# FewestKitten896's Planted Tanks



## Reginald2 (Mar 10, 2009)

I know they're not super exciting, but I love livebearers. Things like Guppies (my current fish) swordtails, mollies... that type of thing. 

There's nothing exotic about them, but it's neat to see them have babies and see the babies grow up. Plus, they've got a lot of personality, not like an oscar or anything, but they get excited for food when they see you and are generally pretty lively.


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

Finished up the stand. Now just got to run wire through the back for the power strips and lighting


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## abe86 (Mar 26, 2014)

With some stain, that stand would look awesome. Maybe a door too. Great job.


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

abe86 said:


> With some stain, that stand would look awesome. Maybe a door too. Great job.


Thanks. I might have to try the stain on the back and see how it goes. As for the inside, I am going to put a 10 gallon tank in there so not sure about the doors yet.


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## SueD (Nov 20, 2010)

One angel (I love the black veils), a dozen rummy nose tetras and a school of some kind of cory.


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## thefishnoob (Jul 12, 2014)

+1 on the livebearers. If you keep alot of nice strains you could make money while enjoying your tank. Guppies, shrimp, cories, and an angel could work, right?


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## The Dude (Feb 8, 2011)

SueD said:


> One angel (I love the black veils), a dozen rummy nose tetras and a school of some kind of cory.


That would look really nice


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

I have never really thought about throwing in an angel. Don't these get fairly large for this size of tank? Or does the number of them come more into play when people want them in a tank (example: 5-6 angles in a 40 gal is bad but one would be ok)?


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## thefishnoob (Jul 12, 2014)

I don't think 4 or 5 Would be an issue until two pair off then you'd have to separate the couple. So one or two should be okay. They get around 9-12 inches, but a 40 is great for them.


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

I will definitely keep that option open. Still going to be a while before I get it going, still got another week to mineralize the dirt and then have to cycle it. But it is better to plan ahead


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

Fish that I have been thinking about for the future stocking.

Kuhli loach (I know they dig. I am going to have about a 1.5-2 inch cap over dirt)
Pygmy Corydoras (if I can't get a hold of any of these then I will go with some of the medium size ones if they stay under 2" would like to keep in the 1-1.5" range)
Otocinclus
Cherry shrimp (would like to get a nice breeding colony going before I add fish that would pick them off)
Amano shrimp
1-2 schooling fish species (unknown at this time)
Possibly 1 centerpiece (this is not a big deal but would like to keep this option open for my wife to pick out some fish to get her involved with my hobby)

I was also thinking about some of the Apistos and Rams but not really sure of this. I feel like the rams are over done, they are a beautiful fish though. The apistos are really nice also but I think they would limit me on Cherry shrimp being in the tank.


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

Almost there....I got the 10 gallon finally moved onto the new stand and rigged up a lighting solution for the 40b. I still need to add one more light in the center and I will be ready to add soil and cap it off.

Currently I am on my 4th wet dry cycle for mineralized top soil but starting to wish I would have just done mgocpm and been done with it. But I might as well continue with it as I am already this far.


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

Well after some major thinking, I am just going to do MGOCPM as my substrate. I have been doing this mineralized topsoil wet/dry process and it is going no where. I keep a little sample from each wet/dry cycle so I can see the difference and there is no difference. Also by the time I locate the components, (dolomite and muriate of potash) to add to the soil, I should have just gone with the MGOCPM and been done with it. So this top soil is going to be added around my house and the MGOCPM is going in the tank.


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

Addition of blasting sand around edge and filled it in with MGOCPM. I will add the red clay tonight and cap it off after work. I think I am going to fill half way and then do some water changes to get rid of extras for a couple days and then plant and start my cycle.


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

Got me a hunk of Malaysian drift wood today, there was a sweet piece of mopani but to expensive for my blood. Not sure how to put it but it has this neat little cave depending on how you lay it. Here are some pictures. Sorry for the cloudy water but seems my soil leached some color into the water.

Pointing towards middle









Pointing towards left


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

Ended up putting the "stump" on the right side of the tank and attached some java fern and anubias nana into the little crevices. Since Cryptocoryne lutea is typically a lower light plant, so I placed some of that under the left side of the stump as it doesn't get much light. I also added Rotala rotundifolia behind the log wood and it should overtime grow to the top of the water. I have a couple narrow leaf sag that I may place in the back right of the tank to create a nice contrast behind the melon sword.

The picture is not the highest quality, but will have to do. Been doing water changes every other day to clear up the water. On day one I already had nitrates and nitrites with a small amount of ammonia (0.5ppm) which probably came from the soil and from the seeded sponge. Now I am just going to watch those numbers.


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

Sorry about the stained water. Waiting for the cycle to complete to start doing some water changes to get rid of it. Some people like that black water but not this guy. Still trying to figure out some fish choices. I think in another week I should be close to done cycling. My nitrites have dropped a little and same with ammonia.

Anyways, I added a few more plants and moved some stuff around. It is still hard for me to imagine what this will look like when it is complete as I have never seen some of these plants full grown and not sure what is going to happen.


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

Added 11 pygmy coradoras today. Definitely glad I went with them over the larger species. Little buggers are hard to snap a picture of. Now need to figure out what else to get. Also added a couple amano shrimp.


















Moved the wood around also.


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## bigd603 (May 10, 2011)

Looking really nice! That's gonna be a great setup once all the plants fill in.


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

bigd603 said:


> Looking really nice! That's gonna be a great setup once all the plants fill in.


Thanks. Trying to decide if I want some sort of carpeting plant or something that would look good in the front.


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## pewpewkittah (Jan 14, 2014)

I like it!  That piece of wood is awesome, reminds me of pride rock. I think a delicate carpeting plant like DHG 'belem' would be really nice, so it doesn't overwhelm the scape.


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

pewpewkittah said:


> I like it!  That piece of wood is awesome, reminds me of pride rock. I think a delicate carpeting plant like DHG 'belem' would be really nice, so it doesn't overwhelm the scape.


I didn't even think about pride rock but yup it sure does. I wasn't able to find DHG belem locally but got a coupon in the ol' email from PetSmart and grabbed a tissue culture of regular DHG and Cryptocoryne undulata 'red' to finish up with my plants. I also grabbed some API CO2 booster (they don't carry excel), but not really sure about this as initially I was going to keep this low tech. I guess it won't hurt to throw a little in every once in a while.


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

Added 11 Rummynose Tetra and 2 Peacock Gudgeons (probably will end up getting at least a couple more). They definitely livened up the tank but I have a feeling I am going to run into feeding issues with the Gudgeons and the Cories competing against the Rummynose.


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

Haven't updated for a couple months. I did a major rescape and ripped out the dirt. Now it is just black diamond sand and osmocote root tabs. I also added some Italian val, jungle val, ludwigia ovalis, and narrow leaf chain sword.

I moved out the cories and last remaining peacock gudgeon into my 10 and added a pair of blue rams. My male died due to what I think turned out to be hole in the head disease so I picked up another male.


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 6, 2014)

i know this is a little off topic but you mention you lost a male ram to what you think i hith.

I have a 1 year ish golden ram thats been in QT for about 5 days now because I think he might have the same. I was wondering if you have any pics of the fish before it died. Or if you could describe what he looked like and what symptoms he showed.

My ram if perfectly fine in terms of activity level and breathing and color. he still eats fine and all. the only thing that has got me worried is this little white ish bump on his head. the bump is located in the center just above the eyes. its small and if its grow its very very slowly. otherwise sorta seems the same size. I am treating with 2 meds currently, one is prazipro and the other is metro.

Thanks in advanced.

Tank is looking a lot better btw, I like it


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

philipraposo1982 said:


> i know this is a little off topic but you mention you lost a male ram to what you think i hith.
> 
> I have a 1 year ish golden ram thats been in QT for about 5 days now because I think he might have the same. I was wondering if you have any pics of the fish before it died. Or if you could describe what he looked like and what symptoms he showed.
> 
> ...


Thanks. I am just going to let the tank do its thing. I may trim some stuff but that will be to just fill in holes. Other than that I am going for the whole "Jungle" look. I think I will possibly get rid of the rotala and let the vals fill in but haven't decided.

As for the ram, it started out as a small white discoloration on the scales above his eye (roughly 11/20ish/2014). It almost looked like a scar one could say (although it wasn't there when I originally purchased him). At first I thought it was a scrape as I just noticed it after they bred for the first time. As time went on it looked a little worse but I just assumed that it was normal for the healing process. On about the 5th of December the mark had gotten bigger.










I did a couple larger water changes making sure to get the water the same temperature as the tank. And, he continued to act normal (was eating fine). It wasn't until 8th that he lost color and wasn't as active. The spot on his head was a lot worse than what was in the picture by this time. There was a pretty good dent in his head and some of the skin was stringy looking around it but I never took a picture of it this far along. The mark on his head had some red coloring inside of the white. The next night he was a goner.

I didn't have a QT to put him in or else I would have pulled him a lot sooner.


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## ScubaSteve (Jun 30, 2012)

Looks great! I love 40B's...Why did you take out the dirt?


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

ScubaSteve said:


> Looks great! I love 40B's...Why did you take out the dirt?


Yeah, I'm pretty interested in this as well. I have MGOCPM in my 7.5 and my 20L. It has taken a while, but the leeching finally stopped in the 7.5. The 20 is a bit younger and still has some leeching left to do. Is that why you ditched it?

By the way, love the stand. I did something similar with doors for my 75. It's the journal in my signature if you want to check it out.


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

ScubaSteve said:


> Looks great! I love 40B's...Why did you take out the dirt?


It was just a mess. I screwed up capping the dirt when the soil was too wet which led to soil slowly coming up over the cap and then whenever a gas pocket would work its way up, it got pretty nasty and I was tired of cleaning up the top of the substrate. I really do like just the black diamond blasting sand only though. Plants are growing good, roots are awesome and only have to add root tabs every 4-6 months. Plus if I want to move something I can just yank it out and don't have to worry about a dirty tank.

Bump:


knm<>< said:


> Yeah, I'm pretty interested in this as well. I have MGOCPM in my 7.5 and my 20L. It has taken a while, but the leeching finally stopped in the 7.5. The 20 is a bit younger and still has some leeching left to do. Is that why you ditched it?
> 
> By the way, love the stand. I did something similar with doors for my 75. It's the journal in my signature if you want to check it out.


You did a great job on your stand. I have been wanting to add doors to mine but just haven't pulled the trigger on it quite yet.

I do like dirt. I have a 10 gallon that is dirted (MGOCPM) and have had really good success with it. I am not against it, just didn't quite work out with this one and didn't want to buy another bag to re-sift it.


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

Blue ram eggs tonight.


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

The eggs hatched but didn't get a chance to see the wigglers, I think the parents ate them but there is always next time. I added 10 ember Tetra tonight which I have been looking for locally for quite some time.

I am also thinking about getting rid of the Rotala and also the ludwigia repens and filling in the back with Italian val. The Rotala is looking pretty shabby looking and I feel like they both don't fit well with the other plants in the tank.


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## Dan110024 (Jul 14, 2014)

I think I can see that you've added the smaller tank in the bottom... Can we see photos of the whole stand?


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

This was taken a couple months ago I think.


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## Dan110024 (Jul 14, 2014)

I like it!


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## Blackheart (Jul 5, 2011)

awesome tank


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

Dan110024 said:


> I like it!





Blackheart said:


> awesome tank


Thanks.

I am starting to see quite a bit of hair algae and BBA so I think I am going to take out the 26W bulbs and run 13W bulbs tomorrow.


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

Few pictures of my newer inhabitants. I got a 20 long so I moved the rams and ember tetra into that.


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

Well my Blue Rams laid some eggs on Monday night and just saw some wigglers tonight. They are some small sons of b's though. She moved them into a pit she dug around the stone where she laid the eggs on. You can see little opaque colored things bouncing around. I tried to take a picture but where she put them they are impossible to take a picture of.


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

First day swimming yesterday. Unbelievable how tiny the fry are. Kind of funny to watch them as the male puts them in one spot and the female picks those up and puts them in another spot. I think they need some better communication.


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## lksdrinker (Feb 12, 2014)

FewestKitten896 said:


> First day swimming yesterday. Unbelievable how tiny the fry are. Kind of funny to watch them as the male puts them in one spot and the female picks those up and puts them in another spot. I think they need some better communication.


awesome! Looking forward to see how they make out!


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

lksdrinker said:


> awesome! Looking forward to see how they make out!


Yup I was pretty surprised they have made it this far. High ph and hard water. The only thing in there that might affect the water is a piece of driftwood leaching tannins.


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## Coralbandit (Feb 25, 2013)

The pH really only effects the eggs getting fertilized or not.
Watching the flying dust specs is great huh?
They are so small this leads to feeding issues sometimes.
Hope everything goes well for your fry.
Breeding GBR has been very fun for me.
Raising the fry is the real challenge, but it makes sense you are halfway there with free swimming fry.


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

Well I don't think things worked out very well. Even though I left a dim light on at night, I believe that the ember tetras snagged up all of the fry. I think I am going to pull out the embers and stick them in the 40g and just have this primarily as a blue ram tank. Hopefully I can trigger them to breed again here sometime soon to try again.


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## Neatfish (Jun 22, 2012)

That's probably my favorite rainbow fish with the yellow.


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

Little update. Got Bolivian ram wrigglers in the 40b and did a little rescape some time ago. Think I will leave it this way for a while. If anything I will add more plants, maybe some dwarf sag and some red ludwigia for color.


















And blue rams just laid some eggs. Also found some cool driftwood while I was walking around at the lake this weekend. Probably going to add some dwarf sag and some stem plants after a bit.


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

Added some microsword to the 40 in the front corners and also some dwarf sag and I think what is red ludwigia to the 20 long. Aponogeton crispus and boivinianus are finally taking off.


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## Coralbandit (Feb 25, 2013)

Your tanks look great.
Are the GBR alone in the 20?
I just started leaving an HOB in 2 tanks with new free swimmers!
Get a fine/good sponge to "prefilter" on the intake so fry don't get sucked up.


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

Coralbandit said:


> Your tanks look great.
> Are the GBR alone in the 20?
> I just started leaving an HOB in 2 tanks with new free swimmers!
> Get a fine/good sponge to "prefilter" on the intake so fry don't get sucked up.


Yeah they get the whole tank to themselves. I use those fluval edge prefilters about mid wriggler stage. The filter is pretty small for the size of tank so i am going to let it run constantly and see what happens. She should be laying eggs tonight or tomorrow as she has quite a belly on her.


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## andrewss (Oct 17, 2012)

great setup! looks very good  I like your stand construction as well


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

andrewss said:


> great setup! looks very good  I like your stand construction as well


Thanks.


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

Couldn't pass up a photo op of my pair.


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## rick dale (Feb 26, 2014)

*tanks*

Beautiful tanks. I like em . good job.


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

Got a batch of Bolivian ram fry. A lot more than last time.


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

So far everything is going good. I may have lost about 25% of the original fry but previously I could not get past the 3-day swimming stage and today I will be at 5 days. I have been using a mixture of first bites and frozen brine shrimp and they seem to enjoy that and can start to see it in their bellies. I think I have between 30-40 fry at the moment, maybe more, but hard to get a count as they are constantly moving around. I have also been doing daily to every other day 25% water changes to help with water quality.


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

Last ones didn't make it past 2 weeks but looks like I get to try again.


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

Got my blue rams a few fish to play with.


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

Finally found a scape I am happy with. I am adding some ludwigia sp red to the back and moving some of the rotala to my 20 long. Added a 36" beamswork pent hi lumen led light to this also and has made a huge difference compared to the 3 cfls I was using.


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## Italionstallion888 (Jun 29, 2013)

oh snap look at those plants


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

Italionstallion888 said:


> oh snap look at those plants


My s. Repens is looking pretty sad, looks like my sae or rummy nose keep nibbling on them so hopefully they will bounce back with the new light. Was the ludwigia I received just ovalis?


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## Italionstallion888 (Jun 29, 2013)

I had 3 types of ludwigia, 

L. repends 
Ovalis
L. sp. atlantis


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

Italionstallion888 said:


> I had 3 types of ludwigia,
> 
> L. repends
> Ovalis
> L. sp. atlantis


Awesome thanks.


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

I am excited to see how the crypt albida v. Costata will look after a few months. Has some nice pink tones.










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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

Long time since I have updated. Been doing some home renovations and getting ready for my son to arrive. Due date is Dec. 1.


















Haven't been trimming anything and my hygro shot out of the water and has been blooming flowers.










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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

Couple shots of my rams while feeding on some frozen daphnia a couple days ago.



















Full tank shot









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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

Didn't realize it has been so long since I last updated. A lot has changed. I no longer have any of the rams and got a pair of Apistogramme Caucatoides. The female decided she would see what it was like to live on dry land and unfortunately I was not home to tell her about life outside of the water. However, when I was moving the male to the 20 long and moving the shrimp to the 40B I did see a 2-3 fry that had survived. I think there is only 2 but sometimes I feel like there are three, but my eyes could be playing tricks on me. I purchased a handful of plants from bartohog and snagged a few CPD from a RAOK. One CPD only made it a couple of days but the other 4 are very healthy and extremely friendly, they don't get startled much like some people experience. Anyways, the tank has seen a handful of rescapes but I am going to leave it how it is for now. I think once all the plants start taking off it will be quite pleasing. I updated the first post with a list of plants and an updated picture. Currently the tank holds roughly 100 cherry shrimp, 4 CPD, 4 Ember Tetra, 1 Oto, and 2-3 apisto fry that will eventually move to the 20L as soon as they big enough to not be gobbled up by their dad.


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## IntotheWRX (May 13, 2016)

very pleasing looking tank. i like your arrangement and cool selection of plants


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

IntotheWRX said:


> very pleasing looking tank. i like your arrangement and cool selection of plants


Thanks. Being low tech it will take quite some time to fill in but it definitely makes it a lot easier to maintain.


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

Did some major changes. Top tank is now high tech, lost some plants as i was waiting on my setup but picked up some new ones. Bottom tank is gonna hold some multies.































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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

First off, Congratulations on your son!  

Secondly, loving the tank. For some reason it has a natural feel and it gives off more of a relaxation kind of feel (ik weird) rather than an aquascape would. Like I could stare at that for a while and not get bored lol! Good job on the tank!


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

BettaBettas said:


> First off, Congratulations on your son!
> 
> Secondly, loving the tank. For some reason it has a natural feel and it gives off more of a relaxation kind of feel (ik weird) rather than an aquascape would. Like I could stare at that for a while and not get bored lol! Good job on the tank!


Thank you!

The plants are transitioning quite nicely and I snagged some multies on Friday, they are quite fascinating to watch. Will try to post some pictures today.

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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

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## Nlewis (Dec 1, 2015)

I've always wanted to try some shell dwellers


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## FewestKitten896 (Dec 13, 2013)

Nlewis said:


> I've always wanted to try some shell dwellers


They are awesome. I am glad I got them, plus it is nice for a change to not have to worry about plant health in this tank. The water out of the tap is already hard and has a high pH which is perfect for their environment. Can't wait to see how they do in the long haul.


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