Abby Posted May 27, 2013 Report Share Posted May 27, 2013 Hi everyone, I've been wanting to post a picture for a while of my 75 gallon which I am happy to say is FINALLY complete (okay, that's a lie. .. it's nearly complete. . .I'm always tweaking things it seems!) It is home to a few Gourami, Leopard Danio, Angels, Mollies, Cory cats, pleccos, a Faunus Ater snail named Mavis and a boat load of MTS. The plants are a variety of Cab, Crypt, Moss, Rotala and there is a newly planted Banana in there. Last week I (painfully) planted what will some day be a carpet of Glosso (I hope). You can see the sprouts there, but it's still far too early for it to actually be a true ground cover. Surprisingly, the fish are leaving everything alone (I expected them to pull some sprouts out, but they don't seem to care about it). The rocks were my best find. . .they were actually next to my friends house in a spillway that never sees any water. I'm sure I wasn't "supposed" to remove them. . .but I did! The ones that I could fit in my 16 quart stock pot I boiled. The bigger ones took a bath in bleach/water for a day or so. And yes, they were all tested as aquarium safe! The neat part about that huge rock is that the Plecco and Cory's have actually dug out that cave underneath it. Using a flashlight I can see that it goes back almost the entire length of the rock and also goes pretty deep. The marbling on the big one in the middle is actually from where long ago it was attached to a cement wall but due to erosion had long since fallen off. I sanded down any rough edges left from the cement so the entire rock is smooth and what I was left with is what almost looks (Imo) like a coral pattern and I thought that was pretty cool! The substrate is pool filter sand (I love it!), I'm running T5HO lights and presently an Ehiem 2236 canister filter (which I have quickly learned isn't enough. I have a second canister filter arriving tomorrow). All in all, I am very pleased with how it turned out. I'm happy to hear any feedback that folks might have or any suggestions. Thanks everyone. P.S I have a 15 gallon shrimp tank which I am just finalizing. . .pics of that one to follow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted May 27, 2013 Report Share Posted May 27, 2013 With that amount of light, you'll either want to run a quite short day (8hrs max) or add a lot more plants and a Carbon supliment (I recommend pressurised CO2) with fertilizer to keep ahead of any algae that will want to invade. Otherwise, your tank looks great!! :thumbs: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abby Posted May 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 27, 2013 (edited) With that amount of light, you'll either want to run a quite short day (8hrs max) or add a lot more plants and a Carbon supliment (I recommend pressurised CO2) with fertilizer to keep ahead of any algae that will want to invade. Otherwise, your tank looks great!! :thumbs: Thanks for the tips! I have the lights running on a timer for 10 hours/day but maybe I'll cut back to 8. I have a second timer that kicks in once the main lights go off and it turns on my DIY moonlight (which does nothing for the plants, just creates some nice atmosphere in the room when the lights go out). The moonlight only stays on for a couple of hours before bed then it shuts off and it's dark. I would love to go pressurized CO2, but the wallet it wont allow it for a month or so. In the mean time, I dose Excel (switching to Metricide once my Excel bottle is empty) and Seachem Nourish. Adding more plans is also in the cards but I'm doing in phases it seems. *edit* I should mention that it's a dual bulb T5HO (not a quad). It has the stock lights in it right now (6500K and the red Photosynth bulb) Edited May 27, 2013 by Abby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meeiu Posted May 27, 2013 Report Share Posted May 27, 2013 Those rocks are awesome! Especially the huge one in the middle.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senroc Posted May 27, 2013 Report Share Posted May 27, 2013 Great looking tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckmullin Posted May 27, 2013 Report Share Posted May 27, 2013 I like the plants...it should fill in quick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingin' It Posted May 27, 2013 Report Share Posted May 27, 2013 (edited) Lookin' good! I think you need a smokin' pair of Angels in there! LOL EDIT: I see the Angels now! LOL +1 on the Awesome rocks you got in there! Edited May 27, 2013 by Wingin' It Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abby Posted May 28, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2013 (edited) Thanks everyone! And a big thanks to ckmullin for all of those plants (folks, you won't find better quality plants for ANY price, let alone what CK is asking!) The rocks really are my pride and joy. Still can't believe I found them in what (for lack of a better term) is a ditch in the middle of the burbs. The effect from the cement it used to be stuck to really did work under water. You should have seen me trying to lift that big one in there. . .I'm not an overly big guy and I think that rock weighs half of what I do. In my mind I just kept thinking "Two week old tank. . .I'm dropping this sucker and it's breaking the bottom. . I know it" Edited May 28, 2013 by Abby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cgy_Betta_Guy Posted May 28, 2013 Report Share Posted May 28, 2013 Nice looking tank! must have been fun planting the glosso lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abby Posted May 29, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2013 Nice looking tank! must have been fun planting the glosso lol Never. Ever. Again. And if it doesn't grow....I'm going plastic plants until the day I die. Haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckmullin Posted May 29, 2013 Report Share Posted May 29, 2013 Glosso ---> "Groups of Five for yourself to stay alive" ...I guess for your time too. Looks good though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cgy_Betta_Guy Posted May 29, 2013 Report Share Posted May 29, 2013 hopefully you dont have too many cories in that tank... my glosso was constantly kicked up in my tank when I had it last year. I finally gave up replanting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abby Posted May 29, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2013 hopefully you dont have too many cories in that tank... my glosso was constantly kicked up in my tank when I had it last year. I finally gave up replanting. Only two Sterbai's and so far they seem to be leaving it alone. I'm really surprised with how quickly the roots are taking and it's starting to grow. When I got it it was in one of those pots in a big clumped up mess. I actually thought it was going to quickly die....it showed me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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