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Leprae checking in...

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  • Leprae checking in...

    Hello, everyone!  I've been in the Houston area for several years now and have been in the hobby for just slightly longer than that.



    Prior to the move, I had a happy, South American themed planted (20 gallon) tank with some happily breeding albino corydoras catfish (and silver hatchetfish and some ottos).  Everything survived the move well, but snails soon became a rampant problem in my tank.  I naively added clown loaches to deal with the problem, and eventually they succeeded.  With the snails gone, algae took over.  Eventually the last of my cories died, my plants failed, and things generally were bad.  I was too depressed about the tank to do anything other than maintain the loaches, and even after a terrible mishap with my old heater, I did nothing other than add in some new loaches.

    A few months ago, I decided to get serious about things again.  I began to read more about planted tanks and the hobby in general and eventually felt comfortable jumping back into it.  Though I absolutely loved my cories and ultimately want to keep a breeding pair of Apistos, I wasn't willing to part ways with my clown loaches.  I decided to shift gears and attempt an Asian themed tank.



    The plants immediately took off, and I was greatly pleased with my success.  I soon began looking at adding fish to occupy the mid to upper levels of the tank but at first was disappointed in the selection of Asian species.  After a while, however, I had explored enough into the world of gouramis, bettas, barbs, rasboras, and danios to where I had a difficult time choosing.  I've recently added 3 dwarf gouramis to the tank (all male... I had my reservations but was absolutely assured that they'd do fine... still, I'm keeping my eye on them.)  Several cherry shrimp were a welcome gift, and despite my hungry loaches, a few are thriving in the tank (for now).

    That pretty much sums things up to the present.  Below are some pics that I snapped of my tank tonight.  I'll put specs down below, but of note, algae is still a problem as you can see.  To some degree it looks good, but to some degree it gets excessive and harrasses my plants, particularly the HC in which it clumps up.















    Hardware and Equipment
    20 gallon glass tank
    Play sand substrate
    Fluval 105 (standard sponge, carbon, biofilter setup)
    DIY CO2 setup (yeast + sugar + water + 2L bottle + airline tubing)
    Red Sea CO2 Reactor 200
    AH Supply retrofitted balast w/ 55W 6700K bulb
    Rena Cal Top Light Excel heater

    Flora
    Hemianthus callitrichoides - Dwarf Baby Tears or "HC"
    Cryptocoryne wendtii (green)
    Nymphoides aquatica - banana plant
    Egeria densa - Anachris
    Ludwigia repens x arcuata - Narrow Leaf Ludwigia (not Asian, but shhhhh... it looks good)

    Fauna
    Neocaridina heteropoda - 3? cherry shrimp
    Chromobotia macracanthus - 4 clown loaches
    Colisa lalia - 3 dwarf gouramis (2 flame, 1 blue)
    ?Gyrinocheilus aymonieri - 1 "algae eater" (probably Chinese)

    I'll be more than happy to answer any questions (to the best of my ability) that anyone has about my tank or my experience.  I'd be even happier to receive, tips, comments, feedback, pointers, etc.  Specifically, any recommendations for fertilization (of which I know very little) and further algae control would be appreciated.

    Also, I just dug this 1.5 gallon hexagonal tank out of storage.  I picked it up from a garage sale probably 10 years ago and am only now trying to do something with it.  I know it's not an ideal environment for any fish, but if anyone wants to help me figure out what to do with this, that'd be great.   (The undergravel filter works fine, and I just added a fresh layer of black gravel to the bottom.)



    I look forward to becoming an active member of these forums (I've been lurking for a little while now).

  • #2
    Re: Leprae checking in...

    I like the pics, your tank is coming along nicely, very nice indeed.

    Thanks for sharing and welome to the HFB.

    CF
    Truth is the cement that holds the bricks and stones of a sane and civilized society together. Remove the former and the latter will crumble.

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    • #3
      Re: Leprae checking in...

      Welcome.  Looks like you will be spending some time in our planted tank section

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Leprae checking in...

        Welcome to the box!


        I like what you did with the clado!
        700g Mini-Monster tank

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Leprae checking in...

          Nice tank, beautiful pics!

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Leprae checking in...

            welcome
            So many things can be a mystery, when all we're seeking is freedom...

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            • #7
              Re: Leprae checking in...

              i would plant it and use it as a shrimp tank, cus they would do better alone, and welcome to the box, also to help with alge in the big tank, maybe flagfish, or SAE (siamese alge eaters) amano shrimp are great at eatin hair alge but the loaches may not leave them alone. just a suggestion. and again welcome to the box.
              Never fear I is here
              David Abeles
              Vice President
              Greater Houston Aquarium Club

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              • #8
                Re: Leprae checking in...

                looks awesome!

                HC is the cheeeete!

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Leprae checking in...

                  Welcome home.
                  Raul
                  PokerFace

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                  • #10
                    Re: Leprae checking in...

                     nice tank!  welcome to the box..

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Leprae checking in...

                       WOW! What a great intro! I liked reading about your history.

                      Welcome to HFB!

                      Glad you decided to post, and that you decided to get back in the hobby a bit more!

                      Hair algae is the biggest pain I have ever experienced. Ever. Ugh. And it's so hard to get rid of. My success stories combine Flagfish (Jordanella floridae) and Rosy Barbs. For tanks with really small fish (too small to eat them) I throw some scuds in there and they devour the hair algae. I have never been able to successfully get rid of it with Flourish Excel, although it has helped.

                      Tank looks great, though! If you are worried about the hair algae, though, I would maybe even suggest taking the rock out and placing it in a tank with some scuds. They'll do the job well.  8)
                      "Millennium hand and shrimp!"

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                      • #12
                        Re: Leprae checking in...

                        Welcome to the box :)  I loved the pictures and story :)
                        I know the feeling about hair algae.. I am breaking down a tank tonight specifically to rid myself of all the problem algae and other issues with my planted tank.

                        Keep smiling :)

                        What fish do Jesper have
                        180 WC T. Moorii Chilambo +1 Petro trewavasae.
                        110
                        Cyps, WC Xeno Spilopterus Kipili WC/F1/F2 T. sp red Kiku
                        58 S. Decorus

                        "The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money." -Margaret Thatcher

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                        • #13
                          Re: Leprae checking in...

                          welcome! looking forward to seeing more posts of your tank!

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                          • #14
                            Re: Leprae checking in...

                            I agree turn that hex into a mini shrimp tank, but then again, that's my answer to everything. Only problem is, with the small volume you'd have to check the parameters regularly to make sure they don't fluctuate too rapidly. I've found cherry shrimp to be pretty hardy though.

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                            • #15
                              Re: Leprae checking in...

                              Scuds carry harmful munitions. oh sorry wrong kind of scuds :wink:  sorry couldnt help myself from makin a bad pun.
                              Never fear I is here
                              David Abeles
                              Vice President
                              Greater Houston Aquarium Club

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