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36 Gal. "Second Life"

19K views 132 replies 23 participants last post by  Noahma 
#1 ·
Well, After spending a bit of time learning, and staring at my tank, I have decided to Re-scape the tank.

Here are the specifics as the tank sits now.

36 gal. bowfront tank.
Fluval 205 Canister filter
Some sort of pain in the butt powerhead.

The tank consists plant wise of

Wistera (that resembles the blob at times.)
Two Lotus plants
Madagascar lace
Val. Americanas
Anacharis
Java Moss
Creeping Jenny
Belive it or not, There is a Red Rubin sword. (going to get a better position in the re-scape
Another HUGE sword, that will stay as it sits.
A couple Amazon swords. A small clump of remaining Marsiella Minuetta (will be replaced with Quadrifolia or Hirsuta (tons of it)
Red Ludwiga
Creeping Jenny.

The wisteria has taken over the tank lol. It will be minimized and put in the very rear of the tank, with other plants taking the stage as I get things going.

I purchased a very nice twisty piece of Driftwood from DSDrifter, which should be here by Friday (wahoo) After I submerge it for a few days, the rescape will commence.

My plan.

As you can see from the pic below of the existing tank. There is a HUGE ugly mass of stuff on the right of the tank. It started out as a fake log decoration, that has been consumed by Java Moss, and lived in by shy amano shrimp. This is going to be removed. I am doing that because I feel that my top level fish deserve the full length of the tank to swim. And it is a pain during tank work. The Red Rubin is behind this monstrosity, it is only surviving, and needs more space to grow. I also have a very small piece of driftwood on the left corner of the tank, this too has been taken by java moss, and has become the Cherry Shrimp headquarters. This may stay in its position, with the Anacharis finally being removed from the tank permanently.
There is also a fake rock decoration on the left side that is going to be removed as well.

As far as plants being added. I am going to add a couple of other plants into the mix, to help fill in a bit. And I will remove others that may not be doing as well.
The plants being added

Red Tiger Lotus (I have wanted one forever!)
Bacopa carolina
Brazilian Pennywort
Cardamine (Cardamine lyrata)

I know some of these require more light than I seem to have, but I have had a few plants in the past that did quite well regardless of the "lighting requirements"

The tank will stay CO2 less, although sometime in the future it might get reworked again with co2 and T5HO lighting.

This scape is going to take quite a while, I would have an extremely hard time removing the thousands of Cherry's and my quarantine tank will hold all of these fish for any length of time. So the tank will be rescaped over a period of weeks doing small movements and then large water changes.

Here are the pics of the driftwood (that is on the way) and the tank as it currently stands.




And the Driftwood.

 
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#120 ·
he is a little on the larger side of things. He is about 2.5-2.75", the glass being curved makes things seem a little larger as well. He is also 3.5 years old, with all of the other rainbows being much younger. So he has the look of a giant in the tank. The other rainbows are catching up though.
 
#122 ·
Thanks! The tank has been coming along. I lost all of the apisto babies, the apisto mom decided she did not want them anymore and abandoned them, and my best guess is that the endlers got them :( hopefully next time she will be more patient, or I will take the babies out and raise them in my 10g.

I am having a problem with my stellatus (broad leaf) after a major replant the other week they decided to drop all their lower leaves. We will see how they go this next couple weeks. no noticeable growth out of them either since the replant. Great color though.

this tank is nearing its end as well. in about 6-9 months I am going to be tearing it down for a tank with better dimensions. I was given the ok to buy a 40 breeder, the shallower tank will make it easier to get the right light level at the substrate, and the longer and deeper tank will make my rainbows happier. I have a lead on some pretty rare Rainbows, and once I get the 40B setup, I am going to see about acquiring a group of them. I really want more Kamaka's as well, they are great fish, and apparently good jumpers. I lost my female Kamaka due probably to a mosquito or moth that flew a bit to close to the water top.

No new pictures yet, but hopefully at the end of the week if I get some stellatus growth.
 
#124 ·
Its going pretty good, nothing much has changed, the tank is in a state of auto run lol. I do my weekly water changes and trims, but nothing really new. The tank is nice as it is, and will be replaced by a 40B here in 6 months or so.

I will grab a pic here soon.
 
#126 ·
I am convinced of that now too lol, I have it sitting on my kitchen table (to my wifes chagrin) I cant wait to get it up and running, I started a journal already, it is mainly going to be a planted rainbow tank.
 
#129 ·
Wow its been a while since I last posted pics. Nothing new, really. I no longer have any Praecox rainbows, they are just such a week fish from the mass breeders I have a hard time getting them to live longer than a year. I have given up on them until I get the 40b setup, then I might find someone with a pure strain of Pagai Praecox and give them a go. My Herbertaxelrodi are having fun in the tank, they are the largest fish and are not afraid to show it. The tons of tiny endlers are still multiplying like crazy. I have given up on trying to control the population, and plan to give every last one of them to Aqua imports when I go to setup my 40B, which will be a mainly rainbow setup. I sourced the rainbows I plan for that tank if anyone wanted to see the journal I have setup for it, it is in my sig.

Here is a few pics. (please ignore the little BBA I have lol, its being stubborn.)






My sub-dominant Male Herbertaxelrodi in his breeding colors


My Dominant male, his back is much higher than the sub male. they all get along great.

I have yet to make it to the tank to catch any eggs. the endlers are like little sharks! one of these days I will put a spawn mop in the tank and see if I can get some nice babies out of em. They seem to be a decent strain bred by someone local (given as credit to one of the LFS's)
 
#131 ·
Thanks, yea its been a while since I have heard from you too. Hows the salt water tank going?

I am only a month or two away from tearing this tank down and putting the 40b up in its place, I cannot wait!!
 
#132 ·
I have a some pretty little cuttings, if your interested, PM me with ur address, refund me for shipping or send me some plants and you've got a handful.
The reefs are doing well...yes...reefs plural. Lol I guess I was bitten hard. The riparium is still doing well too, although I have had a couple setbacks due to power outages and the ballast going out on my Coralife fixture. My crypts bounced back, albeit slowly... I have been patient but I'm still tempted to add CO2 to this tank for better growth. All 3 tanks are looking great, give me a ring if you ever hit any of the shops down south and you're more than welcome to stop by and check things out.

Also, can't wait to see the new setup. Do you plan on selling the bowfront after the upgrade? Let me know if it's not already claimed...I really like that tank and have been thinking about replacing the riparium with a larger planted setup. ;)
 
#133 ·
Well after 3-years and various scapes this tank is coming to an end. As we speak this tank is going through its final water change, Saturday morning it will be torn down and a 40B aquarium will be going up in its place. It has been a fun run full of learning and BBA lol. I am looking forward to the experiences with the 40b with a much better footprint and more choices for fish.
Please stop by the new journal and follow along :)


Thanks for following along!


http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=180770
 
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