Barrow Family 29 Gal (updated 04/18/2018)

It's a slippery slope... better slow down now or be forever doomed to a life of fish

29 Gal I think is perfect for me. Well, for the foreseeable future at least. Anything bigger just seems like it would be too much work for me and require more space than I have available. I looked at the 40 Gal and the 55 Gal but the weight and size made them a no go. Plus, the math on water changes scared me. I’m really happy with the 29 Gal. I will post some pics and update my thread soon.

 

Please do! I've hit my limit of space unfortunately because I only have my bedroom to work with but once I move home I will find one nice big tank to have and maybe a little shrimp or puffer one by my bed and that's it

 

Please do! I've hit my limit of space unfortunately because I only have my bedroom to work with but once I move home I will find one nice big tank to have and maybe a little shrimp or puffer one by my bed and that's it

They get so dang heavy it’s scary. Even the 29 Gal is like 265 lbs fully loaded. 40 lbs for the tank itself. 60 lbs worth of eco-complete substrate. Then the math after subtracting substrate depth shows about 20 gallons of water which is 167lbs. Crazy to think about the weight of a 40, 50, 55 and bigger tank.

 

I know water is so dang dense and heavy I mean like you barely notice a glass but I can't lift a 5 gallon bucket

 

My work rental is a double wide modular. I’m going to do a 90 gallon in the spare bedroom. I’ve given a lot of thought to the stand i’m going to build. Think I’ll go at least 60” wide to catch 4, maybe 5 floor joists even though the tank is only 48” wide.

Estimate 950 lbs.

But it’ll look great in my primary residence when I retire.

They get so dang heavy it’s scary. Even the 29 Gal is like 265 lbs fully loaded. 40 lbs for the tank itself. 60 lbs worth of eco-complete substrate. Then the math after subtracting substrate depth shows about 20 gallons of water which is 167lbs. Crazy to think about the weight of a 40, 50, 55 and bigger tank.

You like the eco-complete?

I have it in one tank and my root feeders are doing great but so are my sand over soil tanks. But the comparison isn’t fair since my soil tanks have better lighting.

 

You like the eco-complete?

I have it in one tank and my root feeders are doing great but so are my sand over soil tanks. But the comparison isn’t fair since my soil tanks have better lighting.

I really like it so far. I love the color I went with, all black.

Plants seem to be doing well in it but I only have a few root feeders so far, my Crinum Calamistratum I'm already seeing growth on. I don't have much experience with other subtrates and growth rates so nothing to compare it to. I am using Flourish Tabs as well.

If not careful you can suck it up in your vacuum when doing gravel cleanings as it's so light weight.

Also due to it being so light weight, it can be a bit tricky to get smaller plants to stay put.

I was a little worried about the barbs on my Cory's as they are supposed to prefer sand but they seem to be doing fine with it so far.

I'd buy it again, I now have 3 x 20 lb bags of it in my 29 gal I setup.

 

29 Gal I think is perfect for me. Well, for the Dorset or future at least. Anything bigger just seems like it would be too much work for me and require more space than I have available. I looked at the 40 Gal and the 55 Gal but the weight and size made them a no go. Plus, the math on water changes scared me. I’m really happy with the 29 Gal. I will post some pics and update my thread soon.

Small / nano tanks are the greatest! I much prefer them as well

 

Original post updated with current tank details.

When Mysis Shrimp is on the menu, everyone shows up!

I added a APC Back-Ups Pro BX1500M to my aquarium which will work as a battery backup. It looks like I have about 2 hours of runtime right now, without the heaters on. Each heater when it kicks on, which usually isn't at the same time, and not for long, it drops the usage down as the heaters are each 100w units suck quite a bit of power.




Rasbora's bubble surfing today.

 

You’ve Come a long way in a couple of months.

Everything looks great!!!!

 

You’ve Come a long way in a couple of months.

Everything looks great!!!!

Thank you, thank you! It's been a labor of love, that's for sure! I'm really happy with the tank right now. I'm no longer feeling the urge to move things around or modify anything. I'm happy with the size, where I have it in the house, I like the layout, I like the quantity of fish and plants I have (well, once my additional Frogbit gets here tomorrow at least), I don't feel any additional purchases in regards to hardware needed either. All is good in the hood!

 

There’s a 55, 75, 90 or bigger in your future, I can tell.

 

Not funny, you’re hooked.

I know I am.

 

03/15/2018:

Additional Frogbit showed up today, 20+ pcs via Ebay:








Ezra checking things out:

 

I'm am member of a Facebook group where one of the members mentioned that she always has kept Water Wisteria in her tanks for her Betta's. They seem to love to hang out in it and get all lazy in the braches (sorta like a betta hammock). Since I wanted a bit more coverage at the top of the tank I decided to pick up a few bunches of wisteria yesterday. From what I understand, the leaves will take on a different look as it starts to grow submerged.

It didn't take long, about 10 minutes, for Ezra to figure out I added it for him.

 

Lost a Rasbora today. Found him wedged between the glass and a branch of driftwood.

 

Ezra digs his new coconut hut (SunGrow Betta Cave).

 

Original post updated:

Added some additional foods to my fish pantry.
Replaced Seachem Flourish and Flourish Tabs with NilocG's Thrive and ThriveTabs

 

Original post updated:

Added some additional foods to my fish pantry.
Replaced Seachem Flourish and Flourish Tabs with NilocG's Thrive and ThriveTabs

Let me know what you think after s month or two.

Still using the SeaChem products.

 

Tank Update:

 

Your tank looks awesome.

 

Your tank looks awesome.

Thank you! That's very kind of you to say.

 

04/02/2018: Replaced my two airstones with the Top Fin Silent Stream 30 Power Filter that came with my aquarium but had been sitting in a box. Removed the carbon cartridge that comes with the filter and used a bunch of Poly-Fil Extra-Loft Batting I picked up at Wal-Mart to do additional mechanical filtration and work as a water polisher.

 

Very nice!
I started with a 29 gallon that was given to me last year. Coming along with the tank were way too many fish as I said I would take those that were not given away (due to previous owner's death). So then I had way too many fish in a 29 gallon including 3 sharks. That did not go well and I only have 1 shark left.
So I have since set up a 40 gallon and my husband just purchased a 75 gallon for me for my birthday . One of the fish I received is a single clown loach. I thought about rehoming him but worried that he would just get put into another small, crowded tank. So he and a couple of friends will go into the 75.
I have issues with nitrates due in part to my well water running between 20-40 ppm. At some point I will purchase a RO system but in the meanwhile I want to add some more plants. So tell me about the frogbit? Is it easy to grow? Does it need fertilizer? I have a java fern in each tank that is growing on a rock so not planted. Both are doing great and I do not fertilize them. So easy peasy plants are great!

 

Very nice!
I started with a 29 gallon that was given to me last year. Coming along with the tank were way too many fish as I said I would take those that were not given away (due to previous owner's death). So then I had way too many fish in a 29 gallon including 3 sharks. That did not go well and I only have 1 shark left.
So I have since set up a 40 gallon and my husband just purchased a 75 gallon for me for my birthday . One of the fish I received is a single clown loach. I thought about rehoming him but worried that he would just get put into another small, crowded tank. So he and a couple of friends will go into the 75.
I have issues with nitrates due in part to my well water running between 20-40 ppm. At some point I will purchase a RO system but in the meanwhile I want to add some more plants. So tell me about the frogbit? Is it easy to grow? Does it need fertilizer? I have a java fern in each tank that is growing on a rock so not planted. Both are doing great and I do not fertilize them. So easy peasy plants are great!

The Frogbit I have I bought off Ebay and I'm still learning the best way to keep it. For instance, I keep noticing that the roots haven't been growing long, as I had hoped for. I also have noticed that I seem to get a lot of leaves melting or dying off. Now, at the same time I'm noticing it spreading like crazy, new little small floaters popping up all over the place. Just the other day I had to toss of bunch of them because the were just casting too much shade on the bottom of the tank. Recently I've changed my water flow around to where they aren't being moved around as much by the current and I also just switched over to Thrive as my fertilizer. I've noticed the roots start to take off and some new growth so only time will tell.

 

04/07/2018 Update:

• Main thread updated
• Swapped out my Ludwigia Repens I had initially kept bunched up at the root, which slowly killed most of it, with some Ludwigia Cuba.
• Frogbit is growing gangbusters, roots are looking great.
• Boiled my larger driftwood to try and get the constant nasty looking fuzz to stop growing on it.
• Update Video
  

 

04/09/2018 Update:

• Yesterday I noticed one of the Golden Oto's I had picked up 7 days ago was just sitting around at the bottom of the tank. A bit later he was laying on his side, breathing heavily. I noticed his belly was pretty flat as well, not all round like the other 6 I have that are well fed. I tested water parameters and they were all perfect, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 10 nitrate. He didn't get any better and I found him breathless this am. He had no body damage and there were no visible signs of concern (no spots, redness, etc). After researching this species it seems pretty common with Oto's since they are wild caught fish. Once the bacteria in their gut diminishes, it never really can return and they slowly starve to death.
• Last night I also noticed a white spec on the gravel, between a marimo moss ball and my coconut cave but didn't think much of it, I thought it was just a chunk of frozen food that sometimes sits in the tank for a day or so. Come to find out, this was another Oto, but his body was hidden so I didn't notice him until today. So that's two of the four I bought from PetSmart about 7 days ago that passed away around the same time. This second one also had a small belly, not all full and round like the others. Crossing my fingers the other two continue to do well, they seem fat and happy as of this posting.
• I decided to add a 2nd Finnex Planted Plus 24/7 CC 30" light to my aquarium and it was installed this afternoon. I just didn't feel the single light was giving me the PAR levels that I needed to see optimal growth for some of my plants (for instance the new Ludwigia Cuba) but I really like the programmable features of the CC units, so I added a second one. I noticed a cool feature when adding the second unit, both of these Planted Plus lights can work with the same remote. So when programming one, I could program the other at the same time. When setting the time on one, It sets time on the other (As long as I had the remote pointing at both sensors). I updated my lighting schedule in my original post and modified it slightly to give me a different early AM look and feel.
• This afternoon I went to PetSmart and picked up some replacement Oto's. I had two that passed, and I picked up 3 replacements that all looked fat and healthy. I drip acclimated them and they all seem to be doing okay but only time will tell as these are a finicky fish species. They rang me up wrong so I in essence got 3 Oto's for the price of one, score!

 

04/10/2018 Update:

• After setting up my second light, I happened to watch my tank last night as the moonlight (green/blue) setting I had configured kicked in at 9pm. Soon after that I noticed my Betta was chasing after many of the fish he usually ignored during the day. After doing a bit of research it seems like it could have been the color scheme, that moonlight color may have been making the other fish look more threatening so he started chasing them. Due to that I modified my evening setting so it's no longer a blue/green moonlight setting but more of a blood red looking setting. I tested this for a bit earlier and I didn't see him chasing the other fish while this setting was turned on but only time will tell.
• Oto's are digging the zucchini, I see random ones eating on it quite often which is a good sign. The additional ones I added yesterday seem to be doing good so far, but time will tell.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• I've noticed that the new Ludwigia Cuba I added seems to close up at night, then open up like a flower in the am. I've also noticed that it seems to have been grown emersed as the pictures I have found online of this plant show the leaves looking much different, the submerged form.
  Right as the lights come on in the am:
  
  
  After the lights have been on for a bit:
  
  
  What the plant looks like growing submerged, with high light I'm assuming:
  
  

 

My light on my 20 Long betta community has a blue moonlight. I can't use it because my betta does the same thing.

 

04-15-2018 Update:

Water is pretty clear. I think the bacteria bloom I had been experiencing slowly cleared itself up. I've been using filter floss in my HOB which seems to be doing a pretty good job filtering small particles out of the water column, even on the minimum flow setting so I'm not blowing the Betta all over the tank. I've found I end up changing the floss pretty frequently, maybe every other day or so and when I do it has a nice amount of gunk built up on it even when changing it that frequently.

Plants are looking great. The combination of Thrive and Enhance I'm pretty happy with overall. Right now I'm dosing Enhance daily, using 2.0 mL which is the standard dosage for 20 gal of water. My 29 gal tank with substrate calculated ends up holding about 21.3 gal of water.

I've changed to dosing Thrive daily, it's simple for me. I'm using the 1 time per week dosage and things are doing good so no need to add more. A 1 time per week dosage of Thrive is 4.26 mL for my 21.3 gal of water so I'm dosing Thrive at 0.60 mL per day.

I've changed back to smaller water changes two times per week, 3 gallons each change. My nitrates rarely have gone above 5 ppm, I think I've spotted it at 10 ppm once and that could have been a bunk reading. Also, my nitrate solution out of my API Master Test kit is running low and I've decided to give the Seachem Nitrate test kit a go. It seems to be easier to read and seems to be quite accurate (or at least as accurate as API, lol).

Here's an updated video, the jungle looks healthy:

 

04/18/2018 Update:

• I decided to abandon the Water Wisteria. In my opinion, it just wasn't very pretty to look at when grown floating. I gave it a few months and I just wasn't that big of a fan. So I removed all the Water Wisteria I had and added one bunch of Anacharis in one corner above my driftwood for a little bit of lounging area for my Betta. I like the color and look of the Anacharis. I've also found that by removing the Wistera (I had two bunches of it) and by using one bunch of Anacharis, I'm not blocking as much light to my rooted plants.
  Anacharis:
  
  
  
• The Frogbit roots were getting crazy long. The one thing I found is that when the roots start to die off and break off the main plant, they make a pretty big mess in the tank as they start to float freely landing in random places. I also found that with the really long roots, the plants didn't move on the top of the water very much, they pretty much stayed in one place. Also, by having so many of them with long roots, it messed with the look I was trying to get with the Crinum Calamistratum being the focal point of the tank plant wise and also reduced open water space for the Rasboras to swim in a school. So I ended up trimming the roots back to about an inch on each piece of Frobit yesterday and removing my makeshift airline tubing corral I had built to keep them in the center, so they can now float around freely. I'm already noticing root growth again this am so I have a feeling this will be a continued part of regular maintenance for me which I'm fine with.

 

I thought your frogbit looked kool and inspired me to get some for either the 29 i’m starting Saturday, the 90 I plan on doing in June, or remove hornwort from my community and replacing with frogbit.

I saw yours and thought, “I gotta have some!!”

Frogbit is supposed to remove nitrates at a high rate, right?

 

I thought your frogbit looked kool and inspired me to get some for either the 29 i’m starting Saturday, the 90 I plan on doing in June, or remove hornwort from my community and replacing with frogbit.

I saw yours and thought, “I gotta have some!!”

Frogbit is supposed to remove nitrates at a high rate, right?

Awesome, the Frogbit is great, you will love it. From what I have read, it is supposed to do a great job at removing nitrates but I have no real way to measure that. I do know that even with my very heavily stocked 20 gal, I rarely see nitrates above 10.

 

04/20/2018 Update

• My Ludwigia Cuba is really starting to grow, It's a really pretty plant. The new growth is starting to be long thin leaves like in the picture I included in my original post. I think the combination of having 2 Finnex Planted Plus 24/7 CC's, as well as using Thrive and Enhance are giving the plant exactly what it needs.
• I added a few new members to my aquatic family.
• I added a female Albino Bristlenose Pleco which was really pretty looking in the store and as a bonus only gets 5"-6" at full size, perfect for my tank.
• I added a Black Racer Nerite Snail (Speed Racer) which was pretty cool looking at the store. Come to find out they are a really fast species of snail and the full black color I thought would keep him a bit stealth in my tank. He sure is a mover.
• Some of the Frogbit I trimmed 2 days ago already have roots that are easily 5-6 inches in length. They are growing like crazy, which is great! I don't mind the extra trimming if they are healthy plants.

 

04/20/2018 Update

• My Ludwigia Cuba is really starting to grow, It's a really pretty plant. The new growth is starting to be long thin leaves like in the picture I included in my original post. I think the combination of having 2 Finnex Planted Plus 24/7 CC's, as well as using Thrive and Enhance are giving the plant exactly what it needs.
• I added a few new members to my aquatic family.
• I added a female Albino Bristlenose Pleco which was really pretty looking in the store and as a bonus only gets 5"-6" at full size, perfect for my tank.
• I added a Black Racer Nerite Snail (Speed Racer) which was pretty cool looking at the store. Come to find out they are a really fast species of snail and the full black color I thought would keep him a bit stealth in my tank. He sure is a mover.
• Some of the Frogbit I trimmed 2 days ago already have roots that are easily 5-6 inches in length. They are growing like crazy, which is great! I don't mind the extra trimming if they are healthy plants.

I’ve followed you since you started. You have come a long ways. I have learned a few things from you.

When are you starting the 90?

 

I’ve followed you since you started. You have come a long ways. I have learned a few things from you.

When are you starting the 90?

That’s very kind of you to say, thank you !

Of course a larger tank would be awesome but I just don’t have the room in my house. I have been eyeballing the original 10 gal I have in my garage now and keep thinking about what I’d need to have to get it running. I’ve held back.... so far....

 

I am also intrigued by the frogbit. Do you have any issues with the flaked fish food getting hung up in it? Or do your fish just pick it out?

 

I am also intrigued by the frogbit. Do you have any issues with the flaked fish food getting hung up in it? Or do your fish just pick it out?

Not at all. I use a floating feeding ring I keep at the middle front of the tank where all the food goes in. Flakes, pellets, etc. I haven’t noticed any getting hung up on the Frogbit but it also isn’t blanketing the entire top of my tank. It would throw way too much shade on the plants down below if I had that much. I trim it and toss extra pretty regularly. I do see some of the fish poking around in the roots but I’m not sure what for, maybe there are some small food particles there I don’t see.

 

Say hello to "Sweet Lips".

 

04/26/2018 Update:

• Anacharis is gone. I wasn't happy with how it floated and it leaves kept breaking off, making a mess all over the tank so I removed it.
• I added some Water Sprite as a floating plant. I think this is going to be what I wanted the Wisteria to be, a floating plant with thin leaves and a place for the Betta to hide out and relax.
• I've noticed a bit of green algae growing on the top of my Frogbit. I've also noticed some green algae on the walls of the tank as well but the algae on the Frogbit is new. This has happened even though I've been dosing with Enhance for the last 3 weeks. I'm going go change my lighting schedule a bit so that I don't have quite as many hours of light per day. I'm reducing the light in my 6pm-9pm window by a great deal. Going from 100% white/red/green/blue to 10% white and 10% green, the same as I use in the AM as a sunrise setting.