# AzFishKid's 68 Gallon Planted • (UPDATE 5/30/10 P.43 - NEW TANK!)



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

AzFishKid's 68 Gallon Planted
*ºººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººº*
** THIS TANK WAS TAKEN DOWN MAY 26, 2010 **
*IT IS BEING REPLACED BY A 150 GALLON. CLICK HERE FOR JOURNAL.*
----





























-------------------------------*---- MOST RECENT PHOTO ----*








*Aquarium Specs:* (updated: 1/2/2010)
*Size*: 68 Gallons
*Demensions*: 6' long, 13" wide, 4' tall (including stand)
*Set up*: Early 2008
*Lighting*: 72" T5-HO Fixture (no-name-brand)
*WPG*: 280 watts total, 4.1 WPG
*Filter*: Eheim Pro 3e 2076 Canister (x2)
*Substrate*: 60 LBS of ADA Amazonia II, White "Pea Gravel"
*Co2*: *No Longer Pressurized - P.31 for story*
*Ferts*: Flourish Excel (daily), Flourish Potassium (every other day), Flourish Iron (every 3 days)
*Flora* (updated: 1/2/2010): 
----•Bacopa monnieri (moneywort)
----•Cabomba carolina
----•Hygrophila corymbosa v. 'Stricta' (temple plant)
----•Hygrophila polysperma 'Rosanervig' (sunset hygro)
----•Limnophila aromatica
----•Limnophila sessiflora
----•Lobelia cardinalis 'dwarf'
----•Ludwigia repens
----•Ludwigia brevipes
----•Marsilea minuta
----•Myriophyllum mattogrossense
----•Microsorum pteropus (java fern)
----•Proserpinaca palustris (mermaid weed)
----•Rotala sp. 'Green'
----•Rotala mexicana
----•Rotala rotundifolia
----•Rotala verticillaris (pogostemon erectum)
----•Rotala wallichii
----•Taxiphyllum sp. (flame moss)
----•Variegated lindernia parviflora
----•Vesicularia dubyana (java moss)
*Fauna* (updated: 1/2/2010): 
----•Anentome helena (Assassin snail) x40 +
----•Ancistrus spp. (L144 Blue-Eyed Yellow Bristlenose Pleco) [SHORTFIN] x5
----•Ancistrus spp. (L144 Blue-Eyed Yellow Bristlenose Pleco) [LONGFIN] x1
----•Asolene spixi (spixi snail) x15+
----•Brochis splendens (emerald green cory) x6
----•Corydoras sterbai (sterbai cory) x3
----•Hemigrammus rhodostomus (rummy nose tetra) x14
----•Jordanella floridae (florida flagfish) x1
----•Microgeophagus ramirezi (german blue ram) x2
----•Microgeophagus ramirezi (gold ram) x2
----•Nerita sp. (olive nerite snail) x6
----•Otocinclus affinis (oto) x7
----•Paracheirodon axelrodi (cardinal tetra) x20

*ºººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººº*


----------



## Phoenix-cry (Dec 25, 2008)

So pretty!!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> So pretty!!


Thank you!  I've worked really hard on it.


----------



## D-007 (Dec 4, 2008)

Very nicely done indeed especially for a non-CO2 setup :thumbsup:

Only 'improvement' I woud add is a black background. Rather than struggle with trying to get behind it with paint, you could use felt cloth and velcro that can be found at Walmart for cheap. Works very well.


----------



## mmarnold (Nov 16, 2008)

Great tank!Ive never seen a 85 I like it.Its says its 4' tall?


----------



## Anupam (Nov 5, 2008)

Very nice. Is it a covered tank? I ask because of the hatchets.


----------



## EdTheEdge (Jan 25, 2007)

Beautiful, great presentation. Looks like it should be in some doctors office to calm the patients. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: 

Can't be 4'tall though!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> Very nicely done indeed especially for a non-CO2 setup
> 
> Only 'improvement' I woud add is a black background. Rather than struggle with trying to get behind it with paint, you could use felt cloth and velcro that can be found at Walmart for cheap. Works very well.


Thanks.
Yeah, i would like to get some sort of background someday. Cloth is a good idea, though i should have painted it before i set it up. =/



> Very nice. Is it a covered tank? I ask because of the hatchets.


Yes, it is. Sadly i lost 2 hatchets one night because the hoods weren't on, so i woke up to 2 dead fish on my carpet. They're jumpers!



> Beautiful, great presentation. Looks like it should be in some doctors office to calm the patients.


HAHA yeah. 



> Great tank!Ive never seen a 85 I like it.Its says its 4' tall?


Thank you!
Including stand it's 4 feet tall. Sorry about the confusion!




Thank you for all of your kind comments! I was proud of it but didnt think it was all that great lol :icon_eek: Yay!


----------



## LeTigra (Nov 25, 2008)

Wow that is beautiful.
All of those foreground plants - is that all Micro Sword?


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> Wow that is beautiful.
> All of those foreground plants - is that all Micro Sword?


Thank you.
Yes, it is all micro sword.


----------



## monkeyruler90 (Apr 13, 2008)

the tank looks amazing
do you have another journal where you set it up? i would love to see all the plant filling in and everything. 
just 1 ram? im sure this tank is big enough to handle a couple more


----------



## Coltonorr (Mar 12, 2008)

Really, Really nice!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> the tank looks amazing
> do you have another journal where you set it up? i would love to see all the plant filling in and everything.
> just 1 ram? im sure this tank is big enough to handle a couple more


Good idea. Would it be possible for a forum moderator to move this thread to the journal section? I'd like to just convert this thread into a journal, rather than making another.

Yeah, i was thinking about getting a German Gold Ram. Or maybe just another German Blue Ram. 

I have a few questions, if someone would like to answer them:
• I have 2 angelfish, they're happy, but i'd LOVE to get a koi angelfish. Would this disrupt the pair? One is a male and the other is a female. The female has laid eggs several times, but they've never survived.
• Should i get more cardinal tetras? It doesn't seem like i have enough for the tank.
• HOW DO I CONTROL THE SNAILS?! The clown loach is only eating a few a day. I'd prefer not to use a chemical to kill them off, but if i have to i will. Any suggestions? There are a ton of them in there. They just came with the plants.



> Really, Really nice!


Thank you! :icon_smil Your 54 gallon looks spectacular by the way, i love that driftwood!


----------



## Michaelh218 (Jan 15, 2009)

That tank is absolutely fan-friggin-tastic. How many years you been in aquariums? I ask because I figure with a set up looking that good, you must have been around the block a bit.


----------



## fishwolfe (Jan 14, 2009)

your tank is a perfect example of what i want my tank to look like.good job!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> That tank is absolutely fan-friggin-tastic. How many years you been in aquariums? I ask because I figure with a set up looking that good, you must have been around the block a bit.


Thank you very much  Though i am only 14, i have actually been in the aquarium hobby for about 7 years, but i've only recently been involved with planted aquariums for about a year. I just researched a ton, did lots of trial-and-error with my scape, etc. Had a lot of frustrating moments, including water all over my carpet floor from my canister filter exploding, but it was all worth it. 



> your tank is a perfect example of what i want my tank to look like.good job!


Im glad my aquarium could be an inspiration.  I honestly didn't even think it was all that great.


----------



## Michaelh218 (Jan 15, 2009)

Remember to keep us updated with pics


----------



## LeTigra (Nov 25, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> Thank you.
> Yes, it is all micro sword.


 
That is a very impressive carpet. No CO2 - cool. I'm lookng at your tank and thinking, one day, maybe one day, mine will look as good as that


----------



## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Excellent job! The tank is beautiful.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> Remember to keep us updated with pics


I made some DIY screens today. My glass ones were broken and the water deposit was impossible to clean, so i picked up some wood at the home depot and some plastic mesh.



















> That is a very impressive carpet. No CO2 - cool. I'm lookng at your tank and thinking, one day, maybe one day, mine will look as good as that


Thanks. Just keep working at it, if you're not satisfied with it, then redo the scape. My parents got mad at me because i redid everything so many times, but now i'm finally happy with it. Good luck!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Today i noticed my water was really cloudy.

What are the causes of this?

P.S. I don't overfeed my fish.


----------



## Phoenix-cry (Dec 25, 2008)

Cloudy white or cloudy green? What are you levels? pH, ammonia, nitrates, nitrites?


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Cloudy white. I have never used a test kit before, so i have no idea what the pH, ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites are.


----------



## Phoenix-cry (Dec 25, 2008)

White is most likely a bacterial bloom caused by a ammonia spike. Water change, water change, water change. giggle. Also you can get Partical Clear it comes in a white bottle with a blue cap and it clumps the bacteria together so that your filter can remove it.


----------



## Bremmon (Jan 19, 2009)

Nice tank!!! I have a question as I am getting ready to start my 55 gal planted setup (maybe a couple of questions):

1) I noticed your light level. I have a fixture that has 2x96w bulbs but it looks like I can actually have a nice tank using only one bulb. This seems to be good due to the fact plants would probably grow a bit slower making it easier to maintain though I think I still want to inject CO2.

2) Without CO2 injection, how has your algae control been? Any serious issues since you set it up?

Again, very nice project. I hope to use some of your example in my own setup.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> Nice tank!!! I have a question as I am getting ready to start my 55 gal planted setup (maybe a couple of questions):
> 
> 1) I noticed your light level. I have a fixture that has 2x96w bulbs but it looks like I can actually have a nice tank using only one bulb. This seems to be good due to the fact plants would probably grow a bit slower making it easier to maintain though I think I still want to inject CO2.
> 
> ...


Thank you! 

1) Yeah, you should probably stick with just one bulb. You could try two at first, which i would recommend doing, and see if you have any major algae problems. BUT one bulb SHOULD be fine, it would give you just under 2 WPG.

2) Only algae problem i have ever had is with my myro (the big tall plant on the farthest left side of the aquarium). Every so often a clump of algae sticks to one section of it. But thats about it.

Hope this helps a little, and good luck with your 55!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Question:
When should i replace my bulbs? They're T5-HO, and they've been running for about 6 months. Only reason im asking is because they don't look as bright as they were a while ago.

Thanks


----------



## FSM (Jan 13, 2009)

More clown loaches will deal with your snail issue, although I've read they eat some types of plants. I have 5 in an unplanted 75, they destroyed the MTS population in a few days.


----------



## Pinto (Jan 23, 2009)

mmarnold said:


> Great tank!Ive never seen a 85 I like it.Its says its 4' tall?


Yea what mmarnold said. Again awesome tank. Whats the dimension on this cool tank?


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Sad to say, but i will be taking down my masterpiece and rebuilding it.
I'm having a fungus invasion and it's killed a few of my fish, as well as killed most of my plants. I will be boiling the driftwood to make sure it's clean.. will this work? How long should they boil?

Thank you for all of your kind comments and help, i guess this is just a learning experience for me and i'm hoping to make it even better the second round.


----------



## Michaelh218 (Jan 15, 2009)

Oh man, that stinks. Definately sorry to hear about that.

I read about curing driftwood for an aquarium and it stated to boil for 2 hours so I would think that would be a good place to start if you have a pot big enough.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

So i just got done breaking it down this afternoon.
All my fish are in a small 10 gallon aquarium at the moment, only thing i had.

Not sure if i will be setting up my 85g again, was a lot of work and lots of fun, but im not sure if i'm up for it again. We'll see 




> Oh man, that stinks. Definately sorry to hear about that.
> 
> I read about curing driftwood for an aquarium and it stated to boil for 2 hours so I would think that would be a good place to start if you have a pot big enough.


Awesome, i'll boil them for 2 hours. Thanks!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Well all my cardinal tetras and my clown loach were dead when i got home from school today. *sigh*

Angelfish seem to be doing ok though.


----------



## fish dork (Jan 13, 2008)

Oh no! That is sad to hear. Too bad about that fungus, and now the fish going on you. I did a teardown recently and temporarily kept the fish in a large rubbermaid container, with the heater and the one filter running on it. That works well. Well I hope you do set it up again, now you have the opportunity to try something new! Good luck on the next run!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

*Update* <<3.30.09>>:

Aquarium has been pretty much empty for the past few months, all that's in it is the flourite substrate, the large java fern on the driftwood, and my fish.
My GBR died of popeye about a month ago, didn't catch it in time. :icon_cry:

Remaining fish:
• 2 Angelfish
• 2 Hatchets
• 8 Black Tetras
• 1 Bloodfin Tetra
• 1 Platy

I'm going to sell my aquarium soon, as well as my fish, and just completely start over. I need a wider tank, mine is only 13" wide. Looking to get a 100 - 130 gallon acrylic tank this time, should be a cool experience. I'm also considering using pressurized Co2, i'd really like to if i can afford it.

Planned stock list:
• A few (3 or 4?) koi angels or discus (haven't decided, opinions?)
• 20-30 Cardinal Tetras
• Maybe some others, haven't decided.

Haven't decided plants yet, just whatever i can find i guess lol.


I'll keep you guys updated.


----------



## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> *Update* <<3.30.09>>:
> I'm going to sell my aquarium soon, as well as my fish, and just completely start over. I need a wider tank, mine is only 13" wide. Looking to get a 100 - 130 gallon acrylic tank this time, should be a cool experience. I'm also considering using pressurized Co2, i'd really like to if i can afford it.


Check out craigslist.org. You find used items in great shape for low price there. Also at 
Rex Griggs site info on how to build a pressurized Co2.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> Check out craigslist.org. You find used items in great shape for low price there. Also at
> Rex Griggs site info on how to build a pressurized Co2.


Thanks. I actually decided to stick with my current tank, no one wanted to buy it off craigslist so. 


Just got a shipment of plants today. Going to put in the branchy driftwood as soon as i can get some moss to tie on them. It's slowly coming along!

I also ordered some ADA amazonia II substrate. Should be here friday.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

*UPDATE* <<4.26.09>>:
This afternoon i put all of my fish in a 10 gallon and drained the 85 gallon. The flourite substrate was removed, and i put in two 20 pound bags of ADA Amazonia II substrate, as well as some normal white gravel for the middle. This is my plan for the scape:









Something like that, but more densely planted on the sides.

Here is my aquarium, still pretty cloudy but you can see some of it:









I'll post another picture of it either later tonight or tomorrow evening.

Planned fish stock list:
• 5 Angelfish (koi, marble, gold, platinum, and standard).
• 20-30 Cardinal Tetras
• 5-8 Ottos
• 4 German Blue Rams
• 3-4 Skunk Cory Catfish
• 1 Starry Night Pleco
• Maybe a few hatchets?

Any thoughts? Waiting to put more plants in when its all cleared up.


----------



## Ruach_HaChai (Apr 24, 2009)

It's going to look nice, I think. Reminds me of my 55--branchy driftwood and plants on the sides with that stone-lined 'riverbed' down the middle. It's a really nice way to go on a tank that doesn't have much depth front to back.

Do those angels include the pair you already have? An established mating pair may feel threatened and kill new ones you add, especially if they are small. It could be ok if they're really laid back, but angels can get surprisingly mean. And once they get big and start pairing, you may end up with some aggression issues also. Just something to watch out for. Otherwise your stocking list sounds awesome.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> It's going to look nice, I think. Reminds me of my 55--branchy driftwood and plants on the sides with that stone-lined 'riverbed' down the middle. It's a really nice way to go on a tank that doesn't have much depth front to back.
> 
> Do those angels include the pair you already have? An established mating pair may feel threatened and kill new ones you add, especially if they are small. It could be ok if they're really laid back, but angels can get surprisingly mean. And once they get big and start pairing, you may end up with some aggression issues also. Just something to watch out for. Otherwise your stocking list sounds awesome.


Thanks, i think it's going to turn out really nice!

Yeah, i was thinking about that yesterday-- my angels do seem pretty aggressive, so i'm not sure if it would be the best idea to add other angels. Is there any way to tell if they're "too aggressive" to be around other angels? I'd like to have a group of 5 or 6 of them, so if they can't be with other angels i guess i'll find them a new home. 

My plan was to get other full-grown angelfish, about the size of mine.
And yes-- 5 including the pair i have. So 3 or 4 others.


----------



## Veloth (Jun 25, 2008)

You've done amazingly well so far, keep it up. Looking forward to the updates.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

*UPDATE* <<4.28.2009>>:

Just wanted to share some more up-to-date pictures of the tank, the water is pretty much clear and i added a few pieces of driftwood as well as the few plants i had.. hoping to get more plants within the next month, i'm short on cash right now.

Enjoy! 




























Any suggestions about the driftwood/plant placement? I really like how the right looks, but the left doesn't look right to me for some reason.. any thoughts?

Thanks, have a great day!




> You've done amazingly well so far, keep it up. Looking forward to the updates.


Thanks for the kind words  I really like how it's turning out!


----------



## Axelrodi202 (Jul 29, 2008)

I think the driftwood on the left should be facing the other direction.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

I tried turning it the other way, does that look any better?

It's kind of a V shape, so it's hard to arrange all of the branches to face one way.


----------



## Phish (Apr 29, 2009)

Just wanted to say nuce dude way awesome! kudos to you!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> Just wanted to say nuce dude way awesome! kudos to you!


Thanks man!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

*UPDATE* <<4.29.2009>:
Just got in some new plants.. thanks Daud! roud:


----------



## Axelrodi202 (Jul 29, 2008)

Yes it does look better.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Quick update, i just ordered a bunch of plants that should complete the aquarium.. i'll post some pics when they arrive.

Cheers


----------



## Coltonorr (Mar 12, 2008)

I can't wait to see your new plants...hehe
they will look good in there...


----------



## belladee (Jun 15, 2007)

new tank is looking great cant wait to see the new pictures. 

What do you think caused that fungus? That was a shocker when I was reading through the post.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> I can't wait to see your new plants...hehe
> they will look good in there...


Yeah, i think they will too! The nice tall stems in the back will look good.
Thanks again for an easy purchase.

In addition to ordering the plants from you, i ordered a HUGE plant package from another member; i'll probably have more plants than i need.. So i'll probably be doing a small ROAK with the ones i don't have room for. :thumbsup:



> new tank is looking great cant wait to see the new pictures.
> 
> What do you think caused that fungus? That was a shocker when I was reading through the post.


Thanks! I think the fungus was simply caused by not enough water flow and *maybe* a bit of overfeeding. :icon_redf I only had an eheim 2217 canister on it, which kept the water clean, but did not provide enough water circulation. Now i have a powerhead on both sides and hope to get a second 2217 in the near future.

So, due to the lack of water circulation and overfeeding, the extra fish food probably sat at the bottom of the tank under my micro sword carpet and just started the fungus breakout. But, another possibility is a dead fish rotting at the bottom.. one of my cardinal tetras was missing for a while, so that might have been the cause. Who knows how it started, but it was probably one of those incodents. :icon_evil


----------



## GlassCat594 (Mar 20, 2009)

good to see you are back up and running


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> good to see you are back up and running


Thanks! It's coming along pretty well.

I came home today with a burned out lightbulb that i just got a few weeks ago. Thankfully, i sent an email to the company (fishneedit.com) and 5 minutes later i got a call from them. He gave me a refund instantly, no questions asked.

So i'm going to order another one.. i guess.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Just received a package of a bunch of stems from coltonorr. I'll post some pictures when i get home.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Sorry about the late pics, i've been so busy the last week of school.

I added the plants i got, they've been in for a few days. Two of the six new light bulbs i got for my light fixtures burned out (after only 2 weeks of use!), so i'm getting replacements. Now i'm just saving up for a second eheim 2217 and pressurized Co2, as well as some more angelfish and cardinals. Waiting for it to all grow in!

Any thoughts, suggestions?


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

No suggestions? Opinions? Tips?

Anyone?


----------



## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

Sweet tank AZ fish kid! Was it you who was going to move to Greensboro, NC? Thought I remembered that from another post. 

I love the tank and can't wait to see it fill in. Sorry about the fungus. You had a lot invested in the plants! 

Are those bulbs actinic blue? Sorry if this has already been asked. I didn't see it anywhere. I feel like it might look a little more natural without the blue lamps. Otherwise, cool scape and cool fish!


----------



## Coltonorr (Mar 12, 2008)

AZ,
Nice I really like the right side, with the DW coming overtop. Can't wait to see it fill in!
I don't see your verticillaris...


----------



## jnaz (Apr 12, 2009)

I agree, get rid of the blue lights.


----------



## Axelrodi202 (Jul 29, 2008)

Actinic lights aren't too good for plant growth, and they look bad.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> Sweet tank AZ fish kid! Was it you who was going to move to Greensboro, NC? Thought I remembered that from another post.
> 
> I love the tank and can't wait to see it fill in. Sorry about the fungus. You had a lot invested in the plants!
> 
> Are those bulbs actinic blue? Sorry if this has already been asked. I didn't see it anywhere. I feel like it might look a little more natural without the blue lamps. Otherwise, cool scape and cool fish!


Yes, that was me.  We were going to move but my dad wasn't able to find a suitable job, plus i didn't like the school anyway.. so yeah, we're staying in the desert.

About the lights: My fixtures came with a "blue" and a "67k white" bulb. On each side, the white ones burned out (as stated in a previous posting) and my replacements came today, but they were both broken! I know it doesn't look good with just the blue, but i like the look of the blue and the white together in all the fixtures. BTW, the middle fixture has both blue and white, just for reference.

BUT if they aren't good for plants then i'll remove them and put in a different kind of lightbulb. Should I?




> AZ,
> Nice I really like the right side, with the DW coming overtop. Can't wait to see it fill in!
> I don't see your verticillaris...


Thanks!

All of the verticillaris is in there, it's just all along the back. Waiting for it to grow in and get tall (which i'm guessing will take quite a while). The main reason i ordered the plant package is because of the verticillaris lol!


----------



## Axelrodi202 (Jul 29, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> About the lights: My fixtures came with a "blue" and a "67k white" bulb. On each side, the white ones burned out (as stated in a previous posting) and my replacements came today, but they were both broken! I know it doesn't look good with just the blue, but i like the look of the blue and the white together in all the fixtures. BTW, the middle fixture has both blue and white, just for reference.
> 
> BUT if they aren't good for plants then i'll remove them and put in a different kind of lightbulb. Should I?


Actinic lights are better suited for corals. I think there was a topic about actinics in the lighting forum.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> Actinic lights are better suited for corals. I think there was a topic about actinics in the lighting forum.


Ok thanks, i'll make sure to check that out.


----------



## ICPjuggla (Mar 17, 2009)

I love the new scape it will look great when it fills in...


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> I love the new scape it will look great when it fills in...


Thanks! I'm already seeing a lot of growth, so hopefully it will fill in soon!

Need some opinions: I was thinking about getting some sort of branching driftwood centerpiece to go in the middle and tie some sort of moss to it. Thought it might look cool - or should i just leave the middle open?

Here's my idea (sorry about my lack of computer skills, i tried :icon_roll ):
Or maybe even some pieces of driftwood poking out of the water?


----------



## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

In my opinion this would destroy the "river" look. I would wait until your jungle left and right has grown in some more.


----------



## Green Leaf Aquariums (Feb 26, 2007)

This tanks footprint is perfect for a scape like this..

-Orlando


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> In my opinion this would destroy the "river" look. I would wait until your jungle left and right has grown in some more.


Yeah that's what i was thinking.. thanks for the input.

That's a really cool setup orlando, do you know where that is?


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

*<<UPDATE 5.16.2009>>*:
I got 4 Green Cory Catfish (Brochis splendens) and 5 otos (Otocinclus sp.) today, thought it would be good to get some bottom feeders to clean up the bottom a bit. Hopefully they'll clean up some of that algae on the substrate.

Sorry for the quality of the pictures!

















Also, the verticillaris stems don't seem to be growing much.. i'm not sure if they've even started to root yet. Do they require co2, or does it just take time for them to get going?


----------



## Axelrodi202 (Jul 29, 2008)

Why such common fish? Why not try sterbai cories?


----------



## Coltonorr (Mar 12, 2008)

AZ,
my verticillaris has CO2. But it's also not a fast growing stem plant. I have had it in my tank for over 2 months and I have only had to trim it once.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> Why such common fish? Why not try sterbai cories?


Because i like how they look, and i don't care if they're rare or not. :icon_neut
Maybe i'll get some different species in the future, but for now i like the type i got and have no regrets getting them. Thank you for the input though.

Plus, cash isn't exactly flowing out of my pockets at this moment, so for now i'm going to stick with the common species, except for angelfish if i decide to get a few more (i'd like a high coverage koi, and those aren't exactly cheap).

If you want to send me some sterbais though, i'd be happy to put them in. :smile:





> AZ,
> my verticillaris has CO2. But it's also not a fast growing stem plant. I have had it in my tank for over 2 months and I have only had to trim it once.


Ohh ok, just wondered. I'm hoping i'll be able to get pressurized co2 over the summer, so maybe that will help out. Thanks :thumbsup:


----------



## Axelrodi202 (Jul 29, 2008)

Expensive? I have swordtails more expensive than sterbai cories! You just have to look in the right places *coughcoughchinatowncoughcough*.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> Expensive? I have swordtails more expensive than sterbai cories! You just have to look in the right places *coughcoughchinatowncoughcough*.


LOL yeah i know. But right now i have a total of $9, literally.
And i want to get pressurized co2, a second filter and maybe a single 72" light fixture instead of three 24" ones. So i gotta save up a bit.


----------



## Coltonorr (Mar 12, 2008)

And AZ, your are nowhere near...coughcoughchinatowncoughcough...lol


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> And AZ, your are nowhere near...coughcoughchinatowncoughcough...lol


Accepting all donations. Lol just kidding 

Yeah i know, but over the summer im helping out at my moms office and she's paying me $200 for working 2 days a week for 4 weeks, 4 hours per day. So maybe that will get me a co2 system.. or a second filter.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

*<<UPDATE 5.25.09>>*:

So i got this huge sword plant from another forum member, put it in 2 days ago, and my female angelfish laid the eggs on one of the leaves the same day. And to my surprise, the eggs actually lasted longer than 10 hours! Usually once i go to bed and turn off the lights, something eats the eggs and they're gone in the morning. But i was reading about breeding angelfish, and how if you turn off the lights it can cause other fish to eat the eggs. I don't really understand how but its true. So, i left one of the lights on (the fixture above where the eggs are) and they made it through the night!

I'l get some pics soon.

Anyone have any experience on breeding angelfish? Tips/Steps/Instructions would be nice, because i think this batch is going to live.


----------



## Axelrodi202 (Jul 29, 2008)

I would avoid adding any other fish, and move the angelfish's tankmates to another tank if possible. Remove all fungused eggs (if the egg is white, it has fungus, fertile eggs are relatively clear). Congrats!

And


> And AZ, your are nowhere near...coughcoughchinatowncoughcough...lol


I feel sorry for you. Thats where all the good deals are! $1 cardinals, $6 sterbai cories!


----------



## Oreo (May 6, 2008)

Orlando said:


> This tanks footprint is perfect for a scape like this..
> 
> -Orlando


Except that tanks kept with an intentionally low water level like that one don't look as nice as that one 99% of the time. I know 'cause I'm doing something similar with my tank. Above the water line gets gross in a single day and requires constant cleaning of the glass to keep the tank in "show condition". Most people don't have the time to chase after it like that so it ends up looking dirty most of the time, and cleaned only when you're planning on showing off the tank.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

*<<UPDATE 5.27.2009>>*:

According to this, looks like i'm on day four or five.



> What happens during the first week once they laid their eggs?
> If the female has deposited her eggs, and the male fertilizes them, the
> following should occur;
> Day 0: The eggs are spawned in lines.
> ...


Fins are forming, about half have turned white (which have been removed). 
There are about 20 ones that have survived. I woke up today and saw them scattered on all of the sword plant leaves. Then, this evening, they were all gone. So, i looked around the tank for a while, and i saw them in one little area on a java fern leaf.. looks like the mother moved them. They're looking pretty good, i'm surprised they've gotten this far!

Picture (again, sorry for the bad quality):










Im going to hopefully put the other tank mates in a 10g for the time being.
Is there anything i should do at this point? :flick:

So im wondering what the babies will look like (color/pattern wise) if they survive and live long enough to become a good size. The male is a pearlscale platinum and the female is just a stantard.

Also, i'm noticing that they are constantly moving the babies back and forth from the java fern leaf to the sword plant leaf. Is this normal? The male will remove them from the java fern, move them to the sword, then the female will come along, literally 5 seconds later, and move them back.

It amazes me how much dedication these angels have to their fry. One of the little ones somehow fell off the java fern leaf and fell to the bottom, in the middle of a bunch of plants and driftwood, and the female basically went sideways and did everything she had to do to get back that little fry. Spectacular to watch. :smile:


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Well i woke up today and didn't see any again.. i'm hoping something didn't eat them. =/ Maybe they're just hiding lol?


----------



## Axelrodi202 (Jul 29, 2008)

If its their first time, the eggs are probably eaten. Domesticated strains of angelfish aren't the best parents, because most of them have been artificially raised by breeders.


----------



## Veloth (Jun 25, 2008)

Did the parents move them or were the babies eaten?


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

They were probably eaten over night, but i did see the mother and father constantly move them from leaf to leaf.. kind of looked like all the moving was hurting the babies.

Who knows, we'll see.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

*<<UPDATE 6.3.2009>>*:

So i'm ordering a new light fixture tomorrow since two of my three fishneedit.com fixtures are dead. I took them to a light repair shop and they said there was probably something wrong with the ballasts since only one of the two lightbulb sockets would function properly. So, since they were only $40.00 each, i didn't feel like having them repaired - didn't seem worth it to me. 

So, i found this 72" t5-ho on ebay. Looks pretty nice to me.
Check it out here .

I'm planning on hanging it from the ceiling, comes with free brackets so why not?


----------



## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> *<<UPDATE 6.3.2009>>*:
> 
> So i'm ordering a new light fixture tomorrow since two of my three fishneedit.com fixtures are dead. I took them to a light repair shop and they said there was probably something wrong with the ballasts since only one of the two lightbulb sockets would function properly. So, since they were only $40.00 each, i didn't feel like having them repaired - didn't seem worth it to me.
> 
> ...


Sorry about the dead light fixtures. 

You should post the link under lighting and see if anyone has used this manufacturer before you buy.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> Sorry about the dead light fixtures.
> 
> You should post the link under lighting and see if anyone has used this manufacturer before you buy.


It arrived this evening - and i LOVE it. Was very carefully packaged and shines a lot of light. It has 8 bulbs with 4 switches, so it's nice being able to control the brightness of the light. 

There are 4 blue and 4 white lights in the fixture. Didn't realize it would come with 4 blue, but i kinda like how it looks. I'll probably replace two of the blues with whites sometime though. With the 4 white bulbs, it gives me a total of 1.7WPG - is that enough for a low-tech tank? (the 4 blues don't count in the WPG right? Since they don't do much for the plants) *correct me if i'm wrong*. Bulbs are 35 watts each.

Once my pockets are filled again, i'm planning on getting 20-25 cardinal tetras and 2 GBR's. What about 2-3 Denison Barbs? Maybe some hatchets? Any suggestions???


----------



## kali (May 8, 2009)

AZfishkid ..that light fixture looking real good man..


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> AZfishkid ..that light fixture looking real good man..


Thanks! Really glad i decided to order it.
Anyone have some suggestions on fish? 
Plans are:
• 20-25 Cardinal tetras
• 2 German Blue Rams
• 5 otos
• 5-7 hatchets?
• Maybe some Denison Barbs? I want 2-4 other fish that are larger than tetras, but not as big as the angelfish. Any thoughts?

By the way, in the picture the light looks really blue for some reason, but the it just has a little bit of blue.


----------



## Axelrodi202 (Jul 29, 2008)

I'd suggest some marbled hatchets. BTW, the light is nice, but doesn't look too bright.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> I'd suggest some marbled hatchets. BTW, the light is nice, but doesn't look too bright.


yeah i was looking at some marbled hatchets online, they're pretty cool looking.
Trust me, the light is VERY bright. For some reason in the picture it doesn't look to bright, and it also looks like there's a lot more blue than there actually is. I've noticed some major plant growth, and all of the plants that had died during the 3-5 weeks with minimal light are starting to come back, even though it's only been a day.

I also moved the light down a few inches this morning, so it makes the aquarium look much more bright.


----------



## kali (May 8, 2009)

i think if you can swap all the blue actinic out and put 6500K or 10000K it will be way brighter and better .


----------



## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

kali said:


> i think if you can swap all the blue actinic out and put 6500K or 10000K it will be way brighter and better .


I kind of agree on ditching the blue for some 6500k. BUT, the light looks really sweet, and you did a good job hanging it! Looking forward to more pics!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

I think i'm going to keep the blues _for now_, but thank you for all of the input. Wouldn't it be too much WPG if i replaced the blue bulbs? Right now i have about 1.7WPG, so if i replaced them i would have 3.4WPG... wouldn't that lead to major algae breakouts since i don't have co2?


----------



## kali (May 8, 2009)

AzFishKid said:


> I think i'm going to keep the blues _for now_, but thank you for all of the input. Wouldn't it be too much WPG if i replaced the blue bulbs? Right now i have about 1.7WPG, so if i replaced them i would have 3.4WPG... wouldn't that lead to major algae breakouts since i don't have co2?


 well say ..get the co2 then


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> well say ..get the co2 then


You pay for it, ship it to me and charge me absolutely nothing - WOOT sounds like a plan. 

Lol I'm broke, maybe someday i'll get a pressurized co2 system, but can't right now, and probably won't be able to for a long time.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

So i got a bunch of new plants from a LFS called Aquatouch.. really nice plants! Just waiting for them to grow in, then i'll post some pics


----------



## seds (Jan 30, 2009)

AzFishKid said:


> Thanks! Really glad i decided to order it.
> Anyone have some suggestions on fish?
> Plans are:
> • 20-25 Cardinal tetras
> ...


HEY take a picture of that strange straggly stem plant on the left up close. I think it would be easy to ID.

I suggest any barb but tinfoil if you are still looking for a mid sized fish. I have tried 3 species and they are all great fishes. Looks pretty good right now. Having one or two large groups of schoolers is better than several groups of 5ish.


My TWO CENTS


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> HEY take a picture of that strange straggly stem plant on the left up close. I think it would be easy to ID.
> 
> I suggest any barb but tinfoil if you are still looking for a mid sized fish. I have tried 3 species and they are all great fishes. Looks pretty good right now. Having one or two large groups of schoolers is better than several groups of 5ish.


I actually threw it away. Was making progress but didn't feel like saving it LOL.

I've had bad experiences with most barbs. They usually tend to nibble on the angelfish fins. But i heard the Denison Barbs are peaceful.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

My pockets are slowly filling again.. going to order 25 cardinal tetras and 8 marble hatchets in a few days. I can only find marble hatchets on Aquabid though, so I'm going to call one of my good LFS and see if they have any before i order from Aquabid. Planning on ordering the cardinals from Invertzfactory since the only thing i hear from their customers is 100% satisfaction and how awesome the cardinals from them are. :fish:


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

From what I hear, you won't be disappointed in Invertz. I eventually want to order some ottos from them. You did a great job hanging that light. How do you like it? I can't wait for new pictures.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

sewingalot said:


> From what I hear, you won't be disappointed in Invertz. I eventually want to order some ottos from them. You did a great job hanging that light. How do you like it? I can't wait for new pictures.


Yeah i'll probably order a few ottos from them also, 4/5 of the ones I got from Petsmart a few weeks ago died. :icon_neut Not a good idea to buy fish from them. The closest *GOOD* LFS near me is about an hour away, so my parents aren't usually willing to drive down that far.

Thanks, I'm glad i decided to hang it! My room is contemporary, so it fits in a lot better as well. Overall, i am very satisfied with the light fixture - it's quiet, super bright, and doesn't get very hot. Would definitely recommend it to anyone who is looking for a good quality, reasonably priced 72" T5-HO fixture. 

I'm planning on posting some more up-to-date pictures soon, since i got a ton more plants and everything is growing in really nicely! I'm also working on a little 5-gallon aquarium that i'm going to set up in the stand to grow out some trimmings that i'll hopefully be able to sell on the swap and shop for some extra cash. :hihi:

Everything is going really well, i hope it will continue!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

I just noticed some angelfish eggs on a sword plant leaf, hopefully these will hatch and actually survive. Going to do a bit of research so I'm prepared.

Few questions-

Need help with some plant ID's:













































Also, i noticed there was some sort of slimy - scum looking stuff on the surface of the water. What could this be? I removed it with a net.

Noticed there is some sort of algae growing on some of the leaves and java fern roots. It looks really fuzzy, and is a light brownish color. When i uprooted a blyxa japonica plant, i noticed that it was even on the roots.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Would love it if someone could help me out with the plant ID's.. anyone have any ideas what the slimy, clear water surface cover could be? And the algae?


----------



## prjct92eh2 (Apr 8, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> Also, i noticed there was some sort of slimy - scum looking stuff on the surface of the water. What could this be? I removed it with a net.
> 
> Noticed there is some sort of algae growing on some of the leaves and java fern roots. It looks really fuzzy, and is a light brownish color. When i uprooted a blyxa japonica plant, i noticed that it was even on the roots.


If those two are from me then the first one is Rotala wallichii and the second one is Limnophila sessiflora.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> If those two are from me then the first one is Rotala wallichii and the second one is Limnophila sessiflora.


I got them from another forum member (Daud), but who knows- maybe he got them from you. Haha.

Thanks for the ID's. Can anyone else identify the others?


----------



## Coltonorr (Mar 12, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> I just noticed some angelfish eggs on a sword plant leaf, hopefully these will hatch and actually survive. Going to do a bit of research so I'm prepared.
> 
> Few questions-
> 
> ...


 
AZ 
Pic 1 looks like Ludwigia repens
Pic 2 R. wallichii
Pic 3 Limnophila sessiflora
Pic 4 Lobilia cardinalis 'dwarf'
Pic 5 ?
Pic 6 Cryptocoryne wendtii bronze in back
Polygonum sp? in front


----------



## malaybiswas (Nov 2, 2008)

Pic 5 looks like rotala nanjeshan or maybe rotala sp mexicana


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Thanks for all the help with the ID's! 

One more, forgot about these guys:









Also, here's a few pictures of the "skum" that i'm constantly finding on the surface of the water, creating a film-like cover:


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

What type of water conditioner do you use? That could be contributing to the surface scum. Sorry that I can't help you with the identification of the last plant. Kinda looks non aquatic. I agree with coltonorr and I believe the other is rotala nanjeshan.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> What type of water conditioner do you use? That could be contributing to the surface scum. Sorry that I can't help you with the identification of the last plant. Kinda looks non aquatic. I agree with coltonorr and I believe the other is rotala nanjeshan.


Aqueon Water Conditioner. Have always used this type and never had this problem before.

I'm sure the plant is aquatic, i picked it up at a LFS called Aquatouch and they are VERY knowledgeable about planted tank setups, and have some awesome plants- so i don't think they'd sell non-aquatic plants. 

Also.. thinking about getting some anubias nana petite to fill up the blank spaces.. yes/no?


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Here's a good link on surface scum: http://aquariumalgae.blogspot.com/2007/06/as-we-can-see-in-this-article-algae.html

I saved your picture and flipped it of the other plant. I think it is Lobelia cardinalis

Oh, and anubias would be sweet.


----------



## Coltonorr (Mar 12, 2008)

Your last plant picture is Lobelia cardinalis


----------



## Gatekeeper (Feb 20, 2007)

I have the same water scum. I use airstones at night and before lights on to remedy this. Never seen it since I started doing it.


----------



## Axelrodi202 (Jul 29, 2008)

gmccreedy said:


> I have the same water scum. I use airstones at night and before lights on to remedy this. Never seen it since I started doing it.


Could it be something in the water? I have it too.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> I have the same water scum. I use airstones at night and before lights on to remedy this. Never seen it since I started doing it.





> Could it be something in the water? I have it too.


Wow i didn't think it was such a common thing lol, i've never even heard of "water scum" before i saw it in my aquarium a few days ago. I guess i'll try using airstones. Thanks for the last plant ID btw.  It looks like it is Lobelia cardinalis.

I would like to figure out what the fuzzy algae stuff is also.. it's growing mostly on the roots of my plants. It's white/clear, sometimes light brown. If anyone knows what this is, is it dangerous to the plants or fish? I can post a pic if needed.


----------



## seds (Jan 30, 2009)

I believe the scum is caused by fish food not being eaten. The fat goes to the top and forms a film. I get it a lot too, because my filter is very strong and my fish are pretty big. Tiny pieces of flakes get into the sump and decay.

Stirring it up causes little white cracks, right? That's what happens when I poke the surface of my sump.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> I believe the scum is caused by fish food not being eaten. The fat goes to the top and forms a film. I get it a lot too, because my filter is very strong and my fish are pretty big. Tiny pieces of flakes get into the sump and decay.
> 
> Stirring it up causes little white cracks, right? That's what happens when I poke the surface of my sump.


Kind of.. it has a very slimy feel, almost like egg whites.


----------



## ikuzo (Jul 11, 2006)

lay a sheet of tissue on the surface and pick it up quickly to remove the scum.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> lay a sheet of tissue on the surface and pick it up quickly to remove the scum.


Thanks, i'll try that out when i get home this afternoon.
Last night before i went to bed i pointed my power heads up towards the surface to cause some water movement, and that seemed to help a lot.

I also noticed one of my crypts is "melting". I've heard about this all the time, but what is this caused by and how can it be cured? It seems to be only occurring on one of the leaves, but it looks like it's starting on others.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

I ordered the Medium-Tech+ package from Pfertz, so i'm hoping they will help my plants out a bit. I haven't been dosing anything, so i'm interested to see the changes.


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Did you try the paper towel thing? I am curious to know if it worked. You have had great growth without ferts. I am impressed.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> Did you try the paper towel thing? I am curious to know if it worked. You have had great growth without ferts. I am impressed.


Yes i did, and it worked VERY well. :thumbsup: Thanks for the tip ikuzo!

I just got done cleaning out my eheim 2217 canister filter, i didn't realize how dirty it was. D: Water flow is much better now. I found a baby java fern growing at the bottom of the canister too. ^.^ Left it in there to see how big it will grow the next time i clean it out.

So near the end of the month i'll have enough money to buy some fish, since i spent $47 on the pfertz package. Here's my plan, i want opinions/suggestions/comments: 20 OR 25 cardinal tetras (how many?), 8 ottos, 5 CPD's. (all from invertzfactory)

Other fish: 4 GBR's, Maybe 4 skunk or panda corys, 8 marble hatchets (IF I CAN FIND ANY!!), 3 Denison Barbs if i have room?

All Fish (blue=already have):
• 25 cardinal tetras
• 2 Large Angelfish
• 4 green emerald cory catfish
• 4 skunk/panda cory catfish (?)
• 9 ottos
• 4 german blue rams
• 8 marble hatchets
• [STRIKE]3 Denison Barbs[/STRIKE] 
• 5 CPD's (?)

Is this too much?


----------



## ikuzo (Jul 11, 2006)

glad you like it. i hate doing it though even if it took like 3 seconds every another week. if you hate it too buy a surface skimmer like i did lol...


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Haha, a baby java fern in your filter. I usually find guppy fry and moss.  I like the idea of getting 25 cardinals. The Dennison barbs worry me though. They can get pretty picky in old age and like larger groups than 3. 6 would be better.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> glad you like it. i hate doing it though even if it took like 3 seconds every another week. if you hate it too buy a surface skimmer like i did lol...


I'll eventually get a skimmer.. would be really nice. But for now, the paper towel method works great! :bounce:



sewingalot said:


> Haha, a baby java fern in your filter. I usually find guppy fry and moss.  I like the idea of getting 25 cardinals. The Dennison barbs worry me though. They can get pretty picky in old age and like larger groups than 3. 6 would be better.


Haha yeah, i've found "lost fish" at the bottom of my filter, but never a baby plant.  Haha.

So i guess i'll plan on getting 25 cardinals, 5 ottos (i'll start out with 5.. 8 might be too many), 4 German Blue Rams, and 8 Marble Hatchets.


----------



## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

that scum is a biofilm made up of bacteria and protozoans. Surface movement will break it up. Aim your out-take up a little to create some movement.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> that scum is a biofilm made up of bacteria and protozoans. Surface movement will break it up. Aim your out-take up a little to create some movement.


Yeah i did that also, i had a bunch of white stuff floating around for a day but the filter sucked it all up. :flick:


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

So my green emerald cory catfish laid some eggs on the glass this morning.. the angelfish started to eat them, so i placed a fish net against the glass in the areas with the most eggs, with a slight opening so the parents can get in but not the angelfish. The corys seem to like this, they've been sitting inside the net enclosure.


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Wow, congratulations on the eggs! That means your doing very good! I still can't get over the java fern. It must have been a wee baby to get sucked up there. How is it growing with no light? I tell you those are amazing plants. I like the new stock list. Are you planning to quarantine them first? It is a good idea if you have the ability to do so.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> Wow, congratulations on the eggs! That means your doing very good! I still can't get over the java fern. It must have been a wee baby to get sucked up there. How is it growing with no light? I tell you those are amazing plants. I like the new stock list. Are you planning to quarantine them first? It is a good idea if you have the ability to do so.


Thanks! I'm not sure how the java fern was growing down there either.. and yeah it was super small! The leaves were about half an inch. 

I have never quarantined any of my fish (although i know it's a good idea.. hehe), but i might with these. Only problem though is that the only other tank i have is a 5 gallon.  Any ideas?


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

My pfertz package came this afternoon (Medium-Tech Plus). Looks awesome!


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

By the way, I have found Purigen to remove surface scum very well. I placed it in my filter one day and overnight the scum was gone.

Although I have no idea if it will work with your strange scum:icon_eek: Mine wasn't quite that thick

Btw how about a FTS?


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Well, since you don't really have a quarantine tank, your option is to put them in the tank and hope for the best. I would contact Invertz and ask them to ship you fish they have had in quarantine the longest. That will improve your chances. Feed lightly for the first few weeks as well. Also, make sure you keep up on water changes to keep the tank as clean as possible.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> Well, since you don't really have a quarantine tank, your option is to put them in the tank and hope for the best. I would contact Invertz and ask them to ship you fish they have had in quarantine the longest. That will improve your chances. Feed lightly for the first few weeks as well. Also, make sure you keep up on water changes to keep the tank as clean as possible.


Yeah that's what i've been doing haha.. only fish that i've ever really had problems with are the ones from petsmart, which I no longer buy fish from. 



> By the way, I have found Purigen to remove surface scum very well. I placed it in my filter one day and overnight the scum was gone.
> 
> Although I have no idea if it will work with your strange scum Mine wasn't quite that thick
> 
> Btw how about a FTS?


Yeah i read that was a good way to remove scum also.. i'll try that if it comes back again. :flick:

FTS? What's that?


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

Full Tank Shot


----------



## prjct92eh2 (Apr 8, 2008)

Invertz Factory quarantines their fish before they sell them. Although the stress of shipping can sometimes bring out some problems.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

As requested by ZTM..










Still trying to figure out the best way to have a black background. I really don't like the kind you buy at petsmart because water gets trapped in between the glass and background and looks really bad.. any ideas? I was going to paint it before i set it up but for some reason i didn't..


----------



## Coltonorr (Mar 12, 2008)

AZ I absolutely love the tank! 
I just have one thing to say though...I look at it and love the plants, but the atinic blue light just takes my attention away from the plants. But that's just my opinion.
Still very nice!:thumbsup:


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Coltonorr said:


> AZ I absolutely love the tank!
> I just have one thing to say though...I look at it and love the plants, but the atinic blue light just takes my attention away from the plants. But that's just my opinion.
> Still very nice!:thumbsup:


Thanks!
I agree with you on the actinic blue bulbs - eventually I'm going to replace 2/4 of them with whites. I like a little blue, but with 4 it's too much.

Do you see the Verticillaris that you sold to me in the far right corner? It's slowly growing in! I hope you see it now since you were doubting it was in there a while back. :flick:


----------



## Coltonorr (Mar 12, 2008)

Yes, it looks good, it doesn't grow too fast which makes it a nice plant.


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Your tank is very cool. I think you really did a good job creating the look you were after. Do you have room to paint the background? If not, try dewalltheway's latest idea. He painted some foam and mounted that to the back. It looks good.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> Your tank is very cool. I think you really did a good job creating the look you were after. Do you have room to paint the background? If not, try dewalltheway's latest idea. He painted some foam and mounted that to the back. It looks good.


Thank you sara!  There's not much room to paint, it's 5 inches away from the wall. I'm going to look into that foam idea, sounds like it would be easy to do. Thanks for the idea!


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Thank Dewalltheway. :hihi:


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Hmm.. can't seem to find it, do you have the link? :hihi:


----------



## Ugly Genius (Sep 27, 2003)

The tank's I love looking at -- like this one -- are the ones I see it as good as is and at the same time, inspires idea after idea of what I would do if it were my tank.

Good job, kid!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> The tank's I love looking at -- like this one -- are the ones I see it as good as is and at the same time, inspires idea after idea of what I would do if it were my tank.
> 
> Good job, kid!


Thanks for the kind comment.


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

Have you thought of a plant to fill that empty space on the left?


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> Have you thought of a plant to fill that empty space on the left?


Yeah, there's actually some short stems along the back left. Wish they would grow faster haha.










Can anyone identify that white fuzzy stuff on that piece of driftwood on the right? Is it hair algae?


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> Yeah, there's actually some short stems along the back left. Wish they would grow faster haha.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


No I mean in front of that space

And if the growth on the driftwood is white, then it's a fungus that commonly appears in new driftwood. It's not harmful in any way


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Ohh haha.. yeah i was thinking something like a rock wall around that area, then maybe some hc.. or some sort of low-growing carpeting plant. Kind of like dewalltheway's 55 tank. I really like the rock walls.  I have some ideas so i'm gonna try them out tomorrow then post some pics...


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> Hmm.. can't seem to find it, do you have the link? :hihi:



Here you go:
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/867263-post136.html


----------



## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

I like this tank also... I subscribed to it a while ago... don't want to miss anything 

I actually have something useful to say here... Instead of the painted foam or just painting the back of the tank, I just took a piece of nylon fabric, like the stuff you make kites out of and just draped it down the back. I had it left over from a few years back for another hobby. You can probably get it in fabric and craft stores...


----------



## redman88 (Dec 12, 2008)

i don't have any good pics of my tank and stand since i have set it up but heres one of the stand that shows what i have for a back ground.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Thanks for the link sara.



> I like this tank also... I subscribed to it a while ago... don't want to miss anything
> 
> I actually have something useful to say here... Instead of the painted foam or just painting the back of the tank, I just took a piece of nylon fabric, like the stuff you make kites out of and just draped it down the back. I had it left over from a few years back for another hobby. You can probably get it in fabric and craft stores...


:eek5: I didn't think anyone was subscribed to my tank.. thanks! :hihi:

Is the fabric just hanging down or is it stretched? Nice idea.



> i don't have any good pics of my tank and stand since i have set it up but heres one of the stand that shows what i have for a back ground.


Very cool. Not really an option for me though since my tank is already set up, but awesome idea! Love the stand also.


----------



## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

Yeah the fabric just hangs down... it's actually just held with packing tape to the top edge of the tank...
By the way, I bought the fabric here.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Regloh said:


> Yeah the fabric just hangs down... it's actually just held with packing tape to the top edge of the tank...
> By the way, I bought the fabric here.



Thanks for the link. Sounds like a promising idea. :fish:


----------



## plantman119 (Jun 7, 2009)

Mind if i steal your aqauascape?! lol looks great.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

plantman119 said:


> Mind if i steal your aqauascape?! lol looks great.



LOL thank you so much!! :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Haha i don't mind. ^_^


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

See how well you are doing?


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

sewingalot said:


> See how well you are doing?


Haha i try.. :hihi:

I ordered a few baby bristlenose plecos from another forum member a few days ago, one brown and one albino, and they came DOA this afternoon.. just got too hot for them to be in a box for 3 days. It reached 108 in Phoenix today, highest temperature yet of the year.. :icon_cry:


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Aw, man that blows. Sorry to hear they didn't make it. It is hot up here, but not that bad. I am even worried about plants not making it in this heat.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

sewingalot said:


> Aw, man that blows. Sorry to hear they didn't make it. It is hot up here, but not that bad. I am even worried about plants not making it in this heat.


Yeah, i was worried about them when i grabbed the box from the mailman - it felt like it had been sitting out in the sun or something. :eek5:

I'm gonna re-order when a monsoon comes around though, since the temps get quite a bit lower during those big desert storms. :thumbsup:


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

You make Arizona sound so spectacular! I have never been there, but my mom feel in love with the place when she visited a few years ago. She wants to move there now. Ugh, to look forward to the fish and to get that. Poor guys. What can you do with weather though?


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> You make Arizona sound so spectacular! I have never been there, but my mom feel in love with the place when she visited a few years ago. She wants to move there now. Ugh, to look forward to the fish and to get that. Poor guys. What can you do with weather though?


Arizona really is spectacular IMO. The deserts and mountains are beautiful, and when the monsoons come around, it's like nothing you've ever seen. The rain replenishes the desert and brings new life to the plants and animals that live there. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. 

Yeah, can't really do much about the weather.. i was looking forward to getting the new fish after my gym workout this morning, but then i opened it up and they were dead.  Oh well, everything can't turn out perfect i guess.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

So here was my idea.. i put some more rock in, to form a "wall" around some of the plants. I'm thinking about either covering the rocks in some sort of moss, or anubias petite. I'm leaning toward moss right now, i'm just not sure what type. I really like how flame moss looks, but i read it's slow-growing... any suggestions on type of moss? Or does anyone think i should cover them in anubias petite?

Then, in the blank spots, i need a low-growing carpeting plant. What would be best?


















By the way.. that "V" shaped piece of driftwood in the second picture fell over.. it's not supposed to be like that. xD


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> Then, in the blank spots, i need a low-growing carpeting plant. What would be best?


Oooh how about Riccia stones? And then the surrounding rocks could be tied with dark-colored moss...to make the Riccia stand out


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> Oooh how about Riccia stones? And then the surrounding rocks could be tied with dark-colored moss...to make the Riccia stand out


YESSS. That's what i'm going to do. But what type of moss? I can't keep java moss alive so.. haha.


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> YESSS. That's what i'm going to do. But what type of moss? I can't keep java moss alive so.. haha.


lol...how about Pellia? Or any other types of moss that you can keep alive


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> lol...how about Pellia? Or any other types of moss that you can keep alive


That might work.. but now that i think about it, i couldn't keep the java moss alive because it came brown.. haha.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

So i noticed my crypt was melting again, could this be caused by the pfertz? I just started dosing on Monday. Followed directions, dosed on monday and yesterday.


----------



## Axelrodi202 (Jul 29, 2008)

I would put java or willow moss. Flame moss is more of a centerpiece plant.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

I think i'm going to go with java moss.
It grows pretty fast, right?


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> I think i'm going to go with java moss.
> It grows pretty fast, right?


Yeah it grows super fast. At least for me

I have a bunch, I could send you some...but I don't have any ice packs


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> Yeah it grows super fast. At least for me
> 
> I have a bunch, I could send you some...but I don't have any ice packs


:eek5: I think it could make it. We're neighbors practically. :hihi:

I'm broke though, literally, so when i get some more cash at the end of the month i'll buy some off of you.. :thumbsup:


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> I'm broke though, literally, so when i get some more cash at the end of the month i'll buy some off of you.. :thumbsup:


Don't worry about it, I'll give it to you for free since there's some clado in it

There's also some Riccia and Pellia mixed in there too


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> Don't worry about it, I'll give it to you for free since there's some clado in it
> 
> There's also some Riccia and Pellia mixed in there too


That's very generous of you ZTM. :icon_eek:!!!

I can't even cover the $8 shipping cost though, so i'll have to wait until July 1st. :flick:


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

ZTM is great. I like his idea of the Riccia as well. That would be cool.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

sewingalot said:


> ZTM is great. I like his idea of the Riccia as well. That would be cool.



Yeah, it's gonna look sweet!

I'm selling a plant package in the S&S, hopefully that will sell so i can buy ZTM's moss. :fish:


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> I can't even cover the $8 shipping cost though, so i'll have to wait until July 1st. :flick:





AzFishKid said:


> I'm selling a plant package in the S&S, hopefully that will sell so i can buy ZTM's moss. :fish:


Nononono I'll ship it to you for free too


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> Nononono I'll ship it to you for free too


:eek5:!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FJWEFKSDJNASJNEWROIFNIASNDFKLJSAND

Dude you're awesome lollolololololol     Are you sure?


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

Yeah I don't really need it plus it takes up alot of room


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> :eek5:!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FJWEFKSDJNASJNEWROIFNIASNDFKLJSAND
> 
> Dude you're awesome lollolololololol     Are you sure?


Hahahaha!


----------



## kid creole (Dec 25, 2008)

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> Nononono I'll ship it to you for free too


Very nice. What goes around comes around, so in your case this should work out well.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

I got 4 skunk corys, 3 more ottos and a bristlenose pleco today from a LFS.. TERRIBLY over priced but i'm afraid to have them shipped to me in this hot weather!

$9.99 for the baby bristlenose pleco. SOOO over priced! They were selling baby albino ones as well for $19.99 haha. Decided i'd pass on those.

Some java moss from ZTM and riccia from another forum member is on it's way. Woooooo!!!! *macarena*


----------



## RamsRme (Mar 20, 2009)

Looks good!!!!:thumbsup:


----------



## Axelrodi202 (Jul 29, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> I got 4 skunk corys, 3 more ottos and a bristlenose pleco today from a LFS.. TERRIBLY over priced but i'm afraid to have them shipped to me in this hot weather!
> 
> $9.99 for the baby bristlenose pleco. SOOO over priced! They were selling baby albino ones as well for $19.99 haha. Decided i'd pass on those.
> 
> Some java moss from ZTM and riccia from another forum member is on it's way. Woooooo!!!! *macarena*


 You have an overpriced LFS too? I only go to my overpriced one for the rare stuff. You could easily get most of the fish on your list for lower prices elsewhere.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Axelrodi202 said:


> You have an overpriced LFS too? I only go to my overpriced one for the rare stuff. You could easily get most of the fish on your list for lower prices elsewhere.


Not in my area. I couldnt find the skunk corys or bristlenose pleco anywhere else, even though they're not that rare.

Ordering them online isn't an option in the summer, it's just simply too hot.


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

God how do you stand the heat?!!??!? It's 80 right now and I'm dying:hihi:


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> God how do you stand the heat?!!??!? It's 80 right now and I'm dying:hihi:


LOL 80?! That's like _the perfect_ weather. You don't know the definition of hot until you come to AZ in the summer. :flick:


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> LOL 80?! That's like _the perfect_ weather. You don't know the definition of hot until you come to AZ in the summer. :flick:


Psh. Well you don't know the definition of perfect weather until you come to California in the spring


----------



## Axelrodi202 (Jul 29, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> I got 4 skunk corys, 3 more ottos and a bristlenose pleco today from a LFS.. TERRIBLY over priced but i'm afraid to have them shipped to me in this hot weather!
> 
> $9.99 for the baby bristlenose pleco. SOOO over priced! They were selling baby albino ones as well for $19.99 haha. Decided i'd pass on those.
> 
> Some java moss from ZTM and riccia from another forum member is on it's way. Woooooo!!!! *macarena*


 I'm sure that there are plenty of LFS in a big city like Pheonix. Is there a ChinaTown in your area? If so, you've struck gold.


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

http://www.fishstorereview.com/reviews/reviews_az.html


----------



## oldpunk78 (Nov 1, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> LOL 80?! That's like _the perfect_ weather. You don't know the definition of hot until you come to AZ in the summer. :flick:


dude, tell me about it. it's 100+ all summer here. (108 today) i worry about selling plants through the sns in fear of them perishing be fore they get out of the area.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Axelrodi202 said:


> I'm sure that there are plenty of LFS in a big city like Pheonix. Is there a ChinaTown in your area? If so, you've struck gold.


No china town that i'm aware of. 



> http://www.fishstorereview.com/reviews/reviews_az.html


Been to almost all of the ones listed under phoenix. Guess i should check out the last few that i haven't visited yet. :fish:



> dude, tell me about it. it's 100+ all summer here. (108 today) i worry about selling plants through the sns in fear of them perishing be fore they get out of the area.


Yeah i know, it's a pain. I don't worry about plants too much though, they can usually withstand a little bit of heat. But fish are out of the question - i think it's impossible to have a fish arrive safely in this weather. :icon_roll


----------



## Axelrodi202 (Jul 29, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> Been to almost all of the ones listed under phoenix. Guess i should check out the last few that i haven't visited yet. :fish:


 That's the spirit! You must scour every fish store in the area to find the best deals!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Axelrodi202 said:


> That's the spirit! You must scour every fish store in the area to find the best deals!


Yeah i guess so haha. There wasn't any way i was going to spend $18.00 on a German Blue Ram with one eye. :icon_eek:

So it looks like i have a bunch of Staghorn Algae in my aquarium. I read that siamese algae eaters eat this type of algae, so i was going to go pick one up today. I've heard bad things about these kinds of fish, anything i should watch out for?


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> So it looks like i have a bunch of Staghorn Algae in my aquarium. I read that siamese algae eaters eat this type of algae, so i was going to go pick one up today. I've heard bad things about these kinds of fish, anything i should watch out for?


SAE's eat moss (which I'm about to send you)

Try spot dosing with Excel...that gets rid of almost all of my algae:thumbsup:


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> SAE's eat moss (which I'm about to send you)
> 
> Try spot dosing with Excel...that gets rid of almost all of my algae:thumbsup:



LOL nevermind then. Moss > SAE

I'll try the excel stoof.. thanks :thumbsup:


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Hmm petsmart doesn't carry it, I guess I'll have to order it online.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

So I'm going to costa rica to attend a spanish language school, as well as get to experience the culture. I will be traveling with two friends who will also be attending the school. We're all staying with a host family, which consists of a mother and two daughters (24), as well as a dog (yay!). I am leaving July 11 and coming back on the 25th i believe. I'm going to take lots of pictures - it should be a lot of fun!

Anyway, after i get back from costa rica I'm planning on setting up a 5 or 10 gallon CRS tank. Planning on it being iwagumi style, with some zebra rock and maybe HC (if i can grow it.. haha). Not planning on buying an ADA cube, just too out of my price range for now. I'm excited to get this tank all set up! If i choose to plant HC i will probably use the emersed method. Any tips, suggestions or thoughts would be appreciated!


----------



## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

What town will you be staying in? What a great opportunity! Make the most of every moment and take LOTS of pics!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

fastfreddie said:


> What town will you be staying in? What a great opportunity! Make the most of every moment and take LOTS of pics!


I will be staying in a suberb of san jose. It's considered to be an upperclass area, but who knows what upperclass is in costa rica. I will take lots of pictures!


----------



## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> I will be staying in a suberb of san jose. It's considered to be an upperclass area, but who knows what upperclass is in costa rica. I will take lots of pictures!


I expect even if you stayed somewhere not considered upper class, you would be happy and excited about the accommodations. You can probably expect very kind people, and very LUSH landscapes (even in poor areas) that will have you yearning to get back in your planted tank when you get home. 
That being said, just be warned about one thing... you can't flush toilet paper in most places in Costa Rica. 

Oh and buckle your seatbelt.... people drive insanely crazy there.


----------



## kingsleyben (Jun 25, 2009)

*I'm a newby, please help!*

Guys and Gals I'm sorry to just jump into a thread and ask a random question like this but something is really confusing me. I've read as much as I can about water hardness and its effect on plants and fish and I am THOROUGHLY confused. Could anyone explain it to me in dummy terms? I mean, I have a chart showing me the measurements from hard to soft, but how do I change the hardness? Is it related to my pH? Alkalinity? Both? If anyone could help I would really appreciate it. Sorry again to ask an unrelated question but I have class in a few minutes and I just opened the first forum I saw. 
Thanks in advance

Ben


----------



## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

which hardness are you asking about?
ph- potenz hardness (acidity of the water, the concentration of H+ and OH- ions).
kh- carobonate hardness (amount of carb. and bicarb. buffer, the alkalinity)
gh- general hardness (amount of ions in the water, mostly Mg and Ca).


----------



## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

kingsleyben said:


> Guys and Gals I'm sorry to just jump into a thread and ask a random question like this but something is really confusing me. I've read as much as I can about water hardness and its effect on plants and fish and I am THOROUGHLY confused. Could anyone explain it to me in dummy terms? I mean, I have a chart showing me the measurements from hard to soft, but how do I change the hardness? Is it related to my pH? Alkalinity? Both? If anyone could help I would really appreciate it. Sorry again to ask an unrelated question but I have class in a few minutes and I just opened the first forum I saw.
> Thanks in advance
> 
> Ben


Ben,
Welcome to the forum! 
There is a section of the forum dedicated to fertilizers and water parameters. You should start a new thread there, with your same question, so not to clog up AZ's tank journal. I'm positive you will find the help you're looking for. 

Good luck!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

fastfreddie said:


> I expect even if you stayed somewhere not considered upper class, you would be happy and excited about the accommodations. You can probably expect very kind people, and very LUSH landscapes (even in poor areas) that will have you yearning to get back in your planted tank when you get home.
> That being said, just be warned about one thing... you can't flush toilet paper in most places in Costa Rica.
> 
> Oh and buckle your seatbelt.... people drive insanely crazy there.


Yeah, i've heard that the people in costa rica are arguably the friendliest people in the world. I didn't know about the toilet paper thing, haha. Also heard the driving is insane.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Well not much is happening to my aquarium at the moment.. i removed the bronze crypt on the right because it completely melted, and i didn't feel like trying to grow it back, so i just took it out lol.


----------



## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

crypts melt relatively often. but there is no effort in growing them back. just leave them there, you will see new leaves sprouting in days. 

nah, the driving is relatively normal. we americans are the ones who drive uber-safely. ever been to europe? italy maybe? THATS where you have aggressive drivers. they have minimum speed limits posted everywhere, and everyone is going at least 50% more then the max limit.


----------



## sean117Ply (Jun 28, 2009)

They melt?


----------



## Axelrodi202 (Jul 29, 2008)

For some strange reason, most of my crypts never completely melt. I guess it has something to do with acclimation.


----------



## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

sean117Ply said:


> They melt?


just the leaves



Axelrodi202 said:


> For some strange reason, most of my crypts never completely melt. I guess it has something to do with acclimation.


yeah, i had that happen sometimes where some leaves would melt, but not all. usually its the older leaves that are more prone to melting, IME.
i find that melting happens whenever the plant is stressed. like if you uproot and replant it. in that case the more i fiddle with it, the more leaves melt. and since all my crypts are years old and all connected by their roots, i have to really mess with their roots a lot to get them well planted.


----------



## sean117Ply (Jun 28, 2009)

When you say melt, does that just mean wilt and waste away?


----------



## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

when crypts are put in a new environment, they melt, as mentioned. This occurs especially when the plant has been grown emersed and then put in a submerged situation. The old leaves can't take in nutrients so they melt, I'm thinking.

The OLD leaves will turn transparent and literally melt. New leaves will grow out quickly.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

It was looking really pitiful. The leaves were melting, and some of the stems had snapped, and the surviving leaves were all wrinkly for some reason. I put it in my little 5 gallon for the time being. I'm probably going to put a large java fern on driftwood where the bronze crypt was (when i get back from costa rica), if i can find one that's about the same size on the right.


----------



## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

just cut off the bad leaves and remove the mush they turned into. once the leaf starts melting there is no way to save it (and usually once it is even slightly damaged it cant be saved).


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Is there anyway to prevent the melting? It seems like whenever a new leaf grows, it starts to melt within days.


----------



## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

dont stress the plant, and the leaves shouldnt melt.
is anything nibbling the leaves? that would make them melt.
otherwise it could be something with your water (which should be more obvious in other more sensitive plants; crypts are pretty hardy, and they are root feeders). in that case the best solution may be to remove it, grow it emersed (be sure you get the humidity nice and high) and then try to fix your tank.


----------



## Axelrodi202 (Jul 29, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> Is there anyway to prevent the melting? It seems like whenever a new leaf grows, it starts to melt within days.


 Also, it helps if the water conditions at the store are similar to those in your tank. If you're buying crypts from someone on the other side of the country, they're more likely to melt.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Axelrodi202 said:


> Also, it helps if the water conditions at the store are similar to those in your tank. If you're buying crypts from someone on the other side of the country, they're more likely to melt.


I got the crypt in a package from someone last january, and it seems that it's just been going downhill ever since i put it in my tank. I believe the seller was from the east coast.

I have some fish that clean a bit of algae everywhere (corys, ottos, american flagfish) but i haven't seen any nibble marks on the plants.


----------



## Vladdy (May 6, 2008)

I am planning an iwagumi tank. I'm going to sell my plants and get giant hairgrass, dwarf hairgrass, maybe some moss, and some other plant. Your tank looks great!


----------



## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

AzFishKid said:


> I got the crypt in a package from someone last january, and it seems that it's just been going downhill ever since i put it in my tank. I believe the seller was from the east coast.
> 
> I have some fish that clean a bit of algae everywhere (corys, ottos, american flagfish) but i haven't seen any nibble marks on the plants.


like i said, go emmersed for a bit to let the plant grow and replenish, try and find the problem, and then try again.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

So i got some java moss and some extras from ZTM today. Put the moss in the 5 gallon for some algae treatment with excel, looks great though! Im slowly getting all the java moss i need.. i have about a softball size of it now. Thinking i'm going to need a few more softball sized clumps (maybe 3-4?) to be able to do what i want.


----------



## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

thats a lot of moss! you know, you only want a thin layer when you are putting it on something, right?


----------



## Axelrodi202 (Jul 29, 2008)

Just give it some good lights and it'll grow quickly.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

@[email protected] said:


> thats a lot of moss! you know, you only want a thin layer when you are putting it on something, right?


Yeah i know. :hihi: But i have 20+ rocks that i want to cover, each being about 4" long and 3" wide (some larger). Maybe i won't need 3 more softball sizes, but i don't think 1 softball will be enough..

*WTF* is this thing?! I was looking at my aquarium and i saw this little guy on the substrate, so i immediately got my camera to take a picture. Even though it doesn't really look like a cory, could it be one? I was thinking it might be since my green emeralds laid eggs on the glass a few weeks ago, but i thought the angelfish ate all of them.. :icon_evil I captured him in a net for now.. Any thoughts on what he could be?


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> *WTF* is this thing?! I was looking at my aquarium and i saw this little guy on the substrate, so i immediately got my camera to take a picture. Even though it doesn't really look like a cory, could it be one? I was thinking it might be since my green emeralds laid eggs on the glass a few weeks ago, but i thought the angelfish ate all of them.. :icon_evil I captured him in a net for now.. Any thoughts on what he could be?


I have no idea what it is, but it looks really cool


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> I have no idea what it is, but it looks really cool



Yeah he does look cool, i was just a little shocked to see an unknown fish swimming around in my aquarium haha.. i bet it's a cory catfish. After looking at it for a while, i noticed the fins are basically the same shape and color. I'm not letting him go before i find out what he is though... :icon_twis

Anyone have any ideas on what it could be???


----------



## Axelrodi202 (Jul 29, 2008)

It does look like a juvenile cory. Note how dwarf cories have a similar body shap to that fish.


----------



## Coltonorr (Mar 12, 2008)

Juvie cory X2


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Very cute cory! It definitely looks like a handsome fellow! Congratulations.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Thanks for all of the responses! I put him back in the tank, i hope he will survive. :biggrin:


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

So where's the promised pics of my plants? You should have taken pics while you photographed that cory


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> So where's the promised pics of my plants? You should have taken pics while you photographed that cory


Haha i was busy packing dood! Leaving for costa rica tomorrow morning - WOOT WOOT! :biggrin:

Here's a few of the plants, rest are in the 5 gallon.. if i have time before i go i'll plant the rest, but i've been pretty busy getting ready for my trip!


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Have fun in Costa Rica! We'll miss you!


----------



## monkeyruler90 (Apr 13, 2008)

good luck on your trip man. costa rica is awesome! enjoy it!


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

Oh yeah sorry about that rotala that's in bad shape


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

God I can't wait until I get back so I can get a bunch of cardinals, get the rest of the plants in and set up the 8g finnex! I managed to find some free wifi here in costa rica, so just wanted to let you all know that I'm having a blast and will post a bunch of pics when I get home on Saturday.  I miss you all!


----------



## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

hey you must be having fun in Costa Rica. where are you at right now? a long time ago i lived in the south down near Golfito for more than three years. people in Costa Rica are so friendly like no other place i have ever been. 

hey if you ever visit any swampy places please do try to get some pictures of the vegetation.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

I'm staying with a host family in santo domingo, near San Jose. Yeah the people here are super friendly, I wish it was that way in the united states. I've visited lots of jungles, but I'm not sure if I'll have the chance to visit any swamps.


----------



## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> God I can't wait until I get back so I can get a bunch of cardinals, get the rest of the plants in and set up the 8g finnex! I managed to find some free wifi here in costa rica, so just wanted to let you all know that I'm having a blast and will post a bunch of pics when I get home on Saturday.  I miss you all!


Pura Vida!


----------



## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

AzFishKid said:


> I'm staying with a host family in santo domingo, near San Jose. Yeah the people here are super friendly, I wish it was that way in the united states. I've visited lots of jungles, but I'm not sure if I'll have the chance to visit any swamps.


the really nice wetland that i visited there was Palo Verde National Park. we rode around all day on horseback. there were huge crocodiles all along the banks of the river that we traversed in a tiny little boat to get to the park.


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> God I can't wait until I get back so I can get a bunch of cardinals, get the rest of the plants in and set up the 8g finnex! I managed to find some free wifi here in costa rica, so just wanted to let you all know that I'm having a blast and will post a bunch of pics when I get home on Saturday.  I miss you all!


We miss you, too! I am glad to hear you are having a great time. Make sure to post some pictures of the trip when you get back of your vacation.  Look forward to seeing you around again.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Well i'm back from paradise.  I wanted to come home but now i want to go back LOL.

I came home to a very overgrown, dirty aquarium, as well as a 5 gallon with completely dead plants. Shows how much my parents know about aquariums. :hihi:

Anyway, here's a few pictures of my adventure in Costa Rica. 

Zip Lining in the jungle with a few friends that came along as well as other students from the spanish school i attended.









Took this picture while hiking in the jungle. Possible aquascape? :hihi:









A beautiful beach (way better than the ones in california!).









Coffee plantation.









Poas Volcano.


----------



## Tex Gal (Mar 28, 2008)

Cool pxs. I need to go somewhere and see the world like some of you guys!


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> Took this picture while hiking in the jungle. Possible aquascape? :hihi:


That would be cool.



> A beautiful beach (way better than the ones in california!).


Better than California?!?! That's impossible!



> Coffee plantation.


COFFEE!!!!!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Oh yeah, i changed a few things when i got back.. any suggestions? (Yes, i'm going to get riccia for the right side of the tank  )


----------



## FSM (Jan 13, 2009)

You should have caught a dovii.


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

Looks great! The water is a bit cloudy though


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> Looks great! The water is a bit cloudy though


Thanks!

Yeah, whenever i stir up the amazonia II substrate, it makes a huge mess - is this normal? It's kind of a pain. D:


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

Yeah, disturbing AquaSoil will make it cloud


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> Yeah, disturbing AquaSoil will make it cloud


Heh oh well. My plants look better than they did with the flourite.
I just picked up 8 baby koi from some guy i found on craigslist.. they have some really nice coloring! I put them in my 3000 gallon pond. They were really cheap too - only $5 per!   
:drool:


----------



## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

your large aquarium with changes looks nice. it seems it endured your hiatus pretty well.



AzFishKid said:


> Oh yeah, i changed a few things when i got back.. any suggestions? ]


i think that what it really needs is a zip line going from one end to the other.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

hydrophyte said:


> your large aquarium with changes looks nice. it seems it endured your hiatus pretty well.
> 
> 
> 
> i think that what it really needs is a zip line going from one end to the other.


LOL good idea. :hihi: Thanks!
I'm soaking a piece of driftwood that i'm going to tie a few java ferns on to. It's gonna be placed on the left side, in that big empty space.


----------



## monkeyruler90 (Apr 13, 2008)

lmao, i love the angel in the first picture. its looking at you at a weird angle. lol 
the plants will grow like crazy with the AS


----------



## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

Do you have a journal for your pond?


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

fastfreddie said:


> Do you have a journal for your pond?



No i don't, but maybe i should make one.. hmm, good idea! :thumbsup:

So after buying 2 large rocks that had riccia tied to them at a LFS, i did a bit of researching and found out it is hard to maintain if tied to rocks because the riccia at the bottom doesn't get any light so it eventually rots. Has anyone had any experience with this? :angryfire


----------



## malaybiswas (Nov 2, 2008)

It depends upon how much light your tank substrate is getting. I good laymans idea would be to judge by how well your ground cover plants are doing. If they are thriving and not leggy, riccia on the bottom should be fine. I have done it and it bloomed really fast (you need co2 as well).

It can actually out grow most other plants and since it does not root, eventually float and become a cleanup overhead.

EDIT: In plain pictures your tank looks sufficiently bright for them to thrive. Just in case you are not sure, take a handful and let them float. The floating part will remain alive an multiply fast even if the tied down ones die out.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

malaybiswas said:


> It depends upon how much light your tank substrate is getting. I good laymans idea would be to judge by how well your ground cover plants are doing. If they are thriving and not leggy, riccia on the bottom should be fine. I have done it and it bloomed really fast (you need co2 as well).
> 
> It can actually out grow most other plants and since it does not root, eventually float and become a cleanup overhead.
> 
> EDIT: In plain pictures your tank looks sufficiently bright for them to thrive. Just in case you are not sure, take a handful and let them float. The floating part will remain alive an multiply fast even if the tied down ones die out.


Thanks for the information.
It looks like some of the riccia near the bottom has begun to die - should i take all the riccia off and let it float? I'm a little confused on what to do.


----------



## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

every once in a while you need to re-tie your riccia as the bottom protion is shaded out and dies.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

@[email protected] said:


> every once in a while you need to re-tie your riccia as the bottom protion is shaded out and dies.



How often does that usually need to be done? I just got it two days ago and the bottom part looks dead and is coming off of the rock. If it has to be done frequently then maybe it's not worth it to me. :icon_eek:

Any other ground-covering plants that would be good in my tank?


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Any suggestions?



> Any other ground-covering plants that would be good in my tank?


----------



## oldpunk78 (Nov 1, 2008)

^ in the front corners? a nice thick patch of HC would look pretty sweet.


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

HC, Glosso, Marselia...heck, _any_ carpet plant would look good in your tank:hihi:


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> HC, Glosso, Marselia...heck, _any_ carpet plant would look good in your tank:hihi:


Ditto. I like Marselia, but it takes forever to get started for me. I like the idea of HC. Welcome back! Were you scared on the zip line at all? I would be to chicken. :icon_eek:


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> ^ in the front corners? a nice thick patch of HC would look pretty sweet.





ZooTycoonMaster said:


> HC, Glosso, Marselia...heck, _any_ carpet plant would look good in your tank:hihi:





> Ditto. I like Marselia, but it takes forever to get started for me. I like the idea of HC. Welcome back! Were you scared on the zip line at all? I would be to chicken.


I really like HC but i never considered it an option for my tank, because i always thought the best way to get HC started was by using the emersed method. Wouldn't my corys like plucking the HC out when i first plant it? Would HC do fine without co2?

Nah i wasn't scared during the zip lining - we actually weren't that high off the ground, the highest was probably no more than 20 feet. It was a LOT of fun though! :icon_mrgr


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Only 20 feet, huh? That still doesn't change anything for me. Hehe. I had HC with cories once. Wouldn't stay down. I have Marselia with cories, actually can see two cories routing around right now and it stays down very well.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

What about marsilea minuta?


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Very easy.


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

Marselia species are super easy to grow (despite what sewingalot said a few posts back:hihi


----------



## oldpunk78 (Nov 1, 2008)

what about Cryptocoryne parva? that would look nice in front of the blyxa.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Well i woke up today and noticed there were not one, but two baby emerald corys swimming around. I thought there was only one. 

I think i'm going to give these guys away when they get a bit bigger, i already have 8 large corys!


----------



## vtkid (Jan 5, 2009)

its always nice to find a surprise youngin'. but two is even better.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Added updated FTS to the first post. I really like how it's coming along!










And yes.. i still have the 4 blue light bulbs, and i still need to get a black background..


----------



## Axelrodi202 (Jul 29, 2008)

Don't get Crypt. parva, it grows painfully slow. Even Anubias grows faster!


----------



## alindeman1989 (Aug 9, 2009)

lol man where you get the cash. when i was your age i could barley afford gas. kids these days. nah i love the tank for real.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

alindeman1989 said:


> lol man where you get the cash. when i was your age i could barley afford gas. kids these days. nah i love the tank for real.


Haha i do a lot of jobs around the house. And thankfully, my mom has gotten a bit of interest in my aquarium over time, so she sometimes helps pay for some things.


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> And thankfully, my mom has gotten a bit of interest in my aquarium over time, so she sometimes helps pay for some things.


Lucky:icon_roll


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> Lucky:icon_roll


ZTM!! Long time no talk!! 
How have you been? Has school started yet?


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> ZTM!! Long time no talk!!
> How have you been? Has school started yet?


Hey it's your 777th post

I'm doing fine, although I'm 420 miles away from the tank (I'm in San Diego now) so I haven't seen it since last Thursday

School starts on the 24 for me


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> Hey it's your 777th post
> 
> I'm doing fine, although I'm 420 miles away from the tank (I'm in San Diego now) so I haven't seen it since last Thursday
> 
> School starts on the 24 for me


Awesome. Is the weather nice in San Diego? My family didn't go this summer. 

School starts on the 24th for me as well.


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> Awesome. Is the weather nice in San Diego? My family didn't go this summer.
> 
> School starts on the 24th for me as well.


The weather is great! At least, compared to Arizona it is:hihi:


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> The weather is great! At least, compared to Arizona it is:hihi:


Haha awesome! It's been really dry here.. no rain the whole summer.


----------



## Digsy (Mar 4, 2006)

I really like the recent changes in this tank. Awesome job on placement of the hardscape and I like the contrast down the middle with the lighter colored substrate.


----------



## alindeman1989 (Aug 9, 2009)

AzFishKid said:


> Haha i do a lot of jobs around the house. And thankfully, my mom has gotten a bit of interest in my aquarium over time, so she sometimes helps pay for some things.


can your mom adopt me? please


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> I really like the recent changes in this tank. Awesome job on placement of the hardscape and I like the contrast down the middle with the lighter colored substrate.


Thanks Digsy! 



> can your mom adopt me? please


LOL. :flick:



So i was just cleaning out the tank a little bit, and i found this big ball of algae in the middle of my big java fern. Could this have been the cause of my algae outbreak?


----------



## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

You need to shoo your cat away so it won't puke up hairballs into your tank.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> You need to shoo your cat away so it won't puke up hairballs into your tank.


Lol! I'll make sure to keep my door closed. 

But seriously, could that big wad of algae be the center of the infestation?


----------



## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

I like your scape. Love how you got that open space in the middle with the white gravel. Very nice contrast.


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> So i was just cleaning out the tank a little bit, and i found this big ball of algae in the middle of my big java fern. Could this have been the cause of my algae outbreak?


You clean out your tank this late?:icon_eek: lol I don't do anything after the lights turn off, which is around 8

The algae looks like a big ball of clado...can't say if it's the center of the outburst, algae is everywhere


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> I like your scape. Love how you got that open space in the middle with the white gravel. Very nice contrast.


Thanks Speedie!



> You clean out your tank this late? lol I don't do anything after the lights turn off, which is around 8
> 
> The algae looks like a big ball of clado...can't say if it's the center of the outburst, algae is everywhere


Haha yeah, well i was getting ready for bed and i noticed that a lot of the snails were out from their hiding places, so i picked them out and noticed that big ball of algae. :O


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Just started a thread for my koi pond and my turtle pond, if anyone wants to check them out.. links are in my signature. :bounce:


----------



## chase127 (Jun 8, 2008)

Holy awesome tank!! i wish my 75 looked this good. and yes your hairball probably wasnt helping your algae deal


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

chase127 said:


> Holy awesome tank!! i wish my 75 looked this good. and yes your hairball probably wasnt helping your algae deal


Thanks! I didn't think that "algae hairball" was helping either.. i just don't know how i never saw it. O_O It was pretty big!

I bought some more rotala vertiliclaris that i just put in this afternoon.. haven't planted it in the areas planned yet, i just wanted to get them in some cool water under a nice light since they got a little fried on the way here. Pics to come!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Ok well i need some opinions on what kind of tetras i should get. At first, i was thinking 30ish cardinal tetras, but then i was thinking about getting a mixture of rummy nose and cardinals. Any thoughts?


----------



## leaf (Jun 27, 2009)

Schools of cardinals are classic... from 30-1000, feed them right and they are like fish glitter.


----------



## Digsy (Mar 4, 2006)

I love rummies and cardinals so, if it were me, I'd go with both. How many of each are you thinking?


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> I love rummies and cardinals so, if it were me, I'd go with both. How many of each are you thinking?


Well i was thinking more cardinals than rummy nose, so maybe 20 cardinals and 10 rummy nose? Or more if anyone thinks it wouldn't make my too crowded. I have 2 angelfish, 10 corys, 3 otos, 1 bristlenose pleco, and 1 american flagfish.

Would both tetra species school together?


----------



## vtkid (Jan 5, 2009)

you could load up on both that would be sick, and i dont think they would school together.


----------



## leaf (Jun 27, 2009)

40/10


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> Added updated FTS to the first post. I really like how it's coming along!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Wow. Nicest picture yet. And yes, you either need a background or to move those pipes. :hihi:


----------



## dindin (Mar 4, 2009)

Nonetheless... it's looking great!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Thanks guys!

Question about my filter - i have an eheim 2217, got it over a year ago. Do i need to replace any of the media, or just thoroughly clean it? Last time i cleaned it out, it was very difficult so i thought i should maybe replace some of the media the next time a cleaning was due.


----------



## small-fish (Jan 3, 2009)

AzFishKid said:


> Thanks guys!
> 
> Question about my filter - i have an eheim 2217, got it over a year ago. Do i need to replace any of the media, or just thoroughly clean it? Last time i cleaned it out, it was very difficult so i thought i should maybe replace some of the media the next time a cleaning was due.


i have a 2215, what about it makes it difficult, i want to be prepared for when i clean mine


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> Thanks guys!
> 
> Question about my filter - i have an eheim 2217, got it over a year ago. Do i need to replace any of the media, or just thoroughly clean it? Last time i cleaned it out, it was very difficult so i thought i should maybe replace some of the media the next time a cleaning was due.


I would replace the blue filter pad and replace the white fine one with Purigen

Also, while you're at it, clean the pipes and impeller.


----------



## Digsy (Mar 4, 2006)

AzFishKid said:


> Well i was thinking more cardinals than rummy nose, so maybe 20 cardinals and 10 rummy nose? Or more if anyone thinks it wouldn't make my too crowded. I have 2 angelfish, 10 corys, 3 otos, 1 bristlenose pleco, and 1 american flagfish.
> 
> Would both tetra species school together?


I haven't kept them both at the same time but I'm keeping black neons and rummy noses together now and while they might occasionally school together, it's not a regular thing but the two schools will look really good together!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> I would replace the blue filter pad and replace the white fine one with Purigen
> 
> Also, while you're at it, clean the pipes and impeller.


Ok i guess i'll do that next weekend since i need to order the media.
Where is the cheapest/best place to buy this stuff?



> I haven't kept them both at the same time but I'm keeping black neons and rummy noses together now and while they might occasionally school together, it's not a regular thing but the two schools will look really good together!


Yeah i found a picture of rummy nose and cardinals together, it looks pretty cool! I'm thinking i should go with 30 cardinals and 10 rummy nose - thoughts, opinions?


----------



## kali (May 8, 2009)

sewingalot said:


> Wow. Nicest picture yet. And yes, you either need a background or to move those pipes. :hihi:


 haven't check back here for a while , didnt know your tank turn out so good .nice job .


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Thanks Kali!

Ok, so here's my To-Do list:
• Get 30 cardinal tetras and 10 rummy nose tetras from Invertz Factory when it gets a bit cooler out.
• Buy a black background.
• Clean filter out.
• Buy a second Eheim 2217 to put on one side of the tank, and move the current 2217 to the other side. (im having problems with enough water flow, and power heads don't seem to be doing the job!) (would a fluval FX5 be too much current? good deals on craigslist!)
• Buy a pressurized co2 system from GLA with birthday money (november 18th.. counting down the days LOL).
• Start saving up for an ADA iwagumi shrimp tank? :hihi:

Thinks that's all.


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> • Buy a black background.


That's the easiest thing to do!:hihi:


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> That's the easiest thing to do!:hihi:


Yeah but for some reason whenever i'm at a store that has them, i never seem to get some! I guess it's not a priority to me, but i'm sure it will look a LOT better with one. :hihi:


----------



## Coltonorr (Mar 12, 2008)

Az, 
your tank is looking great!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Coltonorr said:


> Az,
> your tank is looking great!


Thank you! Grats on 1,000 posts by the way :thumbsup: I'm close! Kinda..

The rotala vert. you sent me a while back is doing VERY well. It's actually my favorite plant in the tank right now!


----------



## legomaniac89 (Mar 16, 2008)

Coltonorr said:


> Az,
> your tank is looking great!


Just what I was thinking. I like it a lot! Great job!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Thanks a lot everyone, i really appreciate it!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Well nothing much is happening.. started school this monday, so i've been very busy. I really need to do a water change but i can't find time! Hopefully i'll be able to after dinner tonight.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

My tank is being abused atm LOL. Desperately needs a water change and a good algae scrub.

Question: There's a really good deal on a used Fluval FX5 on craigslist. How much flow do these guys release? Right now, the flow from the eheim 2217 doesn't reach the ends of the tank, which is a problem.

But by looking at the fluval fx5, it looks like the output has two directions. I was thinking this would probably stir up the water at the ends, like how i want.

Yes/no on the FX5?


----------



## FSM (Jan 13, 2009)

500-600 gph


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Ok cool, that should create enough flow.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Another question: It seems that the male angelfish has been nipping at the female a lot lately. He'll stiffen his body, kind of flinch is body, charge at her, then nip her constantly. She'll sometimes nip him back, but he always corners her so she can't really escape.

Is this some sort of the mating "ritual", or are they fighting? Do i need to separate them if this is fighting? Would adding another angelfish or two help or would that just make it worse?


----------



## kali (May 8, 2009)

do hardplum on the fx5 outflow , slip it out 2-3-4 outflow on different location , u can have flow all over the tank .each of my FX5 i slip 2 on each , and so far i like it , with 2 power head , my tank got so much water movement


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

kali said:


> do hardplum on the fx5 outflow , slip it out 2-3-4 outflow on different location , u can have flow all over the tank .each of my FX5 i slip 2 on each , and so far i like it , with 2 power head , my tank got so much water movement



I'm confused - what do you mean by hardplum?


----------



## kali (May 8, 2009)

PVC pipe = hard plumbing, flexi tube= soft plum  i would love to post some new pic of the hardplum on the tank so u can see but laptop crash , PC aint got the photoshop , take to long to load it into photobucket.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

kali said:


> PVC pipe = hard plumbing, flexi tube= soft plum  i would love to post some new pic of the hardplum on the tank so u can see but laptop crash , PC aint got the photoshop , take to long to load it into photobucket.


Ohh ok, i see. Please post a picture when you can!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Just ordered the Choice Complete Co2 package from GLA. Super excited! 

Probably going to buy the used fluval fx5 as well. Probably this weekend.

Is there anything important i should know about pressurized co2 systems? I did a lot of research, but anything else i should know?


----------



## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

Sweeeeeet! 

You probably know this but, 
about the pressurized Co2....... the one thing that threw me for a loop is the cylinder temp has everything to do with tank pressure, so don't be surprised if a newly filled cold tank has very low pressure. It will level out after the tank comes to room temp. I would wait until that time to set your bubble rate, or you may have to tinker a bit. This may not be an issue with the nice reg you purchased from GLA. 

Enjoy! Can't wait to see the good growth!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

fastfreddie said:


> Sweeeeeet!
> 
> You probably know this but,
> about the pressurized Co2....... the one thing that threw me for a loop is the cylinder temp has everything to do with tank pressure, so don't be surprised if a newly filled cold tank has very low pressure. It will level out after the tank comes to room temp. I would wait until that time to set your bubble rate, or you may have to tinker a bit. This may not be an issue with the nice reg you purchased from GLA.
> ...


I actually didn't know that, so thanks! :biggrin: 
It should be here on Thursday, and i'm going to a funeral at 11:00 so it should be there when i get home.. i'm sure that will cheer me up a bit lol.

I hope getting pressurized co2 is worth it. I just hope that i don't screw anything up and end up killing my fish. D:

Oh, also, what should the pH be at?
And should the co2 be released at one bubble per second or two?
I couldn't find the answers to those questions for some reason.


EDIT: The guy i sold the item to to get the money for the co2 system opened up a paypal dispute for no reason. So i guess i'm not getting the co2 system just yet.  Anyone know how i should handle the dispute? He opened it up for no reason after we did the deal. He's trying to scam me.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Ok so my two angelfish have been fighting a LOT lately. It's almost gotten to a point where I'm worried that they're going to kill each other. 

It seems though that they're only aggressive towards each other when the female is watching over the eggs. 

Is there a way to stop them from fighting? Would adding a few other female angelfish help or would that just make the situation worse?

I've considered finding them new homes and switching over to discus, but i wanted to get some advice first. Thank you.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

I need an answer to the angelfish problem asap. Anyone have any ideas?

I purchased a 1/4 of a pound of java moss from ebichua, and tied it to all of the rocks. It looks really cool! I'll post some pictures a bit later.


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Usually when a male gets aggressive, it is hard for the weaker one from that point on in a tank. I see male dominance all the time in my tank. Usually, it will weaken or kill the lesser male.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

sewingalot said:


> Usually when a male gets aggressive, it is hard for the weaker one from that point on in a tank. I see male dominance all the time in my tank. Usually, it will weaken or kill the lesser male.


Yeah i know but one is male and the other is female. The male seems to corner the female and nip at her. Occasionally the female will fight back a little bit.

Is there a risk of the male killing the female or are they just "arguing"?


----------



## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

hate to say this but you might have to rearrange your plants, and hardscapes.

not only does your scape have to look good but it'll have to divide the tank up to so an angel can stake out a territory. This might lessen the fighting.


----------



## oldpunk78 (Nov 1, 2008)

dude, your scape is pretty sweet. it 'might' be easier to just move your current male somewhere else and get a new younger male and take your chances w/ him. it's been my experience that the mean angles are always mean. 

just a thought...


----------



## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

^^^ that's another option.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> hate to say this but you might have to rearrange your plants, and hardscapes.
> 
> not only does your scape have to look good but it'll have to divide the tank up to so an angel can stake out a territory. This might lessen the fighting.


Are you saying that the arrangement doesn't provide enough places for each of them to have their own territory? So i should rescape the whole tank?

If that's the case, then heck with the angelfish lol. Discus, here i come. :hihi:


----------



## Ariel301 (Sep 7, 2009)

Angelfish pairs tend to fight a lot. I've found with some of mine, the male will beat on the female continually, but if any other fish picks on her, he will kill it. If it's just when she's got eggs, could you move him to a quarantine tank while she takes care of the kids? I've had males that would chase the females away and eat the eggs, so I had to remove him when he was done fertilizing. As long as he's not doing serious damage to her, don't worry about it, but if he gets really nasty, you should probably separate them. If you are looking to get rid of them, I might be interested. I am a few hours away from you, up in Kingman, and my in-laws are down to Phoenix fairly regularly, so we could maybe arrange something. 

I wouldn't add any more angels to the mix with a mated pair; your male would likely chase them around or kill them. Pairs are territorial. If you want to keep the angels and get rid of the aggression, you could get rid of the male and find another female. That's not terribly easy to do, and it might not work, but it's a consideration.


----------



## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

AzFishKid said:


> Are you saying that the arrangement doesn't provide enough places for each of them to have their own territory? So i should rescape the whole tank?
> 
> If that's the case, then heck with the angelfish lol. Discus, here i come. :hihi:


yeah, your scape is pretty much an open tank. I thought of another option. Remove the dominant male for a month or so. Let the others heal up and grow. Then put the male back. He basically, becomes the new fish in town and his attitude might change.

And on a side note, I have a beef with your Ayn Rand quote, well, Ayn Rand in general.. Both humans and animal adapt AND change their environment. We're not total miscreants and animals aren't total innocents. Humans belong to the animal kingdom after all.


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

mistergreen said:


> yeah, your scape is pretty much an open tank. I thought of another option. Remove the dominant male for a month or so. Let the others heal up and grow. Then put the male back. He basically, becomes the new fish in town and his attitude might change.
> 
> And on a side note, I have a beef with your Ayn Rand quote, well, Ayn Rand in general.. Both humans and animal adapt AND change their environment. We're not total miscreants and animals aren't total innocents. Humans belong to the animal kingdom after all.


This is great advice.


----------



## wkndracer (Mar 14, 2009)

I wish I could add advise to help regarding the aggression issues but have missed this behavior with my angel keeping for the most part. Stocking has always included at least four per tank with the adult average working out to one fish for every ten gallons of tank size so no one was left alone to claim the entire tank. The exception to this for me has been the 55g low tech that I removed the community group leaving only the breeding pair.

I think removing the bad boy for a couple of weeks to be a good idea. The option of dividing the tank with plants though I don't feel will work as the territory has already been claimed. I've witnessed a spawning pair crowd the entire tank population into one corner of a 75g setup so thickly planted you couldn't see through the tank from one end to the other with the spawn site being in the opposite corner. Line of sight was not a factor.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

mistergreen said:


> yeah, your scape is pretty much an open tank. I thought of another option. Remove the dominant male for a month or so. Let the others heal up and grow. Then put the male back. He basically, becomes the new fish in town and his attitude might change.
> 
> And on a side note, I have a beef with your Ayn Rand quote, well, Ayn Rand in general.. Both humans and animal adapt AND change their environment. We're not total miscreants and animals aren't total innocents. Humans belong to the animal kingdom after all.


I didn't interpret the quote that way. 

I think your idea is great, but i'm not sure if i could set up another aquarium for a month or more to keep him in. I'll have to talk with my parents about that.. my mom says "no more bodies of water in the house". :hihi:



> Angelfish pairs tend to fight a lot. I've found with some of mine, the male will beat on the female continually, but if any other fish picks on her, he will kill it. If it's just when she's got eggs, could you move him to a quarantine tank while she takes care of the kids? I've had males that would chase the females away and eat the eggs, so I had to remove him when he was done fertilizing. As long as he's not doing serious damage to her, don't worry about it, but if he gets really nasty, you should probably separate them. If you are looking to get rid of them, I might be interested. I am a few hours away from you, up in Kingman, and my in-laws are down to Phoenix fairly regularly, so we could maybe arrange something.
> 
> I wouldn't add any more angels to the mix with a mated pair; your male would likely chase them around or kill them. Pairs are territorial. If you want to keep the angels and get rid of the aggression, you could get rid of the male and find another female. That's not terribly easy to do, and it might not work, but it's a consideration.


Would a 10 gallon be big enough to keep him in for that amount of time? I don't really have much more room to set up a larger one. Do you think i could keep him in the 10 gallon after he's done fertilizing, then put him back in the main tank after the fish have hatched, then move the baby fish in to the 10 gallon to grow out a bit?

It does seem like most of the aggression occurs when the female is laying eggs or after that. He does get very nasty - i haven't seen any wounds yet, but he'll chase her all the way down to the other side of the tank and nip at her constantly. 

I'm seriously considering switching over to discus, but i'm not sure yet. I think i just want a little change. I got the female 7 years ago when i got my first 29 gallon tank, and i've had the male for about 3 years. I was looking at some discus in a LFS yesterday and they looked so peaceful! haha. If i decide to find them new homes, then you'll be the first person that i'll contact. If i decided to get rid of them, i'd want them to go to a good home, and it sounds like you could provide that. :biggrin:



> I wish I could add advise to help regarding the aggression issues but have missed this behavior with my angel keeping for the most part. Stocking has always included at least four per tank with the adult average working out to one fish for every ten gallons of tank size so no one was left alone to claim the entire tank. The exception to this for me has been the 55g low tech that I removed the community group leaving only the breeding pair.
> 
> I think removing the bad boy for a couple of weeks to be a good idea. The option of dividing the tank with plants though I don't feel will work as the territory has already been claimed. I've witnessed a spawning pair crowd the entire tank population into one corner of a 75g setup so thickly planted you couldn't see through the tank from one end to the other with the spawn site being in the opposite corner. Line of sight was not a factor.


After the female has laid her eggs, they don't let any other fish get within 2 feet of that area. The male will chase off the little otos and corys. He's very protective of the eggs.




By the way, i left a light on over the eggs last night and despite that, the eggs were gone this morning. I haven't seen any aggression since last night.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Ok so my birthday is 2 months away and i'm already planning on the fish i'm going to buy from invertz factory, lol. Here's what i came up with. Is this too many fish??

- 30 cardinal tetras
- 12 rummy nose tetras
- 8 marbled hatchets (maybe, haven't decided yet - not sure if i want to have jumpers again!)
- 4 corydoras sterbai
- 4 corydoras pygmeus
- 2 german blue rams
- 1 yellow blue-eyed bristlenose pleco

SO in total i would have:
- 2 angelfish (if i decide to rehome them, then 4 discus - but i read they don't like to be in aquariums with tetras and corys? is this true?)
- 30 cardinal tetras
- 12 rummy nose tetras
- 8 marbled hatchets (maybe)
- 4 skunk corys
- 4 emerald corys (possibly find new homes for)
- 4 sterbai corys
- 4 pygmeus corys
- 2 german blue rams
- 1 florida flagfish
- 2 otos
- 2 bristlenose plecos


----------



## Axelrodi202 (Jul 29, 2008)

Discus would be fine. They're really not too hard to keep, and are actually easier to keep with tetras and cories. It helps them overcome their shyness and learn to start accepting the food you provide them. But you should go easy on the stocking. I wouldn't keep the florida flagfish and the rummynose tetras (the rummynoses might be overkill). Also, you could brobably go easy on the cories.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Axelrodi202 said:


> Discus would be fine. They're really not too hard to keep, and are actually easier to keep with tetras and cories. It helps them overcome their shyness and learn to start accepting the food you provide them. But you should go easy on the stocking. I wouldn't keep the florida flagfish and the rummynose tetras (the rummynoses might be overkill). Also, you could brobably go easy on the cories.



New list (is it better?):
- 2 angelfish (if i decide to rehome them, then 4 discus)
- 30 cardinal tetras
- 12 rummy nose tetras
- 8 marbled hatchets (maybe)
- 4 skunk corys
- 4 emerald corys (possibly find new homes for)
- 4 sterbai corys
- [STRIKE]4 pygmeus corys[/STRIKE]
- 2 german blue rams
- [STRIKE]1 florida flagfish[/STRIKE]
- 2 otos
- 2 bristlenose plecos

I'd really like to have both cardinals and rummy nose.. why do you say rummy noses would be overkill?


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> Ok so my birthday is 2 months away and i'm already planning on the fish i'm going to buy from invertz factory, lol.


You might as well start planning your Christmas wishlist:hihi:


----------



## FSM (Jan 13, 2009)

Did you get the FX5?


----------



## Axelrodi202 (Jul 29, 2008)

It's always good to keep the bioload of a tank down, especially with discus. You could slightly reduce the numbers of the cardinals.


----------



## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

Got any update pics?


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

FSM said:


> Did you get the FX5?


Nope. I found out that it wouldn't fit in my stand, and there's not enough room to keep it outside the stand. My aquarium is placed in front of a wall that is basically a few inches longer than the aquarium. I didn't realize how huge the fx5's are! :hihi:

I just decided to get another eheim 2217. I thought maybe i could put one on each side of the tank.



> You might as well start planning your Christmas wishlist


LOL i already did. Choice co2 system from GLA.
And maybe a 10 gallon rimless shrimp tank...


----------



## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> LOL i already did. Choice co2 system from GLA.
> And maybe a 10 gallon rimless shrimp tank...


Are you getting one of those snazzy tanks from GLA?


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> And maybe a 10 gallon rimless shrimp tank...


Another thing I can rub in your face:icon_lol:


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> Another thing I can rub in your face:icon_lol:


HAHA.



> Are you getting one of those snazzy tanks from GLA?


Yeah that's probably what i'll ask for.

I'll upload a FTS update in a minute.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Yes i know.. it needs a good cleaning. :hihi: And the new filter media should be here on wednesday, i needed to replace that stuff badly.

















































Few Questions:
- Added some L. Aromantica and the stems to the right of it.. can't remember what they're called. They have the spiky leaves. Anyone know what it is? I only have two stems of it, so it's kind of hard to see. I'm not talking about the pogostemon erectum.
- What is the white stuff growing on the flame moss?


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

Great tank! Sorry, but I don't know the answers to your questions


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> I don't see any pictures


Refresh the page, i just fixed them.


----------



## Ariel301 (Sep 7, 2009)

Yeah, a ten would be ok for moving your big nasty male angel back and forth to, if he's in there alone, and he's not too tall for it. (I used to have a big veil male that could barely stand up in a ten!) I'd just do big water changes on it, especially if it's a bare tank. 

If you ever do decide to get rid of them, let me know. I really like the looks of that platinum. We'd just have to wait for winter time if you shipped them, it's still over 100 here some days! There's not much to do with fish here, I couldn't even give away fish or excess plants in town! My sister in law who has a ten gallon tank for her kids keeps trying to give me advice on how to take care of my tank...I went to look at hers and she has a trio of platies, several assorted tetras, two plecos and it looked like three of those dragonfish things that look like big scary eels! Oh, and she also says I don't need to change my water like I do, they never clean theirs, they just top it off once a month or so when they remember...lol...and she was shocked when I was telling her most of my fish are 1-4 years old. I think I may have the only planted tank in Kingman...I guess that's what I get for complaining so much in Colorado that there weren't many good fish stores. The only one that was here apparently went out of business a few years ago. All we've got is Petco. Although I did notice a few days ago that Walmart had a few really nice looking, huge bronze wendtii for sale in their fish section, at about $4 each. They were seven or eight inches in diameter, and without any algae or signs of neglect. A couple of those may be about to happen for me...

Your tank is looking great, the arrangement is beautiful, very balanced. I'm looking forward to seeing new pictures when you get some of your new stock in there.


----------



## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

what do you have in that bucket btw?


----------



## RianS (May 12, 2009)

mistergreen said:


> what do you have in that bucket btw?


i second this. it's like you took the picture with the bucket showing on purpose to make us wonder.


----------



## mountaindew (Dec 10, 2008)

Great looking setup! I like the looks of longer planted tanks

+3 on whats in the bucket?
md


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

The bucket is AzFishKid's Blyxa Japonica farm.









Nothing special - HOB filter, fishneedit.com light, flourite substrate. Seem to be doing OK.


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> The bucket is AzFishKid's Blyxa Japonica farm.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Ahahahahahahahaha :icon_mrgr:icon_mrgr:icon_mrgr:icon_mrgr


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> fishneedit.com light


Dang, they have cheap prices! Is the light good?


----------



## oldpunk78 (Nov 1, 2008)

i was wondering where you were keeping that blyxa, lol. 

hows about a close-up of both ends of the tank? it's kinda hard to see what's going on in there from those little pics.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> Dang, they have cheap prices! Is the light good?


From my experiences with their lights, some are well built and others are not - i bought three about a year ago. One broke within a few months, then the other broke soon after, but the one i'm using currently has had absolutely no problems. I've banged it around, gotten water on it, and it's still in very good shape. Note that these are there old models though - they came out with new models last may i believe.



> i was wondering where you were keeping that blyxa, lol.
> 
> hows about a close-up of both ends of the tank? it's kinda hard to see what's going on in there from those little pics.


Yeah i'll take a picture of each side tomorrow afternoon after i change out the filter media and do a water change.


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

By the way, your tank is looking amazing!!!!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

sewingalot said:


> By the way, your tank is looking amazing!!!!


Thanks Sew! 

I ordered the new filter media on sunday, and it was supposed to arrive today but for an unclear reason, it will be delivered on the 22nd. That is why i don't like UPS.

What would the world do without priority shipping? :hihi:


----------



## Axelrodi202 (Jul 29, 2008)

Collapse. Many of us would be much poorer.


----------



## leaf (Jun 27, 2009)

Has your tank gone pressurized yet? Your plants are looking really happy!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

leaf said:


> Has your tank gone pressurized yet? Your plants are looking really happy!


No Co2 at the moment. I will be ordering the Choice co2 package in early december.


----------



## Coltonorr (Mar 12, 2008)

Tank is looking sweet AZ!!!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Coltonorr said:


> Tank is looking sweet AZ!!!


Thanks man!

That pogostemon erectum you sent me a while back is growing like crazy now - i love it! :icon_mrgr One of my favorite plants in the tank.


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

Cool pieces of wood!


----------



## Coltonorr (Mar 12, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> Thanks man!
> 
> That pogostemon erectum you sent me a while back is growing like crazy now - i love it! :icon_mrgr One of my favorite plants in the tank.


Got any close up pics? They turned orange in my tank:icon_smil


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Coltonorr said:


> Got any close up pics? They turned orange in my tank:icon_smil



Right now the tank is looking really abused - I'm planning on doing a big water change and glass cleaning tomorrow, so after that i'll take some pics. And hopefully the new filter media will arrive tomorrow too.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Pogostemon Erectum! Tips are orange-ish.








Sunset hygro.








Flame moss standing up nicely (I still don't know what the white stuff is - ideas?)








Java Moss filling in nicely on the rocks.








Plant ID?








Left side of the tank.








Right side.








FTS #1.








FTS #2.








FTS #3.










Questions:
• Tons of green spot algae on some parts of the glass. I tried scrubbing most of it off, but couldn't get all of it. I have a BN pleco and a few nerite snails, they don't seem to be doing much with it. Any other way to get rid of it? I've been keeping only 2-3 switches on during the day, instead of 4. I was told i had too many watts over the tank.
• Dust-looking algae is still everywhere (WC gets rid of a lot of it though). What causes this? It's easily brushed off by moving my hand in the water. But it looks like if it's left on a plant for a long time, it "infects" it. Leaves turn darker, some stems die, etc. 
• Some of the sunset hygros get holes in their leaves. They don't look like a fish bite, they look like the area is rotting. Causes?


Enjoy the pics!


----------



## DevinWolfe (Aug 1, 2009)

Wow, beautiful tank! Big fan of your ponds but I missed this journal... Makes my kind of reconsider "needing" to hook up my CO2 if you're getting this without it.


----------



## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Hey that's looking great. I think you have a bluish combination of lights over this tank(?). I didn't like that at first, but now I think it's a cool effect.

Holes in leaves I believe is often attributed to potassium deficiency. Do you dose K?


----------



## wkndracer (Mar 14, 2009)

I'm a fan of your open scape. Very nice.


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Wonderful. I think the unknown plant is Pogostemon stellatus.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> Wow, beautiful tank! Big fan of your ponds but I missed this journal... Makes my kind of reconsider "needing" to hook up my CO2 if you're getting this without it.


Thanks! I should update the ponds too.
Co2 is definitely not a necessity... but i do think it's a good option to have if you are willing to spend the money. 



> Hey that's looking great. I think you have a bluish combination of lights over this tank(?). I didn't like that at first, but now I think it's a cool effect.
> 
> Holes in leaves I believe is often attributed to potassium deficiency. Do you dose K?


Thanks Hydrophyte. I like the blue as well. I hope it's not giving an unnatural effect. :flick:
I have the micro nutrients and nitrogen dosing package from pFertz, but i stopped dosing a while ago because i thought it just lead to algae problems. Should i start dosing again?



> I'm a fan of your open scape. Very nice.


Thanks - i'm glad i changed it. My old scape (about a year ago, first picture on first page) was nice, but i like this a lot better. 



> Wonderful. I think the unknown plant is Pogostemon stellatus.


Thanks Sew! It may be Pogostemon stellatus, but the google pics look like the leaves are a bit wider. These leaves are more spiky-looking.

How's everything going with you? We haven't talked in a while!


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Then I am at a loss. It may be the plant torpedobarb has in his tank. Go check it out. I cannot remember the name of the plant he has. I am doing well, just busy! How have you been? I am glad to see you are still making your tank look gorgeous. I don't have much time to post, but today I've been too comfortable to do chores.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

sewingalot said:


> Then I am at a loss. It may be the plant torpedobarb has in his tank. Go check it out. I cannot remember the name of the plant he has. I am doing well, just busy! How have you been? I am glad to see you are still making your tank look gorgeous. I don't have much time to post, but today I've been too comfortable to do chores.


Thanks, i'll take a look at Torpedobarb's tank. :smile:

Glad to hear all is well! I've been OK - I was sick from Saturday afternoon all the way until Friday, but now I'm better. I wasn't able to go on the Freshman class trip because i was sick.  Oh well. Sometimes life is like that.


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

That sucks about being sick. I am glad you are better. Try to stay well, the sick season is just starting.


----------



## Axelrodi202 (Jul 29, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> Pogostemon Erectum! Tips are orange-ish.


So that's what you call it!

I have some, and the new growth is orangish or red. Maybe you should replace those actinics with white daylight bulbs.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Axelrodi202 said:


> So that's what you call it!
> 
> I have some, and the new growth is orangish or red. Maybe you should replace those actinics with white daylight bulbs.


I will eventually replace 2/4 of the actinics - right now i'm just focused on getting more fish LOL. My stock is kind of pitiful.


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> ----
> 
> 
> 
> ...



This is an amazingly eye catching post! Great job on it's setup.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> This is an amazingly eye catching post! Great job on it's setup.



Thanks Sew!

Nine L144 Blue Eyed Yellow Bristlenose Plecos and 6 large sterbai cories from pinkertd will be shipped out monday and should be at my house on wednesday! I'm not keeping all the plecos, of course - i'm planning on keeping 4-5 and giving the rest to AAPE members.

I've grown to love plecos and cories lately. I used to really dislike cories a few years back, but now i just find them to be so f***ing adorable!!! :hihi: That explains why i'm going to have 16 cories in my tank... LOL. I may re-home of the two juvenile emerald greens though.

I really want to get a rimless tank from GLA and get some ember tetras and pygmy cories.


----------



## Coltonorr (Mar 12, 2008)

Coltonorr said:


> Got any close up pics? They turned orange in my tank:icon_smil


LOL what was I talking about...haha P. erectum doesn't turn orange...I must have been spaced out when I posted that...duh!
I must have read P. erectum and in my brain it was P. stellatus...


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Cories are my favorite fish. I have to agree with your description. :hihi:


----------



## oldpunk78 (Nov 1, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> I really want to get a rimless tank from GLA and get some ember tetras and pygmy cories.


do it! gogogogo!!! (i want one too)


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Coltonorr said:


> LOL what was I talking about...haha P. erectum doesn't turn orange...I must have been spaced out when I posted that...duh!
> I must have read P. erectum and in my brain it was P. stellatus...


Lol! The tips turn kind of orange. :icon_mrgr




> do it! gogogogo!!! (i want one too)


I wish i could!



> Cories are my favorite fish. I have to agree with your description. :hihi:


I love how they just constantly "sweep" the substrate. I always imagine them saying "OM NOM NOM NOM". Ahahah.
And how they sometimes swim against the glass to show off their belly. 
Gahh they're just so cool!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Got my Eheim Pro 3e 2076 Canister set up last friday. I LOVE it! I'm saving up to buy a second to put on the other end of the aquarium... haha.

Pics will be posted sometime.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

I've been REALLY lazy with keeping up the journal.. i'll try to keep posting updates, since it always seems to be changing.

<<*UPDATE 11.29.2009*>>

*What's happened since the last update*:
- Removed and added a lot of different plants.
- Bought 4 more olive nerite snails
- Bought 4 more ottos
- Couldn't find a home for my angelfish, so i took them to a LFS. I got tired of them constantly fighting, and i want to try keeping discus. It was hard letting them go since i had them for 5 or 6 years, but it was time for a change.
- Bought 10 L144 Blue Eyed Yellow Bristlenose Plecos from a forum member, but all of them died after I made a stupid mistake. They all arrived happy and healthy, but without thinking, i put them all in a 10 gallon aquarium that wasn't cycled. All had ich a few days later; i realized the temp was in the high 60's... BUT i also bought 6 sterbai corys from her, and they're all very healthy and love swimming around with the other corys in my 85g!
- Purchased an Eheim Professional 3e 2076 canister from MarineDepot for $229.99 ($80 off the regular price!) and a koralia 2 power head with my birthday money. I love the 2076 canister, the features and touch pad is really nice (even though it's way over the top for an aquarium filter, don't you think? LOL).
- Had an ich invasion a few weeks ago; thankfully i caught it in time. Bumped the temperature up to 89 for a few days (plants were a little shocked, but no biggie). It killed all of the ich almost immediately. I'm never going back to using those ich medications again!
- Hoping to get a co2 system for christmas!

*Current stock list*:
• 7 Otos
• 7 Olive Nerite Snails
• 6 Sterbai Corys
• 8 Emerald Green Corys
• 4 Skunk Corys
• 1 American Flagfish
*Planning on getting*:
• 4-5 discus (most likely from Kenny Chung, imports from Malaysia)
• 30-35 Cardinal Tetras
• 15 Rummynose Tetras
• 4 German Blue Rams

*Plant list*:
• Java ferns
• Java moss
• Limnophila sessiliflora
• Limnophila aromatica
• Ludwigia repens
• Blyxa japonica
• Sunset hygro
• Pogostemon erectum
• Flame Moss
• Lobelia cardinalis 'mini form'
• Rotala rotundifolia
• Lindernia rotundifolia
• Hyptis sp
+ others that need to be identified


These are all of the plants that i've gotten since my last update. Can someone identify them please? (sorry about the poor quality of the pictures, my good camera is in the shop):







































FTS. Still need a background, and maybe a few more plants on the right side to fill it in a bit, but looks great so far!










Left Side:










Right Side:


----------



## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

I've been lazy with my journals too. I need to get the camera out again.

Everything's looking great in your tank--nice work!

That little plant on the left of your tryptych looks like variegated _Lindernia rotundifolia_. I think that the one on the right is _Hyptis_ sp.. I don't know about the one in the middle. Maybe an _Ammania_? It's cool-looking though.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

hydrophyte said:


> I've been lazy with my journals too. I need to get the camera out again.
> 
> Everything's looking great in your tank--nice work!
> 
> That little plant on the left of your tryptych looks like variegated _Lindernia rotundifolia_. I think that the one on the right is _Hyptis_ sp.. I don't know about the one in the middle. Maybe an _Ammania_? It's cool-looking though.



Thanks!
When i asked the plant guy at the LFS what the plant in the middle was, I remember him saying "cuba" or "columbia", lol. I just don't remember the species.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

OH WOW... just calculated the volume of my aquarium, and guess what...

It's not 85 gallons!
Its *68.88*!

Great.. That almost makes me want to buy a new aquarium.
All this time i thought it was 85 gallons (that's what the previous owners told me)...

Someone comfort me, lol. 
This is very frustrating!


----------



## oldpunk78 (Nov 1, 2008)

i just saw the thread title and thought you had anther tank. hahaha


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

oldpunk78 said:


> i just saw the thread title and thought you had anther tank. hahaha



Lmao.
If i find a good deal on craigslist then maybe i'll talk my parents into letting me buy a new aquarium.

Or maybe i'll do two 55 gallons...
Reef/FW Planted? That would be cool..

Haha i dont know. All i can say is that i'm very frustrated. :angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire


----------



## Francis Xavier (Oct 8, 2008)

Get rid of those rocks in the center. All they do is draw attention to the center and the plants get completely ignored as a result. I basically loaded the image and the first thing I immediately saw and got focused on was the three stones while wondering "what the..?!!"

Aside from that it's a good scape.


----------



## F22 (Sep 21, 2008)

cool tank...are you gonna keep the center empty or plant it right through?


----------



## FSM (Jan 13, 2009)

You were happy with it when you thought it was 85 gallons. It doesn't really make a difference that it's 68


----------



## F22 (Sep 21, 2008)

hey, i like the idea with the discus....have you seen taiwan transhipped discus? They are a little more than malaysia but totally stunning...


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

F22 said:


> cool tank...are you gonna keep the center empty or plant it right through?


Center will remain empty.



> You were happy with it when you thought it was 85 gallons. It doesn't really make a difference that it's 68



True, i just can't have as many fish now. Was planning on getting 5 discus, probably not a good idea.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

> hey, i like the idea with the discus....have you seen taiwan transhipped discus? They are a little more than malaysia but totally stunning...


No i haven't. What's the difference between them?


----------



## F22 (Sep 21, 2008)

well, i just ordered from taiwan in the shop the first time last month and the color is unreal... i've been direct importing discus for about 4 years now... always from Malaysia and they are nice, the color is decent and the fish are pretty good body and nice fins... 

I got leopard discus from the taiwan breeder ( i forget his name, i'll do some research tomorrow and get the name of the facility) and the were OUTSTANDING. Super high color( the blue was about the same color as a titanium flowerhorn) perfect fins, healthy, eating next day right out of a 36 hour in a bag trip, and we got away with charging $50 for a 3.5" fish... not bad at all.


----------



## smoq (Feb 19, 2008)

Your tank looks awesome. I always thought about lighter substrate. Is it hard to keep it clean?


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

smoq said:


> Your tank looks awesome. I always thought about lighter substrate. Is it hard to keep it clean?


Nope, not at all. That being said though, i have 18 corys, 7 ottos, and 7 olive nerite snails. :hihi:


----------



## Digsy (Mar 4, 2006)

AzFishKid said:


> Lmao.
> If i find a good deal on craigslist then maybe i'll talk my parents into letting me buy a new aquarium.
> 
> Or maybe i'll do two 55 gallons...
> ...


Don't you remember? You're supposed to get a 125 next....  With a 125, you could do 8 discus...I'm just sayin.


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


>


That is a really cool looking plant


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Digsy said:


> Don't you remember? You're supposed to get a 125 next....  With a 125, you could do 8 discus...I'm just sayin.


That would be awesome.
Definitely an option. :biggrin:

I would like a tank that is taller and wider anyway. It's only 17" tall and 13" wide.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> That is a really cool looking plant



Yeah it's one of my favorites. roud: Not sure what it is though, maybe mermaid weed or whatever it's called?


----------



## Axelrodi202 (Jul 29, 2008)

I think it's a _Procerpinasa_ species. Some Bacopa would look nice on the right side.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Currently considering taking down this tank and buying a larger one (100 - 125 gallons). Talked to my parents and they liked the idea. Looking every afternoon on craigslist for good deals...

I'd really like to have a school of 4-5 large (6.5"-7"+) discus, and a 68 gallon is just too small them.

If i decide not to take it down, I'm just going to get a really large school of cardinal/rummy nose tetras.


----------



## Axelrodi202 (Jul 29, 2008)

Madness! How could your parents let you replace this tank for a bigger one?


----------



## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

Wait a minute...I thought this tank was 85 gallons...?


----------



## Axelrodi202 (Jul 29, 2008)

Turns out it was a 68 gallon tank.


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> Currently considering taking down this tank and buying a larger one (100 - 125 gallons). Talked to my parents and they liked the idea. Looking every afternoon on craigslist for good deals...
> 
> I'd really like to have a school of 4-5 large (6.5"-7"+) discus, and a 68 gallon is just too small them.
> 
> If i decide not to take it down, I'm just going to get a really large school of cardinal/rummy nose tetras.


Can I have your parents? :biggrin:


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

sewingalot said:


> Can I have your parents? :biggrin:


NO THEY'RE MINE! :icon_twis Muahahah. 

Haha so my parents and I realized that there's no way we could get an aquarium of that size in to my bedroom. We had great difficulty moving the 68 gallon in, so i'm not sure how we'd move a larger one in.

Maybe i could talk them in to letting me get another aquarium, maybe a 50 gallon? :eek5:

Gahh so many ideas...


----------



## F22 (Sep 21, 2008)

You can get a tank in. Just take out a wall to get it in there and sleep in the stand. Haha


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

F22 said:


> You can get a tank in. Just take out a wall to get it in there and sleep in the stand. Haha



Haha!

Well the hallway to my room is an L shape, so it was very difficult to get my current aquarium through that. 

I guess we could get it in through the window, but that's too much trouble. haha. :confused1:


----------



## F22 (Sep 21, 2008)

You can take the window out and have them swing it in with a crain. Haha


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Build your own! Then you can bring in one glass pane at a time. :hihi:


----------



## Axelrodi202 (Jul 29, 2008)

Do you have to put in your room? It would look nice in a foyer or kitchen.


----------



## F22 (Sep 21, 2008)

You can setup a wall of 10g tanks and have a differentr style planted in everyone of the for 9 tanks you don't need toooooo much room


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

sewingalot said:


> Build your own! Then you can bring in one glass pane at a time. :hihi:


LOL i'd actually love to do that.. but my mom would be afraid it would crack. (i told her about how someone on the forum came home to a living room with 100 gallons on the ground, and she freaked. Why did i tell her that?!)



> Do you have to put in your room? It would look nice in a foyer or kitchen.


Yup. All my aquarium stuff has to stay in my room. They just don't want me making a mess in another part of the house, even though there really isnt much mess with the new aqueon water changer that i got. =/



> You can setup a wall of 10g tanks and have a differentr style planted in everyone of the for 9 tanks you don't need toooooo much room


That's actually a good idea, but i'd probably do three 20 longs or something. 



Decided i'm going to keep the 68 gallon up - haven't really decided if i still want to get a few discus. If not, 40 cardinals, 15 rummynose, and 4 GBR's. Plus my 16 cories, 7 otos, and 1 american flagfish.


OHHH and by the way, i found a HUGE shrimp shell (looks like it molted) stuck to the intake of the canister filter.. I added 8 amano shrimp in my tank a LONG time ago, but i thought the angelfish ate them all. Guess there's one still living.

The shell was HUGE though - maybe 1"-1.5"
I took a picture, i'll upload it later. Can amano shrimp get that big?


----------



## Axelrodi202 (Jul 29, 2008)

Yes they can get that big. 
Life finds a way. For example, a long time ago, I added some RCS to my tank, but my gluttonous black neon tetras ate them all. A month later, the tank was devastated by a virus that wiped out all the characins, including the tetras (karma?). While inspecting the damage, I saw a red cherry shrimp looking back at me. Amano shrimp can hold their own, so I think a few should have survived.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Axelrodi202 said:


> Yes they can get that big.
> Life finds a way. For example, a long time ago, I added some RCS to my tank, but my gluttonous black neon tetras ate them all. A month later, the tank was devastated by a virus that wiped out all the characins, including the tetras (karma?). While inspecting the damage, I saw a red cherry shrimp looking back at me. Amano shrimp can hold their own, so I think a few should have survived.


Interesting. What was it like having a shrimp stare back at you? LOL! :angel:

I still haven't seen him yet. Probably hides amongst all the plants.


----------



## Axelrodi202 (Jul 29, 2008)

I was shocked. For a moment I thought I was seeing things.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Axelrodi202 said:


> I was shocked. For a moment I thought I was seeing things.


LOL. :icon_lol:


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

UPDATE: 12/31/2009

About a week ago, my dad and I built some new DIY aquarium covers out of plastic, wood, and silicon. The total cost was a little over $60.00 for three covers. I used some sort of plastic sheets that are supposedly used under showers. Cut them to size, cut the wood to frame the plastic, glued it on. It was pretty easy!


















I got a second Eheim Pro 3e 2076 filter from my parents for Christmas. Now i have one on each side of the stand. The 2217 is gone - woot!










FTS. Yes, i know the tubing looks stupid. Gonna fix that over the weekend. Also gonna get a black background, finally. 
And incase someone notices the cups sitting on the top of the tank, those have anubias petites that i bought from a forum member, but have no where to put them - LOL. I couldn't resist buying them! There's also some phoenix moss in the cups, which i also bought but don't have room for...










I'm getting a pressurized co2 system on either Saturday or Sunday from a LFS. I'm really excited! My dad and I went to the LFS today and i talked to an employee for a while about co2 systems, and learned a lot. The tank is going to go on the right side of the stand.

Pond snails have been multiplying like crazy. Gotta pick them out one of these days.. haha.
That's about it. 

Have a wonderful and safe new year everyone!


----------



## Chrisinator (Jun 5, 2008)

Holy wow! Amazing!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Chrisinator said:


> Holy wow! Amazing!


Thanks! :fish:


----------



## dantra (May 25, 2007)

AzFishKid, Its impressive to say the least, can't wait to see the progression of the tank especially after you add CO2. _*NICE FILTERS roud:*_

Dan


----------



## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Your layout looks fantastic. 

Nice canopy DIY. I made something similar with some acrylic diffusor plate that turned out pretty nice.


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Nice DIY. Have your Dad make me some for my 55 gallon. Grats on the new filter. Are you going for the Discus? This would be a nice tank for them.


----------



## non_compliance (Dec 1, 2009)

Tank looks sweet! Only thing is it's completely retarded to have that much filtration on that tank. You're pushing nearly 900 gph through those filters. Enough filtration for a tank 4x that size... and you've got a pretty small bioload.... That's like buying a computer with 8GB of ram that you only use for MS word. lol.... 

I think you should jsut send me one for $100 immediately.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Update:
Last night, i woke up and decided to turn on the aquarium light. I saw a huge amano shrimp clinging onto the filter sponge eating. So, it turns out that one of the shrimp DID actually survive! I hadn't seen one for a few months. Are amano shrimp nocturnal? (or does he just like to hide)?



dantra said:


> AzFishKid, Its impressive to say the least, can't wait to see the progression of the tank especially after you add CO2. _*NICE FILTERS roud:*_
> 
> Dan


Thanks Dan!

Yeah, i can't wait to see how it does with co2. :thumbsup: I'm getting it today!



> Your layout looks fantastic.
> 
> Nice canopy DIY. I made something similar with some acrylic diffusor plate that turned out pretty nice.


Thanks! I really liked how the covers came out too. The old ones that i had were just wood frames with mesh, but the mesh was blocking out too much light. These seem to block out no (or very little) light.



> Nice DIY. Have your Dad make me some for my 55 gallon. Grats on the new filter. Are you going for the Discus? This would be a nice tank for them.



Haha! Thanks, i'm really happy with these filters. Although some people say all the electronic features are over-the-top, i think they're nice to have. I have the "wave mode" on 24/7, which makes the plants sway back and forth gently.

I was going to go with discus, but i really like the huge ones (8"+) and i couldn't have very many in a tank of this size. Maybe when i'm older i'll get a 250 gallon, and get a few huge discus. 




> Tank looks sweet! Only thing is it's completely retarded to have that much filtration on that tank. You're pushing nearly 900 gph through those filters. Enough filtration for a tank 4x that size... and you've got a pretty small bioload.... That's like buying a computer with 8GB of ram that you only use for MS word. lol....
> 
> I think you should jsut send me one for $100 immediately.


I think the box alone is worth $100.. LOL. Pricey filters!

Never hurts to have too much filtration.  Some people use eheim 2217 classics on little 15 gallons. Those are rated for 60-75 gallons, right?

After i buy the co2 system, i'm saving up for fish. Planning on 30-40 cardinal tetras, 12-15 rummynose tetras, *maybe* 6-8 marble hatchetfish, 2 german blue rams, and 2 electric blue rams.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Ok well, they didn't have any full co2 tanks at the LFS, so i'm going to go back monday when they have more in stock. BUT i got everything else i need!

- Regulator
- Milwaukee pH controller
- ADA drop checker
- Diffuser
- Check valve
- Tubing


----------



## F22 (Sep 21, 2008)

i'm pretty sure all shrimp will revert to nocturnal behavior if there is some sort of threat in the tank, its like a crayfish i suppose


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Well, all the co2 equipment is set up.. just need the tank now!

My pH reader says the tank water is 8.0 
Drop checker is a dark, dark blue too.. hah.


----------



## oldpunk78 (Nov 1, 2008)

sweet! i can't wait to see what happens to this tank with co2. 

hey... when are you going to replace those actinic bulbs?


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

oldpunk78 said:


> sweet! i can't wait to see what happens to this tank with co2.
> 
> hey... when are you going to replace those actinic bulbs?


:flick: Knew someone was going to mention that.

Idk, whenever i have more money ha. Maybe a month or so.


----------



## non_compliance (Dec 1, 2009)

AzFishKid said:


> Update:
> I think the box alone is worth $100.. LOL. Pricey filters!
> 
> Never hurts to have too much filtration.  Some people use eheim 2217 classics on little 15 gallons. Those are rated for 60-75 gallons, right?
> ...


 
Yeah, I know... that was a joke.  Shipping would be $30-40 for a filter that size anyways.. hehe... but comon man, you don't NEED it.. I -DO-!!! 

I know, some people like nutty filtration... it's just that once you reach a certain point... you know that song by Kenny Wayne Shepard? Blue on black... whisper on a scream... tears on a river... match on a fire... you don't get much gain.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

non_compliance said:


> Yeah, I know... that was a joke.  Shipping would be $30-40 for a filter that size anyways.. hehe... but comon man, you don't NEED it.. I -DO-!!!
> 
> I know, some people like nutty filtration... it's just that once you reach a certain point... you know that song by Kenny Wayne Shepard? Blue on black... whisper on a scream... tears on a river... match on a fire... you don't get much gain.


I know it was a joke. :flick:

Never heard of Kenny Wayne Shepard, haha.
Idk i think it's worth it... the water never was clear with one eheim pro 3e 2076 and one eheim 2217 classic.


----------



## non_compliance (Dec 1, 2009)

[threadjack] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0mb0_SUx-A&feature=channel [/threadjack]


----------



## dantra (May 25, 2007)

AzFishKid said:


> Never hurts to have too much filtration.  Some people use eheim 2217 classics on little 15 gallons. Those are rated for 60-75 gallons, right?


I'm definitely guilty of that. I have a 2217 on a ADA 60p _(18 gallons)_ and proud of it! :biggrin: roud: All kidding aside, the eheim 2217 does one heck of a job keeping the tank beautifully clean.

Congratulations on those big, powerful, over-the-top filters!

Dan


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

dantra said:


> I'm definitely guilty of that. I have a 2217 on a ADA 60p _(18 gallons)_ and proud of it! :biggrin: roud: All kidding aside, the eheim 2217 does one heck of a job keeping the tank beautifully clean.
> 
> Congratulations on those big, powerful, over-the-top filters!
> 
> Dan


Yeah the 2217's are great, but one on a 68 gallon wasn't enough (thats what i had for a while, before i got the first pro 3e). 

Thanks! Once i get the co2 tank tomorrow, and background, i think the only other thing i'll need is more fish (and lights to replace the actinics). Then i THINK it'll be done! (but an aquarium is never done, is it?) :hihi:


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

I am personally a fan of gadgets and what nots for the tanks. It really is neat that you can make a tank have waves.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

sewingalot said:


> I am personally a fan of gadgets and what nots for the tanks. It really is neat that you can make a tank have waves.


Yeah i am too. And the wave function helps with water movement, without putting a powerhead in and having a constant flow in one direction.

I updated the first post with the current plants, fish, and equipment that i have for this tank.

At 1:00, i'm picking up the co2 tank - so i'll get that all set up and post a picture for you guys! roud:


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

I want to get some CPD's, but i've always thought that they would be better for smaller aquariums because of their super small size. If i were to put a few in this tank, would i ever see them? Do they tend to hide, or are they active?

Really cool little fish. :flick:


----------



## JennaH (Sep 28, 2009)

i've read that CPD's are very shy and like lots of hiding spots, that's why i've avoided them. they are awesome looking little fish though


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Well, had quite an adventure today. Here's what happened:

Went to Aquatouch (LFS) around 1:00, got a filled 5lb tank, and brought it home. Tried screwing on the regulator, but there was a washer missing (i think). So i called them up, talked to an employee for a little bit, but still didn't understand what was wrong. So my Dad drove me back up to Aquatouch. As we were getting off the highway, the tank depressurized. Gas filled the car, so we quickly pulled over and got out. Unfortunately, the tank was in between my legs, so i got a pretty big burn on my right leg. Rushed over to the emergency room, waited for 15 minutes in unbearable pain, then was taken into the ER. They put some sort of gel on the burn, and wrapped it up. While my Mom and I were at the hospital, my dad took back the tank. The people at Aquatouch were so sorry; they said that has never happened before.

Thankfully, my Mom (the one who was very afraid of something like this happening), said she will let me try again in a week or two.

I'm fine now - they said it will just take a while to heal. I'm thankful that we weren't in the middle of the highway. That would have been a bad situation. :flick:


----------



## problemman (Aug 19, 2005)

AzFishKid said:


> Pond snails have been multiplying like crazy. Gotta pick them out one of these days.. haha.
> That's about it.
> 
> Have a wonderful and safe new year everyone!


place some zucchini in the tank and then lift them out so simple and less time consuming :thumbsup:


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

problemman said:


> place some zucchini in the tank and then lift them out so simple and less time consuming :thumbsup:


 That would be so much easier!

Thanks for the tip.


----------



## oldpunk78 (Nov 1, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> Well, had quite an adventure today. Here's what happened:
> 
> Went to Aquatouch (LFS) around 1:00, got a filled 5lb tank, and brought it home. Tried screwing on the regulator, but there was a washer missing (i think). So i called them up, talked to an employee for a little bit, but still didn't understand what was wrong. So my Dad drove me back up to Aquatouch. As we were getting off the highway, the tank exploded. Gas filled the car, so we quickly pulled over and got out. Unfortunately, the tank was in between my legs, so i got a pretty big burn on my right leg. Rushed over to the emergency room, waited for 15 minutes in unbearable pain, then was taken into the ER. They put some sort of gel on the burn, and wrapped it up. While my Mom and I were at the hospital, my dad took back the tank. The people at Aquatouch were so sorry; they said that has never happened before.
> 
> ...


holy crap dude! hope you heel soon. i've never heard of one blowing before. i wounder what went wrong?

edit - i was wondering why we hadn't gotten the 'co2 is running' update yet.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

oldpunk78 said:


> holy crap dude! hope you heel soon. i've never heard of one blowing before. i wounder what went wrong?
> 
> edit - i was wondering why we hadn't gotten the 'co2 is running' update yet.


Yeah that's what everyone at AAPE is saying! I guess it's more rare than i thought. The guys at the LFS weren't sure what happened, but a few people are saying it was probably a valve malfunction. 

Lesson learned from this experience: Never have a co2 tank between your legs. :thumbsup:


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Well the burn is definitely going to take a while to heal... it's starting to blister and stuff. D:

Really uncomfortable to walk, but i can't miss any more school.


----------



## oldpunk78 (Nov 1, 2008)

i thought the co2 would have froze you real bad. did you get a pic of the tank?


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

oldpunk78 said:


> i thought the co2 would have froze you real bad. did you get a pic of the tank?


Yeah it did freeze me badly. Burn to the first degree.

Nope, no pic of the tank.

This weekend I'm gonna head down to the LFS though, to see if we can figure out what happened.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Well, the parents decided no more co2. =/ So i returned everything today. Pretty bummed out...

I did get 15 rummy nose tetras though.  And they gave me $30 off what i bought today, because they felt bad for what happened.


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

Sorry to hear about the CO2 incident Are you on crutches or something?


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Oh, man! Am I glad that you are doing better and it wasn't worse. Although, that has to be painful. Sorry to hear that you aren't getting co2 now, but I am more glad to hear you are recovering!


----------



## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Wow! I'm so sorry about the burn, and I'm also glad it wasn't any worse than it was!

Hope you heal quickly!!


----------



## lilhelper (Nov 24, 2008)

I have followed this, and I am thoroughly Impressed! Great work!!!! .....and you gotta teach me all what you know. GENIUS!


----------



## lilhelper (Nov 24, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> Well, had quite an adventure today. Here's what happened:
> 
> Went to Aquatouch (LFS) around 1:00, got a filled 5lb tank, and brought it home. Tried screwing on the regulator, but there was a washer missing (i think). So i called them up, talked to an employee for a little bit, but still didn't understand what was wrong. So my Dad drove me back up to Aquatouch. As we were getting off the highway, the tank exploded. Gas filled the car, so we quickly pulled over and got out. Unfortunately, the tank was in between my legs, so i got a pretty big burn on my right leg. Rushed over to the emergency room, waited for 15 minutes in unbearable pain, then was taken into the ER. They put some sort of gel on the burn, and wrapped it up. While my Mom and I were at the hospital, my dad took back the tank. The people at Aquatouch were so sorry; they said that has never happened before.
> 
> ...


Wholy crap brudda. you definitely took one for the team, that could have been a big lawsuit for that store..
I am glad everything turned out better than it could have. co2 + people = bad outcome.
So glad you are okay, dude!!!!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> Sorry to hear about the CO2 incident Are you on crutches or something?


Yup. Been on crutches the last few days, but i was able to walk *sorta* well without them this morning. :flick:



> Oh, man! Am I glad that you are doing better and it wasn't worse. Although, that has to be painful. Sorry to hear that you aren't getting co2 now, but I am more glad to hear you are recovering!


Thanks Sara, it's healing up nicely.  Just kinda painful!



> Wow! I'm so sorry about the burn, and I'm also glad it wasn't any worse than it was!
> 
> Hope you heal quickly!!


Thanks Laura. It could have been a lot worse!



> I have followed this, and I am thoroughly Impressed! Great work!!!! .....and you gotta teach me all what you know. GENIUS!


Haha thanks! :smile:



> Wholy crap brudda. you definitely took one for the team, that could have been a big lawsuit for that store..
> I am glad everything turned out better than it could have. co2 + people = bad outcome.
> So glad you are okay, dude!!!!


Yeah we could have filed a lawsuit, but no one is really sure what caused it to explode (it could have been a faulty valve, or we coulda just been handling it too roughly. not sure) and they're a really good group of people with a great store, so it never crossed our minds to get into a legal battle.

Thanks for all the thoughts everyone!




I've had a few people ask to see pictures of the burn, so if anyone is interested in being grossed out, here's a link to a pic. I do want to warn you though that it's pretty nasty though, lol. This was taken yesterday, and it seems to be doing a lot better today. It is a serious second degree burn, according to the doctor. There used to be a HUGE blister over the whole red spot, but it had to be removed because of its excessive size, haha. I named the blister after my english teacher, who i dislike greatly.  http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/4271/leg.jpg


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Ugh, that is pretty nasty. What is it that makes us want to look? I can only imagine how painful that must be. My husband (an english teacher) would appreciate your comment, I'll have to share it with him. :hihi:


----------



## Heatherdersh (Nov 4, 2009)

Goodness! That reminds me of a childhood friend who dropped a molten tray of "creepy crawlers" (remember those? Haha) on his leg and it melted to his skin. Hope you heal up and feel better soon!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

sewingalot said:


> Ugh, that is pretty nasty. What is it that makes us want to look? I can only imagine how painful that must be. My husband (an english teacher) would appreciate your comment, I'll have to share it with him. :hihi:


Haha!
The blister was kinda wrinkly and stuff, and my english teacher is quite old... so i thought they suited each other quite nicely. :hihi:



> Goodness! That reminds me of a childhood friend who dropped a molten tray of "creepy crawlers" (remember those? Haha) on his leg and it melted to his skin. Hope you heal up and feel better soon!


I loved those things! You're talking about the little ovens that you'd put molded bugs in to, right? :flick:


----------



## Heatherdersh (Nov 4, 2009)

> I loved those things! You're talking about the little ovens that you'd put molded bugs in to, right? :flick:


haha exactly. I loved em too (was such a tomboy heh). It was not a pretty sight thouh with that metal tray all melted to my friend's leg!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Heatherdersh said:


> haha exactly. I loved em too (was such a tomboy heh). It was not a pretty sight thouh with that metal tray all melted to my friend's leg!


Yeah i bet - LOL. That sounds horrible!

Oh, and i FINALLY got a black background! Looks a lot better.
And yes, the co2 diffuser is still inside the aquarium... I didn't want to take it out. I'd like to think i have pressurized co2.


----------



## defiant (Dec 1, 2009)

AzFishKid said:


> Yeah i bet - LOL. That sounds horrible!
> 
> Oh, and i FINALLY got a black background! Looks a lot better.
> And yes, the co2 diffuser is still inside the aquarium... I didn't want to take it out. I'd like to think i have pressurized co2.


 
you have a beautiful set up looks so peacefull.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

defiant said:


> you have a beautiful set up looks so peacefull.


Thanks! :icon_mrgr


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Ordered 30 tank-bred cardinal tetras from another forum member last wednesday that should be here tomorrow. Hope they all arrive ok.

Also ordered 4 short fin and 2 long fin Blue-eyed yellow bristlenose plecos from pinkertd that will be shipped on Tuesday.

Going to purchase 2-4 rams this weekend. (I was thinking 2 electric blue and 2 normal?)

So here's the to-be stock list:
- 15 rummy nose tetras
- 30 cardinal tetras
- 6 emerald green cory
- 6 sterbai cory
- 4 skunk cory
- 7 oto
- 6 bristle nose plecos
- 1 florida flagfish
- 4 german blue rams


Now i know it's kinda a lot for a 68 gallon, but do you think i could squeeze in 10 golden neon tetras? :hihi:
Might rehome 2 of the emerald green cories and the flagfish, if that makes a difference.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Picked up the 30 cardinal tetras from the post office yesterday evening. Only 2 were DOA! They're all healthy and active. Didn't have any problem with acclimating.


----------



## F22 (Sep 21, 2008)

nice dude, who'd ya get them from?


----------



## Axelrodi202 (Jul 29, 2008)

The flagfish might eat some of your finer leaved plants.


----------



## demonbreedr16 (Jan 10, 2008)

Wow I have a lot to catch up on it seems...So I'll just summarize what I'm thinking...lol

Sorry about the Co2 canister exploding! That sucks, and of course the burns really suck too, but I'm glad the E.R. got you fixed up relatively quick...

Your tank is looking great and the black background really makes the plants pop! :icon_mrgr

I'm also glad the fish came in OK, but keep an eye on that flagfish. Mine was MEAN and killed 4 orange von rio tetras...

Kenny


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Axelrodi202 said:


> The flagfish might eat some of your finer leaved plants.





> Wow I have a lot to catch up on it seems...So I'll just summarize what I'm thinking...lol
> 
> Sorry about the Co2 canister exploding! That sucks, and of course the burns really suck too, but I'm glad the E.R. got you fixed up relatively quick...
> 
> ...


Yeah, im gonna re-home the flagfish.. he's attempted to eat the little cardinals several times. :icon_evil

The burn is healing really nicely. I've been able to walk for the past 6 days. 

Thinking about replacing a few plant species in the tank for some more "uncommon" ones... i'd probably remove the limnophila sessiliflora, and some stems of plants that i have a lot of.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

F22 said:


> nice dude, who'd ya get them from?


mgamer20o0. He was selling some nice tank-bred ones for a very good price; not sure if he has more available.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Gahh.. the cardinal tetras are dropping like flies. Down to 24...


----------



## non_compliance (Dec 1, 2009)

AzFishKid said:


> Gahh.. the cardinal tetras are dropping like flies. Down to 24...


 

See! Too much filtration!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

non_compliance said:


> See! Too much filtration!


LOL!
Not sure whats killing them. The others seem to be doing fine though..


----------



## non_compliance (Dec 1, 2009)

Hahaha.... just razzin ya.... although I have heard of stranger things!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

The newest additions! 2 longfin and 5 shortfin L144 Blue-Eyed Yellow Bristlenose Plecos from Debbi (pinkertd). Adorable little guys!


----------



## F22 (Sep 21, 2008)

nice pickup dude...


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Thanks! They're really cool fish.


----------



## pinkertd (Jun 17, 2007)

Love your tank AZ! Simply awesome!!! And those plecos looks mighty good!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

pinkertd said:


> Love your tank AZ! Simply awesome!!! And those plecos looks mighty good!


Thanks! I love these plecos - they've really grown, and they're all very yellow!
The longfin still seems to be semi-white though (almost clear). Is this normal?

Haven't updated the journal in a while, so here's what's happened:
- Lost a LOT of fish after i put the cardinals in. Only 8/35 cardinals survived. I'm thinking the cardinals had something that spread around. I guess you get what you pay for.. they were really cheap (1.25 each i think). One of my friends from AAPE got 20-some cardinals from the same place as well and he lost all the fish in that tank. I also lost 1 sterbai cory, 1 longfin pleco, 1 rummy nose tetra, and all (4) of my skunk cories. I'm not sure if the skunk cories are dead.. but i haven't seen them at all for at least 2 weeks.
- Bought 12 more cardinals today from a LFS. The owner of this store imported 500 cardinals a few weeks ago and hasn't lost a single one. They're a really good size too, so i have high hopes for them. $3/per.
- Bought 12 assassin snails from a local friend about a month ago. Hoping they'll control my MTS population. I must have at least 300 MTS in there!

Besides the fish deaths, everything seems to be doing pretty well.
Waiting for a LFS to get in some German Blue Rams, Marbled Hatchets, and Skunk Cories... he said he should have some of each in 2 weeks.

OHH, and i also got a new camera! Nikon D3000 SLR. It's an amazing camera - i'll have to take some pictures of the tank and upload them.


----------



## Chrisinator (Jun 5, 2008)

That looks awesome!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

The new cardinals seem to be doing great. So far, so good!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

*<UPDATE: February 22, 2010>*

Here's some updated pictures of the tank and its inhabitants. 
Taken with my new camera! Nikon D3000 SLR.























































*Can someone ID this plant please?*









*This is one of my rummy nose tetras. It has a neon yellow color. Is this normal?*


----------



## Digsy (Mar 4, 2006)

I haven't checked in with this tank in awhile and it looks great! By the way, I think your plant is Ludwigia brevipes? It looks really healthy! I always have had trouble keeping this one from losing all of the bottom leaves.


----------



## Amazonfish (Oct 20, 2009)

I was going to say Ludwigia brevipes as well. I think I just spent 5 minutes staring at those pics. Your tank is looking great!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Digsy said:


> I haven't checked in with this tank in awhile and it looks great! By the way, I think your plant is Ludwigia brevipes? It looks really healthy! I always have had trouble keeping this one from losing all of the bottom leaves.


Thanks Digsy! I really like how it's turning out. :bounce:



> I was going to say Ludwigia brevipes as well. I think I just spent 5 minutes staring at those pics. Your tank is looking great!


Thank you! I'm really glad you guys like it. :icon_mrgr

My LFS should have marbled hatchets and german blue rams available in a week. I'm also gonna pick up some more skunk cories. I haven't seen the 4 i had in at least 3 weeks.. not really sure if they're hiding really well or if they were victims of whatever disease those other cardinals had. It's kinda odd for all of them to be missing though...

Also, when i have money in a month or two, i'm gonna order a few black schultzi cories from a breeder on aquabid. Very rare cories, and they look really cool!


----------



## JennaH (Sep 28, 2009)

tank is looking great! it's funny you ask about the yellow rummy nose- because i have one like that too! it's a very distinct yellow color compared to the rest, but seems healthy..


----------



## gogreen (Sep 18, 2008)

you know theres like 2 or 3 other species of rummy-nose that can be really hard to distinguish among each other. and Ive heard sometimes they get mixed up...so you can end up having a couple of different specie in your school.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

JennaH said:


> tank is looking great! it's funny you ask about the yellow rummy nose- because i have one like that too! it's a very distinct yellow color compared to the rest, but seems healthy..





> you know theres like 2 or 3 other species of rummy-nose that can be really hard to distinguish among each other. and Ive heard sometimes they get mixed up...so you can end up having a couple of different specie in your school.


Hmm.. interesting. I didn't know there was more than one type of rummy nose tetra. Any pictures/links to the others?


----------



## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

Hey AZ, I love your tank! I am amazed on how your parents let you keep a big fish tank in your room and let you spend money like that. I am also 14 and my parents won't even let me keep a 40 gallon breeder. They let me upgrade from 20-29 lol yea..... My tanks arent even 1/3 as good as yours. Subscribed. Just read your whole journal today, im glad u didnt burn ur man hood lol. Hope you get pressurized co2 some time. Im trying to work on tht with my parents. GL


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

VadimShevchuk said:


> Hey AZ, I love your tank! I am amazed on how your parents let you keep a big fish tank in your room and let you spend money like that. I am also 14 and my parents won't even let me keep a 40 gallon breeder. They let me upgrade from 20-29 lol yea..... My tanks arent even 1/3 as good as yours. Subscribed. Just read your whole journal today, im glad u didnt burn ur man hood lol. Hope you get pressurized co2 some time. Im trying to work on tht with my parents. GL


Thanks man! The key is to just keep "pushing" your parents (but don't annoy them about it :icon_lol. I talk about aquariums so much that it even sometimes gets to be annoying to some people, so my parents definitely know how important this hobby is to me. I started out with a 12g bowfront, then a 29 gallon, then two 29 gallons, then a 68 gallon. I was about to get a 125 gallon, but the aquarium was finally starting to look the way i wanted for it to be, so i really didn't want to take it all down and start from scratch.

And yeah, i'm glad i didn't get burned anywhere else... about 10 seconds before it happened, i was looking down at the valve. I was VERY close to getting my face burned. And the crazy thing is that i was thinking about a tank explosion about 10 minutes before it happened.. pretty creepy.

Good luck with your aquarium - and i hope you convince your parents someday to let you get a larger tank! Thanks for looking through my whole journal too - it means a lot to me that people are interested in it enough to take the time to read about it. :biggrin:

Do you have a journal for your 29 gallon? I'd love to see it!


----------



## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

You tank is really nice. I just got into planted tanks like 4 months ago so im still near success that you have.:icon_cry: Im going to set up a ten gallon shrimp tank journal here and for my 29 gallon, ill make a journal when i get a santad and rena xp2 for it. :thumbsup:


----------



## oldpunk78 (Nov 1, 2008)

hey man! that filled in nicely. it's hard to believe that this is a non co2 tank. keep up the good work.


----------



## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

Agreed with oldpunk! :biggrin:


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

oldpunk78 said:


> hey man! that filled in nicely. it's hard to believe that this is a non co2 tank. keep up the good work.





> Agreed with oldpunk!


Thanks guys! 

Just need to get some lily intake pipes, then it will look even better.


----------



## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

Just showed this to my dad. He had kept fish for like 15 years but he passed the hobby on to me and quit =/ Im like this guy is 15 and isnt it nice. He was like WOW and im like yea i know. =D


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

VadimShevchuk said:


> Just showed this to my dad. He had kept fish for like 15 years but he passed the hobby on to me and quit =/ Im like this guy is 15 and isnt it nice. He was like WOW and im like yea i know. =D


:icon_bigg What an honor! Thanks for sharing it with your dad. You're lucky to have a father who has kept aquariums in the past. I wish my father would enjoy the hobby as much as I do!


----------



## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

Whats neat is that since day 1 i was born, i had a fish tank in my house my whole life.


----------



## problemman (Aug 19, 2005)

what kind of moss is in the tanks?


----------



## nazspeed (Dec 19, 2008)

I think its time to go to Diy Co2 its safer and better than nothing (glad to hear your doing better)


----------



## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

DIY co2 can cause algae problems. Why mess with a tank when it's looking this good without co2.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

VadimShevchuk said:


> Whats neat is that since day 1 i was born, i had a fish tank in my house my whole life.


Wish i grew up in your house! I got my first aquarium when i was 10.



> what kind of moss is in the tanks?


It was sold to me as wild java moss, but i'm not sure if that's actually what it is. It looks completely different than regular java moss. I have a little bit of "normal" java moss on one rock, and it's completely different than the rest. The "wild" java moss tends to branch out, almost like a christmas tree. The leaves are also thicker than normal java moss.



> I think its time to go to Diy Co2 its safer and better than nothing (glad to hear your doing better)


DIY co2 is a pain with tanks above 30 gallons. I know a few people who've tried DIY co2 on larger tanks (like mine), and from what i understand, it tends to fail miserably. It sounds like all of the work with minimal results is just not worth it (at least for larger tanks). 

Everything is growing fine *for now*, but i'm sure it would be a ton better with pressurized co2... i've got to admit that i'm still a little scared to even consider it again.









Thank you for the suggestion and kinds thoughts though. 



> DIY co2 can cause algae problems. Why mess with a tank when it's looking this good without co2.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Well i'm doing a blackout for a few days. Can't seem to get rid of the hair algae.
I've kept the lights off since yesterday morning. When i came home today, i saw that there were cory eggs everywhere! The emerald greens are probably the suspects again.

I remember seeing someone else on the forum a while back use tinfoil to block the light out. Thought it was a good idea. 










YES, that's a little peek-hole. :hihi:


----------



## kyle3 (May 26, 2005)

lol i love the peek hole!! hope the black out does the trick!

cheers-K


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

kyle3 said:


> lol i love the peek hole!! hope the black out does the trick!
> 
> cheers-K


Haha thanks! I thought the fish should have a *little* light. The peek-hole is in the middle where the white gravel is (with no plants), so it shouldn't be a problem.


----------



## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

I love it. You should fill this tank with blind Mexican cave tetras.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

hydrophyte said:


> I love it. You should fill this tank with blind Mexican cave tetras.


Haha that would be awesome! Those are some cool fish.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Well i took the tinfoil off yesterday. It helped a lot, but there's still quite a bit of algae left. I probably should have kept the foil on longer, but i think keeping the lights down will help over time.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Just picked up 2 german blue rams and 2 gold rams.


----------



## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> Just picked up 2 german blue rams and 2 gold rams.


Man everyone is getting Rams. I want some too!! Did you order online or get them from your LFS?


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

fastfreddie said:


> Man everyone is getting Rams. I want some too!! Did you order online or get them from your LFS?


I got them from a LFS, 2 for $25. Not bad. Cheaper other places, but these guys are really healthy!


----------



## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

How are the rams doing? I heard that they usually die of ich. =/


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

VadimShevchuk said:


> How are the rams doing? I heard that they usually die of ich. =/


They're doing fantastic - the 4 i got have such amazing, vibrant colors. They're very attractive fish!













I'm still struggling with hair algae. Would getting a colony of shrimp help? I know amanos are really good algae eaters, but i'd like some red cherries.. would they do a good job cleaning up algae too?

Also, would any of my fish eat shrimp? From what i've read, the tetras and otos won't bug them, but the rams will. Anyone have any experience with shrimp in community tanks?


----------



## oldpunk78 (Nov 1, 2008)

my tetras harass the cherries sometimes. i wouldn't put it past them to snack on a baby here and there either. with that said, the cherries are still multiplying. however, i believe the rams would pose a problem.

i was just looking at your rams and it kinda made me re-think the shrimp in my tank. lol they sure are attractive fishies.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

oldpunk78 said:


> my tetras harass the cherries sometimes. i wouldn't put it past them to snack on a baby here and there either. with that said, the cherries are still multiplying. however, i believe the rams would pose a problem.
> 
> i was just looking at your rams and it kinda made me re-think the shrimp in my tank. lol they sure are attractive fishies.


Would amano shrimp be fine? They get pretty big... and they can dart away pretty fast, so i think it would be hard for any of the other fish to eat them. They're not the most attractive shrimp, but hey - if they'd do the job, then i'll get some. :thumbsup:

And yes, rams are very pretty! Definitely up high on my favorite fish list.


----------



## tuonor (Nov 26, 2009)

AzFishKid said:


> Would amano shrimp be fine? They get pretty big... and they can dart away pretty fast, so i think it would be hard for any of the other fish to eat them. They're not the most attractive shrimp, but hey - if they'd do the job, then i'll get some. :thumbsup:
> 
> And yes, rams are very pretty! Definitely up high on my favorite fish list.


I'd go with the Amanos. Cherries and CRS don't seem to do anything with established stringy pieces of algae. Of course in this size tank you could keep several types!

Nice rams btw...


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

tuonor said:


> I'd go with the Amanos. Cherries and CRS don't seem to do anything with established stringy pieces of algae. Of course in this size tank you could keep several types!
> 
> Nice rams btw...


Thanks! I think i'm going to get some amanos when i have some more cash. 

I just did the first water change in 2 weeks today... i volunteered to take care of the class guinea pig over spring break - lots of work! I thought they were supposed to be beginner pets? :icon_eek:


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

That last picture is a WOW! Once you take back the pig, I expect more pictures.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

sewingalot said:


> That last picture is a WOW! Once you take back the pig, I expect more pictures.


Haven't seen you around in a while! How's it going? :smile:

Which picture? The one of the rams?

Taking the guinea pig back tomorrow; spring break is gone. 

More pictures to come!


----------



## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> Well i took the tinfoil off yesterday. It helped a lot, but there's still quite a bit of algae left.time.


Dosing with KNO3, potassium nitrate, may help. I found it at Lowe's as Spectricide stump remover. Also can get it here. It has to be diluted 1Tbs in 1 cup of tank water. Then you dose about 3ml dly for a week. Has to be dose small amounts so that will not stress fish out.

It works for me. Something in my tap water seems to cause it to come back at times.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Hilde said:


> Dosing with KNO3, potassium nitrate, may help. I found it at Lowe's as Spectricide stump remover. Also can get it here. It has to be diluted 1Tbs in 1 cup of tank water. Then you dose about 3ml dly for a week. Has to be dose small amounts so that will not stress fish out.
> 
> It works for me. Something in my tap water seems to cause it to come back at times.


Thanks for the tip, i'll have to try that out.
I raised the light by about 3", and that seems to be helping a lot. 

Here's some new pictures that i just took:









Moss is still infected with MTS and algae.. lol.









Rotala mexicana is looking a little ratty... not sure why?









Ludwigia brevipes. It's turned out to be one of my favorite plants. 









Oto!









Spixi snail.


----------



## F22 (Sep 21, 2008)

tank looks good.. weird about the rotalia though


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

F22 said:


> tank looks good.. weird about the rotalia though


Yeah i'm not sure why it isn't doing so well. It used to flourish.

I added some better pictures to the previous post, and removed some of the blurry ones.


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

Have you tried treating the moss with Excel?

Nice looking tank btw


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> Have you tried treating the moss with Excel?
> 
> Nice looking tank btw


I did that a while back, and it worked well. So i guess i should try that again.

And thanks :biggrin:


----------



## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

That's lookin' great. I remember back in the day when this tank was blue.


----------



## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> I raised the light by about 3", and that seems to be helping a lot.


From what I have read it seems the lights are the engine, thus that makes sense. Then the Co2 has to be balanced with the light. Then there is the circulation that affects the Co2 through out the tank. High agitation of top decreases Co2. Last is a balance of nutrients.

I keep my light and circulation low thus I concentrate on balancing the nutrients.


----------



## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

looking good =D


----------



## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

VadimShevchuk said:


> looking good =D


I hope the D is not as a D in school? It is very lovely to me.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Hilde said:


> I hope the D is not as a D in school? It is very lovely to me.


LOL :hihi: It took me a while to figure out what that meant.


----------



## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

Ludwigia brevipes is looking great in that picture. That plant would be awesome in a dutch style set-up.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

hydrophyte said:


> That's lookin' great. I remember back in the day when this tank was blue.


The blue bulbs are still in there, but i moved them around so i could turn on 2/4 of the switches and only have the white ones. 



> Ludwigia brevipes is looking great in that picture. That plant would be awesome in a dutch style set-up.


Yeah i love that plant! It's always so colorful.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

I'm so bad.. i haven't done a water change in at least 3 weeks, and you can definitely tell. Hopefully i'll get a chance to do a major WC either Wednesday or Thursday.


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> I'm so bad.. i haven't done a water change in at least 3 weeks, and you can definitely tell. Hopefully i'll get a chance to do a major WC either Wednesday or Thursday.


When do you normally do water changes?


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> When do you normally do water changes?


Weekends. I've been so busy with homework though. =/


SOO i think i'm going to go back to the discus plan... if i can convince my parents to let me get a larger aquarium, i'd sell my 68g and try and find a good deal for a tank around 120 gallons. I'd probably purchase one of those foam 3D backgrounds too.

Could i keep all my fish (30 tetras, 6 bristlenose plecos, 10 corys, 6 otos, 4 german blue rams, florida flagfish, and snails) in a smaller aquarium for a few weeks? Or would it be best to sell them (NOT the plecos and sterbai corys though!) and buy new ones when the new tank would be cycled?


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

So i have permission from my parents to get a larger aquarium, as long as our foundation will support it.

I think i'll be taking this tank down soon! :O

Hoping for a 120-150 gallon.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Here's the plan for the new tank:

*-* Size: 125 gallons; glass
*-* Stand: ADA style stand, made by a friend
*-* Substrate: ADA Amazonia substrate (heard it wasn't as "dusty" as the Amazonia II)
*-* Filtration: 1 or 2 Fluval Fx5 Canisters
*-* Lighting: Keeping my current fixture
*-* Aquascape: Same basic style, but hopefully a rainforest 3d background (pictures below)
*-* Fish: Discus, a few angelfish, cardinal tetras, rummy nose tetras, black c. shultzi corys, skunk corys, sterbai corys, otos, L144 Blue Eyed Yellow Bristlenose Plecos (only fish i'm keeping from this tank), maybe some rams.
*-* Plants: Only thing planed right now is a _marsilea minuta_ carpet in front. Planning on doing the immersed planting method (I think that's what it's called? Very low water level, plant each plant one by one).


----------



## Digital (Apr 4, 2008)

In that first set of pics on page one is that a big platinum angel I see??? If so, that is awwwwwwwwwesome!

Your tank is sick btw! Love itttttt!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

IC3D said:


> In that first set of pics on page one is that a big platinum angel I see??? If so, that is awwwwwwwwwesome!
> 
> Your tank is sick btw! Love itttttt!


Yup, i took him to a LFS a few months ago, along with the zebra angel. He was absolutely STUNNING. Beautiful color!


----------



## Digital (Apr 4, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> Yup, i took him to a LFS a few months ago, along with the zebra angel. He was absolutely STUNNING. Beautiful color!


Damn I would have loved to have a platinum, did you get it when it was a baby or breeder size?


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

IC3D said:


> Damn I would have loved to have a platinum, did you get it when it was a baby or breeder size?


I got him from a LFS a few years back; he was probably half the size he is in the picture. Not a baby but not an adult. :icon_mrgr


----------



## Digital (Apr 4, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> I got him from a LFS a few years back; he was probably half the size he is in the picture. Not a baby but not an adult. :icon_mrgr


Lucky to find one of those in a LFS for sure!!!!! How much was he?


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

IC3D said:


> Lucky to find one of those in a LFS for sure!!!!! How much was he?


$30. The guy said someone dropped him off at the store the previous day because he outgrew their tank. Haha


----------



## Digital (Apr 4, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> $30. The guy said someone dropped him off at the store the previous day because he outgrew their tank. Haha


Soooooooooooo lucky!!!!!!!!!! I want a platinum!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

IC3D said:


> Soooooooooooo lucky!!!!!!!!!! I want a platinum!


Yeah they're really beautiful fish. I sometimes regret letting him go, but he fought with the zebra a ton (on a daily basis), almost to a point where i thought they'd kill each other. I'm hoping to pick up some nice bright orange koi angels when i get the 125 gallon all set up.


----------



## Digital (Apr 4, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> Yeah they're really beautiful fish. I sometimes regret letting him go, but he fought with the zebra a ton (on a daily basis), almost to a point where i thought they'd kill each other. I'm hoping to pick up some nice bright orange koi angels when i get the 125 gallon all set up.


Yeah I usually try and get my angels breeder size or bigger if possible. They are stronger that way. A school of platinums or altums would rock in a 125 though!


----------



## Coral Keeper (Sep 14, 2007)

Not to hijack your thread, but is this a Platinum Angelfish in this picture?


----------



## Digital (Apr 4, 2008)

^ looks like it to me


----------



## Coral Keeper (Sep 14, 2007)

IC3D said:


> ^ looks like it to me


Got mine for free when it was as small as a quarter. lol


----------



## Digital (Apr 4, 2008)

Coral Keeper said:


> Got mine for free when it was as small as a quarter. lol


A bunch of lucky fellows in this thread!


----------



## Coral Keeper (Sep 14, 2007)

IC3D said:


> A bunch of lucky fellows in this thread!


Are they rare or something?


----------



## Digital (Apr 4, 2008)

Coral Keeper said:


> Are they rare or something?


Yep


----------



## Coral Keeper (Sep 14, 2007)

IC3D said:


> Yep


Oh, nice. Got mine from a cuz who knows a local who's pair had babies.


----------



## Digital (Apr 4, 2008)

Coral Keeper said:


> Oh, nice. Got mine from a cuz who knows a local who's pair had babies.


Damn I wish I found some local.... Closest ones to me that I know of are a quarter size for 5.00 and they are 1hr 20mins away. :T


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

That is indeed a platinum! He has beautiful fins. Lucky :thumbsup:


----------



## Coral Keeper (Sep 14, 2007)

IC3D said:


> Damn I wish I found some local.... Closest ones to me that I know of are a quarter size for 5.00 and they are 1hr 20mins away. :T


lol Id go on a weekend if I had the whole day off if I were you. :red_mouth


----------



## Coral Keeper (Sep 14, 2007)

AzFishKid said:


> That is indeed a platinum! He has beautiful fins. Lucky :thumbsup:


Thanks! Your lucky too.... for getting such a big tank. :red_mouth


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Coral Keeper said:


> Thanks! Your lucky too.... for getting such a big tank. :red_mouth


Haha thanks! I'm probably going to be taking this tank down soon though, and replacing it with a 125 gallon.


----------



## Coral Keeper (Sep 14, 2007)

AzFishKid said:


> Haha thanks! I'm probably going to be taking this tank down soon though, and replacing it with a 125 gallon.


No, I meant your lucky that your parents are letting you get the 125 gallon. lol


----------



## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

So lucky that your getting a 125 gallon. i barely got my parents to let me have a 55 gallon. I was reading that you like koi angels. Last week i picked up 2 breeder sized koi angels for 7 bucks =D (BTW =D is a happy face and not a D!) Hopefully you will make a journal of the 125 gallon.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Coral Keeper said:


> No, I meant your lucky that your parents are letting you get the 125 gallon. lol


Oh, haha! Yeah i'm excited.



> So lucky that your getting a 125 gallon. i barely got my parents to let me have a 55 gallon. I was reading that you like koi angels. Last week i picked up 2 breeder sized koi angels for 7 bucks =D (BTW =D is a happy face and not a D!) Hopefully you will make a journal of the 125 gallon.


Yeah i'll definitely make a journal for the new tank!
Nice find btw. $7 for a koi angel is definitely a steal!

I really like the ones with a lot of orange, like the three in the back of the tank:


----------



## Digital (Apr 4, 2008)

My marbles I just got were 30$ a pop, but they are very nice sized. I WANT MOAR!


----------



## Coral Keeper (Sep 14, 2007)

AzFishKid said:


> Oh, haha! Yeah i'm excited.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Very pretty Angelfish!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Coral Keeper said:


> Very pretty Angelfish!


Yeah i know! I've seen a few on aquabid that have even more orange, in the 80-90% range. They're VERY cool. roud:


----------



## Coral Keeper (Sep 14, 2007)

AzFishKid said:


> Yeah i know! I've seen a few on aquabid that have even more orange, in the 80-90% range. They're VERY cool. roud:


Very nice! How much were they going for if you don't mind me asking?


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Coral Keeper said:


> Very nice! How much were they going for if you don't mind me asking?


Around $50 i believe. Not _too_ bad, but not exactly cheap either. Lol.


----------



## Coral Keeper (Sep 14, 2007)

AzFishKid said:


> Around $50 i believe. Not _too_ bad, but not exactly cheap either. Lol.


Nice. lol


----------



## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

Azfishkid- Where have you been the past 2 months. I see that you usally comment on things and i thought you quit the hobby.=/


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

VadimShevchuk said:


> Azfishkid- Where have you been the past 2 months. I see that you usally comment on things and i thought you quit the hobby.=/


I've been extremely busy with school work. The teachers keep shoving work in our faces like there's no end. 

But naw, i haven't quit the hobby- i would never! My tank has been a little abused the past month, but i did a giant water change and trim last night and it looks a ton better.



Need some opinions on my planned stock list for the 125g. Suggestions?
• 7-8 discus
• 4-5 angelfish
• 25 cardinal tetras
• 15 rummy nose tetras
• 6 L144 Blue Eyed Yellow Bristlenose Plecos
• 6 black coryadoras schultzei
• 6 corydoras sterbai
• 6 corydoras arcuatus
• 8 otocinclus catfish (hopefully some zebras too!)
• 3-4 tatia perugiae

• Assassin Snails
• Zebra Nerite Snails


----------



## oldpunk78 (Nov 1, 2008)

why not altums? lol

that list looks pretty good. although, it wouldn't surprise me if a cardinal disappeared ever now and then.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

oldpunk78 said:


> why not altums? lol
> 
> that list looks pretty good. although, it wouldn't surprise me if a cardinal disappeared ever now and then.



I thought altums were best for species-only tanks?
If they'd do fine with the rest of the fish, then i'll do altums.


----------



## oldpunk78 (Nov 1, 2008)

^ i was just hinting that you should do an species tank with altums. that's all. and i believe that they would do best in a non-community tank.


----------



## Coral Keeper (Sep 14, 2007)

AzFishKid said:


> I've been extremely busy with school work. The teachers keep shoving work in our faces like there's no end.
> 
> But naw, i haven't quit the hobby- i would never! My tank has been a little abused the past month, but i did a giant water change and trim last night and it looks a ton better.
> 
> ...


How often are you going to change the water? Also, check this forum out, its dedicated to Discus. 
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/index.php


Been doing a but load of reading/researching about Discus because I MIGHT MIGHT be able to get a 90 gallon tank!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

oldpunk78 said:


> ^ i was just hinting that you should do an species tank with altums. that's all. and i believe that they would do best in a non-community tank.


Oh haha. Yeah, it's definitely something to think about. A school of altums would be awesome.



> How often are you going to change the water? Also, check this forum out, its dedicated to Discus.
> http://forum.simplydiscus.com/index.php
> 
> 
> Been doing a but load of reading/researching about Discus because I MIGHT MIGHT be able to get a 90 gallon tank!


Nice!

Yup i've been looking around simplydiscus for a while now. Kenny Chung has some great discus. :bounce:

Im planning on once a week. I can't see myself doing it more than that. I know some people say it needs to be done more frequently, but if i have way overkill filtration and i keep up with the once a week water changes, i don't think there would be any problems...


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> Haven't seen you around in a while! How's it going? :smile:
> 
> Which picture? The one of the rams?
> 
> ...


I've been around, just kind sporadic (is this a word?). My mom's been keeping me busy since I am unemployed at the moment.  How did you manage to talk the parents into a 125? Can you come negotiate with my husband, lol.

Yeah, the one with the rams. The rotala mexicana looks like it is suffering from co2, by the way. Also, it looks really close to ludwigia var. cuba. Nice plant, regardless.

Speaking of co2, how is the burn on your leg? Hopefully it is all healed up now. roud:


----------



## Coral Keeper (Sep 14, 2007)

AzFishKid said:


> Oh haha. Yeah, it's definitely something to think about. A school of altums would be awesome.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


It all depends on what size you get your Discus. For you, IMO, it would be best to start out with 4"+ Discus.


Also, you can always set up an automatic water changing system. :red_mouth


----------



## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

> I've been extremely busy with school work. The teachers keep shoving work in our faces like there's no end.
> 
> But naw, i haven't quit the hobby- i would never! My tank has been a little abused the past month, but i did a giant water change and trim last night and it looks a ton better.


Same for us when it comes to work! =/ School doesnt end untill june 11th for us and we have to go for a week more for regents and local exams =/. I think you should go with an altum tank! That would be awsome


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

VadimShevchuk said:


> Same for us when it comes to work! =/ School doesnt end untill june 11th for us and we have to go for a week more for regents and local exams =/. I think you should go with an altum tank! That would be awsome


We're done in a few weeks. Why do you get out so late? When do you start? 

I'm just going to focus on getting the tank set up for now, then figure out the whole discus/altum thing haha. They're both beautiful species of fish.



> I've been around, just kind sporadic (is this a word?). My mom's been keeping me busy since I am unemployed at the moment. How did you manage to talk the parents into a 125? Can you come negotiate with my husband, lol.
> 
> Yeah, the one with the rams. The rotala mexicana looks like it is suffering from co2, by the way. Also, it looks really close to ludwigia var. cuba. Nice plant, regardless.
> 
> Speaking of co2, how is the burn on your leg? Hopefully it is all healed up now.


Good to see you again! 

Yeah i was wondering if the r. mexicana needed more co2 or something. Wish i had a co2 system... :angryfire

Burn is doing really good! I have a scar that's about 3"x3" that's very noticeable, but besides that, it healed well.



> Been doing a but load of reading/researching about Discus because I MIGHT MIGHT be able to get a 90 gallon tank!


Nice! That would be cool. roud:


----------



## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

> We're done in a few weeks. Why do you get out so late? When do you start?


 We start in september 7 i think. When do you start?


----------



## Digital (Apr 4, 2008)

AzKid! Make it a Altums Species Tank! 100%!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

VadimShevchuk said:


> We start in september 7 i think. When do you start?


End of August.



> AzKid! Make it a Altums Species Tank! 100%


Haha a lot of people like the altum idea.


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Maybe you can try talking them into the co2 again if you promise to leave it the trunk next time. At least you have a cool story to go with the scar. Most of mine are only from falling. :hihi:


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

sewingalot said:


> Maybe you can try talking them into the co2 again if you promise to leave it the trunk next time. At least you have a cool story to go with the scar. Most of mine are only from falling. :hihi:


I already tried.  They said i can't have one until i move out, LOL. So it'll be a few years i guess... :thumbsdow


----------



## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

> I already tried. They said i can't have one until i move out, LOL. So it'll be a few years i guess...


 My parents just let me have pressurized co2 like a week ago. Im got a 20 lb tank two days ago and im gonna get a regulator in a month! =D

Sucks about what happened! When i was driving home wuth the tank, i was sitting in the front seat with the tank between my legs and im remember what happened to you. That must have sucked.


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> I already tried.  They said i can't have one until i move out, LOL. So it'll be a few years i guess... :thumbsdow


Just keep wearing them down. :icon_mrgr That would get me one of two things growing up: a whipping or what I wanted. Funny thing is I remember a lot of whippings, lol.


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


> We're done in a few weeks. Why do you get out so late? When do you start?





AzFishKid said:


> End of August.


I start at the end of August as well and I get out on June 11


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

VadimShevchuk said:


> My parents just let me have pressurized co2 like a week ago. Im got a 20 lb tank two days ago and im gonna get a regulator in a month! =D
> 
> Sucks about what happened! When i was driving home wuth the tank, i was sitting in the front seat with the tank between my legs and im remember what happened to you. That must have sucked.


Lucky! And yes, it did suck lol. I was more disappointed then anything though. =/



> Just keep wearing them down. That would get me one of two things growing up: a whipping or what I wanted. Funny thing is I remember a lot of whippings, lol.


LOL that's horrible!  :hihi:



> I start at the end of August as well and I get out on June 11.


 Weird. You guys have very short summer vacations...



EDIT: Found this great deal on craigslist. I'm embarrassed to say that i still don't understand what the purpose is of a drilled aquarium. Can someone explain what it exactly means? Would this setup be ok for what i'm planning?
http://phoenix.craigslist.org/nph/for/1724074246.html


----------



## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

so you can hide filters and you can use it for a sump. Im not an expert in that area. You sure you want an acrylic tank? I have a 55 gallon and it has mo scratches but it looks like plastic IMO. My tank is also seaclear and my back panel bowed like 1/2 of an inch. tried putting on a hob filter and i could fit the filter because it bowed so much. im gonna switch to glass as soon as possible.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

VadimShevchuk said:


> so you can hide filters and you can use it for a sump. Im not an expert in that area. You sure you want an acrylic tank? I have a 55 gallon and it has mo scratches but it looks like plastic IMO. My tank is also seaclear and my back panel bowed like 1/2 of an inch. tried putting on a hob filter and i could fit the filter because it bowed so much. im gonna switch to glass as soon as possible.



Hmm.. i think i'm gonna go look at the tank sometime in-person if i can. From what you're saying, it doesn't sound worth it at all. But i've also heard a lot of great things about acrylic tanks.


----------



## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

depends on what your taste is. I like the old style of tanks with nice oak stands and canopy but now its the modern look of a rimless tank with a gray stand =/. i like both just that a traditional tank looks good as a furniture piece and a tank!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

VadimShevchuk said:


> depends on what your taste is. I like the old style of tanks with nice oak stands and canopy but now its the modern look of a rimless tank with a gray stand =/. i like both just that a traditional tank looks good as a furniture piece and a tank!


Yeah i'm hoping to make this new aquarium contemporary to match the style of my bedroom. I really like the ADA style black stands. I'd get a rimless tank, but they're kinda pricey. 

STILL trying to find a buyer for my tank... no luck yet. I'm asking $500 for tank, stand, both eheim pro 3e 2076 filters, substrate, and plants if they want them. Is this too much? I think $500 is a steal considering that those filters easily run $350 each new with media.


----------



## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

It sounds like a good eal. Maybe part out the filter and sell on SnS and then sell the tank and stand for 200 bucks on craigs/newspaper. Most people dont even know what a canister filter is.


----------



## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

How big of a rimless are you looking for if you could get one?

It's too bad you don't live in California or could come here. I know of a place selling their 75 gallon rimless tanks with stand for a total of $349.00. Tanks look pretty darn good too.


----------



## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

AZ, deliver me that tank to beautiful Illinois and ill pay you when you get here. What a steal. I agree tho, you'd have better luck on the SnS.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

VadimShevchuk said:


> It sounds like a good eal. Maybe part out the filter and sell on SnS and then sell the tank and stand for 200 bucks on craigs/newspaper. Most people dont even know what a canister filter is.


Good idea. I think that's actually what i'm going to do, once i find a buyer for the tank/stand... i bet there would be a lot of interest for the filters.



> How big of a rimless are you looking for if you could get one?
> 
> It's too bad you don't live in California or could come here. I know of a place selling their 75 gallon rimless tanks with stand for a total of $349.00. Tanks look pretty darn good too.


Well i'd like a 100-125 gallon, but i heard rimless tanks that big are pretty risky to have because the seams split easily. 

That's an amazing deal though! Maybe if i decide to get two 75 gallons or something, i'll convince my dad to drive me down there. 



> AZ, deliver me that tank to beautiful Illinois and ill pay you when you get here. What a steal. I agree tho, you'd have better luck on the SnS.


HAHA to be honest, i actually would drive to Illinois and deliver it to you if i had a drivers license (i get my permit in about 2 weeks, and my license in mid november).


----------



## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

Seems you have a green thumb! For I have read that using actinic bulbs cause algae problems.


----------



## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

> That's an amazing deal though! Maybe if i decide to get two 75 gallons or something, i'll convince my dad to drive me down there.


I went down to pick up a 37 gallon tank with stand and i made my dad drive 1.5 hour one way for the tank. He wasnt to happy!


----------



## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

VadimShevchuk said:


> I went down to pick up a 37 gallon tank with stand and i made my dad drive 1.5 hour one way for the tank. He wasnt to happy!


Wow!! Unbelievable!! I am lucky to get my mom to drive 30 min. to a pet store when I visit her.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Just ripped out all of the plants this afternoon, and i sold the cardinals and rummy nose tetras. The rest of the fish (except for the plecos, which i'm keeping) are pending pickup.

Hopefully i'll have a new aquarium in a few weeks!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

*If anyone lives in the Phoenix area, im letting the stand and tank go for only $200 OBO.

PM me if you're interested.*


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Found a buyer for the tank and stand... I advertised it on craigslist for $100 and got a few emails the next day. It's amazing how much the price of used aquariums has gone down in the past few years. I bought this setup, tank and stand only, for $350 about 3 years ago. Now i couldn't get more than $100 for it.

Oh well. I just want it gone!
He's picking it up this Saturday, so Wednesday afternoon i'm going to set up the little 10 gallon to keep the plecos and snails in while i set up the new tank. A journal should be started within the next week or two!

While i can afford more bags of aquasoil from ADA as a substrate for the new tank, i'd much rather go the cheaper route- Has anyone had any experience with *Soil Master Select *or *Turface*? $10 for a 50lb bag of substrate sounds like an amazing deal, and i've heard a lot of great things about it.

Also, i'm thinking about having a lot of wood in this tank. I've seen some tanks that have wood that come out of the top of the tank just barely, and sometimes they have moss growing on them or some immersed plant. Any suggestions? I've always wanted to try star moss, and from what i've read, it can live in many different environments. Any other types of plants that i could stick on the end of driftwood that would grow immersed? I was thinking kinda like this, but with more growth at the top:


----------



## xJaypex (Jul 4, 2009)

What a bummer, i stilll think you shouldve waited longer and not take any lower then 150. AT LEAST!

I used SMS and it worked great, the hard part was finding it. There is this other substrate im thinking of getting for my future tank thats is suppose to be almost the same as ADA for a good deal.

http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_viewi...campaign=mdcsegooglebase2&utm_content=AZ11026


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

xJaypex said:


> What a bummer, i stilll think you shouldve waited longer and not take any lower then 150. AT LEAST!
> 
> I used SMS and it worked great, the hard part was finding it. There is this other substrate im thinking of getting for my future tank thats is suppose to be almost the same as ADA for a good deal.
> 
> http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_viewi...campaign=mdcsegooglebase2&utm_content=AZ11026


Yeah i know, but i was getting impatient... LOL. Exams are almost over (last one tomorrow), and i really wanna get this new tank set up!

Where did you get the SMS around here? Any complaints about it? Should i use it?
$10 for 50lbs sounds like a much better deal then $27 for 12lbs. :biggrin:

ALSO- i'm not going to use pfertz or excel for this new tank, i'd much rather go the dry ferts route or something not as basic. What ferts do i exactly need?


----------



## xJaypex (Jul 4, 2009)

Yeah i know what you mean about being impatient. 

I got my sms from reybie that he had left over, i wouldnt know where to get it commercially 

I have no complaints besides the look, it did grew my plants. But i was also using root tabs. If you can find it and want to give it a try i say go ahead!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

xJaypex said:


> Yeah i know what you mean about being impatient.
> 
> I got my sms from reybie that he had left over, i wouldnt know where to get it commercially
> 
> I have no complaints besides the look, it did grew my plants. But i was also using root tabs. If you can find it and want to give it a try i say go ahead!


Looks is not a concern for me, since i plan on doing a _marsilea minuta_ carpet in front, and lots of plants in the back. Just looking for a substrate that works really well. 

And yeah i'm going to pick up some root tabs too, maybe some of those root medic ones? They looked promising. 

I think there's a lesco or john deer or some store down in tempe that sells it.


----------



## xJaypex (Jul 4, 2009)

Never tried the root medic, i used pfertz, local and got a discount at the meeting 

Have you given them a call yet?, when i did they had to ship it in from a store in texas. But then again that was almost like a year ago. They might have them in now. But definitely give them a call beforehand


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

xJaypex said:


> Never tried the root medic, i used pfertz, local and got a discount at the meeting
> 
> Have you given them a call yet?, when i did they had to ship it in from a store in texas. But then again that was almost like a year ago. They might have them in now. But definitely give them a call beforehand


Yeah i'll have to call the store up after the exam tomorrow. I sure hope they have it in stock, lol!

It seemed like all pfertz did was cause algae in my tank- i don't know why. I was dosing the amounts described in the instructions.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

*I NEED OPINIONS.*

Should i get this background? I really like how it looks, but i'm questioning how it would look in a planted tank. I would really like some sort of foam 3d background.

The problem is that he doesn't have the 72" version in stock, and won't for a long time. So he suggested that i get a 48" and a 24" and silicone them together, so it's not in the middle. It might work if done the right way (i think?).

(by the way, they're the same color. just looks different under the light)
http://www.aquariumhabitats.com/rainforest.html


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

No one wants to share their opinion? Alrighty, lol.

Anyway, a quick update. I just drained the whole tank and moved all the fish into a 10 gallon for the mean time. Selling all of the cories, otos, and rams; just keeping the plecos.


----------



## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

I think it would be awesome if you got that background. I can imagine some pretty cool stuff that you could do with it. You could probably do some really great fish/plant combinations with it. Would you ever consider getting any new really great cichlids or catfish or something like that?


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

That background looks really great...but it's super expensive!!! What do you do to earn $100/month?


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

hydrophyte said:


> I think it would be awesome if you got that background. I can imagine some pretty cool stuff that you could do with it. You could probably do some really great fish/plant combinations with it. Would you ever consider getting any new really great cichlids or catfish or something like that?



Well i'm definitely going to be getting a few _tatia perugiae_ when this new tank is all set up. Not really sure if that's what you mean though. :flick:

What types of cichlids/catfish were you thinking of?



> That background looks really great...but it's super expensive!!! What do you do to earn $100/month?


Yeah i know, it is a little pricey! But i think it would be worth it.

Just help out around the house a little.. but that's it. My parents decided to pitch in a little for this new tank, so maybe i'll be able to afford the $260 piece of foam . HAHA.



I CONVINCED THEM TO LET ME GET A 135 GALLON SETUP. I'm so excited! Here's the one i have my eyes on, i sent the guy an email:

http://phoenix.craigslist.org/cph/for/1761429121.html











I think it comes with a sump, and by that i'm assuming that it's drilled.. would this be a problem? I think it has an overflow too. I will not be getting pressurized co2.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

*Picture Update* May 26, 2010

Here's my pitiful 10 gallon setup for the fish... overkill filtration much?
















The aquarium is gone!









LOL i'm so amused by this.. i have no idea why.









I want to figure out a way to change the way the light hangs, so i can lift it up when i'm working in the tank. Any ideas?


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

AzFishKid said:


>


I like that huge...rolling chair


----------



## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

First off, congrats on the awesome pay from your parents 
Second off, congrats on getting approval for the awesome new aquarium.
Third off, thanks for linking me to that site. I really want one of those rock backgrounds for the new tank I'm setting up. Now I want to spend even more money before I even have it.


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

CL said:


> First off, congrats on the awesome pay from your parents
> Second off, congrats on getting approval for the awesome new aquarium.
> Third off, thanks for linking me to that site. I really want one of those rock backgrounds for the new tank I'm setting up. Now I want to spend even more money before I even have it.


Thanks!
What's your new tank going to be like? I'm really liking these backgrounds... but not the price! :frown:



> I like that huge...rolling chair


I like it too. ^_^


----------



## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

Cant wait for your new jouranl! I like the rolly chair too =D


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

VadimShevchuk said:


> Cant wait for your new jouranl! I like the rolly chair too =D


Aha thanks! :icon_mrgr


----------



## F22 (Sep 21, 2008)

i like your hanging lights over the carpet, awesome picture lol


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

F22 said:


> i like your hanging lights over the carpet, awesome picture lol


Thanks! :icon_mrgr


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Woot! We're picking up this tank tomorrow.

Yes, that DOES indeed say *150 gallons*!

Asking price was $425, and he accepted $350. Good deal imo.

Planning on painting the stand/canopy black, and maybe replacing the doors.

I'll have to save up a bit of money for the background, so the tank won't be filled for a few weeks.


----------



## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

Id try a minature pulley system for the lights. And congrats on the 150g!!! Cant wait to see it!


----------



## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

My dad and I picked the tank up this morning, and i just got done cleaning it. It's HUGE! 
I'm going to be staining the stand and canopy black to match the other furniture in my room, so it won't be set up for a week or two. I do plan on moving it all inside though before we stain it, just to see how it looks. 

Journal will be created soon!


----------



## Da Plant Man (Apr 7, 2010)

AzFishKid said:


> I named the blister after my english teacher, who i dislike greatly. ]


My dad is a english teacher.


----------

