FresH2O's 20g planted rescape

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1. General Stuff
2. New Stock Question
3. New Light (maybe)
1. Left my light on from the WC day. Did not discover it until the next morning. Oops. Got home from work and the DCs were blue and the bps less than one. Adjusting the fine needle valve is a pain but once it is done then it is usually "set it and forget it". My last CO2 refill was free but they gave me the same box...maybe the next one will be "free" as well. Hmmm.
2. Thinking of Pygmy cories or kuhli loaches in this tank...which ones? I'm thinking the former since they tend to shoal in midwater from what I've read. I'm hoping this social behavior will draw the embers and CPDs out from hiding.
3. Can't decide if I want to order another planted+ for this tank. When I put the glass top on to reduce evaporation while I was on vacation, the hinge really cut down on the lighting in the front. I like the planted+ but I feel with more consistent light coverage, the carpet plants will get better lighting and the background plants will grow upward and won't "lean forward" as much. The 24/7 sounds tempting with its dimming and color variations but the waiting period is discouraging. I've got some PayPal $$$ to burn.


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1. Good luck with that.
2. Kuhlies will always get my vote and in a tank with little open bottom their body shape seems better. *can't speak for cories because I don't have/haven't any*
3. If you can wait the 24/7 seems like a good idea. The 24/7 has a ramp feature(right??) and you can use it to "wake up" and "put to sleep" your fish.

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Kuhlis are my favorite fish but I also have both C. pygmaeus and C. habrosus. The cories are crazy-cute and remind me of jets on an aircraft carrier: they'll be laying peacefully on the substrate then out of nowhere take off, swim around for a few minutes, then land again.

I have 6 kuhlis in a 10g heavily planted with just dwarf sag and jungle val. They're always busy, either as a group or individually. I have one (at least I assume it's the same one) that regularly surface feeds with the Endlers at meal time!

Looking forward to hearing what you decide!
 
Fresh2o said:
3. Can't decide if I want to order another planted+ for this tank. When I put the glass top on to reduce evaporation while I was on vacation, the hinge really cut down on the lighting in the front.
Click to expand...

I also have a glass top on my 20 long.. To keep the hinge from casting a shadow I removed it and cut two pieces from it, about 1 1/2 inches long each, and use one piece of hinge at either end. Now there's a gap where the hinge was, but at least it's not blocking the light.
 
PerfectDepth said:
I also have a glass top on my 20 long.. To keep the hinge from casting a shadow I removed it and cut two pieces from it, about 1 1/2 inches long each, and use one piece of hinge at either end. Now there's a gap where the hinge was, but at least it's not blocking the light.
Click to expand...


That is a fantastic idea... I might look into trying that myself!


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I just did away with the hinge. I have a stingray behind the planted plus on my 20t. Keeps the the background plants happy and on a separate timer makes for a nice sunset/sunrise light.. 2 planted plus is overkill on that tank man.. maybe even a sat plus..

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Thanks for the replies!
Two planted+ a bit much for a 20L? Ha...I was thinking of adding a 24/7! Come to think of it, with the FugeRay as the secondary light i limited the overlap to about 1 hour. I may have to rethink the lighting.
If I did run two fixtures then the hinge should not be an issue. I have heard about the trimmed down hinge idea. I should try that.
I do like the open top but the tank lost about 1/4" due to evaporation since yesterday. I read somewhere that kuhlis are jumpers. A top would be handy.
Thanks for the comments on the Pygmy cories. I was perusing Batfish Aquatics and saw them listed. Batfish is located about 45 min away from me so that's a plus. I may throw in some otos to go with the pair I currently have.
The fish have been a bit more outgoing the last few days. I suppose a period of hunger might do that.


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I have my 29 open top, and haven't found any evidence of jumping kuhlies. In the QT tank they would hang out around the top alot, and again no jumps

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fish wrangler said:
I have my 29 open top, and haven't found any evidence of jumping kuhlies. In the QT tank they would hang out around the top alot, and again no jumps

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Click to expand...


I think driftwood or some type of rock that isn't sharp is a must for Kuhli Loaches to hide under. If you have any of that, they should be very comfortable. Plenty of foliage also helps (mine love my Java Fern). I rarely see mine go to the top of the tank; occasionally they will though. Also, 6 or more of them will bring out their most interesting behaviors and they will be more comfortable. I've never had Dwarf Cory Cats before, so I can't speak on behalf of them.
 
fishenthusiast said:
I think driftwood or some type of rock that isn't sharp is a must for Kuhli Loaches to hide under. If you have any of that, they should be very comfortable. Plenty of foliage also helps (mine love my Java Fern). I rarely see mine go to the top of the tank; occasionally they will though. Also, 6 or more of them will bring out their most interesting behaviors and they will be more comfortable. I've never had Dwarf Cory Cats before, so I can't speak on behalf of them.
Click to expand...


I just removed all of the DW and those empty spaces were filled with plants. If I get kuhlis then I would definitely carve out the space for DW.


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Ok, I removed the hinge from the Aqueon glass top. What a pain! I used a 12" taping knife and a 6" putty knife. The latter worked best. Starting at one end i slowly pulled the glass out of the hinge.
Good news: I removed the hinge
Bad news: I broke the front pane of the glass canopy. Fortunately I had another intact glass pane from an older glass top.
I cut off 2" from each end of the hinge and reassembled the glass top.
GhEjteS.png
Added the light baffle to cut down on the glare/reflection:
qcyhJ3d.png

Also, all of the BBA has turned pink.


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Good to hear that the BBA is dying! Your tank is looking excellent as always! What do you think was the cause of all that BBA popping up anyway? Think it might of been flow related? After I moved my spray bar and powerhead a couple weeks ago, I've only seen algae appear on the glass...no BBA or hair algae.
 
Fresh2o said:
Ok, I removed the hinge from the Aqueon glass top. What a pain! I used a 12" taping knife and a 6" putty knife. The latter worked best. Starting at one end i slowly pulled the glass out of the hinge.
Good news: I removed the hinge
Bad news: I broke the front pane of the glass canopy. Fortunately I had another intact glass pane from an older glass top.
I cut off 2" from each end of the hinge and reassembled the glass top.
GhEjteS.png
Added the light baffle to cut down on the glare/reflection:
qcyhJ3d.png

Also, all of the BBA has turned pink.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice
Click to expand...

What if any reduction of light passing through the glass can one expect?I used to keep glass tops on all my tanks but grew tired of the constant cleaning to remove buildup from evaporation on the glass..

sit in silence...
 
Oops, I did it again. ? Woke up to find the light on this morning. Was working on the tank last night and set the timer on manual ON mode and forgot about it. That's two times in three days!
I think the BBA in this tank was a result of poor hygiene (very infrequent filter cleaning, not using a fine media to catch debris, inconsistent water changes) and possibly less than optimal circulation (went from two AC50s to one). Regarding the latter, it's not just pump/filter throughput but location/direction of such.
I have no idea how much light reduction will be caused by the glass top. I'm going to leave it on and see what happens. I don't mind not having to do a midweek top off. As for mineral buildup from evaporation, there will be some but there is very little surface agitation from the filter output.



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Brookster123 said:
Stop it:p
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B006L...ital+timer&dpPl=1&dpID=41Fl5XUwCZL&ref=plSrch

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Click to expand...


That looks complicated. You want me to program a VCR next? Kidding, of course. That will allow me to do split photo periods. Neat.
Regardless of the timer I use, it's the fact that I was doing work outside of the normal light cycle and I needed it on. Was tired and forgot ???
Thought you were going to get me on the subliminal Britney Spears reference. Have you humming that at work would be classic.


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This is just a test. I host my images on Imgur and I have a funny feeling that some of the images are not accessible (server not found error).
If you see a pic of the beach, then it's working okay...
HSQvKvR.png



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