Nymox Posted May 27, 2010 Report Share Posted May 27, 2010 Been messing with this for the last few weeks, it needs planting still but it gives an idea. That yucky HG will be pulled when I get some new stuff, it was already kinda gross when I put it in. Planning on just 2 plant types, hairgrass and rotala rotundafolia. Fish will just be the male and female DP/Malabar puffer fish, perhaps 3 otos but I want to see how these 2 get on first, the female is a right little so and so. Tank is built into a cabinet, lighting is 2x6500k energy savers and 1x AL-8 with t8(or t5) 8w grolux 15000k. roughly 46 ltrs after gravel. Its lidless as the driftwood is suspended and hanging down into the tank. PC processor fan in the cabinet to stop it getting too hot up near the lights. Filtration is just a simple HOB from aqua one. Managed to make up a bracket to use my sodastream bottles without paying through the nose for adapters and all the drama, can get it right down to 1bps using a model aircraft needle valve. Using the filter to defuse untill I get a defuser I like. Substrate is black silica with a 1cm layer of JBL aqua basis plus underneath. Male Female comes up to the glass but as soon as she spots a camera she takes off. Going to replace the background to black and fill it up with plants when they arrive next week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted May 27, 2010 Report Share Posted May 27, 2010 I'd recommend stargrass in there. It grows very dense and provides for perfect hiding places. Not to mention it looks awesome, and contrasts well with R. rotundifolia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nymox Posted May 27, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 27, 2010 hmm maybe, I'm kinda set on just having those 2 plants, I guess Ill see if the rotala I get is red enough, if so then I guess some stargrass wouldnt hurt. I wish I had an alternative to HG to carpet with. I dont like it, but I dislike glosso more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted May 27, 2010 Report Share Posted May 27, 2010 The Rotala gets red as the light increases. I got 2-3 sticks in my puffer tank 2 months ago from a local member and I cropped it as it grew. I now have 10 sticks that are really long and are growing horizontally along the surface of the water, sending roots down and are this lovely pinky champagne colour. It provides good canopy cover and looks so darn natural! Rotundifolia FTW! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nymox Posted May 27, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 27, 2010 The Rotala gets red as the light increases. I got 2-3 sticks in my puffer tank 2 months ago from a local member and I cropped it as it grew. I now have 10 sticks that are really long and are growing horizontally along the surface of the water, sending roots down and are this lovely pinky champagne colour. It provides good canopy cover and looks so darn natural! Rotundifolia FTW! Nice, definetly FTW on that one. Ive been wanting it for a while. I wasnt aware however that it would go red if it gets enough lighting. I was reading about it and came out with the conclusion there was green, red and indica. Hopefully my lighting will be enough to get it red then. I'll pick up some stargrass at the same time, if I dont like it I can always put it in the 'full of everything' tank. Not looking forward to planting the hairgrass its a pain in the bum, then all the rubbish that gets caught up in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted May 27, 2010 Report Share Posted May 27, 2010 Only now its all pink. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nymox Posted May 27, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 27, 2010 pearl much? lol Nice though, cant wait to get it. :bounce: its almost more exciting then a new fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nymox Posted June 5, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2010 Finally got my rotala rotundafolia yesterday, did some replanting. I cant wait till it thickens out in there. Adding rocks and Driftwood tomorrow, had an algae problem so Ive cleaned them in a weak bleach solution, they still have a slight bleachy smell dispite heavy and prolonged rinsing so leaving them outside for a day to see if that helps. Added TLC and SAT today and with nearly every bit of the substrate planted in HG it shouldnt get a bad outbreak again. Plan to replace background to strait black, forgot about picking some up this morning. Going to stick with just the 2 plants and the 1 puffer now. Will split the rotala more as it grows, I want it thick in the corner to try hide the heater and filter inlet. Will trim the HG to match the scaping a bit later on next week, I would prefer to leave it for a bit that might help it get underway easier. Going to pick up my sodastream bottles next week and the clamp we fashioned, I'll have to think about a proper defuser now but I dont want some big unsightly thing in there, the heater and filter inlet are enough of an eye sore. Till then it will have to do with a Co2 reactor defused by the impeller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nymox Posted June 5, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2010 Found a nice little glass bell diffuser with a ceramic frit should get that mid next week. Rotala is doing well starting to go pinkish on the upper leaves. Added the driftwood and rocks plus split the rotala a bit more. Heres the lil inhabitant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nymox Posted June 11, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2010 UPDATE: Got the ceramic frit a few days ago and installed it last night, definetly much better then using the impeller and considering it was only a few $$ well worth it. Algae is still trying its best to get going in there, Im running out of ideas. Ive got TLC, SAT and Flourish excell, Co2 is still being generated from yeast reactors for now as Ive run out of pingers to fill the bottles and we used 2 full bottles testing the bracket. I added a tiny powerhead to increase the flow a little bit to try stop the yucky brown stuff getting all over everything. This is today The brown stuff Could I get some advice/ideas to help keep the algae under control please, I really dont want to have to replant hairgrass again. :roll: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breakaway Posted July 1, 2010 Report Share Posted July 1, 2010 Just continue with CO2. That looks like the kind of algae that every new tank gets. All the tanks I've ever run have had them. They usually go away after a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nymox Posted July 3, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2010 Thanks breakaway, I havnt seen it build like that before so I guess it was just the hairgrass trapping it. Algae is a thing of the past now, except for the green stuff that gets on the glass. Still growing well, looks like a run down back yard at the moment though. The hairgrass needs trimming but it seems to want to jump out of the substrate when I even think about going near it. The lil girl that lives there got a yellow belly and a black stripe now so the little girl is a little boy, will try and find 2 females for him soon. I got 2 bumblebee goby too, they are not sticking to surfaces much though, swimming mid level and chasing each other, one almost lost its black stripes too and gone very bright yellow, while the others gone more black in colour, I guess they're sorting out whos boss. Anway a couple of pics, they are from a few weeks ago as Ive been stripped of Mums camera by the evil teen sister. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Whip Posted July 3, 2010 Report Share Posted July 3, 2010 looks mint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breakaway Posted July 3, 2010 Report Share Posted July 3, 2010 Good stuff, nice tank there. I wouldn't keep bumble bee gobies with puffers. Just because they're oddball fish doesn't mean they go well together. HOWEVER, my puffers live happily with a guppy, no nipping or anything. The personalities of the fish vary wildly. Still I would only keep them in a species tank. If you want to see breeding etc it's the only way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nymox Posted July 3, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2010 Good stuff, nice tank there. I wouldn't keep bumble bee gobies with puffers. Just because they're oddball fish doesn't mean they go well together. HOWEVER, my puffers live happily with a guppy, no nipping or anything. The personalities of the fish vary wildly. Still I would only keep them in a species tank. If you want to see breeding etc it's the only way. Yeah Im thinking the same, I have a spare tank or 3 now so I thought I would put them in on trial, its going well so far, the DP doesnt seem to even care. Once I get some females puffers though Ill leave it as species only. The gobies would prefer brackish too, so I have an excuse to try setting up a BW tank now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gatito Posted August 9, 2010 Report Share Posted August 9, 2010 love that driftwood, nice tank. my malabars are jealous Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trav Posted September 3, 2010 Report Share Posted September 3, 2010 wow! amazing wat tipe plant is that ? the one that is all over the ground? well pretty much every were! :bounce: :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishBen Posted September 7, 2010 Report Share Posted September 7, 2010 Awesome looking tank, looks far better than my dp tank :lol: ' good luck with your puffers, they sure are spoiled Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nymox Posted September 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 9, 2010 Thought I should throw up an update as its been a while and there have been many positive comments, thanks everyone! I've been battling algae, winning daily battles but the war is far from over lol, Ive been trying to get it all running without Co2 injection but its very hard to keep the algae at bay. Bumble Bee gobies are doing great, such cute wee things but very camera shy, so are the puffers, I picked another one up yesterday thinking it was a female but as soon as I got it home, belly went yellow and developed a stripe. Little no no aggression between the 2 males though Im watching them very closely. wow! amazing wat tipe plant is that ? the one that is all over the ground? well pretty much every were! :bounce: :bounce: Its Hairgrass, its more trouble then its worth if you ask me lol. Anyway heres a coulple of pics, as you can see Ive removed one pieces of the over hanging driftwood, I think it looks a little clearer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishBen Posted September 10, 2010 Report Share Posted September 10, 2010 must be a pain finding them for photos :lol: :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.