# The Dragon's Lair - New pics 10/24/10



## FrostyNYC (Nov 5, 2007)

I really love this tank. Very unique.


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## demosthenes (Aug 23, 2008)

wow, very cool! what a great way to find something unique. are there any suitable tankmates that you could put in along with the eels? maybe something to swim around at the top?


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

This is a neat tank. The really cool thing is the trough on top of the cave which holds plant substrate, and rooted plants. There are a lot of great plants in there too.


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

FrostyNYC said:


> I really love this tank. Very unique.


Thanks, it should look even better once the plants grow and fill in.



demosthenes said:


> wow, very cool! what a great way to find something unique. are there any suitable tankmates that you could put in along with the eels? maybe something to swim around at the top?


Only larger fish are compatible. I haven't completely made up my mind yet, but I was considering some mollies, that way there would be a constant supply of live food for the eels.



hydrophyte said:


> This is a neat tank. The really cool thing is the trough on top of the cave which holds plant substrate, and rooted plants. There are a lot of great plants in there too.


This was the basic idea for the cave. A space under for the eels, with a planter's box on top for the various crypts that I planted. I used lace rock to hide the plexiglass cave, and placed various anubias and ferns all around to help further hide it.


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## yikesjason (Jul 2, 2008)

Very nice. Do you have more details about how the cave was made?


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

Here's a couple pics of the larger cave that I built. This was a case of eyes bigger than tank. I had it all mapped out in my head, drew up plans, cut and glued the plexiglass, painted it, then put it in the tank. Too big  I forgot to take into account the amount of space for the rocks. This original box only left me with about 2" of foreground space, so back to the drawing board. The new box is only 6" instead of 12" deep, so even with the rocks I still have about 8" of foreground space.
Here are pics of the original box. The second box was built exactly the same, just smaller. I realized I should have taken pics along the way after I built the second box so there won't be any step by step pics to follow.
The space in the top is approx 3" tall for substrate. I plan on putting in a lot of Crypts so I wanted it to be deep enough for their roots.









This is the bottom. All the cutouts will provide the eel plenty of options for going in and out. I used PVC glue to attach the plexiglass dowels to the midsection and then glued the walls. I went ahead and covered it with a layer of silicone for extra support just in case. I used my son's Yu-Gi-Oh card tin to hold the midsection level and in place while I attached the walls, one at a time.









Just a close up of the dowels









I was a little concerned about the weight of all the sand on top putting pressure on the glue. My unique PVC plumbing goes under the sand and then I used a 90 degree elbow with about a 1" piece of pipe and a cap under the cave. The roof of the cave sits just barely above the 2 caps so if the glue does fail the roof will land on the pipe and not collapse.


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

Here's an earlier side view from before most of the plants went in.









and a pic from tonight


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## FSM (Jan 13, 2009)

It looks great.


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## RipariumGuy (Aug 6, 2009)

Really cool! Love your rockwork and the eels!


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## monkeyruler90 (Apr 13, 2008)

looks awesome dude!!


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

Very nice job man! I like this tank a lot. Will be following your updates on this one.


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

Thanks for all the comments. The only issue I'm having is getting a foreground to grow. I've tried glosso twice and only have about a dozen pieces growing. Those pieces are growing tall instead of spreading. I just got some E tenellus 'micro' last week and planted that mostly in the left corner with a few pieces spread around. Hopefully one (or both if I'm lucky) will fill in the foreground.


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

Quick update-
FTS



























I've been waiting for my anubias to flower. I've been watching the flower stalk grow for the past few days and this morning the flower was open.


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## EdTheEdge (Jan 25, 2007)

Cool project! Great looking tank! Thanks for sharing!!!


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## londonloco (Aug 25, 2005)

Very nice, love the tank. What kind of wood is that and how did you get it to stay that way? Really love the tank!


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

The wood is from Jake (badcopnofish) here on TPT. Several months ago I asked him to send me a big box of wood with various sizes. It's nice to have lots of spare pieces laying around for projects. The wood on the left is 3 individual pieces. 1 on the ground with anubias attached. The other two start behind the rock in the corner. 








The middle piece just rests on the planter box, the upper piece is held in place with zipties attached the the PVC that feeds fresh water from the filter into the cave. This isn't the best pic, but you can kind of see the outline of the 2 zipties. I superglued a piece of java fern to the lower ziptie to hide it once it grows in. Even in person, it's hard to see the zipties unless you know where to look.









On the right side, there is basically 2 pieces. The smaller piece (in blue) appears to come forward over the rock like a root. The second piece (in green) is a very large piece that splits three times with 2 of the parts appearing to grow straight up. You can see it best in this older pic just after setup.









Here's today's pic for comparison.


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

I decided it was time for a name change on the tank/thread. My son and I were sitting around one day wanting to name the eels. Big Worm was the first thing that popped in my head. If you have seen the movie Friday, then you probably recognize the name reference. This was a hard one to explain to my 10 year old son but he thinks it's funny so it stuck. We are still tossing around ideas to name the second eel.


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## Coltonorr (Mar 12, 2008)

Wow! Sweet tank. love the moss.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

That's looking great. The platies look good in there. Do you worry that the eels might eat them?


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## smoq (Feb 19, 2008)

How could I miss this one. Great tank dude and definitely a rare choice of fauna


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## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Great job! You really did a nice job of placing the DW and plants and it looks so natural. Do you see the eels much or do they hid alot?


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## trackhazard (Aug 24, 2006)

I would have gone with Big Perm!

Do you find your eel to be shy?

-Charlie


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## chonhzilla (Apr 22, 2008)

doesn't that eel burrow?


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

Thanks for all the positive comments!



hydrophyte said:


> That's looking great. The platies look good in there. Do you worry that the eels might eat them?


I'm not worried about the eels eating the adults. I put the platties in the tank for breeding purposes. The eels mainly eat live food, but it needs to be small (for now) so fish babies work very well and I don't have to constantly buy live food for them.



dewalltheway said:


> Great job! You really did a nice job of placing the DW and plants and it looks so natural. Do you see the eels much or do they hid alot?


The eels stay hidden most of the time. They do come out in the early morning while we get ready for school when the house lights come on.



trackhazard said:


> I would have gone with Big Perm!
> 
> Do you find your eel to be shy?
> 
> -Charlie


They're not too shy. The skinnier, darker one spends more time in the open. Big Worm stays in the cave a lot. Both are very active when the lights first come on. They swim around for about 30-45 mins before disappearing into the cave for the day. Here's a video I took of them swimming around.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ls0a4kJHNAs



chonhzilla said:


> doesn't that eel burrow?


Yes, they burrow. I'm glad the plants had a chance to establish before I added the eels. Here's a quick pic.


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## Wingsdlc (Dec 9, 2005)

Your son's voice in the background of the video is great! Very excited! 

The tank is very neat! I look forward to watching it grow in.


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## boltp777 (Jan 16, 2009)

they usually hide when scared. their obviously very happy in this tank because he provided a very good home for them. i hate when people come to my work and buy them and try to put them in like a 10 gallon tank with blue gravel and all that jazz.



chonhzilla said:


> doesn't that eel burrow?


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## trailsnale (Dec 2, 2009)

kudos on the unique tank! you've got great ideas.


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

trailsnale said:


> kudos on the unique tank! you've got great ideas.


Thanks.



boltp777 said:


> they usually hide when scared. their obviously very happy in this tank because he provided a very good home for them. i hate when people come to my work and buy them and try to put them in like a 10 gallon tank with blue gravel and all that jazz.


I did my homework for quite a while before I even started to design this tank. Even after the build, I waited a couple months before adding the eels.


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

What a great tank. 

What do you think about putting a nice sword in there as a focal point? Maybe on top of the cave.


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

Not a bad idea. Those 2 sticks on the right side/center have been bothering me for a while. I've been trying to come up with something to hide or soften the look and a sword might just do the trick.


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

I raised the light several inches to try and clear some BBA several weeks ago. The BBA went away, but several plants started to die. I lost most of my Blyxa on the left side and almost lost my Limno sp 'Mini'. I put the legs back on the light and repositioned it on top of the tank last week. For now, I'm only using 2 of the bulbs (instead of 4) to see if I can keep the BBA from coming back. I've also been having a major issue with cloudy water for some reason. I'm not sure if the eels are digging around stirring up dust from the substrate or if there is some other underlying issue. I have also been dealing with green dust algae for about a month. I stuck to a strict dosing regimen and water change schedule. I finally stopped scraping everything and just let it go to see if it would resolve on its own. Last week I added 8 otos and they have been busy. Tonight was the first night I didn't see any dust algae on the glass. Not sure which of the many things I have tried helped, but I'm glad to see it finally disappearing. Now if I could just get rid of the cloudy water everything would be great.
Here's a few pics I took earlier.
FTS









Top shelf above the cave-crypts are filling in nicely, many are sending out runners with new plants popping up all over the place.


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

I'm happy to report that the cloudy water went away. I ran my diatom filter for an hour 2 days in a row, then did a big water change last weekend. So far the water has stayed crystal clear. :icon_bigg
I'm still trying to get the eels to at least take live blackworms from my long tweezers. Skinny (the skinny one, cheesy I know) is getting brave and stays in sight as I come in with worms. He hasn't tried to take them from me, but he does patiently wait for me to drop them real close to his head. Big Worm is still a little skiddish and takes off into the safety of the cave if I get too close.

The haze is from the lights, not cloudy water-









A few of the cleaning crew. The otos swim in groups in this tank. I've never seen this in my other tanks, but I guess there aren't any real threats in the other tanks.









Another shot of the upper shelf. I wish I could get a good pic from above the tank but the light reflections always ruin the shot.









I was trying to get some pics last night to show how much the eels have grown. Skinny was an easy target, he's always swimming in the open.









Big Worm was not. You can sort of see his head in this pic.


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## Voozle (Mar 22, 2009)

This is terrific, haven't seen eels in a planted tank before. I really like the elongated cave structure and the low-light plants in and around it, I bet those are two happy eels. Have the algae problems cleared up?


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

Wow!!:drool:

What size is the tank? What is your lighting? Co2? 

How long to the eel live? How long do they get? I wonder if there is a variety that could live in a 30 in long tank? They are astonishing to watch. Seem to be intelligent and curious.

I wonder if dosing with KNO3 would help keep the algae away? It worked for me.


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## problemman (Aug 19, 2005)

this is niffty subscribed!


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

Voozle said:


> This is terrific, haven't seen eels in a planted tank before. I really like the elongated cave structure and the low-light plants in and around it, I bet those are two happy eels. Have the algae problems cleared up?


Yep, algae problems are in the past. I added several otos and started dosing small amounts of ferts. I still get some green dust algae on the glass, but nothing out of control.



Hilde said:


> Wow!!:drool:
> 
> What size is the tank? What is your lighting? Co2?
> 
> ...


This is a 75 gal tank. I'm using a Catalina Solar 4x54W fixture. Most of the time I only run 1 set of lights on a 5 hr timer. Sometimes when I'm home on weekends or during the day, I turn the other set on manually for about an hour.

These peacock eels are the smallest of the freshwater eels, maxing out at around 12-15" and live for about 5 years. They would probably do ok in a 30" long tank. My eel isn't much of a constant swimmer. He hangs out in the dark cave about 98% of the time. It's fun to watch him hunt, very methodical and a quick strike similar to a snake.



problemman said:


> this is niffty subscribed!


Thanks!


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

Here's a recent photo of the eel. I would have to estimate his size to be about 7-8", nearly double from when I first bought him back in October. You can get a real good perspective on his size in this video compared to the orange platies swimming around him.









FTS


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## rhytemaker (May 29, 2008)

This is really cool man. Nicely done. Your making me want to go high tech on my bicher tank!


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## kyle3 (May 26, 2005)

fabulous tank!

i love the "planter" cave. it gives you a great tiered planting surface and you hid it very well with you're aquascape. 

cool occupants too.

cheers-K


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## stingraysrule (Apr 4, 2010)

I really like it. 
very nice.


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## kwheeler91 (May 26, 2009)

i would love to have another eel... my zigzag eel died from some sort of intestinal infection after having over a year...  im worried about them digging at my crypts roots and causing them to melt, have any problems with this?


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

I haven't had any problems with my eel digging in the planted section. His cave is quite large and he hides in there most of the time.


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

Here's a video monkeyruler90 made for me last month of the eel hunting and eating. I have been out of town for the last four months so he was kind enough to go over and feed the eel and do my water changes for me. Unfortunately, the eel managed to push the glass top open and crawl out a couple days ago.


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

I went out looking for replacements this afternoon and found a Senegal bichir. I'm only getting one fish for now until I can find a way to add some PVC pipe in the cave without destroying the scape. Bichirs can be a little fiesty when it comes to territory and I want all fish to be happy in their environment. Here's some pics. This little guy is only about 3" right now.


















Now I need a new title for this tank/thread.


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

cah925 said:


> I went out looking for replacements this afternoon and found a Senegal bichir.


Wow!! He looks a bit like a dragon. When is his favorite time to come out?


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

Not sure yet. I've only had him for a few hours. I picked this one because he was the most active bichir in the store tank. I was worried when he just laid on the bottom for about 10 minutes after I got him home. Then all of a sudden, he was swimming around checking out the tank. He kept swimming until the lights went out, so he may be a pretty active fish.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Hey that sounds like a great choice.


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

I managed to get a good pic of the new bichir today.


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## malaybiswas (Nov 2, 2008)

This is quite unique. I love your tank. Do the eel or bichir introduce any issues in a planted tank?


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

I'd love to do a roomy planted riparium with some kind of oddball fish.


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

malaybiswas said:


> This is quite unique. I love your tank. Do the eel or bichir introduce any issues in a planted tank?


Eels tend to burrow, although my previous eel never bothered. He would hide in the cave rather than burrow out in the open. 
This tank has been untouched by me for almost a year, just let the plants grow and fill in as they will. It provides lots of hiding and exploring for the bichir which he seems to really enjoy.


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## albirdy (Jul 16, 2008)

I noticed some platies and ottos with your birchir. What does he do with these?
I kept a senegal from 4-8 inches and he ate everything, except large cichlids and a male betta (which he only harassed). 

Good luck!


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## FSM (Jan 13, 2009)

Bichirs tend to eat fish. I used to have giant danios in the same tank as a delhezi bichir.


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

The platies and otos disappeared before this summer, most likely eel food. The bichir is the only fish in the tank currently, with a few feeder fish. I'm guessing they are still too big for the bichir as they have co-existed for a few days together. I may put some livebearers back in this tank once the bichir is big enough to eat the fry.


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

Here's a few quick pics of the tank. The plants have grown in and concealed all but the left front cave opening.
FTS









Left Side - For some reason, I have always had a hard time getting the grass to fill in around this cave entrance.









Right Side


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## Quesenek (Sep 26, 2008)

Nice, I loved my Bichir up until he tried to eat one of my cories which killed both him and the cory.


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## vtkid (Jan 5, 2009)

Those eels are rad. and your tank is also very impressive. quite a forest of crypts youve got going.


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## sapphoqueen (Feb 9, 2010)

That cave rules man!!!!


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## Chrisinator (Jun 5, 2008)

Amazing!


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## Loubard (Dec 16, 2005)

Very nice tank! I really love what you have done with the cave and the crypto's! 

Your gonna love the senegal. I have 4 and there great. Once there used to the tank they are not shy at all, they will even swim around mid water. They will eat everything you put in the tank (mine even take pellets) and are great fun to watch. It's definitely a good thing your plants had some time to settle because they do like to dig around searching for food. 

If you want some oddball tankmates you can take a look at Pantodon buchholzi, Ctenopoma acutirostre, Xenomystus nigri or Gnathonemus petersi.  All will get along with the senegal if sizes are compatible (meaning the other fish should be at least 2/3's of the senegals length) and come from the same continent so the water requirements are more or less the same (although the polypterus doesn't really care that much).


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

Thanks Loubard. The bichir is a really neat fish that I'm enjoying very much. For now, I just put in my community fish from my 125 gal when I did the rescape. The bichir doesn't seem to mind the company and swims around frequently.


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## Loubard (Dec 16, 2005)

Just keep in mind the bichir can get pretty big and can eat small fish.


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## whitepapagold (Aug 19, 2010)

Loubard said:


> Just keep in mind the bichir can get pretty big and can eat small fish.


How about the bichir WILL get HUGE (bigger than a foot) and all it will do is lie quietly somewhere waiting for fish to swim close enough...

One poster said it ate his cory... Thats like being surprised the sun came up today...:help:

My favorite bichir I had was an Ornate I grew out from about 2 inches to 16 inches... Awesome fish but only active as a juvenile and anything that fits in its mouth is food... And they open their mouths MUCH LARGER thn you may assume!

GREAT tank design for them though! They will love it! But enjoy the movement now cause it wont stay that way... And just FYI, in the end, my Ornate bichir could eat 15 goldfish in one sitting... 15. And still wouldn't move more than a few inches to do so! Patient buggers!


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

Well, that puts a major damper on the community fish idea. I'll start trying to net out the fish and perhaps replace them with some of the suggestions by Loubard.


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## BichirAddict (Aug 19, 2008)

awesome tank hope my 75 bichir tank looks like that.


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

Thanks, it took a lot of patience to allow the tank to evolve naturally. I'm very happy with the results.


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## forddna (Sep 12, 2007)

Looks amazing. One of the nicest I've seen. Functional, yet natural. It doesn't look forced. Very nice!!


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

Thanks. I haven't really messed with any plants since the beginning, other than remove the stem plants. Everything evolved on its own. The anubias are getting large and will be trimmed as they are sold. The ferns need a major trim too, they are taking over the crypt area.


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## kwheeler91 (May 26, 2009)

very nice job  you should rename this 'The Dragon's Lair' on account of that cave looking so sweet, and well, housing what looks like a dragon


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

kwheeler91 said:


> very nice job  you should rename this 'The Dragon's Lair' on account of that cave looking so sweet, and well, housing what looks like a dragon


Thread title changed roud:


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

Everything has been growing so well that a major trim was needed. The ferns especially were invading the crypt space. Here's the new look, a little brighter without so many plants up top.


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## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

II can't believe i missed this journal. I think its awesome that you have some cool oddball fish in a beautiful planted tank. The cave is really cool and and i like it how you completely hid it to. Great job


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Wow Chris that looks awesome. You sure are good at growing plants.


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## thirston (Nov 17, 2004)

Any specs on lighting and fert schedule etc... CO2? How about the use of root tabs for the crypts? Substrate type? I'm curious.:smile:


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## Budget aquarist (Feb 1, 2011)

maybe you should try a butterfly fish for your tank-mates, i have them together and they coexist very well. butterfly fish are top dwellers and bichirs are middle/ bottom so, they really dont bother eachother


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

I appreciate the input, but the end is near for this tank. I'll be graduating in May and this tank is going up for sale very soon. This last scape was probably one of my most favorite of all time.


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## Budget aquarist (Feb 1, 2011)

oh, thats terrible. any of it going to SNS?


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## macclellan (Dec 22, 2006)

Sweet setup! Sorry to hear you're taking it down.

Is the tank title a joke I don't get, or a typo?


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

The title refers to the bichir (dragon fish) in the tank.


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## macclellan (Dec 22, 2006)

Yes, I was asking if your bichir is not an honest dragon, or if you meant it has a l*ai*r.


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

lol, oops, gotta love those typos.


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## raven_wilde (Jul 12, 2006)

WOW. I love this... especially the cave/planter box. I am so totally going to do this someday for my bichir tank!


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## Adamson (Mar 2, 2012)

So did you take it down??


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

Yes, I moved about 2 years ago and this tank was dismantled.


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## Adamson (Mar 2, 2012)

cah925 said:


> Yes, I moved about 2 years ago and this tank was dismantled.


Why didn't you set it back up? Not enough space, or just didn't want to spend time with maintenance?


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

Sold the tank before I moved and I haven't had time for another planted tank since then. I'm getting the itch again and may have a new setup in the near future.


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## BoxxerBoyDrew (Oct 16, 2005)

MAN, That was a AWESOME and BEAUTIFUL TANK!!!!!

Really it was one of the best looking tanks on here! I LOVED the layout, Lace Rocks, Wood, and Plants! 

I am thinking of upgrading to a 75g with income tax refund, and If I could get it to look as half as good as this tank did in post #56 it would be awesome!!!

Again AWESOME WORK!!!

Let us know "when" you get another tank!!!
Drew


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