# James' Regular old 10 gallon



## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

This is my first tank journal, so with that being said any help on anything including this site would be awesome. I am not even sure after I start this, how to even get back to this LOL. This tank was started back on September 15, 2012... So as always criticize away, it couldn't hurt!


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## halffrozen (Nov 4, 2011)

Is there meant to be no air line/ stone connected to the sponge filter???


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## sayurasem (Jun 17, 2011)

Substrate would be nice


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

*Continuing on with my previous updates...*

*Specs

*Tank: A regular 15$ aquarium 10 Gallon

Substrate: Flourite Dark capped with ADA Amazonian soil

Lighting: Oddysea 24" T5HO x4 with daylight bulbs Total of 72 Watts; On roughly 5 hours a day broke up every hour with two hours in-between.
Ferts: Started with Seachem Products but now using GLA green starter pack as of December 12, 2012.

C02: Milwaulkie Paintball System started December 12, 2012 but before used DIY yeast techniques...

Filtration: Started with the Aqueon 30 but now have the Ehiem 2215 for super circulation and the use of my ADA lily pipes .



*Flora:*

Hemianthus Callitrichoides

Regular Baby Tears

Rotala rotundifolia; green

Blyxa Aubertii 

Java Moss

Christmas Moss

Rotala Indica

Dwarf Hair Grass bought from PetSmart

Giant Hair Grass; Elocharis Montevidensis

Sunset Hygro moved to the 36 gallon

Rotala sp 'H ra'

*Fauna:*

Started with:

One Ottos

Starting Colony of Cherry Shrimp

One Trilineatus Cory

Two Amano Algae eating Shrimp

Currently:

Four Ottos

0 shrimp 

0 Cory

1 Betta

2 Neons









Sept 15, 2012 Day four... Let's grow dwarf hair grass; Also, at this point I had added Dwarf Hairgrass I had bought from Petsmart. The other plants look horrible, I know but I had nothing else to add at the time and didn't want to many nutrients to cause algae etc, so I just added them....







Before my first attempt of rocks I had collected







This was after the rocks but still was looking for better ones along with the plants :/







Day 19







The layout with incoming plants; The new rocks that I finally found on the side of the road; boiled and prepped properly 







One of the Shrimp on Java Moss up close and personal.







Pregnant Cherry Shrimp







My one Trilineatus Cory







Oct 15. 2012 45 days into the process with tiny baby tears added in the front left; only two little pieces though







October 27 2012, 57 Days into the process







November 1st, 62 Days in...New filter, hope it works without putting in to much oxygen.... Also almost time to do some trimming! 







November 9, 2012 before the trimming 71 days into process....







November 10, 2012 After trimming 72 days into process







November 11, 2012 Top View 







December 01, 2012


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

halffrozen said:


> Is there meant to be no air line/ stone connected to the sponge filter???


 The sponge filter was added from my 125 gallon in hopes that the bacteria from it would help the cycle time.


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

sayurasem said:


> Substrate would be nice


 It was to come lol, I was just so excited to have this tank that I wanted to try and start the cycle process.  I now know looking back I should have got my substrate and hardscape first and laid it out AND maybe did a dry start, but at least I have learned from my mistakes


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

December 10, 2012







Paintball Co2 was added Same day... hope it makes a difference. It is going about 1Ball to 1-2 Seconds; was shooting for 1 ball a second but these setups are WAY to touchy


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

Also, if anyone is reading this, you can kinda tell that my blyxa is turning red and has patches with hair string algae on it while the blyxa seems to me that is slowly dyeing off. This is why I started the paintball co2 and the GLA starter macro and micro supplements....


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## AquaMD (Nov 29, 2012)

looks nice, I don't care for large rocks in small tanks - they displace too much water


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

AquaMD said:


> looks nice, I don't care for large rocks in small tanks - they displace too much water


 Never thought of it that way, thanks!


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

Got a question, I am having a stringy algae for the past few weeks; almost a month; so my question is what causes this type of algae and what can I do to permanently fix this problem because I thought my amano shrimp would take care of it but it has showed no interest to it. I have tried to remove it daily by cutting it off but it seems only to help it... anybody got any ideas?


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

I am now starting to notice that my blyxa Japonica has started to regrow. I added 5 CRS to the tank Friday and did a N202 dose yesterday and did my weekly 20% W/C today. I will have more pictures soon but I am wanting to show how badly the blyxa had melted either due to when I first got it of the shock of a new tank or because I was using Seachem products and now am using GLA green fert pack.


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## QQQUUUUAADDD (Feb 26, 2012)

Parrot, that's a trilineatus cory. Not a peppered. :biggrin:


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

Okay, I didnt know that, I can now research them thanks to you. The fish store I bought him from said that, so I went with it  lol


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## Fishies_in_Philly (Dec 8, 2011)

Parrot, how's the tank doing?


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

Thanks for asking, after I dosed the hydrogen peroxide I lost one and two shrimp a day a week later until I lost around 50 cherries and the 4 CRS I just bought. I am thinking that the hydrogen peroxide made the tank recycle. I did the hydrogen thing again this week and got the same results; the Ammonia has skyrocketed. I lost more shrimp. A buddy thinks it is because I just added Amazonian 2 and he thinks it is from it and to check my levels again in a couple days and not to dose or W/C until then. I did a 20 % W/C with water from my 72 gallon to try and take some ease on the shrimp.


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

Also, I was beginning to think no one reads my posts. LOL I will post the pictures of the landscaping I did later if you wanted to see


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## Smitty06 (Mar 25, 2012)

Yes, it is the new amazonian it leeches a bunch of ammonia for a week to 2 months IME.


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

Definitely glad to hear that in a way and not glad in another.... 2 months GEEZ, I hope these shrimps pull threw it :S Thanks for the info because I defiantly did not know that...


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## sjb1987 (Feb 23, 2012)

I would do daily water changes until things calm down


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## Bserve (Nov 4, 2012)

Ya it leeched for 7 weeks for me. :l


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## tex627 (Jan 11, 2009)

Doing a water change every other day will clear up your water and lessen the overall ammonia. I'm pretty sure ADG released a really well written journal for a mini-M they did.


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

This in an updated picture with the Amazonian in the tank after the rescape


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

I'm going to add baby tears in the empty spaces thanks to a few people on here. I will check the ammonia again tonight.


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

Added some hc, more is on its way in.... I found eggs I think from my Cory.... At least I think. I can post pictures if some one can help identify what they are...


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

This is my next tank project... Mr aqua 6.5 gallon


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## Calvin (Dec 28, 2012)

I may not post, but I do tend to check this journal more often than others. roud:

Well before I decided to create an account*


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

Awesome, Thanks Calvin... That gives me inspiration...  especially since no one ever says anything about this one  Thanks again!


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## Smitty06 (Mar 25, 2012)

I feel your irritation lol, no one commented on my journal except for when the pics didn't work...


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## zoragen (Nov 3, 2009)

Very nice. I like the big rock.


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## oscarsx (Mar 15, 2011)

Very good progression, wait until you get a bigger tank, you'll have tons of fun + headaches  

- oz


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## Fishies_in_Philly (Dec 8, 2011)

hey james, sorry, i got tied up in other forums in the past few days. looks good man. the ammonia issue will eventually resolve itself. that's why i keep my substrates simple  

and i agree with oscar, the real fun comes in with the bigger tanks....LOL


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

Why does the real fun come with the bigger tanks? I have few more months in Afghanistan and I will be back on here on a more constant basis to give updates etc. allot had changed especially with that ammonia strike and my wife who doesn't like tanks and had been taking care of it during my deployment. Soon I can express the awesomeness of trying to talk done one who knowsnothing about fish tracks to take care of a high tech tank etc with allot of algae problems....


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

So allot has happened but I wanted to show off how it looks now because everything got covered in every type of algae while I was gone and my wife had to peroxide dip them all and I had her add a. Milwaukee regulator and had to go to the er because of chemical burns from the Co2...


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

First picture is the tank add of today and the second is a side view of the japonica blyxia


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

I know it looks rough but I will submit more pictures later but it looks ALOT better and the last pictures I thought already looked a lot better from when everything was covered in brown algae...


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

Updated Picture:


Having a problem with acclimatizing shrimp... Here is the thread I started on that: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=409634


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

Updated picture from 8 days ago, but have noticed some BBA appearing and staghorn algae also


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## norbot (Jan 5, 2013)

parrottbay said:


> I had her add a. Milwaukee regulator and had to go to the er because of chemical burns from the Co2...


Say what now?!!

If it were my tank, I would at least _consider_ decreasing light intensity, at least just for awhile...as an experiment of sorts, see if it helps. If it doesn't, you can always increase the intensity again.

As you may have read, bba is often caused by imbalance between co2/light.

Staghorn I've had show up recently in my 29 on plants closest to the light. I _think_ I measured detectable ammonia with api test kit (I'm never too sure with those things) recently, and am _feeling_ like this _might_ tie into the stagorn.

I like your tank and the rocks too! Getting it to grow is frustrating, but remember, the journey _is_ the blessing!


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

norbot said:


> Say what now?!!
> 
> If it were my tank, I would at least _consider_ decreasing light intensity, at least just for awhile...as an experiment of sorts, see if it helps. If it doesn't, you can always increase the intensity again.
> 
> ...


Sorry it took me SO long to write you back, usually I def find a way to write everyone back immediately from leaving a post on my journal because I get so far and few between LOL. My wife did get CO2 burns from going off "how-to" online to hook up my CO2 but the difference was it said to unscrew it from the bottle one last time for something, and since it was talking about the actual CO2 bottles that have a nozzle and I was using a paintball hook up, she unscrewed it partially. She stopped due to the fact it started spraying CO2 out and her reactions was to immediately grab it to stop the CO2...

The BBA is better but is still on the large middle rock but I think I might have it worked out correctly now with the lighting/CO2.

I also had a noticeable amount of ammonia in the tank for whatever reason but it was just enough to show up on the test, so that could be the cause of the stag horn. I have been just manually removing it for now. 

As for my shrimp, I have had high nitrates, this being said it is the ONLY reason I can find for my loss of shrimp to include cherries...


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

Upcoming tank... Just received this in today.... Super excited and can admit the elegance and quality of the glass.


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## Psiorian (Jun 23, 2013)

parrottbay said:


> Upcoming tank... Just received this in today.... Super excited and can admit the elegance and quality of the glass.


Nice! What size?


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

It is a 60P, roughly 18 gallons.... SUPER excited but will be awhile to plan it out correctly, get a light, etc because I don't want to come in with "guns a blazing" and destroy it because I didn't take my time on something so nice.


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

***update***

I looked at the last photo and was a little embarrassed, so I had to upload these


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

parrottbay said:


> I looked at the last photo and was a little embarrassed, so I had to upload these


 Had to get some better pictures other than cell phone ones haha


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## synaethetic (Oct 4, 2011)

Tank looks great! What happened to the inflow lilly??


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

synaethetic said:


> Tank looks great! What happened to the inflow lilly??


roud:ha-ha You called me out and you have a good eye. I got the intake with the other ADA shipment and was just putting it on until I figured out if I wanted to use it on that tank or just wait till I set up the 60P. 

Also, thanks for looking at my tank well enough to know that something that small of a change! :thumbsup:Thanks for complementing it also! I think it looks really good for a regular ten gallon especially compared to other peoples ten gallons.


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

Question: I am having problems with keeping Neo shrimp/ Amano shrimp/ Nerites/ Assassin snails and the bladder snails I do have some have white parts of their shell.... I used to have cherries in it about a year ago until I had the ammonia spike from adding the ADA soil.

Tank Specs: Ten gallon
Fluorite Black capped with ADA Amazonian
Root tabs made from Osmocote Plus...
EI dosing from GLA ferts with weekly 40% WC's
Paintball CO2 with 1-2 BBS and drop checker stays a yellowish green.

All the levels are in check with TDS right at 500 and PH of 6.8-7. 

Have dosed Algae eliminator but that was back in March.

Any suggestions? Need to buy RO filter?


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

Video time!!!


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

*Update time!*

First and second picture is of my ADA furniture.
Third Picture is of my tank.
Fourth is of my HC in the tank still in pots pearling but any clue on how to get my HC or DHG to get a better green color or why it is covered in the brown dust like substance?
Fifth is of a snail in my tank that I have noticed that the shells are partially white and seem to be the same cause of why I am having problems keeping shrimp ALIVE?!?!?! Any ideas???
Sixth is the newest addition LOL


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

Here is my 36 gallon that is a work in progress; like no tank isn't LOL


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## greenteam (Feb 8, 2012)

The only thing I don't care for in the 36 is the blue gravel. But I have always been more into the natural browns or black myself.


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

greenteam said:


> The only thing I don't care for in the 36 is the blue gravel. But I have always been more into the natural browns or black myself.


 Agreed, the 36 was my "starter tank" that I got into plants with and my wife like the blue rocks and since I have SO many tanks, she got to pick the gravels in that one haha BUT in all honesty, I love my wife, she is a doll!


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## Socalsun (Oct 27, 2009)

Gorgeous tank; a nice HMPK you got there, too!


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

Socalsun said:


> Gorgeous tank; a nice HMPK you got there, too!


 Thank you for the awesome words! I appreciate you checking out my thread!


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## discoveringmypath (Oct 9, 2013)

I like your 10G. I just read through the whole thread and got to see the progression. It looks like it has come a long way. 

I'm just getting into planted tanks myself. you can check out my thread in the Signature below. If you visit it, you will see that I'm a newbie that has been asking tons of questions.

I like that diffuser, I need to get one for my tank.


Anyways, good luck with your tanks. Where is that ADA tank you bought a while back. Hope it's coming along!


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## TonyK (Aug 29, 2012)

The tank has come pretty far since you started. I think it looks great.


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

Thanks for the complements!!! I am about to do the regular weekly water changes LOL. I still need to set-up the 60P BUT I am not sure on what to use as lighting for it... so I am trying to do it correctly the first time and do it right . I am also about to buy the 90P set up tomorrow that is listed on the for sale section here! MAYBE! Here is my new baby girl that loves fish as much as I do! Here is pic my wife took to prove it! She really enjoys the 125 G in the garage floor because it is eye level with angels in it LOL SO MANY TANKS, not enough time or money for full set ups for all of them LOL


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

Just thought I could show off this years MC Birthday Ball pic with my wife, Semper Fi!


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## Bserve (Nov 4, 2012)

Where's the 90P?


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## ivan.f (Aug 12, 2011)

Hey parrottbay awesome tank! I wanted to ask.. did you trim the DHG for it to carpet out in the beginning? I mean what did you do for it to seed out and carpet?


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

ivan.f said:


> Hey parrottbay awesome tank! I wanted to ask.. did you trim the DHG for it to carpet out in the beginning? I mean what did you do for it to seed out and carpet?


 Hey Ivan,

Thanks for the complements! To answer your questions, yes, I did trim it to get it to carpet. I was worried at first that I would kill it etc but it worked out great and I still trim it every few months.


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## armada (Nov 19, 2013)

This has advanced nicely!


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## Kat12 (Aug 11, 2013)

parrottbay said:


> Just thought I could show off this years MC Birthday Ball pic with my wife, Semper Fi!



Happy MC Birthday! (Marine wife)


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

Semper! to Kat and thanks for looking at my thread guys, it motivates me to keep going .


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

A more up-to-date cell phone pic, so the quality is poor but you can see I need a trim lol....


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

armada said:


> This has advanced nicely!


 Thanks, sorry I didn't notice this sooner


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## Asu1776 (Mar 5, 2013)

Good stuff man. Look at that fat blyxa. Things growing like weed for me.


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## parrottbay (May 14, 2012)

Yes, it was. It was such a huge ball that it was touching the front and back of the glass ha ha I guess I need to up date this thread again.


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## Asu1776 (Mar 5, 2013)

Any update good sir?


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