[hambone870]

I'm going to try to start a journal and keep it maintained. I do have a couple short ones floating around from a few that I've started but never been good at maintaining them. I just got back into the hobby this year and quickly my house has become over run with tanks and "projects" so this is going to be a thread that I want to cover everything going on in my house.

Tank Time Lines

1 gallon - betta bowl

3 gallon - dbp cherry shrimp tank

10 gallon - low tech

20 gallon - high tech

30 gallon - sitting in my basement waiting

 

[hambone870]

My ten gallon is a low tech tank with MGOCPM with a play sand bottom. It's powered with one single cfl 16 watt spiral, AC 30, and a 50 watt heater. This tank is getting 6 hours of light a day and 1/3rd the amount of EI dosing per week. This started as a dwarf puffer tank but due to the feeding requirements I opted to exchange em for community fish.

Current Livestock List
8 endlers/guppies
4 juli Cory cats
4 ottos
4 nerite snails

Current Plant List
Dwarf sag
Vals
Crypt wenti (green gecko, bronze, Florida sunset)
Crypt lutea
Kleiner sword
Dwarf water lettuce
Hydrocoytle Japan


Here's the tanks progression for the first few months its been around

Just filled with water-

Just planted-

After a month-

Yesterday after a rescape-

7-31-13

 

[hambone870]

a few fish from the ten gallon

the endlers have been fun but are proving to be hard to photograph. some of you guys must have some serious patience or know how to adjust camera setting better cause about 1 in 100 of my shots came out while following these fish around the tank

here's one of my cory cats, ive always had trouble keeping them in the past but this time im really trying to make sure they get plenty of good food and good water conditions. as a side note, i had a problem keeping the bottom stirred before getting these guys but they are keeping things tidy!

 

[CheyLillymama22]

Very nice!
I love my cories, they are so adorable.
Show us the dbp shrimp tank! Im considering buying one myself, i have a 20 long cycling right now for some dark blue velvet and am thinking of doing some yellow neos in a dbp 3 gallon long.

 

[hambone870]

Very nice!
I love my cories, they are so adorable.
Show us the dbp shrimp tank! Im considering buying one myself, i have a 20 long cycling right now for some dark blue velvet and am thinking of doing some yellow neos in a dbp 3 gallon long.

It might be a day or so until I put the shrimp tank up but stay tuned. I've got the photos for the betta bowl to put up soon.

Dbp 3 gallons are good for a shrimp show tank and the price is good for its quality so don't hesitate. Have you seen the dbp club?

I'm struggling a bit with stems in that tank cause its height isn't great except for some moss, foreground, or clippings. It's real short...

I was thinking about maybe moving the betta to the 3 gallon after setting the 30 gallon in the basement for a cherry breeding tank. Time will tell.

 

[hambone870]

This 2 dollar pet smart betta bought by my son with his own money was the catalyst for getting me back into planted tanks this time around. This bowl has been one of the most enjoyable things to make and its shape and size has been fun to work with.

its MGOCPM capped with flora-max substrate, no filter, and a tiny marina betta heater hid behind the driftwood. it was originally lit by a desk lamp and a cfl spiral bulb but the lamp was changed out to a deep blue professional solar flare lamp instead. This bowl is getting 6 hours of light. I'm considering a drop of excel every day.


Current Livestock list
1 Betta
a few ramshorn snails

Current Plant List
micro sword
hydrocotyle japan
bacopa
alternanthera reineckii (petco tissue culture)


filled

my first few plants

added some dwarf hair grass

time for everything to settle and adjust

the pinnacle of the dwarf hair grass

after a major rescape 7-14

over head shot 7-14

 

[hambone870]

my ramshorn snails, the few that made it to maturity are quite fun to watch and perfect bowl mates for the betta

 

[Hilde]

I wish you would put the Betta in a 10g. He could probably go in the tank with the shrimp. Try it first with a few shrimp. He looks like a mild tempered Betta so I think it would work.

The 10 G after its first scape followed the golden ration. Thus more appeasing. Rah hop shows how it is easily applied

 

[hambone870]

I wish you would put the Betta in a 10g. He could probably go in the tank with the shrimp. Try it first with a few shrimp. He looks like a mild tempered Betta so I think it would work.

do you feel like the bowl is too small for him?

the 3 gallon has been a consideration but mixing him with the shrimp wont work due to the 50 babies im currently raising in there, unless i relocate the shrimp

 

[Hilde]

do you feel like the bowl is too small for him?

Yes! Was thinking you could have shrimp and Betta in 10g. Have many hiding places.

My betta swims to slow to catch baby guppies.

 

[hambone870]

Yes! Was thinking you could have shrimp and Betta in 10g. Have many hiding places.

My betta swims to slow to catch baby guppies.

LOL, OK I know exactly what your saying about betta's and tank size

:red_mouth

 

[hambone870]

A shot to the eye the first time ever doing filter maintenance on an Eheim...

At least I'm back to full force!

 

[hambone870]

A few new additions to our house in the last week

For the last 3 months we have been a foster home for 2 chocolate labs puppies. I'm happy to say that we placed them in some great homes. This weekend we picked up our newest foster, a border collie mix named bandit.

He's 5 months old and lived a truly rough life. Given up by his owners at a young age he lived most of his life in a cage and tied up to a water heater. He's really shy and smart and the few short days we've had him he's really starting to come around.

That's crusty the crested gecko and he's my wife's new pet. He's pretty chill and we like him a lot too.

 

[hambone870]

Thanks dprais1 for the dwl it was good to meet you and trade a few plants. I got enough to throw a few good handfuls in the 10 and the 20 gallon.

Fish planet was un-boxing their plants today when I walked in and was able to pick a crypt bunch before they even got them unpacked. I'll have a lot more green wendti for you next time.

 

[sacme]

That crested gecko looks awesome, same with the border collie, that's a real good looking dog.

 

[hambone870]

That crested gecko looks awesome, same with the border collie, that's a real good looking dog.

its called a foster failure when the foster family ends up keeping the dog

we might be heading down that road, he fits in perfect with our two other dogs

you can tell he's not so trusting of people right now and its taken time for us to earn even a little

 

[hambone870]

This is a miracle grow bottom capped with Eco. Finnex ray 2 lights. Eheim 2213. GLA atomic paint ball regulator. 20oz tank. Ei dosing.

Current plant list

- stargrass
- ludwigia
- stargoyne repens
- hygro compacta
- blyxa

Current fish list

- 3 ottos
- 6 scarlet badis
- 8 Pygmy Cory cats

Planted

Two weeks

Three weeks

Five weeks

Seven weeks (flooded)

10 weeks

8-16-13

8-24-13

09-09-13

 

[hambone870]

Update my time line and stock list on my 10 gallon

Lost 2 endlers
Amano shrimp jumped ship
Took out wisteria

Added crypt lutea
Added hydrocoytle Japan
Added dwl

I'm thinking about making this a crypt only tank... Or mostly that.

 

[hambone870]

So I'm currently dosing 2 of my 4 tanks with dry ferts. My 10 gallon is low tech and I'm doing 1/3 the recommended EI dose. That means just adding macro and micro just once a week.

The 20 gallon high tech is getting the full blown EI.

The schedule looks something like this

I'm so new to all this so I don't exactly know what I'm adding and for what purpose. I'm just following the directions laid out by others. I will say the dry ferts with the combination of dirt has given me some plant growing confidence. I've failed terribly with plants the first go around so I'm feeling so much more confident this time around.

Big question here-

My dry fert package came with k2so4 and iron chelate. Neither one I've even touched. What is the potential benefit or risks of adding these into the tanks?

 

[Xiaozhuang]

What trace are you using? Does it contain iron? If it does have adequate iron you can skip the iron chelate, if it doesn't you should mix iron chelate into your dosing.

You can use this calculator to figure out how much you're actually dosing:
http://calc.petalphile.com/

Your iron chelate will probably appear as either EDTA Fe or Fe Gluconate