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Johnson18's 20L- Apistos & Pencilfish! 2 Posts of New Pics!!

67K views 344 replies 39 participants last post by  johnson18 
#1 · (Edited)
This tank has changed a ton since this first post. Check it out a couple pages in, latest reboot was in Dec. 2016, around page 20!

Here's the current tank stocking as of 10/1/2017
2(1m/1f) x F1 Apistogramma erythrura
4 x Corydoras sterbai
13 x Nannostomus marginatus - Dwarf Pencilfish
6(I think?) x Caridina multidentata - Amano Shrimp
6(2m/4f) x Aphyosemion australe Cap Esterias BSWG 97/24 - Lyretail Killifish
3 x Carnegiella strigata - Marbled Hatchetfish

Current tank specs(4/2017):
Tank: 20 gallon long
Light: 36" BuildMyLED XB custom spectrum with adjustment dial
Filter: Eheim 2215 & two dual sponge filters
Heater: idk it's big.
Substrate: MGOCPM(5/2014) mixed with Flourite Black Onyx Sand to add higher CEC & capped with black diamond blasting sand















[Original first post from 2012]

So I figured it was about time to start a journal! Since I built a new tank today, I will start fresh! This is the third planted tank I've got running in my house. This 20 long was purchased along with another 20L to be a shrimp tank.... well I purchased a plant package from Crispino Ramos and realized I didn't have enough room in my other two tanks for all the plants. That is about the time this tank sprung to life!







So I suppose I will start with some specs!







Tank: 20 Gallon Long 30"L x 13"W x 12"H



Light: Coral Life T5HO Dual lamp. 10,000K & Actinic (eventually change to 6700K if I keep the tank set up this way.)



Substrate: 15# of Flourite Black Onyx Sand w/about 15-20lbs of Black Diamond Blasting Sand on top.



HOB filter that I had left over from a different project, rated for 30 gallons.



DIY CO2: 2L soda bottle run to a 32oz overflow bottle then run into the HOB filter intake.







Now for some plants! Here is what I've got!







Ludwigia sp Red hybrid - 5 stems



Syngonanthus sp Belem - 5 stems



Ludwigia palustris - 10 stems



Blyxa alternifolia - 5 stems



Rotala indica or Ammania sp Bonsai - 5 stems



Hydrothrix gardneri - 5 stems



Staurogyne repens Tropica 049G - 6 stems



Ludwigia brevipes - 10 stems



Ludwigia inclinata var verticillata Cuba - 3 stems



Pogostemon stellatus Narrow Leaf - 5 stems



Bacopa sp Salzmannii - 5 stems



Persicaria/Polygonum sp Porto Velho - 5 stems



Persicaria/Polygonum sp Sao Paolo - 3 stems



Limnophila aromatica - 3 stems



Poaceae sp Purple Bamboo - 3 stems



Hygrophila sp Tiger - 10 stems



Rotala rotundifolia - 10 stems



Heteranthera zosterifolia - 20 stems








Will be updated with pics soon!
 
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#276 ·
Thanks! No worries on the meds, been there done that, can't stand being on them. They are lucky they didn't hit me further forward or their little car would've been toast with them in it. I was going pretty slow, maybe 25 max as I was just about to enter a narrow construction zone. Like I said, we were all lucky it wasn't worse than it was. Now I just gotta get down to the police towing lot to get my water jugs out of the back of my truck so I can get on with that WC/top off! hahaha!
 
#278 ·
Here are just a few shots of the tank as it is now. Definitely very much still a work in progress, as far as the emersed plants are concerned. I've added some plants, still have a huge pot of golden creeping jenny. I think this(rip plants) might get rearranged a little. I kind of feel like the planters need to be spread a bit so there is a little room in between them. I will list the new plants later for now just a few pictures.

Oh, on a side note, this tank is a total pain in the ass to photograph with the light colored wall behind it....















The submersed portion of the tank still looks empty & boring. It should eventually fill in to look decent. As you move from right to left the plants get smaller going from C. wendtii & nurii to C. x willisii 'lucens' to C. Parva with some MM mixed in. Mostly planted in diagonal rows going from the back befit to front right. The front left corner is a patch of Hygro. sp. 'Araguaia'. The area in the back where the black background ends has a few Hygro. sp. 'brown'. I would also like to put a nice grouping of E. parvoflorus in the same area. I'd also like to work in a few more patches of stem plants.


I know the 3/4 black background looks quite odd but the goal is for this tank to be visible from two rooms. This is also the reason I decided on this particular planting layout. I hope that eventually the background will be mostly covered by plant growth anyway.
 
#279 ·
Very interested to hear what the new plants are you put in up top, be sure to update on how they do with the transition from soil to riparium! Is the moss aquatic (if so what species) or a random grab from the yard? I'm tempted to pull a little moss from the front yard and see how it does on top of the gravel of the riparium planters.. might even try to stick it on the black rim on the front of the tank like [THIS] to hide the plastic
 
#280 ·
Well, I added a nice chunk of Spider plant, Chlorophytum comosum, to the HOB on Saturday. We have a large pot hanging in the front walkway of the house. This was a big chunk that my sister's Great Dane knocked off with his tail, which is a fairly regular occurrence. When I checked yesterday, this plant had already put out close to 3/4" of new healthy white roots. I was unable to find any Fittonia at Lowes or one of the best local nurseries. I was able to find Polka Dot Plant, Hypoestes phyllostachya, which seems very similar to Fittonia in structure and somewhat in appearance. I figured I would give it a shot. It is spread out with plants being both pink and white in color. The last plant I added was an Arrowhead vine, Nephthytis hybrid. I stuck it in the back corner of the HOB filter. The plant is a light green color with pinkish veins and a small bit of a darker green around the leaf edges.

I still haven't added any wandering jew yet. I will probably do that at the same time I add the creeping jenny. I also still need to add some of my emersed stems.

These additions still leave me with two empty planters. Haven't decided what I would like to do with them yet. I am thinking about maybe putting some variety of Maidenhair fern in one... not sure about the other. I'll have to dig through some old PM's and see what Devin might have that I would like to try. I do have a couple colocasia and alocasia species I have thought about putting a small chunk of rhizome into a planter, just to try out. My concern with this is that they have all been suffering from a spider mite infestation since the move. I don't want to introduce that into this system.

The moss in the planters is Xmas moss. I used to have a ton of it in this tank but most of it got disposed of due to it being mixed with a massive amount of algae(don't go out of town for a wedding and leave your new BML fixture running at 100% for 4 days straight! whoops!) I usually just dice it up with some scissors so it's just tiny pieces, 1/8-1/4", and spread it out on whatever surface I want it to grow on. I use it on the substrate of all my emersed pots too. It helps keep algae and fungus from growing.

As far as covering the black rim with moss, I'd probably be more likely to remove the rim, or even just the front section of it, than adding moss. Although that is a pretty neat option, I feel it would draw more attention to the front rim than the plain plastic.
 
#281 ·
I tried maidenhair fern in my HOB, it did not do well but I think i was too rough on the roots
 
#282 ·
Just got back from the lfs, picked up three nice little E. parvoflorus that I added to the tank as mentioned a few posts up. Also got four Ember Tetras. I know, not really enough but that was all they had. I was surprised to learn that they actually have a second facility where they quarantine all fish at least two weeks prior to bringing them into the store! I personally think it's awesome! The other times I'd been in ANA I was amazed at the quality of the stock, not a single dead fish, not even any sick fish!! Well, now I know why, pretty cool. Prices are actually competitive with. The big box stores like petsmart. They are moving over more embers on the 9th, so I will go pick up another ten to fifteen then, as well as some Otos. I got the last two he had but they are going into the 55.
 
#283 ·
There are now 10 ember tetras in this tank now.

Plants are all growing like crazy. I find the submersed growth impressive considering the light is ~44" above the substrate! Hygrophila sp. 'Araguaia' has been growing well and has some incredible coloring. It's a really dark red/maroonish, which considering that this tank is fairly low tech(no co2/no fertz) I think is impressive! The roots of the Pothos have been going crazy in the water. Not the prettiest sight but the fish seem to be far more comfortable since they've really started growing.

Well here are a few recent pics!











 
#284 ·
Tank's still growing well. Haven't made any major changes. I lost one Ember Tetra not long after adding the last batch. I would like to add a few more and some shrimp. I've not been focusing too much time or energy into any of my tanks since the start of classes. I do water changes or top offs when needed. There have been far more top offs than actual WCs, due to a lot of evaporation occurring. The plants are doing well above and below the water. Honestly, all of the riparium plants need a hell of a trim, although they probably won't get one right now.

Gotta love being super busy with school and such. I joined the U of A TriCats, which is the triathlon team, so I've been spending most of my spare time training. It's all good because it builds strength prior to having back surgery... I see the surgeon this Friday so I'll finally have a date set. Hopefully I finally be able to lift 5 gallons of water to do WCs without needing help or having to take some extra narcotics after finishing up.
 
#288 ·
Thanks! I haven't messed with this tank much lately. The joy of the last month of the semester. It's mostly just sitting there growing. My HOB died a while back and hasn't been replaced, so most of the plants in it died. I've got some ideas on how to redo a few areas of the above water layout to give it a better look. Just gotta get through it next week and a half!


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#289 ·
WOW!! I just read through this entire thread while drinking my morning coffee! I keep glancing over at the emersed tanks in my room to see if certain plants that were once in this tank are clearly visible. I love the current layout of this tank but it's a little bare, definitely needs more variation both above and below the water. I'd like to add some small pockets of stems back into the aquascape. The riparium plants need more depth. I have been thinking about splitting the planter of cyperus into two as I've got a couple spares and the plant is extremely overgrown. The pothos growing out of the HOB is at least 20+ feet long. I just keep getting more ideas on what I would like to do once I'm finally done with this semester!! Had an exam yesterday, first final is Friday, second final is Monday and then I've got a paper due Tuesday, after that I'm done!!
 
#290 ·
Johnson18's 20L Riparium w/Planted HOB

I recently removed the majority of the riparium planters from this tank, the only planter left is the one of dwarf Cyperus sp. If you have read the newest post on my 55 gallon, I've been mistreating my tanks for a while. This tank has actually faired better than the 55, as it's topless and I live in Arizona, which means that if left alone for more than a couple weeks there is not much water left. So, this tank receives new water every few weeks or my roomies get mad. haha.



I finally took off the dead HOB that I've been adding water to for way too long. The cyperus is the only plant that I'm not sure I can easily grow elsewhere. The plan is to put an actual glass top on the tank so the water doesn't evaporate so quickly.



I moved around some of the remaining crypts(mostly small 'Lucens', nurii, and parva), anubais, as well as adding Hydrocotyle tripartita, Alternanthera reineckii 'cardinalis', three Echinodorus parviflorus, and a variety of different stems from my emersed tanks. I'll have to look back and figure out exactly which emersed stems I used. There's at least one Bacopa sp., Ludwigia Sp. Rubin for sure, and I think there are a couple Rotala sp. I covered the driftwood with a nice big patch of subwassertang. I will try to get some halfway decent pictures.





My biggest issue now is that I need an actual filter. There are a couple dual sponge filters in the tank but I don't think that's anywhere near enough if I ever wanna put any livestock in this tank. I don't think I will ever overload the capacity of tank as far as fish/shrimp/etc. I'm probably gonna go with one of the Eheim filters. Any suggestions on which size canister filter to get? I'm looking at either the 2213 or 2215, I'm definitely open to other options though. I haven't really spent much time looking at the other brands in a few years.
 
#291 ·
I also have to drop the light from its current height (50") to a more reasonable distance above the water for this setup! The issue with this is that I'm running a 36" fixture over a 30" tank & I'm not sure I've got the mounts for the light to sit on the tank. Until then I've got the LEDs running at 100% for 8hrs a day.


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#292 ·
Johnson18's 20L Riparium w/Planted HOB

I've added a bunch of stuff to this tank. I met up with a fellow Tucson hobbyist and picked up a bunch of free plants, also purchased a few from here and ANA. This tank has WAY too many stems for my current liking but I'm gonna see if I can keep it maintained.



The lights are still crazy high, I've been trying to think about how high above the tank I should put it. If you haven't looked through this journal, the light is a custom BuildMyLED 36" XB that is basically their Riparium 6500K with 660nm red added. Custom LED Report There is the original report. I've got two of those same fixtures, the other on an emersed tank. I'll probably hang the light 12" above the water surface.



This week I will be switching the filtration around on my tanks, and adding the Eheim 2215 to this tank. This filter has been running on my 55 for the last couple years.



Nothing super interesting picture wise. Just some new growth and the new plants.



 
#293 ·
Got the light fixture lowered. Now it is about 12" above the surface of the water. It hangs over one end of the tank where the hob filter once was, oh well.
I think I've got it running at about 25%, we'll see how that goes. I'm going to start with a 5hr photoperiod and reduce from there as needed.






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#294 ·
Everything in this tank has been growing surprisingly well! I even trimmed a couple stems today.

I added a few stems of Hygrophila araguaia, a couple crypts, and a little Hydrocotyle sp. 'Japan'. I'm definitely pleased with the way this tank has been progressing.

Today I got two amano shrimp for this tank. Along with the shrimp I picked up four Sterbai Corys! I know they will need a larger school but the LFS only had these four. I'll pick up a few more next week.

Thought I had some newer pictures, but they were the same ones I posted above. D'oh! Oh well, I've gotta get some of the 55 in the next couple days, I'll make sure I get this tank too!
 
#295 ·
The corys have stirred up any bit of mulm remaining on the substrate! I keep using my tweezers to shake it off the plant leaves. The filter has been doing well at sucking it up. Hopefully this will only take a day or so to finish removing any excess mulm. Here are a few shots that I took just after the lights came on today.













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#297 ·
Johnson18's 20L





Unfortunately, the mangrove did not enjoy the lack of humidity in Arizona. It survived about six months after the move before kicking the bucket. Even with regular misting it just wasn't happy from the beginning. It was incredibly disappointing as that was my favorite plant!

I think this is one of the last decent pics of it. At this point the plant was almost 2years old!




Though I've removed most of the riparium plants from this tank, I will definitely doing another one in the future. I learned a lot about this hobby from my riparium & I enjoyed keeping it immensely. I will probably do one on a much larger scale and with different tank dimensions.

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#300 ·
Johnson18's 20L

I've been doing a lot of online reading and research about different fish species that I might want to put into this tank. I think it is time to reach out for some ideas from the forum! I know I previously mentioned Apistogrammas, I am still looking at some of the different Apisto species having never kept them. Dario Dario is another species I have been reading about, although I'm not sure I have to time to deal with the constant live feedings. I also really enjoy some of the micro species of rasboras and such as a small schooling fish to go with the others. The tank is up to 6 Sterbai corys, which I think will be the max on those. Along with the two Amano shrimp & a nerite snail.



I'd really like a pair of smaller fish that will be the main spotlight species in the tank, hence the Apistos & Dario Dario. Plus a smaller species that will fill the upper regions of the water column. At this point I'm fully open to suggestions, if anyone has some! I feel like the tank almost has too much flow for some of these species, though I could tone it down with a spray bar or other method if needed!



The plants have REALLY been filling in! I've got a couple pics on my phone I will try to get posted this afternoon after class. It is beginning to look amazing! I need to do a major trim of all the stems to get things to fill in a little closer. I've been pleased with the growth lately!

Edit: Pics! These were taken for me by a roommate a few days back. I've not been home while the light are on in almost a week! I'll try to get a fts today!







 
#301 ·
Just a couple fts from today.

The lfs had a gorgeous pair of A. Borellii "blue" the other day! I didn't buy them. lol. I definitely thought about it. I had just added the last two cories and two more Amanos though. The tank needed time to adjust to the increased bioload. Plus I still need to add the school of dither fish, which some sort of Boraras species.








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#302 ·
I did a huge trim & replant this evening with a water change.

I've decided to go with a small school of Microdevario kubotai.

I'm pretty much decided on an Apistogramma pair, not sure on which species though. I'm currently leaning towards the A. borellii, or one of the A. agassizii variations. Thoughts? What Apistos have/do you keep? Which one's do you like the best? I have heard that some of them don't do well with Excel? This tank lives on Excel!!
 
#305 ·
Johnson18's 20L

I haven't been messing with my tanks much this last few weeks, too many exams and such. Spring break is next week so I'm hoping to put a little time in working on all my tanks. I actually am skipping my first class this morning as my back is absolutely killing me. I took that opportunity to flip on the lights and take a look at things since I haven't been home during the photoperiod in a while.

I've been quite pleased with the growth the plants in here have seen lately! The AR is finally taking off! Gonna have way too much in here soon!



As you can see there has been a little bit of algae pop up on the glass. I'm not too worried about it as it gives the Amano shrimp & nerite snail something to munch on.



So in the lower right corner of this pic, front left of the tank, there's a random Aponogeton sp. popping up. Funny bc I've never had one in this tank. The same species popped up in my 55 a few years ago too. Lol. No clue.









I had just topped off the water level so things were a bit stirred up.




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#306 · (Edited)
Johnson18's 20L

This tank may get some new in habitants this weekend depending on how auctions go at the event I'm headed to in Phoenix on Saturday. There are several Apisto species up for grabs. I posted some questions on the recent apisto pic thread but I'll throw the list here too. If anyone has thoughts on any of these species, please feel free to share. I've also found a few of these on aquabid in my attempt to figure out reasonable prices but if anyone has ideas on the less common fish on this list, I'd welcome a PM about costs. It is also completely possible I come back from PHX with nothing. Lol. That's the fun of auctions of course!! @bobriley2345 any thoughts on this auction list?



This tank has been chugging along. Some of the stems have been doing well. It's almost time for a trim but I think I'm going to let most stuff grow a bit more. Added a couple Crypt. affinis 'metallic red' to this tank, most went elsewhere.







I've got a couple pieces of manzanita that I was thinking about tossing in at an angle across the tank from the back right towards front left. I hate adding hardscape after having a tank running for a while. It might provide the occupants a little more security. Since I've already got a distinct row of planting across the tank in the same manner, the E. parvoflorus, it might be easier than in some other scapes. I would probably try to wrap some of the manzanita with the same moss as the wood currently in the tank.

I've also added a few IAL to darken the water a little more.


Bump: I've also been kicking around the idea of setting up one of my 40 breeders as an upgraded tank for Apistos once my new shelving is finished. Not necessarily full on black water but definitely a darker tank. Lots of Cryptocorynes(if you've read through any of my journals you know my love for Crypts), lots of manzanita, maybe some leaf litter and lower light levels. So this may not be a permanent residence for any apistos I get this weekend.

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#307 ·
Rarest is Apistogramma sp Abacaxis. I would go for that species, but definately not in the heavily planted tank. Most abacaxis---if truly identified correctly are found in pH's of around 3.9! My friend who got me my new pair actually was the first importer of Abacaxis in the United States, simply due to their rarity. Read up about their requirements as they are demanding fish, but very very very rewarding!

If you are unable to purchase them for under 45-60 at the auction, I would purchase them from PureFishWorks on Facebook. They are the only other place to find wild caughts. The Cichlid Garden may have them as well, but I have never ordered through them!

Bump: What I meant by not in a planted tank was that the wilds really love extremely subdued lighting... and my guys hide all day if I increase the lighting past their "limit"... good luck at the auction!


BandoBob
Thank you for the information. While I'm definitely interested in the abacaxis, I am definitely aware I don't have the correct set up to house them, along with some of the other wilds. This tank currently only has a 5.5hr photoperiod & I really do need to reduce either the length or light intensity. I will probably end up doing a little of both.

Depending on the outcome of the auction, I may end up grabbing a gorgeous little pair of A. borellii that my LFS, Arizona Nature Aquatics, has hiding in a black water tank, separate from the his main sales tanks.
As I stated, I'm finishing up building some shelving, so I'll have 8' x 2' worth of room for tanks top and bottom! I will definitely be looking into a few more appropriate tanks for wild Apistos.
 
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