Kevin F.

Yep that's why I got the bottom scratches

Sorry y'all, don't know what happened to last week's post. I must have not hit submit. Tank is doing good though. The val has had a little die back after the replant, but there is still some that has already reached the top of the water. Tried a different food this week, repashy bottom scratches. The fish loved it. They picked and pick at it. The Cory's rolled part of it around until it was gone. While cleaning the tank today I moved some of the moss and a shrimp came out ran around my hand and back into the moss it went. I had no idea any of them were still alive. Even if it's the only one I still think it's cool that aftwr I gave up hope there they are. Water parameters were all exactly the same.

The fish loved it. The Cory's rolled it around the bottom until it was gone.

I'm going to get alot done today, thanks to the fast shipping and excellent packaging. I also get to try my hand at Repashy for the first time.

Got all the vall pulled out. Man what a mess, there was so much detritus in there. I sorted all the val got rid of the ones with no roots and gave them a good trim before replanting. I also put in about 10 root tabs were I replanting. Gave the pogo a good trim. And will I was cleaning o e of the giant danios got stuck in the moss ripping it loose from the cave. Should have waited till to day to take photos it is looking good. I did about a 40% water change. All the numbers were exactly the same as last week.

Two week update. Tank is doing ok. Had another oto die and some of the other fish weren't looking good. I recently started feeding some freeze-dried blood worms, I started noticing the problems not to long after. The food is not expired but it did have a small oder so I dumped it out and near the bottom of the container was mold. I stopped feeding this did a 30% water change and everyone perked right up the next day. That was bonkers. I have to say I appreciate Xtreme and there clear container even more now. I also took some befor and after shots of how the Easy Carbon did on the driftwood and plants. I am really pleased with the results. I used the method of taking the wood out putting Easy Carbon on it letting it set then rinsing it in tank water and putting it back. It killed all yhe beard algae and the plants look better. In a couple more weeks they'll be back to normal. Trimmed the val today. I'm going to have to take it out and replant it due to the fiah and snails uprooting most of it. This will also give me a chance to put in some blockades to help keep it just in the center. I will probably do that in about 3 or 4 weeks. Next week I'm going to start on the left side trimming and getting the algae off the drift wood. I did a 40% water change today. Nitrate 10/10? Nitrite 0/0 Hardness 300/150 Buffer 80/80 pH 7.2/7.2 Chlorine 0/0 Ammonia 0/0

Week 65. Lost two of the new Oto's so far. The rest have fattened up nicely and are even taking time to mess with each other. All other fish are good. Haven't seen any of the shrimp in a while though. I thank next time I try shrimp I'll start with a larger group. The easy carbon is doing really well on the driftwood and plants attached to it. I don't dose the tank directly because of the val. I take out the driftwood hose it down with Easy Carbon let it set for a min, shake off the excess and put it back in the tank while I'm doing a water change. I am really happy with it. Did a 30% water change yesterday. Nitrate 10/25 Nitrite 0/0 Hardness 300/300 Buffer 80/80 pH 7.2/7.2 Chlorine 0/0 Ammonia 0/0

Week 63/64. I tell you when it rains. Again no update last week do to stuff. Tank is doing good. I did loose two of the otos thos week. I have one more that is still really skinny and not eating. He hangs around the moss and just sits there. The rest arw getting fat and happy. Update on using the Easy Carbon to combat beard algae. The peace I treated is completely free of algae now. So this week I took out another piece of wood sprayed it down with Easy Carbon let it set for 2 minutes, rinsed it off and put it back in the tank. We'll see how it does. I'm hoping for the same result as before. Did a 30% water change today. I wrote down the numbers but had to run out for a couple hours for our Sunday night Youth meeting and the wife through it away in accident. Not her fault I should have budgeted my time better and posted before I left. I do remember that nothing was out of spec. That one cory was at it again to. I finished cleaning wad putting stuff up and I watched him swim across the tank and crash into the Pogostemon Stella's and just sit there forever.

@xXInkedPhoenixX ya they have been really hard to get. At least in my area.

Week 62. Sorry I missed last week, had to take care of some stuff. Don't worry all is well. Couple changes this week. First thing I had got some shrimp for the 10 gallon to see how they would do in our water. They were doing great untill the tank started leaking. We got lucky it started separating at one of the seams. It was put together so poorly you can put your finger between the glass on all four sides. So now the 125 has 4 shrimp. I have seen theme once in a week and a half. The tank also got nine more Oto's today bringing there total to 12. One of the fish decided again to rip up most of the val. I don't know why he is doing it. Did a 40% water change today. Tried some of the plants. I also took out the small piece of wood, sprayed it with Easy carbon to see if it will do anything to the beard algae. Let it set for a couple min shook off the excess and put it back in. Waited to late for water change so I'll add fertilizer before the lights come on tomorrow.

Week 60. No huge change this week. I have noticed since I started feeding Xtreme krill flakes, I've had more suff floating in the tank and the fish have had a lot more solid movements and a lot seam to get hung and stream behind the fish. Fish color has greatly improved with this food. Reds are really red. The pleco really loves them. He tour up a big piece of the val thing it hit some that went in it. One of the Cory's didn't waste any time going under it like a cave. Water change today, 40%. Nitrate 0/10 Nitrite 0/0 Hardness 300/300 Buffer 80/80 pH 7.2/7.2 Chlorine and Ammonia 0/0 One cory still love to sleep in odd places.

Week 59. Got a new air pump last week. I went with the Tetra Whisper AP150. Can't believe the difference in output. I originally thought the bubble curtain was clogged, nope just didn't have enough input. There is a much better water flow in the tank now. When I first turned it on there was so much gunk that came out of the corkscrew. The tank also seems brighter. Fish and plants are doing great. Did a 40% water change today. The numbers for after the change were exactly the same as last week.

Week 58. Tank is doing good. Had some algae move in when I didn't fertilize right last week. 40% water change this week and I switched the position of the filters. I was really tired of the ac500 pushing the Pogostemon Stella's down. I thank it looks a lot better this way the pogo can stand up now and the ac input was getting to much moss in it. This puts the intake in a clear spot for both filters. Nitrate 0/25 Nitrite 0/0 Hardness 300/300 Buffer 80/80 pH 7.2/7.2 Chlorine and Ammonia both 0/0

Week 57. Sorry I didn't update Sunday like normal. It's been a really busy couple days. Fish and tank are doing great. I should be back on schedule this Sunday.

I used Eco Complete in my 125. It's been running for just over a year now, and I really like it. It dosent have any added fertilizer to it like some of the others. So you will have to use root tabs with it. The thing I really like about it is since it is lava rock it has all kinds of surface area. This makes it a lot easier for the plants to dig there roots into it. As for the fertilizer in the water column, you will have to do that no mater what you use.

@nabokovfan87 that's one of the ones I've been looking at. I had one before and it only lasted a couple years. Has there quality improved over the last 10 years?

Week 56. Tank is doing good. Fish are doing great. No changes this week. Well there want be any changes till fall when the temperatures come down. It's been so hot even the big box stores are having problems with fish and plants. Cleaning the glass tops today. Tried some 0000 steel wool and distilledwhitevinegar. The glasstops have neverbeen so clean. Did a 40% water change today. First number is before water change second one is after. Nitrate 0/25 Nitrite 0/0 Hardness 300/300 Buffer 80/80 pH 7.2/7.6 Chlorine 0/0 Ammonia 0/0

Week 55. No changes this week except I moved the two Oto's that were in the 10 gallon into the 125. Now there are four. I really need to trim the val again. Air pump is getting weaker. I really need to fi d a good one. Problem is all the ones for deeper tanks are dual outlet and I need a single. Any suggestions for a good air pump that can handle being under the tank. Water is a little cloudy after water change. Forgot to right down the test results. If I remember correctly it was about the same as last week.

Week 54. Trimmed a little on the Pogostemon Stella's. The pink flamingo lost all but two of its leaves. Everything else seems to be doing g fine. Fish are doing aot better. Back to eating everything that goes in the tank. Was really worried about the hill stream loaches, after the tank getting so hot. They are all doing good though. Even had some territorial fighting during feeding yesterday. Water change Nitrate 10/25 Nitrite 0/0 Hardness 300/300 Buffer 80/80 pH 7.2/7.2 Chlorine 0/0 Ammonia 0/0

@Bev CSorry to hear you're val didn't make it. Mine took off after a lot of root tabs, increasing the light and adding mor fertilizer. After last winter we've deen looking into a generator also.

Week 53. Tank is stable. We had our ac go out last week and the house got quite warm. Even with two large ziplock bags of ice it still got up to 85 in there. The val has some color change on the tops. Rest of the plants seem ok. Fish got really stressed and stayed that way for a couple days. Really glad I have tops on the tank. When they would get riled up you could hear the water splash and a couple times I heard them hit the plastic at the back of the hood. They have all calmed down down now but that was a really stressful time. Remember to always have a way to heat or cool your tank if the power or central hvac goes n out. I did have a plant come back threat I thought was gone.Ignore the alga. I leave it on part of the sides and back. It must of went dormant and decided to come back. Water change and again I didn't remember to do a test before water change. Number is after change Nitrate 25 Nitrite 0 Hardness 300 Buffer 80 pH 7.6 Ammonia 0 Chlorine 0

@xXInkedPhoenixX there will be more Oto's when the weather cools back off been over 100 for more than 40 days. So no ordering anything right now. Thanks for all the encouragement.

@Solstice_Lacer they are definitely one of my favorite fish.

That's one year!!!! Can't believe it's been a year already. Equipment as of now. Filter, one Aqua Clear 500 and one emperor pro 450. Lighting, one 24 inch fluval plant 3.0 and ine 48 inch fluval plant 3.0. Heater one 300 watt marine land. Air pump Apollo AM5, needs to be replaced. Dechlorinator, Prime. Fertilizer, Aquarium Co-op easy green and easy iron. Water testing Aquarium Co-op test strips and API master test. Food a little bit everything. The tank has not filled in like I hoped it would over the year. Some of this was due to the first lights were way to weak and not enough Fertilizer to start off with. If I could change one thing. I would have added a first layer latterite under the gravel or just put in a hole bunch or root tabs from the start. Another think I would change even though I love it is the moss. It just makes a mess, I have to pick up pieces of it all over the tank every week. Last thing is the amount of substrate, really wish it was a little deeper. Stock list. 1 SAE 4 Giant danios 2 Zebra danios 1 Peral danio 17 Harlequin rasboras 3 Albino Corydoras 1 Albino bristle nose 5 Articulated Hill stream loaches 8 Dennison Barbs 2 Army helmet Nariti snails 2 Oto's. If your wondering why only one Peral danio. When we got the zebras there were a couple mixed in they were all just too small to tell. Tank is doing good today. That one cory was at it again nose down in a plant making me thank he was dead. The black beard algae is back. Not this week but mabe next I'm going to take out some of the wood scrap the algae off and treat with alge side. Water change. I wasn't thanking and did my regular 35 40% change today. The water coming out of the tap is 79. I usually keep the tank at 74. Water test Nitrate 0/25 Nitrite 0/0 Hardness 300/300 Buffer 80/80 pH 7.2/7.2 Chlorine 0/0 Ammonia 0/0 I want to thank everyone for all the encouragement and advice over this last year. I can't wait to see where this tank goes next.

Just a picture update this week. No changes in schedule. Next week is the big one year mark.