20G RCS Planted Tank.

Newman

Elite Fish
Sep 22, 2009
4,668
0
0
Northern NJ
#21
the play sand is keeping a nice tan look that i like. of course detritis does need to be vacuumed up somehow...

I hate canisters right now. the O-rings and leaks really make me angry lol. I'll just stick to HOBs, and yes i'll be putting a sponge on the intake of the AC50.

yes the shrimp will breed and ill try to keep their number manageable by selling.

There's little heat from LEDs and they are bright enough to support life. They are also very energy efficient, but unfortunately never cheap if they are higher quality. I use LEDs on one of my reefs, and the corals all do very well :)

I will not want to soften my water for the 40 gallon setup. I will work with w/e the tap water gives me. so either Neocaridina/Sulawesi or Crystal/Tiger shrimp. In my small crystal red shrimp tank, i am using RO water, re-mineralized with a supplement, and this works perfectly. since its only one gallon, its very practical. i cant imagine using RO on 40 gallons lol! So it will all depend on my tap water.

breeding for color is simple in a large tank with many shrimp. you simply cull the less desirable color by selling the shrimp.

O boy, bettas...I do not want to go back to that again until i have lots of time and money to spare and do it right lol. I too attempted to breed them. I noobishly started with a pair of showy yellow dragon plakats, imported from Thailand haha (as opposed to store bought bettas). they bred twice, but each time i failed to raise the fry. i wanted to try again, a third time because i felt like i was best prepared, but then my male jumped out of his holding tank, and i just gave up :(
 

Fuzz16

Superstar Fish
Oct 20, 2006
1,918
3
0
Wellsville, KS
#22
get some MTS to turn the substrate to avoid gas bubbles. idk if thatll effect the MGO too though...

hmm...never used a canister so dont give me horror stories!!

never even knew people started using LEDs heavily until recently, i still run halides on both tanks. idk enough about LEDs, they seem like a different type of light measurement than t5's or halides. try a diy one? matt did and his turned out pretty good

if you werent in an apartment id say set up an RO unit set up to make your own.

and ya...it sucks when you sit there pay 80-150$ for a pair and then one dies...i was watching a youtube video of a breeding wall in thailand and OMG...they just lave female and male together all the time, pull out the nest when its fertilized, then the fish go at it again...or they seperate them using a pop bottle with the bottom cut off and lid off.
 

Newman

Elite Fish
Sep 22, 2009
4,668
0
0
Northern NJ
#23
Yes MTS would be risky. i'm pretty sure they will churn the substrate too much and all the soil will come to the top :(

I am using a DIY LED fixture on one of my reefs, but it was expensive to make(a bit over $100), I'd just rather go with a pre-made one like the PAR30 light for the 40 gal. still a bit expensive but probably worth it.

I will be taking my RO/DI unit with me but i'm not sure how i can even use it in the apartment lol...

Those betta breeding techniques sound nuts lol.
 

Fuzz16

Superstar Fish
Oct 20, 2006
1,918
3
0
Wellsville, KS
#24
hm...if you decide to do a DIY make a thread...i kinda wanna do my own but im wire stupid. ha. and would burn down my house. no joke. good thing hubby was an electrician!

get a male peice on the sink and do a temp set up prior to WCs. be a HUGE PITA but cheaper than buying it :)

and ya...thai people are betta breeding gods from what ive read and seen...seems like the best ones on aquabid are from thai too. its amazing...those bettas worth 100-1000$ kept in a MAYBE 1g tank with another female?
 

Newman

Elite Fish
Sep 22, 2009
4,668
0
0
Northern NJ
#25
yes i was thinking of getting some sort of faucet to garden hose adapter for my RO/DI unit to screw onto...should work without blowing up the apartment water pipes right lol?

If the PAR30 fails to deliver the coverage I need for the tank, then i may look into DIY. I'll post a thread if that happens.

How are you going to redo your tank here? another try with organic soil, maybe capped with sand? you're staying with the planted idea right?
 

Fuzz16

Superstar Fish
Oct 20, 2006
1,918
3
0
Wellsville, KS
#26

Fuzz16

Superstar Fish
Oct 20, 2006
1,918
3
0
Wellsville, KS
#29
current plants:
spiral val
glosso
broad leaf ludweigia
mystery plant...
dwarf hair grass
java fern
x-mas moss

tanks cycled
2 female bettas in there atm

dk if ill go shrimp anymore, as this is my only tank that may end up eing setup due to medical reasons
 

Newman

Elite Fish
Sep 22, 2009
4,668
0
0
Northern NJ
#31
once your plants are filling the tank, shrimp it up. they can hide from bettas if there is dense enough vegetation. also a breeding population of shrimp can help pay for the tank's upkeep.
 

Fuzz16

Superstar Fish
Oct 20, 2006
1,918
3
0
Wellsville, KS
#32
ya debating if ill do shrimp now or not since this will be my only tank...i was planning on moving girls to larger tank, but idk if i can handle the larger tank.

so im kinda just trying to keep plants alive atm, then ill move onto fish
 

Newman

Elite Fish
Sep 22, 2009
4,668
0
0
Northern NJ
#33
with an initial photoperiod of about 8 hours (maybe 7 since your tank isn't very full of plants yet) and a weekly water change of about 5 gals, your plants should do fine.
if anything is going wrong, update.
 

Fuzz16

Superstar Fish
Oct 20, 2006
1,918
3
0
Wellsville, KS
#34
have to order a new bulb, mine is going out which is why my plants are suffering. woooo...
ordered some flourish tabs, also, cheaper on amazon than store :) and idk how i feel about some of the other plant tabs out there

picked up a pair of GBRs that had staked their territory together
and also a pleco...knew i wanted a BN but I was going for a pair of albino when the store owner pointed out he had a female marked as L237 Pepper Spot...which I cannot find a lot about. Will get pics later. Only paid 20$ for her. He gave me 20$ off since he didnt have the male anymore and sold him prior

so the glosso is suffering from lack of good light.
the ludweigia (i think?) is doing good toward top, but browning atbottom.
val is meh. didnt ship well.
the DHG is idk...ok in some places, and browning in others
broadleaf ludweigia, no change
wendtii and java fern no changes of course

planning to throw another peice of driftwood in there and maybe a rock or two for the GBRs

hubby still wants red long finned serpaes but i think their ugggly. and tanks kinda small for a good shoal
 

Thyra

Superstar Fish
Jun 2, 2010
1,891
0
0
Yelm, WA
#35
Wow! Are we talking about the same fish?? IMO the long fin serpaes are one of the prettiest fish in my tanks. They are a couple of shades of bright orange with a vertical black stripe , black fins with white tips. The actually tend to school and play games. I have them in two of my tanks and have had no problems with fin nipping although there are angels and bettas in both tanks.
 

Fuzz16

Superstar Fish
Oct 20, 2006
1,918
3
0
Wellsville, KS
#36
ya they have never done it for me..color yes, but shape bothers me i think...id rather have rummynose or cardinals.
because the tanks size, idk if id have more than maybe 7 in there if i got them...i will prob end up getting them just cause he wants them. and i dont have big fish so they wont stick together. these are the red serpaes hes liking...just never had a taste for them i guess
 

Thyra

Superstar Fish
Jun 2, 2010
1,891
0
0
Yelm, WA
#37
I don't know how to describe the shape - sort of like a small platy I guess, but I have 5 in both tanks and at least in one of the tanks, no one is bigger than they are and they still play together. I have two bigger angels in the other tank, but I haven't seen where that influences their activity at all. They are certainly a lot more active than the neons or cardinals. I would get some more, but I always wait until things are on sale and I got these when they were $1 each.
 

Fuzz16

Superstar Fish
Oct 20, 2006
1,918
3
0
Wellsville, KS
#38
i worked at a LFS for two years, i know all the fish there are and i know my options and what their all like, their just to common for me. and i try to buy everything at a local store, not corporate owned, so they dont go on sale for 1$ each. but the guy is willing to make deals. i only have the option of one tank with how things are now, so i dont want fish thatre super common, i want unusual and different from what i saw daily when i worked at the lfs
 

Fuzz16

Superstar Fish
Oct 20, 2006
1,918
3
0
Wellsville, KS
#40
thanks Val :) the betta girls are petsmart sale fish, so i am sure they enjoy it more than the cup!

setup the DIY co2, its bubbling a bunch!
got new light in, def can tell a difference. i am not sure if i will find a new way to light the tank or get another new bulb when this goes out in 8-10months.
algae is going nuts, assuming that its from daughter "feeding" the fish...a BUNCH!

So tank params are still all good, pH went down a bit too!
went to pick up a couple otos today at petco, its down the street, but omg...their store is horrid. no fish but a few dead guppies and mollies, dead rotty plants. no reptiles in stock. highlight was a hammy who stood up and fell backwards when he looked up haha
so figured tomorrow i will go support locally owned stores and pick up a couple fish

and now debating about my next big purchase...birthday? and getting a canister filter...we shall see. :)