# New 75g with Universal Rocks 3D background... (long w/ a surprise twist)



## klibs

whoa


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## Freemananana

Pretty awesome background. I'd go to some extended lengths to hide the longer strainer and maybe switch up the power head to hide it behind the wall as well. There are plumbing options available to relocate it.


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## Joe Schmoe

There....are....so...many...
http://youtu.be/lnqSllrscy0


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## Joe Schmoe

I finally threw some plants in the tank. It's a mish mash of stuff that hopefully will be low maintenance. One of the plants sprouted a cool flower. I also plumbed an air hose and airstone into the canister outflow nozzle so I could get rid of that unsightly powerhead. I might plumb CO2 into that at some point. The Danios seem to be growing more slowly. Hopefully it wont be much longer before I can take them to a LFS and move on with my plans.


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## Joe Schmoe

....and now, 4 months after this began, the "baby" Danios none of which are longer than an inch are having babies of their own. Make it stop!!!!

I can't see why Petsmart can charge $5 each for these things. They have to be right up there with guppies as the easiest fish to breed.

Lastly, on a weird side note, I began dosing with Excel and I swear it has caused deformations in some of the fish. There were a couple that weren't right before I added the plants, but that number seems much bigger now.


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## Valkyrie

Awesome tank. Where did you find your 3D backgound?


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## Axelrodi202

Yes, glutaraldehyde (Excel active ingredient) causes DNA damage.


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## The Dude1

Axelrodi202 said:


> Yes, glutaraldehyde (Excel active ingredient) causes DNA damage.


Where is this information coming from? Gluteraldehyde is a pretty basic organic compound. Short of some form of viral therapy it isn't possible for it to damage DNA. There could POSSIBLY be some cellular damage from direct prolonged contact, but certainly not DNA. Aldehydes are highly reactive organic compounds and their use is so common place that I couldn't even speculate on a number... millions? Hundreds of millions of reactions? Negatively charged anions attack the carbon portion of the double bond creating an oxygen anion and from there the reaction proceeds... it's very basic
And that background is incredible. The placement and selection of plants works really well. Nice job.


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## GrampsGrunge

Danions, yup, if the conditions are right, they'll lay all sorts of eggs and you'll have fry.


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## Joe Schmoe

I totally followed all of that  . Anyhow, I'm having a green filamentary algae issue. Stuff is extremely quick to grow. Although it's generally believed that SAEs don't bother with algae when they are full-grown, I had an SAE that was either going to make itself useful by eating it or it was going to be given away. After a few days in the tank and very stingy feeding of the Danios I was pleased to see he "discovered" the algae and literally mowed the lawn for me in one day. Very happy about that. Plants are growing very well and the Apogenton in the center is tossing up a flower of it's own. The other flower finally ran it's course and this new one looks like it's going to stick WAY out of the top of the tank. This will be interesting. I'm also learning to embrace the nuisance snails. If I keep the front and sides clear of algae they focus solely on removing algae from the background and the artificial rocks. As long as they aren't on the glass they don't draw the eye as much so it's a good balance.

So, my low-maintenance low-care setup right now is: 

Ferts: one flourish tab under each plant, 1.5 capfuls of Excel per day. I put one capful of the Excel behind the background to be taken by the reverse-flow poweheads and delivered thru the undergravel filter (hypothetically - I have no way of measuring that) and one half capful in the front. That's it....I don't want to do more than that. Either plants grow with this or they don't. 

Lighting: the newer Finnex 24/7 set on the 24/7 cycle. The cycle is poorly programmed by Finnex but it keeps the light to very conservative levels much of the day and makes things interesting to look at.

Filtration: Fluval 405 with no carbon. 

Water changes: I've done a whole ONE water change since setting up the tank. Shrug. I intend to do more, but not much more. I'm not going to turn this tank into a weekly water-change monster. Either it works this way or it doesn't.

As for the newer batch of Danio babies behind the background - I've decided to let them fend for themselves with no effort from me. If they make it back there, good for them. But they are on their own. I'll keep them back there when I get rid of the first batch and if they grow and continue to survive that's fine with me.



Valkyrie said:


> Awesome tank. Where did you find your 3D backgound?


Thanks! It's from http://www.universalrocks.com Expensive but IMO worth it in a tank that has extra horizontal depth.

Oh, on a side note, I'm really nervous about the appearance of the seams at the corners of the tank. They aren't consistent and tight. I suppose the sealant they use is really strong, but I'm considering adding beads of additional sealant on each corner on the outside. I can't think it would cause more harm, and I think I can buy pre-formed beads of window-weld and apply them and keep it from looking too sloppy on the two front seams. The two rear seams don't matter so much from a looks perspective.


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## The Dude1

That's crazy with the Danio's but super interesting. Man do they look cool in the blue light! I showed my wife and she asked "oh those are pretty, why don't you have any?" What is your intended stock? I love the sword on the left side. What kind is it? I don't think there is too much you can do that would detract from the awesomeness that background gives you! 
I picked up some Nerite snails today. Hopefully some Amano shrimp this week. They are awesome for keeping the plants algae free and giving some room for error.


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## Joe Schmoe

Don't really know which fish I'll go for. I've never had shrimp and want to give them a try, so something compatible with those. The sword on the left is a red melon sword.

The aponogeton flower bloomed. It's kind of interesting what it does. The stem grows and then it fills the stem with what I assume is oxygen at the top so the stem floats on the surface. The flower then grows up from the floating stem. Even though I keep the water level intentionally low the flower is still taller than the available space above the surface.


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