planted 40 breeder log

[JustOneMore20]

Well, I'm at it again......setting up yet another tank. What can I say, I'm addicted to this hobby. I'm just glad I'm not alone in that.

This tank is an AGA/Aqueon 40 breeder (36"x18"x16")....the perfect footprint IMO.

Other specs:
2x96w Coralife fixture 1 6700K bulb and 1 10,000K bulb
Pressurized CO2 via a glass diffusor
Rena XP3 filter
200w Stealth heater
ADA Aquasoil Amazonia II - ~27 liters worth (they measure it in liters)
manzanita driftwood

Plants so far:
Anubias nana
Fissidens fontanus (moss)

No fish right now.....Aquasoil releases ammonia in the beginning, so I must wait for that to go down.

Fish plans include a Rummynose tetra school, Corydoras hastatus school, possibly Corydoras pygmaeus, a pair of Apistogrammas, and a school of Otocinclus.

Now for the pics:

Stand my grandfather made me:

Driftwood layout dry

darker

Filled up and with plants


I just filled the tank up last night, so the "new tank bubbles" are still there.

I've had some problems and had to buy new bulbs, so the fixture on there now is just temporary. It has purplish colored bulbs and makes the substrate look more red. It's actually dark brown with some reddish pieces (clay colored), but the exposure is really bad. I'll get some better pics when I get my new bulbs.

I have made the plant order, so hopefully it will be shipped soonish.

I'll update when I have more pics/news.

[fishbguy]

Looks awesome kristin...Can't wait to see the finished product!

[flamingo]

Oh my gawd.
Kristin, stop tempting me with these thingys!
I can't afford to set up 84 more tanks

[BV77]

the wood is awesome !

[JustOneMore20]

Well I finally got around to planting the tank and taking pics. I've had it planted for almost a week now, but I had alot of extra plants in there for my other tanks, that I had to take out first.

So...here it is!


whole tank


the mound


HM


Didiplis diandra


Stargrass.....some of it is kinda dead, but its perking up.


Rotala wallichi....my new favorite plant looks kind of washed out though


Rotala wallichi again...i cannot get the colors right taking pics

Plants include:
Rotala wallichi
Stargrass
Didiplis diandra
Rotala sp. colorata
HM (Hemianthus micranthemoides)
HC (not gonna try)
Dwarf Hairgrass
Giant Hairgrass
Ludwigia arcuata
Fissidens fontanus

The Rotala sp. colorata (red plant in the back left) is new, so it is kind of bent right now, but it will perk up.

No fish yet. I'll update with pics of more growth soon.....and hopefully get brave enough to put some fish in.

Enjoy!

[Ichthius]

Kristin...that is really amazing! The plants, wood, everything looks so great together! Great job

[fishbguy]

Exelent work kristin...I espacially love the rotala and the HM...

I'm replanting my 10 atm...hopefully it'll look as good as your when I"m finished...prolly not tho...lol

looks as if you've taken the anubia nana out?

Have you decided on a final stocking list yet?

[JustOneMore20]

Thanks you two.

Yep Andrew, I took the Anubias out, but I put them in my 29g and it looks much better with that layout. I'll have some pics of it up soon so you can see the placement.

I haven't really decided on a final stocking yet, but I'm still going with the idea that I've had for awhile: about 15 Rummynose tetras, 10 Corydoras hastatus, 10 Corydoras pygmaeus or habrosus (can't decide), pair of Apistos, and 5-6 Otos. That's what I'm planning as of now, but I change my mind about things pretty frequently. I'm trying to understock a bit and have the larger school of tetras so it focuses more on the plants than the fish, but we all know how my stocking usually ends up (overstocked...). And I might bump the Rummies up a bit more once I get a big group of them and see how they look.

The Hastatus Cories will probably be the first fish in. I am not registering any ammonia now from the Aquasoil (only had about 1ppm for a week) and since my filter was cycled, I'm throwing in some flakes every now and then to make sure I don't lose all my bacteria. I'm sure the ammonia from the aquasoil helped keep it alive though. I'm going to wait atleast a week for the HC to fill in more before adding the cories though because I don't want them uprooting it.

(For the newbies out there, I have had my filter running on my established 55g for a few months now, so it's cycled.....moving it to my 40g makes an instantly cycled tank )

Stay tuned!

[JustOneMore20]

More pics, finally! It has been 10 days since the last pics.....and there has been alot of growth.

whole tank


top down shot


plant mound


plants

didiplis diandra


HM


Still no fish. But, I'm redoing my 55 on Tuesday evening and the 6 Rummynose tetras I have will move to this tank.

Enjoy!

[JustOneMore20]

We have fish!

The 7 Rummynose tetras from my 55 moved in last night.

Here is a pic:



They are great schoolers (I knew that already though). I can't wait to get more. I am broke right now though, so it will be a few weeks before I get more fish.

And here are some pics I took yesterday of the tank:



(didiplis diandra)

[emc7]

I am broke right now though

Its too bad gas is so high. You could come to Atlanta and sell plants. They get more money at our auctions than the fish.

[fishbguy]

looks great Kristin!!

you can come up north to where I live...you get lots of money shoveling snow!

[shade2dope]

some how I am just see this today.Very nice looking kristin.

[JustOneMore20]

New pics!

The plants were seriously overgrown, so I trimmed today. I should have take a pic before the trim.....everything was touching the surface! But, I didn't.

Here is the after pic:




The Rummies are hiding alot for some reason. My boyfriend says that if he was a fish and he had that many plants to hide behind, he'd make use of them too. Maybe once I add more they'll come out more.

I plan on moving my dwarf Cories to the tank tomorrow. I have a ton of green fuzz algae all over the HC and on some of the stems, so I was waiting to get rid of that before adding the Cories, but I think its going to take a while on the algae. I've been squirting Flourish Excel over it, so hopefully that will work. I also have some staghorn algae, which I think it because of my inconsistent dosing. Hopefully I can get on a schedule and tackle this algae.

I'm sure you're all saying, of course you have algae with 192w of light, but honestly, most days the second 96w bulb doesn't come on. I don't have a timer for it yet, so I have to manually turn it on and off for the light burst and most days I'm not home to do it. Soon though, I'll buy a timer.

Updates to come!

[fishbguy]

looking great!! Can't wait to see the cories in their new home...their gonna love it!

[Obsidian]

I have to say the only thing I am a little bummed by is that your plants are so tall they completely hide that awesome piece of wood (I like them the height they are in your signature). I love the tank though. It's very very nice.

[JustOneMore20]

Yeah, the Stargrass is the main one covering the wood. It's so hard to trim it though because it grows funky. I'll give it a good hack job next time and the HM too, so that you can see the wood more. I'm running out of places to put my trimmings though....but that is a good thing....means I need to start selling them.

The Hastatus Cories moved in today. I didn't put them in until the lights went out, but I've seen them swim in a big mass a couple times already. I'm excited to see them tomorrow. I hope they are happy and don't hide like the silly Rummies.

I'm really thinking about adding a second school to the tank....Embers. I have 4 already in my 29g and it would be awhile until I got more, but I think they'd school with the Rummies. I don't know yet though. I'm just wanting something in the tank that I see alot, but I might wait and see how it looks when I get more Rummies.

Alright, enough rambling......thanks for the comments, you two.

[Monkfish]

WoW!! Awesome aquascaping man

[Chaos553]

looks amazing, but im not surprised, every tank you set up looks stunning

whered you get that awesome looking piece of wood? and did it take long to waterlog it?

[JustOneMore20]

Thanks!

I got the wood from someone on AquaticPlantCentral.com. It's manzanita wood and there are about 7 or so pieces in the tank.

I soaked it for about 2 weeks. It wasn't fully waterlogged when I put it in the tank though, but I put a bunch of substrate on top of it and some slate rocks, so that is holding it down.