My Dream Aquarium- 55 Gallon - Plans

UPDATE- Resurrection! He (or she) LIVES!!!

I was walking by the tank this evening and I happened to glance in the corner and see THREE (3) Otocinclus fish - 1 on the glass and 2 on a plant!

I thought I had lost 4 of them but I only lost 3! I think the 3 I got from the first LFS died and the 2nd 3 I got lived. One interesting fact is that I got the 2nd 3 otos literally out of the bag they were shipped to the LFS in- they were still floating them.

I think, based on conversation above about how starved otos are when you get them, that I caught these before they got TOO starved, which gave them a chance to get used to my tank and start finding food they can eat.

YAY!!!

Tomorrow, I'm pulling out a lot of the hardscape and cleaning it of hair algae. I think I'm going to pull almost all the moss out- it just is not working- and then I have to go hunting that dang moss all over most of the rest of the tank- just too much algae. It's time to go on offense with that dang hair algae. I'm tired of looking at it grow, pulling out what I can, watching it grow again, pulling out what I can, etc. etc. IT ENDS TOMORROW!

Always nice to see something you think you've lost. I enjoy reading your journey. In the past I had a very good LFS, and everything was healthy and settled in, or not for sale. Now I have either online, or the petco/petsmart route which just doesn't appeal to me. It's pretty sad that a city of hundreds of thousands can't seem match a tiny town LFS.

Too bad the moss isn't working for you. If it's got any life in it, maybe throw it in a "temporary" spot like a big jar with a halfway decent bit of natural light and forget about it. Sometimes you look over 6 months later and you've got gold in there. If not, no loss.

UPDATE- Brute Force! Algae War Commences....and my favorite fish is nowhere to be found

I had bad hair algae. It just kept getting worse. I was thinking that the plants would really get going and outdo the algae, but it hasn't happened. Last week I was looking at Reddit and there as a picture of a gorgeous planted tank. I told the poster that they have what I hope my tank looks like in 6 months. They replied and reminded me not to wait with problems- take action on them and don't wait for things to work out.

This person had no idea I was thinking that very thing about the hair algae in my tank. I took it as a divine intervention and got busy today.

• I took out all the wood hardscape and took off all moss that wasn't glued down (and all hair algae with it)
• I took out the 2 branches that I have a lot of rhizome plants on and washed them under the sprayer in the sink. Picked at them as I could to get the algae
• Took out all the river rocks and took all the moss off of them also- tiny bits left that were glued on.
• Took the vacuum and vacuumed up 10 gallons of detritus floating around
• took my tongs and swirled them around in the other plants like getting spaghetti to grab as much of that evil hair algae as possible.
• Replaced the 10 gallons with clean water.

As part of all this, I was excited because I knew I would find my Spotted Raphael catfish- I just knew he was hiding in the driftwood somewhere.

He was nowhere to be found. This guy is not small (3.5 - 4 inches) and has lots of cartilage etc. so I knew I should at least find a skeleton. NOTHING.

They do bury in the sand, but what I have is closer to gravel than sand (it's big sand, I guess), so I didn't think he would bury in it. Also, I dug up a bunch of it when I was vacuuming, so no idea how I couldn't find him.

Is he dead or alive? At this point, I'm going to assume he's dead. No sighting in at least a week and I couldn't even find him when I pulled out all the hardscape, so.....

I did see my little bamboo shrimp, though- he jumped out as I started pulling out one of the big logs. Way to go boy! I'm waiting for him to realize he can sit on top of a log in the flow and catch food that way- I love to see his little satellite dish hands do their thing.

Anyway, the tank looks better. Honestly, I can't comfortably sit and stare at it with that hair algae slowly drifting in the flow mocking me with every little twist. I doubt the war is over, but the battle was definitely a WIN.

whole tank just after changing- I changed the logs- still not sure I like the arrangement, but the other bothered me.


Left side after removing algae- this was not as overrrun as the right side


Right side after algae battle- still a little bit of moss on the hardscape, but if it gets algae all over it again I will remove it all. Just hoping that little bit will take back off. The rhizome plants look a lot better without all that crap all over them. STill some dark green algae on leaves of the red plants (slower growing) but I'm willing to live with that for now.

noahm said:

Always nice to see something you think you've lost. I enjoy reading your journey. In the past I had a very good LFS, and everything was healthy and settled in, or not for sale. Now I have either online, or the petco/petsmart route which just doesn't appeal to me. It's pretty sad that a city of hundreds of thousands can't seem match a tiny town LFS.

Too bad the moss isn't working for you. If it's got any life in it, maybe throw it in a "temporary" spot like a big jar with a halfway decent bit of natural light and forget about it. Sometimes you look over 6 months later and you've got gold in there. If not, no loss.

Click to expand...

noahm- I am going to dig out some of it and do just that! I pulled a lot off and threw it in the garbage, but I will get some and put it in a jar and see what happens. I hated to pull so much off. Great idea! thanks for your kind words- I love journaling this stuff- I always wonder if folks read my "over-sharing" LOL. My wife can't stand my contant droning on about it, so I have to let it out somewhere

People are definitely reading, but this board is a bit quieter than I am used to -- especially given the membership. I think the interface with phones has pushed people more toward "reactions" rather than bits of commentary. I rarely interface by phone with this kind of stuff. Keep sharing.

I always read along as it's interesting to learn!

UPDATE - Moved My Lone Green Fire Tetra and Added a Light

I had one lone Green Fire tetra in my smaller tank. I bought 3- one was NOT a Green Fire tetra and was aggressive. Rehomed him. Had 2 Green Fire tetra for over a year, then one died. Since then, this guy has been by himself.

I have 10 of them in the big tank, so I thought I should get him to his brethren to enjoy life. I could never catch him until someone (Malok I think?) told me to just put the net in there for awhile so they get used to it. Did that. Still took a bit of maneuvering, but managed to get him and move him. See pic below- hopefully he's much happier. He's breathing pretty heavy- the PH is lower in that tank- might should have acclimated him longer. Anyway, knock on wood he will be ok. He's MUCH bigger than the other ones, and he has something none of them do- little white marks on the tips of his fins- very cool (coloring, not Ich). Guessing the others will get this as they mature? We'll see.

Moving on, today I snuck out and bought another Fluval Plant 3.0 48" - 60" light. My wife may just kill me, so if you don't see me around anymore, call Dateline (which is what my wife and I call "a killing show". Always some spouse killing to try and get the money etc.).

Anyway, why did I buy a new light? Here are the reasons.

• The light is long, but thin (like 4 or 5 inches?) and the direct light does not cover all the front to back space in the tank (tank is 18" front to back)
• I have Monte Carlo that is growing UP not OUT. It's a sign of not enough light.
• I believe it will help reduce occurrence of algae (stick with me on this- might be crazy-town, but I have a theory)
• I have been searching and searching for consistent and seemingly accurate lighting information (hard to find) and I saw a guy say he had 2 of these lights over his 75 gallon aquarium. Well, HE did it, so I should do it too, right? (marketing people love me)
• MORE MORE MORE. Need I say more?

So, about the theory on lighting and algae. I believe that growing plants will shoulder algae out of the way. I believe they give off some kind of hormone or something that protects them as they're growing.

I am also seeing that the extra light is causing my CO2 to come on more. My CO2 is controlled by a PH meter. As the plants create oxygen, the CO2 gets moved out (or something like that) and the PH goes up a little. Therefore, the meter clicks the solenoid and on comes the gas! This is my analysis based on probably partially remembered stuff I've read, so it could be full of holes. The dang CO2 came on 20 minutes after I added the light, though, so ...there you go ( "Hey, Muddy- correlation is not causation!") Yeah....I guess....but I want it to be true!

In summary I think the extra light will spur more growth, which in turn makes for stronger and more algae resistant plants. AND, the higher CO2 will drive the algae down anyway.

MY TANK AND CO2: Forgive me if I've posted about this before- I don't think I have. I have very soft water. My dKH can be as low as 1. I've used products to keep it at 3, but my Monte Carlo has thin leaves, which apparently is a sign of too little CO2.

One way to turn up the CO2 is to just lower the PH. I've already got the tank at 6.6, so I don't want to do that. The other way is to raise the dKH- there is a relationship between the PH and the dKH that you can use to determine how much CO2 is in the tank. I use a chart I've found here on the Barr Report website.

So, I started at 3dKH. That wasn't enough, so I moved to 4 dkh, but honestly, I think my tank of CO2 would last 5 years at that rate, so I've upped it to about 7dKH. When I raise the dKH - initially with Aquavitro's KH Carbonate product (no love there, someone at the LFS just handed a bottle to me), the PH goes up and the CO2 comes on. The PH will go down because of the CO2, but the dKH will stay where it is (until I do a big water change). That's good because it requires more CO2 to keep the PH where I want it, thus providing more for the plants.

I'm working to zero in on balance between the light, CO2 & dKH.

NOTE ON LIGHTING: I do not know much about lighting. I've started to read different posts & articles, but they WILDLY contradict each other and I just get frustrated. One thing I know: I am not using these expensive lights just to have them at 60% all dang day. NO. I will find another way to get rid of the algae thank-you-very-much.

I will admit that I should have started that way, but I'm way too impatient to go a month or two with low lighting when I have all these cool fish and plants to look at. So- I get algae. Lots of it. That's ok- I can get in there and clean with the best of them. ALSO, I believe the best defense is a good offense, so I'm attacking it with high lighting, CO2 & raised dKH to spur growth and allow those plants to kick that algae out of there.

Hopefully. We'll see how it goes over the next few weeks. Thanks for reading! Would love any insight you have on lighting- where to find good info, any good experience you've had, etc.

below is my old Green Fire tetra in his new digs.

UPDATE - Moved the Angelfishies to the Big Tank

On Wednesday I moved my angelfishies to their home. I removed half the water in the quarantine tank and took a couple of hours to drip-acclimate them to the water in the big tank. Taking no chances.

When I moved them to the big tank, they started swimming around immediately, which was nice to see. I was worried they'd go through the kind of stress that they did when I put them in the quarantine tank, but I guess 2 weeks of feeding and stability have done a lot to help them recover from the shipping stress.

I won't be able to keep all of these - won't even be able to keep most of them, but I'm sure glad they all lived and am happily watching them grow and (hopefully) pair off.

UPDATE- Emerald Corys and Algae War

I got 3 Emerald Corys to tend to the bottom of the tank. I really wanted to get different catfish, but the Royal Farlowella didn't pan out, my Spotted Raphael has literally disappeared- no leftovers and no sightings- I can't believe it- he was about 3.5", so not too small and those fish have lots of "armor" which I would imagine would not dissolve if they died.

I do have 3 otocinclus doing well (thank goodness) and several nerite snails. I thought about trying the Royal Farlowellas again- one of the good LFS has some- but they would compete with the snails and the otos. I looked at several other catfish, but they're either too big or nocturnal and hide during the day. So, I got 3 Emerald Corys. I wanted more, but dadgum they were expensive ($13 a piece) and I didn't want to spend too much, so I stuck with 3 for now. They are bigger than other Corys, so that's good. They seem to be doing well. I drip acclimated them and they're running around the tank like Corys do- .

Algae War:
I continue to battle this hair algae. The other day I did a lot of manual removal. Yesterday I did some spot treatment with 2Hour Aquarist APT Fix. I bought it to treat the black beard algae in my small tank, but figured if it'll kill that it will work on hair algae.

I guess it helped? Not really sure. Today I did some more manual removal and tomorrow, if it's not better, I'm going to spot treat with Hydrogen Peroxide.

What I haven't done yet is reduce the light intensity or duration. I've actually increased the duration of 100% intensity from about 7 hours to 11 hours. I know that's opposite from what people do, but my theory is that the plants, heavily fertilized by EI (over-fertilization does not make algae grow any more- see Tom Barr's Estimative Index fertilization method for more), with high light and good dosage of CO2, will outdo the algae and take over.

So far my theory is not working. I did one other thing today to hopefully make a difference. I changed where the CO2 diffuser is.

My CO2 diffuser has been sitting pretty close to the intake for the filter. Not close enough where the filter takes in the bubbles, but pretty close. It has also been sitting right next to the PH monitor probe. My worry is that the water in the immediate area of the diffuser will drop PH faster than in the rest of the tank and the probe will shut off the CO2 too soon.

Also, I read that it's preferable to have the CO2 bubbles in the down-draft of the water flow coming back into the tank from the filter so that they travel through the water for more time, and have more of a chance to saturate the water with CO2.

So, I took the diffuser out, cleaned it (the membrane was as green as the Grinch- how in the world does algae grow on the very thing that releases CO2 to the tank???), and moved it to the other end of the tank, right under the spot where the spray bar sends water downward into the tank.

It seemed like the CO2 was on more today than before, although that's totally a hunch and could be wrong. (note: CO2 comes on and off based on the PH rather than on a timer).

So, if the hydrogen peroxide doesn't do the trick tomorrow, I guess I will give in and do what everything I read says to do which is cut the light time down. A friend at the aquarium club told me to just turn them off for 3 or 4 days- he said the plants would suffer much less than the algae. I'm not sure I want to do that, but if I have to I will cut the time to 4 hours per day for a week or so to see what happens.

The primary issue I have are with the slow growing plants. The plants with a rhizome and the red ones (alternanthera reineckii) have the most algae, along with the Christmas Moss, which I have almost completely removed. How do people balance the slow growing plants with the fast growing ones? I guess the fast growing plants will still grow faster with less light duration....

So much to learn- plants definitely make me put my patience hat on.... They're nice when they look right, though- long way to go with this tank, but it's fun to work on.

Happy New Year to you!

UPDATE - Aquascape Changes

I posted a thread in the Aquascaping forum asking for feedback on my current setup. I was not satisfied with it, but wasn't sure why, except for the tangle of wisteria in the back left (which I trimmed, but strangely I left LOL).

So anyway, I got good feedback and took some action today.

• I removed the big log that had a U shaped top. I had a moment of silence for all the dang $$ I spent on that thing. I think I'll try and auction it off at my local aquarium club next weekend.
• I took the river rocks out that had moss still on them and scraped it off. It just wasn't working. I put 2 little piles of them in there. I like them- my wife said they look like potatoes. Maybe that's why I like them?
  • Note: I left the bright green algae on the rocks weighing down the other log. I like the color.
• I did a lot of vacuuming- hair algae, rotting leaves, moss that just floated off, etc. I do this a lot, but I used my small vacuum and was able to get to smaller areas. It just helped some, but lots more to go before the tank is as clean as my 15 gallon.
• I trimmed a lot of plants- removed damaged leaves on some and cropped the top on others. In the area that was behind the log i removed, I took the tops off the wisteria and planted the tops in front of what's there- that hides the ugly stems and crazy roots.
• I trimmed that jungle that I circled in the pic on the other post. I wanted to do a lot more, but was afraid to cut out too much plant at once- it can throw off the balance (not that there is one) in the whole tank if I trim too much at once.
• I took out the "branches" (roots) that I have rhizome plants glued to and cut some of the unplanted branches off them. That way I was able to place them differently- one kind of standing on end and the other underneath (see pic below). I like this configuration better- if those rhizome plants take off, this thing will be a beauty.

What it looks like now


My poor, lonely, overpriced log


I blame the CAT!!!

UPDATE - The Reason I am Building This Tank

I was going to post this in the picture forum, but I should provide an update here that gives perspective on why I (dare I say WE?) do this.

My wife and I had a nice quiet New Year's Eve. I decided that I would sit and watch the "sun" go down in the tank. I have a 30 minute sundown programmed into my lights and I was interested to see how the fish settle in for the evening as dark approaches.

Well, I got that answer pretty quickly- nothing. They all seemed to be as active as ever as the light slowly diminished in the tank.

But the time allowed me to really study the new angelfish for awhile. I currently have 12 angelfish juveniles- planning on keeping up to 6 depending on pairing, aggressiveness, etc.

They are growing like weeds and are developing good color now that they're beyond the stress of shipping and quarantine.

I love their demeanor. They move smoothly and unhurried through the water, picking here and there at plants and hardscape. They just flow around so calmly. They reminded me why I love keeping fish so much- I might have had low blood pressure after the calm I felt watching the angelfishies drift around their new domain .
Anyway, I took a couple of pics-

Angels or Devils???

I think you have a good chance of success raising the angels together like that... but at some age they seem to change... my pair of Zebra Lace are around 4 inches right now, & while they started out super mello, they are still buddies, but one of them has taken to running off any of the Tetras or Rams, away from the center of the tank, where Tetras seem to like to hang ( it leaves the Apistogramma's alone for some reason ) hasn't developed into anything nasty yet, just in the last couple weeks, switched from mello, to claiming the middle of the tank...

Magnum Man said:

Angels or Devils???

I think you have a good chance of success raising the angels together like that... but at some age they seem to change... my pair of Zebra Lace are around 4 inches right now, & while they started out super mello, they are still buddies, but one of them has taken to running off any of the Tetras or Rams, away from the center of the tank, where Tetras seem to like to hang ( it leaves the Apistogramma's alone for some reason ) hasn't developed into anything nasty yet, just in the last couple weeks, switched from mello, to claiming the middle of the tank...

Click to expand...

I've had a couple over time that got kind of feisty, but I'm hoping that these stay calm since they're in there as juveniles. They've grown a fair amount- they were about nickel size when I got them. Of course, a lot of the growth was in the quarantine tank.

I doubt that I'll be able to keep all of them- not sure I want 12 in there anyway- but if I can keep 2 or maaaaybe 3 pair I'll be ecstatic about it. There is a fair amount of blockage for line of sight - the plants in the back will get bigger, etc. I'm hoping for the best- we'll see. It'll be fun regardless.

Exactly the reason why I do not ever recommend hatchetfish anymore. I bought 12 for my tank, after 6 months, had 6. I waited another 6 months, bought 10 more, only 8 survived quarantine, moved them to the big tank, had 12 and voila, a year or so later and I again only have 6. Never again. Jump out, die of stress, who knows what. You also have to feed them carefully.
Same with otocinclus, never again am I getting them. I had a quarantine, purposefully full of diatom and soft green algae, bought 10, lost 4 anyways. 50-80% loss are "normal" with them, that is why I am never again doing that. Poor fish, to have it violently caught, starved, shipped, plopped into super different water and then having it die anyway. Also I have no clue how many of them I got. Like you, I keep watching the tank, thinking oh I only have three otos, and then at some point I see 8. And then none for days

With bamboo shrimp, get used to them disappearing, they molt every month or so, and are always gone for 3-4 days at that time

With hair algae, you are heading into dangerous area where you may get frustrated too much and start using chemicals that will do more harm than good. I believe it is easier to get used to the algae, remove it mechanically, stop messing around in the substrate ( always had more algae when I messed around too deep or too much) and wait it out. Your plants will pick up, the light will stabilize, the algae will stop doing so well. Or you will get used to it at least a little bit to not grow so frustrated I used to have massive hair algae, removed it, replaced some plants, kept removing it, today I dont have any. No clue why, but hey

UPDATE - Mystery of the Missing Spotted Raphael Solved- Sadly

So, over the last week or so I have redone the tank some. I decided that having two logs is way too much, so I pulled one out. I also removed a few plants and added others. Before I get to the plants, let's talk about the log.

When I pulled it out, I was hoping to find the Spotted Raphael that I haven't seen in a long time. He's nocturnal and a very good hider, so it's not that surprising, but I figured I would be able to find him when I removed the log. I looked in all the crevices and holes in the log and in and behind the other one. I even poked around in the substrate (they can bury themselves). I couldn't find him. So, I figured he had disappeared. I've had that happen before with fish, but was surprised about this one because the spotted raphael has lots of "armor" which I figured would leave some sort of skeletal remains.

Anyway, the log sat on my deck for a week and then I took it to our monthly AAAA (Atlanta Area Aquarium Association) meeting and sold it.

I later got a text from the buyer's son saying he found the spotted raphael catfish and had to extract him from the log with tweezers. He was obviously dead. I was CRUSHED!!! This was my and my Dad's favorite fish in my first tank circa 1978. I got it in my Dad's memory, and here I went and killed him.

Not only that, the kid that found him happened to be the kid who, at the pet store, overheard me saying I wanted one and pointed him out to me. The store manager didn't even know they had one. So, it had come full circle, but in a bad way- the very kid that showed me the spotted raphael that I got found him dead in a log I sold his dad.

Don't know if I'll get another. I have 5 corys in the tank now- 3 Emerald and 2 Venezuelan Orange. Those plus the 3 otos and the various snails I have pretty much cover cleanup. Very sad.

New Plants:
The AAAA meeting featured a talk from Rusty Wessel of Kentucky- owner of the famous "Fish House." He gave us a talk about what he did during Covid- which was mostly go to Mexico and collect fish (he was able to get round trip tickets for $118!!!). He brought some live bearers that you can't get anywhere and put them in our auction. Very cool. I wanted some, but no room.

I did, however, buy 20 very red cherry shrimp ($20), a 5 gallon tank ($7), some Java moss ($3), Limnophila Aromatica ($30- way too much but I HAD to have it), Rotalla Blood Red ($27- also WAY too much, but I got a ton, more than I would get for the same $ on a site like Buceplant), and Hygroryza Aristata (can't remember- about $6 I think).

There were lots of great fish at auction- plecos, several pure strains of endlers (not mixed with guppies or something like that), the amazing fish that Rusty brought (including some sword tails you cannot find anywhere), etc. etc.

Anyway, I removed some plants from my tank and added the new ones. About 2 days later I took out ALL the floaters I have in the tank except for 2 pieces of the H. Aristata- it just looked like floating trash to me because it was the floaters mixed with bits of plant that I had pruned that had gotten away from me, etc.

Limnophila Aromatica- apparently this grows in rice paddies and in asian countries they use it as an herb- it has a lemony smell when you crush it (I don't know for sure because i paid way too much to do that!).


Rotalla Blood Red
I got a ton of this one and planted it all. It looks pretty good so far- it has a bunch of bubbles on it in the pic, so it looks funny but it is pearling a bit and my CO2 is on


The Java moss I put in my smaller tank- I'm changing it from a fish tank to a shrimp tank. i have about 25 red cherry shrimp in there right now and will get a few more this week. I wish I had thought to wait for the fish club meeting before ordering them- SO much cheaper from a fellow hobbyist, and very rich red color too.

The Hygroryza Aristata was mostly thrown away. I got a TON of it, but when I added it to the tank, especially with all the random cuttings I had floating around in there, I just got my net and scooped it all out when I changed the water yesterday. I did keep 2 pieces. If it grows and turns out to be anything worth looking at, I'll post a pic.

Edit- here's a picture of the tank after some re-scaping. Notice only one big log and I've kind of stacked the roots with the rhyzome plants. Battling green algae and still a bit of a new kind of hair algae, but slowly getting it in shape.