New full tank shot

I took a few new pictures, playing with iso settings and exposure levels. I think this one turned out pretty good, as it doesn't have near as many hot spots. Also I took out the blue air hose and the yellow ph tester, which for me were a bit of an eye soar. All is well and looking good.

Just an Update!

Here is a new full tank shot, I am very happy with how all the plants have filled in. I really think this is probably the fullest it has ever been and this is after a pretty drastic pruning. There are a few things I still want to change. I want to swap out some of the really fast growing plants for some slower growing. Other than that just upgrading some of the component as far as the hardware is concerned and then it will be really done.Here is one of my new fish. He is a Checkerboard Cichlid. He is one of the most peculiar fish in the aquarium just by the way he swims and his feeding habits. He is alot of fun to watch.

Prego Shrimp, Clam Foot, and Nerita snail

This guy is called a nerita snail I just thought up close his stripes were pretty darn cool looking. He is about the size of a nickel.

Here she is my female prego amano shrimp. According to everyone on the internet these girls will get pregnant all the time but none of their offspring ever make it. The little guys need salt water to make it and can't handle the current of most modern day filters. If you click on the picture you will see a bunch of little eggs below her back legs.
Last but not least this is my little frest water clam trying to bury himself. He decided to stick this thing out directly after I was messing around in the water for a while. Think I finally turned him on the "right side".
Everything is going great plants are doing really well. Keep up with my dosing regime and water changes I will have a crazy planted tank here in about 3-4 weeks.

Weekly Maintenance

Thought I would take an overall picture. Did some pruning, water change and some dry dosing. I found a site that sells dry fertilizers for ALOT cheaper than the liquid fertilizers you get at the store. According to a few websites my plants should really take off now. We will see.

Water and Electronics The Perfect Mix!

Wanted to show everyone the underbelly of the madness, so you can get an idea of what it takes to do a planted tank this size. Plus show off a few of my new toys!

I added a much more substantial Co2 reactor Below (something that mixes Co2 into the water so the plants can breathe). It works by inserting the Co2 at the top of the container and the water moves past the little black balls, crushing the Co2 into the water.

The pump and the Co2 bottle that fuel the reactor (I had the pump sitting in a closet waiting for my Reef aquarium that I can't afford to build! Which in hindsight is a really good thing because I am learning so much about Plant life=Corals before I spend really crazy $$)

The PH controller. This little guy monitors the PH therefore controlling your Co2 level. PH has a direct relationship with the amount of Co2 in your tank. It has a direct power supply that controls the solenoid valve (Fancy word for on/off switch) to the Co2 bottle (which you can see in the picture above, its the little grey thing with the hoses coming out of the top of the Co2 bottle)

My PH is 7.0 good to know right!

Last but not least a little thing we in the hobby call an electrical drip line. This is important here so pay attention. Do not leave your electrical power strip on the ground as water tends to crawl down the lines and find its way to the source and fry your fish. So we mount it up in the air, proving once and for all that that guy Newton, well I think he was on to something.

And Yes those are a zip ties! And yes I was being Lazy!

And last but not least (yet another closet edition waiting for the Reef) NIGHT LIGHTS!

Its a 1W Led that simulates Moonlight at what is supposed to be the correct wave length! Don't laugh but its supposed to make your fish horny. Smart people have linked the mating habits of fish to the moon cycle. I have read many articles that say it works!

I took some other fish pictures so make sure and check those when you get a chance. Next post will probably be about water parameters. (exciting I know but oh so important)

Anyone on feedback are these to complicated, long, boring, not funny enough? Please let me know if I can do anything to change the style up a bit to make it better.

Shrimps and Clams

So here they are,

This is a picture of the mouth of the clam. It's a macro picture so don't think that that thing is really big or anything. Clams just filter feed nutrients out of the water column. You can feed them invertebrate food but well I am going to see how long this guy can just feed on the water.

This is one of the 5 Amano Shrimp that I have rummaging around in the tank. They are truly a joy to watch. The males have dots on their sides and the females have dashed lines down their sides. This is a female. This is also a macro shot as they are only about 1 inch long.

I have done some cleaning and pruning and I get some new components to my Co2 system today so we will see how the tank improves here soon. Check out the other pictures in the slideshow as I took a bunch more.

Thought I would post again Finally!!

Sorry I haven't written in a long time, just haven't been "feeling" the tank in a while. Mostly cause I had a misterious die off. I added some fish to get the cardinal levels back up and then literally I think I lost probably 10-12 fish. Combined with some carbon dioxide poisoning and an algae outbreak I was pretty frustrated. Then I remembered this hobby is all about patients, which I lack at times.

So here are some updated photos looking to get more here soon. I also am including a "stock list," of the animals and plants.

Fish:

11x Cardinal Tetra, Paracheirodon axelrodi

1x Bushy Nose, Ancistrus

4x Golden White Cloud Danios, Tanichthys albonubes

5x Galaxy Rasboras, Celestichthys margaritatus

6x Harlequin Rasboras, Trigonostigma heteromorpha

4x Von Rio Tetras, Hyphessobrycon flammeus

2x Honey Gouramis, Trichogaster chuna

2x Neon Blue Dwarf Gouramis, Colisa lalia

2x Hi Fin lyretail swordtails, Xiphophorus helleri

3x Dwarf Cory Cats, Corydoras habrosus

Invertebrates

1x Fresh Water Clam, Corbicual

4x Japonica Amano Shrimp, Caridina japonica

1x Japanese Trapdoor Snail, Viviparus malleattus

1x Olive Nerita Snail, Nerita

Plants

4 Leaf Clover

Wisteria

Dwarf Hair Grass

Water Sprite

Micro Sword

Ludwigia Broad

Chain Sword Narrow Leaf

Green Cryptocoryne

I got a new filter cause mine was pretty much blown it was really loud (sucked in too much gravel during the initial build). I picked up the emporer 400 (as opposed to the penguin 350) so worth the extra $30.

A few tips that have really helped me out here recently.

A 10% water change once a week is better than a 30-40% water change once a month.

For those with hang on the back power filters rinsing out the filter cartridges once a week during the water change is a really good idea.

Plants are 90% carbon. You have to have Co2 injection if you want live plants in your aquarium and no amount of live stock will produce enough Co2 to keep your plants going. (you can't just stop b/c you are tired of getting refills are Academy and BUY THE 10 LB Co2 TANK don't think paintball canisters are big enough)

Starting the Co2 injection 1-hours before the lights come on is a good thing to bring your Co2 levels back up. Ending it 1 hour before the lights go off will prevent it from changing your PH too much.

The Offenders!

These are Powder Blue Dwarf Gouramis, and they build "bubble nests." The thought was bubble nests, hmmm sounds cool, I have no idea what a bubble nest is nor what it consists of. Let's give it a shot. Plus they look cool don't they! I got 2, thinking either they will mate and I could see what a bubble nest is or they will be 2 males and will probably kill each other. Either way I win!

The Blue Devil on the right I think is the male, as the males build the nests. He swims all over with gaint pieces of a specific plant I have below. Clue #1

The Fresh Water plant below is called Dwarf Baby Tears. It is small, as that picture was taken with a digital macro lense, the 3rd day after I bought it. That plant was the first of 2 things, I HAD TO HAVE IN THIS TANK!

My plant as of today! It is sad isn't it. Looks like a swarm of locists found it after about a month and a half after getting the Gouramis. The other 4, that I bought for $5.49 a piece have been getting smaller as well. Clue #2

Clue #3 Please forgive the image!!! You have to click on it to see the bubbles. Grrr.. Johnny and Mark I need help or I need an SLR one of the two. Its hard to take pictures of bubbles. Oddly enough the Dwarf Tears survive at the top of the tank and continue to thrive. Just not in a place I can see them. The finality of the situation is more of a relocation of my plants that were more expensive than the fish that is moving them.

Short explanation of bubble nests:

The fish moves plant matter to the top of the water, They then go to the top of the water and suck in air (Gouramis are Labyrinth Fish, meaning they breathe directly from the air, and must have access to the surface), They then come back down and blow bubbles underneath the plant material where the female will lay her eggs.

So total costs of fish $9 from local fish store.

Total costs for 4 plants air shipped overnight $35.

Free Plant Relocation!

I know, I said I was going to start from the beginning but I just wanted to share that with everyone. I promise I will share setup information and costs ect..

1st Blog

Thought I would pick up something creative and try to blog about a hobby of mine that I take somewhat seriously. I have been running a 55 Gallon Fresh Water Planted Tank for about 3 months now. Looking back on the pictures, it looks like I snap some 3-4 shots a couple of times a month. I want to show you a picture of the tank now, then go back and describe what I did to set it up. I then want to try and keep up with the maintenance, events and plans for the tank on an as needed basis.

I enjoy this hobby its incredibly relaxing, and it creates a great avenue for my creativity. As well as nourish a hope of mine that our science will eventually keep us from destroying the earth, instead of helping us kill it.

Above is the most recent picture. This was taken after a 20% water change, Cartridge change, Fertizilation, Feeding, and Planting some cuttings.