# My 36g Bowfront & its progression...



## Subaru4wd

This is my first tank. I picked up the entire setup off craigslist for $150. I have been eyeing this tank for over a year... everytime we walk into Petsmart to get Catfood... but I just could never justify spending what Petsmart wanted.

This tank came setup as you'll see in a moment. With some fake plants, blue & white aquarium gravel and a Rock. It also came with a Rena Filstar XP2 canister filter & some other odds & ends... overall I think i got a great deal 



















I added that piece of wood. I found a Local Aquarium Store not far from my house and the guys there are real great and know their stuff! They had some pieces of wood they just got and i was able to score this gorgeous chunk. After talking to the guys there they sold me on some live plant and i picked up 3 anubias. 
Before I set the wood in the tank I drilled a couple nice deep holes for them to root in, and secured them with some thread so they wouldnt try to float away... 










I am aiming at this being a community tank with no agressive fish or fin nippers. I started the tank with 3 black skirt tetra's & 5 neon tetra's.


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## Subaru4wd

So after the first setup, i let the water cycle a week, but I couldnt deal with the white & blue aquarium rock for long... and i knew i wanted some larger rocks to act as hiding spots. I do not mind having fake plants, but I absolutely refuse to put fake plastic rocks or plastic wooden ornaments... and I had this one rock I have been holding onto for over a year waiting for some special occasion... i think this is it 










As you can see this rock is quite large. It dwarfs the soda boxes right behind it. This is obviously too large and not very practical. So I ended up making it less large and even more practical.










After cleaning and soaking the rock I felt comfortable with putting it in the tank. I also went to the local aquarium store and picked up some sand and black rock to replace the blue that was in the tank. Did a slight adjustment to my plants and came up with what I call "Version 2".










The rocks worked out great. The way things broke made it easy to stack them. The fish really loved them.




















Just prior to all this I had introduced 6 new guppies to the Community. 2 turquoise, 2 yellow & 2 tequila sunrise. Along with a snail to help keep the floor clean. The snail is by far my favorite in the tank... I could sit and watch him for hours.


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## mec102778

Great work on the tank! And you know, I find my see pressing my face againt the glass to see what's new with my snails as well. Almost more than I watch the other fish in the tank.


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## Subaru4wd

So after a couple weeks I was only down 1 neon Tetra, i decided to get a few more to help keep them 'schooled' and picked up 6 addtional neons to round out the number to 10. The next day I noticed only 9 swimming and wondered about the tenth. After a small search I found one of the strangest things ever... my snail had gotten my Neon Tetra?!?!??!










After some reading I determined the fish was most likely already dead and the snail found him afterwards. Still was strange seeing, after he let the corpse go I extracted it. 

I also got tired of looking at the tubing that runs to my airstone. I was at the pet store and found this awesome air tube that is green and looks like a plant!! I had to get it, it worked perfectly and you would never think it was supplying my airstone!


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## mec102778

Ha, nice. hide it even more of you move the tube to the otherside where the similar looking plant is.


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## Subaru4wd

The next addition to the Community would be Gourami. I had spent weeks reading about them and the different species and decided on a Blue Gourami & a Pearl Gourami. The local aquarium store had just got their shipment in and I was able to pick the best of the litter (in my opinion). The two gourami are beautiful but need alot of vegitation to claim. I wanted more vegitation but not quite at ground level. I did alot of shopping but couldnt find what it was I wanted, not until i turned around and looked at the Reptile side of the isle! 
I came across a bag full of fake vine leafs. It was a 6' section of vine with leafs scattered for like $9! Far cheaper than an assortment of Aquarium plants that probably wouldnt even look right anyway!

So I cut to length a section that would run across the back top of the tank and comes down to hide my heater in the left-rear-corner. I also took three sections cut at about 10" tall, and wound them together to create a type of bush that fills in the back right corner (doing a great job hiding the pump's pickup tube as well!).










Along with all this, i redirected the pumps output so that the current is only flowing on the left side of the tank, and put an adjusting valve inline on my airpump to restrict the amount of air comming from my airstone. 
The change in current and air seems to have made my fish a whole lot happier. The neon tetra's come out more often, the guppies look alot friendlier. But my Gourami still like to hide when I come by to look them over.


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## Subaru4wd

So this pretty much catches us up. Its been aprox 4 weeks since I got the tank, and I think everything is comming together perfectly. 

Yesterday I paid a visit to the local aquarium store to get an companion for my Blue Gourami. She has been hiding alot and the Pearl seems like it bullys her, so i picked up a small Dwarf Gourami to maybe keep her company.

I was also so intrigued by my Snail I had to get 2 more. I have been doing alot of reading lately and really liked the Zebra snail. I have been bugging my aquarium shop the past 2 weeks to get some in, and yesterday his shipments arived! When I showed up he showed me some of the Onion snails he just got in, and i couldn't make up my mind... so I got one of each!

The Onion Snail:









And my Zebra Snail:









While I was there, i spoke to the guys about feeding and they suggest I do Black Worms. He suggested I get a bottom feeder to help keep the loose worms in check. It didnt take me long to pick out this Cory Catfish he had hiding 










I couldnt seem to get any pictures of my Dwarf Gourami. She is small and shy and has been hiding alot. I did get a few good pictures last night without any glare on my tank.

Here is my Pearl Gourami. He loves to hang out and never really hides at all:









Here you can see my Blue Gourami. I got a quick pic as she was moving from one hiding spot to another. You can also see 2 of my Black Skirt Tetra's trying to get some camera time:









I will be posting up more soon when progress continues. I just ordered some adjustable R-G-B LED lighting and I am working on some PVC plumbing to help the pump circulate water better and control the underwater current.

Soon I would like to start replacing some of these fake plants with more live plants too


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## mk4gti

nice tank. i always have a trouble getting the right light for live plants to grow in a bowfront but if ur going with plastic it should be good. do u drive a wrx?


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## Paladine9169

Nice work dude, welcome to the forums! Let me know if you need a hand with anything!


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## mec102778

HA! I think you missed the fish and hooked yourself. 

Don't worry I started with a 10G tank with a red eared slider turtle (daughters). Now I have 3 - 10G (one empty), 20G Tall, 30G, 37G, 40G (Turtle only), and the new 125G.

Just started working on rescaping with live plants, I love it so much to do and a lot of it can be done individually.


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## Subaru4wd

mk4gti said:


> nice tank. i always have a trouble getting the right light for live plants to grow in a bowfront but if ur going with plastic it should be good. do u drive a wrx?


No, now I drive a Toyota Land Cruiser... just sold my Subaru Brat. Ive had alot of Subaru's but never an Impreza.

What kind of issues will plants have with lighting regarding a bowfront?? I guess I have alittle more reading to do.


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## Subaru4wd

I almost forgot! I have a short video I made a few weeks ago.

Forgive me for my crappy camera quality. I think its time to upgrade my camera, or at least invest in a camcorder instead of using my Digital Camera's movie mode...

YouTube - My Aquarium v2.0

I have alot of new footage ive been collecting, soon i'll have a newer video


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## jrman83

Nice looking tank.

Has it gone completely through the nitrogen cycle?


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## Subaru4wd

jrman83 said:


> Nice looking tank.
> 
> Has it gone completely through the nitrogen cycle?



Not sure. How can I tell?


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## holly12

Water testing kits can help you tell if the cycle is finished. You can get them at your LFS or you can take a sample in for them. (The loss of Neon's could be because the tank wasn't finished cycling).

Love your set up. Very creative with the reptile plants, and LOVE the air stone plant tube! I have an air stone and want on of those plant looking tubes for mine!


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## mec102778

Subaru4wd said:


> So after the first setup, i let the water cycle a week, but I couldnt deal with the white & blue aquarium rock for long... and i knew i wanted some larger rocks to act as hiding spots. I do not mind having fake plants, but I absolutely refuse to put fake plastic rocks or plastic wooden ornaments... and I had this one rock I have been holding onto for over a year waiting for some special occasion... i think this is it


Sorry I didn't think to ask first did you test the rock with Vinegar to see if there was a reaction? Might cause a change in the PH. Just something to see an eye out for.


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## Subaru4wd

No, i have a few chunks of that rock I didnt use. I could test those with vinegar. What kind of reaction am I looking for?


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## jrman83

NOT bubbling.


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## Subaru4wd

Thanks! I'll do that right now


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## Subaru4wd

Ok so i think it failed. 

I put a chunk of the rock into a glass of vinegar, and sure enough i got bubbles 

So whats that mean? What can I expect this to do to my water/fish??

Thanks in advance,
-Brian


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## mec102778

Just means it's going to leach minerals into the water and possibly raise the PH and hardness of the water I think.

Here's a decent read on rocks in an aquarium.

Adding Rocks and Wood to Your Freshwater Aquarium - Rate My Fish Tank


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## Subaru4wd

Wow man!! Thanks a ton for that link. gives me alot more to consider when I am out scavaging for decor.

I tested my PH today, and its still kinda high. I put some PH down in it to see what we can do about it.


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## skibler

Awesome job man! I am pretty new to all this too, and wish you luck!


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## Rob72

great looking tank


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## Subaru4wd

Thanks everybody. I have been wanting to get more pictures but have been so busy. I have been doing alot of reading and am thinking of making a 3D rockwall.... but still have more reading and more thinking to do.

Im also working on a PVC plumbing system that i will use to direct the currents, so ive been doing some research to see what my fish would or wouldnt like.


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## jrman83

Are your fish okay? If so, why are you trying to change the ph? You're just asking for trouble.


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## Subaru4wd

jrman83 said:


> Are your fish okay? If so, why are you trying to change the ph? You're just asking for trouble.


Where did I say I was trying to change the PH? On that subject, I just tested my water and the PH came back with 7.6 But that is as high as my tester will go, so I am not sure, maybe it is higher. I have been testing my water daily and it seems to always be above 7.4. I havent done a baseline test just yet on my tap water, but I am going to leave some water out today in preparation for tomorrows change.

And my fish appear to be just fine. Still have 6 Neon's in the tank, they all look healthy.


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## nursebrock46

I am in love with your tank!! It's beautiful. My green eyed friend has come out and is sitting on my shoulder


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## jrman83

Subaru4wd said:


> Where did I say I was trying to change the PH? On that subject, I just tested my water and the PH came back with 7.6 But that is as high as my tester will go, so I am not sure, maybe it is higher. I have been testing my water daily and it seems to always be above 7.4. I havent done a baseline test just yet on my tap water, but I am going to leave some water out today in preparation for tomorrows change.
> 
> And my fish appear to be just fine. Still have 6 Neon's in the tank, they all look healthy.


Post #22, 7 posts above this one.

You need to get a high range ph test kit. What are you using to test?


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## Subaru4wd

Oh yes... okay. So Yeah, i realized I do need a high ph test kit. I went out to get one last night, but ended up getting an ammonia tester instead, along with a submersible dial that you place inside your tank, and it registers the PH and you can pretty much monitor it constantly. 

here's a pic of it this morning:









This ph tester goes to 8.2, and if i read it correctly it looks to be around 7.4ish, im not too worried. I havent used any PH down since that post and after doing alot of research on PH levels I haven't worried much since. I did remove 2 of the largest rock in the tank, and I will get a high PH test kit soon, but for now I will rely on the dial to see if there are any sudden changes.


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## Subaru4wd

Took the opportunity while the sun is down, to take a few more pictures of the tank. I made some subtle arrangements. took out the large rock formation to keep the PH levels from rising. I also added alittle more leafs to the right side of the tank for alittle more shelter. The gourami's seem to like it and im hoping they'll stop hiding so low, and maybe hide up higher 

Here are the pix:









Finally got a decent pic of my Dwarf Gourami:









And cant have too many pictures of my blue gourami. As shy as she is... getting pictures of her are rare:









I have my RGB LED light strip mounted. Did alittle DIY lightbar but it doesnt put off a whole lot of light. I'll try to get a few pix while its still dark and post them up.


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## Subaru4wd

So all the reading I have done on the Cory Catfish told me they are social and get along well in groups. So I took a long drive to the other (larger) LFS and looked at what they had. 

I came home with 2 more Cory's. Right away they seem like they bonded with my other cory and all 3 have been seen together chasing and eating. I think i sat for about 40 minutes just watching them.

Got a few decent photo's. Fighting the glare of the sun, maybe tonight I can get some better shots.

The two new corys:









Was trying to get a pic of my Blue Gourami, right as I snapped the photo my Dwarf decided to dart out of nowhere and spook her! 









And of course there has to be a Tetra in the way for that photo too. While taking shots I also found a new & unplanned addition to the community, see if you can find it in this shot:









A good shot of the two new Cory's, and my Pearl Gourami hanging out. And if you look closely you'll see a tiny baby snail hanging onto my glass. I guess that makes 4 snails, unless I see any others pop up.

Here's a closeup:









I am not sure where he came from. Maybe from one of the new fish ive added in the last couple weeks. Or maybe one of my current snails gave birth?? not sure how snails reproduce.


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## holly12

Depends on the snail... Onions and Zebras are Nerite snails. They are NOT hermaphrodites and need brackish water to breed.... so it's not one of those.

The twisted shell looks a bit like a Malaysian Trumpet Snail shell. If that's the case, you have an MTS that had babies. They ARE hermaphrodites and can cause an explosion of baby snails in the tank. (Be careful not to over feed the tank, as this encourages snail population growth). Do you have a picture of the parent snail? That would help i.d the baby. (Although, it could have come in on a new plant, if you have live plants).


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## rtbob

That was a nice looking rock structure you took out. To see if it actually would effect the PH of your very nice aquarium place it in a bucket of tap water that has sat out 24 hours to allow the CO2 to gas out. Test the water PH after 24 hours and before placing the rock in. Put the rock in and test the PH after a couple days. This will tell you definitely if the rock is going to raise your PH or not.


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## holly12

I got some lava rocks and a couple other just 'river rocks' to grow algae for my snails.... do lava rocks or river rocks change water params?


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## Subaru4wd

rtbob said:


> That was a nice looking rock structure you took out. To see if it actually would effect the PH of your very nice aquarium place it in a bucket of tap water that has sat out 24 hours to allow the CO2 to gas out. Test the water PH after 24 hours and before placing the rock in. Put the rock in and test the PH after a couple days. This will tell you definitely if the rock is going to raise your PH or not.


Thats a good idea. I have been meaning to fill my 5gal bucket and let it sit 48hrs to get a baseline. Maybe after I do that, i'll put the rocks in and test it 48hrs again to see if the rock has made any changes.

The snail could have come from my Mystery Snail. I have had this guy for about 3 weeks and he looks to be growing. I got a pic of him today chillin with my Zebra (also saw my Onion snail hanging onto the back of him, but didnt have my camera ready).










The new snail could have come from him/her... whatever, but I dont know enough about them. I havent seen any others, how many new snails could I expect??


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## mec102778

Looks great man.


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## Subaru4wd

I went to the LFS today and got some high PH tester. Also picked up 2 pieces of rock they had in their bin.

When I got home I tested my PH in my tank, and it came back at 7.4. Which is consistant with the other PH tester ive been using (which maxes at 7.6) and the intank tester which has been pretty stable just under 7.4 so im pretty confident I know where Im at with my tank.

I then went into the garage and setup a type of experiment. I used water from the garden hose, not from my kitchen tap, and im not sure if that would make a difference. But I filled a 5gal bucket with the 2 new rocks I got from the LFS today, a smaller container with some of the rock I broke apart and used to have in my tank, and a cup with just straight water, nothing in it. My plan is to let them sit 48 hours and then test the PH in them to see where they sit. The test I did a test when I poured the water, and the PH was close to 8.2, just over 8. I did a test from the bucket and the glass to make sure all 3 containers started at 8.


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## holly12

How many apple snails do you have? They need a male and a female to breed... so unless you had a female who was pregnant when you got her, I'd say that's either a baby MTS or a pond snail. They come in on plants and rocks, sometimes as eggs, and then they hatch in your tank. (I have an outbreak of baby pond snails right now from some new plants that I stupidly for got to rinse off before planting - that'll learn me huh!) I had an assassin snail for a while (LFS person accidentally scooped him into the Oto bag). Had him for a week or two, but took him back when I got the Zebras, cause he'd poison them and eat them.... well, now that he's gone, the baby snails have decided it's safe to come out again. Flushed 6 of them today. (I don't have the heart to crush them or let them dry out... so I flush them). I found one riding on one of my Zebras today! The nerve of that little thing! Lol.


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## Subaru4wd

I havent gotten any new live plants, and I only have 1 zebra & 1 onion snail.

I will continue to watch the little snail, i am thinking if I find him again maybe I'll remove him from the tank and put him in a jar to grow up some...


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## holly12

If you go to this link, and look partway down the page, you can click on the pond snail pics (they're babies). This is exactly what I've got an outbreak of in my tank... yours looked a little more like the baby Malaysian Trumpet Snail (above the pond snail).

PG: Snails - They aren't so bad - PlantGeek.net


Did you get any materials from another tank? Maybe it hitched a ride in on one of your other snails?


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## Subaru4wd

I did add a couple small pieces of wood I got from a local lake, but I boiled them for about 20minutes before putting them in my tank. its possible they came from there. I think I give it a few weeks and not worry unless I see more. I am sure when the baby snail is bigger, it will be easier to ID, and if I start to see more i will start to worry more.


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## holly12

Good plan. Not really a problem (unless there are more babies), or until it becomes mature enough to lay eggs.

I'd think that boiling the wood would kill anything living on it.... who knows, lol, maybe they're tough little buggers!


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## Subaru4wd

So today I was out and about, and decided to stop at the local thrift store. While there I found a stash of fake plants and bought a few of them. When I got home I started to cut them apart and hot-glue together some new decor. Nothing too extravagant just yet. I think im going to do a total tank teardown soon and then I'll get alittle crazier with the plants, rock & wood.

For now just a few subtle changes. 










Here you can see the newest rock (to the far right). And just to the left of that are some new plants. I hot glued them to a small strip of plastic mesh and burried the mesh under my substrait. 

Here is another picture of the arrangement, but with a bunch of my fish playing in there. The catfish really love the open and it seems the gourami are missing their hiding spots.










I also did some work to my stand yesterday. I cut a piece of wood to act as a shelf while still leaving plenty of room for my pump. I also put some hooks inside the stand to hang my nets. 



















I think the next step is to organize the rats nest of wiring behind my stand. I picked up two electric timers today, one for my hood & the other for my LED lighting.


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## holly12

Very nice work with the stand! (I need to organize mine better!) I should also do my "rats nest" of wiring as well, lol. Been meaning to get a timer for the light.... but I've run out of plug space, what with the light, filter, mini-filter and living room lamps.


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## Subaru4wd

If you have a home depot nearby, go there tomorrow and ask them where their light timers are. I bought a 2 pack of timers for $4.95 (a single timer was $4.88!) and they work great! I use one for day and one for night.


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## holly12

You have lighting running at night? What kind of lights?


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## Subaru4wd

I have a LED strip at the top of my tank that is RGB (Red/Green/Blue) and for about an hour after my Florescent light goes out, the RGB LED stays on. Then it goes out for the night. The LED is set to come on about an hour before the florescent, so its not really a night-time light, just another light on a seperate cycle to simulate dusk & dawn.


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## holly12

Oh, very cool!


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## Shrimping89

Looks great! I like how much vegetation you have in the tank. Makes me want to get a snail as well.


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## holly12

Shrimping89 said:


> Makes me want to get a snail as well.


Nerite snails are awesome! They won't eat your live plants and they are fantastic algae eaters. They also won't explode in population because the eggs need brackish water to hatch. I got 3 Zebra Nerites a week ago and they are so fun to watch! Their little mouths on the glass are hilarious! None of them have quite the same shell pattern, so each one adds it's own 'flair' to the tank. I've got one that's almost all black, with 2 'racing stripes' up the shell. One is more yellow, with thinner black stripes. The last one has very thin black and yellow strips. Each is very different and very pretty.


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## Shrimping89

holly12 said:


> Nerite snails are awesome! They won't eat your live plants and they are fantastic algae eaters. They also won't explode in population because the eggs need brackish water to hatch.


Wow I did not know that! I am going to give my tank a little while longer to cycle then get some. I don't think there is any algae for them to eat yet anyway.


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## Subaru4wd

My tank is still very new, i doubt I have fully cycled (i still need to do a few more tests) but all my snails seem to be healthy. They are scavenger and never stop eating, they will find something to keep them alive. I put algae wafers in my tank probably once every 2 days. Its funny watching any of my snails when they find a wafer... its like *JACKPOT!* to them. Usually they spend a day or longer in a food coma, just attached to a wafer and not move an inch.

So I guess I found something to keep me alittle busy for a while. I found a 88gallon tank for next to nothing and had to grab it! You can read more about that tank, and its progressin in its own build thread here: http://www.aquariumforum.com/f45/new-me-88gal-tank-build-14843.html


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## holly12

Subaru4wd said:


> My tank is still very new, i doubt I have fully cycled (i still need to do a few more tests) but all my snails seem to be healthy.http://www.aquariumforum.com/f45/new-me-88gal-tank-build-14843.html


I would test the water params' first. Snails can be very sensitive to toxins in the water. (Better to be safe than sorry). For example, ammonia or high nitrates can kill them. Make sure there is enough calcium in the water, or the snails shell will corrode and it will die.




Subaru4wd said:


> They are scavenger and never stop eating, they will find something to keep them alive. I put algae wafers in my tank probably once every 2 days. Its funny watching any of my snails when they find a wafer... its like *JACKPOT!* to them. Usually they spend a day or longer in a food coma, just attached to a wafer and not move an inch.http://www.aquariumforum.com/f45/new-me-88gal-tank-build-14843.html


I put zucchini in the tank for my Oto cats and the snails go nuts over it! So funny!




Subaru4wd said:


> So I guess I found something to keep me alittle busy for a while. I found a 88gallon tank for next to nothing and had to grab it! You can read more about that tank, and its progressin in its own build thread here: http://www.aquariumforum.com/f45/new-me-88gal-tank-build-14843.html


Oh no, lol! You're family thought you were nuts with the 36g. Now they'll _really_ think you've gone off the deep end, lol. Congrats on the new tank! Keep us up dated with pics!


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## Subaru4wd

Thanks for letting me know about the calcium. Great! Another test i need to buy... what can I do to make sure my snails have the calcium they need?


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## jrman83

You won't need a test. Your tap should have enough in it, especially if you have hard water. The calcium cuddlebones, or whatever they are called, that are used for birds to knaw on is okay to use.


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## Subaru4wd

Thanks guys for all the tips!

I did an ammonia test last night, and it came back just alittle past 0.25. Not quite 0.5. This is pretty identical to what I got last week too. I think this week I am going to pickup a test for Nitrite & Nitrate so I can get those readings as well.


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## rtbob

Subaru4wd said:


> I went to the LFS today and got some high PH tester. Also picked up 2 pieces of rock they had in their bin.
> 
> When I got home I tested my PH in my tank, and it came back at 7.4. Which is consistant with the other PH tester ive been using (which maxes at 7.6) and the intank tester which has been pretty stable just under 7.4 so im pretty confident I know where Im at with my tank.
> 
> I then went into the garage and setup a type of experiment. I used water from the garden hose, not from my kitchen tap, and im not sure if that would make a difference. But I filled a 5gal bucket with the 2 new rocks I got from the LFS today, a smaller container with some of the rock I broke apart and used to have in my tank, and a cup with just straight water, nothing in it. My plan is to let them sit 48 hours and then test the PH in them to see where they sit. The test I did a test when I poured the water, and the PH was close to 8.2, just over 8. I did a test from the bucket and the glass to make sure all 3 containers started at 8.


What were the results of your test?

The water from the hose and tap should be the same unless you have a water softener.


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## Subaru4wd

After 48hrs all 3 samples came back at 7.6. All three vials were identical, i even tested twice that day and looks like the rocks had little to no effect on the water over a 2 day period.

I have since then reclaimed my bucket and cleared the bench of that test  I think I will do a substrate change on this 36gallon soon, and remove all the left over aquarium rock and make it 100% sand. That will probably be the last rescape of this tank for a while, until I get my 88gal wrapped up.


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## mec102778

I'd put the rock back in then, it was a nice looking piece.


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## Subaru4wd

Yeah, i am thinking of putting that rock in the new tank, i have some more pieces I can use. That was a good arrangement, I will be using it again... just not sure which tank now


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## Subaru4wd

So a bit of good news today. I have been testing my waters PH and Ammonia levels and for the past 2 weeks things have been pretty stable. Ammonia is never above .5 (usually closer to 0.25) and the PH hasnt budged. 
Today I went out and dropped the $$ on a API Nitrate kit. My first test came back between 20ppm and 40ppm so I am satisfied  I think this tank has fully cycled, i will continue to monitor the conditions of course but I am fairly comfortable with how things have been going.


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## Subaru4wd

So I was doing my daily tank checkup, and didn't see my big cory catfish, so I started to look alittle harder and found his corpse instead 

It took a minute to identify it, because it was pale & missing its head. He wasnt black anymore, and not until I removed the body did I identify him as the catfish (i was hoping it was a tetra instead).

I am pretty upset because he was very unique. Even the guy at my LFS said he was a rare breed he doesn't see often, and it was the last one in the tank when I got him. 

So a short moment of silence in remembrance. Goodbye fella, hope I can find your sister or brother to replace you....

R.I.P







I found him under the inlet tube for my filter. He was just gills to the tail, no head and very little fin & tail remaining. I think maybe he was attacked by another fish in the tank but I havent witnessed any bullying with him vs. any other fish. Maybe he died and the other fish found it an opportunity to eat... I dunno. 

I spent the day and broke down the filter, cleaned and removed all the charcoal i added a couple weeks ago... then replaced the bio filter and plugged everything back in. I also removed some of the vine from my tank and arranged alittle differently. 

I am hoping to have my new tank setup by the end of this week. I saved all of the filter material and all the water from the filter.... its soaking some new sand and some decorations in a 5gal bucket. I will use that water to start the cycle on my next tank and hopefully by the end of next month I can start to move some fish around and build a new community.


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## jrman83

Your ammonia should be zero. Try not feeding for 3-5 days and see if it will go away. What about nitrites?


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## holly12

That sucks! Sorry to hear that! (Why was he rare? Was it his colouring?)


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## Subaru4wd

holly12 said:


> That sucks! Sorry to hear that! (Why was he rare? Was it his colouring?)


Maybe. All I remember was the guy at the fish store telling me he doesnt see them that often. I tried looking for other Cory's that had striping like that guy did, but couldn't find any others online (maybe he wasnt a cory?). 

He was getting alot darker too. I didnt get very many pictures of him but before he died he had more black than silver, and the striping on the tail and fin were more defined.


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## xLn

love the 36 bows.


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## Subaru4wd

Thanks! So much has changed with this tank, i really need to update this. But ive been so busy with the 88 its been impossible.


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## holly12

You're lucky! Your tank cycled fast! I've been trying to cycle my stupid 20g for 7 weeks now. I even had to start almost from scratch once. Ugh! Then, I've got my 36g bow front to cycle. I just want this freaking 20g to be done! (Sorry for the rant, lol).

Glad things are working out better for you!


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## theguppyman

Whats your Ph ? Just out of curiosity.


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## Subaru4wd

I tested the PH today and its steady at 7.2 I tested some treated tap water I am preparing for a waterchange on the larger tank... and the tap water is 7.4

Holly. I didnt really do any tests or anything scientific to see if my cycling was complete. I just started introducing some life to the tank. Although, having all that old substrate & filter material to use definatly gave me a kickstart!


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## holly12

Oh, you didn't do the straight ammonia dosing?


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## Subaru4wd

No, not for this tank or my large tank.

Only ammonia source I used were fish... and some bad worm-water.


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## Subaru4wd

Ok guys... I found a ton of pictures I have been taking... but just not posting. So here will be a quick post to get you up to date.

With the addition of my newest tank, I have been robbing pieces from this tank to help boost the cycle in my new tank. But first here are a couple rescapes I did durring its transition...









Here is one of the last photos with the driftwood. I got some new lava rock from a buddy, and added it. But it wasnt long until i took the driftwood out to put into the large tank.









I found this 12x12 square of plastic grass-like plant. I cut it in 1/2 and put half in this tank and half in the other. I then took some of the original rock and scattered it about... but the fish didn't like it so open. It needed more hiding spots.

And thats whats lead us to the current scape I have now:








I created a cave using a few rocks, and stacked a couple other rocks to create some hiding spots.










My gourami love the little shelter. 
Here is a chunk of driftwood I found... and secured an anubias to:









Here's a good shot of one of my newest fish... a Golden Gourami:









I also picked up some new snails... heres my Ivory Mystery snail:









And here's my school of Blue Neon tetra... 









I tried to get a picture of my dwarf gourami, but he likes to hide alot. I did get a good shot of one of my corys tho 









So that just about brings us up to date. Not much has changed... all the fish are doing well  Except I did remove the black skirt tetra's and put them in the large tank.


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## holly12

Very nice. I laughed because in the last picture, you can just see a Gourami eye peeking over the back of a rock at the other fish (to the left of the picture), hahahahaha!


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## Subaru4wd

This tank is still thriving. My Golden Gourami is getting big, but my Dwarf is extremely bashful and always hides. I moved my driftwood back into the tank, after finding a larger piece for my 88gal. The dwarf gourami has claimed the driftwood, but the golden gourami is pretty social so it doesnt seem bothered.










Last week, I noticed my large Angelfish in the 88gal, was picking on the smallest angelfish, so I moved the small angel into the 36gal where its safe. I am hoping eventually this guy will be huge, and I can put him back into the larger tank to compete, but for now he feels at home.










I also added a couple live plants and moved the baby pleco from the 88gal into this 36gal.









Along with these guys, I have also added 3 Zebra danio's, and some new guppies to replace a couple that have passed. But those guys wont sit still long enough for a photo.


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## holly12

Looking good! Have you added any more 3 Line Corys? (Or Julii's... having trouble telling what they are.)


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## iadubber

love that piece of driftwood!


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## monach01

Beautiful tank and creative decorating done there. I'd like to see the answer to the rock tested in vinegar question myself. I am very new at this and have tons to learn!


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## Subaru4wd

monach01 said:


> Beautiful tank and creative decorating done there. I'd like to see the answer to the rock tested in vinegar question myself. I am very new at this and have tons to learn!


even though those rocks reacted to vinegar i used them in both my tanks. None of my fish have seemed to react to those rocks, other than some baby pleco's. I used a large chunk of that rock in my 36gal for a long time, and it grew a nice layer of green algae, so i went to the fish store and bought a baby pleco, and the next day he was dead. So I returned him, and got 2 baby pleco's the next day and put them in this tank. A couple days later I noticed how well the pleco's had cleaned that large chunk of rock, and then I noticed how 1 of the 2 pleco were dead. So I removed that rock and the remaining baby pleco has survived and been doing well. 

I dont know if it had anything to do with that rock, however that rock is now in my 88gal with a much larger adult pleco, and it has phased him none.


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## Subaru4wd

holly12 said:


> Looking good! Have you added any more 3 Line Corys? (Or Julii's... having trouble telling what they are.)


No new catfish. These two cory's i have right now are racing eachother all over my tank and dont seem to be giving up. Its fun watching my baby pleco try to catch them.... or chase them out of his hiding hole. I think if I were to add more, it would become too crowded at the tank floor.


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## Subaru4wd

Ok so the day has come. I could not stand looking at blue background or the sand any longer. Don't get me wrong, the sand looked good. But it always looks dirty because its so light colored. This substrate always looks good in my 88gal, so I took some left over stuff i had in the garage and some lava rocks I have been waiting to use. And completely re-scaped my tank.

This is pretty much what the tank looked like before I started:









Pretty bland and boring. So Everything came out! I then scrubbed the glass cause i had some pretty aggressive algae starting to build up:









After the old blue background was removed, I installed this fancy background I took off another tank I got. I just had this background sitting in the garage so I figure i would put it to good use:









After that it was just a matter of redesigning a basic landscape. I didn't want it too cluttered or tricky. So I just used the crushed slate as my substrate, and leaned my drift wood against a larger lava rock I had. Then i placed my plants where i thought they'd look best.










Sorry these pictures suck. I was alittle eager to take them. Tonight when the sun goes down and the waters settled alittle more I'll post some better ones.


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## Summer

Looks great, i think it's quite an improvement!


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## Subaru4wd

Thanks. I also scattered two packages of Plant Bulbs all over the place. So hopefully here in a few weeks the tank will start to fill out with some more plant life.


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## Subaru4wd

Ok so as promised, some new pictures 




























The more I look at it, the more I think i miss the straight blue background :\


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## majerah1

Thread moved at TCs request.


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## Chrisfrey007

Subaru4wd said:


> This is my first tank. I picked up the entire setup off craigslist for $150. I have been eyeing this tank for over a year... everytime we walk into Petsmart to get Catfood... but I just could never justify spending what Petsmart wanted.
> 
> This tank came setup as you'll see in a moment. With some fake plants, blue & white aquarium gravel and a Rock. It also came with a Rena Filstar XP2 canister filter & some other odds & ends... overall I think i got a great deal
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> I added that piece of wood. I found a Local Aquarium Store not far from my house and the guys there are real great and know their stuff! They had some pieces of wood they just got and i was able to score this gorgeous chunk. After talking to the guys there they sold me on some live plant and i picked up 3 anubias.
> Before I set the wood in the tank I drilled a couple nice deep holes for them to root in, and secured them with some thread so they wouldnt try to float away...
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> I am aiming at this being a community tank with no agressive fish or fin nippers. I started the tank with 3 black skirt tetra's & 5 neon tetra's.


I agree. There's no reason to buy a brand new tank if Craigslist exists. I've gotten all my tanks on CL. I also want to encourage you to switch over to planted. It's more rewarding and realistic and the fish love it.


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## Subaru4wd

This tank is now fully planted. See my latest rescape....


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## Chrisfrey007

Subaru4wd said:


> This tank is now fully planted. See my latest rescape....


Sorry, I noticed the more recent pics after I posted. Looks better. What kind of substrate are you using? The Anubias don't require a substrate but if you want to add any other types you will need dirt or some other plant substrate. 
I learned the hard way that plants require a good substrate rather than sand or gravel. I started out with black sand and bought all kinds of plants and it looked pretty awesome for a while but the roots eventually rotted on me.

Also have you considered painting the background with acrylic paint? I never really liked the fake backgrounds personally. Once I learned how cheap acrylic paint was and how much better it looked I was hooked.


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## Chrisfrey007

I find that the painted black acrylic looks best with planted aquariums because it makes the green color of the plants stand out better. My cichlid tank and turtle tank backgrounds are blue because I think it goes well with the sand substrate like an ocean. The best part about painting it with acrylic is you can just scrape it off and repaint it any color. Blue and black are the most commonly used. I bought the paint and a foam paint roller at walmart for a couple dollars and it took 5 minutes to paint.


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