# J's 125gal - Angel Tank



## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

This tank was given to me by one of my technicians who found it in a storage shed in a house he purchased. It was set up in the waiting area of the garage that I ran for a few years, very basic with common community fish. The owner of the company needed more room in the waiting area and I had moved out of my apartment into a house, so the tank came home with me. It became the home of one of my favorite pets of all time, "Leonidas" a red-tail catfish...




















Unfortunately, the heaters in the tank failed and I lost Leonidas. I came home from work, figured it out, but it was too late. He had shocked from the cold temps and died. He was getting very close to outgrowing the tank anyway, but I had plans to donate him to a local public aquarium.

I switched gears and shifted to an angelfish tank, and since my red-tail would have torn up any plants, I never really focused on planting the tank. It had some garbage single-bulb flourescents that would have barely grown anything, so it was never in my plans to plant this tank. Had 3-4 pairs of angels breed in this tank and would seperate them into a breeder tank before spawns and raise the fry. Never made it much further than that, but recently purchased new lighting for the tank to begin improving it as an angel-only breeder tank. And thus begins this tank's rebuild.



*Tank:* 125 Gal
*Filtration:* Eheim 2217 Canister, Eheim 2236 Canister Filter
*Lighting:* 2 x Custom T5 fixtures - (3x 39watt 6500K bulbs, 1 - 39watt 10K in each) (built by Catalina Aquarium)
*Co2:* 10lb tank, w/ dual manifolds, Smith regulator, set at 8 bps (built by GLA)
*Heater:* 2 x 200 watt Stealth
*Substrate:* Eco Complete
*Hardscape:* Store-bought driftwood
*Ferts:* PFertz kit

*Flora:* Limnophila aromatica, ludwigia ovalis, Polygonum sp. Kawagoeanum, blyxa japonica, dwarf hairgrass, rotala red, amazon sword, xmas moss, pygmy chain sword, red tiger lotus, green tiger lotus, rotala roundtfolia

*Fauna* Angelfish (Veiled Gold Marble, 2 Gold, Black, Silver)











Future plans include relocating angels from my other tanks to this one, removing undergravel, new powerheads, canister filtration, more plants, fertilization, possibly C02.

Comments, opinions, ideas are all welcome!


J


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## fish-n-pups (Feb 20, 2010)

I'd take half the plants from the smaller tank and spread them around in this one.

You have some great wood and with a few plants this could really start popping!


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

I need to paint the back glass... what kind of paint is best? I used vinyl from a sign shop on all my other tanks, but that will be pretty cumbersome to do on this tank, and not to mention I only have about a foot to work with behind the tank and the wall.

J


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## problemman (Aug 19, 2005)

use felt it works great!


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## rockwood (Jun 19, 2010)

I painted mine with Valspar "Satin Black" latex paint. You can get it at Lowes. They had pre-mixed quarts available and ready to go. I used a foam roller and just rolled it on. Took two coats to get it nice and even but it looks great. The only difficult part was getting it to fill in the edges next to the black frame without smearing everywhere.

I'm sure if you don't have a Lowes nearby you can find something similar at Home Depot or whatever.


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

rockwood said:


> I painted mine with Valspar "Satin Black" latex paint. You can get it at Lowes. They had pre-mixed quarts available and ready to go. I used a foam roller and just rolled it on. Took two coats to get it nice and even but it looks great. The only difficult part was getting it to fill in the edges next to the black frame without smearing everywhere.
> 
> I'm sure if you don't have a Lowes nearby you can find something similar at Home Depot or whatever.


Thanks. I think this is the route I wanna go. Latex would be easy to remove later if I decided to do that. 

BTW... I just finished looking at your 75g journal. Looks great. I'm thinking very strongly about your C02 setup in this tank, or maybe the 38 gal. Your growth is AMAZING.

J


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## rockwood (Jun 19, 2010)

I'd highly recommend GLA. It's good stuff. I just now ran my CO2 tank bone dry yesterday, so 5lbs lasted about 2 months I guess. With my lighting I figure that's probably about right. I hadn't been keeping up with it, then I looked under yesterday to get some ferts out and noticed I had no bubbles rolling, hehe.

I'm also not using the Rex Grigg style reactor. I went with the house filter style one. I need to get some pictures of it as I don't think my thread is updated with all that.


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

rockwood said:


> I'd highly recommend GLA. It's good stuff. I just now ran my CO2 tank bone dry yesterday, so 5lbs lasted about 2 months I guess. With my lighting I figure that's probably about right. I hadn't been keeping up with it, then I looked under yesterday to get some ferts out and noticed I had no bubbles rolling, hehe.
> 
> I'm also not using the Rex Grigg style reactor. I went with the house filter style one. I need to get some pictures of it as I don't think my thread is updated with all that.


Please do... I'd like to get a look at that for some ideas. Feel free to PM me if you post that info up. Is it a DIY reactor, or something store-bought?

J


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## rockwood (Jun 19, 2010)

I built it. I'll get some pictures tomorrow. 

It involved a house filter (with the filter media removed) and then just doing some easy PVC work. There's a thread on it in the DIY section of the forums. I think the thread is titled Cerge's Reactor. 

I'm pretty happy with how well its working.


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

Ordered a complete CO2 system from Orlando at GLA today. Super nice guy. He spent plenty of time answering questions and all around helping me with the purchase. I plan to use a 10lb tank with two needle valves and two hoses running to this tank and the 38 gal tank as well. They are less than 2 feet apart, so why not?

I plan on painting the back of this tank tommorow or this weekend and maybe removing the undergravel filter and rescaping a bit. I expect the CO2 system late next week, so that should give me some more time to look for a nice canister filter and maybe some other scaping options.

Photos to come after paint.

J


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## rockwood (Jun 19, 2010)

Sweet, how are you going to be diffusing the CO2? I forgot to get pictures for you today, it's been a crazy day and I had to prepare to go out of town plus keep work happy. 

Here's the link to the DIY House filter reactor thread I was talking about though.


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

rockwood said:


> Sweet, how are you going to be diffusing the CO2? I forgot to get pictures for you today, it's been a crazy day and I had to prepare to go out of town plus keep work happy.
> 
> Here's the link to the DIY House filter reactor thread I was talking about though.


I decided to start out with the WaterPlants co2 diffuser from GLA. Orlando had nothing but good things to say about it. I may eventually do a similar setup to yours, but I'll check this out first.

J


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

I need some advice folks! Talk me into replacing the store-bought gravel with some sort of substrate. Tell me it will be worth it. Tell me the pain in the @$$ of pulling all the old gravel out and the money involved in new gravel will be worth it. Tell me that making my 5 VERY large angels live in a 38 gal tank in the meantime while the new substrate settles and PH balances will be worth it. 

Please give me all your opinions, ideas and suggestions!

**EDIT** Just purchased 16 bags of Eco-Complete from Petco.com. They have a promotion right now for free shipping on orders over $60. I can't imagine the look on their shipper's face when he realizes he is about to ship 320 lbs of substrate for free. Furthermore how I'm going to get in the house next week after UPS barricades it with boxes filled with Eco-Complete.

J


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

Spent the weekend cleaning out the cabinet and installing some Xenon lighting










Installed my Eheim 2236 I purchased from ClintonSParsons (thanks again!!). 










I still have the piggyback filter on the tank as well and another larger canister filter on the way to replace it, but plan on using the 2236 as well and decided it is best to go ahead and get a bacterial build up in this filter before I tear the tank down to install Eco-Complete.

I also painted the back of the tank black with some flat interior latex paint. Looks MUCH better










I removed the powerheads and the uptake tubes as one of the powerheads grenaded when it sucked up a snail shell. Sounded like a rock in a blender!

Should receive my C02 setup from GLA this week as well as the Eco-Complete and another canister filter. Hope to begin the new canister filter this week and hopefully do a full teardown and rebuild in two weeks. Would like to have this tank up and running by mid-month.

I would like as much feedback as possible from everyone on what to do with the scape. How would you utilize the driftwood that is already in the tank. Please give me some ideas while I have the time!

J


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

Lots of new toys in the mail yesterday!

My dog, Bella, made sure everything was accounted for...









My new Eheim 2217 arrived along with 2 Eheim powerballs that I'll use for surface agitation and some additional flow through the tank...









I set up the Eheim last night so it can go ahead and begin to build up some beneficial bacteria. I have two complaints about the 2217. First off, it doesn't prime as easily as the 2236. I drank a lot of fish water last night trying to suck-syphon the pressure hose into the canister before starting it. My second complaint is that the hoses are only like 3 feet long! They just barely cleared the top of the tank. I'll need some new hose. Is Home Depot or Lowes ok for replacement hose, or do I need to order something special from Eheim?

My C02 system from GLA also arrived. 10lb CO2 tank, Smith Regulator with dual manifold (hard to tell from the photo, but 2 needle valves and 2 bubble counters). 2 diffusers and 2 drop checkers.










I hope to receive my Eco Complete this weekend and next weekend do a complete tear down of this tank and start over. If everything goes as planned, I want to have this tank up and running with CO2 by Monday 11/15.

Any ideas as to where most people take their CO2 tanks to be filled?

I also received some Blyxa Japonica from "cfi on the fly". He said it was a "large amount" and he wasn't kidding...









That photo was just the first of two gallon ziplock bags full!! I put it all in a 38g that I have running with nothing in it along with some runners from an amazon sword. These will eventually go in this tank when I replant it.

I'm waiting on the Eco-Complete, and thats the funniest part of this whole build. Petco had a FREE shipping promotion on orders more than $60. I guess that includes 304lbs of Eco Complete. I got the email the other day with 8 different Fed Ex tracking numbers for my order. I can only imagine coming home to Fed Ex boxes scattered all around my front door. I bet Petco changed their promotion after this.

J


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## rockwood (Jun 19, 2010)

I'm not sure if regular hose from Lowes/Home Depot is ok or not. I ordered 30 ft of the Eheim tubing to have plenty on hand when I was getting it all set up. It's really not very expensive. 

As far as filling the tank, I take mine to a welding supply place about 15 minutes away and he fills it. It's not the best fill in the world but since I'm only running a 5lb tank, I don't mind. If you want to get the best fill look for an air supplier near you. They'll probably ask you to drop your tank off with them, and then pick it up the following week. You'll get the best fill this way. The other option would be to go up to a similar gas place and trade your empty tank for a full one. Since your tank is so new (like mine) I doubt you'll want to just "trade" it in, because you'll probably never see it again lol. 

I'm envious of your regulator. I wish I had gone the dual manifold direction myself so I could inject both sides of the tank. As it stands I'm looking to change how my spray bars operate to help change that though.


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## chris.rivera3 (Apr 15, 2008)

I go to 2 different places...look for an AirGas store...they are a very large chain...and also look into ballon companies...for my 5 lbs tank I refill it @ AirGas for about under $15....for my 10 lbs tank I refill it @ a local ballon store for about $17


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

rockwood said:


> I'm not sure if regular hose from Lowes/Home Depot is ok or not. I ordered 30 ft of the Eheim tubing to have plenty on hand when I was getting it all set up. It's really not very expensive...
> 
> ...I'm envious of your regulator. I wish I had gone the dual manifold direction myself so I could inject both sides of the tank. As it stands I'm looking to change how my spray bars operate to help change that though.


Did you order directly from Eheim, or someone else?

I had 2 manifolds installed so I can inject on 2 different tanks. My 38g is less than 2 feet away from my 125g, so why not kill two birds with one stone, you know?

On a side note, I can't say enough good things about Orlando at GLA. He took a lot of time to answer questions, even just last night while PMing him about some moss I was buying. Top notch customer service.

J


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## Hyzer (Mar 9, 2010)

The hoses from Home Depot or Lowes might be a bit too thick to fit easily in to your connections. It is also pretty stiff. Tubing from these stores is only slightly cheaper than buying the real Eheim stuff from an online source.

Does mean you have to wait for shipping though...but I'm sure you can figure out a few more things to order as well.:icon_smil


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

Best place to order from?


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

I spent the entire day yesterday on this tank. Started at 1pm and sat down for the first time to admire it at 2 in the morning. This was quite and undertaking, but I'm finally getting the dream tank I always wanted!

FTS before I started the teardown...









Draining it down. I can't believe how bad the tannins from the driftwood had stained the water brownish.









Removing the undergravel filter trays and all of the regular aquarium gravel...









Nearly all of the gravel removed. Look at how nasty the water was where it collected beneath the undergravel trays!!









Per the substrate calculator, I bought 16 bags of Eco Complete for this tank. I kinda felt bad for the Fed-Ex guy who had to unload eight 40lb boxes at my house









Initial scape setup. I tried this about 20 different ways. This was about the best way I could come up with it. I want the tank fairly open in the center and crowded with plants and driftwood near the back walls and sides. I probably repositioned the wood about 50 times before settling on this.









I'd love to hear some thoughts/opinions on my scape, although its definately not gonna change now! lol

Some Dwarf Hair Grass from Charlie Kim (mofaki). This was grown emersed, but I decided to give it a shot in the tank and see how it does. 

























Charlie also gave me some limnophila aromatica and some myriophyllum mattogrossense. Really a great guy, communicated a lot with me, gave me some really fair prices. Here's the myriophyllum...









I got some more limnophila aromatica from Richard Hofweber (p_volitan)...

















Its a little dried out in those photos and not looking so hot. I didn't think it was going to take me as long as it did before I refilled the tank.

Richard also sent me some ludiwiga ovalis as a extra bonus with the limnophila...









Here's some Rotala Red I got from jinsei888. Its been floating in the tank for about a week, so its not looking so hot either. Hopefully with some ferts and some CO2 it will perk up and fill in.









This blyxa japonica (cfi on the fly) gave me finally planted. This floated in a tank in my bedroom, so it doesnt look so great right now, but I'm sure it will get better... I hope...









Some Xmas moss from Orlando (green leaf aquariums). I used cotton thread to tie it off on my driftwood...

















Side shot before filling the tank...









Front shot before filling...









I trickle filled it for the first half hour so as not to disturb the gravel...









Full tank shot 30 mins after fill. Still a little cloudy.









Another FTS, about an hour later, still a little cloudy.










I'd like to say thank you to all the people who have sent me plants and given me good advice throughout this tank's rebuilding process. Some people in particular:

- Orlando @ Green Leaf Aquariums - http://www.greenleafaquariums.com/

- ClintonSParsons - for my Eheims, and just answering a ton of questions

- Charlie Kim (mofaki), Richard Hofweber (p_volitan), Brandon Smith (bsmith), jinsei888, cfi on the fly, houseofcards, msnikkistar, J-P, richy

- Anyone else that I forgot. I've met a ton of awesome people on here, and hope to work with many more as I go.

Co2 is currently set to 7-8 bps, and the indicator stays on a yellowish-green level. I'm still trying to dial it in, but have nothing in the tank right now to worry about gassing. Just trying to get some good growth from the plants. Once I get all the water parameters set I'll move the angels back into this tank.

More to come soon!!!

J


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## Pootie (Mar 5, 2010)

thats some serious turnaround... im in to see this thing fill in.


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## Da Plant Man (Apr 7, 2010)

Subscribed


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## yikesjason (Jul 2, 2008)

looks awesome.


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

Just wait a month and compare before and after shots. Good work!


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

I came home today and it looks like all the leaves that dried out during the planting process are beginning to die, but there is plenty of new growth forming too. Most of the amazon swords are starting to melt as are the stems of the myriophyllum and even some of the limnophila. But near the tops of these there is lush new green growth. Finally some indication of progress! I can't wait to see this tank in about a week!

J


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## mattycakesclark (Jun 11, 2010)

Could I ask, where do you have your Waterplant diffusers plumbed in? I have some, trying to get some insight. I used them inline before a 2" reactor, but I was unhappy with the flow reduction.


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

mattycakesclark said:


> Could I ask where do you have your Waterplant diffusers plumbed in? I have some trying to get some insight. I used them inline before a 2" reactor but I was unhappy with the flow reduction.


 I've got mine inline on the inflow hose. Some people don't like this idea because it can potentially cause air bubbles in your canister filter but I havent had any problems so far. 

J


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

Starting to see some melt on a lot of the plants. I think this may be due to them drying out during the planting process before filling the tank. The good news is that wherever I see melt, I also see new growth. My hope is that as the roots begin to develop, the old growth dies off while the new growth takes over.

The blyxa melting...









More of the blyxa and surrounding plants melting...









The swords are really struggling. I hope they root soon. I planted quite a few root tabs especially near the swords, so hopefully they will start taking up those nutrients soon and take off...









Not the best photo due to some blur from the current moving the plants, but the myriophyllum is starting to melt quite a bit, but has gorgeous green new growth near the tops shooting off roots...









FTS... I was too lazy to set up the tripod, so its a bit blurry...









Still getting there! Hope some of this dead growth will hurry up and fade away and the new growth with take off.

I have the angels in a 35g hex tank upstairs. Some of them have damaged fins and some fungal growth, so I am dosing them with Melafix and Pimafix while they are quarantined in that tank. I hope to have them all fixed up and pretty when I let them back into the 125g. Pretty plants deserve pretty fish. I have a pretty strong co2 concentration in this tank for the time being. My drop checker shows light green, almost yellow. Trying to get the plants to really take off before I move the angels back. I'll obviously cut back the co2 to a safer level once I move the angels back home. I'd love to have some angels breed in this tank and have enough plant cover for the fry to survive just as they would in the wild.

Hope to switch this tank over to a Rex Griggs style reactor by the end of the weekend.

J


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

Well, after some melt that took out quite a bit of my blyxa and hairgrass, things are finally starting to really root and take off. I moved all my large angels back into the tank and bought 15 ottos. I never had a tank large enough to see these little guys school together. Its pretty cool!

Had a pretty bad brown algae outbreak, but it seems to be subsiding and new growth taking over. 

FTS


















Right Side









Middle









Left









I'm pretty happy with the limnophila. I cant wait for it to grow a bit taller so I can cut and replant and thicken it out. I lost a great deal of the fissidens I had on the petrified wood in the front but I have some more growing in my 38gal that I can hopefully transplant in a month or two.

J


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## whizzle (May 12, 2010)

Awesome tank! Any updates?


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

Update? Sure! Thanks for asking 

I had a pretty bad algae bloom that began shortly after Xmas. I tried a complete blackout and it was working, but my plants started to really suffer. Worried it was going to kill everything off, I went back to my regular 10 hour photoperiod and it exploded almost worse than the first time. I purchased a Coralife 18w UV Sterilizer and it worked WONDERS. Amazing really. Here's the proof:

1/25/11










1/26/11










1/27/11










1/28/11










1/29/11










1/30/11










1/31/11










2/1/11










Sorry for the crappy iPhone pics.

Here are some shots I took with my Nikon D7000. I was just using the kit lens that it came with (18-105mm) and on auto setting. I'll try to work with the settings and post some better pics in the future.





































The newest addition to this tank is the red tiger lotus and it is by far my favorite and goes a long way to adding some color and a central focal point to the tank.

More to come!

J


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

Still trying to get my new Nikon dialed in. Here are some photos of my angels in this tank...









































































J


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

Moved around my Limnophilia, did some trimming and replanting and snapped some new photos of the tank and my angels.

FTS









Angle Shot









Shot from left side









Shot from right side









And some of my angels....

This guy I've had for over 5 years now. Store-bought at quarter size

















Another store-bought angel. Purchased so small I had no idea that it was a veil tail









The last of my store-bought angels. This one is one of a breeding pair that laid eggs just before I had a bad algae outbreak. I'm hoping to see another spawn soon.









One of my angels that I raised from a pair in this same tank. This is one of my favorites because of his stripe pattern.









Another one I raised from a spawn. The father was a black veil tail and the mother was a silver. This one got the silver look with a longer tail. It has a lot of iridescence as well.









This guy is one of my favorite 2. He is the product of a black veil father and a zebra veil mother. 









A better shot of his iridescence. His markings and bluish gills really make him stand out.









The other of my favorite 2. This one has longer fins and fewer markings, but still one of my favorites.









"The Twins" Both from the same spawn. One is more veil tail than the other, but they both are my favorites that I've ever raised.









J


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## problemman (Aug 19, 2005)

your black angels are beautiful!


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

problemman said:


> your black angels are beautiful!


Haha.. Thanks! I saw you posted in this thread too and I thought you were going to tell me to move the lotus to the front in this tank too. 

J


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## problemman (Aug 19, 2005)

lol nah! the other one is jsut cramped it looks and would be a nice focal point!


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## nonconductive (Jan 29, 2010)

Nice setup. You really had a pot of pea soup brewing up there for awhile! Like the angels, especially the silver. (I have 5 silvers in QT):biggrin:


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

A UV sterilizer is the only way to get rid of GW IMO.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Beautiful fish and tank!

I love how "clean" the plantings are.


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

Beautiful! Any particular reason you broke the tip off the AquaBall? I have one two, as a "diffuser"


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

Lil' Swimz$ said:


> Beautiful! Any particular reason you broke the tip off the AquaBall? I have one two, as a "diffuser"



Not sure what you mean. I installed them exactly as they came out of the box.

J


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## fishykid1 (Apr 5, 2010)

COMEONNN WHERE"S THE UPDATEE???? haha


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

fishykid1 said:


> COMEONNN WHERE"S THE UPDATEE???? haha


 I'll shoot some this weekend. I've pulled almost all my amazon swords out of this tank because they were taking everything over. I've also added some turquiose rainbows, yellow rainbows, congo tetras and neon tetras. I forgot just how much I enjoyed the congos and the neons. 

I'm going to set up another 38g in my bedroom this weekend, so as I'm taking photos for that journal I'll try to snap some more of this tank.

J


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

Newest photos...

FTS









I caught mom and dad spawning tonight. Not a very big spawn and most of the eggs didnt stick. I've moved the leaf they spawned on to another tank.









Some other random shots of the other inhabitants













































I've removed all of the angels from my previous posts except for the ones I have bred/raised myself. I now have one black veil, one silver veil, one silver/zebra and one black/zebra. The breeding pair is the silver veil and a black/zebra. I can't wait to mix some of my Ken Kennedy blues into my breeding stock!

J


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

You have had alot of growth. I like your shot of the 3 congos! What made you decide to get rid of the angels? They were looking prime!


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

chad320 said:


> You have had alot of growth. I like your shot of the 3 congos! What made you decide to get rid of the angels? They were looking prime!


I wanted to clean up my breeding stock a bit. The goldens, the solid black and the other stripe that I took to my LFS were all store bought (Petsmart I think) many many years ago. I'm also more interested in veil, zebra, etc... more exotic looking angels, so I cleaned up my breeding stock. Now all of my angels have been raised by me with the exception of my 38g tank with the Ken Kennedy Blues. I will introduce them to my breeder stock and hopefully really be on to something!

J


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

Haha, I was going to ask if you had ever kept Kens pinoy blues. Guess I should look at you other thread. Nice work J!


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## im2smart4u (Dec 7, 2010)

I love the pinoy blues. I am wanting to get some to put in the 125 I am setting up. You also have turquoise rainbows, which is one of the fish that I thought would look good in my 125 with the pinoy blue angels. Your tank is nice, by the way. I hope mine ends up looking half as good.


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

chad320 said:


> Haha, I was going to ask if you had ever kept Kens pinoy blues. Guess I should look at you other thread. Nice work J!


Thanks Chad! 



im2smart4u said:


> I love the pinoy blues. I am wanting to get some to put in the 125 I am setting up. You also have turquoise rainbows, which is one of the fish that I thought would look good in my 125 with the pinoy blue angels. Your tank is nice, by the way. I hope mine ends up looking half as good.


If you plan on getting some phillipine blues, I'd recommend AngelfishUSA.com. I think they have a pretty good special for 20 pea sized for $60 plus shipping. 

I bought a pair each of rainbows when I first decided to stock them. The yellow and turquoise were my favorites. I took all the rest back to my LFS (bosemani, red irian, emerald). I kept a pair of Splendida (or Splendid) just because they were so big. I decided just to stock up on the yellows and the blues. With a dark substrate and background and some nice green plants around them, the yellow and the turquoise really seem to stand out.

J


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

Snapped some new photos today!

I removed almost all the amazon sword. They just grow way out of control in my tanks with the high light and co2. I got some manzanita and moved around the jungle val. It also grows like crazy, but with the thinner leaves it doesnt block the light as much. I've also planted some staurogyne repens in order to begin a carpet on the left side. 

FTS










My breeding pair of angels have been at it again cleaning leaves, so I have moved them into a 10gal spawning tank.

I've also added some German Blue Rams, Golden Rams and Bolivian Rams. I forgot how much I loved dwarf cichlids!

Strangely enough, I was looking at the tank from the kitchen this morning and saw one of my German Blue Rams attack one of my angels. I couldn't believe this since rams are very docile and passive fish. Shortly after he did it again. I got a closer look and found this...










Guarding a small spawn! WOW! The first time I've ever had Rams spawn in any of my tanks and I've only had them in there for about a week. 

While I had the camera out, I snapped some more photos of them...










Momma and Daddy










Guarding the spawn



















A nice shot of mom










Some of my golden rams




















I plan to leave this spawn alone and see if they can survive. The rams spawned in a very good spot hidden from the other fish, but once the lights are off, who knows how good they can guard the eggs. Since my angels are currently taking up the spawning tank, I'll just keep an eye on things. I've bred and raised angels, but never rams, so I may give the rams a shot on the next spawn if this one doesnt work out.

Updates to follow!

J


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## Quesenek (Sep 26, 2008)

Wow nice rams.
Just a quick question, do your rams mess with the other tank inhabitants? I see you have a few tetras in there. I was just wondering because my fish are pretty much the same size as them.


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## zenche (Feb 9, 2011)

awesome, awesome tank. wow!


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## drbotts (Apr 10, 2011)

Those are fantastic pictures. I can't believe you picked up those Rams and one was prego. That's going to seriously be a great experience to breed those Rams and Angels. 

Happy Easter. You definitely got your share of eggs.


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

Quesenek said:


> Wow nice rams.
> Just a quick question, do your rams mess with the other tank inhabitants? I see you have a few tetras in there. I was just wondering because my fish are pretty much the same size as them.


No, not at all. They are very passive fish. They love hiding spots so they are very comfortable in this tank as heavily planted as it is.




zenche said:


> awesome, awesome tank. wow!


Thanks!



drbotts said:


> Those are fantastic pictures. I can't believe you picked up those Rams and one was prego. That's going to seriously be a great experience to breed those Rams and Angels.
> 
> Happy Easter. You definitely got your share of eggs.


Thanks! I can't believe it either. Something in the water at my house. I'm scared to touch my girlfriend! 

J


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## Quesenek (Sep 26, 2008)

JCoxRocks said:


> No, not at all. They are very passive fish. They love hiding spots so they are very comfortable in this tank as heavily planted as it is.
> J


Thanks, I've wanted to keep dwarf cichlids for a Long time but didn't know if they were aggressive or not.


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

Quesenek said:


> Thanks, I've wanted to keep dwarf cichlids for a Long time but didn't know if they were aggressive or not.


Not at all. Give them some hiding places and feed them a nice varied diet and they will reward you with beautiful colors and some very quirky personalities. 

J


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

Well, sad news... I checked today at lunch and it appears all of the ram eggs are gone. Not sure who the culprit is as there are a bunch of fish in that tank. Could have been any number of them. I was pretty bummed out about it. Until....


I looked in my 10gal tank right next to it...










I'm telling you... there must be something in the water.

Gonna wait and see what kind of parents these two are. This is only their second spawn. If they don't play nice, then next spawn I will remove them 10-12 hours after the eggs are laid and fertilized. Otherwise, I'll let them stay until we have freeswimmers and then remove them. Both of the parents were tank raised by me. Gosh they grow up so fast :icon_cry:

J


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

WOW J!! Nice job. Love is in the air around your place. Bummer on the ram eggs. Hopefully you can get them to come around again. As well as the angels!!!


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

chad320 said:


> WOW J!! Nice job. Love is in the air around your place. Bummer on the ram eggs. Hopefully you can get them to come around again. As well as the angels!!!


 I plan on keeping the rams on a "meaty" diet and seeing what happens. If they spawn again in 2-3 weeks then I'll consider putting them in their own tank when they hit their third spawn. I've been through the angel thing a few times, I'd love to try something new with the rams.

Oh well. Who wants 700 angelfish babies?

J


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## newportjon (Mar 22, 2011)

Wow, I love your rams! I am jealous!

I need a tank big enough for a pair of those. They're beautiful fish.


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

newportjon said:


> Wow, I love your rams! I am jealous!
> 
> I need a tank big enough for a pair of those. They're beautiful fish.


 The photos may be a little misleading. They arent much bigger than 1-1.5 inches. You could easily keep 3 in a 20gal. I would definately keep at least 3. They like slightly acidic soft water. I keep them with my angels since they prefer similar conditions.

J


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

What kind of lighting are you using on this tank? I am looking to set up a 125g that I got for free and am starting with you researching lighting for it. Is yours 6 ft. long I assume?


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## Quesenek (Sep 26, 2008)

Ok I'm back for another question. 
If I were to get say 3 or 5 rams for my 75g do you think if I got mostly males by mistake that they would fight a lot?
I'm thinking about putting a 3' piece of 2" PVC in the back of the tank behind the stems as a hiding spot with wedges cut out of it for them to hide when they need to.


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## macclellan (Dec 22, 2006)

Nice tank, not sure how I missed it. 

Those amazon swords were nice, they do take over everything though


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## globali (May 29, 2010)

Very good & interesting journey.
Very nice & enjoyable result.

Why do U need those x2 Power Heads
in the tank, what is their duty in general.

:icon_idea


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

chad320 said:


> What kind of lighting are you using on this tank? I am looking to set up a 125g that I got for free and am starting with you researching lighting for it. Is yours 6 ft. long I assume?


Yes... the tank is 6ft. So lighting can be a little nuts. 

Strangely enough, I got my 125g for free too!

My setup is pretty rediculous. I'm using 4 36" Catalina fixtures, all of them are 4 x 39watt T5HO. Do the math and thats 624 watts total (nearly 5 watts per gallon). In the front 2 I have one plant grow bulb (reddish tint) in each fixture. This combined with a good liquid fertilizer regimen brings out the reds in my limnophila and rotala rotundifolia. The rest are just 6500K. Anything else you wanna know... just ask.




Quesenek said:


> Ok I'm back for another question.
> If I were to get say 3 or 5 rams for my 75g do you think if I got mostly males by mistake that they would fight a lot?
> I'm thinking about putting a 3' piece of 2" PVC in the back of the tank behind the stems as a hiding spot with wedges cut out of it for them to hide when they need to.


As long as they are semi-healthy in the store, you should be able to sex them. The females will have a rosy pinkish belly. If they are underfed or the water quality is bad, then it will be harder to tell. Fortunately, my LFS takes good care of their tanks and water system, so I was easily able to pick out 2 males and 5 females. I would get at least 1-2 females per male if you can. As long as you introduce all of them to the tank at the same time and have some hiding spots, you shouldnt have too much to worry about with aggression. The PVC is a good idea. It will most likely result in a spawning cave too. Some people will put a small clay pot in the tank as well... sort of bury it halfway into the substrate. They enjoy that and sometimes will spawn on the top of it, or the inside bottom if it isn't buried. Like angels, they prefer a flat surface, but will try to spawn in a cave-like area where they can defend the eggs.




macclellan said:


> Nice tank, not sure how I missed it.
> 
> Those amazon swords were nice, they do take over everything though


I used to love swords in my other tanks, but then I went to high light and pressurized co2 and they just take over everything. I'm sure they'd be fine in a low-med tech tank, but they had to go in mine. When I set the tank up, I planted 4 tiny (2-3 inch) pups that came off a shoot in my 20 gal. Within 4 months I was pulling as many leaves off as I could to give light to my other plants.



globali said:


> Very good & interesting journey.
> Very nice & enjoyable result.
> 
> Why do U need those x2 Power Heads
> ...


I use them for extra circulation and some surface agitation to help the co2 gas off at night. I was noticing my drop checker still staying the same 24hrs a day. I had to up my bubble count a bit to overcome the gas off during the day, but at least when the co2 shuts off with the lights at night the surface movement with the powerheads help gas it off. I initially lost a couple of fish (that were probably not terribly healthy to begin with) presumably from too much co2.

J


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## shrimpnmoss (Apr 8, 2011)

J, This is a great looking tank. Good luck with your ram babies. Your black angel looks great in the picture too.

You freaking guys make me want a big tank and jungle it out!


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## Quesenek (Sep 26, 2008)

JCoxRocks said:


> As long as they are semi-healthy in the store, you should be able to sex them. The females will have a rosy pinkish belly. If they are underfed or the water quality is bad, then it will be harder to tell. Fortunately, my LFS takes good care of their tanks and water system, so I was easily able to pick out 2 males and 5 females. I would get at least 1-2 females per male if you can. As long as you introduce all of them to the tank at the same time and have some hiding spots, you shouldnt have too much to worry about with aggression. The PVC is a good idea. It will most likely result in a spawning cave too. Some people will put a small clay pot in the tank as well... sort of bury it halfway into the substrate. They enjoy that and sometimes will spawn on the top of it, or the inside bottom if it isn't buried. Like angels, they prefer a flat surface, but will try to spawn in a cave-like area where they can defend the eggs.
> 
> J


Thanks, yeah mine does too I've just never paid to much attention to what each fish looked like.


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

The funny thing about fishkeeping is... when you think you've seen everything, something unexpected usually happens.

I took out my Nikon to snap a few better photos of the angels and the eggs they have laid. 










I noticed there was a glare coming from the lights on my 125 g (its about 4 feet away). No... my angel doesn't really have green gills. I went over to that tank to shut off the lights for a moment, looked down and saw this...










Here's a hint of who they belong to...










Unbelieveable. I have owned these rams for a little less than two weeks now and I have two breeding pairs. Insanity.

I was laughing about it before... "there's something in my water," but I told my girlfriend tonight that I won't even so much as kiss her anywhere near this aquarium.

Since this pair laid their eggs on a piece of driftwood, I don't have a whole lot of options as far as removing them. I could possibly use a turkey baster if they make it to the wiggler stage, but I guess I will wait this batch out and see what happens again. 

I am still in shock. 2 different spawns from 2 different pairs in less than a week from rams that I've owned for less than 2 weeks. I was never able to get my rams to breed in the past. Crazy.

J


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## shrimpnmoss (Apr 8, 2011)

It's spring....love is in the air....I mean water.


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## SkyGrl (Jan 7, 2010)

*cue romantic music* 

Amy


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

Man, I hope they keep them this time. Even if they dont its a chance for them to learn how to parent. Will be awaiting this update for sure!!!


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

chad320 said:


> Man, I hope they keep them this time. Even if they dont its a chance for them to learn how to parent. Will be awaiting this update for sure!!!


Keep in mind Chad, this is a different pair. Although this pair laid twice as many. The last pair that spawned, their eggs were eaten. Not sure who the culprit was, but their spawn was in a much more secure area. This pair is a little braver, and laid them more out in the open. I don't have high hopes for their ability to defend them where they are at.

I had a feeling they were up to something earlier. I was pointing out to a friend around dinner time that they were hanging out in that area quite a bit.

J


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## TwoStrokeKing (Mar 24, 2011)

Hey man nice tank! i just wanted to say that when you first set up a tank you dont want to use co2 , high lights, or ferts, u want to use low light and let the plants get rooted so that when u do use co2 high light and fert the plants will take up the nutrients, that is probably why you got algae because the plants cant absorb it all. Give it about a month before using ferts or co2! great looking tank tho! keep it up


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

Checked in on everyone at lunch today...



















Eggs have hatched and are wiggling away. Mom is busy grouping them all together. If one falls or slides off the pile, she's quick to scoop it up and spit it back on the pile. No sign of any white, dead or moldy eggs. Parents have become VERY protective and snapping this photo was almost impossible without dad blocking the way. Don't want to jinx it, but may have a good set of parents here. Pretty remarkable second spawn. Good genes I guess, both of the parents were tank raised by me from two separate spawns from two separate pairs and both sets of parents raised the fry to free swimming stage before I took the parents out. Looks like I may get lucky with this pair as well. 

As for the second pair of rams... their eggs are still there and mom and dad are guarding the nest well. I don't have high hopes for them as many other fish are in there with them, but I have my fingers crossed!

J


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

Babies are still growing along. You can now see their eyes...



















Going to start up my BBS Hatcheries on Sunday. I'm expecting free swimmers by Monday/Tuesday. 

On a strange note, when I came home today for lunch, I noticed that the male's scales looked like he had been attacked. There was a lot of silvery "damage" on his sides and his fins look like he was beaten up a bit. I've never seen a female in a pair beat up on the male, at least, not after the spawning has occured. Anyone else ever see/experience anything like this?

I took both the male and female out and put them back in their home in the 125 gal. He's hiding off in a corner. I hope he will pull through after a water change this weekend and some light cycles to sleep/relax. He should be able to find more hiding spots to calm down in now that he's back in the 125g. Not much room to hide in a breeder 10gal.

Once these little guys start maturing and growing fins, I'll move them to my 35 gal hex grow out tank. Its the tallest tank I have and will help their fins develop nice and straight. I'm pretty excited to see the outcome of this spawn since the parents both had desirable traits.

J


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## drbotts (Apr 10, 2011)

Bahhh I can not believe how much has happened in this tank in a week. This is incredible and I swear it's something in your water. 

Can't wait to see these guys get bigger. Awesome stuff J.


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

Looks like I was about a day off. I woke up this morning to free swimmers. I wasnt expecting them until tommorow.










I went ahead and started one of my brine shrimp hatcheries (I'll add eggs to the one on the right tommorow night so I have a 2-3 day supply at all times.)










A view of the breeder tank & BBS hatchery...










The fish room...










J


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## TwoStrokeKing (Mar 24, 2011)

dude your tanks are amazing!!


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Beautiful looking tanks! I wish I had a fish room haha.

I had a breeding pair of angels a long time ago, it was so exciting! Good luck with them


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

Here's a quick video I put together:

Angelfish Fry - 7 Days Old

J


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

DUDE!!! That is freakin sweet! I get so excited over seeing a tank spawn. I love it. Good luck with them and I could use a few if they get big for you


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## globali (May 29, 2010)

Very nice, greetings & happy life.


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

That is sweet! Love it. Off topic, but what is the song in that video? I like it.


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

TwoStrokeKing said:


> dude your tanks are amazing!!


Thanks! It was a quick and crappy iPhone photo, but I realized I've never taken photos of my 125 and my 38 together. I'll try to do another one sometime with my Nikon.



tharsis said:


> Beautiful looking tanks! I wish I had a fish room haha.
> I had a breeding pair of angels a long time ago, it was so exciting! Good luck with them


Sometimes my g/f wishes I DIDNT have a fish room :hihi:

Its actually just my living room downstairs. But it definately is a fish room for sure. Almost 200 gallons just in that room alone.



chad320 said:


> DUDE!!! That is freakin sweet! I get so excited over seeing a tank spawn. I love it. Good luck with them and I could use a few if they get big for you


I may sell some in the S&S when they are dime/nickel size. I'm not sure how well they will ship, but I'd be happy to try and give a few a shot and see. I usually supply my LFS with them for store credit. Based on my last spawns, they should be big enough to ship by mid to late August.



globali said:


> Very nice, greetings & happy life.


Thanks! You too!



sewingalot said:


> That is sweet! Love it. Off topic, but what is the song in that video? I like it.


"Pyro" by Kings of Leon. 

J


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Interesting band. Not something I'd normally listen to, but I liked that song. So how many tanks do you really have in your house?


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

sewingalot said:


> Interesting band. Not something I'd normally listen to, but I liked that song. So how many tanks do you really have in your house?


*Downstairs*
125g
38g
10g

*Bedroom*
38g
20g xhigh

*Music Studio/Office*
35g hex

... and a local member just posted a complete 110g setup in the S&S. I'm trying my hardest to look the other way. :help:

J


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

_You got it bad, lol._ 110 gallon? Sweet. I wish I had the room, I'd be all over it in a heartbeat. I just want a 75 and I can't justify the price. So that technically means you could have a few more journals for me to lurk on. :biggrin:


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

Yeah, wheres the 10g and the 35 hex pics at? lol. We are stalking your tanks here and you arent giving up enough pics


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

I just want a 120-p and a 40 breeder. Those tanks over 90g or so are just too big. I would rather have a few smaller ones (has nothing to do with my collectoritis I swear!) so I could keep flora/fauna that may not interact well or like the same parameters. 

But J, your tank is super sweet, Diabetic even.


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

sewingalot said:


> _You got it bad, lol._ 110 gallon? Sweet. I wish I had the room, I'd be all over it in a heartbeat. I just want a 75 and I can't justify the price. So that technically means you could have a few more journals for me to lurk on. :biggrin:


Maybe some day. We'll see. The g/f will let me buy the 110g as long as I get rid of the race tires that are taking up the area where the tank would go. I guess she figures I will give up racing for aquariums. (Don't tell her I need a new set of race tires on the car anyway :hihi



chad320 said:


> Yeah, wheres the 10g and the 35 hex pics at? lol. We are stalking your tanks here and you arent giving up enough pics


The 10g is the breeder tank in this thread with the fry in it. Nothing worth a journal. Rena filter, flourescent light. I need a bare bottom so I can vacuum waste off the floor when it gets dirty. I've considered plants and shrimp, etc, but that would greatly reduce my ability to have a tank to spawn/raise angels for the first few months.

Sort of the same story with the 35 hex. Nothing interesting. Biowheel and a heater. Also bare bottom. Grow out tank for my 1 month old angels. At this age they need a tall tank to develop nice and straight fins. If anything, this would be my next tank to build/scape. I already have a nice piece of manzanita that would fit it, but I'm in no hurry. If the day comes that I get tired of breeding my angels then I'll think about it more.



bsmith said:


> I just want a 120-p and a 40 breeder. Those tanks over 90g or so are just too big. I would rather have a few smaller ones (has nothing to do with my collectoritis I swear!) so I could keep flora/fauna that may not interact well or like the same parameters.
> 
> But J, your tank is super sweet, Diabetic even.


Thanks Brandon! I'm enjoying watching your L183s. If they are plant safe, I'd be interested in throwing some angels and cash your way.

J


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

Thought I would add this photo of the poor male from my breeding pair. You can see he got beat up pretty bad while he was in the spawning tank with the female. I've never had a pair do this before. I'm not sure if he was eating eggs or the female just got overprotective but she beat him half to death. This photo is the first time he's come out of hiding behind the plants in the 125g since I put the pair back into this tank.










Poor guy. Look how bad his fins are. She forked his rear fin picking on him so bad. Whatever little spat they were having must have blown over as they are happy together now in the 125g. He's stopped hiding and is eating well.

As for the fry, they are eating well on a twice daily diet of BBS. I've had about 10-20% loss rate so far. I remember similar loss rates when the parents were spawned as they came from a zebra veil and black veil pair. I assume the cross-breeding involved in getting those traits probably lead to a weak genetic strain and the spawns arent as hardy as just a regular silver would be. Both the size of the spawn and the survival rate seems to be coorelated to the genetic strain of the parents.

I will say that about 50% of the fry appear to be darker than the others which leads me to believe that at least half of the spawn will be black like the father, or at least a dark mix of the two. I'm pretty excited to see what comes from this spawn! I expect a good number of veil, zebra, black and stripe mixes.

J


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

Snapped some photos of the angel fry today (this is about half of them). Man these little guys are hard to catch on camera.


























Some close-ups...


























His face is a little blurry, but check out his crazy stripes...










J


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

Nice! Looks like things are working out good. Thats a pretty good survival rate too.


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

chad320 said:


> Nice! Looks like things are working out good. Thats a pretty good survival rate too.


Yeah, no losses in the last week or so. Most of my losses occurred within the first 2 weeks.

Judging from a quick count in the photo and guestimation, I have around 140-160.

J


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## drbotts (Apr 10, 2011)

J-
So if I recall, you are keeping these in an empty tank for the most part? Do you cycle water between the tanks to keep it balanced or you had it previously balanced?
Also, I have never had fry like this.. just some baby guppies and mollys from time to time. Do they not get stressed without anything to hide behind, in, etc? I bet these little buggers get hungry swimming around so much.


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

drbotts said:


> J-
> So if I recall, you are keeping these in an empty tank for the most part? Do you cycle water between the tanks to keep it balanced or you had it previously balanced?
> Also, I have never had fry like this.. just some baby guppies and mollys from time to time. Do they not get stressed without anything to hide behind, in, etc? I bet these little buggers get hungry swimming around so much.


All the fry are in a 10g tank at the moment. Bare bottom, Rena HOB filter and a heater. Very miminal. They are fed BBS 3 times a day and I do at least a 50% water change about every other day. I add water conditioner while I am refilling and so far there doesnt seem to be any need for using cycled water from my other tanks. I've always done it this way and seems to work well. I swear, maybe its just me, but I'm convinced they grow overnight with each water change. I know that frequent water changes and feeding will grow them out faster, but I swear its almost instant after a water change.

They are definately little piglets with fins, thats for sure. I have to add a little more and a little more of the BBS every day to compensate. Its fun to watch them stalk and eat the BBS and see their little bellies turn orange from being filled. I have to vacuum up the unhatched eggs and any little dead BBS from the floor of the tank every couple of days, so having a bare tank bottom helps.

As far as stress, they don't seem to have any problems. The best part about angel fry is right around the time they begin to develop their triangular shape, they begin learning about feeding time. I use a syringe with a piece of rigid piping from an undergravel filter attached with about an inch of air line as a coupler. I suck up the BBS with the syringe and then squirt them in the tank. At first the fry are sort of amazed at the unexplainable shower of BBS, but after a few weeks, they all swarm at the tube as soon as it hits the water. It looks like a school of pirhanna attacking a piece of raw meat. If you've never seen it, its quite entertaining.

But going back to your question, they don't seem to get stressed unless you make sudden movement near the glass, but then, most all fish are that way.

J


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## night9eyes (Jan 12, 2011)

Great looking pics of your fry! In the first close up shot that little guy has one full and happy belly


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

night9eyes said:


> Great looking pics of your fry! In the first close up shot that little guy has one full and happy belly


They certainly don't have any problem eating... thats for sure.

J


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## drbotts (Apr 10, 2011)

Updates!


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

Took all of the rainbowfish back to the store and traded them in on some more German Blue Rams and German Gold Rams. I just cant get enough of these little guys and their personalities. Plus they seem to readily breed in my tank conditions. At some point I will find a pair and try my luck at breeding them in a separate tank.

Just to please drbotts, I got out the camera and got a little trigger happy with all of my tank's inhabitants. Hope you enjoy!

German Blue Rams


































German Gold Rams


















Bolivian Rams










Congo Tetras










One of my super fat Otos










One of my Zebra Otos (they love the manzanita)










Some shots of my angels


































My breeding pair! Mom (silver) and dad (black zebra)










An "artsy" shot of my polygonum pearling










And last but not least, some shots of my angel fry (3 weeks old). These photos are awful and I'm not proud of them at all. Unfortunately I have a planaria outbreak in my fry tank and my macro lens struggles on what to focus on. I wish they were better photos, but you can get the basic idea on where they are developmentally from these terrible blurry photos



























And last but not least, what journal entry would be complete without a FTS?











Tommorow I plan on a pretty hefty trim and will probably sell some things in the S&S. Stay tuned!

J


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## drbotts (Apr 10, 2011)

Thanks for the pics. Jealous, yes. But good luck finding any more Ram's locally. Once I get out there, they will be gone. 
I agree.. those fish are amazing. Especially the gold and blue. Who needs Saltwater when you have a tank like this. Those babies are really doing well. I'm sure you're pretty excited about it as well but seeing so many healthy says a lot about the setup you have. Your FTS is amazing. I think I'll save that pic as a 'goal'. 


Not sure if I told you but a guy on CL had a Glo fixture for like $35 so I snatched it up to start up'ing my WPG. I'll tell you... I can't believe in 1 week what that did for the tank. I'm expecting to fight a little algae but went ahead and jumped on a Co2 tank and just trying to figure out my regulator. Some guy in Cary has one for sale that I'm going to look at tomorrow.


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

drbotts said:


> Thanks for the pics. Jealous, yes. But good luck finding any more Ram's locally. Once I get out there, they will be gone.


Good luck. I bought every last one (15) that Aquarium Outfitters had in stock! HAHA!!

Seriously, if you want more, ask them to order you some. Theirs are really healthy. In the store their color isn't so great and its hard to sex them, but get them home and feed them a diet of frozen bloodworms and live blackworms and their color explodes!! Give them a nice lower pH... around 6.6-6.8 and they will be happy and in turn make you happy.



drbotts said:


> I agree.. those fish are amazing. Especially the gold and blue. Who needs Saltwater when you have a tank like this. Those babies are really doing well. I'm sure you're pretty excited about it as well but seeing so many healthy says a lot about the setup you have. Your FTS is amazing. I think I'll save that pic as a 'goal'.


Thanks! I really appreciate that. I'm happy to help you along. I had some great people on TPT.net help me when I was getting set up, so any plants you need, advice, etc I'm happy to help.



drbotts said:


> Not sure if I told you but a guy on CL had a Glo fixture for like $35 so I snatched it up to start up'ing my WPG. I'll tell you... I can't believe in 1 week what that did for the tank. I'm expecting to fight a little algae but went ahead and jumped on a Co2 tank and just trying to figure out my regulator. Some guy in Cary has one for sale that I'm going to look at tomorrow.


Good! That should really get you started. You will also need to look into some ferts. I haven't quite gone to the EI dosing method yet. I use liquid ferts from pferts.com on this tank. I bought some dry ferts from GLA that I will use when my pferts supply runs out. I'm honestly not 100% comfortable that I will be dosing correctly. I need to read up some more I guess. I'm just spoiled with the squirt bottles from pferts. 

J


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

Now its almost ridiculous. I picked my favorite 4 angels from a spawn over a year ago and added them to this tank. Imagine my luck when two of the four paired off. Well, tonight I came home to find the other two up to this:



















4 angels, 2 pairs. What are the odds?!

This time the female is a black zebra veil and the male is a silver zebra with pretty odd markings. I call it leopard, but there is probably some official angelfish society name for it. Anyway... here goes another spawn. Eggs arent sticking very well, so I will probably just let this batch get eaten. Don't really have room for otherwise at the moment anyway. Maybe when I move the fry from the other pair's spawn from my 10 gal to the grow out tank.

Oh... and one of my german ram pairs spawned tonight too.

Craziness.

J


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## roybot73 (Dec 15, 2007)

Wow! That 'Leopard' is gorgeous!!!
Congrats (i think?  on the spawn. Do you have an outlet for alll these juveniles?


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

roybot73 said:


> Wow! That 'Leopard' is gorgeous!!!
> Congrats (i think?  on the spawn. Do you have an outlet for alll these juveniles?


My LFS will take most of them. The rest to friends and maybe some folks on here. I really was more interested in breeding the rams, but my frisky angels arent giving me much of a chance! :icon_roll

J


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

Kens food son.


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

bsmith said:


> Kens food son.


 I'll buy that for their appearance, but lately I've fed mostly a "meaty" diet trying to perk up my new rams. So far Ive been feeding the following:

LUNCH - frozen bloodworms OR frozen krill OR Ken's flake (Angel Diet or Colormax)
DINNER - live blackworms

I just vary what I feed at lunch each day to give some variety. Right now all of my fish are CRAZY about the blackworms.

J


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

Decided that tonight was the night to make some moves for my angel fry as well the GBR and new angel pair fry as well. Here's how it went....

Checked out my 35gal hex thats been running with one full-grown angel for over 2 years now. It was in terrible shape....


















Cleaned it out and performed a 70% water change. Added the angel fry as well as about 8 gallons of water from their tank...










New angels are swimming around and getting used to their new home...


















Growing angels need a tall tank in order for their fins to develop properly. Angels grown in shallow tanks will develop fins that are deformed and not desirable. My 35g hex is perfect since it is a tall cylindrical shape. My favorite angels will be selected and moved to the 38g Breeder/Grow Out Paradise tank (see my signature) in about a month.

Meanwhile, back in the 10 gal tank I did a full water change and added the GBR eggs and angel eggs from my newest pair...










The red tiger lotus leaf are the angel eggs and the anubias leaf (green) are the GBR eggs...


















I'm not sure if this will work or not, and I'm even more curious to see if they all do hatch how raising GBR and angels together at one time will work out. I'm not overly optimistic that any of the eggs will hatch, so if they are successful I'll be pretty happy.

Stay tuned!

J


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## SkyGrl (Jan 7, 2010)

how will you keep the circulation up over the eggs? jw

Amy


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

SkyGrl said:


> how will you keep the circulation up over the eggs? jw
> 
> Amy


I've put them underneath the HOB filter outflow. I can tell there is some circulation over the eggs because I can see the leaves moving in the water a bit. May not be enough, and then again maybe it will be. Judging on when I think the eggs were laid, both should hatch by this time tommorow. By then circulation wont be as much of a concern. (I hope.)

J


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## SkyGrl (Jan 7, 2010)

oooOOOooo good thinking. pictures dont tell the whole story i guess! omg they will be so cute!!!! i think you will have enough babies to start a pet store. exclusivly angels and rams!! :hihi: 

Amy


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## drbotts (Apr 10, 2011)

J - That, I hope, ends up being the magic ticket for you on these eggs. I did a little reading and I can't really find where leaving them in the tank with their parents does anything for them other than just the water conditions. If the water conditions don't go nuts on you, I can't see why these don't emerge to be a healthy set of fry. 

The plants look fantastic btw. I shut off my Emperor to see if I can't get my Yeast Co2 to rise between now and when I get the regulator. Algae is getting a little much with the new light. 

I need to get in the habit of taking more pictures. Also going to get some blood and blackworms this weekend to try those on my fish. I think they'd enjoy.


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

drbotts said:


> J - That, I hope, ends up being the magic ticket for you on these eggs. I did a little reading and I can't really find where leaving them in the tank with their parents does anything for them other than just the water conditions. If the water conditions don't go nuts on you, I can't see why these don't emerge to be a healthy set of fry.
> 
> The plants look fantastic btw. I shut off my Emperor to see if I can't get my Yeast Co2 to rise between now and when I get the regulator. Algae is getting a little much with the new light.
> 
> I need to get in the habit of taking more pictures. Also going to get some blood and blackworms this weekend to try those on my fish. I think they'd enjoy.


Well, one benefit of leaving them with the parents is that they constantly fan the eggs preventing them from dying and molding. I noticed today at lunch that each leaf had probably 10-15 dead/white eggs. More on the angel leaf than the ram leaf. Could be from not enough water circulation over the leaves, or it could be from the second or two the leaf was out of the water as I moved them from tank to tank. I wasnt overly optimistic that they would hatch anyway, so I didn't exactly take caution when moving them from my 125 to the hatching tank. There were maybe 2-3 white eggs already when I moved them and I just scooted them off the leaves with the pointy end of a bamboo skewer. I'll try to clean the leaves off tonight as well, but I'm still not 100% sure they will make it in this tank. I might have been a little hasty to move them. Maybe next time I'll give them one extra day. I figured they would hatch today, but I guess not. I didn't want to attempt to move them as wigglers as I was nervous it would affect them more or they would fall off the leaf while transporting them.

Don't tell me about your plants, lets see em!! Photos!!! Do it!!

I just got some blackworms in the mail today. 1lb! Aquarium Outfitters was all out, so I decided to try mail order. We'll see how that works. I thought about culturing them myself, but they arent exactly a pleasant smelling creature. For $5 a week, I'll pass on the house smelling like a campground restroom. As it is the g/f isnt a fan of them in a tupperware container in the crisper drawer in the fridge. No matter how hard I try to hide them she always grabs them and opens them up thinking its her leftovers. She always screams and I come running. I'm hoping I don't walk into the kitchen to find worms on the ceiling from where they startle her into throwing them. Girls. Sheesh. A grown man should be allowed to keep disgusting smelling worms in his fridge if he wants to, right?

If you get some frozen blackworms, honestly your best source is Petsmart/Petco. I have the best luck with the frozen "flats" instead of the cubes. Its just a flat package. I beat the flat against the kitchen counter to break them up and then pour the broken chunks into a glass of hot tap water. After 5-6 minutes to thaw I'll swirl them around and pour them into the tank. My angels and rams go CRAZY for them. Actually all my fish do. Even my neons who swim around greedily with half a worm hanging out of their mouths.

J


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## rj55021 (Apr 4, 2011)

*Green Water*

Hello J.

I have an urgent question for you.

I have my aqua with an Appistogramma set up. A lot of plants a a couple preparing to spawn.

last week on of my bulbs shut off and I am on my way to receive a new set of bulbs coralife 6700 and colormax.

I am saying that because my aqua is starting to turn green as I am using only half of a bulb 6700. Did your water regressed to the correct color just replacing the bulb???

Your help is appreciate 

Thanks


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

rj55021 said:


> Hello J.
> 
> I have an urgent question for you.
> 
> ...


Sorry its taken me so long to get back to you.

I had to add a UV sterilizer to my tank to combat the green water. I'm sure I could have made some adjustments to my lighting/water parameters, but at the end of the day, the UV sterilizer was the easiest method and I don't regret it one bit. If you havent already solved your problems, I'd recommend one!

J


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

Its been forever since I've updated. Still waiting for the 125 to grow back in from its "awkward" stage after a major trim. Now have a pair of German Gold Rams that have spawned. Removed the eggs and raised them to free swimming stage, but they didn't make it. My assumption is that their mouths are too small to eat BBS. Disappointing, but I am getting closer and closer with each spawn.

I'm now raising the second spawn from angel pair #1. Pair #2 spawned, but I hastily removed the eggs too early and they molded over. I'm trying to fatten up that pair on live blackworms and bloodworms in hopes they will spawn again soon.

Meanwhile, the juveniles from pair #1's first spawn are doing well. Here are some quick iPhone photos and a short video:


















The water is cloudy from the BBS I had just fed.

Angel Pair #1 - Spawn #1 - Juveniles

J


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

New photos!

FTS









Left









Middle









Right









Some of the inhabitants...









































And AGAIN Pair #1 is getting frisky...









Some photos of the first batch of fry from pair #1 (almost 2 months old)

















































J


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

And for fun... a timeline...

*10/26/10*









*10/31/11*









*11/12/10*









*11/12/10*









*11/15/10*









*12/13/10*









*2/2/11*









*2/21/11*









*4/10/11*









*4/23/10*









*5/14/11*









*6/11/11*









J


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## SkyGrl (Jan 7, 2010)

great updates! i love your photos!  my favorite tanks.. i love how you have th plants placed and how they grew in! great great GREAT!

:hihi:

Amy


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## PzykoSkillz (Jul 6, 2010)

Awesome tank man, looks great.


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## globali (May 29, 2010)

Very nice.


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## TankZen (Jan 31, 2011)

Wow your tank is amazing!!! What is that plant on the far left side? Very cool. Next time you're selling some plants I want some : )


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## rj55021 (Apr 4, 2011)

Hi J.

You tanks looks amazing, congrats.

I am finally on the way to eliminate the green water issue from my tank using a green killing machine from AA. It will take another 3-4 days to crystal the water, but definitely it is a fix 

Now I have a question for you. Which system have you been using for BBS, I have tried to use the San Francisco Bay Hatchery with a Air Pump inside to maximize the hatches but It doesn't seem to work that much and my Apistos Fries didn't have the chance to find them in the green water and consequently I lost all babies.

Any recommendation?

Thanks


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

TankZen said:


> Wow your tank is amazing!!! What is that plant on the far left side? Very cool. Next time you're selling some plants I want some : )


Thanks!

Far left foreground is Dwarf Chain Sword... on the left in the upper corner area is Stargrass. I wish you would have told me you wanted some sooner, I hacked the star grass way down to give my rams a chance to spawn on that driftwood. Fortunately it grows like a weed, so if you just remind me in a few weeks you can have as much as I can hack out again.

J



rj55021 said:


> Hi J.
> 
> You tanks looks amazing, congrats.
> 
> ...


Thanks!

Here is the kit I use: http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod/207092/product.web?gdftrk=gdfV2226_a_7c268_a_7c6967_a_7c207092

I keep 2 of them running at all times, about a day apart. That way when the first one runs out I have another batch hatched and ready in the second one. Empty the first, start over and keep cycling back and forth. 

One thing that really helps is getting some high quality eggs with a high hatch rate (95%+). Also, I go to my LFS and get pre-mixed saltwater. They fill two 5 gal jugs for me for about $12.00. It comes from their tank water supply system, so it already has all the beneficial bacterias in it for a more natural mixture. Probably overkill, but again, its pre-mixed and ready to go. I never had good hatches mixing the packets with the kit, or trying to mix table salt, etc. 

Another tip is to get a desk lamp (the kind with the bendy necks are best.) The more heat they put off the better. I bend the necks of mine so that the lamp is about 2-3 inches from the top of the water. This actually heats the water in the hatchery up to about 75-80 degrees and helps speed up the hatching. I usually have a nearly full hatch in 24-36 hours.

Any other questions, let me know. All of the above works for me. I hope it will help you and your Apistos.

J


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## dknydiep1 (May 21, 2006)

Awesome timeline!


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## night9eyes (Jan 12, 2011)

J-- those angel fry are growing out nicely! Already you can see the leopard markings  Great pics and the tank looks wonderful. Let me know next time you do another trim too. Thinking of adding more lotus and vals to the 30.


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## nonconductive (Jan 29, 2010)

that lotus is a monster.


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## rj55021 (Apr 4, 2011)

Thanks J.

I will try, Just found a new hatch of babies on my tank today.

A new challenge ahead


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## MikeP_123 (Aug 31, 2008)

roud:roud:roud:roud:


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## shiloh (Jun 10, 2011)

Your tanks and livestock are unbelievable!

You make it seem so easy, you're making me look bad here


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

dknydiep1 said:


> Awesome timeline!


Thanks! I thought it would be kind of cool to see how it began and the growing process. Sort of makes me wish I had set up some sort of time-lapse system to really watch it all come to life.







night9eyes said:


> J-- those angel fry are growing out nicely! Already you can see the leopard markings  Great pics and the tank looks wonderful. Let me know next time you do another trim too. Thinking of adding more lotus and vals to the 30.


Maybe here in the next few weeks. Your vals should start taking off pretty soon on your own. Mine are getting a little invasive and I'm having to pull the runners out every week or two so that they dont spread all over the tank. If you still want some more, I can give you plenty!! Probably will be a bit longer for lotus as mine dont seem to send off smaller plants all that often, but I'll keep you in mind!






nonconductive said:


> that lotus is a monster.


Right?! Its probably twice the size of the most recent photo. I have to go in and cut off 5-6 top leaves just so light gets down to my blyxa and staurogyne. Its really sending out some colorful leaves after I put root tabs in the substrate a month ago.





rj55021 said:


> Thanks J.
> 
> I will try, Just found a new hatch of babies on my tank today.
> 
> A new challenge ahead


And the addiction begins... :icon_smil




MikeP_123 said:


> roud:roud:roud:roud:


:biggrin:



shiloh said:


> Your tanks and livestock are unbelievable!
> 
> You make it seem so easy, you're making me look bad here


Oh please. If you had seen some of my tanks over the years you wouldn't be so impressed. Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn every now and again! :hihi:

Thanks for the compliments everyone! Makes this hobby worth it when I'm up to my elbows in tank water spending hours trimming plants!

J


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## drbotts (Apr 10, 2011)

J- Looking great man. On those Brine Shrimp, did you have any concern about squirting the saline into the tank? I read somewhere a few concerns on the salt. I used to add salt to my tanks to just prevent disease and it seemed to help with algae but I stopped when I started with plants. Not sure if it's a big deal at all.


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

drbotts said:


> J- Looking great man. On those Brine Shrimp, did you have any concern about squirting the saline into the tank? I read somewhere a few concerns on the salt. I used to add salt to my tanks to just prevent disease and it seemed to help with algae but I stopped when I started with plants. Not sure if it's a big deal at all.


Good question. To be honest, I've read a lot of differing opinions. Fortunately, I don't feed BBS in any of the tanks with plants. All my fry are housed in bare-bottom tanks until they are eating flakes. Makes it easier to do water changes and clean debris off the tank floor. Keep in mind I feed almost 3 times daily and water change 20-30% every other day. 

I've never bought into the whole "salt prevents disease" etc, etc regimen. I've had people swear by it, and I've used it and simply stopped. To be honest, just keeping a clean tank has been just as effective for me as adding salt. I have had a brackish fish or two that required salt, but this was long before my planted tank hobby truly erupted. My opininon (and take it with a grain of... haha... salt) is that a good healthy bioload paired with a healthy plant system will work wonders for fish health. If/when I do have some sort of disease... Melafix & Pimafix for a week and good to go. Wont harm the plants and fixes sick fish. 

Back to the BBS... I use a syringe with a piece of 8-9" rigid tubing attached to it with a small piece of airline hose as a coupler to suck out the BBS. I inject them into a BBS net (cheesecloth will work too), rinse them lightly and then put them into a small glass with tank water in it. Then I rinse out the syringe/pipet with freshwater and then suck them up and spit them into the tank with it. Any salt injected at that point has to be so miniscule that it would take millions of feedings without water changes to even notice a change in salinity. I would expect the dead BBS collecting on the bottom or in the filter or the fish waste to toxify the water LONG before salt got to a dangerous level.

If you want, I'll wait until you come over Wed night to show you my feeding regimen. I currently have 3 batches of fry, including the newest batch thats less than a week old (they began free swimming today.) I'm pretty pumped about this batch since this is the first spawn from my second pair. I havent raised any of their fry yet. Curious to see if there are any new genotypes in that batch.

Man, I am really rambling on here. Can you tell I'm at work?

J


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

What species of hygro is in there? It looks preeetty sharp.

Your plants look so healthy!


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## drbotts (Apr 10, 2011)

I think it's just funny we were both at work while we were talking. If you wait, I'd like to see the feeding regiment. On the note of overdoing it a bit  I think you and TankZin will have a bit in common. As she explained to me, she's a dosing nut. She might have not used those words 'exactly' but something along those lines. Apparently she works in research so water testing is second nature for her. When I told her I didn't do tests... she looked at my tank, looked at me, and I think was a bit surprised.

I agree with you on the salt thing. I came at it from a different angle but to the same hypothesis. I always tell people.... A healthy tank is a tank with plants. 
I used to dose salt, I tried canister filters, heavy cleaning, etc.. I probably ended up with worse algae and still fish deaths every once and a while.

My magic ticket has been Marineland biowheels. I swear I think they just offer the perfect harmony of healthy bacteria. I have a HOT filter that helps circulate and pulverise the Co2 bubbles now. It may take an extra bubble/per/sec to fight the oxygen buildup from the biowheel but I never have fish health issues. I mean ... Never. 

I will say that my tank never experiences random deaths now that I have plants. Maybe it's just because I can't see the fish when it dies.. lol... but truthfully, it's healthier.

See you Wed.


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## bearcowski (Jun 6, 2010)

Really Nice tank


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

Lil' Swimz$ said:


> What species of hygro is in there? It looks preeetty sharp.
> 
> Your plants look so healthy!


No hygro in this tank. You might be mistaking the Polygonum Kowaegonum (I always murder the spelling) on the right side for hygro. At any rate, thanks for the compliments!




drbotts said:


> When I told her I didn't do tests... she looked at my tank, looked at me, and I think was a bit surprised.


I have a $120 test kit sitting on the floor near my shrimp hatcheries that I've used once about 9 months ago. I never test my water. Never. I use a drop checker for the co2 so I don't gas the fish, and I dose nearly twice what the recommended dosage is on my liquid ferts. The results speak for themselves.



bearcowski said:


> Really Nice tank


Thanks!

J


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## Rusty (May 7, 2009)

Very nice, no wonder your fish are breeding so much, id be happy in that tank too.

Cheers,
Rusty


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## TankZen (Jan 31, 2011)

> Man, I am really rambling on here. Can you tell I'm at work?


Lol too funny! What would we do without plantedtank while at work....???


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## drbotts (Apr 10, 2011)

You're supposed to be curing cancer! Lol .. Guess we all need a hobby.



TankZen said:


> Lol too funny! What would we do without plantedtank while at work....???


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

I cant compete with curing cancer Tess! I'm just trying to save the world one Corolla at a time!

J


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## TankZen (Jan 31, 2011)

> ...save the world one Corolla at a time!


Hey I am a Toyota person so that is very important!!:hihi:

Your angles are doing great in my tank!! Wow they eat like pigs! Also the plants are starting to grow and adjusting without co2. Thanks a lot!!! 

Your 125 is some serious motivation hope I can get the 180 looking like that!!


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## Plant keeper (Jan 27, 2011)

wow sweet tank and angelfish


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Gorgeous tank, any updates?


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## BMueller777 (Feb 5, 2008)

+1 for updates lol... awesome tanks.. the 125 is sick, I'm jealous....


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

Ugh... no updates any time soon. Its football season, so my Sunday trims and constant attention to the tanks has been put on hold for my ECU Pirates, Florida Gators and Carolina Panthers. Stay tuned for March/April, etc. Once football season is over, I'll jump back in again.

J


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## Fortheloveofplants (Apr 15, 2012)

Your Tank inspires!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

Hehe... it used to. You'd kill me if you saw it now. It got neglected during football season. I did a huge clean out and right now am just trying to get my angels breeding.

J


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