"New" 55g Project

[Valous]

Tank looks great. I think it helps that the plants are full and lush before you aquascaped the 55. Makes it a little easier to see how the tanks would be as it matured.

 

[Batt4Christ]

The amazon sword was the "most mature". I left a string of daughter plants attached- and just planted them out along/behind the wood.

But yes, having mostly mature plants helped. Keeping my eye open when walking around a local small river near my father's house also was a key (the wood and rocks).

I do wish for more room front-to-back for the sword to spread out more naturally.

Thanks again for the kind words

 

[Batt4Christ]

Well-- after wondering if our first Bristlenose Pleco was male or female--- I believe I can confidently say he is a "he". A few weeks ago he developed a characteristic red spot on his back behind his head. Now he has distinct "bristles" not only around the edge of his lip, but now growing them down the middle of his "nose".

 

[Batt4Christ]

Time for an update on both tanks:

55g is growing like crazy. Because I have been so crunched for time, I just threw away a bunch of water sprite. That being said, it's growing back rapidly. Further- the 'sprite in the 29g are pretty much covering the surface. So for those concerned about the "little" 29g going bare... I got pics for that too:




The 55

And a close up:



And the old 29g:



And a close up of the growth:

 

[Batt4Christ]

Time for an update after major trimming.

The water sprite, wisteria, and ludwigia had gotten awfully overgrown. Fish were getting crowded, and my crinum wasnt getting enough light. I wish I had taken a before pic..

 

[Batt4Christ]

Time for updated pics!

 

[Valous]

Looks great. If u ever want to get rid of some of the sword I would be happy to take it off ur hand.

 

[redsea]

Time for updated pics!

The tank looks awesome, and nice Angels!

 

[Batt4Christ]

I'm still having issues with my Amazon Swords, but overall- the tank still seems to be doing well.

 

[Batt4Christ]

Time for an update. Please make suggestions on how I can improve.

I had to remove my rock pile on the left side of the tank due to them being the source of rising dKH. Did some driftwood prospecting at one of my favorite holes last week and found a few pieces that I boiled to death and added to both tanks.

 

[Batt4Christ]

And here's the 29g that I had to drastically rescape. It's a work in progress as well.

 

[HogFan]

These are great pics of your tanks. They look great and I notice that your water clarity is very nice. Just what all are you doing to achieve and maintain such nice clarity?

 

[rkilling1]

I think it's about time for you to move onto some more challenging plants. Try some foreground plants and some more difficult ones that aren't green.

 

[Batt4Christ]

These are great pics of your tanks. They look great and I notice that your water clarity is very nice. Just what all are you doing to achieve and maintain such nice clarity?

Water clarity hasn't been too difficult. My 29g has an AquaClear 50 loaded with two sponges, polyfill and a bag of ceramic media.

55g has an Emperor 400, filter pads stuffed with polyfill, media containers with peat pellets. Also have a Marineland HOT with polyfill and ceramic media. The only cloudiness I seem to get is if I do major rearranging, and even that usually clears in short order.

 

[Batt4Christ]

As far as more difficult plants- I'm game- BUT, I keep struggling with algae. The worst is what I can only figure is diatoms (or some other dark coating particularly on plants). I also have an ongoing battle with BBA, but it is. Early all confined to hard surfaces like the filter intake and outflow.

My water chemistry is ok- except nitrates stay way too high. I was dosing for a while, until the algae kicked into high gear. Then I noticed my nitrates were high - sometimes as high as the highest result on my API chart. 50% water changes bring it down some, but it jumps back up

I added some Salvinia minima in hopes that it would help lower the nitrates. Hasn't really helped.

I added an interesting new plant- Echenodorus "Fantasi". It came in. Via mail from overseas with all leaves trimmed off- so we will see.

There just isn't a retailer around here with more interesting (or advanced) plants. About the most "exotic" to me that I have is the Crinum calamistratum that Has been a bit disappointing.

 

[HogFan]

Water clarity hasn't been too difficult. My 29g has an AquaClear 50 loaded with two sponges, polyfill and a bag of ceramic media.

55g has an Emperor 400, filter pads stuffed with polyfill, media containers with peat pellets. Also have a Marineland HOT with polyfill and ceramic media. The only cloudiness I seem to get is if I do major rearranging, and even that usually clears in short order.

Well, I had a saltwater tank for a little while but I am switching to FW. I was thinking of getting a canister filter but I have an Emperor 400 and an Aquaclear with all the pads and media for both that i got for free and have never used. I have a 55 so I was wondering if i should just go with the freebies and save some money.

 

[Batt4Christ]

Water clarity and water quality are not necessarily equal. More often than I care to mention, early in my aquarium keeping, I had clear water (for a time), with way-too-high ammonia or other water issues. But it rarely stays clear if you have such problems.

That all being said - regardless of tank size, my own rule is - filtration needs to be a minimum of 5X tank capacity.

So - a 10 gallon aquarium should have a minimum of (10x5=50gph). But that is only a baseline assuming light stocking and regular water changes.

I prefer 10 X tank capacity. So a 55g tank would be 550gph. The Emperor 400 is 400gph. The HOT Magnum is 250gph (all in rated capacity - reality is usually a bit lower) . So I'm running a rated 650gph on my 55g which explains why clouds from rearranging tank items doesn't last long.

My 29g - the AquaClear 50 is rated at 200gph, so I'm at a little under 9X.

I really wish I had an AQ70 for it - but things seem to be doing well as they are.

One thing I learned about filtration, with some help from right here on AA - I haven't had carbon in my filters in a long time. It serves a purpose, especially if you have something you actually need it for - such as removing medications or excess tannins. But otherwise, it really doesn't help (and is actually adverse to planted tanks, as it removes nutrients the plants need).

 

[rkilling1]

As far as more difficult plants- I'm game- BUT, I keep struggling with algae. The worst is what I can only figure is diatoms (or some other dark coating particularly on plants). I also have an ongoing battle with BBA, but it is. Early all confined to hard surfaces like the filter intake and outflow.

My water chemistry is ok- except nitrates stay way too high. I was dosing for a while, until the algae kicked into high gear. Then I noticed my nitrates were high - sometimes as high as the highest result on my API chart. 50% water changes bring it down some, but it jumps back up

I added some Salvinia minima in hopes that it would help lower the nitrates. Hasn't really helped.

I added an interesting new plant- Echenodorus "Fantasi". It came in. Via mail from overseas with all leaves trimmed off- so we will see.

There just isn't a retailer around here with more interesting (or advanced) plants. About the most "exotic" to me that I have is the Crinum calamistratum that Has been a bit disappointing.

You have a great setup for some of the more challenging plants and I think you will get enjoyment out of seeing them in your tank. I am over due on a pay it forward.

 

[Batt4Christ]

You have a great setup for some of the more challenging plants and I think you will get enjoyment out of seeing them in your tank. I am over due on a pay it forward.

Do you have any specific suggestions?

 

[CorallineAlgae]

My water chemistry is ok- except nitrates stay way too high. I was dosing for a while, until the algae kicked into high gear. Then I noticed my nitrates were high - sometimes as high as the highest result on my API chart. 50% water changes bring it down some, but it jumps back up

Are your nitrates as high in both tanks or are they higher in the 55? It would make more sense if they were higher in your bigger tank.