New 40 breeder

[76brian]

So after I screwed up my 33 gallon when I re-caulked it with GE silicone (%@#$!), my paludarium setup never managed to get established. I had to get another tank.

For a number of reasons I decided that I just wanted to keep it simple and stick with aquatic only, so I bought a 40 breeder. Last weekend I built a new stand, and brought the tank home.

I opted to paint the background instead of using vinyl, and I got that done through the week.

This weekend, this happened:



I'll be adding a few more plants, but this was all I had... I took ALL the plants and decor out of both of my tanks for this (I have a 20 gal long as well, which now looks as plain as a petsmart tank... lol). The 33 is junk, and the 20 will have shell dwellers as soon as I can move the fish into this (just a few rosy barbs and zebra danios).

I dug my old fluval 304 out a few weeks back and started running it on the 20 to get it established... so there shouldn't be a long wait to start stocking this. I'm thinking either german blue rams or apistos along with some tetras and corys.

I hope to find a way to get some emergent plants in this as well and not block too much light from the submerged plants (for those curious, it's two 36" T5HO, 26" above the substrate with window screen in front of the lamps to cut down the intensity a bit).

[bizfromqc]

Looks really good already but will look even better when it fills up with plants!

If you can, I'd remove the legs on the fixture since you're hanging it anyways, looks a little funny that way 

You mentioned shell dwellers, did you find any locally? What species specifically are you looking for? If you ever find any, let me know as I'd like to set up a multifasciatus tank or another small specie of shell dwelling African cichlid.

40G breeder is a great size and you can have a nice apisto setup in there, depending on which specie you pick and if you add some cover/hiding spots, you could have a harem or a couple of pairs in there.

Keep it up and keep posting pictures 

[charlie]

Really nice start, as mentioned the 40 breeder is a winner .
If i may, i would suggest using something else for the path way instead of those large white rocks, also look into alternative return & intake system for the fluval they are distracting from the scape.
How about some taller grassy plants in the back ground? Valls, giant hair grass,  things of that nature would require the odd trimming due to the height of the tank.
Thanks for sharing.

[exv152]

Good start for sure. You've chosen your plant species well. I'd recommend stocking the german blue rams or apistos last, and start with the tetras first, then the cories second. SA cichlids are very sensitive to water quality. I would also recommend dosing a general plant fertilizer like seachem flourish comprehensive once a week and some root tablets for the crypts. Keep us posted.

[Greatwhite]

I love the levitating lights...  Do those legs come off?

The tank looks very clean with that layout - and my eyes get pulled around all over it to various points of interest.  Very good job!

[bizfromqc]

Really nice start, as mentioned the 40 breeder is a winner .
If i may, i would suggest using something else for the path way instead of those large white rocks, also look into alternative return & intake system for the fluval they are distracting from the scape.
How about some taller grassy plants in the back ground? Valls, giant hair grass,  things of that nature would require the odd trimming due to the height of the tank.
Thanks for sharing.

To add on to what Errol said about the white rocks for the "path", I think white sillica sand would look awesome there and also give your "future" apistos some good foraging grounds :-)

[sas]

Very nice, I like the white rocks personally.
Just wait til the plants fill in and it's stocked then it'll be lovely.
Great job.

[Peekay]

Looks great... love the depth of a 40B. 
Can't wait to see it grow!

[76brian]

Thanks a lot folks... I had it in my head for a while what I was going to do, and upon execution, it's turned out not too bad. I do want to change a few things, some of which have been mentioned.

If you can, I'd remove the legs on the fixture since you're hanging it anyways, looks a little funny that way 

I love the levitating lights...  Do those legs come off?

I knew I should have done that before I took a pic! Jeesh! It will be done I promise... lol

[76brian]

You mentioned shell dwellers, did you find any locally? What species specifically are you looking for? If you ever find any, let me know as I'd like to set up a multifasciatus tank or another small specie of shell dwelling African cichlid.

Yeah, I saw your ad in the classifieds and thought "damn this guys gonna clean out all the local availability before I have the tank ready!" haha...  I haven't seen any available. I just resigned to the fact I'd have to special order something. Big Als on innes _might_ have multis, I can't remember.. but they did have one species on my list. I posted in my other thread a list of the fish I was looking at for that: http://ovas.ca/forum/index.php?topic=54882.0

[76brian]

If i may, i would suggest using something else for the path way instead of those large white rocks,

To add on to what Errol said about the white rocks for the "path", I think white sillica sand would look awesome there and also give your "future" apistos some good foraging grounds :-)

I'm thinking this is a good idea... sand would be better for the apistos for sure. Those rocks aren't that big, I'd call them pebbles... but they're big enough that if I ever wanted to rescape, they are easy enough to pick out so they don't mix in with my flourite... the sand would be difficult to separate. I do have some extra sand sitting around though... I have some black and some white... hmmmmm.... I will have to take some time to decide.

also look into alternative return & intake system for the fluval they are distracting from the scape.
How about some taller grassy plants in the back ground? Valls, giant hair grass,  things of that nature would require the odd trimming due to the height of the tank.
Thanks for sharing.

re: fluval. I was undecided about using this filter because of that. Those corrugated hoses are a complete pain in the rear, and the grey just looks ugly. I came VERY close to buying a new filter, but I've already gone over budget, so I figured I'd make do with this one for now. I'll see how long I can put up with the fluval (or how long it takes for something to fail and flood my living room   )

re: plants. I'm hoping the hygro difformis in the left rear will grow taller and hide the heater and filter hoses a little bit. There's also a java fern on the wood in the left end, so it will get bigger and provide cover too. Those are vals along the back, they're pretty stunted though. Some of the longer leaves melted away. I am thinking I will move those into the right back corner, and get some ludwigia or something with a bit of color for the middle/back area. I also want to squeeze an amazon sword in there somewhere.

Thanks for all the suggestions, seriously! Keep them coming! I'll post some closer-up pictures of different parts of the tank a little later.

[daworldisblack]

Looking good there! For emergent plants, maybe pennywort? Those creep up over the tank for me. Ludwigia Repens also throws emergent stalks up for me. Would be an interesting look for sure Keep the updates coming!

[fischkopp]

Looking good! The 40B is one of my favourite tank dimensions, it allows for many ways of aquascaping. It's a great size for dwarf cichlids. I had a group of 10+ Apistrogramma trifasciata in a 40B. It was fun to watch them mark their territories. For a couple of times I had females guarding fry on both sides of the tank.

[bizfromqc]

Yeah, I saw your ad in the classifieds and thought "damn this guys gonna clean out all the local availability before I have the tank ready!" haha...  I haven't seen any available. I just resigned to the fact I'd have to special order something. Big Als on innes _might_ have multis, I can't remember.. but they did have one species on my list. I posted in my other thread a list of the fish I was looking at for that: http://ovas.ca/forum/index.php?topic=54882.0

Don't worry about it, I'm in no hurry... I'm still debating whether to completely overhaul my current 25G long or go all out, part out this system, raise some funds and slowly build a 75 (which is really the size I want)...

Better yet, get a colony started and I'll get some juvies off you when I'm ready 

[Monte]

Nice tank. I have a planted 40 breeder as well. Great size for aquascaping.

[76brian]

Nice tank. I have a planted 40 breeder as well. Great size for aquascaping.

Thanks. It really is just a great size all around. Small enough to fit in my car, small/light enough to move by myself, easy to make room in a smaller space for, not heavy enough when it's full to fall through the saggy old floor in my ancient house  It's also just big enough to avoid relatively quick swings in water params provided I don't royally screw something up. 

[76brian]

I added a tiger lotus in the middle, and moved a few other things around... made room in the back left corner for something to hide the filter/heater... looking for L. Repens Rubin to put there to add a bit more color. I'll post a pic later.

I had 6 zebra danios in there to start... and it appears that using the plants, wood, substrate, and filter from another tank REALLY speeds up the cycle. 0ppm ammonia, Nitrite was high at first but it came down to 0 a couple days ago... I had about 10ppm nitrate last night... down to 5ppm after a water change.

So I moved the danios back into my other tank and moved my 3 rosy barbs into this (I know I should add a couple more of those but they seem to be OK at just 3). There was one danio I couldn't catch, he's still in there and FLIPS OUT occasionally because he's alone. I tried the water bottle fish trap but he didn't go for it like his buddies did (the barbs however fall for it every time... dummies). So I have to find a way to get him out of there, he's causing havoc sometimes.

I also added 6 new glowlight tetras and a pair of true SAE's at the same time. In hindsight I probably only wanted 1 SAE   ...sigh.

I also kind of thought the glowlights would stand out a bit more... but they sort of blend in with the dark background. A bit disappointed there, but hopefully once the background plants fill in and there's more green, they'll pop more.

I'm going to wait a while before adding more, but I still want corys, and either neons or cardinals, and one other species group besides the cichlids...  seeking suggestions and advice here...

So I'm thinking that my final stocking would look like this:

6 x glowlights
6 x cardinals or neons
? x ? ?? ?? ?
5 x rosy barbs (or I could give away my current 3 and get something else, maybe to make the groups of others bigger)
3 or 4 corys
3 or 4 rams or apistos

Would this be overstocked? The filter is a Fluval 304, which is apparently good for 90 gals.

[Stussi613]

I think you'll be okay with your stocking list. You've got some pretty serious filtration on that tank.

When you're ready to get your Cory's make sure you come out to the next club meeting (near the end of November) because there have been some very welled priced good quality Cory's at all of the swap meets so far this year.

[76brian]

Yeah, the Cory's will be bought from someone local for sure! Thanks for the tip

Forgot to mention, I was running a 5,000k flora lamp along with a 10,000k. But I bought a 6700K to replace the 10,000 so now I should have more usable spectrum for the plants and less for algae The SAE's might not like that idea lol

Any suggestions on stocking is welcome!

[fischkopp]

With your list the tank certainly won't be overstocked (from my view as notorious over-stocker). You can easily double or tripple the number of tetras. You should double the number of cory's as they will be a lot more active and happy in a bigger group. I would not add the barbs as they tend to be a bit more aggressive and fin nippers.

[exv152]

Instead of barbs, have you considered other south american fish like hatchets, rummynose tetras, plecos, angel fish etc, and I would recommend cardinals over neons.

[76brian]

Instead of barbs, have you considered other south american fish like hatchets, rummynose tetras, plecos, angel fish etc, and I would recommend cardinals over neons.

Yeah, the barbs were a dumb impulse buy... they were on sale somewhere and I thought they looked nice. I need to not do things like that  I really do like their color though.

I'll have to research the hatchets, they look neat. However, I saw some guys youtube video today about serpae tetras and they look awesome. His were very nice bright red and I'm kind of digging those right now... I dunno... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXcoGhyAMWg

Cardinals over neons... I know the cardinals have more color, but are neons a hardier fish though?

[76brian]

The water is sure taking it's sweet time to clear... But anyways, the legs were removed from the light... haha



Looking right... I'm trying to hold down some java moss on that log with small rocks, I forgot to tie it on before I put the log in... and I don't want to take it out now and make a mess of everything.


Looking left...


Through the right side...

[daworldisblack]

Looks like a good start so far!

[sas]

Very nice, it'll be even better when your plants fill in.
Patience .
A note on hatchets, they are known jumpers so a cover
on your tank would be a must.

[76brian]

Very nice, it'll be even better when your plants fill in.
Patience .
A note on hatchets, they are known jumpers so a cover
on your tank would be a must.

Thanks Patience is a concept I never quite grasped, hoping this hobby will help me learn

I want emergent plants... so hatchets are out if I need a cover... They're goofy looking anyways

[daworldisblack]

Managed to get some Ludwigia Repens 'Rubin'? Saw some at Big Al's west today as well

[76brian]

Managed to get some Ludwigia Repens 'Rubin'? Saw some at Big Al's west today as well

Ahhh! I'm never out in the west end... petsmart had some but I ended up getting a bunch of nicer stuff thanks to PM 

[daworldisblack]

Ahhh! I'm never out in the west end... petsmart had some but I ended up getting a bunch of nicer stuff thanks to PM 

What are you crying about then?! Yeah Peter!

[dbl_dbl]

Tank looks great, good plant choices.

I feel like a Nannostomus mortenthaleri "Red Pencilfish" shoal would make a great tankmate for the Dwarf Cichlids you are planning as they come from similar water conditions and they leave eggs and fry alone.

[76brian]

So this is a good case for a fishless cycle, and to never put anything in your tank that you don't want to permanently reside there.

I got the barbs out and into my other tank, and will replace them with a school of serpae tetras, but I have to get this annoying lone zebra danio out. He is really disturbing the mellow little glowlight tetras, and me too.

I've tried the bottle trap, I've tried leaving food in the net, I've tried just all out aggression lol... surely I'm smarter than one (REALLY FAST) little fish?

EDIT: GOT HIM!

[76brian]

Tank looks great, good plant choices.

Thanks very much!

[Peekay]

What are you crying about then?! Yeah Peter!

Exactly.  His is far more robust than what Petsmart will sell you.

[76brian]

Who was crying?

[dbl_dbl]

I'm gonna start crying if we don't get some new pics soon

[76brian]

I might cry because the repens all melted after I planted it, except for one lone stem

No pics right now, tank looks like crap...extra heater, big airstone in the middle due to the ich outbreak...I'll take a new pic or two after it's all gone.

Some of the other plants have really started to fill in nicely. The crypts have new leaves every day it seems, the wisteria would grow in a dark closet so it's just out of control, the tiger lotus has 2 new leaves already, the stargrass is very vibrant and getting pretty thick. Other parts I'm not so happy about. The vals and sag look like they haven't grown at all... moving pretty slow there... but will make the biggest difference when they finally fill in.

[76brian]

not the best pic but it's all I felt like doing 

[Peekay]

It looks great!   Love the lotus leaves floating there, and it's all so clean and green.
Nice work.

[lucius]

Looks great.    I have glowlights also and thought about adding some neons but ended up just adding to the school instead.

[fischkopp]

Starting to come together!

[exv152]

Very nice! Looks like you've figured out the right light intensity by hanging the light at the right height. The plants are responding well, and there doesn't seem to be any algae.

[charlie]

Good work, if it looks this good now imagine a few more months down the road.
Regards

[daworldisblack]

Woah dwarf sag is really filling in! Looks good already! Could only get better 

[76brian]

Thanks guys

I haven't had perfect results by any means but it's going along and I'm being patient. A few issues I want to figure out.

[76brian]

Here's an updated pic. Did a huge pruning on the left side recently. Going to do a minor re-scape soon, focusing on the back right and middle front, before adding my final few fish. This is my current stock list.

[Stussi613]

It looks fantastic Brian!

Hard to believe you only started this tank a few months ago...

[exv152]

Yeah, the tank looks very nice. Thanks for the link too (AqAdvisor) I've been playing around with the many features it has.

[cdylnicki]

very nice!  I love the substrate mix.