# My 90 Gallon Tank in Progress



## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

can banana plants survive in 84 degree water?


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## Xiaozhuang (Feb 15, 2012)

It should, I've kept it in 84 Fahrenheit before


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## crazymittens (Jun 4, 2012)

Pics of disaster are good.

Also...I lol'd at your username. BWAHA!


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Ok you win, just please don't laugh I had to tear the tank apart limb from limb yesterday to net some fish... Oh dear this is so embarrassing.

Pics of tank from August of last year











video of tank taken yesterday


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Ive got some updates. This Friday is payday and I was thinking I would get a finnex refugium, powerhead to replace the air pump, and a peace lily to grow roots submerged. Then I was going to put some Hoya tricolor or Hoya compacta variegated in the ac110 to grow roots submerged. I already have pothos on the other 3 tanks so Im looking for something new this time. Im almost tempted to put my cattleya orchid in the ac110 right now, mine apparently is doing well in a soil substrate as it is, and I happen to have an extra cattleya a friend gave to me, though most say orchids cant be grown hydroponically. If anyone has any suggestions for other alternative plants to put in the hob filters to help with water quality, be my guest, has to be fairly low light tolerant though, keep that in mind.

Also my current dslr camera cant shoot videos and my phone sucks as you can see with my youtube video, thinking about upgrading the camera to a rebel t3i. Thoughts? I have an old EOS 400D atm.

Originally I had thought of buying a odyssea refugium instead of the finnex, since its almost the same price as the finnex, only it holds 5 gallons of water, but then I decided that I wanted to try out this new finnex brand as this would be my first finnex product and I hear all these raving fans going around now.

I also have some beautiful 2 toned mopani driftwood coming in from drsfosterandsmith, I decided on 2 medium pieces and 1 small piece. They should come in in a few days, same as leds.

Lets see what else is new... Oh my dwarf sagittaria flowered for me today


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Updated flora list:

Echinodorus bleheri
Aponogeton ulvaceus
Cabomba carolinae 'green'
Hygrophilia corymbosa ' Augustifolia'
Dwarf sag
Blyxa japonica
HC
Anubias gigantae
Ludwigia glandulosa
Ludwigia sedioides
Ludwiga generic, assorted
Pennywort (May or may not keep this one)
Red root floaters


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Exciting Update:
My leds for all my tanks came in yesterday I have it all setup now and running with timers. I also got my xxl banana plant order in yesterday from Aquabid. A little disappointing but more on that later. My driftwood from DrsFosterandSmith came in yesterday too. 1 Piece was really nice looking the other 2 left something to be desired. But for the price I honestly couldn't ask for more and even feel it would be selfish of me to expect all show quality at 5$ a piece. I have the wood in the tank. No pictures until late this afternoon im at work now I took an early shift today. P.S. Don't tell the boss I was here


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Good news, the plants are being shipped tomorrow. The heat waved finally passed a few days ago and according to the weather report, its going to be the absolute PERFECT temperature here Wednesday thru Friday. So I shouldn't have that same probably I had with the Blyxa. I can't wait . Plus I made arrangements to have the plants sent to work to be sure somebody will be there to take the package so it wont sit outside. I'm going to aquascape the tank soon in preparation for their arrival. Pictures of the lighting and tank and more posted soon.


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Major rescape rough draft completed! I am still working out the bugs, tank needs more depth to it, need to move those 2 little driftwood in the back nobody an see into the front, etc. plants need to come in to give it a hand finished look cuz it looks bare, etc... Pics uploaded soon, real soon.


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## Dina-Angel (Jun 20, 2013)

Can't wait to see it


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Here are some sample pics


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Fish sample pics


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Changed the scape around a bit. Nothing too dramatic, a little to the left there, that's to far in the back, move it forward, switch driftwood sides making the tan color show instead of the dark brown on the african root wood, got some rubber bands and tied the Anubias gigantae to the wood, got what was left of the java fern mats and rubberbanded them to some lava rock / driftwood. Have another few aquabid auctions I have an eye on now. No purchases yet but if all goes well next week they will be at my door. The aquariumplants.com order placed 2 weeks ago is being shipped tomorrow for 2nd day delivery on Friday. Unfortunately I seemed to have jinxed myself with the weather, the news stations have been all over the place today with predictions for the weather this week anywhere from low 60's to high 90's for the rest of the week, they are even going as far as to suggest a slight possibility of rainfall, the predictions have been changing by the hour. It shouldn't be a problem either way though since its being delivered to an office and therefor will not sit out in the sun. Just hope the weather in Florida isn't too dramatic.


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Almost forgot, I have the xxl banana plant in the tank now and I also moved a red tiger lotus bulb into the tank because my bumblebee catfish seems to have destroyed its leaves burrowing under it to hide (he HATES the new brighter lighting with a passion).


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

What does everyone think about putting some bolbitis in this tank to grow on some of the driftwood / lava rock? I thought about it but its expensive plus I have a strong feeling that papa bushynose is going to do something to it and its going to end up dead.


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Well its been shipped and I have my tracking information now. Can't wait!


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Its in San Jose! Its only an hour away can't wait until tomorrow! I will either do videos and pics late afternoon Friday or Sunday as Saturday I have a party and I have to prep.

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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Just a reminder, here is what is in the package:

75 root tabs TOTAL
16 pro plant anchors (4 packs)
1 Mother Sword 'Bleheri'
5 bunches Limnophila aromatica
5 bunches Cabomba carolinae
5 bunches ludwigia glandulosa
2 bunches Hygro. 'augustifolia'
3 mats HC 3" X 5"
1 bunch Ludwigia sedioides

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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

It just came in 5 minutes ago. I can't open it until this afternoon since I am at work.


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

They are in the tank!!!!!!!

Full review will be performed later on but its gonna be positive! I will take measurements and count all the stems per bunch i received.


Overall a positive experience, plants all arrived in great condition except for the limnophila aromatica, which looked like something you'd see from the black lagoon. Plants did arrive with algae, a few were covered in it from head to toe, but most without the slightest trace of algae. I could not locate any snails but I wouldn't be surprised if they had eggs on them. I used 2nd day ship btw. I was very confused when i looked at my bunches of hygrophilia corymbosa augustifolia, i ordered 2 bunches and they shipped 3, but that wasn't the confusing part, the confusing part was that 1 bunch contained only 3 stems at about 8 inches tall with little to no roots, 1 bunch contained 6 stems also at 8 inches tall, these containing more roots and looking to be in better condition than the other, HOWEVER, and I say this with happiness in my voice as i get to the 3rd bunch, the 3rd bunch contained over 20 stems of hygro, with a deep red/purple, roots over 6 inches long and thicker than the sweat on an old fat person's forehead on a hot summer day. The mother sword was DISAPPOINTING, only being 14 inches tall with a poor to fair root system (for the size of the plant) and containing only 2 baby swords 1 halfdead and the other ok but both without roots and about 15 leaves. The green cabomba was probably in the best condition out of all the plants upon arrival, looking absolutely perfect except 1 bunch which also looked like it came from the black lagoon. The ludwigia sedioides was very exceptional, 1 'bunch' or whatever their calling it now, contained 3 stems at 24+ inches tall 1 without any roots and the other 2 with OK roots. The 3" X 5" HC mats were completely outstanding, out of this world, an I-shi*-my-pants-after-taking-a-look sort of reaction (did not actually happen). I ordered 3 mats and received the best looking HC I have ever seen in my entire life, bright coral green, growing off the mats and several LAYERS of HC per mat. The mats use some type of wool with a plastic protector so it will sink and hold together, definitely keep the hc on the mat, despite what people say about it growing faster when spread out I would not remove it from the mat, when you see your mats in person you will know exactly what im trying to say, though others will argue I just dont want to kill it or damage its beauty by molesting it.


Videos and pics pics pics pics pics, more pics, and, btw did i mentions PICS? Will be posted soon though not necessarily today and i can't tomorrow but Sunday for sure if nothing else.
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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

I decided the tank wasn't ready for pics so no pics until further notice. I'm ordering my co2 system in a few days.

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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

I just deposited my check finally and that will show up on my account Wednesday. After that I can buy my co2 system. Then theirs a 10 business day wait and after that I will need to get it filled. And then a day or two of testing and figuring out how to connect the regulator to the cylinder, etc. After that I have my co2 system! Hazaa!

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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

I have been planting the plants slowly now with those aquariumplants.com anchors. They work really good and my big plecostamus has yet to successfully uproot any of the plants but he has definitely tried. If I can find the time today I will post some pictures but I have been really busy lately. It is starting to look better and better. The single surviving Blyxa stem seems to have filled in more. Its still meager looking and you can't even see it in the tank because its behind some wood. I still haven't planted most of my stem plants because I want them to develop some roots, some of them are still melting a little bit or the stems looks a little soft. The Ludwigia sedioides has quickly become a favorite.


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Yesterday I went to Petsmart and bought 2 packs of Cyprus helferi. So far its doing pretty well actually. I still think im going to look for Blyxa japonica locally as I think I will never buy this plant online again. I want it bad for the tank. The cabomba has been growing fast floating in the tank. I hope to be able to plant those within a week. The ludwigia glandulosa looks fine but not great. It hasn't grown much and the leaves have melted tremendously but it still actually looks good, nice violet pink/purple look. The Limnophila aromatica is all dead, but like the Blyxa I hope it will seed. I found an unkown plant poking out of the gravel yesterday that appears to be from last year when the tank was last planted. I think it is a baby jungle val, which I haven't had in this tank for who knows how long. So far I have planted in the substrate the mother sword, its baby, the HC, red tiger lotus, banana plant, anubias, half dead java fern, and the Cyprus helferi. I still don't know if I want to plant the L. sedioides and let it grow to the top or leave it floating. For now it will stay floating but once everything else is dialed in and everything theb I will have to figure out if theirs a spot for them.

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## WestHaven (Jun 30, 2012)

What is species of the small white fish?


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

WestHaven said:


> What is species of the small white fish?


If you are referring to the freshwater goby, that is Rhinogobius candidianus. I have never seen them in a store but I got mine from a rare import specialist. Sad to say he never got another shipment of them, its been 3 years now and believe me he's tried. They are supposed to be very rare.


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Update pics! Plus I have a funny video of the tank im going to edit this week and upload to YouTube soon!


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Btw, thanks to whoever moved this to the correct section! I didn't know we had a subforum specifically for this, thanks!


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Oh dear lord! I can't control myself around AquaBid! I'm going nuts buying things. i can't stop refreshing every 5 minutes to see if theirs any new ads. My shopping cart is like a roll of unrolled toilet paper that keeps on going and going and going...


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Well I couldn't control myself with these 2 Aquabid auctions and ended up buying a HUGE Aponogeton I don't know what I will do with and 8 different species of floating plants in such a large quantity I will end up throwing half out. Oh the thrill of shopping online, it does a body good.


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

The money FINALLY came in!!! I just paid for the aquabid auctions now today I purchase my co2 system! I think ima wait to buy it until after work, this afternoon but today for sure!

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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

I just purchased my co2 system!

I bought everything from aquariumplants.com

10lb empty co2 cylinder aluminum
perma-seal tank to regulator seal
Milwaukee regulator with solenoid and drop checker
Red Sea Reactor with built-in pump
10ft co2-proof tubing
2x extra packs plant anchors (already running low on them)

I am also buying off Ebay a glass drop checker, 4dkh water, and ph reagant


Should ship tomorrow and I will get my tracking info by 6pm that night!


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

I just bought the drop checker, water, and ph stuff! Expected for arrival on Monday.


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

glad to see someone else doing co2 injection in a big tank with larger fish 

hope that blyxa comes back for you....so far mine is doing well.

I opted to use farlowellas instead of bushy nose plecos though 

Also because I like keeping things that no one else has 

what's the fish list right now? and I'd love to throw plants your way once mine get going fully


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

I went to that rare import specialist wholesaler today (he's my friend)!!!!! I spent every penny nickel and dime I had. Ever seen WC gold nugget pleco for 15$? Yep, and he threw in 10 cherry shrimp free. I bought a giant mother anubias about 1 square foot, 16$. Anubias petite 1.50$/pc, freshwater goby 2/5$, nerite snails 0.50$/pc buy 10 get 5 free. Hygrophilia corymbosa 10$ for enough to fill a 10g tank with extra (flowering). Red tiger lotus mother plant over 50 leaves compact show quality, no floating leaves, 18$. Discus 2.5" 2pc/15$. Blyxa japonica 1$/pc rooted stem. Scarlet badis 2pc/5$, buy 5 get 1 free. Holy crap I love this guy! Im in the car on the ride back.  

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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

HybridHerp said:


> glad to see someone else doing co2 injection in a big tank with larger fish
> 
> hope that blyxa comes back for you....so far mine is doing well.
> 
> ...


Thanks! 

Actually papa bushynose is not for algae, he is my centerpiece fish. And my most beloved fish, I am very attached to him. He still occasionally mess some plants up but I always work around him. That 1 frail stem is still going, but now im coming home with 30 more stems, no shipping or heat wave this time so hopefully they survive.

Fish List:
2 bushynose plecostamus
1 angelfish
3 discus
1 bolivian ram
1 parrot fish
4 Rhinogobius candidianus

Also coming home with nerites for this tank (most of the fauna I bought is for other tanks)

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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Just so that nobody is confused, the freshwater goby I bought this time are not Rhinogobies, which are the gobies featured earlier, these ones are Stiphodon atropurpureus or neon blue goby. These ones stay much smaller and are going in one of my 20g rather than my 100g. The males are very pretty, already colored up.


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## gt turbo (Sep 13, 2012)

Nice job on the 90g. Waiting to see how this turns out with all the new flora you acquired.


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

gt turbo said:


> Nice job on the 90g. Waiting to see how this turns out with all the new flora you acquired.


Thank you! I was beginning to think my scape sucked! Its going to be a few weeks before I plant some of these new stem plants but it looks like the ludwigia glandulosa I got a few weeks ago is nice and ripe for planting! The Cabomba needs a few more days of ripening and the old hygro augustifolia is also getting close. The new hygro is going to take the longest to ripe because most of the plants were recent cuttings with only a tiny bit of root. The Blyxa I think I am going to plant some and leave some floating because I want to see which does better. The mother anubias and babies will be tied to an ornament hopefully today, the biggest thing is I haven't yet decided which ornament, whether to do it on driftwood or lava rock, and whether I should break apart the mother anubias or leave it as this HUGE lush clump of green. The other thing is the roots on this anubias are rediculous! I could EASILY plant this in the substrate without burying the rhizome. Most roots are over 6 inches long, I can't even see the rhizome, too many roots in the way! 

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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Well this weekend is going to be pretty big for the tanks. I should have plenty of spare time this weekend for tank work.


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

I just did a bunch of work on the tanks. In this tank I planted about half of the Blyxa japonica, Ludwigia glandulosa, and Cabomba carolinae. I was shocked to find that the new hygrophilia has tripled the size of its roots over the past 48 hours. I found evidence of a Calcium deficiency on the Hygro leaves, most of the other plants haven't shown these signs yet, only the really fast growers, so i'm hoping I can get this under control before it becomes a serious problem. I dosed a double dose of flourish comprehensive which says on the back it contains 0.14% calcium. That should at least help. I changed the scape just a little bit and tied the mother anubias and several of its babies using both string and rubber bands. I tore out the baby amazon sword to make more room for the stem plants. You can't even see the stem plants very well but i'm hoping they will fill in over time. I have a shipment coming in tomorrow from usps off AquaBid, I think this shipment should be my floater package.


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

2 packages came in today! The xxl Aponogeton and my co2 drop checker kit! All items arrived in tact. This seller seriously underrated this aponogeton! Marked as only 14 inches tall received a 3 foot tall aponogeton that goes all the way to the top of my tank and trails halfway across! The item arrived poorly packaged and most of the leaves were torn, stems bent, and algae is definitely present. On the other hand it came with some moss growing on the leaves! Looks like some kind of taxiphylum sp, maybe christmas moss, not sure. Only a few 3" strands but still! Nothing unexpected with the drop checker, just your average generic glass dropper, homemade 4dkh water, and some ph liquid. Packaged was very good tho, especially coming from [Ebay Link Removed]

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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Idk was is going on with my co2 system, they lied on their site though. I ordered the system late Wednesday expecting it to be shipped Thursday, the website says they ship hardgoods Monday thru Friday and they email you the tracking information at 8pm (6pm here) the night it ships. I still have yet to get an email or even a reply from them on the status of my package. I have no idea what is going on, if it has been shipped, maybe if something is out of stock (please don't let this be true). I have bought from them before and they have always been fast at replying and sending email notifications on time. Hopefully this was just a bad time for their customer service department and the package has been shipped. Stay tuned.

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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

mr.bigglesworth said:


> I think this shipment should be my floater package.


Oops! I got packages mixed up. The one arriving today was my aponogeton, my floaters are scheduled to ship Monday for deliver Wednesday to Thursday (requested they ship Monday).

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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

I'm having a problem deciding on where to put things. Not enough space for background plants between all the woodwork and the mother sword. Any advice?


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

I woke up this morning to a DISASTER. Somebody knocked over all the wood and the lava rock spilled everywhere. It was a mess, most of the plants were still rooted to the substrate, thanks to those anchors. Those things really are a life saver. Now that I have had them for a while I really don't think I could do all this without them. They've spoiled me . Anyways, It took me extensive quantities of time, of which were already in limited quantity, and strenuous effort. Everything was moved so much I had to guess what went where, it is impossible to replicate exactly what was done before, but I did my best. I hate to say it, but I don't like it as much. I have a little sour taste in my mouth, thus a rescape in previously self-uncharted waters may be deemed necessary in the near future. Needless to say I suspected the plecostamus from the start and thus proceeded to give him a spanking earlier today. He actually tried to attack me back and flared at me. Even after this we couldn't help but reconcile ourselves with a toast, algae wafer to soda.

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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Everything knocked over again......

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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

Hrmmmmmmmmm, maybe the hard scape wasn't securely put in place? I don't think any of your fish are strong enough to really mess with the hard scape at the size they are at.

Also, where did you get plant anchors and can you show a picture of them? I'm debating on getting a few for some plants that seem to be more prone to getting uprooted for whatever reason.


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

HybridHerp said:


> Hrmmmmmmmmm, maybe the hard scape wasn't securely put in place? I don't think any of your fish are strong enough to really mess with the hard scape at the size they are at.
> 
> Also, where did you get plant anchors and can you show a picture of them? I'm debating on getting a few for some plants that seem to be more prone to getting uprooted for whatever reason.


yeah.... I don't know what to do.

Thanks for commenting tho!! 

The plant anchors are found here (on sale)
http://www.aquariumplants.com/Professional_Plant_Anchors_on_sale_reg_2_29_p/pr1325.htm


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Here's a crappy pic from my phone cuz I was too lazy to transfer pictures from my dslr to my computer. I just finished the rough draft for the new scape. It's a little bare but I'm hoping it will fill in over time.

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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Oops

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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Massive photoshoot expected at dark tonight in a few hours. Stay tuned.

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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Pics!


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

I would not keep your banana lotus in the front......look at my 75 thread....see the big green plant?

That's a banana lotus.....I buried the tubers though, but they can and will get huge like that. Just so you know 

Why are all those plants floating?


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

HybridHerp said:


> I would not keep your banana lotus in the front......look at my 75 thread....see the big green plant?
> 
> That's a banana lotus.....I buried the tubers though, but they can and will get huge like that. Just so you know
> 
> Why are all those plants floating?


I want them to root more and grow a little more. For example, the red root floaters and Ludwigia sedioides will stay floating. But the hygro, cabomba, glandulosa, and remaining blyxa for the most part haven't rooted enough for me. A few of them are ready for planting but I haven't gotten to them. That will be for tomorrow. Ya, the banana plant location is temporary. When it gets some size moving will be necessary. about 1/3 of the tubers are burried, you just can't see them underneath the gravel. That thing was a PITA to bury, I would never had been able to plant it into the substrate without burying all the banana's which I wanted to be able to see, without the anchors. Due to the shape of base of the plant, it was a bit awkward to get seated into the anchor, but it worked, and has worked for weeks now.


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

I still haven't got any information on my co2 system. I don't know if its shipped yet....


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

I have an update on the co2 system! About 5 minutes ago Mark from AquariumPlants.com called me to inform me they were out of 10lb cylinders but would get more in Friday. He also said he would upgrade my cylinder from a 10lb to a 15lb for no extra charge. I asked him if he meant to say 20lb because the website has no mention of any 15lb tank. He told me they JUST started carrying 15lb tanks and I was going to be the first person to get one!!!! I told him that was great and asked him if it had a black handle because the website states some regulators will not fit on tanks with the handle. He told me yes, the 15lb does have a handle, but the handle is removeable. If you remove it, the regulator will fit fine. So now my 15lb cylinder plus others will ship either late today or early tomorrow and he said he expects my shipment to arrive on Friday or Monday. I will be on vacation next Monday so thank god I had this thing sent to work! And hopefully it will end up arriving Friday too! Although regardless I probably won't leave it up and running for 8 days without any supervision. Success! They had me worried their for a moment.


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Here are the specs on this shipment:

15lb Aluminum Co2 cylinder
Perma-Seal tank to regulator seal
Milwaukee with solenoid and bubble counter
Red Sea Reactor w/built-in pump
10ft co2-proof tubing
(forgetting anything??)

And from Ebay (already received)
drop checker glass
4dkh water
ph reagent


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Just planted all of the remaining Blyxa japonica and a single stem of hygro. Just threw that one in their randomly. Looks better...


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

I have a package coming in today from AquaBid. It's a bunch of floaters, 8 different species!

I realized that my high light plants are not happy with all the shade from the big bundle of floating mess, so I am going to try and plant most if not all of the remaining stem plants and stuff today and tomorrow. I will take some pics soon also.


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

I just remembered I am fresh out of anchors. That was why I didn't plant the rest of the stem plants yesterday. I'll try planting them without though I doubt I will have much success. Good thing I ordered 2 more packs tho I probably should have gotten another 4-5. I go through these things like candy now. Lol.

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## Coldwater King (Jul 23, 2013)

What fish is the one in the 2nd post on the bottom?


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Coldwater King said:


> What fish is the one in the 2nd post on the bottom?


What post/page?

if your referring to my most recent addition of pictures on page #4 entitled, "Pics!", post #54, 2 pictures down from the top, on the right hand side of the picture, I think your referring to my adult brown, shortfin bushynose pleco. He is a monster, pushing 6".

If not, please clarify what picture your talking about.

-Ryan


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## Coldwater King (Jul 23, 2013)

I was referring to post # 13 picture 4 the white fish


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## Coldwater King (Jul 23, 2013)

#13 on Page 1


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Coldwater King said:


> I was referring to post # 13 picture 4 the white fish


That is an alpha-male Rhinogobius candidianus. Alpha male's have the best colors but don't expect this much color on the subdominant males or females. Very territorial, stays relitively small, a trio would work well for a 20g long. Very rare unfortunately. Never seen these at an lfs, had to get them from my friend who is a rare import specialist. All of them are wild caught atm.


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## Coldwater King (Jul 23, 2013)

Well that sucks because it is a very good looking fish.


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## Coldwater King (Jul 23, 2013)

Is this thread dead no posts sense this morning...


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Coldwater King said:


> Is this thread dead no posts sense this morning...


Of course not, I'm at work right now so I don't have much time to post atm. I haven't done anything significant enough with the tank for the past 24 hours to consider another update post.


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

The cabomba has been growing in nicely. Aponogeton already have 3-4 new leaves. Unfortunetely I can't say the same for my ludwigia glandulosa, which hasn't been growing SLLLOOOWWLLLYYY. Nothing new with the sword, maybe a few new flowers and a baby or 2, can't tell.


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Having a terrible day at work so far today. Threats of lawsuit by unreasonable distributers, employee almost fired, power went out 3x, the company that makes us our packaging foam sent us the wrong order, and it turns out we booked our rental house for vacation the wrong week and 2300$ down the drain... what a day.

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## Coldwater King (Jul 23, 2013)

Well that sucks... hey at least you have a beautiful 90 gallon tank, how many people get to say that?


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## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

I would suggest moving your goby to a different tank. The goby and the discus need very different water parameters. The gobies prefer to be in a tank with cooler water that is below 75* and the discus prefer water that in 82-84*. You can see by the pictures that the discus are pretty stressed out. It probably doesn't help them having the blood parrot in their with them either.


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## Coldwater King (Jul 23, 2013)

I'll take the goby lol


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

ua hua said:


> I would suggest moving your goby to a different tank. The goby and the discus need very different water parameters. The gobies prefer to be in a tank with cooler water that is below 75* and the discus prefer water that in 82-84*. You can see by the pictures that the discus are pretty stressed out. It probably doesn't help them having the blood parrot in their with them either.


You mean the Rhinogobius ones, not the stiphodon neon blue gobies, correct? I just hope your not referring to the other 1, cuz those are in my 20g which has 68F-ish water. This tank is set to 78F. I am well aware of all the disinformation about discus needing 86F+. But I don't believe in setting my animals to a parboil with overhigh temperatures. My discus are very stressed, I know, the dead-visible stripes and almost entirely absent coloration gives it away. They were not always this way. They used to look georgous, back in August/September thro november. Then came christmas break and the reef tank and this tank fell into disrepair. I am attempting to refurbish it back to its former glory. They are already starting to look better. The parrot fish recently attacked the plecostamus and approval has been given by the parents so an eviction notice has been given and the fish has 15 days to clear the premisise before manual removal. Mine discus were also bred by a local breeder who has used the same water as me for at least 2 generations of offspring. Also I've had the gobies 3 years and haven't had problems. Despite this I will research this matter and determine if putting them in the 68F 20g is required. No action can be performed until after vaca, which ends 8/5. This thread may go into dormancy until then too because I will probably discontinue posting until after. Not muvh to update on the tank. Floaters are growing nicely. Co2 system did not arrive today. :/

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## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

mr.bigglesworth said:


> You mean the Rhinogobius ones, not the stiphodon neon blue gobies, correct? I just hope your not referring to the other 1, cuz those are in my 20g which has 68F-ish water. This tank is set to 78F. I am well aware of all the disinformation about discus needing 86F+. But I don't believe in setting my animals to a parboil with overhigh temperatures. My discus are very stressed, I know, the dead-visible stripes and almost entirely absent coloration gives it away. They were not always this way. They used to look georgous, back in August/September thro november. Then came christmas break and the reef tank and this tank fell into disrepair. I am attempting to refurbish it back to its former glory. They are already starting to look better. The parrot fish recently attacked the plecostamus and approval has been given by the parents so an eviction notice has been given and the fish has 15 days to clear the premisise before manual removal. Mine discus were also bred by a local breeder who has used the same water as me for at least 2 generations of offspring. Also I've had the gobies 3 years and haven't had problems. Despite this I will research this matter and determine if putting them in the 68F 20g is required. No action can be performed until after vaca, which ends 8/5. This thread may go into dormancy until then too because I will probably discontinue posting until after. Not muvh to update on the tank. Floaters are growing nicely. Co2 system did not arrive today. :/
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


Yes, I'm referring to the Rhinogobius. They are a cool water goby that does best in a tank that is around 68*. The reason I asked is in your second post in this thread you were asking about banana plants surviving at 84*. I wouldn't say that keeping discus in temps between 82-84* is misinformation. While it may be true they can live in cooler temps doesn't mean that they wouldn't do better in higher temps. It's pretty common knowledge in the discus world to keep them in temp. range of 82-84* and I wouldn't consider that as overly high temps but rather the ideal temp for this fish.


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

ua hua said:


> Yes, I'm referring to the Rhinogobius. They are a cool water goby that does best in a tank that is around 68*. The reason I asked is in your second post in this thread you were asking about banana plants surviving at 84*.


That's because we had a severe heatwave a while back. 105F+

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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

I have decided when I get back to replace the parrot fish with 1 or more keyhole cichlids. I had one a long time ago and loved it.

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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

I just purchased 5 more mother anubias. They are expected to ship Monday for delivery in probably 2-3 days. These are from a different source tho, not from the friend. I have many sources.


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Bad news and more purchases! The bad news first I guess. Remember when I said they told me my co2 system would arrive Friday or Monday, well it seems I must of misheard. He meant to say they would SHIP Friday or Monday... They are expected to arrive Thursday this week. I also bought 150 self-proclaimed osmocote plus tabs, hopefully they really are the plus version, they were awfully cheap for the price. I also bought a bonsai tree, it's shipped and expected to arrive this week. I have a gargantuan hoya I'm bidding like a mad man on. I am also bidding on a total of 7 other auctions, mostly more plants. I can't wait to see my cat and dog finally, today is the last day of vacation. I am also excited but slightly nervous to see all the new plant growth. I just hope I am not coming home to a tank full of dead fish or anything... I am also concerned about all of my houseplants, my grandma isn't the best with her watering schedule and I have some pretty difficult plants. Big water changes and buckets of food as soon as I come home are expected. I didn't trust my grandma to feed the fish while I was away but they have been without food longer and I fed huge amounts of food before so I don't see much concern there. Stay tuned for more updates.

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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

I plan to get rid of the parrot fish this week as soon as time becomes available. I am also now officially on the lookout for keyhole cichlids. They are very difficult to find in my area, I have only seen a single specimen in 4 years so I will probably have to special order.

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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Well I am home now. I have lots of bad news and good news too. Good news is no fish died in any of my tanks. Bad news is the water got so low on a few of my tanks, on both 20g the aqueon hob's bit the dust. The pothos are in critical condition with 98% of the roots dead and dry. 1 I expect will survive, the other is on the fence and may not make it. 1 heater works fine, on the other the red light doesn't turn on but I *think* it still heats water, I can't tell exactly. Both lights are fine but on 1 20g the timer seems to have stopped working sometime during the vacation so I am concerned because I don't even know at this point how long the tank has been without light. It could be as much as 8 days without light. Plants in this tank don't look great but I think they will make it. The reef tank took the biggest loss out of all tanks, the water level got way too low and all of the pumps are dead, the skimmer is damaged but might be salvageable, the fans for the lights are LOUD and banging them isn't fixing it so that's been turned off. They will need to be replaced. The heater exploded because the water in the back got even lower than the front and 90% of the heater was emersed. Glass is everywhere and the whole back will need to be vaccumed out before it can be filled back up with water. The tank has been heaterless, filterless, flowless, and lightless for god knows how many days, and whattya know I am out of ro water so it's gonna be a few more... tank is room temp so about 70F. Several corals are sitting on the fence and may not recover, including a 160$ favia which has receeded really badly. The softies should pull thro. No ick on the fish yet. Looks like no more buying except to replace needed equipment and the bulbs are being put on hold. For the houseplants, the boug was watered WAY too much by grandma and the soil is soggy. I found a HUGE nest of bug EGGS on 3 different leaves and sprayed the plant to hell and back with insecticide. Grandma decided to take all of the houseplants and put them toe to toe from each on the kitchen counter so now all of the plants may have bugs. The kitchen sink started leaking below the shutoff so water for the entire house has been shutoff and I have to call a plumber now real fast or the garden is going to suffer. The wood floor now has a bit of water damage near the sink. Some houseplants just aren't going to make it, I have to be honest. She must have watered them 2-3x a day for them to be this waterlogged. But by far the worst out of everything was I have DUCKWEED in the 100g. Not a little, enough to fill 5 cups. I already prepared a sulphuric acid solution and threw some duckweed in the bucket just to watch it suffer with an evil smile.>
The good news is the nitrates are at zero in the 100g. The floaters gladly took over. I just threw out a 5 gallon bucket half full of red root floaters, frogbit, salvinia, hygrorzoa aristata, duckweed, cabomba clippings, hygrophila clippings and in the 20g's pennywort, over 15 feet of ludwigia, some bacopa, a few crypts, riccia, and a flower bud I snipped off one of my aponogetons. All of the plants grew a ton. I found an Aponogeton ulvaceus in the 100g that had been dormant in this tank for over 9 months. It's over 16" tall and has 9 leaves. It grew all that from a bulb in 8 days. Shocking. I didn't even know the bulb was still their, I assumed it had been eaten by a plant-eating catfish I got rid of months ago or had not made it through dormancy. Cabomba grew several feet all of the way to the top of the tank. Sword growth was shockingly negligible. All together my Anubias colonies produced 4 babies, I have never seen such growth in 8 days. The left hand side of the tank was REALLY dark from all the floaters so the swords, blyxa, and especially hc suffered. They should recover. On the right hand side of the tank the hc did a little better, the other aponogeton grew a half dozen new leaves, negligible blyxa growth but the Cyperus helferi thrived and doubled in size. The tiger lotus growth was negligible, I can't even find the banana plant, it might have all melted. The hygro did okay but the lud. glandulosa still has not even remotely grown an inch since arrival and transplant. I will wait until the co2 system arrives and has run for a few days but after that if it still doesn't pickup the pace it is going outside to the trash.


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Just returned the parrot fish. They didn't have any keyhole cichlids but the woman at the register is going to try and see if they can order some in Tuesday.

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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Everything has been opened up and put in the tank/on desk. Your not going to BELIEVE what I received today when you see the pics! I just received a deal-of-the-century for my Fukien Tea Bonsai. It took months of stalking Ebay, waiting, getting ready to pounce when nobody else saw the ad. Side tracking a bit here, The anubias is in the tank now. I just finished taking pics of it. Of the 5 mother anubias, one is currently flowering, one had to be cut in half just so I could FIT it into the tank, all five look healthy with plenty of roots. A bit of yellowing here and their from shipping stress, some wrinkled leaves, a touch of green spot algae - nothing a damp cloth couldn't wipe off, a broken leaf or two, but they are going to look great in this tank! Also received a half-golfball of what appears to be christmas moss, for free. And 1 anubias is already anchored to a bunch of gravel, and a chunk of wood. Most of them have such long roots, apparently in the previous owners tank, they basically latched onto his substrate, his wood, his rocks, whatever they could get their tentacle-hands on. So most of them have a bunch of what appears to be fluorite mixed in the roots, which means they all sink. The average rhizome for each mother anubias is about 6" long with 15+ leaves and the roots average 4"+ long. However, these mama's are different than the mother I got from the friend. His was a var. 'nana' which means the plant is more petite and short and bushy. These are tall, not as tall as my anubias gigantae, but half-and-half, about a foot tall, maybe a little less. The tank is not ready for pictures as I need to get it more organized. If I do take some pics today it will be very late tonight, to avoid that glare problem again, thanks btw for whoever thought of that!


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

My co2 system is set to arrive tomorrow. Can't wait!


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

why are you so set on keyholes? they are a nice little cichlid but there are other cichlid alternatives


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

HybridHerp said:


> why are you so set on keyholes? they are a nice little cichlid but there are other cichlid alternatives


What else is their that I can keep with angels and discus and is 100% plant safe? Not much that I know of... But would be happy to hear of alternatives. No german rams, they always die. Already have a Bolivian, it is ugly, and for some reason I hate it more than I did that nasty boisterous ex-neighbor's dog that kept me up all night for years. Already have a dwarf jewel cichlid, it's in another tank and I can't find more of them locally anymore and keyholes seem a much easier to find alternative. I think keyholes look beautiful. Thought of something called Gymnogeophagus meridionalis, even found an ad with a group for sale, but I can't find any information on whether or not they are plant-safe.... You can tell how far out their I have gone looking, they are ALL dead ends. It's always either lack of information, lack of a for sale sign/availability, not plant-safe, too agressive, way too hard to keep, or waaay too expensive, or a combination of many.


Anyways no pics tonight... Sorry to disappoint. Will at least take some tomorrow of the co2 system and such.


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Big plans for the tank today.
The co2 system should be arriving very shortly. Along with the co2 the package will include 2 packs of plant anchors. Using those, I will be planting more stem plants tonight. I have found a place that should be able to fill up my co2 tank. Suprisingly, there are very few places locally that do refills, almost everyone will only exchange which I will not do. I am hoping to have the system up and running over the weekend, Monday at the latest. Hoping to get a youtube video or two of the tanks in soon. Last night I spent quite a while trying to figure out which driftwoods to use for the new anubias. Should I go with light tan mopani, dark brown mopani, or spindly medium-brown malaysian, or a combination? I am thinking the location will be covering the intake of the ac110 in the middle-back, because I think that intake is really distracting sitting right smack in the middle of the tank. A few stems plants will need to be moved but it seems the best location. Or I also have enough anubias that I could do 2 pieces of wood. Too many choices, too little time. Oh and my Hoya is shipped.


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Just received the co2 system a few moments ago. Can't open the package until I get home from work tho. I did take a peek tho.


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

Exciting

And about the cichlids...I know f several that are plant safe but I wouldn't have them with discus, not in a 90 at least.

What is your fish stock now? Just make a list because ya easier to read that way lol


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

HybridHerp said:


> Exciting
> 
> And about the cichlids...I know f several that are plant safe but I wouldn't have them with discus, not in a 90 at least.
> 
> What is your fish stock now? Just make a list because ya easier to read that way lol


Fish stock list:
1x Angelfish
3x Discus
1x Bolivian Ram
4x Rhinogobius candidianus
2x Bristlenose Pleco
4x Siamese Algae Eater
4X Nerite snail


Plans are to purchase at least 2 more discus from the friend, a few more snails, some type of dwarf cichlid(s), in several months I will try german rams just ONE more time (I have blown through more than 300$ on over 50 german ram individuals over the years, all of which have died way too soon...)
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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Did a TON of work on the tanks today. Moderate rescape was performed to make room for the anubias. I settled on 2 small pieces of wood, a dark mopani and that other wood who's name I suddenly can't remember (not manzanita). Here's a tip for second-time anubias gluers, make sure not to buy the wrong kind of cyanoacryite glue (mispelled)! I got brush-on crazy glue when I needed gel form for the second time in a row. Big mistake! Had to blew through my whole entire reserve supply of rubber bands just to get these puppies to stay put! I am going to do a photoshoot now.

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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Here's some old pictures from Monday of this week after I arrived to see the tanks post-vacation. This was after they were filled back up with water but before massive trimming. Some pictures seen below are of the 20g's.


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Here are mostly current pictures, a few are from yesterday. Anubias flower pic included. Uploaded max pics so get ready for a second post...


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

More pics!


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

Nice nice nice

Sounds good on the discus, are you planing on keeping the lone angel and ram still?

Hopefully you can get a group of German rams to work, the normals are very, very pretty fish (just too small for my tastes). Tbh, I like their normal form more than the electric blue...and does anyone actually care for the gold version?


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

The lone angel will stay and I think the bolivian will, though things change. I also wish they got a little bigger in size.
I don't like the electric blues as much either. The only gold's I like are the longfin golds, and those things bring shame to electric blue's when it comes to difficulty because they've been inbred to hell and back twice. Actually it would be interesting to see some longfin elec. blues, I haven't seen any of those before. And the ballon rams, don't even get me started on those.... I honestly wouldn't be surprised if at one point those evil breeders decide to create the longfin balloon gold ram, Jocelyn Wildenstein ain't got nothing on the electric gold longfin balloon ram. If a Parrot fish and Jocelyn Wildenstein mated it would look like the electric gold longfin balloon ram. And they fall apart as soon as you touch them, worse than trying to eat sushi with a fork. That's like dumb and dumber meets dumb and dumberer (acual movie).


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

lolololo, I have a friend that eats sushi with a fork, I don't understand why or how a person does that. Chopsticks are so much easier for sushi, and using them even for rice isn't that hard either.

But oh god, I forgot balloon rams exist. I mean, I like blood parrots, which essentially are a balloon bodied fish, but I feel that they aren't as exagerated as balloon rams and the like.

I think I've seen long fine electric blues for sale online once.....I can't be sure though. Golds can get nice color and look nice with long fins I guess, but generally I don't like fish with fins longer than they should be (granted, I like long fins but some veil tailed variety fish just don't look like they should be able to move) and....the colors on those standards can be just mind blowing at times. Sure, the golds pop more, but I like intricacy in color, and the subtle details. I'd rather have yellows and greens and reds and blues, than a bright yellow and red. But that's just me.


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

It's official. I am going to get my co2 tank filled Saturday. I am however, desperately confused on how to put the regulator onto the co2 tank because I don't want to explode into a thousand sub-atomic particles. I feel like I am dealing with a nuclear bomb in my own house. CUT the damn wire! Any wire! QUICK, 5 seconds until detonation!


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

101st post! Yay!! More pics coming soon + more tinkering with the rescape expected this weekend. I hope my plants will pearl when I get the co2 system up and running!

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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

This may take weeks to get my co2 tank refilled. I can't find anybody within 100 miles that will refill a 15lb tank. All the welding supply shops are closed Saturday and Sunday so I don't even know if they will do it. I will have to skip a day of work just to find out, the hours at these places are terrible!

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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

I decided to take today off of work. I am going to call some welding supply shops and see if I can get my co2 tank filled up today. on Friday I purchased a Bolbitis (african fern) mother plant among other things. That is shipped now and expected to arrive Wednesday. I just paid for a 12 pack of Laetacara curviceps fry for this tank. I am not keeping all of them, but because they are only under an inch long atm I will grow them out before thinning the herd. Those will either ship today at the last minute or tomorrow, for expected arrival around maybe Thursday. Because it is live fish order I will also have to skip work for the expected arrival day so I am their to receive the package and drip acclimation will be performed. I can't afford to lose the fish due to negligence on my part. I should be receiving a call this afternoon from the LFS about whether or not they were successful in locating some keyhole cichlids for me. If I recall correctly I asked for 3 individuals After the keyholes I am locating some Apistogramma species. I am in debate on whether or not I want the dwarf jewels since I already have an individual in another tank and quite frankly he is a very boring fish... I am also debating for the Apistogramma on how I am going to purchase them. If I want to order them via LFS or thru AquaBid, if I do AquaBid I will probably have to plan a big group order because of shipping expenses and that is a huge hassle to deal with.


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Co2 tank has been filled up. I repeat co2 system has been filled up. I am back home and just plugged in my Red Sea Reactor. That works. I hooked up the regulator with the teflon tape, got a wrench and tightened all of the fittings. Checked again to make sure nothing is loose, no water leaking on the bubble counter, fittings are as tight as they come, nothing chipped, read all of the warning labels, inspected every square centimeter of every piece of equipment with a magnifying glass for 30 minutes. Now double-checked all these things again. Triple-checked. Quadruple-checked. Think I am finished checking? Think again.

Now I am waiting for my dad to come home before we finally turn the co2 wheel to the right a smidge to start the flow. Right now only the reactor is plugged in and running and that isn't connected to the co2 system so it's just pushing water and mixing it with whatever atmospheric air is in the tubing. Made sure to read all instructions and have the reactor to the lowest output level as recommended. Even the solenoid hasn't been plugged in yet and I am assuming I need a timer to go with that, since the solenoid doesn't have a built-in timing system. Fish are checking out this strange witchcraft object blowing unusually oxygen-rich water at them, apparently the discus seem to like this extra oxygen blowing into their face and gills. Plecostamus came out and started begging, he thinks it's dinner time.


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

I am a little confused... So I am now trying to setup the drop checker. How much ph solution and how much 4dkh water, what am I doing?

I also am in the middle of a photoshoot now for my houseplants and a few of my tanks will be taken hopefully too.


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

mr.bigglesworth said:


> I am a little confused... So I am now trying to setup the drop checker. How much ph solution and how much 4dkh water, what am I doing?
> 
> I also am in the middle of a photoshoot now for my houseplants and a few of my tanks will be taken hopefully too.


You add to taste...I add like 2 ph drops d then the rest 4dk


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Okay thanks. Unfortunately I lost the suction cup and now this drop checker is useless..... I've been looking non-stop for an hour now, no luck. It takes a specialty suction cup that has to fit over a little glass node. This sucks. Any ideas on how to put an oddly shaped glass drop checker into the tank and on the glass attached firmly without a suction cup using already-in-the-house materials?


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

I just finished paying for a macro lens for my dslr camera. It should arrive late this week. This was a long overdue purchase, you may have noticed that in all of my pictures I have no closeups. That's because I didn't have a macro lens. When you want to take a picture of something tiny like a fly or a misquito, even bigger things like dwarf cichlids and discus, you really need a macro lens. So pretty soon I will be taking uber-closeup pics of the gobies and stuff.


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

No idea, sorry


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

How do all of you upload your photos here? I am running out of internal attachment space for my account here, how else can you post pictures directly here without a url? Most of my pictures posted are taken straight from the camera, so they don't have a url yet and thus that can't be used.


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

Photo bucket


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Pics are uploading to photobucket now.

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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Didn't actually get a chance to start the co2 system up yet. Dad was too busy. I am going to try again today. Unfortunately the red sea reactor suction cups won't stay, it keeps falling off the glass. I don't think it's much of a problem for now. Also have at least one package coming in today, a mother bolbitis, a mini-mat of fissidens, some lud. glandulosa, blyxa, a lotus, and some other things I have forgotten. Oh and all of the dwarf baby tears is now officially dead, all 3 mats were taken out yesterday. What a waste of money, those things tore a hole in my wallet and now that hole was for nothing.


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

I just typed a 30 minute response and the webpage expired.....
I just typed a 10 minute short version response and got an error
I just tried for a 3rd time and got an error
4th.............
Suddenly I don't really want to type anymore.


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

This is why you have it so you can always paste long messages


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Let's try one more time...

I picked up 3 keyhole cichlids a little bit ago, I just finished drip-acclimating them and they are in the tank now. They are about an inch long and looking very cute although hiding now. I received my aquatic plant package and they are also in the tank now. Package consists of a 16" tall mother bolbitis fern, a big rooted stem of Ludwigia glandulosa, 3 cuttings of Limnophila aromatica, a dozen nice nodes of Marsilea sp?, a nice green tiger lotus with a dozen leaves and a bunch of what might be narrow leaf hygrophilia? It's some kind of stem plant, the leaves seem too narrow to be hygro but it does look a lot like hygro. My fish eye lens is shipped for arrival Wednesday to Friday. My L. curviceps fry package has shipped for arrival this Thursday. I am bidding on a few more auctions also.

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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

There is a narrow leaf hygro...its a variety of corymbosa.

Also, UGH, I wanted keyholes but could never find them at the size I wanted. I'm good on cichlids though.


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

HybridHerp said:


> There is a narrow leaf hygro...its a variety of corymbosa.
> 
> Also, UGH, I wanted keyholes but could never find them at the size I wanted. I'm good on cichlids though.


I know, I have hygro narrow leaf in the tank now. I meant to say that this narrow leaf is like super-narrow leaf. Think of anubias micro vs anubias petite.


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## LB79 (Nov 18, 2011)

mr.bigglesworth said:


> What else is their that I can keep with angels and discus and is 100% plant safe?


Nannacara anomala, Apistogramma sp., the rams (which you said you don't like, which I can understand), keyholes (which I commend you for getting), kribs, checkerboard cichlids, Taeniacara candidi, and of course, Crenicichla compressiceps (I'd deserve shooting if I didn't mention them. My adult male and the angels and discus avoid each other, so nothing ever takes place, even though he looks mean as hell)... There are a TON of cichlids out there. They just take some discovering. I do applaude you for choosing the keyholes. Awesome little nippers.


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

WOW! That Crenichla compressiceps looks really cool! But fishbase says it is predatory, will it be okay with tetra-size siamese algae eater, little freshwater goby, and snails?


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

mr.bigglesworth said:


> WOW! That Crenichla compressiceps looks really cool! But fishbase says it is predatory, will it be okay with tetra-size siamese algae eater, little freshwater goby, and snails?


Probably not. Cichlids are cichlids after all.

But damn...I should find a nice pike cichlid for myself...one that doesn't get crazy big or crazy aggressive....they are hard to find though.


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Yah I think that crenichla isn't compatible with my setup. Just did a bunch of research on them, people online are going as far as to say they kill anything else you put in the tank, require robust 'target' dither fish to pick on, prey on anything half their length, are hard to find and pricey, and require very soft water. In addition they say wild caught specimens can be very difficult to feed and are known for starving to death.


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Also my siamese algae eaters are attacking each other non-stop! I read an article somewhere that said when young, they school peacefully among themselves, but once they become sub-adults they will stop schooling and become territorial with each other! Is this what mine are doing?


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

CO2 system is OFFICIALLY up and running!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At the moment I have 1 bubble per 2 seconds but in a few days so long as my fish don't start gasping I will increase it to 1bps!

Did a bunch of work on the tank today. Planted some more planted, did some organizing, little bit of trimming, and I decided the hell with it and poured about 10x my normal fertz doseage in the tank today, if you haven't noticed already my dosing regime needs some tlc, I plan on getting some liquid fertz from that member here soon. Some of my plants are not doing good at all because I don't have the proper fertz. Flourish does suck! I hope to see some pearling soon! And WOW, the keyholes look really good! I will do plenty of closeups of them when I get my fish eye lens in, that's for sure! That is coming in tomorrow, my 12 pack of L. curviceps fry is set to arrive tomorrow, finger's crossed and hopefully they will be okay. My 6-pack of dwarf jewel cichlids is shipped and set to arrive on Friday. I have at least 10 different things I am planning on buying real soon, I have a mile long list of things I want so that takes time. Stay tuned for more updates + pics!!


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

Just an FYI...I run like 8+bubbles per second

Go by the color of your drop checker...you want it to be green at first then like green...basically go as high as possible without your fish reacting, and then over time you can go higher still as fish he used to being in a co2 rich environment.


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

My L. curviceps fry should be arriving in between 2-4 hours! Along with my fish eye lens! Pics coming soon to a store near you.

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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

All is mostly good on the packages. fry are drip acclimating, they appear to be doing well, I haven't taken a direct count on the individuals yet but I have seen at least 5 live fry swimming at one time at a glance. Unfortunately I feel I was intentionally mislead on the size of the fry, the ad specifically stated I would be receiving individuals 1/2" - 3/4", and those measurements were from July so the seller also directly stated they would be even larger. I received individuals less than 1/4" in size and some look like they might even have a bit of yolk still on them. Now I am a little screwed because I was planning on putting them in my 90g but now I have to put them in a 20g until they grow some more size to them, which is going to take months. Great price, unfortunately I am starting to see why. Would not buy from seller again except for very special circumstances. Also sketchy packaging, fish came not even in a breather bag, it was thin plastic and single-bagged and leaking and for 2-3 day priority shipping that is not safe at all, thankfully I bought babies in a huge (in comparison to the fish size) bag with some oxygen still left. On the fish eye lens, I have already installed it onto the camera and can finally take closeup pictures. For such an inexpensive item, I was surprised to find the item in a real high-end leather bag with detailed instructions and a solid polished aluminum frame with lens cover's, cleaning cloth, and an extra lens adaptor in case somebody bought it for an incompatible lens. I took a few sample pictures and it seems to work great. Much less glare too.


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

I have a package coming in today. 6 pack of dwarf jewel cichlids.

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## mott (Nov 23, 2006)

Did you ever figure out your regulator problem?


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

mott said:


> Did you ever figure out your regulator problem?


Nope.


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

I got SCAMMED again!!!!! I just opened the dwarf jewel cichlid package a few minutes ago they are currently drip-acclimating, btw. I think he sent me convict fry! I ordered a 6 pack of dwarf jewels and they were labeled directly on the ad 1.5" in size. These are fry for god sake! They look like common convict cichlid fry but they better not be! This seller sucks! Now once again I have to put these in the 20g because they would be snacks in the 100g. The best part is that I can't even give negative feedback, he's got over 300 reviews and I have 4. He would ruin me!!


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## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

mr.bigglesworth said:


> Nope.


Is it still blowing co2 out of the relief valve? Did you have the black knob on the front turned all the way open when you first let the co2 into the regulator?


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

ua hua said:


> Is it still blowing co2 out of the relief valve? Did you have the black knob on the front turned all the way open when you first let the co2 into the regulator?


Honestly I haven't yet tried what you said about the black knob thing. Parents are on vacation for a while and I promised my dad I wouldn't mess with the co2 tank while they were gone. I was the one who pegged the regulator because I was too impatient to wait for my dad. I would rather not screw things up further so I am waiting for him to come back.

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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

These two packages were my first online live fish purchases. I am never going to order fish online again. This was a terrible experience and costed me almost a week's pay.

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## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

mr.bigglesworth said:


> Honestly I haven't yet tried what you said about the black knob thing. Parents are on vacation for a while and I promised my dad I wouldn't mess with the co2 tank while they were gone. I was the one who pegged the regulator because I was too impatient to wait for my dad. I would rather not screw things up further so I am waiting for him to come back.
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


There's really nothing more you can screw up but it's probably a good idea to wait for help. The regulator will still work even if you did blow the low pressure gauge you just won't be able to see what the working pressure is. You can still count bubbles so you can make a guess as to what your running.


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Holy Crap! A few hours ago I dosed some liquid fertz in my 20g and I just walked into the room and I swear my pennywort just grew several inches! I can already see visible roots on this new growth, fully developed leaves and a cornucopia of stem!


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## Kat12 (Aug 11, 2013)

mr.bigglesworth said:


> I got SCAMMED again!!!!! I just opened the dwarf jewel cichlid package a few minutes ago they are currently drip-acclimating, btw. I think he sent me convict fry! I ordered a 6 pack of dwarf jewels and they were labeled directly on the ad 1.5" in size. These are fry for god sake! They look like common convict cichlid fry but they better not be! This seller sucks! Now once again I have to put these in the 20g because they would be snacks in the 100g. The best part is that I can't even give negative feedback, he's got over 300 reviews and I have 4. He would ruin me!!



People will usually not only go off feedback score but also what the feedback says. Better to leave the honest feedback and let others know if he's not willing to do anything about the problem, then to let them do it to someone else. Right now he would drop you to 80% but if it helps someone else and if people read both the review you leave him and the review he leaves you it shouldn't hurt you much.


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

I just did something HUUUGE with the tank today!!!! Ever seen a 6 foot long stem of Ludwigia? This thing was stemception. Stems within other stems litterally branching off even more stems. I couldn't figure out where the main line was, I just kept hitting more stem offshoots! Full foot long stems were litterally just offshoots, roots as far as the eye can see, in a big mass. It was in my 20g and had wraped around the tank so many time It went from the top wrapped around and around and around all the way to the sandbed. As soon as I was able to untangle this mess from other seperate stem plants and lift it out of the 20g I was left with about half of the water in my 20g displaced! I placed it in the 100g and planted it and seconds later the lights went out so i have to finish tomorrow. No pictures until tomorrow BUT I am offering a sample picture of the Ludwigia in all it's glory stretched out on the bed!


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## du3ce (Jan 26, 2013)

is that your bed youre laying the plants on?


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

du3ce said:


> is that your bed youre laying the plants on?


Ya. It was that or sneak into brother's room and lay it on his bed. Fortunately for him today's not the first day of April. I sacrifice a lot for my plants so sleeping on this will be nothing.

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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

I am performing a complete rescape of this tank. I'm about 80% finished but I think this is going to look even better than before! Almost done and then I'll do a big photoshoot tonight! I've uprooted and moved just about every plant.

I think pleco senior is suffering from mild constipation, his lower belly is developing skin creases around the edges and he isn't bloated but looks blocked up. He won't eat peas, what else can I give him? Keep in mind this is a very mild case. 

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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

COPY AND PASTE REMINDER

Full Tank Shot










Fish Closeup Pictures


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

I just got my class schedule for school today which starts next week. Can't wait 

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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

COPY PASTE REMINDER

Here's some pictures of the babies























































And this poor deformed youngster here (suggests inbreeding which is hopefully not the case)









Lets not forget the Amano Shrimp









And here we have (Finally!) new growth showing up on the Ludwigia glandulosa after almost 2 months of zero growth!










Random half-of-a-full-tank-shot leftover from the old photoshoot










Here we have those neon blue gobies I got from that guy a while back










Very shy Rubberlip Pleco in his usual perch in front of the powerhead outflow (Don't pay any attention to his surroundings, nothing to see here, move along folks, I don't have an extremely bad case of bba in this tank.  )










Here is a baby Electric Blue Jack Dempsey in his very own 5g. I'm holding him for a friend who's on vacation and this poor fellah is too young for extreme fasting.


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## HubertEutsler (Aug 5, 2013)

banana plant may survive in 84 degree fahrenheit but it would get worst after remaining for a bit of time in future.


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

HubertEutsler said:


> banana plant may survive in 84 degree fahrenheit but it would get worst after remaining for a bit of time in future.


That was a LOOOONG time ago. This tanks at around 80 now. 84 was from severe heatwave a while back. 

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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

No comments on the new scape? Better or worse? Need better pictures of the left hand side? 

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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

mr.bigglesworth said:


> No comments on the new scape? Better or worse? Need better pictures of the left hand side?
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


Anybody have a last minute comments on the new scape? Does it suck that bad? If not I'll just post as whole new thread in the aquascape section.

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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

I have at least one package arriving today. I purchased a small group of ivory mystery snails from AquaBid.

I also bought some liquid fertilizer from Nicolg but I don't know when that's set to arrive.

Unfortunately I have some bad news on the Apistogramma cacatuoides. The LFS forgot about my order.... The owner personally called me up today to apologize on behalf of his employees. I do have a backup plan, always have a backup plan. My second favorite LFS is supposed to get their orders in today. I will have to go there.

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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

No cacatuoides this week. Both LFS couldn't find any. The mystery snails are coming in today. I got my fertz package yesterday. I plan to dose for the first fime now. 

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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Just got the mystery snails in, they are drip acclimating now. Came with some java moss and a stem plant of some kind. Snails look nice. Odd packaging tho, no water in the bag! The snails are still alive and crawling around the plastic but no water! I looked everywhere, up and down, side to side, no water stains on the bottom. They seem to be fine with no water, hmm hopefully they aren't terrestrial snails! Looks like mysterys...


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Oops I got it wrong. They are definitely dead. They are just bobbing around floating on top of the drip acclimated water. It's movement, just not live movement. Smells terrible too...


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Today I might go to get some of that foreground plant from Petsmart who's name I forget. Uggh I just did a bunch of work on the saltwater tank and my back is killing me...

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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Got 3 packs of staurogyne repens from petsmart. It's all going in this tank I think. Stay tuned for update pictures this weekend, specifically focusing on that infamous left side of the tank nobody's seen clearly yet.

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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Lots of things going on with the tanks now. Tiger lotus has 2 lily pads floating at the top now. Aponogetons have grown significantly. Anubias is growing very rapidly right now, its outpaced the ludwigia in terms of growth, its producing 3+ leaves per week now, every other day I am seeing new leaves. The new foreground plant has been completely planted, so far they are doing okay, pleco senior threw a tantrum yesterday and uprooted about a third of this plant but he seems to have calmed down since and appears to have accepted the fact that they will stay. Been dosing with the new liquid fertz every single day now. Stem plants love me. No algae problems. Mother sword is being finicky, she's pissed off about something, yellowing leaves and insignificant growth. Plopped a dozen osmocote tabs near her just last week, she doesn't care. Insignificant glandulosa growth but the other generic ludwigia is growing so fast it has brought great shame to the cabomba. Insignificant blyxa growth though I just noticed at least a dozen babies trailing off of a few of the mama's. Not good enough for 2 months of growth  . found an old Crinum sprout long thought dead from almost a year ago coming back to life. Don't know what to do with it. 

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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Got some new ivory snails a few days ago. Their doing great. Nothing much new going on with the tank. Still sourcing apistogramma. Not much to update on. School's been extremely busy and time is precious.

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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

I think my mystery's are getting ready for eggs. I haven't seen any yet but last night two of them were attached to each other.

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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Damn... I just drove all the way to Connie's since I called and they told me they got the Apistogramma cacatuoides in, so I walk in and they had two tiny little cichlids that I swear were definitely NOT apistogramma, in fact, these looked like yellow labs (african cichlids). Anyways now I drove two hours for nothing.. How hard is it to acquire apistogramma? Aren't they like pretty common fish, a household name to most of us TPT members? They are sooo rare here I feel like somebody needs to breed these locally.

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## du3ce (Jan 26, 2013)

a member matt is his name sells them do a search for gbr and his name will pop up


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

I have a ton of credit from this lfs expiring in a few weeks and I need to use it on something.

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## Coldwater King (Jul 23, 2013)

Dead thread?


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## Coldwater King (Jul 23, 2013)

Update?


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