# Sumer's Paradise city 60-P (Pic HEAVY)- Updated #July 5; Pg-6



## sumer (Feb 6, 2010)

FTS-


And 2 of my creations-


Hello friends,

It's been a long time (around 2 years) that I haven't made any planted tank. Was busy with life and bettas  Now when my life seems quite stable, touchwood, I'm looking forward to start a new project. I've been reading a lot on various forums. And so, I've made an outline of the project. Your comments, critiques are most welcome. Here it is-

1. The actual idea behind this tank is to make a colorful, very colorful underwater garden. something like Tom Barr has recently made. A mix of light green, dark green, yellowish green, red, orange, maroon, brown. I think these colors cover it all. LOL. Some plants I'm definitely gonna use are- UG, P. Helferi, Crypt Nurii, and Cuba.

Online vendors have awesome packing skills. See the packing material that clogged my room-










2. Tank - Volume constraint is 20G. Earlier I was thinking of getting a Mini-M, but then I got my eyes on 60-P. It's 18 G in capacity and the size is 24x12x14 (LBH). So the tank is an ADA 60-P. with a mat beneath.
ADA 60-P arrived. A whole tree was used to pack it and send it to me  



















3. Substrate would be power sand and new Amazonia with pferts root tabs. Working on a DIY substrate heater heater nowadays, let's see how it comes out.

4. Filter- I'll be using a 60-P tank which would be around 18 gallons. 
Eheim 2215 (165 GPH) would be a smart choice then.


5. Lighting- The shimmering effect of LED lighting is something I can die for. I’m so in love with them. Here's what I've made- An Idiot's Guide to Make LED Light Unit

6. CO2- 
And then the beast came. Thanks to Bettatail-









Packing was amazing-









Victor HPT 500 dual stage regulator with Parker Hanfinn H2A Needle Valve, Burkert 2822 Stainless steel solenoid and JBJ bubble counter-



























side view-




























I seriously cant get enough of this lovely piece of metal-


















on 5 lb aluminium tank-









Burkert 2822 close up-




















Wrench








This was my regulator. I really find it very hard to stop admiring it. 

7. Glassware- This tank is not just to fulfill my hobbyist's instincts,but also to add esthetic values. So the investment would be good. And you know, how much we hobbyists enjoy shopping glassware  

Drop Checker- I'm a fan of Cal Aqua Labs. And this DC was something to invest in. No need to keep checking the chart.









Pipes- Inlet outlets-









outlet Violet Glass VP-1 13D-


















Inlet Violet Glass VP-1 13D-









Thanks to Tara for this-









But for inlet, I also have another option-








Dont know what to use. Power heads are not readily available in LFS here. Maybe I can use both. Will order a small powerhead for this.

8. Tools- I already have a 14" straight and one 12" curved scissor from ebiken. 
EBiken curved spring scissors-


















Here's something I got from ebay-
The leather cover gives it an elegant look-









A pint to compare the size-









9. Hardscape- No stones. I want to use only woods. Tom helped me in this. 










10. Livestock- The most exciting part of the whole project 
I really want to keep Kryptopterus bicirrhis (or minor, whatever I can get), and some whiptail catfish and some bristlenose catfish(not the albino ones), and some amano shrimps. Lets see if I can find them. Their availability is still an issue.

11. Fertilizers-
pfertz fertz-









I'm not sure of using macro solution from pferts. So got CSM+B and chelated iron-









here's what gonna diffuse the CO2 in the tank. An Inline CO2 atomiser-










Got an awesome deal at a website and instead of an inline TDS meter, I got this TDS+Temperature meter-









Test Kits-









Here are the additives-









I really like this J shaped thermometer-









Got Power sand special- S, Amazonia new- Normal and Amazonia new- Powder to make the top layer-









ohh and thats me btw-










Here's some assorted stuff. Starting from left top - Clear CO2 tubing and washers (these are better than permaseals), Siphon gravel cleaner, cheap Walmart paint brush for scaping, glass cleaner, ADA Bio Rio, Pfertz root capsules (P. Helferii loves to munch on these. Feed for heavy root feeders like Crypt Nurii), fish net, 16/12 mm clear pipe for eheim 2215, a wrench for the Reg.










Here's a potential "tree" wood. I have this since a long time. The seller said its coffee wood. It took almost an year to take all the tannins out of this wood. Now it doesn't make the water brown and sinks readily. will use it in a nano project-










And here's the light hanging bracket. Initially I was worried that the weight of the lighting unit + this bracket might be risky for 60-P. But then I found a person on another forum using this same bracket with no problem. (Photo is from the where I bought this. Yet to photograph this unit as it arrived today )-









Looks like an ideal inventory. What say  



















Almost everything is ready to be used. 
Stay tuned for more updates. Internet here is 'super sonic'. So the updates would be frequent now.

And the scape is about to complete. Just your comments, critiques are needed.

Here's the tank with the Lights on. And this is my light at 0 Volts-


















And yeah, my water parameters came out to be- 
KH- 3dKH
GH- 4dKH
TDS- 62 ppm

So if by looking at the scape, any plants come to your mind that will look good in the scape, please mention them.

Video-
Youtube link is- HERE on Youtube

And the photobucket video is embedded here. Click on it and it'll open in a new tab-


The photos are-

1.









2.









3.









4.









5.










I hope you enjoyed reading the first post as much as I enjoyed writing it. Being a hobbyist you all can understand the level of excitement I'm in right now. Adrenaline levels are quite high. Would keep you all posted about every step.
I'm gonna edit this post everytime whenever I add something major. I think the new readers find it easier this way.

*Update Jan- 26- 2013*

Hi Folks,
With the commencement of the Spring session and first few assignments plus submissions I was very busy to do any updates  . Although, I did start planting a little earlier than this, but it has only been one week since I put in the last plant into the tank. The levels of ammonia are are still high, I have added 3 shots of BioDigest because I found Tateurndina Ocellicauda/Peacock Gudgeon Gobi and I couldn't resist myself from buying some of those. Currently adding Seachem Stability. Water is pretty good here, still, just to be on the safe side, I am also adding Seachem Prime. Doing tests regularly, 50% water changes every other day. Adding P, K, micros, ADA ECA, ADA Green Gain. I also noticed some algae spots today on the front glass.
Enough said, time for photos  










Power...









She likes helping around  









Now here's a twist. I wont post the final hardscape and FTS for a while. Just waiting for the plants to fill in and once the tank is good enough to show you all, I'll post a FTS. So here are the bits n' pieces of my tank-

Rotala Macandra "Japan Red" seems to love the light and hence showing the best of "Japan Red"









Microenthemum Umbrosum showing dense growth unlike when it arrived-









Fissidense Fontanus flirting with light and chuckling out a lot of O2-









Rotala Sunset is growing happy haphazard-









Polygonum kawagoeanum oozing out oxygen like there's no tomorrow-


















just another perspective of the above photo-









Frenzy over Manzy-









An interesting image which was not intended but happened. It's a snail gliding on water surface. Those colors are actually reflections of LEDs-









And here's a plant closest to my heart. It's my favorite plant even when I didnt have it. When I see it pearling, I feel it's not actually pearling but communicating with me saying- "I love being here. Thank you ". It's really overwhelming to see such a sight.









And here's something that came with the manzanita. It survived all the hot water baths that I gave to all the woods. And now it's flourishing in the tank. It looks like a small coral. It's very soft when touched. And it swings with the water currents. 










And finally here are the inhabitants- Tateurndina Ocellicauda/Peacock Gudgeon. They generally swim near the bottom of the tank. And they love going in and out of the Helferi's leaf loops. And they love eating Mysis shrimps and Mosquito Larvae. I've watched them closely enough in the last week to be able to write an essay on them :yes: 














































And here are all the ladies gathered up for a lil chit chat :winkiss: 









But then someone told me that what does people normally like to see in the updates.. FTS 
so, Now because he said so, here are the photos 











Violet-









An iphone pic-









Lobelia Cardinalis









Thanks for watching. Stay tuned for more from Superman. LOL


*Update Feb 17th- '13*

Just a small update about some shrimps and Eriocaulons. The Erios I got a month back have started flowering. Where one side it adds to the success of my tank but on the other side, it also is a potential harm to my Erios. If flowers wont be plucked, Erio may die. still talking to hobbyists about when to pluck the flowers. Will definitely update you all on this. 
The interesting part is- Once the flower is plucked, Erios will start to divide in 2 Erios. This is how they reproduce/ grow or whatever 
Here are the pics- 
The Bud









Every plant has 2 flowers









The Clan  -









Guess the plant-









And here are some "Blueberry Shrimps". Haha.. their name sounds fun. A friend had them. So traded them for some plants and moss. They look cool though-



























Gangnam Style 


















This one is the darkest of them. Close to black-









See the brown/maroon on them-









And this one is lightest of them-









And these unclaimed eggs.. Dont know who abandoned them. Currently there are only 3 fishes are their. L183, L184 and Peacock gudgeons. L series are so small to do this. This must be Peacock's.. -












*Updates March 10 '13*

Lot of things happened after the last update. 
My peacock gudgeons started breeding. So moved them to other tank. Then got some Pseudomugil signifer and they started jumping.dont know why...
Then finally got panda loaches and they are doing good in my tank.
Here are some photos -
Got this as Rotala sunset but people told me that it's Rotala colorata. Don't know what is this. Comments are welcome-









Dreaming Rotala









Tonina are flourishing  I'm happy









Never mind the algae though-









Ludwigia tornado. Such a wonderful plant-









And then I got a vintage vernier handle on eBay. The paper says its been made in 1983. It was in its original packing. New... Unused...









My regulator looks cool now 









Erio Cinereum is a new addition to my erio list.









Crypt Nurii doing great too









Signifer rainbows are so cool-



























And here are panda loach-


















The reason why they are called Panda-









Trimmings are getting done frequently now-









And my camera has a new place to be every time 









Feels so good when I enter my apartment 


















And here's my Viva la Vivaria









Enjoying moss like a boss 









Dendrobates Auratus "Nicaraguan green and black"









That's all for today. Will try to keep this thread updated.



*Update April 20*

P Signifer were chasing my otos and were bullying my shrimps. So decided to switch them with another wonderful specie from Borneo.
Guess..
You're right. Boraras brigittae.
I swear i never thought they would be this small. I mean even smaller than galaxy rasbora ??
But they are awesome. wow.. magnificent creature. 
Here are the photos.. enjoy..




Some of them look skinny right now but dont worry, they are enjoying mosquito larvae and BBS.-


And here's my "Panda Face"


Now lets talk plants. Scroll up and read the first (1.) point that I wrote. My tank is exactly like I wanted it to be. Full of colors. Every possible shade of green, with some pink, red, orange, brown.


Plants are doing great. The battle with spirogyra was a long one but I won it.
Here's Ammania sp bonsai -


Polygonum kawagoeanum -


"Excessive Pearling Disorder  "-




And this is my favorite shot of this photoshoot. Magic of prime. Should I call it "The Pearl Bokeh" !!


A long exposure one-


And here's my small 60-P filled with colors  It makes me happy. I enjoy it more than anything. What else can one ask for from a tank !!


*Updates May 4th*

Nothing much to update except some pictures. Tank is going good. Added some more plants.
Here are the photos-

Boraras brigittae-












And here's a photo showing how much weight they have put on since they came to me-


Two females "fishing" about their men 


Pseudomugil signifer male-


Pinnatifida showing the happiness-


After a very brutal and life threatening trim, Rotala sp mini butterfly is showing some new good growth-


A new addition to the tank- Ludwigia inclinata var. verticillata 'Pantanal' (formerly Ludwigia sp. 'Pantanal')


Polygonum kawagoeanum


Erio parkeri are doing great with me. Initially I got 5 of them and now i have maybe around 40+


See how one plant becomes 4-


I had to take them out of my tank and have planted them in a salad box. They are doing great there too.


Almost daily I pluck 3-4 flowers


After parkeri and cinereum, I recently got blood vomit and sieboldianum
from Chris (catfishbi). Thank you so much Chris.
The packing was amazing.


Erio sp sieboldianum-


Erio sp blood (vomit)


Whenever I put my hand in the tank, within a minute they come to greet 


here's a small wabi kusa I did some time back


And it feels so great to see this photo-


And here are my D auratus. 
Those sexy thighs 




That was all for today. Thanks for looking 

*Updates : May 25*
Its been almost 4 months since I have setup this tank. So far so good. I am really happy with this tank. It came out nice. My lights worked perfectly (experiment successful). I am trying a lot of new species that I never kep before. Everything is good. Spirogyra is the only problem that I have since 2 months. It spikes whenever a fish dies and go unnoticed. It has something to do with dieing fish. Maybe ammonia spike ? And later, a few regular water changes with excel dosing, and its gone !
With the commencement of summer break, I seriously dont have much to do so I end up changing the water everyday :hihi: Again all the tests and dosing stuff everyday. I like it.
So now to the photos.. I have added more species to the tank. It seems almost like a museum of plants 
Here are the photos-

True Rotala sp sunset. Thanks to Tom 


Tonina fluvatilis 'lotus bloom' 


Lotus bloomimg-


Polygonum kawagoeanum. This plant has a very bad habit of losing lower leaves. But still I love this plant.


This plant has some mental sickness. LOL. Never grows straight. Rotala mini butterfly


Syngonanthus belem. This plant is growing amazing for me. i love it. Makes me feel proud :biggrin:


Birds eye view-


Its all about texture baby :icon_wink


Towards the end of the photoperiod -


Normal rotala and type 2-

Desparately looking for rotala type 1.

Wanted himself to check CO2 levels :hihi:


He inspects everything- On Erio seiboldianum


Erio erios everywhere :biggrin:


finally got some A. R. mini


Now some updates on the inhibitants -
Boraras brigittae are loving their stay in my tank. They are showing more darker color. 


Rachel has sent some wonderful Clown killies. Epiplatys annulatus






Males have some amazing colors on their tail. And they flare to the other male.


Top view-


And just after 2 days of putting them in the tank, the female is blessed with fries. I could spot only one as the tank is simply a jungle of moss and floating plants. I hope there are many more inside

* a bloodworm for size comparison. 


Got some wild tiger shrimps too 




Hypoptopoma gulare aka Giant otocinclus. Right now they are in my hospital tank. They are quite big. I am still not able to decide if they would be a good addition to my tank or not ! But anyways, they are so cool. The love eating hikari alage disks.




Got some amazing Endlers and guppies from a very reputed breeder. He calls these "Japan Hybrid"-




With Ludwigia senegalensis


And some endlers-















And a FTS at last 



And 2 of my creations-




And here's a new kinda cool shot. I like it -


Thanks.

*Update June 7th*

Hello folks,

Time for a small update with a few pictures.
Tank is doing great. Fought a small war with spirogyra again. Its under control now. Plants are still recovering from the brutal trim that they got a week ago. 
In my last consignment from Rachel I got some Dario hysginon. Wonderful fish with a hell lot of attitude. They took their time to settle down but now they are fine. Doing good. They weren't eating anything initially. So I went ahead with adult brine shrimps. It really helped them making themselves comfortable in my tank. My strategy is first to make them comfortable with live food and then slowly switch to frozen food. 
Here are the photos - 

When I first got Dario hysginon. Oh yeah that's Syngonanthus sp 'Madeira'. Thanks to Joraan-


















And once they settled down, their true color came out-


Show aggression mixed attitude if other male comes into one's territory-




They were really in wonderful shape. Rachel always has quality fish to offer-




Constantly looking for food and girls. haha-


Even Eriocaulon flower looks suspicious-


All pumped up in front of their girlfriends-


Here's photo of an Endler that I forgot to share in last update. Wonderful colors they have-


I took some more shots of Hypoptopoma gulare. I have written a small blog post about their eating habits - Here's the LINK







Rotala sunset has settled down too. It doesn't like a lot of Nitrates. It immediately response with new green growth.


Same goes for Ammania sp.bonsai. If someday I dose nitrates a bit more, the very next day it's tips will become green. 


And one of my favorite plants.. Tonina fluvalitis 'lotus bloom'-


And now some mobile uploads. Photos that I took from my Iphone-

Alternanthera Reineckii 'Mini' makes a wonderful contrast spot in the foreground-


Polygonum kawagoeanum grows so fast. But I hate its habit of loosing its lower leaves-


Oh yeah.. I also have narrow leaf Java fern in my tank. haha..
New Life-


Syngonanthus belem-


Thanks to Sean for this big clump of Staurogyme sp purple-


Recently I saw Aponogeton madagascariensis at LFS. Somewhere deep down there was a desire to try out this plant. So I bought it. I know.. I know.. It grows big and will cover my small tank in no time. i know.. But I cant help my heart. Somethings arent suppose to be given a second thought. It was one of those things - 


These leaves melted away in just one night haha.. And then 2 days later, I saw a pink, very delicate laced leaf coming out of the bulb-


And last but not the least.. My auratus. They are growing with a fast pace. I still cant figure out their sex. haha..


Some videos that I took from my phone - 

Greedy Boraras brigittae-





My tank - 





A koi pond at a LFS here - 





Crazy co2 bubble. Hahaha...





Thats it for today.. I hope you guys have enjoyed this update. Stay tuned for more fun.


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## sumer (Feb 6, 2010)

*Paradise city - Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty*

*Update July 5th 2013*

Hello friends,
Its been almost 6 months that my tank is running successfully 
I have learnt a LOT from this tank. It is more like a learning step before making my dream Dutch tank. Since practical knowledge is far more important than theoretical (that too is necessary) this tank was really necessary for me to make.
I got my first flash unit some time back. I no longer hold a lamp with one hand and take pictures with other. LOL. It made taking photos so so easy. I can keep ISO to 100 which leads to great detailing. 
Finally I got most of the eriocaulons that I wanted including sp. Thailand. Still searching eagerly for Erio amanoanum. 

*
I know you guys are not going to read whatever I wrote above and will jump directly to pics. Haha.. Thats totally cool. Everything is in photos 
One important thing that I want to share - Please dont copy the photos from here. Recently one sponsor of TPT used my picture without even mentioning the link or my name. Thats something I really dont like. If its for personnel or educational reason (posting my pictures on FB page being a seller of planted stuff is not educating), just write it in a comment and I'll gladly let you use it. I also put my photos on 500px which gives me their copyright. You dont wanna go in that copyright mess. So please dont copy photos without asking.
*

Plants- 

Aciotis acuminifolia; A wonderful and beautiful stem plant. Grows straight with a lot of side stems. Pinkish reddish top leaves look so beautiful. A slow grower


















Nesaea crassicaulis- Another slow growing stem plant.









Difference between Syngonanthus sp 'Belem' and Syngonanthus sp 'Madeira'









One more. Belem on left and Madeira on right-









Syngonanthus sp 'Madeira'









Just a handful of Syngonanthus belem. Haha.. When I trimmed it last week- 









I totally forgot the name of this plant. Any leads on it's ID ?









Rotala sunset and Rotala macandra magenta. (I maybe messing up the name). But it's stems are too soft to be Ludwigia arcuta. 









Hygrophila sp 'Thai' or Hygrophila sp 'Brown'. And believe me it really looks brown.









Here's another marvelous plant. Tonina fluviatilis "Lotus Blossom"-









And it does look like lotus if seen from top-



























After a trimming, every stem is shotting 3 side shoots. I trimmed 2 of those 3 so the plant can use its all energy to grow the single stem. Replanted the other short stems-









A bad pic of 2 side stems shooting from the main stem-









Recently got 3 riparium planter from Devin. 3 plants that I'm using are- 
Asclepias, Hibiscus and Mangrove plant. They grow so so fast. But due to some reason the new growth in hibiscus is not so red. Maybe I need to put some root tabs in the planters.










Cryptocoryne affinis 'metallic red'. It was sunrise time and the lights were looking pink in Iphone.









Cryptocoryne bullosa 'Maradong'. Bullation is so so prominent on this one. Even more than hudoroi. Totally loved it-


















Dont think that I'm exaggerating but Ammania sp bonsai is a weed. Every 10 - 12 days I take this much out. I started with 5 stems that Joraan sent me. Pardon the funny collage-









UG is doing great in my salad box emmersed setup. Once it'll be enough to fill 5x5" area, I'll take out staurogyne and put this in my tank.









Initially, this much of UG I got-









Gratiola brevifolia. All I could get was this single stem. But its growing fine.


















Ludwigia sphaerocarpa. I know it doesnt look like google images or what Tom has, at all. And it is because it was grown emmersed. I just hope it becomes brown soon-









Something was happening to my Alternantheras. The leaves were having pin holes and then they will become like a net. Potassium was the problem. I was dosing it just the half what I should. Increased K and it took care of Ocipus and mini both.









My erio clan before the new additions- (Can we please consider Trithuria Sp. as erio Blood vomit!! Just coz it looks so similar)









Updated family -









What did I add ?

Erio sp. 'Ban ba wa'


















Erio sp 'Thailand'. Much darker in color









A baby cinereum. Sean gifted me this one.









Erio sp 'Japan shiga'









Erio Aussie 2









Not much of documentation is available about these different species as they are still waiting to be given proper names. Sometimes their appearance tells the difference between the species and sometimes you just have to trust the seller and wait for them to grow and show the difference. 
And just for this reason, I bought these plant labels. I know this sounds quite silly but its the only way to keep a track about what's what.









Wrote all the names. Even the ones that I know of. Haha-









In the tank they went. Just imagine my desperateness- I made a marker for Amanoanum too. There was a time when it was a very normal thing. Just in this january it was available. I know there are people out there with this plant. Please.. just one small baby is all I want..









My sieboldianum was getting too big. Look at that root system.


















I had to divide it to make room for new erios. I was very nervous while doing it. I bought a new knife to split it. LOL. 








It went well and both the parts have started growing again.

One more funny collage. It was some random collage making app on my phone that I used. In the center its sp 'Thailand'.









Another great BG plant is Staurogyne sp 'Bihar'. 'Bihar' is a state in India. One of my friend in India is searching for this plant in Bihar state since last 3-4 years. But he just couldnt find. It has become extinct from the Bihar state  
Hygrophila pinnatifida which is also native to India has somehow managed to survive in wild. 









Higrophila pinnatifida in it's natural habitat-
Photos are property of Akshay Khare.









In baby form. Haha









The stream where its found-


















Crypt cordata in its natural habitat. Pure laterite makes the substrate-


















See the veins here-









Emmersed-









Blyxa aubertii in the river-









Check this for the complete expedition journal

Another very very rare specie that I recently got- Caloglossa cf. beccarii









After all of these plant photos, you want to see a FTS right ?
Not a great one. Plants are still recovering from last week's trim.









*Lets talk fish now-*

A few updated shots of Boraras brigittae. Just to show how fat they have become-
Look at this fat lady right after the dinner. Nowadays they have learned to gobble down small pieces of bloodworms or brine shrimps.


















Aciotis acuminifolia in BG









It feels weird to see a deserted tank right after the trim-









Endlers are making rabbits go shy. Breeding like anything..









Males are getting more colorful-









Since my summer vacations are going on, I'm feeding them 3 times a day. LOL. Early morning - bloodworms, noon - mysis shrimps, evening- brine shrimps soaked in garlic. Thinking of adding blackworms to their diet soon. Costly they are.. White worm culture is about to get ready.









The same feeding regime goes for Epiplatys also. They bred once and then stopped. Maybe these guppies are eating up their eggs. I badly need more tanks :icon_sad:

Epiplatys annulatus male









Epiplatys annulatus female









Male-


















In this photo, I missed the focus from it's eyes. But still I like this shot. You can feel it's motion-









2 males flaring at each other-









Tiger shrimps. They eat anything but shrimp food. Goodness.. they are true wild ones. They eat bloodworms, they eat brine shrimps, they also eat micro pellets but wont touch shrimp food. Since calcium is really important for them, I drop some boiled spinach time to time in the tank. They sometimes eat it.




























Hypoptopoma gulare. Oh boy.. this fish has made me so interested in catfishes now.
This photo is the best that I took of them. I was waiting for it to sit on this branch since a week. 2 days ago I woke up at 3 in the night to drink water and saw it sitting there. Immediately took out the camera and clicked this shot-


















Chewing on cholla wood









A few days back I saw a guy selling bettas on FB. I contacted him and he sent me 2 males and a female. Conditioning them right now. Will start the breeding process next week.
Here are a few pics-














































With black background-



























The second male-









And now my most favorite photos. I can say this photo is the best photo I've taken till date. 
Dario hysginon males-









I think those small co2 bubbles are making it more dramatic. What do you think ?









Over the sieboldianum-


















Here's a 5.5G Vivarium that I made recently but had to sell coz of some random rule which says "Only 3 glass tanks in an apartment".









The inhabitants- Geosesema sp.-


















Many people ask what lens do I use!! I use my 18-55 kit lens with macro filters on it. They are available on ebay for like $10. 
This is what I have-









A gag that I made last year. LOL









Videos-

Just to show how much surface movement I have to keep the biofilm off the surface-





A bit of Darios bullying amano, a bit of Madagascar lace, a bit of everything-





Feeding time for my fishes-





Huff... Took me 2 hours to write this update. I hope you guys would enjoy it. Let me know what you liked what you didnt like. 

Thanks,
Sumer.


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## sumer (Feb 6, 2010)

*Update: Dec 27, 2013*

Hello friends,

I am sorry for the delay in updates.
Life got too too busy and I didnt havetime to do anything on the fishy side to tell you the truth.
A lot has happened in these days.
I dismantled my tank. Yup! You read it right. I did it.

But before that, my tank got published in Amazonas magazine 

So right now, the tank is empty. I am making a tanganyikan biotope in it. I will be keeping True Altolamprologus compressiceps "Sumbu Dwarfs" in it. They will arrive on Tuesday. Anyway, that would make another good thread.
Here are a few final pictures of this thread 
I hope you all liked the tank and pictures. This tank taught me a lot and a lot. As soon as I will get some time, I will make another good looking tank 

Here's a pic of the magazine- 

IMG_4562 by sumertiwari, on Flickr


*Update: May 25- 2014*

Its been 4 months that I have started a tanganyikan setup in this tank.









Fishes are doing great and recently have bred.
Here are a few videos of the tank:


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

Wow lots of stuff. Looking foward to seeing it planted.


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## sumer (Feb 6, 2010)

Thank you


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## ChadRamsey (Nov 3, 2011)

Impressive!!!

how about a full tank front shot?


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## golfer_d (Oct 3, 2012)

Wow nice setup.

That couldn't have been cheap!


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## sumer (Feb 6, 2010)

ChadRamsey said:


> Impressive!!!
> 
> how about a full tank front shot?


Like I said above, I'll post the FTS once the plants fill in and tank is presentable. A few weeks more.



golfer_d said:


> Wow nice setup.
> 
> That couldn't have been cheap!


Thanks. Yeah, that wasn't cheap. And now my wallet is light that I can't even feel it


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## kwheeler91 (May 26, 2009)

Most of the fun for the viewers is to follow the progress of the tank, opposed to simply viewing the end product. Its hard to comment on the bits and pieces that have been posted since you cant see the whole picture of whats going on. Most of us who have been planting it up for a few years can visualize what the tank will look like when filled in, so have no worries about photos of freshly planted tanks and let the fts roll. Just something to keep in mind.


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## GMYukonon24s (May 3, 2009)

Beautiful shots! I love the PGs!


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## keithy (Jun 8, 2010)

wow sumer, you're very well equipped and nice work btw. The fish looks lovely.


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## sumer (Feb 6, 2010)

kwheeler91 said:


> Most of the fun for the viewers is to follow the progress of the tank, opposed to simply viewing the end product. Its hard to comment on the bits and pieces that have been posted since you cant see the whole picture of whats going on. Most of us who have been planting it up for a few years can visualize what the tank will look like when filled in, so have no worries about photos of freshly planted tanks and let the fts roll. Just something to keep in mind.


Before I read your comment I hadn't thought about this. Thanks for making me realize what people expect to see in the updates.


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## Sajacobs (Aug 24, 2012)

Wow...very sweet set up. I enjoyed seeing all the bits and pieces. It's great to see everything that goes into a tank set up. Keep us posted.


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## Green_Flash (Apr 15, 2012)

wow this looks fantastic, all your planning really paid off! 

I like your hard scape, great arrangement.


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## sumer (Feb 6, 2010)

Sajacobs said:


> Wow...very sweet set up. I enjoyed seeing all the bits and pieces. It's great to see everything that goes into a tank set up. Keep us posted.


Thanks for liking it. Will keep you all posted 



Green_Flash said:


> wow this looks fantastic, all your planning really paid off!
> 
> I like your hard scape, great arrangement.


The hardscape was finalized by my girlfriend


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## LyzzaRyzz (Nov 6, 2012)

Wow, what an awesome haul! Lucky you get to buy it all first, instead of stumbling around after figuring out you did everything wrong! Lol
Nice hardscape, and love the FTS!! Can't wait for it to grow in! =]


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## diamondd7711 (Jan 5, 2013)

Very nice...I like it a lot


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## Ach1Ll3sH33L (Mar 1, 2012)

Why not hook up the surface extractor to your eheim. will get that big bulky powerhead out of the tank.


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## kwheeler91 (May 26, 2009)

a better question is why use it at all?


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## sumer (Feb 6, 2010)

*Update Feb 17th- '13*

Just a small update about some shrimps and Eriocaulons. The Erios I got a month back have started flowering. Where one side it adds to the success of my tank but on the other side, it also is a potential harm to my Erios. If flowers wont be plucked, Erio may die. still talking to hobbyists about when to pluck the flowers. Will definitely update you all on this. 
The interesting part is- Once the flower is plucked, Erios will start to divide in 2 Erios. This is how they reproduce/ grow or whatever 
Here are the pics- 
The Bud









Every plant has 2 flowers









The Clan  -









Guess the plant-









And here are some "Blueberry Shrimps". Haha.. their name sounds fun. A friend had them. So traded them for some plants and moss. They look cool though-



























Gangnam Style 


















This one is the darkest of them. Close to black-









See the brown/maroon on them-









And this one is lightest of them-









And these unclaimed eggs.. Dont know who abandoned them. Currently there are only 3 fishes are their. L183, L184 and Peacock gudgeons. L series are so small to do this. This must be Peacock's.. -


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## Green_Flash (Apr 15, 2012)

Beautiful erios! I think I spot hygrophila pinnatifida, a stunning plant, where did you find that at? 

What camera are you using? The photos are great.


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## fishboy199413 (Jan 20, 2010)

Those are snail eggs, probably pond snails. I really like you tank. Do you plan on adding any more fish?


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## sumer (Feb 6, 2010)

Ach1Ll3sH33L said:


> Why not hook up the surface extractor to your eheim. will get that big bulky powerhead out of the tank.


That's sounds like a good idea. Will try that.



kwheeler91 said:


> a better question is why use it at all?


Surface skimmer helps a lot in gas exchange. Even after a month, if I don't switch on skimmer, in just one day I can see a thick layer of oil. 



Green_Flash said:


> Beautiful erios! I think I spot hygrophila pinnatifida, a stunning plant, where did you find that at?
> 
> What camera are you using? The photos are great.


Yeah there's a pinnatifida too. I got a leaf of it in a Christmas moss clump that someone sent me. I just planted it without giving much of a thought. And in a month it has grown this much. Back in India, we have acres of land covered with pinnatifida. I'll upload some photos soon.

And I use a Canon 1000D. I don't know what you call it here on the states. I think it's The most basic Rebel. It was the cheapest dslr that time. I like to invest in lenses. But now my camera has lived his life. It's been 3-4 years. I'm saving up to buy a 5D Mark 2. Hopefully I'd buy it in April.



fishboy199413 said:


> Those are snail eggs, probably pond snails. I really like you tank. Do you plan on adding any more fish?


Ohh. So they are pond snail's eggs. Don't know why but I don't mind snails in my tank. 
I have already got the fishes. They are in a quarantine tank. Peacock gudgeons will go in a friend's tank. So the fish I've selected for this tank is- Pseudomogil signifer aka Signifer Rainbow. 8 males and 4 females. I hope they would like my tank. It's like inviting someone to live in a house that you made. Hehe...


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## JoraaÑ (Jun 29, 2009)

I see algae all over Erios...Howz that?


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## sumer (Feb 6, 2010)

Oh yeah. There was a lot of thread algae. I think it loves the plant with thin needle-y leaves. Erios, Blyxa, tonina. But spot treatment with excel and H2O2 for 3-4 days with 50% WC every day made the algae go away.
But still my Christmas moss has a lot of it. I'm gonna take that moss out and use it in my Viv.
Erios are doing amazingly well. Even the tonina. All 6 parkeri produced 2 flower each. I plucked all the flower except one. I just wanna see what happens. That flower thing is just getting long and long every day. As of today its maybe 4-5" long. 
But one thing I'm not getting is- Why Pogostemon Helferi isnt doing good in my tank ? I mean the growth is stunned. They are not dieing but not even growing. 3-4 small leaves look like malnutrition-ed. LOL. My parameters are quite good-
pH : 6.2
TDS : 65-75ppm
Temp : Normally lies between 21- 23 D Celsius
KH : 3dKH
GH : 4 dKH
Ammonia, Nitrite - 0 ppm
Nitrates : 10-20 ppm
Substrate : Power Sand + Amazonia New + Pfertz Root tabs
Light : Around 80-90 PAR with Sunrise and Sunset effect
Photo period : 7 hours as of now
CO2 : 3-4 BPS for 20 hours a day. 4 hours for Air pump at night.
Filter : Eheim 2215 running 24x7 + a surface skimmer with a powerhead running 24x7
Ferts : ECA + Green gain + N, P, K, Micros from Pfertz. + Chelated Iron when leaves seem to lose red.
DOnt know.. I think I'm more interested in Erios now. i have started liking them. Maybe Aussie or Japan would be the next in my list


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## JoraaÑ (Jun 29, 2009)

sumer said:


> But one thing I'm not getting is- Why Pogostemon Helferi isnt doing good in my tank ? I mean the growth is stunned. They are not dieing but not even growing. 3-4 small leaves look like malnutrition-ed. )


This is why?


sumer said:


> But spot treatment with excel and H2O2 for 3-4 days with 50% WC every day made the algae go away.


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## sumer (Feb 6, 2010)

*Updates March 10 '13*

Lot of things happened after the last update. 
My peacock gudgeons started breeding. So moved them to other tank. Then got some Pseudomugil signifer and they started jumping.dont know why...
Then finally got panda loaches and they are doing good in my tank.
Here are some photos -
Got this as Rotala sunset but people told me that it's Rotala colorata. Don't know what is this. Comments are welcome-









Dreaming Rotala









Tonina are flourishing  I'm happy









Never mind the algae though-









Ludwigia tornado. Such a wonderful plant-









And then I got a vintage vernier handle on eBay. The paper says its been made in 1983. It was in its original packing. New... Unused...









My regulator looks cool now 









Erio Cinereum is a new addition to my erio list.









Crypt Nurii doing great too









Signifer rainbows are so cool-



























And here are panda loach-


















The reason why they are called Panda-









Trimmings are getting done frequently now-









And my camera has a new place to be every time 









Feels so good when I enter my apartment 


















And here's my Viva la Vivaria









Enjoying moss like a boss 









Dendrobates Auratus "Nicaraguan green and black"









That's all for today. Will try to keep this thread updated.


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## Green_Flash (Apr 15, 2012)

Super awesome! Those panda loaches are amazing! The erio garden is nice, I see they have white areas on the base and leaves, is that normal? I remember I had a Erios pakeri and it turned white on the leaves when the lights came on, I always thought it was dying, but was never really sure.


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## nikonD70s (Apr 6, 2008)

very nice plant list. the panda loaches are nice when they are juvies. but they are pretty ugly when they get into adult stage. wish they would maintain that juvie pattern to adult.


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## sumer (Feb 6, 2010)

Green_Flash said:


> Super awesome! Those panda loaches are amazing! The erio garden is nice, I see they have white areas on the base and leaves, is that normal? I remember I had a Erios pakeri and it turned white on the leaves when the lights came on, I always thought it was dying, but was never really sure.


Same happened with me. And you won't believe what I did. I trout it's getting white due to low kH and I added baking soda to increase the kH. Haha.. Then I asked a few experts and they said its completely normal and healthy. The new growth is whitish.


nikonD70s said:


> very nice plant list. the panda loaches are nice when they are juvies. but they are pretty ugly when they get into adult stage. wish they would maintain that juvie pattern to adult.


Yeah when I was reading on them, I heard the same thing. But it will take at least 1 year or so.. Will move them somewhere else. 

Glad that you all liked my tank


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

These tanks are looking great. Seems like there are a few names for rotalas that are the same plant! Hard to say. I have the one they call H’ra I find a lot of the color depends on the light .


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## sumer (Feb 6, 2010)

*Update April 20*

P Signifer were chasing my otos and were bullying my shrimps. So decided to switch them with another wonderful specie from Borneo.
Guess..
You're right. Boraras brigittae.
I swear i never thought they would be this small. I mean even smaller than galaxy rasbora ??
But they are awesome. wow.. magnificent creature. 
Here are the photos.. enjoy..




Some of them look skinny right now but dont worry, they are enjoying mosquito larvae and BBS.-


And here's my "Panda Face"


Now lets talk plants. Scroll up and read the first (1.) point that I wrote. My tank is exactly like I wanted it to be. Full of colors. Every possible shade of green, with some pink, red, orange, brown.


Plants are doing great. The battle with spirogyra was a long one but I won it.
Here's Ammania sp bonsai -


Polygonum kawagoeanum -


"Excessive Pearling Disorder  "-




And this is my favorite shot of this photoshoot. Magic of prime. Should I call it "The Pearl Bokeh" !!


A long exposure one-


And here's my small 60-P filled with colors  It makes me happy. I enjoy it more than anything. What else can one ask for from a tank !!


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## Green_Flash (Apr 15, 2012)

Beautiful shots. No FTS?


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## MrAlmostWrong (Jul 16, 2012)

What a beautiful tank. You did a great job integrating the different colors and like you I'm in the planning stages of doing something similar to Tom Barr. I know it won't be easy having so many different plants achieve the maximum efficiency, but the learning experience alone will make it worth it.

I was a bit worried about your light for a bit. I just kept picturing it cracking the beautiful aquarium, but it seems to be holding up.


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## Mumford (Nov 12, 2012)

*Sumer's Super Tree Root Scaped 60-P (Pic HEAVY)- Updated #April 19; Pg-3*

Very nice! 

Subscribed  post updates often!


- Mumford


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## sumer (Feb 6, 2010)

Green_Flash said:


> Beautiful shots. No FTS?


In a week 




MrAlmostWrong said:


> What a beautiful tank. You did a great job integrating the different colors and like you I'm in the planning stages of doing something similar to Tom Barr. I know it won't be easy having so many different plants achieve the maximum efficiency, but the learning experience alone will make it worth it.
> 
> I was a bit worried about your light for a bit. I just kept picturing it cracking the beautiful aquarium, but it seems to be holding up.


Thank you  Glad you liked it. 
Yeah I aggree! Its not easy to keep all the plants in great condition. I'm taking it more as a preparatory step before making my dream tank. 
And yeah I did do all the research that how much weight my tank can take before putting the light up so I was pretty sure. 



Mumford said:


> Very nice!
> 
> Subscribed  post updates often!
> 
> ...


Thanks. Will definitely try


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## Chaoslord (Feb 12, 2011)

Really nice sumer. 
The Panda loaches are a great looking fish. 
Did you successfully breed the Peacocks?


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## sumer (Feb 6, 2010)

Thanks 
Peacocks are laying eggs every two weeks but I'm not getting time to keep up the water changes. They get fungus every time. They are very nice fish to keep 



Chaoslord said:


> Really nice sumer.
> The Panda loaches are a great looking fish.
> Did you successfully breed the Peacocks?


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

Seems very interesting. Wish you would post front view of the tank. I can't see much with the pic of the tank at an angle.


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## sumer (Feb 6, 2010)

*Updates May 4th*

Nothing much to update except some pictures. Tank is going good. Added some more plants.
Here are the photos-

Boraras brigittae-












And here's a photo showing how much weight they have put on since they came to me-


Two females "fishing" about their men 


Pseudomugil signifer male-


Pinnatifida showing the happiness-


After a very brutal and life threatening trim, Rotala sp mini butterfly is showing some new good growth-


A new addition to the tank- Ludwigia inclinata var. verticillata 'Pantanal' (formerly Ludwigia sp. 'Pantanal')


Polygonum kawagoeanum


Erio parkeri are doing great with me. Initially I got 5 of them and now i have maybe around 40+


See how one plant becomes 4-


I had to take them out of my tank and have planted them in a salad box. They are doing great there too.


Almost daily I pluck 3-4 flowers


After parkeri and cinereum, I recently got blood vomit and sieboldianum
from Chris (catfishbi). Thank you so much Chris.
The packing was amazing.


Erio sp sieboldianum-


Erio sp blood (vomit)


Whenever I put my hand in the tank, within a minute they come to greet 


here's a small wabi kusa I did some time back


And it feels so great to see this photo-


And here are my D auratus. 
Those sexy thighs 




That was all for today. Thanks for looking


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## vbaykut (Apr 12, 2013)

Amazing.....


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## Green_Flash (Apr 15, 2012)

Sweet new shots. 

Also cool PDF's.


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## sumer (Feb 6, 2010)

vbaykut said:


> Amazing.....





Green_Flash said:


> Sweet new shots.
> 
> Also cool PDF's.


Thank you


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## assasin6547 (Feb 6, 2013)

Subscribed. This is a awesome thread, and those pix are gorgeous!!!


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## sumer (Feb 6, 2010)

assasin6547 said:


> Subscribed. This is a awesome thread, and those pix are gorgeous!!!


Thank you


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## Mumford (Nov 12, 2012)

*Sumer's Super Tree Root Scaped 60-P (Pic HEAVY)- Updated #May 4; Pg-3*

Awesome! Is that H. Pinna getting to tall for the tank?


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## howgeneric (Apr 11, 2013)

TY for making it so easy to follow updates, the tank is amazing! Love the frog


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## sumer (Feb 6, 2010)

A small trailer of what's coming next in a week or so- 

Youtube link


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## sumer (Feb 6, 2010)

Mumford said:


> Awesome! Is that H. Pinna getting to tall for the tank?


Sorry I missed your comment. Which photo are you talking about ?
BTW yeah, H pinnatifida grows like a weed. Its too tough to keep him under control.


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## sumer (Feb 6, 2010)

*Updates : May 25*

*Updates : May 25*
Its been almost 4 months since I have setup this tank. So far so good. I am really happy with this tank. It came out nice. My lights worked perfectly (experiment successful). I am trying a lot of new species that I never kep before. Everything is good. Spirogyra is the only problem that I have since 2 months. It spikes whenever a fish dies and go unnoticed. It has something to do with dieing fish. Maybe ammonia spike ? And later, a few regular water changes with excel dosing, and its gone !
With the commencement of summer break, I seriously dont have much to do so I end up changing the water everyday :hihi: Again all the tests and dosing stuff everyday. I like it.
So now to the photos.. I have added more species to the tank. It seems almost like a museum of plants 
Here are the photos-

True Rotala sp sunset. Thanks to Tom 


Tonina fluvatilis 'lotus bloom' 


Lotus bloomimg-


Polygonum kawagoeanum. This plant has a very bad habit of losing lower leaves. But still I love this plant.


This plant has some mental sickness. LOL. Never grows straight. Rotala mini butterfly


Syngonanthus belem. This plant is growing amazing for me. i love it. Makes me feel proud :biggrin:


Birds eye view-


Its all about texture baby :icon_wink


Towards the end of the photoperiod -


Normal rotala and type 2-

Desparately looking for rotala type 1.

Wanted himself to check CO2 levels :hihi:


He inspects everything- On Erio seiboldianum


Erio erios everywhere :biggrin:


finally got some A. R. mini


Now some updates on the inhibitants -
Boraras brigittae are loving their stay in my tank. They are showing more darker color. 


Rachel has sent some wonderful Clown killies. Epiplatys annulatus






Males have some amazing colors on their tail. And they flare to the other male.


Top view-


And just after 2 days of putting them in the tank, the female is blessed with fries. I could spot only one as the tank is simply a jungle of moss and floating plants. I hope there are many more inside

* a bloodworm for size comparison. 


Got some wild tiger shrimps too 




Hypoptopoma gulare aka Giant otocinclus. Right now they are in my hospital tank. They are quite big. I am still not able to decide if they would be a good addition to my tank or not ! But anyways, they are so cool. The love eating hikari alage disks.




Got some amazing Endlers and guppies from a very reputed breeder. He calls these "Japan Hybrid"-




With Ludwigia senegalensis


And some endlers-















And a FTS at last 



And 2 of my creations-




And here's a new kinda cool shot. I like it -


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## Green_Flash (Apr 15, 2012)

Everything looks fantastic. Nice new additions.


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## sumer (Feb 6, 2010)

Thanks 



Green_Flash said:


> Everything looks fantastic. Nice new additions.


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## sjb1987 (Feb 23, 2012)

Fantastic pics... how many more plant species can you fit in there lol...


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## Ziggi (Jan 12, 2013)

Gorgeous doesn't quite cut it... but I cant think of a good enough word so I'll settle  But seriously, that's awesome!!! I've got so many questions I wanna ask! But my drooling over the plants aside :drool: ... I will say, you've got me having second thoughts about endlers :icon_surp

Speaking of questions, what did you use to get that last shot?


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## sumer (Feb 6, 2010)

sjb1987 said:


> Fantastic pics... how many more plant species can you fit in there lol...


I'll try my best to put in at least 50+ :hihi:





Ziggi said:


> Gorgeous doesn't quite cut it... but I cant think of a good enough word so I'll settle  But seriously, that's awesome!!! I've got so many questions I wanna ask! But my drooling over the plants aside :drool: ... I will say, you've got me having second thoughts about endlers :icon_surp
> 
> Speaking of questions, what did you use to get that last shot?


It's a small magnifying lens. Basic "light" lesson from grade 7 textbook was the inspiration behind this shot. A little bit of trial and error and I got that shot.


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## Ziggi (Jan 12, 2013)

Nice! A brilliant little world that fits neatly within your fingertips! I love it!


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## BoxxerBoyDrew (Oct 16, 2005)

FREAKIN' WOW!!!!!

You have done a unbelievable job on the 60-P!!! The colors, shapes and textures are almost prefect!!!! I am one who thinks nothing is ever perfect, but this tank comes very, very close!!! Your fish look SUPER healthy and happy too! 

I am subscribed! 

Keep up the unbelievable work!!!
Drew

p.s. can you shoot me a pm with a link to the supplier of your Endlers, please! Those are some of the best Endlers I have ever seen! Thanks!


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## John Simpson (Mar 14, 2013)

nice to see someone doing it right


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## denske (Feb 20, 2013)

Looks amazing, what are those plants in the pots?


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## sumer (Feb 6, 2010)

John Simpson said:


> nice to see someone doing it right


Glad you liked it. Thanks.



denske said:


> Looks amazing, what are those plants in the pots?


They are succulents. Quite related to cactus.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Beautiful. I will have to keep a eye on your tank incase you want to get rid of some of your trimmings lol. I love the killies. I have a single male in my flora, his cohorts found an opening in the top of my tank and slowly one by one jumped


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## pianofish (Jan 31, 2010)

I expect a complete photo shoot of my little red baby whenever it gets in the tank v


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## sumer (Feb 6, 2010)

pianofish said:


> I expect a complete photo shoot of my little red baby whenever it gets in the tank v


haha.. Definitely.. A proper serious one


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## sumer (Feb 6, 2010)

*Dario hysginon*

*Update June 7th*

Hello folks,

Time for a small update with a few pictures.
Tank is doing great. Fought a small war with spirogyra again. Its under control now. Plants are still recovering from the brutal trim that they got a week ago. 
In my last consignment from Rachel I got some Dario hysginon. Wonderful fish with a hell lot of attitude. They took their time to settle down but now they are fine. Doing good. They weren't eating anything initially. So I went ahead with adult brine shrimps. It really helped them making themselves comfortable in my tank. My strategy is first to make them comfortable with live food and then slowly switch to frozen food. 
Here are the photos - 

When I first got Dario hysginon. Oh yeah that's Syngonanthus sp 'Madeira'. Thanks to Joraan-


















And once they settled down, their true color came out-


Show aggression mixed attitude if other male comes into one's territory-




They were really in wonderful shape. Rachel always has quality fish to offer-




Constantly looking for food and girls. haha-


Even Eriocaulon flower looks suspicious-


All pumped up in front of their girlfriends-


Here's photo of an Endler that I forgot to share in last update. Wonderful colors they have-


I took some more shots of Hypoptopoma gulare. I have written a small blog post about their eating habits - Here's the LINK







Rotala sunset has settled down too. It doesn't like a lot of Nitrates. It immediately response with new green growth.


Same goes for Ammania sp.bonsai. If someday I dose nitrates a bit more, the very next day it's tips will become green. 


And one of my favorite plants.. Tonina fluvalitis 'lotus bloom'-


And now some mobile uploads. Photos that I took from my Iphone-

Alternanthera Reineckii 'Mini' makes a wonderful contrast spot in the foreground-


Polygonum kawagoeanum grows so fast. But I hate its habit of loosing its lower leaves-


Oh yeah.. I also have narrow leaf Java fern in my tank. haha..
New Life-


Syngonanthus belem-


Thanks to Sean for this big clump of Staurogyme sp purple-


Recently I saw Aponogeton madagascariensis at LFS. Somewhere deep down there was a desire to try out this plant. So I bought it. I know.. I know.. It grows big and will cover my small tank in no time. i know.. But I cant help my heart. Somethings arent suppose to be given a second thought. It was one of those things - 


These leaves melted away in just one night haha.. And then 2 days later, I saw a pink, very delicate laced leaf coming out of the bulb-


And last but not the least.. My auratus. They are growing with a fast pace. I still cant figure out their sex. haha..


Some videos that I took from my phone - 

Greedy Boraras brigittae-





My tank - 





A koi pond at a LFS here - 





Crazy co2 bubble. Hahaha...





Thats it for today.. I hope you guys have enjoyed this update. Stay tuned for more fun.


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## sjb1987 (Feb 23, 2012)

awesome update man..great photos as always


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## waterfaller1 (Jul 5, 2006)

Wow, your photos are superb! Love the darios!


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## tylergvolk (Jun 17, 2012)

Looks great. You dropped some serious $$ on that aquarium.


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## Green_Flash (Apr 15, 2012)

Awesome new pictures.


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## sumer (Feb 6, 2010)

I was just wondering about you guys' taste about the updates. What do you prefer -
One photo updated daily.. or A lot of them every 10-15 days ?
Let me know your views.
I've recently got my flash delivered and I swear the photos I'm taking with it, are the best i've taken ever.. Its just so amazing.


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## I<3<*))))>< (Jun 10, 2013)

Wow... newbie here & just caught up on this journal. Amazing tank. Loving your plant choices, your fish are incredibly sexy!!!

Are you going to try and breed your Dario hysginon?

Also how do you go about switching them from live to frozen? I have a group of Dario dario who I've beed feeding live bbs to. I'd love to switch them to something a bit easier. Any suggestions?

I say gives us your photo's and updates as ya have em! I am really enjoying this thread myself


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Post a lot of pictures every day!

Your photography is wonderful.



sumer said:


> I was just wondering about you guys' taste about the updates. What do you prefer -
> One photo updated daily.. or A lot of them every 10-15 days ?
> Let me know your views.
> I've recently got my flash delivered and I swear the photos I'm taking with it, are the best i've taken ever.. Its just so amazing.


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## denske (Feb 20, 2013)

The more pics the better!


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## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

what an amazing collection of animals and plants....


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## Jonny (Jun 5, 2013)

God your tank is stunning. And such a great camera to photograph it with too!


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## sumer (Feb 6, 2010)

A very very big update is on its way..
Stay tuned


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## waterfaller1 (Jul 5, 2006)

yay!


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## peachii (Jun 1, 2013)

Oh my, how have i missed this tank? This is beautiful as a newbie to planted tanks - it is quite inspiring!

Your photos are beautiful, I am sure we will happily drool over them every time you post some.


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## AnotherHobby (Mar 5, 2012)

This is a sweet tank! Nice work!


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## sumer (Feb 6, 2010)

*July updates - I'm sure you will love it.*

*Update July 5th 2013*

Hello friends,
Its been almost 6 months that my tank is running successfully 
I have learnt a LOT from this tank. It is more like a learning step before making my dream Dutch tank. Since practical knowledge is far more important than theoretical (that too is necessary) this tank was really necessary for me to make.
I got my first flash unit some time back. I no longer hold a lamp with one hand and take pictures with other. LOL. It made taking photos so so easy. I can keep ISO to 100 which leads to great detailing. 
Finally I got most of the eriocaulons that I wanted including sp. Thailand. Still searching eagerly for Erio amanoanum. 

*
I know you guys are not going to read whatever I wrote above and will jump directly to pics. Haha.. Thats totally cool. Everything is in photos 
One important thing that I want to share - Please dont copy the photos from here. Recently one sponsor of TPT used my picture without even mentioning the link or my name. Thats something I really dont like. If its for personnel or educational reason (posting my pictures on FB page being a seller of planted stuff is not educating), just write it in a comment and I'll gladly let you use it. I also put my photos on 500px which gives me their copyright. You dont wanna go in that copyright mess. So please dont copy photos without asking.
*

Plants- 

Aciotis acuminifolia; A wonderful and beautiful stem plant. Grows straight with a lot of side stems. Pinkish reddish top leaves look so beautiful. A slow grower


















Nesaea crassicaulis- Another slow growing stem plant.









Difference between Syngonanthus sp 'Belem' and Syngonanthus sp 'Madeira'









One more. Belem on left and Madeira on right-









Syngonanthus sp 'Madeira'









Just a handful of Syngonanthus belem. Haha.. When I trimmed it last week- 









I totally forgot the name of this plant. Any leads on it's ID ?









Rotala sunset and Rotala macandra magenta. (I maybe messing up the name). But it's stems are too soft to be Ludwigia arcuta. 









Hygrophila sp 'Thai' or Hygrophila sp 'Brown'. And believe me it really looks brown.









Here's another marvelous plant. Tonina fluviatilis "Lotus Blossom"-









And it does look like lotus if seen from top-



























After a trimming, every stem is shotting 3 side shoots. I trimmed 2 of those 3 so the plant can use its all energy to grow the single stem. Replanted the other short stems-









A bad pic of 2 side stems shooting from the main stem-









Recently got 3 riparium planter from Devin. 3 plants that I'm using are- 
Asclepias, Hibiscus and Mangrove plant. They grow so so fast. But due to some reason the new growth in hibiscus is not so red. Maybe I need to put some root tabs in the planters.










Cryptocoryne affinis 'metallic red'. It was sunrise time and the lights were looking pink in Iphone.









Cryptocoryne bullosa 'Maradong'. Bullation is so so prominent on this one. Even more than hudoroi. Totally loved it-


















Dont think that I'm exaggerating but Ammania sp bonsai is a weed. Every 10 - 12 days I take this much out. I started with 5 stems that Joraan sent me. Pardon the funny collage-









UG is doing great in my salad box emmersed setup. Once it'll be enough to fill 5x5" area, I'll take out staurogyne and put this in my tank.









Initially, this much of UG I got-









Gratiola brevifolia. All I could get was this single stem. But its growing fine.


















Ludwigia sphaerocarpa. I know it doesnt look like google images or what Tom has, at all. And it is because it was grown emmersed. I just hope it becomes brown soon-









Something was happening to my Alternantheras. The leaves were having pin holes and then they will become like a net. Potassium was the problem. I was dosing it just the half what I should. Increased K and it took care of Ocipus and mini both.









My erio clan before the new additions- (Can we please consider Trithuria Sp. as erio Blood vomit!! Just coz it looks so similar)









Updated family -









What did I add ?

Erio sp. 'Ban ba wa'


















Erio sp 'Thailand'. Much darker in color









A baby cinereum. Sean gifted me this one.









Erio sp 'Japan shiga'









Erio Aussie 2









Not much of documentation is available about these different species as they are still waiting to be given proper names. Sometimes their appearance tells the difference between the species and sometimes you just have to trust the seller and wait for them to grow and show the difference. 
And just for this reason, I bought these plant labels. I know this sounds quite silly but its the only way to keep a track about what's what.









Wrote all the names. Even the ones that I know of. Haha-









In the tank they went. Just imagine my desperateness- I made a marker for Amanoanum too. There was a time when it was a very normal thing. Just in this january it was available. I know there are people out there with this plant. Please.. just one small baby is all I want..









My sieboldianum was getting too big. Look at that root system.


















I had to divide it to make room for new erios. I was very nervous while doing it. I bought a new knife to split it. LOL. 








It went well and both the parts have started growing again.

One more funny collage. It was some random collage making app on my phone that I used. In the center its sp 'Thailand'.









Another great BG plant is Staurogyne sp 'Bihar'. 'Bihar' is a state in India. One of my friend in India is searching for this plant in Bihar state since last 3-4 years. But he just couldnt find. It has become extinct from the Bihar state  
Hygrophila pinnatifida which is also native to India has somehow managed to survive in wild. 









Higrophila pinnatifida in it's natural habitat-
Photos are property of Akshay Khare.









In baby form. Haha









The stream where its found-


















Crypt cordata in its natural habitat. Pure laterite makes the substrate-


















See the veins here-









Emmersed-









Blyxa aubertii in the river-









Check this for the complete expedition journal

Another very very rare specie that I recently got- Caloglossa cf. beccarii









After all of these plant photos, you want to see a FTS right ?
Not a great one. Plants are still recovering from last week's trim.









*Lets talk fish now-*

A few updated shots of Boraras brigittae. Just to show how fat they have become-
Look at this fat lady right after the dinner. Nowadays they have learned to gobble down small pieces of bloodworms or brine shrimps.


















Aciotis acuminifolia in BG









It feels weird to see a deserted tank right after the trim-









Endlers are making rabbits go shy. Breeding like anything..









Males are getting more colorful-









Since my summer vacations are going on, I'm feeding them 3 times a day. LOL. Early morning - bloodworms, noon - mysis shrimps, evening- brine shrimps soaked in garlic. Thinking of adding blackworms to their diet soon. Costly they are.. White worm culture is about to get ready.









The same feeding regime goes for Epiplatys also. They bred once and then stopped. Maybe these guppies are eating up their eggs. I badly need more tanks :icon_sad:

Epiplatys annulatus male









Epiplatys annulatus female









Male-


















In this photo, I missed the focus from it's eyes. But still I like this shot. You can feel it's motion-









2 males flaring at each other-









Tiger shrimps. They eat anything but shrimp food. Goodness.. they are true wild ones. They eat bloodworms, they eat brine shrimps, they also eat micro pellets but wont touch shrimp food. Since calcium is really important for them, I drop some boiled spinach time to time in the tank. They sometimes eat it.




























Hypoptopoma gulare. Oh boy.. this fish has made me so interested in catfishes now.
This photo is the best that I took of them. I was waiting for it to sit on this branch since a week. 2 days ago I woke up at 3 in the night to drink water and saw it sitting there. Immediately took out the camera and clicked this shot-


















Chewing on cholla wood









A few days back I saw a guy selling bettas on FB. I contacted him and he sent me 2 males and a female. Conditioning them right now. Will start the breeding process next week.
Here are a few pics-














































With black background-



























The second male-









And now my most favorite photos. I can say this photo is the best photo I've taken till date. 
Dario hysginon males-









I think those small co2 bubbles are making it more dramatic. What do you think ?









Over the sieboldianum-


















Here's a 5.5G Vivarium that I made recently but had to sell coz of some random rule which says "Only 3 glass tanks in an apartment".









The inhabitants- Geosesema sp.-


















Many people ask what lens do I use!! I use my 18-55 kit lens with macro filters on it. They are available on ebay for like $10. 
This is what I have-









A gag that I made last year. LOL









Videos-

Just to show how much surface movement I have to keep the biofilm off the surface-





A bit of Darios bullying amano, a bit of Madagascar lace, a bit of everything-





Feeding time for my fishes-





Huff... Took me 2 hours to write this update. I hope you guys would enjoy it. Let me know what you liked what you didnt like. 

Thanks,
Sumer.


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

Great stuff Sumer!


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## sjb1987 (Feb 23, 2012)

Get an acrylic tank for your 4th tank and see what they say lol.. great update man


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## sumer (Feb 6, 2010)

Hahaha.. Acrylic tank.. I have a mini petco 4G thing. It wont harm trying..
Will do that.


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## synaethetic (Oct 4, 2011)

Great shots for a kit lense! Super impressive update! You have so many different species, it is very diverse.


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## I<3<*))))>< (Jun 10, 2013)

Holy Update! But I loved every bit of it. Lovely tanks, gorg fish, super lush plants..... making me jelly, lol.

Best of luck with breeding the Bettas, that 1st male is insanly stunning. I really love the marble plakats. If you are succesful I'd be really interested in a male possibly.


Funny your Dario hysignon punk your amanos the way they do. My dario dario don't pay mine any attention. The amanos even try to crawl on them at times and still nothing.


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## Dugsul808 (Jul 30, 2012)

One of the nicest setups I've ever seen, I really likes all your plants of how it was places and how healthy they looked. Also likes your panda face fish and your frog you got in there !


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## JoraaÑ (Jun 29, 2009)

Unknown plant on the 8th snap is Pogostemon stellatus 'narrow leaf'. Nice collection of Erios...roud:


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## bikercarl (Sep 20, 2012)

Aloha Sumer!

WOW!!! I am totally impressed with your collection of Erios! Let me know if you've got some for sale! 

Happy Friday!
BikerCarl


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## sumer (Feb 6, 2010)

JoraaÑ said:


> Unknown plant on the 8th snap is Pogostemon stellatus 'narrow leaf'. Nice collection of Erios...roud:


Hehe.. Thanks.
Keep me in the list for erectus


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## sumer (Feb 6, 2010)

synaethetic said:


> Great shots for a kit lense! Super impressive update! You have so many different species, it is very diverse.


Thanks 



I<3<*))))>< said:


> Holy Update! But I loved every bit of it. Lovely tanks, gorg fish, super lush plants..... making me jelly, lol.
> 
> Best of luck with breeding the Bettas, that 1st male is insanly stunning. I really love the marble plakats. If you are succesful I'd be really interested in a male possibly.
> 
> ...


Hahaha.. My Darios even bully otocinclus. Nobody goes without spanking 




Dugsul808 said:


> One of the nicest setups I've ever seen, I really likes all your plants of how it was places and how healthy they looked. Also likes your panda face fish and your frog you got in there !


Glad you liked. Danke 



bikercarl said:


> Aloha Sumer!
> 
> WOW!!! I am totally impressed with your collection of Erios! Let me know if you've got some for sale!
> 
> ...


Haha.. Keep an eye on the "FS threads" then


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## samee (Oct 14, 2011)

Some crazy stuff there. I love the plant behind that reddish beta. Stem with needles. Im sure it likes soft water. Let see how you use that red moss, it must look really nice in front of all the greens.


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## sumer (Feb 6, 2010)

samee said:


> Some crazy stuff there. I love the plant behind that reddish beta. Stem with needles. Im sure it likes soft water. Let see how you use that red moss, it must look really nice in front of all the greens.


Beta!! I think you're referring to Dario.
That plant is Egleria fluctuans. all it needs is light
light and light. It should start growing on mercury instead of earth. Would be much nearer to Sun. LOL.


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## samee (Oct 14, 2011)

sumer said:


> Beta!! I think you're referring to Dario.
> That plant is Egleria fluctuans. all it needs is light
> light and light. It should start growing on mercury instead of earth. Would be much nearer to Sun. LOL.



Yes the Dario 

I think it looks more beautiful with just 1 lone stem than a group. Id love to try that guy some day.


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## pianofish (Jan 31, 2010)

I'm itching for a planted in tank pic of the metallic red


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## Jiinx (May 28, 2012)

Sumer,
Beautiful photos as always. 

Have you mentioned what you were using for flow? None of your plants have debris on it! 

And what is a tds meter used for in your tank? 

And lastly, how do you ensure you have enough co2 with inline diffuser? I find most of the time the bubbles are so big that most of my co2 dissipates out. What's your bps? Are your fishes okay.

Thank you so much,
Sarah


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## sumer (Feb 6, 2010)

Jiinx said:


> Sumer,
> Beautiful photos as always.
> 
> Have you mentioned what you were using for flow? None of your plants have debris on it!
> ...


Thanks Sarah  I'm glad you like the pictures.

Since my tank is pretty dense I need more flow than what I'd put in a same sized tank. I have an Eheim 2215 and a power-head with surface skimmer running 24x7. Also, every 3rd day I do 40% water change and while water change, I siphon all the leaves. 
IME, good biological filtration is the reason behind crystal clear water. I use Bio Rio in my filter.

TDS means Total Dissolved Salts. Its the sum of Gh and Kh. It tells you how hard or soft your water is. I dont use it everyday but still it comes handy when I go to some collection trip or I want to acclimate a new fish. I also use Gh and Kh test kits to check Gh and Kh individually.

I no longer use inline diffuser for the same reason. I like to see CO2 bubbles in my tank 
I usually go for 30ppm+ CO2. BPS would be around 3-4 BPS. 
Now, here's the deal- Since I use a surface skimmer, it keeps adding oxygen in my water column continuously. If I switch off my skimmer and keep the CO2 at the same concentration, my fishes start gasping on the surface in no time. Surface skimmer helps a lot in gas exchange. I strongly recommend it.
Hope I could answer all the questions 
Thanks.


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## Jiinx (May 28, 2012)

I think I look at your photos daily :redface:

With your shrimps, do your fishes not make a snack out of them? I really want to put some crystals and fire reds but i think they'll get eaten or always hide from my croaking gouramis or badis badis. How did you manage to keep them in your tank?

Do you keep your crypts attached to the driftwood? How do you prevent algae on your slow growers? Frequent water changes?

Thank you!


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## sumer (Feb 6, 2010)

Jiinx said:


> I think I look at your photos daily :redface:
> 
> With your shrimps, do your fishes not make a snack out of them? I really want to put some crystals and fire reds but i think they'll get eaten or always hide from my croaking gouramis or badis badis. How did you manage to keep them in your tank?
> 
> ...


Sorry Sarah I didnt see this message before.
I dont know about baby shrimps. Maybe they are eating baby shrimps. I dont care. I have those shrimps just to keep algae away.

My crypts are at the places where they get very low light and very low flow. I dont know but they dont get algae. Also, I do WC every third day. So that might be a reason


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## Jiinx (May 28, 2012)

any updates??


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## sumer (Feb 6, 2010)

Hello friends,

I am sorry for the delay in updates.
Life got too too busy and I didnt havetime to do anything on the fishy side to tell you the truth.
A lot has happened in these days.
I dismantled my tank. Yup! You read it right. I did it.

But before that, my tank got published in Amazonas magazine 

So right now, the tank is empty. I am making a tanganyikan biotope in it. I will be keeping True Altolamprologus compressiceps "Sumbu Dwarfs" in it. They will arrive on Tuesday. Anyway, that would make another good thread.
Here are a few final pictures of this thread 
I hope you all liked the tank and pictures. This tank taught me a lot and a lot. As soon as I will get some time, I will make another good looking tank 

Here's a pic of the magazine- 

IMG_4562 by sumertiwari, on Flickr

Some of the other stuff that I have currently-

IMG_5703water with by sumertiwari, on Flickr


IMG_9153waterwith by sumertiwari, on Flickr


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## Jack Gilvey (Jun 16, 2008)

Just saw this - congrats on the publication! I'm sure your next planted will be killer as well, but I really like your Tanganyika tank!


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## sumer (Feb 6, 2010)

Jack Gilvey said:


> Just saw this - congrats on the publication! I'm sure your next planted will be killer as well, but I really like your Tanganyika tank!


Thank you Jack.
I have already started planning for my next tank. I am gonna give plenty of time just to the planning stage. 
Tanganyika tank is doing good too. I will post a few new videos in a day or two. It is getting featured in this month's Amazonas.


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## Green_Flash (Apr 15, 2012)

Congrats, this tank is amazing. What is the fish in the second image?


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## CluelessAquarist (Apr 5, 2014)

By far one of my favorite tanks. AMAZING JOB!!!!!


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## sumer (Feb 6, 2010)

Green_Flash said:


> Congrats, this tank is amazing. What is the fish in the second image?


Thanks.
Its a betta 



CluelessAquarist said:


> By far one of my favorite tanks. AMAZING JOB!!!!!


Thanks mate 

So my tanganyikan tank is going strong. Finally sumbu shell have bestowed me with a nice batch of 25 or so fries.
They are doing great and are 26 days old today.

Here is a video of them eating BBS ^_^





Some photo updates:


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## husonfirst (Sep 12, 2009)

Your fish pictures are amazing. Which lens do you use for the macro shots?


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## mistuhmarc (Oct 1, 2013)

husonfirst said:


> Your fish pictures are amazing. Which lens do you use for the macro shots?


On the previous page, hidden deep within all the pictures, is a comment about what type of lens he uses.


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## sumer (Feb 6, 2010)

husonfirst said:


> Your fish pictures are amazing. Which lens do you use for the macro shots?


I have been using 100mm macro recently. Before that, I have used 18-55 with macro filters.


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## AutumnSky (May 19, 2012)

Congrats on the article. Beautiful tank for that, can see why it was featured!

This new one is so interesting and the most beautiful healthy shell dwellers I have seen around.

Where did you get your Boraras Brigittae?

How are the Bettas getting on?

Thank you for sharing your time here with us to see the photography and the tanks.


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## sumer (Feb 6, 2010)

AutumnSky said:


> Congrats on the article. Beautiful tank for that, can see why it was featured!
> 
> This new one is so interesting and the most beautiful healthy shell dwellers I have seen around.
> 
> ...


I am glad that you liked the photos 
I got my boraras brigittae I think from Rachel (MsJinkzd.com).
WHich bettas are we talking about here  Haha.. I always keep changing my bettas. I have betta simorums and betta imbellis right now. I had macrostomas for a few months but sold them to a friend here on TPT. 
Trying to thin out my inventory since I am about to move soon.


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