Jayme's 50 gallon, for the love of Corys (update 6/18 post #31)

[Jayme]

After seeing the trouble my Corys were having with the rough substrate in my 25 I decided the easiest way to switch it out was to start over with a new tank, darn.

Tank: Top Fin 50 gallon
Stand: Free! Given to us by someone who didn't want it along with an old 75 gallon that I'm trying to get rid of. (needs new braces and the silicone could use to be re done.)
Filter: Fluval 206 canister with a DIY spraybar. A little small for the tank but I already had it and didn't want to drop a ton of money on this new set up right now. I don't have much livestock and I can always throw a sponge filter in if needed.
Lighting: 2 18" 8000k T8s that came in the cheap hoods with the tank for now.
Substrate: Quikrete commercial grade medium sand, about half the 100 lb. bag

Critters: 11 Emerald Eye Rasboras, 11 Pork Chop Rasbora (Trigonostigma espei), 4 Corydoras habrosus, 3 Otocinclus arnoldi, 4 Amano shrimp, 1 Bamboo shrimp, 4 Japanese Trapdoor Snails, and 100+ MTS. Now that I've got more room I plan on getting a few more Corys and Otos to make them more comfortable.

Plants: Anubias (a couple different kinds, barteri and generic Petsmart), Java Fern, Java Fern windelov, Aponogeton boivinianus, Water Sprite, Brazilian Pennywort (Hydrocotyle leucocephala), Ludwigia Peruensis (Ludwigia glandulosa), Rotala wallichii (Rotala sp. 'wallichii'), Red Ludwigia (Ludwigia repens), mystery Crypt, and a barely living Myriophyllum that hopefully will pull through.

And now for the pics!

Painting the stand

Before:


After:



Painting the back of the tank

Regular ol' black semi gloss latex rolled on



Substrate




DIY spraybar

1/2" PVC, I ended up not using the gray connector, just slipped the stock rubber adapter over the threaded elbow


I drilled 17 2/16" inch holes about 1/2" apart at alternating heights, held to the glass with suction cups from the heater I'm not using



Cat approved




Filthy Anubias from the shrimp free betta tank BEFORE



And then after the Amanos and Otos got to it:




And FINALLY, FTS as of the first scape on 6/13/2012

The emptyish area on the right is a work in progress


There is also a video right after initial set up kinda showing the water flow with the DIY spraybar: http://youtu.be/26r7AP1twgE

[Plecco]

Nice job on the DIY Spraybar

[Jayme]

Originally Posted by Plecco

Nice job on the DIY Spraybar

Thanks! I wasn't sure if it was going to give enough flow but so far everything is looking good. Not the prettiest thing in the world but it works.

[raven_wilde]

Amanos and Ottos do AMAZING work

[Jayme]

And a couple pics of the kids.

Please excuse the blurry cell phones pics and filter hose junk that got knocked loose and was all over the substrate...

Corys all in a row


Otos hanging out

[akdylpickles]

Sweet tank! are you going to add more cories?

[Jayme]

Originally Posted by akdylpickles

Sweet tank! are you going to add more cories?

Thanks.

Yeah, I'd like to get maybe 6 more. They are the cutest little things.

[HybridHerp]

I say throw in some more schooling fish as well, and maybe play around with some non-green plants as well? I like where its going though

[Jayme]

Originally Posted by HybridHerp

I say throw in some more schooling fish as well, and maybe play around with some non-green plants as well? I like where its going though

I'm thinking a school of Pork Chop Rasboras maybe as well, something with a bit more flash. As far as the non-green plants I'm not sure what would do well in very low light and I really don't do well with stems:/ As least the crypt plant I have has a little red on it, the baby plants I moved from my shrimp tank just need to grow. Thanks!

[Jayme]

I was messing around on AqAdvisor trying to make sure I don't overstock with the smaller filter on the larger tank but I'm wondering, does anyone take MTS into account when stocking? If I enter the 100 (I'm guessing) MTS I have in the tank it completely freaks out and says I need more filtration. Should I be worried?

[Linsanity]

Great job! I like corys too, they are awsome
I think you need more corys in a tank of this size.

[HybridHerp]

i think that any organism producing waste should be considered, but I also do not use programs to determine my stocking levels, I go more with water quality and what works
its not an exact science, I hate to admit, but I don't have too many issues this way either

[Jayme]

All my tanks test zeros across the board even after a week with no water change. I guess my plants suck up nitrates like a sponge even though I don't have that many.

I'll just have to add slowly and keep an eye out. I think my bamboo shrimp produces more waste than everyone else put together, lol.

Sent from my HTC Thunderbolt via Tapatalk.

[HybridHerp]

bamboo shrimp producing more waste? really? lol
honestly, if you ask me I'd say you have an incredibly light bio-load, but then again I'm used to keeping cichlids, which are much heavier in the bioload department

[Jayme]

Originally Posted by HybridHerp

bamboo shrimp producing more waste? really? lol
honestly, if you ask me I'd say you have an incredibly light bio-load, but then again I'm used to keeping cichlids, which are much heavier in the bioload department

He poops, in large quantities, all the time, lol.

I know it's light right now, just don't want to overwhelm the filter as I add. It's packed with a ton of media though so I think I have some wiggle room if I just make sure and ramp up slowly.