New 60 Gallon (Now 40b) Build!!

[skywhitney]

Got the filter media changed out to 4 water polishing pads and 2 bags of ceramic rings.

I also fired up the 10g under the main tank as my fry tank. I counted 24 1/2"-3/4" fry and 73 >1/4" fry. If i can get them to two inches i'll get $2/fish store credit at my lfs

I'm having a little harder time getting Charger to eat now. He won't come to the surface now so i need to get some sinking pellets for him. The only sinking pelets i could find today were $25 a bag though! I got jinxed...lol

 

[George9]

Got the filter media changed out to 4 water polishing pads and 2 bags of ceramic rings.

I also fired up the 10g under the main tank as my fry tank. I counted 24 1/2"-3/4" fry and 73 >1/4" fry. If i can get them to two inches i'll get $2/fish store credit at my lfs

I'm having a little harder time getting Charger to eat now. He won't come to the surface now so i need to get some sinking pellets for him. The only sinking pelets i could find today were $25 a bag though! I got jinxed...lol

My apisto doesn't come to the surface either. He just goes half way. So what I do, is get pellets, and push them down by him and he'll eat them. Or, with your flakes, just swish them around in the water so they sink, or push them below the surface towards him.

 

[skywhitney]

My apisto doesn't come to the surface either. He just goes half way. So what I do, is get pellets, and push them down by him and he'll eat them. Or, with your flakes, just swish them around in the water so they sink, or push them below the surface towards him.

I tried that, he flipped out and hid for an hour lol. He's also fighting against all my black neons and platy at the surface and they're a lot to handle, bunch of ravenous pigs. He seems to like eating from the bottom so i can oblige that

 

[severum mama]

He'll settle down. He's just not used to all the activity. I had him in a 3 way divided tank with Cory zygatus on one side and Betta enisae on the other. The only tankmates in his compartment were some small BN plecos. If you can get some frozen bloodworms in there or something he will go nuts. They sink pretty quickly so should be easy to get some to him. If I had known you didn't have any sinking foods I would have sent you a small sample.

 

[skywhitney]

He'll settle down. He's just not used to all the activity. I had him in a 3 way divided tank with Cory zygatus on one side and Betta enisae on the other. The only tankmates in his compartment were some small BN plecos. If you can get some frozen bloodworms in there or something he will go nuts. They sink pretty quickly so should be easy to get some to him. If I had known you didn't have any sinking foods I would have sent you a small sample.

Its all good but i appreciate it. I just got some bloodworms and your right, he went crazy (along with every other fish)! I also got some "slow sinking" pellets that i'm letting sink in a cup first then i'll put them into the tank in his area for him

 

[George9]

Its all good but i appreciate it. I just got some bloodworms and your right, he went crazy (along with every other fish)! I also got some "slow sinking" pellets that i'm letting sink in a cup first then i'll put them into the tank in his area for him

Man, they sure do love bloodworms! Its kinda like throwing money into a croud of people, they go bananas lol.

Has he been eating the pellets too?

 

[skywhitney]

Man, they sure do love bloodworms! Its kinda like throwing money into a croud of people, they go bananas lol.

Has he been eating the pellets too?

No :-/ the other fish won't let the pellets reach the bottom.

 

[George9]

No :-/ the other fish won't let the pellets reach the bottom.

That is the most annoying thing ever. What I do is feed all the other fish, then throw some pellets down there, the others won't go for it as much because they are full. But make sure to soak them first so they'll sink faster.

 

[skywhitney]

That is the most annoying thing ever. What I do is feed all the other fish, then throw some pellets down there, the others won't go for it as much because they are full. But make sure to soak them first so they'll sink faster.

Thats what i've been trying lol. I might have to go fork out the $$$ for a good sinking pellet, my "slow sinking" pellets never sank after 4 hours of soaking so i finally just gave up on them. :-/ such is life i guess.

 

[Donkey Gun]

squeeze the pellets when putting them in the water to get the air bubbles out for now.

 

[skywhitney]

squeeze the pellets when putting them in the water to get the air bubbles out for now.

Thanks! Worked like a charm! Now if he would realize its food for him...lol

 

[skywhitney]

Update time. This will be long, sorry.

Plants:
The plant growth that im seeing in my tank is insane. I have to do a pwc on saturday so when i do that im going to take the diandra down to about half the height it is now so some light can get to the lower portion of the tank. Right now the Diandra is starting to shade everything and i see problems starting to form.

Im also going to remove the rest of the wisteria from the tank, I don't know what to put in its place though. Suggestions?

The Indica and Grandulosa has grown close to 1-1.5" so far and i might trim and replant those to spread it out a little

I have more water sprite plants than i know what to do with. My mother plant is forming new plants like it was about to go extinct.


Animals:
Everyone is doing great! I'm slowly but surely seeing a reduction in my pond snail infestation thank god.

I only have 3 ghost shrimp left that i know of but one of them is now berried so here's hoping that i'll start having some shrimplets (though i think every animal in this tank would eat them if they got a chance).

I now have a rough total of about 90 platy fry (seperate tank) that i'm learning to raise. There are an unknown number more in the main tank, and more every week)

Both of my Pleco have gotten about 1/2" bigger. The ABN is starting to grow his bristles and the Clown pleco is very seldom in the stump now and is making himself quite visible.

Now for Charger the Apisto...he's somthing else. He is super cool and his colors change with his mood so i'm starting to get a handle on his attitudes. He's starting to slowly learn that he can eat stuff other than blood worms. He seems to also be undecided if he wants the jungle or the stump as his territory. I think the jungle might be a little overgrown for him right now so a thinning should help.

Sorry for such a long winded update but i wanted to be thurough for my tracking as well.

 

[Donkey Gun]

Absolutely stunning! Am I alone here when I say to see this growth within 3 months is incredible! You definitely have this thing perfectly tweaked out. Many congrats my friend.

Now to my opinion... I would let it grow in even more. Do what you have to for Charger, but it looks to me like all the plants are getting great light.

Really great job.... wow. :O

 

[George9]

My god, the co2 is really working wonders on the plants. It looks amazing!

 

[skywhitney]

Absolutely stunning! Am I alone here when I say to see this growth within 3 months is incredible! You definitely have this thing perfectly tweaked out. Many congrats my friend.

Now to my opinion... I would let it grow in even more. Do what you have to for Charger, but it looks to me like all the plants are getting great light.

Really great job.... wow. :O

Thanks! I appreciate it. There is no way i'd have gotten it tweaked to this point without all the help i've gotten from the peoplehere on AA.

I want it to grow in but im thinking about thinning the diandra and planting more of the Indica and Grandulosa and letting those thicken out more. Itdoesnt show it well in the pics but the bottom of the tank is really shaded and i'm starting to see melting on a few of the plants so i want to remedy that before it causes more problems.

I got some new sinking pellets for all the fish today so i'll test them out tomorrow and see how they go over.

 

[George9]

I'm in awe over your growth. I looked back at the first pic when the tank was first set up. My gosh, wham an improvement. This is amazing what you've done with this tank! And 90 platy fry lol! Wow!

 

[skywhitney]

I'm in awe over your growth. I looked back at the first pic when the tank was first set up. My gosh, wham an improvement. This is amazing what you've done with this tank! And 90 platy fry lol! Wow!

Thanks man! I'm honestly super surprised that i've been a success with the plants. I have always been able to kill any plant much more effectively than growing them but since i started the tank it seems my green thumb is getting a lot brighter. It's even carrying over to regular potted pants, people at work are now asking my advice on how best to grow stuff and the plants i keep have been growing at a crazy rate. It's pretty cool, i never thought it would happen.

Well its more than 90...i think 3 of my females are dropping fry right now

 

[George9]

Thanks man! I'm honestly super surprised that i've been a success with the plants. I have always been able to kill any plant much more effectively than growing them but since i started the tank it seems my green thumb is getting a lot brighter. It's even carrying over to regular potted pants, people at work are now asking my advice on how best to grow stuff and the plants i keep have been growing at a crazy rate. It's pretty cool, i never thought it would happen.

Well its more than 90...i think 3 of my females are dropping fry right now

Haha your black thumb has turned green congrats on more fry! my gosh!

 

[skywhitney]

Haha your black thumb has turned green congrats on more fry! my gosh!

Now here's hoping i can keep it green

Unfortunately these fry are going to have to fend for themselves cause i can't take care of any more. Lol 90 is my limit

 

[George9]

Now here's hoping i can keep it green

Unfortunately these fry are going to have to fend for themselves cause i can't take care of any more. Lol 90 is my limit

They'll be fine in that jungle and the huge mass of diandra