Lisya's 75G High-tech - 56K Warning - new pics 9/28

Martin: Yeah, there is eco-complete under the gravel, but I'm considering adding additional substrate. Perhaps sand in the non-planted (open-swimming) areas and more eco-complete for the plants.

FSM & Coltonrr: Will do that.

Boink: T5 HO lights that probably need bulb replacement. They've been running since January. Also looking at increasing the amount of plant-growing light.

Right now, the tank is under close observation until I figure out what's going on with the fish (and any thoughts would be helpful). One of the SAEs had a fungus before I went to work Tuesday morning. By the time I got home from work, it was dead. Two hours later, one of the Furcata Rainbows was swimming upside down at the top of the tank (I'm thinking swim bladder problem). It was dead shortly thereafter, but no one else was showing any signs of distress. This morning, the other Furcata was floating, dead. No idea what got him. I haven't seen any signs of aggression in the tank and the parameters are all normal (0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 0 nitrates). The water's been warm (right at 80) so I turned off the UV sterilizer this morning. Hopefully that will bring the temp back down.

The husband decided to return his surviving over-aggressive tiger barb yesterday. The LFS had a few German Blue Rams, two of which are now hanging out near the java moss in my tank:


Other changes this weekend:
3 more Corydoras julii
2 more Corydoras aeneus
Background material changed to black foam board
Flourish root tabs placed for subulata, crypts and vals.
Airstone replaced with Lee's wood diffuser.

New FTS:


I've got potassium and nitrogen on order from Aquariumplants.com as well as a selection of plants not available at my LFS. Next up: mesh for the java moss. I think I want it to grow closer to the substrate on the left side.

Pics to come later...

One of the rams didn't make it. :icon_cry: If I had to guess, the gourami bullied it. The other one likes to give me a lot of heartache by hiding for twelve hours at a time.

In the last week and a half, I've gotten my ferts and plants from aquariumplants.com. I ordered 10 contortionist val; I got 11 . I also ordered two bundles of A. reineckii and two java ferns v. 'windelov.' The reineckii showed up looking a little droopy, but they perked right up under the lights.

This weekend I declared war on BBA. It's all over the C. wendtii and C. spiralis. It's gaining ground on the subulata, java ferns and A. natans. The anubias are finally sprouting leaves that don't have any on it, but their battle is far from over. I sent CO2 onto the battlefield for all-over cover, and ordered H2O2 to do a surgical strike on affected areas. The photoperiod was ordered to a fall-back position of 8 hours.

This weekend was also a weekend for cheap aquascaping projects. For about $5 I wrapped java moss around a pair of rocks with hairnets, and bound some more around plastic mesh (also covered with hairnets) to make a groundcover effect. I pulled the filter out and cleaned it. When I put it back together, the impeller was rattling. When I tried to pull the impeller cover off to fix it, the darn clip snapped in my hand! Then the UV sterilizer brackets gave out (I mean, right after the clip snapped, the sterilizer fell).:eek5: Now it's sitting at an angle between the filter and the side of the stand so that the tubes don't kink or build up too much pressure, but Deanzlo's next job is to fix the sterilizer mount (like, today or tomorrow).

My next big project is a CO2 reactor. I'm leaning toward a submersible reactor made out of an old gravel vac, possibly on the filter outflow. That would make my outflow look like Fluval 405 -> UV sterilizer -> DIY reactor -> tank. Would that put too much back flow pressure on the filter? Right now it's got pretty good current, I'm just wary of making it work too hard.

My next aesthetic project is to add drawer/cabinet handles to the stand, and install an organizer system in the bottom. Maybe some kind of hose reel for the python, too.

Here's a shot of the left-side of the tank with the A. reineckii between some bunches of sunset hygro (and a dwarf gourami who says, "hi!"):


Here's a right-side shot:
I started off with two bunches of windelov on the rock, but one of them just did not want to stay tied down so it's going to hang out on the substrate.

School is in session (original, I know!):


My clowns spend about 23 hours per day hanging out in this rock. Here's one on a rare jaunt out in view:


These are the two, "stars," of my tank:

I swear that ram knows when I've got the camera out and he deliberately hides or swims so fast I can't get a good shot of him...

FTS:


And one question... This little bugger has the biggest attitude of any fish in my tank. He could probably bully Deanzlo's tiger barbs into a corner. I'm pretty sure he's a C. siamensis, but they're supposed to be pretty peaceful. What do y'all think - is he a false siamensis, or the one-in-a-hundred genuine siamensis with a chip on his shoulder/dorsal fin?