[sumer]

FTS-


And 2 of my creations-


Hello friends,

It's been a long time (around 2 years) that I haven't made any planted tank. Was busy with life and bettas Now when my life seems quite stable, touchwood, I'm looking forward to start a new project. I've been reading a lot on various forums. And so, I've made an outline of the project. Your comments, critiques are most welcome. Here it is-

1. The actual idea behind this tank is to make a colorful, very colorful underwater garden. something like Tom Barr has recently made. A mix of light green, dark green, yellowish green, red, orange, maroon, brown. I think these colors cover it all. LOL. Some plants I'm definitely gonna use are- UG, P. Helferi, Crypt Nurii, and Cuba.

Online vendors have awesome packing skills. See the packing material that clogged my room-

2. Tank - Volume constraint is 20G. Earlier I was thinking of getting a Mini-M, but then I got my eyes on 60-P. It's 18 G in capacity and the size is 24x12x14 (LBH). So the tank is an ADA 60-P. with a mat beneath.
ADA 60-P arrived. A whole tree was used to pack it and send it to me

3. Substrate would be power sand and new Amazonia with pferts root tabs. Working on a DIY substrate heater heater nowadays, let's see how it comes out.

4. Filter- I'll be using a 60-P tank which would be around 18 gallons.
Eheim 2215 (165 GPH) would be a smart choice then.


5. Lighting- The shimmering effect of LED lighting is something I can die for. I’m so in love with them. Here's what I've made- An Idiot's Guide to Make LED Light Unit

6. CO2-
And then the beast came. Thanks to Bettatail-

Packing was amazing-

Victor HPT 500 dual stage regulator with Parker Hanfinn H2A Needle Valve, Burkert 2822 Stainless steel solenoid and JBJ bubble counter-

side view-

I seriously cant get enough of this lovely piece of metal-

on 5 lb aluminium tank-

Burkert 2822 close up-

Wrench

This was my regulator. I really find it very hard to stop admiring it.

7. Glassware- This tank is not just to fulfill my hobbyist's instincts,but also to add esthetic values. So the investment would be good. And you know, how much we hobbyists enjoy shopping glassware

Drop Checker- I'm a fan of Cal Aqua Labs. And this DC was something to invest in. No need to keep checking the chart.

Pipes- Inlet outlets-

outlet Violet Glass VP-1 13D-

Inlet Violet Glass VP-1 13D-

Thanks to Tara for this-

But for inlet, I also have another option-

Dont know what to use. Power heads are not readily available in LFS here. Maybe I can use both. Will order a small powerhead for this.

8. Tools- I already have a 14" straight and one 12" curved scissor from ebiken.
EBiken curved spring scissors-

Here's something I got from ebay-
The leather cover gives it an elegant look-

A pint to compare the size-

9. Hardscape- No stones. I want to use only woods. Tom helped me in this.

10. Livestock- The most exciting part of the whole project
I really want to keep Kryptopterus bicirrhis (or minor, whatever I can get), and some whiptail catfish and some bristlenose catfish(not the albino ones), and some amano shrimps. Lets see if I can find them. Their availability is still an issue.

11. Fertilizers-
pfertz fertz-

I'm not sure of using macro solution from pferts. So got CSM+B and chelated iron-

here's what gonna diffuse the CO2 in the tank. An Inline CO2 atomiser-

Got an awesome deal at a website and instead of an inline TDS meter, I got this TDS+Temperature meter-

Test Kits-

Here are the additives-

I really like this J shaped thermometer-

Got Power sand special- S, Amazonia new- Normal and Amazonia new- Powder to make the top layer-

ohh and thats me btw-

Here's some assorted stuff. Starting from left top - Clear CO2 tubing and washers (these are better than permaseals), Siphon gravel cleaner, cheap Walmart paint brush for scaping, glass cleaner, ADA Bio Rio, Pfertz root capsules (P. Helferii loves to munch on these. Feed for heavy root feeders like Crypt Nurii), fish net, 16/12 mm clear pipe for eheim 2215, a wrench for the Reg.

Here's a potential "tree" wood. I have this since a long time. The seller said its coffee wood. It took almost an year to take all the tannins out of this wood. Now it doesn't make the water brown and sinks readily. will use it in a nano project-

And here's the light hanging bracket. Initially I was worried that the weight of the lighting unit + this bracket might be risky for 60-P. But then I found a person on another forum using this same bracket with no problem. (Photo is from the where I bought this. Yet to photograph this unit as it arrived today )-

Looks like an ideal inventory. What say

Almost everything is ready to be used.
Stay tuned for more updates. Internet here is 'super sonic'. So the updates would be frequent now.

And the scape is about to complete. Just your comments, critiques are needed.

Here's the tank with the Lights on. And this is my light at 0 Volts-

And yeah, my water parameters came out to be-
KH- 3dKH
GH- 4dKH
TDS- 62 ppm

So if by looking at the scape, any plants come to your mind that will look good in the scape, please mention them.

Video-
Youtube link is- HERE on Youtube

And the photobucket video is embedded here. Click on it and it'll open in a new tab-


The photos are-

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

I hope you enjoyed reading the first post as much as I enjoyed writing it. Being a hobbyist you all can understand the level of excitement I'm in right now. Adrenaline levels are quite high. Would keep you all posted about every step.
I'm gonna edit this post everytime whenever I add something major. I think the new readers find it easier this way.

Update Jan- 26- 2013

Hi Folks,
With the commencement of the Spring session and first few assignments plus submissions I was very busy to do any updates . Although, I did start planting a little earlier than this, but it has only been one week since I put in the last plant into the tank. The levels of ammonia are are still high, I have added 3 shots of BioDigest because I found Tateurndina Ocellicauda/Peacock Gudgeon Gobi and I couldn't resist myself from buying some of those. Currently adding Seachem Stability. Water is pretty good here, still, just to be on the safe side, I am also adding Seachem Prime. Doing tests regularly, 50% water changes every other day. Adding P, K, micros, ADA ECA, ADA Green Gain. I also noticed some algae spots today on the front glass.
Enough said, time for photos

Power...

She likes helping around

Now here's a twist. I wont post the final hardscape and FTS for a while. Just waiting for the plants to fill in and once the tank is good enough to show you all, I'll post a FTS. So here are the bits n' pieces of my tank-

Rotala Macandra "Japan Red" seems to love the light and hence showing the best of "Japan Red"

Microenthemum Umbrosum showing dense growth unlike when it arrived-

Fissidense Fontanus flirting with light and chuckling out a lot of O2-

Rotala Sunset is growing happy haphazard-

Polygonum kawagoeanum oozing out oxygen like there's no tomorrow-

just another perspective of the above photo-

Frenzy over Manzy-

An interesting image which was not intended but happened. It's a snail gliding on water surface. Those colors are actually reflections of LEDs-

And here's a plant closest to my heart. It's my favorite plant even when I didnt have it. When I see it pearling, I feel it's not actually pearling but communicating with me saying- "I love being here. Thank you ". It's really overwhelming to see such a sight.

And here's something that came with the manzanita. It survived all the hot water baths that I gave to all the woods. And now it's flourishing in the tank. It looks like a small coral. It's very soft when touched. And it swings with the water currents.

And finally here are the inhabitants- Tateurndina Ocellicauda/Peacock Gudgeon. They generally swim near the bottom of the tank. And they love going in and out of the Helferi's leaf loops. And they love eating Mysis shrimps and Mosquito Larvae. I've watched them closely enough in the last week to be able to write an essay on them :yes:

And here are all the ladies gathered up for a lil chit chat :winkiss:

But then someone told me that what does people normally like to see in the updates.. FTS
so, Now because he said so, here are the photos

Violet-

An iphone pic-

Lobelia Cardinalis

Thanks for watching. Stay tuned for more from Superman. LOL


Update Feb 17th- '13

Just a small update about some shrimps and Eriocaulons. The Erios I got a month back have started flowering. Where one side it adds to the success of my tank but on the other side, it also is a potential harm to my Erios. If flowers wont be plucked, Erio may die. still talking to hobbyists about when to pluck the flowers. Will definitely update you all on this.
The interesting part is- Once the flower is plucked, Erios will start to divide in 2 Erios. This is how they reproduce/ grow or whatever
Here are the pics-
The Bud

Every plant has 2 flowers

The Clan -

Guess the plant-

And here are some "Blueberry Shrimps". Haha.. their name sounds fun. A friend had them. So traded them for some plants and moss. They look cool though-

Gangnam Style

This one is the darkest of them. Close to black-

See the brown/maroon on them-

And this one is lightest of them-

And these unclaimed eggs.. Dont know who abandoned them. Currently there are only 3 fishes are their. L183, L184 and Peacock gudgeons. L series are so small to do this. This must be Peacock's.. -

Updates March 10 '13

Lot of things happened after the last update.
My peacock gudgeons started breeding. So moved them to other tank. Then got some Pseudomugil signifer and they started jumping.dont know why...
Then finally got panda loaches and they are doing good in my tank.
Here are some photos -
Got this as Rotala sunset but people told me that it's Rotala colorata. Don't know what is this. Comments are welcome-

Dreaming Rotala

Tonina are flourishing I'm happy

Never mind the algae though-

Ludwigia tornado. Such a wonderful plant-

And then I got a vintage vernier handle on eBay. The paper says its been made in 1983. It was in its original packing. New... Unused...

My regulator looks cool now

Erio Cinereum is a new addition to my erio list.

Crypt Nurii doing great too

Signifer rainbows are so cool-

And here are panda loach-

The reason why they are called Panda-

Trimmings are getting done frequently now-

And my camera has a new place to be every time

Feels so good when I enter my apartment

And here's my Viva la Vivaria

Enjoying moss like a boss

Dendrobates Auratus "Nicaraguan green and black"

That's all for today. Will try to keep this thread updated.



Update April 20

P Signifer were chasing my otos and were bullying my shrimps. So decided to switch them with another wonderful specie from Borneo.
Guess..
You're right. Boraras brigittae.
I swear i never thought they would be this small. I mean even smaller than galaxy rasbora ??
But they are awesome. wow.. magnificent creature.
Here are the photos.. enjoy..




Some of them look skinny right now but dont worry, they are enjoying mosquito larvae and BBS.-


And here's my "Panda Face"


Now lets talk plants. Scroll up and read the first (1.) point that I wrote. My tank is exactly like I wanted it to be. Full of colors. Every possible shade of green, with some pink, red, orange, brown.


Plants are doing great. The battle with spirogyra was a long one but I won it.
Here's Ammania sp bonsai -


Polygonum kawagoeanum -


"Excessive Pearling Disorder "-




And this is my favorite shot of this photoshoot. Magic of prime. Should I call it "The Pearl Bokeh" !!


A long exposure one-


And here's my small 60-P filled with colors It makes me happy. I enjoy it more than anything. What else can one ask for from a tank !!


Updates May 4th

Nothing much to update except some pictures. Tank is going good. Added some more plants.
Here are the photos-

Boraras brigittae-












And here's a photo showing how much weight they have put on since they came to me-


Two females "fishing" about their men


Pseudomugil signifer male-


Pinnatifida showing the happiness-


After a very brutal and life threatening trim, Rotala sp mini butterfly is showing some new good growth-


A new addition to the tank- Ludwigia inclinata var. verticillata 'Pantanal' (formerly Ludwigia sp. 'Pantanal')


Polygonum kawagoeanum


Erio parkeri are doing great with me. Initially I got 5 of them and now i have maybe around 40+


See how one plant becomes 4-


I had to take them out of my tank and have planted them in a salad box. They are doing great there too.


Almost daily I pluck 3-4 flowers


After parkeri and cinereum, I recently got blood vomit and sieboldianum
from Chris (catfishbi). Thank you so much Chris.
The packing was amazing.


Erio sp sieboldianum-


Erio sp blood (vomit)


Whenever I put my hand in the tank, within a minute they come to greet


here's a small wabi kusa I did some time back


And it feels so great to see this photo-


And here are my D auratus.
Those sexy thighs




That was all for today. Thanks for looking

Updates : May 25
Its been almost 4 months since I have setup this tank. So far so good. I am really happy with this tank. It came out nice. My lights worked perfectly (experiment successful). I am trying a lot of new species that I never kep before. Everything is good. Spirogyra is the only problem that I have since 2 months. It spikes whenever a fish dies and go unnoticed. It has something to do with dieing fish. Maybe ammonia spike ? And later, a few regular water changes with excel dosing, and its gone !
With the commencement of summer break, I seriously dont have much to do so I end up changing the water everyday :hihi: Again all the tests and dosing stuff everyday. I like it.
So now to the photos.. I have added more species to the tank. It seems almost like a museum of plants
Here are the photos-

True Rotala sp sunset. Thanks to Tom


Tonina fluvatilis 'lotus bloom'


Lotus bloomimg-


Polygonum kawagoeanum. This plant has a very bad habit of losing lower leaves. But still I love this plant.


This plant has some mental sickness. LOL. Never grows straight. Rotala mini butterfly


Syngonanthus belem. This plant is growing amazing for me. i love it. Makes me feel proud :biggrin:


Birds eye view-


Its all about texture baby :icon_wink


Towards the end of the photoperiod -


Normal rotala and type 2-

Desparately looking for rotala type 1.

Wanted himself to check CO2 levels :hihi:


He inspects everything- On Erio seiboldianum


Erio erios everywhere :biggrin:


finally got some A. R. mini


Now some updates on the inhibitants -
Boraras brigittae are loving their stay in my tank. They are showing more darker color.


Rachel has sent some wonderful Clown killies. Epiplatys annulatus






Males have some amazing colors on their tail. And they flare to the other male.


Top view-


And just after 2 days of putting them in the tank, the female is blessed with fries. I could spot only one as the tank is simply a jungle of moss and floating plants. I hope there are many more inside

* a bloodworm for size comparison.


Got some wild tiger shrimps too




Hypoptopoma gulare aka Giant otocinclus. Right now they are in my hospital tank. They are quite big. I am still not able to decide if they would be a good addition to my tank or not ! But anyways, they are so cool. The love eating hikari alage disks.




Got some amazing Endlers and guppies from a very reputed breeder. He calls these "Japan Hybrid"-




With Ludwigia senegalensis


And some endlers-















And a FTS at last



And 2 of my creations-




And here's a new kinda cool shot. I like it -


Thanks.

Update June 7th

Hello folks,

Time for a small update with a few pictures.
Tank is doing great. Fought a small war with spirogyra again. Its under control now. Plants are still recovering from the brutal trim that they got a week ago.
In my last consignment from Rachel I got some Dario hysginon. Wonderful fish with a hell lot of attitude. They took their time to settle down but now they are fine. Doing good. They weren't eating anything initially. So I went ahead with adult brine shrimps. It really helped them making themselves comfortable in my tank. My strategy is first to make them comfortable with live food and then slowly switch to frozen food.
Here are the photos -

When I first got Dario hysginon. Oh yeah that's Syngonanthus sp 'Madeira'. Thanks to Joraan-

And once they settled down, their true color came out-


Show aggression mixed attitude if other male comes into one's territory-




They were really in wonderful shape. Rachel always has quality fish to offer-




Constantly looking for food and girls. haha-


Even Eriocaulon flower looks suspicious-


All pumped up in front of their girlfriends-


Here's photo of an Endler that I forgot to share in last update. Wonderful colors they have-


I took some more shots of Hypoptopoma gulare. I have written a small blog post about their eating habits - Here's the LINK







Rotala sunset has settled down too. It doesn't like a lot of Nitrates. It immediately response with new green growth.


Same goes for Ammania sp.bonsai. If someday I dose nitrates a bit more, the very next day it's tips will become green.


And one of my favorite plants.. Tonina fluvalitis 'lotus bloom'-


And now some mobile uploads. Photos that I took from my Iphone-

Alternanthera Reineckii 'Mini' makes a wonderful contrast spot in the foreground-


Polygonum kawagoeanum grows so fast. But I hate its habit of loosing its lower leaves-


Oh yeah.. I also have narrow leaf Java fern in my tank. haha..
New Life-


Syngonanthus belem-


Thanks to Sean for this big clump of Staurogyme sp purple-


Recently I saw Aponogeton madagascariensis at LFS. Somewhere deep down there was a desire to try out this plant. So I bought it. I know.. I know.. It grows big and will cover my small tank in no time. i know.. But I cant help my heart. Somethings arent suppose to be given a second thought. It was one of those things -


These leaves melted away in just one night haha.. And then 2 days later, I saw a pink, very delicate laced leaf coming out of the bulb-


And last but not the least.. My auratus. They are growing with a fast pace. I still cant figure out their sex. haha..


Some videos that I took from my phone -

Greedy Boraras brigittae-

My tank -

A koi pond at a LFS here -

Crazy co2 bubble. Hahaha...

Thats it for today.. I hope you guys have enjoyed this update. Stay tuned for more fun.

 

[sumer]

Paradise city - Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty

Update July 5th 2013

Hello friends,
Its been almost 6 months that my tank is running successfully
I have learnt a LOT from this tank. It is more like a learning step before making my dream Dutch tank. Since practical knowledge is far more important than theoretical (that too is necessary) this tank was really necessary for me to make.
I got my first flash unit some time back. I no longer hold a lamp with one hand and take pictures with other. LOL. It made taking photos so so easy. I can keep ISO to 100 which leads to great detailing.
Finally I got most of the eriocaulons that I wanted including sp. Thailand. Still searching eagerly for Erio amanoanum.


I know you guys are not going to read whatever I wrote above and will jump directly to pics. Haha.. Thats totally cool. Everything is in photos
One important thing that I want to share - Please dont copy the photos from here. Recently one sponsor of TPT used my picture without even mentioning the link or my name. Thats something I really dont like. If its for personnel or educational reason (posting my pictures on FB page being a seller of planted stuff is not educating), just write it in a comment and I'll gladly let you use it. I also put my photos on 500px which gives me their copyright. You dont wanna go in that copyright mess. So please dont copy photos without asking.


Plants-

Aciotis acuminifolia; A wonderful and beautiful stem plant. Grows straight with a lot of side stems. Pinkish reddish top leaves look so beautiful. A slow grower

Nesaea crassicaulis- Another slow growing stem plant.

Difference between Syngonanthus sp 'Belem' and Syngonanthus sp 'Madeira'

One more. Belem on left and Madeira on right-

Syngonanthus sp 'Madeira'

Just a handful of Syngonanthus belem. Haha.. When I trimmed it last week-

I totally forgot the name of this plant. Any leads on it's ID ?

Rotala sunset and Rotala macandra magenta. (I maybe messing up the name). But it's stems are too soft to be Ludwigia arcuta.

Hygrophila sp 'Thai' or Hygrophila sp 'Brown'. And believe me it really looks brown.

Here's another marvelous plant. Tonina fluviatilis "Lotus Blossom"-

And it does look like lotus if seen from top-

After a trimming, every stem is shotting 3 side shoots. I trimmed 2 of those 3 so the plant can use its all energy to grow the single stem. Replanted the other short stems-

A bad pic of 2 side stems shooting from the main stem-

Recently got 3 riparium planter from Devin. 3 plants that I'm using are-
Asclepias, Hibiscus and Mangrove plant. They grow so so fast. But due to some reason the new growth in hibiscus is not so red. Maybe I need to put some root tabs in the planters.

Cryptocoryne affinis 'metallic red'. It was sunrise time and the lights were looking pink in Iphone.

Cryptocoryne bullosa 'Maradong'. Bullation is so so prominent on this one. Even more than hudoroi. Totally loved it-

Dont think that I'm exaggerating but Ammania sp bonsai is a weed. Every 10 - 12 days I take this much out. I started with 5 stems that Joraan sent me. Pardon the funny collage-

UG is doing great in my salad box emmersed setup. Once it'll be enough to fill 5x5" area, I'll take out staurogyne and put this in my tank.

Initially, this much of UG I got-

Gratiola brevifolia. All I could get was this single stem. But its growing fine.

Ludwigia sphaerocarpa. I know it doesnt look like google images or what Tom has, at all. And it is because it was grown emmersed. I just hope it becomes brown soon-

Something was happening to my Alternantheras. The leaves were having pin holes and then they will become like a net. Potassium was the problem. I was dosing it just the half what I should. Increased K and it took care of Ocipus and mini both.

My erio clan before the new additions- (Can we please consider Trithuria Sp. as erio Blood vomit!! Just coz it looks so similar)

Updated family -

What did I add ?

Erio sp. 'Ban ba wa'

Erio sp 'Thailand'. Much darker in color

A baby cinereum. Sean gifted me this one.

Erio sp 'Japan shiga'

Erio Aussie 2

Not much of documentation is available about these different species as they are still waiting to be given proper names. Sometimes their appearance tells the difference between the species and sometimes you just have to trust the seller and wait for them to grow and show the difference.
And just for this reason, I bought these plant labels. I know this sounds quite silly but its the only way to keep a track about what's what.

Wrote all the names. Even the ones that I know of. Haha-

In the tank they went. Just imagine my desperateness- I made a marker for Amanoanum too. There was a time when it was a very normal thing. Just in this january it was available. I know there are people out there with this plant. Please.. just one small baby is all I want..

My sieboldianum was getting too big. Look at that root system.

I had to divide it to make room for new erios. I was very nervous while doing it. I bought a new knife to split it. LOL.

It went well and both the parts have started growing again.

One more funny collage. It was some random collage making app on my phone that I used. In the center its sp 'Thailand'.

Another great BG plant is Staurogyne sp 'Bihar'. 'Bihar' is a state in India. One of my friend in India is searching for this plant in Bihar state since last 3-4 years. But he just couldnt find. It has become extinct from the Bihar state
Hygrophila pinnatifida which is also native to India has somehow managed to survive in wild.

Higrophila pinnatifida in it's natural habitat-
Photos are property of Akshay Khare.

In baby form. Haha

The stream where its found-

Crypt cordata in its natural habitat. Pure laterite makes the substrate-

See the veins here-

Emmersed-

Blyxa aubertii in the river-

Check this for the complete expedition journal

Another very very rare specie that I recently got- Caloglossa cf. beccarii

After all of these plant photos, you want to see a FTS right ?
Not a great one. Plants are still recovering from last week's trim.

Lets talk fish now-

A few updated shots of Boraras brigittae. Just to show how fat they have become-
Look at this fat lady right after the dinner. Nowadays they have learned to gobble down small pieces of bloodworms or brine shrimps.

Aciotis acuminifolia in BG

It feels weird to see a deserted tank right after the trim-

Endlers are making rabbits go shy. Breeding like anything..

Males are getting more colorful-

Since my summer vacations are going on, I'm feeding them 3 times a day. LOL. Early morning - bloodworms, noon - mysis shrimps, evening- brine shrimps soaked in garlic. Thinking of adding blackworms to their diet soon. Costly they are.. White worm culture is about to get ready.

The same feeding regime goes for Epiplatys also. They bred once and then stopped. Maybe these guppies are eating up their eggs. I badly need more tanks :icon_sad:

Epiplatys annulatus male

Epiplatys annulatus female

Male-

In this photo, I missed the focus from it's eyes. But still I like this shot. You can feel it's motion-

2 males flaring at each other-

Tiger shrimps. They eat anything but shrimp food. Goodness.. they are true wild ones. They eat bloodworms, they eat brine shrimps, they also eat micro pellets but wont touch shrimp food. Since calcium is really important for them, I drop some boiled spinach time to time in the tank. They sometimes eat it.

Hypoptopoma gulare. Oh boy.. this fish has made me so interested in catfishes now.
This photo is the best that I took of them. I was waiting for it to sit on this branch since a week. 2 days ago I woke up at 3 in the night to drink water and saw it sitting there. Immediately took out the camera and clicked this shot-

Chewing on cholla wood

A few days back I saw a guy selling bettas on FB. I contacted him and he sent me 2 males and a female. Conditioning them right now. Will start the breeding process next week.
Here are a few pics-

With black background-

The second male-

And now my most favorite photos. I can say this photo is the best photo I've taken till date.
Dario hysginon males-

I think those small co2 bubbles are making it more dramatic. What do you think ?

Over the sieboldianum-

Here's a 5.5G Vivarium that I made recently but had to sell coz of some random rule which says "Only 3 glass tanks in an apartment".

The inhabitants- Geosesema sp.-

Many people ask what lens do I use!! I use my 18-55 kit lens with macro filters on it. They are available on ebay for like $10.
This is what I have-

A gag that I made last year. LOL

Videos-

Just to show how much surface movement I have to keep the biofilm off the surface-

A bit of Darios bullying amano, a bit of Madagascar lace, a bit of everything-

Feeding time for my fishes-

Huff... Took me 2 hours to write this update. I hope you guys would enjoy it. Let me know what you liked what you didnt like.

Thanks,
Sumer.

 

[sumer]

Update: Dec 27, 2013

Hello friends,

I am sorry for the delay in updates.
Life got too too busy and I didnt havetime to do anything on the fishy side to tell you the truth.
A lot has happened in these days.
I dismantled my tank. Yup! You read it right. I did it.

But before that, my tank got published in Amazonas magazine

So right now, the tank is empty. I am making a tanganyikan biotope in it. I will be keeping True Altolamprologus compressiceps "Sumbu Dwarfs" in it. They will arrive on Tuesday. Anyway, that would make another good thread.
Here are a few final pictures of this thread
I hope you all liked the tank and pictures. This tank taught me a lot and a lot. As soon as I will get some time, I will make another good looking tank

Here's a pic of the magazine-

IMG_4562 by sumertiwari, on Flickr


Update: May 25- 2014

Its been 4 months that I have started a tanganyikan setup in this tank.

Fishes are doing great and recently have bred.
Here are a few videos of the tank:

 

[BruceF]

Wow lots of stuff. Looking foward to seeing it planted.

 

[sumer]

Thank you

 

[ChadRamsey]

Impressive!!!

how about a full tank front shot?

 

[golfer_d]

Wow nice setup.

That couldn't have been cheap!

 

[sumer]

Impressive!!!

how about a full tank front shot?

Like I said above, I'll post the FTS once the plants fill in and tank is presentable. A few weeks more.

Wow nice setup.

That couldn't have been cheap!

Thanks. Yeah, that wasn't cheap. And now my wallet is light that I can't even feel it

 

[kwheeler91]

Most of the fun for the viewers is to follow the progress of the tank, opposed to simply viewing the end product. Its hard to comment on the bits and pieces that have been posted since you cant see the whole picture of whats going on. Most of us who have been planting it up for a few years can visualize what the tank will look like when filled in, so have no worries about photos of freshly planted tanks and let the fts roll. Just something to keep in mind.

 

[GMYukonon24s]

Beautiful shots! I love the PGs!

 

[keithy]

wow sumer, you're very well equipped and nice work btw. The fish looks lovely.

 

[sumer]

Most of the fun for the viewers is to follow the progress of the tank, opposed to simply viewing the end product. Its hard to comment on the bits and pieces that have been posted since you cant see the whole picture of whats going on. Most of us who have been planting it up for a few years can visualize what the tank will look like when filled in, so have no worries about photos of freshly planted tanks and let the fts roll. Just something to keep in mind.

Before I read your comment I hadn't thought about this. Thanks for making me realize what people expect to see in the updates.

 

[Sajacobs]

Wow...very sweet set up. I enjoyed seeing all the bits and pieces. It's great to see everything that goes into a tank set up. Keep us posted.

 

[Green_Flash]

wow this looks fantastic, all your planning really paid off!

I like your hard scape, great arrangement.

 

[sumer]

Wow...very sweet set up. I enjoyed seeing all the bits and pieces. It's great to see everything that goes into a tank set up. Keep us posted.

Thanks for liking it. Will keep you all posted

wow this looks fantastic, all your planning really paid off!

I like your hard scape, great arrangement.

The hardscape was finalized by my girlfriend

 

[LyzzaRyzz]

Wow, what an awesome haul! Lucky you get to buy it all first, instead of stumbling around after figuring out you did everything wrong! Lol
Nice hardscape, and love the FTS!! Can't wait for it to grow in! =]

 

[diamondd7711]

Very nice...I like it a lot

 

[Ach1Ll3sH33L]

Why not hook up the surface extractor to your eheim. will get that big bulky powerhead out of the tank.

 

[kwheeler91]

a better question is why use it at all?

 

[sumer]

Update Feb 17th- '13

Just a small update about some shrimps and Eriocaulons. The Erios I got a month back have started flowering. Where one side it adds to the success of my tank but on the other side, it also is a potential harm to my Erios. If flowers wont be plucked, Erio may die. still talking to hobbyists about when to pluck the flowers. Will definitely update you all on this.
The interesting part is- Once the flower is plucked, Erios will start to divide in 2 Erios. This is how they reproduce/ grow or whatever
Here are the pics-
The Bud

Every plant has 2 flowers

The Clan -

Guess the plant-

And here are some "Blueberry Shrimps". Haha.. their name sounds fun. A friend had them. So traded them for some plants and moss. They look cool though-

Gangnam Style

This one is the darkest of them. Close to black-

See the brown/maroon on them-

And this one is lightest of them-

And these unclaimed eggs.. Dont know who abandoned them. Currently there are only 3 fishes are their. L183, L184 and Peacock gudgeons. L series are so small to do this. This must be Peacock's.. -