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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 05:49 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 05:50 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 11:03 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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April 27th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Quote:
Originally Posted by lyndatu 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! | Thanks I'm hoping to 'leave it be' for a little whiles now...at least til I'm done restocking yet again...
Had an 'unfortunate incident' about a week ago, lost six fish including Gabriel the DG 
Current stock/ future stock:
20g: seven black neon tetras/ 3 false julii cories, one red fire dwarf gourami
10g: cycling/ 6 glowlight tetras OR 7 ember tetras and 5 pygmy cories, one honey gourami
5g: cycling/ one betta
5g: one honey gourami (QT)/ one betta
3g: one betta/ ?? another betta? | |
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May 3rd, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| Wow, you sure do have MTS.  Nice tanks though!
By "silk" plants, do you literally mean "silk" (so they're fake), or is that a type of aquatic plant? I'm trying to find out which lives ones look great and are easy to take care of. | |
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May 4th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Marsha your tanks look great!!! I don't know how I missed this thread before. Nice job on all of them | |
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May 4th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| Love the set ups but you should try a tank way bigger. I wish I had a mazzive tank... | |
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May 4th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Thanks everybody
Yup, pretty safe to say MTS is running rampant (there are six tanks now...) Silk plants = made of fabric. 'Real enough' for me atm - meaning they're durable and I can't destroy them (I'm tough on stuff. I broke 2 thermometers this weekend!)
I know I've stated the old 10g and 5g were cycling, but although that was the plan I've been super swamped... I actually just got them finally set up again yesterday. I had acquired a new 10g on Saturday and spent my weekend setting them all up. Ever spend four hours bleaching/rinsing gravel? Everything's now set up except for the filters, I won't get to do that til Tuesday (alright, gives time to leak test the new tank) as I want to take some media out of my Eheim and distribute it to those three to quickstart the cycle. Shouldn't take long that way, the tank with the Eheim seems to be on hyperspeed - it's been officially cycled for just over 2 weeks and it's already got diatoms!
I'd llloooovvvee to have a really big tank - unless I get rid of a sofa it ain't gonna happen though
I'll post pics of the new tanks as soon as there's something to see  | |
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May 4th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Everything looks great! I totally love that tree root thingie too. | |
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May 27th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Hmmm, how things change...hoping to actually put fish in the three newly-cycled tanks this weekend, which would mean I would have six tanks ALL WITH FISH! wowee no empty tanks! I put live plants in everything - which means the tree-root decor went away, replaced by a piece of driftwood with java fern, java moss and anubias. Even the 20g's got an anubias in it! however I did find that I can kill vals - still hoping they'll come back! they sort of 'melted'...may have to do some more rearranging yet again | |
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May 27th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| You have developed quite an appetite for your mts and live plants now haven't you. Have any "free loading snails" or eggs yet?  jk Post more pix soon too, I like seeing the progress, keeps me enabled too. lol | |
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May 27th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
|  Nice tanks and aquascaping! | |
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May 27th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Any updated pics?
I told you planted tanks were addictive! | 
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May 30th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Quote:
Originally Posted by harpua2002 Any updated pics? | updated pics will be in the near future...maybe tomorrow...
I just went and spent a WHACK of money on fish (over $260). At first I told the guy to put half of them back. Then I reasoned that I know fish from this place are 'usually' healthy, so the price would be comparable to buying from say, Petsmart and being pretty certain I'd have to medicate for something and have all the worry to go along with it...I'm thinking of it as an investment.
Suffice to say, five of six tanks are now fully stocked. They all appear healthy. I know I'm taking a big chance (and um, breaking my own rules) by putting a full complement into a 'new' tank and/or adding new fish to an established tank, but I've made the decision, it's done and I'm hopeful. The newly cycled tanks I know can process 8 PPM of ammonia to nitrates in 36 hours, so the bioload question should be ok. Plan is daily 10% wc's for the next week. Four of six tanks are planted, and once I receive some new plants in the mail I'm hoping they all will be. Current stock/plants
20g: six black neon tetras, six false julii cories; java fern, java moss, anubias nana, giant anubias, some silk plants
10g: six galaxy rasboras, three pygmy cories, one honey gourami (Ziggy); java fern, java moss, anubias nana
10g: seven male Endler's livebearer's, five pygmy cories; silk plants (for now)
5g: one female VT betta (Belle); cryptocoryne lutea
5g: one black neon tetra (hospital); silk plants
3g: one male VT betta (Ivan); cryptocoryne lutea Future plans
20g: add some elodea and pennywort, possibly a flame dwarf gourami OR a snail; return the hospitalized tetra provided he recovers (I hope)
10g: add some elodea and ludwigia
10g: swap all the silk plants for live ones, to be determined
5g: add some java moss, move Ivan to this one
5g: redo completely, stock (betta!)
3g: add some java moss, move Belle to this one
All the tanks except the 20g need backgrounds...
Wow. Think I'm finally maxed out so far as tanks! | |
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May 31st, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| 20g: May 31
Stock: six black neon tetras, six false julii cories, three pygmy cories
Plants: anubias nana, giant anubias, java fern, java moss
Equipment: Eheim Classic 2213, airstone, Marineland Stealth 100W
Future plans: more background plants (no more fish) | |
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