# 90g Shoreline



## manzpants92 (Dec 6, 2012)

good start. things will look really nice once everything starts growing in


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## BHolmes (Aug 23, 2012)

Tank info moved to post one


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## shawnleon (Dec 10, 2012)

*First Planted 90g Rainbow Tank*

Your rainbows have great color! The bug briefly had a hold on me because of bold looking fish like yours. Of course I kept finding washed out duds.


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## hobos (Feb 19, 2012)

Driftwood looks great with those rocks


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## GMYukonon24s (May 3, 2009)

Nice job! I like how it transitions from the plants to the wood and rock to open sand.


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## BHolmes (Aug 23, 2012)

Thanks!
I spent a lot of time researching different planted tanks. I tried for a unique look that would also accommodate the rainbows. Once those stems grow I'll be planting the trimmings to further fill in that planted half. I also wanted to choose plants that would be as colorful as the rainbows.
Most of the rainbows I see at local shops are washed out because of stress and bad tank parameters. They really turn white when they are stressed. If you bring them home and put them in a proper tank they glow. They change different shades of color all day. It's amazing


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## BHolmes (Aug 23, 2012)

Any suggestions as to what to add to the scape/plants/fish/equipment? Here are some fish pics while I wait for the plants to grow


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## dprais1 (Sep 12, 2012)

Hey, I'm about to do a similar build this week on my 75 gal. Those red rainbows are great do you happen to know which species they are?

PS- I really like how you have your driftwood in there


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## BHolmes (Aug 23, 2012)

Thanks! The Red Rainbows are Glossolepis incisus.


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## BHolmes (Aug 23, 2012)

Week 1 Update:
Everything is going good! All of the plants are rooting in and shooting up. I did manage to fry half of the bacopa because I left it out of the water for too long. I went full retard on that one so now it's all dinky in the corner. It is beginning to recover though. New mediocre cell pics!


Enjoy!


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## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

Very good start. I really like the rainbows and my favorite tank on this forum had rainbows. I don't know if you have ever seen it because it's an older thread but check it out if you like.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=111354


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Cool! I love rainbows. I could stare at a tank with rainbows all day.

If you might like to get driftwood stumps to fill more of the vertical space you might shop around in the SNS here. There are sellers like plantbrain and one or two others with real nice manzanita at good prices.


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

Maybe its just me, but that's a lot of sand on the right side.....part of me almost wants to break it up by having a few stones with pellia or fissden growing on it. And then a little moss on the wood or something 

What plants do you have there now, and what fish exactly? I always like having everything well documented.


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## BHolmes (Aug 23, 2012)

> Very good start. I really like the rainbows and my favorite tank on this forum had rainbows. I don't know if you have ever seen it because it's an older thread but check it out if you like.


Thanks! That tank is massive and the scape is amazing.



> Cool! I love rainbows. I could stare at a tank with rainbows all day.
> If you might like to get driftwood stumps to fill more of the vertical space you might shop around in the SNS here.


I usually sit in front of the tank for an hour a day. Thanks for the info. I really enjoy the color and look of the Malaysian wood. It also serves as a solid barrier between the substrate and sand. That allows me to gravel vac the sand and keep it clean.



> Maybe its just me, but that's a lot of sand on the right side.....part of me almost wants to break it up by having a few stones with pellia or fissden growing on it. And then a little moss on the wood or something


I am keeping the right side open for the rainbows. Eventually the stems from the left will bend and flow to the right from the current. The rainbows are only about 1/3 to 1/2 their full size right now. Each one will be around six inches minus the blue rainbows. I am thinking of adding plants to the wood soon. Here are the specs from the third post:


> Filter:
> Cascade 1500
> UV:
> Coralife 18w Turbo Twist
> ...


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

shawnleon said:


> Your rainbows have great color! The bug briefly had a hold on me because of bold looking fish like yours. Of course I kept finding washed out duds.


The key for good bows is a good breeder with a pure stock. Most of the LFS stock is going to be washed out. They also grow slow, and are slow to develop full colors too. 



ua hua said:


> Very good start. I really like the rainbows and my favorite tank on this forum had rainbows. I don't know if you have ever seen it because it's an older thread but check it out if you like.
> 
> http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=111354


I LOVE Sanj's tank, he actually has two of them, the larger one has the big bows, his smaller (being 90g) has some of the medium and smaller bows like M.Herbertaxelrodi, M.Nigrans and M.Kamaka 



BHolmes said:


> Thanks! That tank is massive and the scape is amazing.
> 
> 
> I usually sit in front of the tank for an hour a day. Thanks for the info. I really enjoy the color and look of the Malaysian wood. It also serves as a solid barrier between the substrate and sand. That allows me to gravel vac the sand and keep it clean.
> ...


if I have my bows right the "blue bows" are M. Kamaka. Great fish too! stay small and in there older age get a VERY high back lol

Great tank, more branchy wood will get some nice antics from the bows. mine LOVE to swim up and around the my driftwood during courting times.


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## BHolmes (Aug 23, 2012)

> if I have my bows right the "blue bows" are M. Kamaka. Great fish too! stay small and in there older age get a VERY high back


That's correct. I feed them all high protein frozen foods 2-3 times a day to promote the high back.



> Great tank, more branchy wood will get some nice antics from the bows. mine LOVE to swim up and around the my driftwood during courting times.


I've been wanting to get a video of my reds duking it out over the two females. One turns a dark, rich red with silver and the other turns a bright reddish orange. The movements that they do to get the females attention is cool too. The two blues morph a white stripe over their back when they go at it. The boesemani are the only ones that just swim around.


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## BHolmes (Aug 23, 2012)

I just did a water test for the first time since October of last year. 
API liquid test kits: PH 7.5 / GH 6 / KH 6 / Nitrate 10 / Phosphate .5 / Ammonia 0 / Nitrite 0
45g w/c once a week every Monday. I'm only dosing Prime (Monday), API Leaf Zone (Monday), and API CO2 Booster 2x day.
Any suggestions?


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## BHolmes (Aug 23, 2012)

*Week 3:*
The Cabomba pulcherrima exploded! It's already 24" tall and ready for a trim. All the other plants are slow growers. I haven't really helped because I have rearranged them twice in the last two weeks. None of the plants have melted or died either. All of the fish are growing and showing more color.

Future Plans:
I've taken into consideration planting the wood. I'll be ordering dwarf baby tears to tie on the top and anubias nana to plant in the caves. I'm also ordering blyxa japonica and cyperus helferi to further fill-in the planted half. The stump for the right side to break up the sand is still being decided on. I found one that is 14" x 22" x 5" and it looks like it would go with the flow of the tank. 
Equipment:
The tank really needs an increase in flow so I'm going to add two Koralia 240's. That should eliminate all dead spots and decrease brown algae. I also need to quit kidding myself and dive into pressurized CO2. The plants need to look just as good as the fish.

Here are updated cell pics! One day I'll buy a camera, after I finish spending money on the tank. Enjoy!


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## BHolmes (Aug 23, 2012)

*Week: 4*
Everything is still going good. Nothing new to add except pics of new growth.


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## shawnleon (Dec 10, 2012)

*First Planted 90g Rainbow Tank*

The tank continues to impress me. Question: what type of stones are you using and where'd you locate them? I'd like to add something similar to my new setup.


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## BHolmes (Aug 23, 2012)

Thank you. They are Yamaya stones. I bought them a couple years back and can't remember where but they are easy to find. They have a nice blue-grey color to them. I'm pretty sure I bought the five pound box. The largest stone out of the bunch was found on the white river here in WA. It has the same blue-grey color with some brown streaks mixed in.


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## Digital (Apr 4, 2008)

Those red rainbows are awesome. Your tank looks great with them and the other boesamis


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## BHolmes (Aug 23, 2012)

Thanks. I'm really looking into adding more bows. My local lfs has an amazing selection


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## BHolmes (Aug 23, 2012)

It's been a busy week! First off, big thanks to Bartohog for the amazing plant additions. I did a complete tank tear-down and rescape in one night. New additions are:
Ludwigia inclinata Curly
Ludwigia Atlantis 
Echinodorus angustifolia 'Vesuvius' 
Anubias nana 
Blyxa Japonica 
Hygrophila Pinnatifida 
Blyxa Aubertii 
Fissidens
Riccia fluitans
Dwarf hairgrass

Out are:
Cabomba Purple, Red Melon Sword, Hydrotriche hottoniiflora

I also added MGOPM with a Flora-Max cap. I'm still waiting to tie down the Fissidens and Riccia fluitans to wood and rocks. I also need to add more micro sword here and there.

New substrate


New plants


Immediately after refill (2:00 am Thurs night)


Today

Sorry about the reflection. I'm too impatient to wait till tonight.

I'll be adding more close-up pic's of each plant this coming week


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## BHolmes (Aug 23, 2012)




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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

Wait, you dirted the tank now? How'd that go being that the tank was already established?

And where did you keep the fish while you did the re-scape? I almost want to do this for my 75 in place of just having eco-complete....then again I probably shouldn't mess with that too much.

Gunna be keeping an eye on this, we can swap ideas lol


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## BHolmes (Aug 23, 2012)

HybridHerp said:


> Wait, you dirted the tank now? How'd that go being that the tank was already established?
> 
> And where did you keep the fish while you did the re-scape? I almost want to do this for my 75 in place of just having eco-complete....then again I probably shouldn't mess with that too much.
> 
> Gunna be keeping an eye on this, we can swap ideas lol


Yup, I dirted the tank. It was really easy and everything has gone perfect since it was established. I haven't had any negative water parameters at all. 

I filled a rubbermaid bin with 30g of tank water and transferred the plants and fish. I drained another 30g into another bin to clean my filter. The water that was remaining in the tank was syphoned out. Some of the Flora-Max was formed into the border of the planting area and piled under the driftwood. I placed the driftwood, rocks, and formed the sand. The soil was dumped into the open area and capped with the remaining Flora-Max. I started slowly filling the tank while I planted it. After everything was planted I started adding the fish back in.

My plants are exploding with new growth right now! I think it's the best thing I could have ever done. Everything has cycled perfectly because the tank was already established.

We'll definitely swap ideas. I can't wait to see what you come up with for your build


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

I want to dirt it...but given that some of my fish can dig...probably a bad idea

Still waiting for my endli to be sold, ugh


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## BHolmes (Aug 23, 2012)

I had a pretty cool thing happen yesterday, a dragonfly hatched from my tank! I found a larvae attached to the corner. I poked at it to see if it was still alive but it looked kind of hollow. I plucked it from the tank and flushed it thinking that it didn't make it. Come to find out there was a dragonfly on the wall above the tank. There was another larvae that I found but he didn't make it. 





I purchased some S. repens and anubius nana from petsmart the other day. They have quite a good selection of plants now.





Here's an updated fts. I also added four golden barbs and two rainbow sharks. I think I might get four more golden barbs to watch them shoal in the current and plants. 





You could see that I have developed some bba and staghorn on some plants. Hopefully I could find a couple of true sae's at the lfs to take care of that.

And last but not least, there are two fry in my hospital tank. I just noticed them while I was writing this. I have no idea what they are but I'm thinking that the eggs were laid on the cabomba or micro sword. I just rushed and covered the filter intake with a media bag. I'm guessing the others weren't so lucky. Red arrows are the fry in the current feeding


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## BHolmes (Aug 23, 2012)

Four months into my first planted tank and things have been amazing. Ever since I switched to a dirt substrate the plants have exploded. I recently added Eleocharis parvula and Cryptocoryne wendtii green from petsmart. Its been a week and there's zero melt. They look very healthy and I almost have zero room to plant now. The breeding net in the middle is an African dwarf frog hangout. My daughters wanted frogs for the tank so I set up a "treehouse" with feeding dish, fissidens, and riccia. They sing and mate at night so we should have some eggs soon. Here's an updated fts:



The fry in the qt have been growing fast now. There are eight total that have hatched. Most of them are now developing fins and swimming all over the tank. Four more mayfly larvae have hatched too:



Anyone have a suggestion for a vibrant red stem to plant in the circled area? I think an addition like that would really look good:



Any other suggestions are more than welcome!


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## trailsnale (Dec 2, 2009)

never get tired of rainbows, nice tank!


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## dprais1 (Sep 12, 2012)

Alternanthera reineckii would be perfect


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## Phil Edwards (Jul 18, 2003)

Rotala macrandra would be nice there. The color and texture would both be a good contrast.


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## du3ce (Jan 26, 2013)

ludwigia red or rotala mini butterfly


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## BHolmes (Aug 23, 2012)

> never get tired of rainbows, nice tank!


Thank you! I might add another ten bows to this tank at the max. They're very fun to watch as they flash colors and mate. Food gets expensive though because these guys are big eaters. Once these new fry grow out I'm going to start breeding a different group every four months in qt.


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## BHolmes (Aug 23, 2012)

> Alternanthera reineckii would be perfect





> Rotala macrandra would be nice there. The color and texture would both be a good contrast.





> ludwigia red or rotala mini butterfly


Awesome suggestions. I looked over some pictures this morning of each and I think I'm going to plant some rotala macrandra red. I really like the bold, bright, and detailed leaves. This plant will definitely make a bold focal point in the tank.


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## sanj (Jan 11, 2004)

Nice Rainbowfish tank, I love the Kamakas, they are one of my favourate bows.


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## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Love the tank. Great job.


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## Allistor (Dec 19, 2012)

I love your tank! I have a question though. I've heard a lot of talk about rainbowfish inbreeding. Do you have any problems with your rainbows inbreeding? If so, how do you deal with it? I'm a big fan of rainbows and would like to start an all-rainbow community.


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## BHolmes (Aug 23, 2012)

> Nice Rainbowfish tank, I love the Kamakas, they are one of my favourate bows.


Thank you Sanj! That means a lot. Your tanks are a huge inspiration! I really want to purchase more Kamakas. Every month they shine more and more. How are your tanks progressing?



> Love the tank. Great job.


Thanks! Your 125 is amazing. I really like what you did with your moss. It gives me some inspiration for my sand/soil divider.



> I love your tank! I have a question though. I've heard a lot of talk about rainbowfish inbreeding. Do you have any problems with your rainbows inbreeding? If so, how do you deal with it? I'm a big fan of rainbows and would like to start an all-rainbow community.]


Thank you. I'm currently raising fry right now so I will keep you updated. There are no physical deformities in my mature bows. I would highly suggest an all rainbowfish community.

Thanks everyone for the positive feedback and everyone who views this journal. This is definitely a learning experience for me and all of the praise and suggestions pay off. I really want this to be a work of art. There are still some parts of the scape that I want to improve on. If anyone has any ideas for new plants or to replace plants with others let me know. I really need to get a co2 system...


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## Galaxy Hunter (Jul 12, 2013)

Wow has that grown in nice! Looks great !


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## BHolmes (Aug 23, 2012)

My first massive trim, rescape and bow breeding idea.
Here's a shot from the night before:


I wanted to change things up so I started with my battle against BBA, GDA, and stag. Instead of trying to kill the algae with chemicals and tricks I decided to focus on the plants. My first problem was that I was lighting my tank with four t5 HO bulbs and no pressurized co2. Since it will be awhile before I buy a co2 system I dropped my lighting from four to two bulbs (my two floramax). Those are now a year old so that might also be contributing to the algae. My next purchase will be two giesemann bulbs. I'm surprised that someone didn't gig my on that mistake. 
Next I increased flow by removing my UV sterilizer. I added that to my system because of my bows. I didn't want any disease spreading through my tank and wiping them out. Little did I know that uv messes with the different aspects of a planted tank so I'm moving it over to qt (makes more sense, I'm smart). I also doubled the size of the spray bar and positioned it towards the front glass so all the plants receive equal flow. The improvement in flow and distribution also maximises the next upgrade, fert dosing. 
I just started dosing NPK + Fe and micros with a double dose of liquid co2. Algae was taking over my plants, lower leaves were dying, pinnatifida was melting, and pinholes were showing up. Now I'm slowly learning this mysterious balancing act of the planted tank. With everything now mostly firing on all cylinders, and a little bit of patience, I should see plants exploding and algae becoming a controlled snack.
Now on to the trim and new additions! First, the tasty snack I was cooking up to fuel this eight hour adventure, applewood smoked ribs


Back to work. I needed a way to break up the border between the sand and add depth. This also sparked my idea for a mobile breeding medium for my bows. Dewalltheway's 125g tank gave me the inspiration and Jason Baliban showed me how to execute the idea. I planted the fissidens, riccia, and mystery moss (need help with ID) on slate tiles


You recieve very strange looks while buying zipties and a lufa

Help with mystery moss ID:



Now when the tiles grow out into lush mats, the bows will spawn on them. I'll transfer the tiles over to qt and hatch the fry. Once that's done I transfer them back over to the main tank and start the process all over again.
On to the rescape and trim:


I moved plants around to smooth out the scape and replanted fresh tops. Everything should grow back nice and dense and "flow" better than before. Here's the finished product at 5am:
Water murky from planting, trimmings everywhere, and glass not cleaned



I'll have cleaned up pics tonight once it gets dark. I'm excited to see how this one grows out. And last but not least, more bow fry are hatching in qt.


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## jpappy789 (Jul 28, 2013)

Love the tank and the bows! Super cool you're getting fry too.


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## BHolmes (Aug 23, 2012)

Thanks jpappy

Here's a new fts after everything settled in


Moon lighting


Does anyone have an idea on the mystery moss? I'm thinking Taiwan.

I also need some suggestions from everyone on replacing these 90deg elbows with curved tubing for better flow

The tubing is 3/4id


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## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Love Love Love the rainbows, but I am sure you could guess that coming from me. The tank looks great and the moss will look really good as it fills out. The moss looks to me like Christmas Moss. The one piece looks like a pine tree branch which is how I would ID it. That kind of moss is what I have in my tank.


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## wkndracer (Mar 14, 2009)

Seeing the comment you posted in a thread regarding MGOCPM I just finished reading through the four pages currently posted here in the journal. FANTASTIC STUFF!!!
Love the details provided as much as the results. roud:


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## newbieplanter (Jan 13, 2013)

dprais1 said:


> Hey, I'm about to do a similar build this week on my 75 gal. Those red rainbows are great do you happen to know which species they are?
> 
> PS- I really like how you have your driftwood in there


Nice tank set up, what's the name of the two fish in the first pic here.


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## newbieplanter (Jan 13, 2013)

dprais1 said:


> Hey, I'm about to do a similar build this week on my 75 gal. Those red rainbows are great do you happen to know which species they are?
> 
> PS- I really like how you have your driftwood in there


Nice tank set up, what's the name of the two fish in the first pic here. The red n blue ones. The red looks like a bosemani rainbow.


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## BHolmes (Aug 23, 2012)

> Love Love Love the rainbows, but I am sure you could guess that coming from me. The tank looks great and the moss will look really good as it fills out. The moss looks to me like Christmas Moss. The one piece looks like a pine tree branch which is how I would ID it. That kind of moss is what I have in my tank.


Thanks dewalltheway. I really like the xmas moss compared the the fissidens and riccia. It loves my tank parameters and grows fast. 



> Seeing the comment you posted in a thread regarding MGOCPM I just finished reading through the four pages currently posted here in the journal. FANTASTIC STUFF!!!
> Love the details provided as much as the results.


Thanks wkndracer. I'm really liking the dirt capped with floramax. Even when I uproot plants it doesn't even make a mess. My plants love it too. 



> Nice tank set up, what's the name of the two fish in the first pic here.
> Nice tank set up, what's the name of the two fish in the first pic here. The red n blue ones. The red looks like a bosemani rainbow.


Thanks newbieplanter. The red rainbows are Glossolepis incisus and the blues are Melanotaenia kamaka. The boesemani are the ones with orange tails. 

Here's a no-pic tank update:
Everything has been growing well and nothing bad has happened so I'm pretty satisfied with the results. It's been a month and all I've done is move around a couple plants and trim here and there. But during that time I've been contemplating a completely new scape. When I started this I was only working with what I already had and a low budget. Since it was my first planted tank I wanted to get the feel for it. Now it's time to push further...


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## BHolmes (Aug 23, 2012)

New FTS




I planted about twenty baby stems of A. reineckii 'cardinalis' that will grow into the circled area. The 5 stems of rotala macrandra red lasted a month before they all melted.


I added some bundles of micro sword in the sand to break up the border and add more detail. I tied them up with some string so when the fish pull them out I won't have pieces floating everywhere.


I ditched the riccia on slate. The whole bundle would detach from the netting and blast all over the tank. I spent hours removing all of it from the plants. 


The two surviving baby bows are going strong. They're about 3/4" long now and eating frozen bloodworms. In the next couple months they should gain their color. This is the best pic I could get with my cell


I stopped dosing with glut and the algae growth has stopped. All of the stag and bba has started to die and disappear. I'm pretty confident that it was because of the inconsistency in co2. Now I'm only dosing low levels of NPK, Fe, and micros every other day with a 50% water change every 2 weeks.


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## The Dude (Feb 8, 2011)

I absolutely love this tank! I've been working on my 75g and trying to get more Rainbows. I currently have 3 Praecox and 3 Turquoise. I'd like to double both. They are so much fun to watch!


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## Dave6265 (Nov 18, 2011)

Beautiful tank


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## BHolmes (Aug 23, 2012)

> I absolutely love this tank! I've been working on my 75g and trying to get more Rainbows. I currently have 3 Praecox and 3 Turquoise. I'd like to double both. They are so much fun to watch!





> Beautiful tank


Thanks guys! Rainbows are by far the most amazing group of fish. There are some new additions at the lfs that have my name on them. I'll also be adding one more pair of each species that's already in the tank.
Hopefully I could find a red stem that will want to grow in my tank. Now I'm even having trouble with the cardinalis. It's been melting ever since I planted it. Does anyone know of a hardy red plant that would grow without co2 and would reach up to 2 feet?


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## mattjm20 (Nov 2, 2013)

Hi there - just seeing this journal! Awesome stuff. I also have a 90G with four T5's, no CO2, and some rainbows. I have 5 Boesemanis now, probably with more to come once i figure out my stock.

RE the cardinalis, I have two of those doing just fine with no CO2, meanwhile I had two hygro corymbosa plants which are supposed to be easy just melt... I think sometimes it can be hit or miss depending on where your plant came from and what it was acclimated to. My Pinnatafida also melted a lot but new growth is coming back.


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## erimar (Oct 19, 2013)

I have always follow your threads, any updates on this tank😜


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## BHolmes (Aug 23, 2012)

My tank has been going strong! As of now it has been running for over a year. I started EI dosing and CO2 in January and it has made a dramatic difference. I wish I had a proper camera but here are some new pics:


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## The Dude (Feb 8, 2011)

Just gorgeous man. I'm using your tank for inspiration for my new 150 gallon in the new house.


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## acitydweller (Dec 28, 2011)

What a dramatic difference. love the layout and choices made. well done.


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

Nice fish and tank. What's the plant back right?


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## BHolmes (Aug 23, 2012)

> Just gorgeous man. I'm using your tank for inspiration for my new 150 gallon in the new house.


Thanks Dude! If you need any info on anything just let me know. It's been a huge learning experience.



> What a dramatic difference. love the layout and choices made. well done.


Thanks CityDweller! It's come a long way since that first pic last year. I've really been trying to work on my pruning and placement.



> Nice fish and tank. What's the plant back right?


Thanks Hybrid! The plant back right is Bacopa australis. Its now a 24 inch hedge. You should have seen how bad it looked when the tank was taken over by BBA. There were a few BBA covered stems that were 5 inchs tall with tiny leaves.


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## erimar (Oct 19, 2013)

It looks great! What lighting and filtration are you using? Are you still using miracle grow soil? Thanks


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## Sajeev (Mar 24, 2010)

This is one of the best tanks I have seen. Can you take a large picture and label the plants on the picture? It will be very helpful.


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## BHolmes (Aug 23, 2012)

Thank you Sajeev! It's taken a lot of hard work and patience.
Here are the plants:
01 Ludwigia atlantis / 02 My mind is blank on this one but I'll find out / 03 Bacopa australis / 04 Echinodorus angustifolia 'Vesuvius' / 05 Blyxa aubertii / 06 Cryptocoryne wendtii 'green' / 07 Blyxa japonica / 08 Anubias nana / 09 Christmas Moss / 10 Fissidens

Bump:


> It looks great! What lighting and filtration are you using? Are you still using miracle grow soil? Thanks


Thanks Erimar

Light:
Coralife Lunar T5 HO
Bulbs:
4 Giesemann Aqua Flora, 4 blue lunar LED's
Filter:
Cascade 1500, Coralife 18 watt UV
Substrate:
MGOCPM, Floramax cap, sand

Let me know if you need any other info!


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## Shidohari (Nov 6, 2008)

this looks so awesome. Just sayin.


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## BHolmes (Aug 23, 2012)

Thanks Shidohari! I'm always looking for improvements so I might change some plants around and add more water flow. There's definitely a shade problem with the background plants


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## BHolmes (Aug 23, 2012)

So I made some changes with the background. The line-up now is a hedge of Bacopa a. ending with Vesuvius. I also replaced the Xmas moss with Mini Rose moss. As you can see I added a Koralia 850 for more flow and it has helped out a lot. There is also a Cal Aqua Pearl drop checker for redundancy. I dropped my lighting down to two bulbs again because of algae. Even with high CO2 injection and full EI dosing, four bulbs sitting directly over the tank was too much. I think my Blyxa a. might also be flowering so I'll be updating on that soon. I've also managed to hatch and raise fry for my Glossolepis incisus, Melanotaenia boesemani, and Melanotaenia kamaka so I'm pretty excited about that. They're growing out in my 20g.


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## BHolmes (Aug 23, 2012)




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## AnotherHobby (Mar 5, 2012)

That is a really cool, and really lush scape! Nice job!


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## jmf3460 (Aug 21, 2013)

those irian rainbows are huge!! good job great looking tank.


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## knm<>< (Mar 18, 2010)

You filled in that 90 better than anyone I've seen so far. Props, simply beautiful!


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## Dantrasy (Sep 9, 2013)

Superb!


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## BHolmes (Aug 23, 2012)

> That is a really cool, and really lush scape! Nice job!


Thank you AnotherHobby! I've been following your build for the last year and you are very skilled and technical. I have definitely used your journal for inspiration so thanks again! I wish I had the same gear for my tank that you have for yours.



> those irian rainbows are huge!! good job great looking tank.


Thanks Jacklyn. They're about five inches right now and they dominate the tank. They always fight over the females. I'll have to make a video soon.



> You filled in that 90 better than anyone I've seen so far. Props, simply beautiful!


Thank you KNM! That's a big compliment. It's definitely taken a lot of work. You don't see many 90g on here but there are some really nice ones. If there's any interest I might start a 75-90g club.



> Superb!


Thanks Dantrasy!



> Thank you Sajeev! It's taken a lot of hard work and patience.
> Here are the plants:
> 01 Ludwigia atlantis / 02 My mind is blank on this one but I'll find out / 03 Bacopa australis / 04 Echinodorus angustifolia 'Vesuvius' / 05 Blyxa aubertii / 06 Cryptocoryne wendtii 'green' / 07 Blyxa japonica / 08 Anubias nana / 09 Christmas Moss / 10 Fissidens


Sajeev, plant 02 was Limnophila aromatica. It smelled amazing and is commonly used as an herb.


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## NotCousteau (Sep 25, 2014)

Gorgeous!


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## Sub1117 (Sep 21, 2014)

Wow. What's your tank height? & How did you get your blyxa to fill in so nicely?

Amazing scape man. Alot of inspiration from this


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## romien (Oct 19, 2014)

Those rainbows are just amazing! I think you inadvertently sold me on them!


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## BHolmes (Aug 23, 2012)

> Gorgeous!


Thank you NotCousteau



> Wow. What's your tank height? & How did you get your blyxa to fill in so nicely?
> 
> Amazing scape man. Alot of inspiration from this


Tank height is 24 inches. I do a full EI dosing with KH2PO4, K2SO4, MgSO4, CaSO4, and CSM+B. I just stopped dosing KNO3 because the tank produces enough for the whole week. I was having problems with very high N levels that were stressing the fish. My dosing schedule is on page 1. I also max out CO2 for seven hours a day and run two Giesemann Aqua Flora 54w T5HO bulbs 30 inches over the substrate for six hours. The Blyxa j loves the flow from the spray bar and the Koralia 850 pump too. Thanks Sub1117



> Those rainbows are just amazing! I think you inadvertently sold me on them!


All my bows really appreciate a large tank. My largest ones are around six inches in length. Sometimes I feel like the 90g isn't large enough for them to swim freely in though. I have had six jump in the last two years with two that didn't make it. The others jumped when I was in the living room and I managed to throw them back in the water. They are definitely a good active open swimming fish for a large tank though. The ones you see at the lfs might look washed out but give them a chance. You would be surprised what those fish look like after a proper diet and correct water parameters. Thanks romien


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

Tanks looking good. Those are also some killer rainbows. How many of each do you have?


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## BHolmes (Aug 23, 2012)

> Tanks looking good. Those are also some killer rainbows. How many of each do you have?


I have 3 Glossolepis incisus (2M/1F), 4 Melanotaenia boesemani (2M/2F), and 4 Melanotaenia kamaka (2M/2F). I also have 9 Glossolepis incisus and 1 Melanotaenia boesemani fry that are almost a year old in QT. There are also 5 Melanotaenia kamaka fry that just hatched. Once they all grow out I'll have a pretty big school of bows. Thanks Hybrid.


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## BHolmes (Aug 23, 2012)

Update!
I've been pretty busy with the tank this month. We made a trip up to Aquarium Co-Op and it was awesome (thanks Cory!). For my 90g I purchased six new bows, Anubias coffeefolia, Anubias congensis, Anubias hastifolia, two bushy nose plecos, and Bucephilandra sp. green wavy. I also picked up fifty stems of Rotala sp. H'Ra from Caique (thanks John!) and one Bucephalandra brownie phantom from Stealthypotatoes (thanks Dustin!). 
The background now will consist of Bacopa a. and Rotala H'Ra. I added the Anubias in the center to form a path through the Blyxa j. Up front next to the Anubias are the two new Buce. All of the DW in the middle has been removed because it was to small and the plants dwarfed it.
All of my trimmings are up for sale and there are a lot.

*Time to fill-in again*









*Buce & Anubias garden*









*Floating Rotala*









*New Bows*









*Bushy Nose*









*Buce green wavy*









*Blyxa a.*









*Holding tank for trimmings*
There's a lot more now


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