[theericafish]

UPDATED 7/22/15

Room

20

10

5

Room

20

10

5​

 

[Schwartzy61]

Looks pretty righteous man! Keep uploading pictures of the growth down the road!

 

[theericafish]

Looks pretty righteous man! Keep uploading pictures of the growth down the road!

Thank you so much! We've added more photos!

 

[Scars]

I like the look so far, those must be some happy tetras. Much better than my first "attempts"

All those tanins might be coming from your dirt. I have a 20 gallon im working on now that turned to tea after water changes. Try adding a little purigen in a nylon bag to your filter. Clears it up beautifully.

 

[AaronMB]

Looks good! Looking forward to more progression pictures of growth.

I really like these tank journals - certainly makes me wish I took more photos along the way.

 

[theericafish]

I like the look so far, those must be some happy tetras. Much better than my first "attempts"

All those tanins might be coming from your dirt. I have a 20 gallon im working on now that turned to tea after water changes. Try adding a little purigen in a nylon bag to your filter. Clears it up beautifully.

Thanks!

Yep, our neons are happy little dudes. They school merrily all day long.

Yes, we had tanin problems when we added our dirt. We also had problems with the dirt and bark floating to the top. Next time, we plan on soaking our dirt longer, so hopefully that will help. To clear up the water we did partial water changes everyday for a few weeks. It was a hassle, but we've decided to steer clear of synthetic additives as much as possible ^_^.

Good luck with your 20 gallon! I hope to see pictures. We're making plans for a 20 gallon too!

 

[Azarakiah]

are u trying to cause a problem for urself? i dont think u examined ur heater very well... i have the same one its not fully submersable.. not meant to be underwater all the way.. theres a "maximum water line" printed on the heater itself..

 

[livingword26]

are u trying to cause a problem for urself? i dont think u examined ur heater very well... i have the same one its not fully submersable.. not meant to be underwater all the way.. theres a "maximum water line" printed on the heater itself..

Actually that looks like a Top Fin® Submersible Aquarium Heater to me. I think that the water line is a "Minimum" water line.

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2752191

 

[livingword26]

Nice looking aquarium. If your are like the rest of us, you are already thinking about your next (bigger) one.

 

[CatB]

nice tank, but that seems really soon to be adding fish...maybe not. are you sure the tank is fully cycled, have you been testing?
(also, those amazon swords will get HUGE in time, watch out for that)

 

[mrduna01]

Actually that looks like a Top Fin® Submersible Aquarium Heater to me. I think that the water line is a "Minimum" water line.

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2752191

You are correct

Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk 2

 

[Azarakiah]

ok now i feel dumb lol the rubber part on top was covering half of the text >.< now im in my place lol

 

[2in10]

Good looking tank

 

[theericafish]

Actually that looks like a Top Fin® Submersible Aquarium Heater to me. I think that the water line is a "Minimum" water line.

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2752191

I believe we have a similar model to the one in that link. Have had no issues with the heater so far but it is usually on only during the morning and I try to keep an eye on the temperature. Reviews lead me to believe any heater can be faulty so its definitely something to watch out for. Fried fishies wouldn't be a good day for me :'(

Nice looking aquarium. If your are like the rest of us, you are already thinking about your next (bigger) one.

Appreciate the compliment! I really want a 20 long at the moment. I would like to keep the existing tank going though so I'm looking for a 2 tank stand. Nothing seems to be sturdy enough or fit what I'm looking for style wise. May build my own! :O What plant are you growing on your substrate? I was thinking for the 20 I wanted to go for the carpeted effect.

nice tank, but that seems really soon to be adding fish...maybe not. are you sure the tank is fully cycled, have you been testing?
(also, those amazon swords will get HUGE in time, watch out for that)

The tank cycled pretty quickly with the plants that were from an existing planted tank at our local fish store. Before we had fish there were pond snails and I think rams horn snails that came on the plants(as eggs). They were thriving on algae that was growing due to excess nutrients in the water much before we added fish. We've been checking the water throughout the process with the api test kits. The tank was 0 ammonia 0 nitrite and between 2.5 and 5ppm of nitrate when we added the fish, so pretty close to ideal water conditions.

During the cycling process we observed a spike in ammonia and nitrite which the snails seemed to have no problem with(not that I wanted to expose them to toxic water, but didn't have much of a choice). The pond snails breathe air also so I don't think the water quality had a huge effect on them.

As for maintenance we are doing ~30% water changes every friday and trimming plants if needed. The shimp seem to enjoy eating some dead leaves so if theres not too many I just let them be. Going for a more natural balanced eco system(as natural as fish in glass tanks can get at least ). At this rate the water change happens around when the nitrate reaches about 5ppm.

I'm hoping the swords continue doing well, I've already planted some of the "baby swords" that grew almost entirely in our tank(off the stems that come out). They are growing really fast. Planning to grow enough to have a decent amount of plants to move to the 20g whenever that happens. Always good to save some money!

Good looking tank

Thank you Your 75 looks good! Wish I had room for a bigger tank... someday...

Excuse the lengthy post

 

[HappyToLearn]

Nice tank
I'm started my own planted tank about a month ago, so it's fun to read journals from other newbies. I'll be following yours.
BTW, how many watts on your lights?

 

[livingword26]

What plant are you growing on your substrate? I was thinking for the 20 I wanted to go for the carpeted effect.

Its Baby Tears, or Pearl Weed, (not the same thing as Dwarf Baby Tears). It grows around 4 inches tall. Some shorter, and some longer, maybe up to 6 inches? It grew like a weed in my medium/high light, co2 injected tank. I recently converted the tank to low light, no co2. Its not doing well, but its still hanging in there. It may yet make the conversion. Or not.

 

[theericafish]

Nice tank
I'm started my own planted tank about a month ago, so it's fun to read journals from other newbies. I'll be following yours.
BTW, how many watts on your lights?

We are using 2 Marineland 10W 5100K compact florescent bulbs, which run on a timer for 8 hours a day, 12pm-8pm. So far, this has been working well for our low to medium lights plants.

Goodluck with your Ebi tank. We contemplated the pantyhose idea, but decided to go with a baffled method utilizing a plastic soda bottle. Our filter intake is wrapped with excess media net from our filter bio bag. The media net catches dead plant matter that the shrimps enjoy eating. It tends to slow down the filter flow, so we do clean it about once a week.

Plastic Bottle Baffle

Media Net Intake Sleeve & Pregnant Amano Shrimp

Yes, these tank journals have been really helpful and fun.

Cheers to us newbies!

Also... Happy Birthday!

Its Baby Tears, or Pearl Weed, (not the same thing as Dwarf Baby Tears). It grows around 4 inches tall. Some shorter, and some longer, maybe up to 6 inches? It grew like a weed in my medium/high light, co2 injected tank. I recently converted the tank to low light, no co2. Its not doing well, but its still hanging in there. It may yet make the conversion. Or not.

Hopefully it just takes a bit to adapt to the new conditions and recovers well. I may go micro swords instead planted in a random pattern. Micro swords seem to grow pretty slowly(at least in our tank). I like the "leafy" effect in your picture but I kind of want a grassy effect also. So many decisions and options :O! Right now I'm just letting the java moss slowly find its way all over the tank.

 

[HappyToLearn]

Thanks for the lighting info and the filter tips!

 

[theericafish]

Thanks for the lighting info and the filter tips!

No problem! :icon_smil

 

[theericafish]

Updated main post with 2 new pictures~!