40 Breeder Build

I just picked up 2 pothos plants today to try out! I love how you made your tank look and the bonus of the pothos helping with nitrates and algae is great.

 

After trying out some spare pieces and such I fixed the Marina HOB breeding box! Instead of running air pump as the input I now have a water pump. There is now more flow to circulate the water:

 

Great fix! The noise on mine drives me nuts!

 

Hi, guys! There are bad news . I'm missing a guppy!?!?!? 2 days ago when I looked into my tank I only see 2 guppies! I looked around the tank and there is no chance that it jumped out or else I would see the body. I think that it could have died due to bullying. As mentioned earlier my 3 guppies are always dueling each other and they do nip each others fins! Now I only have 2 guppies!

 

Aw sorry to hear

 

Fixed the front of aquarium! The corys had pushed the eco complete on the sand in front.

 

New update! I found my other guppy! He is alive but think there might be a problem

 

Aw. A little while ago I "lost" a neon. Then when I did the big move to the 135 I found him. He somehow got into the filter (likely during a water change) and had been living in it for almost a week. He looked pale and was week. I quarantined him in a 10 and nursed him back to health. He's doing fine now, in the 135 with all his buddies. I hope your guppy is ok!

 

Tomorrow I might get 4 guppies from my LFS but not sure

 

Tomorrow I might get 4 guppies from my LFS but not sure

Post a picture if you do! I love to see the different tail types.


How is the "missing" guppy doing?

 

So sadly I wasn't able to get more guppies but might try next weekend. As for the "missing guppy" he died yesterday

 

Ahhh sorry to hear that.

Best to wait to make sure there are no other issues that caused his death anyway I guess.

 

Poor little guy, I wonder what happened

 

On a good note for this week, just right now I saw 6 baby shrimps!!!!! Can't tell you how excited I am!!!!! Here are some pics;

In the first pic there are 3 babies in the java moss mat and 1 on the driftwood

 

So here's an update! One of my adult shrimp died but I at least have 3 baby shrimps alive. There might be more though. All the other fish are doing okay. Though not that big of a deal but I now have 3 long stems of hornwort! Started off with only a 2" stem after I had to through away 20 stems from my other tank due to hair algae. Planning on making a little forest of hornwort! I also prune my long hygrophilia(not sure what kind). Here are some pics:
if you have any questions or want more pics just tell me!

 

Looks great!

 

Shrimps love the hornwort!

 

Looks like they are doing well!

 

What kind of lights are you using

 

What kind of lights are you using

I use the Finnex Stingray! The plants I have are mainly low light so the plants are growing really well!

 

Got 2 pregnant shrimps!

 

Tank looks amazing! Well done.

 

Tank looks amazing! Well done.

Thanks!

 

Part of the maintenance of this tank is trying to separate the Eco complete from the sand! The corys are always pushing the Eco complete into the sans banks! I have to physically use a net to scoop out the ecocomplete. The finer sand goes through the net after a couple of shakes but the bigger grain doesn't so I have to dump the content on the tray and use a tweezers to separate the sand and ecocompkete and then nput then back in the correct area

 

Almost done with the front!

Propagated my crypts! I have a lot now!

 

Replanted the crypts!

Got a lot of sand and Eco complete to go through!

 

Here's an update;
I lost 2 corys!?!? Don't know where they are although there is a fishy smell from my aquarium so if they died in the aquarium then they have been decomposed by the shrimps and snails. I was moving my plants around and then decide to fiab out the corys since when I try to count them there was less than 6. When I fiahwd them out I only got 6 and looked for the other 2 but no where to be found.

Here's some pic update, I got 2 new plants; bacopa and banana plant




Just did a 60-70% water change and my water looks clear!

 

Other than cories and rasborus what else is in your tank?

 

Other than cories and rasborus what else is in your tank?

2 male guppies, Malaysian trumpet snails, 3 nerite snails, and red cherry shrimp

 

Bacopa have new green tips and are starting to grow! Can't wait for them to get really tall

 

So today doing a skI'm of my tank I have at least 22 shrimps!!! I also have 3 pregnant shrimps and saw a baby shrimp. So I finally passed the number that I started with! Here's a pic of the baby shrimp:

 

Cute

 

Cute

I know! Shrimplets are so adorable!!!

 

Your tank looks great!

I'm just curious; what happened to your female beta?

 

I had to put her on a HOB breeder box!

 

She is living in a breeder box??

 

Yep, sadly , she is getting old(past 3y) and doesn't swim that much and when she does its very slow. Even when I give her food she is slow to respond

 

Here is am update; the big driftwood in the middle has been removed, last week I cut it in half and kept 1/2 of it. I then rearrange some of the hornwort! Now there is more room for the shrimps and corys

 

Very nice work on the stand. I might suggest, as an added precaution, a vertical center brace. The tank will weigh in excess of 300 lbs. A little overkill on support could not hurt.

The drain and fill transfer plan sounds sensible. Don't get in a hurry... It sounds like this is not your 1st rodeo so just do what makes sense. I favor heavy planted tank designs (for water condition more than aesthetics). A 40B presents a lot of opportunity... You might even get a CO2 drip going. I saw your price list and it looks like you are no stranger to buying what you need more sensibly than at LFS prices ( ). With a sand bottom (V plant growth media) I might suggest the following as a ground cover option...
Go to a Tile and Flooring shop and buy a couple of squares of black slate pieces (I used 1"x3" at about 3/8" thickness.) Boil the backing off the tile pieces. Get a riccia fluitans (crystalwort) culture going. A bright light will and a little CO2 will get a floating stock of this to grow explosively. Once you have enough either tie or use the SeaChem tissue culter glue to adhere the riccia to the slate and then start 'carpeting' your foreground. Eventually you will have a lawn on the bottom of your tank that you fish will seriously enjoy... I did this and they played in it, bred in it and their babies hid and grew up in it. It's nice touch and your tank will benefit from the O2/CO2 exchange of a large area of live plants.

<and now I have seen your pics>
So I see now that you have added growth media and great spread of plants! Really nice!
That said, you might still try the Riccia trick to add to your ground cover.

 

Very nice work on the stand. I might suggest, as an added precaution, a vertical center brace. The tank will weigh in excess of 300 lbs. A little overkill on support could not hurt.

Get a riccia fluitans (crystalwort) culture going. A bright light will and a little CO2 will get a floating stock of this to grow explosively. Once you have enough either tie or use the SeaChem tissue culter glue to adhere the riccia to the slate and then start 'carpeting' your foreground. Eventually you will have a lawn on the bottom of your tank that you fish will seriously enjoy... I did this and they played in it, bred in it and their babies hid and grew up in it. It's nice touch and your tank will benefit from the O2/CO2 exchange of a large area of live plants.

<and now I have seen your pics>
So I see now that you have added growth media and great spread of plants! Really nice!
That said, you might still try the Riccia trick to add to your ground cover.

Will keep the center brace idea in mind next time, however isn't that for longer tanks like a 55+?

Will look at the riccia fluitans however this will depend on availability , also I'm planning on doing a DIY co2 (did one in the pass for my 20) but not sure since I will have to maintain it!

I already have a java moss carpet, I'm probably gonna expand it since I now have lots of room in the center!