Rbacchiega

So most of you know that I have started redoing my parents 55 gallon tank. Originally it had rainbow colored rock, big hunks of lava rock, a few fake plants and a few malawi cichlids left over from my old tank. Well, that's all been redone.

I switched out the old rock and took out the UUUUUGLY undergravel filter, and added 1 layer of natural river rock, followed by a layer of seachem flourite, followed by another layer of natural river rock. Then in certain areas I added super fine grain gravel for the cory cats. I found a neat looking root and after the proper prep, added that to simulate a well....root. Added a few plants and made a rock cave, let everything cycle through and added 10 arched corydoras (Corydoras arcuatus) and then came up with this:


Then waited some more, added a few more live plants and waited some more.
Tonight I went and got 6 cardinal tetras, 6 neon tetras and 3 SAE (yep, I found em!) as well as a CO2 system and some stuff to lower the pH as well as the general hardness. Anyways, this is what we have now:


So, as it stands the tank is stocked as such:
60 lbs rock
aqua clear 500 (at least the old one was called a 500, don't know about the newer stuff)
penguin 350
250 watt heater
root
nifty little rock cave
lots of plants, including swords, ludwigia, grasses, val etc (as you can see)
10 Arched Corydoras
6 Neon tetras
6 Cardinal tetras
3 SAE
2 Bristlenose Plecos (1 male, 1 female)

Coryd55

You going to be adding Discus or did I misread something. If so what kind? Very nice tank. I'm getting a 55G for Christmas and still cant decide how to set it up(decor, plants, etc[I already have fish stock planned])

Rbacchiega

yep discus on friday. 2 or 3 pigeon blood or blue diamond, I havn't quite decided.

COBettaCouple

looks great & i absolutely love those corys! wish we could find them around here, but we can't even find pandas.. greens and juliis aren't even easy to find. great job on the tank!

Rbacchiega

THanks, and so was I actually. Usually you get the standard green, bronze and albino corydoras here, but I found a few good privately owned shops that have quite the variety. I noticed yesterday they got in julii, peppered, striped and another one I can't remember right now...but that's definately a place I'll return too. All the fish are a decent size (not uber tiny and thin), well looked after and cheaper than say a local chain. One store here sells cardinals for 7.00 EACH if you buy 6 or more....it's bloody rediculous

darkwolf29a

Very nice tank.

I LOVE the corys. I'm, hopefully, going to be getting some sterbai soon. I have found a guy, close to my house, that can find anything he says. I'll be testing that.

Rbacchiega

yeah, they usually say that until you tell them that you want this one fish, and chances are you'll only get 3 or 4...possibly less....AND inorder to keep them you have to really know your fish, so it'd be a waste of his money to order them in bulk for other customers as well LOL

Rbacchiega

so just got a call from the store, and they "accidentally" sold the three pigeon bloods I had put aside...

the plus side?

I get 3 RED TURQUOISE ones for the same price...and maaaaaaan are they pretty. Bringing them home tomorrow....will post pics tomorrow night

COBettaCouple

sound great - can't wait for the pics.

Rbacchiega

alright, so went to the LFS, saw a pigeon blood that I didn't see before, bought it:




Picked up two that were labeled snakeskin, but they aren't. So then I thought they were pigeon blood, but they don't look like any pigeon blood I've ever seen....intense blues on the fins and body as well:



And then I had to have this one, Redspotted Green discus. Keep in mind that these fish have been in the tank for a little over an hour (after they floated for an appropriate time, so they're colors will only get better....



Comments welcome!...sorry for the blurry pics, wanted to get the asap but be quick so as to not freak out the new arrivals

capekate

Hey Congrats!! Very nice Discus!.... Those two do look like snakeskins tho. Are you sure they are not? Your pigeon blood looks just like mine. How old did they say they were?
Good luck with your discus.. they sure are great!

Rbacchiega

well maybe they are...they don't look like the ones in my tanks...but meh, they're still really nice. The three smaller ones are only about 2.5 or 3 inches. The bigger red spot is 4.5 to 5

COBettaCouple

what beautiful Discus!

Tayful

Oh my god, the corys are adorable. When I get my big tank I'm going to have to get me a group of them!

Rbacchiega

thanks for the comments guys. Once they settle in I'll hopefully be able to get a better picture of them for you

Rbacchiega

Here's some updated pictures prior to trimming the plants and doing a water change. I'll post the post waterchange/trimming pictures later. All pictures were taken without flash

still likes to hide:



snakeskin/pigeonblood/who knows:





pigeon blood:


the tank:

capekate

Hi Rbacchiega
Here is a photo of my pigeon bloods. If you compare that with your pigeonblood/snakeskin you will see why I thought yours was a snakeskin. Mine do not have the wiggly lines that make up the snake skin.
BTW I love the snakeskins...

~ kate

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	fish video 102 001_0009.jpg (24.1 KB, 4 views)

Rbacchiega

yeah, they're all some of the nicest little ones I've seen....which makes me a little mad I didn't add them to my own tanks....NOOOOOOOOOOOOO I had to get them for my Moooooom. LOL

capekate

LOL ohhh well... Im sure your Mom is very happy with them! And you can always visit them lol...
Here is a photo of my ricky blue.. He was pretty stunted and hoping to get him to grow some...


~ kate

Attached Images

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Rbacchiega

thats a gorgeous fish.

I'm hoping that my blue diamonds will pair off and spawn soon. have a little ways to grow yet

Tayful

I love discus, and the ones you got for your mom are beautiful. I wish I could get some, but at this point I'm most likely too much of a beginner to be able to give them the high quality water they need, and besides, I cannot afford them anyway.

COBettaCouple

I hope that you are able to get him to grow - his color is stunning!

capekate

Thanks Dave Im working on it... and hoping that he will grow. Sometimes when they are stunted like that, they just never grow in size. There is also the argument among Discus owners that keeping Discus in a planted and decorated tank with substrate will stunt their size. I do not understand that concept but most of them seem to agree with that statement. they have told me if you want the larger Discus to keep them in bare bottom tanks w/o decorations. Well.. my guys are not going to be prized breeders lol.. and I have no plans on selling them if they do spawn. But will give them away to my friends who want a Discus since they will most likely spawn between different types and not give a true breed. Such as my pigeon blood and the blue turk in the 29g tank. I think they may end up being a pair, so will have to see what happens. If and when it happens I will certainly post the results and hopefully find some homes for them!

~ kate

capekate

Have you posted your photos of your blue diamonds in the Discus photos yet? Good luck with them.. I hope they pair off for you.

~ kate