# My former living room.



## Takeshi (Aug 24, 2013)

The development of MTS..


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

Takeshi said:


> The development of MTS..


I've got a problem it seems


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## crazymittens (Jun 4, 2012)

Lovin' the emersed growth, and the emersed pots! Yes, you have a problem - too many small tanks. You need just one tank...that is measured in hundreds of gallons.


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## HSA1255 (Apr 2, 2013)

Well that escalated quickly. -Anchorman


Your tank room is awesome. I really like the emerged 55 planter below the future turtle tank. I feel the pull to get another few tanks set up; my usual plan is to spread them around the house slowly so I can sorta fly under my husband's radar. Maybe I should suck it up and go for a big tank next to the TV in the living room... those planted square ripariums are amazing.


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## xmas_one (Feb 5, 2010)

Stage I MTS. I'm digging that emmersed tank, gotta get one going for myself.


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

My girlfriend thought I was crazy at first but se slowly came around and I had a few tanks in one room she moved the furniture out if the room and said here this is your fish and plant room. Now I know why I've been keeping her around .


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## acitydweller (Dec 28, 2011)

lol... forget the tanks, awesome girlfriend! LOL


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

acitydweller said:


> lol... forget the tanks, awesome girlfriend! LOL


Yes she is. Now to get her fully involved. Se likes going to fish auctions. She's already making arrangements for the next auction soon


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

Fish eye view


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## alipper (Nov 6, 2012)

I'm diggin that 75G man.


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

alipper said:


> I'm diggin that 75G man.


Thanks. I'm planning a big redo this winter I think


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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

I think you can squeeze in a few more tanks there easy-peasy ^_~


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

Oh I definitely can, there is an empty space under a 10 gallon and I have a double 10 gallon rack empty. One of the 20hs is just holding my daughters turtle until the new filter is cycled. I'm gonna get what I have going and see where I'm at


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## tithra (Dec 1, 2012)

what a good girlfriend you have! I have whittled away at my boyfriend for the last two years, starting with a 10 gallon, I have finally convinced him to allow a 75, 40, and 29 gallon in our one bedroom apartment. I'm working him up to a 200 gallon lol


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

tithra said:


> what a good girlfriend you have! I have whittled away at my boyfriend for the last two years, starting with a 10 gallon, I have finally convinced him to allow a 75, 40, and 29 gallon in our one bedroom apartment. I'm working him up to a 200 gallon lol


She's a keeper


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## TonyK (Aug 29, 2012)

I love the fish eye view of the room. All the tanks look great but, I think you have a serious addiction.


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

Serious addiction. To say the least. The fish eye lense was like $7 on eBay for my iPhone


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## johnson18 (Apr 29, 2011)

Wow! Looks pretty bad ass man!


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

johnson18 said:


> Wow! Looks pretty bad ass man!


Thanks man. It's coming along. Gonna be doing a 20l emersed soon. Any updates on things you have going on?


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## kcoscia (Jul 24, 2013)

TonyK said:


> I love the fish eye view of the room. All the tanks look great but, I think you have a serious addiction.


fish eye :flick:

can your girlfriend talk to mine? I'm slowly dragging her in. She loves her planted betta tank but hates that I don't stop talking about tanks hahaha


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## johnson18 (Apr 29, 2011)

tattooedfool83 said:


> Thanks man. It's coming along. Gonna be doing a 20l emersed soon. Any updates on things you have going on?


My tanks are all pretty much on auto at the moment. I've got lots of ideas but very little time to work on projects. I do need to do some planting this weekend in my 55s. I've got a bunch of Anubias plants(20+plants, just a few sp.) to add that have been floating in my 20L for at least a week.


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## sevenportsOFFICE (Aug 5, 2013)

Hahahaha, who needs a living room?


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

kcoscia said:


> fish eye :flick:
> 
> can your girlfriend talk to mine? I'm slowly dragging her in. She loves her planted betta tank but hates that I don't stop talking about tanks hahaha


Hey man I don't know how I did it. I came home one day and the room that had a few tanks in she moved the furniture out and said make it look good with tanks and plants. I couldn't argue with that


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

SevenportsJohn said:


> Hahahaha, who needs a living room?


Yeah for New England "double parlors". I can't wait to big a house now. I don't care what it has as long as it has a huge open basement


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

The 20l








Safe t sorb border and sifted miracle gro organic








Filling







I sifted it to look like this 







needs plants


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

johnson18 said:


> My tanks are all pretty much on auto at the moment.


How do you do that with ferts?


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

not sure he meant with ferts. he has a few kick ass emersed tanks and an awesome riparium. check out his tanks.


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## vvDO (Oct 18, 2010)

I think your trick to success in being granted the room and being allowed to keep it is... Your tidiness. That is one very organized fish room.


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## Saltydog33 (Sep 12, 2013)

Nice room dude im jealous:icon_cool dude i dont even have water in my tank yet and driving my fiance crazy talking about it. I am asuming MTS multiple tank syndrome?


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

vvDO said:


> I think your trick to success in being granted the room and being allowed to keep it is... Your tidiness. That is one very organized fish room.


Thanks man. It's getting there. The shelving units are surviving multiple purposes. Storage and hAnging lights


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

Saltydog33 said:


> Nice room dude im jealous:icon_cool dude i dont even have water in my tank yet and driving my fiance crazy talking about it. I am asuming MTS multiple tank syndrome?


And definetly mts. Badly


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## devilduck (May 9, 2012)

tattooedfool83 said:


> needs plants


Which filter is that? How do you like it?



Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk 4


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

devilduck said:


> Which filter is that? How do you like it?
> 
> 
> 
> Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk 4


It's a sun sun 602 or 603 and I don't like it. No flow, the attachments it has would only fit rimless tanks. I have a ghetto lowest rig outflow. Currently I have that filter a big aquaclear and 2 tiny power heads in there. I took at the media out of the filter except one sponge, I might just fill it will scrubbers or bio balls and see how that works. I have a few other bigger sun sun filters and they are awesome. This one Is a disappointment. I wonder if I could upgrade the pump. I shortened the hoses quite a bit and rigged it up next to the tank to try and improve flow


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## discoveringmypath (Oct 9, 2013)

Nice setup! I want this someday, right now I have a 55G and a 10G. I like how you used the shelving units for your tanks. I thought about doing this as well and then attaching the light fixtures to the bottom of the shelves. I could stack 3 or even 4 tanks on top of each other this way. Maybe tax return season I will do it.

Awesome room!


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

discoveringmypath said:


> Nice setup! I want this someday, right now I have a 55G and a 10G. I like how you used the shelving units for your tanks. I thought about doing this as well and then attaching the light fixtures to the bottom of the shelves. I could stack 3 or even 4 tanks on top of each other this way. Maybe tax return season I will do it.
> 
> Awesome room!


I attached one light to one shelf, this unit is 2 pieces for upright supports so I couldn't stack them the full height. But I like how this came out. Thanks for the kind words man.


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## Tiptop (Apr 15, 2013)

Well color me green with envy! Man, that is a rad fishroom you have!


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## johnson18 (Apr 29, 2011)

Hilde said:


> How do you do that with ferts?


Root tabs & less light! Hahaha!



tattooedfool83 said:


> not sure he meant with ferts. he has a few kick ass emersed tanks and an awesome riparium. check out his tanks.


Thanks man! I'll have to get some recent pics up! Your fish room is filling up nicely!


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## discoveringmypath (Oct 9, 2013)

I'm a newbie. Are your emersed tanks meant to speed up growth? 

If so, how is the transition for plants grown out of water to in water?


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

discoveringmypath said:


> I'm a newbie. Are your emersed tanks meant to speed up growth?
> 
> If so, how is the transition for plants grown out of water to in water?


It speeds up growth and it allows me to have an endless producing plAnt bank for myself. and from what I've found when I clip from the emersed tank and plant in a submerged tank there is no melt of any kind.


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## discoveringmypath (Oct 9, 2013)

tattooedfool83 said:


> It speeds up growth and it allows me to have an endless producing plAnt bank for myself. and from what I've found when I clip from the emersed tank and plant in a submerged tank there is no melt of any kind.


Nice, I was going to use my 10G for growing / propagating, I might have to look into this.

My goal is to eventually have a few tanks just for growing. Maybe 2 to 3 plants per tank. Also, try to breed different kind of fish in each tank. Just so I have that endless supply of plants so to speak. Emersed might be the way to go with some plants.


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

My emersed plant growth is awesome.


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

tattooedfool83 said:


> I clip from the emersed tank and plant in a submerged tank there is no melt of any kind.


I broke my tank down and moved my plants (Sags, Cobomba) to tank with very little water and they almost died. What plants did you do this with?


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## johnson18 (Apr 29, 2011)

discoveringmypath said:


> I'm a newbie. Are your emersed tanks meant to speed up growth?
> 
> If so, how is the transition for plants grown out of water to in water?


Some plants do have an adjustment period going from emersed growth to sub, luckily not many melt-like they do when transitioning from sub to emersed! Most sword plants will lose their emersed growth when transferred into a submersed environment. Certain stem plants look totally different when in their emersed state, often only recognizable to the trained/practiced individual. While emersed is great in that you've got an almost endless supply of plants to use(stems especially!), many people grow specific plants emersed as it's the only way they will bloom. Many of the folks that keep Cryptocoryne species grow them emersed for this reason. An emersed set up is really quite versatile in its function all dependent on how you set it up! Just like with filled tanks, you can create two totally different emersed environments by changing certain variables. I really enjoy the versatility of emersed, plus it allows me to focus on growing happy, healthy plants without dealing with the stupid fish. Hahahaha.... I guess I just like the flora better than the fauna.


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

My 20long planted and pressurized


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

20h with Kribs and fry








75 gallon to many fish to count. Slow growing but healthy 








10 gallon dirted tiger endlerS, Pygmy cories and cherry shrimp. Only a month old, filling in nice








10 gallon with a single male apisto macmasteri looking for a girlfriend.


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## Charrr89 (May 15, 2013)

tithra said:


> what a good girlfriend you have! I have whittled away at my boyfriend for the last two years, starting with a 10 gallon, I have finally convinced him to allow a 75, 40, and 29 gallon in our one bedroom apartment. I'm working him up to a 200 gallon lol


Lucky you ! I have a 1 br too. My other half would flip if I wanted to sneak in one more tank... Lol n i only have a 12 long and 11.4 mr aqua a 8 gallon resun and a 2.5... In our bedroom  balcony has an emersed tank. Lol


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

Charrr89 said:


> Lucky you ! I have a 1 br too. My other half would flip if I wanted to sneak in one more tank... Lol n i only have a 12 long and 11.4 mr aqua a 8 gallon resun and a 2.5... In our bedroom  balcony has an emersed tank. Lol


My girls all for it. I'm definitely super lucky. Between the tanks and the house plants she says the rooms beautiful. So I'm running with it


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## midlife_hobbyist (Jul 4, 2012)

OK- just read thru the thread and I had to subscribe....I like how you have your room set up....We also share some of the same tastes in fishtanks - Kribs, Apistos, pygmy cories, shrimp, plants etc....

As many have said, your girlfriend is a keeper. Treat her right- do not neglect her....

Much like a fish tank, neglect will only lead to bad outcomes; proper attention leads to happy outcomes!!! Buy some plants for your fishies? Buy some flowers for your girl!!!
Enough of my philosophy, I wont quit my day job to become a coach.

Keep up the good work!!


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## Da Plant Man (Apr 7, 2010)

Diggin' all your tanks bro! You need a proper rack though, in an 8ft section, you could easily have 24, 20g's. 

As for your girlfriend. Put a ring on it.


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

midlife_hobbyist said:


> OK- just read thru the thread and I had to subscribe....I like how you have your room set up....We also share some of the same tastes in fishtanks - Kribs, Apistos, pygmy cories, shrimp, plants etc....
> 
> As many have said, your girlfriend is a keeper. Treat her right- do not neglect her....
> 
> ...


Thanks!! Yeah I keep her happy with her amphibians and we have a 5 year old and have been together for like 7 years. So don't think she's going anywhere anytime soon. As long as it's not illegal she's totally into me doing it. 
I have 3 groups of krib fry, 7 juvenile albino Kribs now and a couple of various apistos. No breeding pairs yet. But soon


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## tithra (Dec 1, 2012)

Charrr89 said:


> Lucky you ! I have a 1 br too. My other half would flip if I wanted to sneak in one more tank... Lol n i only have a 12 long and 11.4 mr aqua a 8 gallon resun and a 2.5... In our bedroom  balcony has an emersed tank. Lol


Oh it has taken 2 yrs of begging to get my 75 gallon. I have found that small upgrades over time are what works for a reluctant partner. A jump from a 10 gallon to a 75 is too scary, but going from a 10 to a 29 to a 40 to a 75 is gradual enough that they barely notice haha. I have two tanks on a double stand in our kitchen and my 75 in the living room


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

Da Plant Man said:


> Diggin' all your tanks bro! You need a proper rack though, in an 8ft section, you could easily have 24, 20g's.
> 
> As for your girlfriend. Put a ring on it.


When I buy a house the basement is mine and that's what I'll do. I'm about maxed out with tank space currently so that means I'll start redoing my 75 this winter


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## johnson18 (Apr 29, 2011)

tattooedfool83 said:


> As long as it's not illegal she's totally into me doing it.


That's like all the good sh*t!


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

55 gallon turtle tank in the works fresh water change and replacement of wood. It's coming along slowly


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

Check out that sawtooth hygro. Perking up nicely


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## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

Do you have a scientific name for that hygro? It looks like mermaid weed to me. 
Nice collection of tanks. Took me a while with my wife to "transition" our living AND dinning rooms. If our guests don't like to eat at the kitchen table they are welcome to eat in the bathroom 

Oh wait, I have a 40B in one lol.

v3


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

OVT said:


> Do you have a scientific name for that hygro? It looks like mermaid weed to me.
> Nice collection of tanks. Took me a while with my wife to "transition" our living AND dinning rooms. If our guests don't like to eat at the kitchen table they are welcome to eat in the bathroom
> 
> Oh wait, I have a 40B in one lol.
> ...


Could be mermaid weed, been seeing it around as sawtooth hygro. I got it from firedupaquatics. 
Hey our home is our domain. I'm not into sports to much and this is my "man cave". Just so happens to be a central room in our place.


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

You are correct on the mermaid, cool plant though


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## Idrankwhat (Mar 20, 2013)

looking good, I like the fact tanks have replaced a tv in living room #2. I think I'll suggest the same thing to my wife. This could be farewell to you fellow PTers........someone come look for me if you don't hear from me in a coupe of days. She may have done me in.


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

Idrankwhat said:


> looking good, I like the fact tanks have replaced a tv in living room #2. I think I'll suggest the same thing to my wife. This could be farewell to you fellow PTers........someone come look for me if you don't hear from me in a coupe of days. She may have done me in.


Hahaha, will do.


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## Idrankwhat (Mar 20, 2013)

you seem like a Killswitch fan brutha.


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## Da Plant Man (Apr 7, 2010)

I can't quite tell from the pictures, but that hygro could be Hygrophila balsamica. 

Google it and see if it matches, Its quite poisonous when grown emersed and there have been cases of when submerging, it killing some sensitive fish in the aquarium. (Though I have never had that happen when I grew it)


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

Idrankwhat said:


> you seem like a Killswitch fan brutha.


Loved the first album. Slayer , hatebreed. "Born to bleed fighting to succeed". Love the pit


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

Da Plant Man said:


> I can't quite tell from the pictures, but that hygro could be Hygrophila balsamica.
> 
> Google it and see if it matches, Its quite poisonous when grown emersed and there have been cases of when submerging, it killing some sensitive fish in the aquarium. (Though I have never had that happen when I grew it)











Pretty sure it's this


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## Da Plant Man (Apr 7, 2010)

Your right. What made me doubt it was the color. I wasn't sure if that was the cameras white balence, or the plant. Balsamica definitely has more needle-like leaves. I'm used to seeing it in its emersed form, which looks similar to submersed Proserpinaca palustris.


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

I have submersed and emersed growth on the same stems. But thanks for the heads up, once it drops it's emersed leaves the whole stem should be like this. I'm also only running 1-t5ho as well so transition may be slow


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## Charrr89 (May 15, 2013)

tattooedfool83 said:


> My girls all for it. I'm definitely super lucky. Between the tanks and the house plants she says the rooms beautiful. So I'm running with it


Ha lucky lucky! Mines like turtles but she won't clean up.. Lol jus watch me do everything -_- she wouldn't even touch my fish tank or help me with a water change


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk - now Free


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## Charrr89 (May 15, 2013)

tithra said:


> Oh it has taken 2 yrs of begging to get my 75 gallon. I have found that small upgrades over time are what works for a reluctant partner. A jump from a 10 gallon to a 75 is too scary, but going from a 10 to a 29 to a 40 to a 75 is gradual enough that they barely notice haha. I have two tanks on a double stand in our kitchen and my 75 in the living room
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


That's an attempt I made. Lol we started with a 10. Got to a 29. N she freaked out when I brought a 55 home so I downgraded for a bit n had a bunch of 5 gallons n she seems ok for now... But she has considered my 12 long. I'm still attempting to eventually gon40b!


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

It's a gradual thing. I just have a super supportive girl. She says when I get an idea I. My head that I'm just the kind of person that will get it done some how some way. So she hopped on board and loves the passion I exhibit for the fish and plants.


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## Idrankwhat (Mar 20, 2013)

tattooedfool83 said:


> Loved the first album. Slayer , hatebreed. "Born to bleed fighting to succeed". Love the pit


Nice. I'm a huge fan of heavy with fantastic production. I thought As Daylight Dies was excellent. This hobby you might say is "My Curse". Check out Meshuggah if you haven't already. Amazing.


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

Idrankwhat said:


> Nice. I'm a huge fan of heavy with fantastic production. I thought As Daylight Dies was excellent. This hobby you might say is "My Curse". Check out Meshuggah if you haven't already. Amazing.


I'll definetly check them out. A lot if good shows come to New England so I make as many as I can. Not so many this past summer. And my fish/plant addiction has curbed my ticket buying addiction


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## Idrankwhat (Mar 20, 2013)

tattooedfool83 said:


> I'll definetly check them out. A lot if good shows come to New England so I make as many as I can. Not so many this past summer. And my fish/plant addiction has curbed my ticket buying addiction


understood. A $90 show ticket goes a long way for tank goodies!


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

Idrankwhat said:


> understood. A $90 show ticket goes a long way for tank goodies!


I'm a cl wheeler and dealer. Usually score tickets day of the show for a fraction of the cost. But it adds it either way.


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

Much much better filter thanks to a club member


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## Idrankwhat (Mar 20, 2013)

that looks excellent. I wish I could leave my tops open. Too many free roaming critters.


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

Idrankwhat said:


> that looks excellent. I wish I could leave my tops open. Too many free roaming critters.


I have a couple cats and a 5 year old. The cats could care less my 5 year old likes to flick the snails off the glass. Depending on what I end p keeping in here ill probally get a top at some point.


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## Idrankwhat (Mar 20, 2013)

any near drownings?


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

Idrankwhat said:


> any near drownings?


Just one of the cats when I first set up my 75, it was dark and he jumped up expecting a top on it. Quite comical, the five year old luckily is a bit brighter then the cat. She likes to feed the newts and axolotl anyways. Gets the bigger tweezers and the night crawlers and opens the top and plops them in.


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## Idrankwhat (Mar 20, 2013)

nice. We've got pets all over the house, in the kids rooms, in ours. Thanks goodness everyone has a love and appreciation for them. Gives me more room to expand!


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

Idrankwhat said:


> nice. We've got pets all over the house, in the kids rooms, in ours. Thanks goodness everyone has a love and appreciation for them. Gives me more room to expand!


That's the same situation here. Just need a dog now. But I don't wanna be the one stuck walking it all the time. That's what I tell my girl and daughter. Usually doesn't come up again for awhile


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

OVT said:


> Do you have a scientific name for that hygro? It looks like mermaid weed to me.


Yeh, that is mermaid weed, _Proserpinaca palustris._


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

Hilde said:


> Yeh, that is mermaid weed, _Proserpinaca palustris._


Yeah it's cool stuff, especially the color it gets


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## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

tattooedfool83 said:


> Just need a dog now.


You can borrow ours, just pay shipping 

v3


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

OVT said:


> You can borrow ours, just pay shipping
> 
> v3


He/ she looks huge. But we will get a dog eventually.


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

Couple of new residents of the tattooedfool abode. 
My girls new parrot fish named friendly that was sold to us for $10 due to being a bully. Hence the name. 








He's huge and brightly colored. 








My new double red, he has a girl in there but they are brand new and don't hang together yet. 















she's camera shy. They will be going into the newly planted 20long once it's all set to go. I have a newish canister filter running on it and an already established hob on it which will hopefully speed up the cycle a bit. But not soon enough. I'm impatient


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

The 55 a bit hazy from to thin of a cap in one pot, let the filter run the night and water change tomorrow.


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

http://youtu.be/hbPUyCTsVWU

Little walk thru tour.


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

Next 20 long. Just has clippings from my emersed tank so far. It's just safe t sorb substrate and I'll hit it with micros/macros once a week. Once everything roots I'll pull it and give it off and then go from there with it


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## johnson18 (Apr 29, 2011)

I digging the walk through video. Things are looking good! I love the fun of trying to pronounce scientific names... Hahaha... I've gotta start scouring Craigslist for some sort of shelving to put into my plant/tank room. Everything's on the floor, which doesn't bother me but I need to expand up! I've got so many spare tanks and parts I've been looking to see what I can add! Plus I need something to build an aquaponics system on!


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## crazydog64 (Jul 25, 2011)

Is there a basement under there? I may be the only person thinking this but if I calculated correctly you have 280 gallons of water in that room which is about 2,337 lbs of weight in one room.


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

johnson18 said:


> I digging the walk through video. Things are looking good! I love the fun of trying to pronounce scientific names... Hahaha... I've gotta start scouring Craigslist for some sort of shelving to put into my plant/tank room. Everything's on the floor, which doesn't bother me but I need to expand up! I've got so many spare tanks and parts I've been looking to see what I can add! Plus I need something to build an aquaponics system on!


Check out freecycle.org and put a posting up to looking for shelving. U will get all kinds of responses


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

There is a basement underneath, that's why the bigger tanks are spread out how they are. The house has been expanded on and in the basement it has concrete rooms like it was for storage or something. So it creates more load bearing walls. It also has double floor joists in this room for whatever reason. It's solid, I wouldn't have went crazy otherwise. The heaviest tanks are located where they are for a reason.


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

All the updates are more so I can track my own progress with various tanks


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)




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## johnson18 (Apr 29, 2011)

Things are looking good! Your emersed tank looks really full. Have you started getting any crypt spathes? I just noticed yesterday that my C. pontederiifolia had one that was already dying. Any updated shots of your set up?


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

johnson18 said:


> Things are looking good! Your emersed tank looks really full. Have you started getting any crypt spathes? I just noticed yesterday that my C. pontederiifolia had one that was already dying. Any updated shots of your set up?


I haven't seen any spathes unfortunately, but I also have been paying little attention to the tank and it has house plants in front of it sucking up the light. The bacopa had a lot of purple flowers recently. I'm kind of dreading it but everything needs to be repotted. The root systems are crazy long if u look under the egg crate. I'll take an updated pic tonight if I can


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## johnson18 (Apr 29, 2011)

tattooedfool83 said:


> I haven't seen any spathes unfortunately, but I also have been paying little attention to the tank and it has house plants in front of it sucking up the light. The bacopa had a lot of purple flowers recently. I'm kind of dreading it but everything needs to be repotted. The root systems are crazy long if u look under the egg crate. I'll take an updated pic tonight if I can



I know what you mean, I haven't really paid any attention to my emersed tank either. I've caught a few things at the very last minute, which is almost worse then totally missing something. 

It's rare not to see Bacopa blooming in my tank. lol. 

I probably wouldn't repot unless your plants are close to filling the pots. I might be wrong, but I wouldn't worry too much about some of the roots out the bottom. I've got several pots that have root growth out the bottom but are only just starting to have runners off the main plant.


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## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

tattooedfool83 said:


>


I was curious, I have those same racks I believe and was wondering what you replaced the particle boards with, also do you see any bowing/bending of shelves?


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

lamiskool said:


> I was curious, I have those same racks I believe and was wondering what you replaced the particle boards with, also do you see any bowing/bending of shelves?


I replaced the particle board with 1/2" plywood, I just bought a 4x8 sheet and had it cut down at lowes. Then I painted the boards black. I see no bowing what so ever. And I have 3-10s on one rack and all 20longs on the others


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)




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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

It's coming down to that I'm gonna have to break down most of my tanks.  found out my girl and I are having twins so I'll need the space and won't have the time. The plan is to keep probally 4-20longs but solely for apistos. This is gonna start happening within the month so I'll have things for sale and lots and lots of plants and fish.


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## johnson18 (Apr 29, 2011)

Oh man, that's a bummer and super exciting all at the same time! Congrats on the forthcoming new additions! It's funny how quickly life & our priorities can change.


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## RWaters (Nov 12, 2003)

Hey, congratulations! Too bad you'll have to give up so many tanks, but just think - in a few years you can get a tank for each of your kids!


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

I tried that with my 6 year old. She could careless. She likes when there are babies in the tanks but she's over that just as quick. I'll probally keep a rack of 20longs. I have a great girl and she is trying to figure out how I can keep the tanks. But if I get rid of the 75 and 55s it will free up a bunch of room. But there goes my emersed tank. I'll have to do a crypt only tank in that case. We will see what the future brings.


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## discoveringmypath (Oct 9, 2013)

Congrats on the twins! Kids trump fish tanks anyday, but Ya sad to see the tank room get shut down. 

Twins sound awesome and scary at the same time! Good luck with that  we have a 3 year old and another on The way (feb).

Congrats again and hit me up if you have some cheap plant packages. I'll be looking on the sales thread as well...




Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk


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## alipper (Nov 6, 2012)

Congrats man and good luck. If you're looking to unload some driftwood/shrimp, let me know.


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

alipper said:


> Congrats man and good luck. If you're looking to unload some driftwood/shrimp, let me know.



I'm gonna be breaking down the 75, so when you come they town again let me know and I'll give you the Amano shrimps I have.


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## johnson18 (Apr 29, 2011)

I'll have to keep an eye out for a few of those emersed species!


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## Idrankwhat (Mar 20, 2013)

Congrats man! Wow twins. That's awesome. I've cut down on tanks many times over the years for the kids but opportunities always present themselves and let's face it-setting up new tanks is fun. Good luck Brutha. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

Idrankwhat said:


> Congrats man! Wow twins. That's awesome. I've cut down on tanks many times over the years for the kids but opportunities always present themselves and let's face it-setting up new tanks is fun. Good luck Brutha.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



Much appreciated man. Double trouble is on its way, very crazy. Excited and terrified at the same time. Maybe in a year or so we can move to a bigger place, with an unfinished basement and it all can start again. But like I said I'm gonna keep a few tanks to fulfill my tank junky side. But all the big tanks have to go and I'm gonna try and consolidate tanks Onto two racks. So we will see. But I'll be making these moves within the month to start prepping for the new arrivals


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

Some updates

20 gallon long redone, currently holds 7 rummynose tetra and once my Double red apistos spawn again the parents will be moved into here.

3-10s each holding different apistos, double reds, macmasteri and "rotpunkt" and below is the 20 long with leucistic newts that regularly lay eggs but havent had any succesfull hatches.

Next is what was my double 55s were on, i got to keep my 55 gallon emersed tank underneath and on top i can keep either 2-20highs which one houses my turtle and the other is unknown as of yet

Next is my 20long that was orignally for clippings, but is safe t sorb substrate and is dosed micros and macros once a week each, great growth out of everything and surprisingly very little maintenance.

Finally is my 10 gallon dirted that is no maintenance, just top offs and feeding, i just did a huge trim on it and it could use another. These are the tanks i get to keep now with the space i have. So im happy about that


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

http://youtu.be/cx-oASDtcTk
apistogramma alacrina "rotpunkt" free swimming fry

http://youtu.be/WvrA0P1F-0A
double reds fry


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## midlife_hobbyist (Jul 4, 2012)

Congratulations on the twins and Congrats on the apisto fry.......
Nice camera work!


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

Not to shabby with an iPhone. These are very sketchy fish so it's hard to get them. There is a single male macmasteri that I have to get out if this tank. Gonna be a challenge


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## crazymittens (Jun 4, 2012)

Twins...jeepers! Emersed growth is looking great, but I'll second the thought that kids trump tanks. Just go with one HUGE tank - emersed and immersed!

For what you'd pay to do a rack of 20Ls, you could probably just as easily do a pre-owned 125 or 180, keep the 75 as a sump/refugium. After selling the spare equipment that came with mine, the net cost was $50! Do eeeet!


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

crazymittens said:


> Twins...jeepers! Emersed growth is looking great, but I'll second the thought that kids trump tanks. Just go with one HUGE tank - emersed and immersed!
> 
> For what you'd pay to do a rack of 20Ls, you could probably just as easily do a pre-owned 125 or 180, keep the 75 as a sump/refugium. After selling the spare equipment that came with mine, the net cost was $50! Do eeeet!



Well if I had the skill that u had then that would be a no brainer. But as I had the racks and 20longs already it's what I gotta run with. The 75, and 55 are stored in the garage until a future date that I can go wild with them.


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

Added some new fish to my apisto collection. Lfs had them marked as cacatuoides, but they are definetly agassizi. Just not sure of which type yet. Waiting on a response on another forum. But initially got 3 females, returned a female and got a male. 
Current list:
Apistogramma Double red cacatuoides pair spawn regularly. 
Apistogramma alacrina "rotpunkt" turned out to be a pair. Currently have week old fry
Apistogramma macmasteri. 2 males waiting on females for them. 
Apistogramma agassizi. 1 male 2 females. Females are fighting over him. 








Male agassizi








Female agassizi 








One of my male macmasteri. He's a beast. 








Female rotpunkt. Guarding her fry. 

Really liking apistos if you can't tell. Dwarf cichlids in general. Have a 20high in the works for a couple pairs of gbrs for my office at work.


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

So it's not my livingroom but I set a tank up in my office at work this morning
20h
Activ flora substrate
100w heater
Penn plex canister filter. This thing just won't die. So now has been rehomed to work
24" finnex planted+ fixture

Flora
S repens
Rotala indica
Rotala walichi
Hygrofilia "angustifolia" I believe 
Kompact hygro 
Jungle Val's. 
Anubias barteri v barteri 
Will add more plants

Fauna
Currently a juvie krib that got siphoned out by accident when I took 5 gallons of water from one of my tanks
But it's gonna have Bolivian rams and prolly rummynose tetras and some ottos


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## johnson18 (Apr 29, 2011)

Your tanks are all looking great! You've got some nice emersed growth going on. I really like the looks of your 20L's and dirt 10.

The office tank is a nice start, I'm sure it'll look great once it has time to fill in!


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

The 10 gallon dirted is the easiest tank ever. I just top the water off and feed. The tiger endlerS are alowly picking off my shrimp in there. Go figure. 








Emersed pic from yesterday. 

I've gotta add more plants to the work tank. Any suggestions?


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## johnson18 (Apr 29, 2011)

tattooedfool83 said:


> Emersed pic from yesterday.




Does the plant along the right side have yellowing leaves or are the newer leaves just a brighter green? Might be time to slip a new root tab down into the substrate. I recently had to do this in my tanks. One of the larger A. barteri nana was starting to yellow slightly around the newer leaf edges & the new leaf didn't seem to be turning to a darker shade of green in the time it should. I think it might be time to do the same thing to a few different pots of crypts too.



Looks like some good overall growth. Any spathes from the crypts yet?


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

I've found in my set up with the Anubias that when new leaves come they are yellow and then turn deep green. But maybe I'll stick a root tab in and see what happens


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)




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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

http://youtu.be/YOtNdEfokfk


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## TECKSPEED (Jan 2, 2013)

Sweet video, how is that finnex fixture working for you?


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## johnson18 (Apr 29, 2011)

Lookin good man! Nice video!


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## NanoDave (Feb 25, 2013)

Looking good!


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

I like the finnex fixture. I'll take a couple pics of that tank today at work and post them.


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)




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## NanoDave (Feb 25, 2013)

Justin

I made a quick video of the breeder box. I'm almost done with it. I'll bring it over tomorrow with the oto's.


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

That's awesome man


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

Crypt spathes








Florida sunset 








Newly forming one on a different crypt


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## johnson18 (Apr 29, 2011)

Nice man! Were you able to get any shots once they opened? It's pretty exciting finding that you've got a spathe forming for the first time!


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

The Florida already collapsed. But I've got two spathes in one pot at two different phases. I'll see if I can get a shot


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

The second pic is a little hard to see. But u can see a new spathe coming up. The very point of it is against the older spathe


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## jhays79 (Mar 28, 2012)

Any updates?


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