# 20g long "The Root Beginning"



## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

heres some pics of the 20g


_DSC5674 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC5675 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC5678 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC5679 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC5680 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC5684 by marioman72, on Flickr
idk if someone can identify this found it at a petco recently 

_DSC5687 by marioman72, on Flickr


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## keithy (Jun 8, 2010)

I like your 20 gal.


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

thanks!


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## dougolasjr (Mar 3, 2010)

Nice. I like the way you have the light attached to the tank. What type of clamps are those?


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## mitchfish9 (Apr 30, 2012)

This tank is great!!!!!


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

dougolasjr said:


> Nice. I like the way you have the light attached to the tank. What type of clamps are those?


 just some regular pinch clamps to hold wood and what not down, it sits perfect to hold the light cause i have nothing to hang it on haha


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

heres an update of my progress on the 10g!

laid down the fluval stratus and set up the ehiem 2211 in place.


IMAG0129 by marioman72, on Flickr

went rock hunting in Newport RI on the beach got some nice green rocks pretty sure its an amethyst mixture witch makes it green and purple colors that r all in the rocks around this area. but laid out the rock scape and put my coralife light fixture on top


IMAG0131 by marioman72, on Flickr

finally got it just right and a few snails tagged along in the bucket


IMAG0133 by marioman72, on Flickr

ordered a could of plants from some members on here should be coming in on sat or Sunday
Plant list:
downui
ludwigia. Inclinata cuba
Hydrocotyle Tripartita
limnophila aromatica

plan to get some DHG or micro sword still debating


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## nightshadebel (May 3, 2012)

awesome tanks!!


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

thanks:smile:


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## theericafish (Apr 27, 2012)

That driftwood and scaping is awesome, looks a lot bigger than it is. Whats the substrate on that tank? Aqua soil with gravel? Almost looks like florite.

Interesting lighting setup too, I have the same light and tank.

Looks like an aqueon duel t5 fixture(at least thats what I have). What type of clamps are those? Been thinking of ways to spread the light out more evenly over the tank and that could work for me considering I think I have the same lighting.

Edit: Looks like its a coral life actually so not what I have, same design though. The bars coming out of the side seem a bit flimsy so I'd be iffy about just seating them on some clamps D:


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

theericafish said:


> That driftwood and scaping is awesome, looks a lot bigger than it is. Whats the substrate on that tank? Aqua soil with gravel? Almost looks like florite.
> 
> Interesting lighting setup too, I have the same light and tank.
> 
> ...


the substrate is eco complete mixed in with fluorite with a little play sand sprinkled on the top haha, but the flimsy bars i didnt think were going to hold it sold enough but somehow it seats like the clamps were made for it. it actually takes a little effort to pull the light off of how it sits. i use to have the light just resting on top but like you said i wanted to spread the light source out a little bit so i came up with this cheap solution can get the clamps at the hardware store for a couple bucks super easy.


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## theericafish (Apr 27, 2012)

I might just have to do that and try that out. Cheaper than buying a fixture to mount it somehow. Been looking for a simple solution for that for a while.

Lately I can only find quad t5 lighting for 10g tanks which is kind of ridiculous for a no co2 medium light plant setup. Guess 2 5200k cfl lights is good enough for now.

Anyway, don't mean to derail the thread  Nice tanks!

Edit: Just realizing my questions were already answered earlier in the post.


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

oh yea that would be over kill haha, but try it out a couple bucks dosnt hurt if u can find some cheap ones.

but thanks! excited to finally get this 10 going with plants, once my other stuff fills in in the 20g ill probably transfer some crypts and chain sword into the ten to get it going. and im going to build my DIY co2 tomorrow hopefully


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## Kai808 (Jul 19, 2011)

Great looking Scapes! The below plant does look like Ophiopogon japonicus, Mondo Grass. It's not a fully aquatic plant and will probably melt in a couple of months.



marioman72 said:


> idk if someone can identify this found it at a petco recently


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## SloMo.00. (Nov 14, 2012)

Wow. That 20g has beautiful wood in it. Neat setup.


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

Kai808 said:


> Great looking Scapes! The below plant does look like Ophiopogon japonicus, Mondo Grass. It's not a fully aquatic plant and will probably melt in a couple of months.


thanks for the info, bummer it will melt but oh well not much of a loss






and found the wood at a beach near my house def a lucky find


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

so today's 10g update got the DIY co2 set up and in the tank and put some micro sword, pygmy chain sword and an anubias barteri "p" i belive in the the tank to get things started


IMAG0134 by marioman72, on Flickr


IMAG0138 by marioman72, on Flickr

not sure exactly what kind this is


IMAG0136 by marioman72, on Flickr


IMAG0139 by marioman72, on Flickr

sorry for the crappy cell pics :/


IMAG0140 by marioman72, on Flickr


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## In.a.Box (Dec 8, 2011)

Nice Tank RI MATE  Love the rock wish I live closer to the ocean


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## StraightAddicted (May 20, 2012)

I was going to say I used to live somewhat close to Newport, so I know what the green/purple tones of the rocks look like (pretty cool). The 20g setup is amazing, and 10g is coming along nicely. Keep it up mario


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

In.a.Box said:


> Nice Tank RI MATE  Love the rock wish I live closer to the ocean


where u from ?



StraightAddicted said:


> I was going to say I used to live somewhat close to Newport, so I know what the green/purple tones of the rocks look like (pretty cool). The 20g setup is amazing, and 10g is coming along nicely. Keep it up mario


yea its pretty crazy the colors over there, and thanks a bunch! hoping to keep at it


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## alipper (Nov 6, 2012)

Nice setups, I'm somewhat local to you. I also head through RI alot, the in-laws live near Providence.


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## Fat Guy (Nov 19, 2003)

i like the 20g too!!


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

alipper said:


> Nice setups, I'm somewhat local to you. I also head through RI alot, the in-laws live near Providence.


sweet! nice to see some locals that are active



and thanks fat guy


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## h4n (Jan 4, 2006)

Looking good man! Both tanks!


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

thanks!


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

plants came in today, thanks bartohog and flyfishrman! 

plant list:
downoi 
Ludwigia Inclinata Cuba
Hydrocotyle Tripartita
limnophila aromatica
micro sword
Anubias barteri 'Nana' 


IMAG0141 by marioman72, on Flickr

got everything all separated out and planted, and the co2 finally started to bubble quite a bit! things r starting to move along smoothly.


IMAG0143 by marioman72, on Flickr


IMAG0145 by marioman72, on Flickr


IMAG0149 by marioman72, on Flickr


IMAG0148 by marioman72, on Flickr

hydro trips hopefully will carpet nice


IMAG0147 by marioman72, on Flickr

dounoi


IMAG0146 by marioman72, on Flickr


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

just got some amano shrimp for the 20g put them in the tank a few min ago 

IMAG0144 by marioman72, on Flickr


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## LyzzaRyzz (Nov 6, 2012)

Hey all you Rhode Islanders! I am too! Your tanks coming around! Love it!


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

thanks!


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## orchidman (Dec 15, 2010)

marioman72 said:


> not sure exactly what kind this is
> 
> 
> IMAG0136 by marioman72, on Flickr



that is an anubias barteri, i cant tell if its a 'nana' or 'petite' the petite will be alot smaller then the nana. 

great tanks! they both are great, especially that 20 long! are you running co2 on it?


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

im guna asume its petite cause its super small, but yea im running diy co2 on the 20 i wasnt for the longest time then i said enough cause i was sick everything growing very slow


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## orchidman (Dec 15, 2010)

petite should have leaves about quarter sized


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

yup then thats it haha


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## orchidman (Dec 15, 2010)

haha awesome! i just got a hold of some 'Micro' its leaves are this big --> o


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

thats crazy, im content with the petite has a nice texture once it gets a little fuller, hoping it will fill in eventually between the rocks, probably will try and find some more when i get the chance could be a nice contrast to the hydro trips i have in the rocks


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## orchidman (Dec 15, 2010)

marioman72 said:


> thats crazy, im content with the petite has a nice texture once it gets a little fuller, hoping it will fill in eventually between the rocks, probably will try and find some more when i get the chance could be a nice contrast to the hydro trips i have in the rocks


yeah its tiny! but it matches the scale of my nano tank and it looks great! i have maybe 12 plants of it


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

oh nice u have any pics? curious to see how it looks


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## orchidman (Dec 15, 2010)

marioman72 said:


> oh nice u have any pics? curious to see how it looks


sure do! here are some!

the most recent one


mms_picture.jpg by orchidman10, on Flickr


DSC_0009.jpg by orchidman10, on Flickr


DSC_0014.jpg by orchidman10, on Flickr


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

oh wow love the hard scape, looks so much bigger then it is


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## StraightAddicted (May 20, 2012)

Very nice pics, gives great depth for a small tank. Something so simple works so elegantly. And I need to do a DIY CO2 as well just heard of some people having problems with mixtures, and proper bubble counting. I'm honestly scared to try, I don't want to gas the tank.


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

its iffy if u want to be super precises in your co2 usage, but with one bottle of diy it really doesn't produce to much co2 not enough to be worried about and if it does produce a lot, u just need to compensate with light and nutrients. i would give it a try if i were you it only cost like 5 bucks for a check valve and tubing and your set rather then the hundreds of dollars for a pressurized system.


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

so, got my bylxa japonica and hydro sp. from H4n today thanks a bunch! also went to critter hut in Narraganset a picked up some nice plants and shrimp! got 5 japanica amano shrimp, 1 crystal red, and 7 cherry shrimp.

excuse the cell pics :/

got a mat of HC, some rotala wallichi and what im prety sure is Hydrothrix gardneri, fluffy green plant not sure.


IMAG0152 by marioman72, on Flickr

crystal red shrimp


IMAG0154 by marioman72, on Flickr

cherry shrimp


IMAG0155 by marioman72, on Flickr

amano shrimp


IMAG0157 by marioman72, on Flickr


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## orchidman (Dec 15, 2010)

marioman72 said:


> oh wow love the hard scape, looks so much bigger then it is


its only 4 gallons. i just need the hairgrass to grow in...ive had trouble getting the the anubias to stay down, it likes to float up.


thanks! 



StraightAddicted said:


> Very nice pics, gives great depth for a small tank. Something so simple works so elegantly. And I need to do a DIY CO2 as well just heard of some people having problems with mixtures, and proper bubble counting. I'm honestly scared to try, I don't want to gas the tank.


youd have a pretty hard time gassing your fish with diy co2. when i did that i used 2C sugar, 1 tsp yeast, and warm water


those plants look great!


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

u thought about putting some HC or glosso on the bottom?


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

10 gallon update:

finally got all the HC and seems to me staying down more or less, super hard to get everything to stay in the plant stratum. also planted the blyxa japonica and the hydrocotle sp. everything seems like its in the right place now. the micro sword wasn't really working with scape in the way i wanted to so i moved it to the 20g.


_DSC5738 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC5739 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC5740 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC5741 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC5742 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC5743 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC5746 by marioman72, on Flickr

20 gallon update:

planted the remainder of the HC in left front and as i said moved the micro sword in the front right lets see how it does in this tank. added the new rotala wallichii and what i think is Hydrothrix gardnerito the center rear of the tank should look nicer when it get a little taller. i wasn't really feeling the cabomba so i removed that. the cherry shrimps and amano shrimps seems to have settle in nicely and are cleaning away.


_DSC5749 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC5751 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC5752 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC5753 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC5757 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC5761 by marioman72, on Flickr


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## Evicene (Nov 20, 2012)

Gorgeous tanks, i love how they are such different sytles. I am looking forward to seeing your 10g fill in, should look excellent!


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

thanks! im super excited too, cant wait for the HC to start taking root, takes for ever :/


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

so woke up today, and found my filter on my 10g not working for what ever reason. cleaned and restarted it seems to be working again. now theirs a nitrate and ammonia spike for what ever reason did a 50% water change last night no idea whats going on.


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## frogmanjared (Feb 21, 2008)

Amazing tanks!


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

thanks!


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

did a little timing a rearranging today. trimmed the ludwigia repens back quite a bit and moved the java ferns around to open it up a little bit more. also removed the random stones that's were laying around and the super tall mondo grass that was in the left corner, wasn't working towards the look.


_DSC5993 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC5985 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC5986 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC5987 by marioman72, on Flickr

lugwiga repens


_DSC5988 by marioman72, on Flickr

starting to get some nice growth on the rottala and myro


_DSC5991 by marioman72, on Flickr

one of my little shrimpies 

everything has been going good n the 10g, been starting to do daily water changes to control the ammonia and nitrate spike hopefully can control that very soon and get some nice plant growth going.


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

Today i added some rotala verticillaris and another pot of micro sword to the 20g to try and fill things in a bit more. going to try to trim the stem plants into a nice size bushes in the rear and keep the different foreground plants controlled were they are. everything is starting to grow very fast now should be ready for another trim with in the next few days.




_DSC6001 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6002 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6003 by marioman72, on Flickr



Added a bunch of hair grass to the rear of 10g. needed to have a little bit of something to flow from the stem plants to the HC and DHG seemed to be the right thing for the job, snagged it while at my LFS. i seem to be getting a little melt and yellowing from the HC not sure why, thinking a potassium deficiency, so started to does a little of that and iron every day. and continue to do daily water changes. we will see how thing turn out in a couple of days hoping to see more growth once things level out more. 


_DSC5997 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6000 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC5998 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC5999 by marioman72, on Flickr


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

did a big trim on all the stem plants today, trimmed back and replanted the tops in the 20g


IMAG0169 by marioman72, on Flickr

and trimmed the Ludwigia and pruned all the bad leaves off the hydro in the 10g, nitrates and ammonia are finally going back to normal levels


IMAG0170 by marioman72, on Flickr


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## h4n (Jan 4, 2006)

What you got in the corner of the 10g? Purigen bag?

-Sent from my Samsung Note, a "Phablet"


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## LyzzaRyzz (Nov 6, 2012)

Nice! Great looks!


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

h4n said:


> What you got in the corner of the 10g? Purigen bag?
> 
> -Sent from my Samsung Note, a "Phablet"


yup, its a generic filter bag, i added it for the start to soak up some of the ammonia that i was having



LyzzaRyzz said:


> Nice! Great looks!


thanks!


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

I got bord tonight and did a few major changes to the 20L. removed the black background to brighten things up a bit. changed the position of the equipment around for less clutter. And added some new rocks at the base of the drift wood. starting to get some new growth on all the trimmings going to look nice once everything grows back in.

Also in the 10g Finally got some LIVE STOCK wooo. got 6 amanno shrimp, one pygmy corry, and 5 oto cats to get a start on this cleaning crew. Starting to get a bit of diatoms in the HC, the shrimps should do a good number on all the algae.


_DSC6021 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6025 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6026 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6027 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6019 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6013 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6012 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6011 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6010 by marioman72, on Flickr


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## sundragon (Jan 10, 2011)

Amazing tanks! I love your aquascape


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

sundragon said:


> Amazing tanks! I love your aquascape


thanks! appreciate it


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## thefisherman (Oct 15, 2011)

great scaping marioman! i'm a total fan 

is that a rio powerhead you got there? i was contemplating adding one to my tank, perhaps to circulate my co2 and ferts better, especially for my L Pantanal needy stem


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

its actually a co2 system i bought years ago at the lfs, http://www.marineandreef.com/Red_Se...RRS51010.htm?gclid=CPa0y_qJibQCFUQw4AodLy4AlQ

iits pretty much a diy co2 system that diffuses the gas through the power head. when i first got into fish tanks that what the guy at the pet store told me to get lol and ive used it ever since.

but it def help circulation quite a bit make i nice current the goes around the tank with the opposing outputs


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

Got some friends for the 10g tonight! 10 maculata rasboras, 12 wild green neons, and 5 pigmy corries should be great additions to the tank. ill post up more pics once they are done acclimating and in the tank. and an update on the 20G capped the florite with play sand a couple nights ago. changed the whole look of the tank.


_DSC6052 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6051 by marioman72, on Flickr


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## h4n (Jan 4, 2006)

Nice!

Those wild green neons sure look blue to me lol!!

Did you get these from aqua life?

I've been looking for pigmy cories. How much were they?

-Sent from my Samsung Note, a "Phablet"


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

yup got them from aqua life. if u look at reg neons compared to them they look green and these guys stay a lotttt smaller. but they have 3 dif types of micro corries, spotted ones, stripped and red brown ones, they are 2.99


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

youll enjoy the boraras. they are neat little fish.


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## orchidman (Dec 15, 2010)

cant wait to see the fish in the tank!!!


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## ikuzo (Jul 11, 2006)

marioman72 said:


> Got some friends for the 10g tonight! 10 maculata rasboras, 12 wild green neons, and 5 pigmy corries should be great additions to the tank.


great fish choice!
i had maculatas for a long time back then. good fish to have. i mean really good that i will buy them again when they're available.


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

heres the picture update!

the 10g with the new fishies.


_DSC6077 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6075 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6074 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6073 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6070 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6069 by marioman72, on Flickr

and heres the 20g, heres my new little fiert despenser bottle i got at walmart work realy well compared to pouring out cap fulls of the flourish.


_DSC6061 by marioman72, on Flickr

added some hydrocotle sib. from my 10g


_DSC6058 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6054 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6056 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6057 by marioman72, on Flickr


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

@[email protected] said:


> youll enjoy the boraras. they are neat little fish.


oh yea def, i was heavily debating what fish to stock in this tank and my lfs had them available so i jumped on the opportunity.



ikuzo said:


> great fish choice!
> i had maculatas for a long time back then. good fish to have. i mean really good that i will buy them again when they're available.


def an awsome looking fish! super bright little guys. And you can stock a tun in a smaller size tank like the 10g thats the biggest reason i went with all micro fish.


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## h4n (Jan 4, 2006)

Ya the green neons looks very nice!

were all 3 kind of cories $3 ea?


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## sundragon (Jan 10, 2011)

Both tanks are so beautiful, you make me want to start a smaller tank with micros for my office. Love the choice in fish!

Where did you purchase the fish?


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

h4n said:


> Ya the green neons looks very nice!
> 
> were all 3 kind of cories $3 ea?


yup, and love the neons they school much better then the maculatas



sundragon said:


> Both tanks are so beautiful, you make me want to start a smaller tank with micros for my office. Love the choice in fish!
> 
> Where did you purchase the fish?


thanks! micro fish are great def fun little guys and make the tank look so much bigger too.


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

so, i wasn't happy with how my 20g layout was coming along and did a total rescape last night. After 3 hours and a bunch of sand later, i came to my new product. The fish seem much happier with the new swimming space and im happy with the final product. might need some adjustments with the stem plants but other wise not much else to do but wait. tho i might want to add some hair grass in the for ground. ill post pics in a few minutes.


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

so heres the rescape of the 20g!


_DSC6089 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6088 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6083 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6082 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6081 by marioman72, on Flickr


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## bubbless (Nov 19, 2006)

Pure awesomeness. And beautiful photos too! Love your tanks! =))


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## LyzzaRyzz (Nov 6, 2012)

Wow, the rescape looks great!
Are you going to do a carpet plant for all that sand? I have a hard time leaving areas open like that..i just see it is more space to plant more plants!


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## orchidman (Dec 15, 2010)

i really like the rescape!!


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

bubbless said:


> Pure awesomeness. And beautiful photos too! Love your tanks! =))


thanks a lot! i do photography as a side thing so ive gotten prety good with photo stuff haha!



LyzzaRyzz said:


> Wow, the rescape looks great!
> Are you going to do a carpet plant for all that sand? I have a hard time leaving areas open like that..i just see it is more space to plant more plants!


thanks! i realy want something to fill in that sand area. not sure yet if i want to cover all of it but im trying to decide on the right cover for it, i might use a couple diff types to get some textures in there. but im think DHG belem with a mixture of the hydrocotle sib. mixed in. i realy like that combo of textures together. or i might try somthing new but im guna take my time with that part and work on my trimming skills for the stem plants in the back haha



orchidman said:


> i really like the rescape!!


thanks! its been a design that ive been thinking about doing for a number of years now but never realy had the materials to pull it off. and i think the sand was the missing link to this scape.


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## beginner (Oct 26, 2012)

Awesome tank, 10g looks great. u got lot done in 4 to 5 weeks.


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

yea there has been a lot done in the past few weeks, didn't realize the time span its been already honestly haha. but thanks!


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## Lil' Swimz$ (Jul 24, 2010)

Wow your tanks and photography are excellent! I love your little fishies  I especially love your 10 gallon! I love the color!


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

thanks! im trying to boost the color in the 10g as much as i can. trying to get the purples you can get with limnophilia aromatica and darker oranges in the ludwigia


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

Today i made a light stand with wire conduit piping and some chain worked out prety good. now the light reaches all the way to edges and does not get cut off from the clamps i was using to hold the light up before. in addition this looks so much better then rusty clamps.


_DSC6097 by marioman72, on Flickr

in addition i added a field of hydrocotle to the open area, it def needed somthing to fill in that open space i think it still need a grassy plant in the back or hear and there for a natural look. ive been researching pictures of different foregrounds to see what looks best for my scape. i might try experimenting with some mosses in the future. the dark green is really contrasty again most of the other foreground plant species that are around. 


_DSC6096 by marioman72, on Flickr

and then an update on the 10g after doing a huge trim of the hydro and as i said planted it in the 20L the linophilia is getting much bigger now and the ludwigia is coming back strong from the trim. tho im not sure thats the right plant for that cornner. deppening on how the rottalla wallichi grows in the 20L i might do a swap to get some textual differences. but other wise a lost one of the maculatas everyone else is very happy. And added 15 PFR shrimps to add to the cleaning crew and get some more color in there. hopefully they start to reproduce.



_DSC6090 by marioman72, on Flickr


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## orchidman (Dec 15, 2010)

nice light setup! it looks fantastic!


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## mr2 (Jul 31, 2010)

Both tanks look excellent. Any tricks to taking such great pics? I always feel like I'm taking a pic of a mirror, I get so much reflection and glare....


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

finished installing my self unit for my 10g and hung the light today! sorry for the crappy cell pic. lighting is so much more even now looks much better. 


IMAG0199 by marioman72, on Flickr


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

mr2 said:


> Both tanks look excellent. Any tricks to taking such great pics? I always feel like I'm taking a pic of a mirror, I get so much reflection and glare....



what kidn of camera do you use? if have a flash on that would be a big reason to get a lot of kick back. Also keep the room as dark as possible other then the tank. usually what i do to keep the tank the focus.


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## karce87 (Dec 6, 2012)

Nice hardscape! Love how the rocks going the same direction


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## orchidman (Dec 15, 2010)

Nice job on the shelf!


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

thanks!


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## beginner (Oct 26, 2012)

nice setup, what do you feed the otos?


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

in both tanks i dont feed them ever. i only feed my rasboras and tetras. everything else is self sustaining. they stay super plump with algae.


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## thefisherman (Oct 15, 2011)

the light stands look great mario... why don't you use a couplin fitting and an eye hook to connect those chains? it will look more finished and safeguard your light from sliding 

+1 on yout tanks and photography bro. your 20L looks so effortless and wonderful... i wish i could exercise the same restraint in my own tank lol


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

i was thinking about how to hang the chains but wasnt to sure about how to do it cleanly. thats definitely a great idea ill probably do that this week sometime. i might also paint the piping black some time. idk how well the silver is working. but right now my 20l is in the downstairs portion of my house. im thinking about moving it into my bed room with my 10g and soon to be my new 30g to keep everything in one place. we will see what happens the coming week. im trying to figure out how to move it with out taking everything out and keeping as little water as possible. also so the plants dont come out of the ground. anyone have any input on how to do this efficiently?


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## Lil' Swimz$ (Jul 24, 2010)

Hm I would think the easiest method would be just to drain all the water (even below the substrate) do the tank is light enough to carry. If you drain enough water that should keep the sand pretty rigid. Take your time when carrying, maybe get two people so you can keep it perfectly level. Best of luck!


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## RobMc (Oct 16, 2012)

Your tanks are very peaceful, I'm especially jealous of the 20g L - love that look


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

Lil' Swimz$ said:


> Hm I would think the easiest method would be just to drain all the water (even below the substrate) do the tank is light enough to carry. If you drain enough water that should keep the sand pretty rigid. Take your time when carrying, maybe get two people so you can keep it perfectly level. Best of luck!


yea thats what exactly what i ended up doing today. thanks for the input! the move went well now all the tanks are in one room witch is way more convenient and looks awsome!



RobMc said:


> Your tanks are very peaceful, I'm especially jealous of the 20g L - love that look


thanks!





Alright so here the pics after the move and all the equipment was set up again. took for ever for the tank to clear up a lot of dust got kicked up from the sand in the tank and the filter restarting :/ but other wise none of the plants came up! and nothing was damaged witch was biggest fear.

on other news my 10G is going to need an all around trim soon and cut back that limonphilia that's getting massive and the DHG thats getting super tall. im thinking i need somthing defferne tin left hand corner rather then the ludgwigia cuba cause it just blends in with the linophilia. ether that or just replant a couple stems and keep only the limnphilia in the back? any opinions?

All 3 tanks sitting nice and clean 


_DSC6274 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6270 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6288 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6277 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6276 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6278 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6279 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6266 by marioman72, on Flickr


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## orchidman (Dec 15, 2010)

looks great! maybe on the left hand side, replace the L. cuba with something bright green, like a smaller leaved Rotala.


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

thats not a bad idea. i was thinking of trading my rottala wenditii into that spot cause the red could contrast nicely and create a vocal point other wise that would be the best option.


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## Lagarb (Jun 4, 2012)

WOW! These look amazing, I love the re scape, I liked it before, but think the open space is very pleasing to the eye, also the fish! The 10g is also looking superb. I agree with the idea of possibly switching the wendi, think that would look really good!
Also, what filter(s) do you use, if any? (on your camera that is :icon_roll )


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

Lagarb said:


> WOW! These look amazing, I love the re scape, I liked it before, but think the open space is very pleasing to the eye, also the fish! The 10g is also looking superb. I agree with the idea of possibly switching the wendi, think that would look really good!
> Also, what filter(s) do you use, if any? (on your camera that is :icon_roll )


Thanks! i just switched the two plants last night and we will see how it looks once it grows in. i dont use any filters on my lens i use to but now that i switched to my 50mm i dont use them anymore. just some basic photoshop white balance tweaking and im good.


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## orchidman (Dec 15, 2010)

marioman72 said:


> thats not a bad idea. i was thinking of trading my rottala wenditii into that spot cause the red could contrast nicely and create a vocal point other wise that would be the best option.


i thought of something red there, but i think it would look alot better with a vibrant bright green. especially since the Lymnophylla romatica has a rusty tinge to it. if you really want red, i would put the red plant in the place that the L. aromatic is currently in.


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

im probly going to end up keeping only the L. aromatica once the wedittii gows back from its trim


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## orchidman (Dec 15, 2010)

marioman72 said:


> im probly going to end up keeping only the L. aromatica once the wedittii gows back from its trim


sounds like a good solution roud:


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

yup and i just ordered pfertz dosing regimen!


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

well not much has changed other then immense growth in the tanks.

the 20g has grown in well and with my new HO bulbs i saw a major dif in growth. upped the co2 along with that and i saw some plants grow at least an inch in one day craziness. i moved all of the spiralis c. over to the opposing side. it was covering to much in the other corner. now i added my rotala corlata over there hoping to form thos few stems into a nice bush to fill in that corner. could definitely use a trim soon tho.

the 10g got a major hedge trim a couple days ago and is come back strong! im already starting to see nice new sprouts coming out of the stems. and the DHG grows back with in a day or two. stuff grows like a weed in this tank. saddly had a few jumpers this past week. two of my amanos took the plunge. :/


_DSC6420 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6422 by marioman72, on Flickr

looking at this picture now def could use some water added in this tank haha


_DSC6425 by marioman72, on Flickr


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## orchidman (Dec 15, 2010)

Looks good! In the 20 gallon, did you plant the Rotala in the back left corner? If you did, great. If not, I think that back left corner is a little empty. It draws my eye.

The 10 gallon looks super awesome!! You might think about trimming the Hydrocotyl there in the middle front, it's getting tall


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

orchidman said:


> Looks good! In the 20 gallon, did you plant the Rotala in the back left corner? If you did, great. If not, I think that back left corner is a little empty. It draws my eye.
> 
> The 10 gallon looks super awesome!! You might think about trimming the Hydrocotyl there in the middle front, it's getting tall


yes on the rotala its going to fill that corner its just really short right now

and yea its getting really tall, i will probably thin that out again this week.


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## orchidman (Dec 15, 2010)

marioman72 said:


> yes on the rotala its going to fill that corner its just really short right now
> 
> and yea its getting really tall, i will probably thin that out again this week.


Gotcha, can't wait to see it grow in then!

That H. sib$%^& is such a great plant! I really need to find some more!


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

orchidman said:


> Gotcha, can't wait to see it grow in then!
> 
> That H. sib$%^& is such a great plant! I really need to find some more!


i always have a tun of it especially once the mat in the 20g grows in. i can send you some


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## orchidman (Dec 15, 2010)

marioman72 said:


> i always have a tun of it especially once the mat in the 20g grows in. i can send you some


How cold is it there? Its in the mid 30's here..I'm not sure if that would be too cold..But thank you for the offer! If you think it would survive, then I would love some...


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

yea, its about the same over here. its actually 19 degrees today! so cold! but it should be fine as long as it dosnt stay out to long. i ur willing to pay for shipping i can send some the next time i do a big trim.


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## orchidman (Dec 15, 2010)

marioman72 said:


> yea, its about the same over here. its actually 19 degrees today! so cold! but it should be fine as long as it dosnt stay out to long. i ur willing to pay for shipping i can send some the next time i do a big trim.


Yeah send me a pm if you do, I would definitely do that! Thanks!


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

orchidman said:


> Yeah send me a pm if you do, I would definitely do that! Thanks!


np man!


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## orchidman (Dec 15, 2010)

marioman72 said:


> np man!


:icon_lol::icon_lol::icon_lol::icon_lol::icon_lol::icon_lol:


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

everything is growing crazy amount in the 20g, did a little trim a couple days ago. the E. tenulls is growing crazy tall too could def use a big trim back to keep it a little shorter. some of the leaves are almost as ling at my spiralis. 

i removed my blyxa out of the 10g last night and moved it to the 30g. the texture wasnt working towards the scape. so i just moved some of the DHG to the open spot to let it fill in that area. should transition though the hydrocotle better then the mounding growth of the blyxa.

no idea why but this week my HC started to yellow a little. so hopefully with my new Pfertz regimen it will come back to life a little better.


_DSC6456 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6455 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6458 by marioman72, on Flickr


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## orchidman (Dec 15, 2010)

Nice! I agree the blyxa will look better elsewhere! Let us know how you like the Pferts! I use the Brightwell aquatics line (albeit un-regularily) but its in a super low light and low tech tank, so I don't notice any differences.


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

orchidman said:


> Nice! I agree the blyxa will look better elsewhere! Let us know how you like the Pferts! I use the Brightwell aquatics line (albeit un-regularily) but its in a super low light and low tech tank, so I don't notice any differences.


yea we will see what happens with growth.


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

my 10gs pH plummeted to 6.0 or below over night today no idea why, still trying to figure it out. going to keep a close check on it now that i got it back up to a stable amount around 6.8 witch most of my tanks usually run at. but i lost about 7 shrimp 4 of witch were amanos the other PFRs. i relocated the rest to the 20g just in-case. the fish are a little more hardy to a ph change then the shrimp if its going to keep going up and down while i try and figure out the mystery. im hoping it will stay higher over night, if not something might be leaching from the diy co2 bottles cause that the only thing that i changed. i redid the co2 mixture cause it was running out. :/ other then that the only other thing i can think of is if i over dosed the pferts not thinking? idk if that would change anything that drastic? we will see as i rule out the problems.


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## orchidman (Dec 15, 2010)

I am pretty sure that a higher amount of CO2 concentration in the water will reduce your PH. I'm guessing re-doing the DIY CO2 caused the shift. Maybe someone who knows for sure will be able to confirm this?


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

havnt had an update in quite a while now, a lot has grown and been trimmed and moved around a little bit hear and there. the 20g is moving along quite nicely and added some glosso yesterday! one of the LFS had some available and did a little trade for some of my hydrocotyle. should look nice as the foreground. tho i really like the sand as it sits now. the 10g has been formed into a nice bush. just waiting for the fissdens i added in the front to fill in and my HC to come back to life from a little melt i had not to long ago.

not to sure whats going on with he water but its really yellow similar to the color of tannins but there isn't any bit of wood in the tank. not sure how it got there anyone have some ideas nothing has changed just appeared out of no wear one day. i tried cleaning the filter, did numerous water changes. all of the levels r stable not sure at all what its from :/

anyways here are some of my fancy pictures i took last night after putting all the glosso in 


_DSC6646 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6645 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6641 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6640 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6638 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6637 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6635 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6633 by marioman72, on Flickr


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## chubky (Dec 31, 2012)

Your tank looks awesome!


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## sundragon (Jan 10, 2011)

Is the 10G a derimmed standard sized tank? These both look fantastic!


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

chubky said:


> Your tank looks awesome!


thank you!



sundragon said:


> Is the 10G a derimmed standard sized tank? These both look fantastic!


yes its derimmed worked out pretty well. i wish i new that it was possible for the 20g before i started it years ago but theirs always next time!


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## Adamson (Mar 2, 2012)

The rasporas look great in there!


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## ophiophagus (Mar 5, 2012)

Both gorgeous tanks. Great job


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## orchidman (Dec 15, 2010)

Loving the way the 10 gallon looks!


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

Adamson said:


> The rasporas look great in there!


thanks! i love the harlequins but i wish i put some espei rasboras instead :\ i love the orange much better



ophiophagus said:


> Both gorgeous tanks. Great job


thank you! 



orchidman said:


> Loving the way the 10 gallon looks!



yea its coming along nicely, cant wait for the fissdens to fill in will deff change the look once it gets fluffy haha


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## Conrad283 (Dec 10, 2012)

The tanks look great. Great job with both of them.


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

Conrad283 said:


> The tanks look great. Great job with both of them.


thank you


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

Well bad news for the 10g tank :/ every fish tank goers worst nightmare happened last night in my house. So here what went down. me and a friend of mine were trying to lift the tank a small amount to level it with some small pieces of paper. and as soon as it left the ground, his hand went strait through the side of the tank and all 10 gallons of the water went into my room and emptied into my walls and under the hardwood floor fml right?. but the worst thing of all due to the horrible blizzard we just got the power went out just as all this happened. literately the hand went threw the tank and it turned off. like the cracking glass was a switch or something :::::: so worst case scenario happened. im just glad my 29g didn't break lol.

well i salvaged what i could and was more worried about soaking up water then the fishes safety so i lost about half of the fish and not sure how many shrimp. but all of the plants were safe luckily i guess. once the power comes back on in a couple days we will see what happens. anybody have any ideas to keeping a tank warm with no power lol?? im so f#%$ed


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

well due to the death of the 10g this thread will be focused on just the 20g witch im going to recape compeltly in the very near future! hopfully with will look much btter then the cluttered mess that it is right now. everything is super over grown and just a huge jungle no real clear focus as in my other tanks. soo in hope of a new start im going to restart the design. hoping that my little shrimp Babbie's dont get hurt in the change! 

My new tank that replaced the 10g that i just set up recently with no plants so far and not sure if im going to be adding any; is a 12in cube rimless tank by deep blue, very good looking tank and much better quality then the 10g. might be trying my hand at breed CPDs in this tank and trade my blushing tetras for thos puppies. or just keep my blushing tetras because it looks very cool almost alien like with the entirely rock scape. should make a new thread for just that tank maybe combine it with my 1.5g betta tank thats betta less ATM.

well anyways thats my update for now! i will post pics as i make the before and after of the change.


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## GMYukonon24s (May 3, 2009)

Nice setup! I like everything about this tank.


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## scapegoat (Jun 3, 2010)

that 20g looks beautiful. i'm embarrassed by mine now!


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## orchidman (Dec 15, 2010)

Sorry to hear about the tank! It was really spectacular!


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## Conrad283 (Dec 10, 2012)

Yeah, that stinks about the 10g. That was a nice one


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

GMYukonon24s said:


> Nice setup! I like everything about this tank.


thanks!



scapegoat said:


> that 20g looks beautiful. i'm embarrassed by mine now!


never be embarrassed just aspire to make your even better! but thanks!



orchidman said:


> Sorry to hear about the tank! It was really spectacular!


yea it sucks :/ luckily no water damage that we can see 



Conrad283 said:


> Yeah, that stinks about the 10g. That was a nice one


agreed haha it was coming along nicely, on to bigger and better thigns! like the 12in cube tank haha



over all though im super excited to rescape the 20g and make it look really realy nice. trying to research right now ideas on how to approach this scape this time and make it super stunning.


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

Ok everyone sorry for the delay but heres the new scape! evething is heavly settled in somethings need some rearanging and or trimming but its a start!

got some new shrimps and fish too! i now have a tun of PFR shrimps and one CSR some were in the mix. the ammanos, and lastly the new tangerine tiger shrimps witch r super cool got them at the LFS when they had a new selection of some very different fish. other wise i got tun of baby cardinal tetras witch i traded for the blue tetras because they ended up eating my little shrimps :/ extremely awesome fish but they def need their space.

heres the pics!

mr tiger shrimp:

_DSC7049 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC7051 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC7052 by marioman72, on Flickr


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## sdaugherty (Feb 13, 2013)

I really like the fixture for hanging your light. Tanks look great.


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## Aquatic Delight (Mar 2, 2012)

i really dig this look. i wish i could be okay with open space in my tanks


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

Great scape. The wood/ moss looks a little messy but that will clean up over time :thumbsup:


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## alipper (Nov 6, 2012)

Love your scapes man.


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## skoram (Aug 9, 2012)

these are some of the most beautiful and natural looking scapes I've seen on this forum.


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## orchidman (Dec 15, 2010)

Lookin' good! If I were you, I'd yank out all of those plants on the sand, and have a clean sand bed!


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

Hello everyone! its been quite a while since i posted on the forum but im back at least for the time being ! took a couple of pics tonight and looking back at my last post on this thread, all i can say is wow has this tank grown a lot. so much so its almost time for another restart. going to be changing this tank and the 30g in the next few weeks ive grown tired of my scapes ive been mantaing these past few months and its time for a change while i have some free time! well anyways heres my new update on the tank!


_DSC8424 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC8426 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC8432 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC8433 by marioman72, on Flickr


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