Monday's first tank - 28G

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Well, as a general update, Mr. Mango became ill a few days ago and from what I can tell, died from pop eye and a fungal infection.

I'm awaiting an internal filter to put in the DT for a week or so, then move to the QT and work on cycling it so I can add some panda corys and possibly one or two honey gouramis. After Mr. Mango, the tank feels like it's missing something, so I think some honeys will brighten it up.

I actually found out from a redditor in /r/aquariums that Mr. Mango was a "sunset" gourami, a color morph of the thick-lipped gourami. I was under the impression that honey gouramis have many names (at least looking at gouramis in pet stores, a lot of names are thrown around for a single species), but seeing as Mr. Mango was 3.5 or so inches, he definitely wasn't a honey! They're a little smaller, getting about 2.5 inches. I'm always learning new things in this hobby :)

I also can't seem to find my little assassin snail, wherever it is, and some pest snails have been popping up, so I think I'll get another assassin and maybe some more amano shrimp as well since they're so fun to watch!
 
Last weekend I purchased 3 amano shrimp from The Wet Spot and another assassin snail from World of Wet Pets in Beaverton (same place I bought the first assassin and the previous group of amanos) and WOW those amanos are HUUUUGE. I even purchased the regular sized amanos, because there was a "large amano" tank beside it and i swear those shrimp were nearly the size of my index finger. They were bigger than some of the fish in the tank!!

Also, as soon as I put in the new assassin snail, the old one popped out, and now the two are very active and I can see them pretty easily! I guess it just needed a friend. Are snails social? I often see them crawling around together on the same side of the tank.

I also added some new plants (two glossostigma, I think) and now that my wisteria and green hygrophila are growing a ton it's looking a lot more jungle-y. I'll try to add tank pics soon!
 
Well, it's been a while since I've posted anything here!!

A little while ago I bought 2 more Amano shrimp at the Wet Spot (honestly, I love their shrimp. So big and hardy!) and they accidentally gave me a shrimplet as well. I thought it was going to die because it was soooo tiny, it was barely even visible compared to the adult Amanos, but it's grown so much in about a week or two, and I've noticed it's even bigger compared to yesterday! I must be doing something right if I can keep shrimp happy :)

Look at the little guy! Here

I also got a wonderful 72 gallon bowfront that I plan on putting boesemani rainbowfish, zebra loaches and panda corys in!! I most likely won't be able to set it up for a year or two, but it gives me plenty of time to research and plan. Here And Here

My quarantine tank should also be done cycling in a day or two, so I should be getting 5 panda corys and 2 honey gourami as well!! :)

As a bonus, here is another funny shrimp picture. Shrimpy Rider
 
It's been a super long time since I've posted anything here!!

Well, I've added my two honey gouramis to my display tank after a month of QT. Here's a picture of them in the smaller QT tank, Clementine (female) and Papaya (male). Here. Clementine has since colored up a little better, and is more a pale yellow! She's still pretty shy in the community tank, but Papaya seems totally unperturbed.

Tomorrow I'll be adding in the 6 panda cories to the big tank! And then soon after I'll go about purchasing 5 kuhli loaches and put them in quarantine :)

Everything is looking happy and lively! So pleased after only being in the hobby for a few months.

Here's an "evolution" album of how my tank has evolved since I set it up back in August.
Ta-dah!
 
I hate when I have not posted on my thread in a while and I have to dig for it.
Nice progression with this tank. Plants have really grown.


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Thanks for the nice compliments :)
I only have this forum and the rest of the internet to thank, I've never even tried to grow terrestrial plants before August haha.

Anyone have any recommendations for a good plant to add? Or where I could add it? Lol. Perhaps some type of anubias near the front right corner? One of my swords is looking a little sad, so I tried to add a few grains of Osmocote Plus underneath the sand, and capped it off a little more so help establish a root system (added more sand on the other sword too).

Still doing some research, but I'm looking into converting my qt tank into a shrimp tank after I've added the kuhlis to my 29g. Bamboo shrimp just look so interesting!
 
A pretty low demanding and colorful plant is Bacopa caroliniana. Bright green, oval fleshy leaves. Handles trimming quite well. Trim and replant.
Various mosses should do well in your tank.
Funny, my QT tank turned into a temp shrimp tank while the original shrimp tank was getting a reboot.


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I actually do have some bacopa in there, in the lower right hand corner. I used to have a lot more, but some of the stems rotted away, only 2 of the original 5 have survived (and gotten bigger!) Perhaps I planted them too close together?

And thanks! :D I feel the progress photos are really motivating and help me see how far I've come in only a few months. Before August, I've only ever owned feeder goldfish haha.
 
I did not see the Bacopa at first. Consider placing them in a spot without shading. Maybe along the back wall.
I used to have tons of Bacopa. Not at first. What really made a difference was DIY CO2.


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Yeah, lots of things are really hidden in there, I don't blame you haha.
I do have some diy co2 going on, but it's on the opposite side of the tank. Moving the bacopa closer to the co2 diffuser would be a better idea? I also dose with excel (when I remember), if that helps.
 
Plant spacing allows for better light penetration and plant growth.
I see you used to use a CO2 ladder. Are you using a diffuser now? When I used DIY I would let the bubbles (with and without a regular diffuser) float into the intake of the filter. With DIY I used a regulator diffuser; the ceramic diffuser IMO required too much pressure.
Even after I switched to pressurized CO2, I let the HOB filter suck in and distribute it throughout the tank.
You can do Excel daily.



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I did use the co2 ladder for a little while, but it didn't work too well, a lot of the time the bubbles would just stay it one place, and not move...I do use a little ceramic diffuser, and it's definitely not the WHOLE disk, but I have about 2 or 3 little streams of fine bubbles constantly going. The diffuser is hiding behind my giant hygrophila (behind the pvc pipes with moss on top).

I also have it positioned close to one of the two filters in the tank, so I do notice the little bubbles being carried around, thanks for the tip C:
 
I second the bacopa suggestion! I LOVE that stuff! It grows amazingly in my tanks! I'd also recommend jungle vals, they're pretty great too. Both of those will grow pretty quickly even in low light in my experience.

Tank looks AWESOME! Can't wait to see it finished!
 
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