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20g long "The Root Beginning"

25K views 145 replies 38 participants last post by  marioman72 
#1 · (Edited)
hey everyone! , so im from RI and just started to become active on the forum and wanted to finally start a thread for my tanks now that im getting back into the scene. my 20g has been up and running for a couple of years now but with in the past few months have been really getting into the whole aquascaping stuff.

i just got my new 10g thats derimmed, started up tonight and hope to have a nice and planned out arrangement. on the hunt for plants right now probably going to try buying from other members on the forum any suggestions on what to look for would be great new to buying from forums. tomorrow ill have some pics of the start

20g L update 12/14/12


_DSC6288 by marioman72, on Flickr

2/4/13


_DSC6646 by marioman72, on Flickr

3/16/13


_DSC7052 by marioman72, on Flickr

so far heres what i have in my 20g:

Plants:
ludwigia repens
rotala wallichii
Myriophyllum mattogrossense
crypt wendtii brown and green
E. tenellus
rotala corlata
lilaeopsis brasiliensis
glossostigma
hydrocotle sib.


Funa:
cardinal tetras
amano shrimp
bazzilion cherry shrimp
tangerine tiger shrimp

Equipment and ferts:
marineland C-160 filter
coralife 24" 18wx2 on 10 hours a day
diy co2
fluorite and eco-complete with root tabs
i dose some excel, and pfretz every day

any input would be great thanks!



TANK failed and CRACKED 10g update: 12/12/2012


_DSC6276 by marioman72, on Flickr

last picture before its death 2/4/13


_DSC6645 by marioman72, on Flickr
Plants:
HC
hydrocotle sib.
Eleocharis acicularis
limnophilia aromatica
fissdens

Equipment and ferts:
fluval plant/shrimp stratum with root tabs
24w coralife 18" light
DIY co2 with fluval disk diffuser
pfertz, excel daily dosages

Funa:
10 maculata rasboras
12 wild green neons
6 otos
6 amano shrimp
15 PFR shrimp
5 pigmy cories
 
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#64 ·
Nice!

Those wild green neons sure look blue to me lol!!

Did you get these from aqua life?

I've been looking for pigmy cories. How much were they?

-Sent from my Samsung Note, a "Phablet"
 
#65 ·
yup got them from aqua life. if u look at reg neons compared to them they look green and these guys stay a lotttt smaller. but they have 3 dif types of micro corries, spotted ones, stripped and red brown ones, they are 2.99
 
#70 ·
oh yea def, i was heavily debating what fish to stock in this tank and my lfs had them available so i jumped on the opportunity.

great fish choice!
i had maculatas for a long time back then. good fish to have. i mean really good that i will buy them again when they're available.
def an awsome looking fish! super bright little guys. And you can stock a tun in a smaller size tank like the 10g thats the biggest reason i went with all micro fish.
 
#69 ·
heres the picture update!

the 10g with the new fishies.


_DSC6077 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6075 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6074 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6073 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6070 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6069 by marioman72, on Flickr

and heres the 20g, heres my new little fiert despenser bottle i got at walmart work realy well compared to pouring out cap fulls of the flourish.


_DSC6061 by marioman72, on Flickr

added some hydrocotle sib. from my 10g


_DSC6058 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6054 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6056 by marioman72, on Flickr


_DSC6057 by marioman72, on Flickr
 
#73 ·
yup, and love the neons they school much better then the maculatas

Both tanks are so beautiful, you make me want to start a smaller tank with micros for my office. Love the choice in fish!

Where did you purchase the fish?
thanks! micro fish are great def fun little guys and make the tank look so much bigger too.
 
#74 ·
so, i wasn't happy with how my 20g layout was coming along and did a total rescape last night. After 3 hours and a bunch of sand later, i came to my new product. The fish seem much happier with the new swimming space and im happy with the final product. might need some adjustments with the stem plants but other wise not much else to do but wait. tho i might want to add some hair grass in the for ground. ill post pics in a few minutes.
 
#79 ·
thanks a lot! i do photography as a side thing so ive gotten prety good with photo stuff haha!

Wow, the rescape looks great!
Are you going to do a carpet plant for all that sand? I have a hard time leaving areas open like that..i just see it is more space to plant more plants!
thanks! i realy want something to fill in that sand area. not sure yet if i want to cover all of it but im trying to decide on the right cover for it, i might use a couple diff types to get some textures in there. but im think DHG belem with a mixture of the hydrocotle sib. mixed in. i realy like that combo of textures together. or i might try somthing new but im guna take my time with that part and work on my trimming skills for the stem plants in the back haha

i really like the rescape!!
thanks! its been a design that ive been thinking about doing for a number of years now but never realy had the materials to pull it off. and i think the sand was the missing link to this scape.
 
#84 ·
Today i made a light stand with wire conduit piping and some chain worked out prety good. now the light reaches all the way to edges and does not get cut off from the clamps i was using to hold the light up before. in addition this looks so much better then rusty clamps.


_DSC6097 by marioman72, on Flickr

in addition i added a field of hydrocotle to the open area, it def needed somthing to fill in that open space i think it still need a grassy plant in the back or hear and there for a natural look. ive been researching pictures of different foregrounds to see what looks best for my scape. i might try experimenting with some mosses in the future. the dark green is really contrasty again most of the other foreground plant species that are around.


_DSC6096 by marioman72, on Flickr

and then an update on the 10g after doing a huge trim of the hydro and as i said planted it in the 20L the linophilia is getting much bigger now and the ludwigia is coming back strong from the trim. tho im not sure thats the right plant for that cornner. deppening on how the rottalla wallichi grows in the 20L i might do a swap to get some textual differences. but other wise a lost one of the maculatas everyone else is very happy. And added 15 PFR shrimps to add to the cleaning crew and get some more color in there. hopefully they start to reproduce.



_DSC6090 by marioman72, on Flickr
 
#88 ·
what kidn of camera do you use? if have a flash on that would be a big reason to get a lot of kick back. Also keep the room as dark as possible other then the tank. usually what i do to keep the tank the focus.
 
#87 ·
finished installing my self unit for my 10g and hung the light today! sorry for the crappy cell pic. lighting is so much more even now looks much better.


IMAG0199 by marioman72, on Flickr
 
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