet

stay tuned to the freshwater DIY section for details on the spray bar


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## holly12

Sweet! Isn't it exciting when new equipment arrives?? It's better than Christmas!


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## automatic-hydromatic

new hardware installed! 


DIY spray bar, which is sitting a little lower than I had wanted... I'll have to see if I can do something about that. but otherwise it works really good!












and I also installed the surface simmer (with a net/mesh covering the lower and upper intake to keep those sneaking shrimp fry out of the filter...), and that thing is AMAZING! within a few minutes, my water surface looked like glass 













already doing its job as soon as I turned the pump on; holding onto a leaf that fell off the Westeria and I was messing around in the tank, lol


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