# Planted 29G FW Tank



## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

_1.) I have to replace at least the Top Fin 30 as the impeller is starting to die in it, and I'm not sure whether to just get another HOB, or go to a canister filter, and if so, which canister filter, and should i keep the 20HOB with it? I know they're all prone to leaking as i've been reading the reviews, but is it worth it to spend the ~70 on a JEBO or SunSun, or just shell out the ~150 and get a nice marineland C series or Ehiem(sp?)? _

This is something you need to decide for yourself. If you don't mind the HOB filter hanging from the back of your tank, and you are not planning on injecting CO2, check out the Hagen AquaClear line of HOBs. They are quiet, reliable (if you clean the impeller once in a while), and don't use "cartridges", but instead very durable sponges that do a nice job for mech and bio filtration.

Canisters are easier to hide in a stand, and have potentially larger media chambers. Obviously higher expense, and more complex beasts compared to HOBs. Cleaning an Aquaclear filter is much quicker and easier than cleaning any canister filter.

_2.) I am interested in possibly upgrading my lighting, but i don't want to do CO2 injection at all. I know the guides say T-5HO's are *much* stronger than T-8's, but there's *actually* only a 300 lumen difference between the Life-Glo 6500k T-8 20w @~1470 Lumens (which i already have) and the Life-Glo II 6500k T-5HO 20W @~1710 Lumens. Obivously they're not that much stronger, just a bit more efficient.. 

So I can get either a dual t-8 fixture for cheap ($33) and run another bulb like i already have, or get a single/dual t-5 fixture for $100+ and one/two new bulbs. Personally 300 lumens isn't much of a difference to warrant an extra $100.. The plants grow as it is, especially the wisteria, but the swords, I know, could do much better. 

So basically I want more light for my plants, but i don't want to go so strong of a light that i *NEED* CO2 for them.. So should i just stick with what i have or upgrade and which route? dual t-8's or single/dual t-5?_

If you are not planning to inject CO2, and aren't familiar with the other nutrients, I'd recommend not to upgrade to T5HO's. It's not just the lumens which make the difference. The smaller diameter means that they are brighter (which really counts for plants) and often they are outfitted with much better reflectors which increases the amount of light going into the tank.

If you think that just by increasing the light you will improve plant growth you are missing the nutrient side of plant requirements. Increased photosynthetic activity requires appropriate nutrient levels for plants to build there substance. If "everything is 0" incl nitrates then algae troubles would be just a question of time.

I think the dual T8 fixture will give you better success in the beginning, until you are ready to tinker with CO2 and fertilizers.


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Wasserpest said:


> _
> This is something you need to decide for yourself. If you don't mind the HOB filter hanging from the back of your tank, and you are not planning on injecting CO2, check out the Hagen AquaClear line of HOBs. They are quiet, reliable (if you clean the impeller once in a while), and don't use "cartridges", but instead very durable sponges that do a nice job for mech and bio filtration.
> 
> Canisters are easier to hide in a stand, and have potentially larger media chambers. Obviously higher expense, and more complex beasts compared to HOBs. Cleaning an Aquaclear filter is much quicker and easier than cleaning any canister filter.
> ...


_

I don't mind the HOB's, but a nicer looking tank and better flow is always a good thing in my mind ^^ 
I have heard about the aquaclear hob's and will look into them, but was mainly wondering if a canister would overall just be better for the tank than any hob i could go with, and then, would i even still *need* to use one at all with the canister. I don't mind the extra work there if it'll be better for my tank environment and the fish.

--

As for the nutrients, i use Flourish for the plants, thats pretty much everything the plants need.. And i have iron tablets for them as well but haven't put them in since i changed to sand, they definitely contributed to some algea growth I know, but i have the nerites for the majority of any algae that comes along now and can deal with the rest.

The dual t-8 fixture was what i was thinking tho, thanks for the input _


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## Clint (Oct 7, 2010)

Well if you just want to run one filter: 
Hob wise, a Tetra Whisper 60 is a cheap but nice working option and would give more than enough flow (which is controllable). 
Canister wise a Sunsun hw-302 would be more than enough filtration (the new ones say "perfect" on the box instead of Sunsun). It only costs $50-$60 after shipping. You can only get them on ebay (search for external canister filter). I use one on my 29 gallon, the built in surface skimmer is nice. 
Sand has a lower chance of getting into a canister filters impeller than a Hob. One nice thing about tetra though, if your impeller starts rattling, they usually send you a new one for free.

If you go with a aquaclear HOB, I'd buy a uncut blue bonded filter pad also( http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=5277 ). It's only $4 and you can cut it to size and place it on top of the filters sponge. One package will probably last you a few years if you don't use it for anything else. I just keep rinsing the piece I cut over and over. My first piece lasted about 10 months before I replaced it. (the sponge alone on the aquaclear doesn't grab the smaller waste particles, and the blue bonded pad is easier to deal with than the poly fill stuff). 

For light on my 29 gallon, I went with a 30" Coralife Aqua Light t-5 (2 x 18watt N.O.). So far my plants seem to be doing ok, they aren't growing fast (except my vals), and aren't dieing either. I don't use any ferts or co2 yet, just have eco complete and flora max substrates capped off with some deep river gravel.

Here is a pic of the canister filter i mentioned:


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Awesome!

I looked at the 'Perfect' HW-302 and wasn't sure if that was the real deal or not but now I think that is definitely what I will get to replace my dying HOB.

And I will remember that blue foam pad if i continue to use an HOB in the future, thats a very good idea and *would* help, thanks ^^

Same goes for the lighting, thats exactly the info I was looking for 

So right now, what I think i'm actually going to do, is a somewhat DIY-retro-fit of my current stock hood so i can also put in a 24" 'blacklight' strip that i've had laying around for a couple months now. 
Reason being is I checked and the strip will take the same t-8 bulb as i'm already using, the life-glo 24" 20w t-8, and the strip fits inside nicely right next to the stock light once i remove the stock plastic casing it sits in. There's plenty of room.

So the plan is to buy another life-glo 20w t-8 to make it two, do a little rewiring so i can move the ballast/starters either behind the light or on top of the hood, and then put in some kind of reflector behind the bulbs and mount it all and i should be good to grow. :icon_cool

I already have it working with duct tape at the moment as a rough idea to prove that it works, i just didn't have time to break out the dremel to modify the hood and run the wires yet. I'll post pics tonight when I get off work here. 


Thanks for info


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## HouseofZoo (Sep 12, 2010)

I have the Sunsun hw-302 along with the 30" Coralife T5NO fixture on my 29g also.

I'm so glad I purchased the Sunsun, it has done amazing things for my water clarity.

I don't know much about lighting, but I'm not sure adding another t-8 would give you the results you're looking for. You can purchase a double light T5NO from Big Als for $52.99 plus shipping. Keep it a couple of inches above the tank and you'd still be low light (but I could be wrong).

JMO, but I think your tank would look heaps better also without the coral background on it.


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

lol really about the background?  Think just painted black would look better?
I thought about it..

As for the sunsun, mine is on the way! the same HW-302, am definitely looking forward to it arriving ^^

And i was able to take a part the stock hood and retrofit an old blacklight strip into it along with the original ballast/bulb, used aluminum foil for a makeshift reflector, and bought a Power-Glo bulb to go with the Life-Glo bulb i already have. it's not as bright as the life-glo, but puts out some extra red and blue spectrums that the plants need. 

so far, it's been working very well, my swords and java fern are definitely perking up and have a nice bright shade of green to them. Best I could ask for considering all i had to do was buy the bulb and move some stuff around. 

Pictures coming soon. :biggrin:


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

hmm.. I was hoping my canister filter would've been here by now but it looks like it'll be monday. Thought I should update anyways tho.

I ended up removing the gravel bags wednesday evening due to a nice algae bloom that happened from the left over root tabs that were in there coupled with the new bulb setup. 

But of course, that put my tank into a little mini-cycle so I'm doing daily water changes until it gets balanced again. Also got some root tabs for all the plants put in last night since I hadn't done that yet and they're definitely looking like they need it.

Also ordered flourish nitrogen/potassium and excel, I didn't bother with phosphorous yet as thats usually in pretty good abundance in the tank already. So those are on the way and should compliment the flourish comprehensive i'm already using. (been really studying the water/fertilizer forum) 

From my understanding from the forum, my current setup, and past experiences, I shouldn't have to dose much since i don't have high light, but it should work nicely, we'll see soon ^^

Here's the latest shots i have since tuesday. More once the canister gets here and i get everything setup.

Top of the tank/modified hood









Modified hood w/2 24" 20W T-8's, 1 Life-Glo 6700k, 1 Power-Glo 18,000k









Tank with the modified hood









Snail!


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Ok, haven't updated here in while. I finally got the sunsun 302 canister filter about two weeks ago, it's a massive improvement over the HOB's i've been using for years. I don't think I could go back ^^

Also am now dosing the entire flourish line of ferts, (excel, nit, pot, phos, iron, & comprehensive) as of the last week, altho the phosphorous didn't come in until today so will be adding that as soon as i get home. The plants look good otherwise, but i'm betting they're missing the phosphorous as I know they could look better. 

Also upgraded the lighting again, am now at 2 wpg of T8's, 3 bulbs(1 flora-sun 5k, 1 life-glo 6.7k, & 1 power-glo 18k) with aluminum reflectors. I just have to switch the power-glo bulb out for another flora-sun or life-glo bulb, as I noticed the Power-Glo is tending to grow more algea in my tank then helping my plants. Unless someone has any better suggestions for a bulb, thats what i'm planning on doing for now. 

Also have done a bit of pruning, and added some bacopa. I'm *still* waiting on my sweetaquatics order, it's been 11 days now and no response from them after payment.. 

Here's some pics, don't mind the pirate ship lol gf made me put it back in there, and i still have to take off the ammonia meter and whatnot on the left of the tank plus a little cleaning 

http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/cc408/SlverWolf/IMG_0700.jpg


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## Sluggo (Nov 6, 2010)

How are your Cory cats faring with the new substrate? Tahitian Moon is generally considered to be too sharp around the edges for them.


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Sluggo said:


> How are your Cory cats faring with the new substrate? Tahitian Moon is generally considered to be too sharp around the edges for them.


When I changed out the gravel and went to the Tahitian Moon I saw a massive change in their behavior, much more natural, they *love* the sand and always are about sifting through it. I don't believe it's sharp at all.. altho I could see where it may kind of look that way. I haven't ever had any problems with it or injuries. I don't think i'll ever go back to a gravel substrate


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

ok, it's been awhile, the new changes are: 

3 - 2xODNO 20w T8's
changed filter end to a Fluval Edge Pre-Filter
added an 18w UV Sterilizer to clear up the water

Fauna:
5 cardinal tetras
10 red cherry shrimp

Flora:
2 Hydrophila Angustifola
8-10 Echinidorus Tenellus 
2 Cabomba
1 melted pennywort
2 different kinds of moss, haven't identified yet

I'm still dosing all Seachem ferts but have been withholding nitrogen to keep my nitrates down a bit, then I may resume if the plants need it or nitrates don't stay up. I think I will be giving the guppies back to my LFS as a) they're munching on my zebra nerites now and b) my tank is for sure over stocked at the moment.

here's some updates (will try and work on a new camera soon)



















Haven't quite decided on an aqua/hard scape yet.. Am definitely open for ideas 

The chain swords i recieved from sweetaquatics.com were all 6-7 inches tall, literally taller than than the hygrophila when i got it lol. thankfully, they all seem to be growing in pretty short now though. I'm still waiting to trim off the last of the tall leaves as they melt.


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## WeedCali (Jun 21, 2010)

How do you see the plants reacting the the light change?


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

what do you mean exactly? 

Before, when I started the tank, I was using the stock hood with the single 17w flourescent. Now I have around 4x that amount of light with the 3 bulbs @ 2xODNO. 

There was a *noticeable* difference in the plants and how they grow, especially if you watch them daily-morning/night. Almost all the plants are pearling now with 1-2bps coming off the leaves by mid-afternoon. 

They're all staying pretty short now and getting bushy, instead of climbing to the top of the tank, seemingly, as fast as they could. And after trimming the one's that were tall from before, the internodes of the new growth are much closer together than they were before, instead of 5/8-1" between sets of leaves on the stem, it's now only 1/4-1/3" of stem between them.

Hope thats what you were asking


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Any chance I could get this moved over to the Journal section? Seems like thats where it should go now 

Anyways, some updates ^^

I've done a tad bit of rescaping. Moved the hygro angustifolia to the back, brought the narrow leaf chain swords up front, and moved the amazon swords to the right. Still letting everything grow in a bit before i decide to do anything else, I don't have much of a talent for scaping yet but i'm trying.

Took all the guppies, save for 2 fry that I missed, back to my LFS sadly as yeah, they were munching on my nerites and possibly attacked some of Cherries  The 2 fry tho are still very small, and have been extremely peaceful so far, so they'll probably get to stay as long as they're the same sex. I can't have 20-40 guppy fry in this 29 gallon every month so, it was getting ridiculous and seems very irresponsible to me to have these fish and then always try and pawn off the spawn to the LFS every single time. 

Anyways, since the guppies are gone, i added a kuhli loach (i know they're not supposed to be by themselves, i'm on the hunt for 3-4 more) and the tank should be done in terms of fishy. I think i'm fully stocked with: 
5 Cardinal Tetras
8 Harlequin Rasbora's
7 Cory's(2 peppered, 1 julii, 4 bronze)
the 1 soon to be 3-4 kuhli loaches
the ~10 or so cherry shrimp
and 3 Zebra Nerite snails

here's some pics.

Front shot of the whole tank









Left side









Right side









My biggest cherry looking like she's about to molt and my Kuhli you can barely make out in his 'cave' under the pirate ship ^^


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

*1/5 Update!*

Ah the fun of going from low tech to high tech 

Still need this thread moved if possible.. gotta find the mods..

Anyways more updates..

I finally got rid of my DIY ODNO T8's in favor of an Odyssea 4x24w T5HO w/LED Moonlights and 4 6500k bulbs. It has a single parabolic reflector across the back of all 4 bulbs. 

So far i've just been running 2 bulbs at a time, and it looks to not be as bright nor as intense as my 3 bulb 2xODNO 20w T8's I was running before. Also my plants internodes spacing(for instance on my bacopa) have increased from 1/4" between leaf nodes, to 1" or more, and my E. Tennelus is starting to get tall(3-4") like when i bought it instead of short(2" max) like it has been under the T8's. So I think I need to run all 4 bulbs for atleast a burst of time during the photoperiod. No biggie there just some thoughts and things i'm noticing in the switchover. 

The reflectors seem to make a HUGE difference here as with the T8's i atleast molded a parabolic reflector out of aluminum for each individual T8, and I can't really do that on this T5HO fixture and not really sure I want to either. But I like it as is and it's much sleeker than the diy t8's. Was able to get rid of the Versa Top glass cover and set the new fixture right over the tank since it has a splash guard built in.

That was a *massive* improvement in me being able to work in the tank and still see, as i generally had to remove the t8 fixtures before and be careful not to knock the second one off or something anytime i got my hands wet. All in all, the fixture was worth every penny, in which case, that only = $~80  Nice thing is it has 2 seperate remote ballasts, granted their magnetic(i've taken apart this entire fixture once to check everything), if they ever fail, it'll be super easy to wire in a nice new electronic one. They never even get warm tho which is very nice ^^

Also, am now using 2 yeast generators with a bubble counter and bamboo diffuser, Still dosing NPK+Flourish comprehensive+Excel(now using API's co2bootster to try it out since i ran out of excel yesterday) and flourish root tabs under all the plants. Drop checker+4dkh solution is on the way and should be here before the end of the week along with a nice new glass ceramic diffuser. We'll see how both of those go  

Let me know any thoughts guys if anyone's still reading this 

I *am* going to get rid of the cheesy petsmart background lol and go for a solid black background, just haven't gotten around to it yet as i didn't think about it when i first setup the tank :/ i'm sure that would set off the plants and look of the tank a lot more. Anyways here's some pics 

This was a few days ago before I got the koralia nano 425, the second bottle of co2, and the pruning i did yesterday.









1 of the 4 oto's I just got last week! I finally haven't lost any thank god.









1 of my cherries before I moved them to the nano i'm working on(hoepfully journal for that soon) and a bronze cory i've had since the i started this tank ^^









1 of the 4 new Kuhli loaches I also got last week with the oto's









And finally, this morning after the pruning last night








*All pics taken with just 2 bulbs on

I'm still working on the right place to put the koralia nano evo, it doesn't tilt quite as much as i'd like, and if you go to far it falls out of the suction cup.. So far tho, the current position seems to be keeping the substrate clean and making sure everything is hitting the filter intake since I pruned and trimmed a bit. Hard to look over tho in its current spot, but it's also really making sure my co2 is dissolving and circulating around the entire tank. I have it on the same timer as the lights.

Also, should be recieving around 10 stems each of Rotala Rotundifolia and Limnophilia Aromatica on friday/saturday. Been really looking to getting some red into this tank instead of all the green. I'll post an update once I get them in and organize a bit. 

New camera soon too so hopefully i can get some better pics before too long here ^^

Thanks for reading if anyone actually is! lol


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## lama_mama (Oct 17, 2010)

I think your tank looks awesome. Keep up the good work!


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Thank you !


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

It's really filling in quickly!

Now's about when you need to start reading up on pruning technique to make sure you stems end up bushes rather than leggy strings. roud:


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Yeah I need to see if I can do that with the bacopa and any future stems, i attempted to do so with the wisteria without really researching it grew in much to thickly for my liking. I pulled out a LOT of that and it still looks kinda bushy there. Thanks for the tip


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

This is from my new 5G nano RCS breed out tank







I knew it wouldn't take long for this to happen ^^ bout 4 hours with the castle in the tank and Bam! Lol

Too cute not to post  hopefully there will be a journal up for that tank soon, just wanna get the flora and aquascape right first before I do the full post 

New pics for the 29 will come in the next day or two, I'm just trying to see if a few of these cuttings of L. aromatica will take before I do ^*


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

Very impressive!roud:I think the plants would pop more if you had a black background. Cheapest background is fabric taped on with Gorilla tape.


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## fishykid1 (Apr 5, 2010)

HolyAngel said:


> 1.) I have to replace at least the Top Fin 30 as the impeller is starting to die in it, and I'm not sure whether to just get another HOB, or go to a canister filter, and if so, which canister filter, and should i keep the 20HOB with it? I know they're all prone to leaking as i've been reading the reviews, but is it worth it to spend the ~70 on a JEBO or SunSun, or just shell out the ~150 and get a nice marineland C series or Ehiem(sp?)?



They don't leak unless you don't put them together right. Most (not all but most) of a person's problem with canister filters is because their lack of attention.

I've never had a canister leak, nor have any people that I know that are careful with their equipment. 


I've heard nothing bad about the SunSuns, there should be a review sticky about them...I'd say go with the SunSun if you can find it. Eheims may be great filters, but it's just a filter. Your paying another 25-30$ for a name...

Another thing I saw, Odyssea bulbs are crap. I put a brand new odyssea bulb next to a current USA and Hagen (all same K rating) The odyssea was obviously less bright. 
Granted that reflect is the width of 4 bulbs, which is probably why it seems less than your old set up.


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

oh yeah, went the SunSun and haven't looked back since, haven't had a single issue out of it 

As for the odyssea bulbs, yeah i know, but they came with the fixture and have allowed me to use it without shelling out an extra $50-$100 on bulbs right off the bat. I'll be done having replaced them all by next week tho  

Currently using 1x6700k coralife, 1x10k Ultrasun, and 2 of the odyssea 6500k's but i'm switching the last 2 ody's out for either 2xAquaflora's or 2xFloraSun's, I haven't quite decided yet. I can get the florasuns for $8 a piece and the aquaflora's are $23 a piece, doing the math, even if i had to replace the florasuns twice as fast, i'm still saving money, and the spectrum graphs looks pretty similar from what i have researched. Still not sold on em tho, maybe 1 of each? ^^

And yeah the single big reflector for all 4 bulbs blows, but if they were individual i doubt i could run just 2 bulbs on top of the tank without issue's. Currently it's pretty much perfect where it is. 2 bulbs for low light, 4 for med-high, don't have to raise the fixture and it's a good spread and allows for different combo's of bulbs. And it cost less than $100(not counting the different bulbs i've purchased  ). I can't really complain. ^^

here's kind of a wierd shot I thought looked good, you can at least see all the plants quite well.








I'm still waiting for the L. Aromatica to pick up, slowly but surely it seems for that. The Rotala however seems to getting comfortable tho


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Ok new updates!

*Still* waiting on the Limno. Aromatica to start picking up, it's been almost 2 weeks since i got it and i'm down to just 3 stems left of the 10 i bought :/ The tops are looking good and perked up towards the light, but everything down from a cm from the top looks horrible. Idk if it's just a really slow grower or what the deal is, but i'm hoping. All my other plants are growing in great still and pretty fast.

Also have a couple stems of Tropica 049 (S. Repens) on the way, should be here by friday or saturday so i'll have to update again once i get those in but i'm looking forward to having them. May have to do a bit of a rescape tho 

Still can't get over this Ken's Premium Fish Food! My fish are going nuts over this stuff, and now, for the first time ever for me (since i've had this tank/fish) my cories are now breeding! (Sorry for the horrible res!)








You can just make out the 4 or so eggs on the middle of the wisteria leaf! I'm really hoping these hatch, i've been secretely wanting my cories to breed since i got them lol, just got lucky i guess but i'm gonna do what i can to make sure they hatch.

Here's a FTS








Again, sorry for the poor picture quality here, still only have my iphone since it takes better pics than my $150 camera. Still searching for a super cheap SLR lol

And here is a quick video I shot this morning of the tank, can definitely see the cories swimming around everywhere, they've been like that since about the 3rd time i fed them with the Ken's Bottom Dweller mix and Super Color+ Mix, I alternate the days I feed what, but yeah ^^
http://s1210.photobucket.com/albums/cc408/SlverWolf/?action=view&current=56f4a1e6.mp4

Let me know what you guys think! *Still* working on changing that background too, i only think about it whenever i upload pics here lol


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

I found 4 different stashes of Cory eggs in this tank when I got home last night and all look to be fertilized! 
The cory's responsible for this, when I bought them about 10mo. ago, were labeled as Emerald Green, but all the time i've had them they look grey with a bronze coloring on the top of their heads and top fin. They just recently took on the emerald green look on the side of their body's by the gills.
























And i'm somehow missing this 4th pic?

Anyone want some cory's soon? lol ^^

One of the first 'fish/aquarium' forum posts I read was of a person on FishLore posting about their cory's breeding. I always hoped, but didn't actually think it'd happen, but apparently it just did! 

I was considering moving the eggs into a breeder net inside the tank, but so far none of the fish have noticed they're there, and the eggs are all in high flow places so I think they'll be good. I figure at worst if they do get eaten or develop fungus or something before they hatch here in a day or two, i'll move the next batch over 

Pretty excited tho, if all were to hatch I think the total would be around 30-40, there's ~20 eggs just in the 3rd pic alone. Sounds like I may need to get a third tank! Yay and Sadness at the same time, I don't think I have room! Guess we'll see how it goes here and make some decisions..


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## Drzjunior (Dec 29, 2010)

Your tank looks great! I have the same model lighting expect mine is 2 Bulbs, and 48wts. As you know the reflectors aren't great, so I'm going to swap them for something better. Also, you've posted in one of my threads, and I've started my journal, check it out!


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Well all the Bronze Cory eggs hatched yesterday.. Which is great.. But I think, in hindsight, I should've tried scraping them off and putting them in the breeder net before they hatched. 

They're SO tiny, and with the tank so heavily planted now, I can't see them to see how many made it.. The adult cory's were swimming all around the spots where they hatched so I'm hoping non got eaten by them.. I'd find it weird if they did tho because they never went for the eggs themselves. I guess I'll find out here in a couple weeks if they make it or not, and try not to pick any up when I do my weekly WC.

Also, side note, my Tropica 049(S. Repens) came Saturday so those have been planted. Just waitin on a bit of grow in and the borrowing of my friends camera


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

ok BIG update! 
Turns out the eggs never made it, better luck next time i guess but no biggie. Other than that everything is still doing fine. 

New Additions:
I'm up to 2 DIY 3 liter bottles of CO2 aerating seperately into the tank now. I had them originally going to a single bubble counter but found I wasn't really getting any benefit from the second bottle going that way, so they're totally seperate now. One goes into the intake of my sunsun, the other has a 'mist' air stone sitting just under a small powerhead parallel to the output from the sunsun. Those go across the top of the tank and hit the koralia that pulls the co2 down and across the plants. I run an airstone for the full night cycle every day as I noticed my fish gasping after setting up the co2 this way.
I thinned out a lot of the hair grass over the weekend and shipped those off to another member here this morning, in exchange, Tom Barr graciously sent me a Ton of S. Repens(Tropica 049) that has now gone in this tank, as well as my 5G shrimp tank. I've also done a lot of trimming over the last week or so.

The Limno. Aromatica is finally coming in very nicely now, you can see it in the center of the tank, I'm definitely liking it ^^ However the Rotala Rotundifolia is bothering me a bit, as well as the Bacopa M. I have, both are throwing down TONS of root all over the plant.. The Rotala has the first stem growing just above the substrate and parallel to it and then shooting up side branches that grow straight-up, like normal. It's making me want to get rid of it completely due to this growth. Is it normal for it to grow like that? Do you think it's a (too much) light issue? The Bacopa isn't growing like that, but it is throwing down roots at almost every node on the stem save for the last 2-3 inches from the top.

Now that I have all new bulbs instead of the odyssea one's that came with it, i'm going to run just 2 bulbs from now on instead of the 4 bulb 6 hour burst i've been using. I haven't had any issue's with algea now for the last couple months after getting my fert schedule down. I just want to see if I can perhaps get better growth than what I have been doing it this way. We'll see..

Anyways, here's the pics:
FTS









Center









Corner shot, can see the co2 injection here.









And I think thats about it for now, comments are always welcome!


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

So.. 

I decided to go pressurized..! ^^

I ordered everything on the 11th so just waiting for it to get to here and update, should be about a week or so. Unfortunately I didn't have enough to go fullbore with a real co2 tank and regulator here, I had to go the paintball route. All in all though I think I spent maybe $100 total for everything. Namely the 24oz paintball tank, 10' co2 tubing, paintball asa valve/gauge/nv, bubble counter/checkvalve, and inline co2 atomizer. oh and can't forget Teflon tape!

I went with the inline 'atomizer' as I think it should be more efficient than using an intank diffuser under a powerhead or outlet since my spray bar stretches 10 of the 12 inches of the width of the tank and can blow straight across the length of the tank and then the koralia's can pull it down and blow it across all the plants. That should translate to the paintballtank lasting longer. I've been able to consistently get my drop checker to hit a slight yellow throughout the day in this tank with the 2 bottles of diy and the flow pattern I have setup, so we'll see how it goes I guess with the pressurized 

As for the tank itself, i'm experimenting with a few things lately. 

1. I've cut the light down from 4 bulbs on for most of the photoperiod with breaks and morn/even with 2 bulbs a few weeks ago, to just 2 bulbs total ever on for the last week and a half. The bulbs i'm using are 1 coralife 6700k and 1 zoomed flora sun spaced as the 1st and 3rd bulbs in this fixture. My goal is to make the plants slightly "light-limited" with plenty of co2 and ferts.

2. In doing so I've broken from Seachems suggested Dosing Chart and gone for a much more EI style routine in terms of the amount of PPM's of each nutrient we want to keep in our tanks and totally noticed a big difference within a few days of doing this.

Those 2 things, i've noticed, have so far proven very nice. 
The Rotala seems much happier and not crawling along my substrate floor anymore. It's throwing up nice new shoots. The Limno Aromatica is losing its red on the tops but growing in *very* nicely. Algae is literally 10% of what it was before! Overall growth has slowed but it's still noticeable day to night, meaning less maintenance in terms of trimming and cleaning algea. So far, i'm really liking it, Here's the shot 












Also have some more plants on the way! 
Tonina Fluviatillis <- Not sure if this will go in here, may keep it for the 5g.
echinodorus tenellus, red
eichhornia diversifolia
pogostemon stellatus, broad
syngonanthus 'manaus'

I think I'm going to be removing/selling more of the Echinodorus Tenellus 'green' that I have, most of the bacopa monneiri, one of my big amazon sword plants, and all of the wisteria to make room for the new plants once they arrive here tomorrow or so. More to update soon!


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

New plants have arrived! Now to plant them! 

I pulled up all the wisteria, tired of dealing with it after a year in this tank. It grows in nicely, but i have to trim it weekly and it never quite grows in the way I want. Also pulled up half the bacopa i have, and some of the E. Tenellus i have on the left next to the S. Repens in front there..










I planted what appears to be cabomba(?? its on the far right in the pic/) in place of the bacopa I took out, followed by the rotala rotundifolia I had(didn't move) right next to it. I then planted the eichhornia diversifolia next to the rotala, followed by the pogostemon stellatus 'broad' in the far back left corner. In front of those I planted a couple stems of the tonina fluviatilis, and the syngonanthus 'manaus' to try these out and see how they do. The KH in this tank is about a 6.. but it's got good light and plenty of co2 and ferts so we'll see..

I left the right side of the tank as-is as you can see here








Not really sure what to do about all that hygrophila angustifolia i have there, some of the leaves are about an inch away from the surface and they engulf the entire right back corner of the tank. Doesn't look too bad tho.. could go for suggestions^^

Here's the FTS. Don't mind all the equipment in the tank, i'm testing flow patterns as it affects the plants and algea, and i'm still waiting on the pressurized setup to come in


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

That lime green stem looks more like Lysimachia to me than Bacopa. Do the leaves have lots of little ridges?


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

hmm.. looking at the pics on the plant profiles makes me want to believe you.. I bought these as Bacopa M. tho from my LFS, some of them had leaves that were a deep red but i've never been able to bring that out in mine. If you're right tho, i'll need to update my sale thread :/

They don't seem to have little ridges on the leaves, here's a close up


















What do you think?


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

the leaves are big like that and have the inner ridges due to co2 injection, without the co2 the leaves stay small and don't do that.


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## yetti82 (Feb 22, 2009)

I noticed yours pumps have a lot of clippings clinging to the sides of them. I have seen a lot of tanks where they use pantyhouse over them to keep the bio mass from clogging. It also makes for cleaning that off of them a lot easier.  And really nice tank, it's really looking awesome!


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Yeah gotta love the frogbit clinging to the koralia's lol 
I'll definitely look into trying that here very soon, thanks


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Well, I got tired of the current look of the scape, I've swapped out some plants but never really changed the look in like 8 months. 

So yesterday I decided to pull all the fish, pull all the plants, thoroughly gravel vac the substrate for loose decaying plant matter and such, added floramax under the sand in the back of the tank+stirred substrate for anaerobic areas. So now the scape slopes from the back(~4.5" depth) to the front(~2" depth) instead of completely level like it has been since I started this tank.

This was after pulling everything and while I was waiting for the filter to clean the water before draining again and replanting:








I think I drained and partially refilled the tank about 5 times to get everything up..

Heres all the plants on a large towel:









And here's the rescape!








Comments/suggestions welcome!

All in all, i think i spent about 6-8 hours to do everything, little ridiculous but much needed IMO. Don't mind the breeder net! That's temporary as I found some eggs on the glass that were laid shortly(~2hrs) after I put all the fish back in. Hoping for more cory's for sure this time ^^

Thanks for reading


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## cervantesmx (Feb 16, 2011)

I think it's starting to look way better than before already. Personally I am not a big fan of the background and the whole sunken ship you had going on lol, but again, the scape is looking good. Curious to see how it turns out.


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Thanks!

Yeah the sunken ship and the background were all my girlfriends doing, I've been slowly having to ween her off the intank decorations lol

Plants are little scraggly lookin right now but it's only been a day, I'm gonna update again when I get back from vacation on Friday ^^


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Literally just got back from vacation an hour ago, checked the breeder net and guess what I found?


7 Cory fry! 

They have to be only around 1/8" long, here's to getting them to adults soon ^^

Also had some nice growth come in with the new rescape, and only a very slight bit of GDA on the glass so I'm happy about that too. Had a friend dose the tank while I was gone and feed te fish though so I'm sure that helped with it ^^

Pics soon!


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

HolyAngel said:


> This is from my new 5G nano RCS breed out tank


The new scape of yours is looking great. However, this castle shot is one of my favorite pictures, now. I love it!


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Thanks! And yeah its definitely one of my favorites too, I have that as my lock screen on my phone lol ^^


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

FTS:









Closeup of center:









Top view of front:









^^


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## Drzjunior (Dec 29, 2010)

Tank looks great!


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Update, 5 days of growth, no trim. It's lookin good!


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

So I think I've established it. Every time I refill with RO water, the cories spawn! I found 7 more eggs and put them in the breeder net, but i think the baby cories ate them last night. Not positive, but pretty sure.

Anyways, here's the FTS:


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## Chewyy (Feb 2, 2011)

Looks great! I love the assortment of colors.I am a fan of red contrast color on the green.


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Thanks! I think so too 

I actually have a big rescape in mind again if I can manage to sell the plants in the back on the sns, namely hygrophila angustifolia and the bacopa/creeping Jenny ^^


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

FTS 3/29/2011:









Top:









Peppered Cory fry!!


















^^

I should actually have around 7+ Peppered Corydoras for sale in the next month or two. Hopefully more!


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## Coltonorr (Mar 12, 2008)

I like your new scape...I think it will look nice as it fills in.
I love seeing the transformation of your tank from the first post to this...

http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/cc408/SlverWolf/3077c266.jpg
And then to this...very cool.
http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/cc408/SlverWolf/Aquarium/IMAG00011.jpg
Nice Job!


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Thanks! I've been looking back and forth myself and its definitely awesome to see how everything grows in ^^

Here's a lil update:









Was able to let the peppered cory fry into the main tank and out of the breeder net so I was able to take it out. Had to do a major trim at that point though as most of the E. Diversifolia were growing out of the top of the water and getting burned by the T5's. I've also sold some 3 portions of plants of all my species save for 3 and the 2 amazon swords, but you couldn't tell from the pic


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## Rockhoe14er (Jan 19, 2011)

now that tank is filled to the brim with plants. Good work.


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## shrimpNewbie (May 6, 2011)

Ah I like your tank, it's nice especially because you are new at it like me, on a side note I think you should go canister, I have a few canisters but no tank with water to speak of haha, but I think most would agree to go canister.


I really like the sand, I don't really like ADA Aqua soil for the price, good job.


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Thanks guys ^^

And @ shrimpnewbie
I'm actually over a year in with this tank and have two others as well and planning a 4th so I'm not totally new  I have a 1.5gal quarantine tank and a 5gal shrimp breeding tank ^^ I actually went with the canister filter (sunsun 302) about 10months ago for the 29, I have a zoomed501 on the 5gal and just purchased another sunsun for the 15gal I'm gonna get going here soon, just need a couple more things for it 

Thanks again for the comments though, much appreciated and I'm glad to know others are reading this, thanks ^^


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## Rockhoe14er (Jan 19, 2011)

it's funny we have almost the same equipment inside our 29 gallons. I also have a sunsun 302 and the korlife nano.


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## H2OLOVER (Apr 29, 2010)

are you still using the t8s?


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

No not at all, they're sitting in storage for the 15gal when I get it up and running here soon.


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

*29 gallon refresh!*

Well I decided to redo the entire tank since it's been about a year now and I'm thinking I was developing OTS. Ive swapped the entire substrate and trimmed probably 80% of the plants that were in here. 

New substrate is 20lbs of CaribSea Flora Max, capped with 10lbs of Tahitian moon black sand, capped with 5lbs(soon to be 10) of Moonlight Sand.

So far, I'm *really* liking the look of the white sand.. Very much. Really wish I had some driftwood and/or rocks for a hardscape though, but no go currently  if anyone has any theyre looking to get rid of that you think would look good in here, let me know! 

Here's the pics!



























Sadly, I tried running 1 bulb per ballast in my odyssea fixture and blew both both ballasts  so I'm back to running the 2 bulb 2xODNO T8 fixture until I can get a new electronic ballast. We'll see how the growth is with these and the co2 ^^










I'll try and get a better pic soon, especially after I finish covering it with the white sand..


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Well ordered the Workhorse 7 and got it in, so I removed two of the middle bulbs from my odyssea fixture(the ultra sun 6500k's) and moved both flora sun bulbs to the 1st and 4th slots. Then wired them to the ballast, 1 red wire per bulb. They're still being overdriven.. by I believe 30watts since these are 24watt bulbs and this fixture says it does 1x54w per red wire. 

I *Know* they're being overdriven, just due to my past experience with ODNO'ing T8's. 
The florasuns with this ballast don't give off a pink hue anymore, they look like 6500k's right now, basically white light and no pink/pinkish hue, it looks stunning. I really wish I had a PAR meter to test with just between the T8 universal ballast I tried, and this Workhorse 7..
Anyways, off to the pics!


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

*TIME LAPSE*

*10/21/2010*









*10/29/2010*









*11/16/2010*









*12/04/2010*









*12/13/2010*









*1/05/2011 - Before Pruning/CO2*









*1/06/2011 - After Pruning/adding CO2*









*1/20/2011*









*2/07/2011*









*2/15/2011*









*2/25/2011*









*3/10/2011*









*3/19/2011*









*3/29/2011*









*4/14/2011*










*6/09/2011*









*6/20/2011*









Dont mind the pirate ship on the driftwood there, thats temporary to keep the wood down since i didn't have anything else lol ^^


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## demonr6 (Mar 14, 2011)

HolyAngel said:


> [Dont mind the pirate ship on the driftwood there, thats temporary to keep the wood down since i didn't have anything else lol ^^


Okay, so I don't need to tell you why the ship crashed and sank.. :smile:


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Lol ;p


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Well this happened after I put the driftwood in, not too sure what caused it other than that.. Although my bulbs are over a yr old and are black at the ends and with them being overdriven by the workhorse, maybe their spectrum is off.. 








I haven't changed anything else and haven't had green water since I first started the tank over a yr ago. I'm pretty sure I want to just let it run it's course.. Especially since I sold y uv sterilizer a couple months ago (figures)..


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Well admist the green water this morning I found and was able to save about 40 Emerald Cory eggs on the glass and one of my sword plants!

I'm about 90% sure it's the emerald green cories this time and not the peppered's due to the spawning behavior I saw all morning. I still have 5 of the 11 peppered Cory fry I had(traded the other 6 for some SSS/SS CRS) so if these make it I won't be keeping them as i dot have the room currently to setup another tank(still waiting to setup the 15) 

Let me know if you'd be interested In them though, it'll be another 2 months before they'll be ready to ship and of decent size. 

3 of my oto's are also pregnant and I can see the eggs inside them but nothing out on the plants or glass yet that I can see. Hopefully that happens soon too!


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Well after saving 40+ eggs, I ended up getting only 3 fry of the emerald green cory's.. Still nice though ^^ just wish the oto's would lay eggs too!

Also the tank is finally clearing up now, had to get a 9w green killing machine, wait a week and do 3 50% water changes and we're good 

Pics soon!


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Was able to take out the pirate ship since the wood is finally water logged enough.. 

Don't mind the uv sterilizer on the left, that's coming out soon. Just want to make sure the green water is GONE! lol.

And the little plastic box on the front right has the 4 emerald green Cory fry that made it


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Well the tank has *really* cleared up now and the plants are starting to put out a lot of new growth!

It looked like the rotala's and the pogostemon erectus took the worst hits from the green water but they've finally started opening up as of yesterday ^^

Also got some new Amano shrimp today! 4 of them to be exact, sadly they're all pretty much full grown, but that's no biggie


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Been awhile since I've updated here... Let's see..

Swapped out the mopani driftwood for some pine(thanks radioman^^)as it was rotting and smelled liked poo. I added the majority of my fissedens moss to it to try and get a 'tree' of some sort going..

Got some new plants! Bunch of blyxa, limno wavy, some dhg Belem that is trying to get a foothold under the driftwood.. I think thats about it. I did move all my tonina's and s. Manaus in here as well.

Umm what else? There's 3 new emerald cory's now that I've been able to move in from the external breeder box.. Ive also completely switched to dry fert solutions. I'm dosing kno3/kh2po4 every other day with a csm+millers+dtpa-iron on the days in between. 

Seriously still need to get a nice camera and get off this iPhone lol
Here's the FTS:









Let me know what ya think


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

dont mind the floating e. tenellus/r. inundatus and the lone limno aromatica, haven't decided to throw them away or plant them yet as they're all overgrowth.

Oh also big update. I am down to running 1 24w T5HO bulb on this tank! Switched from zoomed's flora/ultra sun combo to 1 GE Ecolux 6500k bulb and Love it and obviously the growth is good. I had a second from Eiko but the light was pretty yellow and yeah, idk what the deal is but these seem to be putting out much more light than the zoomed's and only cost $10 at a local hydro shop. Had a big bout of algea/bacteria i had to clear up with some ethromycin and lower to just 1 bulb over the center of the tank instead of 2(1 bulb on each outer edge of the fixture). i bet lowes/hd would be cheaper if i can find them there.. Pressurized co2 still pumping away at 1bps.. Also that drop checker is a liar! I just haven't changed it since the last WC 


P.S. And yes, that is aluminum foil as a background lol. Just haven't been able to find a cheap black/blue background anywhere lately :/


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Ok, minor update, got a new background finally! What do you all think?



















Can you find the Cory's favorite spot?


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## DwarfPlanter (Jul 27, 2011)

I like how this tank is progressing, keep it up!


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Very good looking tank, congrats on getting some fry out of your spawns and defeating the green water.


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Thanks for the comments dwarfplanter and 2in10 

I'm definitely liking the new changes I've made and looking forward to the growth once I stop trimming the stems into bushes ^^


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## 99RedSi (Jul 31, 2005)

How does the Tahitian moon sand compare to the newer white sand?

I'm torn between a mix of Flourite Black (Gravel) and Flourite Black Sand for my 20g OR Pool Filter Sand (white) ... haven't yet considered CaribSea Flora Max....

And you don't have any MTS to stir the sand?


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

99RedSi said:


> How does the Tahitian moon sand compare to the newer white sand?
> 
> I'm torn between a mix of Flourite Black (Gravel) and Flourite Black Sand for my 20g OR Pool Filter Sand (white) ... haven't yet considered CaribSea Flora Max....
> 
> And you don't have any MTS to stir the sand?


I love the look of the white sand when it's new, but I can safely say I will never use it again ever. It never stays white. The Tahitian moon sand however I love. It looks great new or aged and my cory's and kuhli loaches are happy with it and never had any injuries. I will say that the white moonlight sand is smaller/lighter grained then the Tahitian moon sand though.

The floramax I used because it's all they have here in town, it's ok but unsightly so I try and keep it covered.

I don't have any MTS because I can't get them locally and I try and stay away from unknowingly having a snailolyptic infestation in my tank after dealing with pond/bladder snails in here last year. I figure the kuhli loaches and cory's should be stirring it up enough as theyre constantly digging or playing in it. I usually have atleast one Cory that'll be completely covered in white sand by the end of the day every day. Plus I moved in a couple assassin snails and they tend to like to burrow in the sand as well. It should be good ^^


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## 99RedSi (Jul 31, 2005)

Good to know about the color .. I guess I'll go towards the Flourite Black/Flourite Black Sand route, especially since it's a small tank. Why did you change yours Tahitian moon out for the white sand then?


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Eh I needed to swap the substrate and wanted to try it out. Next tank will be aquasoil for sure though, maybe capped with Tahitian moon.. I need another 29 or a 75 really lol..


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

You really like to play with your tank and that's a good thing, I think you should try the MTS route and cover it with what ever you like.

Are you still using the foil reflector????


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

oh yeah i do, I can't really help it lol ^^

I *may* do the mts soil route but I already have half the aquasoil i need to redo the 29 or similar footprint :/

Edit: I do still have the odyssea fixture on here with foil lol, just 1 bulb, a GE Ecolux 6500k. I used the foil to help make a somewhat parabolic reflector, and then i have foil on the front and back of the fixture down to the rim of the tank since i bent the legs on the fixture so it sits about 6" above the tank rim. This stopped all light being in my eye's while on the couch, and im sure it's helping direct everything towards the plants, everything has been growing really well this way.


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Current FTS:


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

well BIG update!

I've hacked the plants back twice now.. i removed all the floating plants in the last pic and the growth in my tank just stopped.. nothing but algea grew for 3 weeks. so I removed the odyssea T5HO fixture and put my original 2xODNO dual 24" T8 fixture back on. Within an hour all my plants were pearling.. which NEVER happened the entire time i've had that T5 fixture. 

here's the first FTS after the T8's and the first trim









and here's the second just before the second trim:









I have a third FTS that i'll post tonight of the growth.. It's crazy though, my blyxa is almost as tall as all my stem plants now. And if you believe it, I have *only* dosed Traces/Micros in this tank for the last month+ and ya, extremely good growth, constant pearling, no visible deficiency, and the algae is pretty much dead. Still running pressurized co2 at 1bps or so. ^^


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

10 days after the last pic/trim ^^










I'm still only dosing traces, still only using 2-2xODNO t8's approximately ~19" from the substrate, still having consistent and constant pearling from all the plants throughout the entire 12hr photoperiod. Pressurized co2 with the inline atomizer is still going ofcourse too.


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

FTS!









Anyone want any limnophila aromatica? Lol









What about blyxa japonica? ^^


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## green_valley (Sep 14, 2011)

WOWWWWWWWWWW, you got some nice growth Holy. is limnophila aromatica better in high light tank?


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

It colors up more in high light for sure, lot more red. I don't think I have high light though as I'm only running two 2xoverdriven t8 bulbs. Have pressurized co2 and only been dosing micros for the last couple months or so, maybe longer. Growth is good as long as you trim it every couple weeks, it'll branch like no other as you can see in the pic


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## green_valley (Sep 14, 2011)

Oh, I see. I guess it depends on how high up is your T8, it could be high light. Very nice tank and I love the growth even with T8. What fixture is it? from HD?


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Thanks! And yeah idk, I wish I had a par meter but can't afford it lol. The bottom of the bulbs sit about 3 inches off the top of the tank. And yeah, it's a standard 24" home depot fixture that I taped some foil to for reflectors and fashioned legs for it to sit on top of the tank. Just used a 4bulb ballast to power these two 17w bulbs.


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Tanks a little dirty though, had to pull some plants a couple days ago and couldn't vac as much as id have liked to. I'm planning on changing out the sunsun 302(265gph) for a sunsun 403(375gph) soon here as this tank really needs the extra flow. Especially when so heavily planted like it is currently.


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Believe tonight I will be pulling the fish and rescaping this entire tank. Plants are super overgrown and I need to get out as much mulm/debris as possible. If you'd like any limno aromatica, rotala rotundifolia, blyxa japonica, or s. repens. Pm me ASAP! $1 per stem plus shipping($6)


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Major Redo!










Added 5L of malaya normal type soil as I had it left over. Also got rid of the S. Porto Velho, L. Mauritiana, and E. Tenellus as they're all pretty invasive species that did not like growing in their own spots. would constantly grow into the other plants. 

So i'm left with some blyxa, s. repens, rotala rotundifolia, limnophila aromatica and limnophila "wavy" type. 

Im on the lookout for some Erio Cinerum, Erio Ban Ba Wa, and Trithuria blood vomit.


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Shot of a couple of the corys I have in here


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

ok, it's been almost a month and a half since the last pic. I've done two trims to the limno species in the back of the tank since then. Everything else is the same. Have had to dose a little mono potassium phosphate as well as traces lately, but still no need for kno3 yet. 

Here's the FTS from a week ago:









And an FTS from this morning:


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## averittexpress (Apr 12, 2012)

I know I'm digging up old threads, but I like that you have changed your tank so often. So far, I have only done minor mods to mine. I kinda figured that I was stuck with what I have and just have to deal with it. I'm glad to know that other people out there get bored with their tanks and change them. Mine is mostly a grow out tank right now anyway. But I like your ideas!


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

*Cory eggs macro! + new additions!*

Haven't had an update here in awhile!

The layout of the tank is still the same as the last FTS, just a bit more sparse and ratty looking since I stopped the co2 and upped the EI dosing. At least the EI took out what algae I had left, like the BBA. Just letting the plants grow at a slower pace, and for the first time, my S. Repens is finally growing! Albeit rather tall than wide, but that's par for the course. On an upside, new additions!!

First comes first, panda cories!









Got 6 but lost one in doa, the other 5 are doing great! But they're about half an inch long so, super cute!

Aaaaaaaaaand........ Cory EGGS!

















http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums...5-92B3-179839FE416E-7525-00000636BE1522AF.mp4
http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums...F-BF0A-C27F023A586F-7525-00000636EC4E0261.mp4

Not sure If they're peppered or aeneus, but definitely one of the two! They're about 0-12 hours from hatching too, that's why you can see them move around in there. i haven't ever seen a video of these before hatching, its taken with an iPhone 4s with a macro lens so not the best, but not bad at all. Enjoy!


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

*Restart!*

Well.. I moved about 2 years ago. I had bought a 75 gallon tank and sump in the move, decided since I was moving and would have to break down my current tanks anyways that I would just setup the 75 and move everything I had into that instead. It was a saltwater tank previously so I vinegar washed it 4 or 5 times to get it completely clean, transferred over the media and filters from my 29 and 20 gallon tanks onto it so no need to cycle and put in all my plants and fish and shrimp. This lasted for about 2-3 weeks before I had some type of white fuzz literally eating all my fish alive, shrimp were dropping like flies. I setup a quarantine tank and dosed meds but in the end I lost probably 85% of my fish and all my shrimp. So after another month or so of struggling with it I finally just tore that tank down and setup my 29 gallon again. I tossed all the plants, driftwood, media, everything I had in the 75 just to make sure whatever disease was in there didn't get into the 29 gallon and put the tank/stand/sump in storage where it still resides.

Since I didn't have any plants or anything I've been stuck going to petsmart/petco for what they have. Needless to say I was pretty discouraged overall so haven't posted at all on here because of it, but I'm finally getting back into the groove here. I've had it running for about a year now and have gone through a couple changes, and currently in the process of another once I can get some stems in from fellow members here <3

This is basically what I started with after all the losses 









And it grew into this









After a couple rescaping's and taking out the hob and sunsun canister filters, I setup my 20 gallon as a basic sump instead of letting it sit there collecting dust.

This is where its at today









I plan on removing some/all of the hygrophila and crypts to make room for stems, set my co2 up again and hit the ground running. Specs on the tank currently:

Eco-Complete black substrate
20Gallon Long converted to sump
Aqualine Overflow Box
450GPH Submersible Pump
300W Aquatop Heater to maintain 73 F temp
Light is supplied by two marineland hidden led systems on the tank rim itself and 1 about 2ft above the surface of the tank (About 25 PAR or so)

Plants:
Crypts (can't quite remember the variation)
E Tenellus
S Repens
Hygrophila (I believe angustifolia)
Micro hair grass

Fish:
4 Rams (1 electric blue/3 german blue)
4 Bronze Corydoras
6 Harlequin rasboras
2 Otocinclus
2 Striped Kuhli Loaches
1 Red tipped shark

Ferts:
CSM+B - Need to get miller's microplex
Seachem Flourish
Seachem Potassium
KH2PO4
KNO3 only when necessary
Excel - *CO2 Soon*

Anything else just ask and if I missed something and remember I'll post, will try and keep up on this thread again and maybe start a new one when I can get the 75 %150 clean and setup this fall.


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## ScubaSteve (Jun 30, 2012)

While I am a fan of 29 gallon tanks...I hate to hear that about your 75 gallon. Do you think you will try again?


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

ScubaSteve said:


> While I am a fan of 29 gallon tanks...I hate to hear that about your 75 gallon. Do you think you will try again?


Oh yeah will definitely try again on it. I already bleach washed the sump and overflow for it a couple times now and have them waiting. Just waiting to decide if I try and fix or build a new stand for it or just spend the $100 on a standard metal stand. Then bleach wash the tank a couple times and buy new substrate, co2 regulator, and all that fun stuff. Earliest will probably be this fall, latest next spring.


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Well i found all my co2 stuff i had in storage except for my paintball tanks, guessing i tossed them in the move for some reason :/

Also just picked up the v2 gla atomic regulator with solenoid for paintball tanks and some millers microplex, I really prefer it to csm+b but will likely dose a little of both. Gla's regulator seems to be the best way to go out of the available options, I still have two ASA on/off valves and needle valves but definitely wanting to put it on a timer this time instead of 24/7 so yeah.. Just waiting for it to ship along with my plant orders from this last week. Hopefully end of next week I'll have a full rescape and the start of some awesome growth ^^


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Got my GLA V2 Atomic regulator in yesterday! And the rest of the plants i ordered from some very generous members here ^^ 

I think I spent like a solid hour messing with the needle valve lol, that thing is super touchy! Only needs like a 1 or 2 degree turn from closed to keep it at 1 bps, 1/4 turn and you have bubbles streaming so fast you can't count it. Anyways, starting low for now as I don't have my drop checker fluid in yet, should be here Friday. 

Still messing with the lighting, I have like 200 of these marineland hidden led lights at my work that a company recycled with us so plenty to mess with. I found my old odyssea 4xt5ho fixture in storage so gutted it and put 3 of the marineland LEDs in it to try and bump up the par for the new stems. I know par at 24" for one light is 11, and they're currently about 17-18" from substrate so should be getting close to 30ish par through most of the tank this way. Really considering a satellite plus pro at this point and dimming it down, I really like the look of the bml dutch but $200 plus $110 for the controller is way too much. Up for ideas tho ^^

Here's a pic of the initial planting/scape. I'm sure I'm going to play with it as things start filling in.


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Here's a little bit better view, all crappy phone pics so excuse that please


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Just a quick tease of one of my fire reds. Wasn't sure how'd they do so only grabbed 10 and have them in the first section of the sump with half the plants I pulled from the 29 floating in there. So far it's been over a week and no deaths, all colored up nicely and doing great! Just need to clean up the sump at this point


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Sunrise in the 29 ^^

Need to top the s repens and possibly thin out the clumps of dhg. Half of it doesn't look so good but there is definitely new growth coming in so ya.. Lighting has been switched to a 24" fluval aqua sky fixture. Its basically a satellite+. Grabbed it off Petco for $68 while I wait for the planted+ 24/7 to someday ship from amazon. Used my old HTC One M7 with anymote and tasker to record the ir codes and send them to the ir receiver at set times.


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Well I've lost half the hairgrass or so due to Cory's tearing it up lol

I picked up some downoi last night and planted it on the left side foreground and topped and planted the s.repens. Things are coming along nicely so far.


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Little Update here.. I've topped and replanted the S. Repens I believe twice since last update. Moved the E. Tenellus to the back behind the Repens. Split the DHG again and replanted, its still struggling a bit but definitely getting more new growth so hoping it pulls through once I get the planted+ 24/7 tonight. I also planted some emersed Downoi on the left side a few days ago which is still converting to submerged growth so nothing new there yet. Here's some pics 

Mostly FTS









Left side









Right side









Been struggling a bit with the co2 the last two days so the growth is getting a little skraggly, I've come home and nothing is coming out. Turns out the speed fit on the atomic regulator has to be aligned just right for it to push out co2. I keep thinking I get it right and it works for a couple hours but when I've come home the next day its not doing anything. I apply a little pressure to the side of the co2 tubing coming out of the speedfit/needle valve and it starts working. Think I fixed it this morning but not positive yet.. Starting to really just want to buy a real regulator and just get a paintball adapter for it...


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Well got the planted+ 24/7! Replaced the fluval aqua sky and I absolutely love it! And so do the plants! 

I actually moved the aquasky down to the sump for the shrimpy, still using my HTC One M7 to control it with AnyMote and Tasker app, works well but definitely near as nice as the 24/7 mode. I have my arduino updated and could use it for the planted+ 24/7 but for now I just wanna see how the 24/7 mode grows the plants.

And on a side note, bit the bullet and picked up an SS Linde HiQ Redline c200/2 dual stage regulator ^^ going to try and go full SS for this and I'll either stick it on my paintball tank with an adapter or save it for the 75 gallon. Was thinking go with the burkert 6022(I think?) SS solenoid, and I found an SS swagelok needle valve.. Will still need fittings and stuff too and not really sure what all I need yet. Have a lot of time tho to figure it out. Anyways, that's all for now, will post some pics in a couple more days with how this light is doing.


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Couple new shots, basically at the '9pm' time on the 24/7^^

I've trimmed at least 5 times since I got the 24/7 like 3? Weeks ago. Kinda want/need to again. The plants basically exploded with growth compared to what I was using before. 

There is a tad amount of bba growing. I need to trim it off, basically due to me still playing with the co2 and the position of the outflow since I'm using an inline atomizer. Really considering a reactor as the tank almost looks foggy from all the co2 microbubbles. I'm at a little over 2bps with absolutely no issues with the fish.. between the overflow/the drain into the sump/canister outflow at the water line in the first section/hob in the second section, there is a ton of O2 keeping the water oxygenated ^^ 

Also tempted to paint the overflow black, that's the only thing I don't like with the look of this tank is how massive that overflow box is. At the least I need to wipe it all down but only just got back home yesterday after a week vacation. It really works though and I love having the sump, won't go back to just having a canister on my tanks anymore.

Anyways, questions/comments always welcome ^^

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Couple more, this time with the nexus 6 instead of the g3. Still at the 9pm setting. Trimmed again.


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

1 new one since its been about a week and a half, growth is really coming along. I haven't trimmed at all, but I have been getting some melting on the stauru that started after I did a big water change and forgot to dose k and po4 for a couple days. Seems to be bouncing back tho but definitely needs a trim and thinning out.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Growth is really coming in now, I've trimmed everything once so far. Going for kind of a dutch look but not entirely.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Couple new ones from this morning ^^

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Aaaaaand tore it down. Transferred the equipment and some of the plants to my new 40 breeder and got some new plants and more fish. New journal for that soon or I might repurpose my old 5 gallon journal.

Will likely switch places with this tank and the sump, so turn this 29 into a sump and turn the 20 gallon i was using as its sump into an iwagumi tank in the future. Really just need to get another co2 setup and tank, and some substrate and I'd be good to go on that but we'll see.

Until then, thanks for reading ^^

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk


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## Cookie_discus (Aug 22, 2015)

Does your CaribSea Super Naturals Tahitian Moon Sand buffer up the Ph and the hardness in your tank?


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Cookie_discus said:


> Does your CaribSea Super Naturals Tahitian Moon Sand buffer up the Ph and the hardness in your tank?


It's not supposed to at all but when I did have it in my tanks I could not get the water down to the right levels for crs no matter what I did. Always high pH and hardness.

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