55gal sorority/community

[bassbonediva]

This tank isn't close to being done, but here's what it looks like at the moment. What do ya'll think?

This weekend I am getting a canister filter, so the HOBs will be gone (it has a Penguin 170 without the BioWheel and an AquaTech 5-15 running on it right now because that's all I have as far as filters go). I also added white butcher paper as the background, but I haven't gotten a good pic of that.

In the coming week or two, I will be removing the guppies and platies and putting them back in my son's 29gal tank once it gets moved and set up again (turning it into a paludarium eventually). So, the stock in the 55gal will be down to 7 female bettas, 5 neons, 2 black kuhli loaches, 2 otos, 1 albino cory and 1 upside down catfish. I will be adding 10 more neons, 5 flame tetras, 4 more kuhli loaches (one more black and three striped), 2 more otos, 4 more albino cories, and a pair of German blue rams.

All plants are live and all driftwood was wild-collected, as were the rocks. The substrate is sand and pea gravel. For plants I have two amazon swords, water wisteria, hornwort, java fern, java moss (will be moving to the 29gal, though), micro sword and cabomba. I will be adding frill/foxtail, hygros, blyxa japonica, water sprite, bacopa caroliniana, ludwigia and asian ambulia. I have two light fixtures on the tank, one 40W and one 60W (the 40W is a 48" fixture, the 60W is a 36" fixture from my 46gal that is in storage) for a total of 100W.

I will put up pictures as I add more stuff (plants/fish). *BOUNCINGS

 

[emmanuelchavez]

*thumbsups

 

[Newman]

*thumbsups 2x

 

[ValRasbora]

wow bass looks awesome!!! I haven't been on here for weeks so I'm gonna try catch up with everyone !
Looks really great, very natural and I'm sure it'll work great for you. Nice job!

 

[bassbonediva]

Thanks, guys! I'm really loving this tank. I can't wait to get the platies and guppies out of there. They add movement to the tank, but they are getting annoying (the female guppies went after my neons from the get-go).

 

[BristlenosePleco]

I love that drift wood!

 

[emmanuelchavez]

The white rock looks like limestone, maybe dolostone. Did you drop some vinegar on it? If it is a carbonate rock, I wonder how your water will react with the rock and dw; equilibrium?

 

[bassbonediva]

Which white rock, emmanuel? The two pieces in the middle and left are both quartz. The piece leaning up against the large DW on the right is a rock I found in my yard. However, I tested EVERY rock in there (including some of the pea gravel) with vinegar before putting it in the tank and none of it was reactive. Last time I tested everything (which was this morning after I did a big water change to remove the tannins), everything was great, including my pH (I think it was at 7.2...normal tap water tests at about 7.7).

 

[emmanuelchavez]

The 2nd from the right, to the left of the big stump. It appears to have the same type of weathering profile as limestones, round holes, essentially. Its hard to tell since it's a small detail in a "smallish" picture. I'm basing my observation on what looks like weathering.

 

[bassbonediva]

I'm pretty sure it isn't limestone. As I said, though, I tested all the rocks with vinegar and none of them were reactive...and I used more than a "few drops"...just for good measure I usually use at least a tablespoon to test my rocks. Thanks for the heads-up, though!

I just googled limestone, dolostone and carbonate rock (all three things you mentioned) and that rock looks NOTHING like those. That hole you see doesn't go all the way through, it's more of a depression in the rock.