# Time for a big change :)



## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

I apologize for the terrible picture. I will get some better shots of the tank tomorrow.


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## Patriot (Dec 22, 2010)

Awesome!! I'm following because I'm setting up my 80 gallon to make it into a crypt jungle. Great minds think alike.


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Sweet, when is the 80g going to get setup? What crypts will you be using? Will it be crypt only? Or something else in there too?

I am trying to get my hands on some pink flamingo, I have been looking for that plant for a while now with no luck.


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## Patriot (Dec 22, 2010)

philipraposo1982 said:


> Sweet, when is the 80g going to get setup? What crypts will you be using? Will it be crypt only? Or something else in there too?
> 
> I am trying to get my hands on some pink flamingo, I have been looking for that plant for a while now with no luck.


Right now I'm just waiting on substrate to come in. My LFS ordered it. I will using mostly crypts except for tiger lotus. I will use that to give it some color. I don't have any hardscapes so I will have to make it work. I'm also looking for a hard to find crypt.


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

What substrate are you going with? I am assuming you haven't got your plants yet then, correct?

You will have to put up a list of what you end up with, maybe we can trade some crypts in the future.


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## Patriot (Dec 22, 2010)

philipraposo1982 said:


> What substrate are you going with? I am assuming you haven't got your plants yet then, correct?
> 
> You will have to put up a list of what you end up with, maybe we can trade some crypts in the future.


I'm going with dirt capped with activflora. That's a good ideal about the trading.


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

I have always been scared to go sorted because o tend to move me plants around a fair bit as things grow in. I am just using pure silica sand.


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Hopefully these pictures from today are better


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## Patriot (Dec 22, 2010)

Looking great. Can't wait to see it when it grows in


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Some more pics


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Patriot said:


> Looking great. Can't wait to see it when it grows in


Thanks, hopefully I can keep me hands out of the tank long enough for that to happen


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## badbart (Jul 28, 2009)

Nice looking set up it will be fun to watch. The planted plus looks bright on your tank, I have a 75 gallon and my one planted plus doesn't look that bright.


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

You would think they would be the same brightness. Do you have a lot of big plants and hard scape that creates shadows?


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## badbart (Jul 28, 2009)

philipraposo1982 said:


> You would think they would be the same brightness. Do you have a lot of big plants and hard scape that creates shadows?


Yes big plants and dark substrate. Amazing what difference that makes. I now have two planted pluses on my 75. I had a planted plus on my low tech 55 and it was too bright got lots of algae. I guess looks can be deceiving, par readings are better then eye balling it, lol.


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## burr740 (Feb 19, 2014)

Wow that's a lot of crypts! Nice start, will be interesting to watch it fill in. Im digging the light colored substrate.


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Yeah that's for sure, its best not to guess at par values. I found that the planted plus on the 75 without co2 was too much for a new tank. But once filled in it was fine.

I am pumping tons of co2 now though.

Thanks burr,
I am addicted to crypts, I sold all my other plants this weekend to make room for the new scape. I actually made a fair bit too ($200), which was nice bonus.


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## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

As burr said - will be fun to watch grow in. I have several various crypts (don't really know exactly which ones), some of which have grown nicely in my 75g with cO2.


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

I will keep the post updates with lots of pictures


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## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

I like pics....
Seeing as you have such a good list of crypt plants, I should look up pics of the various plants to see what exactly I have in my 2 tanks.


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

You should, and let me know and maybe we can trade some crypts sometime. I have lots of certain varieties that I will be selling and trading I can let you know which ones they are if your interested.


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

Thats one heck of a crypt collection...shame you aren't in the states otherwise I'd buy your extras 

Its going to be cool seeing how they all grow in.


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Compared to a few other guys I know locally, my collection is tiny and pretty common. I hope to get into some more rare types and continue to grow my collection. Also planning an emersed setup as well with the goal of having at least one emersed plant for each crypt I have.

I dont know how hard it is to ship crypts into the states but I can look into it.


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## Patriot (Dec 22, 2010)

If you come across cryptocoryne usteriana x walkeri please let me know. That's one that I'm looking for.


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Will do, I need it as well


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

For the first time I decided to feed my fish some live food. I did some research and found that wingless fruitflies are a very nutritious food. They are also easy to raise and keep the supply of food going for an indefinite period.

My fish went crazy over it once they realized what it was, was very cool to watch.


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## bsantucci (Sep 30, 2013)

Don't they love them? I keep dart frogs so I always have fruit flies on hand. I dump 40-50 in and my fish jump out of the water for them. 

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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Do you make your own medium? If so what recipe? They really do love em. I hope its not to difficult to make more cultures.


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## bsantucci (Sep 30, 2013)

I don't have tons of time so I buy it from joshsfrogs online. Works great. I culture wingless and the larger winged but flightless. Hardest part is keeping them mite free. At least for me. 

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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

If I get mites won't the fish just eat them too? How to prevent the mites?


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## bsantucci (Sep 30, 2013)

Mites crash the culture is the problem. They make products that you sprinkle around the culture that keep the mites out but it isn't working for me. I get like two generations of flies per culture. Still working on that. 

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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Any idea what causes the mites to show up? Are you exposing the culture to poor conditions or just too old?


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## bsantucci (Sep 30, 2013)

Neither. Mites are just in the medium already. Eggs are everywhere. That's what I've heard at least. 

Don't you sleep? Haha 

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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Lol yeah but only 5-6 hours a night  

Gotta get to the gym early!

Thanks for the info, much appreciated. I will be using some adults to get some new cultures setup today, will update on my progress. I am thinking on feeding 3 days a week using the live food and standard diet for the other 4 days.


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## bsantucci (Sep 30, 2013)

Ah gotcha, haha. Miss the gym, haven't gotten there much since my baby came.

What type of flies are you using? Melanogaster I'm guessing since you said wingless. They culture quick, you'll get worms and flies in about 1-2 weeks. Hydei are the large with wings, but are flightless. They take FOREVER to culture. I think it was like 3-4 weeks for mine to boom.

I've read some recent tips for keeping mites away and keeping successful cultures, so I'm giving both types a try again. If you need info/tips let me know.


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Here is my latest video after a big rescape. I am really excited to see how this is going to mature over the next few months. 

The video is currently processing and will be a little bit before completely uploaded as its a big file. Its a long video, I was using my new camera and clearly still don't hve it dialed in all that great so I apologize if its not the best footage.

The close up stuff at the end of the video is pretty good though 

http://youtu.be/LD02LJWtnXk


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## Blackheart (Jul 5, 2011)

cool tank  I'm contemplating doing my tank all crypts too as they are my favorite!


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## Daisy Mae (Jun 21, 2015)

It looks good!


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## Patriot (Dec 22, 2010)

Blackheart said:


> cool tank  I'm contemplating doing my tank all crypts too as they are my favorite!


Do it


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Blackheart said:


> cool tank  I'm contemplating doing my tank all crypts too as they are my favorite!


Thanks, 

Crypts are great but can sometimes be difficult to scape with depending on the look your going for. I love how there is no need to constantly trim them; and the variation in color within the same variety can make it an interesting plant to observe.


Daisy Mae said:


> It looks good!


Thank you, we will see how things go as it fills in


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Picked up a new crypt species today, only $3 for the pot. Had a mother plant with two babies attached and another crypt in there too.

Here is a pick of the mother plant, no idea what it is other than being a crypt. Its the bronze ruffled one.


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

So I made my final stock adjustment today. I don't plan to change my stock for a good long while now.

I got rid of all my yoyo and kuhli loaches as well as the rainbows and decided to just increase my numbers for the remaining schools.

Added 20 more cherry barbs for a total of 42, and adding 9 more peppered Cory's for a total of 14. Still have the 13 oto cats. Once the tank settles I will snap some more pics and get a new video going.


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## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

Should look pretty cool with that many barbs! Look forward to the settled in pics.


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Small change of plans. With 14 Cory's its near impossible to get the HC the time it needs to get rooted and really going.

I keep finding it floating all over and getting chewed up as they pass through my 2 power heads. 

I am going to try and create a carpet using phoenix moss. My plan is to superglue it to rocks which will allow me to keep it down but also make it for easy removals for trimming time. Then I can simply replace all the moss covered rocks when done with no mess in the main tank.

I am able to get small slate stones from a nearby beach, so I will be using those. I am going to experiment with other methods of attaching the moss to different kinds of mesh and such. 

Any suggestions on what else I could use besides rock would be great.


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## badbart (Jul 28, 2009)

philipraposo1982 said:


> Small change of plans. With 14 Cory's its near impossible to get the HC the time it needs to get rooted and really going.
> 
> I keep finding it floating all over and getting chewed up as they pass through my 2 power heads.
> 
> ...


I had the same problem with any grass type ground cover, my Bala Sharks would uproot it. I even bough a large patch of the grass grown in a mess and it still got uprooted when it started spreading out, same thing happened to my micro sword.
Only thing that is works for me is Staurogyne repens, finally growing and covering the ground.


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

I am having success with the phoenix mos super glued to the slate stones. I don't know how well they will spread to eventually completely cover the rock, but time will tell (a lot of time..)

After realizing I will heavily heavily overdosing my tank with co2 (15lb tank empty in 2.5 months), I have corrected the situation and my fish are doing much better now. My cherry barbs have been spawning in the tank as well. I havent been able to see any fry but there was some more spawning behavior last night and the night before so maybe some might survive. 

I don't expect much though since I have 14 corys and 40+ cherry barbs picking at the bottom, doubt any eggs would go uneaten. Either way its cool to see them spawning and their colors really showing.

I added a ton of duckweed, frogbit, and red root floaters. My crypts were laying sooo flat on the ground and I was starting to get gsa and some bba on older dying crypt leaves. I have noticed that since adding the floaters the algae growth has almost halted. Fish seem to enjoy it a lot too. 

Today I will spend some time trimming all older leaves with algae, I find that removing them is the best option as long as there is still healthy leaves on the plant. I notice some small bits on bba that are loose and floating around the bottom of the tank, i am guess this is a good sign as its detaching from the plant. I have been vacuuming it up as soon as I see it to prevent additional growth.

I will post some pictures in a few hours once the lights come on and I do a bit of trimming.


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

here are some photos I just took. Not the best, but they will do, enjoy 

feedback welcomed.

Just thought I would mention; the aponogeton lace plant and other random plants to the left of the pics won't be staying. Just in there till I can sell em.

can anyone ID the crpyt in the last photo?


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## rajah_22 (Dec 12, 2013)

Great crypt tank! 

I think it would look nice with a dark background. I am curious to see how they grow in. Are you fertilizing or adding nutrients any way? Judging by some of the wendtii leaves, it looks like they are getting lots of light. Once they fill in and shade one another they will start to reach upwards more. 

I suspect your mystery crypt is crispatula var balanasae. If so, it can get very tall (~24 to 36 in leaves).


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Thanks!

I am dosing a slightly modified ei. I run a full pressurized co2 pushing 35-40ppm. Weekly water changes (50-60%).

I have been dealing with some bba and some gsa. Probably due to too much light and not enough fast growing plants. Not to mention my dosing has been spares and all over the place with ferts.

I have been focusing on my fish and not to much plants lately. My Cory's spawned about 2 weeks ago, I saved a bunch of eggs and have been working hard to raise up some fry (40ish). Just the other day my other big female cory spawned. She was very sneaky with where she would lay the eggs so I was only able to gather about 15-20 eggs. 

Both of these females are about 1.5 years old and this is the first spawn for each of them. I will be keeping enough Cory's to bring my group up to a total of 30. The rest will be sold off.

My cherry barbs have been spawning a ton this week too. I haven't been attempting to collect eggs or put them in a seperately tank. I dont have room for more fish in the 75g once my cory numbers hit 30. And dont have many extra tanks to keep raising fry. Its a fair bit of work doing daily water changes and a lot of feedings. 

Hopefully the new Cory's will be big enough to not be eaten once they are about a month old. Then I can add them to their permanent home. At that point I can put more effort into taking care of my main tank more and focusing on my plants.

They are growing quite well but nothing spectacular yet.


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## badbart (Jul 28, 2009)

Algae with one planted plus, ei and co2? How many hours a day are you running you lights? I do think the planted plus is pretty powerful. I was running two on my 75 and switched to one with a monster ray because of algae.


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## cosmic_shaman (Oct 2, 2015)

Just came across this thread. Loving the look of the tank! 
The more I'm on this site, the more I want to do to my own.


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

badbart said:


> Algae with one planted plus, ei and co2? How many hours a day are you running you lights? I do think the planted plus is pretty powerful. I was running two on my 75 and switched to one with a monster ray because of algae.


Yup, but I am running 10hour photoperiod which is a ton for a new setup. The algae issue is not bad at all but now with all the floaters and the reduced lighting I should be fine. Keep in mind crypts are slow slow growers. As things continue to grow things will balance out.


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## badbart (Jul 28, 2009)

philipraposo1982 said:


> Yup, but I am running 10hour photoperiod which is a ton for a new setup. The algae issue is not bad at all but now with all the floaters and the reduced lighting I should be fine. Keep in mind crypts are slow slow growers. As things continue to grow things will balance out.


How often do you trim the crypts? I have crypts and if I don't keep the old leaves trimmed they get algae.


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Some crypts do very well and I rarely trim them, maybe once every 4 months. Others that dont do as well need a trim maybe once a month or so. I rarely take more than one leaf off per plant as its just not needed.


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

updated plant list:

Plant List:
Cryptocoryne Affinis (New)
Cryptocoryne Aponogetifolia
Cryptocoryne Balansae (New)
Cryptocoryne Becketii 
Cryptocoryne Cordata Gawbowski
Cryptocoryne Crispatula var. Balansae
Cryptocoryne Griffithii 
Cryptocoryne Lucens 
Cryptocoryne Nevelli 
Cryptocoryne Parva
Cryptocoryne Petchii
Cryptocoryne Pontederiifolia
Cryptocoryne Spiralis
Cryptocoryne Undulata (New)
Cryptocoryne Walkeri Lutea
Cryptocoryne Wendtii Brown
Cryptocoryne Wendtii De Witt 
Cryptocoryne Wendtii Green
Cryptocoryne Wendtii Tropica 
Cryptocoryne Willisii 
Phoenix Moss
S. Repens (New)

I should note that I still have a few aponogetons in the tank because I am still growing them out and deciding if i should sell them or not. Decided to try and use S. repens as a foreground because the moss is taking a very long time to grow and make many stones to place and form a carpet. Eventually I will have enough moss but untill them I think I will try and get the S. repens going. Its only been a few days in the tank and I started with very little (from a friend), but so far so good 

All my crypts except for my parva which not that new but I bought it from a chain store where I know its was all emersed grown. So its been a very slow process. Hope to start getting some decent growth from them soon. Otherwise all my crypts are doing pretty darn great.

I had a good mix of floating plants and it quickly packed the top of the tank. I have removed all of it except for the duckweed. I like the duckweed because its small and the roots don't hang low and get caught up in the power heads. It flows nicely around the surface and provides the right amount of blockage. I am able to think it out with a net very easily to keep the desired amount. I am using it as a dimmer for my lights  In time I hope to be able to reduce it to almost nothing. if the s. repens takes off and fills the tank and the parva kick in I should be okay. Its going to take a little bit for the tank to fully settle. With an all crypt tank its easy for algae to win because of how slow they grow. The one thing that I don't like about the floating plants is it makes the tank look green because the light if being filtered through the foliage.

Using my method of dimming my lights and providing the plant mass to uptake alot of nutrients I have stopped 99% of algae from growing. its nice to see the BBA gone  I did have some gsa on the glass as well but it hasn't returned since I scraped it weeks ago. I have been better about my dosing so I think thats helping out too.

My fish have been doing incredibly well. The cherry barbs have been constantly spawning and the really loved all the floating plants. The males spend most of their time showboating in the upper portion of the tank and all the females in the lower portion. The eggs are being eating as the fall to the surface. its rare to see any eggs make it to the ground, even if they do my corys will clean them up right quick.

The corys have been spawning too, I currently have three sets of fry. 2 of which came from the same female but not sure if the same male was using both times. The oldest fry will be 3 weeks tomorrow, with the youngest fry just under a week old. I will be adding 17 more corys (fry) to my main tank in about a week. They are probably ready to go now but I figure the extra week is just a bit safer. Its been a ton of work raising the fry and I don't think I will be doing this on going. But I wanted to grow my group to 30 corys (currently 13 peppered) and now I am able to do just that. The rest of the babies will be sold in groups once old enough.

I will post some pics and a cool underwater video once the lights come on in a few hours.

here is a 3 week old cory fry, enjoy


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)




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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

I have decided that after one month some of my cory fry is ready to be added back to the mother land (maintain tank).

They are just over 3/4 inch now and are looking great. I am adding 19 fry to my already existing 13 corys. The rest of the fry will start being sold as soon as this weekend. But I am not in a super rush or anything.

My hope is that by adding the young fry to the main tank now, that the large water volume will provide a healthier and stable water parameters and more available food when I am at work. Ideally these fish should outgrow the ones in the 10g if my theory is correct.

Algae update: I believe I have mentioned in previous posts about bba and gsa that I was dealing with. Well its been a few weeks since the algae has 99% stop reproducing and growing. My crypts are doing better and better each week.

The s. Repens I adding not long ago are growing but slowly. The new leaves have good shape and color so I think they will do great once established.

Bought 3 new crypt species. C. Tonkinensis, c. Albida brown, and c. Pygmea. The tonkinensis can it really really badly, I doubt it will make it (got a refund though). If it does pull through, even if its just one plant, I will be happy.


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## WaterLife (Jul 1, 2015)

Great to hear about your success with countering the BBA and GSA issues.
Glad to hear the cory babies made it!

Your thoughts on the fry growing faster in a larger main tank has been proven true, so as long as the water does indeed stay more clean and stable, as well as more available food source and the space itself does lead to happier fish and they get more room to exercise/stretch their muscles and their brains exploring. But do keep in mind females will grow noticeably faster and larger than males.

Sorry didn't follow the whole thread, but where are the emersed plants located?
In case you weren't aware, C. Pygmaea doesn't grow small, it actually gets quite large and the name is given for it's pygmy-sized spathe.
Haven't heard of the other 2 new addition Crypts. Will you grow them submersed eventually or are they unable?


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

I have a metal frame 30g I picked up a while back. I have them in there with a 13w cfl 6500k. They are just in organic soil from Lowes. I dont do anything special with it. When the babies all move on and I have more time I will make some minor changes to my emersed setup. Ideally I would like to try each crypt that I have emersed. Given that I have enough runners of each to try it.

With all the duckweed and 60% weekly WC in the main tank with aged water, I would have to think my water is far more stable in that environment. 

I currently have 3 known females in my adult group of Cory's. I purposely picked out the best looking larger fry in hope that I can bring up my numbers with the ladies. 

I know pygmea is not small but they came in as a culture so I need to grow them out first to see how they do and them move them once I get an idea of final shape and size. I generally do this with each new crypt I get. Unless I know how it will grow from previous experience with the plant.


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Hey everyone,

Just spent the last 10 hours making the mesh covered moss panels for the carpet of my 75g. The lava rock is just a place holder for now until I can decided on what I want to do. They are helping keep the mesh down and in place too.

Let me know what you guys think


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## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

This is a really good pic. Good to read your fry are doing well.


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Thanks 

I am really happy with how the tank is coming along. Got my first c. Aponogetifolia runner the other day! 

The Cory's are doing great, really loving have such a large number of them. I can't wait for them to all reach maturity. It will be quite the sight.


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Fissiden grow out tank


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## burr740 (Feb 19, 2014)

Looking good. Do you keep the light towards the back that much all the time or was that just for the pic?


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Thanks burr, I keep the light in the middle. It was just set back for the pics.


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## chinaboy1021 (May 30, 2003)

Tank's looking pretty good bradah

One question: Where can I buy lava rock like yours? Everything I've found at big als come in huge chunks. I need smaller golf ball size pieces.


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Landscape yard. Big bag was 12$


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## chinaboy1021 (May 30, 2003)

alright thanks bradah


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

6 days in the tank and the new moss carpet is showing healthy new growth already! Super stoked!! I just ordered some waved scissors as I want to keep on top of trimming in order to maintain a healthy look and dense lush growth


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Enjoy.


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

*New 75g rimless*

Woke up one morning to find a crack in the bottom front corner of my tank. Got some advice on here about how serious it was and if its best to replace etc. Due to the severity of the crack (not sure how it happened) I was forced to move all the plants, fish, substrate and of course the water. I housed my fish in a 40ish gallon tank while i bought a new one and got it setup. Plants sat in darkness without co2, ferts, etc. 

On new years day I picked up my new SeaPora brand 75g rimless tank with Opti-Pure front panel. Tank cost was $420 CDN.

I managed to get everything back up and running fairly quickly but the scape isn't quite done. I still got put in my phoenix moss carpet (working on that today and tomorrow). My fish all day it okaY, clearly stressed, but glad to be back in the big tank.

I really am liking the new look  I added a 48" t12 shop light fixture behind the tank pointing up, it lights the inside of the stand and the back wall which gives the tank a really nice look i think.

I am hopefully that my crypts will be alright and the tank will bounce back soon. I did notice a ton of young plants attached to the mother plant while ripping up all the crypts from my old 75. sold a bunch of crypts locally too.

Let me know what you guys think.


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

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## Positron (Jul 22, 2013)

The new tank is simply crystal clear and clean. Like it!


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Thanks, its certainly crystal clear. My old tank I bought used as it was my fist tank. It was full of scratches and nicks. Now that I have a new tank I can't believe the clarity and how much of a difference it has made. 

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## badbart (Jul 28, 2009)

I got scratches all over the front of my 75 gallon and want to change to a new tank but it seems like a monumental task. How hard was it switching tanks?


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

It's been a ton of work but honestly I happy all of this has happened as the end result is just so nice. I always hated staring at my tank and those scratches just standing out and drawing my eyes right to it.

I would do it again in a heartbeat.

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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

hey everyone, 

thought o would share how I created my Phoenix Moss carpet. the last time I did this in the old scape I used some plastic type of.mesh. the end result wasn't great in terms of holding it down because the plant has a hard time grabbing hold on the mesh. this time I decided to use lava rock and Cotton thread.

here is the process:
1. select rock to.cover in moss and rinse


2. wrap it in some.thread, a few loops should be enough. I didn't bother knotting it as it won't slip and will be resting on the substrate so it should unwrap.

3. lay some moss on the rock, I trying to maintain a single direction but I don't think it's that important. the moss will grow upwards in all cases. one thing you may want to do differently is to use less moss. since I have such an abundance I don't mind killing off some for the sake of looking full right off the bat.

4. give the moss a bit of a press to form to the rock, it should stick. wrap the moss using the thread, don't go crazy but ensure you have enough to hold things in place. since I have 40 Cory's I used a bit extra to hold it down (I hope it works . I didn't tie the end either for the same reasons as above. saved a ton of time.

5. place covered stones in a holding container till you have enough.

6. place in tank and try to match up similar shapes to fit nicely together, like a puzzle. this doesn't need to be perfect because as it grows it will become bushy and fill in small gaps.


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## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

Tank is looking great! Really like the rimless look. Your write up on the Phoenix Moss carpet may become very helpful


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Thanks, I am glad to help 

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## badbart (Jul 28, 2009)

Very nice


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Your kuhli loach is fat! 

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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

mysticalnet said:


> Your kuhli loach is fat!
> 
> Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk


O sold my kuhli loaches a long time ago  but yeah I make sure my fish are well fed!

I will be posting weekly pics of the tank to show the growth on the moss carpet and crypts. 

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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Since the new tank I haven't been running co2. I was using a diy cerges reactor but I have decided to try the up aqua inline atomizer. I read that plants can uptake co2 more efficiently with micro bubbles attaching to the leaves. So I thought I would give it a whirl. It will also free up a bunch of space in my cabinet.

If the bubbles get really annoying I will likely end up not using it but time will tell. The new atomizer arrive today so I will be installing when I get home after work.

I am hoping my crypts doing go through a major melt because of the tank changing over and being uprooted. 

I was on a 11 hour photo period but with the change I decided to drop down to 7 hours till things get growing well again, then I will slowly bump it back up.

The fish have seem to recover well for the stressful situation. I will continue to update as things progress.

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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Added crypt blassii and crypt usteriana todsy. Also for some taller background and a touch of color and texture I am trying 2 types of stem plant. Rotala Vietnam and pogostemon stellatus.

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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Got some glassware today, lily pipe and inlet. The brand is VIV. I also got a few stems of ludwigia arcuata. Going to see which of the three stem plants do best and see which I want to keep for my background filler.

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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

My angels.










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## myswtsins (Nov 1, 2008)

I just love crypts! Beautiful tank! Sorry to hear about the 1st one but it died for a good cause. New rimless tank is spectacular! Like how you added the light in the back. I'd love to see a full tank with the angels.


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Thanks, I am totally addicted to crypts. Got a tissue culture of pink Flamingo coming next week!! So excited!

It's was an old tank and had lots of wear, I am kind of glad to be rid of it but the timing sucked a bit.

I always got a shadow behind the tank and decided to light up the back, I really like the look and it provides just a touch more lighting to plants in the back too.

I will definitely post some more pics of the tank real soon. My recent addition of crypt blassii is putting out a new leaf as we speak, I will try and get some close ups of some crypts as well.

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## chillwill007 (Dec 28, 2015)

Very nice tank love the rimless. Quick question why do so many planted tanks go with the lilly pipes? Whats so special about them? I'm about to throw up a video of my tank. So check it out and give me any advice you can think of. Im fighting some hair algae not sure if its bba or not. But I don't dose anything as of yet.


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## randylahey (Sep 14, 2013)

Lily pipes are commonly used on rimless tanks for a cleaner look.


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Well, while the look is great for my tank its also serves a function. 

I run an eheim pro 3 2075. It came with a spray bar which for this layout and the way I want my flow to be, the spray bar did not work well. O tried remove the spray bar and running just the open hole but the flow coming out was too directional and powerful for what I wanted. Wasn't going to work either.

A lily pipe allows the flow to spread out and become softer. this is good for my angels and the co2 distribution. If you look at the placement of my in and out and powerhead you can imagine how a nice circular flow would occur in my tank. The power head is also placed in a way were the fish can easily avoid the main burst of it, yet is still very effective at moving water in the right direction.

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## chillwill007 (Dec 28, 2015)

Ok thanks for the explanation. My spray bar is has 2 halls so I have the father half pointing up and the closer half to the out take line pointing down and that keeps the surface scum down and gives me a circular rotation on the surface. I'm worried that if I go with a lilly pipe them I would need some kinda of surface skimmer. But I guess you combats that worth the power head?


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

I used the lily pipe sticking up just a bit above the surface which seemed to be enough but I am currently going through some bio filtration issues and it seems like I was still having alot of film of the surface. I just recently installed the eheim skim350 and couldn't be more happy. In the same area I have stems below it that I plant to grow teller and it should help hide it a bit. 

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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

FTS 

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## chillwill007 (Dec 28, 2015)

Beautiful


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Thanks 

Since my angels are scared of my real camera because its metallic red I was forced to take pics of them with my phone. After about 300 shots these are the best I could do. My phone is a Samsung note 3 for those who are curious. Colors are unedited in the pictures, but I added frames, and some mild effects to highlight the fish.

Does anyone thing my marble veil tail is stunted looking? He was a rescue fish.

































































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## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

Pretty impressive pics for a cell phone. Tank is looking great and those angels are impressive. Haven't decided which one I like best - the one that looks like a Tiger Barb (3rd from bottom) or the Koy Angel (6th or 7th from bottom).


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Thanks, I love these fish! Can't believe I went so long before deciding to keep them.

The tank is going strong, the new blassii has already put out a new leaf and all my new stems are finally starting to take off.

My new flamingo should be here soon too 

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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Added two new angels today to complete my group. Both are young but very healthy looking and active right from the get go.

One is a all clear blushing and the other is a Philippine blue angel.

No idea how it will all work out with 7 andult angels in a 75g though. Hopefully growing up together might make it okay. The first five are all 2.5-3" body size and get along great. These new ones are loonie size, but the others are leaving em be.

It's surprising to see how much my angels hangout together in a group form. I figured they would all have their own spots but not the case.

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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Not sure why but my my parva and pygmea don't seem to grow at all... Any ideas?

Also have issues growing green gecko, cordata blassii and cordata grabowski, nevelli, pontederifolia.

Are these hard water crypts? I believe I have pretty acidic water and this may bey issue.

All my other crypts listed are doing good.
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## randylahey (Sep 14, 2013)

Yeah pretty sure. I have parva, gecko, blassii and pontederifolia in my tank and they're flourishing. My kh and gh are both at 6 degrees.


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

My kh.and gh are 7-8, what's the rest of your parameters like?

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## randylahey (Sep 14, 2013)

My ph is ~6.6 right now. Temp is 75°. I have about 3 or 4 inches of ada amazonia in there. I'm running 2 satellite +pro at 90% for 10 hours. I autodose daily based on the ei daily amount in the rotalabutterfly nutrient calculator. I don't know my nitrate and phosphate levels but, i can test them later. My tap water is 6.8ph, 0-1dkh and 0-1dkh and tds of 12. I use seachem alkaline buffer and equilibrium to bring the hardness up to 6. 50% water change once a week.


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Decided to change things up. Selling all my plants (sold lots, still have plenty), bought new plants, sold all fish, bought new fish (geophagus tapajos), sold co2, bought new driftwood, removed a bunch of substrate to thin it out, adding a bunch of granite beach stones (various sizes).

What wood layout to do you like best?






























































































Plants for the scape will be:
Anubias nana and petite, bolbitis heudelotii (2 varieties, narrow and a broader leaf one), and narrow leaf and needle leaf java fern.

I may end up with only one type of bolbitis and java fern in the future, but time will tell.

Currently just trying to drown the wood so it can stay put without rocks. At that time I will finalize the wood layout, add rocks, and add plants. For now I just have stuff thrown in, plant tucked is spot to be right side up. 

Fish are still adjusting.
























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## caique (Mar 16, 2012)

I have a bunch or bolbitis heudelotii if your interested.

The Gephagus sp. Red Caps you are going to put in the new tank look very cool, i am going to set up a 90 gallon and i may use these..

Will be following the thread for pics.

I am also thinking about using white sand.


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

I already have all the plants I need. I got the fish but just waiting for them to settle in for a week before I do anything.

I will make sure to post pics as they continue to relax in the new home.

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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

If I add some pea gravel sized rocks randomly in the foreground sandy area will they just eventually sink into the sand never to be seen? Is it worth adding them?

I wanted to use them to make the substrate look a bit more natural and add some different colors in there.



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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

So after receiving more advice on here and other forums I felt the right thing to do was to add some dither fish. I ended up finding some lemon tetras. Picked up 18.

I read that lemon tetras are found in the tapajos river with my geos. So they are a perfect fit.

They also live fairly long and shouldn't add much in terms of waste. Hopefully with a bit of time my geos will come out of they shells and gain some confidence

Here is the tank now.









I am not 100% done with it. The rock still isn't right but it's close. Giving it a bit of time and will tweak as I go.


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## chinaboy1021 (May 30, 2003)

Looks really nice man. Your geos will look amazing when grown.


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Thanks 

Many of the are starting to show great color. Unfortunately, they have been really shy, which is why I decided to add the lemon tetras (dither fish). 

Hoping with a bit of time, they will all be out and about alot more.


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)




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## Rosieonfire (Feb 27, 2016)

What's the big flowy on from the first pics? ?


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Not sure I understand what your asking sorry. Try again?


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## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

philipraposo1982 said:


>


Well, well, well, look who's come out to play. Great looking fish! The group of lemon tetra's looks like a great addition.


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## Greggz (May 19, 2008)

Beautiful tank. Beautiful fish. Beautiful pictures.

Nice work and look forward to seeing it grow in.


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## chinaboy1021 (May 30, 2003)

Dude....I need to redo my 75 to be like yours. Screw this tetra shenanigans


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Thanks guys,

I ended up getting a school of lemons which is what did the trick and got my geos out and about almost immediately.

The bad news is they started dropping like flies. I lost 20 lemons in 4 days. Columnaris, I have been treating the tank with furan2 and kanaplex combined followed with huge water changes daily before I started the meds. Since meds are in I am holding off water changes till treatment is done.

Geos are doing fine though, no symptoms but I didn't want to take a chance.


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

https://youtu.be/hQgd9sgie4s

Video right before medicating the tank.


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Down to 10 lemon tetras from the 30... Columnaris hit hard!! I think it's defeated though, no deaths in the last 24 hours (that's a first). 

I did 2 50gal water changes 2 days apart and used carbon to remove the meds.v the water is close to being normal again. The first are looking good, active, hungry.

I got 40 more lemons from another supplier, they are in their own tank. I will introduce them later on, going to get them eating well and color up for a few weeks at least. I will decide from there how long I will isolate them.

Basically just want them to get healthy and full before going into the main tank.

Since my geos don't have as many lemons around I am noticing they are not as confident roaming the tank. More nervous for sure. 

My plants seem to be unharmed by the meds, but it still may be too early to tell.

Like always I will be keeping a very close watch on things, hope for the best, and try and get my fish to good health.

For anyone who has to deal with columnaris, make sure to drop the temp to the lowest your fish will allow. Lots of big water changes daily until your able to get meds in there. No feeding during meds, lower the photo period, avoid stressing fish further.

Also, if small fish show symptoms, the chances of them surviving is super slim. So only medicate if you think you actually have a chance. Lucky for me my geos held off the disease incredible well. And some.lemons never showed any symptoms and seem to survive .


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Quick picture update, if you have any questions or comments on how I can improve, I would love to hear it.

First week









5 months later










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## ScubaSteve (Jun 30, 2012)

philipraposo1982 said:


> Quick picture update, if you have any questions or comments on how I can improve, I would love to hear it.
> 
> First week
> 
> ...



Wow...beautiful!

Bump: Love the current setup...


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Thank you very much.

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## JackMartins (Jul 26, 2016)

Amazing tank.
Your bolbitis heudelotii are beautiful!


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Thanks jack,

It's one of my favorite plants to keep that for sure. Slow growing, no maintenance, looks awesome!!

The color and leaf shape is so different then most other plants too.

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## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

Tank is looking GREAT!


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

Thank you immortal 

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## Mikevwall (Jul 27, 2015)

philipraposo1982 said:


> Quick picture update, if you have any questions or comments on how I can improve, I would love to hear it.
> 
> First week
> 
> ...


Your tank is beautiful! I am also a firm believer of, " if it ain't broke, don't fix it!"
That being said, I love geos, and all that they do. I'm an aquarist and have a large school under my care. I think your set up would be nice if you opened up the center of the the tank, made a "valley", if you will, in the center of the tank by moving the driftwood pieces further to the opposite ends.


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