anewbie

Actually it is quite easy to grow a very dense planted aquarium without co2; and the above tank did a great job with texture. You just have to pick the right plants. This is my 29 and while it is not nearly as nice as the above aquarium it has a high density despite removing massive amount of plants each week (again no co2): I do like the idea of adding a couple of coffee anubia to the left but while the angel is in there i need some open area. - The question is what plants you grow and most colourful plants ('cept floaters) do a lot better with co2. also things do tend to grow a lot faster with co2 - this is my 40B: Though nothing extremely difficult to grow is visible in the picture; the density is greater and there are a few lower plants that will pretty much only do well with co2. Unfortunately one of my cat fishes decided to eat them a few weeks ago (had them for 2 years; so it is kind of annoying). I do like co2 in some cases but I think it is over rated in other cases - because in experience people will jump on the co2 band wagon without understanding their object and what is required to achieve them. I will say that type of water you have also makes a big difference on the type of plants you can grow as well as temperature - again a lot depends on the specific type of plant you wish to grow and these are factors that most folks ignore. - Having said all this a simple of rule of thumb - dont' force a plant to grow in your environment if it won't grow - switch to something that likes your conditions (ph, temp, hardness); or do due diligence to figure out that exact requirements required (i personally find that to be too much effort 😉 )

Aquariums come in different standard size and heights; i would avoid 24 inch tall aquariums and if you have shorter arms; limit to 18 - standard heights seem to be 12, 16 (not common but 40B and similar); 18 (20 h, 29, ...), 21 (75 and similar), 24, and taller. - I have a 120 which is 4x4x2 (ft) and the height is annoying - this is a not too old picture (it is over stocked but primary stocking are festums, angels and clown loaches) - they will get a new home in approx 8 weeks with some going in 550 and others in a 450. Anyway for the larger aquariums if you are buying pre-made marineland and aqueon are the major brands. For custom made aquariums my research suggest custom aquariums is the best bang for the buck (i only like glass aquariums). My 120 (below) is a marineland aquarium on a rj enterprise stand. I find the marineland tank to be decent build relative to the smaller aqueon i have (not sure if this is a brand thing or size thing). You should be aware of weight factor and if the location is suitable for the weight as larger aquariums get very heavy very fast. My 120 is powered via canister filters (fx6+eheim 2227); but all future aquariums will either be matten filters or sump - i've decided i hate canister filters. I was going to do my 180s with mattern filters but custom aquarium woudln't warranty them if i modified them (glue in the support to hold the sponge); so i bailed and went with sumps with them - but in the future if i get more 180s i will use matten filters (you can look at swisstropical website for explanation). @Mmiller2001recently got a large aquarium from somewhere but not sure where. Some interesting standard sizes: 125 gallon is 6 feet long and 21 inches high - I can't find a standard aquarium size that is 21 inches or lower and greater than 125 gallon - if you go 24 inches high you can go up to 180 but i strongly recommend you get something 18 or 21 inches high depending on arm length. - If you get a custom aquarium (glass cages, custom aquariums, ....) you can get any size that makes you happy. I'm making my custom aquariums 4 feet deep (front to back) since i like a lot of depth - the 550 is 10 foot long. - The thing is that for a planted aquarium you have to manage the plants so you will want to be able to reach the bottom easily. As for stocking - that is up to you - i prefer smaller fishes - the only fish larger than an angelfish i would consider (personally) is a chocolate cichild but most of my fishes will range from 6 inches to 1 inch - even in a large aquarium - oh one other large fish i will be adding (to the 440) is a group of geo - likely mirabllis if i can find them. If you are ok with acrylic (I'm not); then there are other vendors to consider but do a lot of research - one issue you run into with a bad vendor is they are too thin and will bow over time and eventually fail. - When you price a larger aquarium - you have to consider how you will light it and how you will mount the lights. There are a lot of options from super expensive (ghl 7004/7006) to super cheap (flood lights on amazon - $40 a shot). For my new aquariums I'm using a mixter of ghl (they were extremely expensive) and ai new blade. i like the blade in that it comes in longer lengths for larger aquariums - though i only needed the 4 foot units - you can get 6 and (i think) 8 feet units. It is a new product - i can say from the 30 inch unit i picked up to test on a 29 it is fairly strong and pretty decent balance - but i haven't had it long enough to comment on robustness - i prefer it to wrgb2 and plant 3.0 so if it turns out to be durable as the plant 3.0 i'll be pretty happy with them.

So an item like this one: https://pvcpipesupplies.com/2-x-1-2-bushing-sxt-438-247.html?gclid=CjwKCAjw__ihBhADEiwAXEazJkvk5-nef4RKKM70Osbo3ihE8-S_sbzAkEwpU84FGGwrfV2K45YbdRoCxZ4QAvD_BwE I'm going to run my 550 with the reactor i made for a while but i'll look into changing it with something like this - basically it is a 10 foot aquarium so i could get 8 feet tube and put it on the back of the stand and then send the water into the sump return to be distributed by the returns.

Well it doesn't just sit there (I think); it slowly dissolves into the water. What specific part did you use for the ends to cap the pvc pipe but also had fittings for 3/4 barbs (or whatever you used).

how much did it cost to build and what did you use? When I built my cerges reactor out of a 2 foot water filter - the total cost was around $55 (most of it being the water filter housing); the pia part was double checking everything in the bath-tub for leaks under pressure and adjusting the fittings (i.e, putting lots of plumber tape around them) so they wouldn't leak. If I had to do it again it would take less time but the cost is bounded by the water filter casing which is not cheap. I suppose if i use plain pvc or similar it would be less. - Did you post pictures of parts and assembly your tube - i don't remember seeing them. I know that but in the vertical canister it can't escape anywhere since the outlet is at the bottom. In a horizontal tube it can escape if it can get to the hole at the other end where the water exit - i realize as i wrote it it wasn't well said but as the water rises the gas will be pushed to escape (potentially). While water has higher viscosity; gas also has a viscosity.

I almost never see dwarf cichild lock lip; i see it more frequent with angelfishes and similar. I never seen m/m lock lip but a google search suggest they can to establish territory - more common with africans. One person claims m/m rams will lock lips to establish territories (mine never did; but i only had them a couple of years). With angelfishes that i've kept a number of years the males never really establish territory and it is the female that runs around locking lip with males to (i presume) 'test' them. When she rejects a fish she doesn't lock lip she drives them away or kills them if they insist on staying near.

Isn't it a bit trickier than that; you have to ensure that the co2 doesn't leave the horizontal bar before it dissolves - I have to go back to the uk thread to see how he made it but basically my understanding is a 1 inch diameter pvc tube that is a few feet long - you inject co2 in one end and you hope by the time the water flows out the other it has dissolved - the in and out holes should be closer to the bottom of the tube's diameter in hope that the co2 rises to the top of the tube while it dissolves. The picture he has shows air on the top side of the tube with the water on the bottom but in reality there is nothing that prevents the tube from filling up completely with water and the co2 being forced lower. Did i miss something ? - With the water filter reactor the water is drawn from the bottom and the co2 goes to the top and slowly dissolve so the only way it can enter the bottom is via diffusion. Also with the water filter approach you can visually see what is happening if you use a clear one (i suppose the long horizontal tubing could also be clear so you could ensure the co2 is not escaping out the end prior to dissolving. Now the horizontal has the advantage that there is more area for the water to come in contact with the co2 so more can dissolve into the water faster (in my case the water filter diameter is around 4 inches and we can see this would be significantly less than 4 feet a horizontal solution could provide on a moderate size aquarium). However - and this is more a question - i'm not sure the horizontal would be more efficient if we consider effiiciency the amount of co2 injected into the system to reach a certain saturation level - that is while you can dissolve more co2 in the horizontal design it is not clear to myself naively that given a certain amount of co2 released from the canister into the reactor it can dissolve more of the gas - with the vertical design i presume the xtra co2 just sits at the top of the reactor until it eventually dissolves but is not lost from the system.

A few comments; a reactor (made from filter jar) should be no more likely to clog than the spray bar reactor; it really makes no difference if the reactor is vertical or horizontal (I think) if the length is the same; it might be that by having it horizontal the co2 spread across a greater area to diffuse and that might be the difference. Also the spray bar (co2 or otherwise) is no difference in that it has a pump and is not passive (with the filter jar I have i also have a dedicated pump). Another difference might be how the co2 enters the aquarium (though it is not clear to me why one would be better than the other); i have mine set to enter via the returns which are lower in the water column than your spray bar but there are gaps between each point of entry - which are evenly spread across the back of the aquarium - with the spray bar the return is more evenly spread across the back but is also likely higher (hit the water at a higher level - not sure if that is better or worse - naively i would think this is worse as the co2 would be higher in the water column and escape faster by passing lower plants. - At no point did i mention filter so i think this is something you added to the discussion - i merely the design of your aquarium's filter system gave you a convenient place to put the long tube - for others they would have to place it under the stand or behind the aquarium - for me behind the aquarium would be a bit of an eye store (I'm setting up a 10 footer).

I'm a bit confused why your design is more efficient than a normal reactor; the one i made is 2 feet high; other than perhaps if you have a long aquarium you can increase the length beyond 2 feet - maybe as long as 8 feet. However the negative is that you need a place to put it whether it is behind or in the aquairum. Your particular aquarium has an attached filter with a divider that provides a good location for the long bar; but suppose you had a more traditional aquarium without the dvider (btw the divider has a negative because it takes in tank area away from fishes and plants); and for example a more traditional sump below the aquarium - now where are you going to place the bar - my guess is at the back of the aquarium but now it is more of an eye sore.... or am i missing something ?

Locking lips between m/f is usually a test of male suitability as a partner. You know females don't want some weakly to breed with... some species of apistogramma are very easy to sex but hongsloi are particularly difficult. I had a mature female that nearly everyone thought was a male until she got around to laying eggs and then we knew she was a female.

My understanding is diatoms feed on silicon and you are using ro water; so you have control over the silicon level.

The two i like are pinto (or if i can't find pinto then golden) nana (really quite lovely) and afzelii. There is also a gold coin (not to be confused with golden nana) which i don't love but it some folks love it.

I'd watch your fishes very carefully; whenever i approach 1.0 they start gasping.

I think they most of the Laetacara spieces get around 3 inches for males - less for females. Laetacara thayeri might be closer to 5 inch - it is not visually as attractive and less common. Depending on taste araguaiae have a bit more colour but males are probably around 3-3.5 inch. Oddly enough thayeri is sometime called false keyholes. Also araguaiae don't do that great in a group - better as a pair.

Water parameters? Water parameters make a difference between easy to breed and hard to breed; softer water is always a winner with sa fishes.

Yea I'm going to put keyhole in my 40B when i move it to the new ~120 (18hx30wx72); also going to put in a few p. leopoldi... but i don't want to comment on them yet as i haven't own them. Another interesting fish to consider are Laetacara (pick your favorite species though curviceps, dorsigera and araguaiae are most common); they are a little smaller than keyhole and a little more colourful but can't comment on how their behavior differ - they are pair forming.

Couple of comments: panda gara will eat bba - they are a bit on the aggressive side when they eat (they don't attack other fishes but they will push them away in their eagerness to get food) You might double check but off hand i think keyhole cichild like being in a group; also they mate for life.... so ...

Decades? Depends on size and type. Mine hasn't made a dent; neither have my larger L204 - but they L204 did devour a large piece of Cholla Wood which was kind of sad because he loved hiding in it until he ate through it. I think that only took about 18 months.

The ones i have doesn't appear to eat plants; they do require wood. I do have something eating my Blyxa novo; but i think it is either the whiptail or young bn.

Likely too young to sex; even if they are old enough a more detail picture would be required. This link can help you sex them and you can read others experience on breeding them: https://www.planetcatfish.com/common/species.php?species_id=2178

I picked up my L204 from petco for around $20 just before the pandemic: Since the pandemic our local petco has not been so great....

Yep I agree; just noting an interesting experience - one i doubt would work with any other species of cory or likely to be easily repeated.

They are some what similar to some species of apistogramma; but they are more territorial and 'stronger' fishes; they are peaceful outside their territory but a 29 is fairly small with regards to floor space so depending on how you scape the aquarium their territorial might be 1/4 to 1/2 the bottom of the 29. Also they love to dig - give them deep soft sand and a rock or piece of driftwood they will gladly dig a little nest under it.

Kribs are vicious monsters; so anything that stays away from them will work - i.e, most mid level/surface fishes - tetra, rasbora, guppies (if your water is hard enough), barbs, rainbows, .... there are many options (not sure any of them are found in the same habitat of kribs). I did manage to get a school of pygmy cory to co-habit with kribs - i think i lost 2 but after the kribs 'learned' they were harmless they allow them to swim with their frys - once this happen - the pygmy would literally follow the kribs around the aquarium - using them as 'body guards'; really was quite amusing. - My one hate for kribs was that they were extremely proficient breeders ensuring their frys got lots of food. The first few times this is a lot of fun - but after a relatively short period of time you will find yourself overwhelmed with trying to catch them - much like bn pleco (i have a spawning pair in my 40B that have become a real problem).

They can take over the tank but unlike duckweed they are easy to get rid of - i routinely throw away a large amount during my weekly water change; but since they are a larger plant i could easily remove them from the aquarium. The headache with duckweed is that it is very difficult to remove 100% of it - esp from a larger aquarium - though a good surface current will really dampen it (as well as most floaters).