Luniyn

So far just one lonely tank to start the madness off!

20 Gal(US) (24" w x 12" d x 16" h) "All-Glass Aquarium" Black trim
--Whisper 20 Filter with Bio3 Filter
--Whisper 20 Air Pump with 1 Air Stone
--All-Glass Submersible Heater (for those 2 weeks a year it gets cold here in Sunny South Florida)
--Standard Black Hood with Single Florescent Bulb
--Plenty of plastic plants, rock decoration, and broken barrel ornament with barnacles that have bubbles coming out (where the air stone comes into play)

Current Food/Water Treatment/test kits/etc. being used
--API Master Test Kit - don't leave the pet store without one
--PRIME to pretty much get rid of everything bad in the water
--Hagen "NutraFin" Max Flakes
--Freeze dried Hilkari Blood worms for the occasional treat
--O.S.I. Sinking Shrimp Pellets
--O.S.I. Spirulina Pellets
NOTE: I don't recommend these O.S.I. products as they do not show how much Ash is in them (which normally means it's too high to mention). As such I no longer trust this brand and am looking for the perfect fish food.

Current Fish
--5 Red-Eyed Tetras
Started with 2 named Spike and Spotty (of which they have neither... kids named them)
They got lonely during the cycle process so I broke down and got 3 more (Maxin, Mace, & Darti)
--3 Peppered Corydoras
What a lively bunch they are! (named Salt, Pepper, and Oregano... wife tossed in her smart-@$$-2 cents)
--1 Dwarf Gourami
My 4 year old son asked what fish I wanted to get and when I told him he asked what color he was. I said blue and orange and he replied 'Those are Gator Colors!' (those of you not from the US or Florida for that matter, the University of Florida has the Florida Gator as their mascot and colors are obviously blue and orange)... so his name is officially Gator.

Future Fish Options
--The 20 Gal is full, but I'm already thinking of my next tank because it will be in that one that I start the next phase of this hobby... growing live plants. I'm looking at a 55-75 Gal tank and thinking Discus might be a nice choice with of course cory cats (personal favorite) and maybe some oto's.
--Fell in love with the freshwater dwarf puffers I saw at PetSmart, so it's definitely going to be a 10 Gal tank for 3 of those little guys (well hopefully I can get 1 male and 2 female like you are supposed to, but it's so hard to tell when they are young). This will be the next tank before I go for the big one. I'm also having second thoughts about the live plants. The fake ones are looking pretty realistic these days and I with creative placement they can still look good in a tank. Still out to lunch on that idea.

Luniyn

Captains Log
Tank Start date: 3-14-2007
Filter Last Changed: 4-28-2007
Tank Water Quality Status: Ammonia=0.0ppm, Ph=7.2, Nitrite=0.0ppm, Nitrate=10.0ppm -- Date Added: 5-5-2007
Tank Appearance: Still fairly clear water and no algae visible anywhere -- Date Added: 4-14-2007

Fish Additions/Subtractions:
+Added- 2 Red Eyed Tetras -- Date Added: 3-16-2007
+Added- 3 Red Eyed Tetras -- Date Added: 3-27-2007
+Added- 3 Peppered Corydoras -- Date Added: 4-1-2007
+Added- 1 Dwarf Gourami -- Date Added: 4-21-2007
-Subtracted - None to Date

General Comments:
Star Date 3-27-2007... The first 2 tetra's seem lonely, so I added 3 more. One is still hiding a lot but the other is showing the new arrivals all around and having tons of fun. It will mean more water changes, but oh well... they are happy.
Star Date 3-29-2007... Getting close to 2 weeks of cycling and still no nitrites. At least all tank mates are happy.
Star Date 3-31-2007... Finally!!! We've got nitrite! Keeping a close eye on the tank now. Might do more water changes.
Star Date 4-1-2007... Cycle process still coming along but I couldn't help but add 3 Cory Cats. Water changes gonna be daily now, but I'm OK with that as they are just SO CUTE!
Star Date 4-7-2007... Nitrite has gone up so I'm going to be doing 2 water changes per day now until it levels off. I got my Bio3 filters in the mail yesterday, so I added it's sponge to the current filter to start building up bacteria of it's own.
Star Date 4-8-2007... The 2 water changes a day are helping. Nitrite down from 2.0 to 1.0. At least the fish are still happy and eating well, so seems that the Prime is doing it's job well.
Star Date 4-11-2007... WooHoo! 0.0ppm Ammonia baby! Nitrite went back up to 2.0, but still doing the twice a day water changes until they go away anyway.
Star Date 4-14-2007... Nitrite down to 0.5ppm and with luck they won't go back up. Here's hoping the tank is almost there.
Star Date 4-18-2007... CYCLED BABY!!!!! Will stop doing the water changes and see if I'm truly cycled now, but I'm there and in just 35 days! Hmmm... wonder if the Stability did help after all?
Star Date 4-21-2007... Finally got to finish off my fish lineup. Dwarf Gourami added and does he look great. All the fish have already gotten used to him being in there (they were a little shy at first). Looks like he will fit in fine. Just hope he doesn't get too lonely because be spends a lot of time looking at his reflection. As long as he doesn't figure out it's him, he'll be fine
Star Date 4-25-2007... Removed the coral due to it being to coarse against the Cory's scales when they brushed up against it and the holes to small for Gator. Replaced it with a new rock feature.
Star Date 5-5-2007... Did my weekly water change to keep my nitrates at around 10ppm. They seem to rise a steady rate and are at 20ppm by the weekend so I do a 25% water change on Saturday and another 25% on Sunday and they are back down to 10ppm. I decided to recheck my pH today and noticed that for some reason it has fallen off it's normal 7.5 and is down to around 7.2. I'm guessing it's due to the nitrates in the tank which will lower pH (though usually at high levels which I don't have) but I'm also aerating the water which normally raises pH. I thought I was in equilibrium since I've been at 7.5 (which is the same as my tap) since I started the tank, but this decrease has me wondering what is happening. I'll just have to keep an eye on it now for a while.

Luniyn

Photos of my Tank
1. Updated! Front view of my 20 Gal Tank w/ new decorations
2. My 5 Red-Eyed Tetras (yes there are 5... see that blur at the bottom of the 4 :P)
3. My Cory Cats playing follow the leader in the current that flows across the front of the tank
4. NEW! The star has arrived! My Dwarf Gourami "Gator"

Attached Images

	TankUpdate.jpg (233.1 KB, 79 views)
	5-Red-Eyes.jpg (241.2 KB, 72 views)
	3-corys.jpg (132.8 KB, 71 views)
	Dwarf Gourami.jpg (120.3 KB, 72 views)

Attached Files

	TankUpdate.jpg_thumb (41.3 KB, 0 views)
	5-Red-Eyes.jpg_thumb (48.6 KB, 0 views)
	3-corys.jpg_thumb (49.4 KB, 0 views)
	Dwarf Gourami.jpg_thumb (40.3 KB, 0 views)

Mike

Hee hee. Make it so Number One.

Luniyn

Or Captain of a boat... you know... fish :. But yeah... I was thinking the same thing as you when I typed it... lol

Terry

Nice tank Luniyn - good job!

Luniyn

Thanks. It's a start. The next phase is to replace all of the fake plants with real ones. Possibly replace a decoration with a nice piece of driftwood. Either that or just make this 20 Gal tank my plant/fish starter tank and get a 55 Gal as the showcase

Gamer

Sweet. I only have a lonely 20 gal as well. That will change soon! Looks like you're definately off to a good start.

COBettaCouple

Nice job Luniyn - Looks good & I especially love those corys.

Luniyn

Thanks guys. Excited I got a 0.5ppm reading of nitrite this morning, so with luck the tank will be cycled soon and I'll be able to add the last member for a while.

Luniyn

Had to make a change due to the coral in my tank. A shrimp pellet went under one of it's 'arms' and the cory's went right after it. But being coral (well a plastic version but it's a pretty good replica) it's really coarse and it seems to have scratched the scales on the cory's backs. Also Gator could only fit though one of it's holes and even that was a bit tight. So it had to go. I had a credit at PetCo so I figured I would use it so I wouldn't have to ever go back . Found this rock feature that was very smooth and had 5 or 6 very large holes (well large considering the size of my fish). It only cost about $14 and I had close to $30 credit so I had to find something else. That's when I found some small plastic plants that I could attach to the rock so it looked more natural. I think it's much more in scale with the tank and the fish seem to like it so far... once they got over the trauma of me having my arm in the tank. Updated the tank photo above .

COBettaCouple

cool.. we have a few of those that we got for the bettas. that gourami is a real beauty!

Luniyn

Thanks. Since he was going to be the star of the tank I really took my time and found the nicest looking one of the bunch. Then made sure the sales person got the right one which was a task considering the way they all darted in different directions the second the net hit the surface of the water. They most so slow in the tank normally, it's shocking how quick they can move when they want to.

COBettaCouple

yea, that's why i like to net the fish myself when i can.. that & i don't want them to injure my new fish.

PerryPirates12

what are oto's?

simpleton

Awesome looking tank Luniyn! I really like the "Red Eyes". Corys are always cool. I started out 2.5 years ago with my 30 gallon and originally had 3 spotted Corys. Down to one now but he holds his own and is a joy to watch. He's the sole survivor from my original group of fish. Also love the decor! Great work! You've obviously put some thought and effort into this project.

COBettaCouple

Otos are: http://www.fishlore.com/profiles_otocinclus.htm

Luniyn

Thanks simpleton. I kinda have a habit of really diving into something when I get interested in it. This is what I hope to be the first of many tanks (as money will allow of course ). Though I'm having fun with just this 20 Gal.