# Noah's 40B Rainbow Garden



## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

I figured I would start a journal for this tank, even though it will be quite a while (hopefully within 6 months) before setting the tank up. This first post will also serve as a storage area for my plans lol. 

The 36g I currently have running will be torn down and parts sold off after the 40g is setup. This will be my 5th planted tank, and I will be focusing more on the actual scape than growing plants. I have tried just about every stem I could get my hand on, and have certainly decided on my favorites. 

The tank will have a mixture of stems and other plants. I do not mind the maintenance its very calming and relaxing to do. 

*Tank*: 40 Gal Breeder 
*Filtration*: Aquatop CF400uv
*Lighting*: 36" Aquasun dual T5HO fixture. 
*CO2*: Pressurized system custom built by OldPunk w/ a 5lb tank. Diffused through an inline diffuser. 
*Substrate*: Black Diamond blasting sand w. Rootmedic root tabs. 
Fertilizer: EI dosing modified to meet the plant density's need. 

*Plants*: TBD

*Fishy Friends*: Several small to medium sized Rainbowfish species. 

_will certainly keep_
Melanotaenia Herbertaxelrodi (4) (will move from the 36g)
<del>Melanotaenia Kamaka</del> (4) 

_optional species _
<del>Melanotaenia Gracilis</del> (may be about impossible to find, but I will try)
<del>Melanotaenia Maccullochi</del>
<del>Melanotaenia Solata</del> (another that may not be available at all in the us)
<del>Melanotaenia fluviatilis</del> (goulburn or murray river)
Melanotaenia Nigrans (found a couple people I might be able to get these from)
Pseudomugil Frucatus (decent sized group of these little guys)

I might add a few small bottom dwelling fish as well, hopefully from the same part of the world as the Rainbows (around Australia or New Guinea) I am currently doing research. 

There will be a few holdovers that have been with me for years, which include several glowlights. *All* of my endlers, I mean ALL will go to the LFS lol I have way to many of them. 


The plan for the aquascape is to create a fairly large open area with low stem bushes at the rear. A tree stump is planned for the far right with some random stones to add flavor. I currently am looking for the tree stump (6"-8" diameter with horizontal root structure intact, and 16-18" tall.) I might go for a thick carpet of dwarf hair grass (have not done that one in a very long time) with patches of Staurogyne 049 among a rock outcropping in the left side of the tank.

the objective is for as much open space, while keeping a very heavy plant density for the rainbows to play in. 

I will probably be adding some pictures of inspiration as I plan this out more. 

:hihi:


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

I think I have my stocking list down at least for now. 

*(4)M. Herbertaxelrodi*
http://rainbowfish.angfaqld.org.au/Haxel.htm
*(6)M. Nigrans*
http://rainbowfish.angfaqld.org.au/Nigrans.htm
*(15)P. Frucatus*
http://rainbowfish.angfaqld.org.au/Furcatus.htm

I lost my Kamaka Male, not sure what happened but I found him dead one morning, no symptoms, and no other sick fish.

Still looking for the tree stump, The Frame is on order and should be here any week (got a great price on it too)


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## Williak (Jun 26, 2012)

Love me some Rainbows! Look forward to seeing this tank progress!


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Williak said:


> Love me some Rainbows! Look forward to seeing this tank progress!


Thanks, I love rainbows, unfortunately I cannot set up a large tank to keep some of the bigger species. But I figured I could do some medium and small rainbows to curb my appetite for a larger tank for now lol

The time frame for getting the tank up and running is a moving target. My office slowed down a gain so I am back down to 3-days per week for the time being, hopefully its temporary. 

I hope to have the filter ordered, and substrate within the next month to month and a half. I will order my atomic diffuser when I order my next fertilizers in a few months. 

Currently my wife and I have set aside a small amount for "fish money" and with sticking to our budget I only have that money to work with. So... things are going to trickle in lol


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## Williak (Jun 26, 2012)

Noahma said:


> Thanks, I love rainbows, unfortunately I cannot set up a large tank to keep some of the bigger species. But I figured I could do some medium and small rainbows to curb my appetite for a larger tank for now lol
> 
> The time frame for getting the tank up and running is a moving target. My office slowed down a gain so I am back down to 3-days per week for the time being, hopefully its temporary.
> 
> ...


Seems like that is the best way to go. The tanks I've rushed into, have not gone anything near as quickly planned. My newest tank has been in the planning stages for a month or so now, and still has at least another month to go before even adding anything. Seems more rewarding that way :biggrin:


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## Curt_914 (Oct 6, 2007)

Noah Any updates on this tank? Would love to help out if I can.

Curt


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Nothing quite yet, I will be ordering the filter here as soon as the store gets them back in stock. The. It's on to saving for the light. It will be a while yet. The rim was also back ordered so hopefully soon for getting the tank re-rimed


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Alright, Light purchased from Petco (had a great coupon) and the filter ordered about 10 min. ago. 

Now to save for the darn stand, and misc. parts.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Curt_914 said:


> Noah Any updates on this tank? Would love to help out if I can.
> 
> Curt


I will certainly give you a hollar when I go to set it up. Sorry I could not help you with the 55gal. hopefully everything went well?


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## KFryman (Sep 4, 2012)

How high above the substrate do you plan on having the light for medium or high light?


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

KFryman said:


> How high above the substrate do you plan on having the light for medium or high light?


not quite sure yet, I will take a PAR meter to it when I get to that point. the tank itself is 18" with ~3" substrate, 15" to the top of the tank. If I use the same distance my current 36g is at it would be a close bet I will have high medium / high light at the substrate. I will probably back off a little bit from there since you can really grow most plants at medium light.


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

What light are you going to use? I have one of these tanks myself and I am still trying to figure out what light to use.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

BruceF said:


> What light are you going to use? I have one of these tanks myself and I am still trying to figure out what light to use.


I am using an Aquasun 36" T-5HO fixture from Petco. They are good lights for the price. I have had one over my 36g for the past couple years and It has worked perfectly. It has a single reflector, so there is a little lower par than similar lights with independent reflectors, but I can get the perfect light level out of my 21" tall tank. 

It comes with suspension cables which are a nice touch so I can adjust the light level as needed


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## Curt_914 (Oct 6, 2007)

Noah, its all good. I havent had a chance to move my 55 yet! got the 20 moved and planted for the most part, Shrimp moving in soon. Looking forward to this build. If you need help with the stand let me know I am hopeing to get my band saw for christmas, so we could build something if ya wanted.

Curt


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Curt_914 said:


> Noah, its all good. I havent had a chance to move my 55 yet! got the 20 moved and planted for the most part, Shrimp moving in soon. Looking forward to this build. If you need help with the stand let me know I am hopeing to get my band saw for christmas, so we could build something if ya wanted.
> 
> Curt


I will probably go with a pre-built stand. Wood and me do not go together, I can create the plans for others to build from, but I cannot swing a hammer or use a saw for the life of me lol


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## Curt_914 (Oct 6, 2007)

LOL, I know the feeling. Let me know what your looking for and I will see what I can put togeather for you. Send me some pics of what your looking for and I should be able to get it built.

Curt


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Filter check!!!

This thing is about the size of a small office trashcan. lol


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

Looks like it should be large enough! I see it has uv too. I googled a bit and it does look like a great price.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

BruceF said:


> Looks like it should be large enough! I see it has uv too. I googled a bit and it does look like a great price.


It is basically a sunsun filter that has been re branded for this company. Great price, and the reviews on it everywhere are positive. It is pretty dang huge!!!


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## oldpunk78 (Nov 1, 2008)

Can't wait to see this thing set up! Go go go!!


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

Huge is good I think! 
Have you thought at all about what height this tank should be displayed at?


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

oldpunk78 said:


> Can't wait to see this thing set up! Go go go!!


I cannot wait either... I have to move at a pace that will not tick off my wife lol. I am allotted a small amount per month for my hobbies. So far this is the only one that is active lol. Next up is saving for the stand, most of the other equipment will come from my 36g which this one is replacing. Hopefully soon!!



BruceF said:


> Huge is good I think!
> Have you thought at all about what height this tank should be displayed at?


It will be at a standard pre-built stand height, its perfect for viewing from my couch and chair in the living room, if it was in any other location I would get a taller stand, but I think the height will be perfect.


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## Curt_914 (Oct 6, 2007)

Noah when do you need a stand By? 

Curt


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Curt_914 said:


> Noah when do you need a stand By?
> 
> Curt


When I have the funds together to get one lol, I also have to save up quite a bit to get ahold of the plants, substrate, and I have to get ahold of the hardscape for the tank to set it up. It will probably be around Feb or March when I am really ready to set it up if things go as planned. The stand has to be nice since the tank is in the living room and my wife would have to look at it every day lol. The one I had my eye on is for the 50/65 gal tank at petco. It matches what I was envisioning for the tank. I hope to keep my 10g quarantine tank inside the stand, along with he filter, co2 equipment and my food and fert storage tubs.


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## Curt_914 (Oct 6, 2007)

OK let me put some Ideas togeather. Is the stand The black Aquatic fundimentals stand? 
Curt


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Curt_914 said:


> OK let me put some Ideas togeather. Is the stand The black Aquatic fundimentals stand?
> Curt


I am not sure who produces it lol its in every major aquarium shop though. I can get it for 119.99 with free shipping from doctor fosters.


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

Wouldn't that give you at least a place to store your filter and tank? LOL


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

BruceF said:


> Wouldn't that give you at least a place to store your filter and tank? LOL


that stand is large enough I should be able to get my filter, co2 equipment, storage bins and the quarantine in. The tank is going to be sitting in the corner of the living room at a 45* angle, there is some area behind the tank for items as well. It has worked out great for my 36g for the past couple of years minus the quarantine tank


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## Curt_914 (Oct 6, 2007)

I can tell you right now I cant compete with that price! But I am not a fan of those prefab stands personally. I have one that came with a wedding present and it is mediocure at best, and getting relegated to a plant shelf once the 55 is moved. It looks ok but I dont trust it to hold that kind of weight much longer. They are made from a coated MDF product which over time in High mosture enviroments breaks down (mdf is saw dust mixed with glue and compresed under high preasure to form the sheets). 

I could get something built for around $200-250 for solid 2x4 frame, Panneled with Baltic Birch Ply, and trim. Could be stained or painted your choice. An I would bet the stand would outlast the silicone on your tanks. Let me know If it is something you would be intrested in.

Curt


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

We have a tank rim. Took long enough, the supplier kept sending the critter screened lids, and was eventually able to send the right upper rim. Time to start removing the old one lol


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

UPDATE:

Tank rim is almost off, I have been doing it very slowly as to not destroy the tank lol, I did put a few little scratches in the top of the glass as I cut through the rim, but its nothing I think I should be concerned about. 
Hopefully the rim will be on and curing by weekends end. 









There is a very big road project going on in the area, in which they are adding two lanes to a highway, and re-aligning a major road. So the land they are moving the road through had some very old dead deciduous trees so I stopped by and grabbed a few branches. I am pretty sure they are a safe hardwood, no odor except when submerged, where they smell like other hardwoods I have had the opportunity to smell lol I might run back and grab a few more for some variety and hope to get something going. I have sort of given up on the smaller tree stump, and have changed directions. We will see how it turns out lol


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## Lil' Swimz$ (Jul 24, 2010)

Removing rims is a CHORE! But it's so worth it 

I have the same filter! I love it!


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Lil' Swimz$ said:


> Removing rims is a CHORE! But it's so worth it
> 
> I have the same filter! I love it!


I have a replacement rim, I need to run a top on this tank because of the species of rainbows I plan to keep (they are big time jumpers) The rim on the tank cracked so it needed replacement. I would LOVE to run this full rimless, but I do not think its an option. I had heard great things about the filter, I test ran it just to check it out, I cannot wait to get it on this tank!


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Rim removed!! I just need to clean the edges a bit and get some silicone and attach the new rim. I started playing around with some of the wood placement, and potential areas for the rock outcropping. I could not find a suitable tree stump so I did find some wood. I am thinking the far right will have a noticeable rock slope to the back right corner (the right side of the tank will be facing away from the traffic flow of the room, thus low viewage (sometimes being an Architectural designer brings out the OCD in me) So all of my tanks are set to the traffic flow in and out of the room. I will leave the wood open mostly underneath with crypts along the bottom of the rock hill. I will attempt to leave some planting areas built into the rock hill so I can place some substrate and plant some various small stems or crypts up the hill. I would like some Fissidens fontanus to grow along the middle branch where the cut in the wood, and possibly some flame moss in other areas. I want to do java fern or the trident variant in the upper portion of the rock hill where the wood will meet (seemingly growing out of or pinned inside the rock) The far left half of the tank is most likely going to be just a carpet with a few small rock outcroppings, and some of my larger stems in the very back, I will probably keep a well shaped bush of ludwigia 'cuba' in the back far left, with some of my sunset hygro near by. I will also keep some hygrophila pinnatifida
somewhere along the rock hill as well, that stuff will grow on ANYTHING, right now in my 36g its anchored in the substrate, burrowing into the stone, and in other tanks growing along some wood. (one of my favorite plants) The rock is going to be a volcanic based lace rock (should not modify the water params much)

I am open to suggestions as well. There are so many plants I have not tried yet. And I want to keep this more of a nature scape instead of the colectoritis tank my 36g has more or less become lol.


Here are a couple of pics of the wood layout (don't mind the cups, I needed them lol)


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## dbl_dbl17 (Feb 4, 2012)

Great stocking list, although the Furcatas stand out a bit. This should be a beauty of a tank.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

dbl_dbl17 said:


> Great stocking list, although the Furcatas stand out a bit. This should be a beauty of a tank.


out of curiosity why do you think the Furcatas would stand out? Tiny guys, same area of the world as the other rainbows planned. They technically are a "blue eye"

I cannot wait to get this sucker up and running!!!


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

I have a bunch of crypts these days. Let me know if you want some. 

I think the red cup is just too red!


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

BruceF said:


> I have a bunch of crypts these days. Let me know if you want some.
> 
> I think the red cup is just too red!


I will certanly contact you once the thing is flooded. I have a couple of crypts right now in my 36g (green gecko and some other wendtii variant) There are a couple more I want to add. 

I think the red cup is fitting... brings a focal point to the scape :icon_eek: lol


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

I was able to finally get a decent picture of one of my male M.Herbertaxelrodi that will be moving to the 40b with his other friends. I am not sure what was up with them. They usually do the breeding thing right as the lights come on as with other rainbows, but tonight they decided to do the dance after feeding time, maybe there was something in the mosquito larva lol

the two males were flashing at each just before he went for the girls. This guy used to be the sub-dominant male, but over the past month he has overthrown the older male and now the older guy goes and hides in the plants (you can see him in the lower left behind the ludwigia) eventually I think power will change hands again lol

Here he is. 
please excuse the dirty glass, it was a quick water change this week, and I did not get around to cleaning it lol


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## Curt_914 (Oct 6, 2007)

Looks good Noah.. will be watching. I just need to get off my butt and get to work on the tanks! I just have to many thing going on right now and no gumpsion. 

Curt


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## theantman (Dec 3, 2012)

build looking great so far! what inline diffuser are you going to use? i'm setting up my first planted with rena xp3 and was looking for ways to get co2 injected. 
thanks


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

theantman said:


> build looking great so far! what inline diffuser are you going to use? i'm setting up my first planted with rena xp3 and was looking for ways to get co2 injected.
> thanks


Its a Waterplant Multifunction co2 diffuser. Its a pretty good diffuser, I never see any bubbles and my drop checker is bright green. I have it down line just outside the filter, so I am guessing the co2 is diffusing all the little bubbles on the way out, and little is left in the form of gas by the time it reaches the end.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Tank stand delivered. That was fast! I ordered wed. and by Friday noon its here lol


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## scbrooks87 (Nov 28, 2012)

Noahma said:


> Tank stand delivered. That was fast! I ordered wed. and by Friday noon its here lol


Which stand did you order? From where? Having trouble finding any pre-fab stuff for a 40 breeder... Currently expecting to have to DIY a stand for mine.

Thanks!
-Scott


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

scbrooks87 said:


> Which stand did you order? From where? Having trouble finding any pre-fab stuff for a 40 breeder... Currently expecting to have to DIY a stand for mine.
> 
> Thanks!
> -Scott


It is an Aquatic Fundamentals stand, it got great reviews. I ordered it from Doctor Foster & smith, cheapest price around and with free shipping. It the stand built for the 50/65 gallon tanks, they have the same footprint of the 40B


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## scbrooks87 (Nov 28, 2012)

Noahma said:


> It is an Aquatic Fundamentals stand, it got great reviews. I ordered it from Doctor Foster & smith, cheapest price around and with free shipping. It the stand built for the 50/65 gallon tanks, they have the same footprint of the 40B


Ok I'm definitely curious what you think about it! I may have some questions when ya have it all set up haha. I was considering that, but I'm afraid of how small the door looks to be on it.

Otherwise though, it's a very nice looking stand! Can't wait to see pics of the tank sitting on it!

-Scott


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

scbrooks87 said:


> Ok I'm definitely curious what you think about it! I may have some questions when ya have it all set up haha. I was considering that, but I'm afraid of how small the door looks to be on it.
> 
> Otherwise though, it's a very nice looking stand! Can't wait to see pics of the tank sitting on it!
> 
> -Scott


The door appears to be the same size of the one on my 36g, which is not to bad getting under the tank. It would have been nice to have two doors, but I think this will be workable.


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## scbrooks87 (Nov 28, 2012)

Noahma said:


> The door appears to be the same size of the one on my 36g, which is not to bad getting under the tank. It would have been nice to have two doors, but I think this will be workable.


Thanks for the info. I was planning to have a 10 gallon QT in the stand... might just have to diy it for that. Ok, I'll stop jacking your thread! Thanks. I'm following along on this one


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

It's all good, were both planning similar projects. I was planning the same thing with a q tank below in the stand


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## LyzzaRyzz (Nov 6, 2012)

Can't wait to see this come together!
You have so much patience, waiting forever to get the tank ready...I think I'd go nuts! Since I'm the breadwinner, I decide where money goes! After the bills are paid of course...
"Sorry landlord, no rent this month, there was a dollar gallon sale at petsmart, and I just had to..."


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## scbrooks87 (Nov 28, 2012)

Noahma said:


> It's all good, were both planning similar projects. I was planning the same thing with a q tank below in the stand


I'll make sure to aquascape differently so we don't wind up with the exact same setup!! Lol. Now I'm really interested how the stand works out if you're doing qt in there!

Scott


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

scbrooks87 said:


> I'll make sure to aquascape differently so we don't wind up with the exact same setup!! Lol. Now I'm really interested how the stand works out if you're doing qt in there!
> 
> Scott


lol even if they ended up being similar aquascapes it would not be a bad thing, great minds think alike lol. the only thing I need to figure out with the q-tank is how to do water changes on it, I might have to get a little submersible pump and pump water out to my bucket.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

LyzzaRyzz said:


> Can't wait to see this come together!
> You have so much patience, waiting forever to get the tank ready...I think I'd go nuts! Since I'm the breadwinner, I decide where money goes! After the bills are paid of course...
> "Sorry landlord, no rent this month, there was a dollar gallon sale at petsmart, and I just had to..."


I am being forced into patience lol. My wife is actually happy with the tank so far since I am not using our normal budgeted funds to get it running lol. Things are slowly coming together, I need to find a warm place to leak test the tank for a couple weeks before I can get really rolling. I might be able to shift things around in my garage and move my Camaro a bit to get some space lol, I will have to get out there to check it out.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Looks like it will be one less Herbertaxelrodi once I set this up for a while. My dominant male got spooked when the lights went off last night and jumped out of the tank. He fell about 4 feet into my water bucket. I heard the plunk but it took me a few min. to find him and get him back into the tank. Since then he has been listless, resting on the bottom and not responding to anything. Right now he is laying nose down in my dwarf four leaf clover, he is allowing me to touch him as well, which is VERY strange for them. I do not think he is going to make it.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Looks like I am one step closer now. I purchased my glass lid tonight, I got a GREAT deal on it. They had one in a 40B at the local petsmart, I asked if they would not mind selling me that one since they only had ones for the 10 gal. in stock. The manager stared at it for a min. then said he would be right back. He looked at the price of the ones they did not have in stock and added a little to that price. Since they did not normally stock the 40B glass top he sold it to me for 21.00!!!

I really like our local Petsmart, they are nice people, always have been very outgoing at finding the equipment you are looking for. 

So now I have a much smaller list, which I hope to take care of this week, or next. 

I have these items left to grab:

Black Diamond blasting sand for substrate
Lace rock for the "hill"
lava rock for the bio media for the filter (along with the coarse pads)

I also have to leak test the tank for two weeks, just to make sure the rim works lol

I cant WAIT!!!!!


now the conundrum... I was given more options for rainbows. Apparently there are only a couple places to get the M.Nigrans, It is still a viable option, but one of the rainbow experts recommended M.pygmaea which has the same body shape, light blue iridescent overall body color with light yellow fins. Its VERY tempting to get ahold of a group of these, I might just have to do a group of all three lol.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Alright substantial update here. I was given a pretty nice bonus at work so I went and splurged a bit. I purchased Windows 8 for my computer lol and then I went hog wild with the tank. I have the rock and the wood sitting in a mock-up in tank, and only need one more thing (filter media) and then I have EVERYTHING I need to get this baby up. The time table is by mid to late January. I will work at setting it up over a long weekend and really tank my time. This is the most tank planning I have done on any tank I have had, usually I go into it one weekend with a slight plan and end up with colectoritis lol. 

Anywho, here is the hardscape mock-up. I will also post these in the general aquascape forum for feedback. 

Here they are.













































There is some space in the far right side of the hill that is open. I plan on filling it with my substrate, and putting a small stem plant bush in there. 

Java fern in the upper right portions of the mountain with some fissidens along the middle branch at the "scar" area. The red tiger lotus will be just to the left of the rock right under that branch, and some crypts just to the left of that growing in its shade. Far right along the rock will be my Ranunculus forming a low rounded bush. Between the forked branch will be some Crypt. Parva (wanted that plant back BADLY ) and a carpet along the front to left side (open to suggestions) Behind the branches mid and far left of the tank will be ludwigia 'cuba' and hygro 'sunset' and maybe one other largest stem. Also growing along the rock somewhere will be a few stems of pinnatifida (or as I call it the velcro plant of the aqua world) Some various other plants may make its way in the mid ground including a small sword ect. 

How does that sound?


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## jhays79 (Mar 28, 2012)

Looking forWard to seeing this project progress!


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

Nice design. I'm a little concerned about that substrate.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

BruceF said:


> Nice design. I'm a little concerned about that substrate.


Should be ok, others have been using it with good effect, it is the same grain size as the stuff you can pick up at Petco, much much much cheaper though. It is inert, coal slag. It is almost identical to the petco brand black sand. The bags were 3.50ish per 50lb bag. There are a couple other Colorado members using it as well.

Here is a link to some other members in the forum using it too.
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=153192


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

Oh I thought you were using towels!


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

BruceF said:


> Oh I thought you were using towels!


HA HA HA HA!!!!! Just did not want to scratch the glass. lol the background is a black blanket!


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

The tank has now been moved into my garage in front of my Camaro. I will have it filled for a few weeks doing its leak test, and soaking the wood. Hopefully the last week of Jan. I will be ready to set it up.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Tank is filled for the leak test, and wood is floating to sink. I cannot wait. It will be test filled for about a month, or at least until the weekend before I do the setup.

here are a couple pics.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

More update!! Stand is together. 

overall tank shot










mounting area for the light bars









in stand electrical









Commonly used equipment mount tabs









Tank is still doing well in my garage, I have the driftwood in there as well trying to sink. hopefully it will be by the time the tank is setup.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Figured I would post a pic of my herbertaxelrodi's 

Messing around with my New Lumia 920's camera.... its much much much better than the camera in my old Iphone lol


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

That's a cool fish!


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Tank has passed leak testing lol. I had to cut it a bit short. The original plan was to have it filled in the garage up to two days before the setup. Well we have been hit with a very cold bit of weather and the tank started to get a little ice on the top. I broke that up and placed a tank heater in the tank to bring the temp up slowly. And then tonight in 7* weather I drained it out of the garage and got the tank all dry. It will sit in the garage until thursday and then i will move it into the house, put on the black background and let it sit for a couple weeks until its time to do the setup. I cannot wait, everything is in place.


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

Sounds like the leak test turned into a stress test. Glad to hear things are progressing.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

here we go, tank is in the house now. There was a casualty though, the bottom rim split right at the seam, small split, not something to concerning to me, I will take a piece of strap tie and epoxy it across. I now know which side of the tank will be the rear lol. My guess was that the heat / cold contraction caused it to split right there. 

Here are a few pics of the complete setup now. I just need the next week and a half and its go time.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Next Friday is the start date for the switch. These are the last pics I have before setup. 

these are by far the worst pictures I have taken with my lumia so far lol. I was playing around with the hardscape while the tank is filled in my living room to keep the wood wet. I think this is what I am going with. There is a hole in the center I will fill with substrate so I can have a little bush of planted something a little higher in the mound. Java fern along the very top and some hygro pinnitifida (sp?) somewhere attached to the rock too.


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## BoxxerBoyDrew (Oct 16, 2005)

Those are some BEAUTIFUL Rainbows you have there!!!!

I really, really, really miss my Rainbows!!! I setup my 55g as a planted rainbow tank when I first started doing planted tanks, and I got some awesome fish at a shop in Austin. I had them for a while, then something different came into the Fish Shop I was working at, and I traded the Rainbows out, for what I can't remember! MAN I KICK MYSELF IN THE ARSE FOR THAT!!!! The store I got the rainbows at is now gone, and I don't know if I will ever find the quality of fish I had!!! Anyway sorry about the rant!

I can't wait to see the 40B come together!!! If you are still planning on using the Coal slag "sand" be sure to rinse it VERY GOOD!!!! I have it in my 55g now, and I like it, but it was pretty dirty and OILY too! I rinsed mine in a old 5g bucket making sure to keep the water output MOVING! If not the water pressure and the sand will wear a hole in the bottom of the bucket! I put about 4-6" of sand in the bucket and using a adjustable nozzle on the jet setting and washed the crap out of it! Usually about 8+ times of filling t he bucket all the way up, then dumping as much water as I could, over and over, till there would be just a bit of oil film on the surface of the water. I could never get all of the "Oil" to go away. Then when I filled the tank I put some good carbon and fine filter pads in my Fluval 205s and ran them for a few hours, then cleaned the filters out and added more carbon and normal filter floss and that was it!

I know it sounds like a lot of work, but just go slow and steady, and it won't take too long! The "oil" never hurt any of my fish or inverts after adding them to the tank with the Black Beauty blasting grit! I also run a surface skimmer on one of my 205s, and after doing my first water change and filter cleaning about a week after adding the Black Beauty sand cap, I haven't seen ANY oil residue at all! Others that have used it haven't had any reports of the oil doing any harm either, or at least none that I have read about! 

Anyway SORRY about the long post, but I just wanted to let Ya know how I went about using the Black Beauty Blasting Grit! I know it is some work, but my time is worth the $40-$60 I saved by not buying the black sand at Petsmart!

Hope this helps ya some, and feel free to holler at me if ya have any questions about the Black Beauty or anything else for that matter! 
Drew


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## shiloh (Jun 10, 2011)

Is your wood sinking or do the rocks hold it down?


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

I keep having people trade me plants that came from you in the first place. Can’t wait to see them all in this tank!


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

BoxxerBoyDrew said:


> Those are some BEAUTIFUL Rainbows you have there!!!!
> 
> I really, really, really miss my Rainbows!!! I setup my 55g as a planted rainbow tank when I first started doing planted tanks, and I got some awesome fish at a shop in Austin. I had them for a while, then something different came into the Fish Shop I was working at, and I traded the Rainbows out, for what I can't remember! MAN I KICK MYSELF IN THE ARSE FOR THAT!!!! The store I got the rainbows at is now gone, and I don't know if I will ever find the quality of fish I had!!! Anyway sorry about the rant!
> 
> ...


I love rainbows! I cannot wait to get ahold of some of the more rare ones. Hopefully to be able to breed them. The sand has been rinsed, and man did that take a while lol. I have 150 lbs (probably wont use it all lol) I rinsed two of the bags to make sure I had enough. It was not oily in the least, just dusty.



shiloh said:


> Is your wood sinking or do the rocks hold it down?


At first it was the rocks holding it down. Now its fully submerged and will sit at the bottom by itself. 



BruceF said:


> I keep having people trade me plants that came from you in the first place. Can’t wait to see them all in this tank!


Now thats funny. I usually give out my trimmings to whoever would like some lol. We will see what other species make the rounds once I get this sucker up and stocked. I am now about a week away. I was originally going to start the tear down on Thursday, then it got moved to Friday as the office got busy enough to warrant 4 days again (wahoo) and then i was asked to come in on Friday to fill in for someone that is going on vacation (wahoo again) So now I will start the tear down on Friday evening, and move into sat for the fun stuff.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Everything is all set for the swap tomorrow morning. I trimmed and bunched the plants I am going to keep. I have everything moved to where it will be easily accessible, and the Q-tank is running and ready for the rainbows. I just need to drain the 40B that I had filled to keep my driftwood soaked and start the move. I will post pictures after everything is up and running. this should be fun.


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## jhays79 (Mar 28, 2012)

Been following this thread for awhile now, excited to see it coming together!


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## Adamson (Mar 2, 2012)

Yeah you need to put this tank together man!

Couple quick questions, what did you make your light holders out of? I am looking for an efficient way of hanging my light above my 125 without putting holes in my apartment ceiling.

And what type of wood is that piece you have?


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

jhays79 said:


> Been following this thread for awhile now, excited to see it coming together!


Thanks, its been fun so far. but the fun is about to begin lol



Adamson said:


> Yeah you need to put this tank together man!
> 
> Couple quick questions, what did you make your light holders out of? I am looking for an efficient way of hanging my light above my 125 without putting wholes in my apartment ceiling.
> 
> And what type of wood is that piece you have?


The light bars are made of 1/2" electrical conduit. I suck at bending bars so I went ahead and purchased the 90*bend, and some couplers to piece it together. then I sprayed it with a semi-gloss black paint. It looks nice!


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

We are all up and running. The swap went without a hitch. I had about 75,000 endlers in the tank, and with my wife being home while I was tearing down the 36g, she made me make sure I had EVERY one of the little baby endlers packed and ready to go to the LFS. Man what a pain in the rear lol those little guys are smart!!

There is some shade on the back stems, hopefully not enough to cause growth problems, if it ends up that way. I will get another smaller light just to hit the stems. I have the light hanging in a way that it is angled back to the back of the tank, so there is very little light spillage and hopefully it will cause the stems as they are growing to tip the crowns towards the front of the tank. Well... On with the pics. The plants in there are not the only plants, I still plan on getting a few more to fill out my mid ground and then a carpet of some kind for the front. I might do hair grass, or possibly micro swords. not sure yet. 

I no longer have the Iphone, so the pictures are actually better lol They were all taken on my new Lumia 920 (windows phone)

half way there (rainbows and a couple very old holdovers are safe in a 10g for now)



















Trash!! by the time I pulled all the plants, I had (2)gallon zip lock bags of stems, stem pieces, crap from the tank lol









on the way to the LFS with the thousands of endlers









Setup begins,

































Grabbed some Crypt. Parva while I was at the LFS, this was one of my planned plants. 









Various crypts hugging the wood


















TADA!!!!!



























Now that it is setup, I am going to blast it with co2, fertilize the heck out of it then get the sucker cycled. I have some quick cycle from dr.tims that I have heard good things about. Hopefully the combo of it and a cocktail shrimp will get the cycle going in good speed. Once that is all up and going, I save for the M.Nigrans or M.Pygmea and contact my source, I will add another male/Female M.Herbertaxelrodi and look for a good bottom fish, and another sall fish (possibly a fairly large group of clown killi's) Not sure yet, any suggestions?


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

Looks good Noah, should fill in nicely. I have some eleocharis 'belem' if you want to grow some.


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## XCW-500 (Jan 19, 2013)

Looks good man. I have had a few Rainbow tanks in the past and they are great fish, and as my new setup gets going they will also be my main inhabitants. Looking forward to watching your progress.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

BruceF said:


> Looks good Noah, should fill in nicely. I have some eleocharis 'belem' if you want to grow some.


hmm.. I might take you up on your offer. I might try Lilaeopsis brasiliensis first and see if I can keep it low. If not I would certainly love to give it a go.




XCW-500 said:


> Looks good man. I have had a few Rainbow tanks in the past and they are great fish, and as my new setup gets going they will also be my main inhabitants. Looking forward to watching your progress.


Thanks. I cannot wait to get the rainbows moved from the holding tank into this new one. they look so pitiful in there. Next is saving for the M.pygmea or M.Nigrans. and then getting a source lol


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

I have the lilaeopsis also. In fact I have them growing together if you want that even.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

BruceF said:


> I have the lilaeopsis also. In fact I have them growing together if you want that even.


LOL ill get back to you. I have to wait until next month (blew all my jan. and feb. fish budget already)


I was playing around with the excellent low light photography of my windows phone and took this shot with the moon lights on. Thought it looked kind of cool.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

And here we are again after two weeks running. 
plants are picking up steam now as the root systems take hold and the fertilizer issues I had get worked out. I hope to get the 'cuba's crowns to at least turn light red, but we will see. Once the stellatus takes off after its first trim I will ove the group just to the right of the suba, and shift the other plant to the right. I added a red flame sword in the far left, I have no idea how big it can or will get, but it will stay with me for a bit lol. 

Here is a quick pic I took just a few min. ago.


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## Curt_914 (Oct 6, 2007)

Looks good noah. Wish i had gumpsion to work on my tanks. The sowrd will get big just an fyi. Though it will take a couple months.


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## madness (Jul 31, 2011)

Man that rim ended up being a complete pain in the butt. 

You should have taken your money back when you saw the cracks. Sorry about that.

Glad to see that the tank is up and running though.

What did you eventually use for the bio media in the filter?


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

madness said:


> Man that rim ended up being a complete pain in the butt.
> 
> You should have taken your money back when you saw the cracks. Sorry about that.
> 
> ...


LOL not a problem man, it was a great learning experience and it was well worth the time and effort to do. 

I ended up using pot scrubbers and normal filter pads in there. The tank is still cycling because of a problem I created when I gave the 36g to my brother who then set it up right away lol. so I was without seeded filter media. 

things seem to be progressing well. I lowered the light a little tonight to see if I can pull a bit of color out of my plants, we will see how it ends up.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Rainbows are now in tank, Things cycled fine and dandy. I will post some pics once they are settled in. so far they seem to be having fun exploring there new home.


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## HD Blazingwolf (May 12, 2011)

nice read through!! good looking tank!!! i really like the driftwood layout!


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

HD Blazingwolf said:


> nice read through!! good looking tank!!! i really like the driftwood layout!


Thanks! So far my rainbows seem to like it too 

I think I may go out and grab a few more Herbertaxelrodi's tomorrow if any of my LFS has them in stock. of course they will be in Q for a month though lol. I might as well take advantage of it while the Q tank is still up and cycled. 

It seems that the rainbow bug has bitten you now too? lol


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Update. not too much to talk about yet. I just finished my weekly water change, the herberts are pretty stressed, they are not used to being in a tank with just themselves. I have two bosmani (male and female) in Quarantine being treated for ich  but they should be able to join the others in the main tank in a week or so. very very very colorful male, and a pretty female. I have a very good lead on some local Nigrans thanks to Zimbo! Your awesome man!!! I am still trying to decide on a tood match for the substrate (or rock crawling species) from the Australia / Asian region. I have been thinking a few cobalt goby's but would need to age the tank some, and let some algae grow (although this should not be that hard on the rock) I have no other ideas and am welcome to some lol.


Here are a few pictures, they are very lightly modified to pull out more of the colors that I cannot capture well on my phone. 

Male herbertaxelrodi









female herbertaxelrodi









and full tank shot


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

update incoming. I need to let my two bosmani get used to the tank before I can start snapping more pics of them. they seem to like the room after being in the Q tank for a month lol


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

WE GOT NIGRANS!!!!!!!!!!

turns out there was a breeder that spent a ton of time with Gary Lange doing rainbow collecting. Well she left the hobby a few years ago, but some very heavy rainbow enthusiasts bought her collection here in Colorado and have been quietly breeding what they have. I met one of them who put some Nigrans up for auction a the local club auction. I purchased the ones at the auction and plan on getting at least 5 more from him. he is a super nice guy and said he has 13 species of rainbow he currently is keeping. He invited a few of us bow heads over to see his fish room in a few weeks!!! 

The Nigrans I have are still very young, but are starting to show colors. I am VERY VERY happy now. They are in Q for at least one week (since I know the breeder) and then they will get moved into the 40b


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Alright, I am trying to keep with more consistent updates. So here we go. 

As I posted yesterday I got ahold of a fish I have been looking for for about a year, which Is AWESOME!!!! They have settled in and are showing more colors than they did yesterday. They are still very young, and rainbows have a tendency to grow slow. They get passed by in LFS when young because they look colorless and not like the name suggests lol. patience though will result in great fish!! My female and male Bosmani (will stay in this tank as long as they can, if they get too large and seem to be unhappy they will go to a friend with a larger tank) man the male is colorful as you can see in the next few pics. This is pretty amazing for a LFS brand bosmani, which usually breed pretty washed out. I just could not pass them by. 

As for the plants. Everything is going great. Some plants are showing a lack of potassium so I will be upping the K this week to rectify the situation. The dwarf hairgrass is starting to spread. Everything else is dandy. I need to find myself some fissidens for the wood, and maybe one or two more stem plants for the mid ground. 

Anywhoo here are a few more pics.

Nigrans in holding!!! This is two females and a male on the left. I am trying to get better pics, but these dang things wont stop moving!!









Here is the whole group. It looks like it is two males and three females!









Here is the bosmani and my male Herbert. they have been getting along great. the bosmani has a bone to pick with one of my pushy Herbert females though lol. the male Herbert has decided all the girls are his. 


















"FEEEEDDDDD MEEEEEEEE"


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

Looking good Noah, the local poachers need an updated plant list! Someday hopefully we will have the plant availability up to the standards of the fish availability in this state!


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

BruceF said:


> Looking good Noah, the local poachers need an updated plant list! Someday hopefully we will have the plant availability up to the standards of the fish availability in this state!


LOL I just sent the list to Zimbo. Its not near what it should be yet, but I will update it once I find the last two stems I want.

Cryptocoryne undulata
CRYPTOCORYNE CORDATA (not 100%, its olive green with burgundy under leaves)
hygro sunset.
ludwigia 'cuba' 
Eichhornia diversifolia (great plant, medium growth speed)
broad leaf ludwigia repens
rotala 'green'
Stellatus broad leaf
Lindernia sp. 'India'
Ranunculus INUNDATUS(awesome plant, great growth unique leaf shape)
Both red and green tiger lotus.
java fern, 
anubias nana
ludwigia pinnatfida


We need to get all the Colorado plant owners together in one place. there are a ton of us, but we are very fragmented.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Figured I would get a few more pics up. these guys love to have photos taken of them lol. Zimbo stopped by and grabbed a few plants from me, and brought me some African water fern, so that is now residing in the back left of the tank, and hopefully will grow out and become a nice lush area. 

Anyhoo some more photos

Bosmani showing his fins, male Herbert and female Herbert asking for food!









Herbert passing by while others watch









pretty boy bosmani strutting his stuff









M.nigrans youngins. the top left one is a female, you can sort of see the blues coming out a bit in her. the male is under her. he is hiding his finnage (which is now showing a slight hint of red. he also has more blue in him.


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## ccbeauch (Jul 29, 2012)

that white outline ont he rainbow fish that is half silver, half orange, is that normal? I saw one like that the other day and was unsure if it was finrot or if it was supposed ot look like that. They move so quick it is hard for me to tell. I'm used to the slow moving discus where I have all day to examine them if I wanted.


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## HD Blazingwolf (May 12, 2011)

Noahma said:


> Thanks! So far my rainbows seem to like it too
> 
> I think I may go out and grab a few more Herbertaxelrodi's tomorrow if any of my LFS has them in stock. of course they will be in Q for a month though lol. I might as well take advantage of it while the Q tank is still up and cycled.
> 
> It seems that the rainbow bug has bitten you now too? lol


indeed! it has bitten, and its getting worse. im considering removing some other fauna and adding more rainbows

the bose is beautiful! its rare to see someone who can care for them and achieve that coloration


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Yep, it is a normal coloration. 



ccbeauch said:


> that white outline ont he rainbow fish that is half silver, half orange, is that normal? I saw one like that the other day and was unsure if it was finrot or if it was supposed ot look like that. They move so quick it is hard for me to tell. I'm used to the slow moving discus where I have all day to examine them if I wanted.



Sent from my RM-820_nam_att_100 using Board Express


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Update!!!
Tank is growing like wild fire in July. This is the night before my weekly water change so all plants are as they have grown in a week or two. I added a pair of bosmani (if they outgrow the tank, I have a home for them at a friends house) the male is probably one of the most intensely colored bosmani males I have ever seen at a fish store (which is why I got him lol)
The Nigrans are happily in the tank now and are VERY active. the other bows move around the tank, but not as much as these little guys. 
A tad bit more color is showing, some red in the fins, some light blue in the body. they are brave little guys too. not afraid to come to the front of the tank and watch me watching them lol. 
Anywhoo!! here are some pics.
Full tank shot:








hygro sunset and 








ludwigia 'cuba'








pinnatifida (sp?)








Male Herbertaxeorldi 








Herd of Nigrans lol








Male Bosmani


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

HD Blazingwolf said:


> indeed! it has bitten, and its getting worse. im considering removing some other fauna and adding more rainbows
> 
> the bose is beautiful! its rare to see someone who can care for them and achieve that coloration


 
He is a great little fish! although a bit skittish. when the others come to the front he either goes and hides behind plant groups and watches from afar, or he hides behind the girls lol


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## jhays79 (Mar 28, 2012)

You're fish look great, as does the tank! Love the coloration on your Bosemanis!


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

Tanks is looking great Noah.


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## Idrankwhat (Mar 20, 2013)

Love rainbows. Great job with the setup.


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## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

Really, really nice!

Something I am sure everyone would love to have in their homes!


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## Rockhoe14er (Jan 19, 2011)

Amazing looking tank Noah very professional.


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## Clavius (Sep 30, 2010)

Awesome! Love the 40B's.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

jhays79 said:


> You're fish look great, as does the tank! Love the coloration on your Bosemanis!


Thanks! I was very lucky to find such great colored bosmani. Usually the ones my preferred LFS get in stock are very washed out. 



BruceF said:


> Tanks is looking great Noah.


Thanks! let me know if you want any trimmings since your only a 45 min. drive from me. 



Idrankwhat said:


> Love rainbows. Great job with the setup.


These rainbows are just the beginning of my obsession lol within the next couple years we will be moving into a bigger house and can do a 75g! There are about 15 more species of rainbow on my list to keep lol



Momotaro said:


> Really, really nice!
> 
> Something I am sure everyone would love to have in their homes!


Thanks!! The 36g was a great learning experience on how to care for the plants, this is my scaping experience tank. I am pretty happy with the tank this time around. 



Rockhoe14er said:


> Amazing looking tank Noah very professional.


Thanks, its been a while, hows it goin in VA?



Clavius said:


> Awesome! Love the 40B's.


The dimensions are just plain awesome on these tanks, very easy to get a nice back, mid and foreground in them.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA this night keeps getting better and better. I went to go and tear down the Q tank, and well... there are Nigrans fry in the tank! lol

Sooooo very tiny, lets hope I can keep them alive, I did not have enough supplies to be ready for this.


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## jahmic (Jan 30, 2011)

Holy growth rates Batman!!

Man this tank is looking sick. Great looking fish too, grats man...this really came together.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

jahmic said:


> Holy growth rates Batman!!
> 
> Man this tank is looking sick. Great looking fish too, grats man...this really came together.


Thanks! this is certainly the best tank I have done, and the most fun.


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## CannaBrain (Oct 3, 2008)

Looking wonderful! I'm wondering where you procured your stand from? I've had a 40 sitting around for a few years now that I haven't found a stand for!


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

CannaBrain said:


> Looking wonderful! I'm wondering where you procured your stand from? I've had a 40 sitting around for a few years now that I haven't found a stand for!


The stand is an Aquatic Fundamentals stand. It is a 50/65 gal stand, and has the exact same dimensions as the 40b. Good stand, very nice quality too. 

Sorry for being late posting back lol its been a crazy few weeks. 


Time for a small update. I have no full tank shots at the moment. Things are pretty overgrown and not shaped well at the moment (water change night is tomorrow) 
The rainbows are doing great. 
The bigger bows spend the day swimming in the flow along the front of the tank and waiting for me to feed them. of course in the morning it turns into a jousting arena as the males try to woo the girls into the plants lol.

My nigrans are EVERYWHERE!!! most active bows I have had. they continue to grow, and are developing some very nice coloring. my dominant male gets a bit of red in his fins now, along with the aqua/blue coloring in his body. he likes to hang with the big males as they search the hair grass for something to eat. the sub-dominant male spends his days chilling with the girls (smart little guy) 

my male bosmani is the shyest fish in the tank. He goes and hides behind the wood when someone gets near the tank he does not recognize. all you see is either a blue head, or orange tail poking out from the plants. 

out of the 6 fry I found in my Q-tank three remain  two look like they may be nigrans, not 100% sure though, they are growing quick which leads me to believe that more and more. The only other species it may be is Bosmani, and they grow painfully slow. 

Well here are a few pics, I will try to get a FTS tomorrow after the trim and change. 

Check out my Flora journal too, I did a massive re-scape on that one too. both tanks now look completely different than each other. the 40b is bright and colorful, and the flora is darker, woody and more river looking.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Guess I should get off my rear and do an update. 

Tanks has been doing pretty good. For some reason my ludwigia cuba is just not doing well. I have not seen a 6" wide stem since the 36g. mostly now they grow max to 2.5"-3" and most of the time I am not getting side shoots. I just cannot figure it out. My broad leaf stellatus on the other hand is finally growing well. I am getting a ton of sideshoots out of em, and the red is getting pretty strong. I have moved plants around a bit, the Cuba is now mid ground (better lighting) the stellatus is now mid ground on the right, and the red flame sword has been moved into the rock work. I pulled the pinnitafida, just never grew right. the Java fern is doing what it does best, growing slow lol. I might be in the market for a couple new species of stem to sit in the back right side just to the left of the rockwork. I just need to find that right specie. 

Anywho, here are some pictures. they are mostly of the bows, which are doing GREAT. My male Herbert is still a butt head, and the Bosmani is still a little chicken. My Nigrans are starting to really color up, they are incredibly hard to capture the true colors. The night shots are taken with my Lumia 920, which takes incredible low light photos. It really is not that bright, it is quite dim, just enough light to view the tank with the lights off.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Just a couple more pics.


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## shawnleon (Dec 10, 2012)

The bows look fantastic!


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

shawnleon said:


> The bows look fantastic!


Thanks!

The Nigrans are by far my favorite rainbow. they stay smaller, are always rooting around the tank somewhere, and the color shifts on them can be amazing. 

I have two female herbertaxelrodi In the Q tank now, three more weeks and they will be added to the display tank. Then on to find a good bottom fish!


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## BoxxerBoyDrew (Oct 16, 2005)

WOW!!!

Your tank has grown into a BEAUTIFUL Aquascape!!! 

The Rainbows are looking AWESOME TOO!!!

I finally got my 40B stand built, or at least the structure, and I will be setting up my40B this week hopefully!!! I still can't decide on what fish I want to put into it, but seeing your 40B makes me want to go with rainbows again! Or maybe put the fish in my 55g in the 40 and do Rainbows in the 55g to give them more swimming room!

Anyway keep up the AWESOME WORK!!!
Drew


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

BoxxerBoyDrew said:


> WOW!!!
> 
> Your tank has grown into a BEAUTIFUL Aquascape!!!
> 
> ...


Thanks! I am having a little bit of a BBA problem that should be sorted out by now, we will see this next couple weeks.


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## BHolmes (Aug 23, 2012)

Great journal. The bows and scape look very good! All of the pics are awesome too.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

BHolmes said:


> Great journal. The bows and scape look very good! All of the pics are awesome too.


 
Thanks!


Been a whle since an update, I had a bit of a mixup (quite literally) with my fertz and now I am battling a massive BBA outbreak :frown: and working at correcting the poor growing plants due to the problem. I am going to be changing out a few more plant species with some different stuffs. I just cannot find that perfect rosete plant for the right side to the left of my rock pile. Any suggestions would be great. 

My bows are doing great, the Nigrans have reached sexual maturity, so I might start pulling my nice male and a female out for a run in the Q tank with a spawning mop to see if I can get a few more out of em. 

Pictures soon!


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

Sorry to hear about the bba. Someday people are going to figure that one out!

As for rosettes I have lots of crypts if you are interested.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

What crypts do you have? I have been wanting to increase my crypt stash lol. I have nothing but some cash in return at the moment until I can solve this BBA problem, which seems to be getting better in some areas, and staying the same in others. Tomorrow a nice tank clean is going to happen


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

I have some wendtii and some nuri. They are both plentiful. Also some parva and some spiralis. One or two of any of those would be fine. I have others but they are mostly in rehab. The bronze wendtii is very nice. Great contrast in color with that. Just let me know we can work something out.


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## Qwedfg (Mar 7, 2012)

Awesome tank. I love rainbowfish and you got some really hard to find ones. All I can fit in my tank are dwarf neons I cant wait to upgrade so I can get some of the big guys.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Qwedfg said:


> Awesome tank. I love rainbowfish and you got some really hard to find ones. All I can fit in my tank are dwarf neons I cant wait to upgrade so I can get some of the big guys.


 
Thanks. I did a total replant tonight and moved a bunch of plants around lol. I just happen to know a few of the guys that got the majority of a collection from a lady named Lori, who did a lot of rainbow collection with Gary Lange. The Nigrans were a very nice find! I am going to try to breed them here soon, and see what I get out of it. 



BruceF said:


> I have some wendtii and some nuri. They are both plentiful. Also some parva and some spiralis. One or two of any of those would be fine. I have others but they are mostly in rehab. The bronze wendtii is very nice. Great contrast in color with that. Just let me know we can work something out.


Let me get back to you, the Nuri or Wendtii might be nice. I only have varriants of the Wendtii and might like to add the standard one back to the tank, its been a few years since I have had one.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Quick update. I have a Echinodorus 'Frans Stoffels' on order from Aqua imports a LFS, if they cannot get it. Bruce I will be sending you a PM lol

Not too much has changed, the tank is recovering from a mess of an algae outbreak, and doing a good job at recovering. The bows are doing great with one exception. I lost one of my male Nigrans. Not sure what the hell happened but I found him dead against one of my powerheads. I know the night before (independence day) my nephews were fooling around the tank, not sure if they did something. This is upping my timeframe for attempting a breed with the Nigrans. Hopefully just a mop in the 40b will produce a nice group, if not I will pull the male and a good female and try it in the 10g tank. 

Here are a few pics. Sorry they are not thumb nailed, I did not have time to upload them to photobucket, instead they are within my skydrive account. 

http://sdrv.ms/15q997Z
http://sdrv.ms/15q9bww
http://sdrv.ms/14CbtaR
http://sdrv.ms/13vzxzn

And a Video I put together. Please excuse the reflections in the later part of the video. The lights came on and I did not have time to close up windows and shades while the bows were flashing.
http://sdrv.ms/15q9wPS


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

Nice music! Anytime Noah. Tank is looking good. I do have a "Kleiner Bar" Sword but I have no idea when it might decide to make some extra plants.


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## BHolmes (Aug 23, 2012)

How did you battle the BBA? I'm having a similar problem in mine right now


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

BruceF said:


> Nice music! Anytime Noah. Tank is looking good. I do have a "Kleiner Bar" Sword but I have no idea when it might decide to make some extra plants.


No problem, Aqua imports has a Franz Stoffels on order for me and I picked up a couple of Kliner Prinz today as well. 



BHolmes said:


> How did you battle the BBA? I'm having a similar problem in mine right now


My battle is far from over, but it is getting better. I am treating directly with H2o2 each water change. And the Co2 is high enough that the growth is very slow. I made sure the flow was ample around the entire tank, and every water change I treat the BBA on the hardscape with the h2o2. with very stubborn stuff I put a little excel directly on it as well. I am close to getting the BBA only on the hardscape, the plants growing well will not get infected as easily.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Quick update, more pictures to come tomorrow hopefully lol.

The Kliner Prinz are already producing submerged leaves, darker red margins with the rest of the leaf a nice pink red. pretty plant!!! I recommend it to ANYONE. 

I was able to catch a halfway decent pic of my happy male nigrans tonight, I really really want to catch a good picture of him flaring at a female during mating time, his fins look like they are fire, with blue near the body extending to a deep red with black margin towards the outside. Orange spotted in the interior. 
This is the best so far. Bows are typically very active, these guys are a normal bow energy x 100 lol always moving, always changing direction. great little fish.


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## owenjmayer (Jul 15, 2013)

Beautiful tank! I'm planning on setting up a 60gal NPT once we move & am thinking about a mixed school of rainbows as the main fish.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

owenjmayer said:


> Beautiful tank! I'm planning on setting up a 60gal NPT once we move & am thinking about a mixed school of rainbows as the main fish.


they are certainly worth it. Take a look at rainbow-fish.org for some really helpful rainbow peoples. Lots of hands on experience with these little scaled friends.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Update time. 
The Kliner Prinz swords are growing very well. They have a nice burgundy color to the leaves (forgot to snap a pic this time around.) They grow at a medium pace, so it will be some time until they fill in there space well. Hopefully tomorrow I will get my Franz stoffels from the LFS I have one ordered through. it will replace the Giant hygro in the back mid point. The Ludwigia 'cuba' is growing very well in its new location. I thought I was going to loose all of the plant, but once I moved them up front they are growing very well, I have doubled the amount of stems in about a month. My Stellatus is growing very well again too. I moved it to the mid tank, mid ground location from its back area. I have also doubled that one in about a month too. The only plants struggling now are the giant hygro. I continue to battle the BBA, its not attacking the plants as much, though I do have some on my very slow growing plants. Mostly its an eye sore on the hardscape only. My crypts of course still seem to get it on the leaf margins. I just take the leaf off and all is well lol. The fish are doing great. My bows are doing what they usually do, eat and mate lol. I plan on getting some oto's, and a couple of peacock gudgeons for the tank. I might get ahold of a small school of Danio Choprae for a top level swimmer. They with the exception of the oto are from the same part of the world (which I am going for) The Nigrans are also a top priority to breed here soon. This weekend I will put the sponge filter material in my canister and seed it for a week or so. I need to clean the Q tank and make some breeding mops and then condition the nigrans. I will probably do that before I get any other fish, since I have only one Q tank they are the top priority.

Well.....

Here are a few pics. More than just fish this time. 

Full tank shot


1/4 tank left


1/4 tank right


ludwigia 'cuba'


Stellatus


Male herbertaxelrodi and Male Nigrans


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

Looking good Noah! 
I got some hygro from Zimbo a while ago, stuff grows like a weed. I am still trying to figure out the best way to prune it. I have it growing out in the sun and it is a beautiful red/brown color. I also have some growing in a low light tank where is doing very well. I think slow is good in this case. With better light and nutrition the lower leaves just keep making trouble. 
I have lots of sunset these days if you’re interested in trading for some stellatus.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

BruceF said:


> Looking good Noah!
> I got some hygro from Zimbo a while ago, stuff grows like a weed. I am still trying to figure out the best way to prune it. I have it growing out in the sun and it is a beautiful red/brown color. I also have some growing in a low light tank where is doing very well. I think slow is good in this case. With better light and nutrition the lower leaves just keep making trouble.
> I have lots of sunset these days if you’re interested in trading for some stellatus.


 
Thanks! 

now that's what I call full circle lol I gave Zimbo some of the hyrgro. sunset about a year ago lol

As soon as I get some of the side shoots larger for the stellatus I would be happy to throw a couple stems your way.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Pictures!!!

I stopped by Catfish Charlie's and purchased his last two M.Kamaka rainbows. They are doing very good in my Q-tank, I usually Quarantine new fish no matter the source for a month. These two have already colored up and are eating VERY well. I am very happy that it is a male and female so some Baby Kamakas might make it out of the tank 

I have my spawn mops ready and once the Kamaka are in the display tank I will try to catch the nigrans and start the breeding of them. 

he tank is doing ok. I have this devil algae that looks like brown fuzz. It is a pain I suck it all out, and the next week its back in full force. I am going to try an Excel overdose in the tank this week to see if I can eliminate it. The BBA I do have is growing very very slowly so I might be able to gain the upper hand. It is really not attacking plants much, but the hardscape gets the worst of it. My crypts are suffering a little too 

All my bows are doing great. I find eggs scattered around the tank every day, although I do not want to hatch them not knowing which bows produced them, and if they are hybrids or not. So... they stay for bow omelets lol

I am still waiting for my Franz Stoffels, my LFS Is having a hard time getting one in for me. I have a place holder ( _Echinodorus_ 'Kleiner Bar') to fill that place in until. I get it, and I will either give the Kleiner to a local or put it in another location in the tank. 

I will post very recent pictures after my hack fest tomorrow. There are several plant groups that are ready to be replanted, and trimmed badly. as well as a couple movements. 

Here are some from a couple weeks ago though.

FTS


Night Shot (it is very dim in person, this is taken with a lumia 920, which takes excellent low light photos)


Right 1/4 side


Herbertaxelrodi male


Herbertaxelrodi and Nigrans males


Male Nigrans


Kleiner prinz swords (getting moved tomorrow to a nicer location


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

Looking good Noah. Nice new additions.


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## Roshan8768 (Mar 18, 2009)

Awesome tanks, love the rainbowfish!!! Definitely my favorite type of freshwater fish, and their colors really pop in planted aquariums. If you had some kind of red plant near the center of your tank, it would really help create the illusion of depth by breaking up the sea of green


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## kamikaziechameleon (Feb 16, 2012)

Quite an inspiration. I'm surprised you don't have issues with them in a 40. Dwarf Neon rainbows seemed cramped in my 40b. At any rate your aquascaping is impeccable.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

BruceF said:


> Looking good Noah. Nice new additions.


Thanks!! You going to the fall auction? I might go to see about snagging some of the smaller bows if Whats his name is there again lol.




Roshan8768 said:


> Awesome tanks, love the rainbowfish!!! Definitely my favorite type of freshwater fish, and their colors really pop in planted aquariums. If you had some kind of red plant near the center of your tank, it would really help create the illusion of depth by breaking up the sea of green


Thanks, I am certainly a bow head lol. If only I could have more tanks for more species. I have a list of 30+ that I one day would like to own. 


Its hard to see them, but there is a bush of _Pogostemon stellatus_ 'Broad Leaf' smack dab in the middle of the tank. For some reason I seem to only get good pictures of the tank after its been trimmed down. The crowns of the plant are a nice red color with a golden yellow the rest of the way down the stem. one of the nifty things about this plant too is at a low high light the crowns are red, but as the day goes on the red fades and goes down to the golden yellow. I usually am just getting home from work after they start to lighten up so I miss the color (I will see if I can get a good pic of it here soon.) once I get my franz stoffels I will have another redish / pink plant in the middle "row" 



kamikaziechameleon said:


> Quite an inspiration. I'm surprised you don't have issues with them in a 40. Dwarf Neon rainbows seemed cramped in my 40b. At any rate your aquascaping is impeccable.


The bows I have are doing EVERY well in the tank, each specie spawns daily in a different are of the tank. the Nigrans like the java fern and green rotala, the bosmani in the back of the tank in the hygro. and my herbertaxelrodi in the _Ranunculus inundatus. _ I carefully chose which bows to put in the tank by growth rate, and overall adult size. I have two large bows (the bosmani), a medium specie (the herbertaxelrodi) and two small species (Nigrans and Kamakas) and they have plenty of room to swim and break line of sight during spawning time. before the tank was setup I passed my stocking idea by a very seasoned bow keeper and was told it would work. He actually poo poo'd my idea of putting some furcatas instead of one of the other species because they are jerks to larger bows lol.


Hopefully if things keep improving in the housing industry (I am a residential designer) I might be able to get a little larger home and upgrade to a 75g lol.
That's a couple years off though.


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## Roshan8768 (Mar 18, 2009)

Nice, wow that sounds really cool as far as the plant transitioning colors!! Never heard of that before... pics would be great!!

And yeah, a 40b is definitely enough room for rainbows if you pick the right species and know what you're doing. I threw my boesmani's in my container pond for the summer and got about 30-40 juveniles that one season. But that was many years ago... fun project if you have the time/space/if its your kind of thing. Awesome fish to work with though.... kinda like larger more colorful danios with more personality and complex/interesting behavior


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

There was a pair of nigrans at the last mini auction during the July meeting. I will be at the fall auction I am sure. You should come.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Roshan8768 said:


> Nice, wow that sounds really cool as far as the plant transitioning colors!! Never heard of that before... pics would be great!!
> 
> And yeah, a 40b is definitely enough room for rainbows if you pick the right species and know what you're doing. I threw my boesmani's in my container pond for the summer and got about 30-40 juveniles that one season. But that was many years ago... fun project if you have the time/space/if its your kind of thing. Awesome fish to work with though.... kinda like larger more colorful danios with more personality and complex/interesting behavior


These things live for one thing.... food lol
I am going to be breeding my Nigrans here soon, once my Qtank is clear. should be fun.




BruceF said:


> There was a pair of nigrans at the last mini auction during the July meeting. I will be at the fall auction I am sure. You should come.


I will be there, with a little bit of cash too lol it would be nice to get a few more nigrans, especially males since I have 1 male and three females. A bit of genetic diversity is always nice.


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## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Love the Bows! Tank looking good as well.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

dewalltheway said:


> Love the Bows! Tank looking good as well.


Thanks! I must say, your tank is one of my favorite ones on the site 



Here is a quick update. A few more additions, which will probably be the last for the tank for a very long time (not that I do not want to add more) I just do not want to tax the system too much with the stock levels. 

A LFS was having to close due to health problems of the owner so I grabbed a few of his remaining Bows. I grabed two Kamakas (not sure if they are both female, or one male) And I grabbed two Lacustrus. again, since the males and females of this particular species look soo much alike I am not sure what sex I got, although I am getting more confident that I have a male and female of the Lacustrus. 

The plans are groing pretty good now, I am still battling this snotty brown algae (not diatoms but a fuzz type algae) And as usual the BBA, which is pretty much limited to hardscape now. I still have not been able to receive the Franz stoffels. I do have another sword growing out on the far left side, once it starts producing large leaves, it is going to the right side of the tank and to the left of the rock pile behind the rotala green. I replanted my Ludwigia broad leaf, and it did not like it this time for some reason. So my "rows" have a hole in the back of the tank as I try to save the plant. I have some red plant (labled as ludwigia red) by my LFS but looks like ludwigia inclinata (not one of the varriants) I will see if I can get that sucker to grow out. It is just to the left of my stellatus. 

The Staurgyne (sp?) repens is supprisingly exploding in growth, and my pogostemon helferi is doing very good, one of my favorites so far. Whell, here are a few pics.


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## Shimagoma (May 15, 2012)

love it! def stalking this thread, giving me ideas for a 60 gal 

ahhh so nice!


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

Looking good Noah! I have to wonder what the local water is like after all that rain.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Shimagoma said:


> love it! def stalking this thread, giving me ideas for a 60 gal
> 
> ahhh so nice!


Thanks! 



BruceF said:


> Looking good Noah! I have to wonder what the local water is like after all that rain.


I have not noticed any difference in in the reaction to whatever water we ended up with lol. My local water is pulled from Standley lake.


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## jahmic (Jan 30, 2011)

Updates??!!


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

As soon as I get a chance to upload pics I will get em up there lol


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Here we are, my long awaited update lol

The tank is now on "display" status, the scape is stable, except for my starogyn repens (spelling?) for some reason it just seems to be developing holes, melting leaves ect. My Ferts are not a problem, I am dosing enough to keep a high light 60g fed for weeks lol. I just do not know what is going on with it. I need to figure out what I am going to do with my next scape. This one is a year old, but there are some plants that I really want to display that I do not have the opportunity to do well with this scape. The Franz Stoffels sword is one, what a nice plant!!! It is now mid-tank, on the right side, and getting big. I had to move the stellatus to the back. Hopefully by mid feb. early march I will have my hands on a small tree stump to do the original scape I had planned. I have enough rock for it, just need the scape. 

Bows are doing excellent. I have not done any breeding with them as of yet. It is in the planning (especially the nigrans) I have a wait until I can, I am expecting my son to be born next weekend, so a focus will be on him until we get the hang of being new parents again. 

until then, the tank is on minimal maintenance. 

Well, here are the pictures.

FTS's





Herbertaxelrodi





Lacustrus





Nigrans







Bosmani (through a algae covered glass)


Group shot (minus my scardy cats)

 

I was worried about how the Stellatus would do in the back of the tank, where my light does not reach that well. I have two shop lights on the corners that I re aimed to cover more of the middle, and as you can see, the stellatus responded VERY well.


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

That's great about the kid. Enjoy! 

Tank is looking great. Nice to see the sword adapted.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Quick picture update lol. No kid yet, being stuborn. We figured he would snow to the world last night. Hopefully tonight or tomorrow. 

Anywho, here are a few pics. I finally found a good picture editing software where I can get more natural edits.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Update time!

Fish are doing great, and I still find eggs on plants as I do my weekly trimmings. 

I also have 4 m. pygmaea on the way, they should be gracing my Q-tank by sat. mid day! I cannot wait. 

The tanks scape is starting to look a bit long in the tooth for me. I REALLY want to display my franz stoffels sword in a more prominent way so I am getting ready for a rescape. I have had a hard time finding a tree stump to fit in the tank in the right scale so I am taking Tom Barr's advice and putting together a faux stump using driftwood and burls that he had. The wood shipment came in today and in usual fasion I received enough wood to do quite a few scapes with, along with some more specialized pieces to get the faux stump together. 

Here are a couple options I setup. I will have lace rock and my black sand to fill in the gaps and make a good scape. I am probably going to cut back the amount of plants in the tank, and go for a more natural scape. Although I will leave areas of the tank to try new plants 

when wet, the wood is very similar in color. 

So here is option 1 (not my favorite) 





Layout 2 (this one is my favorite so far)






So.. what doe everyone think? I am going to play around with it a bit more and see what I can do with it. I also have some smaller very twisty branchy stuff as well for a future scape.


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## BeeJL (Feb 17, 2014)

I just read through your entire thread. It's very inspiring. How is the stand holding up?


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

BeeJL said:


> I just read through your entire thread. It's very inspiring. How is the stand holding up?


Thanks! 

The stand is holding up very well. no damage to it, and everything is stable. I figured it would be a good one since it was designed to be able to hold much more weight being a 50/65 gal. stand.


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## BeeJL (Feb 17, 2014)

Good deal! I think I'm going to order one.


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

I like the wood Noah. My thought is that it should be as high as possible. I am curious how you are keeping the sword plant. Are you trimming it regularly?


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

BruceF said:


> I like the wood Noah. My thought is that it should be as high as possible. I am curious how you are keeping the sword plant. Are you trimming it regularly?


I have an extra 50lb. bag of blasting sand for the rescape, I do not think getting some height out of it will be a problem. 

It has been one of the least needy plant I have lol. I do trim leaves that insist on leaving the water and growing out between the glass pieces in my glass top. It is a bit cramped at the moment in the tank. It needs room to breath. I have a good idea of its placement in the rescape. It will be placed in the back right. The wood forms a little hook like thing that I will plant it in. Should be nice. I will put my smaller flame sword near by as well as the franz prinz little sword closer to the front near by. 
I cannot wait, I think by the first week of April the wood should be water logged and less fungus laden (right now the wood is nto that pretty to look at lol

I got ahold of some more bows, this is the last addition to the tank with the only possibility being a couple of peacock gudeons. Every other bow is doing Great. I still frequently find little areas of eggs scattered in my trimmed plants, which tells me that the fish are happy too. 

Ron over at Jurrasic Pets (of Catfish Charlies) ordered me some M.Pygmeya ( he had never seen them offered before) 

They are one of the smallest rainbows, and have a sky blue color to the body. They get the high back like other Melanotaneia species, but look more like a Christmas light (the big kinds) in profile rather than a normal light bulb lol.

Here is a quick picture of them in the Q-tank. They are still very skittish and move fast so getting a good focused shot is very hard lol.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Trigger pulled. Re-scaped the tank yesterday and man the fish are loving the extra room. 

The faux stump looks good in the tank, and I put 75% of the plants back in of course the best of the best stems trimmed, a few given away, and the bad ones trashed. I was able to get my frans stoffels in a good prominent spot and man it looks GREAT!!!

Can't wait to see how the tank fills in. I am going to be very studious In my tank maintenance and see if I can get some nice rounded stem mounds out of it. 


Here are a few shots of the tank. 

right corner of the tank


full tank shot. 


Frans Stoffels sword!!!
the new leaf in the lower portion of the sword is how all the new growth looks. As it ages it turns more green. the color of the new leaf is just awe inspiring lol


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## adive (Oct 30, 2013)

Hey Noah, I went through your journal. Its fabulous!! And thanks for introducing me to bows!! They're exactly the kind of fish I was looking for.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

adive said:


> Hey Noah, I went through your journal. Its fabulous!! And thanks for introducing me to bows!! They're exactly the kind of fish I was looking for.


Thanks! and you are quite welcome.


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## biotopium (Mar 1, 2014)

Looks awesome. Love the way you brought those pieces of wood together. Looks almost like large tree roots.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

biotopium said:


> Looks awesome. Love the way you brought those pieces of wood together. Looks almost like large tree roots.


Sweet, thank you that is exactly what I was going for. Tom Barr supplied the wood, he has a great eye for pieces and will find something to match what you have in mind.


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## Aurie (Jun 3, 2013)

This give some hope for my 55 Rainbow tank I plan on doing. I know it's not as deep as a 40 but it's a bit longer. I'm making a new home for my Parkinsoni Male who needs some friends. I really want the Melanotaenia splendida tatei at my LFS but they want $20 for just 1.. I love the tourquois that you have. I like the ones that are multi colored as well like the tatei. I saw a picture of a checkered rainbow. Geesh, gorgeous. Some day! 

I was worried a 55 was too small for some of the rainbows like the turquoise or the bosemani. What do you think?


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Aurie said:


> This give some hope for my 55 Rainbow tank I plan on doing. I know it's not as deep as a 40 but it's a bit longer. I'm making a new home for my Parkinsoni Male who needs some friends. I really want the Melanotaenia splendida tatei at my LFS but they want $20 for just 1.. I love the tourquois that you have. I like the ones that are multi colored as well like the tatei. I saw a picture of a checkered rainbow. Geesh, gorgeous. Some day!
> 
> I was worried a 55 was too small for some of the rainbows like the turquoise or the bosemani. What do you think?


Keep your eyes out on Aquabid or post in the eggchange on Rainbow-fish.org, I bet someone I the rainbow forums have the Tatei, and a much better fish than you will ever see in a fish store. 

bows really like length over height and width. As long as they have enough swimming room they are happy. I probably would do no more than a pair of the smaller bosmani groups (Aitinjo) in a 40b A 55gal should be fine for a smaller group of the larger bows like the parkinsoni and standard bosmani. The Lacustrus (turquoise) are actually a very good fit for a 55g, they are more of a medium sized bow. 

Thanks for the compliment


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## adive (Oct 30, 2013)

Any picture updates Noah? Thx.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

adive said:


> Any picture updates Noah? Thx.


Not yet, I will try to take a few pictures tomorrow, getting good growth though


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Ok, I think the tank is in a condition where I can try to start showing pictures. 

I have been battling GDA, tannins from the wood and small amounts of BGA since setting up the tank. I think I am starting to get a hand up on the algae, we will see. the BGA is a pain in the rear let me tell you. lol 

I have also been having to fiddle with the fertilizers I am now at a HUGE amount of KNo3, a large amount of kh2p04 and a decent amount of trace. along with some extra iron to supplement. 

I started loosing lower leaves on the stems, having yellowing spots on my anubias, and poor growth. I upped all my fertilizers to see if one of them was the culprit, we will find out in a couple weeks. Even my hygro sunset was having problems with melting leaves and that plant can grow in the darkness of space. My crypts are slowing the melt because of the new water conditions. The hersitua carpet is slowly starting to spread, but also battling the BGA every week as well. the showpiece of the tank (franz stoffels) is looking great, although the new growth is not near as red as it was when I first planted the tank (I blame the lack of kno3 for the red) hopefully once things settle a bit more I can start to regain some of that color. Fish are doing pretty well. I have my male herbertaxelrodi in the Q-tank due to a nasty nose infection he got. he is doing much better after a anti-fungal and antibiotic treatment. I am just waiting for him to heal up better before adding him back to the tank. I lost one of my female m.pygmea. the only explanation is that she somehow squeezed her way into one of my power heads. All I found was a headless body  I may grab another one or get an egg mop this summer and get some more of those little beauties in the tank. Once I get the fertilizers figured out again, and the plants growing right will start increasing the density of my plant groupings and start working at getting some mound shapes out of em.

Well enough chit chat, here are a few pictures.
Franz Stoffels



ludwigia 'cuba'


new addition linderina var.


hirsitua spreading 


stellatus


full tank shot left




full tank shot



and an extra, my succulent pot garden for work planted today.
one catus, a hens and chicks and several species of sedum.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

It's filling in really nicely despite your algae struggles!

Are you doing Excel at all? I find it REALLY helpful with new startups, both for the plants and especially to help knock back some of the initial algae outbreaks.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

lauraleellbp said:


> It's filling in really nicely despite your algae struggles!
> 
> Are you doing Excel at all? I find it REALLY helpful with new startups, both for the plants and especially to help knock back some of the initial algae outbreaks.


I did for the first week. I kinda ran out lol. I need to get back and get another bottle. I found it does great for algae control as well. My last iteration of the tank I did a full week where I dosed twice the normal amount, it kept any BBA in check, and the water stayed pretty clear. I think I will have to start that up again, at least until the algae is under control. 

I am also trying to figure out where all of my co2 is going. I swear I only got a month out of my 5lb bottle this past fill, I looked for leaks and did not find any. So I am not sure if I am just using that much and off gassing because of my surface agitation or what. We will see how long the 10lb lasts.


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## pianofish (Jan 31, 2010)

Tanks is looking awesome man! What is hersitua? That carpet looks an aweful lot like my Marselia crenata. Is it a similar species?


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

pianofish said:


> Tanks is looking awesome man! What is hersitua? That carpet looks an aweful lot like my Marselia crenata. Is it a similar species?







Thanks!

Yea its almost identical. Just another species of dwarf four leaf clover. Seems to do better than the other versions for me for some reason.








Sent from my Lumia 920 using Tapatalk


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

non regular update time lol.

The tank is doing much better. Algae is starting to come under control. I still have this pesky brown fuzz algae forming in my dwarf four leaf clover area, and some thicker green dust algae forming on some of the lower leaves. BGA is gone, took some anti-biotics to do it, but its gone. The stellatus has bounced back, and is growing VERY well, its no longer dropping its lower leaves. The franz stoffels is growing very well and very fast, I am having to trim some of the larger leaves off to make sure it does not choke out the rest of the tank lol. the hygro sunset was suffering a bit as well, but has since bounced back. Really the only plant that has yet to normalize its growth is the ludwigia cuba. It just does not want to grow. I have what is left spread around the tank hoping that one of the stems will show me where it wants to grow. I have added some more crypts thanks to a petsmart putting the older stock of the gell plants on sale for the next shipmet. So I got two packs at around 1.50 each lol. They are now planted front and center and starting to throw out leaves as quick as crypts do. 

Sad note though, I lost my male herbertaxelrodi, he has been with me through a couple tanks for 3-4 years. He injured his nose about a month ago, and I had not caught on until it was red, and swollen enough to where he could not close his mouth easily. I quickly moved him into the Q tank and started treating it. I thought I was getting the upper hand, and finished the treatment. He looked as if he was going to bounce back fairly quickly, but alas the infection began to get worse again. I tried to fight it with some stronger meds, but he started to get thin from not being able to eat easily, and I made the decision to put him down last night. I used clove oil in a dark bucket and he passed with no stress at all. He was probably the most colorful bow I have had, and was the dominant male. I am going to start looking at the LFS and see who can get me a couple males, and a couple females and see if I can get some that are good quality hopefully to get that bright yellow back in the tank. I might start trying to breed the pygmeya here soon, it would be nice to get a few more of them in the tank too. I have quite a bit of filtration on the tank so the slight over stock is not too concerning to me. 

No pictures this time, but I did make a corny video lol. Next time I am going to switch off the back lights on the tank, hopefully it will help me get a less oversaturated video, and the front light only really pulls out the colors in the nigrans, which is VERY hard to catch on video. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cm7UqkD-nU8


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## Curt_914 (Oct 6, 2007)

Noah, what kind of crypts? Do you have any intresting?


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Curt_914 said:


> Noah, what kind of crypts? Do you have any intresting?


I know I have green gecko, undulate, and tropica sunset. and Parva, nothing too out of the ordinary.


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## Curt_914 (Oct 6, 2007)

Do you have any of the tropica sunset you can part with?


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Curt_914 said:


> Do you have any of the tropica sunset you can part with?


Not at the moment, they are all still in transition from emersed to submerged. I got them out of one of the gel packs from petsmart for .50 lol. some were in pretty bad shape, but the majority were fine.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Quick update before bed. 

I will take some pictures tomorrow and post tem later on. 

Tank is doing ok, I lost all of my stems of ludwigia 'cuba' which is the first time my larger tank has not had at least one stem of it in there. Not sure why it did not like the tank, none of the other plants are different, water parameters are the same, everything is the same as it was with the last scape. The area it was in is now housing a small flame sword (until it starts to grow right, its the only other plant that is struggling) And a mass of what was labeled as "sunset crypt" from the gel packs at petsmart I got for .50 cents lol They look more like _Cryptocoryne_ x _willisii_ 'lucens' to me, which is NOT a problem at all lol, they are filling in nicely. My stellatus has now regained its growth and no plants are dropping lower leaves anymore which makes me VERY happy. I did put some bacopa Carolina in the spot where the cuba had been moved to before loosing it all. If I can find another stem plant that has a bit of differentiation from the other plants in the tank I will slowly start repacing the hygro sunset I have and minimize that to just a stem or so to keep in a corner. I got ahold of some _Blyxa japonica _and added that to the rear left of the tank, so far no great growth out of it, but I am guessing once it is settled it will pick up its pace. 

I am still fighting green dust algae, I did have a problem with it in my 36g at one point so I know I just need to keep the tank clean, and it will eventually wear down. 

The fraz stoffels sword is amazing. I think this one is one I will keep for years, and put in the next size tank I am working on some planning on (75g) which is still at least a year or so down the road. 

on the Fish side of things. I think I posted last time that I lost my 5 year old Herbertaxelrodi male to a nasty nose infection. He started to bounce back in the Q tank, and then nose dived into death  I have 4 new ones 2 male and 2 female from my LFS. hopefully they will be in next week, I will wait a week then go pick them up. They will spend at least a month in the Q-tank, and hopefully during the last week I will pop a breeding mop in and see if I can get some eggs. 

Everyone else is still doing fine and are happy. I find eggs all over the plants during trimming time. Each specie has an area of the tank they go and breed lol. 

That's it for now, just have to get some pictures to show.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Alrighty, now is better than never lol. did my weekly water change yesterday and took some pics today. Tank is doing well. I still have GDA and some brown hair algae problems, but I wil get them sorted out eventually. 

Well.. here are the pics to go along with the last update.


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

Looking great Noah. It would be fun to see the sword in a 75! Hurry up!


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

BruceF said:


> Looking great Noah. It would be fun to see the sword in a 75! Hurry up!


Well, the earliest we are able to list our house and sell for a bigger place is next spring, our current place needs a bunch of work to get the price we want for it. After we do move, then it will be saving my pennies to get a 75 gal up and running. I am wanting to see the sword in a 75g too! as it is now, I have to trim it fairly often since some of the leaves grow out the side and shade my other plants too much. You must be an early bird posting at 6:30 am lol


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

I am always up early. I have a large sword in my own 40 and it needs more room really. Sends off lots of new plants and I really don't know what to do with them. I've been selling them at the monthly meeting auctions.


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## jmf3460 (Aug 21, 2013)

Noah,
This is a great looking tank. I love your stocking options, the blues really stick out against the plants. Everything looks very healthy and happy. I am always a fan of non "overscaped" tanks. yours looks natural and beautiful! good job


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

jmf3460 said:


> Noah,
> This is a great looking tank. I love your stocking options, the blues really stick out against the plants. Everything looks very healthy and happy. I am always a fan of non "overscaped" tanks. yours looks natural and beautiful! good job


 Thanks. I generally let the plants do what they are going to do, and do some minor shape control with each trim. The fish seem to like it that way lol.




BruceF said:


> I am always up early. I have a large sword in my own 40 and it needs more room really. Sends off lots of new plants and I really don't know what to do with them. I've been selling them at the monthly meeting auctions.


That's funny! I have not had any babies come out of the franz stoffels, but it tries to flower at least once per month.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

quick update. The tank is still running lol. Growth has been strained. I just cannot shake this dang algae. My co2 is up as high as the fish can tolerate. I am dosing EI pretty heavy (more than the normal dosage for a tank this size) And I have raised the lights up higher to see if I can stop it. So far no go. I am not sure which type it is either. The glass algae is def. green dust algae. The stuff growing on the plants is thick and slimy. I thought it could quite possibly be BGA, but it is GREEN, not blue green. which is confusing me. I plan on treating for it anyways just to see. I have several plants that are just not growing the way I want. Some stunting, some lower leave melting. So.... I am now not sure if it is co2, or light on some of the plants. My stellatus is doing Very well, my h.sunset is doing very well. The two swords are doing great, and the crypts are doing great. My staurgyn (sp.), lindrina var. bacopa, rotala rotundifolia green are doing poorly. Flow is good in the tank so I am at a loss at this point. I removed a bunch of dead plant matter, rearranged the plants a bit and we will see if things get back to a normal state. 

Fish, all doing great. They are happy and healthy. I regularly see males and females laying eggs around the tank. With bows, the risk of hybridization is high So I never collect eggs directly from the tank, I pull a male and female to a breeding tank for more fish. The eggs of course do not survive in the main tank, they become omelets lol. 

I did manage to get a few eggs from my m.pygmeaya, so I have a couple of fry growing in the breeding tank, and will move them to my flora probably in the next few weeks as they get large enough to be with my green neon tetras without being consumed. Hopefully there will be a couple of m.herbertaxelrodi mops coming at some point too, I would really like to have that species back in the tank. if not I will start stalking my LFS to see when they get some in. 

I expect to be offering some fry of the herbertaxelrodi at some point if I do get mops to Colorado people. 

I got a couple pictures to share. For some reason my cell camera, which is one of the top on the market does not do well with my tanks. It can take some incredible pictures both low light and normal outdoor light, but it has problems with the artificial lights above the tank so I have not gotten any I felt were good enough except these two lol. 

So enjoy. These were taken after my water change, the stellatus was hacked back to grow from mid height. so everything is really short.


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## Neaha (Oct 4, 2014)

I just went through your journal and wow do I love you're rainbow garden!!! The past and the rescape. Gorgeous.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Neaha said:


> I just went through your journal and wow do I love you're rainbow garden!!! The past and the rescape. Gorgeous.


Thanks! Its been a very fun tank. I potentially have some mops of m.herbertaxelrodi coming soon. And a couple of pygmaeya fry cookin in y rearing tank to join the rest soon. I have also been debating on getting a couple peacock gudgeons and another small species for the bottom of the tank. Still in thought though. 

These fish truly are addicting lol. I need a bigger tank so I can get some of the larger species. I REALLY want a group of m.parkinsoni, but I really need more water!


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Quick update, no pictures yet. 

Herberaxelrodi are returning to the tank lol. I was lucky enough to be given a spawn mop from his herbies last week. They are starting to hatch!!! So as soon as they are large enough 2 males and 2 females are going to be in the tank again!! I have been missing this fish for a while. 

The tank is doing really well now. I have gotten the BGA under control, the GDA is getting there, and all other algae is going away. The plants are growing better than they have in a long time as well.


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## BHolmes (Aug 23, 2012)

> Fish, all doing great. They are happy and healthy. I regularly see males and females laying eggs around the tank. With bows, the risk of hybridization is high So I never collect eggs directly from the tank, I pull a male and female to a breeding tank for more fish. The eggs of course do not survive in the main tank, they become omelets lol.





> The tank is doing really well now. I have gotten the BGA under control, the GDA is getting there, and all other algae is going away. The plants are growing better than they have in a long time as well.


Bows lay eggs like it's going out of style! That's really cool though that you're having a lot of success with breading. How long do you stick the male and female in QT to lay eggs? Do you do water changes to get them to spawn faster?
It's really good to hear that everything bounced back after that algae attack. Those will forever be a PITA!


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

BHolmes said:


> Bows lay eggs like it's going out of style! That's really cool though that you're having a lot of success with breading. How long do you stick the male and female in QT to lay eggs? Do you do water changes to get them to spawn faster?
> It's really good to hear that everything bounced back after that algae attack. Those will forever be a PITA!


I usually do a few days, or until I see eggs in the mop. I usually just plop them in, let them be for a few days. I know with better quality foods I could probably get a bigger egg yield, but so far nothing more than the usual flake and frozen foods. 

I have seen behaviors change in my main tank after water changes, more frisky lol. I would suspect that they would do better in terms of getting some eggs right after a water change. 

Right now I have two fry from my pygmeya (about two months old) and a mop of herbertaxelrodi that should start seeing some decent hatches in the next few days. I see a few eggs with eyes, and at least one other has hatched. They are in a breeding basket at the moment so the older pygmayea do not eat them. I will move the other two fry probably this weekend to my flora so the eggs have a larger space to hatch in.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Quick update. lighting is going to be changing. I am going to order a BML led fixture. They are recommending the dutch fixture to bring out the plants colors etc. I think I will go that route. I am also going to add the lighting control to it as well, so the light will ramp up over a half an hour or hour to full light and then ramp back down when they are due to be off. We will see how that goes, I am excited though. Fish are doing great. I lost one of the pygmayea fry to a bent spine (birth defect) and the other in my flora after transferring it. It got a little too close to a power head and apparently got sucked in. I added some screen over the inlet, but It managed to find a way around that. 

I will try again in the spring after we move. There will be plans for a 75g at some point as well, but that may be a ways off. 

Anywho, here is a quick picture of the tank as it is now. once I get the light in, there will be some shifting around of plants, maybe a new species or two and maybe some of these ones will find new homes in another tank.


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## rballi (Mar 4, 2010)

Looking good! I am loving my BML fixture, you get what you pay for.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

rballi said:


> Looking good! I am loving my BML fixture, you get what you pay for.


I've been holding out on getting one for a while, but a nice Christmas bonus removed all excuses lol.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Quick update. I went to order my Buildmyled fixture tonight and noticed a new product!!! It will do exactly what I want it to do, actually create sunrises and sunsets with a controller. They released the Dutch version of the fixture in a multi-channel control!!!!

I have a quick question out to Cara before I order the fixture, controller etc. to get this puppy on my tank!


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Ok, fixture due to be delivered to my office on Monday!!!

Will post some pics and possibly a video when I get everything programed.


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

jealous


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

BruceF said:


> jealous


I usually go with as inexpensive lighting as I can, but I decided to splurge a bit. I cant wait!


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

light installed and programed. It starts the light cycle at 3:00pm and ramps up over an hour to full light going through each channel (1 - white, 2- red, 3- blue and greens) with a 30 min. separation. It then runs at full until 10:00 pm and then ramps back down from channel 1-3 giving channel 3 a few extra hours at 10% light until it fades to 0% at 2am. I think I may have to cut it back to 5% for the moon light, its still a little on the bright side lol. this thing is fantastic. It looks like less light, but I think I was over-lighting the tank with the T-5's. We will see over a couple weeks. The plants started pearling pretty good about an hour after having the light on at full, so I think the may be happy. I will get some pictures up after I get rid of the BGA that started growing last week.


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## rballi (Mar 4, 2010)

Very cool. Very curious to see how it works


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

rballi said:


> Very cool. Very curious to see how it works


I am very happy with the fixture so far. It is taking some getting used to the light, all the plants are lit, but because of the 90* optics, the tank in the top forward, and backward corner are darker. I know I could solve this by raising the lights, but I think I like the look of them being on top the tank. And the dark back makes the plants pop more. 

Here are a couple of pics, they are hosted on my onedrive account, but viewable. 

Ignore the BGA on the plants, that will be sucked off this weekend with the water change and the tank cleaned from top to bottom. 

I did have to turn down the brightness level on my phone because the lights were over exposing the plants near the top of the aquarium, the tank is a little brighter than they appear in the pictures. The last few pictures were taken with no change in brightness.

The tank also needs a heavy hand with the trim hammer lol its overgrown immensely

http://1drv.ms/16UR4TL
http://1drv.ms/16UQSnF
http://1drv.ms/1zNhuSY
http://1drv.ms/1zNIf9O


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

As promised here are pics of a cleaned up tank. I trimmed and replanted the stellatus, scooped out most of the h.japan, and replanted a few strands to get a much lower bush going this time around, trimed the other plants and cleaned up as much algae as I could. I am going to stop and grab some antibiotics to take care of the rest of the dang bga tomorrow. The light took some getting used to, the 90* optics leave the top of the tank pretty dark, at the 85% height mark but the plants are all getting a good amount of light below that. There is a very slight "disco effect" that is happening on the far right as my franz stoffels Is blocking all but a green and red LED, so occationally a fish will swim through it and look a bit odd. That should be alleviated when that leave gets old and I have to trim it off lol.

The fish seem to like the sunrise, and sunset feature of the light. The lights come on at 2:00 pm with the whites and reds come on first from 2-3 ramping from 0 to 100%. The ramp up is very smooth, so it looks like a sunrise. The greens and blues start at 2:45 and are full by 3:00. 

At 10:30pm the greens and blues drop to 5% over the 30 min. and the reds and whites come down after that leaving a very nice orange / red "sunset" by 11:00 pm the lights are all off with the exception of the green / blue channel which stays at 5% until 2am which then goes off. 

It works very well, and is very pleasing to watch. Hopefully as I get more used to programing with the solunar I can set up a program to throw on occasionally that will have lightning. could be nice to have maybe a water drip thing above the water that can "trigger" during the storm to provide a nice realistic storm lol. That's thinking ahead. Maybe I will have to setup a hood to do that in our next house. 

I am also going to play with the cloud cover function as well, it looks like it could be nice to have every once in a while too. 

No new fish additions, no losses (thank god) I will hopefully be getting some m.herberaxelrodi after our move in a few months. We will be listing our house to sell in the next month or so for somewhere bigger . The planning for the 75g will start after that lol.


Here is a bit of eye candy lol. The photos are as is with no modification. I did turn down the exposure a little on the camera to avoid the over saturation of light on the plant tops from the light though. 

Full tank


stellatus 


Right side


Left Side


bosemani


nigrans


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

This is looking great Noah! I've got some of the so called monte carlo growing now. It would look great up in the front. I'm thinking I might need some stellatus. Great color on the persicaria. Really like what you are doing here.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

BruceF said:


> This is looking great Noah! I've got some of the so called monte carlo growing now. It would look great up in the front. I'm thinking I might need some stellatus. Great color on the persicaria. Really like what you are doing here.


Thanks! 

Is it the Micranthemum ‘Monte Carlo’? That might be fun to try. As soon as I get things settled and growing well in the tank with the new light I would be more than happy to trade you a few trimmings of the stellatus. I have noticed good growth starting up. This week alone I think the stellatus put on at least 2" in height for the taller stems. The hygro sunset is turning a nice red color now (I don't think I can use it as a good nitrate indicator anymore lol) there is pearling, not mad pearling but noticeable. The fish are really liking the new lighting cycle. They are not scared to half death when the lights suddenly come on, or go off anymore and I am finding more and more eggs around the tank lol. Over the next two weeks I should have a good idea of how things are going. So far no stunting so I think the co2 is correct to the lighting as well. 

The persicaria is an amazing plant. It used to be more green near the bottom and would only get that very bright pink at the top when it was at the 3/4 height. the lower stems are now getting that bright pink even at 1/4 from substrate! I think my light levels are lower than what they were with my last light setup, but the right wave lengths and quality of light has done some pretty amazing things. 

Right now as I type this the lights are dimming and are about 50% light lol this thing is soo cool! Well worth the money.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Quick update, no pictures at the moment. 

The light is producing good par numbers. The stellatus is a very stunning red at the crowns. Its nice. They put on a good amount of growth during the week, and when checking the lower stems while doing my water change, they still held on to their leaves. 

The Rotala green is well.. snaking across the substrate. I will probably have to move it into the shadows to keep it growing up instead of out.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

one last update. I spent some time tonight video taping the sunset. Its not the best quality. In order to be able to save the file I had to reduce the quality on my phone lol. Even after that the file came in at 3 gigs

Here ya go. The first part is rather underwhelming, but it is dimming which is not as apparent in the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haaOa_uijcw&feature=youtu.be


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Quick update. lol

No update, the tank is still as it was. I am fighting a bad case of BGA, it just will not go away. I have been dumping in a ton of KN03 into the tank, I have done treatments of ethromiacyn and nothing, it goes away for a few weeks and then comes back with a vengeance. I just don't know. The plants are still baffling to me, the stellatus is growing great, the sunset is going good the swords are growing like nothing else. But my substrate plants seem to be stunting, and randomly a stellatus stem will stunt. I just don't get it. The co2 is up as far as it can go with the bows, and very yellow under a drop checker. Its diffused through an inline diffuser so there is definatly enough co2 getting in there. just at a loss.

Our house is now on the market. So the tank is in maintenance mode. just enough to keep it looking nice. Once I move into our new place (still searching for) the tank will get a new scape using the same wood, and some new plants. I cant wait. The plans for a 75 gal. tank goes underway once I am settled in the new house. That will take some time to pull together. I hopefully will set that up as a whole new tank, not just an upgrade. The cost will be pretty high.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Quick update. House is sold!!!! We have to close on it before we can find a new home. 85-95% of homes are not accepting offers if there is a contingency on the offer, in our case is the successful close on the house. We put an offer on a house a couple week ago, and had the highest offer, but since we had the contingency they went with a lower money offer with no contingency. 

If we don't have a home within 6 weeks of closing (we added a lease back in the sale) I will have to move my aquariums to my office, and rent a month to month apartment until we find something. I really, really do not want to do that. 

I took a few pics of the light as it was in its sunset mode. The light is about 65% and on its way down. In person the pictures are much more red, but these are pretty good. 

They are links to my cloud storage, I did not have time to transfer them to photo bucket.

Franz Stoffels, underwent a good trimming to pull off all the old leaves
http://1drv.ms/1dn7Crf

Tank left side (the stellatus grows like CRAZY!!!)
http://1drv.ms/1dn7Mio

FTS
http://1drv.ms/1Eh0pBS

I may have finally beaten the BGA outbreak. things are looking much better. Lights are full at 95% now, they ram up starting with the white lights, then 15 min. later it starts in on the red, and finally at 30 min. the greens and blues come on. Once I am moved, I will play around with different options and see about adding an occasional cloud cover, and A lightning storm for fun on the weekends.


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## Curt_914 (Oct 6, 2007)

Looks very nice noah  congrats on selling your house. Are you staying in the area?


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Curt_914 said:


> Looks very nice noah  congrats on selling your house. Are you staying in the area?


Thanks, Yea, we are staying in the area. We are actually moving closer to where you are / were. we will be off 120th ave. in the Concord sub-division. We just put a contract on a home there. I should be able to start working up to a 75g hopefully by the end of the year, or beginning of next year. It will be a bow tank as well, but much larger bows, and a different direction than what my 40b is now. Hopefully some other native species to the bow native areas. 

Empire gudgeon is going to be one of them. Instead of moving all of my fish from the 40b to the larger tank I will keep the 40b up and running and let them live out their lives before moving. My bows currently are a Hodge podge of different species. The new tank will have all species I have not had before, and in a planned manner. 

More on this later.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

T-minus 5-days and counting until the tank comes down and moved to the new house. I picked up a load of very nice wood from a local member. It looks Great! So the move is going to bring about a whole new scape as well as a slight redirection for the tank. It will nto be as packed full of plants this tie around, but have nice little bushes of plants around the tank between the wood. All of my favorite plants will still be in the tank, just in a more organized manner.


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## Sarraa (May 17, 2015)

I just say here and read through all 22 pages lol. Super excited to see what you do with the rescape! Your tanks always turn out amazing in the end!!

Following


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Thanks!! Its going to be a fun move.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

All moved, setup and growing. The Darn BGA came with even though I washed the plants and dipped them really well. I just cannot get rid of the stuff. I am dosing an ungodly amount of nitrates into the tank which is not helping at all. I can knock it out with antibiotics but it comes back a few weeks later. I just don't know. 

Everything is growing great, all the fish are healthy and happy. Its just that one problem. 

I will get some pics maybe Saturday after fireworks. Friday is the water change day on this tank. 

I will probably revive my flora thread as well. That tank is being converted fully to a black water tank for my Green Neons. I have wood soaking as we speak.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

I figured I would stop in and update my tank status lol. 

The tank is going good. I still cannot knock out this damn BGA!!! I am trying just about everything I can think of short of thermonuclear detonations. I also have a healthy population of BBA going as you will see in the pictures. That stuff I am not all to worried about, its pretty easy to get rid of and at this point its only growing on the driftwood. I will probably take care of that with this next water change. the BGA is the main problem. No full tank shots from direct front, just could not get a good one. I have three, one of my male m.pygmaeya, one of my male bosemani, and a quarter tank shot. More to come as I battle and hopefully win against the algae (and add more fish)


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

Looks great Noah. Nice to see you have finished your moving.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

BruceF said:


> Looks great Noah. Nice to see you have finished your moving.


Thanks! yep moved in, the tank has a very prominent place in my family room. I have some work to do on a built-in book shelf to get the flora set up there. Then I start working on saving and getting the equipment to do a 75 gal. 

I am going to grab a couple more bosemani for the tank, just one more male and female, my current male is getting pretty territorial and keeps chasing all but his girl into the plants except during feeding and lights on. Hopefully adding another male and female will keep him pre-occupied so the other fish can come out and play. I also want to add a couple herbertaxelrodi to the tank again. we will see, This fall / winter I plan to get back into the swing with the tanks more . I have been preoccupied with my bike riding this summer to have a bunch of free time upgrading and doing much with the tank. 

More pics when I get some good ones lol


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

I am reading about BGA this morning. 
http://www.aquariumslife.com/algae-control/blue-green-algae/


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## Shimagoma (May 15, 2012)

as always love this thread

also grats on the sale and move 

Inspired me to get to work on my own 65 rainbow tank




as far as BGA i dont even bother any more, if there is an outbreak and blackouts dont get it, straight to the erythromycin! you dont even need a lot.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

BruceF said:


> I am reading about BGA this morning.
> http://www.aquariumslife.com/algae-control/blue-green-algae/


 Its a spawn of the devil lol. I think I have it under control now. I lowered the light intensity, and lowered my fertz, and it seems to be slowly dying back.



Shimagoma said:


> as always love this thread
> 
> also grats on the sale and move
> 
> ...


Bows are VERY fun, especially if you can get some pure genetic versions of them. they rival some salt water fish. 

This stuff did not respond to the double dose of erythro I tried several times. It would go away for a couple weeks, but come back with a vengeance.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Finally got the BGA under control, the BBA is being eradicated and everything is going pretty well in the tank. Which is just about time as the tank is slowly coming to an end lol. 

I was approved by my better half last week that I can get everything I need to upgrade to a 75g all based on a good Christmas bonus from the office though. 

As I am wanting to start from scratch, with a very specific stocking list, a very specific plant list etc. The inhabitants of my current 40b will stay as they are and live out their lives in comfort and luxury lol. 

Once all of the equipment is gathered for the 75g. I will start making plans to move it down to my basement. The 75g will take the 40b in my family room. 

I will start a journal here soon as I did when the 36g bow front came down etc. lol

This tank has been very fun, but there is a TON of bow species I really really want to keep, and the 40b is just not big enough lol. I will post a link here in the thread when I get the new journal up and running. 

The plans are now to have a south east hemisphere themed tank. the plants are going to be whatever I want lol but the fish will consist mainly of bows, but with a few other species in to round out the tank. 

I really want a pair of empire gudgeons, some sort of bottom crawler lol and larger bows. I have been really wanting to keep parkinsonii, and a few of the large species so they will be some of the first to get introduced. 

The other limits I am setting for myself is that ALL species of bow will be sourced, and come from known collection spots, and known collectors, or at least trace back to them. I want this tank to beat the bat snot out of my salty friends tanks, while still maintaining the fresh water ease. 

So... the 75g is going to be quite a project. 

I have been pretty quietly lately on the forums. I picked up another summer hobby (cycling) to keep myself healthy, and the tanks went a little on the back burner, basically maintenance only. As the temps are falling and the evenings are darker I have to hang up my cycling shoes and put more attention into my indoor hobbies IE my Aquariums and my previous hobby (now that I have space) 1/16 scale military models. The aquariums are going to get the brunt of my attention as it takes a VERY long time to get a model together, and painted etc. 

I can't wait!!! I know I had discussed a 75g with Bruce on several occasions and now it is going to happen. 

I will get some pics as I can, the tank is still very nice to look at, but things are winding down on it so I can put my attention to getting a 75g up and running.


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

That's great Noah will look forward to seeing it thrive! 

But what about the bga? What did you do to get it under control?


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

The new journal Is up and running, the link is in my signature. Not much there yet. but as we get closer to December I will start to have things shaping up. 

I bothered the hell out of the BGA lol. I lowered my light intensity from 95% down to 85%, the plants responded very well to that and the BGA slowed its growth dramatically. I then did a course of ethro. and knocked it back further. I decided to start treating the BBA as well as the BGA at the same time and was painting H2o2 on all of the BBA areas and any BGA areas that popped up. So far its working, I occasionally see some flare up in a spot, but its quickly treated on water change day. I am pretty sure the h2o2 in the tank post water change is also helping since it is essentially highly oxygenating the water which BGA HATES. 



BruceF said:


> That's great Noah will look forward to seeing it thrive!
> 
> But what about the bga? What did you do to get it under control?


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## Curt_914 (Oct 6, 2007)

Looking good noah 

I cant wait to see/ help with the 75. Trying to re start my 20 h to see if I can get remotivated. I am currently stuck on buying a new light. I want to go to LED, as I have to replace all my t-5 bulbs anyways. So i am looking at $80 just for tubes. 

I have seen the Finnex planted + 24/7 and am intreagued for the price and the amount of stuff it does. However I have seen alot of great reviews and some rather rocky reviews too. Then the next jump would be the Current Sat + Pro. Simmalar features to the finnex $100 more but better reviews and I am already a Current USA user anyways. Then of course for $100 more I could get a build my LED.... well that just seems a bit much for a 20 gallon tank 

So I am stuck. Do I take a chance on the Finnex and hope it works out, or do I just get the Current...

Anyways I digress. Cant wait to see what you do with the tanks  Also wouldent mind seeing some of your styrene too


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Curt_914 said:


> Looking good noah
> 
> I cant wait to see/ help with the 75. Trying to re start my 20 h to see if I can get remotivated. I am currently stuck on buying a new light. I want to go to LED, as I have to replace all my t-5 bulbs anyways. So i am looking at $80 just for tubes.
> 
> ...






If you do go bml, get the dimmer lol. I have the controller with mine and at mid day its set to 77% power and grows everything


I'll post more pictures soon, I got some good ones this weekend


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## rballi (Mar 4, 2010)

They also have a much better warrantee and is Certified waterproof... So it might not be such a bad idea when you think about possibly buying a bum unit that craps out in 2 years....


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