wackbards

I'm cycling a 40 breeder, and I think I'd like to run this as a hot community tank designed around German blue rams. I've only ever had Bolivian rams. I need advice! Basics of the setup: Everett city water (soft), 40b, co-op light, sponge filter, 2x aqua clear 50 HOBs side by side. Will run 2x co-op 100w heaters. Activ flora black sand. Currently growing some dwarf chain sword, val, bacopa, a tiger lotus. I usually run crushed coral in a HOB because our water is so soft, but I could easily reduce/remove it. I'll set up a couple of terracotta forts for the rams in opposite corners. I'd like to do 2 pair of rams, plus a community. I'm thinking in addition to the rams: 1) Either corys or kuhli loaches 2) Cherry shrimp. Yes, yes, they will get munched on 3) a small school- maybe tetras? 4) A surface dwelling centerpiece like a beta or a gourami 5) Snails? This tank gets a lot of natural light, so anything that helps to manage algae and will look amazing in natural light is a bonus. It's also right next to my desk, so outgoing fish are better than shy guys. Anywho... These are the broad strokes I'm envisioning. How would you set up & stock a 40b for rams?

Vary stable tank! Big is easy. Water change about every 3 weeks at this point.

I think I'm just going to let it happen. I don't have any way to deal with raising Angel fry right now.

Something must be working right...

Fish are in, plants are growing! Val is sending runners & blooming. I'm going to give it a few weeks until I introduce geophagus just to give the plants a fighting chance to root.

I have 1 36" fluval 3 on the new tank, and another 36" on the 40b. I'll run both of them on the new tank, since it's 6'. I just couldn't afford a whole extra light only for transition $$$

Yeah, I'm thinking of moving over the danios first, but it's going to be hard to catch them! Maybe tomorrow, just so I can make sure the TDS parameters are all stable. Also... this is crazy, but I could use the light from the 40b on the new tank if I put it on at night... I could run the new tank with the lights on at night for a few days while I move over all the plants.

Let's talk cycling. So far: Declorinated the water, heated to 75*F, added a 16 oz jug of fritz bacteria. Tidal 110 is running with some seasoned bio rings, seasoned filter floss, sponge & some crushed coral. Kh & Dh are both at about 5, ph neutral. Grabbed a seasoned sponge filter out of the pond. I dosed 1ml/10 gal of easy green yesterday, and today register 0ppm nitrate. Hit it with another 1ml/10 gal easy green today. Planted some val from the pond with root tabs, and brought over some driftwood from the 40b with some moss & ferns. Tossed in some floating Brazilian pennywort for kicks. Tossed in some rapashy for the scuds, snails & bacteria. I can only plant half the tank now, since I'll have to steal the other light from the 40b. Question: should I keep dosing easy green until I can measure nitrates in the water?

Let the contamination begin! 1) hair algae 2) blackbeard algae 3) scuds 4) snails 5) hydra 6) duckweed (sigh)

Filling/leveling. Dead level, but it still feels kind of terrifying. The carpet has to get compressed kind of progressively, so I'm filling a little, adjusting shims, checking level, filling a bit more...

Well, my filtration plan will have to change. The rim of the tank is too wide for even the AC70. I think I'll go for a tidal 110 & an additional sponge filter instead of the AC50 & AC70.

I picked up a dozen bags of black Activ Flora black sand from the retail store. I'm planning on using it as my one & only substrate. Not sure if 12 bags will be enough, but we'll see how it looks here in a couple days. The 40B started with Flourite, that I eventually capped with the Activ Flora, but that was a pain... The rock & wood I already have. I ended up pulling most of the wood out as the plants took over, but the rock is still TDC in the 40b. You can see it in the pic above with a Annubias growing out of it. It's gotta be at least a square foot. I currently have it stuck in the substrate at an angle, but I think I'll lay it more flat with pieces of driftwood poking out from underneath. But, again, I'm a total noob at aquascaping. I can't even hang a picture without making my wife frown.

Hi All, I'm a Snohomish county local who got back into fish ~1 year ago after 30 years. I've been going deep down the Co-op rabbit hole, and now have a 20 long, a 40 breeder, and a 300 gallon pond I'm attempting to overwinter in a greenhouse. I've had the 40 breeder setup for about a year while I dial in on the plant & animal husbandry. Now with CO2, I'm feeling pretty dialed in on this setup. However, I'm just bursting out of it, and I'm getting ready to transfer most of the fish & plant stock over to a 125g. What I'm wishing to do is re-home my 3 pear gouramis, as the male is just super shy, and spooks even if I look at the tank from across the room. With the expanded capacity, I'm looking to add angelfish and some jurupari's. I'm pretty new at this, but see my plan below. I'm open to feedback on... everything! here's the 40b that will seed the new 125g: here's the layout & stocking plan for the new 125g. The only fish stocking changes I've noted are the removal of the 3 gouramis, and the addition of angelfish and jurupari's: