Shai

German Blue Rams Healthy! Rainbowfish of various species (the last batch I bought at LFS had camallanus) Fancy freshwater shrimp

Thanks for the input, Jason! A few days ago I needed to move this tank to another location in my living room. It was an opportunity to give the tank a thorough cleaning and a rescape. However, I did discover out of six shrimp I have only two left. : ( I also had new fish come in that I ordered from fryguyzzzz--seven turquoise rainbows and six panda cories. Great specimens. Thanks again! The six pandas, still a bit drowsy. So cute! And (most of) the turqoise rainbows, also drowsy. Some were camera shy and hid behind bubbles stuck to the bag. Here is what the tank looks like now: Lots of movement! It's great to see the pandas digging around in the sandbox. The turquoise rainbows are fantastic, great color even at their young age. They're still too fast for me to get a picture though. I need more practice! I'm finally starting to feel really happy with the way the tank looks. As you can see, I put the two large pieces of driftwood together--they now form a great hidey-hole area for the fish. The last small piece that is shown in the photo I posted last time got moved to my 20g to help create a similar hidey-hole formation in there. In the middle, where the sandbox is, I am going to focus mainly on plants. I need to find some small pieces of slate or other rock to put around the sandbox to both hide the edge of the dish and help keep the gravel out of the sand. Perhaps some sandstone from the river would be nice. On the right, where the rock ornament is right now, I am going to add a DIY slate rock formation, once I have a chance to stop by Burnco or Ornamental Landscape. After my next paycheque or two (I have some expenses coming up) I'll be able to get the slate. The idea is to add more caves and shelter areas, plus hide the heater. Haven't bought the powerhead yet nor started CO2 either, but soon! A few more pics. : ) A close-up of the driftwood formation: A side-view: And, just because I can, one of the zebra nerites munching along:

I'm trying to feed my fish some anti-parasitic medicated food, without a lot of success. I'd like to try soaking the food in garlic to see if they'll be more interested. I realize this may not work. I searched on the board and came across this thread which talks about the benefits of garlic, so I also want to incorporate it into my fish's diet outside of the medicated food. The flakes and other foods I have on hand don't include garlic as an ingredient, and I won't be buying more food until my current supply has run out. I am aware of products like Seachem's Garlic Guard and Kent Garlic Xtreme, but I'd like to save myself some money by going to the grocery store, buying garlic (ideally, powdered) and making my own garlic solution to soak the food in. My search on the board didn't turn up any methods of how to do this, ie, how much garlic to use, how long to soak, etc. Is powder a good option? It seemed like some people used actual cloves, but I don't know how that would work in my case. Plus, I'd rather have powdered on hand because I can also cook with it (I don't care for hunks of garlic in my food). : ) Tips appreciated!

Excellent, thanks!

Thanks! I like it a lot better the second way. Less random. : ) The snail is a zebra nerite. I agree, but the GBRs are not as hardy. Hard to decide between ease of care or looks! : ) I plan to, I just haven't bothered picking anything up yet. Thanks for looking!

I'm prepping my 20g for rams--Bolivians or GBRs, I haven't quite decided (the prettier fish may win). "Before": "After": A number of plants that were in there to begin with aren't now, but I may add them back later. : )

Another question: Is this brand fully submersible, does anyone know?

Very nice. Perhaps when I am more experienced I'll give these a try. : )

That's terrible! Would it be kosher to post details in the Livestock forum (with appropriate warnings about the condition the fish are in) so that maybe some of those convicts can get rescued too? Maybe there are people who have the ability to try to nurse them back to health. : ( What a terrible waste, if the rest she still has end up dying.

Thanks for all the info!

Thanks! I'd like to know how changing a few things in my intended stocking plan will impact my options. The orignal plan was: 9 cherry barbs (8 stocked) 8 dwarf neon rainbowfish (6 stocked) 5 turquoise rainbowfish 5 boesemani rainbowfish 5 bronze cories 4 neritina zebra snails (5 stocked - 1 offspring!) 6 Malaysian rainbow shrimp (stocked) MTS (stocked) I have since decided to put the cherry barbs in my 20g. I have also decided to go with panda cories instead of the bronze. The question is whether or not these changes, along with only having 6 neons would allow me to have 7 turquoise rainbowfish instead of 5.

Wow! Well done. Sorry, what kind of fish are they?

Why is "pl*cos" spelled that way?

*digs out the thread* *wipes off the dust* Wow! Three months since I last posted about my tank. : ) Yes, I do indeed have a healthy brood of MTS now. Not overrun, but still too many worth counting. Anybody want some? When I posted last I was still intending to get (rescue) some bronze corydoras (from Wal-Mart). Despite multiple attempts to do this, I wasn't actually able to get the fish even though they are still there. Every time I go in, there is no staff in the department and no one else willing to help. I started thinking about going in with my own bag, net, and container to get them myself, but then saw a post in the Livestock forum about panda corydoras, and have decided instead to give them another try, as long as the deal with the seller works out. My tank has changed in other ways... Shortly after my last post my plants really started to suffer, since I only had about half a watt per gallon of light. In June I was finally able to get a new light priced within my budget. I now have 2.36wpg so my plants have recovered nicely, though I still have to look into adding DIY CO2. I added some crypts as well as Alternantheria reineckii "roseafolia" (very nice looking). Still haven't found anything suitable for hardscape, though I did remove one of the smaller pieces of driftwood to put it in my 20g. Future plans include adding a powerhead for the rainbowfish to enjoy. Slow going, but I'm still enjoying it! Picture! Compared with older shots, you can really see the difference with the new light! Thanks for looking. : )

Really! Maybe I should check mine more often.

Thanks! Sounds like this brand will be a good investment.

I would just rinse the plants before you put them in the tank. Rub your fingers over the leaves (top and bottom) to dislodge or crush any egg deposits. Don't forget that having some snails in the tank is not a bad thing. A small colony of pond snails (for example) won't harm the plants and will help keep algae and rotting plant material in check. As long as you don't overfeed your fish, you won't experience a population explosion, as the snails will be kept in check according to the amount of available food.

Good info, thanks guys!

I am considering adding a powerhead to my 55g tank. The inhabitants are rainbowfish (with more to come) and my understanding is that they enjoy highly oxygenated water. Additionally, the end of the tank opposite the AC70 doesn't get a lot of movement so I don't want the water there to become stagnant (that end is where I would put in the powerhead). The Aquarium Systems Maxi-Jet 1200 Powerhead caught my eye because the description talks about being able to control air volume and water mixing so I thought it might be a good choice for oxygenation. The model I have linked to is the highest-rated for GPH (295). I'm not sure what GPH would be appropriate for my tank (they do have lower-rated models). I've never used a powerhead before so I have no idea what I'm getting into here. Is this model a good choice? What do I need to know to set one up for my tank? I don't want to add a UGF, but can the powerhead be used in some way to add to the filtration in the tank, possibly with a cannister filter? Anything else I should know? Appreciate the help!

Can Excel be used as an alternative or replacement to CO2 injection?

Awesome shots! Professional grade, I'd expect to see some like that in a National Geographic. : )

: ( Sorry to hear that. My tanks have been getting pretty hot too. I live in a tin can (mobile home) and it's been hitting 30-36 degrees inside every day during the heat wave. Thankfully I haven't had a total crash, but I do have some sick fish and lost a cherry barb the other day. Guess she just couldn't take it anymore. : ( I feel your pain!

Figures. Thanks for clearing that up for me. Well, if I have to buy them separately I might as well get the spiffy kind if I can find them locally.

Hope this is the right place for this. : ) EDIT: Just realized this should probably be in the Equipment forum. Duh, sorry. It's hot out and my brain is melting. :P I just bought this Coralife light. When I opened the box, all that was in it was the light. However, the instructions say: The instructions have lots of nice pictures showing how to mount the legs too. Checked and rechecked... Mine didn't come with mounting legs. In fact, I can't even imagine where in the box they would have been, because the box fits the light pretty closely. I know a couple of the vendors here carry this same light. So my question is, are there mounting legs included with the ones they have in stock, or are the instructions incorrect? Or, can they be purchased separately for cheap? I can't use the light until I have legs for it!

lol Thanks! The neons looked great in the 55g too (which is also planted). Their bright blue coloring was a nice contrast there with the cherry barbs, but I needed them (the neons) out of the 55g to make room for the other fish I want to get. It all works out in the end. That one pic is a bit over-exposed, but yes, they do help! Java fern is great. I could actually mail you some if you like. Mine have sprouted so many babies it's ridiculous. Being baby plants though, they're all pretty small still, but free is good! I could send you one or two of the baby vals I have too. Really, that's all you'll need...they'll start propegating on their own soon enough! Nope. This is a low-light, low-tech setup. Right now I have .75wpg over the tank, which isn't quite on target for low-light, low-tech (1-2wpg is better and still doesn't need CO2). The plants are doing very well despite this, though it also helps that this tank is near a window and gets some ambient sunlight too. I really like having the crypts; they're quite leafy and, as you can see, very green. I have some anubias in this tank too, but they are still small, as well as a young amazon sword, which will need more light eventually. When I upgrade my lights on my 55g I'll be able to look at somehow using that tank's old lights for this one. 30W (1.5wpg) would do well on this tank, I think. Thanks for the comments everyone! I feel lucky to have found that betta at the LFS... The color on him is so spectacular (really, the pics don't do him justice, he's aquamarine) that it seems impossible he could have still been there when I strolled in that day. He's more social than I would have expected for a crowntail...when I had him alone he seemed bored and listless. As soon as there were other fish in the tank he picked right up.