# My Aquerium Rack/Collection of Tanks! New Discus are in!!!



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Well heres a journal I want to start on my collection of tanks. Recently got most of them and dont want to make journals for each one. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

First off heres the picture of the rack itself with the tanks on them!


And now for the rundown of the tanks!

Heres my 55 gallon, its actually not on the rack but hey Im still going to include it in this journal. I recently rescaped this so the water is still a bit murky/there might be a mini cycle going on. I plan on buying 5 of Altums and putting them in here, do you guys think a 55 would be too small for them? Also upgrading the lighting to a Current LED+ should come sometime next week!



This is my very recent (got the plants/pants today thanks to Hydrophyte) 10 gallon riparium. Plan to have 1 maybe 2 Hillstream loaches, would a 10 gallon be too small for them? If so I will just put some corys in it instead. 


Here my 1 week old 6 gallon tank. Plan on either putting 6 Harlequin Rasbora in here or 6 Neon tetras what do you guys think would be better? Also some tiger shrimps if I could find any locally. 


This is a 20 gallon tank. Plan on putting a school of 15 Cardinal Tetras in here, any other suggestions?


This is my 1.5 gallon tank. Thinking of putting some CBS in here if I could find any locally, and also some Chili Rasboras. Would a 1.5galon tank be too small for 5 Rasboras?


Heres an old picture of my 10 gallon when it looked nice...The HC is overridden with Cladophora so I will probably toss it out and replant it with UG. It currently houses ~14 CPDs and a TON of Cherry Shrimp


Here also an old picture of my 10 gallon when it looked nice...It is has a case of Cyanobacteria so I will probably tear it down and clean everything. It houses my favorite fish my Dwarf Puffer!!! It lives with two amanos peacefully :red_mouth



Heres my 5 gallon tank. I will probably redo this scape because I just dont like it how it is now...If the Chili Rasboras dont fit in my 1.5 gallon tank I will put them in here, along with a few CRS possibly.



I still have one more 1.5 gallon that I have scaped allready but the lights and filter still need to come in so I will update later!

Lastly here are some random photos I took for fun! (not very good with camera)


----------



## pandacory (Apr 18, 2011)

Dang! You have been busy scaping all these tanks in such a short time period! This looks like it is going to be quite a bit to keep up with.

They all look good and healthy. Each has a unique character.

The only input I have is rasboras espei > rasboras harlequin ime. Stays smaller, more colorful, and schools tighter. Maybe slightly more sensitive to water quality.


----------



## Chrisinator (Jun 5, 2008)

I love how each of them are different and shows a unique scape. I've always wanted to do something like thia


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

pandacory said:


> Dang! You have been busy scaping all these tanks in such a short time period! This looks like it is going to be quite a bit to keep up with.
> 
> They all look good and healthy. Each has a unique character.
> 
> The only input I have is rasboras espei > rasboras harlequin ime. Stays smaller, more colorful, and schools tighter. Maybe slightly more sensitive to water quality.


Thank you! Yea I basically spent the last week everyday after work messing with the tanks but I did think it out before setting them up, I switched most of the tanks to low light/slow growers so it shouldnt be too hard to keep up with the tanks, especially switching the 55 gallon. Also thanks for the advice on the fish, yea I just put up what I thought of last night so the stocking might chaning a bit and I like the idea of rasbora espei. 



Chrisinator said:


> I love how each of them are different and shows a unique scape. I've always wanted to do something like thia


Thank you! Yea I love my setup!


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Just put 5 Black Skirt Tetras in the riparium set up along with 3 Salt and Pepper Corys, will update with pictures of them tomorrow! Also I am picking up 5 Angel Altums for the 55 gallon on sunday and they look awesome!!! Im sooo excited! I was thinking of doing Discus at first but with the stock I have in the tank now and the beauty of the Altums made me to decide to go witth the Altums.


----------



## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

Love the 20g. What light do you have over it?

How about pristellia tetra in it?


----------



## aydemir (Sep 20, 2012)

Tanks look great! As far as I know, 10g is adequate for hillstream loaches, but they are not really 'tropical', they live in water about 18-22 degrees C. Also, they need fast flow that would be bothersome to the fish you already have in there IMHO


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Hilde said:


> Love the 20g. What light do you have over it?
> 
> How about pristellia tetra in it?


Thanks, I just threw in all the plants that used to be in my 55gal into it, for some reason people seem to like it more...and the light is a BuildMyLED Fixture. Its GREAT for growing plants!



aydemir said:


> Tanks look great! As far as I know, 10g is adequate for hillstream loaches, but they are not really 'tropical', they live in water about 18-22 degrees C. Also, they need fast flow that would be bothersome to the fish you already have in there IMHO


Yea I knew that and was going to throw in my Vietnamese white clouds in there with them and then I would not have had to put in a heater. I decided to go to Peppered Corys instead! I have always wanted to keep Corys and with the tank being a riparium not much light actually get down to the substrate so wasnt sure if there would be enough algae growth for the hillstream loach. Also got some Black Skirt Tetras in there as well. They match the Corys and dont distract from the riparium but complement it I believe and its a great look!

Heres some closeup of the new inhabitants of the 10 gal Riparium! Sorry for the dark photos, not much light gets down into the actual tank.



Crappy shot of the Black Skirt Tetras, it was nighttime and I turned on the lights to take a photo of them so they were skittish and still a bit pale.



Last note I get my Altums tomorrow!!! Im like a kid before christmas :bounce:


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

GOT MY ALTUMS TODAY!!! As you can tell I was very excited for them and they are beautiful! They are a bit washed out right now and huddled in a corner but hopefully they will soon feel comfortable in there new home. Any advice from Altum owners would be appreciated. Heres a few pictures of them and there tank mates! 











Also got a lot done today besides picking up the Altums, I completely tore down and cleaned the 10 gallon tank with the puffer that was had an outbreak of cyanobacteria (BGA). I dosed it with Maracyn and also poured boiling hot water in the tank for about 10 minutes, hopefully this combination nukes it. Also and going to black out the tank for a day or two just in case. Lastly I got some cardinal tetras for my 20 gallon tank! Im sure you guys know how hey look like so I didnt take any pictures of them. Got them from petsmart and to be honest there color is not the best...Oh well I still like them lol


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Well just did more research on the lineage of the Angels since I was curious. Turns out they are Rio ***** Altum Hybrids which are not true Altums but P. scalares. Dont really care either way because they still look beautiful! The Angels have started to color up a lot especially when I turn off the tank light. They also started to explore the tank and are not huddled in the corner which is a great sign I think. Cant wait to get home today and feed these guys!


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Got some UG that I was planning on replacing the HC in my 10 gallon tank with today but it did not come in the best shape and in addition for some reason I got one of my light fixtures that I ordered for my 2.5 gallon tank today which I wasnt expecting (I ordered it after ordering a filter for the tank but got the light first) so I decided to salvage as much UG as I could and plant it into the 2.5 gallon. Heres a picture of the scape and it planted, it is very cloudy as I took it right after planting and the tank does not have a filter yet (should come in tmr)



Also here is another picture of my Angels! They explore the tank more when the lights are dimmer so I turned the lights off for this shot. I have noticed that one maybe two of the Angels were being hostile/flaring at the other angels today...I hope they dont get aggressive. The club member who I got it from said he never saw any aggression between the Angels but maybe the stress from the move and moving from a 68 gallon to a 55 gallon tank is causing the aggression but either way I hope it doesnt continue. 



Also heres a few pictures of the fish in their old tank and how I hope they will color once they are more comfortable.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Got my Current LED+ yesterday and have it all set up! Didnt have time to take a photo or video of it yesterday but will update with one when I get home. Its a really great fixture I have to say and the colors you get from the light is amazing! I really love it. Also was able to get rid of all the HC in my 10 gallon that was infested with clad and replanted with the remaining UG that I had. The UG wasnt in the best condition when I got it so hopefully it recovers...will have large update with all my tanks when I get home hopefully, glad to say all the tanks are now all set up!


----------



## shane3fan (Nov 2, 2009)

those all look good. I wont fuss at you about the stocking levels in your tanks--not my place. I will say that I noticed you have White Cloud Mountain Minnows in with your Angels--those two like polar opposites in water temps. The WCMM like colder water and the Angels want warm water.


----------



## RiverShark (Mar 11, 2013)

Great looking tank rack! I wish I could do something similar and have all my tanks in the same room/area.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Yea agree with ya there, I actually gave most of the WCMM to a club member the only ones in there now are the ones I couldnt catch...Not sure what to really do with them atm so they are stuck there sadly. I will probably try and catch them and give them away at the next SFBAAPS meet. As for as stocking I think that all the tanks are fine. The angels mostly stay in the middle/top level and the oddessa's and barbs actaully school together a lot and have always liked to stay on the lower mid level/bottom never going up unless its feeding time, lastly the rainbow shark likes to stay in his corner under the Amazon sword. Filtration wise I am not to worried as I do constant water changes 2x50% per week.



shane3fan said:


> those all look good. I wont fuss at you about the stocking levels in your tanks--not my place. I will say that I noticed you have White Cloud Mountain Minnows in with your Angels--those two like polar opposites in water temps. The WCMM like colder water and the Angels want warm water.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

RiverShark said:


> Great looking tank rack! I wish I could do something similar and have all my tanks in the same room/area.


Thanks! Yea its really nice because I can just sit in one place and see all my tanks at once. Plus it makes doing water changed a LOT easier lol I just attach the hose to the faucet and drain/fill all the tanks at once. No more lugging jugs of water lol


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Heres an update of all my tanks up and running! (PS sorry for the dark photos, didnt notice till after I uploaded everything and by then was to lazy to retake them lol)

First off the 55 gallon with the Current LED+ and Angels! The photos dont do the fixture justice so ill try and make a video later, this photo was taken with the "dusk" setting.





Next up the 20 gallon with the new Cardinal Tetras! Just trimmed the plants again they are growing like crazy under the BuildMyLED fixture, still need to get more Cardinal.



Here is the 10 gallon riparium with the black skirt tetras and peppered corys, its kind of hard to see them under the lighting.





Heres one of the 10 gallons replanted after the tear down to kill the BGA, moved the puffer.



Also heres the other 10 gallon replanted to kill the Clad that had overidden the HC so I replanted with UG.






Heres a update on the 1.5 gallon planted with UG, plan on adding some kind of shrimp.





Heres the second 1.5 gallon, which is chugging along, will also add shrimp soon hopefully.



Lastly heres the 5 gallon tank which I will eventually rescape...for now it looks like a downoi farm lol



Lastly heres a shot of the whole setup!


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Well of course when things are going great something bad has to happen. Unfortunately for me it was the worst thing that could happen. I was moving some furniture around and broke my 55 gallon. I am so depressed right now...all the fish are in two tubs right now....will see what I can do tomorrow...*@!&^#*&!^#*[email protected]&#


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Ugh the more I think about this the more depressed I get...this was my very first tank and what got me into the hobby...always thought I would have this tank with me for life...I was so attached to it even though it wasnt always easy to work with and was a pita to move with me throughout college and after. I have this tank for about the past 4 years. RIP 55 gallon, you will be missed...will try to find a replacement in the next few days, I hope the fish survive.


----------



## Psycofc1 (Feb 28, 2013)

Sorry for the loss but you can take it as a chance to upgrade maybe to something a little taller?


----------



## h4n (Jan 4, 2006)

sorry to hear!!!

did you bump it?

my 55g is the first tank to...


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

h4n said:


> sorry to hear!!!
> 
> did you bump it?
> 
> my 55g is the first tank to...


Yea, talking on the phone while doing things is never a good thing even when your not driving apparently. Was talking on the phone and trying to move my glass kitchen table and one of the corners bumped into the fish tank and caused it to crack...



Psycofc1 said:


> Sorry for the loss but you can take it as a chance to upgrade maybe to something a little taller?


Thanks and yea well see, if petco has there $1 per gallon sale right now I will probably just get another 55 gallon because I allready have the stand, but if they dont I might be able to get a 68gallon tank (very weird dimension) from the same club member who I got the angels from.


----------



## peachii (Jun 1, 2013)

I saw a 72 gallon on craigslist in the San Fransico bay area listings for 170.00. with stand, if it's still available, close enough and you like it. Wasn't really sure where to look that was closest to you.


So sorry to hear about your tank and hope you get a new one you love soon.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

peachii said:


> I saw a 72 gallon on craigslist in the San Fransico bay area listings for 170.00. with stand, if it's still available, close enough and you like it. Wasn't really sure where to look that was closest to you.
> 
> 
> So sorry to hear about your tank and hope you get a new one you love soon.


 
Thankyou so much for taking the time and searching! I think I found a listing on CL for a 55 gallon for $79 so will look at it after work, if that doesnt work (the main problem will be fitting it into my car) I actually might consider the 72 gallon one, only thing I dont like is its a bowfront...who knows maybe ill like it.


----------



## Kat12 (Aug 11, 2013)

Maybe if you can't fit the 55 in your car if they are not far they might drive it over for you.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Well thankfully I found a replacement 55 gallon, and in addition it somehow fit in my 2-door car! I spent the majority of yesterday after work setting the tank back up but have not put the fish in the tank yet as it is very cloudy from the sand settling. Hopefully the fish will survive another day in the plastic tubes and ill will try putting them back in the tank today after work!


----------



## nikonD70s (Apr 6, 2008)

very nice tanks, and yeah those arent true altums. but they are beautiful nonetheless. but its altum season now. and you can pick up some true altums.


----------



## peachii (Jun 1, 2013)

So happy you got a new tank for them!! Now no more moving furniture and talking on the phone around your tanks anymore.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Heres a photo of the broken tank, been so busy the last few days scrambling to get and set up the new 55 gallon, im so glad this whole event is over. So far no casualty



Heres the photo of the new tank all set up.


Also heres a rescape of my 5 gallon, the scale of using the downoi kinda ruins it and you cant see the smaller rocks building up to the "Mountain/Volcano" but I didnt have anywhere else to place the downoi and it seemed to grow very well in that tank so I left it in there.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Got some new critters!!!

Scarlet Badis! Never realized how small these fish are, I love this little guy! For now hes in the 1.5 gallon tank because its infested with little tiny white bugs which he loves to hunt.





Also got some wiled Bumblebee Shrimp, they are in the 5 gallon tank. Probably am going to stay in there.







Also nice picture I got of one of my cherry shrimp.


----------



## jpappy789 (Jul 28, 2013)

Wow, glad you were able to get the 55g back up and running...everything looks so nice!

Congrats on the new Badis, cool little fish.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

jpappy789 said:


> Wow, glad you were able to get the 55g back up and running...everything looks so nice!
> 
> Congrats on the new Badis, cool little fish.


Thanks, yea im so glad the whole event is over.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Got a few new critters thanks to MsJinkzd! All made it into my tanks safely and pretty much colored up immediately! Will post pics of all the new critters I got (Chili Rasboras, Glowlight rasbora, Cardinals, and a surprise pygmy cory!) tmr as its nightime for the fish and I dont like turning on the light at night and scaring them. Also ordered some Repashy Community plus from her as well and will try out the new food and let everyone know how it is. Im very curious how the fish will take to it and if they will be happy with it because with all the new fish I have feeding all of them frozen food every day is starting to get expensive lol



On a bad note while putting in the new Cardinals I realized the the ones that I had, had developed Ick (of course these are the ones I bought at petsmart when they were on sale...knew I shouldnt have). They are the only fish in the tank so I guess it could have been worse but I did not realize that until after I put in the new fish as this is the tank lowest to the ground and the one I stare at the least....I have raised the tank to ~86 which I know the Cardinals can handle and put in salts so Ill hope for the best.

ps. darn just remembered there are Amanos and Ottos in the tank as well....hope they dont die from the heat


----------



## msjinkzd (May 12, 2007)

the amanos and otos can take the heat, just make sure you crank up the aeration.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

msjinkzd said:


> the amanos and otos can take the heat, just make sure you crank up the aeration.


Yea im very surprised, didnt think that they would...so far no loses, this is the first time fighting ick so well see how it goes. Also took shots of the new fish from you and will post them up in a sec!


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Photobucket was down so had to upload to a different site...

Chili Rasboras



Glowlight Rasboras (very hard to take a decent photos of these guys)



Pygmy Cory (also was hard to take a decent shot of this guy)


BumbleBee Shrimp



Scarlet Badis on the prowl!



Black Skirt Tetra


Angel


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Good news, all the Cardinals are slowly recovering from the ick infection and ive had no loses so far. 

Bad news for some unknown reason the sole Badis in the 1.5 gallon died. I have no idea why...he was doing fine the past few days and then I come home from work and find him floating in the tank. Along with that it seems like blyxa does not like high temp or it could have been the salt but almost all of my blyxa have melted. Im fine with it though as the rest of the plants seem to be fine. 

Lastly heres a quick vid of my Angels munching! I feed the other fishes separately and the Angles from a cone. They usually take turns feeding from it.

http://youtu.be/1SoERJl8pY0


----------



## usgetata (Dec 28, 2012)

Love your tank rack and fish collection! I have Betta & clown killifish but my wife keep them in small jars 😅


----------



## lilhelper (Nov 24, 2008)

Those look like peruvian altums.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

lilhelper said:


> Those look like peruvian altums.


They are Rio ***** Altum Hybrids which are not true Altums but P. scalares is what I was told they were. Got them from a SFBAAPS club member who got them when my club did a group buy on them!




usgetata said:


> Love your tank rack and fish collection! I have Betta & clown killifish but my wife keep them in small jars 😅


Thanks!


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Small update! Finally got around to putting backgrounds onto my tank lol Not sure how I feel about the black background on a few of them though.

Starting to really like this scape, and love how I dont have to do much because its just basically Anubius Nana Petite and Hair Grass. Also love the Glowlight Harlequins in here. 
They have really colored up since Ive got them!






I really like how the bubbles make it look like stars at night in this tank!


Not really liking how the plants look in this tank for now but hey they grow really well in it so I wont complain. Also the Chili Rasboras in here have even colored up more then I have expected! They are a lot more red in person.





Some of the Wild BumbleBee shrimp that I got remind me very much of CBS lol



Cool looking snail I found in that tank as well (ended up being my Dwarf Puffers dinner)


The riparium plants are doing great and I just noticed today I got a few new healthy shoots!





Im not sure about the background on this tank, there are no "white" background kits so I just found this while sheet and put it on the back, not so sure if I like it. 



Lastly heres a photo of my remaining Blyxa Jungle lol, apparently they dont like high temps (was treating this tank for Ick) Also it looks like all the Cardinals are clear of Ick! Happy to say that I didnt have any loses and this was my first time fighting it.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Heres a vid of the Current LED+ on the 55 gallon. Only have an IPhone to take the video so quality does not do the light fixture justice.


----------



## hambone870 (Feb 13, 2013)

sorry to hear about the badis...

what i love most about your tanks is they all have a deliberate scape much different then any of the others


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

hambone870 said:


> sorry to hear about the badis...
> 
> what i love most about your tanks is they all have a deliberate scape much different then any of the others


Thanks! Yea I would say the reason I have so many tanks would be because I love to try new scapes and just dont like one type, this way it helps my craving if you know what I mean lol


----------



## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

lamiskool said:


> I have so many tanks would be because I love to try new scapes and just dont like one type.


Then check out artistic composition aquascape, which rah-bop applied his 29G tank.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Hilde said:


> Then check out artistic composition aquascape, which rah-bop applied his 29G tank.


Yea I remember seeing that thread a while back. I know about the rule of thirds and other aquascaping rules but have never really liked following them. As with all art pieces its the artists interpretation. I was going to do a forest/tree trunk type of scape which would use the rule of thirds but for me finding good drift wood is just so much harder then rocks so I never got around to it, maybe in the future!


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Hilde said:


> Then check out artistic composition aquascape, which rah-bop applied his 29G tank.


Darn....now you have me thinking of rescaping one of my tanks lol probably will by one of the 10 gallons and probably the one that houses the puffer but it wont be a while as I just got done setting these all up and want to enjoy it for a bit before tinkering again. Also will update tonight because I got some more fish from MsJinkzd (another Scarlet Baddis and a few more pygmy cories for the lone one that I somehow acquired on accident)


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Heres a photo I took of the new Scarlet Baddis I received today from MsJinkzd, still amazed at how healthy all the fish I get from her are, I barely even have to acclimate them to be honest and they start coloring up and eating right away. Also received some pygmy cories from her but those are impossible to photo atm, they dart around to much lol but I can tell that the lonely one in there will be a lot happier as they are all schooling together! 

He's hunting some tiny bugs in the tank that im guessing are copepods and other insects/inverts.


And here are some other random photos I took.

King of the hill!


Big Mama


Dawnlight


----------



## GimmeGills (Oct 6, 2010)

Just got by Badis from MsJinkzd in todya just a few hours ago and I second your experience - everyone was alive and well, acclimated beautifully and immediately went on the prowl when I released them. They are currently happily munching up mosquito larval and showing some beautiful colors.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

GimmeGills said:


> Just got by Badis from MsJinkzd in todya just a few hours ago and I second your experience - everyone was alive and well, acclimated beautifully and immediately went on the prowl when I released them. They are currently happily munching up mosquito larval and showing some beautiful colors.


Yea I noticed this new one that I got is not very shy and isnt hiding most of the time like my old one which I like because I get to stare at it a lot more. I am a very happy buyer, all the fish Ive gotten from her are so healthy and hardy!


----------



## msjinkzd (May 12, 2007)

haha, I remember netting fish and a stray pygmaeus getting in- guess that was yours a couple orders ago! oops! It is probalby because I have a big breeding group in a 55g that I use to hold my qt plants. Probably moved eggs to the chili rasbora tank or something when they finished their initial quarantine. 

Glad you are pleased, and thanks for the kind words. Everything looks great!


----------



## glndrifts (Jun 8, 2010)

Wow, I've never seen the angels take turns like that? they look good in your tank. Mine never really popped out since the discus stole the attention. Sorry about the confusion with the rio ***** altums not being true altums thing. I didn't know that myself. :icon_redf


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

glndrifts said:


> Wow, I've never seen the angels take turns like that? they look good in your tank. Mine never really popped out since the discus stole the attention. Sorry about the confusion with the rio ***** altums not being true altums thing. I didn't know that myself. :icon_redf


Haha all good buddy, I love them either way. 


Also was wondering if you or anyone knows if this is bad/an infection of some sort. On two of the Angels I notice this white spot on their pectoral fins only a single white spot. On one of them it kinda looks like it could be a birth defect but in the other it looks kinda like some white fuzz like thing? Not sure if I should be freaking out or worrying but all the fish seem fine. Here are the best pics I could take of it.


----------



## pandacory (Apr 18, 2011)

I really like your 55. What substrate are you using and what kind of rock?

Also, what is the tan substrate in the tank with rock and two branches?


----------



## pandacory (Apr 18, 2011)

Forgot to ask, are you using glass tops with the current led?


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Man I have been crazy busy so have not been able to post updates but here are tons of pics to make up for it! Enjoy.

UG is doing great in this tank, I really like it and reminds me of a grassy meadow.



Not my best work as I just threw all my extra stuff in here but it still nice and reminds me of an old Volcano with palms surrounding it which reminds me of an island. Also looks like I cant keep Bumblebee shrimp as there are only 2 left in the tank...



One of my older tank, the fissidens needs a trim and hopefully the UG will carpet the bottom after a while. Not sure if I like this tank anymore...I would tear it down but not sure what I would redo it as, also the tubes in the back dont help with the look lol



Still love this tank and probably is the least maintained on but is doing great as it only has mini fissidens and a Scarlett Badi in it which I dont really have to feed. I have got the Badi to come to my forcep as I feed it live tubiflex worms every now and them :icon_smil Love this little fish!!!







Not the best shot of this tank but its doing fairly well, I think the light on it is to much even with the whole surface covered with floaters and mesh screens over the light and am fighting BBA. Its not too bad though, any advice?



The riparium plants are doing great, have tons of new shoots.





This tank thankfully is starting too recover, most of the plants had started dying/melting when I treated the tank for Ich. Most of them have survived and hopefully over time I will get more lush growth. Also added a mated pair of GBR and I just found eggs today!!! Very excited. 





Really like this plant but forgot the name for it, its usually a lot more red, anyone know what its name is? Sry for blurry pic, the water surface makes it hard to take.



And lastly my 55, all the fish are doing great and the upgrade from and XP3 to and XP4 filter I believe was a great investment, all the fish seems even happier and healthier.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

pandacory said:


> I really like your 55. What substrate are you using and what kind of rock?
> 
> Also, what is the tan substrate in the tank with rock and two branches?


Hey sorry for not replying, I havnt been on much so didnt see your question. I am just using sand that I found at OSH to be honest, and the the rocks are just plain river rocks that I found locally. The tan substrate in the tank with rock and two branches I believe was some caribsea sand that I got at petsmart.



pandacory said:


> Forgot to ask, are you using glass tops with the current led?


Yes I am using a glass top, but only because in the past I have had fish jump out of my tank and die, and since I added the angels I would be devastated if one jumped out and died.


----------



## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

lamiskool said:


> The light over 20G is a BuildMyLED Fixture.


Do you inject Co2 in the tank too. The bright pink colors look like those in tanks that inject Co2.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Hilde said:


> Do you inject Co2 in the tank too. The bright pink colors look like those in tanks that inject Co2.


Yep I use CO2 in most of my tanks


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

I swear im getting busier and busier, anywyas will try and get some new pics of all the tanks sometime next week. Was planning on getting some up this weekend but turns out I am going to go camping in yosemite instead. A sad supdate on two of the tanks, I was trying to combat hair algea by using hydrogen peroxide but I guess I used too much as all the cardinals in the 20g died (amanos and GBR didnt even seemed fazed) and all but one rasbora in the 5g died (pygmy corys seem unaffected). This is probably the worste thing thing ive done to my fish as a fishkeeper and I feel horrible. Anyways besides that all the tanks are growing and look great!


----------



## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

lamiskool said:


> I was trying to combat hair algea by using hydrogen peroxide but I guess I used too much as all the cardinals in the 20g died


Cardinals and Neons aren't very hardy anymore. 

Last time I had hair algae my nitrates were over 40. Have you tested your nitrates?


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Hilde said:


> Cardinals and Neons aren't very hardy anymore.
> 
> Last time I had hair algae my nitrates were over 40. Have you tested your nitrates?


Yea I checked my nitrates, they were fine so Im almost positive that it was the hydrogen peroxide.

Anyways, heres an photo update of all the tanks!




Need to trim the moss...



Love how this tank is filling in!






Need to trim the moss badly in this one, also the UG is starting to spread rapidly!



This is a meh tank.....dont know what ima really do with it.



Starting to get tired of having to trim this tank every week even though I do like the colors and the look...


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Nothing really new with the tanks, I did trim all the tanks that I said needed trimming. Also got some Tiger Shrimps from a club member! Wanted to get these guys for a while now but for some reason never got around to doing it. Heres some quick pics I took today of em.


----------



## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

lamiskool said:


> Yea I checked my nitrates, they were fine so Im almost positive that it was the hydrogen peroxide.
> 
> Anyways, heres an photo update of all the tanks!
> 
> Love how this tank is filling in!


 Really like how this one looks, is that UG and bly.. blyaxa (whatever the spelling is) in the back, or chain sword?


----------



## Bserve (Nov 4, 2012)

lamiskool said:


> This is a meh tank.....dont know what ima really do with it.


Put some hygro pinnatifida behind the rocks!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

AquaAurora said:


> Really like how this one looks, is that UG and bly.. blyaxa (whatever the spelling is) in the back, or chain sword?


Yep its UG and Blyxa, good eye seeing the Blyxa


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Bserve said:


> Put some hygro pinnatifida behind the rocks!
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Thats actually a great idea. I might do that if I dont scrap this whole tank and just do a redo, it just looks ugly to me now..


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Woot woot! Found my first berried Tiger shrimp today! Not sure how long it has been berried for as I have been gone since last wednesday. Crossing my fingers that I find some baby tigers. Anyone know how long it takes to hatch? 

Also I have decided to most likely rescape the 10 gallon that I keep saying I hate and will also mostly rescape the 20. I wont have time for the next two weeks as im going on another vacation but hopefully it will get done before the end of the month. This will also stop me from the itch to buy and start another tank lol


----------



## Melted (Nov 22, 2013)

Im very jealous, and it sounds like these tanks have been taking you on quite the journey. the only question i have is, what type of plants are you using for the riparium? sorry if it was already mentioned, i didnt notice if it was previously.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Thanks, yes I am learning a lot froom keeping these and enjoying it. The plants I currently have are Cyperus Umbrella Sedge, Aluminum plant and basket grass.



Melted said:


> Im very jealous, and it sounds like these tanks have been taking you on quite the journey. the only question i have is, what type of plants are you using for the riparium? sorry if it was already mentioned, i didnt notice if it was previously.


----------



## Melted (Nov 22, 2013)

lamiskool said:


> Thanks, yes I am learning a lot froom keeping these and enjoying it. The plants I currently have are Cyperus Umbrella Sedge, Aluminum plant and basket grass.


Thank you to you as well, i will be hunting for the cyperus. I love the look of it.:bounce:


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Look on the forums for a guy named hydrophyte, he sells them along with a bunch of other riparium supplies/plants. Or go to his website ripariumsupply.com



Melted said:


> Thank you to you as well, i will be hunting for the cyperus. I love the look of it.:bounce:


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Best picture I could get of the berried shrimp before it ran away, Im so happy


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

woot woot got another shipment from msjinkzd, of course they all came in 100% healthy. Just got some more chili rasboras, and black and white bee shrimp, also some Corydoras pygmaeus and Trignostigma espei to replace the ones I accidentally killed with hydrogen peroxide. Will post up pics tmr as its too late now and lights are off


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Been super busy and didn't have time to take good pics of all the tanks because I had to pack for another vacation this weekend. Something cool did happen though, since I knew I was going to be gone this weekend I decided to finally make some Repashy Community Plus food to dump into the tanks so over the weekend the fish could have some food but it seems like the shrimp like it more then the fish lol heres a few quick shots I took when I saw them swarm over the food. Also found a second berried tiger shrimp so im very happy, I hope to see baby shrimplets soon


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Quick little teaser, SFBAAPs had its Dec meet over at Aquaforest and I just had to grab these. Will have to move my tanks/shelf around and will get rid of one of the 10 gallons but hopefully I can have this all done and set up next week. 



Also found and easy/no mess way to feed my shrimp!


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Got most of the materials and ready to scape the tank, will play around with it tonight and will try and take some pics


----------



## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Those are sweet little tanks! Are you going to line them all up together as a triptych?


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Been messing around with the scape and heres what i have for now. Would love some opinions!


This tank I am hoping to turn into a cardinal shrimp tank....not sure if I should take the plunge yet as I hear they are extremely fragile and expensive. I might have found a local seller who if i find out breeds them using the same water as me I would definitely feel more comfortable buying them. 


I still need to fill the "path/river" with sand and probably wont do that until I finally finalize this scape. Ive always really wanted to do a "forest" scape so this is my first attempt at it!


Lastly, I really like Ohko stone so decided to make another tank using it....not sure if this is the direction ill go but well see.


----------



## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

lovely tanks and look forward to seeing final looks for your most recent acquisitions.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

AquaAurora said:


> lovely tanks and look forward to seeing final looks for your most recent acquisitions.


Thanks!



hydrophyte said:


> Those are sweet little tanks! Are you going to line them all up together as a triptych?


Yep ill be putting them all in a row. I was originally going to make a scene using all three. One tank was going to be a beach/mountain, another a mountain/meadow, and a forest tank. Decided I would go in a different route though


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Well I ordered the up mini 25W heater off of ebay, its a fraction of the price of the archaea heater and seems to work the same/be the same size. Only downside is I guess its being shipped from China and it says it could take weeks to come in....Oh well I guess that gives me time to cycle my tank properly and work on my scape more. I also plan on going out and getting glass covers for the tanks today and work on the scape a bit more.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

ooh made a rookie mistake today while setting up the new tanks. Forgot to waterlog the wood beforehand lol! While filling the tanks most of the wood in the "forest" scape started floating. They are all in a tube being waterlogged now. I will post pics of the filled tanks as I finish it and the water becomes clearer


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Somehow managed to move/set everything up today. Heres how everything turned out! I still have to put plants in though. 

Tannins are leaching a lot in this tank, hopefully not too long...this one wont be heavily planted maybe a few anubius as I still want to turn this into a cardinal shrimp tank.



Very hard to plant this tank as the wood is still very buoyant and isnt fully waterlogged yet. Loving how this tank is turning out though. Also the heater isnt permanent, I have heaters coming in and it is going to take a while to ship and Im housing my dwarf puffer in it. 



Havnt really decided how im going to scape this one yet...any suggestions?



Heres how my new setup looks. Kinda wish I had put the self with the new tanks a little higher...


----------



## Betta132 (Nov 29, 2012)

Hmm... The rock one... I kind of like it that way, actually. Maybe try just a bunch of long-rooted floater plants and see how it looks? Possibly tuck some Java fern into random crevices and a swordplant in the right back corner? 
What stock are you planning? I'd sort of be inclined to suggest a few paradise fish, if it's large enough, or maybe a dwarf gourami. Three sparkling gouramis, perhaps? I think maybe it would be better with a few large fish instead of a lot of teeny ones.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Betta132 said:


> Hmm... The rock one... I kind of like it that way, actually. Maybe try just a bunch of long-rooted floater plants and see how it looks? Possibly tuck some Java fern into random crevices and a swordplant in the right back corner?
> What stock are you planning? I'd sort of be inclined to suggest a few paradise fish, if it's large enough, or maybe a dwarf gourami. Three sparkling gouramis, perhaps? I think maybe it would be better with a few large fish instead of a lot of teeny ones.


 
hmm havnt honestly thought about how im going to plant that one yet but honestly will just use various plants that I have in my other tanks lol I hope my downoi recovers from the hydrogen peroxide dip that I gave them though cuz I want to use a few in the tank along with some blyxa and maybe staurogyne. I have also added some pellia to the ohko rocks already that I had from the 10 gallon which I tore done to replace with these tanks. I also added the anubius nana petite to the forest scape and will take updated pics of it latter today when I get home. 

As to fish for this tank I have no idea yet. I might just move my tiger shrimp to this tank and leave them there by themselves or I might also add some chili rasboras (I really like these). Hanvt really decided yet.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

heres a pic of the forest scape which is the only one ive worked on so far.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Heres a quick pic of all my tanks minus my 55g as of today.



(Pretty much all my downoi died when I tried to treat them with hydrogen peroxide, trying some downoi that I bought in those packets at petsmart..)






Lots of pearling going on in this tank!


Need to find out the best way to trim these riparium plants...anyone have any idea the best method?


Driftwood is starting to leech less tannins...still hanvt fully committed to the idea of getting cardinals yet.


Fungus starting to grow on the dw...hopefully it doesnt last too long. Thinking about throwing an amano in it to eat it, do you guys recommend that?


Kinda just put the pellia that I had in the 10gallon that I tore down into the ohko rocks...hopefully when they start growing it will look more natural. Also got some s.repens from petsmart since I was getting the downoi anyways. Hopefully they will look better once they change back to submerged growth and I can get a nice carpet. 


This tank is recovering nicely from the massive algea outbreak from a combination of a battle with ick, too much light, and co2 tank ran out and I took too long to refill it. I threw in the extra downoi and s.repens that I bought from petsmart into here, hopefully if they dont transition over to submerged grwoth in the other two tanks they will here as it is a high light, high co2 and I dose ferts in this tank.


Heres a couple of cool pics of a few of the livestock!















Lastly this also counts as in my tank collection now  Got Hamsti a 40B from the petco $1 per gallon sale so she can have a LOT more room to run around and also I can fit in a much larger wheel so she can run on which she hasnt stopped using yet!


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Some pics I took of the fish in my 55g. Not the best, they are all very antsy and besides the angels never stay still. Still cant get a good pic of the rainbow shark which is my oldest fish/first fish I bought.


----------



## Melted (Nov 22, 2013)

Scarlet badis are so awesome. Do you ever catch it hunting shrimplets?


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Melted said:


> Scarlet badis are so awesome. Do you ever catch it hunting shrimplets?


Yep I love the little guy, him and my dwarf puffer are my favorite fish ive kept so far, and no he doesnt hunt little shrimplets because the Badi is by himself in the tank. He did hunt down all the copepods in the tank though. Ill try and get pics of my dwarf puffer sometime soon, love the little thing.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Pics I took of my favorite fish my dwarf puffer! And some other okish fish/shrimp pics I took.


----------



## Melted (Nov 22, 2013)

lamiskool said:


> Yep I love the little guy, him and my dwarf puffer are my favorite fish ive kept so far, and no he doesnt hunt little shrimplets because the Badi is by himself in the tank. He did hunt down all the copepods in the tank though. Ill try and get pics of my dwarf puffer sometime soon, love the little thing.


Ah i see, ive had them on separate occasions so i never got to experiment. great choices in aquarium buddies though, i have them all at one point and they all had great personalities.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Up aqua miniature heater came in the mail today. Pretty impressed by them. Only bad part is the power cable is a bit short but nothing an extension cord cant fix. I just put it in the tanks and you cant even see them in the two of the three tanks. Only tank that I didnt try to hide it is the one thats for the cardinal shrimp which I dont really care what looks like. And yes I found someone local who breeds them in the local tap water so in a few weeks will get some! Cant wait!!! Here are pics of the heaters. Will take photos of the tanks tmr and meanwhile will keep track of the temp of the tanks to see how well they work.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Well im a complete idiot. Didnt read the info on the heaters and didnt realize that I would need a 110v to 220v converter to get this heater to work. Was wondering why the temps of the tanks didnt get warmer. I just ordered a few converters, hopefully they work with them. Does anyone else have experience with this heater? I thought it was working because the indicator light was on but the temp of the tank never changed so I went back and looked at the info on the heater and realized I probably needed the converter...


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Decided to go with DHG instead of a S.Repen carpet in this tank, this is how it looks like for now. The heater is hiden in the bottom left and is basically invisible. 


This tanks chugging along, ill probably add an amano shrimp into here to eat up all the mold/fungus soon...and then add but my dwarf puffer into here. Right now hes in my 20gallon with my GBR pair. Also the mini heater is also hidden in the left corner and is pretty much invisible. 


Lastly here is my future cardinal shrimp tank. Ill probably wait a few more weeks to let the tank mature and also to let the rest of the tannins leech out of the driftwood. I found a local breeder who has breed the shrimp for years using treated tap water so I feel very comfortable keeping them at this point. I will also probably run two heaters in this tank just in case and the mini heater in their now will be the "back-up" heater.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Redid my future cardinal tank, used the Seiryu stone from the 10 gallon that I tore down. I like the look a lot more and in addition the stone should help buffer the water and cardinal shrimp like having a rocky environment.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Just finished doing w/c and cleaning all my tanks so thought id take photos of a few of em!

Added some anubias nana petite and a few dwarf sag to the future cardinal shrimp tank. For a tank that I didnt really care about the "scape" of I actually think it turned out great and I kinda actually like it!





Didnt really plan this tank to be a co2 injected one but I had an extra paintball co2 reg and so just went out and got another paintball co2 tank so now I guess I wont have to worry about having an algae issue with this tank.





This tanks chugging along, threw in an amano shrimp which I believe is helping with the fungus/algae growing on the driftwood.





UG is growing like crazy in this tank!





The downoi that I bought from petsmart is transitioning very very well and I can see a lot of new growth. I actually might go out and buy more and could make a downoi farm lol





The fissiden tree in this tank I believe turned out great! Its starting to get to the point where I might have to trim it though.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Woot woot, was feeding my tigers yesterday and low and behold I see a baby tiger shrimp!!! I had mentioned about a month ago that I had seen a few berried females and had assumed that they had dropped the eggs as I never saw any baby shrimp but I guess they just hide very well in the UG. I was only able to find 2 tiny shrimp in the tank so not sure how many babies I actually have, Im just glad I have babies 

Heres a very very crappy pic of the baby shrimp that I found. They are Tiny and very had to take a photo with as I don't have a macro lens but using those macro filters that you can screw on your regular lens. The baby is in the center of the photo and is very blurry, couldn't get the camera to focus on the tiny shrimp, only the UG behind it....


----------



## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

Dang that's some lush ug, and gratz on the shrimplets, hope you find more popping up as they get bigger. I love the floating fissiden box you have on the wall, and all your tank layouts look so nice!


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

AquaAurora said:


> Dang that's some lush ug, and gratz on the shrimplets, hope you find more popping up as they get bigger. I love the floating fissiden box you have on the wall, and all your tank layouts look so nice!


Thanks! Yea I hope that I eventually find more shrimplets. Also I was actually supposed to fix the floating fissiden island, I am going to cut the sides of the box so that only the bottem and back wall (used to attach the plastic box) will be left. Im hoping that this will make it more or less invisible and will make the island look like its floating.


----------



## Kat12 (Aug 11, 2013)

Sorry if I missed it, skimmed first page and some pictures, what is that rack?


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Kat12 said:


> Sorry if I missed it, skimmed first page and some pictures, what is that rack?


I believe the rack I bought are these, just make sure to replace the particle board with plywood or something.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Edsal-36...ommercial-Shelving-Unit-UR185L-BLK/202995256#


----------



## Duck5003 (Oct 1, 2012)

You have some really great setups there. I can wait to see these mature, nice journal


----------



## Kat12 (Aug 11, 2013)

Is it an option to set it up in 2 parts than? I looked at the one you posted but I didn't want it that tall or that many shelves.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Kat12 said:


> Is it an option to set it up in 2 parts than? I looked at the one you posted but I didn't want it that tall or that many shelves.


yep it comes in two parts so u can make it one tall shelf or two medium sized one.



Duck5003 said:


> You have some really great setups there. I can wait to see these mature, nice journal


Thanks!


----------



## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

lamiskool said:


> Thanks! Yea I hope that I eventually find more shrimplets. Also I was actually supposed to fix the floating fissiden island, I am going to cut the sides of the box so that only the bottem and back wall (used to attach the plastic box) will be left. Im hoping that this will make it more or less invisible and will make the island look like its floating.


Cool! be sure to post a picture after you make the change to the box ^^


----------



## Aqualady (Jan 14, 2013)

Lovely tanks! What are you using to make the floating box with the fissidens in it?


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Aqualady said:


> Lovely tanks! What are you using to make the floating box with the fissidens in it?


its literally a plastic box I found somewhere (dont remember, it was probably just laying around somewhere) The fissidens are attached to rocks that sit atop the box. Im going to cut the sides of the box so that the rocks will sit at the bottom panel so it will be harder to see the box.



AquaAurora said:


> Cool! be sure to post a picture after you make the change to the box ^^


Will do! Hopefully I dont get too lazy this weekend


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

mini update, the 110v to 220 v converter came in last night and I am very happy to say that the Up Mini Heaters work! In fact they work very very well and I am surprised at how much heat they can generate. For my future cardinal tank I have it set at ~81-82 and it is able to keep that temp. I wont even worry about having to use two heaters for that tank and will just keep an extra one on hand in case of emergency though. At ~$15 a piece I have to say this was a great deal and love how small they are so they are perfect for nano tanks.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Some bad new with some good news. First I found a berried Black/white bee shrimp berried last night and also found another tiger shrimp berried! Im very happy. I was also able to see 3 baby tigers out at the same time so for now know that I have at least 3 new babies. As for the bad news I found some planeria in the tank with the tigers and have no idea how they got in their. Also I don't have fish in their so don't ever really feed the tank. Maybe once a week I feed the shrimp but I do from a dish and take out any uneaten food. Either way I had some fenbendazole so I dosed the tank with it. Hopefully that will take care of the planeria problem and the baby shrimp/berried tiger are not affected.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Was able to take a good photo of my cherry shrimp today, didnt really notice but some of em are super red! I dont cull my shrimp so am surprised at how red they are. I might start selecting the best ones and breed them in my new tank with ohko stone.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

fixed up the floating island finally, I think it looks a lot better now, you can barely see whats keeping the rocks up.


Heres a photo of the 3 new tanks, I think they are almost ready to add my DP into and cardinal shrimps into the other.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

hmm im trying to decide if I should just go for it and buy the cardinal shrimp now as its been almost a month and with daily 100% water changes on the tank, the wood is still leeching tannins. The pH is still very high ~8.0 even with the tannins leeching so I think it might be fine. Im wondering if I would wait it out longer or will the tannins be ok for the cardinal shrimp?

Also trying to decide if I want to get Red tiger shrimp for the tank with ohko stone or move my tiger shrimps into it so they have more room or selectively start moving my fire red/pfr cherry shrimp into it...decision decision. Anyone have any suggestions?


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Just a quick txt update, all the tanks are doing fine and I finally replaced the particle boards that some of the tanks were sitting on lol I saw that they were starting to bow noticeably so decided to replace them with actual wood boards. Was a pain in the butt to move all the tanks but I am happy that I did it. With the future cardinal tank, the wood is still leeching tannins surprisingly and I am starting to get impatient, I have been doing daily water changes and it still turns brown the next day. Also finally "hung" my BML fixture that was on top of my 20 gallon so now its higher up and I believe will give a better spread of light to the back and front of the tank so I am hoping for more "strait" growth of some of the plants. In my 10 gallon with the cherry shrimp/floating island I am losing a battle with cladophora algae and cant decide if I want to tear the whole thing down and redo it or just rehome the shrimp/fish for a bit and nuke it with some api algeafix which I hear works great on that kind of algae. Lastly the Current LED Planted+ on top of my 55 gallon kept on flashing and even with unplugging it and pressing every button on the remote it still kept on flashing. Thankfully the support on the Current LED was great and they are sending me a replacement fixture which I am very very happy about.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Been a while since my last update. And its a pretty big one! I ended up deciding to get a matching 10 gallon to the riprium tank and also a doaqua mini m which was the closest tank I could find to match my 6 gallon tank (apperently the person who I bought it from told me it was a 6 gallon finnex rimless tank and they dont seem to sell those anymore). the 1.5 gallon with the scarlett badi is going to get replaced my this tank and the 10 gallon with the cherry shrimps/floating island will get torn down/remade into the newer 10 gallon. This way I will have tank on the racks that match which will irritate me less and I get to try and get rid of the clad thats infested the current 10 gallon. WIll get pics up sometime this weekend of the new tanks.


----------



## dubels (Jun 14, 2012)

Wow some nice tanks. I love dwarf puffers. They have the most character of any fish I have ever had. Have you checked out the South American puffer? I saw one at 6th Ave Aquarium in SF and just had to have one. He is currently hanging out with my dwarf puffer until I can set up a tank for him. Also I am surprised you don't have any problems with the GBR and puffer being together. It's tempting me to setup a new tank for my South American puffer that is big enough for GBRs too. I miss having GBRs and South American puffers are supposed to be community tank friendly unlike the dwarfs.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

dubels said:


> Wow some nice tanks. I love dwarf puffers. They have the most character of any fish I have ever had. Have you checked out the South American puffer? I saw one at 6th Ave Aquarium in SF and just had to have one. He is currently hanging out with my dwarf puffer until I can set up a tank for him. Also I am surprised you don't have any problems with the GBR and puffer being together. It's tempting me to setup a new tank for my South American puffer that is big enough for GBRs too. I miss having GBRs and South American puffers are supposed to be community tank friendly unlike the dwarfs.


I actually thought about getting a south american puffer but I didnt want to have to trim their teeth as I read about online. Yea my puffer leaves the GBR alone, if anything he tries to avoid them lol. Yea my puffer is one of my favorite fish to watch and feed.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Thanks to the best gf ever, I finally got my cardinal shrimp as an early birthday present! They look beautiful and I hope they keep growing and start breeding sometime. 

This is the tank they are in. The wood is still leeching a little of tannins but I hope not much. The shrimp actually are mostly on the wood most of the time grazing on it. 



Here are some close ups of them!







Also the guy that I bought it from had an awesome setup and I had to take a pic of it and share!


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

24 hours and all cardinals are still alive! Crossing my fingers after 48 hours ill stop worrying about them as much


----------



## Jonnywhoop (May 30, 2012)

How are the cardinals? What's your water regime? I'm located in sf and deciding what to stock my tank with. Tbees or cardinals.. Also where did you purchase them from?


----------



## dubels (Jun 14, 2012)

Congrats on the cardinals. Did you get them locally? They are the next shrimp I want to try out after my TB experiment. Your tanks are making me think I can have just one more tank for the cardinals in my house. But 7 might be my limit. 

I am hoping by mainly feeding my puffers snails I won't have to trim the South American puffers teeth. But we shall see. Both puffers just massacred all the snails (10+) in their tank when I placed an algae wafer in for the snails. I guess they took advantage of the snails all being in one place. 

Anyways amazing tanks, can't wait to watch the cardinals breed for you.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Jonnywhoop said:


> How are the cardinals? What's your water regime? I'm located in sf and deciding what to stock my tank with. Tbees or cardinals.. Also where did you purchase them from?


Love the cardinals, they are like everyone says shy though. I think its only because there are only 10 in the tank. When I went to the breeders house to check out his stock there were hundreds in the tank and all over the place and were not hiding so I think once I get a larger population they will feel more comfortable. Not sure what my water regime is but for these shrimp I have been hearing that less water changes for them the better so maybe only a 10-20% water change each week will be fine. Also because I am using tap water and not remineralizing I feel a bit more comfortable doing larger water changes. Im not sure if my supplier would want me to post who/where he is so I will not post it on this thread. I will say he lives local to me and hint hint aquabid. Im sure you can find him. 




dubels said:


> Congrats on the cardinals. Did you get them locally? They are the next shrimp I want to try out after my TB experiment. Your tanks are making me think I can have just one more tank for the cardinals in my house. But 7 might be my limit.
> 
> I am hoping by mainly feeding my puffers snails I won't have to trim the South American puffers teeth. But we shall see. Both puffers just massacred all the snails (10+) in their tank when I placed an algae wafer in for the snails. I guess they took advantage of the snails all being in one place.
> 
> Anyways amazing tanks, can't wait to watch the cardinals breed for you.



Thanks, yea Im soooo happy my gf got me these as an early birthday present they are awesome! And yea just like me I keep saying I have enough tanks but somehow end up getting a few more....just bought a doaqua mini m and plan on getting another matching 10 gallon rimless tank next week haha. GL with the south american puffer and post some pics/vids!!! I want to see them! Lastly yea I did buy them locally.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Sneak peek at a new tank I got, Doaqua Mini M. 


I have plans to buy another matching 10 gallon curved corner tank as the riparium set up sometime this weekend also!

Lastly almost 48h and I believe most of the cardinals are healthy and doing great. They hide every well so I cant always find all of em lol


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Curious does anyone have any recomendation for the Mini M? Its 14" across and I see most people use a 16" Finnex. Was wondering if thier was something else in the LED department.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Worked on the scape for the Mini M a bit, heres what I have so far. I might add a bit more rocks. What do you guys think?


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Had a bit of a scare this morning. Was looking at the cardinal shrimp tank to make sure everything was ok and saw something that looked like a dead cardinal....turned out one of the cardinals had molted and it was just the exockeleton lol Ill take it as a good sign that they molted successfully and are growing though.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Short vid I was able to take of the Cardinal Shrimp for once as they are usually hiding. Its a crappy iphone vid sorry


----------



## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

MAN, you have a lot going on with tanks!


----------



## water-kitties (Mar 19, 2013)

I use the Finnex fugeray-R on my similar sized tank. I don't think it's quite medium lighting though so it depends what you want to grow. It looks quite nice though.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

parrottbay said:


> MAN, you have a lot going on with tanks!


Yea I got bit by the bug pretty bad. 



water-kitties said:


> I use the Finnex fugeray-R on my similar sized tank. I don't think it's quite medium lighting though so it depends what you want to grow. It looks quite nice though.


Yea after doing some thinking I will be getting a 16" fugeray. Hope the little overhang wont bother me too much...


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Heres a kinda fuzzy photo of the cardinal shrimps again, im really loving these guys and am so happy theirs been no deaths so for I believe. 



Also these tanks will probably get torn down sometime soon in the next week/months...



They will get replaced by these tanks!




And the 6 gallon tank that will get torn down will be rescaped with a layout similar to this hopefully!


Thoughts/suggestions?


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Heres a few pics of some of some goodies I just got for free from a very generous person, its going to take a while before I have time to fix/clean the tank and even more time before I tear down my 55 and start with this one. Will also have to find/build a stand for the tank. In addition to all this also got inline heater, Cal Aqua glass outflow lily pip with inline co2, tons of ferts/fish food and a few other random goodies. 



First ADA tank ive ever had, would never actually spend the money to buy one so im happy to get this one.


Aquatop filter with UV light! Cant wait to put this to use.



4 tube fluorescent light with integrated timer, was also modded with fans to keep it running cooler!



Lastly once I get my co2 regulator package I will be tearing down two of my tanks and putting up two others so expect a large update soon hopefully!


----------



## water-kitties (Mar 19, 2013)

Nice haul! Your new layout plans look great too. Shame you are tearing down the mossy one with cherry shrimp though, the carpet is very pretty with the bright red shrimp.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

water-kitties said:


> Nice haul! Your new layout plans look great too. Shame you are tearing down the mossy one with cherry shrimp though, the carpet is very pretty with the bright red shrimp.


Thanks! Yea I was getting tired of fighting cladophora in that tank....pictures dont show how good that tank looks though, especially when the fissiden tree is filled in. 

Also heres a pic I took of the outflow pipe, and inline co2 diffuser from cal aqua labs, I didn not know how expensive it was for both ($85+$150) until I looked into buying an inflow pipe today! Holy cow do I feel lucky to get these and everything else but now its gunna bug me that I cant justify buying the matching inflow pipe but will probably get a cheap ebay one when I set up the tank...

(needs a good cleaning, when I got it, it had a ton of calcium buildup but a soak in some vinegar and it all scrubbed off)


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Hehe was very busy today, basically been working on tearing down 3 tanks and setting up 3 tanks all in a day is a pain...on top of that setting up my new co2 reg and moving the hundreds of cherry shrimp. Didnt know I had that many, couldnt move em all so kinda feel like a murderer..oh well

Heres a teaser of the new tank rack! still need to scape the tank a little bit more/wait to waterlog the driftwood. Will take closeups tmr if I have time!


----------



## kyutums (Jan 14, 2014)

Awesome awesome setup! What are sizes of those tanks? The bottom left one seems small, but is nicely planted.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## ctaylor3737 (Nov 14, 2013)

I am about to get my Cardinals next week! I am sooo excited! I been looking for these guys for a few months. My water is soft here and the PH is lower than it needs, so I am doing RO and remineralizing with Salty Shrimp.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

ctaylor3737 said:


> I am about to get my Cardinals next week! I am sooo excited! I been looking for these guys for a few months. My water is soft here and the PH is lower than it needs, so I am doing RO and remineralizing with Salty Shrimp.


Youll love them, I was lucky enought to have extremely hard/high ph water so dont have to deal with remineralizing. They are very shy shrimp though unless you have a huge population. Still waiting on mine to start breeding 



kyutums said:


> Awesome awesome setup! What are sizes of those tanks? The bottom left one seems small, but is nicely planted.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


The bottom left one is a 1.5 gallon tank. Im actually already thinking of replacing the bottom two tanks with a 12g long....lol but probably wont for a while as I just bought 2 new tanks and need to save up money.


----------



## izabella87 (Apr 21, 2012)

all ur tanks are amazin ! I just bought the same rack at home depot. Did u have to replace the original planks? I changed them for plywood to hold 40gallon tanks cuz didnt thrust the original pieces of "wood" lol.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

izabella87 said:


> all ur tanks are amazin ! I just bought the same rack at home depot. Did u have to replace the original planks? I changed them for plywood to hold 40gallon tanks cuz didnt thrust the original pieces of "wood" lol.


Thanks! Means a lot coming from you as ive been following your journal for a while. And yes I did have to replace the particle board. I did not at first and there was definitely some bowing going on with the wood a the water in the tank was always uneven. As I tore down the 3 tanks I also replaced the particle board with plywood, when I looked at the particle board it was completely warped...I was lucky it never broke on me!


----------



## izabella87 (Apr 21, 2012)

lamiskool said:


> Thanks! Means a lot coming from you as ive been following your journal for a while. And yes I did have to replace the particle board. I did not at first and there was definitely some bowing going on with the wood a the water in the tank was always uneven. As I tore down the 3 tanks I also replaced the particle board with plywood, when I looked at the particle board it was completely warped...I was lucky it never broke on me!


thank you so much !!!
yeah if figured these board were no good best thing is to do the sitting test... if it carries ur weight, prolly okay for a tank... if u end up on the floor.. get plywood lol


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

izabella87 said:


> thank you so much !!!
> yeah if figured these board were no good best thing is to do the sitting test... if it carries ur weight, prolly okay for a tank... if u end up on the floor.. get plywood lol


 
Haha never thought of doing that, the bottom boards I actually havnt replaced yet as I havnt updated/moved any of the tanks on the bottem shelf since I set it up but I figured since its so close to the floor it should be fine. 

Wasnt able to take close up shots of the tank yesterday as I spent all day doing water changes/scaping the new tanks. Theres still one more tank to scape as im still waiting on the driftwood in the top left to get waterlogged :icon_evil Its too big for me to completly fit into a pot and boil so ive been boiling parts of it and its been in water for the past 2-3 weeks and still is floating...

Anyways heres a picture of my co2 regulator that I built, using a generic milwaukee regulator and attaching the 6 outlet manifold onto. Works suprisingly well and not inconsistant at all as people keep saying it is. Monitored using a drop checker in all my tanks and all were green the past two days. 



(testing to see if it worked before putting diffusers into the tanks)


Also random iphone shot of my Amazon sword from my 55g blooming!


----------



## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

What's the distance u run the various co2 diffusers? Curious as I have 3 tanks I'd like to run co2 to. But my regulator currently is next to one tank and the other 2 are maybe 8' away


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

tattooedfool83 said:


> What's the distance u run the various co2 diffusers? Curious as I have 3 tanks I'd like to run co2 to. But my regulator currently is next to one tank and the other 2 are maybe 8' away


I believe its not too far only about 48" from the farthest tank. If u look at the photo of the two racks, u can see the regulator in the far right, each self is 36". I used pressure resistant tubing so that probably helps. (was a pain in the butt pushing the tubing into everything, its very rigid/hard)


----------



## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

Yeah I had to look back at the rack, amazing tanks by the way. But yeah 36" shelves and the diffuser is on the closest glass to the tank?


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

tattooedfool83 said:


> Yeah I had to look back at the rack, amazing tanks by the way. But yeah 36" shelves and the diffuser is on the closest glass to the tank?


Yep exactly. 

Heres a few photos I took of some of the newer tanks late last night . Still want to take a photo of all my tanks too keep as a record. 

Heres the first new tank, the main driftwood is still missing as im still trying to water log it. This isnt really a scape, more of what I had laying around and just threw together. Still like it though. Theres Cherry Shrimp, Rasbora Espie and and CPD. 



Second new tank, still need to add philippines java ferns to the space between the rock and driftwood. Might also add some A.Reineckii to the back left of the tank. 



Third new tank. I really like this one. Still need to figure out if I want to add anymore plants to this tank. I will probably add some mini pellia between the cracks of the rocks when I grow out more.


----------



## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

The tanks look awesome man


----------



## Crazy4discus (Jan 30, 2014)

Nice setups!


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Crazy4discus said:


> Nice setups!





tattooedfool83 said:


> The tanks look awesome man


 
Thanks! Wonder how long ill like this set-up and have an itch to change it up again lol...looking back to the first page to this one the rack has changed a lot. Allready tempted to replace the bottem left two tanks with a 12g long...Probably wont for a while though as I want to fix up the 20 gallon first.


----------



## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

Where did you get the large smooth rounded rocks in you riparium on the rack?
Btw love your tanks awesome variety of scapes!


----------



## kwheeler91 (May 26, 2009)

Nice rack! Must have some time on your hands. Is that a scarlet badis I see?


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

AquaAurora said:


> Where did you get the large smooth rounded rocks in you riparium on the rack?
> Btw love your tanks awesome variety of scapes!


Thanks and you could probably find it at any rockyard. Just your typical river rocks.



kwheeler91 said:


> Nice rack! Must have some time on your hands. Is that a scarlet badis I see?


Haha I wish. Barely have time during the weekdays to feed the fish and yes that s baddi! My second favorite fish, only beat out by my dwarf puffer


----------



## boxboy (Jun 1, 2013)

izabella87 said:


> all ur tanks are amazin ! I just bought the same rack at home depot. Did u have to replace the original planks? I changed them for plywood to hold 40gallon tanks cuz didnt thrust the original pieces of "wood" lol.


Excatly what I did with the same rack. Used 3/8" plywood and yoga mate type foam.
Then "skinned" the rack with thin plywood as to make a cabinet.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Not exactly a "tank" but just something else that I think is just as awesome!


----------



## ctaylor3737 (Nov 14, 2013)

lamiskool said:


> its literally a plastic box I found somewhere (dont remember, it was probably just laying around somewhere) The fissidens are attached to rocks that sit atop the box. Im going to cut the sides of the box so that the rocks will sit at the bottom panel so it will be harder to see the box.
> 
> 
> 
> Will do! Hopefully I dont get too lazy this weekend



How's your Cardinals? Mine are coming next week. Do you have fissiden join their tank? 

-Chris


----------



## ctaylor3737 (Nov 14, 2013)

Were did your discus go?


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

ctaylor3737 said:


> Were did your discus go?


Discus??? Ive never had discus? Are you talking about the Angels? They are still in my 55g...was planning on taking pictures of that tank/fish sometime soon.



ctaylor3737 said:


> How's your Cardinals? Mine are coming next week. Do you have fissiden join their tank?
> 
> -Chris


Thanks, the cardinals are fine and no fissidens are not in that tank, I ended up tearing down the tank with fissidens and giving it away. Im just experimenting to see what I can feed them at the moment. Curious what are you planning on feeding yours?


----------



## ctaylor3737 (Nov 14, 2013)

I have a few different foods. Some of low keys, frenzy, growth and a few others. He's had them on cuisine and some veggies. Haven't settled exactly want to see how they react with different kinds.

-Chris


----------



## ctaylor3737 (Nov 14, 2013)

I thought I saw discus in your pics. Maybe another thread I was looking at. Can't wait to get my cardinals

-Chris


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

ctaylor3737 said:


> I thought I saw discus in your pics. Maybe another thread I was looking at. Can't wait to get my cardinals
> 
> -Chris


 
Yea someday ill get discus but not at this point. Maybe if I decide to give away by odessa barbs, denison barbs and my rainbow shark dies then maybe id have room for some as long as they get along with the angels. Dont want to give away the rainbow shark as it was my first fish and is really really old and I love the angels but am afraid they would harrass the discus. 

Mini update, saw the cardinals swimming around the tank last night kinda like other shrimps when females are ready to have babies so im hoping to see/find a berried female sometime soon...fingers crossed.


----------



## ctaylor3737 (Nov 14, 2013)

I just got my, cardinals got 23! Tiny babies. Hope they do I have a berried,one I'm hoping she has them and didn't lose them to shipment

-Chris


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Was finally able to take some photos of my cardinals! 



Great picture of one of my cherries


Also found a lot of baby tiger shrimp in the new tank that I moved them into, fuzzy pic of em. They are tiny


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

New equipment update! 

Cant believe I already went out and bought a new tank when I just got so many new ones but just had to have a 12g in my collection also...lol SFBAAPS member who I bought it from gave me the lights for free  will probably be using it until I save up more money to buy an led fixture.


Need to wipie it down (those arent scratches but dried dirt I believe)


Took advantage of the petsmart giftcard my gfs mom gave me for my birthday and petsmart sale that is going on right now on stands and got a new stand for my ADA 120P!!! Still probably wont be setting it up anytime soon though as I need to tear down/sell my 55g. Im leaning towards wanting until the next time I move as my lease at my apartment is almost up and its pretty much up to the gf/rent if we move or stay. 


Lastly a 20lb CO2 tank! With the 6 manifold CO2 regulator my 5lb probably ownt last too long and I hate having to refill em.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Some pics I was able to take of my tanks after some maintanance/waterchange yesterday 

Hanvt taken a pic of the 55 in a while...I dont really do much to it besides weekly waterchanges but yea looking at the tank/pic it needs a good cleaning. Its a great low maintanence tank though, havnt had to prune/clean the tank since I set it up a few months ago besides the waterchanges.


Really love the Angels in here.


Heres the tank that I threw together with the extra driftwood/equipment/plants I had laying around. I think it turned out pretty good even though I didnt put much thought into it.


This tanks maturing nicely, Im hopping the hygrophila pinnatifida in the back grows a bit taller and fills in the back more though as I like the look of the plants but they are too low to see at the moment. 


Heres whats left of the 20gallon, plants are still recovering after a long battle with hair algae that I can happily say is now defeated. Added more CO2, flow and dimmed the lights a bit and havnt seen any of the algae come back. Will eventually recape this tank and turn it into a better dutch themed tank. 


No matter how I adjust the lighting on this tank the pictures always turn out super "yellow?" Thinking of changing the background to the blue side maybe. The DHG really took off in this tank, and the Tiger shrimp love thier bigger tank and I allready count a lot of new juvies. 


This tanks also real easy to maintain as I actually dont do anything either with this tank other then to do weekly waterchanges. Not looking forward to when I have to trim the plants in there as I can allready tell it will get messy/I might have to rescape it.


Lastly found a few black and white shrimp/bumblebee shrimp in the tank that they were in when I was doind water changes. Really didnt think I would find any as they havnt breed for me in the many months I had em.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

rescaped my riparium setup...not sure if the plants will actually survive in a riparium setup so fingers crossed lol


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Tore down this tank because I just bought a piece of beautiful driftwood that I couldnt resist using in a scape and it was the easiest tank to tear down at the moment. 

This tank now looks like


....



I will be using fissidens to make the "tree" look and will either fill in the remaining lawn with more DHG or Lilaeopsis nova mini. Its still a bit cloudy as I literally just filled the tank about an hour ago.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Finished planting this tank last night and water cleared up a lot. Really loving this driftwood. Allready bought some fissidens from h4n to attach to the driftwood to create a tree look, but now im kinda regreting it and wish I had gone with some weeping moss instead. Oh well the last time I made a fissiden tree it turned out great so im not too worried


And also an update on the 12g long!!! The scapes all done, used the ug from the 1.5 gallon that I tore down and will plant the rest of the spaces with all the downoi from my 2.5 gallon. I usually dont do dry starts but I decided on doing it with this tank as I dont have a place to put it filled until the 1.5g and 2.5 gallon fish tank sells.


----------



## jhays79 (Mar 28, 2012)

That driftwood is so menacing looking! In a good way!


----------



## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

I wanted to ask if each of your tanks has its own/separate filtration? I'm thinking of meddling in hooking up 2 tanks to an eheim 2211 and looking for members with big MTS (or at least put a 'small' collection of tanks close together) to see if they've done something simular.


----------



## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

Wow you got some great tanks and scaping skills to!


----------



## ctaylor3737 (Nov 14, 2013)

Where did you,come across that drift,wood? 

-Chris


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Thanks for the compliments everyone 



AquaAurora said:


> I wanted to ask if each of your tanks has its own/separate filtration? I'm thinking of meddling in hooking up 2 tanks to an eheim 2211 and looking for members with big MTS (or at least put a 'small' collection of tanks close together) to see if they've done something simular.


All these tanks have thier own separate canister filters. I would think a 2211 would be to small anyways to filter 2 tanks??? I ran a 2211 on one of my 6 gallons for a while. I dont want to have to deal with hooking up multiple tanks to each other as I constantly move/rescape my tanks and also if say some algae or sickness hits one tank it is contained in that one tank.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

ctaylor3737 said:


> Where did you,come across that drift,wood?
> 
> -Chris


 
Someone posted it on the sale section. He was very friendly and sent me a few pics over the phone before I bought it. He said he got it from asia. Im very happy I bought it.


----------



## ctaylor3737 (Nov 14, 2013)

Yea I have been scouring the river banks looking for one like this, always see them on here but never seem to find them for sale

-Chris


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

ctaylor3737 said:


> Yea I have been scouring the river banks looking for one like this, always see them on here but never seem to find them for sale
> 
> -Chris


Huh ive never seen dw looking like this when I go hiking/looking for aquascaping material. Kinda reminds me of a bonsai tree.


----------



## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

I like that 12g long.


----------



## revspeed (Jul 7, 2013)

Tank looking good bud.





lamiskool said:


> Finished planting this tank last night and water cleared up a lot. Really loving this driftwood. Allready bought some fissidens from h4n to attach to the driftwood to create a tree look, but now im kinda regreting it and wish I had gone with some weeping moss instead. Oh well the last time I made a fissiden tree it turned out great so im not too worried
> 
> 
> And also an update on the 12g long!!! The scapes all done, used the ug from the 1.5 gallon that I tore down and will plant the rest of the spaces with all the downoi from my 2.5 gallon. I usually dont do dry starts but I decided on doing it with this tank as I dont have a place to put it filled until the 1.5g and 2.5 gallon fish tank sells.


----------



## johnson18 (Apr 29, 2011)

Wow! Your tanks are looking good! That piece of driftwood is amazing! I've seen several nice similar pieces that have all been brought back from folks personal travels in Asia.

What is the riparium plant on the left side?


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

johnson18 said:


> Wow! Your tanks are looking good! That piece of driftwood is amazing! I've seen several nice similar pieces that have all been brought back from folks personal travels in Asia.
> 
> What is the riparium plant on the left side?


Thanks, and im actually not sure. I actually just grabbed it while I was at petco and it said keep roots moist so im hoping its fine in a riparium setup. The label didnt have the name of the plant though I think so im not sure...sorry





revspeed said:


> Tank looking good bud.


Thanks and thanks again for the dw!!! Its freaking awesome!


----------



## Asu1776 (Mar 5, 2013)

Did you ever end up using that manza branch?


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Asu1776 said:


> Did you ever end up using that manza branch?


not yet, I was going to use it in the 10gallon but decided to go with the other huge dw. Im trying to decide if I want to tear down my 20g and rescape it. If I do go through with it, I will be using it in there


----------



## Asu1776 (Mar 5, 2013)

Looking forward to see it in action. BTW, that driftwood tree is going to look AWESOME.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Update time! 

Really loving this tree! Fissidens have been attached and are growing great, really love it, it actually looks like they are sprouting from the wood.



This tank is maturing beautifully and all the plants are doing great, very happy about it.


Riparium plants looks like they are doing great and are growing. 



Some of the UG that I put in this tank is melting but I think its because I had dipped them in too strong of a copper solution to kill snails before I put it into the tank...hope most of it will survive and bounce back though. Also moved over my black/white shrimp (bumblebee shrimp) into the tank. Did not realize how many babies I had! They are all doing well and transitioned ok. Females are also still berried so that a good sign I think.


This 20g will probably get rescaped soon but right now im just to busy/lazy to rescape another tank...I was leaning towards a dutch scape but do not think the tanks "deep" enough to create a dutch scape that I would like. Now im thinking either a true iwagumi scape or a rocky mountain scape. What do you guys think?


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Had some free time today so took some photos of my fish/shrimp!


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Been a looong time since ive updated, hanvt really had time to care for all of my tanks lately to be honest....Im actually surprised how well most of the tanks are doing without any care besides feeding the fish. All my tanks need a good trim/I need to start dosing ferts again as im starting to see bad deficiency in a few of the tanks and I need to clean my filters soon....so much work. Heres two photos of my favorite tanks at the moment!


----------



## RWaters (Nov 12, 2003)

They look great!


----------



## Asu1776 (Mar 5, 2013)

Awesome growth since the last update. What fish is this?


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Asu1776 said:


> Awesome growth since the last update. What fish is this?


Thanks and they are Boraras brigittae “Chili Rasbora”


----------



## gnikwoc (Jan 9, 2014)

That tree is looking better and better. Really cool.


----------



## Duck5003 (Oct 1, 2012)

The tanks look great! Those trees are so cool.

Love the shots of the livestock as well!!


----------



## DvanK (Feb 27, 2009)

lamiskool said:


>


Wow very impressive job. I'm totally digging it. May I suggest a background of some sort for more spanking appeal.


----------



## ctaylor3737 (Nov 14, 2013)

Tinanti said:


> It's _L. inclinata_ var. _verticillata_ from Cuba. This plant is a cultivar selected from that. So, it's better to use cv. Var. is used for _botanically recognized_ and published names.


Tree looks awesome, mines coming along great to! I'll have to take a picture so you can check it out. 

-Chris


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

ctaylor3737 said:


> Tree looks awesome, mines coming along great to! I'll have to take a picture so you can check it out.
> 
> -Chris


 Id love to see it! Havnt been able to surf the forums much as im too busy now adays, how are your cardinals doing?



DvanK said:


> Wow very impressive job. I'm totally digging it. May I suggest a background of some sort for more spanking appeal.


 
There is actually a clear crystal film in the back or else youd also be able to see all the tubes and equipment in the back, ive always been to lazy to take the equipment out of the tanks before taking pics so the inlet/outlet tubes are still visible in the tank. The crystal film background looks real nice if I put a light in the back as it disperses it well and give a beautiful sunset/sunrise effect.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Been a while since an update, finally trimmed my tanks and sold some cuttings! lol heres an update of a few of the tanks.

This tanks still one of my favorite even with the algea you see, took this photo after I nuked the tank with some excell to kill off the algea. 



I had not trimmed the moss in this tank in months and the moss pretty much completely covered the tank for months and I finally decided to clean things up and everythings recovering nicely!



Need to clean the glass on this tank a little, I actaually havnt touched this tank since I set it up besides water changes and its been easy as hell to take care of so im glad.



Riparium plants are doing great, will probably need to trimm them soon...


----------



## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

Even with the hair algae of doom your first tank looks beautiful! Love the filled in moss tree and grassy carpet.
What are the plants you have in the riparium? Do you plan to add more? Also what fish (if any) do you have below it? I think I can see something down in that dark tank.. looks like a hatchet fish, silver dollar, or piranha .. or that could just be a light colored rock.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

AquaAurora said:


> Even with the hair algae of doom your first tank looks beautiful! Love the filled in moss tree and grassy carpet.
> What are the plants you have in the riparium? Do you plan to add more? Also what fish (if any) do you have below it? I think I can see something down in that dark tank.. looks like a hatchet fish, silver dollar, or piranha .. or that could just be a light colored rock.


 
Thanks, hoping that the algea wont return after I nuked it lol if it does ill do the hydrogen peroxide/excell method next. Funny that you should mention fish in the riparium tank and piranha, I wanted to give it that looke but of course tanks to small for piranha, I stuck in a few black skirt tetras instead. Used to have some corys in there too but I gave them away yesterday, might also give away the black skirt tetras as well and replace em with some tiger shrimp as I dont have much time nowadays to feed all the fish in all my fishtanks lol


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Been a LOOONG time since I actually spent time to clean/trim/recape ALL of my tanks lol. Im glad I did as I actually made a lot more money then I expected selling off trimings and now my tanks are finally "good" looking lol Enjoy the runoff of all my tanks!

First off heres a current photo of the self rack as it stands today!


Next is the tank that has been neglected the most. Since I last recaped it MONTHS ago, I just let it run and never trimmed any of the plants in it. It ended up getting completely filled with S.Repens, I mean they literally completely filled the tank. This is kinda my, throw in my left over tank so I just use plants that I have extra laying around and same goes for hardscape. Kinda wanted to go with a rock hardscape but was to lazy to go out and get any and I had some nice pieces of dw laying around. 



Heres a photo of my riparium setup, a lot of pple have asked me how the tank looks so I tried to take a photo of it but its kinda dark so hard to get a good pic of it. If you look in the beginning of this thread you can see a photo of the tank before it was filled and the layout hasnt changed since. I just added some amazon swords that I had from my 55g and put them in here. Not sure if they will grow in the low light lol





This tank looks awesome in person I promise, Im just not that great at taking photo lol Just recently trimmed/cleaned it and plants are starting to fill in again



Side View



Moss in this tank is starting to recomer from me nuking it :icon_lol:



Didnt realize how much the mini pellia in this tank grew until I looked at older pics of this tank. 



This tank also looks much better in person, hard to take a good photo of it as its so dark in the back



This is my 20g grow out tank that I throw all my extra clippings in. It actaully looks much better then I thought it would as I didnt put much thought into it. 



This tank was filled with downoi but I just recently sold off almost all of em. Time to go and get more and wait for em to grow out :biggrin:



This was also another really neglected tank, finally decided to clean it and also remove the huge amazon sword that was in it and give it away as it now gives a lot more swimming room for the fish!



Good pic of my chili rasbora that I got



Heres 3 pics of my two favorite fish!

Scarlet Badi


Dwarf Puffer




Found a Red tiger shrimp in my tiger shrimp colony, hoping I find more and cant start a colony going!




Heres a pic pic of my GBR couldnt get a food pic of him flaring and turning his scales blue


----------



## umarnasir335 (Mar 2, 2014)

Such an amazing collection of tanks! I love the 20 Long's jungly look and the mini-pelia tree tank.


----------



## Dantrasy (Sep 9, 2013)

Your scapes match their inhabitants very well. It's so hard to pic a favourite.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

umarnasir335 said:


> Such an amazing collection of tanks! I love the 20 Long's jungly look and the mini-pelia tree tank.


Thanks, idk why pple like the 20L but for some reason I get the most commenta about it, I kinda think its too mesy and the pics I take of it are horrible. It actually looks awesome when you look at it from the top down and can see all the stems but the way I have the rack situated I cant really take a good picture of that angle.


Also fyi theres one of the cubed tanks that I didnt take a close up of but its literally just sand and seiryu stone and hoses my cardinal shrimps. I couldnt fet any good pics of em as they are shy as hell but ill try to sometime this week to get some pics of em as they are my fav looking shrimp


----------



## usgetata (Dec 28, 2012)

Nice update man


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Finally was able to take a decent photo of a cardinal shrimp in the cardinal shrimp tank. These guys are hard as hell to take a photo of as they are extremely shy and any movement and they scatter and hide, also because I have a crappy camera and am using an add on lens to take the macro shot which makes it even harder!


----------



## Dantrasy (Sep 9, 2013)

Wow, what a great looking shrimp. Nice work.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

snapped a few more photos of some of my shrimp after doing water changes yesterday!

Good ol cherry shrimp, I had put my PFR colony into a tank with rasboras and the population slowly got less and less red as im sure the bright red ones got picked off first, but now they are once again in a tank by themselves and im hoping after a few generations ill be able to get them back to their PFR color



Heres some not so great pics of my Black bee shrimps, I really like em as they dont require low ph as other shrimp so I can keep em in my local tap water. They remind me of low grade cbs.





Again not so great photo of my cardinal shrimp, I had to sit in front of my tank for about 30 minutes with the camera pointed at them and wait for them to come out of hiding, any sudden movement and they would scatter and hide again lol


----------



## The Dude (Feb 8, 2011)

Spectacular tanks. Every scape is amazing and different.


----------



## DayOlder (Jul 12, 2014)

WOW I've only got a couple of tanks and they seem to take all the time and money I have. I love all the different universes you have created. Beautiful!


----------



## Tyrone (Nov 22, 2013)

I admire your set ups, well scaped! Wish I had the time for that many tanks.

Can you share you experience with your Dwarf Puffer. Such as it's habitat, water parameters, feeding, and compatibility (species only or community?) etc. Thanks in advance.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Thanks everyone for the comments, its actually does not take to much time to manage all the tanks, I set almost all of them up so that they require little to no maintenance besides the dosing of ferts, feeding the fish and water cahnges every week. I recently gave away a lot of my fish and replaced them with shrimp as again they require even less maintenance, I have only kept my favorites!


Its currently housed in a 5 gallon cubed by itself, I have kept it with other fish and my puffer leaves other fishes alone. I feed my dp live blackworms one by one from a tweezer, she also accepts frozen food such as bloodworms also. Water params (havnt tested in a while, its a hardy fish and this particular one has lived in many tanks but its current params are) Temp:78-80ish, pH 7.8ish, KH~7 GH~9. Its definitely my favorite fish and id recommend getting one!


----------



## Tyrone (Nov 22, 2013)

Thanks for the info! 

What breed of Tiger shrimp do you have, are they Super or regular? I'm definitely interested in some Red Tigers, if you do get a colony going!

Cheers!


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Tyrone said:


> Thanks for the info!
> 
> What breed of Tiger shrimp do you have, are they Super or regular? I'm definitely interested in some Red Tigers, if you do get a colony going!
> 
> Cheers!


They were sold to me as super tiger but I honestly cant tell the difference. I just bought a few red tiger shrimp so hopefully they do well and multiply


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Heres some more pics I took after waterchange day 

Heres a pic of my 55, finally got rid of the HUGE amazon sword on the right. Definitely need to clean the glass on this tank. 



This tanks chugging along nicely! Moved my bumblebee shrimp into this tank and rehomed the scarlett badi into another tank in preparation of getting some red tiger shrimp 



Heres a pic of the bumblebee shrimp, some are much more solid in color and look just like CBS, awesome shrimp. 



Moss is recovering from me nuking it with excell, dont know why the tank does not look yellow at all in person, more blueish with the finnex fugeray but just this tank looks yellow in photos...weird.



Found an extra led strip and attached it to the underside of the glass cover on this tank and now you can finally see what is in the tank! lol It used to house some pepperd corys and some black skirt tetras but I gave those away and this is now my tank for tiger shrimp. Also Ihave to trim the roots now that you can see into the tank lol.



Heres another crappy pic of my cardinal shrimp, again they are very hard to take photos of as they are sooo shy and any movement and they go into hiding. I also cant seem to get a photo of the really nice ones with a blueish tint where the white dots are and are a little bit deeper red. 



Lastly, heres a few pics of some new tiger shrimp that I got, personally dont think they looked as nice as my old stock of tiger shrimp but meh they were extrememly cheap so I couldnt help myself.


----------



## Lucubration (Jun 20, 2013)

Them fissidens... geeze, I'm jealous! Probably gonna take years for the few patches I have to grow in like that in my low tech tanks.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Lucubration said:


> Them fissidens... geeze, I'm jealous! Probably gonna take years for the few patches I have to grow in like that in my low tech tanks.


Shouldnt take too long to grow out, in my opinion it grows just as fast as most fast growing moss, if ya want a slow grower mini pellia is a slow growing moss. It does grow much better in a co2 injected tank also, and doesnt need much light. Im only using a finnex fugeray on that tank.


----------



## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

Be careful trimming those riparium roots, may have shrimp in there ^^ Love the divide from big stone and little stone using plants. Also still can't get over your fissidens tree! How long did that take to grow/how much fissidens did you start with?
Your shrimp and scapes are lovely (and fish)


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

AquaAurora said:


> Be careful trimming those riparium roots, may have shrimp in there ^^ Love the divide from big stone and little stone using plants. Also still can't get over your fissidens tree! How long did that take to grow/how much fissidens did you start with?
> Your shrimp and scapes are lovely (and fish)


ha, yea just trimmed the roots yesterday night, made sure to shake em to make sure no babies were clinging on. Also already found a berried tiger shrimp in the tank and I just put them in a few days ago! Funny that you like the divide, those were baby shoots from the amazon sword that was in my 55 gallon that I had no where else to put so just dumped it in that tank. Lastly it didnt take to long, probably a month-month and a half. I had bought either two or three portions from h4n but ended up only using one portion and giving the rest away lol. I find it best/easiest to superglue them to the wood and they grow great that way. They also grow much better the more you trim them. Without triming them they get really long a stingy like but after you trim them they become much more compact and grow in uniform.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Heres a few animal pics I took after waterchanges 

Scarlett Badi aka Mr.Grumps!


Finally found a local source for these guys! Rabbit Snails/Sulawesi Giant Snails! I definitely recommend these guys for anyone who keeps cardinal shrimp if the shrimp are shy, after I put these snails in the tank the shrimp started going out in the open a LOT more.




Finally a ok pic of the cardinal shrimp! They hide a bit less now I think because of the snails so its a bit easier to get a good shot.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Heres the latest incarnation of this tank. This is the one that has gotten the most rescapes as it has been my "throw away all my extra stuff in tank" so I finally went out and got some stones and made an attempt to make a scape which I wont want to tear down in a few weeks lol Plants though are still what has pretty much always been in the tank....may add some new ones latter. Also looking at it, I really need to start investing in some glass lilly pipes lol


----------



## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

I knew I saw them on here! I found some angels like yours today (sadly only 2, the others were yellow or "smokey"). I was curious how you keep so many (i see 4 in your most recent photo of them) in a 55 without any pairing off and causing space issues? I'd love to get a 'school' of angles if I could avoid the breeding issue.. if only they could be neutered like the fluffy pets...
Btw look forward to seeing the rescape grow in, hope it turns out how you want this time ^^


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

AquaAurora said:


> I knew I saw them on here! I found some angels like yours today (sadly only 2, the others were yellow or "smokey"). I was curious how you keep so many (i see 4 in your most recent photo of them) in a 55 without any pairing off and causing space issues? I'd love to get a 'school' of angles if I could avoid the breeding issue.. if only they could be neutered like the fluffy pets...
> Btw look forward to seeing the rescape grow in, hope it turns out how you want this time ^^


I have a ton of filtration for that tank, I feed them a LOT (4 cubes of bloodworms just for them) and leave a lot of swimming space for em. They have been together since even before I bought them and there are actually 5 of em. I know there are at least one pair in the lot as they have spawned once already but they look all the same to me so not sure which ones are the pair lol. Sometimes there are a group of 2 and a group of 3 but and out of all 5 theres only two that ever flare at each others. They fought a little when I first added them to the tank but now they dont really fight besides sometimes during feeding.


----------



## ikuzo (Jul 11, 2006)

nice tanks, really
i like the last rescaped one with anubias. i think it will look great when its full


----------



## dru (Mar 9, 2013)

How has the shelving unit held up over time?


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

dru said:


> How has the shelving unit held up over time?


Suprisingly well, I of course replaced the particle board with plywood. Its been up for a little over a year now and its still standing so I cant complain. Onlybthing I wish was I had more space as the tanks on the lowest self are a pain to maintain an my back always hurts after waterchange/trimming day. If I had more space for half of a rack I wouldnt keep tanks at the very bottem and it would only be my filters down there.


----------



## KevinEdgar (Jun 5, 2014)

Very nice setup. Makes me tempted to start a collection like yours. Maybe once I own my own place rather than renting a house. I'd like to see your setup in person one day as I am in Fremont sometimes on the weekends.


----------



## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

Is your moss tree hair algae free and all recovered now? Do you sell trimmings from the moss (if you trim it)?


----------



## pandacory (Apr 18, 2011)

Hi,

Your 55 is pretty much exactly what I hope to achieve. I got lazy scanning through all the pages so decided to see if you are willing to give me some details:

Substrate?
CO2?
Ferts?
Lighting?

Any problems with 5 angels? seems like everyone says once a pair forms, the rest must leave the tank.

Thanks for your help!


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

AquaAurora said:


> Is your moss tree hair algae free and all recovered now? Do you sell trimmings from the moss (if you trim it)?


Yep its finally algae free, or I think it is, havnt seen it come back after the treatment. I just trimmed it last weekends though. Next time I have some trimmings ill pm ya (might be a while though as im pretty lazy about trimming it)!



pandacory said:


> Hi,
> 
> Your 55 is pretty much exactly what I hope to achieve. I got lazy scanning through all the pages so decided to see if you are willing to give me some details:
> 
> ...


Thanks, I set it up as a low tech tank on purpose as I wanted to concentrate more on all of my smaller tanks. Only thing I do with the tank is 50%-75% water change each week. I actually havnt trimmed the cryps in that tank since I set it up almost a year ago lol

Substrate? Just regular sand? Dont remember where I got it from.
CO2? None
Ferts? Mainly root tabs, every once in a while ill dose with solid ferts. 
Lighting? Current LED+

Any problems with 5 angels? Nope, I actually do have a pair in there that have spawned once, when that happened the other three just stayed on the other side of the tank, other then that time they all get along. I feed them a LOT so I think they are happy.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

dru said:


> How has the shelving unit held up over time?


Well, just a mini update of sorts, this morning in the bay area we had a 6.1 earthquake apparently (I was asleep for it lmao) but thankfully my rack/fish tanks all made it through ok! I know I should really bolt the racks to the wall but I live in an apartment at the moment and dont want to have to deal with it when I move out...


----------



## Dovaz (Aug 22, 2014)

Just began following this post, but I have to say I have fallen soooo in love with your 1.5g!!! Those rocks in the back are stunning! 

I was wondering where you might have acquired them, and if you know there specific kind. Also could you give me a lay down on what's going on in your smaller tanks? Do you have CO2, root tabs, fertilizer? 

Love every one of your tanks! Keep us posted!
-
Dovaz


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Dovaz said:


> Just began following this post, but I have to say I have fallen soooo in love with your 1.5g!!! Those rocks in the back are stunning!
> 
> I was wondering where you might have acquired them, and if you know there specific kind. Also could you give me a lay down on what's going on in your smaller tanks? Do you have CO2, root tabs, fertilizer?
> 
> ...


Thanks, i actually sold that tank as is to someone along with the other 1.5g. Sorry but i dont remember exactly where I found it was I just pick up rocks when I go on hikes and dont remember which hike it was. Also dont really know what type of rock it is. Most of my tanks have co2 and I also dose fersts but its all different depending on the need of each tank as some are high light/low light, dense/not as dense or have plants which require more nutrients then others. Same with root tabs, ill use em for certain plants that uptake a lot of nutrients from there roots or have extensive root structures. Not really helpful but yea you just have to learn the need of your plants and apply it, there isnt a one size fits all way about it with all my tanks


----------



## Dovaz (Aug 22, 2014)

Shame you sold em! Hope you got your money's worth from em!


----------



## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

I got another prod for you about the angelfish tank: lid or open top? Curious if they're jumpers... I'd love to do an angelfish tank.. but unless I order online I'm not going to find what I want to buy a group all at once around here.
And wow big water change % for the 55! Guessing you use a python or simular product and not bucket brigading. My back hurts just thinking about having the haul so many buckets to and from the tank, I do 2 10g water changes a weeks, that's too much already.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

AquaAurora said:


> I got another prod for you about the angelfish tank: lid or open top? Curious if they're jumpers... I'd love to do an angelfish tank.. but unless I order online I'm not going to find what I want to buy a group all at once around here.
> And wow big water change % for the 55! Guessing you use a python or simular product and not bucket brigading. My back hurts just thinking about having the haul so many buckets to and from the tank, I do 2 10g water changes a weeks, that's too much already.


All my tanks hve glass lids as I think as a fish keeper you want to be as responsible as possible. They are not jumpers per say but I can see one jumping out if its in a fight an losses and tries to get away. For water changes for the 55 i use a python and siphon it into my bath tub, then I hook it up to the sink faucet and fill it up. Much easier then my smaller tanks which I have to siphon into buckets and refill with buckets...


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Not exactly a fish update but just added this little guy to the family


----------



## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

What breed/mix is that? And have a name yet?


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

AquaAurora said:


> What breed/mix is that? And have a name yet?


 
Hes a pomeranian mix, what kind I have no idea because he was a rescue dog. We named him Oreo Cookie, becase he was a white line going down his chin/belly (I wanted to name him skunk but gf didnt like it lol)


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Heres my newest scape and possibly my new favorite one!! My 12 gallon long! Didnt like my old scape as it was hard to keep the sand clean and I felt like out of all my tank it was the ugliest lol Still kept the same plants that have always been in it as I dont have another tank I can keep it in (have ya all noticed with all my scapes I always just recycle my plants lol) I'll probably add some java ferns/crypts that I have into the covers/crevices but will try to keep more or less the same plants cuz its my downoi farm :wink: Also thanks Tom Barr for letting me stop by ur house and picking out the great dw! Honestly it turned out a LOT better then I imagined


(got my inspiration from this tank I found on the 12g club thread LINK)

Front view:


Topish front view:


Left Side:


Right Side:


----------



## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

You lucky s.o.b.! Getting to pick out your own wood and not pay an arm and a leg for shipping! *pouts* Nice scape btw, but i think your co2 goodies in the tank need a cleaning, looking a little green around the edges (not talking about the colored co2 gauge liquid)
On a side note: I use to love oreo cookies, but lately they really cheapened out on the flavoring so I haven't eaten any in a few years. Cute name though.. suspect the gf didn't like Skunk because "everyone will think he smells bad!"?


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

AquaAurora said:


> You lucky s.o.b.! Getting to pick out your own wood and not pay an arm and a leg for shipping! *pouts* Nice scape btw, but i think your co2 goodies in the tank need a cleaning, looking a little green around the edges (not talking about the colored co2 gauge liquid)
> On a side note: I use to love oreo cookies, but lately they really cheapened out on the flavoring so I haven't eaten any in a few years. Cute name though.. suspect the gf didn't like Skunk because "everyone will think he smells bad!"?


ha, I sprayed the co2 stuff will excell before I put it back in the tank and most of the algae has disappeared by now  and yes she didnt like the name because she didnt want everyone to think the dog was smelly. 

Small update, found a berried Red Tiger Shrimp! Im happy and hope that my population gets larger  I also found many baby cardinal shrimps im my sulawesi tank! Im so glad as this will be my first batch of babies from these shrimp. I wasnt able to get any pics as the babies only come out at night when the lights are off but I was able to get a pic of the berried Red Tiger Shrimp. Sry its a wee bit blurry.



Also to celebrate me getting a promotion/my first full time job (fyi im 23 and have been working as a contractor since I graduated) I just ordered a TON of equipment for my tanks (ss inlet/outlet pipes, ss co2 diffusers and a few sets of lily pipes) to replace most of the stuff in my current tanks so expect pics later on!


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Pretty big update, I just got offered my first full time position after college so to celebrate, I bougth a bunch of equipment and heck, why not, some new tanks as well lol I am usually not to picky about the aesthetic of equipment in the tank but hey since I was treating myself I bought some stainless stell and glass inlets/outlets for all my tanks lol I was really excited to get them and install all of em last night so only took crappy phone pics of the equipment/haul. Ill take pics with them in my tanks latter!

3x Stainless Steel Inlets/Outlets


3x Stainless Steel Diffusers 


3x Glass Inlets/Outlets


1x Glass Inlet (Someone had given me a cal aqua labs outlets, cal aqua labs glass inline CO2 diffuser and an hydor inline heater) My 55 is going to look a lot cleaner lol


5x Current LED+ (Amazon had messed up and priced these at $1 each!!!! I just grabed 5 thinking amazon would honor the price but they did!!!! Should have bought more lol)


2x Do!aqua Mini L (I decided to get the tanks after I bought the inlets/outlet pipes so now I have to order one more set lol)


Now for the exciting part! I am replacing my dutchish 20 gallon long for these two tanks as it has been the tank that has taken up most of my time as I have to trim it EVERY week so I wanted a more simple tank as I have to many tanks to manage at the moment lol Again phone pic but heres what the final scape for the two tanks look like at the moment!

This tank will be my new home for my cardinal shrimp, they have been breeding like crazy and I want to move them to a larger tank. Expect one more new scape as after I rehome the cardinals, I already have a scape in mind for their old tank lol


Heres what the second tank will look like, I am pretty happy with it and kind of pieced it together on the spot, I was only planning a simple iwagumi scape but I realized I had a lot more rock and still had some leftover dw from my new 12 gallon rescape so the scape morphed from a simple iwagumi to this lmao....


----------



## mistuhmarc (Oct 1, 2013)

Those Current Sat Plus...I want one. Darn, I wish I could've taken advantage of that haha.


----------



## mistuhmarc (Oct 1, 2013)

Congrats on the new job by the way!


----------



## vanish (Apr 21, 2014)

That's an insane steal! Also, cool tanks.


----------



## Dantrasy (Sep 9, 2013)

Wow, what luck. $1.00! 

Scapes are looking great, particularly like the second one.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Thanks for all the compliments! Heres a pic update after I installed the new equipment during the weekend!

Heres a current pic of the tank rack! Its about to change though  Read on to learn more!


This tank looks much cleaner with the SS equipment!


This tank needs a trim real soon lol


This tank filled up nicely, I am dreading having to trim/replant the DHG though...


Mr.Puffers tank!


My mini pellia/ohko tank, it annoys me that the water level isnt strait/the substrate isnt either lol


12 gallon is filling in nicely, dont know what ill plant in the corners yet though...any suggestions?



And heres where the change to the rack will come, this will be the last pic of the 20g which will be replaced by my two new doaqua mini l's! Of course the plants decide to grow perfectly and algae is no where to be seen and thats when the tank gets taken down lol


Heres one of the mini l's again this is where I am going to rehome my cardinal shrimps! So it wont really have any plants growing in it, I might put in some DHG and maybe some mini pellia


And heres the second Mini L! Still thinking of what plants to put in at the moment.


----------



## EndlerGame (Oct 19, 2013)

That's an incredible rack of nano tanks you're got going there...all the scapes look so polished!

I really like your 20 gallon tank, but I'd say making room for the scapes in the 2 new tanks is worth it. I especially am in love with that second scape, and that twisted double "bridge". You've got to keep the plants in there low, so we can still see that when it fills in. I see that you don't have any HC or Glosso carpets on your rack...I think that tank would look great with a carpet of either of those plants, or maybe both...HC in the middle, with the slightly larger glosso in the front right corner and back left, blending into the HC in the middle. If you can grow hairgrass like you do, I'd love to see you grow a carpet with one of those types of plants!


----------



## Tiptop (Apr 15, 2013)

Beautiful collection of tanks! I'm in love with the DHG+moss and Mr. Puff tanks.
For the 12gal long, maybe some long, trailing cryptocoryne in the corner?

Sent from my C6916 using Tapatalk


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Thanks for all the suggestions! They are really helpful 



EndlerGame said:


> That's an incredible rack of nano tanks you're got going there...all the scapes look so polished!
> 
> I really like your 20 gallon tank, but I'd say making room for the scapes in the 2 new tanks is worth it. I especially am in love with that second scape, and that twisted double "bridge". You've got to keep the plants in there low, so we can still see that when it fills in. I see that you don't have any HC or Glosso carpets on your rack...I think that tank would look great with a carpet of either of those plants, or maybe both...HC in the middle, with the slightly larger glosso in the front right corner and back left, blending into the HC in the middle. If you can grow hairgrass like you do, I'd love to see you grow a carpet with one of those types of plants!


Thanks and yea I actually can grow HC fairly well but I hate having to trim it so often and its a pita to upkeep as they uproot fairly easily. If I do a carpet it will most likly be DHG again as to be honest I dont ever trim it at all. Both the tanks with DHG carpets have not been trimmed since they have been set up and they have been up for about half a year now!!! I also like UG as its a little easier to upkeep/plant then HC but it still needs way more attention then DHG.

Hers a pic of one of my very first tanks that I grew HC with, not a very great tank but hey it was only my second/third one lol


----------



## ylot77 (Feb 11, 2008)

That, sir, is why LEDs are so awesome. So much light in so little space!


----------



## Tyrone (Nov 22, 2013)

Really admiring your scaping skills. I'm diggin the two new scapes as well man! The first one reminds me of one I've seen from the ADA gallery. Some tall hairgrass in the back and moss on the rocks..golden! 

By the way, where did you order your SS inlet/outlets from?


----------



## Asu1776 (Mar 5, 2013)

Very very nice fish room! Where are you in the bay area? I would come by and geek out upon seeing all your tanks! The only question I have is the level of maintenance on all those! I find I need to maintain my 11.4 gallon tank a lot! OCD habits, but still.


----------



## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

Love the mini pellia tank, dwarf puffer tank looks like it might have some bba on the crypts in the back?


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

ylot77 said:


> That, sir, is why LEDs are so awesome. So much light in so little space!


Actually I ended up getting it cuz I just thought that in the long run it would save me money! In addition I live in an apartment at the moment and it heats up fairly quick especially if I was running some another type of light. Lastly all those lights/filters/heaters are essentially running out of two outlet and I didnt want to blow a fuse lol



Tyrone said:


> Really admiring your scaping skills. I'm diggin the two new scapes as well man! The first one reminds me of one I've seen from the ADA gallery. Some tall hairgrass in the back and moss on the rocks..golden!
> 
> By the way, where did you order your SS inlet/outlets from?


Good ol ebay!



Asu1776 said:


> Very very nice fish room! Where are you in the bay area? I would come by and geek out upon seeing all your tanks! The only question I have is the level of maintenance on all those! I find I need to maintain my 11.4 gallon tank a lot! OCD habits, but still.


I live in fremont, I actually went to your apartment that one time and picked up that piece of manzy! I still have it actually lol Hoarding it at the moment as I was planning to use it for one of the 10 gallons but alas it wasnt ment to be as I couldnt get a scape I like. Your welcomed to swing by whenever ur in the area, pm me! The reason I sold the 20 gallon tank is because it was the one tank that I constantly had to trim every week. I set up/plant all my tanks in a way so that it takes up the least amount of time to maintain as possible and the only thing I have to do are water changes once a week. Besides my 5ish gallon (the heavily planted one) none of the other tanks need to be trimmed very often/at all. Most of the tanks I actually havent trimmed since I set em up!



AquaAurora said:


> Love the mini pellia tank, dwarf puffer tank looks like it might have some bba on the crypts in the back?


Nope, not bba, and I dont have crypts in that tank just anubias nana petite and java fern (forgot the name of the java fern)! Its actually just dead/dying java fern lol Thats one of my tanks that I set up/planted so that I wouldnt have to worry about trimming and unless the dead leaf floats to the top I just leave it, I actually havnt trimmed that tank at all since I set it up! I think there might be some bba one some of wood though...sadly the amano shrimp that used to be in there jumped out about a month ago and he used to eat the bba.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Ah also got an updated shot of the low tech 55gallon tank, dont know why I didnt add it to the huge update. It deffinitely looks much better without the eyesore of the old blue inlet/outlet pipes lol


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

WooHoo, its been 24 hours since I transferred my cardinal shrimp and I think they all made the transfer fine and are all alive 

Heres a pic of their current tank! Lots of space compared to their old 5 gallon tank, I counted and from the original 10 I had I have about 30 now with two berried females 



Heres are pics of the shrimp, they dont hide as much in this tank!

Berried momma




Heres a baby cardinal, thats tiny dust sand particles for size comparison!


Heres a current pic of the Mini L, not the best choices of plants but these were what I had on hand, Ill probably change it up as soon as I decide what plants I want in it...


Heres a pic of the 12g Long, the ug needs a trim badly if I want it to carpet correctly lol


----------



## NotCousteau (Sep 25, 2014)

Nice tanks!


----------



## Tyrone (Nov 22, 2013)

I'm really liking the Cardinal tank. Your rock work is pretty clean!


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Tyrone said:


> I'm really liking the Cardinal tank. Your rock work is pretty clean!


Thanks, I added some DHG Belem to it but not sure how well it will carpet in a no co2 tank and one which wont get very frequent water changes as its mainly a tank for the shrimp.



NotCousteau said:


> Nice tanks!


Thanks!


----------



## glenCOCO (Aug 12, 2012)

Just came across your thread. Awesome tanks! Just wondering, what kind of fish are these?


----------



## elo500 (Apr 24, 2013)

What kind of rocks are you using in your Cardinal tank?


----------



## brooksie321 (Jul 19, 2014)

glenCOCO said:


> Just came across your thread. Awesome tanks! Just wondering, what kind of fish are these?


Odessa barbs..


----------



## glenCOCO (Aug 12, 2012)

Wow, never seen Odessa barbs that look like that.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Yep those are Odessa barbs. They have colored up a lot more since that pic as those pics were taken right after putting them in the nee tank lol They are more red and have a shade of black/silver and also a glint of blue near the eye. I'll see if I can get an updated pic of em as they look amazing but they also like to hide a lot/move a lot so are hard to take a pic of



elo500 said:


> What kind of rocks are you using in your Cardinal tank?


Just Seiyu stone


----------



## brooksie321 (Jul 19, 2014)

They are amazing looking fish, extremely active though! I had to return them as they were far too rambunctious for my setup. when I fire up my 75 community, 10 no problemo


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Been a looong time since a photo update. In one of my tanks im battling hair algae but I think thats from me switching from regular outflow/inflow to glass lily ones which sadly reduced the flow. Ill probably be switching back soon if the problem doesnt solve itself. 

Anyways heres the newest tank! Inspired from the "Alice In Wonderland" tank. Tank still has lot of filling up to do. Really cant wait to see it when it does!


Next up is the cardinal shrimp tank. I ended up changing out the sand to what I originally used in my cardinal tank, switched the SS outflow/inflow pipes back to the plastic ones that came with the eheim (doubt it but I could see rust from the inside of the inlets/outlets) and took out the seachem purigen. Not sure which one was the problem but sadly all my cardinal shrimps died and these were the only changes I made compared to their old tank. Hoping to get some new Cardinals ones soon. 


12 gallon longs getting really overgrown and I am not looking forward to uprooting the UG. Just trimmed and sold my blyxa so its not as full looking as a few days ago, It really looked nice when it was. 

Lastly Santa's Little Helper!


----------



## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

omg I want that ug!!! one day I'll have co2 to try it.... could your rocks possibly have a tiny bit or metal traces causing the 'rust' in the tank which may also have killed the shrimp (just took a while for enough to leech out to effect them)?


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

AquaAurora said:


> omg I want that ug!!! one day I'll have co2 to try it.... could your rocks possibly have a tiny bit or metal traces causing the 'rust' in the tank which may also have killed the shrimp (just took a while for enough to leech out to effect them)?


Ah, ment to type that I found rust like color in the inside of the stainless steel outlets/inlets. im not even positive if its rust but I switched the outlets/inlets just in case. I dont really think this is it as I have this same set of inlets/outlets on two other tanks that do contain shrimp that are still alive and thriving.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Heres an update on a few of the tanks after water changes/trimming.

Lilaeopsis nova mini is taking forever to grow in. But thats a good thing I guess, hanvt had to trim or do anything with this tank since I set it up. Tempted to lower the light and up the CO2 as im seeing BBA but its mainly only on the pipes so far.


Just sold off the christmas moss that pretty much overtook the whole tank lol Also battled a bit of algae from not enough circulation/surface agitation in the tank. Looks like its been resolved though. Still might need to get a better filter though as im just running a cheap toms rapid canister filter on it.



DHG is going crazy in this tank. Just trimmed the moss a bit. 


Just trimmed the UG, looks a lot better. 


Tanks filling in nicely, plan on moving the H. Pinna to the back and get some more DHG to fill in the front. Getting a bit lazy waiting for it to fill in.


This tank looks much better in person. Im not very good at taking pics lol


Surprised how quickly the mini pellia grew back in this tank. Probably can trim it again soon.


Heres a pic of the full tank rack.


55 gallon is chugging along nicely


----------



## jimmyjam (Dec 25, 2008)

loving the rack, keep up the good work


----------



## Powerclown (Aug 17, 2014)

Cool,cool, my favorite tank is the scape with mini pella,and nice white clouds as well.
Nice work


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Powerclown said:


> Cool,cool, my favorite tank is the scape with mini pella,and nice white clouds as well.
> Nice work


White clouds? Do u mean the bubbles on the water surface? Unfortunately thats gas bubbles getting traped on the water surface die to the large protein layer lol




jimmyjam said:


> loving the rack, keep up the good work


Thanks!


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Red Tiger shrimp have been doing great in my tank and theres been three sets of babies so far with more and more survivors each time. Mommas pregnant again and I hope I get a large batch this time!



CPD finally stood still for a sec for me to snap a pic...too bad the camera focused on the body and not the face....oh well best I could do with my camera.


----------



## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

Will you sell your mini pellia clippings?


----------



## pewpewkittah (Jan 14, 2014)

Just beautiful. Every tank is so well balanced I could never choose a favorite. Excellent job, I always enjoy looking at your tanks!


----------



## Tyrone (Nov 22, 2013)

[emoji41] real cool real cool! Do you use treated tap water or RO/DI for the Red Tigers? 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

pewpewkittah said:


> Just beautiful. Every tank is so well balanced I could never choose a favorite. Excellent job, I always enjoy looking at your tanks!


Thanks!



AquaAurora said:


> Will you sell your mini pellia clippings?


Eventually I will. 



Tyrone said:


> [emoji41] real cool real cool! Do you use treated tap water or RO/DI for the Red Tigers?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Just treated tap water.


----------



## Tyrone (Nov 22, 2013)

lamiskool said:


> Just treated tap water.



Oh nice! When you have some to sell, I'll definitely want buy some!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## hyphination (Sep 25, 2008)

Awesome looking tanks! Very jealous of this setup


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Messed around with one of my scapes cuz I didnt like the way it looked, ended up this this.





Slowly but surely the DHG is starting to carpet lol


Lastly found two berried cardinal shrimps  Too hard to take pics of these guys though


----------



## Tyrone (Nov 22, 2013)

Well done with the rescape. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

Your tank scapes are always inspiring.. makes me tempted to buy co2 so I can try a decent scape..I never get anything as nice and dense on low/medium light and excel...


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Been a long time since an update, none of my tanks have changed besides dealing with some algae in one of em....could just be not enough flow/filtration or could be the aqua soil in the tank finally gave up on me (its been up and running for almost a year and a half now i guess with lots of stem plants). I havnt been able to update/take pics a lot as I just adopted another dog so between work/dog training/water changes I have almost no free time at the moment...What I am most excited about is my cardinal tank is doing great!!! Theres always at least 5 berried shrimp and I just found tons of babies in the tank! Was able to finally catch some photos of em today. Heres a pic of em below.

Heres a pic of one of the babies


Berried moma, notice the large belly. I really like the new batch of cardinals that I got, almost all of them are extremely dark, almost maroon/black looking and I think it looks awesome.


Heres a male cardinal from another batch, a bit lighter but still looks great.


And heres a pic of the new kid! The left one is the new one!


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Been a while since ive had a photo update on my tanks. Nothing has really changed much. Battled algae in one of the tank but looks like I finally beat it.

This is the tank that had hair algae going bonkers in it. I think it was because I changed the lighting period from ~8ish hours to 9 hours. Once I changed it back and treated with excell the algae never came back. Just did a trim so the back stems are not visible. 


I can never get a good pic of this tank, it looks much better in person when you can see the bonsai tree lol


Thanks chugging along, it has some minor bba though. Have no idea how to get rid of it as all the plants in it are slow growing lol


Just trimmed all the H. Pinna from the tank so it looks a bit plain at the moment. The DHG is slowly starting to carpet.


This tanks chugging along, the java ferns are starting to take over the tank lol


Also some pics of my red tiger shrimp, they are starting to bred like crazy! Cant wait to start selling these guys. Along with these guys my cardinals shrimp tank is also going crazy, I took a peek in it today and everywhere is covered with baby shrimp and theres always a few pregnant females 



Love how this one has the minor red strips too


----------



## Dantrasy (Sep 9, 2013)

Great scapes! I love the fissiden tree.


----------



## lksdrinker (Feb 12, 2014)

Great stuff in here! I must've seen this thread in the past and forgotten but was subconsciously thinking of it when I built my racks recently!

I noticed in one of the first photos that you might have a canister running which is sitting at the same height as the tank itself. How did that work out for you and did you notice any decrease in flow since gravity isnt playing as much of a role compared to having the canister much lower and/or below the tank?


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

lksdrinker said:


> Great stuff in here! I must've seen this thread in the past and forgotten but was subconsciously thinking of it when I built my racks recently!
> 
> I noticed in one of the first photos that you might have a canister running which is sitting at the same height as the tank itself. How did that work out for you and did you notice any decrease in flow since gravity isnt playing as much of a role compared to having the canister much lower and/or below the tank?


It is still run that way and yes it does decrease the flow a bit. Because of this I try and clean out the filter as often as possible in addition to the eheim 2211 that I have running on the 12g long I modded it and added a eheim 2213 impeller into it so its actually quite powerful.


----------



## lksdrinker (Feb 12, 2014)

lamiskool said:


> It is still run that way and yes it does decrease the flow a bit. Because of this I try and clean out the filter as often as possible in addition to the eheim 2211 that I have running on the 12g long I modded it and added a eheim 2213 impeller into it so its actually quite powerful.



Good to know. I avoided running a canister that way as I thought it would essentially decrease the flow to the point where it simply woudlnt work as intended. Now I might just give it a try sometime!


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Havnt updated in a long time and heres why....drum roll!!!! Finally got a house!!!!!! Will hopefully be moving in a few weeks so will update after the move with some goodies


----------



## Tyrone (Nov 22, 2013)

Congrats on the new house!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

I will post pics of the new "fish garage" after I clean up/unpack. Sadly not all the inhabitants made it......during the move the dial for the inline heater for my 55gallon tank got dialed all the way up and I did not notice and by morning all my fish are dead. These were the fish ive had the longest especially my rainbow shark which was actually the first fish I ever bought and had survived with me through countless moves...Very sad at the moment but I am glad I am all moved in. I was able to finally measure how large my fish were as ive always just guessed that they were 5-6 inches. 

Oldest of my fish....very sad that this guy is gone...hes been a good companion for almost 6-7 years


These were magnificent fish and were almost as old as the rainbow shark....


Lastly my beautiful angels which I loved...sadly all 5 died...


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Sold my 55g and am getting ready to set up the 120P, just made a stand for it and im pretty impressed with myself as its my first time working with power tools and building anything besides ikea stuff lol. Theres definitely imperfections in the stand but hey you cant really tell unless you look really closely  Still have to either stain, paint or laminate the stand. Now the only thing keeping me from setting up the tank is setting up the overflow/sump!


----------



## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

That stand is pretty! It looks super clean compared to what I built. I'd suggest staining it. Really gives a good look and there are tons of colors to choose from.

Sad to hear about the loss of fish 

This shot right here is the cat's meow!










Very interesting set up. I like how many different tanks you have and that could be extremely interesting.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Freemananana said:


> That stand is pretty! It looks super clean compared to what I built. I'd suggest staining it. Really gives a good look and there are tons of colors to choose from.
> 
> Sad to hear about the loss of fish
> 
> ...



Thanks!

The setup actually looks like this now! I just realized this is probably the first time posting my new setup after the move! A LOT more space in the garage so I spaced out the tank a lot more and have room for even more tanks if I want more in the future  I love the setup like this a lot more as before it was a huge chore to clean/do maintenance on the tank as there wasnt any space to really stick my arm in lol



Also heres a pic of an awesome looking tiger shrimp, looks like its wearing camo lol


And heres another pic of the cardinals which surprisingly all pretty much survived the move, I actually expected these guys to do the worst in the move but they were fine.


----------



## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

I demand close up shots of all the tanks (including above water/full view of riparium)!!


And sorry for your loss :c


----------



## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Having over half a dozen different tanks to do a bunch of different scapes seems awesome. I'm excited to see that stand come together with a tank on top.


----------



## MadRiverPat (May 3, 2013)

I'd love to see more about that stand build. It looks really solid.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

MadRiverPat said:


> I'd love to see more about that stand build. It looks really solid.


Unfortunately I didnt take pics while building it, i was in too much of a rush as I only had a few hours. Still have a zillion house chores I have to finish up as I just moved in lol

Just finished staining the wood. I think it looks great! There are some parts of the wood that didnt seem to soak up the the stain as much as others though but it still looks fine. Now im just waiting on the plumbing parts to come to fill up the tank  For now its in the garage, but after I toy around with the overflow box/sump for a bit and get familiar with it I plan to move it into the living room.


----------



## Islandgaliam (May 24, 2014)

lamiskool said:


> Unfortunately I didnt take pics while building it, i was in too much of a rush as I only had a few hours. Still have a zillion house chores I have to finish up as I just moved in lol
> 
> Just finished staining the wood. I think it looks great! There are some parts of the wood that didnt seem to soak up the the stain as much as others though but it still looks fine. Now im just waiting on the plumbing parts to come to fill up the tank  For now its in the garage, but after I toy around with the overflow box/sump for a bit and get familiar with it I plan to move it into the living room.


I'm excited to see this one when you're done. Nice job on the stand


----------



## andrewss (Oct 17, 2012)

wow nice work on the stand!


----------



## DavidZ (Nov 17, 2009)

Nice job!!!
Is that a 55GL with all the angels?


----------



## Julie7778 (Apr 21, 2015)

I adore you tank set up! So beautiful. In the future I hope to set up something similar. You have many nice rimless nano tanks, I was wondering where you get them? Also, I plan on getting a dwarf puffer one day, I have a few questions if you don't mind 
1. Where do you buy live bloodworms? I only come upon frozen food. I'd also feed snails! 
2. How often do you feed the dwarf puffer 
3. Is it true they're very difficult to care for? 

Also a little off track but you said you get things you found on "hikes" could you explain the process of how you clean the rocks, wood etc? Thanks!

I really love your tank set ups


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Julie7778 said:


> I adore you tank set up! So beautiful. In the future I hope to set up something similar. You have many nice rimless nano tanks, I was wondering where you get them? Also, I plan on getting a dwarf puffer one day, I have a few questions if you don't mind
> 1. Where do you buy live bloodworms? I only come upon frozen food. I'd also feed snails!
> 2. How often do you feed the dwarf puffer
> 3. Is it true they're very difficult to care for?
> ...


Thanks! And to answer your questions.

1) Live bloodworms I believe are actually illegal in CA so no I would only feed with frozen bloodworms. I believe you are looking for live Tubiflex/blackworm (I always get the names confused) These you can find at most LFS

2) I feed mine just once a day and feed him till I saw that his tummy was full, usually 1 or 2 live worms would do.

3) Nope they are not at all as long as you do your research before hand which it looks like you did. I have only kept mine by himself so it was a lot easier so I cant say how hard/easy it would be to keep multiple or one in a community tank. Easily my favorite fish that I have kept

4) For the wood/rocks to clean em I would just run them over the tub/faucet and give em a good scrub. If I was really paranoid I would boil it but for the most part after the initial scrub I just throw it into the tank




DavidZ said:


> Nice job!!!
> Is that a 55GL with all the angels?


Yep it was a 55gal. I know it was overstocked but I did multiple huge water changes every week and also it had two Rena xp4 filters on it so I wasnt worried too much about waste.


----------



## Julie7778 (Apr 21, 2015)

I really love dwarf puffers, but every aquarium store near me has none for sale  I asked the one and they said they'd order some if I want and it's $26 per puffer which sucks. I think in the future when my Betta passes I'll be setting up a 5 gallon tank! I did so much research but I'm still not sure how often or how many worms or snails to feed my puffer!

Wow really? I always thought you had to be careful with rocks and wood because they could have bacteria or anything from the real world! Could I see an update of your dwarf puffers tank ?


----------



## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

Nice build! Really like those tanks. Hopefully we can see close ups sometime. They look great!


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Julie7778 said:


> I really love dwarf puffers, but every aquarium store near me has none for sale  I asked the one and they said they'd order some if I want and it's $26 per puffer which sucks. I think in the future when my Betta passes I'll be setting up a 5 gallon tank! I did so much research but I'm still not sure how often or how many worms or snails to feed my puffer!
> 
> Wow really? I always thought you had to be careful with rocks and wood because they could have bacteria or anything from the real world! Could I see an update of your dwarf puffers tank ?


No real update on the dwarf puffer tank, it still looks exactly the same. The same forest looking one. Sadly the DP that was in it somehow jumped out of the tank at night even with a glass cover on it


----------



## kimchilee (Mar 2, 2015)

omg! look at this tree, love it so much! and i want some chili rasbora now.









looks so natural! how you attached the moss to the tree and ohko stone?


----------



## Julie7778 (Apr 21, 2015)

lamiskool said:


> No real update on the dwarf puffer tank, it still looks exactly the same. The same forest looking one. Sadly the DP that was in it somehow jumped out of the tank at night even with a glass cover on it


I'm so sorry for your loss, do you have any plans for the tank? Are you going to buy another dwarf puffer since it was your favorite fish?


----------



## bpb (Mar 8, 2011)

This journal is just lovely. Truely a work of art and some real thoughtful and well executed nano scaping. Picture taking is top notch as well. You do a tremendous job of making the scapes look huge in the close ups, but when you step back they're so tiny. Well done. I noticed a BuildmyLED strip on the bottom right tank in the first pic of the first post. What made you get rid of it? The color on that particular tank was slamming.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Thanks for all the love everyone!



kimchilee said:


> omg! look at this tree, love it so much! and i want some chili rasbora now.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Ohko stone has natural holes in it and I literally just stuff the moss in it. I only need to put a tiny piece in and it spreads itself out like that over time. Really easy



Julie7778 said:


> I'm so sorry for your loss, do you have any plans for the tank? Are you going to buy another dwarf puffer since it was your favorite fish?


I just bought a house/moved so I have a ton of chores at the moment including setting up the 120P and Im considering going to grad school soon so for now to lessen my workload probably not. But in the future I will definitely be getting another one  You should also look at scarlet badis, when I kept mine it acted almost the same as the DP 



bpb said:


> This journal is just lovely. Truely a work of art and some real thoughtful and well executed nano scaping. Picture taking is top notch as well. You do a tremendous job of making the scapes look huge in the close ups, but when you step back they're so tiny. Well done. I noticed a BuildmyLED strip on the bottom right tank in the first pic of the first post. What made you get rid of it? The color on that particular tank was slamming.


Actually I think my photography is actually pretty bad compared to others on the forum. I can never get the tanks to look how they actually look in real life....The BML is actually my favorite light fixture that I have kept. It literally grew anything I wanted. I just sold it off as a package along with the 20g because I planned on growing slow growers/plants that take less to maintain as I have so many tanks at the moment and the dutch scape literally look the most time to maintain. Also I had some current led + that fit with the two 10g rimless tanks that I replaced the 20g with


----------



## Julie7778 (Apr 21, 2015)

I agree! I love your photos! 

Those fish are so cute! Time to do a bunch of research on them! What's your experience with them?

Good luck with your new house!


----------



## Islandgaliam (May 24, 2014)

Just curious, how much time do you spend per week with upkeep/maintenance?To say your tanks are incredibly gorgeous is an understatement!


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Slowly its coming together! Dw isnt completly waterlogged yet


----------



## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

That is a seriously cool piece! What size is that tank?


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Freemananana said:


> That is a seriously cool piece! What size is that tank?


Thanks, and its an ada 120p


----------



## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Yawzas! I was googling the dimensions of the 120p and stumbled upon the price. It hurt to look at it. But it is roughly 48"x18"x18", right? ~65 US gallons? Should be fun to set up. It is one of the more ideal sizes. What made you go with the 120p? They seem to be popular amongst TPT community.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Freemananana said:


> Yawzas! I was googling the dimensions of the 120p and stumbled upon the price. It hurt to look at it. But it is roughly 48"x18"x18", right? ~65 US gallons? Should be fun to set up. It is one of the more ideal sizes. What made you go with the 120p? They seem to be popular amongst TPT community.


Yep demensions an gallons are right. An ada 120p ha always been my dream tank because of the demensions. You can make a lot of great scapes using it. Main reason i got it is because I got it for free from someone lol


----------



## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

WHAT! For free!? That is crazy. 'nuff said. The tank is great, even better for free. I'm excited to see what you've got cooked up for this one. Your tank rack is great, so I'm sure you can come up with something neat for a tank of this size.


----------



## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

lamiskool said:


> Slowly its coming together! Dw isnt completly waterlogged yet


What type of driftwood is that?


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

AquaAurora said:


> What type of driftwood is that?


Just ur typical manzy dw. I live close enough where I can drive to sacramento and pick out pieces from Tom Barrs awesome collection of dw. 

And Freemananana, not doing anything special with this tank, it will just be sand and dw (maybe some stones) like it is right now and I will be adding some discus to it shortly


----------



## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Aw  Such excitement lost. I think plants are too much to pass up. But discus seem to be a real favorite too. I'm still looking forward to seeing it finished up.


----------



## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

lamiskool said:


> Just ur typical manzy dw. I live close enough where I can drive to sacramento and pick out pieces from Tom Barrs awesome collection of dw


I envy you!!!! Costs a fortune trying to get driftwood across country to me so I never bought any from Tom :c


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Small update, dw is finally water logged. Just did a water change and theres still a bit of tannins in the tank. The dw is releasing a ton of it. Tank is also pretty much cycled, and I plan to get the discus sometime this upcoming week  Its hard for me to take a good photo of the tank with all the different angles of dw but it looks much better in person as they all "flow" very well together and give a dramatic look to the tank.


----------



## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

Wow that's looking pretty great!


----------



## Yuuki_Akitsuki (Jan 15, 2015)

I just read through your whole journal, ok mostly I looked at the pictures. But you have some really nice tanks! I absolutely love the tree! Great job and keep it up!


----------



## Hetzer (Sep 23, 2012)

cool hardscape


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Woohoo Discus came in! Out of the six, two were in bad condition when I got it but one recovered and one didnt make it sadly. The one that did recover I am noticing is swimming a bit differently then the others and seems to have its head pointed up ....I hope its nots not swim bladder disease and that it recovers. If anyone has any suggestions please lmk! They have already started eating and seem to only like frozen blood worms/freeze dried blackworms and wont eat flakes (cobalt flakes) or pellets (hikari discus bio gold) If anyone has suggestions on how to get them to eat flakes/pellets please lmk! Anyways here are the pics! (Not great as I kinda took em in a hurry and the tanks really dark from all the tannins)


----------



## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

You can always fast 3-4 days then try flakes/pellets.. or a week. They'll eat when they're hungry. Possibly wait until they are use to the feeding ques and know when to come shooting over for food and might suck down flake/pellets before realizing its not what they wanted then "..oh.. thats not so bad!" ^^
Stunning fish btw! Full tank shot with fish now?


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Heres a FTS, took out some DW branches so the discus would have more swimming room. All of em seem fine now and the one that was swimming weirdly is also seems fine now 



Dont really know much about Hole in head disease but does this look like it??? A few of the discus seem to have holes in their heads but they are acting fine and nothing is coming out of the hole. Am I just being paranoid? Look for the holes near the eye/mouth


----------



## Islandgaliam (May 24, 2014)

Those are some beautiful fish! Congrats on your new babies


----------



## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

lamiskool said:


> Heres a FTS, took out some DW branches so the discus would have more swimming room. All of em seem fine now and the one that was swimming weirdly is also seems fine now
> 
> 
> 
> Dont really know much about Hole in head disease but does this look like it??? A few of the discus seem to have holes in their heads but they are acting fine and nothing is coming out of the hole. Am I just being paranoid? Look for the holes near the eye/mouth


http://forum.simplydiscus.com/archive/index.php/t-68131.html
highlight and open image links in first post, looks like sensory canals. But I'm no expert.

Very lovely tank btw!


edit:
for what its worth.. I thought my very first fish a dwarf gourami had hole in head (did i mention it was my first fish?) was pores/sensors..but I figured that out after a day of trying to find a hole in head medicine cure locally (to no avail).


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

AquaAurora said:


> http://forum.simplydiscus.com/archive/index.php/t-68131.html
> highlight and open image links in first post, looks like sensory canals. But I'm no expert.
> 
> Very lovely tank btw!
> ...



Awesome, thanks for that! Yea guess i was being super paranoid lmao


----------



## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

lamiskool said:


> Awesome, thanks for that! Yea guess i was being super paranoid lmao


Better than ignoring it and having a half dead fish in a week or month. ^^

edit:
One betta I bought was 95% white with some red fins.. the day after I put him in quarantine (in divided tank with another betta I bought the same day) I notices something dark... thought he had a gill disease/parasite as I saw black sticking out of his gills and panicked.. turned out it was his beard (he's NEVER flared) which is black sooo was nothing.


----------



## andrewss (Oct 17, 2012)

great looking discus!


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

andrewss said:


> great looking discus!


Thanks!

Some pple have been asking me about my filter setup so heres a pic of the sump, ill take a pic of the overflow system when I get home but its just a modded CPR-CS102 overflow. For the pump, im using a Waveline DC6000, its a great pump and is very very silent. And yes, I know I have to find a way to hide all the cables lol


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Heres a pic of the modded CPR-CS102, with it modded its almost completely silent. Loudest part is the toms aqua lifter lol





Got to find some plants to stick in here, any suggestions????


----------



## Onyx165 (Jul 16, 2013)

lamiskool said:


>



Beautiful tank and gorgeous discus


----------



## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

lamiskool said:


> Got to find some plants to stick in here, any suggestions????


What are the dimmensions of the space? do you want big or small? DO you want vertical or vines?
List of mostly terrestrial plants I've grown on my ripariums:
55g:
Pothos varigated
Aluminum plant (Pilea Cadierei)
Friendship Plant (Pilea involucrata)
Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum "domino")
Dwarf Palm Neanthe Bella
Anthurium
Alocosia polly
Marble Queen (pothos)
Prayer Plant (Maranta leuconeura)
Aglaonema (Chinese evergreen)
Red Water Dock (Rumex sanguineus)
Fiber Optic Grass (Scirpus cernuus)
Oplismenus basket Grass (Oplismenus hirtellus 'Variegatus')

20g long:
Purple Waffle
Dragons Tongue
Ruellia brittoniana 'Katie'
Spathiphyllum (a dwarf variety not sure exact sp name)
Sweetflag
Star Grass
Rain lily
Polka dot/mosaic plant
Riccia (emersed)
Hydro sp. japan (emersed)
Helxine soleirolii
Tradescantia zebrine
Fittonia albivenis


----------



## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

How are all the tanks doing?
Also I wanted to prod you for specific details on how you dealt with the hair algae in your fissidens tank.


----------



## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

AquaAurora said:


> How are all the tanks doing?
> Also I wanted to prod you for specific details on how you dealt with the hair algae in your fissidens tank.


Hey been a while since ive been on the forums and just saw ur post. Been busy fixing/upgrading my new house. All the tanks are doing well, just trimmed/cleaned all my tanks which besides wc have been fairly neglected over the months but everything looks great now, no algae besides on BBA thankfully. For the hair algae I upped the CO2, put excel and diluted it with some water and put it in a spray bottle and during water changes sprayed the spots with the most algae. Lastly after filling the tank back up I put a few drops of the algae killer you can buy at any petstore (I forgot what it was called). After about a week or two the algae is gone and hasnt come back thankfully


----------



## Julie7778 (Apr 21, 2015)

Picture update soon? Please!


----------



## cube860 (Oct 3, 2015)

I have read all 23 pages of this thread over the past few days. I hope you never stop posting!


----------

