Tharsis' 75 gallon - The Rhode Island Chapter

[tharsis]

glofish haha

while my kids would probably love that, I would cringe everytime I walk past the tank!

The rocks appear to be some sort of phyllite, which is metamorphosed mudstones. It is mainly silicates so they should be pretty inert, but I will monitor the water over the next few weeks to be certain.

[diwu13]

Even if the rocks are inert they could be raising the TDS over time. Just check for like a week to make sure.

[BruceF]

Do I remember correctly that there was an Indian version before the Colorado version? You do seem to get around!

[tharsis]

haha, yeah there was an indiana, colorado, indiana and now rhode island version! I only have a two year contract here but there is a possibility for a permanent position so I really hope that that pans out because I am sooooo sick of moving!

Rhode Island is a great place, I really like it here so far.

Di: ok cool, I will check that to make sure. Thanks for the tip!

[xenxes]

Hey I'm from Indiana! Go for the shrimp tank + a school of CPDS and corydoras habrosus! Large schools of nano fish gives a large a tank a lot of life. These are all relatively shrimp safe, but get a shrimp colony started first to be safe.

C. Habrosus:


C. Pygmaeus:


CPDs:


PFRs would be huuge contrast on that green + rock:


Tank is looking good! Hope that helps

[MyMonkey]

Tagging along!

[tharsis]

xenxes:
Yeah I have definitely decided to go with the PFR's, and I would love to get the CPD's as well, they are just kinda pricey. I guess I have a lot of time while I wait for the shrimp colony to get established so I will be able to save up for the CPD's.

Good idea with the pygmy cories. I think I may go with them as well.

MyMonkey:
thanks! I hope to make it worthwhile


The tank is coming along nicely, the stems are growing behind the rocks, it won't be long before it starts to fill in. I will take some pics when the sun goes down. I haven't tested the water to see where I am in the cycle but I should be getting close to being ready for shrimp. Probably at the end of this month...

I haven't connected the CO2 and I have been keeping a pretty short photoperiod as a consequence, so there is no algae to speak of. I may try to avoid CO2 altogether for this tank, hopefully I can get by on this tank with just a bit of glutaraldehyde dosing. I will then use the set-up for a calcium reactor in the saltwater tank I am assembling.

[xenxes]

I got CPDs at my LFS for $2 each. Scratch my pygmaeus suggestion, go with habrosus, they're less shy and more active. You will rarely see your pygmaeus in a densely planted tank.

For the plants you have you don't need CO2. Well, you never *need* CO2, just more patience

I only dose glutaraldehyde (Excel) sparingly when I see lots of algae growth. Use some floaters if you're getting too much light.

[tharsis]

I have only ever seen them for $6 a pop...but if i can find for $2 i will buy tons of them. I have never had a really big school of fish before. The most I had were of serpae tetra and I think I had ~15 or so.

Yeah I purposely kept the 'easier to maintain' plants so that I could avoid CO2. This tank is in my dining room and it is an open stand, so I want my wife wants to keep the clutter to a minimum. The co2 tank and the cerges reactor create alot of clutter under the tank. If I run into a problem I will jsut raise the light up a bit. I am not very fond of floaters for some reason...

That is what I had in mind for the glut as well, maybe do one or two small weekly doses.

[xenxes]

Originally Posted by tharsis

I want my wife wants to keep the clutter to a minimum. The co2 tank and the cerges reactor create alot of clutter under the tank. If I run into a problem I will jsut raise the light up a bit. I am not very fond of floaters for some reason...

It's not a problem if you stick with the larger floater variety, red root floaters, water lettuce, frogbits. Easy to scoop out whenever. Avoid salvinia minima and duckweed, ick.

[tharsis]

Here are some pics I jsut took... doesn't look terribly different but I think another week and the stems in the back will start to change the look of the tank alot.

[diwu13]

Needs some shrimps

[tharsis]

long time since I updated, been super busy at work and no time for tanks unfortunately. The lights are still on only afew hours a day so the growth is very slow. Still no livestock, except for a couple redwag platies and a couple black mollies (the kids were tired of no fish so they picked them out).

i still want some shrimp in there eventually.

I have some green hair algae in the HM...I kinda like twirling it out with the toothbrush haha.







I had an awesome curbside pick up last week, got a fluval 306, wet/dry filter filled with bio balls, huge HOB overflow and pump and one of the huge aquaclear hob filters for free. Everything worked great so I added the canister filter to this tank and will use the wet/dry filter in my saltwater set-up.

I think I want to add CO2 to the tank, the plants are not terribly happy right now so I want to get a boost with the CO2. I managed to fix gthe solenoid issue I had with the milwaukee set-up so I will connect it up to the cerges reactor and the fluval canister.

[diwu13]

Whoa update! Those rocks got mighty green from the algae ! Got some good growth as well! So now you're using two canisters on this tank? I see 4 pipes :O!!

Finally gonna use the DW you sent me a long whiles back. I bought a 20L from the petco $1/gal sale

[xxUnRaTeDxxRkOxx]

Your tank is amazing!!!!! Can I steal go up there and steal it from ya lol