# "Tranquility" - Mark's 90 Corner Bow Front (2012 Changes Coming!)



## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Looks awesome!

Those rainbows are gorgeous :thumbsup:


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Thanks Laura! I was sadden that in the move of all the fish that I lost one of my rainbows :icon_frow.


----------



## infinite07 (Dec 20, 2008)

Great looking tank. Too bad you lost one of your rainbows.


----------



## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

It looks great. What are you doing with the 55? Upgrading it to a 75?


----------



## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

Looking good. One suggestion though is I think the wood would look better coming out of the back corner. Looks a little out of place on the right side.

Craig


----------



## blazeyreef (Mar 17, 2008)

looks very nice!


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

clwatkins10 said:


> It looks great. What are you doing with the 55? Upgrading it to a 75?


My plan is to turn my 55 into a Cichlid tank. I need to save up some money to buy a new light, substrate and a few other items. It is just sitting empty right now.



Craigthor said:


> Looking good. One suggestion though is I think the wood would look better coming out of the back corner. Looks a little out of place on the right side.
> 
> Craig


Thanks for the suggestion Craig. I am hoping once the taller background plants grow in that this will look better where it is at. My concern was if I put it in the back corner and then planted my taller plants in front I would lose the look I was trying to get with the DW & rocks. Over time your suggestion may come reality


----------



## fishbguy1 (Feb 29, 2008)

This tank is gonna look awesome when it grows in! It's awesome!

How big are those boesmanis? They look Huge!

What did you end up doing with lighting? From the far away pic it look pretty bright...haha

What is the fish list for the tank?


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

fishbguy1 said:


> This tank is gonna look awesome when it grows in! It's awesome!
> 
> How big are those boesmanis? They look Huge!
> 
> ...


Thanks man!
The one raindow that died I measured it and it was 4" long

As for the lighting, I had a 36" strip light with a 30watt, 10,000k bulb in it and a 24" double strip light with 2 15watt bulbs in it that was original on the 90 gallon. I kept those and added the double compact flouresent, Coralife light that was on my 55 gallon. This gives me a total of 320 watts for 3.5 watts/gal.

I will get a fauna and flora list posted sometime tomorrow.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

The one thing I hate about this tank is the unsightly view of the equipment. If someone has an idea to how I can better hide that stuff, please let me know. (Drilling the tank at this point is not an option)


----------



## crudnugget (Feb 5, 2008)

You could get some Krylon Fusion spraypaint and paint it the same color as the background of your tank. Or try to cover it up with some stem plants. Not a whole lot else you can do...except maybe spending some big $$$ on some glass lily pipes.


----------



## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

Could always get a pair of acrylics. Also the Aquatic magic FLO pipes from e-bay can be had really cheap about $50 set shipped if you watch.

My vision with the wood coming out of the back would be to have the wood in the back with a tall stem surrounding the base of the wood. you could put several types and get a layered effect coming towards the front with the foreground being low. Also a touch of moss on a couple of the branches would highlight it. have the large rocks in the front edge scattered through the wood and giving you more angles.

Craig


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Even with the equipment showing, you make this tank outstanding! I miss the 55, but I think I found a new tank to follow.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Craigthor said:


> Could always get a pair of acrylics. Also the Aquatic magic FLO pipes from e-bay can be had really cheap about $50 set shipped if you watch.
> 
> My vision with the wood coming out of the back would be to have the wood in the back with a tall stem surrounding the base of the wood. you could put several types and get a layered effect coming towards the front with the foreground being low. Also a touch of moss on a couple of the branches would highlight it. have the large rocks in the front edge scattered through the wood and giving you more angles.
> 
> Craig


I will definitely keep this in mind and thanks for the vision. I understand what you are getting at and sounds like a good idea and would look good. If the background plants don't fill in like I want them to, I will go with your idea. Thanks!




sewingalot said:


> Even with the equipment showing, you make this tank outstanding! I miss the 55, but I think I found a new tank to follow.


Thanks! I hope this tank will look better then my 55. I do miss it as well but I cut my work in half and will be able to focus more on one tank. I hope I can still inspire people with this tank. I have heard it said that it is difficult to scape a corner tank, but I hope to prove that theory wrong


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

crudnugget said:


> You could get some Krylon Fusion spraypaint and paint it the same color as the background of your tank. Or try to cover it up with some stem plants. Not a whole lot else you can do...except maybe spending some big $$$ on some glass lily pipes.


I did send an e-mail to Rust-Oleum and asked them if the paint I used was aquarium safe but have not heard a response back yet. If it is, then I am going to paint the pipes the same as the background. I had thought of lilly pipes but again....$$$$$. So we will see.


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

dewalltheway said:


> I hope I can still inspire people with this tank. I have heard it said that it is difficult to scape a corner tank, but I hope to prove that theory wrong


I'm inspired already. After giving such great depth to the 55, this should be a piece of cake for you. By the way, if the paint isn't aquarium safe, what about coating it with epoxy after painting the tubes? I have seen this over on Aquatic Plant Forum.


----------



## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

I'm so happy the rock wall is still getting some action! You have some awesome fish! I'd love to see below in the stand. I loved the crazy maze of plumbing on the right side of the old 55.


----------



## mott (Nov 23, 2006)

dewalltheway said:


> The one thing I hate about this tank is the unsightly view of the equipment. If someone has an idea to how I can better hide that stuff, please let me know. (Drilling the tank at this point is not an option)


I love the scape!I think it could only look better if you paint some of that blue hardware black with a black background. The hardware will just about disappear!


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Here is a couple pics underneath..





































And some shots of the tank tonight. I finally got my erios planted.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

sewingalot said:


> I'm inspired already. After giving such great depth to the 55, this should be a piece of cake for you. By the way, if the paint isn't aquarium safe, what about coating it with epoxy after painting the tubes? I have seen this over on Aquatic Plant Forum.


Is epoxy aquarium safe because if it is, then that would be a great idea. I did find out today that the Stone Creations paint I used is not aquarium safe. I did find that out tonight when I had a test piece I had done and when it got water on it it started coming off.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

mott said:


> I love the scape!I think it could only look better if you paint some of that blue hardware black with a black background. The hardware will just about disappear!


I debated on painting it black or do this textured paint and I chose the wrong one. My 55 was black and I wanted to try something different. I will have to live with this for a while because I am not going to tear it down anytime soon. Live and learn!


----------



## fish-aholic (Dec 23, 2007)

What regulator is that?


----------



## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

So the five timers....
Light fixture 1
Light fixture 2
Solenoid
air stone?

thats all my guesses and I'm one short! 

Looks like you still have plenty of room down there! That is a big tank!


----------



## Hungry Wendigo (Oct 3, 2008)

It's certainly inspirational, the design is brilliant. I remember having seen your 55gal a few months back when I signed up, it was one of my favorites. This is looking similarly exceptional, keep the pictures coming as you continue to update.

I'm really digging those rainbows, I'm sorry about the one you lost. I'll bet it's nice have a tank that can support clown loaches of a respectable size .


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

2 Timers on the bottom right, 1 for Coralife light fixture and the other for CO2 solenoid
2 timers on top right, 1 for 36" light fixture and the other for 24" light fixture.
Timer on the left for night lighting

I have the 24" light fixture (2-15watt flouresent bulbs) come on in the morning at 11am. The 36" light fixture (1-30watt flouresent bulb) comes on at 11:30am and the coralife (4x65watt, compact flouresent bulbs) comes on at 12:00pm. This simulates the morning sunrise a little better then all 320watts of light coming on all at once. I also have the CO2 turning on at 11am. I then reverse the lights going off with the coralife going off at 9pm then the 36" at 9:15 then the 24" off at 9:30 with the moonlights coming on at 9:30pm.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Hungry Wendigo said:


> It's certainly inspirational, the design is brilliant. I remember having seen your 55gal a few months back when I signed up, it was one of my favorites. This is looking similarly exceptional, keep the pictures coming as you continue to update.
> 
> I'm really digging those rainbows, I'm sorry about the one you lost. I'll bet it's nice have a tank that can support clown loaches of a respectable size .


Thanks for the encouraging words. I do love this tank and the clown loaches are some of my oldest fish I have. I have been so taken back at how large the rainbows have gotten. They are so fun to sit and watch.




fish-aholic said:


> What regulator is that?


It is the Milw. regulator like fastfreddie got for Christmas.


----------



## twychopen (Dec 17, 2008)

The epoxy is aquarium safe. I make 3d backgrounds for my cichlid tanks and if I paint the cement, I cover it with epoxy. Many "professional" backgrounds are done this way as well. You just have to make sure that all the paint is covered completely. You probably will want to try to find an example of an exact one. Google 3d aquarium backgrounds or something similar. Some guys use it over the cement. You should see the brand.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

twychopen said:


> The epoxy is aquarium safe. I make 3d backgrounds for my cichlid tanks and if I paint the cement, I cover it with epoxy. Many "professional" backgrounds are done this way as well. You just have to make sure that all the paint is covered completely. You probably will want to try to find an example of an exact one. Google 3d aquarium backgrounds or something similar. Some guys use it over the cement. You should see the brand.


I was able to find a site - http://www.sscoatings.net/poolcoat-info.htm - that has a clear epoxy that is used for pools and aquariums. A bit pricey though, but maybe in time I can get some. If someone finds something easier or cheaper, let me know.

Update on the tank....Things are going well except for my erios. My loaches keep uprooting them and I find them floating at the top. Not sure if they are going to work in this tank but time will tell. I am thinking of selling my erios and going with some UG in the front if I can find some but the loaches may do the same with UG as they are doing with the erios so not sure what I am going to do.


----------



## twychopen (Dec 17, 2008)

Here is a place that show another epoxy and an explanation.
http://aquarium.mriweb.nl/en/epoxy.php


here is the actual project:
http://aquarium.mriweb.nl/en/index.php


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

To add to the list of options:

Check out Chuck's Aquarium page on painted backgrounds.
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/46g_construct.htm

 Oh, and get a hold of Sunstar he is using paint and some type of cement. Perhaps he could give you some ideas as well. 
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/journals/57340-betta-have-fun-betta-tank-3.html


----------



## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

try putting plant ties on the erios roots, itll weight them down so that they dont float up if the substrate is disturbed. youll need to put one on only a quarter or less of the roots, otherwise the root mass is too thick and the erio will just slip out.


----------



## soundtweakers (Oct 12, 2005)

I actually really like the color of the background. IMO, with the color of the lighting and the substrate and the inhabitant in the tank and don't forget the tank being a bowfront, I just think the background color works. Very refreshing and yet very natural. 

if this was my tank and the equipments in the tank is not bothering me on the "hourly" basis. I'll just take them out for that special "photo-shoot" day.

I really like this tank, and thank you for sharing.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

soundtweakers said:


> I actually really like the color of the background. IMO, with the color of the lighting and the substrate and the inhabitant in the tank and don't forget the tank being a bowfront, I just think the background color works. Very refreshing and yet very natural.
> 
> if this was my tank and the equipments in the tank is not bothering me on the "hourly" basis. I'll just take them out for that special "photo-shoot" day.
> 
> I really like this tank, and thank you for sharing.


Thanks for the encouraging words! I do like the background color, and I hope when I get some extra money I am going to try to spray some equipment and coat it with epoxy to seal it and see what it looks like. I just don't like seeing the equipment in the back because it takes away so much of the natural feel of the tank. Hope one day to change that.

Working on a better water change set-up right now and will post some pics when I get it done. Should save me some time in doing my weekly water changes.


----------



## soundtweakers (Oct 12, 2005)

BTW, did you wrote in one of my thread that you always wanted discus?

if yes, you should search aquabid for a seller "LarryP", he's based in Columbus, OH and they allow local pick ups. I've been eyeing their quality discus for a long long time and he's got some awesome strains and even awesome prices. It cost too much for me on shipping so I never purchased from them but if I live in OH, I'd most definitely pay them a visit. Sadly there are close to none discus breeders in NYC.


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Yeah! I have been waiting for updated pictures!!!!!


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

soundtweakers said:


> BTW, did you wrote in one of my thread that you always wanted discus?
> 
> if yes, you should search aquabid for a seller "LarryP", he's based in Columbus, OH and they allow local pick ups. I've been eyeing their quality discus for a long long time and he's got some awesome strains and even awesome prices. It cost too much for me on shipping so I never purchased from them but if I live in OH, I'd most definitely pay them a visit. Sadly there are close to none discus breeders in NYC.


I will have to check that out! Thanks for the tip.



sewingalot said:


> Yeah! I have been waiting for updated pictures!!!!!


I have been so busy the last 2 weeks with work and my daughters basketball games, that I haven't had really much time to enjoy the tank let alone take some pics but I will get you some this weekend.


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

How's she doing in her games? I used to love going to watch my older brother play. I'll be looking forward to those pics!


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Well I finally was able to snap a shot of the tank. The main front lights are off so that is why it is darker.

The sun going down..


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Your fish are beautiful. I am totally digging that wall! What is the reddish stem in the far back? It is very nice. The plants are doing a lot to help take the eye away from the filter pipes.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

sewingalot said:


> Your fish are beautiful. I am totally digging that wall! What is the reddish stem in the far back? It is very nice. The plants are doing a lot to help take the eye away from the filter pipes.


The plants are coming along. This tank is much different then my 55 gal because of the depth. I purchased a 30" coralife CF fixture on e-bay that I hope will give me some more light intensity. The filter equipment is my main eye sore in this tank and was something I didn't think about when I chose the color for the back, but I will have to live with it for the time.

The red plant in the back is Hemigraphis traian (I think is called something different now)link, http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/myplants/162-Hemigraphis_traian_Hemigraphis_traian.html

Thx for the kind words!


----------



## SOLAR TANHK (Jun 7, 2008)

Nice tank and setup. I like the way you arranged your plants, contrasting heights, created alot of depth.
To hide the pipes behind, you could tie moss to various stick(DW leftovers) and mess. Let them grow a little then tie or hang them on the pipes. 
it could be something like what you did with the DW in the middle, but instead of on the substrate, you could hang them on the pipes. Diferent moss arrange together will create an interesting effect also.
Enjoy your arts.


----------



## twychopen (Dec 17, 2008)

Another less practical but yet still easy way to hid the filter pipes is to make a cubed box without 3 sides to put all the pipes in. Kinda like an overflow box. There is black pvc sheets that you could get. Just drill some large holes inside and then stick it to the back with suction cups. It would fit right into the back where the 2 pieces come together. 

You could even paint it the same color as the background (is that the textured stuff from home depot?). You would have to seal it after it dries but its not a big deal. Just my opinion/advice.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Thanks for the suggestions on hidding the equipment. I have thought about painting the tubes and then sealing it with a clear epoxy coating and have also thought about gettting glass lily pipes. Still not sure.

I received my light and some plants today so I thought I would share some photos with the lights on full and the new plants.


----------



## jeepn4x4 (Jan 27, 2008)

Love the rainbows. Tank looks awesome. I have been looking into getting glass pipes also. Little pricey. Although as more of my plants grow it is getting harder and harder to see them anyways.


----------



## twychopen (Dec 17, 2008)

Green leaf aquatics has some fairly reasonably priced.

Also, what is the stuff attatched to the wood?


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

twychopen said:


> Green leaf aquatics has some fairly reasonably priced.
> 
> Also, what is the stuff attatched to the wood?


Fissidens


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Time for an update. 2 weekends ago I re-did my plumbling to make my water changing easier and quicker and it has been so great the last 2 weeks doing my water changes.

In this pic, you can see that the valve in the upper left allows flow through my reactor and heater and to the tank while the other valve in the back right allows flow for draining. When i do my water changes, I shut the valve to the tank and open the drain valve and it allow it to drain. I can still run my filter to allow for quicker draining. The line runs through the wall and to a sump.








I then set-up my 55 gal behind the wall (pic below) and when I am ready to fill I plug my small submersible pump in to fill and I have a line running back thru the wall to fill the tank back up. I have heaters and power heads in my 55 gal so that the water temp is good when I get ready to fill the 90 gal.








This has saved me time, water(not using the python to drain the tank) and carrying buckets back and forth.
Here are some updated pics of the tank. The plants are still growing in.

























Sun going down (the only light on is a 20" strip light, 15watt bulb, in the back)


----------



## twychopen (Dec 17, 2008)

Is that your garage or something? That is a pretty cool setup you have going! I like the tank!


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

twychopen said:


> Is that your garage or something? That is a pretty cool setup you have going! I like the tank!


This tank is in my basement. The 55 gallon is in a back storage area in the basement which makes this setup nice.


----------



## Pinto (Jan 23, 2009)

Very very nice.
Love the layout.


----------



## Sixwing (Jan 30, 2009)

Hi! I've been lurking this thread for a while now. This tank is an inspiration to me. *s* It's this that makes me think I'd like terraces in mine. Great work!


----------



## Wingsdlc (Dec 9, 2005)

Just looked through all four pages of this thread. Very interesting tank! You have done a nice job with the depth of the tank and the fish are quite amazing. I sure miss my rainbows. 

The water change system is really neat also. I might have to try something like this whenever the wife and I find a suitable house.


----------



## rekles75 (Feb 25, 2008)

The tank is filling in nicely. 

You do a great job with your plumbing. I really need to do something like that, I'm getting tired of carrying buckets and I just cant get my python to work right. 

Everything looks great though.


----------



## rasetsu (Oct 11, 2007)

Your tank looks spectacular. Great looking scape and fish. 90g bow front is definetly not standard fare.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

rasetsu said:


> Your tank looks spectacular. Great looking scape and fish. 90g bow front is definetly not standard fare.


Thanks!  It has been difficult trying to get it to look right because from the front center to the back corner is 34" deep.

I need to post some updated pics because I have rearranged a few this but trying to sell some plants that I have sitting in the front. Will try an update soon.


----------



## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

hey, the tank looks great. It's filling in great!


----------



## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

Mark, 
Do your fish have tuberculosis? Check out this crazy PBS Nova Science Now report. I found it very interesting.


----------



## Tex Gal (Mar 28, 2008)

Your tank is looking very pretty. I like the way you have your small plants on the left going to larger plants on the right. Love the mix of colors.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

fastfreddie said:


> Mark,
> Do your fish have tuberculosis? Check out this crazy PBS Nova Science Now report. I found it very interesting.


She never says what to look for and how she determined that those fish have TB. As far as I know, mine don't, but have no idea how to determine if they do.


----------



## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

dewalltheway said:


> She never says what to look for and how she determined that those fish have TB. As far as I know, mine don't, but have no idea how to determine if they do.


That would have been helpful, huh? I'm sure your fish are healthy. 
I just wanted to share the link because it was the same (or similar) type of fish as yours and I thought it was an interesting video. That was one of Diana Walstad's tanks. I wonder how she handles the plants if she can't stick her hands in the water. 

I had no idea people paid for surgeries on their fish. The rest of the videos on that link were pretty neat. 

Well, your tank is looking great and the water change idea is awesome! I see the old rock wall has a new home in Atlanta now..... those rocks have really made a name for themselves. :hihi:


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

This is what you look for. http://www.fishdeals.com/fish_diseases/curved_spine/ I have experienced it and there is no mistaking it. Your fish look healthy to me.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

sewingalot said:


> This is what you look for. http://www.fishdeals.com/fish_diseases/curved_spine/ I have experienced it and there is no mistaking it. Your fish look healthy to me.


Yep...I believe my fish are healthy. The rainbows basically jump out of the water at feeding time and play with each other constantly. Thanks for the link!


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Started to do some trimming tonight and will finish up tomorrow night but wanted to post some pics before the trim. My rotala colorata is growing like mad and my water sprite has really taken off. My narrow leaf chain sword has thrown runners like crazy so I pulled it all up tonight and replanted some and put the rest on SNS. So..for the pics


























My Clown Loach hanging out on the Fissidens


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Your rotala colorata is amazing! I love the root runners. Your clown loach makes me want to tank a swim in your tank. He is gorgeous.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

I was taking some pics and thought I would update my journal. I received some UG and Rotala Mini Type 2 and hoping they will take off. The water sprite in the back is growing like crazy but I love the look it gives to the corner. Here are a couple of pics...


----------



## Hungry Wendigo (Oct 3, 2008)

Looking good! I like the way you've staggered/layered the plants, it works well with the depth of this tank. What plant is the large-ish, low-growing bush you have in the bottom left?


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

That is HM (Hemianthus micranthemoides) or Pearlweed. I will be cutting that down some this week because I want to keep it low. I really love the color of it. Here is a closer shot


----------



## rekles75 (Feb 25, 2008)

Looks Great. Has the UG taken off for you or is that the way you planted it so far?


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

rekles75 said:


> Looks Great. Has the UG taken off for you or is that the way you planted it so far?


That is just the way it is planted right now. It has been planted since last Thursday. Hope it does well.


----------



## jinx© (Oct 17, 2007)

Great looking tank.roud: Nice looking rainbows as well.
Water Sprite is one of those plants that I hate to love...lol...I think it's a great looking plant but it can be such a pain in @ss to keep in check. It looks/works great in your corner though.


----------



## rasetsu (Oct 11, 2007)

Is that from the watersprite clippings I sold you? It will soon start forming a canopy and covering most of the equipment in the back. Then it will form plantlets with annoying roots which you can trim or replant at the base as the base thins out when there's less light.

I just spent 2 hours last night ripping out half of mine that's dead and uprooted by my corys.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

rasetsu said:


> Is that from the watersprite clippings I sold you? It will soon start forming a canopy and covering most of the equipment in the back. Then it will form plantlets with annoying roots which you can trim or replant at the base as the base thins out when there's less light.
> 
> I just spent 2 hours last night ripping out half of mine that's dead and uprooted by my corys.


That is from your clippings.  I have some nodes with roots starting now that I will cut and probably sell. It fills in the back corner very nice.


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

I like the addition of the watersprite. I can hardly see the equipment!


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Thanks Sara. The plants are hiding some of the equipment now which makes it look a little better but still not to my liking. The background I think will change to black sometime soon when I get time to scrap off the paint and put new on. I also hate Fluval's gray flex tubing. Trying to find black.


----------



## Tex Gal (Mar 28, 2008)

I like your tank!  I like the wood and your plant arrangements. The hydrocotyle is cool with a stem coming up here and there.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

I just love when just my one 15 watt light is on in the back. It is one of my favorite times to sit back and enjoy so I thought I would post some pics


----------



## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

awesome!


----------



## gabriella (Mar 25, 2009)

Wow! Your tank is amazing! I love the way you arranged the driftwood as well as the choice of fish. I don't know their names, but the half orange half blue ones really boost the overall picture. Great tank!


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

gabriella said:


> Wow! Your tank is amazing! I love the way you arranged the driftwood as well as the choice of fish. I don't know their names, but the half orange half blue ones really boost the overall picture. Great tank!


Thank you!  Those fish are called Boesemani Rainbows. They are my main attraction even though my Clown loach and YoYo loaches try and steal the show.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

I just completed a major re-scape of this tank. It was getting so overgrown and the Fissidens were making a mess so I decided that I wanted a change. So here is a pic before I started..










Stuff ripped out and replanted the Blyxa Aubertii in the corners. Some of the plants stayed put









My catfish that I rarely see because he hides so I got a shot of him









And my two clowns









And a couple of my YoYo's









Driftwood and other plants in place and starting to come together and that is where i left off Tuesday night at midnight









And the finishing touches with the Blyxa Japoninca. This was before my water change.









Will update with a final shot tomorrow after the tank clears up


----------



## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

i love this display. i generally prefer rectangular aquariums, and bowfronts and other shapes often look "gimmicky" to me. but this composition fits perfectly in that 1/4-round shape. you really pulled it off well.

and really good use of pretty hefty fish too!


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

As I promised, here are the pics of the tank tonight with the tank all clear



















Still have a lot of growing in to do but should look good in a couple weeks.


----------



## gabriella (Mar 25, 2009)

Still very nice and clean! I've found Boesemani rainbows at the LFS but they were in a very strange tank for some reason. By strange I mean there was a mixture of (extra large) Angels, Florida gears, the Rainbows, some kind of sharks and 2 large piranhas. Those piranhas wouldn't stop chasing the poor rainbows. Although quick fish, I don't think it's a good idea to stress them out but the LFS guy told me that they'll be just fine. So I guess everyone's dream is to be chased by a killer with a knife, right?

And then another strange thing. They had a bunch of peach-colored Parrot fish in one tank, laying on the bottom half-dead. I was told that those fish were just fine, a bit stressed out perhaps but nothing serious. Sure they didn't look healthy to me. I wonder what have stressed them out so much.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

I have found that some LFS have no idea what fish to stick with what fish or how to acclimate them correctly. What drives me insane is when I see them trying to get fish for people and they chase them all over the tank only to smash them up against the glass. I always feel sorry for them and want to bring them home and put them in a great environment to live out their lives.


----------



## gabriella (Mar 25, 2009)

dewalltheway said:


> I have found that some LFS have no idea what fish to stick with what fish or how to acclimate them correctly. What drives me insane is when I see them trying to get fish for people and they chase them all over the tank only to smash them up against the glass. I always feel sorry for them and want to bring them home and put them in a great environment to live out their lives.


That's exactly what happened when I got my 6 Angels. The lady was chasing this black one for a good half minute. I didn't want to be rude or impolite so I told her that I've changed my mind and saw another one that I liked, too. She caught the latter and started chasing the black one again. It died the next morning I put it in the tank.

I took it home because I felt sorry for it and obviously blamed the poor water conditions and my inexperience for its death, but people really should work at these places only if they know what they're doing. Period.


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

How gorgeous. Where did you come up with this idea? I wish that I could tap into your aquascaping mind, lol! By the way, how did you get the pictures to look like that, is it naturally bowed because of the tank or is it a tweak? Either way, I love it!


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Thanks! The sides are natural because of the bow in the tank but by using photobucket's editing and putting a frame around it, cleans up the edges to make it look so much better. Here is an un-edited pic of the same pic...


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

As far as the idea....I just sit down with a piece of paper and pencil and sketch up an idea, and a lot of the time doing it in front of the tank. Then once I start into it, I make a few changes here and there but it usually ends up being like I drew it up. I spent 2 weeks coming up with this idea. A bowfront is challenging because of the shape, so the water sprite in the back corner goes perfect and I wanted something in the other corners to draw your attention back into the tank and the blyxa aubertii works great in the side corners. The DW was trial and error and something that is hard to put down on paper and just needs to be put in the tank and try different looks. I have this pic in my mind how I want this to look when it grows out and I kept that in mind when laying in the plants so one didn't overshadow another. Also, I try to mix up my colors to get a good variety throughout the tank.


----------



## AquaVu (Jan 11, 2008)

Great job and especially with the rare and difficult corner tank. We almost ended up with a 92 gallons corner tank like this a few days ago but backed out at the last minute because of the challenging task of decorating an odd sized tank. We regret that decision now after seeing you amazing tank. Have you ever thought of painting the 2 side corner to hide all the wires and tubings and how much it would change the look of your tank? Congratulations once again.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

AquaVu said:


> Have you ever thought of painting the 2 side corner to hide all the wires and tubings and how much it would change the look of your tank?


The backs are painted and in my earlier post the color and paint I chose was a huge mistake! I should have stuck with black and it will be changing very soon! The back is the one eyesore of this whole tank because the equipment stands out so badly and I am hoping next week to scrape the paint off and paint it black.


----------



## Thanks (Oct 9, 2004)

Watch out with that pictus catfish... as it grows bigger, it will start eating your cardinals/smaller fish.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Thanks said:


> Watch out with that pictus catfish... as it grows bigger, it will start eating your cardinals/smaller fish.


I bought this one because of the info from the link below.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=830+1163+933&pcatid=933

All my fish I research first to be sure they will be compatible with my other tank mates, but thanks for the heads up.


----------



## Thanks (Oct 9, 2004)

I'm sure you do your research, but look at more than one source next time...

http://www.aqua-fish.net/show.php?h=pictus
"They are considered to be a non-aggressive species that can get along fine in the presence of other species but they are not to be trusted with smaller fish that can fit in their mouths. The Pictus Catfish is aggressive enough to eat little fish for a tasty snack."

http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/pictus.htm
"Predatory and will eat small fish"

A few years ago I had a 54 gal community tank running, and my neons kept disappearing. One day I found one of my pictus cats floating with the tail of a neon sticking out of its mouth. Both fish were dead. I took the other pictus out, my neons stopped disappearing.

Good luck.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Thanks said:


> I'm sure you do your research, but look at more than one source next time...


Please accept my apology if I offended you, I didn't mean to. I appreciate your heads up and will keep a close eye on him. Thx again!


----------



## Thanks (Oct 9, 2004)

Ha no worries, I'm not offended at all, just don't want someone else to repeat my mistake


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Here are a few photo updates of the tank. Everything is growing well and I am very happy with the scape (At the moment anyhow)


----------



## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

This tank just keeps getting better. I see you have some moonlights installed in your hood. How do you like them?


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Love them! They are the blue lights and I love sitting after lights out and viewing the tank under the moonlight! It is so relaxing.


----------



## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

I bet you get the long sought after "shimmer effect" with them too


----------



## malaybiswas (Nov 2, 2008)

this is such a nice tank, I can gaze at it for long even on the internet. I really like the rainbows and got some myself a couple of months back.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

malaybiswas said:


> this is such a nice tank, I can gaze at it for long even on the internet. I really like the rainbows and got some myself a couple of months back.


Thanks so much! I sit and watch it too long and that is why it seems I never get any work done but it is so relaxing! The rainbows are such a beautiful fish and I love mine. I tell people when they sit on the end of the couch while I am feeding them that they are sitting in the splash zone. They will splash the water out of the tank when they are feeding.


----------



## malaybiswas (Nov 2, 2008)

dewalltheway said:


> Thanks so much! I sit and watch it too long and that is why it seems I never get any work done but it is so relaxing! The rainbows are such a beautiful fish and I love mine. I tell people when they sit on the end of the couch while I am feeding them that they are sitting in the splash zone. They will splash the water out of the tank when they are feeding.


i know, they are voracious and its fun watching them feed. When I added a few ottos, they even chased them mistaking them as treats . I love them.


----------



## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

fantastic. thanks for including the picture with the room. i always think that it adds to the display to see it in its setting.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

hydrophyte said:


> fantastic. thanks for including the picture with the room. i always think that it adds to the display to see it in its setting.


Thank you for the kind words.

I took a pic of the tank with the moonlights. It is not as good as it is in person but gives you an idea what it looks like


----------



## mountaindew (Dec 10, 2008)

Very nice setup you have there! Clean and open look enhanced by moon lights for an added pop when you enter the room at night!
-MD


----------



## pinkfloydeffect (May 2, 2009)

dewalltheway said:


> Thank you for the kind words.
> 
> I took a pic of the tank with the moonlights. It is not as good as it is in person but gives you an idea what it looks like


:eek5: Amazing tank man! Those moon lights give off acurate moon spectrum and such? Or are they just blue lights? Whered you get them? Thanks ~Peace


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

pinkfloydeffect said:


> :eek5: Amazing tank man! Those moon lights give off acurate moon spectrum and such? Or are they just blue lights? Whered you get them? Thanks ~Peace


The moon lights I got from Drs Fosters & Smith. Here is a link and also thanks for the encouragment!

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+12760&pcatid=12760


----------



## pinkfloydeffect (May 2, 2009)

dewalltheway said:


> The moon lights I got from Drs Fosters & Smith. Here is a link and also thanks for the encouragment!
> 
> http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+12760&pcatid=12760


Thanks man


----------



## legomaniac89 (Mar 16, 2008)

Wow, impressive tank. I love the Rotala Bonsai bush in the front. Is that UG in the foreground? I see something there, but I can't tell what it is 

Beautiful, just beautiful


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

legomaniac89 said:


> Wow, impressive tank. I love the Rotala Bonsai bush in the front. Is that UG in the foreground? I see something there, but I can't tell what it is
> 
> Beautiful, just beautiful


Thank you!  I have a few pieces of UG to the left (isn't growing for me for some reason) and right in front of the fissidens is HC that I just got this past week and planted. I am hoping that the front between the glass and the Fissidens will fill in with HC then have the Fissiden wall so to say, we will see what happens.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Was taking some shots durning my favorite viewing time and thought I woudl share with you all...


----------



## lickamonkie (Apr 30, 2009)

i was wondering, how were you able to get your fissidens to attach to your driftwood?


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

I take the fissidens (out of the water) and lay them on the wood and then wrap thread around it and tie it. The Fissidens on the rock are held in place by a hair net.


----------



## RianS (May 12, 2009)

Thanks for the info on the fissidens. 
After so long are you able to take the thread off due to the rhizoids taking hold of the wood?


----------



## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

thanks. i think planted tanks look especially nice in dim light too.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Well...thought it was time to post an updated pic. I am really frustrated at the moment with it because I am fighting some type of Green Spot Algae that is attacking my leaves. It looks good from a distance but up close, some things look awful. Here is a pic from tonight


----------



## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

sorry i'm not very good with algae, so i don't have any advice, but your tank is looking great. and i love your fish!


----------



## vtkid (Jan 5, 2009)

oooh! i like those rainbows a lot. your tank looks like an outside garden almost with patches of different plants. it is nice looking.


----------



## rbarn (Mar 21, 2009)

Whats that spikey grass you have in front right ???


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

hydrophyte said:


> sorry i'm not very good with algae, so i don't have any advice, but your tank is looking great. and i love your fish!


No problem about the algae. I posted a thread on the Algae section hoping to pull some help on what is going on. I love my rainbows, but they seem to be getting to big for this 90 gal tank. Also, my Clown Loach is getting big as well. I have thought about upgrading to a 125 gal + tank to give more room for these larger fish, but my wife would shoot me.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

vtkid said:


> oooh! i like those rainbows a lot. your tank looks like an outside garden almost with patches of different plants. it is nice looking.


Thank you!



rbarn said:


> Whats that spikey grass you have in front right ???


Blyxa Japonica


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Your blyxa is amazing. I am jealous. Mine never looks so trim. By the way, the rotala colorata and limno you sent are doing fantastic. How do you grow plants so well? I can't give you much advice on the algae - unless you want to grow more. :hihi: However, the nerites have eliminated my GSA. I haven't seen it in over a week.


----------



## blair (Feb 8, 2009)

Stunning


----------



## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

Mark, you have great layout skills. Your groupings are so nice. Is that fissidens in front of the blyxa? :thumbsup:



sewingalot said:


> Your blyxa is amazing. I am jealous. Mine never looks so trim.


I think we wondered about this before, but is there anyway yours was blyxa auberti? Wasn't it like 8" tall? You are right though. Mark is the man! I didn't see how his 55 could be topped, but it looks like it has some serious competition.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

sewingalot said:


> Your blyxa is amazing. I am jealous. Mine never looks so trim. By the way, the rotala colorata and limno you sent are doing fantastic. How do you grow plants so well? I can't give you much advice on the algae - unless you want to grow more. :hihi: However, the nerites have eliminated my GSA. I haven't seen it in over a week.


Thanks Sara! I am so glad to here the plants I sent you are doing good. Always nervous how plants will do after shipping. I would like to get some nerites but I have YoYo Loaches that would make them their lunch. Plus, this algae is attacking my leaves more then the glass.



blair said:


> Stunning


Thanks!



fastfreddie said:


> Mark, you have great layout skills. Your groupings are so nice. Is that fissidens in front of the blyxa? :thumbsup:
> 
> 
> I think we wondered about this before, but is there anyway yours was blyxa auberti? Wasn't it like 8" tall? You are right though. Mark is the man! I didn't see how his 55 could be topped, but it looks like it has some serious competition.


Thanks man for the kind words. You are correct about the fissidens. The Blyxa Aubertii are the taller grasses on each side in the front.

I have such the collectoritis. I want to so badly buy some Pog. Stelletus and Linderina Annagalis from Kotoeloncat but where in the world would I put them. (cough cough Bigger Tank cough cough)


----------



## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

dewalltheway said:


> The Blyxa Aubertii are the taller grasses on each side in the front.


Whoa, those are tall! Nevermind Sara, guess you just grow extra tall magic japonica in your tank. 

Come on Mark, you can make room for the Pog. Stelletus and Linderina Annagalis. :icon_bigg If you get a bigger tank, and your wife kills you, who will keep it up and post pics for us?


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

fastfreddie said:


> Whoa, those are tall! Nevermind Sara, guess you just grow extra tall magic japonica in your tank.
> 
> Come on Mark, you can make room for the Pog. Stelletus and Linderina Annagalis. :icon_bigg If you get a bigger tank, and your wife kills you, who will keep it up and post pics for us?


Well....she wouldn't kill me but I know she would be mad at me.

Sara does grow very healthy & tall Blyxa Japoninca


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

I have no picture updates (maybe tonight) but just wanted to update my journal. Even though my plants are still growing I am still fighting this nasty GSA that has been destroying my plant's leaves and now even have some BBA starting on my driftwood. A couple things I am going to do...1-Going to raise the lights a few inches. 2-The way I have my returns set-up right now it is causing all the crap in the tank to settle in the front on the blyxa. Going to make up some piping to get a return down lower in the tank coming in from the right side front. I also want to hook up my Fluval 304 to get more flow in the tank and use it to run my skimmer. 3- Going to pull the plants, clean the glass, suction the bottom real good, cut the bad parts of the plants off and replant the good. 4-Clean my intake and return hoses really good. 5- Scrub and clean my driftwood real good. 6- Scrape the background off the tank and put a black background on (Nothing to do with the algae issue but a good time to do this). I will take some pics of my progress and post later. Hope to start tonight. Wish me luck!


----------



## dindin (Mar 4, 2009)

Ugh, I didn't realize GSA actually destroys the leaves. I hate that for you, this is one of my favorite tanks. LOVE the rainbows.


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Well, where are the pictures? My ears were burning over the conversation you guys were having. My blyxa grew taller in lower lighting. Now, it is shorter.  I actually miss the mound of craziness. That sucks about the algae situation. I never thought you got algae.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Sorry I haven't posted any pics. This project is taking me ALOT longer then anticipated. Been working all day at it. I will get some pics up tomorrow after I get all the planting done and everything cleaned up.

As I thought, alot of plants where thrown out and kept as much good clippings as I could. The algae had just over taken the tank. I hope by cleaning everything, raising my lights about 4", scrubbing my driftwood and getting rid of the bad algae ridden plants that I will be able to get a handle on things. Only time will tell. Stay tune for pics! I promise they will be coming.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Well...the moment you all have been waiting for...PICS!

It has been a very long but productive weekend. The tank has been re-done and hoping for the best. I was able to get the lighting raised, background changed, filter tubes cleaned and painted and all the plants back in. Enjoy the pics.

Tank after everything ripped out (Taken at 9:40pm Friday night)









My mess









Tank with new background, lights raised and all filters back up and running. (Taken around 6:00pm on Saturday)









Closer shot









One of my YoYo Loaches found a hiding spot in the fissidens









And all the plants in the tank (Taken around 4:00pm today)


----------



## fish-aholic (Dec 23, 2007)

Nice job with the rescape. I really love the yoyo's.


----------



## mountaindew (Dec 10, 2008)

I am impressed!
Looks almost mature at the re-start.
nice work
MD


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

fish-aholic said:


> Nice job with the rescape. I really love the yoyo's.


I love my YoYo's! They are so fun to watch.



mountaindew said:


> I am impressed!
> Looks almost mature at the re-start.
> nice work
> MD


Thanks! The plants will look even better tomorrow because since they were floating in another tank for a day, when I planted them they were all curled down because they had curled toward the light in the tanks. They all should straighten back up overnight and look better tomorrow.

On a side note. I did something alittle different with the background. I didn't want to paint it in the house and I wasn't going to completely tear it down to take it outside so I purchased a sheet of 1/2" insulation board, cut it to size and painted it. Then I attached it to the back with clear box tape. It worked really well.


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Holy moly! When I saw that first picture, I almost fell out of my chair! The end result is fantastic. I like the new background. You can barely see the equipment now. Good placement. Wait....is that a Christmas tree? :hihi:


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

sewingalot said:


> Holy moly! When I saw that first picture, I almost fell out of my chair! The end result is fantastic. I like the new background. You can barely see the equipment now. Good placement. Wait....is that a Christmas tree? :hihi:


Thanks Sara. I hated that I had to pull everything out after all the work I put into it but it was a necessity. You can see all the algae that was on the back glass.

Yes...that is a somewhat a christmas tree. My wife collects snowmen and our living room area is where she displays them and that is a tree with all her collectable snowman tree ornaments. BTW...we don't light the lights in the summer.


----------



## Strick (Apr 6, 2009)

Beautiful!

I'd love to have a tank that big <sigh>


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Wanted to post a couple more pics from tonight so I can get a feel for how this will all grow in over the next month or two.


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Very nice. The last picture is my favorite. Is the Blyxa Aubertii flowering? Amazing. The fissdens looks like it is a hedge. Way to create some depth there! 


By the way, That tree idea is cute. That big fluffy snowman is my favorite. Sorry, you brought the craft side out of me.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

A small update. As you can see from the above pics, I had alot of light spilling out into the living area so I decided to build this....









I still need to cut some small slats at the ends and stain it but it works out really well. Some other updated pics....










Updated tank pic....










and my anglefish wanted to be photographed. He was following me back and forth while I was trying to take pics


----------



## demonbreedr16 (Jan 10, 2008)

I LOVE your tank!

It's really cool how you have it tied into the 'scaping of the room.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

demonbreedr16 said:


> I LOVE your tank!
> 
> It's really cool how you have it tied into the 'scaping of the room.


Thanks! 

As I was looking at the pics, I realized I need some hanging plants or something around the top to fill in the dead space. Does anyone know of some hanging plants that don't require a lot of light?


----------



## macclellan (Dec 22, 2006)

Looks great. Glad those Blyxa got a good home, they look perfect in that tank. cheers.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

macclellan said:


> Looks great. Glad those Blyxa got a good home, they look perfect in that tank. cheers.


Thx! I love those B. aubertii. I believe I purchased 3 from you in January and they have now split into about 7 or 8. They work really well with my scape.


----------



## Gatekeeper (Feb 20, 2007)

Very nice. Very well manicured..


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Thx Glenn! I try my best to keep it looking nice and clean (compulsive in a way).

I moved some plants around on Tuesday night to make room for some L. Cuba that will be coming in on Friday. Can't wait. I also mowed down the R. Rotundafolia and planted the tops to get those to be more full. I estimated that there should be around 350 stems in that area now so will see how that goes. Will post pics after Cuba is in.


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

I really like this a lot! The grouping is very awesome. I like the top you built, you gave me an idea. The L. Cuba is going to look great in there! That angel fish is such a camera hog.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

sewingalot said:


> I really like this a lot! The grouping is very awesome. I like the top you built, you gave me an idea. The L. Cuba is going to look great in there! That angel fish is such a camera hog.


Thx Sara! I hope I can get the Cuba to grow for me. I think it will accent the plants well, at least what I see in my mind that is. That angel fish I have raised since a fry from a female marble and a male silver anglefish. It was the only one to survive so I guess you could call him a freshwater Nemo. He loves the camera and so do the rainbows. It is really hard sometimes to get pics of the plants because they get right in front of me. Oh...good luck with the idea!


----------



## demonbreedr16 (Jan 10, 2008)

dewalltheway said:


> I realized I need some hanging plants or something around the top to fill in the dead space. Does anyone know of some hanging plants that don't require a lot of light?


Pothos and Philodendrons make good low-light hanging basket plants. I'm sure I can find more..but those 2 were off the top of my head.


----------



## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

this is still looking great. do you keep it this well-tended all the time? i must admit my tanks are usually set to "cruise" and i only get them photo-ready when i can make the time. you have put a lot of TLC into this.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

hydrophyte said:


> this is still looking great. do you keep it this well-tended all the time? i must admit my tanks are usually set to "cruise" and i only get them photo-ready when i can make the time. you have put a lot of TLC into this.


I do spend a lot of time on this tank since this is the only one I have right now. I try and keep it well manicured and trimmed up, stay on top of my water changes and cleaning my filters, etc. Sometimes I feel I am to compulsive but hey...I love it!

Thx for the comments!


----------



## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Looks awesome Mark, one of the nicest corner tank scapes I've ever seen for sure. :biggrin:


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

lauraleellbp said:


> Looks awesome Mark, one of the nicest corner tank scapes I've ever seen for sure. :biggrin:


Thanks Laura for the encouraging words! :smile: It has been a challenge for sure trying to scape this thing but I have truly enjoyed it.

Need some updates on your 90 gal tank. Haven't seen any in a while.


----------



## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

The top enclosure looks great! Nice work!


----------



## malaybiswas (Nov 2, 2008)

The enclosure is great. It nicely draws the line for the corner. Your tank has always been one of my favourites


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Well....the top is finally done and found some plants to finish it off.

Before...




























After...


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

It has been awhile since I have been able to update this journal. We got back from vacation last Friday and I still haven't been able to trim it. It is a mess! Tonight has been set aside to trim, clean filters, and do a water change. I will post pics of what it looked like before I left and what it looks like now and then after the trim. Also....I will have quite a few plants for sale that will be going on SNS.

Stay Tune......


----------



## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

i look forward to an update.


----------



## CAM6467 (Feb 11, 2009)

It's funny that the plants that "finished this tank off" aren't even in this tank! I can't wait to see the pre-trip/post-trim pictures. I love seeing before and after shots. 

Nice canopy BTW,

Charlie


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

CAM6467 said:


> It's funny that the plants that "finished this tank off" aren't even in this tank! I can't wait to see the pre-trip/post-trim pictures. I love seeing before and after shots.
> 
> Nice canopy BTW,
> 
> Charlie


Thanks for the comments! There has always been something missing and it was the plants not in the tank. I have seen several tanks that have house plants around their tank and it really does finish off the look.


Well here it is 11:30pm and I have called it quites for the night. I still have some planting, my water change and to clean my filters so that will have to be tomorrow night. Must be patient for one more day for pics. Sorry to hold you in suspense.


----------



## CAM6467 (Feb 11, 2009)

dewalltheway said:


> Thanks for the comments! There has always been something missing and it was the plants not in the tank. I have seen several tanks that have house plants around their tank and it really does finish off the look.
> 
> 
> Well here it is 11:30pm and I have called it quites for the night. I still have some planting, my water change and to clean my filters so that will have to be tomorrow night. Must be patient for one more day for pics. Sorry to hold you in suspense.


Take your time. It's sure to be worth the wait!


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Well I am finally to the point that I can post my pics.

Before vacation (7-23-09)









After vacation (8-4-09)









After trim (8-6-09)


----------



## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

Dang, I love how full the foreground is! The carpet itself looks like a 2D dutch scape in itself!


----------



## Green Leaf Aquariums (Feb 26, 2007)

I always enjoy these updates 

-Orlando


----------



## vtkid (Jan 5, 2009)

what this is, is a tranquility overdose. the combo of flora and fauna is awesome. The rainbows are gorgeous.


----------



## legomaniac89 (Mar 16, 2008)

Man, that's looking nice! I'm jealous of your foreground


----------



## monkeyruler90 (Apr 13, 2008)

yes the different plant colors and textures give the tank a terraced like view and gives it a ton of depth. you did a great job with the trim. whats your foreground plant? ET?
and x2 on the rainbows, they look great


----------



## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

the tank looks great!
and i love your rainbows.


----------



## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Really nice. I like your fish.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Thx so much for all the wonderful comments! The foreground is Elatine Triandra and the only one I have found that my loaches will not destroy and I really like it. The only problem is that it grows to dang fast and have to keep up on trimming but I can deal with that. Thx again everyone!


----------



## monkeyruler90 (Apr 13, 2008)

yeah, et grows like a weed but it looks great atleast.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

monkeyruler90 said:


> yeah, et grows like a weed but it looks great atleast.


Your right about it looking great! I am loving the look of it more and more. I trimmed it again last night (trying to shape it) and I will take a pic today and post it tonight.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Just an updated pic.


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Your tank is so pretty it looks like a display tank. How did you manage to get rid of your algae problem?


----------



## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

WOW, this tank looks better and better every time I look at it.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

sewingalot said:


> Your tank is so pretty it looks like a display tank. How did you manage to get rid of your algae problem?


Thx Sara! I am still battling alittle bit with GSA and BBA but it is better. I adjusted my fert dosing and lighting schedule and I think I will need to turn down my lighting schedule again. I have also started dosing excel at night so still battling but just not as bad.



cah925 said:


> WOW, this tank looks better and better every time I look at it.


Thx! Still waiting for the Rotala Rotundafolia to grow out since my hack on it. It is starting to get new growth so here in about a week or 2 it should look better. Also, I am getting some Pogostemon Stellatus Broad Leaf from Frozenbarb tomorrow so I am excited to get that planted. Will keep this updated.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Well almost a disaster today with my tank and also some saddening news. First the almost disaster is that my CO2 valve must have been bumped when I was under my cabinet last night so when I went home for lunch all my fish are gasping so I broke out the air pumps, turned off the CO2 and started a water change. Before I left to come back to work, they where doing much better but I may lose one of my cardinals.

For the saddening news, I think I lost one of my rainbows.:icon_sad: I can't find my 5th one anywhere and I am spectulating that it jump out and one of my cats got it. It could be down in the plants where I can't see it from the CO2 but it is unlikely. So now I am down to 4 rainbows. It breaks my heart.


----------



## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

That sux man. Just be glad you came back home when you did.


----------



## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

So sorry Mark. That pack of rainbows really puts the icing on the cake for your tank. I'm sure he will be missed.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

speedie408 said:


> That sux man. Just be glad you came back home when you did.


You are so right! If I would have not come home for lunch, I would have lost all my fish!




fastfreddie said:


> So sorry Mark. That pack of rainbows really puts the icing on the cake for your tank. I'm sure he will be missed.


Thx man! I get more comments on my rainbows then anything else. I may have to get some more so I can start grooming them!


----------



## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

dewalltheway said:


> You are so right! If I would have not come home for lunch, I would have lost all my fish!


The moral of the story: Always sneak away from work as much as possible.


----------



## Coltonorr (Mar 12, 2008)

Mark,
Sorry to hear about your rainbow...
your tank is very stunning!
What is the plant on the lower left front of the tank?


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Do you mean this one...


----------



## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

If only every kind of plant would just call out it genus, species and cultivar name when we need it.

I think that each of your fish needs a little thought bubble. What could they be thinking?


----------



## Coltonorr (Mar 12, 2008)

dewalltheway said:


> Do you mean this one...



Yup thats the one...very cool!!!
I want it...lol:icon_smil


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

hydrophyte said:


> If only every kind of plant would just call out it genus, species and cultivar name when we need it.
> 
> I think that each of your fish needs a little thought bubble. What could they be thinking?


I added there thoughts to the pics and to add about the each plants genus is also how you pronounce each one as well.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Coltonorr said:


> Yup thats the one...very cool!!!
> I want it...lol:icon_smil


I will have some ready to sell in about a week. I will let you know if you are interested. Just send me a PM to remind me.


----------



## vtkid (Jan 5, 2009)

is Elatine Triandra a low growing plant by nature, or do you trim it to stay low?
sorry about the rainbow.


----------



## Tex Gal (Mar 28, 2008)

Elatine Triandra is so pretty. It's even nicer in person than you see (if that's possible). It grows low but will try to run up other plants. It also has a tendancy to want to break off and float into other plants. Dewalltheway's plants are terrific.


----------



## Coltonorr (Mar 12, 2008)

dewalltheway said:


> I will have some ready to sell in about a week. I will let you know if you are interested. Just send me a PM to remind me.


That would be great! I will PM you...haha


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Thx all for the kind comments.

My Elatine Triandra I have to trim to keep it low or it wants to grow on top of each other as Tex Gal said which then makes more of a bush but.....this morning I checked the tank and a section had come up in that big bush mainly because of not be rooted strong and because my YoYo Loaches mess around underneath the thing.

Also....I did find my other rainbow nose down in the plants. It died as a result of the CO2 which from what I can tell is the only death. The cardinal must have been ok. I measured the rainbow and it was 5" from nose to tail!

Thx to macclellan, he is shipping me some Dipilis Diandra and some Ludwigia Arcuata and look forward to getting those going next week.

I also got from Dr Fosters & Smith a Hydor Koralia #1 pump and put that in the tank last night to add more flow so we will see if that helps.

Thx again for looking and any comments are welcome. :icon_smil


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Did some trimming and cleaning of the tank on Sat. night to make room for my Dipilis Diandra and Ludwigia Arcuata that I should get on Wed. this week. Here are a couple pics before the scape...










And a close up of one of my rainbows..









Here here it is today after the trim...(Still need to trim the back right, but it is a work in progress. Trying to get some of my L. Cuba to grow out so I can try and create a bush with them.)










My Bacopa Colorata (Finally Healthy)


----------



## FrostyNYC (Nov 5, 2007)

Really beautiful. You've done an amazing job.


----------



## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

Beautiful blyxa! It looks really nice.


----------



## Tex Gal (Mar 28, 2008)

I absolutely love your tank. Bow fronts are so hard and you have done an amazing job!!!


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

FrostyNYC said:


> Really beautiful. You've done an amazing job.


Thank you!



clwatkins10 said:


> Beautiful blyxa! It looks really nice.


Thank you!



Tex Gal said:


> I absolutely love your tank. Bow fronts are so hard and you have done an amazing job!!!


and Thank you! I also enjoyed listening to you on the podcast and getting to know alittle more about you and your tanks.

A need to post a pic of this tank, but it looks alittle different then the pics above. Last Sat. I got my CO2 tank filled and I am not sure what happened but when I came home after church on Sunday morning, all my fish were gasping for air, some almost lifelessly floating around and the CO2 valve that runs to the reactor was open way to far. Needless to say I grabbed my net and started netting fish and taking them back to my 55 gal that was full of fresh water. I made trip after trip and then after I thought I got them all I started looking and I couldn't find my smaller clown loach. I searched and searched and still no sign so I made the decision to rip out all my Blyxa in hope to find him. In doing this, did I not only make a mess but I was able to find him plus a couple of my other loaches. I am happy to report though that I did not lose one single fish! So I took the opportunity to take my blyxa and clean it out, replant it and rescape some of my other plants. My Elatine also got to be so big it pulled away from the substrate so I replanted all of it and letting it grow back in. I also removed all my DW and I not sure if I am going to put it back in. I like the new look and will try and post some pics this week if time allows.

Thx again for all the encouraging words.


----------



## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Mark, Oh I had not seen your update from 8-23. Those pictures are very nice.

I am so-o-o-o-o-o glad that you were able to rescue your beautiful fish in time.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

If you have facebook, check out Planted Aquarium Central. This tank was chosen for the tank of the week. What a surprise! I just want to thank Robert H with Aqua Botanic for selecting my tank. There are so many great looking tanks out there and I just feel honored to have mine chosen this week. Please feel free to ask me any questions you may have about my tank on facebook or here in my journal.

Thx again!


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

I also realized that I finally went over 1000 posts!


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Congratulations on the title! It is an honor. I am also relieved to here your fish recovered from the co2 overdose in time.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

sewingalot said:


> Congratulations on the title! It is an honor. I am also relieved to here your fish recovered from the co2 overdose in time.


Thx Sara. I was truely blown away that I would be picked for something like that. There are so many awesome scapes and people that have been at this for years and I feel like I have just started learning how to grow plants and scape tanks.

I am also soooooooooo glad that I got to my fish in time. I would have been so upset and heart broken if I would have lost my fish.


----------



## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Hey congratulations Mark. It is well-deserved because this is a great tank. Here is the Facebook page...

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4009919&op=1&view=all&subj=254595460245&aid=-1&auser=0&oid=254595460245&id=64363006209


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Here is a pic of the tank this past weekend before I did a trim and rearranged some plants. Things are going well, I moved my Didiplis Diandra to the center of the tank because parts of the stem where turning black and breaking off and when I had this plant in my 55 gal, it did the same thing when it wasn't getting enough light. I have seen improvement in it already. My Bacopa Colorata is growing great and about time to trim it again. Well...here is the pic. I will try and get an updated pic of it up again this weekend if I have time.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

WOW! How time flies by. I can't believe it has been since Sept. that I updated this journal. Well, not much has gone on with this tank until this past weekend. I had to do some remodeling to our bathroom which took all my time for about 2 weeks and I hadn't done much with it 2 weeks prior so the tank got way out of hand, I hadn't dosed any ferts, I had BBA starting on the glass and filter pipes so it was time anyways for a rescape so this past Sunday night and Monday night I tore everything out, cleaned it up and put stuff back together and here is the finished product...











Still needs to grow in but it won't take long for that.


----------



## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

I like the planting, but the drifwood arrangement is kind of distracting... maybe it's just distortion from the bow, though?


----------



## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Still lookin' good. It settled in again pretty quick after the rescape. 

Someday I want to have a big tank with clown loaches.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

lauraleellbp said:


> I like the planting, but the drifwood arrangement is kind of distracting... maybe it's just distortion from the bow, though?


You are right...the more I look at it the piece sticking up the higest on the right is distracting and the pieces on the left need to come down a bit. For a while I had taken out all the driftwood and had only plants but I wanted a little bit of hardscaping material in my layout. I am going to try and rearrange them a bit and I will post another pic to see what you think. Thx!



hydrophyte said:


> Still lookin' good. It settled in again pretty quick after the rescape.
> 
> Someday I want to have a big tank with clown loaches.


I love my 2 clown loaches. The other night after lights out and moonlights on I watched them for a long time swimming side by side around the tank. It was so neat.


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

The driftwood reminds me of the loch ness monster! The tank looks fantastic as always!


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

I did some rearranging of the driftwood and the Mac Green has been growing like crazy so I took some shots before the trim. Also some random shots of some of my fish. Enjoy!


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Looks great. How many plants did you take out? I noticed the fissidens is missing. Those clown loaches are adorable. Do you ever see snails?


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

sewingalot said:


> Looks great. How many plants did you take out? I noticed the fissidens is missing. Those clown loaches are adorable. Do you ever see snails?


Thanks! 

I did remove the Fissidens, they were just getting to messy and would clog up my filter intake. I also took out the Hygro. Angustofolia and the Rotala Indica. Other then that, just moved around.

I love my 2 clown loaches. They are about 4 years old. 

The only snails I see are in my canister filter. The loaches take care of them in the tank.


----------



## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

That mac. green is looking truly awesome. Is that a bala shark?


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

CL said:


> That mac. green is looking truly awesome. Is that a bala shark?


Thx! The Mac Green is growing the best it has ever grown for me before, in fact the tank in terms of algae and BBA is the best it has been all year. I have been dosing 20ml of excel every night and also 60ml of Hydrogen Peroxide as well and things have been going really good. The only plant I think that is bothered by the excel and peroxide is teh Elatine Triandra. It is not taking off for me like it did before, but I am pleased with how the tank looks.


----------



## lilhelper (Nov 24, 2008)

dewalltheway said:


> Here is a pic of the tank this past weekend before I did a trim and rearranged some plants. Things are going well, I moved my Didiplis Diandra to the center of the tank because parts of the stem where turning black and breaking off and when I had this plant in my 55 gal, it did the same thing when it wasn't getting enough light. I have seen improvement in it already. My Bacopa Colorata is growing great and about time to trim it again. Well...here is the pic. I will try and get an updated pic of it up again this weekend if I have time.


This is the most beautiful tank I've ever seen.


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

I really like what you did with the place. It is also great to hear you have the algae under control as well. I am still battling some fuzzy algae on the slow growing plants. Maybe I need to supplement with Excel again. It really looks fantastic.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

sewingalot said:


> I really like what you did with the place. It is also great to hear you have the algae under control as well. I am still battling some fuzzy algae on the slow growing plants. Maybe I need to supplement with Excel again. It really looks fantastic.


To get rid of that fuzz algae I would dose 50ml of Hydrogen Peroxide every night. It worked really well for the thread algae I had in my 15gal and I dosed 1ml/gal. It would be cheaper to try that then dose excel.


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

I just checked and I have a brand new bottle of peroxide. I'll try that, thanks.


----------



## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Your tank is looking great as always. I love those loaches.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

CL said:


> Is that a bala shark?


Yes...I have a Bala Shark in there. He is a pretty handsome fish.


Also, I have some fish going in there this coming week. Stay tune to find out what!


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

lilhelper said:


> This is the most beautiful tank I've ever seen.


Thx lilhelper! I so appreciate the encouragment! It has been a trying year with times I thought about hanging up the hobby, but comments like yours give me encouragment to keep going.


----------



## Wingsdlc (Dec 9, 2005)

Well your ET sure looks much better than mine does! Mine used to grow like wild but for some reason it has slowed way way way down. 

The tank looks nice and the rainbows are great!


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Took some pics of the tank tonight along with some of the new additions

Full tank shots


















last light on before dark









YoYo loach









My new Marble Hatchets









And the fish I have been wanting for a year now....Congo Tetras


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

I can not believe I haven't updated this journal yet this year. Really not much has changed as far as the layout just that the plants have grown in. As far as just dosing daily and doing my 50% WC every week, the tank has been very enjoyable and easy to maintain. Here are some pics...





































I just love my Congos!


----------



## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

Awesome tank! I'd love to see a video to catch the fish interactions. There has to be a lot going on in there.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Here is a link to You Tube for a video. This is my first video I have ever uploaded to you tube so this is completely trial and error. Let me know what you think.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFLMEOI_w48


----------



## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

The tank looks great!!!

The video spooed playing after 1:36. I don't know if that is something wrong on my end, but what I saw was awesome. 

Great clown loaches... how big are they? Do you have more than two?


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Regloh said:


> The tank looks great!!!
> 
> The video spooed playing after 1:36. I don't know if that is something wrong on my end, but what I saw was awesome.
> 
> Great clown loaches... how big are they? Do you have more than two?


Thx! It might have stopped on you because I was doing am audio swap. I just played it and it was fine.

I only have the 2 clown loaches and the biggest one is around 4-5 inches. They are my 2 oldest fish besides the black skirt tetras at around 5 years old.


----------



## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

Awesome video! Thanks for doing that. 

I have to say I didn't expect things to seem so calm and serene in the tank. I figured with that many different types of fish there would be stuff zooming about everywhere but this is totally not the case and its quite peaceful. Funny that the Angel didn't make an appearance until halfway through the video. Must have been hanging out around back.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

MrJG said:


> Awesome video! Thanks for doing that.
> 
> I have to say I didn't expect things to seem so calm and serene in the tank. I figured with that many different types of fish there would be stuff zooming about everywhere but this is totally not the case and its quite peaceful. Funny that the Angel didn't make an appearance until halfway through the video. Must have been hanging out around back.


Thx so much! The fish that are in there are really compatiable with each other and get along great. All the reason nehind the name of the tank.

The angelfish likes to hang out up in the left corner but then decided he wasn't getting enough attention so he made his grand entrance!


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Time for a Trim!!

Some pics for you all to look at...


----------



## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

That's awesome Mark.


----------



## Takedakai (Jan 4, 2010)

I really like your tank! Thanks again for posting the video :icon_bigg

Keep the great pics coming :icon_bigg


----------



## macclellan (Dec 22, 2006)

Conga tetras look great Mark! They're like $12/ea here. 

I'm proud to see the B. aubertii still there; they look so much better in a 90c then they did in my standard 75g.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Takedakai said:


> I really like your tank! Thanks again for posting the video :icon_bigg
> 
> Keep the great pics coming :icon_bigg


Thx so much! I love taking pics so after I do my trim, I will post some more



macclellan said:


> Conga tetras look great Mark! They're like $12/ea here.
> 
> I'm proud to see the B. aubertii still there; they look so much better in a 90c then they did in my standard 75g.


Thank you! I actually ordered the Congos from Dr's F&S with a large fish order I placed after Christmas and got them for around $9.00 each.

The B. Aubertii has been doing very well and I just love it! Lately, I think it has been very happy because it is constantly producing flowers and they have grown so big that I think it will be time to take them out and seperate again.


----------



## EdTheEdge (Jan 25, 2007)

WOW what a beautiful tank!


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

EdTheEdge said:


> WOW what a beautiful tank!


Thx! :wink:

To give everyone an idea, this tank is 24" deep and has a 34" radius.


----------



## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

Looking mighty FINE. Love it!


----------



## macclellan (Dec 22, 2006)

dewalltheway said:


> they have grown so big that I think it will be time to take them out and seperate again.


Think you'd have 3 to spare when you do that I could buy? I sold you the last I had before I moved and want them once again. Purty please? :angel:


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Time for an update. I finally was able to get this jungle trimmed on 2-26-10 and here are some pics before the trim that night....


















And here are some pics from 3-9-10...





































It is time for another trim tomorrow as the plants have grown so fast due the the Ferka Root tabs I bought from Orlando at GLA. Those tabs are amazing and the plants respond so well to them. My plants are so healthy since I have been using them and would recommend them to anyone!


----------



## pmd5700 (Oct 27, 2007)

Such an incredible tank. Keep up the good work!


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

pmd5700 said:


> Such an incredible tank. Keep up the good work!


Thank you!


----------



## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

I bet this tank is STUNNING in person! I'll have to look into those root tabs.


----------



## Digital (Apr 4, 2008)

Tank looks awesome! Keep it up!


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Almost 2 months since my last update and things are still about the same. I cut down the number of plant types I had and went with more of a simplier layout. The plants are growing so well and I am just enjoying the tank and fish. Here are a few pics....



















One of my Congo Tetras..


----------



## Da Plant Man (Apr 7, 2010)

Looks great! Always good to see a healthy established tank.


----------



## VincentK (Dec 16, 2009)

Another great tank man! I really like the background plants in this one.


----------



## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Lovely as always--I like the new layout. This tank has really great fish. You don't see very many planted tanks with big chunky fish but they look great in here.


----------



## Yassmeena (Jun 29, 2008)

Very nice tank indeed! I love it! roud:

I was wondering, what is that amazing grassy foreground plant?

~ Yasmin


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

hydrophyte said:


> Lovely as always--I like the new layout. This tank has really great fish. You don't see very many planted tanks with big chunky fish but they look great in here.


Thx Devin! With not as many plant species, it is easier to care for plus the larger leaf plants blend better with some of the bigger fish.



Yassmeena said:


> Very nice tank indeed! I love it! roud:
> 
> I was wondering, what is that amazing grassy foreground plant?
> 
> ~ Yasmin


Thx for the encouraging words. That foreground grassy plant is simply Blyxa Japonica, nothing special.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

My oldest daughter is graduating high school this year, so in about a month, this tank will be tore down and some major work to be down on the stand, also tearing the carpet up under the stand and putting down ceramic tile and relocating and re-doing the plumbing and filters. I am going to move the filters behind the wall of the tank instead of having them underneath of it. This will allow me much easier access to them. I kind of can't wait for the project to start. I have been wanting to do this for awhile. :bounce:


----------



## Da Plant Man (Apr 7, 2010)

Good luck, sad to tear it down, but always good to restart the process, always feels good when your plants are overgrown and your fish are breeding. However when this happens it can become annoying  Be sure to take photos when you do!


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Caton said:


> Good luck, sad to tear it down, but always good to restart the process, always feels good when your plants are overgrown and your fish are breeding. However when this happens it can become annoying  Be sure to take photos when you do!


I never like to do a complete tear down, but I need to redo the stand, and I want to get the carpet that it sits on tore up so I can replace that area with tile. The carpet smells alittle musty from just doing water changes, and me overflowing the tank once while topping it off :iamwithst so this will be a good thing. Also, I am tired of getting on my hands and knees to get to the filters and such. My plan is to use my 55 gallon water storage tank to put the water from my 90 in and then put the fish in that along with using containers to put the eco-complete in and put the plants in it while I am doing the teardown. This way, I will be able to reuse my plants and the fish will be in an actual tank with HOB filters and not some rubbermaid container. This way I will also be able to take my time doing the project and won't feel rushed.

I will keep the journal up to date with pics as well.

Thx for the interest!


----------



## Da Plant Man (Apr 7, 2010)

Just to let you know, it may be best to sell your clown loachs to your LFS. They have been known to out grow a 200g tank and your bala sharks need a 8ft tank. I dont know about you but I see no stocking list, you said:


dewalltheway said:


> I will get a fauna and flora list posted sometime tomorrow


 On january 4th *2009*

Just trying to help, I don't want to be negative or anything, I just care about the fish's well being.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Caton said:


> Just to let you know, it may be best to sell your clown loachs to your LFS. They have been known to out grow a 200g tank and your bala sharks need a 8ft tank. I dont know about you but I see no stocking list, you said:
> On january 4th *2009*
> 
> Just trying to help, I don't want to be negative or anything, I just care about the fish's well being.


Sorry for such the long delay on this list...

(1) Angelfish (Currently in hospital tank)
(1) Angelicus Botia Loach
(1) Bala Shark
(1) CAE
(4) Tiger Loaches
(1) Pictus Catfish
(11) Rummynose Tetras
(12) Harlequin Rasboras
(2) Clown Loaches (My first fish I bought in Jan. 2005)
(2) SAE's
(6) Otocinclus Catfish
(4) Black Skirt Tetras (My first fish I bought in Jan. 2005)
(4) Boesemani Rainbows
(5) Black Neon Tetras
(6) Black Phantom Tetras
(6) Lohachata Botia (YoYo) Loach

Also in reguards to the clowns and bala. There was just a discussion about this in the fish section found hear and see post 7. These 2 clowns are 4 years old and have not grown more then a 1/2" in the past year or more. The bala on the other hand....I will see what happens. This bala is the longest living shark I have had to date. My ultimate plan is to have a 125 to 150 gal tank for my freshwater planted tank and this 90 to be a saltwater coral tank so a 125 would be a good tank for him.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Caton said:


> Just trying to help, I don't want to be negative or anything, I just care about the fish's well being.


I am very much this way myself. I put the fish's health first.


----------



## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

sorry to hear about the tank being tore down. This tank would look amazing with 100 harlequins just swiming in the current. How is the regulator working for you and does the inline reactor+ inline heater slow down flow alot? Im thinking of doing an in like heater+reactor on an eheim 2215 for a 29 gallon. Im probably asking for to much.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

VadimShevchuk said:


> sorry to hear about the tank being tore down. This tank would look amazing with 100 harlequins just swiming in the current. How is the regulator working for you and does the inline reactor+ inline heater slow down flow alot? Im thinking of doing an in like heater+reactor on an eheim 2215 for a 29 gallon. Im probably asking for to much.


Don't be sorry! I will be setting it back up, better then it is now. I am not sure about the eheim filters because I have fluvals, but this is another reason for the tear down. I need to redo the piping because there is loss of flow with my plumbing configuration. An inline heater will not slow down flow but the more 90 deg elbows and when the water has to switch directions, those are issues that cause loss of flow. When you can, use 45 bends and not 90's.

As for my reactor, it works great. I will say that I am redoing mine to go to 1 1/2" pipe from 2" pipe. I will post pics thru this whole process. It should be fun, but won't happen till the end of June beginning of July.


----------



## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

Thanks so much! Cant wait for the "new tank" to begin!:angel:


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Time for an update. Well my plans to tear this tank down, redo the stand, plumbing, etc. has been put on hold for lack of time and work. I still would like to get this done before the weather gets cold, just not sure when that will happen. I will keep you posted.

I did buy a new piece of driftwood from D.S. Drifter (Thx Rod!), and rearranged some plants, removed about 2/3 of my Blyxa to give the tank a little bit of a different look. Hope you like!


----------



## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

Love the new look and plants. I'm doing the same staurogyne porto velho forground in my tank. That's gonna be even sweeter once filled. Lookin forward to your updates. Knarly piece of wood btw.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Thx man! The SPV grows so fast so it shouldn't take long to fill in. DS Drifter has some great wood pieces and I just had to have this piece when I first saw it.




speedie408 said:


> Love the new look and plants. I'm doing the same staurogyne porto velho forground in my tank. That's gonna be even sweeter once filled. Lookin forward to your updates. Knarly piece of wood btw.


----------



## cheddar254 (Aug 25, 2010)

Love the tank! The best bowfront I've ever seen! Oh I just want to say something bout your pictus, you say he hides the whole time, pictus are schooling fish when they are younger but when they get older they like to have 1 or 2 extra pictus as company then they arent that shy and he will probably come out more, Oh and I just read through this whole thread, thanks for all the updates!


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

cheddar254 said:


> Love the tank! The best bowfront I've ever seen! Oh I just want to say something bout your pictus, you say he hides the whole time, pictus are schooling fish when they are younger but when they get older they like to have 1 or 2 extra pictus as company then they arent that shy and he will probably come out more, Oh and I just read through this whole thread, thanks for all the updates!


Thank you for the encouragment and advice on the pictus cat.

I have to admit that the tank has been neglected for several weeks due to life being so hectic. I am hoping to do a little bit of work on it this weekend and maybe post a few updated pics. We will see!


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

It has been a long time since I have had the time to update this journal and though the tank is still up and running, I am sad to report that it has lost it's luster and full, heathy plants. It has been overrun with BBA which I am currently dealing with and due to the plants growing out of control and shading the tank, I lost all my Blyxa japonica, Limno Aromatica and P.Stella 'Broad Leaf'.

My wife and I had a new baby girl on Nov 9th, Brooklynn Grace, so this was the reason for the neglect. I have since gotten back on track of doing my daily dosing, weekly water changes and keeping the plants I do have trimmed. All my fish are healthy and happy that I am once again paying attention to them. Sorry I don't have any pics to update you with, but it is not much to look at right now. I see a complete teardown and redo in the near future if I can get caught up with stuff around the house!


----------



## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Congratulations Mark! That is wonderful news.

I look forward to seeing a new pictures update for this wonderful setup of yours.


----------



## RipariumGuy (Aug 6, 2009)

Congratz Dew'!


----------



## Jeff5614 (Dec 29, 2005)

Hey! Look who's back. Congratulations on the new addition to your family and I'm sure you'll have your tank whipped back into shape in no time.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

hydrophyte said:


> Congratulations Mark! That is wonderful news. I look forward to seeing a new pictures update for this wonderful setup of yours.


Thx Devin! BTW..riparium is still going strong. Need to invest in some small leaf plants to put in front on my rafts. Will try an update that journal sometime soon.



JakeJ said:


> Congratz Dew'!


Thanks man! 



Jeff5614 said:


> Hey! Look who's back. Congratulations on the new addition to your family and I'm sure you'll have your tank whipped back into shape in no time.


Thanks Jeff and the tank has alot of work to be done to it. I am thinking of tearing it down at the end of the year, redo the plumbing, clean everything up and start all over. We will see how things go.


----------



## problemman (Aug 19, 2005)

yay its baby central around here!


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

problemman said:


> yay its baby central around here!


Well..this one was unplanned but still a blessing! For me it is starting all over since I have a freshman in college and a junior in HS! :help:


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Well....like I said before, this tank has lost a lot of its' luster due to neglect during the birth of our new daughter. I am ashamed to even post a pic, but I guess you need to show the good with the bad. Not proud of the way it looks right now, but here are a couple pics...



















I really want to do something different with the tank but just unsure what I want to do.


----------



## robxc80 (Aug 4, 2009)

congrats on a work of art. congrats even more on the birth of your daughter.

really enjoyed seeing the progression and the tank definitely looks awesome.


----------



## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

It does not look bad at all.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

robxc80 said:


> congrats on a work of art. congrats even more on the birth of your daughter.
> 
> really enjoyed seeing the progression and the tank definitely looks awesome.


Thank you!



Noahma said:


> It does not look bad at all.


Your too kind, but when you are used to this....










it is hard to accept it as looking good.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Not much has been going on with the tank. I went to a pretty basic setup with only a small variety of plants. I am waiting for my P. Stella Broad leaf to grow and propagate in the back left side to fill in that empty void and letting the forground grow in. Fish are all doing well. Planning on adding another Fluval 304 (thx Jeff!) to this tank to help with flow and filtration. Here are a couple shots.


----------



## Betta Maniac (Dec 3, 2010)

I think it looks great!


----------



## Jeff5614 (Dec 29, 2005)

I think it looks good and in another month or so it will be back to its previous glory. It just needs time to fill in a bit.


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Mark, this is going to be a great look! I still want some of that tall blyxa. How is your wife and baby doing?


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Betta Maniac said:


> I think it looks great!


Thx...you are very kind.



Jeff5614 said:


> I think it looks good and in another month or so it will be back to its previous glory. It just needs time to fill in a bit.


You are just trying to make me feel better. After being away from it for the weekend and then looking at the pics again....It looks awful! I just hope it looks better when it fills in, but just not happy with it, but thx for the encouragement



sewingalot said:


> Mark, this is going to be a great look! I still want some of that tall blyxa. How is your wife and baby doing?


Thx Sara but I think I am used to having alot of stem plants so it just don't look good to me right now. I am going to give it time and see how I like it. I will let you know the next time I have some Blyxa for sale. Wife and baby are doing great! Brooklynn has grown out of almost all her clothes and is wearing 6-9 month outfits and she just turned 4 months old. She is my little ray of sunshine everyday!


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Brooklynn is already 4 months old? Time sure flys! And it sounds like she is growing fast as well. I bet you guys are exhausted in a happy way. I know what you are saying about not being happy when you make a change at first. When I first got rid of my sword plant I was lost without it. I still miss that monstrosity some days. 

I can't wait to see pictures in a few weeks (hint) once it starts to fill in.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

A few picture updates. My P. Stelleta Broad leaf is growing like crazy and the other plants just still filling in....also one special pic!














































And the special pic!


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

You realize I'm going to completely ignore your tank and gush over how adorable that little girl is, right? Such a happy baby! Loving the outfit, especially that cute little bow. She's so tall for four months! No wonder you aren't on here much now. If I had such a little bundle of cuteness in my house like that, I'd never see you guys again. :biggrin:

Okay, now I'll mention your tank. It's beautiful as always. I can't get over how red that ludwigia is. What do you do to get it like that?


----------



## Chaos_Being (May 18, 2010)

Looks like the plants are filling in nicely...I love the combo of those big Rainbows and Congo Tetras! :thumbsup:


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Chaos_Being said:


> Looks like the plants are filling in nicely...I love the combo of those big Rainbows and Congo Tetras! :thumbsup:


Thank you! Those fish look even better in person. I just love their color.



sewingalot said:


> You realize I'm going to completely ignore your tank and gush over how adorable that little girl is, right? Such a happy baby! Loving the outfit, especially that cute little bow. She's so tall for four months! No wonder you aren't on here much now. If I had such a little bundle of cuteness in my house like that, I'd never see you guys again. :biggrin:
> 
> Okay, now I'll mention your tank. It's beautiful as always. I can't get over how red that ludwigia is. What do you do to get it like that?


Brooklynn is my bundle of joy, my ray of sunshine on a cloudy day. She is such a blessing to us as is my other 2 daughters. Pic of the whole fam...









To answer your question on the repens, I have been dosing 3/4 tsp of Mono-Potassium Phospahte and only 1/4 tsp of Potassium nitrate 3 days a week. I am not sure if this is bringing out the red or I am just lucky because I have never been able to bring ou reds in plants!


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

I didn't realize your other daughters were so much older. You must have your hands full. :hihi: They are quite beautiful, you are probably beating the boys off with a stick. LOL. Quite a handsome familly you all make. You look more like New Yorkers than Ohioans, very classy. :biggrin: (I can say that since I was raised in Ohio, lol.) Funny, I would have never pictured you to look like that. For some reason, I was expecting blond hair. It's a nice surprise. I can't get over how cute Brooklynn is! You are making me want babies!

Interesting about the repens. I have heard similar results recent on some of the searches I've been doing. I do know that my plants are looking nice and red without any nitrates added recently and the high phosphate tap water. Hmm.....I wonder....


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Well...alot has happened since April but I will only hit the highlights..

My oldest daughter got married in July

My next oldest started her senior year of high school

Brooklynn, my youngest, will be 1 year old very shortly

Now...for the tank,
I really neglected it over the summer but did water changes every so often, dosed here and there, but then about August I decided I had better do something so I clean it up good and bought some Java fern to put on my driftwood. Then a few weeks ago I thinned it out, put new bulbs in my lights, added some fresh Eco-Complete to my substrate and below is where it is at today. The Blyxa Aubertii really was affected by my old bulbs and the neglect to the point I almost lost them. They seem to be recovering since I added the new bulbs and been dosing on a regular basis with water changes. Oh..the sad part over the past 6 months is that something went thru my YoYo loaches and Tiger loaches and killed every last one of them. Every week I would all of a sudden find one dead. 6 YoYo's and 4 Tigers gone 
Well, here are a couple pics to enjoy and thanks for looking!


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

So sad about the loaches! I really hate that for you. Despite the neglect and deaths, I like the overall look of the tank as always. Congratulations to all your daughters for the new events in their lives! Is your wife exhausted?


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

sewingalot said:


> So sad about the loaches! I really hate that for you. Despite the neglect and deaths, I like the overall look of the tank as always. Congratulations to all your daughters for the new events in their lives! Is your wife exhausted?


Thanks....Wife is tired but I try and help her out as much as I can as far as the cleaning, groceries and laundry and rocking Brooklynn to sleep at night.

I also read your journal where you have had some terrible mishaps here recently and I am sorry the loss of fish & shrimps you have had :icon_sad:, but don't give up...these things happen and we can't blame ourselves. Equipment will fail, fish will get diseases and our tanks will all of a sudden decide to have an algae day but it is how we come thru those things that will make us better in the hobby.
Thanks for your encouraging words on my tank. For now, it works for me because it is not alot of work to maintain, but I really liked having all the stem, fast growing plants but it was to hard to upkeep with all my other responsibilities. I am also going to try and do a 2 week plan where I dose 1/2 of what I was dosing per day on the 1 week water change schedule and dose every day for 2 weeks then do a 50% water change..ie

On every week 50% water change schedule
Dose 3/4 tsp Mono-Potassium Sulfate on Mon., Wed & Fri, then WC on Sat.
On 2 week 50% water water change schedule
Dose 3/8 tsp Mono-Potassium Sulfate on Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun, Tues, Thurs then WC on Sat.

I am hoping that this will work because I need to reduce my water consumption because of the rising cost for water/sewer, since I use RO/DI filter which to make 50gal of water I use ~200 gal. So in a months time instead of 800 gal I will use 400 gal. We will see how it goes.


----------



## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

Mark, 

Beautiful family bro. Congrats on the new addition as well. She's a cutie. Maybe one day (God willing) I'll have a little girl to add to my 2 rascal sons too. Tell me the truth... do I want a girl? 

As for your loaches... damn. they were so nice! Sorry to hear they died. I know once a newborn arrives, they kind of take precedent over all things that use to be fun (trust me I know), but I'm sure with time your tank will become one of the nicest tanks on the forum once again. Glad to see you posting again man.


----------



## Jeff5614 (Dec 29, 2005)

How did I miss this update? Mark, gorgeous family pic. You've posted some really nice pics of your tanks but I think the family photo has them all beat. I'm looking forward to seeing the new scape fill in since I know it will as nice as all the others you've done.


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Mark as usual, great advice and typical of you to soothe someone else when you are feeling bad about your own tank issues. I miss seeing you around, especially since your 55 is the very tank that gave me the courage to step into this hobby. 

I can't wait to see the next update as I know you are going to blow us away.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Jeff5614 said:


> How did I miss this update? Mark, gorgeous family pic. You've posted some really nice pics of your tanks but I think the family photo has them all beat. I'm looking forward to seeing the new scape fill in since I know it will as nice as all the others you've done.


Thanks Jeff! My beautiful wife & daughters make me look good and they will always be my greatest masterpiece! I have kinda learned to go with the flow and not get real anxious or excited about my scape. It works for me right now with my busy schedule. Thx for the kind words as usual!



sewingalot said:


> Mark as usual, great advice and typical of you to soothe someone else when you are feeling bad about your own tank issues. I miss seeing you around, especially since your 55 is the very tank that gave me the courage to step into this hobby.
> 
> I can't wait to see the next update as I know you are going to blow us away.


Thx so much Sara! I like to encourage and help others where I can and I know that sometimes you would like to just throw in the towel, but you have to take a step back, take a deep breath, learn from your mistake and just keep at it.
There are still days that I miss that old 55 scape, in fact I was just looking at some photos of it the other day. I am glad to know that I inspired someone to get into the hobby, and you have done great!
Now you have put pressure on me to deliver an awesome scape next time I post....hope I don't disappoint! Thx again!


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

speedie408 said:


> Mark,
> 
> Beautiful family bro. Congrats on the new addition as well. She's a cutie. Maybe one day (God willing) I'll have a little girl to add to my 2 rascal sons too. Tell me the truth... do I want a girl?
> 
> As for your loaches... damn. they were so nice! Sorry to hear they died. I know once a newborn arrives, they kind of take precedent over all things that use to be fun (trust me I know), but I'm sure with time your tank will become one of the nicest tanks on the forum once again. Glad to see you posting again man.


Thx man! Brook is such a blessing. To answer your question.....yes & no....They will melt your heart...but then you have to deal with the boys when they get older and that isn't to much fun....also, walking down the isle and given them away was the hardest thing I had to do, but they are worth every minute of my time with them.

I will probably get some more yoyo's this winter or spring. They were my favorite fish to watch and was heart breaking to see them die off. It is also nice to be back updating again. Thx for the comments!


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Just an update with pics.


----------



## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

WOW that is a great looking grassy jungle.


----------



## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

I haven't seen an update for this tank in a long time. It's still lookin' great. Those are excellent fish in there.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

hydrophyte said:


> I haven't seen an update for this tank in a long time. It's still lookin' great. Those are excellent fish in there.


Thanks Devin. It doesn't have the glamour it once had, that is for sure but I do enjoy my fish. I was really sad when I lost all my YoYo loaches this past year to some disease but hope I get some extra money this Christmas to purchase more. I am also just waiting to be able to get a 125 gal tank. I really don't like the 24" depth on this corner bow because I have a really hard time getting the proper lighting to the substrate not to mention the difficult time getting proper flow throughout the tank. The 18" height is perfect and the 18" depth gives you a lot of room plus the 72" length gives fish room to move. What would be awesome is a rimless tank but then your talking big bucks which I don't have. So for now...I just enjoy the tank for what it is.


----------



## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

Beautiful work Mark. I think the taller blyxa has just hit my list of plants id like to try. Your rainbows are stunning. I bet they are wayyyy cooler in person. What made you give up the porto vello? I am debating putting some in as a carpet but I dont want to have to constantly mess with it. Any tips on it?


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

chad320 said:


> Beautiful work Mark. I think the taller blyxa has just hit my list of plants id like to try. Your rainbows are stunning. I bet they are wayyyy cooler in person. What made you give up the porto vello? I am debating putting some in as a carpet but I dont want to have to constantly mess with it. Any tips on it?


Having trouble with low growing plants in this tank. The 24" depth is too deep so I have given up on them right now. Though I liked the Porto vello, it was looking bad because the leafs got this black algae on them and made them look horrible.

The raindows are really fun to watch and I am amazed how big they have gotten. The Bala shark has grown really fast too and is stunning in person.

The Blyxa Aubertii is a beautiful plant. I have had it for quite some time and I am sure you would would like it. Just make sure you have plenty of room for it.


----------



## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

About how tall are you guessing your aubertii is? It looks like the perfect background plant for a 10g.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

chad320 said:


> About how tall are you guessing your aubertii is? It looks like the perfect background plant for a 10g.


To big for a 10 gal tank. Right now it is 14" from the top of substrate and I have had it almost reach the top of the tank. I maybe would stick it in the corner of a 55 gal but it would do and look much better in an 18" or deeper tank.


----------



## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

Dang. I was hoping  It looks great!


----------



## sepehr (Oct 6, 2010)

Man, I was just browsing your 55 gallon journal & I have to say it's my favorite one out of ALL of the tanks in this forum so far! I really enjoyed it...SUPERB!


----------



## Chaos_Being (May 18, 2010)

I still love your tank, although it makes me miss my bosemanis. I really should try to get a few again. Although, those congo tetras look wonderful also.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

sepehr said:


> Man, I was just browsing your 55 gallon journal & I have to say it's my favorite one out of ALL of the tanks in this forum so far! I really enjoyed it...SUPERB!


Thanks! I do miss that 55 at times!




Chaos_Being said:


> I still love your tank, although it makes me miss my bosemanis. I really should try to get a few again. Although, those congo tetras look wonderful also.


Thank you for the kind words. Both fish are great choices. The colors on either of them are very attractive. It would be hard to chose if I had only one choice.


----------



## Chaos_Being (May 18, 2010)

Do your congos nibble on your plants? I seem to remember reading that they ate plants, but then again they are obviously doing well in your tank!


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Chaos_Being said:


> Do your congos nibble on your plants? I seem to remember reading that they ate plants, but then again they are obviously doing well in your tank!


I have not caught them if they are and it don't appear that the plants are being eaten.


----------



## thrak76 (Aug 3, 2009)

What kind of loaches are in there?

EDIT: must be YoYos ??


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

thrak76 said:


> What kind of loaches are in there?
> 
> EDIT: must be YoYos ??


I did have YoYo's but I had something kill them off this past summer. Right now there are 2 Clown Loaches and a Dario loach. I hope to soon be able to get some more YoYo's because they are really fun to watch.


----------



## thrak76 (Aug 3, 2009)

I guess it's the Dario loach i see that looks interesting. I have a group of botia striata, and they're a blast to watch!

In this post, are the ones that aren't clowns, the dario?
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/t...marks-90-corner-bow-front-19.html#post1240972


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

thrak76 said:


> I guess it's the Dario loach i see that looks interesting. I have a group of botia striata, and they're a blast to watch!
> 
> In this post, are these the Dario?
> http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/t...marks-90-corner-bow-front-19.html#post1240972


What pic under what post # are you referring to?....I can let you know for sure.


----------



## thrak76 (Aug 3, 2009)

In the 1st pic, under the congo in the middle, and in the 2nd pic above the blyxa on the right. Post 273, or the last pic in Post 277


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

thrak76 said:


> In the 1st pic, under the congo in the middle, and in the 2nd pic above the blyxa on the right. Post 273, or the last pic in Post 277


Those were my YoYo's :icon_cry:


----------



## thrak76 (Aug 3, 2009)

Oh, sorry man. 
They were sharp. Thanks for bearing with me, and my lack of investigation! I'm going to look into adding those to my tank.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

thrak76 said:


> Oh, sorry man.
> They were sharp. Thanks for bearing with me, and my lack of investigation! I'm going to look into adding those to my tank.


No Problem...You will love them. Just make sure you get at least 4 if not 6 of them. Mine loved to interact with each other and also with the other fish. One in particular would get side by side with a rainbow and mirror it's every move. I usually don't get attached to fish but these were really special. My Clowns are even more so since I have had them since I started in the hobby in January of 2006.


----------



## thrak76 (Aug 3, 2009)

My group (5) of zebras love to mix it up with my Rainbows too! So much character in loaches.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Well....new year..new beginnings!
Some changes going to be taking place with this tank over the next month and I am pretty exicited. :bounce:

1st... I am completely re-doing my plumbing and will post pics as I go. I have ordered my stuff and it is on its way. One major change will be the additional of (3) Purigen Reactors as found in the following builds...

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/equipment/104573-diy-purigen-reactor.html
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/diy/109030-fluidized-purigen-reactor-eheim-2213-larger.html

I will also be adding an Inline CO2 diffuser from GLA (Link) Orlando is also making me up new needle valves for my Milwaukee regulator since the needle valves that come with the regulator are junk!

I will also be building a new Rex Grigg Style CO2 reactor to replace my old one.

I am adding a 304 Fluval filter to this setup for more filtration and flow in this tank because with the amount of fish I have, I need more!

Then what I am really excited about is the addition of some new fish!!! I ordered from Drs Fosters & Smith the following fish that will go in this tank

(4) YoYo loaches. I lost all 6 of mine last summer and can't wait to get these back in my tank.

(4) Panda Garra (Link) I had 2 of these a couple of years ago in my riparium and I loved them! They are such a neat fish and Drs F/S got some more in stock.

(16) Rummy Nose Tetras - I have about 8 right now and wanted to boost the quantity of these in hopes they school better. Love these fish as well.

(1) Rio-***** Pleco (L 135) - I haven't had a pleco in this tank for quite awhile and without spending alot of money on one or getting one that is common but gets 12" long, this guy looked like a good option. He should help to keep down my algae on my glass and plants.

(4) Streba Corys I have 3 Julii Cory cats right now and with the addition of these 4 guys will be awesome.

I will also be using my gift cards to a couple local pet stores to be boosting my school of Harlequin Rasboras to provide more upper level fish.

I know what you are all thinking.....Holy Cow, you have way to many fish in that tank! You may be right but I have kept a community of fish like this with no problems and it is such an enjoyment to watch them interact with each other. Plus, these fish are peaceful and the ones that are semi-aggressive I either keep just one or have a school of them so they pick on each other and not the other fish.

I am pretty excited and will be posting pics of the new fish and new modifications as I go. Will be a great start to a new year! (I hope)


----------

