20 gallon tear down and rebuild.11/30/06
- Thread starter mr funktastic
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mr funktastic
Aquarium Advice Addict
lol i have only been at this for a year now so i hope i am not at the peak of my growing abilities lol i am sure i have alot to learn. i actually looked at your tanks alot before i got into plants so u inspired me. i hope everything keeps growing so well. now that i have gregs ferts coming i will be working out a dosing schedule and hopefully getting rid of that annoying cloud in my tank. i like soo many of the different species in your tank that i hate the fact i have no access to anything like them. the only reason i even got the blyxa was becasue of travis. i am sure that since the plant started out in his tank it contributed alot to the health of the plant now. i cant wait to post some updated pics once ther ferts arrive. i really need a better camera though casue my pictures need some help.
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mr funktastic
Aquarium Advice Addict
ok i got my phosphate test kit today and i found out a big part of my problem. i have no phosphates in my tap or tank water. none. zip.nada.zero. so i think that may be why i am having such slow growth. all my stem plants are growing but nowhere near as fast as they should be. i am also hopefully going to be getting my pressurized co2 running. i have been having an extreamly hard time finding a place to fill the bottle. it is a small bottle and my local co2 shop says they cant fill it and i cant afford a larger bottle right now. there is a small aquarium shop that says they can fill it but i need to get there. its kinda far away.
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mr funktastic
Aquarium Advice Addict
well i got to that shop that claimed they could fill my co2 tank just for them to inform me they cant. i drove almost an hour to get it filled and no go. i am looking into a 5 pound bottle this week. i dont care about the cost i just want it to stop the hassle. i am also recieving gregs ferts tomorrow and will start my new dosing schedule. my glosso is spreading fairly fast now that it has grabbed hold and i have a bunch of HC floating in a cup which is also growing quite rapidly. i am waiting for my pressurized co2 to get hooked up before i replant the cuba. i just change the water in the cup 2 times a day with fresh co2 saturated water. more pics later this week 
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mr funktastic
Aquarium Advice Addict
well my PO4 is still screwed but i am working on it. i went to the fish store today and kinda blew some money. i shouldnt have but i did. i got 2 german blue rams, hopefully a make and a female i also got 4 more neaons to add to the 2 that i have so they will school. then as i was leaving i saw that they had a powerhead onsale so i grabbed that to try a different co2 diffusion method. i am feeding it into the powerhead now so when the impeller chews the bubbles is shoots out thousand of little bubbles in the tank. i am already seeing better pearling from it. my plants havent grown much really so i am not posting a full tank shot. but i got shots of the new rams to share. so here they are.
my male(hopefully)
my female for sure.
i also got 4 more neaons to add to the 2 that i have so they will school. then as i was leaving i saw that they had a powerhead onsale so i grabbed that to try a different co2 diffusion method. i am feeding it into the powerhead now so when the impeller chews the bubbles is shoots out thousand of little bubbles in the tank. i am already seeing better pearling from it. my plants havent grown much really so i am not posting a full tank shot. but i got shots of the new rams to share. so here they are. my male(hopefully)
my female
for sure.
Lonewolfblue
Aquarium Advice Addict
Hey Mr. F, looking very awsome......
Love the peach colored heads. Mine do that quite often, it's great. And yes, you do have a male and female. Just look at the pelvic fins, the males go past the beginning of the anal fin, and the females don't even come close to it. So you have a pair...
Love the peach colored heads. Mine do that quite often, it's great. And yes, you do have a male and female. Just look at the pelvic fins, the males go past the beginning of the anal fin, and the females don't even come close to it. So you have a pair...
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mr funktastic
Aquarium Advice Addict
thanks lonewolf i was really hoping it was a male. they seem to be very attached to each other. the female hides quite a bit but the male is out cruising around all the time. but when the female does come out she hangs with the male. they are both eating already but they prefer to eat all the leftover that fall into the plants rather than going to the top. the female also likes picking on my MTS lol. i am really hoping for a spawn but there is nowhere for them to really spawn lol the tank is soo filled with plants.
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mr funktastic
Aquarium Advice Addict
they have actually coloured up now. they were looking sad in that picture lol. i had just let them out like 5 minutes before.the female is coming out now. she was there to greet me in the morning with the male. they are also helping to make the neons school. i just need to get rid of the few male guppies i have and i will be done stocking the tank. it only took almost 3 years to stock it the way i wanted lol. plus i got the rams for cheap compared to what u normally have to pay. they were only 10 each instead of the normal 18. my next tank i do is going to be with apistos. but they are 25 a pair so i gotta save up. but i just started a new job yesterday so i will have lots of spare cash flowing soon. my next project is actually going to be a 5 gal salt mini reef with built in fuge. thanks for the nice comments guys.
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mr funktastic
Aquarium Advice Addict
well i gave up. i tried and tried again to get rid of that cloud and i just did a 50% watyer change and threw the blanket over it. i will give it a few days to clear up then try again to balance everything. i will post pics once it is out of the blackout. i really wish i could afford a diatom filter.
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mr funktastic
Aquarium Advice Addict
alright!!! here is my update after my 2 day blackout. nobody seems to care though lol i am posting to myself. a few plants didnt react well to the black out. my l.aromatica seems to have kind stunted itself. the b.japonica lost some red but is otherwise healthy. gloss didnt even take a scratch from it. infact it grew during the black out. same with the sessiflira. the l.repens rubin lost some colour. the the hydrocotly grew a few new pads in the darkness. moss came out untouched. and the crypts dont seem to have any effect on them either. the result.... slightly clearer water. not 100% the effect i wanted but pretty good. i will be closely monitoring the levels now to hopefully keep it clear. and here are a few pictures....
glosso spreading
hydrocotyl growing well also
and last but noit least the whole glorious tank!! i also added Ludwigia palustris thanks toa nice shipment of plants from glenC. it is beside the lrepens in the centre and on the left side aswell.
glosso spreading
hydrocotyl growing well also
and last but noit least the whole glorious tank!! i also added Ludwigia palustris thanks toa nice shipment of plants from glenC. it is beside the lrepens in the centre and on the left side aswell.
Glenc
Aquarium Advice Addict
Glad to hear and see you got the plants in good shape. Keep on posting pics and info, we all learn from each other ditto the HC advice from Purrbox, if you have the patience spread that little clump out and re-plant. It will spread way faster. I planted it in clumps the first time I tried it, it grew but stayed clumped for a long time, didn't spread well until I planted many little pieces. A pain but worth the effort. Do that and it should take off like a rocket.
ditto the HC advice from Purrbox, if you have the patience spread that little clump out and re-plant. It will spread way faster. I planted it in clumps the first time I tried it, it grew but stayed clumped for a long time, didn't spread well until I planted many little pieces. A pain but worth the effort. Do that and it should take off like a rocket.LindaC
Aquarium Advice Freak
Hi Mr. Funk, I've been following this thread and want to say your tank is coming along very nicely. I love what you've done with the moss over the clay pot, can you tell me how you kept it on the pot? I tried this a couple of time, tying the moss down with string, but due to the odd shape of the pot, the string and moss would always slip off and float to the surfact.
You also mentioned that your Blue Rams have nowhere to spawn and I want to tell you that they don't need a set place, they will spawn almost anywhere and usually do right on the subtrate, at least mine do. My pair once spawned on the leaf of my red tiger lotus and let me tell you it was one of the most amazing treats for me to watch this happen. They ended up eating the eggs as they usually do but don't worry, your pair will spawn, just keep an eye out for them. One of the best tip offs for me is when I try to clean my tank during a water change and contantly am attacked by the pair because I am disturbing a place that they have picked out and begun cleaning.
Good luck and please keep the photos coming!
Linda
You also mentioned that your Blue Rams have nowhere to spawn and I want to tell you that they don't need a set place, they will spawn almost anywhere and usually do right on the subtrate, at least mine do. My pair once spawned on the leaf of my red tiger lotus and let me tell you it was one of the most amazing treats for me to watch this happen. They ended up eating the eggs as they usually do but don't worry, your pair will spawn, just keep an eye out for them. One of the best tip offs for me is when I try to clean my tank during a water change and contantly am attacked by the pair because I am disturbing a place that they have picked out and begun cleaning.
Good luck and please keep the photos coming!
Linda
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mr funktastic
Aquarium Advice Addict
wellgloen and linda i originally did spread it out all over the palce in little 2-4 plants clumps in hopes of it spreading but the loach and mollies decided they wanted no part in that and uprooted it all. every single peice. i got rid of the mollies since then and will probable try spreading it out again. the 2 little peices of glosso that i planted and that stayed(the loach just simply refused to let and ground cover plant stay put) seems to be spreading fairly well now. i like the gloss and the way it looks so i will let that grow in(should only take a few more weeks) then maybe chop a place out and grow some cuba in there to see which i prefer. thanks linda the nice comments as for the pot.....
1. i broke mine roughly in half(less than half) so it could lay flatter in the substarte
2. it was alot easier to tie to the broken bottom casue it was slightly jagged giving the thread grip.
3. used fishing line not cotton.
4. spread it fairly thinly.
now that is christmas moss not java so it was alot thicked and much easier to tie aswell. it still isnt attached to the pot since it is a smooth surface and has nothing to grab hold of. but as long as u use the fishing line that is not an issue. that pot is so thick with moss it is hard to describe. and as for the wood lol i just shoved a small chunk of moss in a crack and a month later it is re diculus. by nowhere to do there thing i meant that there is no open substrate or even a plant with a large enough leave for them to spawn.the only open substarte is on the front area and i doubt they will do it there. i need to clear out a spot. i will keep putting up pics as things grow.
as for the pot.....1. i broke mine roughly in half(less than half) so it could lay flatter in the substarte
2. it was alot easier to tie to the broken bottom casue it was slightly jagged giving the thread grip.
3. used fishing line not cotton.
4. spread it fairly thinly.
now that is christmas moss not java so it was alot thicked and much easier to tie aswell. it still isnt attached to the pot since it is a smooth surface and has nothing to grab hold of. but as long as u use the fishing line that is not an issue. that pot is so thick with moss it is hard to describe. and as for the wood lol i just shoved a small chunk of moss in a crack and a month later it is re diculus. by nowhere to do there thing i meant that there is no open substrate or even a plant with a large enough leave for them to spawn.the only open substarte is on the front area and i doubt they will do it there. i need to clear out a spot. i will keep putting up pics as things grow.
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mr funktastic
Aquarium Advice Addict
alrighty!!!! i got a very generous portion of glosso from glenC or as i am going to be refering to him.... GOD!! lol he just keep sending me stuff. i guess thats the perks of living close enough for overnight shipping to only be like 6 bucks lol. well he gave me so much that i was dissapointed with how little i could use. sooooo i started trimming and thanks to him i rescaped most of my tank. just to make room for glosso lol. looks sweet now though. so i took out the long peice of driftwood that was going across the tank. and then i "trimmed" the moss... if u can call it trimming. just so u know what i mean here is how much i removed.....
this is a 5 gallon tank.java everywhere and the container is full of christmas.
so then i started trimming this and pulling that rearranging and ended up with this....
pic is terrible but u get the idea. i am now using the powerhead as my diffuser. i have an airstone inside of the powerhead so all the tiny bubbles escaping are crunched by the impellar. seems pretty efficient so far. i covered the entire front with glosso. should look nice once it gets thicker. left most of the plants where they were but now u can see them so it makes a big difference. what do u think?
this is a 5 gallon tank.java everywhere and the container is full of christmas.
so then i started trimming this and pulling that rearranging and ended up with this....
pic is terrible but u get the idea. i am now using the powerhead as my diffuser. i have an airstone inside of the powerhead so all the tiny bubbles escaping are crunched by the impellar. seems pretty efficient so far. i covered the entire front with glosso. should look nice once it gets thicker. left most of the plants where they were but now u can see them so it makes a big difference. what do u think?
WaterPond
Aquarium Advice Addict
holy crap!
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mr funktastic
Aquarium Advice Addict
lol those 2 words describe it pretty well. thanks waterpond
WaterPond
Aquarium Advice Addict
lol, your very welcome
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