jasper5150 Posted February 8, 2022 Share Posted February 8, 2022 (edited) I have had this tank for a couple years now. Have randomly put in plants and deco over time. The wood piece is nice but it just didn’t look right where it was at. I also wanted to increase the amount of hiding spots smaller animals could go, like shrimp. So, I came up with this. Still a work in progress, aren’t they all. I took 2” PVC and cut a small section in half, sanded the edges so it wouldn’t damage any fins and created hideouts for the smaller ones. Also, took some rocks in the back yard and built up an area for the lava rock, creating another hiding spot. I do have shrimp in the tank but they are using the heater suction cups as hiding spots. As they get bigger,🤞, I wanted them to have other areas to go. For plants, in the back are Amazon sword, pogostemon stellatus octopus, water sprite and moneywort. The rest are Java ferns, Anubias barteri and a couple crypts that I hope will take hold. PS—trying to add photos but it keeps putting them upside down🤔 Edited February 14, 2022 by jasper5150 Plant name 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Zenzo Posted February 8, 2022 Administrators Share Posted February 8, 2022 I like the PVC cave idea. I have done something similar in the past. Would love to see a pic if you are able to figure out how to load them right side up! 😄 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasper5150 Posted February 8, 2022 Author Share Posted February 8, 2022 (edited) Here’s the before… …and after. Can see one of the PVC hideouts. The other is behind the piece of driftwood and under the big piece Edited February 8, 2022 by jasper5150 No caption 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torrey Posted February 8, 2022 Share Posted February 8, 2022 Nice! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasper5150 Posted February 15, 2022 Author Share Posted February 15, 2022 So, here we go. Just about a week after changing things around, plants are starting to take off. The big guys in the back are growing and sending down shoots to the gravel! Stem plants are adding new leaves and my red root floaters are multiplying. Took a bunch of floaters and put in the six-gallon betta tank we have along with a cutting of wisteria. Java ferns have quite a few rhizomes starting and the anubias are showing signs of new growth. So exciting! Since the start of this, I have hung my light from the ceiling, giving some space from the top of the tank. I have also set the timer to have the lights on for only four hours at a time, twice a day, with a four hour break between the two. The other eight hours is at night, light off, so we can sleep since the tank is in our bedroom. Tested the water today, 0/0/0. No water change today! Just topped off for evaporation. Check again later in the week. Added a dose of Easy Green and Easy Carbon. All my residents seem to be in good spirits. My new additions, four Corydera Julii, seem to be full of energy. Don’t want to be too far from the older corys. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PineSong Posted February 15, 2022 Share Posted February 15, 2022 Tank looks great--your plants look quite healthy. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torrey Posted February 15, 2022 Share Posted February 15, 2022 ORD😍😍😍 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasper5150 Posted February 16, 2022 Author Share Posted February 16, 2022 On 2/14/2022 at 6:15 PM, PineSong said: Tank looks great--your plants look quite healthy. Thanks! Lots of trial and error but starting to pay off 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rory Waliser Posted February 16, 2022 Share Posted February 16, 2022 Love the floating plants! Nice work! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasper5150 Posted February 17, 2022 Author Share Posted February 17, 2022 The floating plants were a suggestion from ACO. They have really helped balance my tanks parameters and give some shade to my lower light plants 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasper5150 Posted February 22, 2022 Author Share Posted February 22, 2022 Added some Java moss to give the shrimp and baby cory julii some safe places to rest. Cleaned the glass with the MagFloat I purchased. That thing is great! No more wet hands! Did a small water change and added some more Easy Root Tab to the Amazon sword and crypts 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasper5150 Posted March 22, 2022 Author Share Posted March 22, 2022 Has been awhile since I last posted. Have done some minor changes with the stem plants and added some Brazilian pennywort along with dwarf water lettuce. Trimmed up the back plants so the floaters could be moved around with the additional air stone I added last week. Needed additional movement and air flow. Also, added a shrimp feeding tube to help keep the substrate clean and makes cleanup so much easier! The corys like to hang out in the dish. Their personal buffet. 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasper5150 Posted July 6, 2022 Author Share Posted July 6, 2022 (edited) Has been awhile! Tank is still doing good. Still have 2 cherry barbs, 4 cory catfish, 3 Nerite snails and a bajillion other snails that were among the moss I purchased a few months ago. Added 4 large Amano shrimp to help keep the algae down. You can see one in the upper left on the thermometer. I lost Frank the betta. Even the med trio couldn’t help him pull through. The Java ferns are doing well. So many sprouts! Have attached quite a few to rocks and positioned throughout. About time to do some more picking, again! Have been contemplating guppies. I saw some Endlers yesterday that I really liked. Any recommendations? Edited July 6, 2022 by jasper5150 Photo upside down🙃 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted August 15, 2022 Share Posted August 15, 2022 On 3/21/2022 at 8:42 PM, jasper5150 said: What an awesome photo. On 2/14/2022 at 5:48 PM, jasper5150 said: These too! Awesome photography work 🙂 On 7/6/2022 at 10:37 AM, jasper5150 said: Have been contemplating guppies. I saw some Endlers yesterday that I really liked. Any recommendations? Hm.... Maybe a Gourami or some nano species. Silvertip tetras seem to be in people's minds because they look so cool in a video ACO posted. I think your tank would do really well with some green neons and something like that which will contrast really well with the wood and substrate colors. How is the tank doing, how are the fish and plants doing? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minanora Posted August 15, 2022 Share Posted August 15, 2022 I love your tank! It's coming along nicely. Your cories are super adorable. I'm on team guppy but honestly if depends on your water parameters for my recommendations. If you have soft acidic water, I say a decent school of chili Rasboras, Phoenix Rasboras or exclamation point Rasboras. They're small but super fun. Otherwise, 3 or 4 guppies would be fun. Endlers are nice but they may predate on shrimpletts so just be aware that they may help stabilize a neocaridina shrimp population. Guppies may, but I'm my experience they're less interested. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasper5150 Posted August 16, 2022 Author Share Posted August 16, 2022 On 8/14/2022 at 11:33 PM, nabokovfan87 said: What an awesome photo. These too! Awesome photography work 🙂 Hm.... Maybe a Gourami or some nano species. Silvertip tetras seem to be in people's minds because they look so cool in a video ACO posted. I think your tank would do really well with some green neons and something like that which will contrast really well with the wood and substrate colors. How is the tank doing, how are the fish and plants doing? Thank you for the compliments. This hobby is definitely a trial and error on so many levels! I do like gouramis but would like to have some schooling fish. I have been looking into the nanos. The tank is doing good. Java ferns are still producing but have a potassium deficiency. Going to add an extra dose of easy green per week for a month and see how that does. Fish are good. Lost a Cory so now have just 3. The Amano shrimp are cleaning the heck out of the tank. 3 of them are larger than the cherry barbs! I’ll have to try and get a picture. The hitchhiker snails have exploded in population and are everywhere but they are helping to keep the algae down. On 8/15/2022 at 6:36 AM, Minanora said: I love your tank! It's coming along nicely. Your cories are super adorable. I'm on team guppy but honestly if depends on your water parameters for my recommendations. If you have soft acidic water, I say a decent school of chili Rasboras, Phoenix Rasboras or exclamation point Rasboras. They're small but super fun. Otherwise, 3 or 4 guppies would be fun. Endlers are nice but they may predate on shrimpletts so just be aware that they may help stabilize a neocaridina shrimp population. Guppies may, but I'm my experience they're less interested. Thank you! I love my Cory’s. Sadly, I lost one so now only three. I have been thinking of the rasboras or endlers since they’re smaller and I could go with a larger group of them. Guppies might be better since I have been thinking of adding some cherry shrimp. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minanora Posted August 16, 2022 Share Posted August 16, 2022 On 8/16/2022 at 6:47 AM, jasper5150 said: Thank you for the compliments. This hobby is definitely a trial and error on so many levels! I do like gouramis but would like to have some schooling fish. I have been looking into the nanos. The tank is doing good. Java ferns are still producing but have a potassium deficiency. Going to add an extra dose of easy green per week for a month and see how that does. Fish are good. Lost a Cory so now have just 3. The Amano shrimp are cleaning the heck out of the tank. 3 of them are larger than the cherry barbs! I’ll have to try and get a picture. The hitchhiker snails have exploded in population and are everywhere but they are helping to keep the algae down. Thank you! I love my Cory’s. Sadly, I lost one so now only three. I have been thinking of the rasboras or endlers since they’re smaller and I could go with a larger group of them. Guppies might be better since I have been thinking of adding some cherry shrimp. I will say, with a good group of Shrimp, you'll have no issues with any of those species eating them all. They leave the adults alone and you have good hiding for babies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted August 16, 2022 Share Posted August 16, 2022 On 8/16/2022 at 6:47 AM, jasper5150 said: Lost a Cory so now have just 3. Same thing happened to me. Give them time, maybe you'll get a spawn soon! On 8/16/2022 at 6:47 AM, jasper5150 said: Java ferns are still producing but have a potassium deficiency. Could it be that they are getting burned by the light? It happens to some anubias as well because they prefer indirect light as opposed to being right under the light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasper5150 Posted August 29, 2022 Author Share Posted August 29, 2022 On 8/16/2022 at 3:05 PM, nabokovfan87 said: Same thing happened to me. Give them time, maybe you'll get a spawn soon! Could it be that they are getting burned by the light? It happens to some anubias as well because they prefer indirect light as opposed to being right under the light. I have upped the dosing of Easy Green the last couple weeks. My ferns are doing much better. The pinholes have reduced and there is new growth! I added 10 cherry shrimp last week. They are so small compared to the monstrous Amanos. At the most, I have seen 6 at one time. Hoping the others are hiding in the piles of moss and rocks. The other fish seem to be leaving them alone. The only ones I have been concerned about are the Cherry Barbs. They were interested at first but have seemed to lose interest. I'm hoping to get some offspring with these guys. Have been interested in trying to start a nice sized colony. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasper5150 Posted August 29, 2022 Author Share Posted August 29, 2022 Here is an updated view of this tank 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted August 29, 2022 Share Posted August 29, 2022 Awesome progress. Nicely done, Keep it up!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasper5150 Posted August 31, 2022 Author Share Posted August 31, 2022 My big boy albino catfish making an appearance. He usually is hiding in the back of the tank. Can see one of the large Amano shrimp just above him on the stick. On 8/29/2022 at 2:48 PM, nabokovfan87 said: Awesome progress. Nicely done, Keep it up!!! Thank you!! Have really enjoyed this hobby. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasper5150 Posted November 4, 2022 Author Share Posted November 4, 2022 Has been a couple months since the last update. Everything in the tank is doing great! The 10 cherry shrimp I added has now grown to at least 10 times that amount. I added a photo of the shrimp enjoying a piece of Repashy. The plants are growing like crazy! There seems to be a buildup on the inside of the glass. It’s tough to remove with an algae scraper and the mag float. Makes it look like the water is a bit cloudy. Guess I just need to scrape it more often. The snail infestation seems to have died back. Reducing the amount of food has helped that. I was able to take some clippings of the background plants and plant those in the 6 gallon. Should help suck up excess nutrients in that tank. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted November 4, 2022 Share Posted November 4, 2022 On 11/4/2022 at 12:02 PM, jasper5150 said: There seems to be a buildup on the inside of the glass. It’s tough to remove with an algae scraper and the mag float. Makes it look like the water is a bit cloudy. Guess I just need to scrape it more often. I highly recommend the blades if you've never used them. I take the half of the mag-float and just scrape it by hand with the blade and that seems to be very effective. There are also blade style manual scrapers with telescopic or long arms that might work for what you're looking at too. 🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasper5150 Posted November 4, 2022 Author Share Posted November 4, 2022 Thanks! I will need to pick up the scraper for the float and give it a try. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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