# small office aquarium ...with plants (update Mar25/09)



## Hungry Wendigo (Oct 3, 2008)

Your background is awesome, I haven't seen anything like that before! How long did it take to make?

I just got six odessa barbs in my aquarium, they seem to be somewhat of a rarety on the boards. How many do you have?


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## Tex Gal (Mar 28, 2008)

SO sorry to hear about your gassing fish issue. I also love your background. You did a great job!


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## ka NUK (Nov 29, 2008)

Thanks Mr. Wendigo & Tex!

The background took me about a week, including drying time for the glue and various layers of concrete and paints. I coated the outside with marine epoxy so curing time was vastly reduced. I still soaked the entire thing in a large tub for a few days to prevent large pH fluctuations brought on by the concrete. I've built a few of these. My next one will be for the Malawi tank at home.

I've got 6 Odessas also ...looks like 3 males and 3 females. I might see about trading a male for a female. They are pretty rare around here as well. Judging by the coloration mine are trying to increase the population 

ka NUK


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## Hungry Wendigo (Oct 3, 2008)

I'm actually having trouble distinguishing between the two. I originally brought home three, of which I thought one was female because it appeared slightly paler. A few days ago I brought home three more, and two have almost no red at all. I'm not sure if the first is just a pale male, or if the two that are almost colorless are going to brighten up.


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## ka NUK (Nov 29, 2008)

Absolutely! The Odessa barbs seem to color up almost at will. They remind me a bit of my chameleon-like african cichlids. In the above posted video I'd only had them in the tank a little over a week, and pH wasn't totally stable yet. The males are a lot darker now with bright red sides. Except for the one taking most of the abuse by the other two. He looks almost like the females.
I'll post an updated video tomorrow ...the difference in plant growth and fish colour may be startling 

ka NUK


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## Down_Shift (Sep 20, 2008)

Wow!! DIY background??? Any more info?!


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## ka NUK (Nov 29, 2008)

Yes, DIY background. I've done quite a bit of model railroad building, using a foam base:









It's a pretty similar process to make a backdrop. Here is one presently under construction for my Cichlid tank:









So far just some layers of extruded foam, glued with silicone and carved.

Here are some more recent pictures of the office tank. (You can see some BGA on the substrate on the left side, as well as parts of the backdrop.)




























apologies, "Still Mode" on the video camera isn't that great :-(

Video is still uploading.

ka NUK


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

You know you could sell these, right? :thumbsup: 

They look great!


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## FastTimes (Oct 16, 2008)

nice background, I could see this tank being for shell dwellers. Sorry it didn't work out that way, it looks cool planted also.


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## ka NUK (Nov 29, 2008)

Thanks for the kind words :redface:

I'm not sure I have the time to make them for cash or barter ...at least not during the school year (...while trying to stay married!). But if the completion date is negotiable I'd be up for doing a custom backdrop or two. Not sure how shipping would work, as they are not all that UPS/FedEx resistant unless well packed. 

Fast: I still have a shell-dweller tank on my long term to-do list. ...or even better, a Lake Victoria community tank with occelatus _AND_ plants. :confused1:

In the meantime vimeo has (almost) finished converting the video from last week:
http://vimeo.com/2398387

Cheers
ka NUK


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## ka NUK (Nov 29, 2008)

I'm getting really frustrated by the lack of decent photo equipment. Santa has my order for a digital SLR and a slave flash :smile:

Here is a picture of the tank about a month ago ...just after the background was installed. (Scroll up to see the fate of the fish :icon_cry
I made the light fixture with T5 ballasts (2), but still need to find a good flexible reflector material.









Here are a few recent ones:


















Used too slow a shutter speed to compensate for lack of an external flash. The reflection? Don't really have an excuse for that :icon_redf

This is the (scratched!!) tank for which I'm building the background shown above. The background in the tank is one of the first backgrounds I ever built (long gone!)








I built the stand a few years ago. The base is mainly fir, canopy is cedar strip with 2 T5 fixtures.
Carving for the door:








Filtration: DIY overflow box and sump:

















Some past residents:

















the previous two shots were taken with "decent" equipment ...before it was stolen :icon_evil










Thanks for looking:fish:
ka NUK


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## erinrobinjade (Nov 20, 2008)

I think the pictures you've taken are very good... I like your tank! Very nice keep up the good work.


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## ka NUK (Nov 29, 2008)

Thanks! 


















so that's why _they_ say "Don't take photos right after a water change" :redface:

Q: I've done some reading about battling BGA ...is lights out the best way? How long? Do the plants care? The left side of the tank has a bit of an infestation.

ka NUK


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## ka NUK (Nov 29, 2008)

Looks like I'm winning the BGA battle, for now. Physically removed a whole bunch, then did a large water change. An increase in CO2 and fertilizer seems to be keeping it in check.

Also found my somewhat better camera and external flash. Should be able to get some better pictures of the tank shortly. Here are a couple of "practice shots" from the African cichlid tank I have at home:

















(nice scratches, huh? :icon_redf)










Cheers
ka NUK


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## Hungry Wendigo (Oct 3, 2008)

I traded one of my male odessas, 3:3 ratio now. I'm still surprised how few I've seen mentioned on these boards.

The carving for your stand door is sweet ^_^.


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## ka NUK (Nov 29, 2008)

Thanks :smile:

I'm not sure, but I think I'm looking at 4 males and two females. One is definitely dominant, but so far no damage has occurred. The Odessa's are also helping me trim the Cobomba (thanks!).

Got some better pictures tonight:




































don't mind the CO2 mist, or the scratches :icon_redf

ka NUK

PS - slave flash was washing out the colour a bit: Here is an Odessa barb without the flash. (Blurred, but colourful)


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## solution7 (Oct 29, 2008)

I love the backrounds you could make those custom and sell them... I am guessing people would buy that stuff!!!


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## Hungry Wendigo (Oct 3, 2008)

From what I can tell, there are huge differences in color between the sexes. Their body and dorsal fin colors are complete differnent; males red and yellow respectively, and females beige and pink. Their eye colors are also different, matching their body colors. However, my supposed females are all younger than my males, and it's possible that these characteristics will change with growth. Either way they're delightful fish.


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## ka NUK (Nov 29, 2008)

and because it's a planted tank, here's some greenery. In the theme of "Where is Waldo(TM)": "Where is the Barb?"










solution7: Thanks, you are the second one to recommend a "career change", lol. 

Wendigo: Mine are juvies as well. I'm going to wait a few months before making any decisions. I've read about the strong dimorphism as well, but that hasn't really become obvious yet.

Thanks for the comments,
ka NUK


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## ka NUK (Nov 29, 2008)

Managed to get a picture of males and females at about 60% "colored up"










The males do get a lot darker than this, but the females (on the right) don't change much from the shown scheme. My barbs seem to all have red eyes ...perhaps a little brighter red on the males?

Cheers,
ka NUK


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## Hungry Wendigo (Oct 3, 2008)

Great picture of them. I'd be interested to see the eye and fin colors of my smaller odessas changes as they mature.


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## starrystarstarr (Sep 6, 2006)

great looking tank and <3 that background


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## ka NUK (Nov 29, 2008)

*bah-bye BBA!*

thanks Star :smile:

Update: That Barr dude is one smart fellow. Who knew that if you upped the fertilizers the algae goes away? (apparently not I) Like many I was indoctrinated with the "algae is caused by excess nutrients". I removed as much of the blue green scum as I could, cranked the CO2 to about 20 ppm and upped the fertilizers (Flourish for now). It hasn't come back, even in the substrate up against the glass. As a side effect all the plants are doing really well. My vals changed colour completely. When purchased, about 6 weeks ago, they were a light green. Now the new leaves and plants are almost copper in colour. 

I had tried a variety of home made "reactors" to try and dissolve as much of the CO2 as possible. I found the most effective way was to attach the silicone tubing to the air inlet on the XP1 outlet venturi fitting. (Tried the inlet, but it was causing too much noise and cavitation) With the flow turned down to 3/4 I can hear bubbles inside the 6" tube I connected to the donwstream side of venturi fitting ...but almost no bubles are visible in the aquarium. Meaning: An excellent rate of absorption :thumbsup:

Because I can adjust the flow rate I can also adjust the amount of CO2 absorbed. This is a great way to compensate for the fluctuating output of the DIY yeast solution.

Sorry, left camera at home ...I'll try to take pictures tomorrow.

ka NUK:fish:


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## ka NUK (Nov 29, 2008)

*Re-taking photography 101*

I'm pretty happy with some of these shots. The equipment: 
An old Fuji S3000 3.2 Megapixel (!!) point-and-shoot camera and an external flash.

My one lonely snail. The LFS dropped it into my purchase of 4 otos for free. Note the old leaves on the grass still have some dead BGA on it :icon_redf









Here's the view from my desk:









I got some better ones of the Odessa Barbs as well (Yes, the swords need some old leaves trimmed and probably some root tabs)









The barbs and neons will often school together. Note the dimorphism between female (top) and male (bottom).


















Finally an overall view. You can see the CO2 hose going to the venturi, and the terrestrial moss growing on the top edge of the background.









I'm going to work on the cichlid tank background this weekend and take some pictures as it progresses (the same one shown in pink foam above)

Thanks for looking! 

ka NUK

PS - Yes, I now realize that this tank needs a de-trimming in a really bad way :icon_redf


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## ka NUK (Nov 29, 2008)

*my inspiration!*

saw this shot here










And then I realized it's the look I was after with this tank. Muddy bank? Check! Exposed roots? Check! Floating hyacinth? Check! (One less turtle and a few more plants though)

ka NUK

PS - and missing the BIG fish in this picture too :eek5:


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## ka NUK (Nov 29, 2008)

Oto was still long enough for a no-flash portrait:









ka NUK


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## ka NUK (Nov 29, 2008)

Things have grown a bit. I got rid of the larger of the two amazons, and take out about 1/4 of the vals every month. 










Algae has not been a huge problem since I pulled all the micro sword. The moss I started among the roots on the background is starting to take off. 

The last batch of 2 x 4L diy CO2 produced at least 20bpm for over two months :eek5: (with a weekly sugar top-off). I used grape jelly as a starter and wine yeast. No, I have no desire to taste it.

ka NUK


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