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Atxpunx - Nice write up on the citric acid CO2 reactor. I will have to keep this in mind if I need a second system.


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Atxpunx - Nice write up on the citric acid CO2 reactor. I will have to keep this in mind if I need a second system.


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Thank you. I love um and get citric acid in bulk off of e bay. IMHO the only thing better is pressurized co2 (soon, but not soon enough).


Cha boi Jessie.
 
So it's been a little bit since an update.
I got my Co2 working again, making good bubbles and plants are still happy. Believe it or not, my downoi is missing. I don't know what happened to it, one day just sitting there, next day not a trace. Might be floating somewhere among all those floaters. I have my suspicions with the Amano though, I have seen them eat anacharis stems and bacopa before. Maybe going to move her to the 16...we'll see. I was moving around the huge clump of mosses/sußwassertang and discovered that the anubias nana "petite" and java fern I stuck on the rocks when the tank was first set up got huge. I got them as little tiny plants and the anubias has spread all over the rock. Funny how it's gotten that big and I haven't even noticed. Salvinia minima is doing awesome! Making tons of little duplicate. Same with the red root floaters.
Fish and shrimp are doing awesome. Puffers still rocking out, I've got the female on frozen now. Male is being dumb and not taking anything except black worms, which I don't have. RCS breeding like nuts, every female is berried. I never see any shrimplets, probably because of the puffs. Getting some better grade RCS soon, going to add them in here for some new blood, redder shrimp and just as a grow out for the 16, like some of you know if you've read my other thread. Should I start seeing some juvenile shrimp soon if any of the shrimplets did survive? Or how long does it take the RCS to get to a decent size?
Over all, everything is doing great, as usual. Can't wait for those shrimp! I haven't ordered them yet but I will see if I can get the PayPal from the member today.
 
Pics of the plants when you get the chance! Still considering hair grass?

Sure, I'll post some pics when I get the chance :)
I don't know about the hair grass, I probably won't. Just seems like everything else is already growing great and I don't need another plant to look out for lol. I'm going to see what I can do with downoi, maybe get it to spread out some. I'll be ordering some soon, as in the next couple weeks.
 
Dang... Those tears have sploded in there. Lookin good dude.

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Well, I kinda went to Petco today.....and got some dwarf hair grass!!
It was pretty cheap, I just got it because I needed a heater and I saw it, $6 for a lot of it in one those gel packs. I planted about 75% in this tank, and some in the 16. I have a feeling it won't do good in the 16, but who knows. I tore it into little tiny pieces, planted those every inch or so and then got frustrated and planted the huge clumps I had without tearing them apart lol. Other than that, everything stayed the same.
I always take a pic of the tears because I really like them, plus it'll be cool to look through all the pics from when I first got them to now. i don't think I'll be getting any more downoi, I just have no more space. I have literally packed this tank with as many plants as I could fit.
 
Good luck on the hairgrass! What do you have for substrate again?

Have you ever thought about doing a rescape? You plants all look so good but they're arranged in such of a jungle that I think if you really got a nice hardscape you could create an amazing tank. Or more amazing I mean... :lol:
 
Good luck on the hairgrass! What do you have for substrate again?

Have you ever thought about doing a rescape? You plants all look so good but they're arranged in such of a jungle that I think if you really got a nice hardscape you could create an amazing tank. Or more amazing I mean... :lol:

Lol white PetCo sand, loaded with root tabs.
I've considered doing a rescape a couple times, but I actually like it the way it is. I have some petrified wood in there, piled with a couple river stones, over to the right. My hardscapes suck though. I think I want to leave it the way it is, it seems the fish and shrimp like it as well.

Another thing I forgot to mention, I moved the Amano over to the 16. I can't have her potentially eating expensive plants in here. Did it this morning, just forgot to post it.
 
Lol white PetCo sand, loaded with root tabs.

I've considered doing a rescape a couple times, but I actually like it the way it is. I have some petrified wood in there, piled with a couple river stones, over to the right. My hardscapes suck though. I think I want to leave it the way it is, it seems the fish and shrimp like it as well.



Another thing I forgot to mention, I moved the Amano over to the 16. I can't have her potentially eating expensive plants in here. Did it this morning, just forgot to post it.


Ah, I didn't even see that.

If you like it like this that's what's important, I'm just jealous because you've got some awesome growth in there.
 
Lol white PetCo sand, loaded with root tabs.
I've considered doing a rescape a couple times, but I actually like it the way it is. I have some petrified wood in there, piled with a couple river stones, over to the right. My hardscapes suck though. I think I want to leave it the way it is, it seems the fish and shrimp like it as well.

Another thing I forgot to mention, I moved the Amano over to the 16. I can't have her potentially eating expensive plants in here. Did it this morning, just forgot to post it.

I like the highly planned/aquascaped tanks but the jungle tanks like yours seem more natural looking to me.

I've been thinking about getting a few Amano for my 16g but still have to do more research. Any they known to be plant eaters?
 
I like the highly planned/aquascaped tanks but the jungle tanks like yours seem more natural looking to me.

I've been thinking about getting a few Amano for my 16g but still have to do more research. Any they known to be plant eaters?

I've experienced them eating stem plants, like anacharis and I suspect they ate the downoi. Also ate away all my pennywort that I had a while ago. Other than that I haven't noticed anything.
I also agree on the jungle tanks. In the wild, not everything is going to be planned out and perfect like that.
 
Ive never heard of these locust amano shrimp you speak of?

The key to a Takashi Amano styled aquascape - nature aquarium, is to design the tank in a way where you would see it in nature. The use of stone and wood is planned yes but positioned in a way that looks natural. This is all down to the competence of the scaper and an individuals perception on what looks natural.


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I've experienced them eating stem plants, like anacharis and I suspect they ate the downoi. Also ate away all my pennywort that I had a while ago. Other than that I haven't noticed anything.
I also agree on the jungle tanks. In the wild, not everything is going to be planned out and perfect like that.

Thanks for the info! I tried Neos in the 16g but the peacock gudgeons made meals out of them which is why I was thinking about Amanos. Will have to do more research I suppose.
 
Thanks for the info! I tried Neos in the 16g but the peacock gudgeons made meals out of them which is why I was thinking about Amanos. Will have to do more research I suppose.

I wouldn't hesitate getting them, I think it's just that once they run out of stuff to eat they go for plants. I throw in algae wafers and zucchini from time to time anyway, so I don't notice lots of plants being eating. And I'm not sure it what happened to the downoi, I was just taking precautions. They are good, they clean and I still like them.
 
I haven't had any issues with them eating plants.

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Well, here's a little update. Haven't done one in a little.
Plants and fish are all still doing great! Puffers still happy, lol as always. Same with shrimp, still making babies and having fun :D

Plants: Got a ton of new growth out of the plants. Some of the pogo is up to the surface already. Foxtail is making a comeback, gotta trim that too. Blyxa is still going strong. Added a small stem of surviving pennywort from the 16 and it's made a couple new leaves. I got a lot of growth out of my floaters, especially the salvinia minima. I like that stuff. DHG was a failure, it's starting to turn brown. Well, I was kind of expecting that anyway. Maybe it was grown emerged and just has to get used to being underwater first?

I barely have any circulation in this tank. It's because I put the sponge over the intake, so it reduced the flow dramatically. I can't take the sponge off, or the shrimplets will be sucked in. I was thinking about getting a small canister filter, like the Zoo Med Nano 10 Canister that I was originally going to use for this tank. I was thinking it would give me a lot more row if I placed the spray bar at the back or at the side where the filter currently sits. We'll see, but I don't think that it can be like this much longer. Anyone have any ideas on how to improve circulation without having to buy something extra? There probably isn't a powerhead small enough for this tank either.

Next up: Co2

Co2 is making me mad. Sure, it helps, but it stinks so bad. Some days it works, some days no bubbles at all. So I've starting looking for a small pressurized Co2 system.
What is a small system that would work for my tank and isn't overly expensive? (> $85)
I looked at the Pierce Co2 system, but the links for the GLA site wouldn't work for it and said it was moved. Couldn't find it anywhere else.

So that's it pretty much. I like the idea of a smaller canister filter for this tank, the filter is a real eye sore and it's not that great any way. But if you guys have any ideas, let me know. :)
 
If you want more circulation you could always add an air stone and hide it behind something. Like behind the sponge.
 

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