I have a bit of catching up to do.

The tank is basically set up and cycling now. CO2 turned on today. CO2 and lights on timers. CO2 starts first and ends first.

The hardscape was tough. I have learned a lot and probably would have made a different choice in retrospect but I think that once the rest of the plants arrive and these grow in I will basically be going Jungle style anyway. I decided to stick with my original driftwood. It took a very large piece of slate to tame it. The size is a bit too big but it will just be the central feature until the Java and Anubias overtake it.

I have three sources for my plants so far: local seller, LFS, and an online purchase. I took a chance on the local buyer. It did not turn out so well since I could not see the plants first. He was breaking down the tank and had let the plants go a bit. I think that with some attention they will be fine. The LFS was depressing. The store was large but not well kept. Most of the plants looked bad. I did buy a red sword, a crypt and two nice small Anubias. Over priced but I was desperate to cycle with lots of plants. This was my first foray with superglue and it worked great for attaching the plants to rocks and the wood. The online shipment is more ferns and assorted Buce. It was picked up by USPS on Monday but does not arrive until Friday ...so wish me luck.

Now I am looking for critters: rummy nose tetras, small cories, ottos, amanos and snails. I might sub something else for the rummies. Any good recommendations for a reliable online fish vendor?

So far so good...

Adding more plants and the tank seems to have cycled so next week I will either order some inhabitants online or risk the LFS.

Plants are mainly ferns, swords, crypts, anubias and buce. Needs to fill in a bit!

This past week I added fish and snails. The first pass was from the LFS. 4 silver tipped Tetras and 3 Nerite snails. One Tetra was very timid and I thought that it might be sick. The others were a bit combative. The timid fish is still so but not sick. I added 4 more silver tips hoping that a larger group might be calming but they continue to chase each other a lot.

I have 6 pygmy cories coming from Aquatic Arts. I realized that now that I am feeding the tetras I really need some bottom feeders.

Plants are looking good but I am starting to get some slight brown algae on my glass and a bit of green on my sand. How many Nerites do you think a planted 25 gallon tank will need? I did a water change today and am going to feed a bit more lightly.

My next purchase will probably be a few shrimp.

The silver tipped tetras have turned out to be a bad choice. They are very aggressive and chase each other constantly. There is not much of the sought peace that I was hoping for.

The pygmy cories are remarkably cute and remarkably small. Hopefully these are juveniles and will grown to more that their present 1/2 inch. Unfortunately when they swim anywhere above the substrate the tetras chase them. I see no damage but it must be intimidating.

I now remember how careful I became after 5 years with my previous tank. I vetted fish very carefully. This time I missed the boat on the silver tips. I am actually considering trapping them and either returning them or giving them away. They need a big tank or Prozac.

Any tips for trapping? I have seen the water bottle videos on YouTube...

Things are going pretty well. Only the plants that I got from the local guy have not done too well. They are starting to collect algae and melt a bit. The plants from the LFS, Buce. and Aquatic Arts are thriving. I have a bit of brown algae on the glass and a bit of green on the sand. Chemistry is good and I am going easy of ferts(Flourish). I did add a couple of Antherium cuttings which whose roots hang in the water to hopefully help compete with the algae.

I have additional cleanup crew coming: more Nerites and also a group of red shrimp. I am also getting a few more Pygmy Cories which I love.

My only issue to work out now would be placement of my output and return skimmer. My skimmer is at the right/rear and the output at the front/right. I would love to move the output to the right/rear next to the skimmer due to tube management but circulation is good currently. There is strong movement in a "U" shape even at the back of the tank with gentle plant movement throughout the tank. I am concerned that if I move the output to the right/rear it will not reach the left side of the tank as well and so not pull across the back.

I also love watching the Cories surf the outflow across the tank front :-)

One final thing. I use Amazon Echo Dot's to automate various things around the house. I have programmed one smart plug to stop my pump and its internal heater when I say "Stop pump". It then will wait 5 minutes and then turn it back on. I will use this for feeding so that I will not forget to turn the pump back on. I have been feeding with the pump on but removing the skimmer intake tube but found yesterday that I had a ton of food particles on my pre-filter. I am pretty sure that is a recipe for an algae party and also that I am overfeeding. I also use a smart plug to start CO2 before lights on and stop it before lights off...

Thought that I would keep the flow going here...

I added a second batch of Pygmy Cories and about 20 cherry shrimp. Mostly the tank is stable however I am working with a bit of staghorn algae. I have bumped up my CO2, trimmed affected plants, and am going to use Excell for a while. I am also trying to be less generous at feeding time!

My CO2Art CO2 system seems to have a leak. At just 1+ bpm I went through and entire 5 pound tank in a month. After an email from CO2Art and reading some posts here I am embarking on a bit of systematic trouble shooting. A preliminary bubble test really showed nothing..assuming I did it correctly. Next I will turn off the outlet and also the tank valve and see if the pressure drops over a few hours. Hopefully I simply did not tighten the main regulator connection well enough.

I am also starting to show signs of Multiple Tank Syndrome or at least it's companion Big Tank Envy. I used to have a 75 gallon and I miss having the size for the fish to explore or hide. I have a group of 7 silver tip Tetras who are always sparing or bullying the weaker ones. I think that they could use more space. I also would like to have at least one large(20+) school of Cardinals or Rummy Nose.

The idea of migrating from my 25 gallon is daunting and would be expensive considering large low iron glass tank prices and the loss I would take from selling my present tank. I have been watch Craig's List for a good prospect but of course find mostly traditional rimmed glass tanks. Once you have a low iron tank it is hard to go back.

Thanks to all for answering my questions in other threads and for your own thoughtful and informative discussions.

A tip I learned when setting up a compressed air system in our shop is that on any pressurized gas system you can check for leaks with some really soapy water. I would start with the regulator solenoid unplugged and the CO2 tank valve open and check that initial connection by spraying or brushing the soapy water on. If no bubbles, turn on the solenoid and check the rest of the regulator with the soapy water (it shouldn't hurt anything, just avoid soaking the actual solenoid coil and plug). Make sure to rinse it off after you are done checking. The solenoid coil can be taken off for rinsing with the little nut on the bottom. You will find the leak this way, if there is one!

Good luck!

Good news and bad news.

I turned off the CO2 flow meter and also the tank valve earlier this evening. The working pressure held at 800 for the last 3 hours but I will check again in the morning. Hopefully this means that I just had not cranked down the tank connection enough on the first tank.

I had my first jumper this evening. One of my silver tipped Tetras ran out of water. It did not end well...

wow!!! loks amazing!! keep going!

Thanks! My new wrench and troubleshooting paid off. I had no pressure drop overnight(10 hours) so I am assuming that I did not have the tank connection tight enough.

Next time I change a tank I will do it in the evening and pressure test overnight.

Lesson learned...

Feeding time at Rock Fern Cafe...

The tank is doing well. There is still algae but it is under control. The Silver Tips are still bullying each other.

The big news is that I am going to migrate to a much larger tank so that the fish that I want to keep can school. The Silver Tips will go back to the LFS.

I have a WaterBox 120P(4820) on order and I received a suitable 48" stand from AFA along with a 48" light. I was considering going with a sump but have liked my Oase 250 Thermo so much that I am going to use a 600 for the new tank.

I plan to use my existing hardscape and leave a lot more open area with an "island" on one side sloping down to a "beach" on the other.

Lots going on right now.

The good news first. I am a Dad! Yesterday when I pulled the prefilter from my Biomaster I found lots of baby shrimp. It took about 30 minutes but I used a turkey baster to remove the mulm from the container they were in and then reintroduced them back into the tank. My guess is that I will be doing this for a while.

The bad news is that I am now fighting BBA. It is on some of my Buce and ferns, mainly in the area in front of where the water gets reintroduced into the tank. Luckily most of my Buce is glued to rocks so I pulled them and treated with Excell. They look much better now. I am also turning up my CO2 and starting it earlier before the lights turn on.

The really big news is that I decided that I really want a bigger tank and so am assembling equipment for a 120cm(4 foot) rimless tank to replace my current tank.. I am still deciding if I should start fresh with plants and hardscape due to the BBA. I will eventually post my current tank and light for sale as a local pickup in the DC/VA/MD area.

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Looking forward to see this larger project that you have planned. This tank looks great!!

Very excited for the upgrade and seeing how you scale up!