# My 55g is finally up and running!!! New Picture 3/7/11



## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

Hello everyone! 
I been waiting for this day for way too long but it's finally here, my 55g tank is up and running! It's a good thing too because once the new addition to the family comes in January I doubt I would be able to set it up. 

Now a little info on the tank with some pictures!

The tank: 55g
Lights: Coralife 48" 2x65w
Substrate: Mineralized Top Soil toped with Ceramaquarts T-Grade, about 60lb+ of it.
Filter: AquaClear 110

*Flora:*
Anubias 'nana'
Java fern
Dwarf Sag.
Ludwigia repens
Hygrophila sp. 'Tiger' or 'Bold'- not sure


The list probably will grow, but this is what I have now and it will be added as soon as the water clears up 

*Fauna:*
Crown Tail Betta
Rummy nose tetras
Neon tetra
Sparkling gourami

The rest are not decided yet, and maybe my CPDs will call it home  

03/07/2011



















More pictures on the last page 

01/04/2011










12/07/2010










12/05/2010



















12/01/10


















Getting ready to add MTS... I sprinkled some clay on top and mixed the rest with soil... 









The rest of process got very very messy so no pictures of that but this is the end result  It also took me a long time because being 8 months pregnant makes it a bit difficult. 












The tank was filled up yesterday night and it still very cloudy... :frown:
For some reason it looks even more cloudy to me now than yesterday... maybe it's just me.... 

How long does it usually take for a 55g tank to clear up?


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## OoglyBoogly (Oct 19, 2010)

Yay CPDs! If you get a chance can you please take a closeup pic of your ceramaquartz? I'm interested in seeing it in a tank and not just in a pic of some corporate product shot


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

OoglyBoogly said:


> Yay CPDs! If you get a chance can you please take a closeup pic of your ceramaquartz? I'm interested in seeing it in a tank and not just in a pic of some corporate product shot


I love CPDs, will be doing another breeding project in my 10g soon  
Thanks for reminding me because I do have comparison pictures of colorquartz and ceramaquarts, I was planing to posting them and forgot  
I will post that as soon as I get some food in me :icon_cool


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## Nue (Dec 27, 2009)

FOOD! Looking good, Yes more pics of the substrate!


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## Captivate05 (Feb 23, 2010)

Doing that eight months pregnant must have been a real challenge! I'm at 24 weeks, and my belly already pushes on my 29g when I'm playing in it...

Good luck with it! It'll be a fun project to do when you have a little baby with you. :bounce:


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

As promised pictures of the substrate!
Pictures are not the greatest so I am posting a couple... 

3M Colorquartz is on the left, Estes Ceramaquarts is on the right.














































And this is my tank as of today... Very cloudy and I don't know why. I think sand might be not deep enough. My 10g tank is MTS with colorquarts and it wasn't this cloudy. Should I add some more sand? I poked at it a bit to let out air bubbles and sand was a bit cloudy, so that makes me think it's not deep enough. Sand was washed very well so it must be MTS. I also only put 50lb of sand, I do have 1 more bag so maybe I should add a bit more?


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

Captivate05 said:


> Doing that eight months pregnant must have been a real challenge! I'm at 24 weeks, and my belly already pushes on my 29g when I'm playing in it...
> 
> Good luck with it! It'll be a fun project to do when you have a little baby with you. :bounce:


Thanks! 
I can''t wait to plant it, will be so relaxing for me to watch it when the little one is here:icon_mrgr I am waiting for it to clear up a bit and water to be warmer so I can plant it already. 

I must admit it wasn't easy, I was beat! Hubby did help a bit, he doesn't know much about planted tanks but he is very good and bringing buckets of water  
My belly is on the way too, like a lot, I am 33 weeks right now and I feel like I will have a gravitational pole soon :hihi: :icon_conf 
But if I didn't do it now there is no way this tank would be set up any time soon.


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

So I decided to add a bit more sand... and... I think I over did it. I am gonna leave it as is and come back to it tomorrow and start planting. Hopefully cloudy water will go away!


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## Nue (Dec 27, 2009)

Cool, looks the same to me. Glad to hear/see. Thanks! A water-change might fix your cloudiness.


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## OoglyBoogly (Oct 19, 2010)

Oo thank you SO much for the side by side comparison! You are awesome!


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## OoglyBoogly (Oct 19, 2010)

funkyfish said:


> So I decided to add a bit more sand... and... I think I over did it. I am gonna leave it as is and come back to it tomorrow and start planting. Hopefully cloudy water will go away!


Do a water change soon to help clear up the cloudy water... Hubby is key here :icon_mrgr


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## Captivate05 (Feb 23, 2010)

funkyfish said:


> Thanks!
> I can''t wait to plant it, will be so relaxing for me to watch it when the little one is here:icon_mrgr I am waiting for it to clear up a bit and water to be warmer so I can plant it already.
> 
> I must admit it wasn't easy, I was beat! Hubby did help a bit, he doesn't know much about planted tanks but he is very good and bringing buckets of water
> ...


Just wait until you're closer to 40 weeks. :hihi:

At least your hubby helped you out. My fiance whines every time I ask him to help me with the tanks. Sometimes I can guilt him into things, but so far I'll just deal with it until he can't stand to watch me struggle.


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## OoglyBoogly (Oct 19, 2010)

You two should just drop a small bucket of water and scare them into thinking your water broke... that will teach them... and by "bucket of water" i mean whatever amount of water would be convincing... lol I have absolutely 0 knowledge about what that is supposed to look like. 

goodluck with the little ones! Tanks are so awesome for little children... I captivate my 3 year old nephew with goldfish feeding time.


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

Nue said:


> Cool, looks the same to me. Glad to hear/see. Thanks! A water-change might fix your cloudiness.





OoglyBoogly said:


> Oo thank you SO much for the side by side comparison! You are awesome!


No problem :icon_mrgr 
As you can tell I do have some free time on my hands :hihi:

I did a little water change today, I mean hubby did :icon_cool Hopefully it will help to clear it up. Gonna start moving some plants from my 10g tomorrow!


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

Captivate05 said:


> Just wait until you're closer to 40 weeks. :hihi:
> 
> At least your hubby helped you out. My fiance whines every time I ask him to help me with the tanks. Sometimes I can guilt him into things, but so far I'll just deal with it until he can't stand to watch me struggle.


It's like around the corner and to tell the truth I am pretty much done, wouldn't mind this little one to come a bit early. :icon_mrgr

My hubby been extra attentive lately and I must admit I love it and milking it till the end  
And you are totally allowed to guilt your fiance into doing things, I would do it more often especially later on in your pregnancy  
I do it too, I do feel bad sometimes for like a minute because he works a lot and stuff but hey I'm growing a whole person and it's not been a very easy pregnancy for me so I get over it very quickly :hihi:


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

OoglyBoogly said:


> You two should just drop a small bucket of water and scare them into thinking your water broke... that will teach them... and by "bucket of water" i mean whatever amount of water would be convincing... lol I have absolutely 0 knowledge about what that is supposed to look like.
> 
> goodluck with the little ones! Tanks are so awesome for little children... I captivate my 3 year old nephew with goldfish feeding time.



LOL I think my hubby will have a heart attack! And I have no idea how and what it supposed to look like ether :icon_conf 

Thanks! I think tanks are great for kids better than TV


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

OK so I am getting a bit frustrated... The tank is not clearing up!
I did a water change yesterday and it still not looking better. It's definitely not MTS, I think it's Ceramaquarts, I thought I rinsed it well but apparently not. My tank has like a grayish/black fog and I only hope that it will get better. I wanted to do some planting today but that's not happening. I think I will wait and do couple of more water changes... *sigh* 

Here is a picture of the tank as of today :icon_conf
12/03/10









This one was taken yesterday before the water change
12/02/10









So as anyone can see water change didn't help much. Now to a lot of quaetions...

Anyone has any suggestions?! 
Should I still plant it? Will plants help clear out the water? Should I continue with 50% water changes every couple of days? Will this somehow negatively effect my tank?


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

I'd wait it out a bit and see if adding plants help. If not, water changes will be your friend. I'm sending out the plants in the am, by the way. You may want to float them in a bucket and pick out what you want to keep or toss.


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

sewingalot said:


> I'd wait it out a bit and see if adding plants help. If not, water changes will be your friend. I'm sending out the plants in the am, by the way. You may want to float them in a bucket and pick out what you want to keep or toss.


Yeah that's what I'm gonna do, wait a bit and see if more water changes needed. I am just so impatient LOL 
I also gonna pick up some filter floss to add to the filter in hopes it will trap small particles better than original sponge. 
And I can't wait to receive the plants :bounce: Thanks!!! :icon_mrgr


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## requiem (Oct 25, 2008)

bit of a sidetrack but future congrats!! My little guy is almost 4 months old and I`m *starting* to have a *tiny bit* of free time per day. So I`m back in tank brainstorming mode. He does enjoy staring at my tank (ok so he`s mostly staring at the bright light, his favorite thing to stare at in any given room - so what :icon_mrgr )


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Sent you the plants this morning, funkyfish. Algae is free, don't worry about compensation. :biggrin: How is the water doing?


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

sewingalot said:


> Sent you the plants this morning, funkyfish. Algae is free, don't worry about compensation. :biggrin: How is the water doing?


Thank you!!! The water is no better I actually think it might be a bit worst :icon_conf I seriously prefer algae, maybe algae will clear up the water? LOL 
I am going to get some filter floss today and will do 50% water change, hopefully it will help. 
Thank you so much Sara! ♥


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## Jaggedfury (Sep 11, 2010)

Throw some filter floss and polishing pads into the AC110 and give it a few hours. Suprised that AC110 isn't clearing that cloudiness up. I have two AC110 on a 55gallon myself with a FX5 Canister Filter, Crystal clear


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

Jaggedfury said:


> Throw some filter floss and polishing pads into the AC110 and give it a few hours. Suprised that AC110 isn't clearing that cloudiness up. I have two AC110 on a 55gallon myself with a FX5 Canister Filter, Crystal clear


That's what I will be doing, waiting for hubby to get home so we can go to fishstore to get some filter floss  
And I think it's happening because I didn't wash ceramaquarts as good as I though  

And what are polishing pads?


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

requiem said:


> bit of a sidetrack but future congrats!! My little guy is almost 4 months old and I`m *starting* to have a *tiny bit* of free time per day. So I`m back in tank brainstorming mode. He does enjoy staring at my tank (ok so he`s mostly staring at the bright light, his favorite thing to stare at in any given room - so what :icon_mrgr )


Thank you! I hope this little one will grow up loving the hobby :icon_mrgr


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

Came back from the trip to LFS picked up some filter floss and polishing pads, did a little more than 50% water change. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

I also picked up some Water Spryte which is in the tank already and I got a very cute little crown tail Betta  Once the tank is ready he will love his new home for now he is in my 2.5g for quarantine! 

I really really really hope that the water will clear up with this water change!


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## OoglyBoogly (Oct 19, 2010)

Did it clear up?


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Good question. How is the water? I hope the plants make it to you alive! It is freeeeeezing here. Been snowing all weekend.


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

OoglyBoogly said:


> Did it clear up?


It did! It did!  It's not completely clear but it will get there. I did a big water change yesterday and it helped a lot so today I planted some plants. 



sewingalot said:


> Good question. How is the water? I hope the plants make it to you alive! It is freeeeeezing here. Been snowing all weekend.


I will post some pictures  
And I hope the plants will survive, but I think they will be OK I have hope!


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

Here is some picture from today. 
The big water change and addition of filter floss with polishing pad helped a lot. I might need to do one more big water change but we'll see what happens in 2 days. 
I actually did a little planting today 

So far the plant list is:

Anubias 'Nana'
Java Fern
Cryptocorine Wendtii
Dwarf Sagitaria
Ludwigia Repens broad leaf and narrow leaf
Water Spryte

12/05/2010


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Much, much better. I can actually see the plants. :biggrin:


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## OoglyBoogly (Oct 19, 2010)

I'd read that once your bacteria starts to establish itself along with other lifey goodness that the biofilm and other stuff will start to cause the haze causing particles to clump together. Water changes can't hurt though this early in the process 

Ugh too much reading sorry I can't provide a source for this blurb...


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

sewingalot said:


> Much, much better. I can actually see the plants. :biggrin:


I know! I am so excited, can't wait until I can see some growth and add some fishes 



OoglyBoogly said:


> I'd read that once your bacteria starts to establish itself along with other lifey goodness that the biofilm and other stuff will start to cause the haze causing particles to clump together. Water changes can't hurt though this early in the process
> 
> Ugh too much reading sorry I can't provide a source for this blurb...


I hope all of that happens soon because I want to add some fish already. I will do one more big water change in a day or so and then I will wait till water parameters are safe for fish


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

Some more pictures:

12/06/2010
Thank you Sara!!! ♥ 
The plants survived the bitter cold and waiting to be planted.


















12/07/2010
The tank is planted and I can't wait to see some growth! One more water change will be done in couple fo days to clear up the water even more. 










This is the new guy, my crown tail betta. He is still pretty small and for now he is in my 2.5g but soon he will call this tank his home


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

I am going to be late for work, but I wanted to say something in your journal. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

LOL When I worked I was always fashionably late 5min :hihi:

I will post some pictures of the plants you sent me so maybe you could help me identify them


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## problemman (Aug 19, 2005)

looking good funky!


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

Thank you!


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## OoglyBoogly (Oct 19, 2010)

what a huge improvement from the murky abyss from a few days ago!

Sarah gives a ridiculous amount of plants lol. I got a package from her like 2 months ago and I called my friend up to brag about how many new plants I got XD

Haha true sign of planted tank nerdiness... when you call people to brag about your new plants...


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

OMG LOL I did the same thing I called my friend and then actually posted a satus on facebook :hihi: 
Sara is awesome! 
I'm actually reading your journal right now and I hope my tank will look like yours soon


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## problemman (Aug 19, 2005)

lol when you go to facebook and post you know you have a real problem with being a nerd!!!!!!!! so i guess im counted as one!


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

problemman said:


> lol when you go to facebook and post you know you have a real problem with being a nerd!!!!!!!! so i guess im counted as one!


Word "Nerd" usually seen often in my status replies :hihi:


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

Whatcha guys talkin bout? Nice tank funky. Great start. Babies love fishtanks BTW.


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## OoglyBoogly (Oct 19, 2010)

funkyfish said:


> OMG LOL I did the same thing I called my friend and then actually posted a satus on facebook :hihi:
> Sara is awesome!
> I'm actually reading your journal right now and I hope my tank will look like yours soon


heh I'm a bit dissapointed with my tank but I'm going to try and learn from the mistakes and make a better one with my new project. =P I took advantage of that petco sale/free shipping and ordered 8x bags of eco complete to cap off soil that I will use in a dry start. I have most of the materials, now I just need to build a table for it all =/


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

chad320 said:


> Whatcha guys talkin bout? Nice tank funky. Great start. Babies love fishtanks BTW.


Thank you! I really hope this set up will have the same results as my 10g and it will just as entertaining for baby as TV :icon_smil
And we were talking about how nerdy it is to post a facebook status about our fishtanks :hihi:


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

OoglyBoogly said:


> heh I'm a bit dissapointed with my tank but I'm going to try and learn from the mistakes and make a better one with my new project. =P I took advantage of that petco sale/free shipping and ordered 8x bags of eco complete to cap off soil that I will use in a dry start. I have most of the materials, now I just need to build a table for it all =/


Don't be disappointed! I think it turned out great! Can't wait for your new project  I think this hobby is alway will be teaching us something that's why it's great.


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## Captivate05 (Feb 23, 2010)

It looks great! 

...I post FaceBook updates on my tanks pretty much daily. I have no life :flick: Then again, my tank has been fighting with me on a daily basis, and every little bit of it has been entirely my fault. It's not even frustrating anymore, it's entertaining. Frustrating is my two year old who doesn't believe in sleep.

Fun fact: my daughter adores the shrimp tanks (which I took a grand total of 15 minutes to set up), and couldn't care less about my 29g (which I've poured my heart and soul into). So I put my BTOES are in her room, and she loves to watch them and calls them "happies". She corrects me on that too, if I should dare call them shrimp to her face. "No, happies" *points at tank* "Happies mama". Oh ok, my bad. I thought they were called shrimp. :hihi:


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

I think I liked the Sara is awesome comments better than the facebook ones. :hihi: Just joshing a bit. I am too addicted to stupid Zynga games to update my facebook with fish stuff. Most of my facebook friends don't even know I have a fishtank.  I always warn people not to ask for plants from me if they don't want a lot or algae. Now you both know what I am talking about. LOL


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

Captivate05 said:


> It looks great!
> 
> ...I post FaceBook updates on my tanks pretty much daily. I have no life :flick: Then again, my tank has been fighting with me on a daily basis, and every little bit of it has been entirely my fault. It's not even frustrating anymore, it's entertaining. Frustrating is my two year old who doesn't believe in sleep.
> 
> Fun fact: my daughter adores the shrimp tanks (which I took a grand total of 15 minutes to set up), and couldn't care less about my 29g (which I've poured my heart and soul into). So I put my BTOES are in her room, and she loves to watch them and calls them "happies". She corrects me on that too, if I should dare call them shrimp to her face. "No, happies" *points at tank* "Happies mama". Oh ok, my bad. I thought they were called shrimp. :hihi:


Thank you! I think I am starting to see little growth :bounce:
I really hope this tank will be easy maintaince like my 10g, we'll see. *fingers crossed*
Oh my not believing in sleep would be very bad in my house. I really hope this little one will turn out like me who loves sleep, but I think this is not going to happen because she already keeping me up at night and on my last ultrasound this past week I swear she was giving us a finger :icon_eek: LOL

LOL @ Happies! I like it I think I will call my shrimp that from now on :icon_mrgr



sewingalot said:


> I think I liked the Sara is awesome comments better than the facebook ones. :hihi: Just joshing a bit. I am too addicted to stupid Zynga games to update my facebook with fish stuff. Most of my facebook friends don't even know I have a fishtank.  I always warn people not to ask for plants from me if they don't want a lot or algae. Now you both know what I am talking about. LOL


I only state the facts, you are awesome! :thumbsup:
And I had to cut down on my Zynga games. Right now I am addicted to Cafe world the most  I actually have a whole album on facebook with my tanks :hihi:


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Any pictures to show your struggles with anaerobic soil?


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

I will post some pictures this weekend


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

You better. I am feeling neglected. LOL


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

Quick update:

Still dealing with air/gas pockets in my substrate. I again dug up all the plants in attempts to get as many of these air pockets out as possible, they are deep in my MTS. Most plants are doing well they have nice roots, but some are not and those are the plants that had the worst pockets underneath them. Hopefully they will do better once I replant them. I ordered some Root Medic root tabs for my 10g and I will add some to this tank into most planted places in hopes it will give plants a little boost. 

I also bough a very nice piece of drift wood so I will do a little rescape. I am boiling the wood as I type this but it should be ready to go tomorrow.  

The water parameters are all great and that makes me feel good. I also got 5 cardinals to add to the tank, I will be getting some more along with rummy-nose tetras, the rest of the fish is still unknown. Possibly Apistos and something else but what that is the question. 

I wanted to take some pictures but because of all the substrate pocking my water is pretty cloudy and most of the plants are floating so I will take some pictures once I rescape and replant in the next couple of days. 

I hope everyone had an awesome New Year celebration! May this New Year be the best year for us all!!! ♥


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Happy New Year! I am sad that you are having problems with your soil, but I still expect some pictures soon. LOL. :>


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

sewingalot said:


> Happy New Year! I am sad that you are having problems with your soil, but I still expect some pictures soon. LOL. :>


I am a little bothered by it but it's ok, it was my fault I don't think I mixed the soil well when I added it, I was to excited LOL! I also got to remember that 55g is a lot different than 10g. My betta is doing great tho, and the cardinals are in there too and they seem very comfortable  Most plants seem to be doing well I just expected to see some crazy growth which I am sure will happen once the plants acclimate properly, me digging around all the time is not helping them LOL

And I promisse pictures will be up soon I still need some IDs on some plants :biggrin:


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

Took some pictures of my new Malaysian drift wood I boiled it for couple of hours now it's soaking in the bucket, might boil it once more to get as much tonins (sp?) out as possible. 










































Here is MR. Scrappy 










And here are pictures of some plants I need help to ID.
The quality of pictures is not the best... sorry.

#1
This one is doing great, I have hard time keeping it in the substrate tho... 









#2
I love this one but a lot of leaves melted away but it's holding on, hoping it will come back with a bang.









#3
This one is doing good and I really like this plant especially the way it smells... or is it just me and my weird preggo hormones? 









#4
Sunset hydro? 
It's doing ok, some leaves melted away but it does have some shoots coming out.









#5
This one os holding on seems to be doing ok, has some growth. 









#6
This one is in my 10g the only one that still holding on, I hope it will come back once I add some root tabs. Say hello to my CPD


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

1. Lagarosiphon madagascariensis - I think this is what wasserpest told me. Not positive, though.
2. Ludwigia brevipes - This plant is notorious for melting in the beginning. Don't worry, it bounces back quickly. I lost all but one stem when I first got it and it eventually took over the tank.
3. Clinopodium brownei - And no, you aren't imagining the smell. It's a mint plant. 
4. sold to me as Hygrophila sp. 'Tiger' or 'Bold' - do not know which it is.
5. Lindernia rotundfolia 'varigated' - This plant will do well even without co2 after it acclimates.
6. Is this yellowish? If so, it's Nesaea Pedicellata 'golden.' It's a difficult plant in general, so don't feel bad if you loose it. I pitched what I didn't send to you. I was sick of its temperamental state.

Your plants look good. You are too hard on yourself. I have a feeling the soil will be fine in a few weeks with plants to take hold and your poking the soil. 

By the way, the CPD is hilarious! Toooooo cute. :biggrin:


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

PS. Mr Scrappy is adorable!


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

Thanks Sara for all the IDs :biggrin:
Some plants are starting to look better I just can't wait to see some real growth.

The pictures were taken a while back so the plants not looking as good, but I think they starting to look up now. 

And Mr Scrappy is fascinating, I never seen a happier betta


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

Finally some pictures of the tank. I am not completely happy with the scape so it will change but I will let the plants grow for a bit because it's like 3rd time I dug them up and replanted. 
I welcome any suggestions regarding the scape. Would love to hear opinions :biggrin:
I was thinking moving the big piece of wood to the right so all the stem plants can grow in the back of it... 

01/04/2011 





































Pictures are taken with my new camera  Nikon Coolpix L110  Still learning it but so far I love it!!!


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

I also would love to hear sugestion on what fish should I get.

I am thinking to get a pair of Apistos
Some schooling fish like Rummy nose. Last time I checked my pH it was around 8, will they be OK? 
A pair of Angels maybe?! 

I am at a total loss at what fish to get... I am planing to get some this week because my tank looks empty. Help!!!


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## kwheeler91 (May 26, 2009)

probably not. 8 is pretty high for species that are naturally found in soft acidic water


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

kwheeler91 said:


> probably not. 8 is pretty high for species that are naturally found in soft acidic water


That is mine concern. I really like them tho and hear they are great schooling fish... :icon_conf


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

funkyfish said:


> Pictures are taken with my new camera  Nikon Coolpix L110  Still learning it but so far I love it!!!


Nice camera! Don't be so hard on yourself, the tank is very pretty! I would maybe space the two pieces on the left a little further apart, but I am the last one to give advice on hardscapes.


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

sewingalot said:


> Nice camera! Don't be so hard on yourself, the tank is very pretty! I would maybe space the two pieces on the left a little further apart, but I am the last one to give advice on hardscapes.


Thanks! I love the new camera and it's right on time for the new baby :biggrin:

I think I am actually happy with the tank at this point so I will leave it alone for a while to let the plants grow in before rescaping, I do think those two pieces of wood should be moved. I will also attach more anubias, anubias petite and java fern to the big piece of wood.


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

I really like it. I think the addition of more anubias and java will just make it much nicer.


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

Thanks! That is the plan, but need to wait a bit until I can get some more plants. I just want to see some growth already!!! I am so impatient I am and preggo hormones don't help... I only got a week left tho :biggrin:


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

You only have a week left?!? I wanna see pictures posted on the site immediately on the big day. :biggrin:


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

Yes only a week left maybe less, depending if doctor wants to get her out sooner due to gestational diabetes, will find out on Wednesday. I can believe it I am finally almost done with this pregnancy, I feel like I been preggo forever LOL 
And I promise there will be pictures :hihi:


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

That's what's wrong with your tank. You are in the nesting stage of pregnancy! No wonder you aren't happy with it.


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

sewingalot said:


> That's what's wrong with your tank. You are in the nesting stage of pregnancy! No wonder you aren't happy with it.


You are totally right about this! Damn preggo hormones I shake my fist at them because they driving me nuts LOL 
We actually had a little plumbing trouble this week (talk about bad timing) and half of my carpet had to be ripped out and my house is a total chaos so I just want at least one thing to go right.  Thank God the little one didn't decided to come early.


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Gotta love houses. We had a plumbing leak and a roof leak happen within a week of each other this summer. I couldn't imagine dealing with it and being preggo.


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## Captivate05 (Feb 23, 2010)

sewingalot said:


> That's what's wrong with your tank. You are in the nesting stage of pregnancy! No wonder you aren't happy with it.


LOL! Only one more week! I was actually wondering about when you were due, I figured it had to be soon. I have another 10 weeks to go. You need to post pictures of the baby when she comes to take on the world!


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

sewingalot said:


> Gotta love houses. We had a plumbing leak and a roof leak happen within a week of each other this summer. I couldn't imagine dealing with it and being preggo.


We own a condo, and as much as I hate having neighbors (we didn't get lucky with new tenants above us) who actually caused some leaking problems for us just recently too. The only good thing is that our condo association supposed to take care of this mess because it was the main pipes so I hope I get new floors out of it all, we find out tomorrow what they will do about it.


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

Captivate05 said:


> LOL! Only one more week! I was actually wondering about when you were due, I figured it had to be soon. I have another 10 weeks to go. You need to post pictures of the baby when she comes to take on the world!


Maybe even sooner :icon_mrgr I seriously feel like I been pregnant forever. And there will be pictures I promise it will be hard not to share :icon_mrgr 
10 weeks is nothing  It will go fast and you better post pictures of the baby too :bounce:


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

You guys make pregnancy sound so colorful. :hihi: I am not sure if I am jealous or relieved. Can't wait until you have that planted tank junior member.


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## SleepyOwl (Sep 23, 2007)

Nice tank! Is this your first baby? When I had my 3rd I found I had barely enough to do minimum maitenance on my tanks, but it is getting better now that she is over a year.  (I seemed to have more time after my first. lol )

If it wasn't winter, I would send you my rummies. I like them a lot, but I kind of overstocked my tank. :icon_lol:


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

sewingalot said:


> You guys make pregnancy sound so colorful. :hihi: I am not sure if I am jealous or relieved. Can't wait until you have that planted tank junior member.



:hihi: It's definitely colorful, at least it's been for me. It's also been the longest 9 months of my life LOL



SleepyOwl said:


> Nice tank! Is this your first baby? When I had my 3rd I found I had barely enough to do minimum maitenance on my tanks, but it is getting better now that she is over a year.  (I seemed to have more time after my first. lol )
> 
> If it wasn't winter, I would send you my rummies. I like them a lot, but I kind of overstocked my tank. :icon_lol:


It is our first and it's also first grandchild, so it is very exciting. I do get a feeling she will be very spoiled, I think she even got my hubby wraped around her finger already :hihi: 
I am thinking about some kind of plan to make sure I have some kind of time for tanks, but we'll see how that goes... Good thing hubby is on board with tank maintenance so it should work out. 

Oh and I would so take them from you :hihi: but my LFS has some right now the only thing is I probably won't be able to get them for couple of weeks since I am getting induced on Friday!!! 

I will try to do a picture update on my tanks tomorrow because I will definitley be missing for couple of days. :biggrin:


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## Captivate05 (Feb 23, 2010)

funkyfish said:


> :hihi: It's definitely colorful, at least it's been for me. It's also been the longest 9 months of my life LOL
> 
> 
> 
> ...



You're probably going to need his help with tank maintenance for a while. Maybe it was just me, but I felt weak after giving birth to my daughter. Then again, I had a hemoglobin of 7, which is full-blown anemia. Heck, I was anemic before giving birth, and it looks like that's the trend for me this time too. They are already shoving iron pills down my throat. But expect to feel a little weak and sore. It's not like "take some t3s because you'll be in a crap-ton of pain" sore, but... achy.

I'm guessing you're going to go into labor like tonight, just to spite that Friday inducement. My friend did that when she had her son, had everything scheduled out on the day they wanted and he decided to say a day early. :icon_bigg I was super lucky with my first; I went into labor naturally two days before my due date and we beat the blizzard to the hospital. I had no clue it even snowed out until my fiance made me look out the window. That was the most nerve wracking ride home. I was leaning over the carseat glaring at everyone else on the road and my fiance was driving sooooo s l o w. The roads were clear by then.


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Good luck on Friday! I am excited for you. :biggrin:


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## SleepyOwl (Sep 23, 2007)

Tomorrow is your big day! I am praying you have a smooth delivery.


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## Captivate05 (Feb 23, 2010)

Anyone hear from FunkyFish?


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## SleepyOwl (Sep 23, 2007)

She is probably half asleep rocking a baby.


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

SleepyOwl said:


> She is probably half asleep rocking a baby.


Probably. I'm sending her an email now.


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## Lngtall1 (Jan 27, 2011)

Just had to comment, that tank is coming along nicely. Good luck with Baby also!

Kristy


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## SleepyOwl (Sep 23, 2007)

sewingalot said:


> Probably. I'm sending her an email now.


Please let us know when she responds.


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Heard back from our gal and I quote:

"I am doing good! Had my baby girl on Jan 14th, the induction went great she was born at 8:50pm 7lb 11oz, 20.5"."

I got to see the baby picture and she is adorable!!!! I'm going to let funky do the posting of pictures and giving more details. Just wanting to let you guys know the good news. :biggrin:


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## bnbfishin (Dec 23, 2010)

Great to hear mom and baby are doing well!!


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## Captivate05 (Feb 23, 2010)

Yay!! I was hoping everything was ok! :biggrin:


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## Lngtall1 (Jan 27, 2011)

YAY!! I was also hoping things were good.


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## pianofish (Jan 31, 2010)

Congratulations Funkyfish! On the tank, and especially on the baby!
Glad to hear it all went well!


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## SleepyOwl (Sep 23, 2007)

Thanks for letting us know!

Congratulations!!!


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

Congratulations on the new little girl!! We still want some pics! (of the baby)!!! Hopefully your tank does well until you feel good enough to get back after it.


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## zyn1 (Aug 26, 2010)

Congrats!


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

She sends her love and says thanks for the well wishes. She's really tired and surprised at how time flies with a new one. Funky promised to get us plenty of pictures.


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

Thank you all for all the well wishes! You guys rock and it made my day, love you all. 
Sorry it took me a while to get on here but my little lady been keeping me pretty busy also my recovery was rough for couple of weeks but all is well now and I should be here more often, I hope. I missed you all  Thanks Sara for posting Jovie's stats 

Now for some pictures. 

Jovie Alexandra Born Jan 14th 



















Little update on the tank:

Tank is doing well. Most plants are still holding on but most are gone due to rotting/melting.  I also had some fish deaths but that was due to not very healthy fish to begin with.
I also figured out where all these bubbles in my substrate coming from, I really thin it's from my filter the flow is pretty strong and I think thats what causing the air in the substrate. I will post some pictures of the tank when I get a chance. 

Thanks again for all the well wishes, means a lot. ♥♥3


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## Captivate05 (Feb 23, 2010)

Yay! Congrats on the little one, she's VERY cute! I hope mommyhood is treating you well :icon_smil


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Such a cutie!!!!!!!!!!!!! I miss you, funky! You are a good Mommy, you're totally ignoring us for your new girl.


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

sewingalot said:


> Such a cutie!!!!!!!!!!!!! I miss you, funky! You are a good Mommy, you're totally ignoring us for your new girl.



Thanks hun! I miss you too!!!! And I don't mean to ignore you guys, I swear!  
this little girl is a hand full, I think I'm in trouble LOL


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

It's okay. I still <3 you. (Kara totally taught me that is a heart, lol)! I am glad to see you are doing well!


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

sewingalot said:


> It's okay. I still <3 you. (Kara totally taught me that is a heart, lol)! I am glad to see you are doing well!


So that's what that means now I get it LOL 
I <3 you too!


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

That's great! I'm not the only one that didn't know.


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

Captivate05 said:


> Yay! Congrats on the little one, she's VERY cute! I hope mommyhood is treating you well :icon_smil


Thanks! Mommyhood is awesome and sure keeps me super busy. How are you doing? You are due very soon aren't you? Can't wait to see pictures your little bundle of joy.


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

Ok so I finally cleaned my fish tank, did a little rearrangement of things I will post some pictures a little later. Finally the gasy substrate problem seems better so hopefully it will go away soon. Unfortunately most plants didn't survive  But my crypts seem to be doing great, dwarf sag seem to be doing fine and actually put out some runners, finally, some of my ludwigia seem to be pulling through as well. So I am thinking I will be doing mostly crypts in this tank and swords. 

The crypts I plan to get are:
Udulanta
Tropica
Mi Oya
De Witt (red and green)
Lutea

I'm not sure what swords I want to get yet so if anyone has suggestions to nice easy swords let me know.


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

If anyone has some crypts or swords you want to get rid of please let me know. Thanks


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

I am getting ready to thin some out and will let you have some for $1 each+ $10 shipping in a styro w/a 72 hr heat pack. They will be mixed kinds of about 20 species. LMK how many you want.


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

chad320 said:


> I am getting ready to thin some out and will let you have some for $1 each+ $10 shipping in a styro w/a 72 hr heat pack. They will be mixed kinds of about 20 species. LMK how many you want.


I would love some! Maybe like 15. I'll pm you :biggrin:


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## pianofish (Jan 31, 2010)

funkyfish said:


> Ok so I finally cleaned my fish tank, did a little rearrangement of things I will post some pictures a little later. Finally the gasy substrate problem seems better so hopefully it will go away soon. Unfortunately most plants didn't survive  But my crypts seem to be doing great, dwarf sag seem to be doing fine and actually put out some runners, finally, some of my ludwigia seem to be pulling through as well. So I am thinking I will be doing mostly crypts in this tank and swords.
> 
> The crypts I plan to get are:
> Udulanta
> ...


 


Yay Crypts and swords!!!!!!!!  Glad to see your back in action!


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

I think you'll love crypts and swords for your new lifestyle, Funky. Much less work than stems.


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

pianofish said:


> Yay Crypts and swords!!!!!!!!  Glad to see your back in action!


Thanks! :icon_mrgr



sewingalot said:


> I think you'll love crypts and swords for your new lifestyle, Funky. Much less work than stems.


I'm pretty excited about crypts, should be getting them next week YAY! But I really hope that I will be able to get some stems soon as long as the crypts do well I will try stems again. 

And now some pictures  

03/07/2011



















Left Side









Close up of my Crypts that doing well. 









Right Side


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## pianofish (Jan 31, 2010)

funkyfish said:


> I'm pretty excited about crypts, should be getting them next week YAY! But I really hope that I will be able to get some stems soon as long as the crypts do well I will try stems again.


Well it just so happens that I am trying to purge my tank of most of my stems, so if your interested I'll shoot you an RAOK?
Tank looks great by the by!
Your pal,
Pianofish


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

pianofish said:


> Well it just so happens that I am trying to purge my tank of most of my stems, so if your interested I'll shoot you an RAOK?
> Tank looks great by the by!
> Your pal,
> Pianofish


I'll take a ROAK, I just hope they survive  What stems do you have? 

Thanks! It's work in progress


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Everything you have looks really healthy. This will look great with more crypts.


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## SleepyOwl (Sep 23, 2007)

How is it going? How is your sweet baby girl? 

My tanks got almost totally ignored for almost a year after my last one was born.


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