Mr. Aqua 17.5 Riparium

[jrsticks]

Looks Great. I am Thinking of buying the Mr aqua 17.5 how do you like it? How is the quality of the craftsmanship. I have herd mixed opinions. Also did you add the black background?

[mdreher]

Originally Posted by jrsticks

Looks Great. I am Thinking of buying the Mr aqua 17.5 how do you like it? How is the quality of the craftsmanship. I have herd mixed opinions. Also did you add the black background?

I don't have any complaints. It seems like a pretty good tank to me. I don't have anything else to compare it too, but from what I can tell it was constructed nicely. I don't have any odd corners or ugly silicone

I painted the black background myself. I'm pretty new to this so I picked up a black sample at home depot and rolled it on. It took a lot of coats, but it turned out nice. If I do it again I'll probaby try spray paint. That just seems like it may be easier.

[hydrophyte]

Hey ar ethe leaves opening up on your white mangrove propagules? I had some trouble here where that husk around the propagules got too dry and hard and then they couldn't open up. If you are observing that I woudl recommend hanging the planters down lower so that the husk is touching the water and leave them like that overnight. You can then carefully pick away at the husk to get to the green live part inside and that should open up with the propagule leaves.

[mdreher]

Originally Posted by hydrophyte

Hey ar ethe leaves opening up on your white mangrove propagules? I had some trouble here where that husk around the propagules got too dry and hard and then they couldn't open up. If you are observing that I woudl recommend hanging the planters down lower so that the husk is touching the water and leave them like that overnight. You can then carefully pick away at the husk to get to the green live part inside and that should open up with the propagule leaves.

The one that is doing good still has the husk. The other one the husk came off, but it is still bent over and hasn't really grown at all. It doesn't look like it's dying, but it doesn't look like it's growing either. I'm still crossing my fingers that it'll pull through. I'll try that tonight to see how it goes.

On a high night the pilea mollis is blooming! It's is out of control The leather fern has three sprouts now and the aluminum plant has new leaves. I can see root growth in the pandanus tectorius and cat palm.

[hydrophyte]

Those are some nice riparium plants you have there...several of my favorites. It takes a whiel but the cat palm grows into a really elegant specimen. The Pandanus tectorius is really cool too.

[mdreher]

Okay so it looks like I have some hitchhikers in my tank which I think are cool? I think I have some baby snails and some really really really small white worms. Hopefully the worms aren't a bad thing. I plan on adding a dwarf puffer and scarlet badis in the beginning of January so hopefully this will turn into a good food supply for the both of them. Can anyone tell me if the worms are harmful? I've researched and seen people talk about nematodes and planaria worms. Will scarlet badis eat those?

[hydrophyte]

IF they are the skinny white worms they'll just make lunch for your fish.

[mdreher]

So I'm trying to think of a good fish list for this tank. I'll probably start purchasing them after the new year. I'm hoping this is a good list. Any comments would be appreciated or if you can think of something cooler....i'm all ears. Here's the list so far:
Scarlet Badis (1-2)
Pseudomugil Gertrudae(4-6)
Pygmey Cory(4-6)
octocinclus (1)

I'd also like to add a couple more inverts:
Micro Crab (4-6)
Amano Shrimp (1-2)
Assassin Snails (2)

[duff]

Hi mdreher,

are you looking to add all of them eventually or just one group from the fish list?

I only have experience with two if the fish on your list -
Dwarf Corys (several kinds; pygmey and Hastsus) I love them and they are one of my favorite fish but they should be in a group of no less then 6. The more the merrier with these little ones. I have 12 in my 20g and 6 in a 7.5g tank; they are great fun to watch, on the move most of the time, bottom of tank to mid tank and the occasional dart to the surface. They school together some days and others they are off on their own. Very social and leave all my shrimp alone. The 12 group are much more active then the 6. It seems they are more comfortable in a larger group.

Oto's can be happy but they have to be in a very established tank from my experience. I tried them several years ago and only one ever survived more then 6 months and my tank had been running for 2 years before I tried adding them.

For cleaning I have a long finned albino bristlenose pleco - with the body at about 2 inches. small for a pleco and so very colorful (bright yellow). might not be what your looking for but I'd be careful with Oto's as they are tender fish to me.

Personally I love the look of the gertrudae and think they would be a winner for your tank and would be very happy with all the coverage the plants will provide when they grow in. I hear they are jumpers but with coverage and lower water level I suspect you will be fine.

on the others, Amano's are a great choice. But the assasin's (mine) are always buried under the substrate and I only see them once every few weeks to a month, just about the time I figure they are long dead one pops out. I have 3 in a 20g. I was over run with other pest snails and they have decimated the population in 4 months. It seems that i only have 4 nerites and 3 assassins now.

Good luck in your choice -it's always hard!

Duff

[SlammedDC2]

Good looking rip. I have recently started one and will be getting more work done on it as new stuff comes in.
Gives me good insperation

[mdreher]

Thanks I appreciate it. Do you have a thread up yet? I'd like to check it out. By the way it's good seeing a fellow Marine on the forum. Semper Fi!

Originally Posted by SlammedDC2

Good looking rip. I have recently started one and will be getting more work done on it as new stuff comes in.
Gives me good insperation

[SlammedDC2]

Originally Posted by mdreher

Thanks I appreciate it. Do you have a thread up yet? I'd like to check it out. By the way it's good seeing a fellow Marine on the forum. Semper Fi!

OORRAAHH!!
Yes it's the turtle tank in my sig. I'm waiting on a package I've ordered from hydro. Holidays have everything slowed down so it won't ship out til sometime next week. Once I get everything in and going I will take some new pics and get them posted.

[mdreher]

I thought I would post some pics of the how the tank has progressed. I've added some underwater plants, fish, and a few shrimp. I'll try to label everything also. Here's what I have so far (from left to right):

Riparium Plants (planters first then rafts):
Cat Palm, Aluminum Plant, White Mangrove, Pandanus Tectorius, Pilea Molis, and Leather Fern


Underwater Plants:
Cabomba, Crypt Wendtii Green, Anubias Nana 'petite', Windelov Java Fern, Round pellia, Peacock Moss, Rotala Sp Mini, Corksrew Val


Side Shot


Corydoras Atropersonatus

[duff]

Your tank looks amazing, Job well done!

[hydrophyte]

That's looking great. Is the leather fern growing for you I can't see it in the picture? It looks like the Pandanus is happy and growing.

Great job with the underwater area too. I like that moss and that's a great fish too.