# Gareth's 22 Gallon Tank Journal (This will be a LARGE post)



## fishpoop (Feb 27, 2003)

I'm going to be setting up a new 20g with a AH supply 55w PC i've got comming. I love the look of yours I need some good inspiration , good work  
what type of lighting are you using? perfect colour and brightness!


Jeff


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

That tank is lit using Panasonic Screw in Compact Flouescents. I discussed them here:

http://www.plantedtank.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=870

I am quite fond of these lights, not a single complaint yet!


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## fishpoop (Feb 27, 2003)

those bulbs sound to good to be true! :shock: 

If I had known about them a few days ago I could've saved like $70!

even though I'v got my lights comming already I'll try and find some EFDs in Kitchener for the 10gallon unplanted tank.

You sould spread the word a little louder I'm shure going to!  :shock:


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

I would buy them bulbs in a heartbeat... especially after seeing how nice this tank has grown in. All your tanks are just looking super Gareth ! 

I just recently saw a tank using these same bulbs at the bank where my wife works. 
I was stunned when he flipped the hood up ! He was even using them over one of those tall tanks... 35 Gallon I think ? 
I dunno... but even though he had a lot of low light plants I was surprised that they even grew at all in that tall tank. :roll: 

Ya never know til ya try I guess... *Great Photo's G !*


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

I moved some extra shrimp into this tank while I'm treating the 135 gallon with Copper. They are doing very well in here, and I think I will leave the smaller shrimp in here for good. THey are fan shrimp, an unknown species to me, but they are very pretty and seem to thrive in the planted tanks.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

I managed to snap a shot of 5 of the 7 filter feeding shrimp in this tank after doing a water change today. Its a little blurry as I was shooting "top down" through the rippling water.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

I added some new plants to this tank at the same time I added more to the 135 gallon. I am quite pleased with the result, the leaves are starting to turn red and I am seeing nice bold leaves forming.



















And here is a nice video of one of my Atyopsis shrimp (unidentified species). She was nice enough to pose by the front glass for me.

http://aquafiend.plantedtank.net/videos/Atyopsis.wmv


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## fishpoop (Feb 27, 2003)

cool video


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)




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## STAT 007 (Feb 26, 2003)

What kind of fertilizers are you using?


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

I use a capfull of Iron enriched Hagen PLant grow every two weeks, aside from that, nothing!


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Ok, time for an update. I added the Hagen Nutrafin CO2 kit to this tank on Thursday and I have noticed a difference already. I can't believe I didnt do it sooner! I will post a picture later.

Since the introduction of the CO2 I have pearling corkscrew Val that has grown over 1.5 inches since friday, Wysteria that that has oppened up some pretty fine leaves, and dwarf sagitaria that looks so vibrant I couldnt believe it was the same plant.

Not only are the plants doing well, but the fish have shown improvement too! I had a minor parasitic infection in this tank, and I was unable to treat the fish because of the invertebrates (There are over 25 shrimp in there now, and they cost a lot more then the infected platty and sailfin molly). After the CO2 was introduced the parasitic infection has cleared up! I'm sure it was coincedental but regardless, the tank is doing very well.


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## cousin it (Nov 1, 2002)

your tank is looking very nice 
the hagen unit should make quite a bit of difference to it, It'll be interesting to see how it does.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

So here it is, 1 month after the last picture, about 2 weeks after adding CO2. You can see the difference already!.


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## SNPiccolo5 (Oct 6, 2002)

Wow! The difference truly is noticeable. Looks great!

-Tim


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Thanks  I was pretty shocked by the rapid result. Even better was the reaction I got from the wife. Here is an exact quote:

"Ok, I'm convinced. When are you going to get CO2 on the 135 gallon?"


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## corvus (Dec 23, 2002)

GDominy said:


> Not only are the plants doing well, but the fish have shown improvement too! I had a minor parasitic infection in this tank, and I was unable to treat the fish because of the invertebrates (There are over 25 shrimp in there now, and they cost a lot more then the infected platty and sailfin molly). After the CO2 was introduced the parasitic infection has cleared up! I'm sure it was coincedental but regardless, the tank is doing very well.


I have no science to back this up, but I don't think it's a total coincidence. Been keeping fish for 20+ years, and the healthiest fish ever are always the ones in the planted tanks. Amano says it too "Healthy Plants = Healthy Fish".


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

I will agree with that theory also corvus... 
IMO the plants effects on water quality help maintain a better slime coat to protect our fish from disease so in fact... 
Healthy Plants = Healthy Fish is no accident. 

Tanks looking great Gareth... your plants are lovin the CO2, isnt it nice when our efforts are finally recognized by those who hold the checkbook? :lol:


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## aquaverde (Apr 15, 2003)

Can you ever! What are the dimensions of a 22 gal.? I'm not familiar with that size.

James


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## aquaverde (Apr 15, 2003)

Sorry, forgot to quote. Meant, "can you ever!" see a difference with the addition of CO2-
:roll: 

James


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

aquaverde said:


> Can you ever! What are the dimensions of a 22 gal.? I'm not familiar with that size.
> 
> James


12 x 24 x 17


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Here is an updated pic, changed the CO2 out today and the plants are happy as can be!


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## 2la (Aug 18, 2002)

Gareth, are you still having problems with GSA on the anubias leaves? One small bit of advice: Get yourself a rubbernose pleco (Chaetostoma thomasi and closely related species)--you won't be disappointed!


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## aquaverde (Apr 15, 2003)

How big do rubbernoses get? I've seen them around here a lot, but never considered anything but an Ancistrus due to size. My tanks are small.

James


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## 2la (Aug 18, 2002)

They're smaller than the Ancistrus, actually. But make sure they're not the kind with large black spots on the body--those grow larger and can be aggressive. The should have spots on the head and stripes on the body, or some light sandy speckling on both the head and the body.


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## aquaverde (Apr 15, 2003)

The ones I've seen were the light sandies, pretty bland looking, actually. If they're like the bristlenose, I won't see much of them anyway.

James


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## Work In Progress (Mar 4, 2003)

Gareth, that tank is a beauty!
Also love the avatar.
Is that a pic of some of your loaches?


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Thanks for the comments  The tank is so overgrown right now its just silly, but I dont have a camera to take pics for you guys...

My avatar is something I put together in photoshop, its 3 of my loaches.. It isnt done yet.. I have a few more to add


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

2la said:


> Gareth, are you still having problems with GSA on the anubias leaves? One small bit of advice: Get yourself a rubbernose pleco (Chaetostoma thomasi and closely related species)--you won't be disappointed!


Actually once the stem plants and the java ferns exploded they have sheltered the anubias from a lot of the direct light so the spot algae is receding. In fact I do have some leaves that I need to remove as they have yellowed a bit (snail damage compounded by too much shade)

This tank would not be able to house a pleco of ANY sort. The plants are so dense in here that I have a hard time finding the Neon's some days...


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## aquaverde (Apr 15, 2003)

Funny, I have green spot on Anubias in a tank, and Anubias that is 4" deeper in the same tank has not one spot. Very tweaky, the light intensity and green spot.

James


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## evan (Jul 4, 2003)

i have a question. how do yall plant so densley. do you use tweezers or sumthing to plant? i have a lot of trouble planting in myu 5.5 gallon. i just can't get the plants close together. it looks really terrible. im thinking of starting over. everytime i try to plant somehting... i have to dig around... and then it floats up and i have to start over again.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

I use tweezers... Special ones normally used for surgery... They are about 14" long


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## evan (Jul 4, 2003)

will any tweezers work? i found some pretty short ones in my parent's room. theya re like 3 inches.


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## digger (Feb 18, 2003)

Hehe, I'm sure your mom will be thrilled when she finds out you've been using her tweezers on your fishtank.


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## evan (Jul 4, 2003)

i don't think it matters. you can't tell anyways. i will just put it back. as long as my fish tank looks nice. 8)


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## Work In Progress (Mar 4, 2003)

evan said:


> i don't think it matters. you can't tell anyways. i will just put it back. as long as my fish tank looks nice. 8)


OMG!!!! ICK :aah:


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

Is that why my wife always gets this look on her face when I use the tweezers to feed un-frozen mosquito larvae? I am glad she is so forgiving... I remember my parents were not thrilled about all the little packets of frozen daphnia, cyclops, mosquito larvae and whatnot in our freezer. Kind of smelly... can't blame them :wink:


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## Guttboy (Jul 19, 2003)

Gareth,

let me get this straight....you were able to put those bulbs in the normal Incandescent hood that came with the tank WITHOUT MODS? 

Mike


Thinking about adding yet another experimental tank to the room! Wife is gonna fry me!


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)




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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Guttboy said:


> Gareth,
> 
> let me get this straight....you were able to put those bulbs in the normal Incandescent hood that came with the tank WITHOUT MODS?
> 
> ...


Thats right.. no mods at all! the bulbs just screwed in  I set my mom up with a small tank just like this because it was so easy for her to do.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)




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## evan (Jul 4, 2003)

dammm... that is some nice growth. good job!


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Thanks  The funny thing is.. I stopped using CO2 in this tank.... This is just normal slow growth


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## hubbahubbahehe (Sep 13, 2003)

Evan How did you manage to get 2 million watts underneath your tank!!! WHOA~!!! I crack up everytime i see that!! Talk about COMPACT fluorescent hehe


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## hubbahubbahehe (Sep 13, 2003)

Gareth that's a beautiful tank you got. I saved it on my favorites list. this is the one with soil underlayer right?


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Nope! this is one where I used standard Aquarium Gravel. The bottom inch is a very fine mix that is kind of compact, but the top inch is a course grade. Mulm accumulates between the two layers where the plant roots tend to grow.


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

I really like this tank, it doesn't have that "pruned" look that so many are after, although I am sure you spend quite some time to keep the plants from mis-behaving. It shows that you don't need an expensive substrate to get excellent growth. Why did you discontinue the CO2 addition? Less work pruning plants? I considered that one of the three things that need to be balanced... Light, ferts and CO2?


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

I dont fertilize this tank, I dont provide CO2, and I only prune once a month (if that)

I like this tank wild... It always looks different, and it grows slow enough that I can enjoy the tank more often then I have to work in it.


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## hubbahubbahehe (Sep 13, 2003)

ohhhh you just got gravel in it? wow, that's great. it's not the epoxy coated gravel right??? 

so i'm guessing that the substrate had to establish awhile before the plants could prosper right?


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

The substrate took about 6 months to get seeded with enough mulm to make it usable. Its just natural river gravel harvested locally and sifted into various grades.

I attribute this tanks sucsess to the snails believe it or not. The malasian trumpet snails provided enough waste in the gravel to get this tank going pretty quickly. 

I started this tank with Wysteria and water sprite. It grew insanely fast, and died almost as quickly. I left the remaining leaves in the bottom to form a half inch litter that the snails quickly reduced into waste between the gravel layers.

After the initial planting and "composting" I planted this tank with the greenery I wanted and the rest is history.


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## hubbahubbahehe (Sep 13, 2003)

Gareth, that is some good, sound advice. so 6 months gives me an idea of how long it will take to seed my substrate. 

by the way, what substrate do aquatic plants usually grow in nature anyways??


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Well around here the aquatic plants are growing in mud mostly.. lol

We have some rivers and streams but there is very little vegetation growing in the rivers themselves, its mostly on the banks.

The lakes around here are mostly soils and various other grades of muck...


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Here we are today.. not many changes.. just filling in


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

I gutted this tank last night. There were sooooo many old Java ferns and ratty looking plants in here I just had to.

I removed a BUCKET of plant material!!! I will try and take some pictures tonight of the carnage.. heh


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## GulfCoastAquarian (Jul 30, 2002)

Now that is lush, Gareth! Proof that it doesn't have to be neatly manicured to look good. It would be really interesting to watch some fish with "personality" make their way around that tank. What kind of fish are in it now?


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Current tank inhabitants are a Croaking Gourami, 5 Neon Tetra's, 4 Platties, 3 Corries, a few shrimp, a gabillion snails, 2 Otto's and a small SAE....

I'm probably going to make this a livebearer tank and remove the Gourami and Corries...


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Well... I gutted the tank. Completely. It was a good idea though.. the 135 gallon looks WAY better now. The tank went from this..










to This (*shudder*)










To this!










I have documented the process on my site. Here is a direct link:

http://aquafiend.plantedtank.net/slatewall.html


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## cich (Aug 5, 2003)

Very nice! Good work.

--cich


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## Knetter (Nov 4, 2003)

Wow, that's an amazing difference! What have you done with your lush plants?!


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

I moved them all into the 135... The big tank was looking really bare.. the Java Ferns really helped fill it in. I am getting a few more ferns from my mother this week hopefully (they were originally babies from this tank and overtook 2 of her 30 gallon tanks!).

I haven't decided what else to plant in here yet.. but I think I am going to put a pair of Cockatoo Cichlids in here... The tetra's are all gone (a tragic python accident involving hot water.. long story) and the rest of hte fish now live in the 135 gallon.


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## aquaverde (Apr 15, 2003)

That hardscape looks great- congrats on an excellent job with the slate. I like the use of the pebbles and wood in the front. Just an all-around nice job.


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## hubbahubbahehe (Sep 13, 2003)

hey what is slate composed of?? i'm just making sure, it's inert right?? 

someone once mentioned that slate increases hardness but I just wanted to run it by you all.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

That is BC Blue slate, havested locally. For the most part its inert but I have had a few pieces with veins in it that did increase hardness a bit... I test my slate before I use it.


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## nornicle (Dec 29, 2003)

Tell us the story about the tetras and the python!! i wanna know what happened!


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Oh... well it was rather sad.. I was changing the water in this tank doing a serious gravel vac. I went to fill the tank back up before starting my slate project and walked away.

Apparently.. the water temperature shot WAY up.. and since this is such a small tank.. with almost a complete water change.. you can imagine the result.

I looked away from the tank for about 2 minutes but when I returned I had fish soup :-(


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

THe tank cleared up so now you can get a better idea of what she looks like. I'll be adding DIY CO2 to this tank when I get back from my trip in a couple of weeks. With any luck I'll have my new cichlids for this tank too


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## raykwonx (Feb 26, 2004)

Wow, can't wait to see your plants grow in. Thanks for sharing.


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## fishyboy (Nov 16, 2003)

updates??


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

No Updates yet, I've been away so I haven't done much with this tank.

I haven't found the perfect fish for this tank yet either.. I'm not sure yet exactly what I want.


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## pixelcrayon (Mar 24, 2004)

wow. your tank looks so much better from the previous post. cant wait to setup my co2. is that dwarf sags in the foreground?


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Thats all dwarf Sag.... heh.. I don't have a lot of plants in here yet.

I ahve a dilema... I might be turning this into a reef tank.. I'm not sure.... I may just replace this tank with another 20 gallon too.. this one is pretty scratched up (its 30 years old) so I could use this as my QT tank.


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## loachman (Jan 5, 2004)

how come all your dwarf sag grows upwards, and all mine curves downwards?? I guess too much light?? i don't know

that tank looks great.. keep up the good work.


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## fishyboy (Nov 16, 2003)

if its curving down you prob have to little light, not too much


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## loachman (Jan 5, 2004)

130 watts of CF and 2 3 foot NO tubes overdriven 2X over a 30 gallon... I would think that would be enough... anyways, i'm not trying to hijack this post ... sorry guys


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