Growerguy's 75g Journal.

[lauraleellbp]

I'm liking the journal! Didn't see an update on the neons today- hopefully no news is good news!

[Growerguy]

Here is a list of the fish so far->
15 Neon tetras
2 Yoyo loachs
1 Angelicus loach
1 Oto
1 Pleco

Today one of my Otos died. Checked water params and everything is in good levels.
nA - 10
nI - 0
ammo - 0
ph - 7.2

Started dosing with Flourish excel for the plants and to help with a small algea bloom. Allso my sword plant has 5 little swords growing off it. All the other plants have grown about an inch of new growth.
Will have better pictures soon.

[lauraleellbp]

Otos are pretty delicate fish- I wouldn't beat yourself up over losing a few by any means. But your one left would probably appreciate some company at some point...

Are all the neons from the 15gal safe and secure in the new 75gal now? Those water specs look great!

[Growerguy]

Hehe yeah thats what Ive read about Otos. :P They are hungry little fish though! Unfortunatly the two good LFS in town run out of them a few days after they get a shipment haha. Ill get more though soon. Ive fallen in love with loachs and otos.
All the Neons from the 15g are safe and happy as could be. Hehe and they have 12 new friends. It is pretty cool seeing so many of them swim together around the tank.

[lauraleellbp]

YAYYY! You did a good job by them, Grower!

[Growerguy]

Thank you lauralee! Cheers to one of the most relaxing and stressing but most awsome hobby ever!

[ibjhb]

Lookin' good

[Growerguy]

Thanks ibjhb.
Everythings going well so far. The stem plants have about an inch of new growth on them.

[Growerguy]

Ok now Im a little confused. My 2 Yoyo loachs started to turn pale (stress) and then for about an hour they laid down on there sides on my sword plant. For awhile I thought maybe they were dying but now... they have got their color back and are swiming around as normal. Maybe they were sleeping?
params ->
ph - 7.6
ammo - 0
nI - 0
nA - 40 <-could my nitrates be getting to high?

Allso added a 120 watt grow lamp. Had to hang it a foot above tank because it gets pretty hot. Puts me at 200 watts of light.

[SeaSerpant]

nitrates are a bit too high. i know that isn't so good but it is better than having you nitrites that high? the nitrates should be kept under ten after you get them down. i have to say, i have had bad experiences. when i was a total noob at this, i had cycled my tank with soem bacterial junk called cycle and added my fish after a week. when i finally got the sense to get the testing kits my nitrite was about 56 my nitrate were over 100 and my ammonia was zero. the only losses ive had amazingly was 1 oto a long time after and 1 glassfish because i had poured water in for a water change and it's spine went wonked and it looke like this: Z. no joke. then it died a few days after.

[Growerguy]

Thanks SeaSerpant. Did a WC and the levels are back down to 20ppm
My loachs are doing alot better. Anyone ever tried to take a picture of Yoyo loachs and Neon tetras.... They dont want to stay still! lol
Anyways got some better pictures of the over all setup.
If anyone can identify the sword plant Ive got please let me know.
I think its an amazon sword but the leaves dont look narrow enough.


Neon tetras with a Yoyo loach swiming across the bottom

20g wet/dry filter

Sword plant (dont know what kind..)


Left side

Right side

[fishman9809]

Hard to believe SeaSerpent knows so much, he's only 13, I knew about the PH and the nitrates though, SeaSerpent must have had tanks since he was like 2!! LOL

[lauraleellbp]

Grower- it's looking good!

Sea was right on about the nitrates, and you did right with the PWC.

Yoyos are like that- don't be surprised to find them sleeping upside down, or standing on their heads, either- they are just characters and a half. Mine occasionally get obsessed with my HOB filter and try their best to jump inside...

That sword is not an amazon. Amazons have pointy leaves and point more leaves up than out. That looks to me like a green melon sword, Echinodorus osiris ?

[Growerguy]

Thanks lauralee.
Im loving loachs more and more daily haha.
I was thinking the sword could either be a Melon sword or a Kleiner Bar sword. Echinodorus 'Kleiner Bar'. Maybe it will be easier to tell when it gets a little bigger. Plus Ive got 5 small swords growing off it that are about ready to be planted.
Could the nitrates have gone up because my bio-load is much smaller then what the last owner had in it? or maybe I dosed to much Flourish excel?

[lauraleellbp]

It's still a newly set up tank so I wouldn't worry too much about the nitrates. They aren't nearly as toxic to fish as ammonia and nitrIte are, and are actually good for the plants... just do a PWC any time they start really creeping up there. Once you get more plants in there, it's likely the problem will go away all together as the plants take them all in.

Your tank is just getting settled in. It will take a while for things to settle and for you to get a sense of what is and isn't normal. Just think things through and ask advice before making any major changes and you will do AWESOME. You're already doing VERY well!