Hospital tank reborn.

[Peyton]

Well after all the nice ten gallon tanks lately I thought I would give it a shot. Eco substrate. Lighting is 2 25w screw type CF with DIY co2. A few of the plants are in there temporarly until it's established. Already going through the brown algae stage next should be green hair then should be clear. At least that's what my 40 went through.

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b207/peglegburnout/09162006.jpg

The plan is foreground of elatine triandra and marsilea quadrifolia. Micro swords, and micranthemum umbrosum as midground. I haven't decided on background yet. Right now there is sunset hygro (to much plant for a 10gal IMO), rotala rotundifolia, myriophyllum simulans,
ludwigia palustris, cardamine, and ludwigia arcuata. Just have to see what grows best I guess.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Great job so far......

 

[rich311k]

Looks like you are off and flying. Nice job.

 

[dskidmore]

You going to keep using it as a hospital tank, or add on another?

I keep plants in my hospital tank, but some people disapprove of that.

Good job so far.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I personally like the idea of a planted QT. No need to cycle or add cycled material when QT'ing. Plus, when no fish in the tank, it's very easy to maintain a planted tank with no fish.

 

[Peyton]

It will have to stay as a hospital tank I guess. I don't have room for another tank. I have used aquarisol (which is the med I perfer for ich) in it for a week now with no sidefects visable.

 

[dskidmore]

I think it helps the recoving fish to feel more secure as well. Makes him a bit harder to catch, so you have to be willing to uproot a few things when he starts feeling feisty again...

 

[Peyton]

Just a little update on this tank. This became a cherry shrimp tank so I found out fast that dosing just about anything was a no-no. I have been able to dose k2so4 every week or so along with 1/2 dose of excel but thats it. Green spot algae is the only thing I've had a problem with so far, but it's not that bad really.

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b207/peglegburnout/12032006005.jpg

A pic of some of the shrimp and snails at feeding time.

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b207/peglegburnout/12032006004.jpg

One thing I forget to tell about in the original post was that the rock near the center of the tank has a root of java fern that was removed from my old cichlid tank. It sat out of water for 2-3 weeks attached to the rock. Honestly I forgot about it till I was trying to find a rock for this tank. It looked all dried up but I put it in the tank anyway. To my amazment it started sprouting new leaves! One tough little plant.

 

[drobertson]

Nice looking tank. It has filled in nicely.
Good Job

 

[dskidmore]

I found out fast that dosing just about anything was a no-no.

What were the consequences?

 

[Peyton]

I found out fast that dosing just about anything was a no-no.

What were the consequences?

I would find several dead shrimp, sometimes hours, after dosing. Excel and kno3 seemed to cause the most deaths. Now I just use 1/8 tsp k2so4 once a week and excel every other day at 1/2 the suggested amount. Have not lost a shrimp since.

 

[dskidmore]

Interesting.

Do you inject CO2?

 

[Peyton]

Interesting.

Do you inject CO2?

I was doing a DIY CO2 setup at first. I stopped using it after the first deaths started happening. I did my best to produce a stable enviroment for them and, of course, DIY is just not controllable enough. After I stopped using CO2 I continued to dose which lead to more casualties. So I've just stuck with k2so4 and excel along with water changes 1 or 2 times a month.

Before this tank I had purchased several shrimp for my other planted tanks and they would live for a week tops. That includes cherry shrimp, amano shrimp, and ghost shrimp. This is by far the longest I've been able to keep them. They are doing great and breeding like mad so far. I would eventually like to start a colony of them in a 20 gal tall thats not in use right now.