# A Jewel of a Tank



## Axelrodi202

They just don't make tanks like that anymore. :icon_neut How much did it cost?


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## davrx

Axelrodi202 said:


> They just don't make tanks like that anymore. :icon_neut How much did it cost?


Lets just say that its rarity commanded a premium price. I had a chance at one of these in the 8 gal. silver model from the same collector but I couldn't afford both. Probably last time I'll ever see a complete one of these for sale. I've seen a couple on ebay over the years but they didn't have the original glass which would be nearly impossible to find since they haven't made it for the last 50 or 60 years.


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## ValMM

I don't know where I would even begin to look for something like that. It's beautiful.


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## davrx

ValMM said:


> I don't know where I would even begin to look for something like that. It's beautiful.


Thanks, I did years worth of looking online and I happened to locate a man who has collected vintage tanks for over 30 years. I kept in touch with him via email, actually more like pestered him, and it finally paid off. He had duplicates of this tank so he was willing to part with one as he had run out of space. Pity he doesn't have a web site devoted to his collection. I'd love to see what he has.


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## shrimpnmoss

awesome


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## tuffgong

Great looking tank and stand. It seems like your patience and perseverance is paying off. I'm really digging this setup.


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## davrx

shrimpnmoss said:


> awesome


Thanks


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## davrx

tuffgong said:


> Great looking tank and stand. It seems like your patience and perseverance is paying off. I'm really digging this setup.


Thank you!


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## radioman

That tank is amazing. Even unscaped it still looks great!


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## davrx

radioman said:


> That tank is amazing. Even unscaped it still looks great!


Thank you. I'm curious about your 'Radioman' user name. Do you collect radios or are you a ham? I used to be heavily into collecting antique radio sets.


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## madness

Another totally unique set-up.

Love it.


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## Francis Xavier

That's pretty awesome man. Totally need a cool scape next (those plants do look really healthy though! I also find myself going "you know, that jungle is still pretty cool")


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## MissCoryCat

I don't care too much for the thick casing around the tank, but I LOVE the stand!


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## davrx

madness said:


> Another totally unique set-up.
> 
> Love it.


Thank you thank you


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## davrx

MissCoryCat said:


> I don't care too much for the thick casing around the tank, but I LOVE the stand!


Lol, thanks


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## davrx

Francis Xavier said:


> That's pretty awesome man. Totally need a cool scape next (those plants do look really healthy though! I also find myself going "you know, that jungle is still pretty cool")


Thank you much


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## BruceF

You certainly have quite a collection of tanks. Does the glass in this tank come out? Great work.


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## Quentin

Really cool. I like your lighting set up complete with the pulley and rope. Goes with the antiuqe vibe.


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## davrx

BruceF said:


> You certainly have quite a collection of tanks. Does the glass in this tank come out? Great work.


Thank you. The glass will only come out if you remove all the old black tar sealant.


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## davrx

Quentin said:


> Really cool. I like your lighting set up complete with the pulley and rope. Goes with the antiuqe vibe.


Thanks, that's the look I was going for.


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## madness

It isn't the correct period or the correct style but in a way this set-up reminds me of steampunk stuff - period pieces that manage to integrate modern aspects without losing the period feel.

Hard to express what I mean but seeing the full tank set-up it just evokes a really distinct feeling.


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## davrx

madness said:


> It isn't the correct period or the correct style but in a way this set-up reminds me of steampunk stuff - period pieces that manage to integrate modern aspects without losing the period feel.
> 
> Hard to express what I mean but seeing the full tank set-up it just evokes a really distinct feeling.


I know steampunk. If you look closely at my signature photo you'll see a custom steampunk keyboard I had created for me by the same artist that did the keyboard on Warehouse 13. I had him create what we called "The Alchemist" and it was the first and I believe only keyboard he made with stained glass lit ends. Unfortunately this keyboard would not function with my mac to make the lights come on so I returned it to him and it was resold. I got my money back plus some extra for my help in the key designs.


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## driftwoodhunter

The whole thing is very cool - I've never seen a tank like that, I didn't know they were ever made that way? I am totally sold on the cleat/pulley system for your light. Very well thought out!


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## davrx

driftwoodhunter said:


> The whole thing is very cool - I've never seen a tank like that, I didn't know they were ever made that way? I am totally sold on the cleat/pulley system for your light. Very well thought out!


Thank you very much for your kind words.


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## kalawai2000

I love it...that stand looks like our stand at work. I work in a fine jewelry store that has a Egyptian/Hawaiian theme. I know it sounds funny but it works Does the guy have the other still?


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## davrx

kalawai2000 said:


> I love it...that stand looks like our stand at work. I work in a fine jewelry store that has a Egyptian/Hawaiian theme. I know it sounds funny but it works Does the guy have the other still?



Thanks. No, I had first dibs at both tanks and chose the smaller bronze one because I didn't like the silver finish. As soon as I turned it down another collector bought it soon afterwards. They are just that rare.


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## radioman

davrx said:


> Thank you. I'm curious about your 'Radioman' user name. Do you collect radios or are you a ham? I used to be heavily into collecting antique radio sets.


I love listening to late night radio shows and scanners. I used to listen to some HAM radio operators out in California through my itouch too. I also have bought some old radio's from garage sales through the years, not the really old ones though. All in all I love the idea of radio and how you can pick it up almost anywhere for free.


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## ua hua

That is a very cool and rare tank you have there. I never look in the planted nano section so I would have never seen this, but Radioman put a link in another thread. I wish there was more of those vintage tanks around. My dad used to have a vintage tank similar to that when I was young but his was a little bigger and really ornate. Is that all the original glass and slate bottom or has it been redone? By the way there is a replica of the tank you have on ebay for $750. Here is the item # if you want to check it out.

Item number: 120736334045


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## madness

davrx said:


> I know steampunk. If you look closely at my signature photo you'll see a custom steampunk keyboard I had created for me by the same artist that did the keyboard on Warehouse 13. I had him create what we called "The Alchemist" and it was the first and I believe only keyboard he made with stained glass lit ends. Unfortunately this keyboard would not function with my mac to make the lights come on so I returned it to him and it was resold. I got my money back plus some extra for my help in the key designs.


Wow.

Would love to see a picture of that.

As rare as these are I guess that we are fortunate that atleast one of the owners is willing to share the photos with people.

Seems sort of a shame to collect up rare and beautiful stuff and then squirrel it away somewhere that no one really sees it.


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## davrx

ua hua said:


> That is a very cool and rare tank you have there. I never look in the planted nano section so I would have never seen this, but Radioman put a link in another thread. I wish there was more of those vintage tanks around. My dad used to have a vintage tank similar to that when I was young but his was a little bigger and really ornate. Is that all the original glass and slate bottom or has it been redone? By the way there is a replica of the tank you have on ebay for $750. Here is the item # if you want to check it out.
> 
> Item number: 120736334045


Thank you. Too bad your Dad didn't keep the tank. Do you have any photos of it? The Jewel company made some really ornate ones. One even had lighted stained glass ends. This has all the original glass and slate bottom. Unfortunately the glass has several scratches in it but this happens when tanks are over 80 years old. I saw the replica, did you see that it's not even sealed? Thanks for the link.


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## davrx

madness said:


> Wow.
> 
> Would love to see a picture of that.
> 
> As rare as these are I guess that we are fortunate that atleast one of the owners is willing to share the photos with people.
> 
> Seems sort of a shame to collect up rare and beautiful stuff and then squirrel it away somewhere that no one really sees it.


O.K. here's some photos of the keyboard:


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## davrx

*Update*

Just took these photos of the newly rescaped tank: Jewel of the Nile


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## Newman

tank and setup looks antique and i love it, but fish choice look volatile.
A male and female betta in close quarters, open top and two SAEs? X_X


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## Penny

Newman said:


> tank and setup looks antique and i love it, but fish choice look volatile.
> A male and female betta in close quarters, open top and two SAEs? X_X


Agreed... I hope your bettas get along and I hope that they are not jumpers! Nice tank though, I do think this scape suits it better than the first.


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## nonconductive

your desk is completely steam-punk


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## davrx

Actually 3 SAE's, three female Endlers, male and female bettas, and some Tylomelania snails. The two bettas mated once but I think one or both must have eaten the bubble nest as it was gone the day after. I probably should have removed them from the tank after they mated. I understand that you're not supposed to leave them together but these two seem to do fine. The SAE's were removed from my 60 gal. cube because they had become too aggressive. They had started attacking other fish, specifically some swordtails. I'm surprised as SAE's aren't supposed to do that. I should probably have gone with just Otocinclus but I don't know if they're as good at removing algae as the Siamese Algae Eaters. 
I'm going to add some male Endlers into the tank later today.
No jumpers yet but if they do our Miniature Schnauzer will be waiting to eat them. I caught her one day barking at one of my tanks right up next to the glass which spooked the fish. Sure enough one of the fish jumped out and she promptly ate it! Amazing how smart these dogs are. Now she either can't get to the tanks or they're covered.


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## davrx

nonconductive said:


> your desk is completely steam-punk


Thanks, I love the steampunk look.


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## Newman

davrx said:


> Actually 3 SAE's, three female Endlers, male and female bettas, and some Tylomelania snails. The two bettas mated once but I think one or both must have eaten the bubble nest as it was gone the day after. I probably should have removed them from the tank after they mated. I understand that you're not supposed to leave them together but these two seem to do fine. The SAE's were removed from my 60 gal. cube because they had become too aggressive. They had started attacking other fish, specifically some swordtails. I'm surprised as SAE's aren't supposed to do that. I should probably have gone with just Otocinclus but I don't know if they're as good at removing algae as the Siamese Algae Eaters.
> I'm going to add some male Endlers into the tank later today.
> No jumpers yet but if they do our Miniature Schnauzer will be waiting to eat them. I caught her one day barking at one of my tanks right up next to the glass which spooked the fish. Sure enough one of the fish jumped out and she promptly ate it! Amazing how smart these dogs are. Now she either can't get to the tanks or they're covered.


Generally you remove the female after they mate, and leave the male with the eggs for 3 days until they all hatch. then remove him. I bred plakats before, and its difficult to take care of any fry in a non-breeding setup (because the fry shouldn't really be moved around and should stay in the tank they are born in until they grow up.) a Filter and gravel would not be good for fry, so personally i would not attempt to breed bettas in this tank, and would have done as you did (treat the tank as a regular community.)

I too left a pair of bettas in my 40 gal planted tank to try to see whether the female could consistently get away from the male via the dense vagitation offered in my tank, and live with a male. they did decently for a few months, there was some chasing but eventually the female disappeared so i assume she jumped out (open top tank like yours). I still have that male in the 40 (he is about 2.5 years old) and he is doing well on his own.

Aggressive SAEs is something I have seen because I started keeping them as a school of 5 tiny individuals in this same 40 gallon planted tank i was talking about. As they grew, they became more aggressive, but all aggression was contained withing their group. they did not touch other fish. Gradually i lost 2 of them so I have 3 left today (the first one was completely outcometed for food by the others, got stunted, and starved to death i think. the second one must have been chased out of the tank because he disappeared one day too.) As a trio they still contain their aggression withing their own group, not touching any other fish. These SAEs were raised in a planted community setting with fish like swordtails, a platy, mollies, oddly enough one goldfish (DOH), corydoras, otocinclus, and an angelfish throughout their lives in my tank. I do not believe they attacked any of those fish ever, except maybe taking small nips at the fins of the corydoras because both species occupy the same bottom tank level constantly.
All this leads up to my conclusion about SAEs - they do better in groups (I bet you started with a group too) and will contain their aggression within that group. possibly when their numbers fall down to 2-3 individuals, they might turn on other fish. The SAE is a peaceful fish only while its young and small. once they grow to a good size, they do become very...arrogant lol.
SAEs eat everything you feed to your tank, but they do take care of the algae as well. So as a group of around 5+ individuals, they can be a nice addition to a tank. That is what I think.

How large are your SAEs and for how long have you had these particular individuals? Perhaps you could get a school of them going in your 60 gal again. That should keep the aggression down.


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## davrx

I started with a dozen young ones in the 60gal. tank which is heavily planted. They have been aggressive towards each other once they became adults and then about 6 mo. ago a few of them started to turn on other fish. The three that are in this tank were the most aggressive. They seem to only be aggressive towards each other in this tank and I haven't witnessed the ones left behind in the 60gal. attacking other fish. I have had otos in the past and never witnessed any aggression from them but I never had enough of them survive long enough to get a school large enough to keep the algae at bay. For some reason otos seem to be rather delicate to me.


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## Newman

otos are interesting and extremely peaceful fish. they certainly do not eat as much algae as an SAE can, but they can choose to eat more algae than an SAE because that is all they usually eat! Confusing sentence, i know 
Supporting enough otos to keep all algae away is complicated by the event of them all starving to death once all the algae is gone. there is no guarantee that they will accept algae wafers as supplement, and some inevitably will die, driving your overall population down. I guess the best thing you could try is to get the more common and hardy species of oto like vittatus or something like that...(I forget exactly which ones those are). 
As for the most aggressive SAEs in this tank, have you thought about selling them on AquaBid? If you have no larger tank to put them in as they grow, you might as well sell them while they haven't jumped this tank yet.
I bet its cool to see all the other SAEs in your 60 gal though, starting with a dozen in awesome!


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## PaulG

I wonder if anyone/company would be willing to make reproductions of this tank? I shouldn't think it would be too difficult.


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## davrx

PaulG said:


> I wonder if anyone/company would be willing to make reproductions of this tank? I shouldn't think it would be too difficult.


It's already been done. See ebay 120736334045.


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## davrx

Supporting enough otos to keep all algae away is complicated by the event of them all starving to death once all the algae is gone. there is no guarantee that they will accept algae wafers as supplement, and some inevitably will die, driving your overall population down.

O.K. that's why I've had such a hard time keeping them. I thought they were omnivores like the SAE's.


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## ua hua

davrx said:


> Thank you. Too bad your Dad didn't keep the tank. Do you have any photos of it? The Jewel company made some really ornate ones. One even had lighted stained glass ends. This has all the original glass and slate bottom. Unfortunately the glass has several scratches in it but this happens when tanks are over 80 years old. I saw the replica, did you see that it's not even sealed? Thanks for the link.


Yeah I wish he still had it but he sold all of his tanks back in the early 80's. My dad used to have 40+ tanks and bred all kinds of fish ranging from swordtails, angelfish, South American and African cichlids. I have no clue if he has a picture of the tank or not, if he did it would be on slides. For those of you to young to know before they put pictures on cd's or these little plastic cards the size of your thumbnail people had the pleasure of sitting on their couch and viewing rolls of crappy, grainy pictures.LOL. That being said I just want to say this is one of my favorite tanks on this forum. It's not what everyone else has(ADA) and it has history and a style that is timeless. Maybe because it reminds me of the one my dad use to have. I love everything about how you have this setup from the light pendant to the Egyptian style cabinet. Now that you put the obelisk and statue it finishes the inside and fits the style perfectly. Thank you for showing the members of this forum what the tanks of the past used to look like and doing something very cool with it. By the way that keyboard is really cool also. How long have you been into Alchemy?


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## davrx

ua hua said:


> Yeah I wish he still had it but he sold all of his tanks back in the early 80's. My dad used to have 40+ tanks and bred all kinds of fish ranging from swordtails, angelfish, South American and African cichlids. I have no clue if he has a picture of the tank or not, if he did it would be on slides. For those of you to young to know before they put pictures on cd's or these little plastic cards the size of your thumbnail people had the pleasure of sitting on their couch and viewing rolls of crappy, grainy pictures.LOL. That being said I just want to say this is one of my favorite tanks on this forum. It's not what everyone else has(ADA) and it has history and a style that is timeless. Maybe because it reminds me of the one my dad use to have. I love everything about how you have this setup from the light pendant to the Egyptian style cabinet. Now that you put the obelisk and statue it finishes the inside and fits the style perfectly. Thank you for showing the members of this forum what the tanks of the past used to look like and doing something very cool with it. By the way that keyboard is really cool also. How long have you been into Alchemy?


Thank you so much! Actually in a way I'm a modern alchemist, I'm a pharmacist. Actually older than alchemy but they were similar during the middle ages. The Rx was originally the eye of Horus from ancient Egypt that's why I have the two together in my avatar.


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## shrimpnmoss

Wow...that's the sickest keyboard I've ever seen...your tank looks awesome too...


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## Alyssa

The entire thing is GORGEOUS! <3


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## davrx

shrimpnmoss said:


> Wow...that's the sickest keyboard I've ever seen...your tank looks awesome too...


Thanks


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## davrx

Alyssa said:


> The entire thing is GORGEOUS! <3


Thank you!


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## mcqueenesq

Simply inspirational. The tank would be right at home on the Nautilus.


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## davrx

mcqueenesq said:


> Simply inspirational. The tank would be right at home on the Nautilus.


Thank you. Yes it would probably look good with all the brass fixtures within the Nautilus.


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## raven_wilde

LOVE it! Really, truly beautiful the way you have worked the aquarium into the entire decor of the space.

Got any links around the internet to more information on Jewel tanks? This has thoroughly piqued my interest and I want to see what other styles they made/possibly begin a new obsession.

Also, any idea what kind of lighting setup would have been originally used on a tank like this?


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## davrx

raven_wilde said:


> LOVE it! Really, truly beautiful the way you have worked the aquarium into the entire decor of the space.
> 
> Got any links around the internet to more information on Jewel tanks? This has thoroughly piqued my interest and I want to see what other styles they made/possibly begin a new obsession.
> 
> Also, any idea what kind of lighting setup would have been originally used on a tank like this?


I don't know what kind of lighting setup that would have been used, lighting only came with Jewel's high end tanks. I assume a tank like mine would have been placed in a sunny location or used a light similar to what I'm currently using over the tank. Here's some pages from the Jewel catalog so you can see their more expensive and top of the line tanks, mine is the No. 90:


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## shrimpnmoss

Wow...envy...how old are Jewel Tanks?


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## davrx

shrimpnmoss said:


> Wow...envy...how old are Jewel Tanks?


These are 1920's - 1930's I believe.


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## shrimpnmoss

I guess tanks back then were filterless huh? They all look like they use plants as the filter.


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## davrx

shrimpnmoss said:


> I guess tanks back then were filterless huh? They all look like they use plants as the filter.


I've seen photos of some of their models with a center overflow pipe so they may have come with some kind of pump or filter system probably for extra.


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## shrimpnmoss

lol..I just googled Jewel Aquarium + Vintage....no hits...


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## davrx

shrimpnmoss said:


> lol..I just googled Jewel Aquarium + Vintage....no hits...


I had a tough time finding anything about them too. As far as I know these images from the catalog are the only ones you'll find on the net.


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## shrimpnmoss

ohh..well...whatever...I love your style man...all the cool vintage/antique toys you have in your pics....

if I may...that Mac looks out of place on your desk....everything is vintage looking except the modern polish aluminum Mac in your face...you should make it brass or something...


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## davrx

shrimpnmoss said:


> ohh..well...whatever...I love your style man...all the cool vintage/antique toys you have in your pics....
> 
> if I may...that Mac looks out of place on your desk....everything is vintage looking except the modern polish aluminum Mac in your face...you should make it brass or something...


Thanks, if I had a chunk of change I didn't know what to do with I'd have Richard Nagy make me a computer like the keyboard he did for me. Check out some of his work:
http://www.datamancer.net/


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## davrx

*Bizarre Antique Aquarium*

This has got to be one of the strangest aquariums I've ever seen. Bird cage on the bottom, aquarium on top. Bubble inside aquarium so bird can fly up into the aquarium giving the illusion it's in the water with the fishes!


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## davrx

Here's a photo I found of another Jewel tank similar to the one on page 37 of the pages I uploaded from their catalog but this one has shell lights at each of the six points of the tank. So there were probably extras you could have added to tanks at extra charge.


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## shrimpnmoss

uggg....*drools*....that last tank pick is AWESOME!!!!


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## davrx

shrimpnmoss said:


> uggg....*drools*....that last tank pick is AWESOME!!!!


I agree but the place that has this on display polished the brass so much that it looks like a reproduction. I don't think this one has ever been reproduced but I would think the original patina would have looked better. Nevertheless a stunning tank!


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## shrimpnmoss

That birdcage/tank is wacky...can you imagine trying to service that thing?

and what is that behind the hexagon tank?...looks like a vintage appetizer dish or cake holder...lol...


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## comet

Sweet tank set up! I have to ask you where you found that Egyptian stand for it. Amazing.


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## ua hua

davrx said:


> Here's a photo I found of another Jewel tank similar to the one on page 37 of the pages I uploaded from their catalog but this one has shell lights at each of the six points of the tank. So there were probably extras you could have added to tanks at extra charge.


 
Where is this picture from? Those are all old aquariums and equipment. I would love to see some of these vintage tank goods.


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## davrx

comet said:


> Sweet tank set up! I have to ask you where you found that Egyptian stand for it. Amazing.


Design Toscano


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## davrx

ua hua said:


> Where is this picture from? Those are all old aquariums and equipment. I would love to see some of these vintage tank goods.


The Florida Aquarium in the Tampa Bay area.


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## davrx

*Update*

Just took these photos, added new plants:


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## Newman

male's fins getting ripped by the female?


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## davrx

I didn't see which fish/fishes did it but I suspect it's the SAE's.


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## LucyLoofa

I suspect it's the female destroying the male. Lovely lovely tank, but I highly recommend moving the male into his own tank and the female into her own tank. Here's the forum I'm a member of for bettas and the people there really know their stuff. They are experienced aquarists and are very knowledgeable on many subjects (even planted tanks).
Give the sticky on the proper care for bettas a good read.
It's surprising what you'll learn!
Bettas are extrodinary fish in many amazing tail types and colors.
www.bettafish.com


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## davrx

LucyLoofa said:


> I suspect it's the female destroying the male. Lovely lovely tank, but I highly recommend moving the male into his own tank and the female into her own tank. Here's the forum I'm a member of for bettas and the people there really know their stuff. They are experienced aquarists and are very knowledgeable on many subjects (even planted tanks).
> Give the sticky on the proper care for bettas a good read.
> It's surprising what you'll learn!
> Bettas are extrodinary fish in many amazing tail types and colors.
> www.bettafish.com


Thanks, it's possible but I've never seen the female so much as chase the male, it's always been the other way around. However, the three SAE's were originally placed in this tank because they were too aggressive in my 60 gal. I decided to give them another chance before I gave them to someone locally.


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## LucyLoofa

Did it work out or did you have to give them away?
And you're welcome.  I like that forum an awful lot and everyone is always helpful when I need advice. Much like this one. I was actually looking around at an antique store today and saw some tanks similar to yours, but definitely not Jewl tanks. Gosh they were pretty though. Also, that picture of your desk area is very cool! Nice nice nice! I can't wait to dress up an apartment like that when I finally get the money.


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## davrx

LucyLoofa said:


> Did it work out or did you have to give them away?
> And you're welcome.  I like that forum an awful lot and everyone is always helpful when I need advice. Much like this one. I was actually looking around at an antique store today and saw some tanks similar to yours, but definitely not Jewl tanks. Gosh they were pretty though. Also, that picture of your desk area is very cool! Nice nice nice! I can't wait to dress up an apartment like that when I finally get the money.


Thanks again. They're still in the tank, I hate to get rid of them because so far this tank is pretty much algae free. As far as my desk area goes I wish my wife shared your sentiments. She says she doesn't like anything in my room but she apparently sneaks in to watch my aquariums when I'm not home because she always seems to know what's going on in them. 
What kind of tanks did you see in the antique stores? I have yet to see one in an antique store. The two I have I found online.


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## LucyLoofa

Like I said, they aren't Jewls haha. But one was an elephant with a bowl on it's back. It was like something off of Aladdin. The bowl holds less than a gallon but of course the picture on the flier had like 2 goldfish in it haha.
The other one just had some fancy wood carved with waves and such and a bowl on top of it. 
I love fish bowls for some reason haha.
The second one was like 60 dollars so I didn't even think about it and the first one was about 20/30.

**EDTI**
The second one and first one looked equally nice. I would love to have both, but they were a little expensive.
The craftmanship was very very nice on both.  The elephant was stone carved.
Also it's cute how your wife likes your fish so much!
My ex-boyfriend hated how obsessed I was with fish, but every once in a while when he wasn't aware he would openly compliment my fish and play with them and just sit there and watch the tanks. If you asked him though he would roll his eyes and sigh. Guess since it wasn't a videogame, magic deck, or warhammer army then it wasn't cool enough for him.  (Not that there's anything wrong with those! I play all of them haha)


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## davrx

*New Fauna*

Added some celestial danios, sparkle eye white clouds, chili rasboras, otocinclus, and a pair of cajun crayfish. Gave the SAE's to a friend and placed the two bettas in their own tank in hopes they will mate again.
Also changed out the intake from acrylic to stainless with an ADA metal jet pipe. I like the contrast of the stainless with the bronze. I'm planning on getting the ADA stainless output and stainless pipes in the future. Took these photos this morning:


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## Newman

correct conditioning is key if you want those bettas to breed (condition them separate from one another)

Looks nice with all the new inhabitants in there, though you don't think is a bit too crowded?


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## davrx

Newman said:


> correct conditioning is key if you want those bettas to breed (condition them separate from one another)
> 
> Looks nice with all the new inhabitants in there, though you don't think is a bit too crowded?


Already pared the fish down. Moved 2/3 of them to my 60 gal.
They mated last time after they had been in the same tank for quite some time. My major reason for moving them was that I was afraid they might harass my new nano fish.


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## Grown Ocean

I'm new to posting but I've lurked for quiet some time and this is always a thread I've watched closely. Im a huge steampunk fan and I think what you've done is amazing. It's such a beautiful tank and the new fauna look great. I can't wait to see your next project.


----------



## davrx

Grown Ocean said:


> I'm new to posting but I've lurked for quiet some time and this is always a thread I've watched closely. Im a huge steampunk fan and I think what you've done is amazing. It's such a beautiful tank and the new fauna look great. I can't wait to see your next project.


Thank you so much


----------



## diwu13

Wow, great tank! The statue and obelisk really help combine the inside with the outside. I like how your area around the tank is well decorated too. I especially like your lamp connected to the pullies. And great keyboard as well


----------



## nonconductive

your room is awesome!! those old aquariums really are something else. 

just out of curiosity, does your wardrobe match your steampunk interior?


----------



## davrx

diwu13 said:


> Wow, great tank! The statue and obelisk really help combine the inside with the outside. I like how your area around the tank is well decorated too. I especially like your lamp connected to the pullies. And great keyboard as well


Thank you


----------



## davrx

nonconductive said:


> your room is awesome!! those old aquariums really are something else.
> 
> just out of curiosity, does your wardrobe match your steampunk interior?


Thanks, no, wardrobe is nothing like my room. :wink: 
This room is really the only place in the house with this look. Wife told me years ago that I could have one room to do whatever I wanted and this is it.


----------



## nonconductive

aww i was picturing top hats, spectacles and mechanical gadgets.


----------



## davrx

nonconductive said:


> aww i was picturing top hats, spectacles and mechanical gadgets.


:hihi:


----------



## davrx

*Changed out Light*

Found another one of these X-ray lights on ebay that had a different socket holder and was in better condition paint wise than my original. This holder isn't as open as the first so it doesn't let as much light out. The paint on this shade is a more golden color too which is closer to what it looked like when new plus not as many pain loss areas for light to shine through.


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Looking good. If you ever were to redo this tank, you could consider a tan/reddish looking substrate to complete the desert look.


----------



## davrx

shrimpnmoss said:


> Looking good. If you ever were to redo this tank, you could consider a tan/reddish looking substrate to complete the desert look.


Thanks. Yea, when I first set this up I had some left over eco complete but I think maybe Flourite would look better.


----------



## ShawneeRiver

Wow! I love this tank and setup, and your keyboard!


----------



## lbacha

First off the tank is awesome, I love the light, my only criticism is I think the light would look better higher up, I'm not sure if that would work for the plants but elevated more would be better I think.

Len


----------



## davrx

ShawneeRiver said:


> Wow! I love this tank and setup, and your keyboard!


Thank you


----------



## davrx

lbacha said:


> First off the tank is awesome, I love the light, my only criticism is I think the light would look better higher up, I'm not sure if that would work for the plants but elevated more would be better I think.
> 
> Len


Thanks, Yea it would look better with the light up higher but I think the plants would suffer. I have to try to balance the form and function of the set up. Just having an unusual light fixture like this I feel really helps with the aesthetics. I think a lot of tanks on the forum go for the aesthetics of what is inside the tank rather than the tank itself, although a rimless tank is aesthetic in its own right.


----------



## davrx

*World's Smallest Aquarium?*

This tiny 10ml tank and net were made by Russian artist Anatoly Konenko and is purported to be the World's smallest aquarium. You'd have to use a syringe to do water changes.


----------



## davrx

*Victorian Tank*

This is a Fiske aquarium with original paint from 1876. Must be really rare because the asking price is $12,000! :eek5:


----------



## davrx

*Monster rock eating Tylo?*

I saw one of my Tylomelanias cleaning the pharaoh's head and I thought it looked like it was eating part of the statue:hihi:


----------



## diwu13

Haha whoa it really does. Does the snail have access to good calcium? Or was that just the shell from the LFS when you bought it?


----------



## diwu13

davrx said:


> This tiny 10ml tank and net were made by Russian artist Anatoly Konenko and is purported to be the World's smallest aquarium. You'd have to use a syringe to do water changes.


Are those real guppies in the tank?


----------



## davrx

diwu13 said:


> Are those real guppies in the tank?


I think they're baby fish of some sort but they look real whatever they are.


----------



## davrx

diwu13 said:


> Haha whoa it really does. Does the snail have access to good calcium? Or was that just the shell from the LFS when you bought it?


I think my water is too soft for them. I may need to rescape with some Seiryu stones to add some minerals to the water. I've had them for a good while now, that is apparently the new shell growth since I've had them.


----------



## diwu13

davrx said:


> I think my water is too soft for them. I may need to rescape with some Seiryu stones to add some minerals to the water. I've had them for a good while now, that is apparently the new shell growth since I've had them.


Is their shell supposed to be that rocky texture, or that new bronze color that seems to be growing out? I googled the snail name but had mixed images show up. In either case what is that white segment of shell then? You could supplement the calcium by placing cuttlefish bones in the tank, but their shells will still slowly degrade until you add the stones.


----------



## davrx

diwu13 said:


> Is their shell supposed to be that rocky texture, or that new bronze color that seems to be growing out? I googled the snail name but had mixed images show up. In either case what is that white segment of shell then? You could supplement the calcium by placing cuttlefish bones in the tank, but their shells will still slowly degrade until you add the stones.


They're chocolate rabbits I believe and their shell is supposed to be the rocky texture.


----------



## davrx

*Seiryu Stones*

I took out the marimo driftwood as it wasn't looking too good anyway and replaced it with a few seiryu stones to hopefully add some minerals to the water for the tylos. I like how it brightens the tank and a nice contrast to the eco complete.


----------



## diwu13

Really looks like ancient ruins with a really shiny new obelisk haha. Looks like you have a lot of algae growing on that lily pipe. Is that an otto is the last picture?


----------



## davrx

diwu13 said:


> Really looks like ancient ruins with a really shiny new obelisk haha. Looks like you have a lot of algae growing on that lily pipe. Is that an otto is the last picture?


Yes its an oto and yes I need to clean the lily pipe. That's why I'm switching over to stainless steel, can't see the algae/diatoms growing in them.


----------



## davrx

*Victorian Iwagumi*

This tank is for sale at an antique store in CT. It has an unusual pot holder above the tank to hold a fern or some other plant. But what's really unusual is that this tank comes with its own rock arches and center flow through pipe. I'd love to have the tank but at $3,200 it's way out of my range.


----------



## diwu13

Wow its near me. That tank would need hell of a cleaning, not to mention that price tag!


----------



## davrx

diwu13 said:


> Wow its near me. That tank would need hell of a cleaning, not to mention that price tag!


Since the paint is original you'd probably want to leave it alone and the "iwagumi" landscape looks like it's cemented in place. You wouldn't have a whole lot of cleaning to do but the "flow through" design could be a problem as the valve most likely doesn't work anymore and is probably stuck open.


----------



## ValMM

The first glance made me think, "little girl's princess-themed tank?" Lol. It's really neat.


----------



## davrx

ValMM said:


> The first glance made me think, "little girl's princess-themed tank?" Lol. It's really neat.


Yea, I can see that :hihi:


----------



## davrx

*More vintage tanks*

I love seeing the variety of vintage tanks out there. Most of them are beyond my means but thought I'd share some unusual/over the top ones I found online. The first one is from 1879 I believe, the second is a Jewel of a size and with lighting that I haven't seen before and the last drum style fish bowl I'm not sure if it's late 19th. or early 20th. century. The fish bowl I believe had two panes of round glass within a metal ring. Not sure if the metal eventually poisoned anything in the bowl or not, although most of the early tanks, if not all of them, had metal bottoms of iron or steel.


----------



## SBPyro

That looks the perfect set up for an aquaponics system.


----------



## davrx

Newman said:


> Generally you remove the female after they mate, and leave the male with the eggs for 3 days until they all hatch. then remove him. I bred plakats before, and its difficult to take care of any fry in a non-breeding setup (because the fry shouldn't really be moved around and should stay in the tank they are born in until they grow up.) a Filter and gravel would not be good for fry, so personally i would not attempt to breed bettas in this tank, and would have done as you did (treat the tank as a regular community.)
> 
> I too left a pair of bettas in my 40 gal planted tank to try to see whether the female could consistently get away from the male via the dense vagitation offered in my tank, and live with a male. they did decently for a few months, there was some chasing but eventually the female disappeared so i assume she jumped out (open top tank like yours). I still have that male in the 40 (he is about 2.5 years old) and he is doing well on his own.
> 
> Aggressive SAEs is something I have seen because I started keeping them as a school of 5 tiny individuals in this same 40 gallon planted tank i was talking about. As they grew, they became more aggressive, but all aggression was contained withing their group. they did not touch other fish. Gradually i lost 2 of them so I have 3 left today (the first one was completely outcometed for food by the others, got stunted, and starved to death i think. the second one must have been chased out of the tank because he disappeared one day too.) As a trio they still contain their aggression withing their own group, not touching any other fish. These SAEs were raised in a planted community setting with fish like swordtails, a platy, mollies, oddly enough one goldfish (DOH), corydoras, otocinclus, and an angelfish throughout their lives in my tank. I do not believe they attacked any of those fish ever, except maybe taking small nips at the fins of the corydoras because both species occupy the same bottom tank level constantly.
> All this leads up to my conclusion about SAEs - they do better in groups (I bet you started with a group too) and will contain their aggression within that group. possibly when their numbers fall down to 2-3 individuals, they might turn on other fish. The SAE is a peaceful fish only while its young and small. once they grow to a good size, they do become very...arrogant lol.
> SAEs eat everything you feed to your tank, but they do take care of the algae as well. So as a group of around 5+ individuals, they can be a nice addition to a tank. That is what I think.
> 
> How large are your SAEs and for how long have you had these particular individuals? Perhaps you could get a school of them going in your 60 gal again. That should keep the aggression down.


Took your advice, put the two bettas in their own tank with no substrate, no filter, just hornwort and some moss. Had a glass divider between them as they were tearing each other up. Decided to remove the divider to see what would happen but a few days later the wife flipped out because the female's fins were shredded. I got ready to put the divider back in place this morning and I caught sight of a baby fish, then more baby fish! They had mated, made the bubble nest, babies hatched, and I didn't even know it. Quickly set up two small tanks to transfer each adult to separately so the babies are by themselves now. I'm thrilled. Never had any egg layers have babies before. Thanks Newman!


----------



## Newman

That's great! you didn't even have to do any conditioning for them to do this =)

now raising the babies is the tricky part. they start out on infusoria and then, when they get big enough they will take live baby brine shrimp.
That is the foolproof way of feeding them to juvenile stage by which time they can take prepared foods.
However you can experiment with different fry feeding tactics that other breeders have had success with (research) in case your are too lazy to hatch BBS over and over again. I know I was. Haha, I think BBS hatching and feeding is so tedious that i have not tried it with fish ever since i raised my first batch of swordtail fry on BBS...
Though boy did those swordtails grow in record rates! Never got the same result in swordtail rearing again, when using other foods.


----------



## davrx

Newman said:


> That's great! you didn't even have to do any conditioning for them to do this =)
> 
> now raising the babies is the tricky part. they start out on infusoria and then, when they get big enough they will take live baby brine shrimp.
> That is the foolproof way of feeding them to juvenile stage by which time they can take prepared foods.
> However you can experiment with different fry feeding tactics that other breeders have had success with (research) in case your are too lazy to hatch BBS over and over again. I know I was. Haha, I think BBS hatching and feeding is so tedious that i have not tried it with fish ever since i raised my first batch of swordtail fry on BBS...
> Though boy did those swordtails grow in record rates! Never got the same result in swordtail rearing again, when using other foods.


How did you raise your infusoria?


----------



## Newman

lol i pretty much didn't, and that may be why i failed to raise my fry both times that i have tried breeding bettas (would have tried more but my breeding male eventually jumped out of his tank, ending all further attempts).

I used live stem plants floating in the breeding tank to hopefully get some sort of growth going, and i also used Liquifry to help feed the fauna that the fry prey on, but i never got a real chance to try the product because of the jumping male...I wish i had it the first time i bred them - i had a ton of fry on that attempt, but they only lasted a week...they simply would not take foods that i offered. That first attempt was greeted with live microworm cultures which they are supposed to take, but they didn't =/.

If I were to do this over in the future, i would first culture infusoria and then hatch BBS no matter how tedious.

Random google search for infusoria:
http://bunniez.hubpages.com/hub/How-To-Make-Infusoria-For-Baby-Fish

You may also try to start them on FW rotifers.
http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/information/common_foods.htm

Getting the food going before you get fry is the key to success though, so you may want to try breeding them again in the future, if this batch of fry happens to perish (they might not).
Also its important to start with a correct culture, so you may have to search around to buy a starter culture of rotifers, etc from some lab supplier online or something. the food needs to be the correct size so the smaller the rotifer species the better. i bet infusoria can also be found online, but usually you can just make that kind of thing on your own - maybe using pond water or something...


----------



## davrx

*Cat's Delight*

Found this interesting tank.


----------



## davrx

*Napoleon III's Aquarium!*

Wow is this over the top!


----------



## raven_wilde

davrx said:


> Wow is this over the top!


The ULTIMATE betta bowl!


----------



## diwu13

So what's your new tank you are setting up look like? The one you're selling your out-of-the-world nano for?


----------



## davrx

diwu13 said:


> So what's your new tank you are setting up look like? The one you're selling your out-of-the-world nano for?












I'm getting the tank ready for water. I've removed the glass and had the base sandblasted in preparation for some marine epoxy. I'm going to have some 1/4" starfire glass cut and will use black silicone to seal it. I need to try to find some eagle finials for the tank which are missing and some plant holders for the base.


----------



## diwu13

That is going to look pretty cool indeed. If you want to take pictures of your progress along the way :]? I look forwards to how you plan on lighting that as well, since all your light fixtures are very cohesive with the tank itself.


----------



## sockfish

Gosh. I just found this thread and have had a great read! I have an old, funky, victorian looking goldfish bowl stand which is rusting in the garage that I bought on ebay a few years back. Cost me a mint and I never did anything with it since we moved household so many times lately...

Now I'm inspired to drag it out and give it an overhaul. It has a wide base as though those wide "baby turtle bowls" had sat in them. Going to dash straight home tonight and have a look!

I do like your scape with the new light and with the smaller fish. I can tell you I had tried keeping a male and female betta together and he was losing his fins. I never saw her chase him, but once I separated them [as directed by a forum member more knowledgeable than I am as to Betta Lore], he is recovering his finnage.

I can't wait to see your revamp of the new tank, please _do_ post photos!

sox


----------



## davrx

*Not one but two!*

I found another Jewel that I picked up over Thanksgiving. It's the 8 gal. version of the bronze "modernistic". I tore down the 4 gal. and moved all the fauna to my sole aquarium, a 60gal. rimless cube. I plan to restore this new Jewel as it is in original untouched condition other than some idiot in the past painted gold paint over the bronze plating! The tank leaks like a sieve as the tar is petrified. I'm going to reseal the tank with black silicone and a glass bottom over the slate since silicone won't adhere properly to slate. I tried mild soy based paint stripper which took everything off and even tried soda blasting which also took it down to the bare cast iron, slate. So I did some research and found paint with actual bronze powder in it that will tarnish naturally. It looks very close to my 4 gal. which has its original finish. Both tanks' glass is heavily scratched but the bulb edge glass is irreplaceable so replacing it isn't an option. I wish there was a way to polish the scratches out but from what I've read it's a very tedious job and may not work. I originally planned on selling the 4 gal. to try to recoup some of the money I've been spending on these expensive aquariums but I decided to keep it for now for two reasons, one, the 8 gal. may be difficult to restore and may not be suitable for an aquarium, and two, they are so damn rare I may not see another one. I plan on using the 4 gal. as a terrarium housing, of all things, jewel orchids, how appropriate right? I need to have a piece of glass cut for the top and I'm going to use a very special "jewel" for the knob, a natural quartz enhydro crystal. I'm attaching photos of the two tanks together which to my knowledge is the first time this has been shown on the net, Jewel models 90 and 91 side by side. What may not be evident in the photos is the 8 gal. tank has considerably thicker glass. It can serve as a reference to anyone interested in collecting these tanks. Eventually I'd like to set the 8 gal. up as a Sulawesi shrimp tank for Cardinal Shrimp. I've failed at this twice before but I used 2.5 and 4 gal. tanks which are more difficult to keep with consistent parameters, at least for me anyway. I'm encouraged by the newly available Sulawesi Mineral 7.5 from Salty Shrimp. I'm hoping this will make keeping Cardinals easier.


----------



## diwu13

Great find over thanksgiving! Sad you broke down your jewel tank though :\. It had a great scape


----------



## davrx

diwu13 said:


> Great find over thanksgiving! Sad you broke down your jewel tank though :\. It had a great scape


Thanks but I plan on bringing it back in the next few months.


----------



## diwu13

It will look different in an 8G though! Any journal for 60G rimless?


----------



## davrx

diwu13 said:


> It will look different in an 8G though! Any journal for 60G rimless?


No, I really should start one. I've had it longer than most of the tanks I have posted. It has a huge killer Eriocaulon sp. mato grosso in it and a Fissidens fontanus moss wall growing across half the back.


----------



## diwu13

And it has all your green shrimp in it as well right! Journal please ! I looked through the pictures already in your profile, but having narration is always better


----------



## Blue Devereaux

*A Thing of Beauty....*

davrx,

Thank you very much for this thread. I've learned a great deal. Your passion for antique aquariums is infectious (as is the steampunk style)! I am so glad there are people such as yourself who appreciate and preserve these things of beauty. I eagerly await to see what you do with your new find.

Cordially,

Blue Devereaux


----------



## davrx

Blue Devereaux said:


> davrx,
> 
> Thank you very much for this thread. I've learned a great deal. Your passion for antique aquariums is infectious (as is the steampunk style)! I am so glad there are people such as yourself who appreciate and preserve these things of beauty. I eagerly await to see what you do with your new find.
> 
> Cordially,
> 
> Blue Devereaux


Thank you for your kind words. I have managed to disassemble my 1882 tank, have it sandblasted to remove rust and prep the base. I've completed the epoxy treatment of the base and repainted the tank, replaced the corner threaded rods and reassembled it. Now I just need to add glass and eagle finials and the aquarium part is done. I'll start a new thread and post progress photos in the near future.


----------



## davrx

*Jewel Aquarium now a Jewel Terrarium*

Here's the 4 gal. Jewel growing Jewel Orchids:


----------



## Sophie and Mom

Plus 1 for speechless.

It would go so well in my home--everything here is streamline style 1930s/Art Deco. I LOVE it.


----------



## davrx

Sophie and Mom said:


> Plus 1 for speechless.
> 
> It would go so well in my home--everything here is streamline style 1930s/Art Deco. I LOVE it.


Thank you very much! This is definitely art deco and from the 1930's.


----------



## calebkraft

davrx said:


> I know steampunk. If you look closely at my signature photo you'll see a custom steampunk keyboard I had created for me by the same artist that did the keyboard on Warehouse 13. I had him create what we called "The Alchemist" and it was the first and I believe only keyboard he made with stained glass lit ends. Unfortunately this keyboard would not function with my mac to make the lights come on so I returned it to him and it was resold. I got my money back plus some extra for my help in the key designs.


Are you referring to Jake von Slatt? I'm very familiar with his work. One of the people who remember that steampunk is actually form AND function, not just hot glued gears. I generally despise the term, but only because there aren't enough VonSlatt's out there.


----------



## inka4041

Those jewels look fantastic. Even the sphagnum looks great!


----------



## radioman

That is to bad the bigger one was painted with gold. I there anyway to get the gold paint off?


----------



## davrx

calebkraft said:


> Are you referring to Jake von Slatt? I'm very familiar with his work. One of the people who remember that steampunk is actually form AND function, not just hot glued gears. I generally despise the term, but only because there aren't enough VonSlatt's out there.


No, Datamancer made the keyboard for me. I picked the wooden background, brass frame, all the keys having to do with pharmacy, and the side stained glass windows. Unfortunately none of the lights would work with my iMac so I had to return it to him. You can see this keyboard on his website, he calls it the "Alchemist".


----------



## davrx

radioman said:


> That is to bad the bigger one was painted with gold. I there anyway to get the gold paint off?


Not without taking it down to the bare metal/slate. I'm just going to use special paint with bronze powder in it that will naturally tarnish just like it would have had it never been painted.


----------



## davrx

inka4041 said:


> Those jewels look fantastic. Even the sphagnum looks great!


Thanks


----------



## diwu13

Any reason for the plastic bits on the rim of the tank? How's the larger jewel setup going?


----------



## davrx

diwu13 said:


> Any reason for the plastic bits on the rim of the tank? How's the larger jewel setup going?


The tops of the glass sides are uneven which is the way it was originally made so to prevent gaps under the glass top I used these to seal it. The jewel orchids need high humidity so I wanted to make it as air tight as possible.

I haven't done anything with the 8 gal. Jewel yet.


----------



## toofazt

Loved your tank. What was that red colored crypt in your 4gal?


----------



## davrx

toofazt said:


> Loved your tank. What was that red colored crypt in your 4gal?


undulata


----------



## diwu13

davrx said:


> The tops of the glass sides are uneven which is the way it was originally made so to prevent gaps under the glass top I used these to seal it. The jewel orchids need high humidity so I wanted to make it as air tight as possible.
> 
> I haven't done anything with the 8 gal. Jewel yet.


Ah, I thought it would be for something like that but I'm not too familiar with plant setups.

Let me know when you start up the 8G jewel ! Will it get it's own journal?


----------



## davrx

Let me know when you start up the 8G jewel ! Will it get it's own journal?[/QUOTE]

I'm not sure whether I should continue it from this or do a separate one.


----------



## davrx

*Update*

The 8 gal. Jewel has been fully restored. Glass placed on top of the slate and all resealed with black silicone. Frame re-bronzed. Passed the leak test today.


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Hands down nicest tanks on TPT. I lust over your antique tanks!


----------



## davrx

shrimpnmoss said:


> Hands down nicest tanks on TPT. I lust over your antique tanks!


Thanks! :hihi:


----------



## diwu13

Nice job! Can't wait to see you scape it


----------



## Mr.Desert_scape

Those things are amazing! I wish I could get a hold of one.


----------



## shrimpnmoss

davrx said:


> Thanks! :hihi:


ADA is generic compared to your antiques. Give me one of these bigger ones restored...and stock it with some high-end shrimp...and I'm done!!...I might never leave the house......


----------



## Mr.Desert_scape

^ +1! I still can't believe these things. They look like they should be in a museum. Especially with those Egyptian stands you have them on.


----------



## davrx

Thanks everybody. Unfortunately these tanks are really hard to find as only 300 were made in the 20's. There were some repros made but they didn't have the slate bottom. They were also more expensive than the originals and apparently didn't sell well.
I bid on a really neat one from the 30's that had catfish in each corner of the tank, tail at top and head at bottom, and the same bulb edge glass as my Jewels but this one was made of aluminum and painted. I bid too low but I would have restored it to its former glory if I had won. 
I'm going to be selling my smaller 4 gal. Jewel in the near future as I don't have room for both of them. 
Let me know if anyone's interested. It has all its original finish and is restored with glass over the slate bottom and black silicone. Only drawback is it has water etching to the glass which I was unable to remove. It doesn't look bad when its full of water but you can't get this bulb edge glass anymore.


----------



## Mr.Desert_scape

How much would you be wanting for the 4 gal?


----------



## davrx

Mr.Desert_scape said:


> How much would you be wanting for the 4 gal?


$650 including shipping.


----------



## davrx

*Update*

Set up the tank yesterday. Caribsea Instant Aquarium Sunset Gold Sand substrate, Seiryu Stones, Hornwort to get things going, and some Fissidens fontanus wedged in some of the Seiryu cracks. I used R/O water with Sulawesi Mineral 7.5 added. Adding some Tylomelanias tomorrow. Hopefully some Cardinal shrimp in the future. I used all stainless steel ADA plumbing until it went under the edge of the stand.


----------



## diwu13

Did you make those SS pieces yourself? Or bought them seperately?


----------



## DanW11

Great call on using stainless steel pipes, it really suits the overall look of the tank. Not sure why, but I almost get a 'steampunk' vibe from this thing. I imagine that behind the cabinet door is an insane network of rusty valves, tangled copper piping, overly complex gears and grease!


----------



## davrx

diwu13 said:


> Did you make those SS pieces yourself? Or bought them seperately?


I modified the ADA Metal Pipe Line Set 105-200 to suit my needs. It's actually supposed to be used with their Garden Stand 60 and Super Jet Filter ES-600. I used a pipe cutter meant for copper plumbing to cut the pipe perfectly square but it was very difficult. Stainless steel is a lot harder than copper.


----------



## Fishe

Looks really cool


----------



## davrx

DanW11 said:


> Great call on using stainless steel pipes, it really suits the overall look of the tank. Not sure why, but I almost get a 'steampunk' vibe from this thing. I imagine that behind the cabinet door is an insane network of rusty valves, tangled copper piping, overly complex gears and grease!


Thanks, I thought the stainless steel was a nice contrast to the bronze frame. I love steampunk but I'm afraid it's just an Eheim Ecco Pro 2236, a 9W turbotwist UV sterilizer, and a Hydor 200W inline heater inside the cabinet.


----------



## davrx

Fishe said:


> Looks really cool


Thank you


----------



## talontsiawd

Great journal on both tanks. I honestly don't really appreciate antique anything, probably because both my gramma's would take me on super long shopping trips when I was a kid. Secondly, my parents would end up with it and my brothers or I would break something expensive and get in trouble. I am half way joking, half way serious lol.

I am a fan of things that are well made, rare, and unique. I also love restoring things, or seeing others restore things. 

That said, I am super impressed with your tank, your taste, and your diligence in finding something so rare and honoring it's history. Both tanks look very good through all your scapes/changes.


----------



## davrx

talontsiawd said:


> Great journal on both tanks. I honestly don't really appreciate antique anything, probably because both my gramma's would take me on super long shopping trips when I was a kid. Secondly, my parents would end up with it and my brothers or I would break something expensive and get in trouble. I am half way joking, half way serious lol.
> 
> I am a fan of things that are well made, rare, and unique. I also love restoring things, or seeing others restore things.
> 
> That said, I am super impressed with your tank, your taste, and your diligence in finding something so rare and honoring it's history. Both tanks look very good through all your scapes/changes.


That is quite a compliment! Thank you


----------



## talontsiawd

davrx said:


> That is quite a compliment! Thank you


You have quite the tanks


----------



## davrx

*Tylomelanias*

Picked up 14 Tylomelanias at the post office today. They're exploring their new home and trying some spinach leaves.


----------



## diwu13

Anything else going in that tank besides those rabbits ?


----------



## davrx

diwu13 said:


> Anything else going in that tank besides those rabbits ?


Cardinals eventually


----------



## davrx

*Cardinals*

Finally added some Cardinals thanks to Liam. I seem to have a mixture of blue and white spotted and red and deep red ones. Really beautiful. My third try at these, I hope this batch makes it as they're much too expensive to try too many times.

They seem to like the Tylomelanias. This one is hitching a ride on a yellow spot.




































This one looks like a monster coming over a hill to attack the shrimp!


----------



## diwu13

Haha you're right on that yellow rabbit snail !

How many caridinals did you put in there? I know 'guppies' is breeding caridinals as well. Maybe check him out next time if you need some more: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=168284&highlight=sulawesi


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

Cardinals are absolutely beautiful.


----------



## davrx

diwu13 said:


> Haha you're right on that yellow rabbit snail !
> 
> How many caridinals did you put in there? I know 'guppies' is breeding caridinals as well. Maybe check him out next time if you need some more: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=168284&highlight=sulawesi


I put 9 in but I've already lost half of them in the span of a day. I don't know what I'm doing wrong unless the trip was just too much for them. My water parameters are fine and I did a several hour drip acclimation so I'm at a loss for what to do. 
I have a kH of 5, pH of 7.8, TDS of 238, temp. of 80, and Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate are all zero.
I'm using inert sand as a substrate and Seiryu stones. I add Sulawesi Mineral 7.5 to R/O water.


----------



## davrx

I've got three remaining survivors from the original 12 I bought (3 DOA). Hopefully they'll make it for the long haul.


----------



## diwu13

Ugh, the caridinals are really delicate aren't they :\.


----------



## davrx

diwu13 said:


> Ugh, the caridinals are really delicate aren't they :\.


Sure are but they're the most attractive of all freshwater shrimp in my opinion.
They're the only freshwater living thing that I haven't been able to get the hang of. I know others have but not sure why I've had such bad luck. Maybe it's the long trip from the west coast that does them in for me.


----------



## jeremyTR

wow those tanks are beautiful, I'm jelly.

I hope your shrimp survive, they're beautiful as well, lol.


----------



## davrx

*More Cardinals*

Just added 10 more Cardinals to the 3 survivors from my first shipment. I got these from another breeder so we'll see how they do. The first 24 hours will tell. Hoping all these make it. I think one was berried and dropped her eggs in transit. I hope they survive and hatch but I'm afraid my tylos may eat them.


----------



## diwu13

Not sure if you wanna make a egg hatcher for the eggs but with expensive caridinals it might be worth it? Hope the 10 make it!


----------



## guppies

Hope the new additions are doing for you. What are your current water parameters davrx? you can use the 7.5 mineral to bump up tds to 300.


----------



## davrx

Well I found out from Di that it was some purigen that was sent with the shrimp. All have survived past the first 24 hours, this is encouraging! I am currently using Sulawesi 7.5.


----------



## diwu13

Di? Hahah my first name is Di as well !


----------



## davrx

All are still alive. Lost power at home and work 24 hours ago due to a rare derecho which has taken down a large part of the midwest. But I'm running a generator to keep my aquariums and refrigerators going. I had to bring home all the refrigerated drugs from the pharmacy to keep them from ruin and there's probably $10K plus in inventory. Good thing Cardinals like it warm as the generator isn't big enough to run A/C. Temps. here in Ohio have been in the 90's and 100.


----------



## radioman

I hope it all works out and doesn't get to hot.


----------



## diwu13

Interesting how the pharmacy doesn't have a generator itself :X!


----------



## davrx

No generator for the store of even the Super Walmart next door. They'll have to toss out all of their food. Power out everywhere around here. Hard to even find gas for the generator. Lines a mile long for the few stations with power. Tried to run too many things on the generator and blew out the power company connector at the meter. Had to run extension cords to one refrigerator and 3 aquariums. Two of them are on the second floor of my house and the generator is outside the basement walkout. Talk about some long extension cords. So far the shrimp seem to be doing O.K. though.


----------



## davrx

I've been trying different shrimp foods and have yet to see a Cardinal eat anything I give them. The Tylos sure like it though. I hope they're getting enough diatoms then. Any suggestions for feeding them or just leave them alone?


----------



## diwu13

I think if they get hungry enough they would go for sinking algae wafers or something.


----------



## JoraaÑ

What is the plant in post #72, middle in the tank?


----------



## davrx

Joraan said:


> What is the plant in post #72, middle in the tank?


Cryptocoryne undulata


----------



## davrx

Day 3 going on 4 with no power. Got in the mid 90's today and the tank was a little over 84. Hope they can take it, no way to cool them. Temps low tonight after another bad storm passed through here. Hopefully will cool them down tonight and long enough for another hot day tomorrow.


----------



## diwu13

Ugh, any ETA on when power will be restored?


----------



## davrx

Possibly by the 6th.? What a mess, never gone this long before without power.


----------



## diwu13

Oh man.. yea that's really long. I would imagine everything in my tanks would have died with so long without power :\


----------



## davrx

We have power back, thankfully since the temps have been hovering around 100 the last couple of days.
I used a generator to keep the tanks and a refrigerator going during the outage.
It doesn't look like I lost any of my tank's inhabitants although they'd probably all have been dead if I hadn't had the generator.


----------



## Carneasada11

Very cool tank and set up. Interesting how this style of tank is very ornate and the edges defined with intricate molding. This differs from the more modern Iwagumi style tanks, where so much effort is invested in concealing the tank itself, focusing on a piece of "natural art." 

:smile:


----------



## diwu13

How long does it take to charge your generator back up fully? Glad you had no casualties during the whole thing.


----------



## davrx

*Hangin' in there*

I haven't counted all the shrimp but I haven't seen any casualties since I bought this second batch of shrimp. They seem to be doing fine despite my vuppa II malfunction. I noticed it wasn't running when I got off work last night. I'm going to check the pump after I get off work tonight to see if I can get it going again. If I don't run a surface skimmer I get a biofilm on the surface of the tank. This one's nice because of its small size and it goes with my other stainless steel intake/outputs. My tylos have had some babies but I also have a large number of pond snail babies that apparently hitched a ride with some hornwort I had in the tank some time ago. I may have to isolate the tylos and introduce some assassin snails. 
I think either the first group of shrimp I got weren't as robust as this second group or the fact I had the seller use a cold pack due to the 100 degree heat may have caused them to get too cold and that's why they didn't make it.
The cardinals won't touch any shrimp food or flake food I've introduced into the tank but the tylos sure love them. Even when I place it on top of a rock where it's very difficult for the snails to get to they ignore it. I've had it sit on the rock for a day before the snails finally find it and devour it.
The shrimp must be living on protozoans and algae that grow on the tank's surfaces, otherwise, I'd think they would have starved by now.


----------



## deeda

Absolutely awesome thread on the old tanks! I really appreciate you posting all the wonderful pictures and the Jewel catalog too.

Great job on the 8G Jewel, absolutely perfect.:biggrin: I love the aquascaping in the tank, you nailed it perfectly.

Have I said awesome too many times yet?

I don't know how I even missed this thread. Thanks to Radioman for posting the link.:icon_wink


----------



## radioman

deeda said:


> Thanks to Radioman for posting the link.:icon_wink


I post this link whenever I have the opportunity.


----------



## davrx

deeda said:


> Absolutely awesome thread on the old tanks! I really appreciate you posting all the wonderful pictures and the Jewel catalog too.
> 
> Great job on the 8G Jewel, absolutely perfect.:biggrin: I love the aquascaping in the tank, you nailed it perfectly.
> 
> Have I said awesome too many times yet?
> 
> I don't know how I even missed this thread. Thanks to Radioman for posting the link.:icon_wink


Thank you so much. I need to add some plants and post some updates.


----------



## davrx

radioman said:


> I post this link whenever I have the opportunity.


Thank you very much, I appreciate it.


----------



## davrx

*Update*

I added a Vuppa-1 as I was having problems with a surface film forming. Does a nice job and is a nice small size, not to mention it goes with the rest of my SS plumbing but it's not self adjusting with the water level so you have to adjust it on a daily basis. This is a pain but better than the film. Haven't counted the Cardinals but I don't think I've lost any. They seem to be doing fine, just wish they'd have some babies now. Here's a couple of photos I just took. Had difficulty with my camera focusing properly above the tank taken through the water so these were the only ones worth posting:


----------



## diwu13

Hm.. that's interesting why you're getting so much surface scum. Are you feeding high protein foods?


----------



## davrx

No, I think it's because I have the ADA P1 output which creates very little water movement. The shrimp have never actually eaten anything I've tried to feed them. I'll set different kinds of shrimp foods on a rock so it takes the snails time to find it and the shrimp have never shown any interest. They apparently are getting everything they need picking microorganisms off the rocks and sand.


----------



## diwu13

Hm.. interesting. Could you raise the output a bit higher so it creates more surface movement?


----------



## davrx

I don't really want a lot of movement which is why I went with the P1. The Vuppa works fine, I just wish it was self adjusting like other surface skimmers.


----------



## davrx

*White Orchids*

Just picked up 10 White Orchids to add to the Sulawesi invertebrate tank. Here's a few photos I just took of them:


----------



## ua hua

I really love what you have done with this tank. It brings back great memories everytime I see that tank. I know that people love their rimless tanks but I would take one of these Jewel tanks anyday over a rimless. I thought I read that you are using playsand as a substrate, but have you tried adding any crushed coral for your shrimp and snails. Keep posting pics of this beauty so all the young pups on this site can see the beautiful history of aquariums.


----------



## davrx

ua hua said:


> I really love what you have done with this tank. It brings back great memories everytime I see that tank. I know that people love their rimless tanks but I would take one of these Jewel tanks anyday over a rimless. I thought I read that you are using playsand as a substrate, but have you tried adding any crushed coral for your shrimp and snails. Keep posting pics of this beauty so all the young pups on this site can see the beautiful history of aquariums.


Thanks, I used Caribsea Instant Aquarium Sunset Gold Sand substrate and I don't need the crushed coral as I'm using Sulawesi Mineral 7.5 in my R/O water.


----------



## davrx

*Baby Cardinal!*

I originally thought this little guy had tagged along with the White Orchids I just added to the tank today but on closer inspection I see it's a baby Cardinal! My Cardinals mated! I only found this one, don't know if there's more or not but this is the only one I could find. I needed a magnifying glass to verify it wasn't a baby White Orchid as there was one among the ones I got today. I hope this means I can have a sustainable community. Here's the photos I took of it earlier today:


----------



## diwu13

WOW! Congrats on the baby cardinal. Definitely does not look like a white orchard. Hopefully some more pop up and make it worth while after the first attempt


----------



## davrx

menoseloso said:


> nice tank


Thanks!


----------



## davrx

diwu13 said:


> WOW! Congrats on the baby cardinal. Definitely does not look like a white orchard. Hopefully some more pop up and make it worth while after the first attempt


I hope so too. I'd love to have a tank full of them. You can see them now but there's one here, or there, not a big group of them like when I had Fire Reds. These are definitely more difficult to keep than them.


----------



## SpecGrrl

davrx said:


> O.K. here's some photos of the keyboard:


*swoons*


----------



## davrx

SpecGrrl said:


> *swoons*


You can still get one from Datamancer just like the one he made me or a different one with the same keys that I helped him design. It's called the "The Alchemist". I'd still have it if it had been mac compatible.


----------



## xenxes

Wow, missed when you started a sulawesi tank!

Can cardinals and white orchids interbreed? What happens?


----------



## davrx

xenxes said:


> Wow, missed when you started a sulawesi tank!
> 
> Can cardinals and white orchids interbreed? What happens?


The Cardinals are Caridina dennerli and the white orchids are Caridina japonica, same genus, different species so I don't think they can interbreed. If they could I would think the offspring would be sterile. I may be wrong here but I've not heard of a cross between them.


----------



## guppies

I am not sure what the scientific name for white orchids but I think caridina japonica is amano shrimp.


----------



## davrx

guppies said:


> I am not sure what the scientific name for white orchids but I think caridina japonica is amano shrimp.


You are correct. I can't find their scientific name, only Caridina sp. white orchid. Maybe no one has taken the time to name the species?


----------



## davrx

Oh, btw I found several more Cardinal babies!


----------



## xenxes

White orchids aren't classified yet :/ what parameters do you keep the sulawesi in? Sorry if I missed it.


----------



## davrx

Haven't checked my parameters in awhile, basically R/O water with Sulawesi Mineral 7.5 added. Inert sand, seiryu stones, 80 degrees.


----------



## bluestems

how does the 200w hydor inline work for you? Do you notice if it cycles on/off often? I'm looking at using one on my 7 gal. and not sure if it's safe.

btw, what an awesome tank!! roud:


----------



## davrx

bluestems said:


> how does the 200w hydor inline work for you? Do you notice if it cycles on/off often? I'm looking at using one on my 7 gal. and not sure if it's safe.
> 
> btw, what an awesome tank!! roud:


Thank you! I don't notice it cycling on and off very often. It depends on how cold the room is. This tank is 8 gal. and it works fine for it. I've found these Hydor inline heaters to be the most accurate, reliable aquarium heaters I have ever used. I use them exclusively for everything but the smallest tanks. I don't think you'll go wrong using one of these.


----------



## bluestems

davrx said:


> Thank you! I don't notice it cycling on and off very often. It depends on how cold the room is. This tank is 8 gal. and it works fine for it. I've found these Hydor inline heaters to be the most accurate, reliable aquarium heaters I have ever used. I use them exclusively for everything but the smallest tanks. I don't think you'll go wrong using one of these.


Thanks, it's good to hear from someone who has it setup on a nano. I think I'll give it a go! 

Good luck with your cardinals. They are gorgeous!


----------



## davrx

*Update*

Well my tank is infested with mini ramshorn snails so I tried assassin snails to get rid of them. Didn't work, assassins ignored them BUT I actually witnessed one of the assassins killing and eating one of my Cardinal Shrimp! I didn't think they ate anything but other snails. Needless to say I quickly removed all the assassins.
I now have multiple generations of baby Cardinals judging by their different sizes. I don't know how many I have now as there are too many hiding places for them. I saw one of my Starry Nights with a clutch of green eggs this morning so looks like I'm going to have some baby Starries too!
I tried samples of probably a dozen different shrimp foods and my Cardinals wouldn't touch them. Guppies, who I got most of my Sulawesi shrimp from, said that the Starry Nights aka White Orchids would eat pretty much anything and would help teach the Cardinals to eat what they were eating too. Well they wouldn't eat any of the samples I gave them either so one day I decided to try some plain old Tetra fish food flakes and voila they ate it! As of today the Starry Nights AND the Cardinals are chowing down on flake food, even the babies. So much for expensive fufu shrimp food for delicate shrimp. Hopefully they're getting whatever they need from the flakes, I guess if they were breeding before they were eating anything aside from microscopic stuff on the rocks and substrate then they must be doing O.K.


----------



## diwu13

Yea so I coulda let you know the assassins wouldn't have went after your mini ramshorns. Also, did the assassin attack the cardinal after a molt? That's the only time when the assassins can really kill the shrimp. It tagged it and then ate it slowly right?

Try not to feed the flake food too often. It's filled with lots of protein. Feeding protein all the time will cause problems molting. Let them starve 3-4 days and try feeding blanched veggies.


----------



## davrx

I'm not sure, I just saw the assassin on top of the Cardinal on the upper half of its body and the Cardinal was twitching. The assassin moved off the Cardinal and only the tail remained. I think another assassin moved in and ate the rest as there was nothing left of him by the time I started removing them. 
Thanks for the info on the flake food, I haven't tried veggies yet.


----------



## diwu13

Yea but the immediate sting from the assassin can only catch a shrimp that just molted .

Don't want your sexy expensive sulawesi shrimp dying!


----------



## davrx

diwu13 said:


> Yea but the immediate sting from the assassin can only catch a shrimp that just molted .
> 
> Don't want your sexy expensive sulawesi shrimp dying!


Well then it must have just molted. Yep, don't want cheap assassins killing expensive Cardinals.


----------



## hobstrabbie

That looks great! What kind of fish is the blue one?


----------



## davrx

hobstrabbie said:


> That looks great! What kind of fish is the blue one?


?????


----------



## osxVictoria

very beautiful. . .


----------



## davrx

osxVictoria said:


> very beautiful. . .


Thank you


----------



## davrx

*Multiple Generations*

Just took this photo of an adult, juvenile, and baby Cardinals hanging out with a yellow poso snail and their shrimp rock.


----------



## davrx

*Cardinals learning from the Starry Nights*

I bought most of my Cardinals and all of my Starry Nights from Guppies and I had told him I couldn't get my Cardinals to eat any of the various shrimp foods or flake food. He said the Starry Nights will eat pretty much anything and they will "teach" the Cardinals by example. It's taken awhile but I finally saw evidence of this today. I had been placing various shrimp foods and flake foods in the glass petri dish and the Starry Nights would pretty much immediately start eating it but until today I never saw the Cardinals join them. As you can see by the photos below they've finally joined in eating some ebi bitsu.


----------



## babystarz

I've had so much fun reading through this thread! davrx, your tanks are beautiful and I'm so glad they're in the hands of someone who knows how to restore them correctly and appreciates their inherent beauty without trying to alter them too much. I restore vintage toys and there's something very special about making an old, worn out and broken thing look new as it would originally have looked. And since these tanks are already rare, they will be priceless in their original condition some day. 

I'm especially in love with the Jewel Seahorse stand, I would love to see one with the patina still on it. Or you know, own one. I can dream


----------



## davrx

babystarz said:


> I've had so much fun reading through this thread! davrx, your tanks are beautiful and I'm so glad they're in the hands of someone who knows how to restore them correctly and appreciates their inherent beauty without trying to alter them too much. I restore vintage toys and there's something very special about making an old, worn out and broken thing look new as it would originally have looked. And since these tanks are already rare, they will be priceless in their original condition some day.
> 
> I'm especially in love with the Jewel Seahorse stand, I would love to see one with the patina still on it. Or you know, own one. I can dream


Thank you for your kind words. I am getting ready to restore another vintage tank c1900 that has its original fountain and twin electric light bulbs that shine up through its bronze base via two thick glass windows. I'm awaiting final details to possibly appear with it on American Restoration so stay tuned!


----------



## davrx

*Feeding Time at the Jewel*

Just took these photos of the Cardinals and Starry Nights chowing down.


----------



## diwu13

Glad the caridinals are eating well now!

Any issues with keeping stainless steel mesh in such a high pH tank? I know keeping SS in a brackish setup causes rust.


----------



## davrx

???


----------



## davrx

diwu13 said:


> Glad the caridinals are eating well now!
> 
> Any issues with keeping stainless steel mesh in such a high pH tank? I know keeping SS in a brackish setup causes rust.


If you use 316 grade stainless then it shouldn't be a problem. I know it's not a problem in this tank as I have SS input and return to the filter. I don't have any brackish setups so don't know in that situation. I know all the SS pipes I've seen indicate not for saltwater so brackish could be an issue.


----------



## AquariumNoob

Salt & Metal dont go good together.. So it makes sense for a brackish tank to have rust problems. Freshwater, though? Shouldnt be a problem. Ive had SS mesh pieces in my 75G for like 2 years now and no problems with a PH of 7.5 or so.


----------



## davrx

*New Scape*

I just got these two beautiful large Seiryu stones and couldn't resist putting them in this tank. I know they're so large that the scale seems off compared to the size of the tank but I like the end result. There's even a cave under the largest of the two stones. I also am going to try growing a moss wall on the back wall of the tank. I had a large mass of various mosses that have survived the warm alkaline water in this tank and thought I had enough but only got half of it done. I have more moss on the way. I'm going to try growing some mini pellia in the cracks of the rocks. I may do away with their "shrimp home" in the middle back of the tank as they now have a natural cave to hide in plus it looks out of place in the new scape I think.


----------



## davrx

*Steampunk Aquarium Light*

I had a duplicate of my Xray shade so decided to get some lamp parts and made a chandelier for my tank. The original shade was for a 4 gal. tank and this one is 8 gal. so I need more light coverage but wanted to keep the 1920's look so made this up. It's not perfect but it's my first try at anything like this.


----------



## morselchip

Looks great! Can't wait for it to grow in, the stones are sweet.


----------



## davrx

morselchip said:


> Looks great! Can't wait for it to grow in, the stones are sweet.


Thanks, glad you like them. I did a little tweaking on the lights and bent them inwards so they point downwards now. Just took these photos of the shrimp:


----------



## diwu13

Did you just bend the ends down? Or did you make some more changes? That fixture is made pretty well! That center connection piece really looks similar to xray shade! That black part on top of the right fixture is a different though?


----------



## davrx

diwu13 said:


> Did you just bend the ends down? Or did you make some more changes? That fixture is made pretty well! That center connection piece really looks similar to xray shade! That black part on top of the right fixture is a different though?


Thanks, that was the look I was going for. Yes, I just bent the ends down. The black parts are the original shade holders. They are different but they're hard enough to find let alone a matching pair so that's what I'm going with.


----------



## davrx

*Hitchin' a Ride*

Nerite hitching a ride on a Tylomelania.


----------



## andrewss

haha


----------



## Silmarwen

Aahh, this tank is so incredibly beautiful.


----------



## davrx

Silmarwen said:


> Aahh, this tank is so incredibly beautiful.


Thank you


----------



## davrx

*Light Re-Do*

I didn't like the looks of the first light so I made some changes. Got better sockets and a strain relief that I should have had on the original.


----------



## davrx

*Antique Aquarium Microscope*

I recently obtained this very rare antique aquarium microscope attributed to Collins of London and made c1860. I had never seen one outside of a museum and I got this from the collection of one of the world's foremost authorities on antique microscopes, Professor Yuval Goren, of the Tel Aviv University in Israel so I'm confident that it is an aquarium microscope.


----------



## Silmarwen

Oh, it's beautiful! I'm so incredibly jealous. How amazing is it that you can find these things...!


----------



## Rob in Puyallup

Whoa! Awesome tank/tanks and occupants 
If only I had the time and money! 

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S III using Tapatalk 2


----------



## davrx

Rob in Puyallup said:


> Whoa! Awesome tank/tanks and occupants
> If only I had the time and money!
> 
> Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S III using Tapatalk 2


Thanks, my wife has commented on both and she doesn't like the time or money spent on my current passion. She thinks I should do more mundane chores around the house. When I tell her that I can't let the forum subscribers down she's unconcerned, how rude!  Although the saving money, paying off debts part she's probably right but then where's the fun in life if you don't have something that you enjoy doing?


----------



## Rob in Puyallup

davrx said:


> Thanks, my wife has commented on both and she doesn't like the time or money spent on my current passion. She thinks I should do more mundane chores around the house. When I tell her that I can't let the forum subscribers down she's unconcerned, how rude!  Although the saving money, paying off debts part she's probably right but then where's the fun in life if you don't have something that you enjoy doing?


Exactly... Seven tanks and counting. When I face and "defeat" one challenge, it opens me to a new one.

Have managed to keep and breed cherries,chocolates, tigers, crystals. Working on opae ula, then maybe some Sulawesi species of shrimp. And that's after growing orchids for many years getting many of those to grow and bloom successfully under lights. 

Facing and conquering the challenges that our hobbies give us. If it wasn't for them, what would we live for? LOL!


----------



## davrx

Rob in Puyallup said:


> Exactly... Seven tanks and counting. When I face and "defeat" one challenge, it opens me to a new one.
> 
> Have managed to keep and breed cherries,chocolates, tigers, crystals. Working on opae ula, then maybe some Sulawesi species of shrimp. And that's after growing orchids for many years getting many of those to grow and bloom successfully under lights.
> 
> Facing and conquering the challenges that our hobbies give us. If it wasn't for them, what would we live for? LOL!


How true. I've been into plants since I was a little kid. I have old world succulents and terrariums with terrestrial orchids, micro sinningias, etc.. I've had some super rare succulents over the years but sold them all years ago to get into another hobby, collecting and restoring antique radios. I even had one of my plants end up in the Atlanta conservatory. I got to be on the local TV news out of Columbus, Ohio at the Franklin Park Conservatory years ago with my plants and I got one of my radios on the cover of a book and I authored one of the chapters in the book. I'm no longer into the radios and had my collection auctioned off but I got back into the succulents a little bit with a few rarities. I just wish I had a greenhouse, maybe someday. I still have several terrariums but they're becoming overgrown and need some attention. I was also into aquariums as a kid and got back into them a few years ago. I'm a lifelong hobbyist, without them I wouldn't be who I am. My ebay name is even serialhobbyist. I've tried to help my wife understand this but since she has no hobbies other than reading I won't ever be able to get her approval of them. My son is like his Mom but my daughter is into hobbies like me. She has a couple of dart frogs which I helped her get into with one as a Christmas present last year and I set her up with an Opae Ula bowl just like mine. But she lives in Maine so I don't get to see her as often as I'd like.


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## davrx

Well my Cardinals were doing pretty well and reproducing until I rescaped the tank back in Oct. I added two large Seiryu stones and a moss wall. The moss wall didn't do well even though I tried several different varieties of moss. I think the higher temps that Cardinals like, 82-83, in this tank and the alkaline pH aren't the best for moss. It was however, great for some kind of dark green slimy looking growth that started on the moss wall and started spreading to the rocks. The shrimp wouldn't touch it. Over the course of the 4 months after rescaping my Cardinals were all but gone. 
So I decided that the stones and moss wall weren't helping them and I rescaped again. This time I used the smaller Seiryu stones like I originally had and also made a little cave for them out of the rocks and added a couple pieces of Mopani wood to the tank. I also added an Anubias nana variegata and decided to only run the Vuppa when necessary (when I notice a film on the surface) as the shrimp seem to be more active when it's off and the water is calm. 
I only had three adult Cardinals and two babies up until this week when I added 12 more that I got from Liam. 
I just noticed today that I have one female with either very mature eggs under her tail or babies before their release. So I'm hopeful I can rebuild the colony.
I also noticed within the last couple of weeks that I have planaria. I didn't have them before the rescape so I'm guessing they came with some of the moss I bought. I'm going to try using one of the Gush Catch Pens tonight to see if I can get rid of them. I don't want to use any chemicals because I have a nice colony of Tylomelanias with several babies in with the Cardinals and White Orchids (Starry Nights). I'm not sure if planaria are actually harmful to the shrimp but if they attack the babies then they definately need to go. It's hard enough to keep these shrimp and they're expensive enough that I'm not going to allow some flatworms to harm them.


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## davrx

*Rescape*

Here's some photos of the latest rescape:


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## davrx

*The end*

I sold the shrimp and have cleaned out the tank. I will be listing it here and on ebay in the near future. If anyone is interested PM me. I'm asking $800 which is what I have in it. Thanks


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## davrx

*Sold*

Sold it to the same couple that bought my Victorian. It's going to a good home.


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## davrx

I sold the antique aquarium microscope to the same collector that bought my unique brass aquarium with the underneath lighting, again going to a good home.


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## michu

Your tank is stunning. The pieces you used to light and display accent it beautifully. I am envious.


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## davrx

michu said:


> Your tank is stunning. The pieces you used to light and display accent it beautifully. I am envious.


Wow! Thanks for the compliments!


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