[Multiple Tank Builds] Hello... It's Been 10+ Years Since My Last Login

31258 Views 139 Replies 38 Participants Last post by swarley, Dec 1, 2018

turtlehead

Discussion Starter · Jan 3, 2017 (Edited)

BACK DATING THIS THREAD SLIGHTLY starting from 11-29-2016

Hey guys, so it's been 10+ years since my last login in..... I had to use the Forgot My Password option lol. Long story short, I stopped my planted tank hobby cause I graduated, lived abroad, bought a few cars, got into photography and cars, got a girl friend, and bought a house. In fact, I wasn't planning on even getting back into the hobby even though I had saved everything I didn't sell in storage. However, recently I was left in charge of a Betta fish so that got me itchy, and as a result I went and spend $$$$ on 3 new tanks (48g, 3g, 2g). Now that I have all that out of the way...

BIG SHOUTOUT TO CK Fish World in West Covina!

Here's my previous tanks for 10+ years ago in case ya'll were curious...

40g

10g

Will post my girl and I's new setups soon as I get them set up one by one....

Beginning of our 90p ~50g tank
- Mr.Aqua 90p (CK Fish World)
- ADA style black cabinet (CK Fish World)
- Twinstar LED (Aqua Forest Aquarium)
- Hydor 200w
- ?lb CO2 tank + Azoo regulator (only equipment I had from back in the day)
- ADA lily pipes
- ADA CO2 diffuser
- ADA Bubble Counter
- 200lbs BLACK MOUNTAIN SEIRYU STONE (CK Fish World)
- ADA escaping tools (left over from back in the day)

In the mail:
- Eheim 2117
- ADA Clear Hose set (aquatic-garden)
- ADA Amazonia and Power Sand (aquatic-garden)
- ADA soil additives
- ADA fert line up
- Chihiros Doctor
- ADA handing thermometer
- ADA Filter media
- ELEOCHARIS BELEM

Plans are 50 tetras, Amano shrimps, Ottos, HC Cuba. Full ADA fert line up regiment.

Beginning of our 20q ~2g tank
- 20q Ultim Nature Ultra Clear Tank (BucePlant)
- Dragon Stone (BucePlant)
- AquaTop 15w nano heater
- Azoo Mignon 60 (BucePlant)
- Up Aqua Pro LED 3C 7" LED (BucePlant)
- Micranthemum Monte Carlo (CK Fish World)
- Fissidens Mini
- HYDROCOTYLE TRIPARTITA (not sure if MINI variant)
- ELEOCHARIS BELEM
- Betta fish (CK Fish World)
- Aquavitro aqua solum (CK Fish World)
- ADA Gain Green (Aqua Forest Aquarium)

Planning to add a couple more plants in the future with CO2 and lighting upgrade. Crystal shrimps too.

Week 1

Week 2 - Added ELEOCHARIS BELEM, HYDROCOTYLE TRIPARTITA and Fissidens Mini

Beginning of our 3n ~3g tank
- 3n Ultim Nature Ultra Clear Tank (CK Fish World)
- AquaTop 25w nano heater
- Fissidens Mini
- Fissidens Fontnus (CK Fish World)
- Betta fish (CK Fish World)
- 3 Pygmy Corys (CK Fish World)
- White sand (CK Fish World)
- Seiryu Stone (CK Fish World)
- ADA Gain Green (Aqua Forest Aquarium)
- Azoo Mignon 150 (CK Fish World)
- Up Aqua Pro LED 3C 10" LED (CK Fish World)

Week 1

Week 2 - Added both mosses. Fissidens Fontnus in the background and Fissidens Mini in the foreground and rock cracks

Bump: BACK DATING THIS THREAD SLIGHTLY 12-03-2016

Beginning of our 90p ~50g tank
- Mr.Aqua 90p (CK Fish World)
- ADA style black cabinet (CK Fish World)
- Twinstar LED (Aqua Forest Aquarium)
- Hydor 200w
- ?lb CO2 tank + Azoo regulator (only equipment I had from back in the day)
- ADA lily pipes
- ADA CO2 diffuser
- ADA Bubble Counter
- 200lbs BLACK MOUNTAIN SEIRYU STONE (CK Fish World)
- ADA escaping tools (left over from back in the day)

In the mail:
- Eheim 2117
- ADA Clear Hose set (aquatic-garden)
- ADA Amazonia and Power Sand (aquatic-garden)
- ADA soil additives
- ADA fert line up
- Chihiros Doctor
- ADA handing thermometer
- ADA Filter media

Plans are 50 tetras, Amano shrimps, Ottos, HC Cuba. Full ADA fert line up regiment.

Beginning of our 20q ~2g tank
- 20q Ultim Nature Ultra Clear Tank (BucePlant)
- Dragon Stone (BucePlant)
- AquaTop 15w nano heater
- Azoo Mignon 60 (BucePlant)
- Up Aqua Pro LED 3C 7" LED (BucePlant)
- Micranthemum Monte Carlo (CK Fish World)
- Fissidens Mini
- Betta fish (CK Fish World)
- Aquavitro aqua solum (CK Fish World)
- ADA Gain Green (Aqua Forest Aquarium)

In the mail:
- Dwarf hair grass 'mini'

Planning to add a couple more plants in the future with CO2 and lighting upgrade. Crystal shrimps too.

UPDATES:
- CRS in the 2q tank might be hiding or eaten by Betta which means a new nano tank just for shrimp is looming lol
- Monte Carlo in the 2q is growing slowly but at least its growing ferts are just ADA Gain Green and ECA for now until the actual ferts get here
- Planted ELEOCHARIS BELEM in the 3n as a mid ground plant and ordered some Eleocharis acicularis as a background plant and because the 3n is sand only as a 'substrate' I also ordered some ADA Multi Bottom sticks to serve as a in substrate fert.
- Might switch out the Mr. Aqua 90p we have now for an actual ADA one

In other news, I ordered:
- ADA Vuppa-1 as a surface skimmer since the 3n has been building some nasty oil top layer
- Chihiros Doctor Mini for the 90p (basically the twinstar replica) not sure if it'll even prevent an algae growth, but willing to experiment
- Decided it was best to do it right and replace my 10 year old Azoo Co2 regulator with an Alan Le custom, can't wait to see and use it

As i kinda expected or hoped not to have happened, the shrimp have be an expensive meal for the 2g tank betta. So to replace them, we got some ember tetras that can actually outrun the betta for the tank. Might just move the betta to another tank alone as it's way too aggressive (more so than the 3n tank betta). Then fill the 2g tank back up with shrimp that won't be food.

Happy embers (these used to be so rare, now they're only $1.99 and readily available)

A few strands of hair grass mini planted in the foreground of the 3n. Might do a heavier planting once the background hair grass comes in

While waiting for things for the 90p (which we decided to replace with an actual ADA 90p) we decided to take apart the ADA style cabinet and paint match it to our TV stand...

Here's the TV stand for reference...

Now have a total of 5 ember tetras and 3 replacement CRS in the 2q and added eleocharis acicularis to the background of the 3n.

In other news... Got yet another dining table 2q so that the 2q's are right next to each other AND another betta LOL. Photo updates to come soon. Follow @glassaqua on IG for more.

Bump: BACK DATING THIS THREAD SLIGHTLY 12-13-2016 to 12-16-2016
A HUGE order of all things ADA that was ordered on Cyber Monday FINALLY came in today, looks like the holidays came early this year...

Alan Le custom regulator is a BEAST!!! SUPER QUICK turn around and processing too!

Among the sorting of ADA things... we had setup yet another 2g...

Now we have a dual dining table setup with the same exact equipment... ADA cabinet photos to come soon.

3g at week 3. Moss is growing in nicely and a longer hair grass in the rear for more depth...

Finished and newly painted

Our bodies aren't ready... It's time.

Still a few ADA things in the mail but we can start the hardscaping tonight!

Here's our first go at the hardscape, not finalized but at least y'all have an idea of how the rocks look in relation to the tank size.

Bump: BACK DATING THIS THREAD SLIGHTLY 12-17-2016

Spent the morning of our Saturday chiseling rocks lol..

Second pass at arranging the iwagumi setup with the newly chiseled rocks...

Clearer photo of our dining table twins...

More ADA shipment, still awaiting one last one...

Cleaned up the cabinet and modified the inside, still missing motion sensing LED to be shipped and installed inside...

Bump: BACK DATING THIS THREAD SLIGHTLY 12-19-2016

So.... We seriously have a problem (well... I think it's the gf that does LOL). We picked up YET ANOTHER Ultum Nature tank. This time it was a 5n which is ~5g...

Using left over rocks from our 90p

Full ADA regiment...

ADA La Plata sand is one of my personal faves. It's just so natural looking and not too fine...

This tank is on our night stand. The pleasant flow of the filter will help us sleep at night especially when we're going broke thanks to this hobby.

Plant list for this tank are:
- Monte carlo
- Hairgrass
- Hairgrass mini

Future plans:
- Light upgrade
- Heater upgrade
- Filter upgrade
- Fish and shrimp (deciding between tetras and micro rasboras and king kong shrimp) as long as gf doesn't show up with yet another betta LOL

Oh also caught all 3 of the tank mates in the 3g...

Bump: BACK DATING THIS THREAD SLIGHTLY 12-22-2016

Cabinet mods while waiting for plants....

FINALLY the plants arrived overnight. Long story short, it was supposed to be delivered to me by 10:30am next day air yesterday but somehow Fedex somehow managed to F$*# up and the driver got lazy and didn't even attempt delivery even thought it had PRIORITY OVERNIGHT taped all over the package. I found out 30mins after 4 hour long calls with Fedex customer service that it was back at my local station 30mins before they were closing so I rushed to the station in 25mins and got the plants myself. If it was moss or anubias, I wouldn't have cared, but it was 5 10x10" of HC Cuba which doesn't ship well in the first place. So needless to say I was SUPER PISSED. Anyway, got the plants at 8pm and started prepping and planting. Filling started at 12am this morning and finalized the full setup with filter, co2, heater, wires, etc by 4am.....

Just like prepping a michelin star salad...

4am startup. FINALLY!!!!!!!!

Shoutout to:

- CK Fishworld (Stand, 100lbs+ of rock and random accessories)
- Amazon for Prime
- Aqua Forest Aquarium for ADA whoring
- Home Depot (hardware accessories)
- AquariumPlants.com (all plants)

Now back to figuring out a way to pin down floating HC Cuba sigh. More photos to come!

Bump: BACK DATING THIS THREAD SLIGHTLY 12-27-2016

Day 3 update on thE ADA 90p - been messing with the CO2 bps. We're doing daily 50% water changes with the addition of Green Bacter in order to speed up the process. Also floating HC Cuba is slightly frustrating. Sadly broke a Lily Pipe during the second water change... Otos and Amanos by this week, can't wait! Anyone know how long it usually takes HC to bounce back after planting?

Week 1 update on the Ultum nature systems 5n - Plants are growing in crazy for no CO2 injection during the first 5 days. The hairgrass grew about half a CM overnight! Been dosing ADA Brighty K, Green Bacter, and Seachem Excel daily along with 50% water changes. We just added 10 Chili Rasboras and 7 blue shrimp last night thanks to CK Fish World. This week, we're cutting back the water changes to every other day. While the Monte Carlo new growth is starting to show itself.

Week 2 update on this Ultum nature systems 2c - added more plants throughout to complete the layout along with CO2. Might add a few more tankmates to the Betta.

Bump: BACK DATING THIS THREAD SLIGHTLY 1-2-2017

Updates updates updates!

Ultum Nature 3n: Tank is still pretty slow in growth since this is our lowest tech setup. The betta is getting huge and his fins are changing colors for the better. If you compare the very first photo of this tank until now, (about 5 weeks), you can see his change. Also decided to get a single Amano for clean up duty since since algae dust is apparent.

Ultum Nature 5n: Plants are growing pretty fast in my opinion with the monte carlo carpeting and hair grass sp. sending out runners. Normal hair grass grows faster than hair grass belem apparently. This is the second week of the tank, now full cycled and running on CO2 injection via paintball for a little over a week.

Finally got a shot of one of the Ultum Nature 2c tank Bettas AKA Sesame. He's very elusive and coloring up very nicely!

ADA 90p: Finally the tank is clear so we got some green neon Tetras from Bob's Tropical LA who was able to give us the best price special ordered all the way from Florida overnight. Also on the next day, 5 Zebra Otos were overnighted, which are still very very rare after 10 years and hard to find. We paid a pretty penny for all of them but so worth it being able to finally afford and own them. Lots of character. The only thing missing are shrimp in this tank which we will add once the HC sends out more runners. As far as plants go, new grow and carpeting is starting to happen during the second week. The plants in this tank took a bigger hit than the one in the 5n maybe cause they were grown emersed. Slowly but surely...

50 Tetras (a few passed due to stressful transportation and travel but Bob's Tropical LA was kind enough to replace the doa for us!)

Zebra Otos acclimating - I want more!

Unfortunately one of the Otos probably got scratched on a rock or through transportation and got 'Cotton Wool' disease and now rushed into a hospital tank setup with API Pimafix and Melafix. We're hoping he pulls through since Otos are very sensitive fish. We're thinking the infection was passed onto him through one of the wild Tetras. He's still lively in his holding tank though but probably not happy at all...

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