20 High 2nd time around

cturner · 06-21-2012, 11:41 AM

So 4 years ago I had to get rid of all my tanks and downsize. These were my tanks before I had to sell them...

20 Gallon community

90 Gallon with Discus, dither fish and clean up crew

I've finally been able to jump back in the saddle. I set up a 20 tall in the beginning of May.

cturner · 06-21-2012, 11:45 AM

Ok specs...Bare with me here.
20 gallon tall
CO2 with aquatek regulator on a 24 oz. paint ball CO2 tank, bubble counter and ceramic disk diffuser for 3-4 bubbles per second.
Filtration: Rena XP3 with spray bar mounted vertically.

Fauna: 6 cardinal tetras, 10 red eye tetras, 6 rosy tetras, 4 albina cories, 1 panda cory (only survivor thanks to some green tetras), 4 otos and 8 treaded nerite snails.

Flora: Limnophila aromatica, Persicaria "Kawagoeanum", hydrocotyle "Japan", Rotala sp. 'Sunset', Hygrophila pinnatifida, Rotala 'H'ra', Bolbitis heudelotii 'small form', Eichornia diversifolia and 3 others I can't remember from a package I bought at my LFS.

Lighting: Lamp #1 – Current lamp with 2 T5HO bulbs, 1-24w pink bulb and 1-24w 10000K bulb on for mid day burst 4 hours over lapping with Lamp #2 and 2 hours by itself at night time.
Lamp #2 – Odyssea lamp with 2 T5HO bulbs, 2 x 48w 6500K on for 12 hours, 4 hours overlapping with Lamp #1. From 5 am to 3 pm 96w of 6500K, from 3 pm to 7 pm 144w (2-6500k, 1-1000k and 1 pink) and from 7 pm to 9 pm 48w of Lamp #1.

Ferts: dry EI dosing and root tabs. I think I've finally dialed in my schedule.

Substrate: Nothing special, eco-complete only.

First set up....

6/3/12 after I received 2 nice plant packages. 1 from Chicken and 1 from Don. Thank you both

6/12/12 moved some plants and started my fight with some soft brown slime (diatoms). Easily removed with my handy dandy syringe.

Soft brown slime (diatoms)

cturner · 06-21-2012, 12:00 PM

6/16/12 After dosing 2x Excel to get rid of the soft brown slime. Also added the treaded nerite snails on 6/13/12. Also removed the seeded HOB.

I don't know if the leaves curling is a good thing or a bad thing.

Albino Cories playing

Not near as red as Don's!

These were labeled Rosy tetras but the pictures online don't look anything like these.

I'm waiting on some Riccia to come in the mail as well as some awesome driftwood then I'll have an awesome new scape!

cturner · 06-21-2012, 12:05 PM

Wow just realized my pictures really suck! They were all with my phone, I apologize. I will charge my good camera and shoot some good pictures again.

I got my riccia in the mail yesterday, I was worried because it just happened to come on one of the hottest days so far this year. Thankfully bighollywood did an excellent job packing them and everything faired really well. I floated the riccia in the tank last night until I receive my driftwood (should be today) and it was pearling beautifully!

Going to rock hunting today after work! Then I'll post good camera pics when the new scape is finished!!

**bighollywood** · 06-21-2012, 04:14 PM

I am glad it came in good. I was worried when you emailed me about the weather...

cturner · 06-22-2012, 11:06 AM

Well got my driftwood in yesterday and rescaped. I moved my spraybar from vertical to horizontal and apparently I got better CO2 distribution because I gassed my fish last night.

Thankfully I'm up early for work and noticed 1 rosy, 1 red eye and 3 neons dead and all the other fish were gasping at the top.

What's weird is I turn my CO2 off at night so they got gassed on what was left in the tank. According to my drop checker though is was barely green this morning. When I have the lights running it's pushing yellow. The CO2 goes off when the "BIG" light goes off (the one putting 96W out) then I have my smaller light (48W) running for about 2 hours with no CO2.

I put an airstone in this morning and it seemed to help, so the hubby has directions to pull the airstone out if the fish aren't at the top anymore when he leaves for work (about 1 hour after me). I'm leaving my CO2 off until I get home today so I can be home to watch the progression and adjust the output.

I'm hoping this is the true cause for the deaths and not something I added to the tank last night with my new scape. I added Manzanita driftwood and rocks, both were boiled before placing in the tank..... hmmmmm

2in10 · 06-22-2012, 02:56 PM

Sorry on the losses. Tank is looking good.

GMYukonon24s · 06-22-2012, 05:38 PM

Yea that sucks when you go to your tank and see that.

cturner · 06-26-2012, 12:51 PM

Not much to report. Since gassing my fish I have 8 red eye tetras, 5 rosy tetras and one neon left of my dither fish. All of my cleanup crew survived so that's good. Plants are starting to fill back in since the hacking. I/m waiting for the driftwood to be completely water logged before taking and posting new pictures.

cturner · 06-27-2012, 02:14 PM

Took some pics last night which I'll work on up loading tonight just to give you an idea of what it looks like right now. I have to do a water change tonight because of the tannins leaching in the water but it does look extremely natural with the tannins. I kind of like it like that.

cturner · 06-27-2012, 08:26 PM

Ok so I snapped some pictures last night most of them came out blurry that had the fish in. They were just too active to focus.

Hydrocotyle "Japan"

Treaded nerite snail cruizing on my anubias

Red Eye Tetra

Rosy Tetra

Albino Cory

Eichornia diversifolia

And full tank shot...Once the driftwood is completely water logged I'll position it straight up and down like a tree so there's more room for the plants on the left side.

**crazydaz** · 06-27-2012, 09:54 PM

Excellent job, Correna!!! I really like it! The hydrocotyle is really coming along nicely, as well as everything else in there.

If I were you, I would leave the hardscape the way it is.....I think it's perfect...has a more natural feel to it, you know? Maybe a background?? (Tee-hee!)

cturner · 06-27-2012, 11:19 PM

I know I need a background.

I'm going to put a black one on when I actually remember to get one. I made the hubby come with me to Petco last night to pick up a new 55 during their $1 a gallon sale and totally forgot (zoned out with happiness) to pick up any supplies I needed while we were there.

I like the driftwood bent over on the side, but if I'm going to leave it like that I need to break some branches off that are covered by the stems so I can trim and replant without having to take out the wood. I had to put it in and see where it would sit then take it out and plant, then place it in and fluff the plants. Although I don't like where my Bicopa is because it isn't growing as fast as the rest yet and you can't even see it in the corner by the filter intake.

**crazydaz** · 06-27-2012, 11:30 PM

Ooooh! Another tank!!!

That's ALWAYS good news!

Get the supplies tomorrow!

Some bacopa species can take a little while to adjust to different tanks.....Just be patient with it, and stay on schedule with your ferts, and it'll be sending out new growth in no time. And then you will have the problem of having to constantly trim it!

cturner · 07-18-2012, 12:25 AM

Ok so not much of an update. Lots of growth and my driftwood is now water logged. I've done 2 trimmings and replanting since the last update. I ran out of CO2 for almost 2 weeks until I was able to get it filled. Needless to say this girl bought another tank for back up! Unfortunately my plants took a growth hit since then. They've had CO2 for 4 days now and look 10x better!

Please excuse the CO2 bubbles and diatoms I stirred up.

And some pics....

06-22-2012, 02:56 PM	#7
2in10 Planted Tank Guru (View User Tanks) PTrader: (4/100%) Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Sparks, NV Posts: 2,585	Sorry on the losses. Tank is looking good. __________________ *2in10's 75 Gallon Jungle part duex* *2in10's 75 Gallon Jungle part 1* 8 Gallon Biocube Canon Pimp Club #041

06-27-2012, 09:54 PM	#12
crazydaz Friggin. Conformist. (View User Tanks) PTrader: (63/100%) Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Hendersonville, TN Posts: 1,239	Excellent job, Correna!!! I really like it! The hydrocotyle is really coming along nicely, as well as everything else in there. If I were you, I would leave the hardscape the way it is.....I think it's perfect...has a more natural feel to it, you know? Maybe a background?? (Tee-hee!) __________________ Kinder. Goth.

06-27-2012, 11:30 PM	#14
crazydaz Friggin. Conformist. (View User Tanks) PTrader: (63/100%) Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Hendersonville, TN Posts: 1,239	Ooooh! Another tank!!! That's ALWAYS good news! Get the supplies tomorrow! Some bacopa species can take a little while to adjust to different tanks.....Just be patient with it, and stay on schedule with your ferts, and it'll be sending out new growth in no time. And then you will have the problem of having to constantly trim it! __________________ Kinder. Goth.

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06-21-2012, 11:41 AM	#1
cturner Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (8/100%) Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Elizabethtown, PA Posts: 67	20 High 2nd time around So 4 years ago I had to get rid of all my tanks and downsize. These were my tanks before I had to sell them... 20 Gallon community 90 Gallon with Discus, dither fish and clean up crew I've finally been able to jump back in the saddle. I set up a 20 tall in the beginning of May. Last edited by cturner; 06-27-2012 at 09:00 PM..

06-21-2012, 11:45 AM	#2
cturner Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (8/100%) Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Elizabethtown, PA Posts: 67	Ok specs...Bare with me here. 20 gallon tall CO2 with aquatek regulator on a 24 oz. paint ball CO2 tank, bubble counter and ceramic disk diffuser for 3-4 bubbles per second. Filtration: Rena XP3 with spray bar mounted vertically. Fauna: 6 cardinal tetras, 10 red eye tetras, 6 rosy tetras, 4 albina cories, 1 panda cory (only survivor thanks to some green tetras), 4 otos and 8 treaded nerite snails. Flora: Limnophila aromatica, Persicaria "Kawagoeanum", hydrocotyle "Japan", Rotala sp. 'Sunset', Hygrophila pinnatifida, Rotala 'H'ra', Bolbitis heudelotii 'small form', Eichornia diversifolia and 3 others I can't remember from a package I bought at my LFS. Lighting: Lamp #1 – Current lamp with 2 T5HO bulbs, 1-24w pink bulb and 1-24w 10000K bulb on for mid day burst 4 hours over lapping with Lamp #2 and 2 hours by itself at night time. Lamp #2 – Odyssea lamp with 2 T5HO bulbs, 2 x 48w 6500K on for 12 hours, 4 hours overlapping with Lamp #1. From 5 am to 3 pm 96w of 6500K, from 3 pm to 7 pm 144w (2-6500k, 1-1000k and 1 pink) and from 7 pm to 9 pm 48w of Lamp #1. Ferts: dry EI dosing and root tabs. I think I've finally dialed in my schedule. Substrate: Nothing special, eco-complete only. First set up.... 6/3/12 after I received 2 nice plant packages. 1 from Chicken and 1 from Don. Thank you both 6/12/12 moved some plants and started my fight with some soft brown slime (diatoms). Easily removed with my handy dandy syringe. Soft brown slime (diatoms)

06-21-2012, 12:00 PM	#3
cturner Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (8/100%) Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Elizabethtown, PA Posts: 67	6/16/12 After dosing 2x Excel to get rid of the soft brown slime. Also added the treaded nerite snails on 6/13/12. Also removed the seeded HOB. I don't know if the leaves curling is a good thing or a bad thing. Albino Cories playing Not near as red as Don's! These were labeled Rosy tetras but the pictures online don't look anything like these. I'm waiting on some Riccia to come in the mail as well as some awesome driftwood then I'll have an awesome new scape!

06-21-2012, 12:05 PM	#4
cturner Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (8/100%) Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Elizabethtown, PA Posts: 67	Wow just realized my pictures really suck! They were all with my phone, I apologize. I will charge my good camera and shoot some good pictures again. I got my riccia in the mail yesterday, I was worried because it just happened to come on one of the hottest days so far this year. Thankfully bighollywood did an excellent job packing them and everything faired really well. I floated the riccia in the tank last night until I receive my driftwood (should be today) and it was pearling beautifully! Going to rock hunting today after work! Then I'll post good camera pics when the new scape is finished!!

06-21-2012, 04:14 PM	#5
bighollywood Planted Member (View User Tanks) PTrader: (19/100%) Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Cullman, AL Posts: 258	I am glad it came in good. I was worried when you emailed me about the weather...

06-22-2012, 11:06 AM	#6
cturner Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (8/100%) Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Elizabethtown, PA Posts: 67	Well got my driftwood in yesterday and rescaped. I moved my spraybar from vertical to horizontal and apparently I got better CO2 distribution because I gassed my fish last night. Thankfully I'm up early for work and noticed 1 rosy, 1 red eye and 3 neons dead and all the other fish were gasping at the top. What's weird is I turn my CO2 off at night so they got gassed on what was left in the tank. According to my drop checker though is was barely green this morning. When I have the lights running it's pushing yellow. The CO2 goes off when the "BIG" light goes off (the one putting 96W out) then I have my smaller light (48W) running for about 2 hours with no CO2. I put an airstone in this morning and it seemed to help, so the hubby has directions to pull the airstone out if the fish aren't at the top anymore when he leaves for work (about 1 hour after me). I'm leaving my CO2 off until I get home today so I can be home to watch the progression and adjust the output. I'm hoping this is the true cause for the deaths and not something I added to the tank last night with my new scape. I added Manzanita driftwood and rocks, both were boiled before placing in the tank..... hmmmmm

06-22-2012, 05:38 PM	#8
GMYukonon24s Planted Tank Guru (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: May 2009 Location: MICHIGAN Posts: 2,797	Yea that sucks when you go to your tank and see that.

06-26-2012, 12:51 PM	#9
cturner Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (8/100%) Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Elizabethtown, PA Posts: 67	Not much to report. Since gassing my fish I have 8 red eye tetras, 5 rosy tetras and one neon left of my dither fish. All of my cleanup crew survived so that's good. Plants are starting to fill back in since the hacking. I/m waiting for the driftwood to be completely water logged before taking and posting new pictures.

06-27-2012, 02:14 PM	#10
cturner Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (8/100%) Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Elizabethtown, PA Posts: 67	Took some pics last night which I'll work on up loading tonight just to give you an idea of what it looks like right now. I have to do a water change tonight because of the tannins leaching in the water but it does look extremely natural with the tannins. I kind of like it like that.

06-27-2012, 08:26 PM	#11
cturner Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (8/100%) Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Elizabethtown, PA Posts: 67	Ok so I snapped some pictures last night most of them came out blurry that had the fish in. They were just too active to focus. Hydrocotyle "Japan" Treaded nerite snail cruizing on my anubias Red Eye Tetra Rosy Tetra Albino Cory Eichornia diversifolia And full tank shot...Once the driftwood is completely water logged I'll position it straight up and down like a tree so there's more room for the plants on the left side.

06-27-2012, 11:19 PM	#13
cturner Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (8/100%) Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Elizabethtown, PA Posts: 67	I know I need a background. I'm going to put a black one on when I actually remember to get one. I made the hubby come with me to Petco last night to pick up a new 55 during their $1 a gallon sale and totally forgot (zoned out with happiness) to pick up any supplies I needed while we were there. I like the driftwood bent over on the side, but if I'm going to leave it like that I need to break some branches off that are covered by the stems so I can trim and replant without having to take out the wood. I had to put it in and see where it would sit then take it out and plant, then place it in and fluff the plants. Although I don't like where my Bicopa is because it isn't growing as fast as the rest yet and you can't even see it in the corner by the filter intake.

07-18-2012, 12:25 AM	#15
cturner Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (8/100%) Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Elizabethtown, PA Posts: 67	Ok so not much of an update. Lots of growth and my driftwood is now water logged. I've done 2 trimmings and replanting since the last update. I ran out of CO2 for almost 2 weeks until I was able to get it filled. Needless to say this girl bought another tank for back up! Unfortunately my plants took a growth hit since then. They've had CO2 for 4 days now and look 10x better! Please excuse the CO2 bubbles and diatoms I stirred up. And some pics....