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Wisteria God
Did I get a promotion from "Wizard"?

That wisteria plant was probably grown in very poor conditions at the LFS. Most of the LFS grow their plants in very low light because they don't need to worry long-term. My guess is that plant was there a while and continued to live but grew differently due those conditions. You could see the long space between nodes.

I would imagine that whenever a situation is created that isn't in the range of it's normal growing conditions you will get different grow patterns, Afterall the plant is called difformis for a reason.

Here's an overhead view of my wistera, You could see differnt leaf shapes as well, but I believe mine is doing that because it's crawling and not growing toward the light.





tetratech attached this image:


My Scapes

Yea, I hope my ottos make it through too. I don't know how long they were at the LFS though.
My bulbs are rated at 6700 K, which should be good right?
Is there anything I should do to the Wisteria?
At least its growing, lol

A little update. I've taken a few pictures, and have noticed some more Hair algea(I think) on the java moss. wanna see?
Ludwigia Repens is growing nicely
whole tank after almost 2 weeks

Edit: I just saw my ludwigia repens beginning the pearling process! I tried to take a picture, but its hard w/ the white things on the glass behind it, so the bubbls are the ones that are kinda blurred, sorta like little white lines
Yay

Last edited by lookin_around at 27-Nov-2005 18:33

lookin_around,

Overall it looks very nice

The algae that you show looks like staghorn to me.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

lookin_around,

Your tank is looking pretty darn good. Could you take a picture of your Co2 going into your filter? I would like to see how you are doing it. I might start a second Co2 bottle that I would run into my filter. thanks!

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Thnx for the compliments. Here are some pictures of the co2 setup. First, for all of my connections,(ie, line into the filter intake, and the line into the bottle caps) I am using these little plastic pieces with no glue at all. If you see the lip on the plastic piece, it is on the inside of the cap, with the airline on the outside, therefore, the more pressure exerted on the piece, the more airtight it is, and it seems to work quite well.
here is a picture of the co2 bottles, and how they are setup

And also, here is the filter intake it is kind of hard to see, but the lip of the plastic piece is inside, so that with the airline on it, it holds itself in place

Just a little update. There is a new leaf on my anubias, which I thought I'd share. here it is

Nice CO2 setup, lookin_around

I have one question about it though, if you don't mind.

Do you have a return valve built into the hose? If not, is there any chance that your tank water would fill up your bottles, like when you turn off your filter for maintenance or when the bottles become “depleted”?

I am not an expert on DIY CO2, so my question is more out of curiosity .

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

No, I do not have a return valve on it, as I didn't want to create any resistance for the co2. I have had some tank water flow back into the bottles, but that was only because I sorta squeezed the bottles when I was screwing them on, which created a syphon. Other than that, it never syphons back into the bottles, as long as I tighten the bottles at the top of the neck where I cannot squeeze them.

I would like to do a pressurized system, but not now. my parents would have a heart attack if I spent too much more money on this tank. I still have a truck I gotta get fixed up to were I like it by the end of the year

Last edited by lookin_around at 28-Nov-2005 12:57

lookin_around,

Thanks for your pictures. I might start up a second bottle for my tank. Right now I have a 40 Gallon long, running with one 2L bottle and a bubble lader as a diffuser. So far things seem to be going pretty well. I am using a bit of flourish excel but nothing else at this time.

Here is a link to my thread I have running right now.

P.S. You have to be careful about squezing and tipping the mix bottles over. I have squezed mind once but the water didn't make it that far up the hose. I did though tip my bottle over a bit and got some of the mix in my tank. I did it one night right before I went to bed and the next morning the tank was a little cloudy. All my fish and plants seemed to take it pretty well. I did a couple of water changes and everything was back on track.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Sweet setup! How funny! I just purchased a 29 gallon tank with Coralife freshwater 65 watt strip. I'm going to use a Aquaclear 50 for filtration and a 200 watt heater.
My substrate is Eco Complete mixed with regular gravel.
I will also be using C02, but not at this time.

Kewl...Good luck with that, what type of plants are you going to be doing?

Sorry if I highjack the thread for a second.

dharris,

I think you would be underfiltered and overheated

That is just my opinion though. I would use an AquaClear 70 and a 150W heater. Don't have much time though right now to discuss details.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I'm not sure about the filter, but he should be fine with the heater of 200 watts, as thats what I have in mine....Ijust have it set to almost the loswest it can go, and my tank is a t about 76-78 all the time...it is kinda overkill, but when I was shopping for one at wal mart, it was either 100 watts or 200, so I went with too much instead of not enough

Hey all...Havn't posted in a while...I've been busy with school and family visiting. Well its been almost 3 weeks now, and the tank is going alright. I still just have the ottos...and so far all 4 have survived. I just placed the order for Flourish excel tonight since it is not available locally so it should help with the algae. This first picture is after a water change, and I've trimmed the Wisteria, and the "staghorn algae" off of the moss, sinc I cannot remove it with my hands. The ludwigia repens is growing nicely as it is now above the driftwood, and I have seen it pearling before.

I am not so sure about the Valisneria though. I think it may be too shaded from the Anubias but i am not sure. I have seen a lot of dead leaves from it, any ideas? maybe the flourish will help
whole tank
Java moss(with algae) and Ludwigia

lookin_around,

Your tank seems to be growing in quite nice! I like it and I can't wait to see pictures later on!

Flourish excel can and will be your best friend! Trust me.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

lookin_around,

I think it looks very nice. Yeah, I guess the Vals could have a problem with being shaded. Give them some more time to become taller and hopefully that would solve the problem. If not then this might not be a good spot for them. Maybe a less light hungry crypt (or a few of them) could go in its place.

Besides that Excel that you will add soon, do you use any fertilizer for the water column? How often and how much water do you change?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

yes I add ferts to the water. I add KNo3, and Khpo4...and also a sloution of plantex +b...I do 40-50% water change once a week.
I dose about 3-5 ppm Kno3 every other day
1ppm every other day of Khpo4
and 1 ml of a plantex solution of 2 tbs in 1000 ml of water(I think, I am at school so don't have my notes with me) on the days that I don't dose macros

lookin_around,

Could you please verify your Plantex dosing when you have a chance. That looks very little to me.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Ok I'm home now and sorry....it was 4 tbs in 1000 ml of water on the plantex

I looked for cardinal tetras everywhere around here, but couldn't find anything, so I got some Neons...3 of which went straight into the moss when I put them in, and dont look so good. I let the bag sit in the water for about 30 minutes to level out the water temp and then just dumped em in...any suggestions?

Last edited by lookin_around at 07-Dec-2005 21:57

update...ones dead, I think I will just wait a day or 2...and see how many more die, and try to return them all if I can. I don't like these too much. I think I may get some rasboras

Something you could try to do instead of just dumping them in is:

1. Put the bag in the water to get the temp right
2. Put the fish into a small bucket (still in the store water)
3. Slowly start adding your tank water to the bucket.
4. When you get mostly your water in the bucket scoop the fish out with a net and put them in your tank.

This way you are not adding anything from the water of the stores into your tank.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Ok...I will try that, I've changed my mind, as I think it's sorta unfair, I'm gonna just stick with the neons, but exchange any dead ones for some live ones until I get a good batch I can't seem to locate all of them in the tank, but there are 2 more that aren't looking good that I think will be dead by the morning

I don't know tons about them but I have heard that they are not easy to keep.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Ok thnx for the help....I guess we will have to just see how things go

lookin_around,

Many of us have problems with Neons, including myself. The way you added them sure did not help the matter, as has been mentioned before a slow acclimatization to your tank water is a necessity. I would suggest you look at your filter intake as the dead ones will be stuck there.

I personally am very unsuccessful with Neons, I think I purchased about 20 over a 6 month period and I have 2 left. Various people state that Neons are becoming so sensitive because of excess inbreeding at the fish farms (or something like that). Also, I think they should not be added to tanks that have not completely settled yet.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Yea....well after seeing the massacre this morning in my tank, I think I may steer away from neons...I have found 8 dead ones....but I can't find the other 2....I don't know if they are there or not..or if the lady didn't really give me 10

Sorry to hear that lookin_around,

Next time you add fish make sure that you do it nice and slowly. Tetratech uses a method where he lets tank water drip into the bag with the fish for over an hour (depending on the fish even way longer). I use a cup and add small amounts of water every 10 minutes.

On the bright side, things can only get better .

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Ok...Thnx I will definitely do something like that next time. I am still wondering about the other 2. If they aren't in there I have a feeling I won't be getting the 4 bux back for them if the lady didn't give me all 10...I got them at petsmart which was probably a mistake, so I will check my LFS but they do not normally have anything interesting there. How would gourami's do in my tank? I saw some yesterday that looked kewl. They looked kinda big though. And would they do good with a couple of Blue rams, becuase I eventually want to add a pair of those, I jsut don't know how far from now it will be

Ok, well I got some Harlequin Rasboras instead of more tetras, cause I didn't wanna deal with them all dieing. Right now I am doing that drip thing so they can get used to the water like you guys suggested. I got 7 as that was all that they had left. Thnx for your help and we'll have to see how things go....I heard you talking about a sort of sub-species of rasboras..Is thatimportant...my rasboras have some red on their dorsal fin and tails, if that helps.

lookin_around,

Well, congratulations on the new fishies .

Did you actually get the money back from the LFS? If you would have come to me to get the money back and you would have told me how you introduced the Neons I would not have given you anything (no offense).

There are many different Rasboras out there and there are 3 forms of Harlequin:

The common Harlequin as can be seen in the picture in the middle of [link=This Page]http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/forums/Planted%20Aquaria/65470_5.html" style="COLOR: #ff6633[/link].
The Harlequin Rasbora Hengeli as can be seen [link=Here]http://www.rasbora.de/Zierfischgalerie/NOThengeli.jpg" style="COLOR: #ff6633[/link].
And the Harlequin Rasbora Espei as can be seen [link=Here]http://www.rasbora.de/Zierfischgalerie/NOTespei.jpg" style="COLOR: #ff6633[/link] and in many pictures of my [link=125G Tank Log]http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/forums/Planted%20Aquaria/64425.html?200512081209" style="COLOR: #ff6633[/link].

You can see that the biggest difference between the common Harlequin and the other 2 is the size of the black triangle. The Espei have a larger orange area than the Hengeli.

Hope this helps,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

No they wouldn't let me get my money back, but they let me exchange them. So I got the Rasboras since I have heard nothing but good things about them. Mine are just the common ones, which is fine with me, I still like them. I should be getting my flourish excel sometime soon. I had to order it off of bigals, so shipping is the only thing left

hey lookin,

Congrats on the harlies, you won't be disappointed. Great schoolers, and they'll GLOW if you keep their water clean. Just to add some info on them: In general males will be a darker shade of red with darker black markings and darker red around the eye. This will be most prominent in the dominant male of the group. The best way to tell the sexes apart actually is to look at the tringle itself. See pic below: notice that on the bottom of the tringle there's a little edge that sticks out, circled in red. That signifies a male. On females the black line will go straight down with no edge jutting out.

Anyway, just wanted to give you some extra info. Good luck!



NowherMan6 attached this image:

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Back in the saddle!

Yep, I had 5 HRs that I actually cycled a tank with about 2 1/2 years ago (didn't know much, still don't) and they all made it through perfectly. I had them for about 1 1/2 years until one got a red patch on it's belly and one by one they fell like dominos.

My Scapes

Thnx nowhereman. I will have to check that out when I get home. Maybe I will get some pictures...if I can manage to capture those guys...they swim a lot and are almost always moving. I dropped a lil bit of food in this morning and they seemed to enjoy it.

Ok, I am now home. I think I have 1 or 2 males out of the 7 rasboras. I tried to get some pictures, but it was hard, those buggers swim so fast. Well here are the best 5 out of about 15 or 20.
Numero Uno
Numero Dos
Numero Tres
Numero Cuatro
Numero Cinco

Sry they're not all that great, and plz excuse the algae, I checked my order for the Flourish Excel, and it barely shipped out today, so I have to just wait I guess.

lookin_around,

They are pretty nice pictures and the quality isn’t too shabby either .

It might be just the angle at which we see the fish in “Numero Tres”, but it looks like it has a spinal deformity. Is there really such a major bump on one or your Harlies?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Yea there seems to be about three fish with that large "bump". Is it something I should worry about?

lookin_around,

As I mentioned in my last post, it could be that this is a spinal deformity. That could be a sign of high inbreeding or illness. And I only say it COULD be. I would suggest you look at as many Harlequin pictures as you can and compare yours with these. And, maybe you also could get a side shot from the ones with the bump so we can see it in profile.

Keep us posted,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Hey,

NowherMan6 just posted a few good shots of his Harlies, maybe that might help in identifying if there is an issue or not.

Here is the link

Ingo

Edit: scroll down on that page

Last edited by LITTLE_FISH at 10-Dec-2005 16:24

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

The bumps on the heads of my Harlies look like his. Sorta like the picture labeled "The big female".

Well, then all is good

Guess that means you have 3 girls in your gang.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Nice shots, lookin.

My harlies developed that bump as they got older... kind of remdinds me of how full grown tiger barbs look when they're older. Nothing to worry about IMO.

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Back in the saddle!

Haha...hmmm I wonder what I'd have to do if they bred in my little 29

Well, I just went to the pet store...and they were having their blowout christmas sale...and all fish are half off..so I got 3 more femailes. 1.50 each...they didn't have very many

lookin_around,

So how many fish did you add in the last few days?

Remember, a major increase in fish can lead to a cycle.

Be on top of your water changes. Do you have an Ammonia test kit?

Don't want to scare you, just make sure you watch the parameters.

Ingo

PS: Never can have enough Harlies

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

The only fish I've added this week are the harlies...I now have 10 of them

lookin_around,

This means that you had 4 Otos to begin with? If so, and you just added 10 Harlies then you increased your waste producing load by 250%.

Just keep an eye open on the Ammonia.

Ingo

Last edited by LITTLE_FISH at 11-Dec-2005 17:12

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Alright, will do...how often do you think I should test the ammonia?

At least once a day, preferrably twice

It is a big tank (relatively speaking ) and the fish are small, but it is better to be careful than sorry.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Hey, I came home today from school and noticed one ofmy ottos had some sort of injury on him. He seems to be acting normal, but I don't know what I should do about it. Here are some pics

1
2

that happend to my rummynose tetra, it spread and he died, I was told it was a bacteria that works like necrotizing facitus ... flesh eating bacteria... I don't know if thats true but it claimed my rummynose within days I didn't know what to do and had to seperate the ones infected they all perished.

lookin_around,

Yeah, that doesn’t look good.

I cannot tell you what it is, but I had one Oto with a white spot on his back as well, I saw it the first time a few hours after adding him to the tank so I assumed it might have been an injury from the netting and transport from the LFS. He didn’t show any signs of distress at all, but within a few days I found him dead. No other fish (Espei and other Otos) seem to have been infected.

As harsh as it may seem, maybe you should let him go to fish-heaven. Or you could quarantine him, if you have a setup for this case. Once again, better safe than sorry.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Well, I do have a 1.5 gallon that I set up last night...it has no bacterial colony or algae in it for food...Would I be able to put him in there? If not, what would you recommend me to do?

Just a guess, but it looks like neon tetra disease, I had a white cloud get it and die of it, but the other fish didn't get it. It is usually fatal. Moving him may stress him and he could die from that. You haven't added other fish to that tank yet have you? If not I'd leave it,observe the fish's behavior,maybe raise the temp a bit (to speed up progression of the disease). Try furazolidone as a treatment, this controls secondary infections and helps with false NTD.(recommendation from The Manual of Fish Health)
Isolation is recommended, but tank conditions should stay the same. The new tank hasn't cycled. You could cycle with ammonia and move him in three days maybe. Hope I'm wrong and that it's really nothing.

"If you're afraid you'll make a mistake, you won't make anything."
-Family Circus

Well I went ahead and luthenized(sp?) him this morning, so he's now in fishie heaven

lookin_around,

Sorry, but it was maybe the best for the little one

Ingo

PS: Keep an eye on the others for similar symptoms. I didn't have any additional losses of the same kind.

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Hey, y'all...Well it's been about 5 weeks now. SO I thought I'd share some pictures.
First is a full Tank shot the day after a water change, and trimming of the staghorn algae and some plantsTank

Next is a shot of my Crypt Wendti which is doing quite nicely IMO. I think I am going to move it to the front left corner, as was suggested to me in chat. Crypt

I have been watching the tank, and lately I noticed one of my ottos tends to occasionally go to the top of the water, and "sucks" on the surface, he is the only fish that does it, so I know that it isn't a lack of O in the tank. Otto

Next is just a shot of one of my harlequins. Some of them are turning quite redish. They are just so hard to photograph Harlie

Oh yea...Just recieved my Flourish Excel tonight, so I will start that tommorow to see if it helps. Should I just go by the instructions on the bottle for it, or do I need to overdose a lil bit for it to make any sorta difference?

Thnx for all your help guys

lookin_around,

Looking good

Your crypt is really nice and I agree that Harlies are hard to catch on a photo. You got to wait just for that split second when he/she is not moving.

About the Oto on the surface: I have not seen that before but it doesn’t look good to me, maybe you should create a post in the Hospital.

Did you turn off the filter for the pictures? It seems like there is no surface agitation whatsoever.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

No, the filter was on for the picture, he was just on the opposoite side that the filter is on.

I think your Oto is OK. I've read about this behavior before. Basically when there isn't a lot of surface agitation or movement you can get a pretty thick protein build-up on the suface of the water. Apparently this stuff is very nutritious and Otos have been reported to float upside down at the suface like yours to feast on the stuff. Nothing to worry about, just keep an eye on the little guy to be sure.

Very nice tnak, by the way

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Back in the saddle!