Diary of the 29G planted tank... New pics 4/28/07

[Lonewolfblue]

Well, this is now the beginning of the end. I ended my 10G breeding tank thread, as my babies have now graduated to the 29G. As soon as they get more comfortable, and start checking out their surroundings, I'll have to get some pics. The fish that were picking at them the most were the serpae's, but it wasn't all that bad. And the blue flames did the same, but not near as much. The cardinals just came in to check out the new-comers, but didn't do anything to them. More or less welcomed them, lol. I think the serpae's are just trying to stake their territories, lol. Other than that, I think all will be fine.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Well, here it is. The tank after blackout, cleaning, and a day after the babies graduation to the new tank.

 

[dskidmore]

They're so cute!

Good job.

 

[rich311k]

Looks great Wolf. nice job. Those little guys will start growing fast now.

 

[Glenc]

Those babys are adorable! Tank looks nice and clean. Good work.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Here's some more pics, including the Blue Flames....

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Update:

The babies are getting along very well. And they've changed tactics, lol. A couple of them, the GBR's, are no longer taking crap from the serpae's, lol. When the serpae's try to mess with them, they dish it right back, and the serpae's are 3 times their size, lol. So fun to watch. And they are now all out roaming around. They are comfortable with their surroundings, and the other fish. Awsome.....

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Well, I did conquer the BGA, but the other stuff is coming back, even with my dosing. It's like brownish threads, and is building up in my L. repens and on my Cabomba. I'm thinking if ripping them out, and cutting off the best stems, and doing a quick bleach treatment on them, as it hasn't spread anywhere else. And the stuff is real easy to remove, a turkey baster takes it off just fine.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Update:

I cleaned the tank today, removed the L. repens and cut the best tops off and replanted. They were looking ratty. I also soaked them for 3-4 minutes in a heavy Excel solution, then placed directly into the tank. will see if this helps any.

As for the babies, they are wonderful. I dropped in 2 shrimp pellets, and they are very amused by them, lol. Slowly nibbling away at them. And when the serpae's get close, they gang up on them, lol. Occasionally a serpae will get a nibble, but not very often, lol. The babies are very protective of their shrimp pellet, lol.

I also cleaned up the Cabomba a bit. Would like to cut a couple more tops off and replant, so I get a nice amount of plants. I think I'm up to 4 or 5 stems now. They are doing great.

The Wisteria, well, it's just growing, lol. Unstopable. LOL. I've heard of people killing water sprite and wisteria, but I can't see how, lol. Even during blackout it grew, lol.

As for dosing, I upped my doses. More Nitrate and more Potassium. And cutting back on the phosphates a little, as I think I'm getting more than enough from any excess food that there may be. Will see if I can finally get a hold of the algae. But I do know one thing, it's very easy breeding 4 types of algae, lol.

 

[europas_ice]

What does the bleach dip do for the plants/tank? ( guess that was on page 1 )

Edit: never mind -- I didn't see how many pages there were when I posted this -- you answer the question on page 2, thanks!

 

[Lonewolfblue]

ok...

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Well, I made some changes. I added a MaxiJet 600 Powerhead for some current, and also my Viewtainer Powered Reactor. I'm using the Rio 180 Powerhead, with the 90 degree angle inside the viewtainer, and the short extension on the outside. Also on the inside before the 90 degree angle is the short venturi part, which is where I have the CO2 plugged into. So the CO2 not only gets busted up coming through the venturi, but inside the viewtainer as well. And the Bolivian and GBR babies love it, lol. They love going inside for some exercise, then coming out for a break, lol. I have the viewtainer at a slightly more angle facing down than in the pic. I also have a small relief hole in the top and the bottom of the viewtainer, right where the black part ends and the clear begins. This allows the CO2 to bubble off if too much gets caught up in the viewtainer. Going to watch it tomorrow and see exactly how it does over a whole day, but the 2 hours I had it on, I'm getting a little better CO2 level than I did with the glass diffuser under the XP2 intake, with no change in the needle valve. If this works well, then I may just put 2 in my 75G, one on each end of the tank instead of that powered reactor that I have to keep cleaning due to getting plugged up by plant matter. Here's the pics....

 

[Billsgate]

Wow, beautiful tank, that forest of vals looks really cool! (so do the other plants) And your baby gbr's and blivians look great!!!

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Yes, but the algae stinks. Haven't conquered it yet. Thought I did by stopping my phosphate dosing and upping potassium and nitrate, but this stuff is unstoppable, lol. It looks great all day, but when I wake in the morning, it's all full of this stuff. Grows in overnight. I'd have the spraybar cleaned off in the evening, and in the morning, there would be a 3-5 inch gobs flowing in the current from the spraybar, lol. One of these days I'll figure this out.

I also need to trim back my wisteria, it's got my sword completely smothered, lol.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Well, here it is folks. Here's some new updated pics of my babies. I have 1 pic of a Bolivian in the mix, but all the rest are the GBR's. And guess what? I have 3 beautiful females. And one of them is even more beautiful than any other female GBR I've had. She is totally cool. I tried different camera settings, but the pics don't do her any justice. I also got pics of the other 2 females as well, which are almost as beautiful as she is. And she's been the bully of the pack, lol. Her colors and blue spangles are just phenominal. So here's some pics....

This is the Queen....

 

[mr funktastic]

very healthy looking. amazing colours also. u should try cleaning the outside of the glass lol i find my camera always focuses on the little water stain instead of the fish. i want to try spawning german blues or apistos in my next tank.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I just haven't had much time lately to clean the inside. I have some algae on the glass too. When I do my maintenance, I usually clean the outside of the glass too, but the other day I was taking some algae out with the turkey baster and got some water on the glass. That's what the streaks are from.

 

[mr funktastic]

even with the streaks the fish look amazing. i really an getting the itch totry and breed something. i am currently trying to save a spawn from my peacocks but they havent spawned again yet. i think after i get my new filter and big water they will spawn again. if they do i will be posting pics

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Cool.......

Can't wait til I complete the cycle in my 10G tanks. They are itching for the GBR pairs, lol.

 

[CaptnIgnit]

awesome, they look great! I'm in the middle of trying to locate a female to match up with my male right now actually.

Hopefully it will look as nice as your female, haha.