[obscbyclouds]

Just wanted to make a "tank journal" thread for my 29 gal. It has been up and running about 5 months. Inhbitants are listed in my signature.

Here is a picture from the beginning. Only had a few plants, and terrible, terrible blue gravel.



Here's a picture of my tank now. I performed a full gravel change for eco-complete recently. Here's a current picture.



And here's my favorite picture of the angel.



Basically my plans from here are to add a ton more plants. Mostly Anubias, Crypts, Maybe a sword or two, Java Moss/Ferns and maybe some jungle vals in the background. As for fish stocking, the tank is basically fully stocked, although I may add some cory cats from the 10 gal. at some point if i need a change.

 

[Joey]

Nice tank bro

 

[Mermaid]

Looks very nice

 

[obscbyclouds]

Quick Update here,

I added a bunch of hornwort to the back of the tank. Saw loads of the stuff on sale cheap, so I couldn't resist. Its starting to look more realistic all the time. Here's the latest picture I have, sorry but it isn't the best picture in the world because there's too much light in the room.

 

[bushwhacker]

a black background on that tank would really make the fish and plants pop out

 

[Mermaid]

Very nice! Looking more filled out by the minute! Congrats on finding that sale!

 

[susankat]

Looks good. I agree it needs a black background to make everything stand out more and it will hide the wires in back.

 

[obscbyclouds]

Thanks for the advice and encouragement. Here's the new background.

 

[susankat]

That looks so much better, Really stands out now.

 

[bushwhacker]

thats great

 

[obscbyclouds]

DIY Co2

Thanks everyone for the help so far. I went a step further with my tank today and installed a DIY C02 System. Here's what I did:



#1 Gathered the supplies. As you can see I used a 2L coke bottle, silicone air lines, silicone aquarium sealant, a drill, one way valve, I also used pliers, sissors, measuring cups and spoons, yeast, sugar and water.

#2 I made a hole in the top of the coke bottle a little smaller than the tubing. I cut a short section of tubing, and pulled it through the bottle cap with a pair of pliers. On the outside end of this section i put a one way valve.



#3 I sealed the area where the tubing passes through the bottle cap with the silicone sealant. While waiting for that to dry I mixed my Co2 agents by combining 1/2 tsp. yeast, 1 3/4 cups sugar, and 6 cups of lukewarm water. I then placed a piece of plastic wrap over the end and shook the mixture.



#4 While waiting longer, I cut a section of tubing and tied it to the intake of a canister filter using fishing line. I placed the open end at the bottom of the intake grill as you can sort of see here.



#5 I then attached the mixture in the bottle to one side of the one way valve and the output to the other. and Voila!



And here's a closer view of the connection to the bottle.



I'm now waiting and monitoring my mixture and Ph levels. I'll let everyone know how my experiment works out!

 

[ladyonyx]

Ingenious design! Thanks for sharing! And your tank looks very nice with everything black; much improved over the BLUE gravel

 

[obscbyclouds]

Ingenious design! Thanks for sharing! And your tank looks very nice with everything black; much improved over the BLUE gravel

I must say I'm amazed how well this all has worked. I've done a lot of modification of this tank in a few months and fish and plants seem to be responding well to the changes (I doubt many of them liked the old gravel! )

On another note my Ph dropped from 7.6 to 6.8 with the CO2 addition and is holding steady there. No sign of fish stress. I'll have some more pictures up soon.

 

[obscbyclouds]

The CO2 flows into a canister filter which is i imagine broken up by the impeller inside. Lots of people use this type of system.

The drop occured over about 48 hours. Likely my water is not as hard as your and therefore dropped further, but my fish show no adverse effects. Nothing else was changed in the tank (except a bit of redecorating). My KH is 3.5 and with 6.8 ph it gives me a Co2 level of about 17. Seems to be an acceptable level.

 

[obscbyclouds]

Not a problem, it did have a HOB filter until recently (mostly because I decided to do some CO2). I do have one piece of driftwood in the tank, but it seems to basically be done leaching tannis. Tap water here is 7.6.

 

[rglens]

Really nice tank! I do like the black...makes me wonder about my choice for going with what I have now. I really like what you have done.

 

[obscbyclouds]

Thanks all for the kind words again!

Here's a pic from earlier today. I swear Rasboras are impossible to catch in focus. I'd have to take the picture at night to even have a chance!

note: the HOB has been taken out completely now.

Edit: my girlfriend say the Ph is 7.0, I maintain 6.8, so we'll call it 6.9!

 

[obscbyclouds]

Happy Anubias

Took some pictures today of my favourite anubia pearling. Must be doing something right ;-)

 

[obscbyclouds]

A lot of my plants are showing new growth. My wisteria is getting out of control and is at the surface (was 1/2 up the tank when I got it). Crypts and Anubias both have new shoots. Even my Nuphar japonicum, which I didn't expect to survive has baby sprouts. I'm still not sure about keeping the hornwort long term. May want to replace with Vals or some other tall stem plants.

Fish are doing okay. I think my rasboras might be breeding, but I can't find eggs anywhere. I assume either they or the angelfish are eating them. I do also have a few hitch hiking ramshorn snails which I assume must have come from the hornwort, but they don't seem to be out of control at this point. They don't bother me anyway.

Either way here's some up to date pics.

 

[obscbyclouds]

Update

Quick Update to my tank, I now have 4 Otocinclus catfish in the tank. Lost 1 Rasbora to a suicide jump. I'm using 2 bottles of DIY Co2 and have started using dry ferts now, my plants are all green and luscious. Hornwort has all been removed now, and I also added some Brazilian pennywort (Hydrocotyle leucocephala). My Hygrophlila Difformis needs weekly trimming now or it quickly takes over the tank.

Here's a full tank picture.


I have to say my tank absolutely sparkles now and is a great showpiece in my otherwise crappy apartment