"And she's going to need a tank..." My journey to a 48 gal new build

I'm rooting for them, hopefully they pull through!!

Out of curiosity, do the gill things look like this? I posted a thread about flukes awhile ago but no one answered it lol

Are these Gill flukes? | Freshwater Fish Disease and Fish Health Forum | 477645

just wondering because my rasboras seem prone to these gill things

They actually do!


The clamped fins, the gulping and loss of colour. I guess a few of them must have had it quite bad if it took them down that quickly. I think they are flukes - you're probably right.

I bought some Lifeguard (not the Tetra brand, as it's ridiculiously hard to find fish meds in Canada now, unless you go to a vet) from Walmart, that has the same effect, high rated and has Halo Shield Powered branding that the Tetra variety has. Any idea if it is safe for planted tanks and shrimp/snails?

Either way, I'll dose it in the QT and leave them in there for another week and a half. Since I'll have the QT up and running, I'll probably get another 7-8 rasboras and treat the new arrivals in there with the same Lifeguard regardless.

I may not buy fish again from the same place. I was wary of my LFS (which is very highly rated and I've never had any problems with) but think that I may go and see what they have before doing another 2.5 hour drive to get more fish from the other place.

Live and learn I suppose.

 

So, I bit the bullet and did a MASSIVE trim and clean this morning. Started around 7:30am and finished up around 11:30am.

Basically trimmed the s**t out of everything, removing some of the old growth, sheared down the ground cover, replanted, cleaned the glassware, swapped the CO2 diffuser and thoroughly cleaned the glass.

Very pleased

BEFORE:



AFTER:



It's surprising the difference having the light about 3" about the water versus the raised height of about 16" when I'm working on it. It's interesting because the light settings (LED intensities) are the same in both.

Next weekend I'll probably do another mini trim to keep up on it regularly and avoid any mammoth sessions. And I'm going to start to ramp up the light to about 90% now, keeping the blue spectrum no higher than 20%

Safe keeping

 

They actually do!
The clamped fins, the gulping and loss of colour. I guess a few of them must have had it quite bad if it took them down that quickly. I think they are flukes - you're probably right.

I bought some Lifeguard (not the Tetra brand, as it's ridiculously hard to find fish meds in Canada now, unless you go to a vet) from Walmart, that has the same effect, high rated and has Halo Shield Powered branding that the Tetra variety has. Any idea if it is safe for planted tanks and shrimp/snails?

Either way, I'll dose it in the QT and leave them in there for another week and a half. Since I'll have the QT up and running, I'll probably get another 7-8 rasboras and treat the new arrivals in there with the same Lifeguard regardless.

I may not buy fish again from the same place. I was wary of my LFS (which is very highly rated and I've never had any problems with) but think that I may go and see what they have before doing another 2.5 hour drive to get more fish from the other place.

Live and learn I suppose.

Aaah it does look very similar. Mine are usually able to fight off stuff like that but they've been acclimated to my tapwater for months and months now check out Angelfins for meds actually, I think they have wormer plus in stock right now. Its a Flubendazole powder similar to Fenbendazole except water soluble and easier to dose. That should do the trick!

edit: Your tank looks incredible!!

 

Aaah it does look very similar. Mine are usually able to fight off stuff like that but they've been acclimated to my tapwater for months and months now check out Angelfins for meds actually, I think they have wormer plus in stock right now. Its a Flubendazole powder similar to Fenbendazole except water soluble and easier to dose. That should do the trick!

edit: Your tank looks incredible!!

Yeah, I was surprised that they were so afflicted. I’ve ordered two sachets of the meds from AngelFins (along with two other TC Crypts for my partners 10 gal), so hopefully they’ll arrive in time. I also have the Lifeguard coming, which is now sold out. I figure it can’t hurt to have some stock of this stuff.

I feel bad for not being prepared with meds nor a QT tank. I lost another Rasbora today. He seemed fine but when I went to feed, he was bloated and on the bottom. The other two are eating.

I guess I can lower the temp of the water too.

Are you a Ontario local too I assume?

And thanks Happy with how it looks!

 

Yeah, I was surprised that they were so afflicted. I’ve ordered two sachets of the meds from AngelFins (along with two other TC Crypts for my partners 10 gal), so hopefully they’ll arrive in time. I also have the Lifeguard coming, which is now sold out. I figure it can’t hurt to have some stock of this stuff.

I feel bad for not being prepared with meds nor a QT tank. I lost another Rasbora today. He seemed fine but when I went to feed, he was bloated and on the bottom. The other two are eating.

I guess I can lower the temp of the water too.

Are you a Ontario local too I assume?

And thanks Happy with how it looks!

Sounds like you will be well prepared for any future issues! Shame on that store owner for selling sick fish though :/ that is such a huge problem here as well. There's only one store that I really trust now locally.

I'm in Ontario too, up in Sudbury. Which is not ideal. If you've ever been to Sudbury then you already know what I mean lol. We are planning on moving to another part of Ontario after I finish my schooling

 

Sounds like you will be well prepared for any future issues! Shame on that store owner for selling sick fish though :/ that is such a huge problem here as well. There's only one store that I really trust now locally.

I'm in Ontario too, up in Sudbury. Which is not ideal. If you've ever been to Sudbury then you already know what I mean lol. We are planning on moving to another part of Ontario after I finish my schooling

Yeah, glad I’ll be prepared this time. There’s still two kicking around and I think they’re eating somewhat. Doesn’t look like they’re losing weight.
And I was completely surprised that happened however - it’s been a great place to buy from otherwise. I’ll still get items from there but I think I’ll just buy fish from the Big Al’s in Newmarket tbh. I can see the fish, tanks are well run and cleaned and I’ve rarely ever seen sickly looking fish.
Never been to Sudbury myself but I can imagine it’s a bit isolated. You are in primo placement for a lot of fantastic campsites - if that’s your thing. Any idea where in Ontario afterwards?

 

Yeah, glad I’ll be prepared this time. There’s still two kicking around and I think they’re eating somewhat. Doesn’t look like they’re losing weight.
And I was completely surprised that happened however - it’s been a great place to buy from otherwise. I’ll still get items from there but I think I’ll just buy fish from the Big Al’s in Newmarket tbh. I can see the fish, tanks are well run and cleaned and I’ve rarely ever seen sickly looking fish.
Never been to Sudbury myself but I can imagine it’s a bit isolated. You are in primo placement for a lot of fantastic campsites - if that’s your thing. Any idea where in Ontario afterwards?

I wish we had a Big Al's!! That is too bad though, there was a store here that I trusted for a long time but I started to have issues with them like the others. I mostly order online now but I might buy the odd fish from a little hole in the wall type place outside of the city

Apparently Sudbury is considered the "hub" of northern Ontario so I wouldn't say I'm overly isolated. It's just that the crime rate has been skyrocketing for the past few years and the labor market here is super weird. We used to rely on primary industries but now most of the jobs are in upper tier service occupations that are as hard to get into as the old boys clubs that run the mines and smelters. I do like camping though!!!!

Not sure where I want to go but definitely somewhere down south. I still want to live in Ontario, just not in Sudbury. Lol

I'm glad you have two rasboras left still! In my experience they will do fine as a pair until you can source more. My most beautiful and colorful rasbora lived alone for a month when I first got into fishkeeping. Oddly enough I got her from PetSmart of all places!

 

I wish we had a Big Al's!! That is too bad though, there was a store here that I trusted for a long time but I started to have issues with them like the others. I mostly order online now but I might buy the odd fish from a little hole in the wall type place outside of the city

Apparently Sudbury is considered the "hub" of northern Ontario so I wouldn't say I'm overly isolated. It's just that the crime rate has been skyrocketing for the past few years and the labor market here is super weird. We used to rely on primary industries but now most of the jobs are in upper tier service occupations that are as hard to get into as the old boys clubs that run the mines and smelters. I do like camping though!!!!

Not sure where I want to go but definitely somewhere down south. I still want to live in Ontario, just not in Sudbury. Lol

I'm glad you have two rasboras left still! In my experience they will do fine as a pair until you can source more. My most beautiful and colorful rasbora lived alone for a month when I first got into fishkeeping. Oddly enough I got her from PetSmart of all places!

Well, you definitely have time to figure out where you'd like to head to next - maybe somewhere with some more options for LFS's haha.

I do only have one Rasbora left now. It's doing well, eating and going fairly strong. I'll do a small w/c today and if he/she makes it to tomorrow, I'll do the med treatment. I still have another week or two before I should start to reintroduce fish into the 48 gal - just waiting it out as I can't treat due to the snails or shrimps.

Ah yes, I think a snail passed. Found it upside-down this morning and flipped it but haven't seen it move in a few hours. We'll see.

I did write a kind and thorough email to the FS that I got the Rasboras from and they very kindly refunded me the whole cost of the fish, plus the meds that I purchased after the fact. Great experience, and I will order from them again in the future.

Anyways, here's a shot of the tank as of this morning. I took out the small rock in the midground (since it was annoying, getting covered and just looked ugly) filled it up with some Tropica AS and am much happier. And I tied down all of the Riccia moss and put a rock on the moss that was pulling away from the stone on the left.

I may remove all of the S.Repens as I really don't like how it looks and move some Alterna Mini in it's place.

Anyone in the GTA want some S.Repens mailed to them? Just a little brown algae on it - which has been slowly eaten off by shrimp - but otherwise, strong growth. All you'd have to do is pay for postage. I'll sleep on it and see how I feel tomorrow morning.

I think I will also pull the Bacopa on the left, trim it and replant, clean up the Bacopa on the right, and do another trim of the Cuba. Other than that, I'm really happy with the colouration




And here is an updated shot of the 10 gal in my partners classroom. Planted a bunch of Crypt Wendtii Brown and Green and did a decent trim of some plants that had a bit of BBA. Hopefully with the introduction of even more plant mass, I'll keep any further algae growth at bay.



Safe keeping!

 

So, another maintenance session update. Trimmed back the S.Repens to the bone. I wanted to see what it looked like before I ripped it up.

Trimmed down the Bacopa on the left and right and pared down the H'Ra a bit to give the Wallichii some more visibility. I also cut down some of the Alterna Mini and planted it as well. It's probably my favourite plant in this tank.

I am starting to get more confident with my trimming skills and will probably thin out certain elements even more next week.... Still took about 3 hours, start to finish.

And the filter was annoying to prime again. I think it was because I hadn't filled up the tank yet and the skimmer was above water and not creating enough suction. It's always frustrating/uncomfortable when you turn the filter on and hear that dry impeller noise. But after a couple tries, some adjustments and making ample use of the prime button, it was all systems go.

I also decided to raise the light up another 3 inches from where it was. Even though the LED has a 120 degree range, I still felt that it wasn't getting the Rotala at the rear of the tank. I increased the light by 5-10% on average so we'll see how it does over the next week or so. I am sort of toying with the notion of getting a second one but that'll wait until after Christmas.

Found another 15-20 shrimp in the filter and they were mostly my Amano's which have grown quite a bit haha. I also treated the QT and the one Rasbora is still going strong. Gained some colour and starting to eat more regularly. If all goes well, I'll move him back into the 48 gal next Monday, but maybe the week after. I'll then plan on getting some more fish early-mid December and have them in the main tank by Christmas.

Anyways, that's it for now.

Safe keeping!

Before:



After:



Temporary rig using some left over 3M velcro straps. No way that baby is coming apart.

 

Wow...this scape is breathtaking...amazing job

 

Wow...this scape is breathtaking...amazing job

Thank you so much

 

I showed my little guy those newest pictures and he went "whoaa." then again! me see again! again!

btw he cares very little for our tanks at home

 

So I got my rasboras in. Very excited to have some fish in the tank finally! It really changes the dynamic. I also got another 12 orange sakuras. The tank is very lively now. The first day in there, they were having a lot of fun with swimming along the upper corner of the tank - which I then figured was where the current took a downturn.

I also discovered I'll need to turn the filter to a very low flow to feed them properly - which isn't a big deal.

Other than that, going to leave everything for the week - I'll do a small (~ 2-3 gallons) w/c today and then again on Thursday. I'm sure everything is fine but I'll just keep freshening everything up.

View attachment 742713

And another:
View attachment 742714

The diatoms seem to be settling down now and I'm starting to get a touch of green algae on the front rock. The smallest amount. So that's a nice sign too.

I'll probably stay at this level for two weeks and then either add 10-12 neon's or another 6-8 rasboras. We'll see.

Safe keeping!

Filling in real nicely! Well done!

 

I showed my little guy those newest pictures and he went "whoaa." then again! me see again! again!

btw he cares very little for our tanks at home

That’s adorable. He sounds like a lovely kid - and getting so much first and second hand experience with this hobby.
I bet he does care immensely for the little inhabitants in your tanks

 

Filling in real nicely! Well done!

Much appreciated. I was concerned about how it would happen since it seemed like there was a lot to begin with but it’s surprising how much you can keep planting and growing out hehe

 

I haven't checked on this in awhile....just, WOW!!!

 

I haven't checked on this in awhile....just, WOW!!!

Appreciate you checking in and commenting

 

SO, another marathon maintenance session last night. About 3 hours start to finish. It's funny because when I spent all my time doing research, planning what plants I would get, putting together a layout (sort of) - I never really anticipated how MUCH trimming I would have to do for the stem plants and the HC.

Actually the HC isn't that bad - after reading a few posts by Barr, I adopted his approach of heavily trimming almost down to the bone. It's probably not as short as he did it but it means I can go 2-3 weeks without touching it.

The stems on the other hand - hooboy! They're growing like weeds. The Wallichii is the worst because it only looks good for about a week before it's at the waterline and then it's just sad looking. The H'Ra is much easier to handle and looks great even when it is running along the waterline.

Before:



After:



Also, I would happily recommend the Eheim MultiBox to anyone looking for a solid work tray. It's robust, hold all my tools and the grated and separated cover works amazingly for waste and trimmings to replant.

I ended up pulling ALL the Repens. I liked it better without. I have a couple Pogo in the rear mid that aren't growing that great - which I'll pull next week and plant some more Wallichii in its' place. Lastly, the grouping of Riccia came loose on the black rock in the front left. I MAY pull it up completely and full with some AS and then plant some more Bacopa, but I'm not sure. I feel like it may be nice to have a space that DOESN'T require maintenance

I though I would share a pic of my QT as well since I've mentioned it but not actually posted about it.






And yes, in that bag are 12 more Harlequin Rasboras. They're quite small but they'll hopefully grow nicely. I still have one surviving from the first batch - so he'll have some friends. I'm going to drip acclimatize and then treat for flukes and worms regardless. I've got the meds so I'll just take care of it because I really want to be over-cautious for these ones.

Sidebar: the Seachem Tidal 35 is a solid filter. I was really not jazzed by it at first - I have a AQ20 on my other 10 gal (which is super quiet) - due to the fact that it was a bit nosier than I wanted. It has a nice skimmer and a MASSIVE media container that easily fits my pre-seeded Matrix and both floss and dual layer foam underneath.

Would definitely recommend for larger tanks - especially as the larger versions have a inflow that drops down further.

Anyways, here's hoping for a smooth second addition to my main tank.

Safe keeping all!

 

lol you could try a blue betta

 

What’s that bright red fish in the tank with the neon tetras?

 

What’s that bright red fish in the tank with the neon tetras?

That would be a High Fin Platy. Well two of them - the other is hiding in the upper right corner.

lol you could try a blue betta

I'd love to do a betta tank at some point. I'm learning more about blackwater tanks and may do something along those lines with one. We'll see

 

That would be a High Fin Platy. Well two of them - the other is hiding in the upper right corner.

I'd love to do a betta tank at some point. I'm learning more about blackwater tanks and may do something along those lines with one. We'll see

I like the look of the high fin platies. I don't want any, we have plenty of just plain platies...but i do like watching them at the store.

 

SO - made it the first day with ALL of my new Rassies making it through the day. It's really comforting after the first experience I had with them and not being properly prepared.

The OG Harlequin that survived is definitely enjoying new friends!

 

SO - made it the first day with ALL of my new Rassies making it through the day. It's really comforting after the first experience I had with them and not being properly prepared.

The OG Harlequin that survived is definitely enjoying new friends!

Yay!! I'm so glad!! Can't wait to see them once they color up and get settled they'll do great in your tank with the lower pH. Mine is still sitting at neutral lol

 

I like the look of the high fin platies. I don't want any, we have plenty of just plain platies...but i do like watching them at the store.

Yeah they’re very handsome looking fish. Might get a few more, or a couple different types to fill out the tank a bit more.
We’ll see tho. It’s going pretty well currently so I’m wary of messing it up haha

Yay!! I'm so glad!! Can't wait to see them once they color up and get settled they'll do great in your tank with the lower pH. Mine is still sitting at neutral lol

Thank you!! I’ll share another pic this weekend. They’re definitely feeling settled in the new tank already - colour has started to come out and they’re actively eating. I’ll turn down the QT temp from 77 to 76 today to get them closer to my main temp.
And you’ll get there soon no doubt! You new setup is coming along amazingly!

 

SO so so, another week, another maintenance session. I finding it a bit easier to gear up for it - I'm now leaving it to a Monday morning task because I can do it in pure solitary.

I work a condensed week (Tuesday-Friday, 10 hour days) and my partner works the full week, which leaves my Monday's completely free and clear. I still get up with her at 5am (a bit of sleep in considering I get up around 4:30am the rest of the week), make us coffee, feed the dogs, eat breakfast and then get to work around 6am.

It's very nice THB.

This week I grew a bit frustrated with weekly stem trim sessions and decided to hack back a bit more aggressively at the rotala's. I would probably never do Wallichii again. It grows far too quickly and only really looks good in the midground. I enjoy it the most on the right side. It gets lost in the middle and left background once the H'Ra spikes up.

Conversely, I really LOVE the Alterna Mini. It's an absolutely stunning plant. I am dealing with a bit of GDA on the older growth (wipes off easily) but it's a 5 minute task. I'm a bit at a loss b/c the mid grouping deals with it a bit more than the grouping on the right - which is a BIT deeper (so it could be lighting related) but I am thinking that the mid grouping is more established and has more established growth as a result.

I was planning on cleaning out the prefilter but ran out of time since I needed to take my dogs to the groomer. I am 100% sure I will find at least 15-20 shrimp in it. I've also noticed at least 3-4 berried Sakura's - as well as little shrimplets - so the population is growing nicely.

On a side note, my rassies are doing quite well. Feeding nicely (once a day, 5 days a week right now), showing good colour and actively playing. I will add them into the 48g next weekend.




And the obligatory before/after session:



After:



I also cleared out the 'path', just right of center and I'm really happy with it. I'll probably thin it out a bit more too over the next couple weeks.

And a last shot from Saturday evening - I'll do some long-term before/after images in the next week or two.



Safe keeping!

 

SO so so, another week, another maintenance session. I finding it a bit easier to gear up for it - I'm now leaving it to a Monday morning task because I can do it in pure solitary.

I work a condensed week (Tuesday-Friday, 10 hour days) and my partner works the full week, which leaves my Monday's completely free and clear. I still get up with her at 5am (a bit of sleep in considering I get up around 4:30am the rest of the week), make us coffee, feed the dogs, eat breakfast and then get to work around 6am.

It's very nice THB.

This week I grew a bit frustrated with weekly stem trim sessions and decided to hack back a bit more aggressively at the rotala's. I would probably never do Wallichii again. It grows far too quickly and only really looks good in the midground. I enjoy it the most on the right side. It gets lost in the middle and left background once the H'Ra spikes up.

Conversely, I really LOVE the Alterna Mini. It's an absolutely stunning plant. I am dealing with a bit of GDA on the older growth (wipes off easily) but it's a 5 minute task. I'm a bit at a loss b/c the mid grouping deals with it a bit more than the grouping on the right - which is a BIT deeper (so it could be lighting related) but I am thinking that the mid grouping is more established and has more established growth as a result.

I was planning on cleaning out the prefilter but ran out of time since I needed to take my dogs to the groomer. I am 100% sure I will find at least 15-20 shrimp in it. I've also noticed at least 3-4 berried Sakura's - as well as little shrimplets - so the population is growing nicely.

On a side note, my rassies are doing quite well. Feeding nicely (once a day, 5 days a week right now), showing good colour and actively playing. I will add them into the 48g next weekend.

View attachment 749102

And the obligatory before/after session:
View attachment 749111

After:
View attachment 749112

I also cleared out the 'path', just right of center and I'm really happy with it. I'll probably thin it out a bit more too over the next couple weeks.

And a last shot from Saturday evening - I'll do some long-term before/after images in the next week or two.
View attachment 749113

Safe keeping!

Beautiful pictures as always! I just wanted to say that most of those are lambchop, or "false" harlequin rasboras... only that big female in the middle is a true harlequin you have a paler on in there that might be a glowlight rasbora as well. It doesn't look like the big one noticed so maybe don't tell her lol

 

great post! you really went all out! Im also setting up my first tank but went with a much more "let it do what it do" method haha whilst not being completely negligent. my tank is dirted, with gravel cap, 2x 6500K lamps a HOB filter and an air stone. I added tonnes of different species of plants, thought I lost one species, now its coming back. Have a huge snail invasion and diatom algae everywhere haha but everything is happy, just a real messy tank. Will be adding yoyo loaches first to start some snail control then will add hillstream loaches for some algae control. then will get some fish. All slowly. Yours looks beautiful and clean. I feel like you go 2 ways with tanks- controlled, careful and beautiful or natural and messy haha picture is of earlier setup when it was clean haha plants are 5x this size now and I added ferns and swords and anubias in the rocks. with algae and biofilm everwhere haha

 

SO so so, another week, another maintenance session. I finding it a bit easier to gear up for it - I'm now leaving it to a Monday morning task because I can do it in pure solitary.

I work a condensed week (Tuesday-Friday, 10 hour days) and my partner works the full week, which leaves my Monday's completely free and clear. I still get up with her at 5am (a bit of sleep in considering I get up around 4:30am the rest of the week), make us coffee, feed the dogs, eat breakfast and then get to work around 6am.

It's very nice THB.

This week I grew a bit frustrated with weekly stem trim sessions and decided to hack back a bit more aggressively at the rotala's. I would probably never do Wallichii again. It grows far too quickly and only really looks good in the midground. I enjoy it the most on the right side. It gets lost in the middle and left background once the H'Ra spikes up.

Conversely, I really LOVE the Alterna Mini. It's an absolutely stunning plant. I am dealing with a bit of GDA on the older growth (wipes off easily) but it's a 5 minute task. I'm a bit at a loss b/c the mid grouping deals with it a bit more than the grouping on the right - which is a BIT deeper (so it could be lighting related) but I am thinking that the mid grouping is more established and has more established growth as a result.

I was planning on cleaning out the prefilter but ran out of time since I needed to take my dogs to the groomer. I am 100% sure I will find at least 15-20 shrimp in it. I've also noticed at least 3-4 berried Sakura's - as well as little shrimplets - so the population is growing nicely.

On a side note, my rassies are doing quite well. Feeding nicely (once a day, 5 days a week right now), showing good colour and actively playing. I will add them into the 48g next weekend.

And the obligatory before/after session:

After:
I also cleared out the 'path', just right of center and I'm really happy with it. I'll probably thin it out a bit more too over the next couple weeks.

And a last shot from Saturday evening - I'll do some long-term before/after images in the next week or two.
Safe keeping!

Great looking tank!

 

Beautiful pictures as always! I just wanted to say that most of those are lambchop, or "false" harlequin rasboras... only that big female in the middle is a true harlequin you have a paler on in there that might be a glowlight rasbora as well. It doesn't look like the big one noticed so maybe don't tell her lol

After you mentioned that, I took a long hard look and they really seem like it. The big one is the sole survivor from the original batch of 12. The other 12 are from Big Al’s, so that explains it. Lol
Thankfully they’re all loving each other and settling in nicely. I’ll probably get these into the 48 this weekend and start thinking about new additions in the new year.

Great looking tank!

Thank you so much! ^_^

great post! you really went all out! Im also setting up my first tank but went with a much more "let it do what it do" method haha whilst not being completely negligent. my tank is dirted, with gravel cap, 2x 6500K lamps a HOB filter and an air stone. I added tonnes of different species of plants, thought I lost one species, now its coming back. Have a huge snail invasion and diatom algae everywhere haha but everything is happy, just a real messy tank. Will be adding yoyo loaches first to start some snail control then will add hillstream loaches for some algae control. then will get some fish. All slowly. Yours looks beautiful and clean. I feel like you go 2 ways with tanks- controlled, careful and beautiful or natural and messy haha picture is of earlier setup when it was clean haha plants are 5x this size now and I added ferns and swords and anubias in the rocks. with algae and biofilm everwhere haha
View attachment 749179

Thanks for sharing! Your tank is fantastic! Love the rock grouping on the left - plus the nice piece for driftwood highlights the path you’ve made. Great sense of thirds! Share a pic of it now with the larger plants if you’d like! Are you planning on planting heavily?

And thank you for your kind words; I’m a bit ocd so this very clean aesthetic is in line with certain aspects of my personality. I am looking forward to a more natural feel next time.

I’m kind of thinking a bit of a rescape but I’m not sure. Maybe tightening up the plants a bit more. Dunno.

 

After you mentioned that, I took a long hard look and they really seem like it. The big one is the sole survivor from the original batch of 12. The other 12 are from Big Al’s, so that explains it. Lol
Thankfully they’re all loving each other and settling in nicely. I’ll probably get these into the 48 this weekend and start thinking about new additions in the new year.

Thank you so much! ^_^

Thanks for sharing! Your tank is fantastic! Love the rock grouping on the left - plus the nice piece for driftwood highlights the path you’ve made. Great sense of thirds! Share a pic of it now with the larger plants if you’d like! Are you planning on planting heavily?

And thank you for your kind words; I’m a bit ocd so this very clean aesthetic is in line with certain aspects of my personality. I am looking forward to a more natural feel next time.

I’m kind of thinking a bit of a rescape but I’m not sure. Maybe tightening up the plants a bit more. Dunno.

Lol the big one will probably never notice anyways I don't think there will be an issue with schooling/shoaling or anything like that. What else are you planning to stock?

 

Lol the big one will probably never notice anyways I don't think there will be an issue with schooling/shoaling or anything like that. What else are you planning to stock?

Probably another 6-10 rassies (18-22 in total), maybe some CPD’s (6-8) or another schooling/shocking fish: tetra (neon or rummy-nose) or a type of pygmy cory.
I’d love a larger fish but I’m not exactly replete with space!

 

So I finally added my rassies last night! This past week with them in the QT was great - they were active, hungry and happy. Fed them pretty much every day and they ate fiendishly.

Decided to do a decent trim session Sunday evening and add them in at the close of the maintenance so they could have a solid 12 hours in the tank before the CO2 and lights came on. They're active already and enjoying swimming against the current.

I also upped the working pressure of my CO2 to just under 40 psi. I noticed the diffuser wasn't putting out enough of a fine mist, so I raised it from ~35 - 40. Dialed it in at 5 bps and going to see how it goes. I also lowered the light about a half inch. I don't think I was getting the coloration that I wanted.

Oh and for anyone wanted to dial in their CO2; I figured that the iPhone Slo-Mo is a great way to calibrate it. Capture at least 3-4 seconds, go to edit it and increase the slo-mo duration. Then edit the clip so you only view 1 second of the video. Count the bubbles and you're done.

Anyways, I'll move forward with these guys in the tank until the New Year, or my final week of holidays and then either get some more rassies, Neon's or CPD's (if avail).

Here are some pics below for your enjoyment!

Safe keeping!

Before:



AFTER:



Close up:



Close up II:

 

So I finally added my rassies last night! This past week with them in the QT was great - they were active, hungry and happy. Fed them pretty much every day and they ate fiendishly.

Decided to do a decent trim session Sunday evening and add them in at the close of the maintenance so they could have a solid 12 hours in the tank before the CO2 and lights came on. They're active already and enjoying swimming against the current.

I also upped the working pressure of my CO2 to just under 40 psi. I noticed the diffuser wasn't putting out enough of a fine mist, so I raised it from ~35 - 40. Dialed it in at 5 bps and going to see how it goes. I also lowered the light about a half inch. I don't think I was getting the coloration that I wanted.

Oh and for anyone wanted to dial in their CO2; I figured that the iPhone Slo-Mo is a great way to calibrate it. Capture at least 3-4 seconds, go to edit it and increase the slo-mo duration. Then edit the clip so you only view 1 second of the video. Count the bubbles and you're done.

Anyways, I'll move forward with these guys in the tank until the New Year, or my final week of holidays and then either get some more rassies, Neon's or CPD's (if avail).

Here are some pics below for your enjoyment!

Safe keeping!

I’ve been following this thread for quite a while, and ohmygod I’m so jealous of your tank! Absolutely breathtaking.

 

What kind/brand of thermometer is that. I really like it!

 

I’ve been following this thread for quite a while, and ohmygod I’m so jealous of your tank! Absolutely breathtaking.

Thank you so much and thank you for following! Hopefully I can keep the content from feeling too repetitive

What kind/brand of thermometer is that. I really like it!

Thanks! It’s an NA Thermometer from ADA. NA Thermometer | ADA - PRODUCT - AQUARIUM TANK
I did a lot of searching and was going to consider a digital w/probe hidden in the left rear but couldn’t really be bothered to hide it.
It works really nicely but I’m always wary I’ll drop it or it’ll slip. Not for the accident-prone among us ^_^

 

SO a full week and ALMOST all of my rassies have survived. Sadly we had a jumper and we're not sure how it happened, but the little pup got stepped on.

It was pretty sad because I can't figure out when it happened but we were trying to get out of the house for an overnight trip and it must have happened in a small window.

Regardless, made it back the next day and was relieved to see no other fish wishing to be free. Really happy with the growth, the colour and that the bacopa is starting to emerge from the water. I think I'll cut back a few of the taller pieces, plant down and increase the density. I also tweaked the BPS up to 7-8 because it wasn't high enough.

Going to do a nice trim session on Tuesday and clean the QT. Hopefully I can find some CPD's or something else to move into there and add them in the New Year. Looking forward to enjoying some mornings with the tank and some coffee.

Quick post but here are a couple shots - including one from my partners tank in her classroom. Safe keeping everyone!

 

It's been a long, long time. Almost a year since my last post.

A lot has happened since (some tank related, some not), but we're here to talk aquariums and I am very happy to report that it is still going pretty strong. This planted tank has been going for one year two months now, and I can say that pretty much everything is OG - pulled the Rotala Wallichii a few months ago because I frankly got tired of it and it wasn't getting what it really needed in the background.

Keeping a densely planted tank for this long has been a challenge. Some weeks it's been tough to get myself into doing maintenance, because it is either:
- at best 2 hours for trimming, replanting, cleaning and clean up; no filter, no glassware, no other maintenance
- at worst 3-4 hours to try to do everything

There are a couple times where I've left things like the 16/22 pipe cleaning and CO2 diffuser cleaning go too long, and no doubt the tank has suffered. Every time I do clean the inflow/outflow pipes, I am amazed how well everything works. It WILL BE a monthly thing now.

I've gone from tank-based CO2 diffuser to an inline diffuser (which at first I really enjoyed) but then realized that it made it even easier to just ignore. I expected it to appear visibly dirty (much like a tank-based one) but was very surprised that how bad it could really get. AND then I go to clean everything up - pipes, diffuser, and all - and at 8:00pm on a work night (after working 10 hours), the **** diffuser leaks.

Thankfully I had a spare VIV beetle diffuser kicking around that I could set up. Anyways, here are some pics of the tank. I have integrated some crypts into the BG, but more on that later. More to come!

4.5 weeks ago:
A little larger w/o clicking

 

Well, your tank still looks beautiful.. very nice work It has been awhile for sure! Hope all is well in your world. You should start posting again

 

I kept checking for updates months after they stopped-- glad you're back and the tank looks great!