# Talontsiawd's 29 gallon Newbie tank :) Update 2/26/2010...Slowly bouncing back



## Bk828 (Mar 11, 2008)

not bad for a start..
Get rid of the Green Hedge plant that in the center.. its non aquatic


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## Aquarist_Fist (Jul 22, 2008)

Great start! One thing though: it seems like you planted the plants in a way they look good _now_. Be aware that those things tend to grow, which means that very soon there will be a huge mess in the far right corner and with all those (what looks like) Cabomba caroliniana stems you planted in the foreground. 

C. caroliniana can grow inches a day (!!) given the right circumstances. When it reaches the surface, it breaks to propagate; most annoying plant ever....


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

Bk828-thanks for the info. Good to know.

Aquarist_Fist-As for the Cabomba caroliniana (thanks for letting me know what it is-i'm positive it is this by looking through pictures)....I already hate it with a passion lol.

As for taking into account for growth, etc. That's just something i have to learn. There is no way i could read something, follow another tank, etc, and actually KNOW what to do. 

The main reason i even started this thread was to get opinions, learn, etc. I know it isn't the most beautiful tank in the world and i have a long road. 

Thanks everyone.


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## Christine T (May 4, 2008)

talontsiawd said:


> Bk828-thanks for the info. Good to know.
> 
> Aquarist_Fist-As for the Cabomba caroliniana (thanks for letting me know what it is-i'm positive it is this by looking through pictures)....I already hate it with a passion lol.


LOL I also have this plant and i too hate it. (I just started my first planted tank in Sept). Although I took it out and re-planted it in more of a bunch, so at least it "looks" better. Wait until it sends out these ridiculously long roots from random parts of the stem, they look horrible and tangle into everything (the main reason it took them out, so i could snip these off)

Your tank looks good so far. My only suggestion would be to search for low light plants on-line and then pick the ones you like. An easy stem plant for low light that will grow like a weed (b/c it is) and suck up tons of nutrients is Anacharis. I've also found that it stays planted better than the Cabomba.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

Yeah, mine are already growing roots that are pretty long. What's the best way to snip them before getting out of control? I was thinking just buy some nail clippers and sterilize them. I do that a lot with my small, non aquatic plants.

I am really trying to just chill on making changes to the tank right now. Every day i want to mess with something. It is a fish tank, i want to just cycle it and get some more fish (i think neon tetra's are next, not sure). 

I pretty much wish i could start all over already. It's more important to get it establish to me right now though. I'm just going to continue looking at pictures, reading, and whatnot, find what i like and don't like. I will also look at my tank and see what i like about it and decide what i don't like (a lot right now lol). 

I did buy 30lbs of rock today from a local rock supplier. It's "river tumbled flagstone", it seems somewhat common in tanks. $8, not bad. I need to break it up though.

Anyway, enough rambling, thanks everyone for being kind with my first tank that is less than a few weeks old.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

So, even though i said i wasn't going to change anything, i just wasn't liking what i had. I really wanted to deal with this before i got new fish as i don't have any holding tank or anything yet.

I'm not happy with this but i feel it's more "workable" for me to do what i want, make small changes more easily, etc.





I plan on some sort of moss or HC, not the whole bottom but some ground cover soon. I have to wait until i'm happy with the layout obviously.


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

It looks better for sure. I read that you were into bonsai. There are great rocks at bonsai shops that you can use for aquascaping. I would check it out if there were any bonsai shops near you


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## Tex Gal (Mar 28, 2008)

Even if you don't know about the plants growth habits you have a good eye. I really liked the 1st scape's look. Course it would not stay that way.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

Thanks everybody for taking the time.

My tank is cycled so i added 8 neon tetra's and got my co2 diffusor. Having a good day. Plants are showing growth instead of slowly dying before i got my new light.

One question, how important is it to have a drop checker? Obviously it would be nice to know how much is really getting diffused but for what i understand, it's almost impossible to over do it with DIY. So outside of just knowing what you have, can this benefit me much? I may make a DIY one or buy one later, i just am trying to stop spending money right now.


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

Your fish will let you know when there's too much co2. Just watch your tank to see if you need more or less co2


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## Tex Gal (Mar 28, 2008)

I use a drop checker. While I do think you can watch your fish I try to be consistent with the amount of CO2 The color of the drop checker lets me do that. If I try to maintain the same color with my DIY I do better. DIY is difficult enough without guessing how much is getting into the water. In a small tank you can OD with DIY if it's a new batch. I've had to unhook mine at night because of it.


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## MikeP_123 (Aug 31, 2008)

What do you mean exactly when you say "your fish will tell you"?


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## wschalle (Aug 17, 2007)

Well, in extreme cases, they'll start gasping at the surface or showing other signs of stress, then die.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

I have an update, i got some driftwood off my friend for free and got some new plants:



Are these aquatic plants? The green leafy plant doesn't seem like it is doing as well as it should. The purple/green does fine, it just doesn't look "aquatic" to me. Even if not, i got more than i should for the price, just wondering if they will last:


Anyway, i think it's comming along much better. The right side needs to fill out a bit but it will happen in time. I don't think i'm going to mess with it until i get a stand, hopefully soon. I'm pretty happy at the moment, not near what i want but i think it's much better than it was.


Next plans:
More fish
Redo the background (doesn't look too good in person)
Stand
Another coralife light (maybe not)
Some "regular" plants
Some sort of carpeting, but in clumps, not the whole foreground (for now).


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## mizu-chan (May 13, 2008)

I really like this new arrangement the best.
Tank is looking great! Not sure about IDing plants for you though, but I'm sure one of the more experienced members will know.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

Thanks, i'm still learning alot and i'm not nearly happy with it. I am happy for health of everything, and the look, given my experience. I have a lot to learn though. Thanks.


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## James From Cali (Dec 15, 2006)

talontsiawd said:


> I have an update, i got some driftwood off my friend for free and got some new plants:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


The bullated plant with the purple underside is what Fish stores sell as purple waffle usually and it is non aquatic. The large leafed plant seems to be Hygrophila.....corymbosa. 

I really like the look of it now. It seems much better for the eye. One suggestion. the anubias should be tied to the wood for it to grow the best.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

James From Cali said:


> The bullated plant with the purple underside is what Fish stores sell as purple waffle usually and it is non aquatic. The large leafed plant seems to be Hygrophila.....corymbosa.
> 
> I really like the look of it now. It seems much better for the eye.


Thanks, i look that up.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

So...Changes...
-Added Aquaclear 50 filter in addition to the one that came with my tank
-A few more plants
-Glosso patch to test if my lights/current fert routine is up for it
-Moved around some plants
-Some Otto's
-A dwarf gourami for 2 red eye tetra's I HATE 
-A decent amount of growth.

I'm basically waiting for the background to grow in, then i will focus on the midground, then decide a foreground. I will have to redo the whole thing when i get a proper stand but i'm waiting to buy/build one when i move which is some what soon.

Basic pic of changes:


I am much happier, i still have a long way to go but i feel for one month in, i can't complain. I'm not totally happy but i feel like i'm getting an idea of what to do and some direction of where to go.

A BIG thank you to everyone who has helped me out along the way. It's been short but without you people, i would be far from where i started, much less where i am now. I hope i have tanks like you guys in a year or so.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

Not much new interms of plants, a bit of growth here, some trimming down there, really just trying to get alot of plants to grow rather than arranged right.

However, my whole stocking has changed dramatically in the past week. I'm pretty sure my neon tetra's got neon tetra disease. I traded two red eye tetras for a dwarf gourami. And i got 5 serpae tetra.

Here is the tank as of tonight:


Lazy Otto:
 

Gourami being a gourami


This is the brightest Serpae i've ever seen


I'm really not doing much with the tank, even though i want to change things, i'm waiting to find the right stand for the right price, move the tank and start over.


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## mizu-chan (May 13, 2008)

Looks great! What's that amazing purple plant in the back?


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

mizu-chan said:


> Looks great! What's that amazing purple plant in the back?


I have absolutely no clue lol. It was just a bunched planted that a LFS has but they never label anything and nobody there really knows about plants, even though the stock alot. It's the same plant on the first post that is much less red/purple. It was actually much more green at first with red under the leaves but the new growth is red with a purple tinge to it.

I could probably give some cuttings away for shipping in the somewhat near future. I'm keeping the tops though, the bottoms look like the day i got them, but they will grow into the red. If you are interested, let me know, i've never shipped plants before though. I don't know when i'm going to trim them, it's not because they are too tall, again, it's just the bottoms don't look nearly as nice as the new growth.


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## mizu-chan (May 13, 2008)

talontsiawd said:


> I could probably give some cuttings away for shipping in the somewhat near future. I'm keeping the tops though, the bottoms look like the day i got them, but they will grow into the red. If you are interested, let me know, i've never shipped plants before though. I don't know when i'm going to trim them, it's not because they are too tall, again, it's just the bottoms don't look nearly as nice as the new growth.


Wow, I would really love that. Would you like to trade for something? I have a lot of stuff that needs to be trimmed weekly in my tank. Take a look at my journal and tell me if you're interested in anything.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

mizu-chan said:


> Wow, I would really love that. Would you like to trade for something? I have a lot of stuff that needs to be trimmed weekly in my tank. Take a look at my journal and tell me if you're interested in anything.


I'll have to check out your thread (again) and see. Again, i need to learn how to ship plants and when i trim, i want to keep the tops that are nice and red, so it would be the bottoms which don't look as nice but will when they grow out. I'll PM you when I'm planning to trim, a trade seems perfect so we don't have to deal with shipping costs as we would both be shipping. Again, i'll PM you when i need to trim, i can throw in extra's too you can keep or not.


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## mizu-chan (May 13, 2008)

talontsiawd said:


> I'll have to check out your thread (again) and see. Again, i need to learn how to ship plants and when i trim, i want to keep the tops that are nice and red, so it would be the bottoms which don't look as nice but will when they grow out. I'll PM you when I'm planning to trim, a trade seems perfect so we don't have to deal with shipping costs as we would both be shipping. Again, i'll PM you when i need to trim, i can throw in extra's too you can keep or not.


Bottoms work fine.  
Shipping plants is pretty basic. Most people just put wrap them in a damp paper towel then into a zip lock. I actually prefer to put them straight into the bag with no paper towel, and let the water that was on them straight out of the tank hydrate them while being shipped. Then I breath into the bag giving them a bit of air. Not sure if it's the best way to ship, but I've had good luck up til now. 
Extras are always welcome. I have a bunch of stuff I can send you.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

Sounds good, i'll let you know when the time comes, probably pretty soon and get your address through PMs.


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## Scotty (Nov 15, 2008)

Nice job, I like the red plant in the middle..What is it??


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## hamsterman (Jan 17, 2007)

lol he said he has no idea 5 posts above yours 
that plant is pretty amazing though!


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## NstyN8 (May 9, 2008)

Ludwigia glandulosa I believe


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## Veloth (Jun 25, 2008)

Great looking tank :thumbsup:


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

NstyN8 said:


> Ludwigia glandulosa I believe


Looking at pictures, i can't see how you are not correct. Thanks for letting me know.

Thanks for taking the look everyone. The tank looks alot different, i finally bought my stand and put in new substrate. I changed the driftwood so it is lower and chopped all my plants down tremedously. This is because the cheapest place, as well as the place with the best selection, doesn't use much light over there tanks so they always look way better on the top with new growth. I think it will look much better overall but it's going to take atleast a month to look "right".


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

Here is an update. I'm actually kind of mad i didn't take pictures more often, mostly for myself but also for anyone else who is interested but graduating college and the holidays leads to quite a busy schedule.

So, the changes, obiviously the substrate. I actually like the flourite red but it was too much. I was planning to just mix it with black flourite but i wanted to see how all black looked. The red will be mixed when i move but for now, it is capped with black (the red is comming through). Other than that, just growth and some new plants, some of my favorite from mizu-chan


PICS:





If anyone wants the sword in the right corner, PM me and maybe we can trade. I can wait till i have to trim, it's nice, i just don't really like it and don't have the room.


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

The tank looks great! You've come a long way  Congrats on graduating


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## mizu-chan (May 13, 2008)

Wow, the tank is looking great. Those plants are really taking off well. :thumbsup:


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

Thanks guys. I'm just going to let it grow out and trim down from there, that's the only way i can visualize lol.


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## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

Lol I love that cannon:hihi:

And your Ludwigia looks awesome!


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> Lol I love that cannon:hihi:


I had to have something fake, or else where is the fun :red_mouth

I just put this up if anyone wants to trade- http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/swap-n-shop/79689-trade-sale-3-anubus-amazon-sword.html


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## infinite07 (Dec 20, 2008)

The cannon does look nice in the tank.  Nice plant growth by the way.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

Okay, total rescape. 

Unfortunately, i'm not the best photographer. I had an ideas for an HC "pond" for awhile and i finally got it done. It looks more "extreme" in person so i'm not quite happy, i'll have to wait for it to grow in.

I had "capped" my flourite red with black gravel, it was too bright on it's own. I knew it would get mixed so i just did it. I'm not 100% happy at all (i wish i just did black) but it does make the tank "brighter" it's just the mix. We will see if i like it when he carpet covers, hopefully, almost all of it up.

Stem plants are pretty much all over the place, i'm just growing them, not arranged until i figure out the whole forground. Still learning...
Pics




And i thought this just looked kind of cool (though i should have cleaned the glass)


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## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

Cool tank! How is it holding up?


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## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

talontsiawd said:


>


Is that a stereo an old school stereo or some HAM radio equipment back there? I think my dad had the same one!


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

fastfreddie said:


> Cool tank! How is it holding up?


It looks awful right now to be honest because I trimmed it down crazily out of bordom and want to restructure the actual plants and placement. I won't have pics for awhile. I plan to update my 10 gallon tank soon which is looking much better than this tank.



fastfreddie said:


> Is that a stereo an old school stereo or some HAM radio equipment back there? I think my dad had the same one!


It's an oldschool tape deck and a dj mixer.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

So....I really didn't want to show my tank yet. 80% of the plants in are just placed randomly to grow for now. I do finally have a good idea of what I want to do now though which has taken over 6 months. I just got sick of having no direction. 

I am doing a jungle style tank for sure. I just like the idea of letting things do what they want. I am using basic dutch style techniques to keep order but it won't be a dutch style tank by any means. I just want some more control than I had before.

I do have many equipment updates though. I upped my light quite a bit by replacing a 17 watt florecent with a 36 watt t5. That brings me up to 72 watts t5 lighting. I have pressurized co2 as well (20 lb tank, way overkill but free). My equipment is now where I want it to be.

I have been dosing a bit haphazardly still. I use florish comprehensive as recommended. I add iron and potassium when I see deficiencies, hasn't worked great but better. EI dry fert routine in the future.

Here it is, not much to look at but much better than when asked to post earlier.

I will have a "real" update soon, even though i have a lot of work and time before it starts to take shape.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

Moved accouple things around, plus some growth. I think I am finally moving where I want.

I need to practice taking photos though.




Corners:





And I am looking to get rid of some HM-http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/swap-n-shop/87160-wtt-my-hm-other-plants.html


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## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

This is starting to look awesome!!!!!


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

fastfreddie said:


> This is starting to look awesome!!!!!


Thank you, a long way to go.

I need to update my equipment/plant/fish list on the first page. I trimmed the HM down a lot obviously. I have also been trimming most everything to get a bit "bushy." The background plants will stay put but many plants are just their to grow. "Final" arrangement will be done soon. Nothing is really set in stone right now, I obviously love changing things.

Pictures kind of suck, I know...


New Pics:
Full:
 

Left Angle:


Right Angle:


Left Close:


Let me know what you think, I know some plants look a bit chaotic. The HM will grow back where it was, I will try to take pics next week when it is more complete.


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## demonbreedr16 (Jan 10, 2008)

I really like how it looks!

Are you still thinking about changing your stand? I don't care too much for the iron stands. I like the wood ones better. Makes the overall apperance of the tank look better and makes it blend into the Decor of the house.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

demonbreedr16 said:


> I really like how it looks!
> 
> Are you still thinking about changing your stand? I don't care too much for the iron stands. I like the wood ones better. Makes the overall apperance of the tank look better and makes it blend into the Decor of the house.


I am going to change the stand when I move. I do like how little room this takes up because it is in my home recording studio for now. I just don't want to tear down the tank for a new stand, once I have to, I will get a new one. I plan to get a matching one for my 10 gallon and may keep 2 tanks in one room.


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## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

The front looks like a crater! I like it!


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

Ok, I redid things again. I know that i should just let it grow out but certain things just arn't "bushy" enough. I am also doing pruning for things to grow out like you would with traditional terestrial plants. I have also moved things around and don't have anything in place just for growth anymore. I also moved to dry ferts which has helped, saved money, and got rid of my very minor algae issues. You can't really see from my pics.


I still don't know about the HM. It looks nice for about a week, then I trim, wait a week to have it grow back. It will be replaced, I will keep some because I love it but it is alot of work for a carpet plant. If anyone wants to trade, I have alot once or twice a month.

I know my pictures suck.
Front



Right


Left


Top (you can't see some plants except for this angle right now)


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## malaybiswas (Nov 2, 2008)

too good!


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

And for fun...Progress
10/20/08

10/23/08

11/5/08

11/17/08

11/17/08

11/24/08

12/29/08

1/11/09

5/02/09


5/8/09

5/9/09

6/2/09


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

malaybiswas said:


> too good!


 Thank you:thumbsup: I have read you go to AF consistantly. My girlfriend lives in SF and I go whenever I can convince her to go. When are you usually there? I go every few saturdays or so.


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## da1001 (Jan 9, 2008)

I like the different levels in the tank


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## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

I think you may need to remove the word "newbie" from your thread title. It lost that look a while back.


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## Tex Gal (Mar 28, 2008)

I really like your new arrangement. It's looking good. I would trim your HM a little. It will start to detach if you let it get to long and thick.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

fastfreddie said:


> I think you may need to remove the word "newbie" from your thread title. It lost that look a while back.


2X

this is fantastic. it will be even more amazing when those stems grow in. the crater is a great innovation i don't know that i have ever seen that before. great plant selection.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

Thanks everyone. The HM will be trimmed soon, I just wanted to take pictures first. Hopefully today or tomorrow.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

Well, a few weeks changes alot. I have been swamped with work so I just let everything grow. I trimmed the HC back hard but it grows back to where I want in 2 weeks or so, 3 weeks and it's "over grown".

You can see the large amount of growth. Unfortunately, my "hygrophila corymbosa stricta" grew way bigger leaves than I imagined. This shaded out my "Ludwigia glandulosa" which you can't see. It was a very nice shade of deep purple-red but now it is loosing it's color. They will be placed in the front of tank for now to grow back out colorfully.

I also pulled some HC when trimming. I thought it would grow back asap but it did not. I have a small bare patch which sucks. I need real aquaspaing sissors.

Last but not least...I think it is time for a canister filter. Not ASAP but I was going to wait until I move. Work for me is so suporatic(sp) that I can't count on it at the moment.

So, it's a jungle right now, which was my goal but a bit too much right now. The slow growers are getting shaded out so I will do a large trim by monday. I figured I would take pics anyway.

Front:








Left side:








Right side:









Still got the cannon lol











Love to hear your oppinons.


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## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

This is a gorgeous tank. I don't have time right now to go through the whole thread, but your latest update is really, really nice. 
I like the pond, or pool looking area with the short carpet in it.


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## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

talontsiawd said:


> Still got the cannon lol


Yes!! 

Lookin' good!


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

Thanks everyone. Does anyone want some HM? I would like to trade but I can just give it away plus cost of shipping. I think I will have a large ziplock bag full.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

Oh what a difference a day makes.....

I did a major trim today. Trimmed the HM down to nothing. Trimmed the HC hard as well. Everything else got a hair cut. Most people don't show their tanks looking bad so I figured I would show you what my tank looks like every few months.



My Ludwigia glandulosa should do much better in their new home. They would normally be much more colorful but they wern't getting any light.


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## ryan_p (Mar 18, 2009)

Cool tank. the crater looks fantastic .


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Amazing tank. I like the depth you created with the rocks. It looks like a pond in the tank. I actually like your glandulosa with the coloring variation. It is quite lovely.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

Thanks everybody. I have no rocks btw, just DW for the pond or crater. I went to AF in SF today and got 3 new types of plants. I need a bigger tank lol. I will take some pictures this week when everything is planted where I want.


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## Digsy (Mar 4, 2006)

This is an great scape and what an amazing transformation! I love the height of your HM, so often it just looks leggy in a larger scape. Well done!


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

Soooooo....I added some plants that I am very happy with, all doing well. However, I am noticing some deficeincy's in some plants. Mainly red plants. I am good with the co2 and have doing EI dry ferts. Everything looked great at first. Now that I have seen more growth, I think many plant's are not getting enough light. I am going to do a major trim tonight or tomorrow. 

On the flip side, I am finally going to go with a canister filter. I know that it is a fairly mariginal investment at this point but my HOB filters treated me well. I am also thinking about going higher light. I want to do a raised fixture. I was thinking about just adding another coarlife one, then that is almost exactly as wide as the top of the tank. It isn't the best investment but it will be cheaper to add one more fixture than buying something new. That is still not for certain, new filter is, the question is when...


Disreguard the plants in the filter, got lazy.
Pics.
Front








LS








RS









Plant issues:


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

I ended up hacking down my tank quite a bit. Stilll will do more, updates will be posted tomorrow once I am done. I just like to document my tank when good and bad.


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

the more I look at this tank, the more I like it.. good job with the plant arrangements. It's the strength of this tank.

your new growth is having some nutrient deficiency. I'd up calcium and micros+B.


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## bolivianram123 (Jun 5, 2008)

wow amazing tank! this makes me want to completely redo my 29g. what lighting are you using?


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

bolivianram123 said:


> wow amazing tank! this makes me want to completely redo my 29g. what lighting are you using?


I have 2 coarlife t5 fixtures, 4 bulbs total: http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsU...5/cl0/coralifefwt5aqualightdoublestriplight30




UPDATE: I got a canister filter. In the process of setting it up, I accidently got about 2-3 gallons of water on the floor. Of course, it had to be on a $900 carpet. I had to pull up the carpet to make sure the hardwood floors didn't get damaged.

This meant I had to drain the whole tank. I have my plants exactly as is emmersed right now on the kitchen counter. I am trying to pull out all my vinyl records and my huge sampler keyboard to pull out the carpet. Hopefully my plants do alright, some won't, I can see right now.

In this process, I decided it was time for a new stand. I hope I get most of this done by tonight and I will post an update of the good, and the bad.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

Ok, photo update....After my filter poured about 2-3 gallons on the floor, I decided the rug just had to go. Not only is it expensive itself but we just redid the floor in this room about 2 years ago so the floor is perfect. I decided to move everything out and pull the carpet. 

Tearing down the tank was the start. I took out all the equipment and drained it to about 1 in of water. With some help I moved it in the kitchen.


Now tearing down the tank was NOT fun at all. BUT, I had a whole bunch of other work to do. I had to move all my vinyl records and some other equipment. I don't have a current pictures but this shelfing is was litterally full as it can fit, plus about 100 more records on the floor. This was some WORK. A record weighs about .5lbs. I had to move about 1000 or so lbs of records (guessing). Plus another 150 or so lbs of equipment. 



I kept my tank moist by spraying every 30 mins while moving everything. 


After pulling out the rug finally, I decided it was time for a much needed break. I was about to put the tank back in the room and decided...I am making more money than I was, I have wanted a new stand since I got my tank, why not now? 

I wanted an all wood tank but I couldn't find a black one locally (all the furnature in my room except my desk is black). I could have bought a different color wood one and refinished (I probably would have wanted to refinish the black anyway) but I wanted to get everything done today. I went to a few LFS, luckily there about 6 in the area and found one that looked perfect. 2 big doors the size of the stand and no fancy trim. It was priced well ($100) so I grabbed it.

It took me about 1.5 hours to put together, much of that was minor adjustments. This stand is soooooo close to being perfect. If it was 1.5 inch taller, I could fit my 20lb co2 tank in. Sadly, it isn't. The shelf is also .25 in too low to put over my canister filter. I could have fit everything in if it was just slightly different. I may cut a hole later.

New stand:
http://img530.imageshack.us/i/closedc.jpg/






I moved the tank on my new stand, here it is empty:


Here it is now...I only have one clean 5 gallon bucket which is holding my fish. I am using a one gallon pitcher...Not fun.




What I learned today:
-Working at home sucks but saved me from a terrible night
-Never open a canister filter in your room
-No matter how much work, your floor is probably more valuable than your tank
-Overreacting leads to much more work than you started with
-$900 rugs don't belong under fishtanks (or atleast mine lol)
-Fish hide well and don't see to live long outside of water (1 died, 1 barely saved)
-Every expensive upgrade I have done so far has led me to another upgrade of equal or greater value


I should note one more thing-My surge protector did not shut off after water damage. That is one reason this was so serious. I was trying to stop the water and smelled smoke I could immediately identify as electronics burning. I had to just to the wall to unplug everthing. This could have resulted in a fire if everything stayed on. 



Probably the longest post on the forum ever lol, sorry.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

Back in business....Plants suffered somewhat but I have a feeling they will recorver well:




I am not sure if the dead fish on the filter was the one that died from hiding or a new death, I think it was the old. Should have removed that for pictures lol.


Next on the agenda...I need a new heater so I think I am going to go with an inline one. Then I want to do a raised light fixture.


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

I like the stand! Good job thinking of it before you had the tank filled again :thumbsup:
I'm diggin' the lower lever hc field.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

clwatkins10 said:


> I like the stand! Good job thinking of it before you had the tank filled again :thumbsup:
> I'm diggin' the lower lever hc field.


I am soooo happy to have a decent stand, you don't even know. My metal one not only had alot of cluter but also made it so everything got dusty/dirty but I couldn't vaccum. I would be so happy if it was 1-2 inch taller and I could fit my 20lb co2 bottle in. Still thinking about cutting a hole in the bottom and making it work.

Thanks for the compliment, I love your tanks.


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

Thanks for your compliment lol. I think that cutting a hole would be a good idea. bsmith did it and it works great. Seeing that co2 bottle makes me want to go high tech again even more :icon_neut: lol 
Oh, nice keys.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

clwatkins10 said:


> Thanks for your compliment lol. I think that cutting a hole would be a good idea. bsmith did it and it works great. Seeing that co2 bottle makes me want to go high tech again even more :icon_neut: lol
> Oh, nice keys.


My co2 setup was actually originally for growing weed lol. It was left at my friends house so I got it for free. I don't smoke but thank god for Cali laws lol, saved me a bunch.

Keys-you talking about the keyboard? It is actually more of a sampler (chopping up bits from records). It is my baby. Many famous people use/used it such as Havoc from Mobb Deep, GZA from Wu-Tang, Alchemist, and Kanye West uses one as well.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

you're a DJ? you should get a Web page so we can hear/see your stuff.

that's good to hear that you like your new stand. it really can help the appearance of an aquarium display in a room in the house if the whole thing is considered like a piece of furniture. 

wow, that's quite a story. i stupidly dumped about 1/2 gallon of water a couple of weeks ago by opening the canister before closing the shut-off valve, but right onto the hardwood floor, so i just mopped it up. some of it did run awful close to the power strip though. so you had it on a _rug_, right, not a carpet? that sounds like a lot of work, but i am glad that you did not have more damage. did you have a GFCI plugged into the wall socket? that might be a good idea. 

the tank is looking good again. i really like that well with _Hemianthus_ in the foreground. it has held up nicely.


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## malaybiswas (Nov 2, 2008)

nice tank, the crate makes it feel like a scape within a scape. good concept


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

hydrophyte said:


> you're a DJ? you should get a Web page so we can hear/see your stuff.


I am a hip hop beat maker/producer actually. I dabble in DJing but making beats and a bit of rapping is my thing.
You can check me out here- http://www.myspace.com/3rddegreebeatsandmusic

This is my unedited page with a ton of my music over the last few years- http://www.soundclick.com/3dbeatsanmusic




hydrophyte said:


> wow, that's quite a story. i stupidly dumped about 1/2 gallon of water a couple of weeks ago by opening the canister before closing the shut-off valve, but right onto the hardwood floor, so i just mopped it up. some of it did run awful close to the power strip though. so you had it on a rug, right, not a carpet?


It was a rug, thankfully not a carpet. Well, if it was a carpet I would have just wet vaccumed so it would have been easier lol. It was alot of work but I also chose to make it hard by buying a new stand and building it. I haven't got the room back in order yet, outside the tank.

The worst part of it all is the cause. My filter was very loud and I got concerned. I thought my impeller was rubbing or something that could damage it. A quick google search would have told me there was air in it and it's normal with a new canister filter. Oh well, live and learn, my setup is better anyway now. 



Thanks for the comments. Unfortunately some plants suffered. Everything is growing back though. I trimmed everything a few days ago so now I am going to have to trim back even more. I am going to wait until everything has new, vigorous growth though.


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## oldpunk78 (Nov 1, 2008)

talontsiawd said:


> I should note one more thing-My surge protector did not shut off after water damage. That is one reason this was so serious. I was trying to stop the water and smelled smoke I could immediately identify as electronics burning. I had to just to the wall to unplug everthing. This could have resulted in a fire if everything stayed on.


you need one of these:









...might save your life one day.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

oldpunk78 said:


> you need one of these:
> 
> ...might save your life one day.


We have those all over the kitchen, I talk to my dad about doing that since he wired the whole house already. I know they make audio ones that are crazy interms of protection that are external, I am sure there are other external ones as well that may not be as pricey.


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## binders (Mar 22, 2009)

Tank looks really good. Seems to have survived the move really well.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

you can purchase an in-line GFCI for just $12 or so. here is an example.

http://www.paulfishfarms.com/littleshockbuster.JPG

however, you can't count on them to necessarily shut off with water exposure.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

Update:

Many of my plants looked OK the first day but suffered as time went on. Many plants lost many of their leaves or just have horrible looking leaves. However, everything is starting to "backbud" so right now I am pretty much growing new stems. It will be atleast a week if not more to look OK, a month minimum to look anywhere near how I want it.

On the flip side, I ran into some extra spending cash. I upped the lights from 72 watts to 108. I have some other basic plans to bring this to a high tech tank (uv sterilizer and ph controller, I don't know when). Hopefully I didn't get too deep. I may decide that this much light is too much work, if that is the case, I have everything I need with my old stuff and the extra light to start a 20 gallon long where I can grow what I want to.



I also added more sand over the HC, it's all there still. Photo's were taken way after lights went out for growth obvioiusly. Water is cloudy due to added sand. I think it is good to show your tank good or bad so I am not proud ATM but I'm working on it.

EDIT-Sorry, pictures are horrid


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

i'd have to go back and read--i guess your plants suffered with your filter mishap--good to see everything bouncing back. 

i like this tank a lot.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

So it is now on the comeback. I can't wait for the rear sides to grow in, I think then I will be very happy with the tank. There are many cool plants that are too short to see right now, in about 2 weeks I should have more color in my pics. Finally coming along and should look better than before my "mishap". I do need to trim down the HM and the cardinal plant though.


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## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

Wow the HC definitely looks great!

Are you planning on growing out the back so it covers your equipment?


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> Wow the HC definitely looks great!
> 
> Are you planning on growing out the back so it covers your equipment?


On the RS, the filter intake will be covered by a plant I don't know the name of. It suffered pretty bad from having to drain my tank.

I could cover up the heater and diffusor but I am thinking of getting a reactor and an inline heater. I may keep the diffusor in though, not sure, I kind of like it.


For the HC, unfortunately you can see some gaps where it died off. That was from trying to spot treat some BBA on the wood. It just died off. I hope it grows back realitively quickly.


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## Digsy (Mar 4, 2006)

This is filling in beautifully! All of your plants look amazing!


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

Damn bro, you've got some ultra healthy growth going on in there. My lobellas dont ever get that big. There leaves stay small for me. When trimming the HM, do you just cut and sell/discard, or do you cut and replant the stems? I'm asking because when I was growing HM, it was a moderate grower and didn't really take to trimming that well. I had to uproot the old stems and replant the new stems for it to grow again. It could just be my tank...


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

speedie408 said:


> Damn bro, you've got some ultra healthy growth going on in there. My lobellas dont ever get that big. There leaves stay small for me. When trimming the HM, do you just cut and sell/discard, or do you cut and replant the stems? I'm asking because when I was growing HM, it was a moderate grower and didn't really take to trimming that well. I had to uproot the old stems and replant the new stems for it to grow again. It could just be my tank...


Mine grows right back. Even if i trim it to the substrate, it can take a week or so to get new growth and 2 weeks to look good again but looks exactly how it did before. I actually do this every now and then to get it to carpet more densely.

Honestly, for me, this is the easiest plant to grow in my tank. I had it before I was pressurized, at 2.5 watts per gallon and it did great. Now with 108 watts over it and presurized, it just takes off so quick. It is actually alot of work to keep it down lol.


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## redfalconf35 (Feb 24, 2008)

WOW that is excellent looking!


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

Thank you. Thanks everyone. It is so rewarding to hear after I had so many issues and a bunch of work. I really appreciate people taking the time.


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## legomaniac89 (Mar 16, 2008)

Newbie tank? You sure?

Looks great man! Once the back grows up some more, it's gonna look amazing


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

legomaniac89 said:


> Newbie tank? You sure?
> 
> Looks great man! Once the back grows up some more, it's gonna look amazing


It is the newbie tank until I don't spill 1/4 out of my tank by not knowing how a canister filter should work 

The corners will be when this tank really comes together for me. I am sure I will never be happy with it until I don't have the time to be meticulous about thing but I can't wait for that to grow in. I wish I could see my tank right now, I haven't seen it in 2 days and won't see it until tomorrow night. I can't wait to see the growth and trim some things on Monday.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

This is only 2.5 days of growth. I am suprised that the new light did that much much. This is the first time I have been gone over the weekend.



I am not sure I want that much Ludwigia glandulosa. Those same 3 stems never really got that big, nor did I have nearly as much other things going on. I am thinking about one stem and continue to "pinch" it so it is kind of tree like and putting the rest in my 10 gallon. Not sure. Other than that, trimming back the HM hard, trimming the HC, and "leveling" out the background plants so they can begin to take shape.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

Update...So the higher lights are helping but it's been hard to get the co2 and photoperiod matched up right. I am happy now but it took awhile to get everything right. 

I still need some work on the actual layout. The right was just trimmed to even out, I will be doing the left next week, and getting all the background straight. The HC has some gravel on top, it did well in the sand I put in but doesn't do well with trimming, plus I wanted it to be less deep.

I took these pictures after my lights went out so they are all "curled" but I will take some better pictures soon. I can't wait for this to grow in the way I want, just waiting and trimming here and there.





And a bonus if you like Hip Hop, this is the same room the tank is in-hi-fi URL: hi-fi URL: http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=7963250&q=hi


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## mizu-chan (May 13, 2008)

Oh wow. This is _gorgeous_! Your tank is amazing.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

mizu-chan said:


> Oh wow. This is _gorgeous_! Your tank is amazing.


Thank you but it needs some time to grow in. Some of the plants are out of you 20 long too, it is weird how thing work out lol. Can't wait to see what you do with the new tank.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Looks great boss. I look forward to seeing it with some of those stems just a little bit taller.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

hydrophyte said:


> Looks great boss. I look forward to seeing it with some of those stems just a little bit taller.


 Yeah, I should probably just let everything grow to the top and then trim but if I trim every 4-6 inches of growth, the plants become bushier furter down the stem. Plus I got major algae issues the last time I did a massive trim. I can't wait until the background is fully grown in though.

I meant to take more pictures today but it's too light in my room now to get good ones.


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## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

talontsiawd said:


> http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=7963250&q=hi


Haha, if you look closely, you can see the reflection of your monitor with TPT on the screen! I think the BigAl's Clearance banner is on the top. Beautiful tank as always.


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## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

fastfreddie said:


> Haha, if you look closely, you can see the reflection of your monitor with TPT on the screen! I think the BigAl's Clearance banner is on the top. Beautiful tank as always.


That's pretty funny... 

makes you think twice about putting pictures online seeing what people find in them ... hehe


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## ryan_p (Mar 18, 2009)

looks great. id like to see this when the stems grows and cover the back.


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## malaybiswas (Nov 2, 2008)

This is one gorgeous tank. Healthy plants, bright colors...what else do you need


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

Thanks for the kind words everyone, almost everyone responding has directly influenced me in some way, some people probably don't know some of the plants came from them. I look at the first pictures and think about what my tank would be if I never found this place lol


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

So I am trying to get rid of the Ludwigia glandulosa in back. I will make it worth your while if you have some cool plants and throw as much as I can your way without trimming down my whole tank. Unfortunately I haven't indentified alot of my plants.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/s...ndulosa-trade-want-small-leaf.html#post898161


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

No real photo update. My plants are finally to the top of the tank for the most part. It was looking good but I got GW. My UV sterilizer somehow is fried (cheapo powerhead type) so I am trying to deal with it but have no time. I put an old HOB with fresh purgion in it, hopefully it helps. When it clears up, I will post pictures. I don't have any "real" algae problems, thank god, GW doesn't scare me and once it goes away, it usually does until you screw up again. 



On the flip side, I decided it was time to go open top. I don't really have a hood but with 3 light fixtures, I basically do. I was going to make a hood like fixture but I didn't exactly want a floating "box" over my tank. I still may cover what I got in sheet metal, I wish my friend still had access to a TIG welder so he could weld me an aluminum piece, maybe in the future.

It kind of looks wierd but you will see why (the mic stand is just for display lol). 









This is what it looks like now. I basically have a hood of lights. It is a bitch to always move them to clean up. I always get food or ferts on them. I didn't clean them for pics but yeah, that is what they usually look like lol. The HOB is temp, as stated above.










Hopefully it will look cool, I think I want the lights exposed, just for fun. I still need to paint it black.


Advice...Do you guys think I should use one pole over the whole tank or two smaller ones on each side? I was thinking two smaller ones, mainly because I can actually fit that in my car but I don't know. I have seen both look great, the dual pole may look to be too much on a tank this size (but it's only about 20lbs total so I could use small tubing easily). Suggestions?


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## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

Dude, how did you make that light rack? Did I miss a DIY thread? It's awesome.


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## Down_Shift (Sep 20, 2008)

whoa very cool


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

fastfreddie said:


> Dude, how did you make that light rack? Did I miss a DIY thread? It's awesome.


I was going to make a DIY thread but I couldn't find my camera and I figured not too many people have my setup. I basically just used some 3 inch door handles from home depot, aluminium blocks for the side, and some rod I treaded for the middle. It took me awhile to make because my drill press kind of sucks. I made some mistakes as well but nothing that will be very obvious unless looked for.

If you had two of these fixtures, which is much more common, you could make something really easily. Use 3 inch door handles (make sure they have enough length on the inside of the handle to actually hold the lights from the stock mounting points) and use a 4 inch handle between them. You could use a rod to connect them but you don't even need to. The sides would look like this
[____]
[___] [___]

That is really easy and clean for anyone who has the same fixtures.



Now I need to get the bar and the bender (hopefully I secretely have bender and don't know about it for some reason lol). I still need to figure out how I want it to look.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

That's a pretty slick DIY. I most definately agree that pendants are much better than strip lights sitting on top of a canopy: I hate how they slide all over the place and get in the way and threaten ya' with electrocution. 

Did you see the hanging system that I used for one of my T5 strips? If you don't mind holes in your ceiling it is real easy and looks pretty alright. I wrote a blog post about it...

http://hydrophytesblog.com/?p=542

I think that all of the hanging hardware cost me less than ten bucks.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

hydrophyte said:


> That's a pretty slick DIY. I most definately agree that pendants are much better than strip lights sitting on top of a canopy: I hate how they slide all over the place and get in the way and threaten ya' with electrocution.
> 
> Did you see the hanging system that I used for one of my T5 strips? If you don't mind holes in your ceiling it is real easy and looks pretty alright. I wrote a blog post about it...
> 
> ...


That looks sick, and I saw how cheap some of these fixtures were at home depot yesterday, made me mad lol.

I have slopped ceilings in this room and my tank is on the high side. It is about 15 ft high I don't think it would look good. It is also in my home recording studio and musicians are like kids, if something looks like it is fun to play with, people will even if you tell them not to lol.

I am thinking about doing two poles on each side. It will be easier, I can fit it in my car, etc. I can use really thin tubing too since my lights are mostly plastic and my fixture is only 10lbs or so. I can't imagine it being even 20lbs total.

I was hoping to get to it today since I don't have work but my girlfriend gets of early so I have to pick the thing that gets the least mad at me if I brush it off:hihi:

What is the highest people tend to mount their lights above the tank? I want room for adjustment but I also don't want some huge, overbearing fixture over the tank either.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Yeah conduit pipe is another cheap and easy option, and it looks pretty good. I don't have a bender, but the salesperson at the store just pulled one of the shelf and put bends in my two pieces of pipe for me. 

If you might ever consider a lighting upgrade I highly recommend that Jumpstart fixture. If you buy it with just the fixture, lamp + reflector (and without free-standing base) it's only like $45 for the 48-inch and $33 for the 24-inch. It will give you a lot more light per watt.


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## Ariel301 (Sep 7, 2009)

Very nice tank! I really enjoyed reading about it and watching it change. You can't even tell it's the same tank as the first pictures. Thank you for sharing.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

hydrophyte said:


> Yeah conduit pipe is another cheap and easy option, and it looks pretty good. I don't have a bender, but the salesperson at the store just pulled one of the shelf and put bends in my two pieces of pipe for me.
> 
> If you might ever consider a lighting upgrade I highly recommend that Jumpstart fixture. If you buy it with just the fixture, lamp + reflector (and without free-standing base) it's only like $45 for the 48-inch and $33 for the 24-inch. It will give you a lot more light per watt.


Right now I have 108 watts of t5's over the tank so any upgrade would be to clean things up with a smaller fixture. I had everything great with this setup but have learned that one mistake can have big algae problems quick. I might even turn one fixture of for a bit.



Ariel301 said:


> Very nice tank! I really enjoyed reading about it and watching it change. You can't even tell it's the same tank as the first pictures. Thank you for sharing.


Thanks. I try to share as much as I can, good or bad, just to show everything, give people an idea of what mistakes I made, what I changed, etc, because I didn't know what I was getting into myself. Glad you enjoyed the read, I don't update enough but I will have some soon.


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## monkeyruler90 (Apr 13, 2008)

dude, lets see your light set up. how did it turn out? and hows the tank doing?


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

monkeyruler90 said:


> dude, lets see your light set up. how did it turn out? and hows the tank doing?


Same here. I wanna see what it looks like roud:


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

I decided to redo my light setup. I made a small mistake in measurement which turned out to be a total redo. 

I am mounting the lights a bit differently than what I have seen. I am doing small poles out of the wall. I will see how it will look tomorrow, but still need to redo the actual mounting. Not only that, I have to move the tank over about 8 in due to a stud.

My tank...worst it has ever been right now, no joke. I decided to do a major trim. In the process I found many plants had actually become uprooted and only looked like they were well rooted because they were hanging on to different plants. This made me want to trim back even harder for some, dumb reason. Anyway, I basically undid most of my work, starting at about 1/4th past an empty tank. 

To make things worse, somehow my "weed setup" needle valve got messed with while making some holes in the wall. I was out of town and didn't catch it. Half my fish are in "critical condition", 1/4 are 3 ft in the grave, I lost another 1/4.

I hope things work out, i did a big water change but a few have swim bladder infections so I don't have alot of hope here. 

I want to just chalk it up to "**** happens" but between finally getting my green water done, to majorly over trimming, to co2 posioning, I am not happy. I don't know how soon I will get the mounts done but it just isn't my priority right now. 

I am almost thinking about restarting, outside of the HC and HM, just because it wouldn't be hard to do right now lol. We will see.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

Ok, Rasbora's (I don't even know if I mentioned I gave all my fish away except for my otto's and gourami) just went through a crazy recovery. After a water change, all but 1 looks good. I don't know how many will actually make it but I thought more than a few were already dead, just to see a 10 min recovery to swimming. Even the one who looks bad is swimming upright, just not well. And I found a bunch of eggs, however, I don't know if I will let them breed or become food. I am much more happy and also remembering much of the plants I cut down hard grow to the top in less than a few weeks usually, I have 1 light off ATM until I am sure GW is not comming back.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

Here is how it looks now. I try to update more but I don't have a working camera right now so I have to rely on others. Basically, I way over trimmed everything about a month ago. It grew back slower than I thought, I just did a minor trim on some things. 

New stuff...Raised lights (better pics later, I am still in "beta" mode)...9 watt uv sterilizer.

Other than that, I put in a peice of driftwood to grow some anubias. I plan to use 2 more pieces as I find the right ones.

Anyway...Pics


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## Chrisinator (Jun 5, 2008)

That's one sick tank!!


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Your tank is looking great man.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

Thanks, I feel like I am starting to get there. Thanks for taking the time.


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

What's that tall plant in the right corner? I bet that HM needs a constant trim every week? Looks good man!


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

speedie408 said:


> What's that tall plant in the right corner? I bet that HM needs a constant trim every week? Looks good man!


I actually don't know what the plant is. My girlfriend lives in SF and every few months I go to AFA out there for plants. They lable everything well but I never write anything down. This plant actually is really cool in my 10 gallon which I haven't taken pictures of in awhile. It has about 8x as many leaves per inch. 


The HM is a bit of a pain, I trim it weekly and then trim it all the way down to the substrate every few months. It is one of the big reasons I decided to go open top.

Thanks.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

So I have been pretty sick with a bacterial infection that put me in the ER. I was planning to trim that day which was about a week ago. I know have a jungle on my hands. I haven't been able to leave the house so I figured it was time to take some pictures.


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## danepatrick (Jul 17, 2006)

man this tank is BEEFY!!! :red_mouth roud:


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Wow those stems look awesome. 

I really like that second picture. What a cool tank.

I hope you feel better soon.


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## demosthenes (Aug 23, 2008)

wow thats terrible! i hope you get better soon!

the tank on the other hand, looks spectacular. roud: i really like your use of the hygrophilas. I think because of that i might get some Hygro. mini for my 50g, it looks really cool with the big leaves in y our midground. 

To offer some constructive criticism though, i think you could stand to use a little bit more of a midground, with something like small echinos, lindernia, or blyxa maybe.

also, what are your foreground plants? i have bad eyes, i can't quite figure out what they are from here, but whatever it is really works for your tank, it looks great!


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

demosthenes said:


> wow thats terrible! i hope you get better soon!
> 
> the tank on the other hand, looks spectacular. roud: i really like your use of the hygrophilas. I think because of that i might get some Hygro. mini for my 50g, it looks really cool with the big leaves in y our midground.
> 
> ...


I have really struggled with a midground since I only have 12 in of depth. I was going to let the stems grow to the top and slowly figure it out. I am obvioulsy past them growing to the top but yeah, I need something, good ideas.

The forground plants are HM and HC. 


Thanks everyone else for the comments


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## Randy Lau (Mar 29, 2008)

Beautiful! I love the transition and photos.


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## Kittysnax (Dec 8, 2009)

I have really enjoyed reading your entire thread on this! I plan to get back into the aquarium hobby on friday, hopefully I can coerce(?) the husband to get me a 29 instead of a 20, So I will be able to start up with a similar setup as you! Good to see it gradually get upgraded, now I dont feel I have to spend a whole bunch right at christmastime to get started! KEEP POSTING! <3 Kitteh


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

Thank you. I haven't posted in awhile because I don't have a digital camera at the moment. I broke mine awhile ago so I have to borrow one for each update.

Right now the tank looks bad. I have added alot of light so I decided to cut it back down to about 6 inch in most places. It is just now recovering. I wanted my plants to color up lower, some of my red plants especially were orange/brown except for the highest point I trimmed. It will be atleast a week before I update.


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## fishiesramazing (Dec 6, 2009)

Looks great! I really like the foreground plants as well, and was going to ask about them. But I see that question was answered before.


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## sliver (Dec 31, 2009)

Very lovely tank! Just inspiring.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

Thank you. As mentioned aboved, I did a pretty harsh trim. In this process things weren't growing back right. It has been very frustrating. My plant's roots were deteriating and they became easy to pull up. I found out tonight that I had a huge amount of java moss between the substrate and plants which wasn't allowing me to clean properly. Details here-http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/plants/99105-29-gallon-semi-crash-lots-melting.html

The bad part is I basically had to take out all the HM. The HC all melted off awhile ago. I have replanted a bit of both and it will take awhile to get a full recarpet. I am patient and I have a new scape in my 10 gallon to give me more patience.

The good part is I think I figured it all out tonight. I also have added some sweet new plants as of a few hours ago. I went to AFA and found some nice orange plants. I also found some that were purple under the leaves. I don't keep up on species, I just buy what I think I like and figure it out later. 

My main goal for this tank was to be colorful. I now have a good mix of greens, yellows, oranges, reds, and purple. I should be happy once I get this all back up and running. Still no digi cam, I will try to borrow one soon, though my tank isn't looking half as good as it did in my last pictures.


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## ryan_p (Mar 18, 2009)

looks great! love the stems in the back :thumbsup:


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

Ok....I am basically embarsed to even show my tank. I did say that I wanted to show my tank through the good and bad. It is at it's worst. I have had alot of issues with this tank lately and it has been hard to figure out. After 2 years, I thought I would know more than I do now, some things just don't work out as planned.

Basically, like I said in another post, java moss ended up carpeting under my HC and HM as well as other plants. They started uprooting, or their roots rooted. Basically, they would float up under any excess water movement, something as simple as having my hands in the tank.

I am sort of at the crossroad here. I have been picking out Java Moss for a week so far. I also have alot of deterius in the substrate. I am a bit overstocked. I am going to do my best to keep this up but I am thinking I should restart. 

Here are some pictures, I didn't even clean the glass so it looks even worse.

All the green on the substrate is java moss pieces


























Betta behind glass algae









Java Moss under HM









Java Moss, HM, BBA









New forground plant to replace HM


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

Dude!!! what happened? Hope you figure it out man. This tank looked so healthy before. I'm sure you'll bring it back to life. Keep us posted.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Eh, I've seen much worse... especially in my own tanks LOL

Actually, I do my best to keep Java moss out of my tanks for exactly the same reason; the stuff goes bonkers in my tanks and chokes everything.

You'll recover quickly, I'm sure. Your stems are still looking pretty good. :thumbsup:


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

speedie408 said:


> Dude!!! what happened? Hope you figure it out man. This tank looked so healthy before. I'm sure you'll bring it back to life. Keep us posted.


Thanks for the complements on how it was. I am hoping I don't get frustrated enough to tear down, even though I know it would be easier and a quicker fix. I think I need to gravel vaccum daily for a period of time as well as manually remove the java moss that took over.



lauraleellbp said:


> Eh, I've seen much worse... especially in my own tanks LOL
> 
> Actually, I do my best to keep Java moss out of my tanks for exactly the same reason; the stuff goes bonkers in my tanks and chokes everything.
> 
> You'll recover quickly, I'm sure. Your stems are still looking pretty good. :thumbsup:


The worst part about the Java Moss is that I put it in like 2 months after I started my tank. I just figured "why not" and threw it on some wood. I thought it had only slightly spread until I pulled up alot of my plants. 


I think the Java Moss issues are going to be harder to deal with than any algae issue I have ever had. Plus, it can't just die. Worse, the better the tank is doing, the better the moss does. I probably have a few days off so I am going to be spending a lot of my time digging in the substrate. No moss for me again....EVER.


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## problemman (Aug 19, 2005)

wow what a nasty blow to your tank. that is one thing im on top of in my tank. i have some attached to a suspended piece of wood and i trim that bad boy with a fish net going crazy catching pieces. i hope it works out for you though getting it all out. best of luck!


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

Well, no photo update but I did alot of work on my tank today. I was thinking yesterday about how I wish I had no fish in the tank. I don't have very many left. I wish I cared more but I don't. I am not a cruel person, I have done my best to be a good fish keeper but we all make mistakes. This tank has been so hard to deal with lately, I guess I am almost a bit releaved.

This is what happened. First, after pulling out a baseball size clump of java moss last week, I started again. I just realized how dirty my tank was (after picking out another golfball size clump, but piece by piece). I decided to just pull out all the forground and vaccum gravel. I knew my tank was a bit dirty, it took me about 70 gallons before my water was not brown. I was vacuuming heavily, as in, to the bottom of my tank. I either brought out some anerobic stuff, too much ammonia (or something), or just didn't let my fish acclimate. 

My substrate is soooo clean now, and I still feel like I should do more. I wanted to get as close to a fresh start as I could so I may do this again soon, as the last of my fish recover. My rasboras are done, my black neons are unaffected. My betta seemed sick before, and seems about the same. My otto's are pulling though now, the only fish I did not want to loose after I saw some struggling.

The other thing is that I adjusted my bulbs. I put back some full spectrum bulbs in, especially in back where the red stems are (i have 6 bulbs total). I had 6500/10000k in my "main lights" and 6500k and full spectrum in my fixture for my noon burst. Now I have 2 full spectrum in back. The reds looked better last night just due to the color difference in the bulb. They are definately looking better today just of one day of growth (not that it is minimal with 18x6 watts T5no).

I have alot more faith now. It still has to bounce back but I see where I went wrong. I blame most on the moss but my substrate was DIRTY. This is not only my first planted tank, this is my first tank ever. You make alot of mistakes in 2 years. I hopefully got things back on track. Picture updates will come when I can see a difference, good or bad.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

Long time no update. I am not exactly happy with my tank but it is defineatly much healthier. I just need to make adjustments to make it look better. I will now keep more low/moderate light plants in my tank, even though they explode under my light, just to keep things in check. That seemed to make a big difference.

New pics:


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

Update 2:


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## Regloh (Jan 17, 2009)

Dude, what happened???


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/t...103178-29-gallon-second-chance-setup-2-a.html


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