40 breeder Apistogramma build

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BigRedsReefs10

Aquarium Advice Addict
Joined
Dec 25, 2013
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Well the time has come for me to attempt one of my dream fish so I picked up a 40b and now it’s time to set it up. Going to be using a Beamswork da full spectrum for some low to medium light plants. And plan on trying for the tree root type scape with some dragon stone and a few slate pieces to make some cave/overhangs for the Apistos.

Main piece of wood
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Rest of the wood I have, not sure if I’ll use it all or not
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Rocks
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Nice hardscape material. You can make some sweet caves with that stone. Moss them branches sumpin fierce..
 
Yah. Should be fine. I've had issues with acclimation before, once it takes hold it goes.
 
The java can be a problem..once established it can become quite unruly. Gets everywhere.
 
With the weeping moss being finicky to acclimate, should I glue it still or try something else?
 
I agree with brookster. The Java moss gets out of control and messy. I constantly dealt with pieces coming off, floating around the tank and getting sucked into the filters. They also tend to trap food and poop. Also, I had issues with algae growing on it when I had it on branches closer to the surface of the water. The amount of light needed for my floor plants was way to much for the moss near the top of the tank. Just food for thought.
 
Cool, thanks for the info. I’m going to go back to the lfs and pick up a portion or 2 of the weeping moss after basketball today. Might get a couple more crypt wendetti too, I like the look of those.
 
Well it’s up, couple pics but it was just filled so everything still a little cloudy
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And the fts

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I don’t like that rock in the first pick that’s angled up but I need it to help hold the wood down a few weeks til it’s water logged. And I need to find the old turkey baster to clean the rocks off
 
Ahhh the Joy's of a new setup. Looks good. Dont fret to much about layout, you'll get in there and move stuff as it progresses. Get the heavy rooted plants finalized sooner than later, pulling those root systems makes a mess.
 
Thanks brooks. I’m actually pretty happy with the hard scape at the moment, other than that one rock but I can move that where I want in a few weeks I’m sure. And maybe a couple more small ones for the middle sand, but I definitely want to add a couple more plants to the left wall area, try and hide the fact that I didn’t have enough sand. Wish I would of gotten another bag
 
Dragon and sieryu technically should mess with your water. They should buffer ph up and create a more basic environment. Not always the case. I've never had enough volume of their type stone to affect parameters. Idea in using this stone is that the tailor made water coupled with co2 injection will offset buffering from stone. Blah blah not that it matters here, just typing. Apistos and the plants you keep will greatly appreciate acidic water. South of 7. I'm 100% confident you have water down just fine, passing on what ive learned ( the hard way)
 
I’ll have to test it, hopefully the driftwood will help bring it down a little. Usually don’t chase ph and let the tank run where it’s going too but I have no idea what I am out of the tap anymore and add that with the rock and we’ll have to see. You think 12ish lbs is enough to mess with 40 gallons? I’ve also got 6 pieces of driftwood in it.
 
Well ammonia’s up to about 2 and we have nitrite and nitrates already so it’s on it’s way. Think I’m going to leave the shrimp in another day. And now I’m thinking about stocking, debating going with a South American theme with either 1 big or 2 small groups of tetras some pencilfish and cories, or a couple of my favorite small schoolers and some cories. Decisions decisions
 
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