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April 12th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| prairielilly's tanks: the 'work in progress' version
Decided to start a thread to document the progress/current state of all five tanks (five? I have five tanks? when did that happened?) Currently I'm in the process of re-doing most everything yet again, this time bc the dwarf gourami I had in the 20g showed camallanus worms 4-6 weeks ago. I couldn't cure him so he now has his own fishie house, everyone else in that tank got moved to the 10g and everything got sterilized. As of this morning, the 20g and new 5g are aquascaped and appear to be done cycling, and the 10g, old 5g and 3g are healthy and happy.
Last edited by prairielilly; April 12th, 2009 at 04:49 PM.
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April 12th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| 20 gallon - historical
October - December 2008: brand new and uncycled (didn't know at the time), full of plastic plants, stocked with (at different times) neons, mollies, platies, one unfortunate betta, cherry barbs and harlequin rasboras DSC00285.jpg
Early January 2009: newly redone, sterilized and re-cycled, stocked with cherry barbs, dwarf gourami and panda cories DSC00421.JPG
March 2009: full of dog dewormer in an attempt to treat for camallanus worms DSC00556.JPG
Last edited by prairielilly; April 12th, 2009 at 04:50 PM.
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April 12th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| 20 gallon - today
Empty, just placed the driftwood, new ornament and new heater DSC00622.JPG
Trying out a bubble wand - don't much like it DSC00629.JPG
Just a few too many plants DSC00630.JPG
Much better, but don't much like the airstone position DSC00631.JPG
Liking this so far - removed the airstone and put on a new AquaClear HOB to cycle for the 10g. DSC00637.JPG Future plans: finalize decor. Possibly replace background. Decide whether to transfer the old AquaTech 5-15 to this tank (once this AquaClear is done cycling, it will be swapped for the AquaTech on the 10g) or use an airstone. Beyond that - FISH! | |
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April 12th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| 10 gallon
Newly bought, no water and parked on my dresser DSC00544.JPG
First setup - cycling DSC00552.JPG
Redid decor, good home for 4 cherry barbs and one panda cory DSC00626.JPG Future plans: swap out the current AquaTech 5-15 filter for an AquaClear 20 (currently on the 20g) once it's done cycling. Add an airstone of some sort, possibly a background. Swap out the stand with the larger black one I just bought, so this one can be used for the dwarf gourami's 5g. | |
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April 12th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| 5 gallon - 'old'
This tank has been moved to the bedroom and is intended as a home for Gabriel the dwarf gourami, who has camallanus worms, for as long as he has.
'Original' setup, when first bought (quarantining some harlequin rasboras) DSC00319.jpg
Quarantining the same dwarf gourami in January 2009, before he was added to the 20g DSC00407.JPG
Same tank today, with two filters (cycled box filter and almost-cycled AquaClear 20) holding the same dwarf gourami DSC00628.JPG
Gabriel the dwarf gourami today DSC00640.JPG Future plans: remove the box filter (Gabriel would likely appreciate the extra room). Possibly replace the background. Move tank onto its own stand. Someday this tank will hold a betta. | |
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April 12th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| 5 gallon - 'new'
This tank looks just like the other 5g (they're the same brand, make etc) but it lives in my living room and just finished cycling. It also finally got aquascaped today.
Finally aquascaped DSC00624.JPG
Full of old sterilized (with ammonia) filter media DSC00636.JPG Future plans: This tank will function as a quarantine for re-stocking the 20g, after that it will hold a betta. Its filter is ready and it got a new heater today. | |
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April 12th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| 3 gallon
Original aquascape when first bought (all plastic), cycling DSC00323.jpg
New silk plants, holding the new orange betta I got around new year's lived less than a week (poor guy never even got named) DSC00384.JPG
Ivan (current resident) the day he came home DSC00469.JPG
Getting dog dewormer (!!) about a month ago DSC00557.JPG
Today, healthy and happy (and with a much better filter, that actually doesn't leak!) DSC00634.JPG Future plans: not much. I might put Ivan in the new 5g once it's done being a QT and put a female in this tank, or not. I've considered putting real plants in this one but it's so very tiny. He seems pretty happy so may just leave everything as it is. | |
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April 12th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| looking great!!!  i love all of the transformations! | |
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April 13th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Thanks Alex Really kind of hoping I'm DONE with transformations though - due to disease, there's been a few too many lately! Edit: well, there's about to be a few more...had some more bad luck. Planning on redoing the 10g and the old 5g yet again this weekend so I can start them cycling, and eventually use them as QT's for stocking up the 20g and new 5g
Last edited by prairielilly; April 24th, 2009 at 10:03 PM.
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April 24th, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| You obviously like the natural look in an aquarium so why not go with live plants?
Sark | |
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April 24th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Sarkazmo  You obviously like the natural look in an aquarium so why not go with live plants?
Sark | ...because the current silk plants aren't very old and are still in very good condition, because most of the tanks do not have strong enough lighting for live plants and I don't want to upgrade yet again (just bought new lighting, which I didn't realize at the time was 0.75 WPG), bc I don't want the new expense when the current setup is still quite nice to me, and because I have zero experience with aquatic plants and want to keep some fish healthy and happy for some time before I tackle another challenge. 'Someday' I'm hoping to get a larger tank and go the whole 'real everything' route, but atm this works quite well for me | |
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April 24th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Nice tanks.
I've got those same purple green silk plants. 
They are my all time fav.
well... almost fav I like my bronse crypt best. | 
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April 25th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Looks beautiful Lilly and the beta looks nice and healthy too! | |
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April 25th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| They look great! You did an awesome job on the aquascaping.
A couple of comments:
You should grow java moss hair on the head in the first tank like Carol did!
I love the tree root looking decor in the 10g! Where did you get that? | |
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April 25th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Thanks everyone
I like that silk plant the most too (that's why there's so much of it) - bc the leaves are nice and close together it's great for fish to rest on.
Actually one of the reasons I bought the java man head is bc I saw it in Carol's post and liked it so much! I went to Petcetera around the same time to check out their sale and saw this ornament in one of their tanks, all covered in hair algae. Then I found one for sale, no price tag, only one. I planned to buy it if it was less than $10 and asked the clerk for the price - they couldn't find it so they sold it to me for the price of a dog treat on the counter - around $2.50 Might have to try the moss (hairnet and all!)
Tree root thingy is from Petsmart. They had four or five different sizes, this one was the smallest. I bought it some time ago wanting to put it in my 5g, and it didn't fit (just too big), so I had to return it. A few months later I got the 10g and bought that ornament immediately I liked it so much! I like it much better on its side, makes a nice fishie cave too.
I bought a new ornament for the 5g in my living room too - it's a resin bridge made to look like it's made of stones and falling apart. It's sort of brown-green, and the gravel in there is brown and the plants dark green, and the only fish atm is a honey gourami for QT - I'm really liking the way a yellow fish looks in that tank. May have to put a yellow betta in there someday | |
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April 25th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| BETTA BETTA BETTA!!! | |
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April 26th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Quote:
Originally Posted by prairielilly Thanks everyone
I like that silk plant the most too (that's why there's so much of it) - bc the leaves are nice and close together it's great for fish to rest on.
Actually one of the reasons I bought the java man head is bc I saw it in Carol's post and liked it so much! I went to Petcetera around the same time to check out their sale and saw this ornament in one of their tanks, all covered in hair algae. Then I found one for sale, no price tag, only one. I planned to buy it if it was less than $10 and asked the clerk for the price - they couldn't find it so they sold it to me for the price of a dog treat on the counter - around $2.50 Might have to try the moss (hairnet and all!)
Tree root thingy is from Petsmart. They had four or five different sizes, this one was the smallest. I bought it some time ago wanting to put it in my 5g, and it didn't fit (just too big), so I had to return it. A few months later I got the 10g and bought that ornament immediately I liked it so much! I like it much better on its side, makes a nice fishie cave too.
I bought a new ornament for the 5g in my living room too - it's a resin bridge made to look like it's made of stones and falling apart. It's sort of brown-green, and the gravel in there is brown and the plants dark green, and the only fish atm is a honey gourami for QT - I'm really liking the way a yellow fish looks in that tank. May have to put a yellow betta in there someday |
Cool! I might have to make a trip to petsmart today...... | |
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April 27th, 2009
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| | Fish Addict
| An excellent job on the aquascapes, prairielilly! The layout of the hardscape and plants is very Amano-style, despite the use of silk plants. I have also been crazy about aquascaping repeatedly - it's almost as if there's always something to change or to fix in the tank's design(or maybe it's just me being compulsive  ). I hope Gabriel gets well soon. Good luck! | |
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