pandamonium's 40BR amazon setup (update 8/6/12) New fish

[Bananariot]

Originally Posted by pandamonium

UPDATE:
tank rescape, new plants added, new fish, powerhead, and CO2 (not shown yet)

So I went to a LFS and was going to get some fish when I struck up conversation with the owner. He gave me a whole talk about water quality which was very detailed, complete with demonstrations using his own merchandise that I did not have to purchase. Showed me safely how to keep my water quality good to keep my fish happy. Started by lowering my pH very slowly. I'm on day 8 of 12-16 days of treatment. No algae blooms yet so I'm happy (phosphate based buffer).
I redid my substrate from playsand to medium grain sand (1-1.5mm) to keep an anaerobic and an aerobic layer. my plants have responded well so far to this treatment
I also got a powerhead (Hydor Koralia Pico) to circulate water in my dead spot but also to use as a CO2 diffuser. One of the most efficient ways to diffuse especially in a low tech tank. One person I read about here used a ceramic diffuser which flowed into a powerhead for "double diffusion" he called it. Tested this and the diffusion is great too.

OK so pictures!

The whole tank shot. I moved the stauro from a line to discrete patches. I like this look better to be honest.


Stauro and blyxa


New Plants! Alternanthera rosefolia from AFA and Stargrass (Heteranthera zosterifolia) from Han


Sunset Hygro growing quite well. Had to replant due to rams plucking the stems til they died. Plant is ok now.


New fish added!

Corydoras venezuelanas (Venezuela's Cory). Got these from SFBAAPS



Cories in the tank by the inflow

Nice co2 setup. I had the co2 diffuser hookedup to my powerhead going lengthwise in my tank....however it combined with my spraybar going width wise to form a co2 cyclone of death so I had to remove it lolol

[pandamonium]

lol keep the Co2 in there long enough and you will kill everything haha. i just have it misting (i think thats the term) the plants in the back. the bonus is that the powerhead created circulation so now my biofilm is gone and my frogbit floats lazily in a circle.

[Bananariot]

Haha that's good....I was too lazy to turn off my co2 before vacation.....so....I left the lights on.......lol gonna have an algae problem when I get back...

[pandamonium]

BBA, GSA, oh boy you better get that scrubber out hahaha. right now actualyl i have an issue with rhinoclozium on my java moss. gotta get rid of that with CO2 and circulation.

edit. or excel/h2o2

[PlantedVirgin]

Originally Posted by pandamonium

Cories in the tank by the inflow

This is an awesome tank setup. Question, you said this is playsand? Where did you buy this sand? it looks more like small gravel pieces not sand, lol. I want some of this exactly.

PV

[pandamonium]

update with new pics of plants and tank!

[AzFishKid]

How are those honeycombs doing?

[pandamonium]

Honeycombs are doing great! I'm training them to feed at around 6 or 7 pm so that I know they will get food Mostly they hide out. I guess they are wed fed since they don't come out of their holes much. Today was feeding day for them again. Maybe they are out later than I think but haven't seen much. Usually when its pitch black at night I can hear them hitting things haha

[pandamonium]

NEW UPDATE WITH FISH! N. rubrocaudatus and F1 GBRs

[Doc7]

Those Cories are really cool! Never saw those before.

[Bananariot]

I demand......picture update!

[pandamonium]

Originally Posted by Doc7

Those Cories are really cool! Never saw those before.

Yeah I never did either but I got them through a local guy who ordered them. They are like bronze cories but more red? They are doing really well in my tank so far.

Originally Posted by Bananariot

I demand......picture update!

Dude I just did! haha not of the full tank but of anything new. Full tank wise, I trimmed the S. hygro and scooped out literally 5 packages of frogbit that I RAOKed away. Should be enough in about 2 weeks to do again haha

[Only One Haze]

Great looking tank! I did the same thing with my light by converting it to screw in CFLs. I love your idea about the standoffs though. Do you have any more pics of those and how you attached them. How do you have it sitting on the tank? Is it just on top of the glass top or does it sit on the lip of the rim of the tank? Sorry for all the questions...Great setup!

[pandamonium]

No problem Thanks for the compliments. I attached some pictures of how I made the raised legs. I basically took some metal wire and I bent it to make a base. Kinda like this shape
----Light Hood
|
|
| <--- Leg
|
|___

I wasn't able to get a good picture of this because I have it covered in styrofoam so it will not scratch the glass. The other two images show how I bent the top part of the metal to create a "nook" in which the screw sits. I drilled holes in the side and put a washer under a screw as a way to fasten the legs to the hood. Tightening the screw pushes the top "nook" and secures it to the screw. I did that on both sides. If you have questions, post them here or feel free to PM me and I can try to get better pictures of it Also the light sits on my glass and my glass is on the lip of the tank

[Only One Haze]

Awesome! Thank you. Seeing it from that angle helps a bunch. Might try this myself tonight with an old metal coat hanger.