New 40 Gallon Breeder Project

Your tank is looking really good. I love how you put in the driftwood. Thanks for keeping us updated.

 

Your tank looks neat!! Great job! I just built a 52g, having it set up soon

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Your tank looks neat!! Great job! I just built a 52g, having it set up soon

Sent from my LG-D852 using Fish Lore Aquarium Fish Forum mobile app

Thanks! Saw your tank and like what you're doing with it. Looking forward to seeing it filled and stocked.

As for mine, I keep finding all these awesome used driftwood pieces at my LFS that they're letting go for really cheap. I've already added some to the right side. I've got the others in a 10 gallon waiting for them to sink. Then I have to figure out how to fit them in, if possible.

 

Well, I think I'm finally done (As done as a tank can be, anyway.) Fish seem really happy with the added decor, as am I. Gonna go ahead and lock the print...




Comments and suggestions welcome as always. I'll be repurposing the old 36 bow for an Asian build as my next projext, so be on the lookout for a new thread soon.

 

STUNNUNG! just gorgeous!

 

That is absolutely beautiful!

 

Beautifully done, makes me wish I was fish in that tank.

 

Just a day in the life...

 

Looks wonderful!

 

Your tank makes me feel like mine was made by a 1st grader!

 

Absolutely beautiful! Really really well done.

 

Just a quick update for anyone who is interested. The tank has had some ups and downs over the past few months.

On the positive front, the valisneria and the red rubins have really thrived, to the point that I had to remove six val plants from the tank. They were sending runners out like weeds. Still are, in fact. Haven't lost a single fish either. They seem quite happy in their environment.

Unfortunately, I've had some minor algae issues and the s. repens isn't doing so great - which is strange because they did much better in a higher tank with weaker lighting. In this tank, they became leggy and sickly. As you can see, there are not many survivors left. I'm going to try planting some more and add a new round of root tabs. Maybe they just didn't like the move. As for the Kleiner Bar swords, they are doing OK. No growth, but they are not dying either.

I also added some wood and plastic val plants behind the tank to fill in the background. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

 

I guess if I did a side by side from your previous pics, I can see what you're talking about but the tank still looks awesome!!

 

I guess if I did a side by side from your previous pics, I can see what you're talking about but the tank still looks awesome!!

Thanks. Basically, it's filled in at the back and thinned out in front. That, and it looks a bit more lived in. Here's the side by side...

 

Still looks great!!!

 

wow, that looks terrific!

 

Still looks great!!!

Oh, I actually like it more now than before. But the perfectionist in me keeps calling my attention to that foreground plant situation.

 

Yeah, the s. repens looked really nice in the first pic. Mine aren't doing too well either. Very leggy and not lush. Guessing maybe I need a higher light.

 

Yeah, the s. repens looked really nice in the first pic. Mine aren't doing too well either. Very leggy and not lush. Guessing maybe I need a higher light.

Who knows? The nice lush repens you see in the before pic got that way growing in a 36 bow with lower light. When I moved it to the 40b with higher lighting, it got leggy and started dying. You would think that wouldn't happen moving to a more shallow tank with better lighting.

 

Is it possible that the plants melted in response to the new conditions and that they may still come back?

 

Is it possible that the plants melted in response to the new conditions and that they may still come back?

They didn't really melt, just got leggy with a lot of leave loss. I finally just removed all of it and replanted the few plants that were still doing well. I suspect you're right, though, in that the new conditions or just the move itself had something to do with it.

 

* leaf loss.

Why can't I edit posts today?

 

They didn't really melt, just got leggy with a lot of leave loss. I finally just removed all of it and replanted the few plants that were still doing well. I suspect you're right, though, in that the new conditions or just the move itself had something to do with it.

interesting theory....I am going to be moving a bunch of my VERY established staurogyne repens to a different tank.....I wonder if I will experience that as well.....

Are you using root tabs in the sand?

 

interesting theory....I am going to be moving a bunch of my VERY established staurogyne repens to a different tank.....I wonder if I will experience that as well.....

Are you using root tabs in the sand?

I did when I established them in this tank a few months ago. Didn't use them at all in the 36. Another "go figure" situation.

 

I did when I established them in this tank a few months ago. Didn't use them at all in the 36. Another "go figure" situation.

Maybe add some fresh tabs?
Odd that they were fine without tabs before....
Do you use any thing like seachem flourish or seachem flourish excel? I use both of those with mine....

I only ask because I had a smaller tank with s.repens and they did really well for a while, then I got bored with that tank and stopped caring for the plants. (I still did water changes of course) When the root tabs got old, or used up or whatever, and I was no longer using excel or flourish, the s. repens started doing what yours have done......

 

Maybe add some fresh tabs?
Odd that they were fine without tabs before....
Do you use any thing like seachem flourish or seachem flourish excel? I use both of those with mine....

I only ask because I had a smaller tank with s.repens and they did really well for a while, then I got bored with that tank and stopped caring for the plants. (I still did water changes of course) When the root tabs got old, or used up or whatever, and I was no longer using excel or flourish, the s. repens started doing what yours have done......

Thanks for the info. I'm currently using Excel daily and Flourish Comp weekly. Used to do the Comp twice a week, but I observed a noticeable decrease in algae when I cut it back to just once a week. Hopefully, I can keep that where it is.

Will definitely be adding a new round of tabs along with the new s. repens I plant today, though. Hopefully, they will take to this tank like they did the old one.

 

Thanks for the info. I'm currently using Excel daily and Flourish Comp weekly. Used to do the Comp twice a week, but I observed a noticeable decrease in algae when I cut it back to just once a week. Hopefully, I can keep that where it is.

Will definitely be adding a new round of tabs along with the new s. repens I plant today, though. Hopefully, they will take to this tank like they did the old one.

I figured you were using all that stuff....but I thought it was worth mentioning

Under the circumstances, I would think that your problems are due to the tabs needing replacing....BUT...that doesn't explain why they did so well in the other tank....

 

I figured you were using all that stuff....but I thought it was worth mentioning

Under the circumstances, I would think that your problems are due to the tabs needing replacing....BUT...that doesn't explain why they did so well in the other tank....

Especially when the other tank was deeper and more dimly lit.

 

You picked an awesome piece of driftwood! Awesome scape

 

This is my 40 gallon breeder!!!! Thought we were Sharing haha

 

This is my 40 gallon breeder!!!! Thought we were Sharing haha

Very nice tank! Love the driftwood and rocks you chose. Would be great to see a background on it and a pic taken from straight on rather than from underneath.

 

 

Especially when the other tank was deeper and more dimly lit.

Is it possible then that the mix of light + nutrients + CO2 was more in balance and that by moving to a higher light tank they suddenly had too little of the other two for best growth?

 

Is it possible then that the mix of light + nutrients + CO2 was more in balance and that by moving to a higher light tank they suddenly had too little of the other two for best growth?

I'd buy that. Hopefully, the new tabs will restore that balance. If not I'll try upping the Excel dosage.

 

Well, the new s. repens is growing nicely just after a couple of days. Guess the root tabs did the trick. Fingers crossed they continue to flourish.

I also wanted to show you guys the DIY day/night lighting cycle I've been using on this tank. I use three LED lights - a backlight and two overheads - three wall timers and a two channel ramp timer. The sequence is as follows:

At 8:00 am, wall timer #1 comes on, causing channel #1 of the ramp timer to activate the backlight and have it operate in moonlight mode, which is 5% of full brightness (Picture 1.)

At 10:00 am, channel #1 of the ramp timer is programmed to begin ramping up. Backlight reaches full brightness at 10:15 am (Picture 2.)

At 11:00 am, wall timer #2 comes on, causing channel #2 of the ramp timer to activate the overhead LED #1 and have it operate in moonlight mode, which is 3% of full brightness (Picture 3.)

At noon, channel #2 of the ramp timer is programmed to begin ramping. Overhead LED #1 reaches full brightness at 12:15 pm (Picture 4.)

At 1:00 pm, wall timer #3 comes on and activates overhead LED #2, which adds 5% to 10% more white, red and blue light to the mix, simulating full sunlight (Picture #5.)

At 7:00 pm, LED #3 turns off and the cycle reverses until eventually all lights are off at midnight. The cycle last 16 hours total, with 6 hours at peak brightness.

Here's what each stage looks like...

 

You picked an awesome piece of driftwood! Awesome scape

Thanks, but which piece are you referring to? There are 13 in there.

 

The tank is looking great. I'm still waiting to start mine. Life...
Could you do a little more show and tell on your light setup and how it's all hooked up. Really diggin the look.

 

The tank is looking great. I'm still waiting to start mine. Life...
Could you do a little more show and tell on your light setup and how it's all hooked up. Really diggin the look.

Sure thing.

I started by applying frosted window film to a clear acrylic sheet cut to fit snugly between the top and bottom trim of the back glass and snapping it in, film side facing front. I prefer this to applying the window film directly to the glass, as it allows me the option of popping out the background and sliding in a new one if I so desire.

The light you see in the back lighting the wall is a Marineland Hidden LED, secured to the top rI'm with clear removable caulk.

The other two lights are a Fluval AquaSky and a Current Satellite LED Plus, which are sitting on a homemade harness, which I fashioned out of two leftover acrylic pieces cut long enough to form an arch when placed widthwise across the tank. Truth be told, I would prefer to use just a single Planted Plus or 24/7, but neither will work with a ramp timer from what I can gather.

The two channel ramp timer is made by Fluval. As for the wall timer, just about any will do.

Hopefully, you can make out what's going on in the pic below, which was taken at night after one overhead was already off and the other was dimming. Will gladly take another pic tomorrow during the day if need be. Or if you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

 

Ah, ok. That clears things up a bit.

Thanks