On April First of 2016 I Started my 75 gallon Bow front AGA Aquarium. I lined the bottom completely with egg-crate and made a mountain out of river rock I found behind my house at the river (I tested it and its safe) inside the mountain I have a PVC cave system. The Driftwood also came from the river behind my house which I boiled. I filled the tank and started the fish-less cycling with Dr. Tim's liquid ammonia and Seachem stability and i threw in some questionably expired Nite Out I received when i bought the tank just to add some more bacterial diversity. Within the first week my Ammonia dropped and nitrites spiked and then after about another 5 days all levels were in check. On April 12th I added two fish I've had for a long time now in a small unsuitable tank: I added my black Guppy and long fin black skirt tetra. Then approximately two days later I rescued two mystery snails from my biology teacher who was keeping them in a jar of chlorinated water with tons of other dead rotting snails and rotting lettuce. The line from the growth stunt and transition to very healthy growth is very visible in their shells in the form of a line. A week or two later I went out and bought 5 Short fin Black Skirts, Two guppies, and 2 Kuhli loaches. Then between then and last week I have picked up some plants which include some giant hairgrass and Java Fern. I made my own root tabs and am using them under the hairgrass which is growing very nicely also I'm dosing Seachem Flourish. Last week I went to the store and picked up 2 more Skirt Tetras and five Amano Shrimp all of which are doing amazing. The shrimp are loving feeding on my diatoms which are finally starting to die. Then two days ago I went to the store and picked up 3 more Kuhli loaches, and a school of 8 small neon Tetras all of which are doing well. On the way home i stopped by Petco to grab cat litter (wouldn't dare buy fish from there) and just looking at their fish selection for the of it I noticed these things called "Build A Vine" it basically a metal wire wrapped in Styrofoam with java moss growing on it but it was only a dollar! so i couldn't resist so after a very thorough cleaning I wrapped it around a rock on my mountain in hopes it will spread and blanket the mountain so i can one day remove the ugly vine thing. Oh also I'd like to mention I lost one of my guppies about a week ago to my overflow box. somehow he was small enough to fit through a slat so I have now ran fishing line through the slats to make them smaller so no other fish will fit through. Also while at my last trip to the fish store I bought Seachem Excel and have now started dosing that to help aid in plant growth.Everything is going good in the tank all my levels are staying excellent and holding stable. At the store I ordered The clown Killifish and am hoping to get them along with some Amazon Frogbit within the next week or two. More updates will come soon and in the end once I have my Elephant Nose which I plan to add last my stocking will be complete! I could also use some recommendations for feeding I'm currently feeding generic fish flakes, shrimp pellets and blood worms as a treat. Also I left out A lot of what I've done with this tank for the sake of simplicity so feel free to ask if you have questions. :;hi1
Sounds like you have a good start and some good inhabitants! I look forward to watching the tank take shape. I think the best way to do Moss is to get some ADA string and tie the moss down to whatever it is you're trying to cover.
All I did was build a cave system out of some spare pvc we had laying around and I layed the rocks around it. I think it has like 4 or 5 entrances throughout the mountain. I am regretting not painting it black but I'm trying to encourage lots of plant growth around it to cover up the ugly white.
