# daverock1337's 29g journal *UPDATE 7-05-11* moved. havoc caused. being remedied.



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Hello fellow West Virginian! About time this place starts getting some more mountaineers.  I love the tank (but have you thought about hiding the blue bubble bar?) It takes away from your beautiful fish. Just a thought. And welcome!


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## SkyGrl (Jan 7, 2010)

this looks great. i love the wood formation. whats the plans for it? if you need moss.. ill send you some. i have a plethora of it. :flick: ...yes im trying to push moss on you... hahaha. 

welcome. i'll be keeping my eye on this thread. 

Amy


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

the blue bubble bar is there only running at night, and only until i get a solenoid for my co2. ill take a pic tomorrow to update you guys, and will take it out for the pic lol.

the wood i pieced together from a kit from www.manzanita.com, and is almost completely water logged. i think by this friday ill be able to remove the rocks from it (crosses fingers). i have some pics of a diy stand i built that i will put up also.

and sky girl, i am actually looking for some moss for my dw and possibly to make a moss wall.

the cabomba is starting to grow up from behind the wood, but for the life of me i can't get cabomba to have lush growth, it always has 1.5" to 2" or more of space between the nodes. i am considering replacing it with a different green stem plant. not sure what though. i'd love something more slow growing, but a few quick growing stems wouldn't bother me.


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## SkyGrl (Jan 7, 2010)

pm me your mailing address and ill send you some christmas moss if your interested. i just trimmed and i have ALOT!

Amy


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Makes sense to have the bubble wand there for air. Don't want to hurt the fish. I look forward to the pictures. I'll have to subscribe so I don't loose track of your journal. Us WV folk have to stick together.


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

here are some pics of the stand that i built...
ill take a pic of the finished stand tomorrow...


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## The Dude (Feb 8, 2011)

I'll be watching as well. I have a 29g that will be my last to be planted. Some of you guys and your DIY stands blow me away. You act as though it's just something you threw together, yet they are beautiful!!


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## fishboy87 (Feb 19, 2008)

Just curious. . .I've been swaying in the topic of whether a discus is too big for a 29 gallon. How has yours been doing?


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

i would not recommend it, because they can get very large. ive always heard 1 discus per 10 gallons. 

i only have one because a friend of mine had some discus. well this particular one was being bullied and not growing at the same rate as the others. it was about to go into a garbage disposal (which is crazy, he was 40 bucks at our lfs). i refused to let him succumb to this fate, so i took him home with me. he is about 2 years old and barely making 3.5 inches. i thought maybe he was stunted and not going to get any larger, but he is growing slowly. i don;t think i feed as often as most people do, but he is very happy. when he starts to outgrow this tank i should have a nice large discus tank to put him in. 

when i set up a planted discus tank i think im going to set up a 55 gallon bare bottom grow out tank and transfer the discus to the planted 95 4 wide when they reach 5-6 inches.


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

here are some pics of the stand finished...


















and here are some before and after of my water change/alternanthera trim...

































and finally here is my "plan" for the future of this tank...


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## WeedCali (Jun 21, 2010)

I like it so far! I think you have good Ideas with the other plants you want too


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

other than something to replace the cabomba, all the others are on their way. the erio will be here tomorrow or saturday. sweet aquatics is the source for the rest, but they recently had damage from a storm and are backed up. its been two weeks, hopefully they will be shipping them soon. they said i'll get an email when my order ships.

next week i'll be able to get something to replace the cabomba. i'm looking for a green midground slow grower (not a wendtii, i will have enough of those). any ideas?

i am also receiving some raok'd moss from skygirl! (THANK YOU!) christmas moss. i may make a moss wall, and will definitely attach some to my df (just not sure where, again, suggestions?). and since it was raok'd to me, when i trim it will be placed up for the same for someone else! (i like karma a lot)

also, i can't believe the difference in the alternanthera from the first pic to the last. it was green when i got it, and its red now! it took two years, but i finally got a red plant to turn red in my planted tank lol.


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## sampster5000 (Oct 30, 2010)

Nice job with the wood set up. Finding the right wood pieces and arranging them is one of the hardest things for me. Looking good so far!

Thank you for saving the Discus! I dont understand how someone could put a fish in a garbage disposal. That is terrible. Flush it or freeze if you HAVE to end its life. Or just bring it to the dang LFS.


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Hey, Dave, it's looking really great in there! That stand looks fantastic. Wanna come up to Huntington and help (which means do all the work) build mine this fall? :hihi: Depending on how much HC and parva you want, I have some small amounts of both still left I'd be happy to share with you. Nice rescue on the discus!


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

my erio came in the mail today!


















also, my c. nurii 'pahang mutated' had three leaves, now two have melted off, it only has one. the latest to melt off was a new leaf also. i hope it makes it, i want to see it get bigger...


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## Piphobbit (Dec 2, 2010)

Hi Dave,
I'm absolutely IN LOVE with your stand! I recently invested in a 20 tall and was looking into making a stand using your design. Was this based off an internet design or an original?
Thanks!


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

it is an original that i based off two designs i had seen. the basic 20/29 stand found at walmart a few years ago, but i took the idea for the doors being the entire from of the stand from ada. if i was to do it again, i would have made it a little bigger where the tank sits. i made it 30 1/4" x 12 1/4". make sure you measure your tank, i didn;t, thinking "i know my footprint"

the stand is 31 inches tall. the whole thing with the tank is just over 4 feet tall.


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

my driftwood finally sunk! and my plants were shipped today, so by friday ill have pics with the added plants...

now to get a solenoid and an eheim...


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## Piphobbit (Dec 2, 2010)

daverock1337 said:


> it is an original that i based off two designs i had seen. the basic 20/29 stand found at walmart a few years ago, but i took the idea for the doors being the entire from of the stand from ada. if i was to do it again, i would have made it a little bigger where the tank sits. i made it 30 1/4" x 12 1/4". make sure you measure your tank, i didn;t, thinking "i know my footprint"
> 
> the stand is 31 inches tall. the whole thing with the tank is just over 4 feet tall.


Thanks for the advice! I've been sketching a design based off of yours, with a height of 33 inches. I'll make doubly sure it's large enough for the footprint roud:

Can't wait for photos with the plants, by the way!


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Yay for health erios! It looks great in sand. How are you liking it?


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

> Yay for health erios! It looks great in sand. How are you liking it?


i love it. i am now thinking i shouldn't have ordered hc because it will take up the room i have for more erios lol.



> Thanks for the advice! I've been sketching a design based off of yours, with a height of 33 inches. I'll make doubly sure it's large enough for the footprint


mine was planned at 30 inches, but ended up at 31 after mounting the legs to the top frames with a half inch lip for the plywood bottom of the stand and plywood top to sit flush. if you have any questions let me know, i'll be glad to help however i can.


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

new plants will be here thursday! moss sometime soon i think, not sure how long it takes from canada. pics will be up thursday after i put in the new plants.


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## SkyGrl (Jan 7, 2010)

i HOPE it itsnt frozen to bad.... lmao if it is ill send you more with better packaging... it was really warm when i sent it.....


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

it has been around 70-80 here for a few days, maybe itll thaw before they deliver lol


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Hahaha! I love the comment in your edited field. I've been posting WV 'talk' for days now and getting called out on it. LOL Let me know how that erio does for you.


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

so our power went out last night from 6:30pm until 2:30am. until it came back on i was freaking out. my tank temp dropped to like 64F from 80F. also my plants arrive today, and i didn't want them to be in the dark for any longer. my solution was to go buy a 10 gallon, take it to my uncles, and fill it with water from my 29 and use one light, my co2, heater, and filter on it with the fish and new plants until the power came back on (they had told us it would be out until saturday!) my uncle does have an empty (as in no fish) 29 gallon at his house, but with a ph of 8.8 i was worried my fish would have all died.

i almost had an excuse to get a 10 gallon haha. i want one for a shrimp tank...


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## SkyGrl (Jan 7, 2010)

ha ha ha sneaky sneaky 10 gallon... thats poopy about the power going off. at least you did have an emergency option  good to know it only lasted a few hours.

Amy


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## Kratos (Apr 25, 2008)

Great job dave!


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

plants arrived today, but im missing the pogostemon stellatus 'broad leaf' and prosperpinaca palustris i ordered. kinda angry right now. ill post pics later, took a break to plant the ones i did receive, and now i have to go back to raking gravel so i can do concrete work tomorrow.


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

here are some new pics. first time planting hc. also i can;t wait for the crypts to all fill in. the last pic is some algae that is growing on my driftwood. probably due to having 120 watts of cfl on a 29 gallon tank. ive got some H2O2 and am about to spot treat it. i also changed my light period. it now runs 65 watt dual daylight for 10 hours, with the ah supply 55 watt 3-6-10 running for 6 hours in between. i start a new job next week, so ill be getting an eheim and solenoid soon. also thinking about getting an inline heater also to clean up the inside of the tank. i may buy a glass drop checker tonight also.


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## ryndisher (Jun 1, 2010)

Looks great so far, love that driftwood.


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## SkyGrl (Jan 7, 2010)

excellent! hope you get your plants!

Amy


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

i hope i do also, if not ill be lookin in the sws to get the ones i want...


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

glass drop checker purchased. i think next ill get a 10 gallon shrimp setup...


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## SkyGrl (Jan 7, 2010)

yes! 10 gallon is a NEED not a WANT. you can always justify it some how... like extremly cheap or free!!! LOL..

Amy


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

i got the moss today, thank you amy! it was fine, tied it to my driftwood. still have some tannins leaching out, but i am working on that (lots of water changes lol). ill try to get some pics tonight or tomorrow of the moss. my glass drop checker should be here within a week or so, and i also have an anubias nana on the way (i think i have the perfect spot for it on my df). still no word about my missing plants, filing a paypal dispute to hopefully hurry the process. i really need to get a better filter, i think i have a serious lack of flow (all the fish poo ends up in one spot, convienent for siphoning it out, but shows me where dead spots are, and i worry about my erio not getting good flow around it...

also, will using h2o2 to spot treat algae be harmful to the christmas moss?


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## SkyGrl (Jan 7, 2010)

i dont think you could kill that moss. it is VERY hardy! sorry about the algea! im kinda in the algea lovers club lol! 

no problem for the moss! i hope there was enough in that package and im glad it made it there fine.


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

there was plenty. i spent 20 minutes staring at the tank trying to decide where to put it. when i trim im going to try a moss wall, but for now its tied to the driftwood. ill post pics so you guys can see where i decided to put it, but not til tomorrow.

i'm considering getting a different light now. i think 120 watts is just way too much on a 29 gallon tank. over 4 wpg. not sure though, i'll need to sell my fixture i have now to help offset the cost...


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

got some proserpinaca palustris and limnophila aromatica today. also some more giant hygro, but i don;t think it is angustifolia like mine, it looks lighter green. new pics tonight i promise.


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## SkyGrl (Jan 7, 2010)

sweet! we need some updated pics too.


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

as promised...

full tank shot









apisto lurking, guarding his castle lol









c. walkerii 'lutea' looking good and thick.









polygonum sp. 'kawagoenum'









alternanthera pearling









limnophila aromatica behind the dw









peeking out









discus was just chased out of the dw by my apisto...









my awesome apisto agassizi male. favorite fish ever.


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

and now for some potentially bad news...

i think i need to replace my tank. there are scratches on the inside of the glass. i can;t think of what would have scratched it, so they made be cracks on the inside surface. i am super worried about this.










here is a thread about this potentially huge problem...


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## SkyGrl (Jan 7, 2010)

i love your choice of fish. both your discus and apisto look so cute! i have to agree that your apisto has to be the most handsome guy i have seen! all the plants are looking super healthy! and pearling is awesome! the layout looks really nice. 

Amy


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## SkyGrl (Jan 7, 2010)

they look minimal. i wouldnt freak out or anything. is it scratched on the back of the tank? if not... whip it around and your scratches are at the back  squeaky clean front :hihi:

Amy


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

the back is spray painted flat black. no can do haha. i just don;t want to wake up with water everywhere. ill have to pay attention, if they get worse, ill replace the tank, which sucks because i doubt i can get the substrate transferred over. and i just put mts in it...


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

i got my tannin leaching problem under control, but now i think i have a green water algae bloom. and i just added new plants. i;m going to give it a few days for the plants to have some light, then i am going to give it a blackout.

my algae problems have to be from having 120 watts on this tank, i no longer dose ferts (shouldn;t be much if any in the water column to feed the algae), mts takes care of that, and i have my co2 cranked. drop checker is yellow. anyone else have any ideas???

i now have three upgrades im wanting to do. a t5ho 2x24 watt light, a solenoid, and an eheim 2215. don;t know what to do first...


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## bonaparte (Feb 21, 2011)

I like your setup, Dave.

How's the angel doing? I keep looking for a 'centerpiece fish' but I passed on an angel because so many people say that they're either too aggressive and/or they chew up their plants. What's your experience?


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

I always say start with good filtration and works your way up from there. My biggest regret was starting from the light and working my way down. That apisto agassizi is gorgeous! Looking forward to the plants growing in. FYI, I have scratches like that on my 55 gallon and have no issues other than it being unsightly. I got them from the algae scraper I used to use.


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

you should look into dwarf cichlids for a centerpiece fish. i love them, and am hoping to get my agassizi's to breed (once i get some females). i think a 1m/2f trio is perfect for a 29 gallon tank. also, mine only ever bothered the discus and angel, i think because he had no females to pester. he leaves the cardinals, plecos, and cories alone.

my angelfish was traded in today. it was hard to do, but i don;t want him to grow up and eat my cardinals. i'm also considering trading the discus also. i just worry he won;t get a good home, but my 29 with only 1 won;t suffice really. he is starting to get his adult coloration, which makes it hard to get rid of him. i had no aggression problems with my angel, but he was still small. my apisto on the other hand...

that apisto is awesome, and its his tank, everything else in the tank is for him. i will be getting some females for him in about a month. very excited.

i got 3 more cardinals and a sterbai cory. i am going to trade in my pepper cories for a few more of the sterbai's. they are so cool looking. i just got a green water algae bloom, and it makes me mad. i will be doing a massive water change, followed by a 3 day black out, and another water change. ill take pics of it and put them here.

i think im going to get the filter, then the light, then sell my light i have now, then buy a solenoid. the solenoid is low priority since i pay just under 12 bucks to get my 5 lb cylinder filled.


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

here the pics of my fight against green water algae.

green water...









from the side...









goodbye water...









refilled...









and covered...









my new sterbai cory









my assistant. she follows me and cocks her head sideways when i pour the water into the tub. then the same when i start refilling the tank.









and my supervisor. she is 13 years old. had her almost half my life. best dog ever. she also goes everywhere i can take her in my truck. i say "ready" and her ears perk up. then its "lets go" and she stands ready to haul *** to the door, and then "bye byes" and she flys off the bed, to the door, and into the truck.









enjoy!


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## RocknRolla (Mar 18, 2011)

awesome dogs man. oh and that cory cat kinda looks like a juleii.


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

Sterbai Cory

Julii Cory

both are awesome, but the sterbai are better suited to my 80F tank temps. i woulda bought julii's but they didn't have any, kinda glad i didn't because my tank is too warm for them. i lucked out with the sterbai.


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

i did a 50 percent water change tonight in the dark, bexcause i am leaving tomorrow immediately after work to go trout fishing in the mountains for 3 days. after 11 im going to switch my lights back on (they will be off on the timers though) and tomorrow before work get my co2 going again. i hope this takes care of the green water. the water i pulled oput of the tank was brown, not green. ill put up some pics when i get home

also, i found a dead cardinal at the top of my driftwood. tested my parameters.

ph 6.4
amm .25 ppm
nitrite .5 ppm
nitrate 10 ppm

last time it was ph 6.2 and everything else was zero. im hoping the amm and nitrite will become under control after the lights come back on and the plants start helping again...


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## SkyGrl (Jan 7, 2010)

sounds like its getting better minus the dead one. the plants will keep up nicely im sure.


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

so i went on a 4 day fishing trip to the mountains after doing the 50% wc and finding the dead cardinal. i came home and my tank is wrecked! all my hc is dead or dying, my prosperpinaca lost most of its leaves, i am missing s bunch of giant hygro, and my polygonum is looking terrible. also, i can;t find my new sterbai cory, two more cardinals are missing, and worst of all, my erio cinereum is almost completely dead. i am going to be doing some emergency trimming/cleaning/testing/fixing today. ill try and put up pics.

sucks coming home from a relaxing trout fishing trip to be super stressed by my tank.


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

took pics and did tests.

ph 6.2
amm .25 ppm
nitrite .25 ppm
nitrate is 5 ppm

don;t know what has caused an ammonia and nitrites spike, but i think its an excuse to upgrade to an eheim 2215 or 2213 (probably the 2215). ive got some cherry shrimp raok'd that will be here in 2 days. don;t want em to die...

tomorrow will be some major trimming/tank work ill post the pics then.


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

so all the leaves that fell off my plants/dead plants severely clogged my filter intake, causing a spike in nitrites and ammonia. problem solved. i pulled out a bunch of dead plants.

casualties:
hc (all of it)
polygonum sp. 'kawagoeanum' (1 stem)
limnophila aromatica (1 stem)
hygrophila corymbrosa 'angustifolia' (2 stems)
hygrophila corymbrosa (all)
proserpinaca palustris (2 stems)
2 cardinal tetras
and worst of all, my *cry* eriocaulon cinereum/aussie type 2 (not sure which it was, but for 25 shipped i am very very upset it died)


i removed the piece of wood that was not attached to the rest, it kept falling over and angering me.
i also pulled up the parva that was close to the walkerii and moved it, it was becoming covered and was barely visible.

on a positive note, my sterbai cory is still doing well. and i got my anubias nana and glass drop checker. and some raok'd cherry shrimp! some of the very small shrimp fell victim to a hungry apisto and the larger cardinals.

also hoping my nurii 'pahang mutated' will start doing better. every time it grows a new leaf, an old one melts.

now for some pics.

the disaster













































the new look. moved some plants around, thinking i might need to get some more...









sterbai









cherry shrimp


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## SkyGrl (Jan 7, 2010)

i say that moss looks like it may have died off some. But with those green spots it will make a comeback. even if you want to take a bit off and slap it in a tub (no heater, just air stone..) that piece would bounce back for sure. i had my moss just in a 4 gallon pail in about an inch and a 1/2 of water for over a month and it grew like crazy. i just had a crappy flouresent bulb on it that i turned on every other day. 

i think i maybe did one water change on the pail (100%) as long as it gets some sort of circulation (air stone) it will come back. 

what it looks like now seems like it will grow back. what is your temp at? that seems to play a small part in moss growing. the christmas moss grew in room temp all the way up to 78. thats a decent range. i wouldnt worry about it to much. 

Amy


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

ill try cutting some off and putting it in a bucket with water and an airstone. tank temp is usually 80, maybe i should lower it to 76-78. i have a 20 watt t8 bulb i can hang over the bucket. i might even have an extra timer around here somewhere.

thank you for the help.


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

On the bright side your green water is gone.... If you don't mind algae, I'll be glad to share my HC. The tank looks like it is improving already. Your dogs are very cute! Any more fish deaths?


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## Rockhoe14er (Jan 19, 2011)

sorry about losing all those plants i know how devastating that can be.


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## SkyGrl (Jan 7, 2010)

no problem. moss always seems to be easy for me. keep us updated  

Amy


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

green water is back. i will be doing a water change tomorrow. can;t seem to get my ammonia back to zero. ordering an eheim 2215 on wednesday if i can;t find one in the sns used. should help with flow/bioload problems.


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

sewingalot said:


> On the bright side your green water is gone.... If you don't mind algae, I'll be glad to share my HC. The tank looks like it is improving already. Your dogs are very cute! Any more fish deaths?


no more fish deaths. i think i'm going to fill in the open space with c. parva, and maybe try my hand at a few more erios like i had before now that i know why they died and how to avoid the same situation. but thank you for the offer.


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

new plan of attack to try and get the green water under control. i am going to only run one bulb for now, probably the pinkish tinted one. i am going to increase my co2 slightly, and do a 50% wc. after the wc, i'm going to add some api stress zyme to boost the bio bacteria. also ordering an eheim 2215 tomorrow. the black out did not work, so i'm changing tactics and trying to outsmart this green water. oh how i miss the clean, crystal clear water i had before going planted lol.

also, im going to prod my pfs/mts to see if it is leeching ammonia...

wish me luck. i have a few more pics to add tonight.


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

here are some updated pics. still fighting green water. buying an eheim 2215 from big als online for 105 shipped tomorrow morning.

discus getting better looking, also green water problem...









draining a lot of water...









after the huge water change...


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## SkyGrl (Jan 7, 2010)

it looks better witht he water change. i wonder what is causing your green water? green water seems so strange since it has never happened to me. more filtration cant be a bad thing. hopefully that will help it. your discus looks so cute... "geez dad how come i have to live in this green stuff.." LOL

other then that tho everything looks as tho its filling in nicely. 

Amy


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

greenwater can occur from an ammonia spike.


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## JCoxRocks (Mar 22, 2005)

I battled green water for some time in my 125g (look at my journal). The easiest fix was to install a UV sterilizer. In less than a week I was crystal clear. I don't leave i plugged in at all times, but use it if the water gets cloudy.

J


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

i used to have a submersible uv but didn't like it and sold it. i don't really have the cash for another one. most of my money is being saved to move in august/buy furniture (i think a 4'x2'x2' 120g tank is furniture also). i think i am going to do an inline uv on that tank, and have it set up to be able to flow into the uv when i need it but bypass it when i don't. i plan on running two canisters on it, one with the uv bypass and a cerges reactor, the other with an inline heater.

i'm hoping my current strategy will help get rid of this green water.

and my new eheim 2215 will be here on monday!


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

got my eheim last monday and set it up.

still have an ammonia reading of .25 ppm as of yesterday. gonna check again tomorrow.

i seeded the eheim with some of the lava rock from my whisper, and both filter are currently running. i have ridiculous flow right now lol.

i will be doing a 3 day blackout soon, after the ammonia is under control. all my plants that survived have taken root and are doing good now. my limnophila aromatica has two side shoots ready to be trimmed/replanted.i still need a green background plant, and i want to get 2-3 erios to put in the open space between the walkerii and parva.

btw, my walkerii is awesome. i am the champ at growing it. its taller than my wendtiis!

here are a few pics of my new eheim (completely silent, if it wasn;t for the water flow out of the spray bar, i'd swear it wasn;t even running) i used all the media that came with the filter...


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

i've got a crypt nurii adult plant being shipped on monday. my nurii 'pahang mutated' is not really doing well in my tank. i was thinking of trying to grow it emersed. i don;t think it is dead, but it does only have one little leaf. 

the adult nurii is from a submersed setup.

about to check my ammonia and if its zero, i'm going to blackout for 3 days. then i should have this greenwater under control. finally.


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

That discus is good looking. You are making me want to get some. Looks like the green water is improving.


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

ill have a better update after the blackout and receiving my nurii adult plant. tuesday or thursday. 

the discus is looking great, ill try to get an awesome pic of him soon. i can't wait to get my 120 in august. i plan on getting a 55 to grow them out in. bear bottom, power growing method. i hope to have some show stopping discus for the 120...


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

black out was a success. still reading 0 ppm of amm. so, hopefully, everything will be good to go.










my adult c. nurii should be here tomorrow or thursday. i put my half clay pot under the driftwood for my apisto, should be getting some females soon. needing to setup another tank once i can pull the whisper filter off this one to raise some apistos i will be getting to sexable sizes, so i can add some to the 29. may add another male, if i can get a different agasizzi variation.

look at all that c. walkeri 'lutea'! i wish everything else would grow in like it does lol.


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

Looking good Dave. First, I like both of your dogs  Second, congrats on overcoming greenwater. Persistence is usually needed to overcome algae more than anything. I bet the Ehiem had a big part in it too. Have you decided on anything for the right side yet? I think DHG would be cool but my opinion doesnt matter much  That or some other smaller species of crypts.


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## peyton (Apr 17, 2007)

Looks good so far!


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

thanks guys!

the polygonum sp. 'kawagoeanum' is planted in the open space waiting for it to grow some more, then its getting trimmed and replanted towards the back. i have an adult c. nurii coming in the next day or two that will go towards the proserpinaca in the open space, and still need something for in front of it. i was thinking maybe some c. lucens. it needs to be sized in between parva and lutea.

any suggestions?

i believe the eheim is a major factor, i now have sufficient flow, and enough bio filtration to keep ammonia under control. i believe the green water kept coming back due to ammonia issues.


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

got my nurii yesterday. it came with one adult sized plant and two daughter plants.


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## SkyGrl (Jan 7, 2010)

wow that looks alot nicer then i had imagined!!! lol so when your tank is over run you'll have to sell some daughters to me  nice job on getting these!!

Amy


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

since you gave me moss at no charge, i think i could just send you some daughters when i have them. maybe split the shipping costs. would need to figure out how to get them to canada as fast as possible.


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## SkyGrl (Jan 7, 2010)

it got some time to go. i want to put it in my future 55. its currently inhabited by a calvus and brevis and a bicher, not to mention a bully Albino Bristlenose. when they get moved i get the tank. woop woop. ill pay the whole shipping cost. thats no biggy.  heh its a free plant  

Amy


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

its a beautiful plant. i almost turned off my timers so i could look at it longer today lol. i think i want it to fill in the area between the parva and lutea. also, its about time to trim my alternanthera. there are only 3 stems planted in the substrate for that whole bunch.


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## bonaparte (Feb 21, 2011)

Glad that green water debacle is behind you.

That nurii is sweet! Where did that come from?


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

the swap n shop. $27 shipped. its one of the more rare crypts. i was so happy to see it being offered. i buy all my plants from there or sweet aquatics because i don;t really have a local source for plants.


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

i will have some hygro sunset next week sometime. of course, i will post new pics. i'm also going to trim/replant my alternanthera. tomorrow i will post some pics of my moss i am concerned about (skygirl i'm looking at you lol). it seems to be dying still. maybe its my temp...


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

so today i will be heading to charleston to meet my brother for lunch, and figured a trip to specialty pets in nitro was in order. i'm excited, i have heard good things about this place. might come home with something new...


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## SkyGrl (Jan 7, 2010)

thats so strange that its seems to be dieing. darn moss. i just cant seem to stop growing that stuff. perhaps you need some great shrimp to keep it happy.. ill examine the moss pics closely... LOL moss doc to the rescue!!!

lol ok its to early on a saturday..

Amy


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## peyton (Apr 17, 2007)

daverock1337 said:


> so today i will be heading to charleston to meet my brother for lunch, and figured a trip to specialty pets in nitro was in order. i'm excited, i have heard good things about this place. might come home with something new...


They got a large shipment last thursday. Plenty of ludwigia "cuba", myrio mattogrosence, and rotala macranda "needle leaf". I traded in a few clippings of ludwigia glandulosa, ranculous inundatus, and sunset hygro up there that day also. 

I probably misspelled everything there lol.


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

amy the pics will be up after my lights come on, after my trip to the lfs.

peyton, i hope the glandulosa is still there. im not really looking for much when i go there, but i haven;t been to a good fish store in about two months.


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

here are the pics of the moss. if i trim it the moss against the wood is a nice green, and it is attached. but as it grows out it turns brown/gray and looks very fuzzy. i think i will post in the plant forums asking about it also...


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

here are some pics of a trim and the results of my trip to my new awesome lfs...

first off i bought a gh/kh test kit

results:
i have 4 degree dKH water
GH is 71.6 ppm

here is a nerite i picked up. hoping he makes it, the last ones died...










cryptocoryne cordata 'blassii'










alternanthera reineckii 'roseafolia' pre trim










post trim










leftovers, in the sns now...










and the full tank shot after trimming...










lots of small particles floating around. i think i may clean my eheim tomorrow. first time, kind of excited. only doing to clean the fine pad...


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## peyton (Apr 17, 2007)

So I take it you liked specialty pets? I take it all the glandulosa was sold? I only took a few cuttings up there.

BTW they have a facebook page you can contact them on. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Specialty-Pets/121644737871834

I'm "mike theplantguy" on there lol.


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

yeah, phil was the only one there and they were busy, but he was still awesome to talk to. he said the plant guy was at a reptile show. i didn;t see the glandulosa there or i would have gotten it.


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## peyton (Apr 17, 2007)

Yeah phil is a nice guy. He's just not a plant guy yet. If you want some glandulosa I can send you some when I get enough again. Or I can let you know when I'm taking some up there.


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## fishboy87 (Feb 19, 2008)

looking really nice! 
Hope I can have similar success once I get my hands on some 

Would you think 72 watts of T5 plus co2 and Pfertz dosing + extra iron would be sufficient for sustaining the alternanthera. . . (sorry if I'm hijacking)


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

phil asked me about filling co2 tanks, which would not be cost effective for me, seeing as it was 68 miles to get there. let me know when you have some mroe glandulosa and we work something out.

fishboy i think you should be good, i have 120 watts of cfl, pressurized co2, and i don;t dose nutrients due to the mts substrate. sounds like you know what you are doing. i made sure to trim the alternanthera below the nodes to leave the roots on the stems.


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## SkyGrl (Jan 7, 2010)

my java moss seems to collect alot of dead plant material, old food (that my cories cant get at, thats why i added about 75 cherries to my 40) and it looks like that. im hoping that the cherries will help clean it up. i think you may just need more movement over the moss. in my 15 gallon my ehiem bends my flame moss right over and there is a tonne of movement all over the tank. that could be your issue.. depending on your flow. 

Amy


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## XMX (Jan 5, 2011)

The tank is looking very nice. Have you thought about getting some foreground plants?


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## Zack (May 6, 2011)

hey dude, your apisto agassizi male is awesome, the agassizi i seen here in singapore has little colour compared to yours! 

If no luck with HC, try glosso  its easy compared to hc


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

XMX said:


> The tank is looking very nice. Have you thought about getting some foreground plants?


i have some c. parva that is going to be in the foreground. i also have an adult c. nurii and two daughter c. nurii's that i'm hoping will fill the gap in between the c. lutea and the c. parva. for the left side of the tank i'm hoping the wendtiis will all fill in there nicely giving it a jungle look on that side.



Zack said:


> hey dude, your apisto agassizi male is awesome, the agassizi i seen here in singapore has little colour compared to yours!


thank you! he was locally bred here in west virginia. i am becoming obsessed with the apisto agassizi's, especially after seeing a pic of their different tail colorations by region. i may be getting some rio tefe's and possibly some fire red females soon. i would really like to start breeding as many color variations as possible lol.



SkyGrl said:


> my java moss seems to collect alot of dead plant material, old food (that my cories cant get at, thats why i added about 75 cherries to my 40) and it looks like that. im hoping that the cherries will help clean it up. i think you may just need more movement over the moss. in my 15 gallon my ehiem bends my flame moss right over and there is a tonne of movement all over the tank. that could be your issue.. depending on your flow.
> 
> Amy


i have an eheim 2215 and a whisper 60 hob running right now plus my co2 reactor, i don't think flow is the issue. it does not come off the algae even when i try pulling on it. one side of the whisper 60 flows right over the moss. so i don;t know what could be causing it. i need to tear my eheim apart and clean the fine scrubbing pad, i have a lot of little particles floating around and don;t know why its not picking them up...

maybe i need a finer filter media, some sort of floss maybe...


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

so im supposed to be getting a group of juvenile agasizzi's a week from wednesday, and was looking for a tank to raise them in. i remembered my brother had a 30 gallon tall in our storage unit, so i got it out, leak checked it, and am about to set it up on my dresser. very excite! its going to be a simple plain tank to raise them in. if i can get a pair to breed it will be for raising fry also. ill post pics soon.

also, i got some fissiden fontanus with the proceeds from my alternanthera trim, so it should be here this week. i was torn between it and flame moss, went with the fissidens! and i have some sunset hygro on its way...


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## peyton (Apr 17, 2007)

I've been thiniing about picking up some fissiden myself. Awesome looking little plant. 

Who breeds agassizi's here in WV?


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

peyton, i believe he is in the parkersburg area. i do not know him directly, but he give them to the belpre aquarium, my lfs, in belpre oh. and not very often. still haven;t been able to get two female double reds. i may trade with zenche for some of his fire red females and send him a male if i have at least two of the group i will be gettin in a week and a half...

here is my future agasizzi raising tank. very simple, threw it together with whatever i had. won;t be planted since i cant afford a light for it.



















i have to stand on the top step of this to be able to reach inside it....










and here is a pic of my room...










i'll eventually have a 10 gallon oebt shrimp tank sitting on the desk where the blue bucket growing moss is currently.


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## fishboy87 (Feb 19, 2008)

FTS of the planted tank?

PS- glad I could help you raise funds for your fissidens


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

i just posted a fts a two days ago lol. i always update the first post with a fts when i add an update to the journal. ill add another one after getting my fissidens and sunset hygro.


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## fishboy87 (Feb 19, 2008)

Wow. I'm embarassed. I was looking for a post trim fts and didn't even see it midway through last page. 

Just looking at the roseafolia is really making me hope it'll look as nice for me. . .Reds have never seemed to work for me other than when my rotala got close to the surface. . .


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## SkyGrl (Jan 7, 2010)

nice! how is the moss in the bucket doing? i am baffled by your moss. i have given you all the advice that has works for me in the past. i like the new tank set up... you could always go with *shudder* plasic plants... evne with low light i bet the bucket moss would grow in the low light tank. who knows.!

Amy


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

the bucket moss i think is doing ok, i'm going to trim the moss in the 29 down as low as possible and see what happens. when i add water to the 30 tall, i'm going to toss the bucket moss in there and let it float. i wonder if i could put a large sword in there with the 15 watt bulb that is on the tank, maybe point my desk lamp at it to add some more light (6500k spiral cfl bulb)...


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

i got a dwarf cockatoo male today! acclimating right now...


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## SkyGrl (Jan 7, 2010)

ooooo awesome!!!


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

pics tomorrow, he is being shy after being in a bag for so long...


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## SkyGrl (Jan 7, 2010)

yeah no doubt. give him a couple days..  do you think angels would eat WCM? im giving my lil sister my 40 gallon for her two angels and i want to give her the WCM too. do you think it MIGHT be possible? 

Amy


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

i think that if they would eat cardinals, they would definitely eat white clouds


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## SkyGrl (Jan 7, 2010)

LOL thats what i was afraid of! poop! 

need a pic of your new baby!

Amy


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

It's tomorrow! Do we get pictures? I've been lurking all day waiting.


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## SkyGrl (Jan 7, 2010)

^^^^ what she said!!!

Amy


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

he is still being shy, bullied by the agasizzi. about to fill the 30 tall and move him into it. gonna do a 50% wc on the 29 and put it in the 30 tall. then refill them both. need to trim my moss, i also want to take pics of my proserpinaca palustris, its starting to look awesome. soon, i promise i will have some sort of pics up. (by soon i mean tomorrow morning!)


edit: sorry had to wash the three dogs and that took up most of my time. i will finish tomorrow before work i hope, if not then after work definitely.


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## SkyGrl (Jan 7, 2010)

LOL ok ill be waiting  :hihi:

Amy


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

so i tied my fissidens fontanus to my dw, planted the hygro sunset, filled the 30 tall, moved the cockatoo and two pepper cories to it and added some wisteria (or water sprite not sure), sunset hygro, two small pieces of fissidens, my christmas moss, and some cabomba to it (just an experiment, it is 24 inches tall with a 15 watt t8 bulb). i then grabbed my camera to take a pic of the cockatoo not being shy and everything else, and the batteries are dead. can;t find any more. so i may be waiting til tomorrow to take pics. sorry...

i felt like a pro catching to cockatoo and the cories. they could not outsmart my two net method lol. took about 3 minutes to get them all.


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

hydor eth 200 watt heater is on the way. also tomorrow i should be having some apisto agassizi blues sent to me to grow out in my 30 tall. very excite.

also tomorrow is payday, so i will be getting batteries for my camera. sorry to keep you waiting, pics tomorrow i promise!


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## fishboy87 (Feb 19, 2008)

daverock1337 said:


> also tomorrow is payday, so i will be getting batteries for my camera. sorry to keep you waiting, pics tomorrow i promise!


Are you telling me you are so drained of cash from your apistos that you don't have the $ to get batteries?! :eek5::icon_wink


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## SkyGrl (Jan 7, 2010)

waiting..... waiting..... 

Amy


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

more so the hydor inline heater lol. i am gettin a bunch of juvie apisto agassizi blues sent to me for 20 bucks shipped since last time i ordered they were doa. and they are being paid for tomorrow anyways.

i found an old pic of my tank, maybe that will hold you over until after 5pm est tomorrow lol. this is before going pressurized and high tech. i had a 1x65 watt coralife pc and a 20 watt t8. ugly uv sterilizer. and that lava rock is named 'drayer rock' after a friend of mine who makes a face just like that when he is wayyy to drunk haha. lots of hygro. angustifolia and i think cuban ludwigia. and the far right side is my walkeri 'lutea' that is now in my tank! it started so small...


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

also, i got more fissidens in the mail from the guy i bought it from. no idea why, but its awesome. tied some more of it in my tank...


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

as promised!

dwarf cockatoo (this guy was hard to get a picture of, he is still small, like just over 1 inch. i hope he colors up nicely)










fissidens fontanus










proserpinaca palustris










polygonum sp. 'kawagoeanum'










sunset hygro hiding behind driftwood










alternanthera not looking so hot after the trim, i'm kinda worried, may have to get a different red plant if it does not pull through...


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## JamesHockey (Nov 10, 2010)

if the discus is stunted,will it not grow to its full potential?

ill take hime XD

very nice,whats his story


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

a friend had a bunch of discus. well three bigger wild greens (i think) were bullying this guy and another. he is a pigeon blood and the other was a red marlboro. i ended up getting them from him to save them. the red marlboro did not live long, i think he was starved from the others keeping him in a corner. the pigeon blood did survive. he has to be 1 and a half to two years old and is maybe 3.5" to 4". i've considered trading him off at the lfs but he is starting to really color up nice and its hard to get rid of him.

i've never shipped fish before, not sure a discus would be the best way to start lol.

i don;t know if he will grow to his full size or not. i'm not home enough to feed him as often as most discus keepers do, but he does get fed at least twice a day. and he is not a picky eater at all. he is always hanging out in the corner of the tank closest to my computer like he is hanging out with me lol.


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

hydor hooked up! pics tomorrow. also picked up a mystery snail. pics of him tomorrow also. i would do them tonight but lights are off...


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

sold my parva and traded some proserpinaca and fissidens to another wv planted guy for some staurogyne 'porto velho' and some blyxa japonica! can;t wait for it to get here/ should have some hygro pinnatifida today, and maybe even my apisto agassizi blue juvies.


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

today i received the following plants in a trade.










1. Lagarosiphon madagascariensis
2. MYRIOPHYLLUM mattogrossence
3. Ludwigia glandulosa
4. Heteranthera zosterifolia
5. Ludwigia brevipes
6. Limnophila sessiliflora
7. Blyxa japonica
8. Marsilea quadrifolia
9. Staurogyne sp 'Porto Velho'

if peyton ever offers you a trade, i highly recommend doing it lol.

and now some pics...

new hydor heater










mystery snail










h. pinnatifida










blyxa japonica, staurogyne 'porto velho', and lagarosiphon madagascariensis










ludwigia brevipes and blyxa japonica again




















heteranthera zosterifolia and ludwigia glandulosa










limnophila sessiliflora floating (still deciding where to plant it)










marsilea quadrifolia and staurogyne 'porto velho'











and now the full tank shots, one with flash (oops) and one without...


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## SkyGrl (Jan 7, 2010)

looks good!


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

got my agassizi juvies today. 3 were doa, 3 are alive and kicking and already eating. these guys are uber tiny. i put the cockatoo back in the 29 because he got all up in their grills and flared up. major nono to my new little guys lol. ill try and get pics soon, maybe a video would work better. i've had cherry shrimp bigger than these guys...


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

the little apistos are doing great, eating two different kinds of crushed flake food. impossible to get a good pic of them with my regular digital camera. maybe i can borrow my dads really nice camera. but i did try. here are the best two out of the 20 or so i took.


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## FIT BMX (Jun 5, 2010)

Very nice tanks, and I like that homemade stand looks great!:fish:


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## XMX (Jan 5, 2011)

Looking good. I like the progress.


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

thanks guys. about to do some filter maintenance, then will put up updated pics tomorrow...


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

this is what happens when you work early morning shifts and come home to help build a garage for a week...

major maintenance time.


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## peyton (Apr 17, 2007)

I think it looks good as it is, minus the low water level.


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## SkyGrl (Jan 7, 2010)

i like it.. leave it. go wild!!!


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

i need to retie my fissidens, its not wanting to attach. also there was a lot of fish poo in the left hand corner i sucked out, and i refilled it. i have to work at 4 am, and won;t be taking any pictures tonight. ill try to do it tomorrow.

im moving to beckley, wv, in about two weeks. still trying to plan out how to move my tank. gonna get my co2 filled before i go also so i don;t have to worry about that. i'm thinking i can drain out most of the water, put the fish in a bucket. try to save as much tank water as possible. loading the tank into my truck's backseat and strapping it in, and cruising like an old man down the interstate, i don't want to pull up and replant all my plants. i hope the mts/sand doesn;t get stirred up a lot...

also i'm going to be getting a ten gallon tank to grow my little aggies in, then switching it to an oebt shrimp tank. then im going to get 3 more 10 gallons, one for red tiger shrimp, one to breed the red tigers and oebts in, and one to hopefully put the red striped blue tigers that come from cross breeding into! thats the plan anyways haha. simple tanks, moss, sand, sponge filters, and probably a shoplight over all of them.


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

here are some updated pics, not fts shot til later today if i get the chance.

my tiger pleco, i rarely see him. he was laying on his side not attached to the glass, i was worried about him, so i moved him to the 30 tall for now. getting ready to do a bunch of tests on my 29 to see what could have been bothering him.



















my dwarf cockatoo









my agassizi male









and my discus, looking dark, also he has been hanging out like this for a day now. not gasping at the surface, no clamped fins, not sure why he is doing this. maybe its the aloe stuff (stress coat) i use for a wc (never buying it again) and he is eating it or something??? i don;t know, but the little guy has me worried about him...


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

so when i move in two weeks i plan on retying my fissdens with no water in the tank. i decided this after trying for an hour without success with water in the tank. i am also going to be taking my light apart and building a canopy, using the guts of the light in the canopy. i will be getting some miro 4 reflectors from ah supply.com for this. excited. also going to be adding 1x4s to the frame top and bottom of the stand so it matches the size of the canopy.

here are two more pics...

fts









and my fissidens floating container tied to my light leg with sewing thread haha...


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

my discus id dying. today he got into the current of the eheim and it blew him around like a leaf in the wind. he freaked out and almost jumped out of the tank. i don;t know what caused this. he has been swimming face up for two days now. swim bladder issue it looks like. now he is face first in some plants still trying. so sad.....

ph 6.4
amm 0 ppm
nitrite 0 ppm
nitrate 0 ppm
gh 89.5 ppm
kh 4 degrees


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

did some research, dosed some antibiotics. erythromycin i got when i had "strep throat" (way cheaper to get a 4 dollar bottle from a pharmacy than to buy from a pet store)

heres to hoping. i will probably cry if he dies...


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## peyton (Apr 17, 2007)

Oh no! Hope he pulls through.


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## aXio (May 29, 2011)

Discus are really hard to keep singularly. Also it's recommend that you do not put discus in a fully setup and planted tank until they are fully grown. That's why it's important to have a "grow out" tank to keep the discus in before they go into their permanent home. Also discus easily get diseases from other fish which is also why it's recommended to keep Discus with only other discus.


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## kineticcomfort (May 13, 2011)

I have kept a single discus in my aquarium the whole time its up and lots of my old ones had a single discus as well and I never had any problems, I actually only had problem when I tried to put em in together, I didnt have a big enough group and the biggest one would kill the others.., but the ones that I had alone did awesome and always among the healthiest fish in the tank... the largest one was 3.5 " when he was put in the tank... he was sold back to the LFS when I consolidated my tanks into one 75, now just a red and orange guy is in there and he is doing great.. and they were all with lots of comunity fish, mostly rams, and general peacefuls like tetras barbs and hatchetfish.. nice barbs, gold cherry and redline.. not the meaner dudes...

HOPE HE PULLS THROUGH!!


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## SkyGrl (Jan 7, 2010)

i hope hes ok! poor little guy! good luck! 

Amy


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

aXio said:


> Discus are really hard to keep singularly. Also it's recommend that you do not put discus in a fully setup and planted tank until they are fully grown. That's why it's important to have a "grow out" tank to keep the discus in before they go into their permanent home. Also discus easily get diseases from other fish which is also why it's recommended to keep Discus with only other discus.


i know all this. i rescued him. if i could put him in a bigger tank with more tankmates i would. up until now he has been super happy and healthy for 2 years in my care. he seems to be doing better today, im going to do a 50% wc on tuesday and dose some more erythro. 

keep discus with only other discus? whatever. quarantine is key. plus i haven;t added any new fish to the tank for months. you can find a million tanks with discus kept in a community without problems. people seem to believe a lot about discus that isn;t necessarily true.


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

discus is doing much better, the erythro is working! no more uncontrolled swimming, and he is able to keep himself upright. so relieved!


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## SkyGrl (Jan 7, 2010)

YAY that is such good news!!! thank goodness!!!!!

Amy


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## nonconductive (Jan 29, 2010)

oh gawd another load of discus bologna.

tank looks great. hope he pulls through.


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## shiloh (Jun 10, 2011)

This journal is a pretty good read. It's really interesting to see the progression and how often you changed your mind throughout the stages of your tank. This hobby can be so frustrating, it's good to see the decisions that other people made and to realize that everybody out there isn't Takashi Amano.

btw, really pulling for that discus to make it, he's quite handsome


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

right now i'm watching the discus and the dwarf cockatoo have it out over a territory dispute. i'm glad the discus is back to being second in command of the tank. the agassizi just made sure they both know who is the king. the dwarf cockatoo is swimming straight up and down while fighting with the discus. it is so weird looking. ill try to get some pics.

so glad the erythro worked. i'm going to do a wc and then dose one more time just to be sure. thanks everyone for the support!


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## [email protected] (Apr 27, 2011)

Don't know that it matters much with a 29g, but you MAY have enough weight in there to bust the bottom out of your tank. You might wanna be on the safe side and set the tank on a piece of plywood or something. Then get another person to help you carry it. Your choice but I say "better safe than sorry!" Good luck with the move though, hope it dont disturb all those pretty plants much. A rescape never hurt noone though I tried about 6 so far and am constantly thinking of other things to do.


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

i've moved it quite a few times before, with the same amount of substrate and more/less rocks. probably about 5 times so far. the glass doesn;t sit right on the bottom, but i will look and see if we have any plywood laying around. i'll have someone to help me carry it out to my truck, where it will sit in the front seat. i'm going to drain all the water out i can, and leave the plants where they all are. i may do some rearranging when i get to my new place before i fill it with water...


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

so all seven cardinals died in the move. ive also been super busy with the new job and unpacking that its been neglected.

tomorrow after work and meeting my mom for lunch im going to completely rescape the tank. i have some more blyxa hopefully coming and have a great plan (i hope). i also should have some class n endler's livebearer's on the way for the 10 gallon tank. one of the agassizi babies didn;t make it... my brother i moved in with has an amazing digi camera that is waterproof, so i may start taking in tank pictures with it l;ol. updates before sunday night i promise. very excited to redo the entire tank.


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## fishboy87 (Feb 19, 2008)

pix?


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

here we go. oi lost quite a bit of plants in the move. i mean, i didn't even pull out any remains of them. completely melted. driving screwed up my substrate. the discus was acting weird again, but it slowly getting over it. i completely redid the tank, and have some new plans for it. i need some tall background plants, some reds and greens, but am going to be strapped for cash for quite a bit. 

i also need some new schooling fish. ill have some endler's livebearers coming for my 10 gallon. i don;t know if the aggie babies survived the move, haven;t seen them in a week. if they didn;t. its time to start saving for the shrimp i want.

i do have some more blyxa coming. my proserpinaca is looking very rough, hopefully it will make a come back. i still have my nurii thank all that is good and great.

on to the pics!

before









empty









plants and wood ready to go









almost done rescaping. gotta trim the stems and plant them.









all this room for stems. made it easier to plant behind my dw.









a side shot, discus not doing so hot (he is better now)









nasty algae growing in my xmas moss, sprayed it with h2o2 and it turned red with death!









my new dog, jersey. beautiful full blooded pit.









adopted her and she was preggers with full blooded pit pups!


















i hear the pups whining, gotta go. enjoy. ill be updating more often now that im settled in. also, the digital camera i am using now is waterproof, might experiment with underwater tank pics lol.


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

getting ten stems of blyxa today, gonna trim my tall stems i have left and plant them. pics after its done!


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## [email protected] (Apr 27, 2011)

Looks like your tank is getting along pretty nicely now, sux you had to totally redo it but it'll be nice. You are a really good aquatic gardener.

The dog is beautiful, awesome she came with pups. They are really cute.


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

i planted my blyxa and trimmed my stems, and my brother took the camera fishing with him. ill have pics tomorrow when i get home from work.


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

my discus and agasizzi died, ive been very busy with a promotion at work. i just ordered some new plants, gonna tear down the tank, move it into a better spot in the house (right now its in a room that no one goes into, ever, including me). my theory is if i see if everyday i'll take a lot better care of it.

im going to keep my bn pleco and get rid of the cories and cockatoo, and i'm going to be gettin 5 juvie rainbow cichlids for it. i want to go simple with the fish and focus on plants. no more trying to do both. major update within a week or so, possibly two. ive been a terrible planted tank keeper and i need to remedy that, asap.

also trying to swing some oebt's tomorrow for my shrimp tank!


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Sorry on the loss, congrats on the promo


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## [email protected] (Apr 27, 2011)

daverock1337 said:


> my discus and agasizzi died, ive been very busy with a promotion at work. i just ordered some new plants, gonna tear down the tank, move it into a better spot in the house (right now its in a room that no one goes into, ever, including me). my theory is if i see if everyday i'll take a lot better care of it.
> 
> im going to keep my bn pleco and get rid of the cories and cockatoo, and i'm going to be gettin 5 juvie rainbow cichlids for it. i want to go simple with the fish and focus on plants. no more trying to do both. major update within a week or so, possibly two. ive been a terrible planted tank keeper and i need to remedy that, asap.
> 
> also trying to swing some oebt's tomorrow for my shrimp tank!


Hey, not been in here in awhile but I like to check on these threads once a week or so. Very sorry to hear about your fish, that really sux! You do a really good job, and you already have your plans, so I know what results will be great. Keep it up buddy and keep us posted on your progress. Congrats on the promotion at work, by the way.


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

so today i just uprooted my plants and put em in a 5 gal bucket with ym fish and an airstone. i have moved the stand and am getting ready to shim it level. filter cleaning after that, and then getting it all replanted tomorrow after work. i have the rainbow cichlids, some limno aromatica, and hygro pinnatifida being sent to me, also a plant package or two.

after shimming my tank i'm going to be heading out to get some h202 to dip my plants in and to pour over my driftwood. my co2 tank is empty so ill be trying to have it filled tomorrow after work.


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## [email protected] (Apr 27, 2011)

Good job shimming you tank, wish I woulda done that. Stupid things not level Oh well, you cant tell with a lip on it when I fill it all the way up Can't wait to see some pics, and if you need any more plants like what I have just let me know.


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

well a fellow wv member sent me a package, i have another one coming from an online retailer, plus the limno and the hygro. im trimming up some of my willow hygro to send to someone, and i have a few other plans for tomorrow.

so far i got the stand leveled, put the tank on it, and used a gallon of h202 on my driftwood to kill a massive bba outbreak. the wood is laying in the tub now. i pulled it out of the tub (which has enough water to just cover it all) and slowly poured h2o2 all over it until i went through 4 bottles. i have 2 more bottles to use to dip my plants in.

tomorrow i will be trimming down and planting what i have, redesigning my driftwood, using rubber bands to try and attach some fissidens (thread keeps coming undone and fissidens won;t attach to wood), and hopefully refilling the tank. i may get the plant package from the wv guy tomorrow also, shouldn;t take long to ship a driving distance of 2 hours.


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

rainbow cichlids will be here on thursday! need to rehome the current residents minus the bn pleco. might keep the sterbai cory also.


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

new journal started for this tank here


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## daverock1337 (Jan 17, 2011)

new journal here...


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