40 Gal Breeder (finally High-tech), My Colectoritis tank..Updated: 11/28/2012

[sketch804]

okay well I have been running this tank for years now, probably about 4+yrs or so, but I don't know why but I never made a Journal out of it, so here we go..It will be a work in progress as I only have but so much time to do this..

Spec's:
~40gal breeder
~4 x T-5 HO fixture that is actually 48" long, so i can grow plants next to the tank. Plus added one 36" T-8 (maybe) to the tank for light in the front.
~Tubes: 2x 6500K, 1x 10000K, 1x colormax (54w), t-8? - 10000K
~Photo-period: 2xtubes on for 9 hrs, 2xtubes + extra fixture on for 7 hrs
~PH: 6.3-5.5 (my tap water has a lower it's PH for some reason)
~Temp: 77-76F
~Pressurized CO2
~Cerges' Reactor
~Fluval 305 Canister Filter
~Hydor Koralia 240 & 425 powerhead (use to push water in the front and create surface agitation)
~Milwaukee PH controller
~Eco-Complete and Flourite Black Sand Mixed with Osmocot tabs
~Airstone that I turn on at night
~EI dosing: KNO3, KH2PO4, and Flourish Comprehensive, Flourish Iron (the last two I just have bottles I need to use up)
~NO3: I shoot for 5ppm but have 25ppm right now.
~Tank changes once a week with 50% taken out


Plants List:
~Ammania senegalensis (added 4.6.12)
~Bacopa monnieri
~Cryptocoryne Nurii "Pahang Mutated"
~Cryptocoryne Nurii (in question, waiting to flower it)
~Cryptocoryne Lutea
~Cryptocoryne Wendii "bronze"
~Cryptocoryne Wendii "Mi Oya"
~Cryptocoryne Balansae "Red"
~Cryptocoryne Retrospiralis
~Cryptocoryne Spirals
~Cryptocoryne willisii
~Eriocaulon Aussie II (added 4.6.12) - maybe holding on
~Eriocaulon Cinereum (added 3.08.2012)
~Eriocaulon Cinereum "mini" (added 4.15.2012)
~Eriocaulon Mystery plant
~Hydrocotyle verticillata
~Hydrotriche Hottoniiflora
~Hygrophila corymbosa "angustifolia"
~Hygrophila araguaia (added 4.3.12) - FINALLY FOUND!!
~Hygrophila lancea (added 2.19.12)
~Hygrophila pinnatifida
~Hygrophila Polysperma "sunset" (added 2.29.2012, my bday plant! FINALLY!)
~Limnophila Aromatica
~Ludwigia Repens
~Ludwigia sp. 'Red' aka Ludwigia Hybrid red
~Ludwigia inclinata var. verticillata 'Cuba' (added 4.23.12)
~Ludwigia inclinata var. verticillata 'Pantanal' (added 4.23.12)
~Ludwigia Repens x Ludwigia Arcuata
~Ludwigia cf. suffruticosa
~polygonum kawagoeanum (added 4.3.12)
~Rotala Macrandra
~Rotala Roundifolia
~staurogyne porto velho (added 4.3.12)
~Sagittaria subulata (dwarf sag)
~Vallisneria Corkscrew (Vallisneria americana var. biwaensis)
~And maybe more that I am forgetting now..

~Cabomba carolina (Cabomba Geen ) [ran out of room]
~Eriocaulon Aussie I (added 2.27.2012) - gone
~Hemianthus callitrichoides (HC) (probably wont take hold, we will see, added 2.19.12) Done with it, threw it in the emersed setup and it's making a fine carpet in my pot.
~Rotala 'Sunset' (added 2.19.12) - melted away
~Tiger Lotus "Red" (Nymphaea zenkeri) Sold until I get my other tank up and running..



Plants in other tanks:
~java fern ‘windelov’ (10 gal)
~Hygrophila Polysperma (most)
~Hygroryza aristata (added on 4.16.12) - outside in the emersed setup
~Amazon Sword (29 gal)
~Anubias (10 gal, 29 gal)
~Anubias nana "Petite" (10 gal)
~Cryptocoryne affinis (10 gal)
~Fiss. Fontanus (10 gal)
~Fiss. Fontanus "mini" (10 gal)
~Hydrocotyle leucocephala (In my 10 gal)
~Java and other moss (all tanks)
~Subwassertang (10 gal)
~Bucephalandra sp. "Sintang" (darker green wavy leaves)
~Bucephalandra sp. "Sekadau" (long slender green leaves)
~Bucephalandra sp. "Lamandau Green"

extra plants only in emersed setup:
~Ludwigia cf. suffruticosa
~HC (going crazy yet I cannot grow it under water)
~Hygrophila corymbosa
~lots of other plants!



Fish List:
~8x Harlequin Rasbora (Trigonostigma heteromorpha)
~4x Candy cane tetras (HY511)
~10+ x rummynose tetras
~10x emerald eyes rasboras
~9+ x corydoras habrosus
~some other larger cory cat (no idea which one as there are like 50+ speices of this fish) x 1
~Amano shrimp maybe still around
~LOTS of oto cats
~1x SAE (Siamese Algae Eating shark)
~few Assassin snails


Well, It all started off years ago when I got into planted tanks, and I knew very little then, but I knew that I wanted to keep many aquarium plants. So I started off with Eco-Complete mixed in with Flourish Black Sand, some water and a few easy plants like Wisteria, and NO fertilizing. So it grew from there, I got DIY co2 and it did great for a while, but eventually lead to trouble. My tank got over run with Green Algae and EVERYTHING was covered in a thick coat of it.

So fast forward to the present: So now I have pressurized Co2, I do EI dosing, and Micro dosing, plus I insert root tabs/Osmocote Plus Capsules into the substrate to make sure everything has enough ferts.

So here's the progression of my tank:
Started here:





So after all this and my tank turned into a jungle I decided to tear it up and add a massive piece of driftwood:

Ya still didn't look that great, need to grow in..and did.



ALSO: everything from here up is grown WITHOUT CO2...maybe the last one or two had a little bit of DIY CO2 but I never kept up with is so it was never constant to say the least ha..

So after all that, I flipped the driftwood cause I got bored with it..Soon there after that, I kind of stopped keeping up with the maintenance and certain things in my life kept me from getting things done. Basically my tank crashed hard! I had almost my whole tank overtaken by BGA and Green Fuzz Algae (which I am still dealing with some, but it is dieing). So there are a few months with no pix..but now we fast forward to this year. I started to use pressurized CO2 and EI dosing. Also Changed my light fixtures from 2x T-5 NO double bulb fixtures, to one 4x t-5HO fixture that works so much better!

sorry, crappy cell phone pic..

Too much green but everything is growing crazy!!

So now I am experimenting with a few new plants that I haven't been able to grow that well before.

everything is growing well.

Update: 2/26/2012

So for the rest of this Journal after 2/26/12, I will no longer add my current tank shot in this first post because it is getting WAY to long. Starts on Post #57..

Here are a few pix of my shrimps also:
Tiger Shrimp (RIP)

Current Blue Pearl Shrimp:

I just wish they were still this blue, but I have had some die offs so its time to order more..

So now I need some more red plants, that will come with time (and a little more money ha)..

Edit: Also here's the shot of under my tank where all the fun happens..right now I have a paintball tank hooked up, SO DON'T JUDGE ME HAHA!

Also This has changed, so don't yell at me about my power strips being on the floor or close to it.

More to come....

[sketch804]

So does anyone have any idea on what this mystery stem might be?? It is the one in the middle of the pic with the needle type leaves.



I believe that it is HYDROTRICHE HOTTONIIFLORA but not 100% sure..I bought it as unknown stem.

[Dave6265]

Looks like you can't settle on one look for a while!


The tank looks great, no matter what stage it was in.

[Assassynation]

Looks awesome, I'm currently working on my 40B high tech planted/riparium.

[sketch804]

Originally Posted by Dave6265

Looks like you can't settle on one look for a while!


The tank looks great, no matter what stage it was in.

HAHA ya I used to have a problem with moving stuff around all the time, but I have stopped because things look so much better when you let them grow in ha..My friend broke me of that (well for the most part), I just get bored after a while of the same old thing heh..but thanks so much, I appreciate it!

And thanks to Assassynation also! hell ya, I would like to do half underwater and half above, but I need a higher tank for that (least I do)..

[10gallonplanted]

It looks like hornwort, the last picture.

[sketch804]

Originally Posted by 10gallonplanted

It looks like hornwort, the last picture.

Hmm, Nah I have that one also, and it is very wavy and soft, where this new plant is hard (least the stem is), and the leaves are errect. plus the leaf structure is different from hornwort..ha I pull that stuff out by the handful, and will eventually throw it out/give it to someone locally when i get some more plants..But thanks for the guess!

[Capsaicin_MFK]

This is my favorite out of the rescapes. Sometimes, driftwood just gets in the way.

Originally Posted by sketch804

[sketch804]

HAHA thanks so much! ya I enjoyed that one also while it lasted..just wanted something besides a huge plant mass...but you are right driftwood does get in the way..taking up all my real estate haha!

[Kworker]

tank looks great, really love the depth of the 40B because gives a lot of room to fill it in and you did that nicely.

[sketch804]

thanks much! Ya thats one reason i decided to get a 40b is because of the depth..i was used to 20gal longs and 33gal longs..so i needed a change because i try to stuff as many plants as i can into that small space ha..these days i am trying to do more groups as opposed to mass amount of plants..but i still have 20species in mine now..i dont know how people can jus choose 3 or so types of plants and stick with that haha!

[Doc7]

What was your original T5 NO Lighting?

[sketch804]

What do you mean? brand or something else? Well, either way, my original t-5NO lighting was some 48" fixtures I got from Home Depot and Lowes..I like the 48" ones cause I can grow plants beside my tank in the winter..just DIY lights that I had sitting on my tank in a really ghetto way I would not rather not disclose haha!

[OVT]

I like that "style": lots of plants, textures, and colors. It's also painfully clear that you can run a good tank - you have the touch. I understand that the same scape for years can get boring, that's the reason I ended up with many tanks. When the time comes again, you are welcome to re-do my 75G.

And I will take that ugly, useless, space-taking piece of driftwood off your hands for a small hauling fee .

[sketch804]

Originally Posted by OVT

I like that "style": lots of plants, textures, and colors. It's also painfully clear that you can run a good tank - you have the touch. I understand that the same scape for years can get boring, that's the reason I ended up with many tanks. When the time comes again, you are welcome to re-do my 75G.

And I will take that ugly, useless, space-taking piece of driftwood off your hands for a small hauling fee .

Haha you really made me laugh there! It took me FOREVER to find a piece of driftwood like that around my area and i wont give it up with out a fight ha! But thanks so much for your kind words i really apperciate them! Ya see thats my trouble, too many plants, not enough space...i need a 75 or 120gal but for now eh itll do. But i do try to use mr Amano's ideas and tanks as my inspiration for my tanks and aquascapes..its more than just plants and water..thanks!

Edit: oh and if you didnt live across the country i would be much obliged to help you with all that!