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Sorry everyone but I have been pretty bussy tring to make the house walk-through-able + work and all the other stuff.

Tank shots.......as soon as I steal a cammera from someone..... Not too much has changed......Much more plant room with out the "thing"... Need some new DW for the tank because of it...... thanks LF!

Wedding stuff..... as soon as I hook up my scanner... Maybe Thursday....... If you are lucky!

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

Sorry no new pictures yet! Soon!

GH 19 degrees
KH 14 degrees
PH 7.2

CO2 is 26ppm

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

Wings,

Is the "Much more plant room with out the "thing"... " and the "...... thanks LF!" directly related ?

Just wondering,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

LF,
I think they are linked...as far as I know they are...

The tank LF was a nice thanks not a thanks you jerk thanks.

On of my friends brought his camera over Wednesday night so I might be getting pictures soon.

Wedding pictures.....maybe tomorrow morning....


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

Oh, I always took the thanks LF as a good thing,

I just wanted to know if you were thankful that you finally listen to my advice with regards of the "thing".

Can't wait to see some shots of the new setup and the wedding of course. Wings in a suit and not having a bandana () on his head.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Wings in a suit and not having a bandana () on his head.

Not having a bandana on my head? Are you talking about the fishing picture? That was a hat! Just not quite on right.

Here are some wedding pictures...
Wedding pictures

And one close up of the tank. Flowering anubias...
Tank

Tested Ph last night right before the light went out. 6.8 or 6.9. This gives me super high CO2 of 53 or 68... something like that. Fish seem to be doing just fine though. Should probably turn it down a tad...

I guess thats about all I have for you right now.



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

Wings,

Yeah, I mean the fishing photo, and I know it is a baseball cap .

Nice shot of the flowering Anubias, is that your first? I usually have around 5 flowers at any time, some of them coming, some going, and the others in full bloom. BTW, the whole life cicle of an Anubias flower is much longer in a low tech, less light tank.

Even nicer shot of your wife and yourself. Although, I doubt that this picture will make it into the Show Album . Seems like you are a funny guy. Where is that beach?

About the tank: That is probably a CO2 range where you have to start to watch out for your fish. If nobody shows a sign of discomfort then I would leave it like that.

Have fun,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Hey wings, thanks for sharing the photos. You scrub up well & your wife is a beautiful girl. Looks like things are going well with your tank too. Nice photos.

Cheers
TW

Wings,

Welcome to the "Darkside" oh I meant married life From your pic I could feel your anger.

No seriously nice pics and good luck. Your wife is lovely.

My Scapes

Hi,
Great pictures... of a lovely couple, and a great tank.
Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Nice shot of the flowering Anubias, is that your first? I usually have around 5 flowers at any time, some of them coming, some going, and the others in full bloom. BTW, the whole life cicle of an Anubias flower is much longer in a low tech, less light tank.

How many Anubias plants do you have again? I have two. A big bari and a nana. Will the nana's flower?

Beach is on Lake MI and thanks for the complements on the pictures.

CO2... Fish seem fine so I am going to leave it as is.

For the rest of you. Thanks so much for your good wishes. But I have to get going cuz the wife needs me. bye guys!

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

Wings,

I have about 10 Anubias of the species Nana and Barteri, I don't remember how many of each though. One thing is for sure, my nana has flowered just as often as the barteri, even once in the 29G low tech / medium light tank.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Very interesting... wonder what you are doing that I am not...

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

Well I am looking around to try some new plants since I am kind of starting over with this tank.

Plants of interest are:
Crypt parva
Pelia moss
Riccia

Want to find something red too. Not so sure what I want at this point. I have been looking on Aquabid.com and could get these guys for about 50 dollers including shipping. I think I am going to wait and see what I can get in through work before I jump on something and pay too much.

Tonight I am going to start messing around with moving plants and hardwear around in the tank. Wish me luck!

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

I am wishing you a lot of luck, remember what happened when I messed around just a tad too much with my tank.

About the Riccia: just get a small piece and grow it out, much cheaper and nice to watch it multiply. That's what tetratech did, or is still doing.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

About the Riccia: just get a small piece and grow it out, much cheaper and nice to watch it multiply. That's what tetratech did, or is still doing.

Yep, totally agree. If it's gonna grow it's gonna grow and you'll have plenty of it. If it doesn't work out than you didn't waste alot of time (hairnets or thread) and money.

My Scapes

Thanks for the input. This might be down the road a little ways before I get the goodies. Need to see what I can get from work first.

I didn't really do too much to the tank tonight. Did some trimming and replanting of wisteria and moved a tad bit of sunset. Nothing much more.

Hope to talk the wife into a camera soon. She is a photo person so I don't think it will be too hard...

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

Yeah Wings,

A camera is a must . Not only for taking nice tank pictures but also to capture the bliss of married life. And if you ever have kids then eventually they will need proof that their father once really had hair .

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Funny thing is last night before falling a sleep she brought up camera stuff to me. Couldn't have made it easier. Her old manual camera isn't up to par any more. I told her to start looking for a digital. So hopefuly sometime soon I will have some sweet pictures for all ya all

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

last night before falling a sleep she brought up camera stuff to me

In what sense?


But in all seriousness, sounds like a good idea , glad the wife likes to take pictures too. I have the problem as my wife is scared of this camera, too many options.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Ahh... Mine used to be a photo major so she has no problems with taking pictures. Used to have a problem with digital but thats all over now.

New update on my tank. I brought home 5 chery shrimp tonight for $2 each. They are in a bucket with a very slow drip line. The game plan is to add them once the lights go out. They are pretty small (3/8 of an inch, give or take a bit) and I am afraid of my fish making them a snack. Of one them molted in the bag so I am a little worried about them. Any helpful hints?



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

Wings,

Cherry shrimp are pretty durable. I have 3 in my 12g and had no problems. They seem to really love the java moss covered rocks and are on there all the time looking for little goodies. They get along fine with the amano shrimp, kuli loaches and gold tetras. Not sure if rainbows would eat them. The rainbows and rams don't bother my amano shrimp in the 72g.

My Scapes

Thanks for the input tetra. How big are yours? Mine are quite small.

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

Good luck on the shrimpsters Wings. They are sure small, and not having any shrimp I would not know how safe they are in a tank with Rainbows. But don't think that they have been eaten if you cannot find them for a while, they are good hiders.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Here is a quick update before I go and catch some trout on my day off!

Added the shrimp last night right after a very heavy feeding of frozen blood worms. I scooped them with the net fromt the bucket and put them down in the bottem of the tank. The fish didn't even seem to know they were there. I think that's a good sign.

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

I now have 6 Cherry Shimp. The most I have seen at once is 3. I picked up 6 Oto's today. This will put my cout at 11 or 12. Something like that. I figure they aren't going to hurt things!

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

Well on my two hour trip back home from the Kzoo to the West Coast for a wedding, I made a few stops to check out some stores.

I came home with three plants: Two Lillies (one tiger the other all red.) and an African fern.

I also picked up some new DW. It was stuff that is screwed on the a chunk of slate. The peice had 3 skinny branches on it. I will probably keep using the slate but break it into smaller chunks and reattach the wood.

Sorry no pictures but I think a cammera may be soon.

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

Wings,

I am personally not too wild about the "wood on slate" thing, mostly because it is very likely that the wood is not water logged by any means, it probably hasn't seen any water since it was part of a standing tree.

How tall are the Lilies now and how tall will they become? I always liked the look of them and can imagine that one or two will make a nice addition to your tank, if they are placed in a position where they can shine (I think Bob W. has some in his 125).

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

LF,
Wow people do see my log!

The DW is in a tub with water right now. Rocks are on the wood to keep it down being it is quite dry. I will probably soak it for a couple of weeks.

The Lilies are really small right now but I think they get much bigger. Both are maybe a couple inches tall. I am not really quite sure where I want them in the tank. The tank will change a fair amount in the next couple of weeks as I add the DW. Having a vision of what I want in the tank has been a pretty large problem for me.

Bob does have one in his tank. It looks quite nice! Speaking of Bob I haven't seen him in my store in quite some time.

Camera update: Probably going to be this spring. Things didn't quite work out as planed so we are going to have to take it easy with our cash until spring.

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

Hi Wings

For some reason, your log dropped off my active list, so I didn't know you'd posted anything. Can't wait till you can show us some pics of the lillies & driftwood & slate. How did you take your other pics - a borrowed camera?

The LFS where I get my gas filled has the red ones & if they are the same, they are very nice looking.

Cheers
TW

TW,
All my old pictures are from a borrowed camera. My friend that I used to take it from used to live much closer(2 blocks not 1/2 way a cross town) so it was easy to steal it for a night. I will have to see when I can get my hands on it again being the wife and I are not going to have the cash we thought we were until march.

A little update:
I added in the DW on Tuesday. I really like the looks of it. When I added it in, I only messed with very small areas of the tank. Also on Tuesday I added some java moss to a set of rocks in the tank.

Fish: I haven't had any more losses to the tank since right after I came back from the honeymoon. Last night I got a good count on the 6 new Otos I added in a week or so ago. They were schooling back and forth at at the front of the glass. I must say they were quite cute (the wife thought so too).

A new fish tally:
9 Brilliant rasboras
4 dwarf neon rainbows
2 skunk loaches
1 flying fox
10 otos
6 cherry shrimp
1 catfish (might be a baby bullhead)

Shrimp: I don't seem them very often but the ones that I do see, seem to be growing. I am guessing that they are all still alive but who really knows.

Plants: All my plants seem to be growing quite well. I have been messing with my ferts a little using tetra's trick with a little less N and a little more P. This is messing with the color of my Sunset Hygro. Some of the plant tops are hot pink down the veins while more are turning all a redish/orngish pink color at the tops. I am also adding iron with my Micros.

Algae: The only algea I have right now is green spot. This seems to be only on my crpyts and anubias. I have been trying to keep them shaded with my stem plants as much as posible but it doesn't seem to help. Maybe I should cut my lighting back again to maybe 10 hours. I was running at 12 then cut to 11 so maybe it is still too much. Any ideas on this would be a great help!



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

Wings,

That is so funny. Just before I read your entry I was wondering about shorter light periods myself. As you may know, my new 40G has started off with only 7 hours and growth was pretty darn good. By now I am at 8 hours and I will increase it to 8.5 this weekend.

I think 10 hours is way enough for a lighting period, the only problem I have with it is that I see the tank then mostly without lights on

About your tank: all seems to be going well, but you really have to work on getting a camera. A cheap 4mp should not cost you more than $200 and would be way enough to get some shots of the tank (maybe no close-ups of fish though). How about perusing Ebay and what not for a used one?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Well, this is how we are looking at it. We could spend a couple hundred and get an alright camera but in a year we would want to spend the bigger bucks and get a really nice one, thus kind of upping the price of the nice one. Things with our cash flow did not really work out as planed. So it is kind of throwing us through a loop and we have to be pretty tight with our spending. Plus it looks as if we are going to need loans for me to finish school and her to keep going. This really wasn't in the game plan. Trust me, I would love to get some pictures up of my tank. I rather enjoy all your input but right now things just don't work out for that. Sorry again for not having picture of my super sweet tank but I guess you will have to take my word for it.

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

Sorry again for not having picture of my super sweet tank but I guess you will have to take my word for it.

Well you know if you don't show your picture after a while it's assumed your a protist collaborator

I hear you with the camera. Although my camera is a good day to day camer and it has the ability to take some good fish pics if I had to do it again I would have waited and got an SLR-type camera. Actually my camera (Canon S2 IS) has a new model out already (Canon S3 IS) and it now goes to ISA 800, whereas mine only goes to 400 which is one of it's limitations.

My Scapes

Well you know if you don't show your picture after a while it's assumed your a protist collaborator

Dang it!

What is all this ISA stuff all about?

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

Sorry wings that was a typo, I meant ISO (film speed)

My Scapes

I talked to the wife and she said that was probably the case.

Tank update:
The red lilly has grown at least 3 to 4 inches since last weekend. While the tiger lilly wich is right next to it for the time being hasing grown at all.

Still have at least one strimp as of tonight....buggers are good at hiding being bright red!

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

Some numbers on the night before the 50% water change:

Nitrates: 10ppm
Ph: 6.7~8
Kh: 17 degrees
CO2: 81ppm

1st, If I am adding 11pmm of nitrates 3x a week. Then by the end of the week I should have 33ppm given no up take. My plants then are taking up 20ppm + some for fish poo.

2nd, CO2. Really freaking high! I turned it down a couple of bubles. I caught the dwarf rainbows breathing hard tonight. I can't beleive that I haven't had problems with that high of a count such as fish deaths.



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

That is for sure a lot of CO2, and a little to low on the nitrates. Any idea about your phosphates?

Wings - I added a comment in my 125G log on the fish that you hint you would like to add to this tank, check it out.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

So what should my nitrates be right before the water change? Yes I know the CO2 is a bit high...and I don't have a phosphate kit yet. Maybe I will pick one up.

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

based on EI, your Nitrates should be around 20ppm just before the water change.

Your Phosphates would be interesting to measure, in particular because I am curious about its proportion with regards to Nitrates (should be about 1/10 of Nitrates).

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

(should be about 1/10 of Nitrates).

How does tetra feel about this?

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

How does tetra feel about this?

Well I usually dose 10 to 1 (no3 to po4) not sure what it ends up because I simply don't test anymore.



My Scapes

Right now I am dosing:

1/2 tsp of N: 11.37 ppm
1/8 tsp + just a little extra of P: 2.96 ppm
1/8 tsp of K: 2.17 ppm

Left over nitrate then being low would be because P causes more up take? Not that I am overly worried about things in my tank but just looking at what is going on.

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

Well on the 4th of July it was like Xmas because my friend with the camera came over before we went and watched some of the worst fire works I have ever seen.

I took a few pictures of the tank but I don't have my hands on them yet. I hope they are good. I only took a few. So lets keep our fingers crossed that I can prove that my tank isn't a big algae war zone.

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

oooh, pictures, that will be good. Looking forward to them /:'

Cheers
TW

I took a few pictures of the tank but I don't have my hands on them yet.

Did you tease your wife like this on your wedding night

We're waiting.......

---

Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

Yeah, waiting here as well. Was that a regular camera where you have to fill the film first?

Wings - I guess we have to start a fund-raiser for you so that you finally can get you hands on them.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Well you see I haven't been in contact with my friend since the 4th. I want to get my hands on them really bad but I will have to wait as will you. They are coming though! No really!

Did you tease your wife like this on your wedding night

I was just trying to find the place to stay! Lets just say the map was wrong! Thanks Google!

Wings - I guess we have to start a fund-raiser for you so that you finally can get you hands on them.

Fund-raiser for me? That would be sweet! I am not about to turn down cash!

LF,
The camera was a cheapy digital. Same one that 99% of my pictures have been posted from.

Sorry to not have them up yet. I though I would hear from him sooner....

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

Pictures! Pictures! Pictures!

Last pictures

Whole Tank shot as of July 4

left side

Sorry for the wait everyone! Dont have much time today cause I need to do my water changes super fast!

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

Hey, really nice wings It's got everything a planted tank could hope for, pokey driftwood, splashes of color, and a wisteria carpet.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Nice going Wings Tank is looking good and the plants seem happy.

One thing that I don't think works is the wisteria foreground. I like it wrapping the sides, but the shape of the wisteria leaves takes away from all those other nice plants behind it. I would go for a darker lower foreground. Moss covered rocks would probably work really well in your setup because of the darker tighter color.


My Scapes

Pictures Your tank is looking nice, good job.

Cheers
TW

Thanks for all the comments everyone!

As for the wisteria forground: I kind of needed something to feel the gap until I could get my hands on another plant. I used to have dwar sag. up front but when I was getting leaves that werer 9 inches tall it had to go. I like the moss and rock idea from tetra. I have been wanting to get my hands on some pella moss for some time now but I really don't want to order it online if I don't have to. Though I haven't seen it on any of the list at work either. Java moss may have to do for now. I have tons of it so its not a big deal.

During the water change today I pulled up all the large giant hygro in the tank and took it into work. For a replacement I am thinking of adding 2 or 3 Aponogeton crispus. My thoughts with this is that I will have a simmilar leave shape but it will not be as bushy so I can layer in different stem plants. Any thoughts on this?

Thanks for getting back to me once again. Sorry the pictures arn't all that great. I think they go kind of nasty when I saved for the web. Might have to get you a better one tomorrow.

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

Different shot and save method
This picture might be a little better. I think half the problem is using photobucket instead of just uploading to the site. Some day when the wife and I get a camera I will have to get a premium membership too!



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

Siesta Lighting

This morning I was reading in my plant book (Encyclopedia of Aquarium Plants by Peter Hiscock). In there it talks about giving the lights a siesta to cut down on algea. See more on the thread linked above.

Today I am going to start this method to see how it works.

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

Here is a little update:

I had some cash burning a hole in my pocket so I picked up some fish, shrimp and plants from work. The fish went into the 40 along with the plants. Shrimp are now working like slaves in my 2G hex.


As for the fish. They are Pelvicachromis pulcher's (aka kribs). My store got them in sometime last week and I really became hooked on them. There colors are much nicer than I have seen on them before. Therefor I bought a male and a female. They seem to be doing really well as of last night. When I first put them in it looked like they came down with ick but it was only air bubbles due to the large water change. A few hours later they looked perfectly normal weaving in and out of the plants.

Hope to be able to steal a camera sometime soon to show you guys! They seem like they are not going to be shy.

Plants:
Picked up a bunch of narrow leaf ludwigea and apon. crisp. I am not overly happy with the scape at ths point but for the time being not too much will change. My boss said he would order me some plants so I might be trying some new things. Will keep you updated!

Edit: I noticed last night that one of my rainbows has one cloudy eye. I have a feeling I will have to put it down.

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

Wings,

Sorry about the Rainbow, a clowdy eye is not good. Doesn't that usually come from bad water quality and goes away when conditions improve?

Nice that you picked up some Kribs, coincidentally - I read today in TFH's September issue that they are best bought as juvenile fish in a group of 6 in order to assure that there will be a pair forming (if you like babies).

Apons - didn't I have them in my 125G and they grew out of the water and had flowers ?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I have one in the tank right now and it just put out its 4th flower. I was very impressed.

In terms of bad water... Should I test such things. I have been keeping my feedings light, doing my 50%'s, and adding in ferts as if it was religon.

Buy six kribs to get a pair.... that would be a total of about 30 bucks that I don't have. Though I am not really looking to have a bunch of babies. If I want to see then I go look into my convict tank. Right now I have a second mature female which makes the tank kind of interesting. The younger female shows off to the older female and kind of gangs together to push the male around. They have kept my attention most of the past few days.



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