AllFishNoBrakes’ Journal

[Woowala]

Nice.  I figured the borellii should be easy enough for any decent fish store to get, glad you found some.

[AllFishNoBrakes]

@Woowala For sure. I was a little surprised they didn’t already have them in stock. Per usual, though, they’re pretty cool about it and help me out if and when I need it. 
 

The confirmation that they can bring in what I’m looking for has me excited to change some things up!

[AllFishNoBrakes]

The ACO order came in today!

30” light on the Pea Puffer tank. Just like when I got my first one and put it on the 55 I thought “that’s pretty yellow”, but I think I’ll enjoy it. I think I dimmed it down to 60, or maybe 70% to roughly match how bright the tank was with the Aquaneat light. 

20” light on the 10 gallon. Definitely yellow, but I’m stoked to see what this tank looks like with the ACO light and blackwater. I think this one is dialed down to 30%. 40% at most. Side note: the 2 mini Crypts are converting and pushing out submerged leaves. So far so good on those little guys. 
 

I noticed the plants pearling on the Pea Puffer tank. This was literally like 2 minutes after putting the light on, so I know it’s not the new light. I think this was always happening, but I just didn’t see it, or didn’t notice it with the old light. Pretty funny to see an Anubias pearling. 
 

Buce Black Pearl went into the 29 Blackwater tank. Fingers crossed she does well in here. 
 

Everything else went into my girls shrimp tank for the time being. Definitely not the final resting place, but definitely the holding place for the time being. Most of the plants will go in the 20 long when I convert it. 

Crypt Spiralis 

Crypt Tropica. She’s floating at the top for now, still in the basket with the rock wool. 
 

Crypt Wendtii Green. 
 

Red Flame Sword. I pulled this one out and my girl said “that’s not very red…” lol. I had to remind her these are the emersed leaves and it will look completely different once converted. No clue where this one will end up. Maybe in the 55 grow out tank, honestly. 
 

Moneywort. Again, not sure where this one will end up. Stems have been difficult for me. 
 

Bacopa Caroliniana. Again, not sure where this one will end up. 
 

The crypts and the existing Anubias will go in the 20 long. I’m trying to decide if I should do a bunch of root tabs under the substrate for the crypts, or if I should do dirt. Dirt has done me reeeeeeally well in the cube, so it’s hard for me to believe the crypts wouldn’t crush with dirt under them. Also, dirt lasts way longer than root tabs, so it’s starting to make a lot of sense. 
 

Only time will tell. Gonna go to the LFS on Thursday to pick up some algae wafers and see if they have any substrate I like for the 20 long conversion. Would be nice to just use my store credit on the substrate, but if I don’t like what they have I’ll just go spend some money on some gravel. Feeling hype!

Edited August 14 by AllFishNoBrakes

[AllFishNoBrakes]

Tuning in rather early today. At least for me. The girl is out running some errands so I figured I’d knock this out real quick. 
 

Did a water change on every single tank today. Only reset one air collar and went ahead and squeezed out that sponge filter, too. Did a bit of a “gravel vac” on the aquaponics tank. I say “gravel vac” cuz I really didn’t gravel vac anything, but I used the gravel vac to remove a bunch of the mulm in there. The tank is looking better, and the old school decorations are back in their place. 
 

I forgot to mention that about a week ago I set up the 20 long with its own air pump. It was sharing a Tetra Whisper 150 with the 20 high above it, but having it split and then running a line to the shelf above just wasn’t cutting it for the 20 high. So, I took an ACO dual outlet pump, and used a Y to direct both outlets to a single sponge filter. Worked out decently well. I love to hear that ACO recently upgraded their battery, but I really wish they would upgrade the air output. I know you don’t really “need” it, but I like it, and with the easy flow kits I think there actually is an argument that more air could be beneficial. 
 

My acorn caps and sweet gum pods came in. The acorn caps are a little smaller than I was expecting, but it’s all good. They’ll be great for the 10 gallon when I make that a blackwater tank and the Pygmy Cory’s will love them. I wanna get that tank cleaned up a little bit before I start to convert it. A little gravel vac, remove all the Water Lettuce and duckweed, and then add the botanicals. Slowly but surely it will happen.
 

The sweet gum pods are great, and the giant box of spiky goodness made me giggle. I’m currently boiling a batch of botanicals for the 29 as we speak and I’m excited to huck some things in there. 
 

The 20 long conversion is underway. And by that I mean I will not put any additional botanicals in there moving forward. I’m gonna take this conversion nice and slow, so that’s where it’s going to start. In addition, the CPO’s in there will be going to the LFS tomorrow. I’ll probably keep a couple for myself, but the vast majority will be turned into credit to help fund this tank revamp. 
 

The Panda Angels in the community tank are getting ready to spawn. They both have their tubes dropped and they’re sucking on the piece of slate cleaning it up. I’m just thankful they chose the slate to spawn on, and it will be easy to remove the spawn when it’s time. 
 

I think I’m done raising Panda Angels for the time being. I still have a decent handful from the previous spawn I hatched, and when those are gone they’re gone. Life is simply too hectic to continue to do it. I’ll use the credit I have right now, and the credit from the CPO’s to do this tank conversion, and then I really don’t see myself needing store credit. At least not for a minute. It’s been nice to get fish and some foods and things here and there for “free”, but I simply don’t have the time or the want right now to continue to raise fish for store credit. It has been worth it the past few years, but the scales have tipped in the other direction where I’d almost rather just buy the things when I need it, instead of doing a ton of work for pennies on the dollar. I can always scoop up some shrimp and still get a discount if I need it, lol. 
 

It has been fun switching some things up, and I look forward to continuing to do so. 
 

Edited August 14 by AllFishNoBrakes

[AllFishNoBrakes]

Told ya they were about to spawn 

 

[MarcT]

Very nice, I have always enjoyed Blackwater river tanks. 

 

[Whitecloud09]

Your aquariums look very good. @AllFishNoBrakes! And your angelfish!

[AllFishNoBrakes]

We’re back from the LFS! I took them 13 CPO’s and got $30 bucks in credit. I kept the 5 biggest (and some beat up, honestly) and put them in the 29 with the Pea Puffers. We’ll see what happens there, but I think they’ll be fine considering I have shrimp in there that have survived. 
 

I got some new substrate for the 20 long conversion, and I went Buce crazy! Picked up 4 different types. Deep Blue, Theia, Dark Emerald, and Crocodile Land. Used my credit, plus the credit I have saved up, and still have $120 in credit up there. The Apisto pair should be about $30, so that will leave me $90 for anything else I wanna add to this tank. 
 

The LFS didn’t have Hikari algae wafers, so we stopped by PetSmart on the way home. Picked up the algae wafers, an emersed grown Bolbitis, and to my surprise they had Buce on mats! No clue what kind it is, but for $10 I figured it would be worth a try. I gotta say, that PetSmart recently redid their aquatic section, and it’s way better than it was. Still all the basic fish, but the display is much nicer. 
 

I got home and plopped the 4 Buce from the LFS in my girlfriend’s shrimp tank. The PetSmart Buce ended up being about 12 individual small rhizomes once I took them off the mat, and I threw those in the QT tank. 
 

I’m now up to 8 different Buce species in about a month, lol. A little wild, but it’s all good. 
 

Getting super hype to redo this tank and fill it with “easy” plants with co2 and hopefully crush it!

New gravel 

3 of the 5 Buce I picked up today. 

[EricksonAquatics]

Holy buce! You aren’t messing around!😂😂

[AllFishNoBrakes]

On 8/15/2024 at 3:13 PM, EricksonAquatics said:

Holy buce! You aren’t messing around!😂😂

Definitely not playing! lol, jk, that’s all this really is, is just messing around. 
 

I’ve wanted to try Buce for a while. It was just always expensive and not readily available. Recently, though, it isn’t as expensive as it was and I’ve been finding it all over the place so I’m snatching it up! I’m stoked to see how it does in the 20 long when I get the co2 rocking in there. I know it doesn’t need it, so I’m hopeful it will just explode with growth. 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

Welp, I didn’t plan on really doing anything today, but I just couldn’t resist starting to change this tank. 
 

I ripped out all the plants. Some went into the “plant hotel”, and others went into other tanks to live out their lives and grow big and strong. 
 

I ripped out the hardscape, and started siphoning up literal years of mulm and broken down botanicals. I hate sand so much. This tank was the first, and only tank I’ve run full sand. Because sand compacts so hard, NOTHING can get through it, so EVERYTHING just piles on top. The amount of mulm and detritus is wild, lol. I siphoned out about 12 gallon, put 12 gallons back in, and then I remembered I have a big ol TopFin filter I’ve never used. It came with the 55 when I bought it. I busted that out of the closet, stuffed it full of dense foam, flipped her on, and went and got a haircut. 
 

When I came back from the barber I siphoned out more mulm, put more fresh water back in, cleaned out the big ol filter, and kicked her on again. I think that’s it for today. I was going to screen some dirt, but that will wait for another day. 
 

From here, I’m going to continue picking out the snails, continue letting the filters do what filters do and collect all this mulm and detritus. I’ve the livestock and the mulm are gone I will siphon out the sand and dispose of it. Screen the dirt, put that in on the back for the crypts, cap everything with the new gravel, and then fill and drain a few times. I did that with the cube (my only other dirted tank) and never had issues with tannins. From there I’ll (maybe) put some hardscape back in and plant it up! Still need to get the 20oz co2 tank filled as well. 
 

It’s in progress and I’m hype! Cheers to the third iteration of the 20 long!

Anubias that came out of the 20 long. I love that you can see where it tapped into the sand and was feeding from the substrate. The holes in the leaves are the reason I bought and started using Easy Potassium. 

The Anubias ended up in the right side of the 10 gallon in the room, continuing to fill out the Anubias in this tank. Stoked to start converting this to Blackwater. 

A different Anubias went into the Pea Puffer tank. Look at it pearling! I think it might be happy. 

CPO’s in the Pea Puffer tank. You can see the Pea stalking it in the first picture, but then he just turned and swam away. I think he was just checking it out. Again, they let shrimp live in here so I feel like the CPO’s should be fine. 

From Blackwater to brown water, lol. The official end of an era. 

Edited August 17 by AllFishNoBrakes

[nabokovfan87]

On 8/14/2024 at 5:57 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

Told ya they were about to spawn 

That face.... "you're gonna stop what!?"

 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

On 8/16/2024 at 11:05 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

That face.... "you're gonna stop what!?"

Absolutely! This is the chill pair, too. The male from the other pair is a psychopath and knows I’m gonna steal his eggs at this point. I have to use my long tweezers to grab the slate or my hand is definitely gettin bit!

[nabokovfan87]

On 8/16/2024 at 10:17 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

I have to use my long tweezers to grab the slate or my hand is definitely gettin bit!

 

😂😂😂

Edited August 17 by nabokovfan87

[TheFishCellar]

Hey I'm new to the forum, but I wanted to say before I created my account that I was looking over your journal this week at work while it was calmer and I found it really interesting ! Keep up the good work !

Also, while my reading of the 23 pages, I got a question : basically I'm never really did black water and I was wondering why do you boil your botanicals to collect the tanins and keep it in a bottle ? Is it to add back some tanins after each water change ?

Have a nice day !

[AllFishNoBrakes]

On 8/18/2024 at 9:01 PM, TheFishCellar said:

Hey I'm new to the forum, but I wanted to say before I created my account that I was looking over your journal this week at work while it was calmer and I found it really interesting ! Keep up the good work !

Also, while my reading of the 23 pages, I got a question : basically I'm never really did black water and I was wondering why do you boil your botanicals to collect the tanins and keep it in a bottle ? Is it to add back some tanins after each water change ?

Have a nice day !

Welcome to the forum! Thanks for choosing my journal, and reading all the way through! Pretty wild, but also really awesome, and I appreciate the kind words. 
 

As far as why I boiled botanicals, it’s really two-fold. First, depending on what the botanical is, it can take a long time to water log and sink. By boiling them, you waterlog them, and most immediately sink. The big exception here in my experience is Lotus Pods. You boil them, and then they still float around for 7-14 days before sinking. Second, you’re exactly right. I always collect the “blackwater tea” and dump that in when I do a water change if I’m not putting in more botanicals. I wanna keep the tint, or tannin level, the same, so this allows me to water change and “keep the tannins in” without adding additional botanicals. 
 

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve just chucked botanicals in here plenty of times, too. All just depends on what I’m feeling like that week, and if I need more blackwater tea or not. 
 

Again, welcome to the forum! Don't hesitate to ask any questions you might have! I’m always happy to share my experience and what has worked (or hasn’t!) for me. 

[TheFishCellar]

On 8/18/2024 at 11:27 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

Again, welcome to the forum! Don't hesitate to ask any questions you might have! I’m always happy to share my experience and what has worked (or hasn’t!) for me. 

Thanks a lot ! That answers everything ! I'm thinking about making journals as well (video and written). I'm in Québec Canada, and I must admit the amount of content here is pretty slim. If you don't speak English (because we're a French speaking province) the only reliable content to watch and learn from is the European one, but the stuff they have there isn't exactly the same here, they have different units also. So I want to make reliable content for folks in my province and other French speakers !

I'm breeding a bit also, so I hope to be able to interest people and teach them a bit, especially since I'm in a small town and there isn't much LFS or groups and all around me, maybe I can bring some interest around me, anyway, I'm young, so, young hopes ahahah !

[AllFishNoBrakes]

@TheFishCellar Right on. I hope it all works out for you! Just have to find some other fish nerds that like their tanks, too. Also, you could help create and grow that community via the content you make, and then you have even more fish nerd friends. Sounds pretty awesome if you ask me. Best of luck to you in the content you make!

[AllFishNoBrakes]

Back at it again my friends! Let’s get it:

It was a doozy of a day. Normal maintenance on most tanks, cleared out some air collars, and then started to transform a couple tanks! Getting pretty hype around here. Got a few things in from Amazon, and have tweaked a few things. I don’t wanna bore you with the details, but this journal was designed for me and to track the life of my tanks, so I’m gonna go ahead and put them down. 
 

The giant HOB did a great job of cleaning up the detritus and mulm in the 20 long. Once I was done with it there, I threw on a large pre filter sponge from Amazon and put it on the 55 grow out tank. It has already done a nice job clearing up that tank. The 10-15 gallon little HOB that’s been on that tank for years was cleaned up and retired. I’ll hang on to it as I never know when I might need it, so it’s in a drawer waiting for its day again. 
 

I added an Easy Flow kit to the 20 long. I just haven’t put an easy flow kits on the less tall tanks, but it’s working just as I would expect. I think I mentioned it in a previous post, but this tank has its own air pump now, too. I tried the ACO dual pump with each outlet feeding into 1 line to the sponge, but it just wasn’t powerful enough. So I swapped it out for a different dual outlet pump, and now I’m getting the flow I’m looking for. 
 

The Tetra Whisper 150 was moved up to the same shelf as the 20 high it runs. Just less of an airline run to keep it pumping better and more efficiently. 
 

I chopped down the Pothos vine and stuck it in the 55. It should sprout roots in no time and keep on chugging. Now the real question is, what should I do with the vine? It has gotten long enough to where I need to make a decision. Run it back across the 20 long and 29 where I chopped it away from? Probably not. We have time to figure it out at this point. 
 

The biggest transformations are to the 20 long, and the 10 gallon in my bedroom. Here we go!

If I was trying to be edgy on IG this one would be titled “Blank Canvas”. All the sand and 4 years of mulm and detritus have been removed. All livestock was removed as well. My friend should be coming by tomorrow to return my dirt sifter, and then we’ll start to set this bad boy up. 
 

I think I’m gonna dirt most of the bottom, besides the corner where the sponge filter sits. Just like 1/4” of dirt, and then capped with gravel. In the back I’m gonna do Crypts (wendtii green, tropica in the middle, and wendtii green on the other side). Crypt spiralis in the front left corner. Reuse the driftwood that was in here, and attach the Anubias and Buce throughout. I’m gonna dirt the whole tank because as the Buce and Anubias roots reach the substrate I want them to be able to feed off the dirt, too. Paintball co2 will be behind the tank in the back right, and the diffuser will go under the internal filter in the back right. Bubbles will rise from the diffuser, get pushed back down and across the tank, and then rise again. If I’m really lucky the easy flow kit might push some bubbles back across the tank to be pushed back down and across with the internal filter again. I wanna do “easy” plants and just blow them up with co2. Gonna keep the coconut hut in here for the Apistos, and I’m really leaning towards Pencilfish of some sort. I just need to sift some dirt and it’s on! Stoked for this tank!!

Snails that came out of the 20 long. I’ll probably put about half back in, and the other half will become Puffer snacks. 

Shrimp that came out of here. I think there might be a baby CPO or 2 in here as well. My friend wants 6 shrimp so I’ll sell him those, and then everything else is going back in the 20 long. 
 

Here’s the 10 gallon in my bedroom once I removed all the water lettuce and duckweed. There were definitely some Pygmy Cory eggs that got trashed when I tossed the water lettuce. I thought about keeping them and hatching them out, but I really don’t have the time to be raising fry right now. Oh well, they’ll lay more eggs in the future. I also bought and installed the Sicce nano micron internal filter you see in the back right. I stuffed some Polyfil in there as well as the sponge it came with. I simply want it to suck up botanical particles. The additional movement on the surface is just a bonus. We’ll see how this filter works. I have another backup Hygger that’s the same as the one in the 20 long if I decide I don’t like this Sicce filter. I just wanted to try something new!

The first botanicals are in! 3 Indian Almond Leaves and 2 Lotus Pods were boiled and added. Off to the races! I think this tank is gonna look rad when the crypts fill in. Crypts on the left and then the Abubias garden to the right. I had the light at 40% with the floating plants, but I turned it down to 20% after removing the floaters. We’ll let some tannins get in here before I turn it back up. Wanna minimize algae as much as possible as this tank has very little, and I want to keep it that way. 
 

A couple other pictures I took over the past few days that I thought were rad:

CPO’s doing well in the 29 with the Pea Puffers. I’ve seen all 4 of them chilling on the bottom, and then I caught this guy sitting in an Anubias leaf literally 1 minute before the lights went out last night. Biggest thing here is I have to remember to feed them as I’ve never really had to feed anything but the Puffers in here. The shrimp have always survived on what the tank naturally produces for them. With these guys in here I need to remember to drop a couple shrimpee sticks in here every other day. I’m sure the shrimp will appreciate that, too. 
 

The PSO at the very top of the 29 Puffer tank is turning red! I credit this 100% to the ACO light. Co2 has remained the same in this tank, with the light being the only thing that has changed in this tank. I’ve had PSO for years and have never seen this happen. Pretty cool to see something new with a plant I’ve had for years. That top pic with the red against the bright green of the Abubias leaf is pretty rad if you ask me!

That’s all I got for today, friends. I’m hoping I can make some progress on the 20 long tomorrow, but we’ll see. I need to sift all the dirt that’s needed, drain the tank, dirt it, cap it, and then fill and drain it a few times to remove any loose dirt particles. We have some other plans and errands to accomplish as well, so we’ll see how the day turns out. 
 

I hope you’re enjoying your tanks. I know I’m stoked on mine right now!

[EricksonAquatics]

Heck yeah! Getting all the things moving! The plan for this tank is epic. Can’t wait to see things come together

On 8/21/2024 at 6:42 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

The PSO at the very top of the 29 Puffer tank is turning red!

I AM SO JEALOUS.😦

the PSO in my new 29 BETTER grow or I’m going to THROW HANDS!!😂😂

 

[EricksonAquatics]

Also - I'm really curious what kind of dirt you used and how you go about doing it? One of these days I'll try a little nano cube and might go the dirted route...

[AllFishNoBrakes]

On 8/21/2024 at 7:39 PM, EricksonAquatics said:

The plan for this tank is epic.

Thanks! This is the first time I’ve set up a tank in a long time. My goal is never to create the perfect aquascape, but I’m hopeful I can pull off a tank that looks pretty dope!

On 8/21/2024 at 7:39 PM, EricksonAquatics said:

I AM SO JEALOUS.😦

the PSO in my new 29 BETTER grow or I’m going to THROW HANDS!!😂😂

Have you tried it before and it didn’t work out? PSO grows like a weed for me. I always start it in the substrate, and then over time it just becomes this giant ball of vines and long sharp leaves all over the tank. It has always done well for me, where I’ve struggled with other plants. Like most stems and Java Ferns have never really worked in my favor. Hoping the Easy Potassium can help with the Ferns in the future. 
 

On 8/21/2024 at 8:08 PM, EricksonAquatics said:

Also - I'm really curious what kind of dirt you used and how you go about doing it? One of these days I'll try a little nano cube and might go the dirted route...

I use Miracle Grow Performance Organics all purpose container mix. Here’s a pic of the bag:

 

I found some sliding screen window, I think for an RV at Home Depot. I thought about buying a roll of screen door material and building a frame, but then I found that thing and it was basically a pre-built version of what I was going to make. 
 

I take that screen and put it over a clean bucket, and then I put a handful of the Miracle Grow on the screen. Gently roll/push/sift back and forth over the screen. The tiny dirt particles fall through the screen, and everything else is tossed out. All the twigs, leaves, bigger dirt chunks, etc. is thrown away. I’m after just the fine dirt and not all the extras. Do that a bunch of times until I have enough dirt to do 1/4” or a little more across the bottom on the tank. 
 

From there, you add the gravel, and I do it gently so that the gravel doesn’t just fall through the dirt to the bottom. I’m trying to create a cap, after all. 
 

I like to have a thicker cap than 2”. Stems and other plants just don’t hold well for me, so a thicker layer makes that a little easier. In my cube I think I did about 1/4” or maybe 3/8” dirt, and then probably 3” of gravel. 
 

Once that’s done, I fill the tank (very gently) and then completely empty it. The goal is to get any loose particles or debris up into the water column, and then remove it. Do that a few times until the water column looks clear. 
 

From there, you plant and fill er up! 
 

I’ve only done dirt one other time in my 6 gallon cube. That tank was set up in December of 2021 and shows no signs of slowing down. 
 

I do not follow, nor recommend doing the 1” of dirt that the internet tells you to do. Just seems absolutely wild and pointless to me. Again, 1/4-3/8” has lasted me nearly 3 years. 
 

The one thing that will be new to me in the 20 long is dirt, and then adding water column fertilizer and co2. I guess technically air, filtration, and flow, too. My cube is super finicky in that when I’ve added just a couple drops of Easy Green to try and help the floating plants (salvinia, water lettuce, red root floaters) I always get green water. That being said, my cube is also a no filter and no air tank. Just dirt, plants, and a light on the cube. I’m hopeful that the 20 long with air, flow, filtration, and co2 will be different in that I can use Easy Green and not get green water. I’m gonna have to feed the Anubias and the Buce, but I think it will work out!

Let me know if you have any other questions. Always happy to share my experience!

Edited August 22 by AllFishNoBrakes

[AllFishNoBrakes]

Light just popped on this afternoon, and the blackwater tank in the room is looking like a blackwater tank! Photos don’t do it justice, but here’s one anyways:

 

About to go run some errands. Hoping I can make some progress on the 20 long when we get back. If I do I’ll be sure to update here!

[AllFishNoBrakes]

Well, friends, we did it. Dirt, substrate, and wood is in the tank. Here we go:

I started by completely draining the tank, taking the sponge filter out (I put it in a plastic bag to keep it wet and the beneficial bacteria alive), pulled the heater out, and dried the bottom of the tank. From there, I found a piece of cardboard and put it in the tank. This was to ensure no dirt got under the sponge filter or the coconut hut where no plants will be growing. 
 

I sifted a bunch of dirt, and then put it in the tank. I got the bottom covered, and then pressed it all down with my hands. I wanted it compact so the gravel would sit on top, and not mix in. 

Once that was done I filled the pocket with gravel, pretty high up, so that when I removed the cardboard the gravel would fall over the dirt. 

From here, I covered the everything in gravel. 30 lbs in total. I misted all the dirt, and then put the gravel over the top. I could’ve gotten away with using less, but I bought this gravel for this tank, so I figured I’d use it all. 
 

Once that was done I filled her up!

And then I immediately drained her. While it was draining I grabbed the coconut hut and the Spiderwood and started to get all of that placed. 
 

Once drained, I filled her up a second time, this time with the wood in place. 
 

Once full, I drained her a second time. 
 

I then filled for a third time, and got done right as the lights went out. I had to turn the lights back on to take this last picture:

I’m pretty pleased with the layout thus far. I have plenty of room to plant the crypts in the back. I think the spiralis might go to the front right. And then I’m gonna cover the wood with Anubias and Buce. 
 

Got my 20oz paintball co2 canister filled today and got that installed. $4 to fill it, which isn’t bad at all. I’m definitely going to buy a second one in a few week and go ahead and fill that one, too. That way, when this initial one runs out, it’s a quick swap instead of waiting for a day off where I can go get it filled. 
 

I tossed about half the snails back in, and called it a night. 
 

In the coming days I wanna dial in the temp (should be fine from where I had it over the past couple of days, but I wanna be sure), and dial in the co2. I bought a new drop checker that has a lime green ball in the top. The idea is to match the solution to that ball for max saturation. I thought it was an interesting idea and wanted to try it. Once the temp is dialed in I’ll get the shrimp back in there, probably tomorrow. When I find some time, I’ll get this bad boy planted. May have to break it up over a couple of sessions. The crypts should be easy enough, so depending on what time I get off work tomorrow I might throw those in there. The Anubias and Buce can wait til another time. I just need to be careful because my girlfriends shrimp tank has duckweed in it, and I don’t want duckweed in this tank. 
 

Lights were turned down to the lowest they will go while we get things dialed. I’ll turn them back up once I get some plants in there. I’ve never had those lights blasting, and I don’t plan to do so this time either.
 

Feels good to have the majority of the work done on this conversion! Feeling excited to get some plants in here. Fish will come later. I need to decide on what Pencilfish I wanna do!!

[AllFishNoBrakes]

Well, friends, another day, another 3 massive water changes. 
 

I got home today stoked to maybe plant some plants! However, I noticed the drop checker wasn’t where it needed to be, and there was a ton of foam/bubbles on the top of the water. 
 

Even though the tank looked like this:

The top of the water looked like this:

Time to change some water. Break out the hoses, and here we go. 
 

I drained the tank down to here, and filled her back up. 
 

Here’s the setup. A step ladder, a small water pump, a bucket, a hose, and a clamp. Water going back into the tank. 

Here’s a close up of the water going back into the tank. You can see the new drop checker that I’m checking out. Fresh, dechlorinated water from the bucket flowing into the tank. 

I filled her up, and realized I still wasn’t happy. So, I drained her again. I noticed the sponge filter was still creating a lot of bubbles. Way more than normal. Here’s a picture after I started draining her again. 

As I filled her up again, the internal filter was also creating bubbles. Not as many as when I first got home, but still making bubbles. 
 

Here’s the sponge filter once filled up for a second time. Still creating bubbles, but not as bad as when I first got home. Time to drain her again. 
 

Drained her a third time, this time almost all the way to the substrate. 
 

I filled her back up, and here’s the bubbles coming out of the sponge. Still more than usual, not much much better than when I first got home. 

Here’s the opposite side of the tank. Much more normal, but still not quite there. Lots of co2 bubbles in the water, but that’s what I’m going for on this tank. 
 

Filled her up one last time, and here’s where we sit. From the frontal view nobody would even know. That being said, I really wanna take my time and dial this tank in. We’re getting there, friends! I’m looking forward to dialing in this tank and getting her planted. We’ll get there!!

Edited August 24 by AllFishNoBrakes