My three freshwater tanks

I finally got around to taking some updated pictures of my three aquariums. If any changes are made I can post them here.

- 10 gallon divided betta tank
> 1 black orchid and 1 crowntail
> Various plants (listed in profile)
> Fluval heater
> TopFin HOB filter (came with it)

- 20 gallon community
> Pool filter sand substrate
> A variety of plants (again, in profile)
> Small piece of driftwood
> Black slate pieces
> coconut kuhlI loach hideout
> Aquaclear 20 and 50
> Aquatic life T5HO (zoo med ultra sun and 10,000K bulbs)
> Aqueon Pro heater
> Harlequin Rasboras, kuhlI loaches, and MTS
> All complete with algae

- 29 gallon hexagon community (work in progress)
> Whisper HOB filter
> Fluval heater
> medium-large piece of driftwood
> water wisteria
> neon and rummy nose tetras (slowly adding to the rummy nose shoal)

- 29 gallon (slowly building)
> 20 long DIY sump/refugium
> DIY overflow
> still working on stocking ideas

 

Beautiful tanks!

 

Really nice tanks good job they all look so clean and natural

 

Very nice! I like the 20 gallon best.

 

Beautiful tanks!

Really nice tanks good job they all look so clean and natural

Thanks! I might be a bit obsessive on cleanliness . I like having live plants for both the look and their benefits, although they can be a pain sometimes.

Very nice! I like the 20 gallon best.

Thanks, it is my favorite out of the three also, but I am happy with them all. The fish seem happy with them too .

 

Lol my bigger tank is driving me nuts at the moment I need a longer thinner gravel vac but haven't been successful yet as I have to be careful because of endler babies but boy do those endlers poop

 

Lol my bigger tank is driving me nuts at the moment I need a longer thinner gravel vac but haven't been successful yet as I have to be careful because of endler babies but boy do those endlers poop

That would be bad to suck one of those up. I didn't think endlers would poop that much though since they're so small, but I've never had any to know.

 

Lol they are little poop machines when on mass but worth it they are such fun to keep

 

Good morning,

Thanks for sharing the photos of your beautiful tanks! Nice job.

Ken

 

Impressive to say the very least.

 

Very nice tanks !!! I would like to do the divided betta tank. Do your Betta flare at each other?

 

Impressive to say the very least.

Very nice tanks !!! I would like to do the divided betta tank. Do your Betta flare at each other?

Thanks . They did flare at each other for a couple days. Now it is like they don't even see each other. They both spend more time with their reflections on the back wall when they are flaring .

 

Looks great! Can't wait to see what goes in the Hex tank!

 

I'm most interested in what's going into the hex. I am a fan of taller tanks, and like the simplistic natural look of this one.

 

I have 2 10 gallon tanks that are goinging to be free soon your betta tank gave me insparation plus I can get 4 more crown tails!!!

 

Looks great! Can't wait to see what goes in the Hex tank!

I'm most interested in what's going into the hex. I am a fan of taller tanks, and like the simplistic natural look of this one.

Thanks! I am interested too . I am still a bit undecided on what the stocking will be past the tetras. I'm torn between a pair of ram cichlids or a single small angelfish that can grow up with the tetras. It will probably be rams though .

The layout will remain a secret until I finish it. Gotta leave some mystery to this, right ;D?

I have 2 10 gallon tanks that are goinging to be free soon your betta tank gave me insparation plus I can get 4 more crown tails!!!

Haha, I'm happy that your were inspired by the tank . I'm looking forward to what you come up with and the bettas you get.

 

Yep... one is free of anything... well I'll be adding trapdoor snails... the other tank has a crested gecko... I'm making its new cage now... once I clean the cage, a thousand times, I'll be working on that tank as well...

 

Yep... one is free of anything... well I'll be adding trapdoor snails... the other tank has a crested gecko... I'm making its new cage now... once I clean the cage, a thousand times, I'll be working on that tank as well...

Oops, I completely misread the previous post thinking you were getting the tanks for free . Good luck with the builds.

 

Haha,it's cool. I would be estatic to get some free 10 gallon would help in my invert breeding projects

 

I really am interested in the 29 progression. It's hard to wait!

 

I did a little bit to the 29 today when I did the WC. I decided to add some java moss to the driftwood and hope there is enough light to grow it slowly. I tried fishing line, but realized that it created too many gaps where fish could get stuck. So, I used the cracks in the wood to my advantage and got it stuck to the wood. The rest of it just holds itself together. I also spread out the wisteria bunch to let light get down to the lower leaves. It is a bit of an experiment to see if any plants will stay alive or not without much light in there. The fish seem to be very comfortable with the low light though.

I will be getting more true rummy nose tetras at the end of the week. I did get more, but only one survived out of the group of 4 I bought . I had asked the store to leave them in the bag when they arrived, so I could pick them up and acclimate them only once. When I got there they were in their tank after a 20 minute acclimation. I explained to them how sensitive true rummies are and that they need a slower acclimation given the large pH difference from the breeder to their tanks. After they lost most of the fish they are going to try my way next time.

Edit: I forgot I moved things around in my 20 gallon the other day to make more room. I also made a large cave for my kuhlis so they didn't need to sleep on top of each other during the day.

 

My 20 gallon has underwent some major changes this past couple weeks. The aquarium is now peat filtered darkening the water a little, I now have a pressurized CO2 system running, and the plants have changed significantly. Before adding the CO2 I was losing a battle with BBA. All the plants that had too much BBA on the leaves were removed and are now growing in my emersed setup till I get more new leaves. Some of the plants were able to be trimmed and put back into the tank though.

Today I filled in the open space with some fast growing plants. The floater is brazilian pennywort (or some other pennywort) that was a random plant in the fish store's tank. They didn't know what it was, so I got it for a dollar . The main length of it is around 1-2 feet with two branches running of it at about 4-5 inches each. I also bought some purple cabomba since I have always wanted it, but was nervous about it shedding leaves. I decided to take the risk since it was fairly cheap.

 

Very nice!

 

looks great!

 

Very nice tanks, I love how clean and neat they are

 

Nice tanks, man! I do like the floating plant. Looks like something I use to see in low creek water beds when I was a kid (water crest).

 

Thanks everyone!

My new lone angelfish in the 29 gallon really appreciates the cleanliness . All the fish in both 20 and 29 gallon seems to like the addition of the peat too.

Nice tanks, man! I do like the floating plant. Looks like something I use to see in low creek water beds when I was a kid (water crest).

Thanks, I didn't expect to find something like it, but I am happy I did. If it grows well and as fast as some say I may be selling some someday. Low creek water areas are always nice (not the drought the goes with it) to see fish and the plants moving with the current. That would be neat to recreate in an aquarium.

 

Thanks for the pictures. I enjoy your tanks very much and appreciate the work you put into them. And your harlequins have awesome color!

 

I love what you did with the 20g. Good call investing in the CO2, definitely my next move now.

 

Thanks for the pictures. I enjoy your tanks very much and appreciate the work you put into them. And your harlequins have awesome color!

Thank you, I really appreciate the comment . I enjoy doing the work to these tanks, and observing the changes in fish behavior and plant growth. The color of the harlequins has really came out well and seems to have changed with the peat tinted water (it may just be the water playing tricks on my eyes). They do really like the new plant cover over the top of them though.

I love what you did with the 20g. Good call investing in the CO2, definitely my next move now.

Thanks! It was painful to spend the money up front for the CO2 system, but you are right with it being a good change. The change in the rate of growth in the first week alone made me happy. Once I get the ferts right, it should be even better. A CO2 system is a good next move, especially if you want more demanding plants which seems to be all the really nice looking ones .


For now I think I am happy with the layout of the 20 gallon and should be moving on to my 29 gallon again, but I think I have said that before and end up changing something lol. I hope to start building the rest of my other 29 setup soon, so I can get that going. Has anyone figured out how to slow or freeze time so I can have more of it .

 

I decided to move things around in the 10 gallon with the WC last night to even out the light to the plants. Plus, my wisteria was turning into a jungle, and I was procrastinating so I didn't have to study lol. I trimmed some dead leaves off of the wisteria and topped them since they were growing through the water's surface. It kinda evens the tank out a little too. At some point I need to clean the divider since there is some algae, or debris, on it. Since the first picture in the thread every single one of my jungle vals died, but everything else continues on just fine, oh well.

 

Beautiful tanks! I especially likeyour bettas tank! I hope I can get my plants to grow like that!

 

Beautiful tanks! I especially likeyour bettas tank! I hope I can get my plants to grow like that!

Thanks, the bettas love it too . I have to leave at least one stem of wisteria at the surface where the bettas sleep, which is interesting to see. Good luck with your plants, with the right ones it isn't too hard.

 

I just wanted to add some photos to show some changes to the 20 and 29 gallon. On the 20 gallon, I received more riccia earlier, that I believe to be the dwarf species of it, and I got a lot of it. There was enough to make 4 floating balls, 6 small rocks, and 1 medium size rock. The growth on the plants has increased greatly. The purple cabomba already made it to the surface once and is starting to show more color. Also, the rotala is close to the surface, compared to 8 days ago when it was only half the height of the tank.

The 29 gallon received some hornwort courtesy of TrogdorSlayer22 on here. The hornwort is growing very well so far, at least an inch a day. I think it was a nice addition to the tank. I am open to any opinions on how the tanks look and any changes that should be made.

 

Honestly, IMO, I think it looks perfect the way it is EXCEPT for the lighting. It's a bit too Yellow, respectively speaking.

 

do you like the light colored sand? I was thinking of using that next time, iv only used black sand. is it hard to keep clean?

 

Alex, the yellowish color may be tannins.

 

Alex, the yellowish color may be tannins.

Thank you for clearing that up, Quad.

 

Honestly, IMO, I think it looks perfect the way it is EXCEPT for the lighting. It's a bit too Yellow, respectively speaking.

Thanks, like QQQUUUUAADDD said, it is tinted by tannins. I am going more for a blackwater effect on the 29 with peat filtering and subdued lighting from the hornwort. The 20 also has peat, but it is hard to tell with the amount of light.

do you like the light colored sand? I was thinking of using that next time, iv only used black sand. is it hard to keep clean?

I like the light colored sand in the 29 so it lightens things up, but I would like to change out the substrate to dirt and cap it with black sand or safe-t-sorb in the 20. I haven't had any problems keeping it clean though, the MTS help out a lot in the 20. It does show waste easier, but that makes the cleaning a lot easier.

 

I liked the earlier look on the 20 gallon. It had a clean, simple feel to it. But I still enjoy your pictures!