April 10|
I had a problem with the tank temperature for awhile now. It was staying at 80degrees. This is a little to warm for most of the fish in the tank. I finally got this fixed with some adjusting and now the tank reads at 76. My shrimp are now out and about for the first time 2 years. I wonder if that wasit.
I lost 2 of these fish today, both were very agressive and how I always hate losing fish, these two were very aggressive. |
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April 09, 2007|
The grass is filling in nicely. Completely covered all the ground on the left side of the tank. I have removed a lot of the stem plants to make more of focal point on the center driftwood. As well as moved the ‘Red Lotus’ in the back for now. This will definitly not be the final resting place for the lotus as I think it would benefit the color composition nested close to the java fern in the middle.
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Feb 09, 2007|
Dwarf grass takes a minute to get established when freshly planted, but within a week it starts to shoot out runners in all directions. It is spreading fast. I’m thinking I might remove everything but the center driftwood and try to create a field / tree type composition.
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Jan 15, 2007|
With a New Year, comes a new composition.
So I ripped all the baby pearls up, only leaving a small handful in the middle. One thing you learn when growing aquatic plants, you never completely remove a species from your resources. So I bought some dwarf grass and planted that on both sides of the tank. Lets see what this does.
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December 15, 2006|
I was curious to see how deep the foreground plant was. So I ripped a chunk away in the middle. To my surprise, there was a lot of it and I needed to do something fast.
I hate to remove such a beatiful plant. Especially when you work so hard to get your tank to look like this.
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November 24|
Here is a close up of how the moss and java ferns have grown in nicely around the driftwood. This has really turned the composition of the tank in a new direction! Not sure what I need to do about the pearls.
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November 24, 2006|
Well, as I thought the foreground plant (Baby Pearls) have become too hard to maintain. They have been growing upwards at a rapid rate. I tried to trim them, but it makes hell for cleaning up and slows the filtration down extremely. But they look really cool.
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November 11, 2006|
I finally found a piece of driftwood at a local store that fit nicely in my tank. This piece had a tall tree shape to it with a nice thick stalk. It came mounted on slate, so all I needed to do was tie some moss & java ferns to it. You can do this very easy with cotton thread. After about an hour and half it was dressed up and stuck in the substrate. (which was a pain in the ass).
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October 1, 2006|
Here you see a African Dwarf Frog bouncing around looking for some food. These frogs have horrible site and reflexes. The mostly depend on smell for navigation. I have 3.
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Sept 30, 2006|
The carpet is filling nice and thick. Most hobbyists don’t use this type of plant for creating a carpet look because it eventually grows up. I am hoping to maintain that by trimming weekly.
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Sept 25, 2006|
Well… As I said early, I started using Reverse Osmosis and things were good, especially the fish, but after a couple of weeks I started to notice the plants and snails taking a major turn for the worst. As it turns out, Reverse Osmosis has not only the bad stuff removed from it, but everything else as well. This means is just blank palette of water. No nutrients, no minerals, nothing. So I’m now back to square one again.
To the right you can the pair of corys sniffing around the Baby Pearls.
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Sept 06, 2006|
Trying to create a green carpet of Baby Pearls (the green root plant on the bottom)
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Feb 25, 2006|
Tank has been filling nicely. Red Lotus makes a great contrast color against the foreground moss. I am really happy with this composition.
See the VIDEO.
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Feb 20, 2006|
The result of the dying fish last week was not CO2 related. Instead my local water company had increased its chlorine so much that it had a horrible smell to it. This scares me a little. I have since introduced ‘Reverse Osmosis’ water to the tank now. It’s amazing how different everything is reacting to this! Plants, fish, everybody is happy.
Including this 'Emerald Cory Cat'
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Feb 07, 2006|
Over the past week I have lost 5 fish, about 2 a day. From what I learned C02 levels increase at night, this could be the cause. The weird thing about this hobby, is that you find yourself caring more about the plants than the fish sometimes. Below is a 'Golden Apple Snail'  |
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Feb 02, 2006|
CO2 Reciepe was tweaked a little. The new mix called for 2 more ingredients. Protein Powder and Baking Powder. So the here is the new reciepe.
1 TSP Protein Powder
1 TSP Baking Powder
1 Cup of Sugar
1 TSP of Yeast
I liter of Water
With in 12hrs of new CO2 mix, I noticed Pearling on some of the broader leaves. "Pearling" is the term used to describe the plants releasing oxygen during the light hours and is an indicator of the photosynthetic rate of the growing plants”
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 Jan 02, 2006|
The ‘Christmas Moss’ has been growing out of control. I like the look of it. Unfortunately it has reduced the amount of real-estate that is available for the other plants and animals inside the tank. |
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November 22, 2005|
Well I finally bit the bullet and bought a brand-new light kit that replaces my old light housing with a 'Micro polished Aluminum Reflector' along with a '55watt' Fluorescent bulb. The difference is blinding and now I can rescape my tank for the high demanding plants.
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March 08, 2005|
The introduction of a better buld has help me reach this scape. I put in a 6700k 20watt bulb and the difference was amazing. I still need another 80watts to grow the more 'carpet style' plants.
This is what it is all about. I am completely satisfied with the tank now. I have sparked intrest in the hobby with some of my friends now. It's always nice to have a companion to experience a hobby such as this. Plus I needed somewhere to pass off my cuttings too.
We now have 3 'African Dwarf Frogs' they are funny to watch bounce around the tank. Good entertainment!
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December 24, 2004|
'Siamese Algea Eaters' (SAE's) are awesome weapons for controlling algea in planted aquariums. They grow to about 4inches and are extremely fast. As they get older they tend to get extremely aggressive. The best to catch these guys is at night with a flashlight.
*Not to be confused with the following:
'Flying Fox'
'Chinese Algea Eater' |
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November 01, 2004|
Now that the plants have grown in. Its time to 'Aquascape' the tank. Below are 2 'Albino Cory Cats'  |
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August 19, 2004|
Its been a month and my 'Red Lutos' plant is growing extremely fast. Almost to fast. I have learned that if you do not have enough light in your tank, the plants will grow upwards instead of low and lush. This is obviously the case with my plants.
DIY (Do it yourself) CO2 introduced. With the introduction of Co2 the plants will thrive and continue to consume all nutrients therefore starving any algae that may crept in!
'Siamese Algea Eater' introduced. (SAE) Great for eating 'Black Beard Algea'
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July 25, 2004|
So I bought this clumpy moss that is supposely supposed to attach itself to rocks and wood creating a blanket like coat to all your hardscapes. Problem is, its hard to get this stuff to attach. I keep finding it floating off.. sigh.
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July 18, 2004|
Well the tank has been running one month, still a little bear but things are filling in nicely. First occupant is a 'Silver Angel' and '3 Otocinclus algea eaters'. I am now a frequent at the local Fish store and can't stop thinking about what my tank will look like in the coming months.
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