[jcmv4792]

Update: 1/22/16

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This would be my first planted tank. I expect a few types of plants to be taken out and replaced, since some on the list seem to be(from my internet reading), not well suited for low-tech, low-light setups.

I will also be adding a few plants to fill the open areas within a few weeks or so.... any suggestions welcome!



55 gallon

- No co2, daily dose of excel(recommended dose for now)
- seachem ferts, and root tabs(recommended dose for now)
- Eco complete substrate
- 2 Aquaclear70 HOB filters
- 2 Finnex Stingray leds
- glass canopies

Stock
- 10 neon tetras
- a dozen or so dwarf shrimp(blue, red)
- 3 amano shrimp
- 1 twig whiptail catfish
- 1 cory catfish(exact type unknown)
- 2 dwarf african frogs
- a dozen nerite snails
---to be added---
- 12 espei rasboras
- 10 dwarf neon yellow shrimp
- either otos, or SAE's

Plants
- Giant Hygrophilia corymbosa
- Hygrophilia corymbosa strictra(compact)
- Hygrophilia corymbosa semiensis
- Pygmy Chain sword(E. Tenellus)
- Dwarf Hairgrass(eleocharis parvula)
- Dwarf four leaf clover( Marsilea Hirsuta)
- Bacopa caroliniana
- Ludwigia repens
- cryptocoryne parva
- Staurogene repens
- anubias nana

 

[HDBenson]

Good job! This should look great once filled in!

 

[Daisy Mae]

Looks promising, now all you need is tincture of patience. Ha, ha, easy to say. Hard for a lot of people (yours truly included) to practice.

 

[jcmv4792]

Looks promising, now all you need is tincture of patience. Ha, ha, easy to say. Hard for a lot of people (yours truly included) to practice.

lol, It's going to be hard! But will definitely be worth it if they manage to survive/grow in the end.

Do you think there's space around the hygros for some smaller plants? Or will the leaves eventually "blossom" out and cover the surrounding area? Though I know there's some space I could fill in, infront of the hygros(behind the crypts on the left, and behind the stauros on the right).

 

[Daisy Mae]

Do you think there's space around the hygros for some smaller plants? Or will the leaves eventually "blossom" out and cover the surrounding area? Though I know there's some space I could fill in, in front of the hygros(behind the crypts on the left, and behind the stauros on the right).

You're talking about the hygrophila corymbosa compacta, right?
I don't have personal experience with this plant but looking closely at the myriad google images available, it looks like most of the lush looking specimens are multi-stemmed. Which makes me wonder whether they were small bunches of three-ish stems planted together. So you could probably put a few more stems in the assigned area for this plant. I'm sure someone else can comment on this.

Personally, I'd be tempted to put a few more stems of the ludwigia repens in the middle. Only because they have smaller leaves, compared to the giant hygros. If you only have one row there now, you could put another row in front of it, but staggered. I can't really tell if you have one row there, or two rows but staggered.

Or, you could just wait for now, see what does well, and adjust from there. Probably the smart thing to do. Which we hobbyists don't always want to do.

 

[jcmv4792]

You're talking about the hygrophila corymbosa compacta, right?
I don't have personal experience with this plant but looking closely at the myriad google images available, it looks like most of the lush looking specimens are multi-stemmed. Which makes me wonder whether they were small bunches of three-ish stems planted together. So you could probably put a few more stems in the assigned area for this plant. I'm sure someone else can comment on this.

Personally, I'd be tempted to put a few more stems of the ludwigia repens in the middle. Only because they have smaller leaves, compared to the giant hygros. If you only have one row there now, you could put another row in front of it, but staggered. I can't really tell if you have one row there, or two rows but staggered.

Or, you could just wait for now, see what does well, and adjust from there. Probably the smart thing to do. Which we hobbyists don't always want to do.

Yup there's only one row of the ludwigia. Though they're all the way at the back, so the light is hitting them at a slight angle instead of straight down...would staggering them be bad in terms of blocking light from eachother? I've seen them grown like that in other setups, but I'm guessing those were high light and co2 injected. I'm going to have to check again, but the PAR is around 25-30 at the floor.

 

[Daisy Mae]

Phototropism will happen

Staggering them would be good, actually. The leaves and plants will arrange themselves in order to maximize light absorption at the leaves.

 

[Freemananana]

Add Otos, not SAE. SAE are a pain when they get bigger, and they will. I like the modest stocking, but be careful with your frogs. They aren't the most aggressive eaters and may not get enough food.

The tank is beautiful and will definitely shape up very well! I like it!

 

[jcmv4792]

Add Otos, not SAE. SAE are a pain when they get bigger, and they will. I like the modest stocking, but be careful with your frogs. They aren't the most aggressive eaters and may not get enough food.

The tank is beautiful and will definitely shape up very well! I like it!

Thanks for the heads up. What do you mean by "pain" though? Do they destroy
plants?


I wasn't planning on keeping these frogs but the other day my mother showed up with these and the twig whiptail catfish...so now they're living here lol. I was going to take them back but they're pretty fun to observe. For now I've been tong feeding the frogs some bloodworms.

 

[Veritas]

congrats on getting everything put together! I know from your posts you've done a lot of homework. Looking forward to seeing how this all comes together.

I like the stocking list. Do keep in mind that mixing up various colors of shrimps will eventually lead to generations of "wild" colored shrimp. Do a search for "skittle tank" for more info. I personally have zero problem with that occurring in my tanks.

Good luck! keep the journal updated!



PS: agreed with the SAE thing. they get a lot bigger than anything else you have listed - and eat less and less algae the older they get.

 

[badbart]

Add Otos, not SAE. SAE are a pain when they get bigger, and they will. I like the modest stocking, but be careful with your frogs. They aren't the most aggressive eaters and may not get enough food.

The tank is beautiful and will definitely shape up very well! I like it!

I agree, my 6 year old SAE don't eat any algae.

 

[Freemananana]

Thanks for the heads up. What do you mean by "pain" though? Do they destroy
plants?


I wasn't planning on keeping these frogs but the other day my mother showed up with these and the twig whiptail catfish...so now they're living here lol. I was going to take them back but they're pretty fun to observe. For now I've been tong feeding the frogs some bloodworms.

You're in good shape with the frogs then! They just need to be observed to make sure they do get some food.

As for the SAE, I've heard they get lazy. I've heard some get aggressive. They are definitely too big though. Otos are completely peaceful and you can have quite a few of them in a tank this size. They are a better community fish overall when compared to a SAE.

 

[jcmv4792]

Oh I see. I was going to fill that slot for "permanent" algae eaters.. so I'll get the otos instead of SAE's.

Bump:

congrats on getting everything put together! I know from your posts you've done a lot of homework. Looking forward to seeing how this all comes together.

I like the stocking list. Do keep in mind that mixing up various colors of shrimps will eventually lead to generations of "wild" colored shrimp. Do a search for "skittle tank" for more info. I personally have zero problem with that occurring in my tanks.

Good luck! keep the journal updated!



PS: agreed with the SAE thing. they get a lot bigger than anything else you have listed - and eat less and less algae the older they get.

I forgot they were the same type of shrimp.. didn't take the mixing into consideration. I probably won't mind.

 

[Maryland Guppy]

Glad to see you started a journal.
I too should start one.

Looks good so far!
Patience and more plants.

 

[Patriot]

What substrate are you using?

 

[jcmv4792]

What substrate are you using?

Just eco-complete

 

[bmckinney0727]

I agree with everyone else about the SAE, and go with the otos. I would also up the cories to at least 6 of the same species

 

[Regenesis]

I'll be following along!

 

[Maryland Guppy]

I believe you mentioned carpet plants before.
Just a suggestion here, Downoi as a carpet plant could work well.
Tissue cultured from day 1.

Around day 60.

This is a no-tech tank.

 

[Blackheart]

Updates? I love 55 gallon tanks with good schools of Neons.