125 gallon build log

[neilanh]

Yes, the fish are all resident in my 46 upstairs. I picked them up the next day. that tank's getting kinda crowded - lol - so hopefully I'll be comfortable to start transferring them down to this one shortly.

Zebra Otos are what I picked up. You saw the rainbows I already had that are going in here too.

 

[Ziggy953]

Awesome! I'm glad you were able to get them!

 

[ingg]

I can't wait to see this thing filled out and stocked. Needs some more plants, you need to find someone ready to tirm some or something. Hee!

Those zebra ottos are awesome, have to hand it to you, that was a great addition.

 

[neilanh]

Hmmm, know anyone that might be available tomorrow afternoon?

 

[neilanh]

Alright, a little bit of changes today.

Just to recap, this was what it looked like this morning.

After a trip out to see Dave (ingg), a little rescaping, this is what we have now. I just refilled, so don't mind the bubbles. Not 100% happy yet, but definately looks a WHOLE lot different, doesn't it?

So, thoughts????

 

[neilanh]

Oh, I almost forgot. My first flower in the new tank:

Madagascar lace plant

 

[Glenc]

Very nice, love the new layout, wood looks great.

 

[David14259]

WTH? Flowers already??!?!!?!?! I've been waiting for a flower for a year and a half now!

It's looking great Neilan, I'm impressed!

 

[Ziggy953]

I love the wood in there!! Looks awesome!!!!!

 

[FishEggs]

Great lookin driftwood. i need to get some like that. Does the flower have any fragrance? I'm about to rescape mine and can't wait and i blame you.lol

Tank looks great just needs some residents now and a few weeks to grow out.

 

[marchmaxima]

It looks awesome Neilanh. Do you know what kind of DW that is?

 

[neilanh]

Thanks for all the compliments.

That's manzanita wood.

 

[An t-iasg]

You've put together an awesome tank!

 

[ingg]

Lookin' great man!

Is there something in that rear right corner I can't see yet? If not, might want to consider putting some of your stems back there.

 

[neilanh]

There's L. Aromatica back there, about 10 stems or so, but it's only up above the substrate about 3" right now. I agree it looks like a hole, but I think the aromatica will fill it in pretty nicely.

Why is my corkscrew val doing so poorly? what does it need that it's not getting?

 

[ingg]

Vals like harder water, and SMS sucks it all out of the water for the first few months.

Test KH, if it is zeroed out, try adding a little baking soda when dosing to get it back up into a readable range.

This is one of the reasons I kept hinting to do 3M. SMS does funny things to the water as it settles in - never harmed fish or most plants for me, but this is one type I killed for months. After it settled, it grew val nana like weeds.

 

[neilanh]

I have noticed my kH dropping out in this tank, as where my other tanks it's stable at 5°. That's why I haven't put any fish in yet, because I was concerned about that.

 

[pitt420dude]

It's really starting to look nice. I look foward to seeing it in a month or two when everything has grown up nicely. I like the DW and consider it an absolute MUST when going planted.

 

[ingg]

It'll hang on like that for a few months.

I'll try to find that formula I was using for the baking soda additions - it did work, but got tedious... tried to save vals with it, and it never did work anyhow, lol, but it may give you piece of mind.. it gets tough trying to have a steady PH during this time too, obviously, which never bothered anything, like I said - except, well, vals...

 

[neilanh]

I can live without the vals. They're easy to get again later. I'm more worried about the fish I want to put in. I'll be a tiny bit upset if this causes my otos and rainbows troubles.

I'm "testing the waters" with a handful of RCS I put in a few days ago. I figure if they can survive, then the fish will be fine. The trouble is finding them now to see if they're still alive. 6' tanks have a LOT of hiding room for such small animals. lol