# 65 gal long poor man's budget tank (sorry 56Kers)



## lisa_v (Nov 4, 2005)

hi fellow Michigander  the new set up looks awesome, nice job.


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## badmatt (Nov 19, 2003)

Looks great! I wouldnt change anything!


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

And I thought *I* was thrifty!



































:icon_smil

Great job, especially for your very first planted tank!

I think the driftwood arrangement is a little distracting, though, my eye has a hard time both figuring out where to start and where to go from there...


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## Phil Edwards (Jul 18, 2003)

lauraleellbp said:


> And I thought *I* was thrifty!


No, you're *cheap*. 


Nice looking tank!


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Phil Edwards said:


> No, you're *cheap*.


Hey, now! Look out buster, I'mma remember that... :icon_twis


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## non_compliance (Dec 1, 2009)

Thanks everyone... I appreciate the compliments.  




lauraleellbp said:


> And I thought *I* was thrifty!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
Which piece do you think is distracting? I didn't have GREAT pieces to work with, but I certainly wanted to get some height out of them. I think maybe I"m a bit better at working with rock. 


Here's 2 of my cichlid tanks...

85 gal hap/peacock




















75 gal cichlid bomb explosion


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

The big piece on the right draws my attention first, but then doesn't "flow" into the rest of the tank. All the pieces are "pointing" out in different directions, there's no cohesiveness... does that make sense?


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## non_compliance (Dec 1, 2009)

I do know what you mean...I probably should have turned that piece on teh right around... so that both sides were high, and teh middle was low.. which would have went along with the valley that I built.. Hmm... maybe I"ll have to make some adjustments.... I just put a boatload more plants in tonight too... :\


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## AgNO3 (Nov 2, 2007)

And I thought I had the cheapest stand.  I think that should grow in really nicely.


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## non_compliance (Dec 1, 2009)

I took some more pictures last night after I added a quite a few plants. Had a bunch of little guys left floating around in my holding tank... so I added them. ALso added a bunch of Lilaeopsis novae-zelandiae that was given to me recently. It was in pretty rough shape, but I was able to salvage quite a bit of it, and I think it'll come back nicely as the roots seemed to be in tact.

*Here is a pic that shows some of the new plants... filled in around the foreground, and under the big piece of driftwood. Also added more Rotala in the back, and more pogostemon*












*These next 2 pictures just show the tank with the fish swimming around... I upped the shutter speed to beable to make the fish less blurry... but now the pics are pretty dark. I tried to correct the exposure and dodge some areas, but they're still pretty dark... I think you'll get the gist though.*


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## RipariumGuy (Aug 6, 2009)

Great tank and photography!


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## non_compliance (Dec 1, 2009)

Thanks Jake, I can't wait to see it fill in...  I'm just hoping I won't have a maintenance nightmare on my hands...


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## RipariumGuy (Aug 6, 2009)

non_compliance said:


> I'm just hoping I won't have a maintenance nightmare on my hands...


What, thats the fun part! :icon_lol:


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## jmhart (Mar 14, 2008)

Great tank! The difference between the first go and second is really terrific. 

Well done!


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## non_compliance (Dec 1, 2009)

Thanks jmhart... I agree. I'm really glad I pulled it down and re-did it...


Jake, you're right.. I"m planning on having fun with SOME maintenance... I'm just hoping that it's something where I have crap water because i can't vacuum around plants and stuff like that...  Only time will tell!


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

The plants definitely help to soften a lot of those hard angles. It's looking nice!

I still think the DW is pointing "up and out" of the tank, though. :smile:


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## fishyjoe24 (Dec 10, 2009)

very nice, are the flying fox's the only fish you have in there? where are you guys finding your plants. I got a few from craigslist, and the others I get from the petsmart. they are in the clear tops fin cylinders on the shelf. the BIG LFS around here want so much money for plants. just some java moss cost me 10.00 dollars.


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## jmhart (Mar 14, 2008)

fishyjoe24 said:


> very nice, are the flying fox's the only fish you have in there? where are you guys finding your plants. I got a few from craigslist, and the others I get from the petsmart. they are in the clear tops fin cylinders on the shelf. the BIG LFS around here want so much money for plants. just some java moss cost me 10.00 dollars.




Buy plants from the swap and shop here, a lot cheaper! You have to pay shipping, but if you wait and find a package, it's more than worth it.


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## non_compliance (Dec 1, 2009)

Fishyjoe, you should definately buy plants on here when you can, or find a local aquatic plant group... there is a "swap and shop" section for selling and trading... 


Thanks for the comments everyone.. 


I only have ONE flying fox in there... There is a stock list on my first post, but I'll repeat it....

1 flying fox
5 denison barb (roseline shark)
2 geophagus surinamensis
8 black ruby barb
3 gold barb
9 pentazona barb
1 featherfin cat

I will probably end up adding a BN pleco, and maybe syno petricola


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

How are the Geos doing with all the plants? No digging them up so far?


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## non_compliance (Dec 1, 2009)

lauraleellbp said:


> How are the Geos doing with all the plants? No digging them up so far?


 

Oh yeah, I"ve been doing a lot of replanting..  Not terrible though. They just seem to get at the teeny stuff.. I had a bunch of little tiny stems that I figured would take back off if I planted them... those keep coming out, especially since most of them are along the front, and all the food seems to go down there. 

No worrries though, they haven't brought up anything bigger (knock on wood) and i'm no opposed to playing around with the tank after work anyways.... :thumbsup:

Still thinking about moving that big piece of driftwood... we'll see....


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## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

I think you are off to a really good start. I like the hardscape and your fish selections too.

I also like the Cichlid tanks. I bet they are fun at feeding time!


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## non_compliance (Dec 1, 2009)

Thanks.. yeah, there is a lot of action in the cichlid tanks... but they are getting a bit boring to me.. I'm having a lot more fun with the plants..


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## non_compliance (Dec 1, 2009)

Well a bit of an update... tank is STARTING to come around.. I had ran into a WALL before 1st from brown/diatom algae, then green algae... the plant growth came to a HAULT because the leaves were all covered. I moved the plants to a grow out container I have, which is apparently MUCH more balanced because the algae died and came off.. so I put some plants back in... I have been cycling them between the tanks to try to keep the algae off and bring them back from the brink of death... the DIY c02 and the EI ferts are DEFINATELY making a difference.. I added some plants last night to try to help with the uptake... hopefully they won't get build up on the leaves again.. we shall see. Big water change and clean up last night.. we'll see what happens! 


This picture shows my ULTRA-UBER-RARE "double-denison"...  











Here are some closer pics of the right, middle, and left.. I will be doing a complete rescape once I get rid of my little geophagus bulldozers... I hate to see them go because I enjoy watching them work, but I just don't have the tank space for them in another tank, and it annoys me they have flattened out the topography of my scape...


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## Roshan8768 (Mar 18, 2009)

Sorry to hear about your algae problems, and I want that fish


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## non_compliance (Dec 1, 2009)

Haha... that's the thing I love about photography... a milli second too soon or too late, and this picture wouldn't have been nearly as cool.. although I was NOT trying for anything like this. Purely chance. They're like PERFECTLY lined up though.. lol.. too bad the light quality is crap so it's all grainy and whatnot....


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## non_compliance (Dec 1, 2009)

Update: 

Here's some shots I took march 8th... Starting to come along!!!! I got rid of the geophagus because they were just digging way too much. NOt really uprooting plants. Just flattening out my nicely scaped substrate.  They also exposed the red calcined clay that I used as filler... (ugly color... you can see it near the rocks.)

So the next free weekend I get, I will most likely do a rescape... might take everything out and completely redo it.... we'll see what happens. Needs its first trim!!! Going to trim and replant... then move the wood... regrade the substrate... maybe flip the large piece of wood... move the HOB to the other side so the intake is hidden.. also have a ton of plants to add that are sitting in my holding tank. 

I have a regulator/needlevalve/solenoid/diffuser ready to rock... just need to get on the bottle... so that will be good too.


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## CanadianMatt81 (Feb 22, 2010)

Your tank is looking fantastic! It's a shame to hear you're going to rescape as I think it already looks fantastic, of course I also understand how much fun it is to make it all new and exciting again. Good luck!


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## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

Wow, that looks great!


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## non_compliance (Dec 1, 2009)

Thanks for the comments... 

I"m not going to change it much really... just kind of "reset" it to how I had it with 2 mounds on the ends and a low valley in the middle... with a cliff falling off that large rock... I also want to move some of the plants around.. like the hydrocotyle.. it's probably going to get too tall for the front (which i knew from the start, but just wanted to get it planted)


Wow... what a difference a month makes.. Once I started dosing GREEN LEAF AQUARIUM fertilizer EI style, stuff took off... ( http://www.greenleafaquariums.com/aq...rtilizers.html ) I"m not even using pressurized c02... still on the DIY baby bottle...

Again, notice the 2 denison barbs below.. lol.. complete luck.


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## problemman (Aug 19, 2005)

non_compliance said:


> Update:
> 
> Here's some shots I took march 8th... Starting to come along!!!! I got rid of the geophagus because they were just digging way too much. NOt really uprooting plants. Just flattening out my nicely scaped substrate.  They also exposed the red calcined clay that I used as filler... (ugly color... you can see it near the rocks.)
> 
> ...


how did u get the penny wort to stay so low? and also how much light do u have over this tank? im getting one of these on sunday and im glad i found your post.


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## Tamelesstgr (Jan 11, 2008)

I like the recent progression of the tank, nice job, it's nice to be able to partake in the hobby, it's nicer to do it on the cheap.


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## ldk59 (Jan 30, 2009)

Tank is looking pretty sweet n_c... it's maturing nicely.

All you need now is pressurized C02 and you'll be golden 

Larry K


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## seds (Jan 30, 2009)

ldk59 said:


> Tank is looking pretty sweet n_c... it's maturing nicely.
> 
> All you need now is pressurized C02 and you'll be golden
> 
> Larry K


I SECOND! The pennywort looks really cool.


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## non_compliance (Dec 1, 2009)

Thanks for the comments... I wish I had some cool trick for you, but honestly I didn't do ANYTHING... heh.. I have that 850GPH powerhead at the top, and that keeps things rockin pretty well... the pennywort just sort of attached itself to that log that it's growing up over, and then it started spreading both ways along the log. I was really happy that it did that. I would assume it would be easy enough though to do something similar by attaching it manually.

IDK59... I know!!! Once i get that, I will probably have to trim like crazy!!! I need to get the bottle from a local fire safety place... $65 for a new 5lb tank.. I just remembered I need a bubble counter too...



I have a 260w PC with 2 10000k and 2 6700k bulbs... good luck with your tank problemman!!!! POst pics!!!


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## non_compliance (Dec 1, 2009)

Gettin to be a jungle in there... I really need to trim and rescape... but still don't have time!!! This pic is like a week or 2 old.. the pennywort bush is really getting big. 

last










latest


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## non_compliance (Dec 1, 2009)

Short video of my fish nicely colored up...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvQFfkLaph8


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## non_compliance (Dec 1, 2009)

Still haven't had the time to do the rescape that I want to do... but I guess the plants are growing good.. lol... Axel says welcome to the jungle..












For reference, here's where we came from last time... month and a half like whoa












Also, my little pennywort bush came out of the dirt... I'll have to try to get it back down.. it was shorter and longer, now obviously taller and skinnier... fortunately it's held to teh wood!


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

!!! I have spent 10x that amount, and your tank is still nicer -_-


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

Hey, that looks great! The pennywort looks amazing, and the willow leaf hygrow is fantastic. Very nice, and I love the fish


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## non_compliance (Dec 1, 2009)

msnikkistar said:


> !!! I have spent 10x that amount, and your tank is still nicer -_-


aww shucks...  I like your tank though... the difference is, I used plants that I knew would be low light and were easy to grow. The hygro and pennywort and crypts and anubias are all super common, super easy plants... 




CL said:


> Hey, that looks great! The pennywort looks amazing, and the willow leaf hygrow is fantastic. Very nice, and I love the fish


 
Thanks a lot... you want some? (not the fish) lol


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

My darn plants won't grow fast enough for me. Then again, I am probably the world's most impatient person.


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## non_compliance (Dec 1, 2009)

I think your tank is looking pretty good actually... it's come a long way!!


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

I know, I look at my old pictures of my tank and think to myself "I thought that was cute?" Sigh lol


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## non_compliance (Dec 1, 2009)

Haha... absolutely.. happens to us all. You finish your first tank, you thought it was sooooo cool when you first got it together.. then you look back on it and you laugh at how crappy it was.


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

Darn thing was soooooooo ugly. I just don't get how I was so proud of it back then. lol


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## non_compliance (Dec 1, 2009)

live and learn.


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## Herbicidal (Aug 3, 2010)

Just over 7 months since your last post. Any new pictures? I enjoyed seeing all the changes in just under 15 minutes. :biggrin: That's why the journals are so cool. roud:


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## non_compliance (Dec 1, 2009)

I'll have to take a look... the tank has been through some bullcrap in those 7 months... lol... The brazillian pennywort came dislodged and became about a 6" thick cover over the top of the tank... it was growing emersed all over and coming out of the top. The hygros were doing the same. I was going to clean it up, but the fish seemed to be really enjoying themselves under the vegetation cover... seemed pretty natural looking, so I left it for a long time. Lots of duckweed. Lots of pennywort. Anubias was loving it! 

So anyways, coincedentally, I emptied all the junky plants out of it yesterday.... so I guess it's time for a restart... 

Something similiar happened with my 33 gal only with hygro.. so I'm 'resetting' that too... and soon I will be transfering my 5.5 to a 30c cube... sheesh!


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