New World 90gal Low Tech- a Pictoral Journey!! 11/13 Replanting Begins

[Ozymandias]

man been along time since i looked at this and i have to area everything is filling in nicely and all the fish look happy.

[lauraleellbp]

And- I got my first video of the tank.

I've ordered a tripod for this camera, so hopefully my next one won't be so shaky (Sorry! Doesn't help any that the cat decided he wanted to be in my lap while I was trying to film, either...)

[monkeyruler90]

awesome video! and im glad to see the update pics. everything is filling in soo nice.

for the next video can you drop a cube of food? id love to see a swarm of cardinals and tetras go crazy!

[lauraleellbp]

Thanks, MR90. I'll try to remember to get a vid of feeding time sometime soon. The Amanos are definitely the most aggressive feeders in my tank, though- the pigs! LOL

[idontknow]

Awesome Tank!

[lauraleellbp]

Thanks! I love it- its so very low maintenance.

At this point the only things left I want to do is fill in that spot on the far right in front of the Bacopa (I'm still leaning towards Indian red swords ATM), and spread the Bacopa further along the back wall of the tank, all the way over to the filter intake. I think this will add a little more "balance."

Heh- my 9,999th post. Fitting, I suppose- my first post on here ever was about this tank.

[oldpunk78]

your tank gives off a very peaceful vibe.

[ColeMan]

wow, laura, I don't think I've ever seen anyone with 10,000 posts before......
Which tank did the 2217 end up making it on? The 46?

Cool video - it reminds me of the cardinals I just lost...which I found out was not entirely my fault. Well, yes, it kind of was. My friend (who gave them to me) neglected to tell me that he had started off with about 3 times as many cardinals, and they had all died 1 by 1 for the previous 2 weeks. I got his last 8, and though they have stopped dying, I'm down to only 2. I thought that I was safe, considering they were the only fish in his tank and he told me they were healthy (which they were, in theory: they were healthy looking until they died), but alas, no luck. I even had scaled back dosing significantly to ease the transition from his sterile, non-planted tank to my high-light, CO2 injected tank; I thought everything was ready to go.

However...I was talking to a LFS owner who was telling me his stock of cardinals had been horrible for the past year, despite the fact that many were farm-raised in florida (or so he says). This was the original source for my friend's stock (and mine now). I guess the point I'm trying to make is twofold: 1) your video makes me want some more cardinals, and 2) securing good, healthy stock from a trusted supplier is essential...easier said than done, I suppose. I swear, though, that I never, ever used to have (or hear about) the acclimatization issues with cardinals that I do now...or maybe that's just 'wishful remembering.'

Tank(s) look great, by the way. Nice to catch up on your journal, it's been a while.....

[lauraleellbp]

Yeah, the 2217 is on the 46gal. I've got an XP4 and an AquaClear 110 on this tank for now, though there's an XP3 sitting beside me ATM that I'm going to replace instead of the AC 110 whenever I get around to it (need some more media first).

I really think that a lot of the diseases that have entered into LFSs originated with how prevalent it has become to import Asian stock. 1) fish over here have no natura immunities to those diseases, 2) the way those fish are mass-produced it makes for weaker genetic stock and the spread of diseases rampant throughout the populations, and 3) the trip over here weakens those fish that were healthy so they manage to pick up everything else they might not have started off with.

That stuff gets into LFS tanks- which are consistently full of an ever-rotating population of fish and rarely broken down and sterilized, infecting population after population of fish- and IMO it's amazing that any stock survive at all.

[Pinto]

Nice Tank!! great pictures too!

[fishboy87]

Great tank! If you keep posting at this speed, 100,000 posts in 10 years or under! My only suggestion is that you have something especially tall like a val of some-sort in the left side/corner.

[lauraleellbp]

fishboy- thanks for the suggestion. The Echinodorus africanus that are currently there have the potential to more than fill in that spot... IDK that they will for sure in my particular tank, but they can get HUGE. Time will tell.

Did some much-needed tank maintenance tonight. Trimmed back and spread the Bacopa further along the back of the tank. Stuffed as much of the Najas as I could collect under the driftwood (IDK I might end up pulling the Najas all together... we'll see). Planted 2 Echinodorus 'red devil' in my "trouble spot" in the hopes that they will take and add a little color to that spot. I kind of like the way they balance out the E. africanus on the other side of the tank.

Also finally got around to swapping out the AquaClear 110 for a Rena XP3. This leaves an XP4 and an XP3 on this tank. It's much quieter in my office now, with no HOB waterfalls running. Just waiting for the XP4 to quit it's startup "burping"- for some reason this filter holds air much worse than any of my other XPs.

Did a 30% PWC. I don't think I've done a water change on this tank since before Christmas... oops!

Still haven't done anything with the GNPs. My kleiner bar is still putting out new leaves, but it still looks pathetic. I think I'm going to take the plecos to the club meeting on the 22nd for sale, and see if anyone wants them.

I'm waiting for things to settle a little, and then I'll get some new pics.

[medicineman]

It is a good idea to take out the plant destroyer. Be it nipper, sucker or pesky un-planter.
I did removed mine as much as I can and am glad about it.

Btw I can see that your sword never cease throwing out plantlets!

[SeaSerpant]

Sorry i haven't been on that lately but your aquarium is improving magnificently, i love the contrast between colours and the wood that you have in your aquarium is awesome, It looks like your doing a really good job,Keep up the good work!

[lopez_316us]

Update........