# A tale of 3 tanks: My DIY project journal (10g planted/33g planted/55g)



## jkpedrita (Jun 5, 2013)

Very nice!


----------



## xmas_one (Feb 5, 2010)

That looks awesome!


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Here are some pictures of the guts of my setup. Just crappy cell phone pics, but I will take some better ones shortly. Still have to clean up the wiring and brace up the shelf, but a project isn't a project without a "to do" list.


----------



## devilduck (May 9, 2012)

That shelf looks dangerously overloaded!


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Yeah, that was an unexpected issue. I plan to brace the shelf with a 2x4 underneath, but I just haven't got to that point yet.


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Bit of a better pic (still just a point and shoot, but better than a cell phone, at least!)

Also, this one is taken with my background accent light.


----------



## zetvi (Jun 12, 2013)

That's a nice lighting effect on the back ground. What is it that you have behind there?


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

zetvi said:


> That's a nice lighting effect on the back ground. What is it that you have behind there?


Thanks! They are just cheapo amber neon tube lights. 12V meant for automotive use, most likely, but I have them set on a timer to come on an hour before the main lights and stick around for an hour after to to create a semi-sunset effect - still would love a ramp timer in the future!

As for my other planted tank, here is a recent updated pic. Things are filling in slowly and the scape is still changing as things mature and I keep tweaking. Started a thread showing that tank a while back.

33g planted community: Build thread


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Latest fun DIY upgrade: 


















DIY external drop checker made out of acrylic tubing I had laying around. Bent it to match the look of my lily pips, super-glued a suction cup to it, siliconed the end shut, filled it with 4dkh water and indicator... done! Took no time at all and removed the final piece of equipment from the tank.

I'm going to play around with some other designs and see if I can get creative but, for a first try, it's not so bad! 

Also, since my last update, I have moved my neons over into my community tank and this 10 gallon is now home to 3 dwarf puffers! That was the original intention of this new setup, but my local shops never stock them. Made a trip to the city yesterday and came across some that I couldn't pass up.


----------



## asuran (Oct 12, 2007)

Very nice!


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Thanks very much!


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)




----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Latest update: it is now my Dwarf Puffer tank (houses 3 puffers and a handful of cherry shrimp) and it's starting to grow in a bit. I think it will look really nice when it all matures and fills in!


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Had some time to work on it this afternoon. It's coming along!


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Still tweaking the scape and just kinda letting it evolve naturally as things grow in and get shifted around. Very open to any suggestions as there is no strict direction to my design. I just kinda stare at it and try to brainstorm for ways I could improve it with whatever items I have access to lol 

So, I wouldn't mind a second set of eyes to point out what I might not see.

Latest pic:










Thoughts?


----------



## narhay (Feb 28, 2007)

I like it. Needs more time to grow in and I think that space behind the wood would benefit from plants.


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)




----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

narhay said:


> I like it. Needs more time to grow in and I think that space behind the wood would benefit from plants.


Thanks! I might still add one more plant in that area, but I'm not sure what yet? For the meantime I have moved some of the DHG over a bit and just trimmed it to add even more perspective to the scape. Once the moss takes hold and I'm able to trim and clean it up I think it will make a huge difference.


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Any other thoughts? Comments? Criticisms? Ideas? 

Anything??

I'd love to gather as many opinions as possible as I progress through this build (plus my "to do" list is getting too short for my liking).


----------



## Jnad (Aug 17, 2012)

Hello!

You have done great work, this is a very nice tank, just keep up the good work

I have only one question, Puffers and Cherry Shrimps?? Is that ok? I love Puffers and Cherry Shrimps, but in the same tank, i am thinking shrimp dinner? 

Jnad


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Jnad said:


> Hello!
> 
> You have done great work, this is a very nice tank, just keep up the good work
> 
> ...


Thanks for the kind words! As for the puffer/shrimp concerns, from everything I've read, it seems like it's a hit or miss combination. Seems to be fine so far for myself, and I've read many other success stories but, like bettas, it seems like a lot relies on the individual personalities of each puffer and may change as they mature. My shrimp seem to be breeding (I see a few babies, anyways), so I'm hoping to develop a larger colony of shrimp before any attitudes change. Puffers were always fish I wanted to try, so I was willing to take the risk. If I end up with a puffer-only tank then so be it!


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

While I wait for my 10g to grow in some more, I figured I would show off the other tank that is in this same room: my mancave. It's not planted (though who knows what the future holds... no plans, but I get bored sometimes...) but here it is...










It's a standard 55 gallon tank filtered by an AC70 and an AC110. Nothing but rocks, wood, and a mixture of pool filter sand, fine pacific gravel and aragonite make up the hardscape and it is lit by a Beamswork 48" Reef Bright LED. Canopy and stand are DIY that I built to match the other furniture in the room (all white).

Stock is all mbuna cichlids plus one RTBS and a couple adult albino bristlenose plecos (I hope), though I haven't seen the female in quite some time. There are lots of hideouts and abundant algae so that's not abnormal, but something in me says she's toast lol She's been in there for almost 2 years now with no issues, so it could go either way...

To me, this is a very nice looking, low-maintenance joy of a tank compared to my other two heavily planted setups. I love that all I have to do is feed the fish and change the water - nothing compared to trimming, fertilizing, adjusting, removing floating debris, monitoring co2, etc etc. I looove planted tanks, but I _adore _this tank due to the fact that it's not lol


----------



## c_gwinner (Mar 23, 2012)

Like the tank (10gallon). A suggestion/question is how you gonna contain the DHG in the front left from spreading everywhere, unless thats what you want over there. Nice setup and cleanliness of the look you pulled off. 

I like the 55 as is cuz its just got a nice darkness with the light sand and fish offsetting it. But it is your tank and Mancave.


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

c_gwinner said:


> Like the tank (10gallon). A suggestion/question is how you gonna contain the DHG in the front left from spreading everywhere, unless thats what you want over there. Nice setup and cleanliness of the look you pulled off.


Thank you! I really am letting this scape come together naturally. I have a basic idea of how and where I want (wanted?) things but, no matter how much I plan, it is a very dynamic process. It's a small tank and the substrate/hardscape is constantly getting shuffled around slightly as I trim and clean. It has resulted in rocks ending up outside of their planned areas, usually with positive and natural looking results. Same goes for the plants. So, long story long, I'm just going to let things grow and tell me where they want to be. It's going to be many months before I truly know what the final layout is going to be...


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

c_gwinner said:


> I like the 55 as is cuz its just got a nice darkness with the light sand and fish offsetting it. But it is your tank and Mancave.


If I do ever add plants to the 55, it's only ever going to be mosses or maybe some java fern or anubias on the wood/rocks. Nothing serious. Right now I love that it's not planted, so I expect that won't change anytime soon! Thanks again for the comments.


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)




----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Planning to pickup a few otos today if there's any at the LFS. After that, I would say this tank will be 100% complete (flora and fauna wise) and all that will be left is maintenance and letting things fill in. 

Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions - I value any opinions or input!

Thanks.


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

The otos seem to have settled in nicely and should help with the bit of algae growth I've got. Should hopefully be smooth sailing from here!


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Not sure if anyone is actually following this? But here is a quick update after I trimmed today. The lily pipes need to be cleaned but, other than that, things are coming along nicely!

20/12/2013:


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

An old cell phone pic from day 1:


----------



## natiedean24 (Jul 11, 2013)

The warm background light is brilliant!


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Thank you! Here is an updated pic with the backlight turned on:


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

While I had the camera out, I also snapped a picture of my 33g planted community tank:


----------



## pianofish (Jan 31, 2010)

Both tanks look sweet man! I love your co2 setup on your 33 gallon, its the best yeast setup I've ever seen!
Joshua


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

pianofish said:


> Both tanks look sweet man! I love your co2 setup on your 33 gallon, its the best yeast setup I've ever seen!
> Joshua


Thanks! It took some time to work out the kinks, but I believe I've come up a pretty good setup in both the 33 and the 10 gallon. Sure, I'd love to have a pressurized setup, but I get good results with minimal effort using DIY. An over-built system like mine really makes DIY CO2 a viable option in my opinion. No leaks, moderate control of flow, layered production with staggered refills and enough pressure to get 2+ BPS through a ceramic diffuser. Plus it looks kinda neat! lol


----------



## dkbmxr18 (Oct 25, 2009)

LOVE your tanks! The 55g is PERFECT


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

dkbmxr18 said:


> LOVE your tanks! The 55g is PERFECT


Wow, thank you so much! 

I love my cichlid tank, too. It looks way better in person, I think, and I'm not totally sold on the driftwood (a recent addition back into the tank to add some more territories and cut down on the light intensity a bit), but here's a picture of the 55g from today as well:

(sorry for the reflection... it's a hard tank to get a good picture of)


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

I wasn't happy with how that last picture represented my 55g tank, so I adjusted a few things and took another with the room light off to give you a better idea what the scape really looks like. Due to the size of the room and placement of the tank, it's a very hard aquarium to get a good picture of. This was just taken hand held with an old Kodak camera, but it's a much nicer picture of my setup. The entire rockscape is made from rocks I scavenged from the ditch in front of my house lol


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

This thread is basically becoming a journal for all 3 of my tanks. I don't have any new pics of the 10g, but all is going well. I'm fighting a bit of BGA, which is keeping me busy, but I feel like I'm getting it under control. Plants are slowly growing in, but still a ways to go...

I have my tank maintenance to do tomorrow and plan on taking some progress pictures but, for tonight, I thought Id post a new picture of my 33g planted community tank:










It's growing in nicely! All still under chinese 10w LED flood lights and DIY CO2


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)




----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Update time:

I _finally _won my battle with BGA, installed a ramp timer on the Satellite+, did a major trim, minor re-scape, moved some plants around, replaced my broken lily pipe intake, finalized my design on the DIY external drop checker, swapped my background lights for LEDs, tweaked my DIY CO2 setup a bit and finally dialed in all my lighting periods/timers. 

All in all, I'd say it is all done to the point I should be able to stop disturbing it (aside from feeding, ferts and water changes) and let it (hopefully) continue to mature and fill in. 



















Any thoughts? Questions? Suggestions?
I'm all ears...


----------



## gnod (Mar 24, 2011)

dude. i love this... 

how are you liking the ramp on/off timer with the sat +? i was thinking about getting one myself.


----------



## SmellsFishy (Dec 9, 2013)

Awesome looking tanks!


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

gnod said:


> dude. i love this...
> 
> how are you liking the ramp on/off timer with the sat +? i was thinking about getting one myself.


Thanks very much!

I like the ramp timer. Definitely worth the $25-30 I paid for it and really completes the Sat+. That being said, I always run mine at full intesity (full spectrum mode, usually) so I'm unaffected by any of the strobing issues many others have reported. My only gripe is that I would prefer a longer, more gradual "ramp" time. 15 minutes is nice, but I'd personally prefer it to slowly increase/decrease over 60 minutes instead. 

It would also be nice if it could include moonlighting somehow, but I have independant moonlighting on a separate timer that comes on 10 mins before the ramp down begins (9pm), stays on until midnight and then back on at 8am until 10 mins after full intesity is reached (1pm). That works alright, but having one light on a ramp timer and everything else just clicking on/off messes with my OCD. Down the road I'd like to aquire a couple more ramp timers and modify them to work with my moon and accent lighting but it's not my top priority yet.

Either way, for the cost, I think it's a "must have" for Sat+ users at least until Current USA comes out with a product that allows you to increase the dimmer period and/or add random weather effects or a 24/7 cycle, etc. for these lights (or until someone else starts pre-packaging an Arduino-type IR controller for them or something similar).


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

SmellsFishy said:


> Awesome looking tanks!


Thank you! They've all had their growing pains, but I finally have all 3 to a very manageable state with easy maintenance routines and all of the kinks worked out. I can't wait to see how they all look 6 months from now and beyond!


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Here's a quick video I just took showing the DIY CO2 system in action on my 33g. The 10g is identical aside from it using 1 less bottle and it is fed into an inline reactor instead of a ceramic diffuser. Puts out pretty good pressure for a yeast system!


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Coming along!


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Since my last major update, a few things have changed with the stock. I have had my ups-and-downs with attempted shrimp keeping so, for the past month or 2, this tank was simply housing 4 otos and 3 dwarf puffers.

I slowly lost all of my original cherry shrimp over a number of weeks. Never seemingly to the wrath of the puffers, as most deceased shrimp were removed fully intact. I assume it may have been the high levels of CO2 in my tank, but 3 puffers constantly hunting certainly didn't help (though I had a few shrimp become berried and even had a number of juvies before the population declined entirely). I decided to try my hand again and ordered a dozen high quality "ultra red" cherry shrimp online, only to have the package delayed and 100% DOA (with no coverage). I decided to cut my losses, pick up 5-6 cheap ghost shrimp, accilmate them slowly and see what happens. Those have all settled in nicely (despite the CO2, high fert levels or aggressive puffers). 

Fast forward a few weeks and I have unfortunately now lost 2 of my 3 dwarf puffer fish. The first was sucked, tail first, into the filter intake. I usually run with a SS mesh prefilter (or sometimes even sponge) but I wasn't expecting any ghost shrimp babies and figured the small slits on my lily pipe would be harmless to the other critters, so I removed it. Days later I found my puffer sucked in and, although she was still alive when I found her, she succumbed to the stress/injuries shortly after. This left 2 puffers alive until last week, after a 10 day vacation (with a good buddy looking after my tanks), when a second dwarf puffer mysteriously died. It looked a bit underfed, but I can't say for sure. Perhaps the remaining puffer was bullying it or any number of things (as all water parameters and livestock were/are testing normal), but it's not often that I lose any fish at this point, so I can really say for sure what happened.

So, this ultimately left me with 4 otos, 1 dwarf puffer and ~5 ghost shrimp. I decided to try cherries one last time and, on Sunday, I picked up 40-45 (of various maturity levels - including 5 berried females) for next to nothing from a semi-local breeder. They're low grade, but at least I know they took a very small journey from an established/healthy tank to get to me, which is a variable I wasn't able to confirm with any of my other pet store attempts.

To eliminate as many other issues as possible with their introduction I turned off my CO2 for 2 days, ran a bubbler 24/7 (instead of just at night, as usual), and drip acclimated the lot of them for over 5 hours before adding them to the tank. I have since slowly ramped the CO2 back up and will continue to do so for another day or 2 and, so far at least, all seems well. I had one jump out overnight the first night but, since then, I haven't had any problems.

Fingers crossed that this time I can actually get them to colonize and mature. I'm hoping that with the increased number of shrimps (as well as the already berried females introducing even more) that the puffer (if he was even part of the problem) is only able to keep the population in check without actually wiping them out. Only time will tell, I suppose...


So, long story long, the new stock is as follows:

1 dwarf puffer
4 otocinclus 
5 ghost shrimp
40+ red cherry shrimp


----------



## gt turbo (Sep 13, 2012)

I really enjoyed reading through your post and I must say you DIY skills are nice.

Hope all goes well for you in the future.


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Thanks very much! I grew up building cars in much the same fashion (mostly due to where I live and the difficulty to aquire any of the latest name-brand or in-style _anything _at a reasonable cost) and it's always been fun! I'm not cut off from the real world by any stretch, but there's no one around here selling rimless tanks or high powered lighting (retail OR second hand) and no where near the access to plants, livestock or even other aquarists around here. Hell, I've literally never even seen another planted tank in person outside of my local chain pet stores..

4 years ago I knew nothing about fish keeping, 2 years ago I knew even less than that about aquatic plants yet, through the joys and pains of trial-and-error (and waiting weeks/months for shipping) you end up with a better understanding of how to accomplish your goals (ie. why you failed so badly). Then you do it all over again with a better plan and get it all right... except for all the new problems you uncover along the way. So it's a constant thought process and an exercise in planning/research but I wouldn't have it any other way. My fiancee doesn't even both to ask me what I'm thinking about when I zone out anymore... she's just sure it's something to do with one of my tanks, and she's right.

To me, there's nothing more satisfying than that feeling when you're staring at your tank (or car, yard, home, whatever) wondering, "What the hell else can I do to improve it??"

Before you know it you're down to just the very anal nit-picky problems that only you would ever notice and then you realize... holy [censored]. That's starting to look pretty good! 

Then something breaks, fails, or falls apart and the cycle continues. I love it! (most of the time)


----------



## dubels (Jun 14, 2012)

Your DP might not be eating your shrimp but he may be attacking and stressing them out. I see my DP and South American puffer nipping at limbs of ghost shrimp. I am ok with that because the ghost shrimp are there for trimming teeth but with cherries that could cause problems. 

What are your water parameters? I just started keeping shrimp with co2 and mine are doing fine but I run co2 and air 24/7.


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

dubels said:


> Your DP might not be eating your shrimp but he may be attacking and stressing them out. I see my DP and South American puffer nipping at limbs of ghost shrimp. I am ok with that because the ghost shrimp are there for trimming teeth but with cherries that could cause problems.


I share your concern but, in my mind, I just can't imagine a single, tiny puffer being about to affect 40+ cherries in a significant enough way to decimate their population - especially with my pre-berried females. Best case scenario (I'm hoping for), he feeds off of the juveniles, kills/harasses the odd adult and the population just grows more slowly and my puffer benefits from a nice live-food diet (I also add pest snails from my community tank often and feed frozen bloodworms a few times a week). I just want to make sure that if anything kills the shrimp it's my puffer fish and not my water params (at least then it's just as if I spent $20 on live food instead of another waste of time and shrimp). I'll keep you posted...



dubels said:


> What are your water parameters? I just started keeping shrimp with co2 and mine are doing fine but I run co2 and air 24/7.


As of this morning, my water parameters are as follows:

pH - 7.3 (AM with lights off, inline aeration running for past 12 hours)
pH - ?? (PM after running CO2 all day w/ no aeration - I'll update this later on)
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - <10 (50% water change was less than 2 days ago and this is before I dosed Macros today)
GH - 7.84 dGH
KH - 4.48 dKH
TDS - 419 ppm (I assume this is high due to EI dosing?? I can't keep it below 300 in this tank or my 33g community, which both are high-fert, high-co2 tanks with large weekly water changes. My_ heavily _stocked cichlid tank is always 150-225 and tap water is <100)
Temp - 75 F
CO2 - 1.57 BPS into inline reactor (30+ ppm during photoperiod)

As of this morning, I have ramped my CO2 production back up to my "normal" levels (~1.5 BPS) and I've yet to notice any ill effects to my new inhabitants. No shrimp deaths yet (as far as I can tell), but they're not the most active shrimp I've ever seen. The ghost shrimp are much more lively right now, but I assume they'll get more adventurous as they settle in.


FYI - I shut my CO2 off completely on Friday evening and turned on my aeration 24/7, added shrimp Sunday afternoon (<1 drip per second acclimation over 5-6 hours), back to aeration only at night but still no CO2, started with less than 0.5 BPS CO2 on Monday with lights-on, ramped up slightly on Tuesday (around 1 BPS, maybe a little less) and now I'm back up to 1.5 BPS 24/7 with aeration running from lights-off until an hour before lights-on. Plants pearl like crazy after a few hours of light, drop checker gets yellow-green, and the critters don't seem to act any different. Here's hoping the new shrimp will thrive with the gradual acclimation. If not - I give up lol


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Photo on left is from *October 18, 2013*. Photo on right is from *March 5, 2014 *(sorry for the crappy cell phone quality).

Roughly 4 1/2 months in between the two. Can't wait to see what another 4 months will look like!


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Quick picture update of my other two tanks. The 33g community tank is filling in nicely (now that I've seemingly beat the current wave of BBA into submission) and my nice, low-maintenance 55g cichlid tank is chugging along with no issues, as usual.

Due for filter maintenance, scheduled water changes and good cleaning/trims all around this weekend, so maybe I will update after that.


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Quick photo updates of all 3 tanks:


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Update of my 33g community after a trim:


----------



## Neatfish (Jun 22, 2012)

They all look good.


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Neatfish said:


> They all look good.


 Thanks very much! I find it so hard to take nice looking pictures of them with my terrible cameras, but you get the idea at least. Most of us probaly say this, but they look so much better in person lol


----------



## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

Great job on all your tanks!


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

annyann said:


> Great job on all your tanks!


Thank you! I'll post some updates on my 10g shortly.


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Today after a major trim:


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)




----------



## tizzite (Mar 28, 2010)

Gorgeous lighting. I was never able to get such lush growth with the satellite +. I have CO2 but don't dose anything because I thought the aquasoil had enough nutrients in it.


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Updated front tanks shots for all 3 aquariums (pics taken 07-APR-2014):


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Here's a quick updated shot. I exposed some of the dark Eco Complete substrate on the hill surrounding the "tree" to give it some contrast and added some smaller rocks to start better defining the different plant groupings a bit. All just small tweaks, but I'm always looking for ways to improve it (suggestions greatly appreciated!). 

Also, for this pic, I left the backlight off to show how it looks with only the canopy light.


----------



## Jill (Mar 13, 2012)

So the neons are back in there? Did the cherries make it?

BEAUTIFUL tanks. I just read the whole thread.


----------



## DefStatic (Feb 19, 2013)

I hate you. And your tanks. Cause they are beautiful LOL

Don't mind me. I am battling it out with an outbreak of black algae.


----------



## DefStatic (Feb 19, 2013)

Also, anyone interested in strip lights with LEDs, take a look here:

http://api.viglink.com/api/click?format=go&jsonp=vglnk_jsonp_13975788060428&key=d703ff3b064566223b367f0bc53757ee&libId=fcae46a0-8b6b-4fc2-9e0b-d26dd096b835&loc=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.plantedtank.net%2Fforums%2Fprivate.php%3Fdo%3Dshowpm%26pmid%3D3982313&v=1&out=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2FB002YT8KIY%2F&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.plantedtank.net%2Fforums%2Fprivate.php&title=The%20Planted%20Tank%20Forum%20-%20Re%3A%20RGB%20LED%20Strip...&txt=Amazon.com%3A%20PPA%20OLSHARGB2%20Home%20Accent%20LED%20Strips%20with%201%20Foot%20Extension%2C%20Multi%20Color%3A%20Home%20Improvement

I got the idea from another member and use them on my 30g with a frosted back. Really really worth every dime.


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Jill said:


> So the neons are back in there? Did the cherries make it?
> 
> BEAUTIFUL tanks. I just read the whole thread.


They are and they did! The neons just went back in on a whim. I had 7 in my 33g and easily caught 6 and swapped them back over to the 10g just to liven things up a bit. I ended up leaving one behind who's been too elusive to catch without a rescape, but the other 6 acclimated and have taken quite well to their new/old home in the 10g. Before, you'd have to be right next to the tank to really notice the inhabitants, but now you can easily see the flash of colour and activity from across the room. I like it!

There is still a single dwarf puffer in there, as well, and it doesn't seem to be a problem! Most of what I read online sales no puffers with neons and certainly not with shrimp... but all seems well!

I lost maybe 3 or 4 shrimp (out of 42) in the first few weeks, but I haven't seen any dead shrimp since. I have also seen a few berried females and juvies, but I assume most of the babies are getting picked off. 

*So, the current stock is 4 otos, 6 neon tetras, 1 dwarf puffer, 30+ cherry shrimp and a few ghost shrimp. *



DefStatic said:


> I hate you. And your tanks. Cause they are beautiful LOL
> 
> Don't mind me. I am battling it out with an outbreak of black algae.


Oh trust me, I am _well_ aware. I have fought (and won) against green water, BBA, BGA, green spot and some sort of weird light brown sheet algae. Fingers crossed that I'm done, but all it takes is a few weeks not following the right maintenance routine and it could bloom again. 

Like most, I'm sure, I only take pictures after I've beaten back whatever algae I'm fighting with, so the picutres might be misleading. I've definitely had my own struggles.


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

DefStatic said:


> Also, anyone interested in strip lights with LEDs, take a look here:
> 
> http://api.viglink.com/api/click?fo...Foot Extension, Multi Color: Home Improvement
> 
> I got the idea from another member and use them on my 30g with a frosted back. Really really worth every dime.


Those are basically the lights I have behind my 10g. Only difference is that I used 6" strips (2 red and 2 orange). Also, I don't know if I mentioned or not, but I have them spliced into a Current Ramp Timer to control them.

My background lights turn on at 12:30pm and ramp up to full power over 15 mins. My Sat+ fixture then starts at 12:45pm on a separate 15 minute ramp timer. Gives a very neat sunrise/sunset effect over those 30 mins!


----------



## DefStatic (Feb 19, 2013)

Funny, I wanted to transfer my Cardinals to a 10 gallon, but I was told Neons and Cardnals need at least 20 gal (preferably long). Plus they are so hard to catch. So in my 30 gallon that is now overstocked, I am going to take my guppies out and put them in my 10 gallon I am starting.

And I have battled my fair share of algae. And yes, all due to improper maintenance or dosing. I had everything good though but then went on vaca for two weeks in the middle of moving. So I left my 30 gal with my neighbor, so it only got top offs for two weeks, and was overfed. Then I couldn't get to it for another week to do a water change, and only able to do 10% water changed as it was. So basically for a month it was neglected. 

I will say though, and maybe it is a testiment for my setup, I only lost one otto and one guppy. I even moved the tank with only an inch of water above the substrate and all the ottos and cardinals in it and they all survived somehow LOL.

But I digress, and am thread hyjacking. Seriously, wonderful tanks. I will have the read the whole journal.


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Took a couple of pics again tonight. I added a few new plants to the 33g and did a minor trim. The 10g got some more minor tweaks, but really just pictures with and without the backlight for reference!


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

DefStatic said:


> Funny, I wanted to transfer my Cardinals to a 10 gallon, but I was told Neons and Cardnals need at least 20 gal (preferably long).


Well, I'm no expert... not by any stretch. I've got neons in my 10g, but don't take that to mean it's "right". 

That being said, they seem to be doing fine. I do get the odd jumper, but it always happens when I'm right by the tank so I just scoop them back up and throw them in. This has happened at least half a dozen times, maybe more (it even happen twice this morning while I was getting ready for work). The first time I got worried and checked all the water params and did a 50% water change just to be safe, but now I just chuck em back in and go on with my day. 

The odd part is that they've never done it while I'm not right next to the tank. If one were to jump while I was at work, or even just in another room, my cat or dogs would surely get it, if it didn't dry out and die first. This _could _be due to the smaller tank footprint, but maybe it's just because the tank is rimless, open topped and filled right to the brim. Hard to say, but I still have 6 neons despite all the suicide attempts!


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

I figured I'd post a couple pics of my ramp timers, bubble counter and my remote shut offs for my filter, heater and overnight aeration (as well as another progress picture of the scape from today). It allows me to quickly shut off the filter and heater during water changes/maintenance, adjust my DIY Co2 flow rate, and control all of the the lighting and the air pump all without having to open my stand and crawl underneath. 

Everything I do with my tanks is with the intention to keep the required maintenance as quick and easy as possible to avoid excuses an make sure I stay on top of it all. Works great!


----------



## Skeetz (Jan 25, 2014)

that tank looks awesome!


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

And few updated shots from tonight:


----------



## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

Got a "How-to" to make that exact set-up for your CO2 system? Esp for that way to adjust your bubble rate....


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

parrottbay said:


> Got a "How-to" to make that exact set-up for your CO2 system? Esp for that way to adjust your bubble rate....


Here's a big write-up I did for a local forum outlining the details of my whole DIY yeast system. If this doesn't answer your question just let me know and I can expand on any areas you're more curious about!



danstock said:


> As requested, here are some more details on my current DIY CO2 setup. Any questions, just ask away!
> 
> I currently have a 2 bottle system (10g) and a 3 bottle system (33g) working perfectly, but I'll give you a general description as well as a *parts/price list for a 1 bottle system *that you can then scale up to meet your needs.
> 
> ...


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

So, all of my planted tanks are full of plants I picked up from my big chain LFS' in my area. As with most of these types of stores, the workers know far less about aquatic plants than even I do, so I've never really been sure what I was buying (unless it was obvious ie. standard/windelov java fern, e. parvula, water wisteria, glosso, etc.). 

*I've decided to see if I can properly identify the rest of my unknown plant species.* I figure the easiest way for me to do this is to post pictures here for the experts to weigh in! Some of these might be very obvious, but I'm no plant expert lol


Here's a front tank shot for reference: 










First up is some sort of crypt, but that's all I know (seen bottom right in the full tank shot):










Next is the large stem plants (top right in the FTS). They were labelled as Hygrophilia Polysperma when I bought them, but I suspect that's incorrect:










This is a random bunch plant I recently purchased on a whim to add more colour. It may not even be fully aquatic for all I know, but perhaps someone here recognizes it?










This is also one I picked up very recently. Some sort of ludwigia, perhaps?










Both plants pictured here are unknown to me (the tall grass to the left and the stems to the right). I have an idea of what the grass might be, but I'll see what you guys have to say...










Another red-ish stem plant. Probably quite obvious what it is, but I'd like to be sure: 










This is another plant that has done really well in my aquariums, but I've never quite known what it is. Smallish grass-type plant that spreads by runners: 










Here's what I assume is anubias nana petit, but can anyone confirm? 










And lastly, lets see if anyone can tell what kind of moss I have here? I've always just assumed it was java moss, but I've never even attempted to identify it:










That should do it for unidentified plants. I'm curious to see what you guys n gals can come up with! 

Thanks in advance


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Anyone care to take a shot at identifying the plants above? Are better pics needed?


----------



## burr740 (Feb 19, 2014)

Hi,

This one is Ludwigia Repens. 










The moss looks like java, but it also appears to be creeping out. Java basically just attaches and then grows up. So Im thinking it may be something else. If I were you, I'd make that post on the plant board. Probably get more response from plant experts.

Also, nice looking tanks! I got here by following the link you posted in that other CO2 thread. Ive just begun a DIY set-up on a 20G, which is my first exp with CO2. Yours puts mine to shame LOL. Thanks for detailing your system, Im going to incorporate some of those things on mine now.

roud:


----------



## Couesfanatic (Sep 28, 2009)

I don't know what the tall grass is, but I want some.


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

burr740 said:


> The moss looks like java, but it also appears to be creeping out. Java basically just attaches and then grows up. So Im thinking it may be something else. If I were you, I'd make that post on the plant board. Probably get more response from plant experts.
> 
> Also, nice looking tanks! I got here by following the link you posted in that other CO2 thread. Ive just begun a DIY set-up on a 20G, which is my first exp with CO2. Yours puts mine to shame LOL. Thanks for detailing your system, Im going to incorporate some of those things on mine now.
> 
> roud:


Thanks for the I.D. on the ludwigia repens. I suspected that's what it was!

As for the moss, it definitely creeps! If you look at the full tank shot, that whole mess of moss grew from a just handful that I stuck in the hollow end of the driftwood (on the left side, looking at it from the front). It eventually attached and I then removed a large mass to start my moss tree in the 10g. The remaining moss has since crept all the way across the driftwood and is now beginning to cover the rest of the hardscape. I've never trimmed it, so it definitely just grows horizontally. I absolutely love how it looks, regardless of what it is! But now I'm even more curious lol

I've used DIY CO2 for almost 2 years now, but it took almost a year of that time to evolve and develop my own system. Most people dislike DIY due to a few specific factors: inconsistancy of production, inability to control the flow and the annoyance of frequent bottle changes. My goal was to reduce or eliminate these problems - and I believe I've 100% succeeded! I'm quite satisfied with my setup and would highly recommend anything similar if pressurized just isn't an option (although I'd still like to upgrade someday, this system has made that a much lower priority!).



Couesfanatic said:


> I don't know what the tall grass is, but I want some.


I have always thought it might be jungle vallisneria, but there's so much mis-information out there it's always hard to tell. This is why I'd love some of the experts on this board to weigh-in, just so I can finally know what plants I'm keeping haha


----------



## sumer (Feb 6, 2010)

I like the way you have setup your DIY CO2. Neat and impressive


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Thanks very much!


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

*Anyone else wanna take a crack at identifying some of these plants?*










1. *??? *Possibly: Jungle Vallisneria (_Vallisneria americana gigantea_)?
2. *??? *Possibly: Some sort of Bacopa maybe?
3. Red Ludwigia (_Ludwigia repens_)
4. *???*
5. Java Fern (_Microsorum pteropus_)
6. *??? *Possibly: Willow Hygro (_Hygrophilia angustifolia_)? 
7. *???* Possibly: some sort of Ludwigia?
8. Dwarf Hair Grass (_Eleocharis parvula_)
9. *???*
10. *??? *Possibly:Java moss (_Taxiphyllum barbieri_)?
11. *??? *Possibly: Anubias nana (_Anubias barteri 'Petite'_)?
12. *??? *Some sort of crypt?

Not pictured, but I also have Windelov Java Fern (_Microsorum pteropus 'Windelov'_) and Water Wisteria (_Hygrophila difformis_) but they're both pretty unmistakable.

*Larger versions of all pictures can be seen above*, but let me know if better pictures or further information is required to make a positive I.D. on any of the unknown. I have highlighted the ones in red that I am 99% sure I have properly identified and added what some of my guesses are for the others.

Any help here would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Updated shots of my planted tanks (02-MAY-2014):


----------



## gnikwoc (Jan 9, 2014)

Your DIY skill are intense, very anal, very impressive. Just a quick question. What do you do about pressure build up since you regulate pressure? 
I didn't see an area where you bleed off, or do you think this is a non issue?

Also, great looking tanks.


----------



## AlbertoniO (Apr 22, 2014)

I have the anubias petite and it looks exactly like yours. That said I'm no expert. Lovely tank!


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

gnikwoc said:


> Your DIY skill are intense, very anal, very impressive. Just a quick question. What do you do about pressure build up since you regulate pressure?
> I didn't see an area where you bleed off, or do you think this is a non issue?
> 
> Also, great looking tanks.


Thanks! 

As for pressure build up, it hasn't been an issue for me. I've seen what a soda bottle looks like prior to exploding and I like to think I would notice long before that (its not like the pressure builds very rapidly). I even occasionally shut the valves completely over night just to let it build up some good working pressure. The bottles get nice and firm, but I have zero concern that they would ever explode. Maybe that's naive, but it's worked for me for almost 2 years straight now! 



AlbertoniO said:


> I have the anubias petite and it looks exactly like yours. That said I'm no expert. Lovely tank!


Thanks for the ID. I'll update my list. 

*Still lots of unknowns if anyone else has any thoughts??*


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Updated front tank shots (w/ and w/o background lights) of the 10g after some minor tweaks today (04-MAY-2014):



















I ended up modifying a couple of the branches of my moss tree. It always had two "branches" that (looked very cool but) didn't really fit with the others. They were the ones on the left side (looking at the tank) which curved downward and disappeared into the substrate. 

I always wanted them to be different, but I didn't really want to mess with the natural shape of the wood right away. Today I said screw it and finally made some mods. I shorted both branches, curved them upward and wrapped them with some moss. I think once it attaches and matures (within a few weeks) I should be able to give the whole tree a good trim and have it much more closely fit the look I am "going for".

The rest is due for a good trim, but it will have to wait until I get a free evening later this week. 

Feel free to offer any suggestions to further improve my aquascape!


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Man, I posted in the "Plant" section and had all the plants identified almost immediately (thanks _very_ much to user, Tinanti! :thumbsup: )










1. Cyperus Plant (_Cyperus helferi_)
2. Dwarf Hygro (_Hygrophilia polysperma_)
3. Red Ludwigia (_Ludwigia repens_)
4. _Alternanthera sessilis_ - *NOT AQUATIC*
5. Java Fern (_Microsorum pteropus_)
6. Giant Hygro (_Hygrophilia corymbosa_)
7. Ludwigia Peruensis (_Ludwigia glandulosa_)
8. Dwarf Hair Grass (_Eleocharis acicularis_)
9. Dwarf Sag (_Sagittaria subulata_)
10. Most likely: Java moss (_Taxiphyllum barbieri_) 
11. Anubias nana (_Anubias barteri 'Petite'_)
12. _Cryptocoryne undulata_

Not pictured but, in this tank, I also have: 

13: Windelov Java Fern (_Microsorum pteropus 'Windelov'_) 
14: Water Wisteria (_Hygrophila difformis_)


I'll be posting another one for my 10g tank shortly, but that tank is mostly identified as it is (but never a bad idea to get a second opinion lol).


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

I trimmed the glosso quickly last night. It's still growing a bit too much vertically, but I'm planning to add a 2nd light in a few weeks which I suspect will help. I also plan to lower the desk the tank sits on by about 3 inches, so the extra light will be needed anyway. 

Other than that, things are coming along nicely! I like the look of my recent changes to the moss tree more and more as things start to recover and fill in. The rest of the scape is slowly evolving too, but is pretty much set where I want things to be (I think). I really believe adding a second light as well as increasing the open space between the tank and the canopy is going to be the final touch this tank has needed all along (in order to achieve the goal "look" I set out with in my mind, anyways). 

I'll continue to update as things progress. Here's a shot from today:


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

I gave everything a good trim last night and tweaked the hardscape just a touch. It's still slowly evolving, but any changes now are usually just tiny experimental things in attempt to sharpen the focus and depth/scale of the design. It's getting there! roud:










I would still very much* value any criticisms or suggestions* you all might have regarding my aquascape in this tank! Feel free to brainstorm anything you might do differently (I get major tunnel vision working on projects like this and may miss some great ideas or not see when things aren't "working"). A fresh set of eyes or ideas is always a great assest in a project like this!

Anything from plant suggestions (additions or removals) to complete re-design. I can take it and would greatly value any constructive criticisms. Thanks!


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

I took a quick video of two of my tanks this morning. It gives you a nice close up view of my aquascape, too! Plants still need to fill in, but it's coming along.


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Here's another longer video of the 10 gallon that shows off some of the equipment and DIY stuff. Only issue is that I had the light in a dynamic cloud setting so it sorta messed with the quality of the video a bit.


----------



## x0769 (Mar 17, 2014)

Awesome tanks! This is making me want to rescape 10 gallon. BTW, what's the plant in back left corner near the filter tubs?


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

x0769 said:


> Awesome tanks! This is making me want to rescape 10 gallon. BTW, what's the plant in back left corner near the filter tubs?


Thanks very much! Back left is just a mess of 2 different species of dwarf hairgrass: eleocharis vivipara and eleocharis acicularis. The e. vivipara is a much taller grass that actually branches out and gets pretty messy (not something I enjoy). I do my best to keep it trimmed, which keeps me busy, but it's finally starting to look like I was hoping it might.


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

*So, just a quick fauna-update for the 10g*: I'm pretty sure I've lost the last of my shrimp (ghost and cherries included). I'd say that's officially the end of attempting freshwater shrimp for me - at least until I setup a dedicated shrimp-only tank (which is totally on my "to do" list).

I only ever pulled _maaaybe_ about half a dozen dead shrimp out of the tank (I started with 42+), and there have always been at least 2-3 visible anytime I looked at the tank, so I was optimistic but I suspected the population was dwindling. I've never seen my puffer so much as nip at one, but I would imagine he is the main suspect. It could also have been the high levels of CO2 or perhaps something in my well water (since I've had zero luck with any shrimp species, thus far). Considering how long they survived, however, I'm still leaning towards puffer-food. That being said, all of the dead shrimp that I _did_ remove were intact and did not look like leftover snacks, so who the heck knows?? On the flip side, there was obviously another 30-35 shrimp who must have been almost fully consumed as they disappeared with no trace.

Also, while we're on the subject, I had 2 jumpers over the past 2 weeks that I didn't catch in time. I lost one neon tetra, who literally was only out of the water for a minute or so before I noticed, and one oto which I found rock hard and dried up under the tank stand. Boo. 

*This leaves me, in the 10 gallon, with the following stock list*:

1 Dwarf Puffer
3 Otocinclus
5 Neon Tetra

I'm ok with this, since it's a pretty easy to care for group with interesting personalities (puffer), pretty colours (tetras) and a decent clean-up crew. This tank is becoming more of an aquascape-focused aquarium, anyways, so all is well!


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

danstock said:


> *This leaves me, in the 10 gallon, with the following stock list*:
> 
> 1 Dwarf Puffer
> 3 Otocinclus
> 5 Neon Tetra


Just another quick (and somewhat surprising) update for my 10 gallon. My last remaining puffer is M.I.A. and, after over a week of wondering if he was _maybe_ just hiding, I would have to say he is confirmed dead. He must have jumped, I'm guessing, and been snapped up by my cat or dogs. I have torn the tank apart (as much as I dared) and there is literally zero trace that I can find in or around the aquarium.

I semi-frequently fed frozen bloodworms, and occaisionally saw the puffer eat them, but I think it's pretty telling that less than 2 weeks after the disappearance of my last cherry shrimp that my puffer called it quits. I'd imagine he was likely surviving on shrimp fry and adults over the past few months, explaining the steady population decline and eventual decimation of my cherries. Strange, as I never ever saw him even nip at another fish or shrimp (just snails), but it's hard to argue with the evidence...


*This means my current 10g stock list is now as follows:*

_3 Otocinclus _
_5 Neon Tetra_


The plants are all filling in nicely (I'll post some updated pictures later tonight or tomorrow) and the scape is slowly evolving as usual, but now that I am puffer-less I am a bit more excited to re-stock this tank! The neons can go back into the community tank, if necessary, and the otos are pretty much compatible with anything, so I've been day dreaming a bit lately lol

*Is there anything interesting I could plan to house in this tank? *

It/they have to be small enough to remain in a 10-11g (I plan to upgrade, eventually, to a Mr. Aqua 11.4), be plant-safe, ideally I prefer a small group (rather than a single centerpiece fish) and not common jumpers (for obvious reasons). Bright(ish) lights and high-CO2 are also factors.

I could just stick with the neons and maybe even add a few more? Or I could just go shrimp-only (keep or remove the neons/otos?) or maybe just add a nice looking betta? I have always liked pygmy cories, but never housed them, or I'd even consider some interesting snails. I'm really just looking for ideas right now.


*If you had an empty, but well cycled, medium-tech 10g planted aquarium and could stock it with anything at all, what would you have?? Inspire me.*


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

No stocking ideas, guys? 


Quick question for the day: I'm going to be making some upgrades over the next week or two, primarily to the height/intesity of the lighting on my 10g. But I could use a few opinions to help sway my decision.

Currently, the stand that it sits on it raised with 4-5" risers in order to reduce the distance between the single Current USA Sat+ light and the substrate. Coverage is ok, but intesisty is lacking. My carpet plants are growing and spreading, but not as compact as I'd like to see. My goal is to shorten the risers to lower the stand and subsequently gain about 3" of further separation between the light and the water surface (for looks, but also to make it easier for maintenance). Obviously, this will further reduce PAR at the substrate (but greatly improve the overall look, I hope), so lighting upgrades will be necessary!


*OPTION 1:* Up until a few days ago, my plan was to buy a second Current USA Sat+ (and cable splitter) which would increase PAR enough to accomodate the raised lighting (I believe) and improve spread/coverage front-to-back. I could easily add it in to my existing setup (using the same ramp timer/remote w/ a splitter) and Bob's your uncle. Where I live in Canada, it's not very easy or cheap to get anything like this (honestly), but I can score a* second* *18" Sat+ and splitter for ~$160 CAN* shipped from Dr. Foster and Smith or Marine Depot (are there any other known cost-effective options for Canadians?)

*OPTION 2:* However, I just noticed that there's a new contender: the new E-Series light from Ecoxotic, which I understand is Current USA's "sister" company, seems to be exactly what I'm looking for in a single lamp. Apparently, with this new light, I'd be looking at 70-80+ full spectrum PAR at the substrate (even @ 15-16"), 120 degree lenses, an integrated timer w/ 24 hr customizable lighting schedule, etc. Looks like I can get an *18" version of this light for around $225 CAN shipped*. Obviously more expensive, but it would also leave me with an un-used Sat+ w/ ramp timer that I could either sell (unlikely) or use to start another nano for my office (more likely), so it seems like a reasonable option.


The one real question I have is regarding the 24 hour programmable timer with the new E-Series light. It makes it seem like it will accomodate "random" weather effects (passing clouds, tropical storms, etc.) but can anyone confirm if these are only "on-demand" effects (like the Sat+) or can they actually be programed to happen randomly (or even planned) through-out the 24 hour schedule?? This isn't a make-or-break option, but it certainly make it more "fun".

*So... should I add a second Current USA Sat+ or should I spend the extra $70ish go for the new E-Series light from Ecoxotic?? I'm super torn. Help me.*


----------



## burr740 (Feb 19, 2014)

Looking good!

Ive been wanting to try some shrimp, so if it was me I'd probably do that. Im not sure about their compatibility with your current stock or anything though. A bunch of male Enders would look good in that tank, and Pigmy Cories, yes. 

That E-series light sure looks sweet. I'd go w/that bad boy.


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

burr740 said:


> Looking good!
> 
> Ive been wanting to try some shrimp, so if it was me I'd probably do that. Im not sure about their compatibility with your current stock or anything though. A bunch of male Enders would look good in that tank, and Pigmy Cories, yes.
> 
> That E-series light sure looks sweet. I'd go w/that bad boy.


 I haven't had ANY luck so far with shrimp so, aside from going shrimp-only, I don't think I'd try again. Shrimp-only (or with just the otos, maybe) is still a total possibility, but some small group of interesting fish seems less prone to failure. I'll have to check out endlers (totally new to me), but I do love me some pygmy cories! 

As for the light, it really _seems_ great! But if I can accomplish pretty much the same thing (PAR intensity-wise) with just a second, much cheaper, Sat+, am I being crazy to upgrade to the Ecoxotic for the hope of random weather effects?! (when I know it's probably just on-demand like the Sat+)


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Not sure if anyone is following this at all, but here's a quick update!

I have had a super busy last few weeks containing 2 funerals, 2 weddings and a week away at our cottage and, as a result, all of my tanks got a bit neglected.

I hate when that happens and it's crazy how quickly a planted tank can start to look terrible when the CO2 runs out and/or the water change and fert schedule isn't kept up, but I managed to turn things back around with a few hours of trimming and cleaning when I got home.

My 33g community was less affected, fortunately. All that it really needed was a recharge of my CO2 system and a massive trim to bring it back to life. I still need to clean the filter and give the glass a wipe down but, once I do (probably tonight), I will take some updated pics. It's coming along nicely!

As for my 10g - it was looking pretty hard when I got home from my week away. The CO2 had run out completely and I didn't fertilize or change the water for almost 2 weeks. The grasses were overgrown (but healthy) and just needed a trim, but the glosso took a pretty big hit. Roughly half of it melted away and the rest started growing pretty leggy. I moved the big clump of dwarf saggitaria from the 10g over to the 33g, just because I wasn't liking how it looked, then I trimmed and replanted the remaining glosso, recharged the CO2 and gave everything a good scrub and now I'm just waiting for everything to recover and fill back in. It should bounce back pretty quickly, I believe, as I've finally upgraded the lighting!


I ended up just buying a second Current USA Satellite + and have already installed it into my canopy. I still plan to build shorter risers to lower the stand (thus raising the light) by 3", but I likely won't get around to that until I pull all my tools out this weekend at best. 


*My lighting schedule in the 10g is now as follows: *
*12:30pm* - Background accent light begins 15 minute ramp up.
*12:45pm* - Main Sat+ (on full spectrum "yellow" setting) begins 15 minute ramp up.
*2:00pm* - Second Sat+ (on dynamic rolling clouds setting) turns on.
*9:00pm* - Second Sat+ turns off.
*9:50pm* - Moonlighting turns on.
*10:00pm* - Main Sat+ begins 15 minute ramp down.
*10:15pm* - Background accent light begins 15 minute ramp down.
*12:00am* - Moonlighting turns off.


So, basically, my total "viewing time" is from 1pm to 10pm (9 hours) with a mid-day burst from 2pm to 9pm (7 hours) and half hour sunrise/sunsets on either end. I may have to reduce these times if algae becomes an issue but, for now, it seems to be working great!

I'll post pictures tonight or later this week.


----------



## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

Let us know how the 2xSat+ fixtures work out. I run 2 as well. I vote CPD's for stocking idea. I got some with my neon tetras and I love them. Great looking fish.


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Chris_Produces said:


> Let us know how the 2xSat+ fixtures work out. I run 2 as well. I vote CPD's for stocking idea. I got some with my neon tetras and I love them. Great looking fish.


I will! From what I can tell, 2 Sat+ fixtures seems to do quite well (assuming they're not too high off the substrate). 

After I lower the stand, my lights will sit between 13-14" from the lowest point of my substrate so, as far as I can tell from my research, that should be just about perfect. 

I'm still not sure about the stocking. I'm slightly leaning towards moving the neon tetras back to the community tank, going shrimp-only, and trying my hand at higher grade cherry shrimp again - but I haven't had much luck with inverts, so that concerns me. I don't think I've ever seen CPDs at any of my LFS, but they do seem really interesting. I'm still torn. 

Once I get all of my stand modifications and little upgrades completed I'll focus more on the livestock. I'd still love to hear any other ideas y'all might have!


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Sorry for the delay. 

I had a good maintenance day yesterday and got everything caught back up for all of my tanks. 

I managed to build and install some new risers on the stand for my 10g. It lowered it a little over 2" from where it was previous (effectively raising the light the same amount). I like it SO much better! I am much more easily able to trim and maintain the tank with more space to get my hand in there (without pulling the whole stand out from the wall, like I was before) - plus I think it looks much nicer. The total height from the lights to the lowest point of the substrate is now a hair over 13". 

I'm hoping this new setup will be enough to grow back my glosso. It's only early, but things are looking good so far. I'm optimistic that it should all (hopefully) take off from here!

I'm down to only small tweaks here and there but, I would have to say, that my initial build plan is now 100% complete for my DIY 10 Gallon. All of my original ideas (as well as lots of other new designs) have been turned into reality and, from here on, it's just time to sit back and grow some plants! Whew.










I will post an update of the 33 gallon shortly.


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Pictures taken today during Hurricane Arthur:


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

I was asked the following question in one of my other threads for my 33 gallon community tank:


Lilyth88 said:


> Could you post your fauna stock list?


Now that I've merged all 3 of my tanks into this single journal, in the interest of keeping everything together, I decided to post the reply here.

My *33 gallon community tank* is pretty much a "catch all" for any fish that I end up with, so it is very over-stocked with some species that shouldn't technically "work" together, but I haven't added anything or lost any fish in over a year now (aside from a few hitch-hiking fish that came with plants, but I'll explain more below), so it seems to be working. 

*My current stock list as of 07/07/2014 is as follows:*

*Rosy tetra* - 2
*Dwarf flame gourami* - 1 
*Sunset platy -* 2
*Stream catfish? -* 1 (unknown hitch-hiker)
*Cory catfish -* 5
*Red eye tetra -* 11
*Neon tetra -* 1 (supposed to be moved to my 10g, but I can't catch it)
*Betta (male) - *1
*Chinese algae eater - *3 (purchased to combat BBA spike, haven't removed them yet - might transfer to cichlid tank eventually?)
*Clown Pleco - *1
*Guppy - *2 (both hitch-hikers from different plant purchases)

Total - 30 fish

As mentioned, I do plan to eventually move the neon over to the 10g, the CAEs to the 55g and the guppies and my unknown catfish are just unintentional inhabitants. 

The unknown catfish is really neat, but I never properly ID'd it. It's small, still after a year even - maybe 3" or so - and it buries itself in the sand completely during the day. No idea how big it might get or what it is, but it's a cool and elusive fish that it's fun to search for (and always a shock to see). The guppies came in different bags as very, very tiny fry and have grown into nearly mature male and female guppies. I'm sure these will eventually be an issue with the betta (or that they'll start breeding like crazy - or both), but for now they're still kicking!



Lastly, here is a quick video that I took last night showing all 3 of my tanks:


----------



## vanish (Apr 21, 2014)

I want to see the catfish!


----------



## Tyrone (Nov 22, 2013)

Nice tanks dude! All you need now is a shrimp tank and a reef!


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

vanish said:


> I want to see the catfish!


I have some pictures from when I first discovered it in a bag of plants (after 3 days on the road) that I'll upload and post shortly. I very rarely catch it out before the lights go out, but I did once have it jab me with it's barbel thing when I inadvertently tried to plant hair grass on top of him lol 

Maybe someone here can finally identify the little bugger!



Tyrone said:


> Nice tanks dude! All you need now is a shrimp tank and a reef!


Thanks! I want a shrimp tank terribly, but I've tried and failed a half a dozen times. I just tried again and added 8 nice looking cherry reds to my 10g with a 4 hour drip acclimation and water as perfect as I can manage (400ish TDS generally, only due to EI dosing, and high levels of CO2 being my only areas of concern). I've lost all but 3 as of less than a week later. I just find them upside down or keeled over. No clue why. It's my only persistent failure so far in this hobby and it's bugging the [email protected]&# out of me! 

But a reef would be pretty awesome! If it weren't for the fear of additional maintenance (and a promise to my wife that I wouldn't get more tanks until we get a bigger place lol) I would start one tonight haha


----------



## thebuddha (Jul 16, 2012)

Hey, great thread!


I was just checking out your plant IDs and whoever helped you did a great job, they are all correct as far as I can tell -- except one. 

Number 10, your moss. Thats not java moss. Looks to be a taxiphyllum species such as taiwan, peacock, giant, or spiky.



Also loving the plantless cichlid tank. Iv considered doing a plantless angel tank, the thought of only having to do water changes and feedings are very tempting! If I go that route I would do a bunch of manzy sticks throughout the whole aquarium, that way if I really feel the need to add plants I can just wrap the sticks in moss.


Keep up the good work and keep sharing with us :icon_smil


----------



## xxUnRaTeDxxRkOxx (Jul 12, 2011)

Haha glad to see I'm not the only one who's using that style of bottle cap co2 system!!!! Sweet tanks!!


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

vanish said:


> I want to see the catfish!


Here are some pictures that I took of it last August when it hitch-hiked it's way into my tank. As best as I can tell, it is a "Indawgyi stream catfish (Akysis prashadi)" as seen here: http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/akysis-prashadi/

Pretty neat fish, for sure!






















xxUnRaTeDxxRkOxx said:


> Haha glad to see I'm not the only one who's using that style of bottle cap co2 system!!!! Sweet tanks!!


Yep, they work great! Coming up on almost 2 years using them, I believe. It took me a while to work out a reasonable maintenance routine, but I think the results I've gotten make it totally viable (low cost) alternative to pressurized CO2.


----------



## vanish (Apr 21, 2014)

That is one cool cat! That's a pretty lucky (for you) hitchhiker, I would say. I bet not many people have them. Of course, since he buries in the sand, probably hard to show off.


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

thebuddha said:


> Hey, great thread!
> 
> 
> I was just checking out your plant IDs and whoever helped you did a great job, they are all correct as far as I can tell -- except one.
> ...


I somehow didn't even see this post my first time around. 

There was some question about the moss, due to the way it crept over everything instead of growing vertically. I suspected it wasn't java, but I have never tried to properly ID it. I still have a couple plants without 100% identification in my 10g, so maybe I'll post those up with some better pics of my moss and see what you experts have to say.

My cichlid tank is a dream compared to the other two (maintenance-wise). I literally just scrape the glass and do a 50% water change every Sunday (I do the other two weekly for EI dosing or else I'd probably only do every 2-3 weeks on the 55g), clean the filters every 3-4 weeks and top up the evaporated water every few days. It stays looking perfect and I never have to scoop dead leaves off the surface or out of the filter (or worry about ferts, co2, aeration, flow, substrate, lighting, photoperiod, growth, trimming, etc.etc.). It's a nice break, but if I didn't like heavy-maintenance planted tanks I would be on this forum


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

vanish said:


> That is one cool cat! That's a pretty lucky (for you) hitchhiker, I would say. I bet not many people have them. Of course, since he buries in the sand, probably hard to show off.


Very hard, but always neat when he pops out to say hello!

I'll literally not see it for months, assume it has kicked the bucket, only to see it come flying out of it's hiding spot at feeding time some random night. Last sighting was only a day or 2 ago. From what I can tell (assuming it is ID'd correctly) it doesn't get any bigger than it is now, so I should be able to keep him in the 33g. That was my main concern when I first saw it... that I might endup with a 24" monster in a year or two lol


----------



## rodstewart (Apr 25, 2014)

Awesome tanks and phenomenal tech support system. Your dedication and patience is amazing! Thanks for sharing your wonderful aqua journey. Really cool to see another Bluenoser on the forum! Good luck and keep posting !!!


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

rodstewart said:


> Awesome tanks and phenomenal tech support system. Your dedication and patience is amazing! Thanks for sharing your wonderful aqua journey. Really cool to see another Bluenoser on the forum! Good luck and keep posting !!!


Thanks very much for the kind words! Patience is the hardest obstacle with this hobby, I'd say. I can always see the potential (or some sort of end-goal), but it does stress me out when things look like garbage for days/weeks while you wait (and hope) you've made the right tweaks to the balance of your whole mini-eco system. My 10g tank is just over 9 months old (in it's latest configuration, at least) and it's still not developed nearly as much as I hoped it would be at this point (but it's getting there!).

I'm not shocked to see other Maritimers on here, but I can't say I've ever actually met anyone else who gives a [email protected]#$ about aquariums. It's sort of a closet-hobby for me. I don't hide it, and I'm certainly not ashamed of it, but I just don't know anyone who really shares my interest. Even my fiancee has only started showing appreciation for the hobby over the past year or so, but still only as a spectator (for now! haha). So it's very nice to know there's people nearby who appreciate the art of growing aquatic plants and understand the difficulty of obtaining parts/equipment/fish/etc in this part of the world lol

On a related topic, I took the most recent pictures (a few posts above) about 5 minutes before my power went out from this Hurricane (tropical storm? post tropical? whatever) Arthur that just blew through. Power was out about a day and a half for me, but there are a couple guys in my office who still haven't been restored. Going on 6 days now, I think. Ouch. Glad it's not me or I'd have likely lost many plants/fish as a result. Whew!


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

While I'm here, I should let you all know that I made some pretty major tweaks to my 10g aquascape last night. No pictures yet, but I will take some shortly. Basically, I decided that I didn't like the size/scale of my moss tree. It still has lots of growing in and maturing to do, but I just wasn't happy with the look of it (or how I picture it looking down the road). I like the trunk/root part, but the canopy branches (or lack there-of) were not what I am looking for. 

So, I took the risk and decided to chop it all up. I have shortened all of the branches and added the cut pieces back into the mix to create some more body to it. I figure it will be a few weeks for the moss to fill back in and cover up some of the abrupt ends or gaps, but I think it will improve the look overall! Hopefully, anyway, cause there's no going back lol

I'll post some pictures later today and see what you all think!

Oh, and I also bit the bullet and moved the 4 neon tetras from the 10g back into the 33g community tank. That leaves only 2 otos and 4 red cherry shrimp in the 10g and I'm hoping to add some more cherries (I just ordered 10 high-grade RCS) and actually get a colony going. With the neons out, that removes the final variable that I'm thinking may have caused the demise of my previous shrimp populations. If they don't thrive in a species-only tank then it _must_ be the water source. Fingers crossed.


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

*Quick-ish update: *

My 10g is still _struggling_ to be a shrimp tank. I was down to 4 seemingly healthy cherry shrimp (and my 2 otos) and all seemed well. However, when I looked in the tank on Friday morning, I found all 4 shimp keeled over on their backs - stone dead. One had a lateral crack in it's exoskeleton, suggesting an issue with molting? Maybe? No missing limbs, no obvious physical damage, no indication of why! 

I bought a copper test kit and it measured 0.0ppm. Nothing. Nitrates were still between 5-10, no ammonia, no nitrites, PH was around 7.3. Only thing that was very high was the TDS (at just over 600). I tested the GH/KH, as well, but the numbers I wrote down are at home right now. I believe it was around 10dGH/6dKH, but I'll test again today at lunch. Either way, it didn't seem too low or too high to keep these (supposedly) hardy shrimp. I'm still running CO2 (@ 2 BPS w/ drop checker showing lime green), but I run a bubbler anytime the lights are out. I'm hoping CO2 isn't the culprit, but I'm running out of reasons!

Either way, I went ahead and did 50% water changes on Saturday AND Sunday, each time using 001ppm TDS RO water. This brought the TDS down to just under 200. I plan to do one more later today and then I'll try to get the GH/KH in right range while keeping the TDS as low as possible. This will likely mean a drastic reduction in current EI dosing. This will have to be a long trial and error process, but I can't imagine what else is killing these shrimp??

I went on Saturday, back to the chain fish store where I got the recently-deceased shrimp. They didn't indicate any issues with their current stock, but they had all either died or been sold since I bought mine earlier that week. This could be an indication of an unhealthy batch? Who knows, but he gave me all that they had left: 4 cherry chrimp and 2 blue velvets. I did another 3-4 hour drip acclimation and put them into the tank. Only a day later, I lost one of the blues but still have the rest alive (for now).

Same type of death. It lays on its back twitching it's legs and then croaks after a few minutes. Almost seems like they're drunk for a bit. Reminds me of fish with swim bladder issues, but it kills them within 10-15 minutes of noticing symptoms. Any idea what this means???

Everything I come across online seems to say that cherry shrimp are about as easy and as basic as it comes. Everything I've read gives the impression that a complete newbie could establish a booming colony in a drinking glass with a pair of low-grade cherries. Why can't I keep them alive more than a few weeks??? I have almost 70 other fish, some over 3 years old, who are living in water from the same source (although I've even elminated that variable by using RO water for the shrimp from here on), but something is clearly poisoning them. 

I have an order of 10 high-grade shrimp that should be arriving within a few days. I'd LOVE to have this figured out before then. If that batch doesn't survive than I really will need to give up (and I hate that!)


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Oh, on a more positive note, I also picked up a couple of new plants on the weekend! 

I put about half a dozen stems of Staurogyne Repens in my 10g and I really hope they take off! I also put a bunch of Cabomba Caroliniana (purple cabomba) into my 33g community tank. I'm hoping it will thrive as I'm really loving how it looks already!

I'll try to get some new pictures uploaded soon!


----------



## Dantrasy (Sep 9, 2013)

Great tanks! Looking forward to seeing a pic of the stauro in the 10gal. Hope it stays compact.


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Dantrasy said:


> Great tanks! Looking forward to seeing a pic of the stauro in the 10gal. Hope it stays compact.


Thanks! You and me both. I've got it in a well-lit area of the tank, with good flow, high-CO2 (for now, anyways) and will be dosing 1/4-1/2 E.I. (depending how my new plan works out) and Iron. No melting or anything as of yet, but it's only been a few days. Fingers crossed that it starts to spread and stays compact. I figure it will be a few weeks before I'll be able to say for sure!


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

I tried to get a quick picture this morning before work, but it didn't really come out that well. At least you can sort of get the idea of the small tweaks I've been making. 










I believe the moss "tree" is now ready to just (hopefully) fill in and start looking more like a canopy. For a while it's going to look a bit tragic, due to the sharp cut ends of some of the new "branches", but I think it's going to look great once that all grows up. At least that's the plan. For now. 

I'll try to get some better pictures and some more closeups to show the new staurogyne repens, which seems to be adapting well so far. No issues yet, but I don't expect to see much for new growth right away either. I'll keep you posted.

No more shrimp deaths, either, which is a plus! I still have to do another partial water change, but the TDS has been hovering around 200 and everyone seems happy. I hope this is another issue solved, but I don't wanna get my hopes up yet!

Thanks for looking! roud:


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

I did some science on my lunch break. I checked the GH/KH/PH/TDS and temp in the 10g prior to one more 50% PWC (w/ 0ppm R.O.) and then I tested everything again. 

Prior to water change:
pH = ~6.8
GH = 6 dGH
kH = 4 dKH
TDS = 220
Temp = 75 

Immediately after 50% PWC:
pH = 6.6-6.8
GH = 2 dGH
kH = 2 dKH
TDS = 102
Temp = ~75 

I then added (just shy of) a half tablespoon of Seachem Equilibrium, since it's the only thing I have on hand that boosts GH. I hope this is alright for a shrimp tank? I will check the GH/KH later tonight and see what it does, but I suspect it should get me up to a GH of around 5 (but I'm curious to see the affect on my TDS and KH).

What is the best thing to use to remineralize RO water for cherry shrimp? and the ideal parameters, for that matter? I'm aiming for a GH higher than 4, TDS lower than 200, PH around 7 (+/- .5), and temp of 75 or under. Does this seem correct? Thanks very much for any input! roud:


----------



## thefishnoob (Jul 12, 2014)

How exactly do you do wahter changes on the 10?


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

thefishnoob said:


> How exactly do you do wahter changes on the 10?


Up until recently, I did all my water changes (10g included) using a python hooked to my kitchen faucet. I still use this for my other tanks. 

Lately, for the 10g only, I've just been siphoning dirty water into a 5 gallon bucket and then just pouring clean water back in from a 5 gallon (18.9 litre) water cooler jug. I fill it for $2 right next to my office at a water supply store with a 24 hour U-Fill deal. It's RO water that reads 000 on my TDS meter. I already had 2 jugs I fill constantly for drinking water, so I just bought a third jug for my shrimp tank. Fill it once a week for my Sunday 50% water change and I'm good to go! Tops ups done from the water cooler (don't tell my wife lol)

On a related note, I've found it easiest to fill it up by just pouring the water onto/over my lily pipe outflow bell. I find it allows me to fill it quickly while spreading out and diffusing the water flow without screwing up all my substrate roud:


----------



## thefishnoob (Jul 12, 2014)

But I see that theres the shelf on top. How can you get the python and your hand in? It seems so small..


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

thefishnoob said:


> But I see that theres the shelf on top. How can you get the python and your hand in? It seems so small..


It was a PITA at first, but it's not so bad now that I've lowered the stand (thus increasing the separation between the tank and that shelf) by a little over 2". Total gap there now is probably 5" or so. Not ideal, but still more than enough room to fit a syphon tube, hand, scissors, turkey baster, etc. 

Before I made that change, I would have to slide the whole stand out from the wall about 6-8" in order to get my hand in the tank to trim or scape. It has/had plastic furniture sliders under the legs to facilitate this, but it was still a hassle. Even without moving the stand I could get the python tube in there, only just barely, but moving the tank around was always a major pain and (on the previously not-so-sturdy risers I had) it was a bit of a weak-point in the whole design. Now I only have to move it if I want to adjust the backlighting or scrape the algae off the back panel when I do major cleaning/maintenance.


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

danstock said:


> *Yesterday after 50% PWC but before adding Seachem Equilibrium (3/4 tablespoon total):*
> pH = 6.6-6.8
> GH = 2 dGH
> kH = 2 dKH
> ...


Well, I don't think Equilibrium is the best product to do what I'm looking to do. I dosed around 3/4 tablespoon of Equilibrium and (as an experimient) about 1/4 tablespoon of baking soda (in an attempt to raise KH, but just a minimal dose fiurst to check the affect on my PH). I checked the parameters quickly this morning (lights out) and saw the following:

pH = 7.0-7.2 (+0.2-0.6ish - I have a hard time reading the dang colour on these things)
GH = 5 dGH (+3)
kH = 3 dKH (+1)
TDS = _273 _(+171!)
Temp = ~75 

I'd still like to see higher GH/KH values (right?), especially since I use CO2 and want to minimize PH swings. But the impact on my TDS is pretty extreme (and this is without having dosed ANY fertilizers since I began the conversion to RO), so I ask again...



danstock said:


> *What is the best thing to use to remineralize RO water for cherry (or any other dwarf neo) shrimp?* *and what are the ideal water parameters, for that matter??*


I do have baking soda, epsom salts and RO water on hand. Can I make a DIY solution from this or is there more than just GH/KH/PH/TDS to worry about?? Also, what are the ratios for solution amounts (ie. baking soda) to GH/KH/PH increase? I'm having trouble finding the information I'm looking for online. I know other people here _must_ keep neocardina shrimp in remineralized RO water... what's your system??

Thanks very much for any advice roud:


----------



## thefishnoob (Jul 12, 2014)

Thanks for explaining! As my ranks are on a shelf I needed this 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Dantrasy (Sep 9, 2013)

I used rodi water in all my tanks. after a wc i measure the tsd with a pen and if it's low (around 100) i'll bump it up to around 120 with equilibrium. after a week of daily fertz the water reaches around 150 tds. i don't need to bump it up every time as my weekly wc is only round 20%. I recommend shells/coral instead of bi-carb. place it in the filter and forget about it. measure kh and gh a day later, add more shell if need be. roughly (very roughly) I say you need a thumb nail sized bit of coral per 10L. 

ph is what it is. i never measure it. 

we all fall into a patten eventually. some will constantly measure and adjust everything and still find the hobby very enjoyable. others measure just a few things - any more and the hobby wouldn't be as enjoyable. 

here are some good shrimp paras to follow:

http://www.aquariumlife.com.au/show...imp-The-Beginners-Guide-UPDATED-Feeding-added


----------



## Plantedbliss (Feb 24, 2013)

the hitchhiker looks like a _Orange-Banded Hillstream Catfish._


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Dantrasy said:


> I used rodi water in all my tanks. after a wc i measure the tsd with a pen and if it's low (around 100) i'll bump it up to around 120 with equilibrium. after a week of daily fertz the water reaches around 150 tds. i don't need to bump it up every time as my weekly wc is only round 20%. I recommend shells/coral instead of bi-carb. place it in the filter and forget about it. measure kh and gh a day later, add more shell if need be. roughly (very roughly) I say you need a thumb nail sized bit of coral per 10L.


I'm starting to think there is something else in my tank affecting TDS, as I can't for the life of me get it under 150-200ish. My substrate (Eco Complete, mostly, with a cap of pool filter sand and Pacific Gravel) perhaps? Or the root tabs?? Even without ferts or GH booster. In the last week or so I've done half a dozen 50-60% PWCs with 000 TDS RO water, I've added Purigen to my filter and done a MASSIVE cleaning of all components/glass/plants/substrate/tubing, etc. I'm going to do one more (unscheduled) partial water change tonight and then just fall back into my normal weekly schedule... and hopefully start tweaking my fertilizer routine from there. I don't need a super-low TDS, where I'm only keeping cherry shrimp, but I just want to control as many variables as I can. On a positive note, all my new high-grade cherries have adapted well, I've seen molts and berried females already so I'm hopeful that I will finally colonize this darn tank. Fingers crossed!





Dantrasy said:


> we all fall into a patten eventually. some will constantly measure and adjust everything and still find the hobby very enjoyable. others measure just a few things - any more and the hobby wouldn't be as enjoyable.


I definitely hate water testing. I test only during major tank changes or setup and that's about it. I don't think I've done a water test of any kind on my cichlid tank in almost 2 years and probably about the same on my community tank. This smaller, slightly more high-tech tank has been a different story, however. I'm looking forward to dialing in my routine so I can stop worrying over it!





Dantrasy said:


> here are some good shrimp paras to follow:
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.aquariumlife.com.au/show...imp-The-Beginners-Guide-UPDATED-Feeding-added


Great information! Thanks so much for the link. 





Plantedbliss said:


> the hitchhiker looks like a Orange-Banded Hillstream Catfish.


Pretty neat fish, whatever it is! roud:


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Picture update from 21/07/2014:


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Another quick picture from this morning. This time with the backlight turned on.










I did, sadly, find one dead (berried) cherry shrimp in there last night. This worries me, as I've been slowly ramping my CO2 back up and was very shortly going to resume a modified EI regimine, but I really don't want to wipe out this whole colony (again).

The shrimp was found as it was dying.* It had turned an obvious shade of dark blue/purple prior to death.* Not entirely, but a very definite colour change around the edges of it's exoskeleton. What does this indicate?? My gut says it is asphhyxiation due to lack of oxygen, but I maintain good flow and surface movement and run an airline from lights off until an hour before lights on. CO2 is running at just over 1 BPS and drop checker is light green.

Thoughts/advice??


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

No thoughts or exerience regarding red cherry shrimp turning a shade of dark blue/purple upon death? No deaths since, but it's not the first time I've seen it, so I'm curious if anyone else has seen this and/or knows the cause.


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)




----------



## thefishnoob (Jul 12, 2014)

danstock said:


> No thoughts or exerience regarding red cherry shrimp turning a shade of dark blue/purple upon death? No deaths since, but it's not the first time I've seen it, so I'm curious if anyone else has seen this and/or knows the cause.


Happened to my shrimp once, legs white and body purple. Creepy! :icon_conf


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Well, I think I've just about had it with cherry shrimp. There's something not right about my 10 gallon (when it comes to inverts) and I just can't afford to keep trying to figure it out!

I've done 60%+ water changes with 000TDS RO water at least 7 or 8 times now in the past few weeks, so I can't imagine it being the water source. I've reduced my CO2 injection all the way down to one bubble every 3 seconds or so and stopped my fertilizers all together (for now). TDS is still up around 300 as I'm using Equilibrium to bring the hardness up (but I still can't get it below 150, even with daily PWC, so I'm thinking there's a clue there). I've had a significant increase in BBA, probably due to all of the changes in CO2 levels, and have been spot treating with Excel for the past few days, but only 10ml total with a few days in between, so I hope that's alright for shrimp. I've even gone so far as to remove and clean every single component, tube, and piece of equipment in/around the tank and also added purigen to the filer (a couple weeks back).

However, shrimp population is still dwindling and I'd be surprised if theres more than 4 left in there (I had a dozen just over a week ago). I find a dead shrimp just about every day but, at the same time, I'm seeing multiple molts each day which I assumed was potentially a good sign. The otos are fine, but the shrimp are mostly lethargic and slow and (eventually) just keel over and die (still intact, some with the afore-mentioned blue hue and some without). I'll feed using a acrylic dish and it remains mostly untouched, although there is plenty of natural mulm to feed off, so it never reall concerned me (but may be a clue?). No real obvious signs of cause of death and all water tests indicate ideal conditions for a shrimp colony.

I figure I'll just hope that somehow the remaining shrimp are better acclimated and start to reproduce, but I'd expect this will likely end like every other of my previous shrimp attempts. I now suspect either something in my substrate (unlikely) or possibly in the hardscape. It's all rocks found locally, which were well-cleaned and tested (as best I could) to be inert and safe. But I could easily be wrong. 

I guess I'm just not going to get to have a booming shrimp colony like I'd always hoped. It's frustrating, but mostly because I hate not knowing the cause.


----------



## thefishnoob (Jul 12, 2014)

Dont worry, I had 70-80% of my orig. stock die on me, and so I got another batch from another store for genetic diversity. Those died too. I was left with 8 from an original 20. However, these 8 were the most resilient and so their multiple offspring is very hardy now. I haven't had one shrimp death of all my orders


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

*Quick update:* No further shrimp deaths (that I'm aware of), and all the survivors seem happy/healthy. I turned the CO2 bubble count waaay down and let my DIY CO2 slowly run out and stopped fertilizing all-together (just in the 10g), and it seems to have gotten the shrimp over the hump and I _hope_ they'll start to colonize now. Lots of pretty females in there, but I haven't noticed any berried ones yet. I have a good feeling, though.

I recharged one of my DIY CO2 generators last night and have begun the process of slowly re-adding CO2 to the mix but, other than that, I'm just using 0 TDS RO water re-mineralized with Seachem Equilibrium (for GH) and Seachem Alkaline Buffer (for KH). My plants _are_ starting to show some deficiencies, which sucks, but once I get a stable population I will start experimenting with dosing ferts again. The plants are still growing/spreading nicely, but not looking quite as healthy as they once were. One problem at a time.


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

I noticed at least one berried female this morning, so I'm optimistic that I might have succeeded in starting a colony that will _finally _populate this tank. Fingers crossed for now, but even the plants are starting to acclimate to this new CO2-only setup. I'll post pictures later if anyone's interested!


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

My plants all seem to have bounced back and adjusted to the lack of fertilizer dosing. I assume there is still lots of available nutrients in the substrate (Eco Complete capped w/ PFS and pacific gravel) due to root tabs that have been added at multiple intervals. Also, now that everything is mature and stable (it's been almost exactly a year since the big tear-down and rebuild of the 10g into it's current configuration), it seems to be dealing with the new CO2-only configuration quite happily. Plants are growing more slowing (kind of nice, really) and do look a little different, but have coloured up and filled in very nicely.

Shrimp are still surviving, though I haven't noticed any juveniles yet. I have noticed a few berried females, however, so hopefully they're in there. I'm confident I will finally get a healthy breeding colony out of this attempt. Hopefully.

*I did, however, install some experimental upgrades to my DIY CO2 system that are currently in the test phases and seem to be doing well.* Basically, I installed a solenoid valve to shut off CO2 production at night. Previously I have just been running an inline air pump which shoots bubbles out of my lily pipe outflow and gives lots of surface agitation while the lights are off. This worked well, but it splashes water around and makes it annoying to keep the water level right at the top. Not a big deal, but I wanted a new project and this was my first thought.

I ended up buying a cheap solenoid on eBay for $17 shipped. Problem being that it works on 220v only, so I also picked up a 110v to 220v converter for another $4 shipped. 

I installed it inline right before my first needle valve and, after some adjustments, it seems to work great! 

I drew up this quick schematic in paint (as it's easier than explaining it via text):










I have 2 yeast bottle generators (tan) being fed into a gas separator (light blue), then through the solenoid valve (red), one needle valve (green), the bubble counter, a second needle valve (green) and then on into the reactor (grey). Yellow represents brass check valves and blue are manual cut off valves for bottle replacement.

I've never been worried about popping a bottle, as I frequently shut my production down manually overnight to waste less CO2, but I just hate remembering to do it manually. Still, to be safe, I had to think of a alternate way to vent excess pressure at night. The easiest, most cost-effective way that I came up with was to add a 3rd needle valve and tubing fed out of one of the generators. From experience, I know that a single cheap chinese needle valve is not enough to cut the flow off entirely (hence why I use two in series... for finer control, but also allows me to shut it down by closing both) and it will leak, but only under maximum pressure.

I knew this would allow some pressure to escape at night, but in order to know how much, I also installed a bubble counter on this output for a visual reference. At night once the pressure builds up, I end up with a steady 1-1.5 BPS coming out of this safety valve and venting to the atmosphere. During the day I only get flow through the main bubble counter, not through my safety relief, so it seems to work like a charm. roud:


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

I had a very productive weekend with my tanks and I've got some big updates coming over the next couple of days! roud:

Basically, I came across another hobbyist on a local forum who is switching his focus from freshwater to marine and wanted to get rid of a bunch of beautiful aquatic plants. He lives about an hours drive from me but, coincidentally, I had to travel up his way for my niece/nephew's birthday party on Friday and we ended up meeting up. 

I brought only $40 CAN with me and just expected to pickup an assortment of clippings or maybe just a couple of small plants (he had/has some good stuff). By the time I left, I had 3 grocery bags stuffed full of _very_ popular plants, a bag of at least a dozen assassin snails and (as it turns out) over 40 hitch-hiking juvenile cherry shrimp who survived the drive home in nothing but a moist bag full of uprooted plants! He said he'd rather it all goes to someone who will take care of them and enjoy them rather than just to make a profit, so he hooked me up with easily $4-500 worth of stuff for next to nothing! Wee! :bounce:

I spent all day Saturday doing a major re-scape of my 33 gallon community tank and then Sunday was the 10 gallon (not as major, but still some awesome upgrades!).

*This is a semi-complete list of what I picked up:*

_Riccia fluitans (Crystalwort)_
_Hemianthus callitrichoides (Dwarf Baby Tears)_
_Glossostigma Elatinoides_
_Rotala sp. mini (Rotala sp. Pearl)_
_Rotala macrandra (Giant Red Rotala)_
_Rotala rotundifolia_
_Heteranthera zosterifolia (Star Grass)_
_Pogostemon helferi (Downoi)_

Plus a few other random stems and grasses. Some that found a spot in my aquascape, some that didn't. It was a tough process getting everything planted simply due to the amount of mature plants I had to use. I didn't just get small amounts of the plants above. I got a full grocery bag full of Star Grass, another full of various rotala (some over 24" tall), a big mat of HC, at least 20 stems of Downoi, etc. 

I took every plant out of my tank, discarded any leaves/stems showing deficiencies or algae and added back in all nice, mature, healthy plants in a nice looking scape! It looks incredible, and I'm sure it will only look better once they settle in (hopefully).

*I'll snap some new pictures tonight or tomorrow night.* I just want to give things a few days to settle in and rebound from all of the hacking and replanting. So far so good, though!


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

*My updated flora list (33 gallon):*

Downoi (_Pogostemon helferi_)
Cyperus Plant (_Cyperus helferi_)
Dwarf Sag (_Sagittaria subulata_)
Red Ludwigia (_Ludwigia repens_)
Water Wisteria (_Hygrophila difformis_)
Rotala sp. mini (_Rotala sp. Pearl_)
Star Grass (_Heteranthera zosterifolia_)
_Rotala rotundifolia_
Giant Hygro (_Hygrophilia corymbosa_)
Java Fern (_Microsorum pteropus_)
Java moss (_Taxiphyllum barbieri_)
Windelov Java Fern (_Microsorum pteropus 'Windelov'_) 
Anubias nana (_Anubias barteri 'Petite'_)
_Cryptocoryne undulata_
Ludwigia Peruensis (_Ludwigia glandulosa_)
Dwarf Hygro (_Hygrophilia polysperma_)
Marimo Moss Ball 

I still need to put together a list for my 10 gallon, but I'll be doing that sometime this week. Thanks for looking roud:


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Not the best picture, but you get the idea!


----------



## danstock (Dec 2, 2012)

Time for a much-overdue update. 

I have been very busy with work lately, but I have managed to keep up with my tanks (for the most part). Unfortunately, after the massive rescape and all of the new plants added to the 33g, things didn't go quite as planned. The shading from all of the new plant mass was too much for my already inadequate lighting setup (5x chinese LED flood lights and a few RGB strips). As a result, the stargrass, ludwigia and downoi just couldn't keep up. The lower stems were melting and the tank was a mess of plant debris which over-loaded my filter within a week or 2. I was in a constant battle trying to overcome the pending disaster, but eventually I had to bite the bullet and make some changes. 

So, I had to do another massive re-scape to adjust for my lighting (I _will_ upgrade someday - just not today). I added a second powerhead to increase flow and did a massive trim/redesign that, though it's still in the "bounce-back" pahse, I think I will enjoy the new look. It's looking a bit sparse right now, but I am hopeful that it will fill back in quickly.

As for the 10g - that is cruising along as usual. Unfortunately, the "usual" for this tank is that my plants are thriving, but my cherry shrimp are not. I've had dozens of berried females, but none ever seem to survive. I still find a dead shrimp or 2 in there almost daily and I'd estimate the population (50+ at one point) is likely now in the mid-teens, at best. I'm still using RO water and experimenting with dosing (ferts/mineralizers, etc), but it's just not working out for the inverts. I suspect it MUST be the rocks I randomly chose for this tank and some sort of leaching effect. Fish seem fine in this tank, just not shrimp. I'm just about ready to throw in the towel and pickup a pretty betta or something for a centerpiece fish and just move on. I'll tinker for a little while longer first, but it's become very frustrating.

I did, however, add some stargrass, HC and the downoi that wasn't cutting it in the 33g to the 10g. All of them seem to be adapting and taking off! The glosso and other grass carpets have all filled in nicely and the moss tree is making good progress. I'd estimate that I am about a month or two of "tweaking" away from the pinnacle moment of this tank. For now, at least!

I'll try to get some new pics and post them up if there's any interest, but I just wanted to check in and let everyone know that these tanks are still alive and well. Thanks for looking roud:


----------

