My 75 gallon creation!

[dan12boy]

Hey everyone. My girlfriend got me a 75 gallon tank last Christmas and I just started to set it up.  This is it empty with the stand. It’s in the basement so a lot of junk beside it. My 20 gallon tall is beside it on the floor.  This is it after I added some sand. I encountered a dilemma. I bought some blasting sand but the wrong grain size. The closest store is 40 mins away so had to go return the sand for the right size. I’d already opened one so decided to not take it. Got there and they only had one bag. So that one bag is what’s in there currently. 
Now I’ve put in the fluval 407 I got yesterday. So far it’s going good. Right now I need to get the right size eheim heaters, more sand and also learn how to reduce the flow of the 407. Any help on that will be appreciated! 

This is it with just some hornwort I grabbed from my 20 long thats filled with hornwort. I also have some dwarf sag in there I think. Didn’t mean to grab that but decided to just let it in the substrate. I put some root tabs in thinking I’d be planting some plants but won’t be planting any till I get more sand. Will the nutrients from the root tab dissipate or not? Also will my water get clearer without the carbon? Because I removed those. It’s just been about 10 minutes with the filter on though so I’ll give it time.  

[Ken Burke]

On 5/14/2022 at 5:20 PM, dan12boy said:

Hey everyone. My girlfriend got me a 75 gallon tank last Christmas and I just started to set it up.  This is it empty with the stand. It’s in the basement so a lot of junk beside it. My 20 gallon tall is beside it on the floor.  This is it after I added some sand. I encountered a dilemma. I bought some blasting sand but the wrong grain size. The closest store is 40 mins away so had to go return the sand for the right size. I’d already opened one so decided to not take it. Got there and they only had one bag. So that one bag is what’s in there currently. 
Now I’ve put in the fluval 407 I got yesterday. So far it’s going good. Right now I need to get the right size eheim heaters, more sand and also learn how to reduce the flow of the 407. Any help on that will be appreciated! 

This is it with just some hornwort I grabbed from my 20 long thats filled with hornwort. I also have some dwarf sag in there I think. Didn’t mean to grab that but decided to just let it in the substrate. I put some root tabs in thinking I’d be planting some plants but won’t be planting any till I get more sand. Will the nutrients from the root tab dissipate or not? Also will my water get clearer without the carbon? Because I removed those. It’s just been about 10 minutes with the filter on though so I’ll give it time.  

That’s a start!  Water will clear, but may need a day or so. No carbon needed.
 

root tabs are a good start, but  Have figured out your hard scape yet?  I would lay in the rocks, driftwood, sunken ship, etc first.  Then lay in you plants.  
 

can’t wait to see how this comes out

[dan12boy]

On 5/14/2022 at 7:35 PM, Ken Burke said:

That’s a start!  Water will clear, but may need a day or so. No carbon needed.
 

root tabs are a good start, but  Have figured out your hard scape yet?  I would lay in the rocks, driftwood, sunken ship, etc first.  Then lay in you plants.  
 

can’t wait to see how this comes out

No I haven’t. I will be moving again to another house by the end of the year or start of next year so I don’t want to scape it too much. I’d like maybe just one big piece of spider wood or malaysian driftwood, I won’t be getting the driftwood for a while so I’m just gonna plant it once my sand is in and then move them around when I get the driftwood. I’m excited for it too, gonna be moving my inhabitants of the 20 tall and will transform that one to a shy guy’s tank, stealing Irene from girl talks fish’s idea!

[Ken Burke]

On 5/14/2022 at 7:16 PM, dan12boy said:

No I haven’t. I will be moving again to another house by the end of the year or start of next year so I don’t want to scape it too much. I’d like maybe just one big piece of spider wood or malaysian driftwood, I won’t be getting the driftwood for a while so I’m just gonna plant it once my sand is in and then move them around when I get the driftwood. I’m excited for it too, gonna be moving my inhabitants of the 20 tall and will transform that one to a shy guy’s tank, stealing Irene from girl talks fish’s idea!

That works.  Love @Irene.  Great energy, explains things like she a friend, great ideas.  Do you read any of her blogs on ACO?

[Minanora]

The grey shutoff valve lever on your 407 is also for flow control. I have the same canister in my 75g and I keep mine at about 75% open and I use the spraybar. I also adjust it periodically to simulate faster current after rainfall (water changes) to get my corydoras to spawn. I leave my pump running at about 25% with the spraybar simulating rain while I change water.

Your water will clear up in time. It may go cloudy a few times before it settles in.

[dan12boy]

On 5/15/2022 at 3:01 AM, Minanora said:

The grey shutoff valve lever on your 407 is also for flow control. I have the same canister in my 75g and I keep mine at about 75% open and I use the spraybar. I also adjust it periodically to simulate faster current after rainfall (water changes) to get my corydoras to spawn. I leave my pump running at about 25% with the spraybar simulating rain while I change water.

Your water will clear up in time. It may go cloudy a few times before it settles in.

What lever? There’s two grey things, one that I’m to put down to keep it closed I think and another to pump water into it for the initial setup. What spray bar do you have by the way? And okay thank you it’s getting a little better but I realized I need to also put a background on it. It could be the wall behind it contributing to the water looking somewhat blue. About to purchase the rest of the sand I need. What heating system do you use for your tank? Also are your corydoras alone? Or they’re spawning with their tankmates in there? 

[Minanora]

This lever: (sideways uploads today apparently)

 

I have the fluval spraybar.

I keep a community tank. My corydoras are joined by otos, Guppies, neocaridina shrimp, harlequin Rasboras, and swordtails.

[dan12boy]

On 5/15/2022 at 2:08 PM, Minanora said:

This lever: (sideways uploads today apparently)

 

I have the fluval spraybar.

I keep a community tank. My corydoras are joined by otos, Guppies, neocaridina shrimp, harlequin Rasboras, and swordtails.

I’m currently reading your adventure lol, been reading for like 10 minutes now, but thank you I’ll check that lever when I get home, can the spray bar be above the water? And is the flow only at the top? I’m just worried about my honey gourami because he doesn’t like a lot of flow, other than him the other top dweller I know is going in there are my blue eyed rainbowfish and they like/don’t mind flow. None of my bottom dwellers would be worried either. What size heater is that by the way? I have 2 200w in my 20 gallons…I know overkill but they’re in the basement and it’s always really cold down there so the 100w I had in my first 20 couldn’t keep up and the water went all the way to 65. Had a heart attack when I saw that.  I haven’t tried 150 w for my 20 gallons yet but I probably should and then put the 200 in the 75. I saw that you don’t have space for big tanks and neither do I! Especially since we’ll be moving again, don’t wanna have to dismantle to many scapes. Where’d you get your hard scapes too? The wood and stones? I want just one big piece of wood in the center with plants all around. Also what plant is that with the big leaves? 

[Minanora]

On 5/15/2022 at 11:16 AM, dan12boy said:

I’m currently reading your adventure lol, been reading for like 10 minutes now, but thank you I’ll check that lever when I get home, can the spray bar be above the water? And is the flow only at the top? I’m just worried about my honey gourami because he doesn’t like a lot of flow, other than him the other top dweller I know is going in there are my blue eyed rainbowfish and they like/don’t mind flow. None of my bottom dwellers would be worried either. What size heater is that by the way? I have 2 200w in my 20 gallons…I know overkill but they’re in the basement and it’s always really cold down there so the 100w I had in my first 20 couldn’t keep up and the water went all the way to 65. Had a heart attack when I saw that.  I haven’t tried 150 w for my 20 gallons yet but I probably should and then put the 200 in the 75. I saw that you don’t have space for big tanks and neither do I! Especially since we’ll be moving again, don’t wanna have to dismantle to many scapes. Where’d you get your hard scapes too? The wood and stones? I want just one big piece of wood in the center with plants all around. Also what plant is that with the big leaves? 

You can have the spraybar above the water. I chose not to because my husband doesn't like loud tanks. My heater is a 300W. It's a bit oversized but it was all I could find when I bought everything during that crazy coupon stacking glitch. My hardscape is all from my LFS. The plant I think you're talking about is the Nymphoides hydrophylla, Taiwan Lilly. 

[Minanora]

I missed a part of your questions, I'm sorry.

The flow is strongest at the top but it hits the front wall and makes a current that is moderately strong through the center area of my tank. There's calm spots on the far edges. you can rotate it however you want. I used to have mine pointed at the back wall.

I sometimes run at 40-50% if I'm treating the fish for illness so they can rest. Based on the manufacturers advisement... You shouldn't run much lower than 50% if you want to ensure the motor lasts past the warranty period.

I may tinker with making my spraybar vertical by removing the extra parts. Just to see what it's like.

[dan12boy]

On 5/16/2022 at 12:05 AM, Minanora said:

You can have the spraybar above the water. I chose not to because my husband doesn't like loud tanks. My heater is a 300W. It's a bit oversized but it was all I could find when I bought everything during that crazy coupon stacking glitch. My hardscape is all from my LFS. The plant I think you're talking about is the Nymphoides hydrophylla, Taiwan Lilly. 

Okay thank you, is the spray bar also a fluval purchase? I'd get my wood from my lfs but most of their wood is midsized and not large, I might have to purchase that online in the coming months. Luckily my tank is in the basement so I won't have to worry much about noise with the spray bar as long as it's not excessive. I'm wondering if just my 200 will be enough since the basement gets cold, I might do 2 200w if just one doesn't work or like you just use one 300w. From where I am in reading your adventures I saw you planned on leaving for two weeks this month, is that still a thing? If so do you worry about not doing water changes for that long? I haven't been a day away from my fish tank since last year when I set it up. I can't wait to have a home where I get to fully do all crazy aquarium stuff like having a remotely operable water changing system connected to every tank...that's a dream. Did your otos ever breed? I know that's a spoiler as I'm only on page 5 of 9 of your adventure lol!

[dan12boy]

On 5/16/2022 at 12:05 AM, Minanora said:

 The plant I think you're talking about is the Nymphoides hydrophylla, Taiwan Lilly. 

I might get that. I'm also interested in getting the bulb of the red dwarf aquarium lily, just worried it won't do good. Do you dose any ferts on your 75g? I tried growing hydrocortyle tripatita(I think is what it's called) but it just died and sort of got eaten by my snails. I don't know if I want any snails in the 75 so far but it's hard to resist and also hard to stop it from happening considering my 20 gallon which has most of the plants I will be propagating to my 75 has endless snails in there. Gonna have to rinse each plant thoroughly and because I definitely do not want any of the MTS getting in my 75. They're cute and all but it's not that much of an appealing look to have hundreds of long shelled snails all over your substrate. I found how to reduce the flow by the way! Reduced it some but not up to 50%. When I put my guppies in there from my 20 long I'll see how they fare in the new flow. If they don't struggle then I know they'll be fine. Sadly I think one of my two males is about to pass. 

[dan12boy]

Ordered the python water changer because hauling 12 5 gallon buckets to fill my tank is not something I want to experience again. I’d get my sand right now but for some reason all the tsc stores around me have none so I might order them to my girlfriend’s house and pick them up when I go there. When all that is set and ready, I’ll move my 200w heater from my 20 long to my 75 and will move my guppies there while also adding some hornwort to help with the cycling process. Also gonna add seeded media from my other tank. Might need to move the one shrimp  in there to my 20 tall because of the no heater, my snails will do fine since the water will just get to about 60-70, just worried about the shrimp. For now still kinda waiting for the water to clear up. I also got some background so before moving anything or adding any sand I’m gonna drain the water with the pythonnn, move the and stand to where I can access the back of it easily, apply the background(which is just window film I got from simply betta) and then refill with yet again my python. That’s the plan for now gonna keep y’all updated.

[Hannah Parker]

On 5/16/2022 at 10:18 AM, dan12boy said:

Ordered the python water changer because hauling 12 5 gallon buckets to fill my tank is not something I want to experience again.

The python will change your life!! You'll never go back lol

[Minanora]

The spraybar is from fluval. As for wood, you could order from a place like GLA. You contact them and tell them what your scape vision is. Both of my pieces are spiderwood.

As for heaters, my tank is in my living room and I rarely let the ambient temperature get below 60. If you're going to be moving this year maybe try the 300w at first since we're coming into summer. I had a heck of a time getting mine calibrated. But I'm sure it's user error. I keep my tank at 76-79°f in the summer, and 72-75 in the winter. The spraybar can really help disperse the heat.

I did leave for two weeks. I did 50% water changes on every tank except the 2.6. I don't change water on the 2.6. I use a Python no spill water changer. Nitrates on the 75 went from 5ppm to 40ppm while I was gone. 10ppm to 40ppm on my son's 20. 5 to 20 on the sanctuary. I didn't measure the 2.6... the fry tank was at like 80ppm when I got back but I expected that though. Last page of my adventure covers the chaos. 😂

My otos may or may not be breeding. I don't look for eggs or fry usually. Just let nature do it's thing outside of the guppy breeding.

I do fertilize the 75 now! I just started last month...😅 I don't dose nitrogen, just micros, potassium and iron. I have a thread about my algae battle in the plants subforum. I keep hydracoytle in my shrimp sanctuary. Low tech setup, just shrimp and snails. I've never tried bulb plants... I probably will at some point.

I look forward to reading more about your adventures!

Also, I am sorry to hear about your Guppy not being well. They can be fickle these days.

Also, shrimp are quite hardy. Except being dried out or starved.... At least neocaridina.

[dan12boy]

On 5/16/2022 at 2:07 PM, Minanora said:

The spraybar is from fluval. As for wood, you could order from a place like GLA. You contact them and tell them what your scape vision is. Both of my pieces are spiderwood.

As for heaters, my tank is in my living room and I rarely let the ambient temperature get below 60. If you're going to be moving this year maybe try the 300w at first since we're coming into summer. I had a heck of a time getting mine calibrated. But I'm sure it's user error. I keep my tank at 76-79°f in the summer, and 72-75 in the winter. The spraybar can really help disperse the heat.

I did leave for two weeks. I did 50% water changes on every tank except the 2.6. I don't change water on the 2.6. I use a Python no spill water changer. Nitrates on the 75 went from 5ppm to 40ppm while I was gone. 10ppm to 40ppm on my son's 20. 5 to 20 on the sanctuary. I didn't measure the 2.6... the fry tank was at like 80ppm when I got back but I expected that though. Last page of my adventure covers the chaos. 😂

My otos may or may not be breeding. I don't look for eggs or fry usually. Just let nature do it's thing outside of the guppy breeding.

I do fertilize the 75 now! I just started last month...😅 I don't dose nitrogen, just micros, potassium and iron. I have a thread about my algae battle in the plants subforum. I keep hydracoytle in my shrimp sanctuary. Low tech setup, just shrimp and snails. I've never tried bulb plants... I probably will at some point.

I look forward to reading more about your adventures!

Also, I am sorry to hear about your Guppy not being well. They can be fickle these days.

Also, shrimp are quite hardy. Except being dried out or starved.... At least neocaridina.

Okay I’ll see if the flow is okay without the spray bar otherwise I’ll get them, and thank you! I’ll try GLA out if I don’t find good wood at my LFS. What types of heaters do you use? I use the eheim ones, I already have a spare 200w that’s why I’m gonna try that one first and then if it’s not good enough I’d get a 300w or just take out my other 200w heater and use 2, then order 2 150w for both my 20s. Yes I saw the last entry in your adventure! A lot happened but not too much so you’ll definitely bounce back. I would love to try breeding otos but that’s in the far future. 

 I’ll start the planting on the 75 slowly to try to have the bio load match the nutrient needs as I slowly add more and more fish. The new fish I’m excited to get are hillstream loaches. I’m gonna try the bulb plant in my established 20 tall first, I wanna use duckweed for my breeding tank later on because I know my gourami loves the floating plants for his bubble nest. Does the duckweed take away light from the other plants in your tank?

The guppy seems fine, he’s just been in this one circle spot like he’s a girl about to pop some babies. Saw some fry in there but they’ll all be moved outside once I get a little tub. I wanna sell/get rid of most of my hornwort because it’s way too many but idk where to do that. And that one shrimp in the 20 long is constantly on the hunt for food lol, I have so much more females than males in my  20 high and I think that’s why I don’t pop that much babies…also because the other fish most definitely eat the babies but some survive though! 

 

 

My python arrives todayyy but I have to wait till after work :,) My diy brine shrimp hatchery things also arrive today. And my background. I might not do them today since I might be tired after work, might not be able to do it tomorrow because I might spend it at my girlfriend’s house but I’m off Thursday so I’ll definitely be able to do everything then. Hopefully I do something today.

[Minanora]

The spraybar kit from fluval comes with everything you need to put it in a 75. Just make sure to assemble it correctly 🤣. you could also make one out of pex or pvc. I would also ask your LFS if they get larger pieces of wood. They may be cutting some of what they get, or it gets sold quickly. I had to find out when my LFS was getting their shipments in so I could go pick wood the day after it came in.

I have an ehiem heater in my 75, a gifted aqueon 50w in my fry tank, aqueon 100w in my son's tank, gifted unknown brand 10w in my shrimp tank (it's filled with sand, I think it may be an aqueon), and a tetra 5w beta heater in my chili tank.

I'm glad you enjoyed my journal. I need to do more detailed updates on all the rest of my tasks. Plants are recovering from me being on vacation. Fish seem mostly okay. I think I may have ich in my 75, I need to keep a close eye on it. I saw an oto with a spot that looked like ich. I walked away to go get a net and he took off, I haven't seen him since. Then Mim the swordtail probably has cancer so I'm working on that as well.

I took all of the duckweed out of my 75. I have duckweed in my chili tank that does shade the plants in the tank. I also have duckweed in the fry tank but that's not on purpose. It shades a little but there's not too much. Yet.

I would ask your LFS if they want to buy Hornwort from you. I save all of my plant weights so I can sell neat uniform bundles of plants to my lfs. If I can't sell it, I compost it.

The Python changed how I feel about water changes. Lol. I love it.

[dan12boy]

On 5/17/2022 at 10:19 AM, Minanora said:

The spraybar kit from fluval comes with everything you need to put it in a 75. Just make sure to assemble it correctly 🤣. you could also make one out of pex or pvc. I would also ask your LFS if they get larger pieces of wood. They may be cutting some of what they get, or it gets sold quickly. I had to find out when my LFS was getting their shipments in so I could go pick wood the day after it came in.

I have an ehiem heater in my 75, a gifted aqueon 50w in my fry tank, aqueon 100w in my son's tank, gifted unknown brand 10w in my shrimp tank (it's filled with sand, I think it may be an aqueon), and a tetra 5w beta heater in my chili tank.

I'm glad you enjoyed my journal. I need to do more detailed updates on all the rest of my tasks. Plants are recovering from me being on vacation. Fish seem mostly okay. I think I may have ich in my 75, I need to keep a close eye on it. I saw an oto with a spot that looked like ich. I walked away to go get a net and he took off, I haven't seen him since. Then Mim the swordtail probably has cancer so I'm working on that as well.

I took all of the duckweed out of my 75. I have duckweed in my chili tank that does shade the plants in the tank. I also have duckweed in the fry tank but that's not on purpose. It shades a little but there's not too much. Yet.

I would ask your LFS if they want to buy Hornwort from you. I save all of my plant weights so I can sell neat uniform bundles of plants to my lfs. If I can't sell it, I compost it.

The Python changed how I feel about water changes. Lol. I love it.

Okay I move the guppies to the 75 today to help with the cycle and I’ll see what flow rate works for them, I can’t wait to see the little fish all over the tank. I have fry in the 20 long they’re in, saw them some days ago and I might move them to my other tank because only one that would eat them is my gourami and he’s super nice. The full plan is to move them outside into a tub for summer. The GLA place you sent me is absolutely awesome and I’ll definitely be getting hard scape from them sometime because they’re things aren’t even expensive like I expected. And yes pls give a detailed update, why’d you take the duckweed out of the 75? I’ll ask my lfs too when I go there nxt time. I hope you don’t have ich! I feel like I have it in my 20 tall but I don’t see any white spots. I just sometimes used to see some fish ‘scratch’ themselves with a plant. Haven’t seen it in a long time though. How are you gonna battle the cancer? How does that even happen? 
i got my python and I’m about to use it because I need to empty the tank to move it so I can put the background on it. 

[dan12boy]

Okay so yesterday was…something. I got the python and was super excited to use it. I looked up a YouTube video and first step, take out the aerator from the tap and then connect the brass connector thing to it. Simple enough right? Well I do that and then try to connect it…it doesn’t fit. It seems like my tap is too small. So I start thinking of how to still use the python to at least drain the tank. I use it like a regular siphon and it takes so long to drain it out and then once it does drain it to the point where I can move the tank and stand to the side to apply the background I stop it. Some water spilling had occurred from me disconnecting the canister filter and from not tightening certain parts of the python all the way. After I move the tank and apply the background I turn it back and then tried using the python to fill it back up but obviously that was a no go. I then accept my fate and begin using the bucket. Fill it up again and about 2 and a half hrs had passed by then. I then start cleaning up and I see a piece of paper from the python package…wonder what it could be. The paper says for a regular tap with an inward fitting use the connector just like that, for one with an outward fitting take out the bigger gasket and put it on. It was that big white thing I had to take out. So I do it and then guess what…it plugs onto the tap. Which means this whole time it would have worked perfectly if I’d just seen that paper on time :,) swell I finished up and now I know for next time that it works! There were some air bubbles still in the background before I filled the tank up but after filling it up I don’t see any. Just the beautiful black background. This is just my update from yesterday. Got my sand so finally going to put it in. I think I’m going to turn off the filter while I do it. I’m also gonna be cutting the intake part because it’s too long and I’m pretty sure I can do that. Got a long couple hours ahead of me as I’m also about to scrub off algae in my 20 gallon from the plants and also from the intake sponge. I’m also gonna clean the filter itself. Good luck to me! 

[Minanora]

On 5/18/2022 at 3:08 PM, dan12boy said:

Okay I move the guppies to the 75 today to help with the cycle and I’ll see what flow rate works for them, I can’t wait to see the little fish all over the tank. I have fry in the 20 long they’re in, saw them some days ago and I might move them to my other tank because only one that would eat them is my gourami and he’s super nice. The full plan is to move them outside into a tub for summer. The GLA place you sent me is absolutely awesome and I’ll definitely be getting hard scape from them sometime because they’re things aren’t even expensive like I expected. And yes pls give a detailed update, why’d you take the duckweed out of the 75? I’ll ask my lfs too when I go there nxt time. I hope you don’t have ich! I feel like I have it in my 20 tall but I don’t see any white spots. I just sometimes used to see some fish ‘scratch’ themselves with a plant. Haven’t seen it in a long time though. How are you gonna battle the cancer? How does that even happen? 
i got my python and I’m about to use it because I need to empty the tank to move it so I can put the background on it. 

I took the duckweed out of my 75 because I was sick of getting it all over my arms, shirt, dogs, son, nets, hair. Lol. Plus it would get so thick that to feed the fish I had to swoosh the food through it so the auto feeder was just making piles. I may put some in again. I have plenty. My fish flash after water changes, some of my guppies are just itchy sometimes too. Goby is about 18 months old and he occasionally just itches himself on stuff. Some of my guppies with the delta tails also like to take rests o the substrate. Worried me at first but I totally get why they do it. Their tails are heavy and I have been keeping the current up to circulate CO2. The ones that rest on the substrate weren't exercised when they were fry/juveniles like the ones I raise up now so they aren't as strong. If you're seeing lots of flashing you could give them a two course treatment of paracleanse. 

I am treating Mim with minocycline. I don't think it's going to help. It happens to swordtails and platies. It's a genetic thing that happens when you crossbreed the Xiphophorus helleri swordtail genus with the Xiphophorus maculatus platy genus. Most swordtails and platies are Xiphophorus hybrids. It is very rare to find a Xiphophorus in the trade that hasn't been hybridized to some degree.

Your tank is looking good! I put the background on my 75 without moving it. It was the biggest pain in the butt ever! Totally has bubbles, not a lot, but I like it. from an angle they remind me of stars. I'm glad you got your python to work out! I connect mine to the garden hose outside. 😛

[dan12boy]

On 5/19/2022 at 5:52 PM, Minanora said:

I took the duckweed out of my 75 because I was sick of getting it all over my arms, shirt, dogs, son, nets, hair. Lol. Plus it would get so thick that to feed the fish I had to swoosh the food through it so the auto feeder was just making piles. I may put some in again. I have plenty. My fish flash after water changes, some of my guppies are just itchy sometimes too. Goby is about 18 months old and he occasionally just itches himself on stuff. Some of my guppies with the delta tails also like to take rests o the substrate. Worried me at first but I totally get why they do it. Their tails are heavy and I have been keeping the current up to circulate CO2. The ones that rest on the substrate weren't exercised when they were fry/juveniles like the ones I raise up now so they aren't as strong. If you're seeing lots of flashing you could give them a two course treatment of paracleanse. 

I am treating Mim with minocycline. I don't think it's going to help. It happens to swordtails and platies. It's a genetic thing that happens when you crossbreed the Xiphophorus helleri swordtail genus with the Xiphophorus maculatus platy genus. Most swordtails and platies are Xiphophorus hybrids. It is very rare to find a Xiphophorus in the trade that hasn't been hybridized to some degree.

Your tank is looking good! I put the background on my 75 without moving it. It was the biggest pain in the butt ever! Totally has bubbles, not a lot, but I like it. from an angle they remind me of stars. I'm glad you got your python to work out! I connect mine to the garden hose outside. 😛

Ahh I’d either fry duckweed or frog bit or even red root floaters, tried all three in the past and only duckweed worked for me the others melted away probably because of not enough nutrients I’m guessing since my tank was low stocked at the time. I haven’t seen the flashing in a while and it never happened consistently but thank you for the tip! If it happened I’ll come back here to know what to get.

I’m guessing even those supposedly sold as true breeds have some hybrid in them. Do you know if they’re hybridized in the lakes or rivers they’re originally from? Maybe someone could get some from there if their pure breeds and actually have some with no hybridized genes. 
 

Thank you! Mine has bubbles and I realized you see them when you look at the tank from the side 😄 but not from the front so I’m fine with it. Realizing the python works with my tap was both a happy and a little mad moment because of the time I spent trying to drain and refill the tank. 

[dan12boy]

So there’s some updates. Firstly I added 1 and a quarter bags of blasting sand to the tank. I first had to rinse it which took a couple tries to get it clear and I couldn’t rinse too much else it’d take much longer. So took me about an hr and a half to do that. Especially because as I added sand the water level rose so I had to drain water to match the sand going in the tank so it didn’t rise past the tank rim and pour all over the floor. After I was done with that I began maintenance on my 20 gallon. Took out the hob filter that I haven’t cleaned for about 1-2 months and man there was so much gunk in there that I had to use some tweezers and paper towels to clean. I couldn’t even reach some parts but I cleaned off the algae and gunk from inside of it. I also took out my intake sponge and picked off as much hair algae as I could off of it then rinsed it off some before putting it back.

I took out three water wisteria that had multiple dying/dead leaves and left the healthy runners from it. I took out other plants I’d  planted a month ago that I got from petco because a) they have algae on them so wanted to try to scrub it off b) they weren’t really growing and had dying/unhealthy leaves under new growth for some so took them out to trim and replant them. So the scraping of algae with a toothbrush didn’t work at all, I had to be gentle but even when I wasn’t so gentle it still didn’t come off. So I just trimmed off dying parts and replanted them. There were a lot of pieces I was going to discard that had some amount of health to them…so I tried planting them in my 75 for now because I’m impatient loll. That altogether took about 4 hrs i believe. About 30 mins to an hour included from watching the fish.

Sadly lost two fish, one each day from the past two days. First one was a Pygmy Cory that just randomly started losing its tail and fins a while ago. Looked it up and I believe it happened somewhat often for no apparent reason with them. He survived and thrived so much longer than I expected before he gave up. The other one was my last salt and pepper Cory. I believe it was just old age that got her because she was already pretty big and chunky when I got her so she definitely wasn’t a juvenile. The first one died mysteriously some months back at the exact same time as my only Otto that has ever died. Never knew what happened to them because the water parameters were perfect which they almost always are. The 2nd salt and pepper Cory died because he was bloated and developed swim bladder problems that went away once I skipped feedings for two days but some days after that he still died. I’m pretty sure I’m done with those cories because I meant to get Pygmy cories that day anyways but was sold them with the person saying they’re the same size…well they definitely aren’t. Now down to 4 pygmies and when they go to the 75 I plan to add 11 more to make 15. 

Lastly my wonderful order from ACO arrived. I spent an extra 4 hours at work so didn’t get home till 7:45. Planted the tiger lotus bulb that I got and I’ll just put in some root tabs tomorrow. Oh yeah I forgot to add that I added root tabs around the plants I replanted and just around my whole tank especially for my pearlweed ‘garden’ and valisneria. Also added some tabs to the 75 beside the new clippings I put there. Hopefully they grow at least a little bit. On Sunday I’m going to put the intake sponge on my 75g filter’s intake. So I can move my heater there and then fish there to get my cycle going since I’ve already added seeded media and will add some more when I move them. While trying to cut the intake filter pipe to make it shorter I cut myself really bad on my finger, that made things a little harder. Might leave the fry in that tank but I’m not sure. I need to put a tub outside to keep the hornwort so I can begin breeding projects but I need to wait till I get paid again to buy a good pump. Right not my summers are getting into the high 80s…is that gonna be bad for my guppy fry that I’ll be putting there? Okay I think that’s all I have for now, I’ll add more if I remember more. 

[BuzzDaddy21]

On 5/20/2022 at 10:52 PM, dan12boy said:

blasting sand

I hate to sound to dumb, but what is blasting sand😕 also is your sand just sitting on the bottom if so, it will need some agitation once in a while. MTS will work to a point also, your 75 looks awesome can`t wait till complete. 

[dan12boy]

On 5/21/2022 at 11:01 AM, BuzzDaddy21 said:

I hate to sound to dumb, but what is blasting sand😕 also is your sand just sitting on the bottom if so, it will need some agitation once in a while. MTS will work to a point also, your 75 looks awesome can`t wait till complete. 

Ahh thank you. You’re not dumb! Blasting sand is a very cheap black sand that works perfect for aquariums. It just needs some rinsing but it’s 100% safe for tanks. It’s called black diamond blasting sand and if you got it you’d get the medium grit. And yes it’s just on the bottom, I have mts in my 20 gallon and I don’t want them breeding so much…I don’t like the sight of them anymore😭 I’ll take out some of the sand because I realized I kinda put too much. I think I’ll be fine as long as I have enough water circulation to help push any anoxic gases out of the tank. @Minanora how deep is your substrate and do you do anything to it during water changes? I realized I forgot to add pics yesterday. The tank with more sand added. It got cloudy but is better now. The tiger lotus bulb I ordered. I planted it so just hoping it sprouts 

 

[Minanora]

On 5/21/2022 at 9:27 AM, dan12boy said:

Ahh thank you. You’re not dumb! Blasting sand is a very cheap black sand that works perfect for aquariums. It just needs some rinsing but it’s 100% safe for tanks. It’s called black diamond blasting sand and if you got it you’d get the medium grit. And yes it’s just on the bottom, I have mts in my 20 gallon and I don’t want them breeding so much…I don’t like the sight of them anymore😭 I’ll take out some of the sand because I realized I kinda put too much. I think I’ll be fine as long as I have enough water circulation to help push any anoxic gases out of the tank. @Minanora how deep is your substrate and do you do anything to it during water changes? I realized I forgot to add pics yesterday. The tank with more sand added. It got cloudy but is better now. The tiger lotus bulb I ordered. I planted it so just hoping it sprouts 

 

My opinion is that the deeper the better. My 75 has a gradient. The deepest areas are 4-5 inches deep. I have an area in the middle that's close to 2, which is a low point. Depth at least 3 inches is nice.

And during water changes I don't really vacuum the substrate.