Updated Pics

[Chaos553]

Well before I go ahead and show off my tank, I have a little story for all of you. This morning I had to be at work at 6am so I woke up around 5am to get ready. I showered, cleaned up, ate breakfast, got changed and of course fed my fish. My African Butterfly Fish (which I will refer to as ABF for the remaining time) was of course the first in line to eat because he's a top dweller, obviously. So I was off to work until 10am, got back, settled in, and was about to play my Xbox when i realized he wasnt on the top of my tank...or anywhere else in my tank for that fact. So I'm frantically searching for him and it turns out, he was on the floor behind my fish tank...still breathing. So I got my net out and as careful as I could, got him in there, and floated him in the net on the top of the tank for a bit. He looked as good as dead IMO; covered in dust, eyes looked clouded, feelers all messed with dust, rolling around in the net uncontrollably, he was just a wreck. After a good 5 minutes or so, he began moving on his own, floating upright, but still pale as a ghost. I released him back into the tank to let him adjust to the water once again and swim around and I found out the problem. My blue jack apparently tormented him to the point where he couldn't take it and took a nose dive through the hole for the heater out of the tank.

I also ended up taking my blue jack back today for a good $30 store credit for the stuff I added in today. I was also able to turn in my huge sailfin pleco, but not for store credit since they had a ton of plecos already. I ended up purchasing two HUGE amazon plants, a purple waffle (which is planted at the moment, I want to float a few eventually), and 8 neons. The tank is looking awesome right now and I plan on grabbing a few more purple waffles, some java moss, neons, 3 or 4 more cories, and hopefully a handful of harlequins to add some serious color to the mix. I'm really stoked about the advancements in my tank right now and I really wanted to share it with you guys. I'll post the pics in another post since I'm not sure if it will fit in this post still. Thanks

[BV77]

all the fish in the 38 are solo members and most of them like to be in schools

[Blue Cray]

You are aware neons can fit in an ABF's mouth right?

[Chaos553]

New Setup: 07/13/08


School of Neons


The Infamous "Trooper"


Purple Waffles look REALLY good


One of the HUGE Amazons I bought today


A few sproutlings growing on the Amazon ;D


Peppered Cory!


Bolivian Ram, 1 year old and still kickin'


Green and Juli Cories


Green Crypt (I want to get this larger, any tips on how to do so w/o using CO2?)


Hogging the spotlight with the Cherry Barb


Enjoy!

[Chaos553]

yea im aware neons can, but I had them before and they stayed near the mid-bottom of the tank, never once going to the top except for food. my ABF isnt really aggressive towards any other fish in the tank and has a diet of flakes and occasional black ants.

i plan on getting more cories so they can shoal, and ill probably get rid of the cherry barb and the red eye sometime soon to maximize my schools.

[Blue Cray]

How long have you had the ABN they can live off of no food for quite awhile and rarely take flake foods.

[trashion]

Just letting you know-"Purple Waffle" is not a truly aquatic plant and will eventually die if kept underwater. Sorry!

[Chaos553]

Blue Cray: ABN? You mean ABF? I've had him since about last August actually and he takes flake foods quite regularly. He isn't really picky at all, but he does enjoy the occasional ants I drop in from time to time.

Trashion: It really isn't? Could it possibly survive as a floater?

[trashion]

http://www.plantgeek.net/plant-167.htm
Sorry, I don't think so

[Chaos553]

Haha, I love how the description was straight to the point. I might possibly get a Betta again but in a bowl this time, so maybe ill plant the roots in the gravel in there and let the leaves stick out. That would work right? Or would the roots just drown?

[trashion]

If you search for it on google, apparently it does quite well in a pot? Sorry!

[Chaos553]

Boo...well at least i tried lol.

Any one else have opinions on the new look of the tank?

[justintrask]

i like the look of it a lot. Just make sure there arent any gaps in the top of the tank, because ive heard lots of stories of ABF jumping through even the smallest gaps they can barely fit through

[Chaos553]

i covered the remaining holes i had with aluminum foil at the moment. t think ill end up covering it with some type of screen ill cut off an older hamster tank my sister used since it wont be used anyway.

thanks for the compliment! keep them coming!

[justintrask]

I had some fish that were jumpers, like when I stupidly held up my arowana in a 29G, there were a lot of holes for extra filters and such that had since been taken out, and I just covered them with an old black bed sheet. This also got draped along that back, and acted as a background. I wake up in the morning and the sheets were wet, but it did the job of keeping the fish in the water.

[akangelfood]

Another idea for covering holes is egg crate. I love the stuff! You can get it in a few different colors, mostly white and silver, at your local home and garden store (Lowes, Home Depot, etc). They're designed to cover florescent lights. They're cheap and easy to trim, just use a pair of snips. I'm generally hardware-challenged and did it with no problem. It's very easy to create holes where you need it, say for filters or heaters, and it'll rest right on the aquarium frame itself. Might look into that as a more permenant option than a sheet or foil.

[Chaos553]

hmm, that is a pretty cool idea. i think ill take a look tomorrow at loews. thanks ;D

[Chaos553]

Bad news guys...I went downstairs to check up on my tank and my ABF was floating motionless, being pushed by the current on top. Not really sure how this happened, but I'm guessing from the stress on yesterday's incident. All in all, he had a good run of a year and will be truly missed. RIP Trooper.

[justintrask]

sorry to hear about your loss, but hey, try some hatchets!

[Chaos553]

im actually going to buy another 8 neons for a school of 16 altogether, then get 8 harlequins to add some color as well as another school. also a few cories would jhelp bring the shoal up too, so i probably couldnt put hatchets in for stocking reasons, i do like them though ;D