[BHolmes]

10/21/14

Filter: Cascade 1500, Coralife 18 watt UV, Hydor Koralia 850 pump Heater: Hydor 300w Inline Light: Coralife Lunar T5 HO Bulbs: 4 Giesemann Aqua Flora (only 3 are on for 6 hours), 4 blue lunar LED's (on 3 hours before main lights, during main lights, and 3 hours after) CO2: Aquatek premium regulator, 10 lb tank, GLA bubble counter, GLA Atomic inline diffuser, CAL AQUA Pearl drop checker Timers: Aqualight digital power strip, Analog timer Substrate: MGOCPM, Floramax cap, sand Hardscape: Yamaya stone, Malaysian DW, slate

Fauna: Glossolepis incisus, Melanotaenia boesemani, Melanotaenia kamaka, Glossolepis i/Melanotaenia b. Hybrid, Puntius denisonii, Corydoras paleatus, Sturisoma panamense, Synodontis nigriventris, Otocinclus, Puntius semifasciolatus, Epalzeorhynchos bicolor, Ancistrus sp.

Plants: Bacopa australis, Rotala sp. H'Ra, Echinodorus angustifolia 'Vesuvius', Anubias nana, Anubias coffeefolia, Anubias congensis, Anubias hastifolia, Blyxa japonica, Blyxa aubertii, Fissidens, Cryptocoryne wendtii 'green', Mini Rose Moss, Bucephilandra sp. green wavy, Bucephalandra brownie phantom

EI Dosing: KH2PO4 1.268g Mon/Wed/Fri, K2SO4 4.874g Mon/Wed/Fri, CSM+B 2.609g Tue/Thur/Sat, Seachem Iron 15ml Tue/Thur/Sat, 50% WC on Sun, MgSO4 17.274g Sun, CaSO4 17.359g Sun

First Post

 

[manzpants92]

good start. things will look really nice once everything starts growing in

 

[BHolmes]

Tank info moved to post one

 

[shawnleon]

First Planted 90g Rainbow Tank

Your rainbows have great color! The bug briefly had a hold on me because of bold looking fish like yours. Of course I kept finding washed out duds.

 

[hobos]

Driftwood looks great with those rocks

 

[GMYukonon24s]

Nice job! I like how it transitions from the plants to the wood and rock to open sand.

 

[BHolmes]

Thanks!
I spent a lot of time researching different planted tanks. I tried for a unique look that would also accommodate the rainbows. Once those stems grow I'll be planting the trimmings to further fill in that planted half. I also wanted to choose plants that would be as colorful as the rainbows.
Most of the rainbows I see at local shops are washed out because of stress and bad tank parameters. They really turn white when they are stressed. If you bring them home and put them in a proper tank they glow. They change different shades of color all day. It's amazing

 

[BHolmes]

Any suggestions as to what to add to the scape/plants/fish/equipment? Here are some fish pics while I wait for the plants to grow

 

[dprais1]

Hey, I'm about to do a similar build this week on my 75 gal. Those red rainbows are great do you happen to know which species they are?

PS- I really like how you have your driftwood in there

 

[BHolmes]

Thanks! The Red Rainbows are Glossolepis incisus.

 

[BHolmes]

Week 1 Update:
Everything is going good! All of the plants are rooting in and shooting up. I did manage to fry half of the bacopa because I left it out of the water for too long. I went full retard on that one so now it's all dinky in the corner. It is beginning to recover though. New mediocre cell pics!


Enjoy!

 

[ua hua]

Very good start. I really like the rainbows and my favorite tank on this forum had rainbows. I don't know if you have ever seen it because it's an older thread but check it out if you like.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=111354

 

[hydrophyte]

Cool! I love rainbows. I could stare at a tank with rainbows all day.

If you might like to get driftwood stumps to fill more of the vertical space you might shop around in the SNS here. There are sellers like plantbrain and one or two others with real nice manzanita at good prices.

 

[HybridHerp]

Maybe its just me, but that's a lot of sand on the right side.....part of me almost wants to break it up by having a few stones with pellia or fissden growing on it. And then a little moss on the wood or something

What plants do you have there now, and what fish exactly? I always like having everything well documented.

 

[BHolmes]

Very good start. I really like the rainbows and my favorite tank on this forum had rainbows. I don't know if you have ever seen it because it's an older thread but check it out if you like.

Thanks! That tank is massive and the scape is amazing.

Cool! I love rainbows. I could stare at a tank with rainbows all day.
If you might like to get driftwood stumps to fill more of the vertical space you might shop around in the SNS here.

I usually sit in front of the tank for an hour a day. Thanks for the info. I really enjoy the color and look of the Malaysian wood. It also serves as a solid barrier between the substrate and sand. That allows me to gravel vac the sand and keep it clean.

Maybe its just me, but that's a lot of sand on the right side.....part of me almost wants to break it up by having a few stones with pellia or fissden growing on it. And then a little moss on the wood or something

I am keeping the right side open for the rainbows. Eventually the stems from the left will bend and flow to the right from the current. The rainbows are only about 1/3 to 1/2 their full size right now. Each one will be around six inches minus the blue rainbows. I am thinking of adding plants to the wood soon. Here are the specs from the third post:

Filter:
Cascade 1500
UV:
Coralife 18w Turbo Twist
Heater:
Hydor In Line
Light:
Coralife Lunar T5 HO
Bulbs:
1 White, 1 Blue, 2 Red
Fauna:
4 Red Rainbows (2M/2F), 4 Boesman Rainbows (2M/2F), 4 Blue Rainbows (2M/2F), 4 Denison Barbs, 1 Gold Gourami, 2 Pepper Cory (1M/1F), 2 Royal Farlowellas, 2 Upside Down Cats, 6 Ottos
Plants:
Micro Sword, Ludwigia Peruensis, Cabomba Purple, Ludwigia inclinata, Red Melon Sword, Bacopa australis, Hygro Corymbosa, Heteranthera zosterfolia, Hydrotriche hottoniiflora

 

[Noahma]

Your rainbows have great color! The bug briefly had a hold on me because of bold looking fish like yours. Of course I kept finding washed out duds.

The key for good bows is a good breeder with a pure stock. Most of the LFS stock is going to be washed out. They also grow slow, and are slow to develop full colors too.

Very good start. I really like the rainbows and my favorite tank on this forum had rainbows. I don't know if you have ever seen it because it's an older thread but check it out if you like.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=111354

I LOVE Sanj's tank, he actually has two of them, the larger one has the big bows, his smaller (being 90g) has some of the medium and smaller bows like M.Herbertaxelrodi, M.Nigrans and M.Kamaka

Thanks! That tank is massive and the scape is amazing.


I usually sit in front of the tank for an hour a day. Thanks for the info. I really enjoy the color and look of the Malaysian wood. It also serves as a solid barrier between the substrate and sand. That allows me to gravel vac the sand and keep it clean.


I am keeping the right side open for the rainbows. Eventually the stems from the left will bend and flow to the right from the current. The rainbows are only about 1/3 to 1/2 their full size right now. Each one will be around six inches minus the blue rainbows. I am thinking of adding plants to the wood soon. Here are the specs from the third post:

if I have my bows right the "blue bows" are M. Kamaka. Great fish too! stay small and in there older age get a VERY high back lol

Great tank, more branchy wood will get some nice antics from the bows. mine LOVE to swim up and around the my driftwood during courting times.

 

[BHolmes]

if I have my bows right the "blue bows" are M. Kamaka. Great fish too! stay small and in there older age get a VERY high back

That's correct. I feed them all high protein frozen foods 2-3 times a day to promote the high back.

Great tank, more branchy wood will get some nice antics from the bows. mine LOVE to swim up and around the my driftwood during courting times.

I've been wanting to get a video of my reds duking it out over the two females. One turns a dark, rich red with silver and the other turns a bright reddish orange. The movements that they do to get the females attention is cool too. The two blues morph a white stripe over their back when they go at it. The boesemani are the only ones that just swim around.

 

[BHolmes]

I just did a water test for the first time since October of last year.
API liquid test kits: PH 7.5 / GH 6 / KH 6 / Nitrate 10 / Phosphate .5 / Ammonia 0 / Nitrite 0
45g w/c once a week every Monday. I'm only dosing Prime (Monday), API Leaf Zone (Monday), and API CO2 Booster 2x day.
Any suggestions?

 

[BHolmes]

Week 3:
The Cabomba pulcherrima exploded! It's already 24" tall and ready for a trim. All the other plants are slow growers. I haven't really helped because I have rearranged them twice in the last two weeks. None of the plants have melted or died either. All of the fish are growing and showing more color.

Future Plans:
I've taken into consideration planting the wood. I'll be ordering dwarf baby tears to tie on the top and anubias nana to plant in the caves. I'm also ordering blyxa japonica and cyperus helferi to further fill-in the planted half. The stump for the right side to break up the sand is still being decided on. I found one that is 14" x 22" x 5" and it looks like it would go with the flow of the tank.
Equipment:
The tank really needs an increase in flow so I'm going to add two Koralia 240's. That should eliminate all dead spots and decrease brown algae. I also need to quit kidding myself and dive into pressurized CO2. The plants need to look just as good as the fish.

Here are updated cell pics! One day I'll buy a camera, after I finish spending money on the tank. Enjoy!

 

[BHolmes]

Week: 4
Everything is still going good. Nothing new to add except pics of new growth.