40 Gallon Tank 40gal breeder community tank journal

So this is my first time doing one of these journals. I don't have any specific questions as of this moment but just wanted to start this to keep track of this tank as i go and get opinions and advise as questions arise.
As of right now I have a 40 gallon breeder tank with tons of plants, tunnels and a few rocks and pieces of cholla wood I'm using to buffer ph and weigh down some plants. Filtration is 3x 40 gal sponge filters with air stones. Ammonia is 0.0ppm nitrite is 0.0ppm and nitrate is around 10-15ppm. Ph is 6.7.
Current plants stock is
.moneywort
.pennywort
.giant hair grass
.italian valisinaria
.amazon sword
.water sprite
.java fern
.crypt wendetii red
.dwarf sagitaria
.frogbit
.salvinia minima
Current fish stock is

4x platy
5x glowlight tetra
6x julii corydoras

The platy and tetra are going to be moved after my 35 tall us done with the cycle.
My plans for this tank are
8x julii corydoras
15x cardinal tetra
6-8x Otocinclus or black emperor tetra
1x male apistogramma hongsloi.
I'm open to any opinions and advise and plan to update this when i add something or change something. Here is the tank as of right now as well as one of my cute julii's

 

That is a very cute fish! Just a question, why otos OR black emperor tetras? They are very different species.

 

That is a very cute fish! Just a question, why otos OR black emperor tetras? They are very different species.

I'm just unsure if i want the otos as the corys and apisto will all ready be inhabiting the bottom. I don't have much of an algae issue but there is some green spot algae on the glass ( not much.) if i don't go with the otos I'd rather get another tetra to take up more space at the top. I'm open to any other suggestions as these are the only fish I'm not set on. The corys, apisto and cardinals are all indefinite.

 

I personally have kept otos without much success. If you don't have a lot of algae (and they don't eat all kinds) you will need to add algae wafers, which the bigger tetras in my tank ate. I think cardinals are smaller, so maybe they aren't the food hogs my tetras are. I've never kept them.

 

I personally have kept otos without much success. If you don't have a lot of algae (and they don't eat all kinds) you will need to add algae wafers, which the bigger tetras in my tank ate. I think cardinals are smaller, so maybe they aren't the food hogs my tetras are. I've never kept them.

I'm probably going to go with another top water fish. Either schooling or single species if it'll be fine with everything else in this tank.

I personally have kept otos without much success. If you don't have a lot of algae (and they don't eat all kinds) you will need to add algae wafers, which the bigger tetras in my tank ate. I think cardinals are smaller, so maybe they aren't the food hogs my tetras are. I've never kept them.

 

January 10th: one week update.
Plants are growing at a decent rate with the exception of the pennywort, might try an easy red plant in its place if it doesn't work out. Updating lighting to finnex planted plus 24/7 on Tuesday. Finally moved the 4 platy to my 35 tall. Eventually going to move glowlights as well to make room for the future stock. Decided I'm going to try oto cats as some algae growth is more evident than i thought, not terrible but I want something to help keep the plants and rocks clean. The red tiger lotus is probably my favorite plant so far as a new leaf pops up every other day and it has a great color even without co2. Probably going to add 2 more julii corydoras and 6 cardinal tetra in a month or so. Maybe sooner if things continue going well.

 

January: 17th 2021 sunday update.
Tiger lotus shot it's first pad to the top of the tank and opened up. Water parameters are stable. Plants are growing well. Had to trim water sprite to let in more light. Also clipped the lilly pad off the lotus as i want shorter, bushy growth. Added 3 Otocinclus as i had algae build up. Going to add 3 more and 2 more julii corydoras in a few weeks completing my cleanup crew at
8x julii corydoras and
6x Otocinclus.
A few weeks after that I'm going to add 8x cardinal tetra and remove the 5x glowlight tetra. I also have more java fern coming from marcus fish tanks as well as a mystery crypt and christmas moss on a lava rock for my 35 g tall.
I removed the pennywort and put in in the 35 to make room for the java fern. Thats all for now. Be back next sunday.

 

January 25th update.
Added some small seiryu stone to the scape. Looking for a low growing plant to cover some of the tubing on the red side.
Got some plants coming from buceplant for the 35, might use some in the 40.
Java fern from marcusfishtanks came in.
Moved all the umbrella hairgrass(vivipara)
To the left and all the java fern to the right with the water sprite in the center.
Had to trim another long pad off the lotus with a new leaf on the way. Hoping it grows low and bushy instead of tall and stemy.
All water parameters still stable and all plants growing fine minus the algae bloom i had. Going to add 3 more otos soon. The 3 i have now are doing great with big round bellies and are quite active, even chasing around the julii corys as they pass. Will be adding 2 more of them as well.
I also realised thr importance of a dark background to make those colors pop. I went a little crazy with the non toxic easy clean paint( comes off with water) and made an interesting black and blue background the kind of adds to the swamp effect i think. Hopefully the plants continue to do well and. I can finally decide on a final stock. Right now I'm thinking
1xm apistogramma hongsloi
10-15 cardinal tetra
8X julii corydoras( i think mine might be the 3 stripe but idk)
6x Otocinclus

With what i have now it's pretty active so i don't want to go to crazy. Might do a m/f pair on the apistogramma. I've also been toying with the idea of a single swordtail or black molly if this would work. I'll start a thread asking for more opinions. I have a thread started but haven't posted in it in a while. Anyway heres a pic of the tank now. If anyone but me is reading this, ill take any advice on scaping, stocking or any other ideas. Till next time!!

 

I'm sure there are others reading this thread as I did, just not much to say I guess, interesting decoration! I'm trying to figure out what the center piece is, and are those hampster tunnels you have in there? Plants and background are looking nice!

 

They are lol. My original plan for this tank was a massive shrimp colony and thought it would be fun to watch them crawl through them. Turns out it's just as fun to see the fish swim through them as well. The centerpiece( even though it wont stay down) is yoda's house on dagobah from starwars with a little lego yoda on top lol.

 

They are lol. My original plan for this tank was a massive shrimp colony and thought it would be fun to watch them crawl through them. Turns out it's just as fun to see the fish swim through them as well. The centerpiece( even though it wont stay down) is yoda's house on dagobah from starwars with a little lego yoda on top lol.

Oh ok lol interesting choices haha curios now, why did you choose to not go with a shrimp colony? I think that would have been pretty awesome.

 

Oh ok lol interesting choices haha curios now, why did you choose to not go with a shrimp colony? I think that would have been pretty awesome.

I went with it.....failed miserably. lol. I have better luck with fish.

 

I went with it.....failed miserably. lol. I have better luck with fish.

Sorry to hear the shrimp didn't work out I'm trying to get some going myself!

 

Try shrimp again you must.

You could get some ghost shrimp, cheap, hardy and large enough to give you more tankmate options. When they do well, you can add a fancier type.

Those tunnels would make an eel very happy, but that would be a disaster for everything else.

 

Best of luck to you! They are beautiful if kept right. Flipaquatics has some great advice and products for shrimp keeping. My issue was a lack of food for a large colony. Most starved when the algae was gone and i couldn't provide enough food and biofilm.

Try shrimp again you must.

You could get some ghost shrimp, cheap, hardy and large enough to give you more tankmate options. When they do well, you can add a fancier type.

Those tunnels would make an eel very happy, but that would be a disaster for everything else.

I would but the apistogramma i plan to get will more than likely make a happy snack of any shrimp from what i hear. The only other thing I'm looking into right now is if apistogramma can be kept with swordtails. I have no plans to breed anything. This is strictly a community tank to look at lol

 

2-14-21 update.
It's been a bit but I've been busy with work the last week and a half.
No new fish yet but the plants have some of the plants have gone insane....and I'm loving it! I just trimed the water sprite cause it was reaching the top and front of the tank covering much of the light. I also had to thin out the salvinia minima as it was just a thick mat. I need to learn how to ship plants legally in my area so I'm not wasting the salvinia and potentially start making money off it. I had to throw a lot away( poured bleach on it first) but moved a lot to my 35 tall corner tank. If i knew it was safe for turtles i would put it in with my guy in his 55g. Anyways, here is the tank after a trim and water change.

 

2-28-21 added a banana plant to this tank and my 50g tall. Plants are doing well, fish are doing great. Finally decided on a final stock of 2x pearl gourami
14x glowlight( not glofish) tetra
8x false julii corydorad
1x green dragon( or similar) bn pleco.
Going to add a larger air pump to get more waterflow. I can't add any filters other than the 3 sponge filters due to the placement of the tank( and electricity) so a slightly larger air pump it is. The bulb on the lilly detatched. It's still hard so i just moved it and planted 1/4" in the sand to see if it will root. The lily it self is doing well with new leafs every other day. The salvinia minima in this tank and my other tank has to be thinned out weekly to let enough light in. If i could ship it i'd sell some on here but I'm unsure on how to do this.
I have 9 more glowlight tetra coming in from imperialtropicals to finish my tetra school. Next ill get 2 or 3 more false juliis and the pleco. After that, the 2 pearl gourami. Introducing them as juvies to stay any aggression towards the smaller fish.

 

The ideal of utilizing legos in an aquarium is so cool!

 

It makes decorating tanks that much more fun lol.

 

Your "tank table" is really neat! And I like your plants. I'm currently quarantining 12 glow light tetras. I've never kept them before, but they will go into my tetra tank. Eventually I'll get 12 more. My main tank is now a tetra tank, because that is the only genus I seem to be able to keep successfully!! I really love cories, though.

 

Your "tank table" is really neat! And I like your plants. I'm currently quarantining 12 glow light tetras. I've never kept them before, but they will go into my tetra tank. Eventually I'll get 12 more. My main tank is now a tetra tank, because that is the only genus I seem to be able to keep successfully!! I really love cories, though.

Thank you! I love the idea of a few different big schools of tetra zooming around. You should definitely try corydoras, Stick to the smaller ones like panda or sterbai or even false julii. They're very easy to care for and are highly entertaining to watch. Glowlightsarr super easy to care for. The 5 i have now I've had for almost 3 years now and trust me when i say they have been through **** and back. I had 6 but lost one when my dwarf gourami died from gourami disease. They survived a mini cycle in their current tank as well as being moved from tank to tank with no acclimating. Made tons of mistakes in the begining but these fish are very hardy and very forgiving. Not advocating doing what i did as i learned fast what happens when making these mistakes but if you do everything right you will not have an issue and be rewarded with beautiful little orange laserbeams to watch all day.

 

3-5-21 update: added a 20 gal filter to move the water a little more. That with the 3 40g sponge filters I'm running are doing great.
Just put 9 more glowlight tetra putting my final stock list at
1-2x pearl gourami(none)
14x glowlight tetra(done)
8x false julii corydoras(6 current)
1x bn pleco(none, hopefully green dragon but maybe some other variety)

Going to add the last 2 false julii and bn pleco in a month or so if all goes well with the tetra. After that, the pearl gourami. Hopefully this works well. Oh, probably going to add a small piece of mopani wood to this tank for the pleco.

 

Thank you! I love the idea of a few different big schools of tetra zooming around. You should definitely try corydoras, Stick to the smaller ones like panda or sterbai or even false julii. They're very easy to care for and are highly entertaining to watch. Glowlightsarr super easy to care for. The 5 i have now I've had for almost 3 years now and trust me when i say they have been through **** and back. I had 6 but lost one when my dwarf gourami died from gourami disease. They survived a mini cycle in their current tank as well as being moved from tank to tank with no acclimating. Made tons of mistakes in the begining but these fish are very hardy and very forgiving. Not advocating doing what i did as i learned fast what happens when making these mistakes but if you do everything right you will not have an issue and be rewarded with beautiful little orange laserbeams to watch all day.

I really like looking at the glowlights in the QT tank. I can't wait to add them to the tetra tank. And I will most likely try cories again because I think they are so adorable.

 

3-17-21 update: removed hampster tubes. I wanted more floor space for the green dragon bn pleco. Also added a small piece of malaysian drift wood.....and a green dragon bn pleco. plants are looking great with minus some algae growth on the water sprite.
Current stock is now
13x glowlight tetra(one died, water parameters are fine with 0ppm ammonia 0ppm nitrite and 30ppm nitrate. My guess is stress as it's only been in the tank 2 weeks and I've changed things around as well as added the pleco one week after the glowlights)
6x false julii corydoras
2x otocinclus
And 1x gd bn pleco.
I want to add a pearl gourami or two but i kind of like the idea of the pleco being the biggest thing in the tank. I may add a trio of honey gourami(mff of course) instead. I've had a dwarf gourami before and don't want the aggression in this tank. Saving that for my 50 tall. I want to use that as my venture into semi aggresive fish like an angel and maybe some rams. Ill save that for my other journal though. Anyways here's whats going on in the tank now.

 

Beautiful Pleco! I love what you’ve done!

 

Beautiful Pleco! I love what you’ve done!

Thank you so much!

 

3-26-21 update. Added the sword plant from my 50g tall to fill the gap between the wood and yodas hut. I also moved it to make room for the vals i bought from stargirl on here( starting a new journal fir that tank.) tank ia still doing well. Only inhabitant to die recently was my trapdoor snal, had him over a year so I'm suspecting old age as the water parameters are the same.
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
nitrate 20
All other snails and fish are alive and well. Nothing new to report otherwise. Adding the last inhabitants in a week or so. Still unsettled on if i want a pair of pearl gourami or trio of honey gourami. I'll see what my lfs has when i get there and make my final decision. It's going to be my b-day present to my self as i turn 28 this coming thursday. Anyways, i plan to post pictures with every update so here's the tank now.

 

4-4-21 EASTER UPDATE!!:
Well, went to my lfs yesterday and finally made my decision on my gourami.
Ended up getting 3 honey gourami. I believe i ended up with 2 males and a female. No issues with aggression right now. It seems one of the males has all ready claimed one side of the tank and paired off with the female. The other male has claimed the other side as his. Might add the pearls still if anyone thinks it won't break thr bioload bank but i think it might.
Going to finish stocking my 50g tall first.
Stocking for this tank is now as follows
3x honey gourami
12x glowlight tetra
6x false julii cory(adding 2 more)
2xotocinclus(not adding any more)
And 1x green dragon bn pleco male.
Here's the tank now and the honeys.
Naming ideas are
R2d2
C3po(the paired off ones)
And solo, the lone male. If i wind up with another female ill name her Leia.

 

4-11-21 Update: everything going great so far. Gourami are healthy as are all other inhabitants. Plants look wonderful. Even added some ludwigia rubin i got from vishaquatics and after a few days it's all ready showing new growth with some nice red appearing. Can't wait for these to completely convert to submerged form to see that beautiful red coloration to contrast the green. I trimmed the water sprite back a bit to give it room to grow more. Here's some pics.

 

4-18-21 Update: new phone with a better camera means much nicer pictures! Lol
Unfortunately i lost one of 3 honey gourami. I think he just didn't acclimate well. I tried a number of things but he sadly did not survive. All other inhabitants are doing wonderful and getting along great. No nipping or aggression of any kind.
My glowlight tetra are such voracious eaters that i hear a popping sound off the water top when they eat their flakes. It's highly entertaining to watch through the glass table top as it's almost like tiny bass or trout hitting flies off the top. All plants look fantastic. The ludwigia rubin is starting to get nice red tops as they convert to submerged growth. Current flora stock is now: elocharis vivipara(umbrella hairgrass), ludwigia rubin, bacopa caroliniana, bacopa caroliniana red, bacopa monieri, java fern, java moss, water sprite, dwarf tiger lotus, dwarf sagitaria, crypt wendetii red, salvinia minima and duckweed.
Fauna stock is: 2x honey gourami 12x glowlight tetra 6x false julii Cory 2x otocinclus 1x green dragon bn pleco and some mts and bladder snails.
Here's the updated pics. This tank has so much activity it's actually distracted me from tv shows and movies i thoroughly enjoy lol.

 

Just a quick update. Plants are looking great and all fish are alive and happy. Thinking about adding some shrimp but unsure how well this would work. There's plenty of space to hide in the plants and the 4 pieces of cholla wood, i just don't want to buy nice blue shrimp and have them become an expensive snack. I know a large amano will work for sure but idk if i want to add neos. I may also add a mystery snail or 2. Anyways. Here's my weekly picture upload.

 

Very pretty. I have 24 glowlights in my tank; they are a new species for me. I love the color.

 

Very pretty. I have 24 glowlights in my tank; they are a new species for me. I love the color.

Thank you!. They are very easy to keep. I just feed flakes and pellets and they get on nicely. No nipping or aggression towards anything.

Edit: here's some updated pics. The plants are going crazy.

 

5-20-21 update: plants have practically exploded.
All fish doing well and i added some cheap neo shrimp to see if a colony will start. So far only one has shown enough courage to leave the cholla wood bacopa forest on the right behind the lotus.
Nothing else to update about at the moment. I may be selling some plants soon. I need to do a big trim and don't know what I'll be able to replant. Anyway, here's the usual pics with each update.

 

6-11-21: haven't posted in a while. Plants are looking wonderful. Going to do a big trim later today. Wanted to post the before pictures now. I'll update after the trim.
Before:

 

This journal is quite like my own, no responses from anyone anymore lol
It's been a good way to keep track and time mark things like plant growth and changes so....
I keep talking myself and sharing pics with myself your tank has changed alot since beginning with the tunnels haha looks great and tons of growth, curious if you use any liquid ferts root tabs or have nutrient rich substrate mixed in? Again looks great and has came a long way!

 

6-11-21: haven't posted in a while. Plants are looking wonderful. Going to do a big trim later today. Wanted to post the before pictures now. I'll update after the trim.
Before:

I love the darkness of the tank! The lotus looks amazing!

 

This journal is quite like my own, no responses from anyone anymore lol
It's been a good way to keep track and time mark things like plant growth and changes so....
I keep talking myself and sharing pics with myself your tank has changed alot since beginning with the tunnels haha looks great and tons of growth, curious if you use any liquid ferts root tabs or have nutrient rich substrate mixed in? Again looks great and has came a long way!

Thank you. I use ez green and seachem root tabs. I plan to do a minor rescape soon. I'll probably post more pictures then.

I love the darkness of the tank! The lotus looks amazing!

Thank you so much.

 

Hehe, Stormtrooper Lego FTW!

Tank is looking beautiful.

 

Hehe, Stormtrooper Lego FTW!

Tank is looking beautiful.

Thank you. The centerpiece is lego yoda on top of his hut on dagobah. Lol. My other tank is lego hobbit.