125 Gallon Tank

[Amunet]

Thanks olies & border

I wanted to post this last night but frackin youtube took forever processing it or whatever. Just a random vid short vid of one of the trumpet snails making its way across the sand heh... I love watching them scoot across, it's so cute!
Is it sad that I actually feel bad that they're probably gonna be eaten
http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5dP3-4zRzs

 

[Amunet]

And update on how the cycling is going.. yay! heh

Everything is going great! pH looks a little less than it has been, so might need to bring that back up in a bit, but other than that.. woot!

 

[Amunet]

Woot! Working on the tunnel thing
Well.. letting it dry right now heh.
Using aquarium sealent ($8 at Petsmart), some pvc pipe (2ft for $3.50 at Home Depot), and some rocks (2 bags, dollar each at Dollar Tree).

Here's what I've done so far. Looks a bit too neat, so will probably have to add layers to it to make it a bit more natural looking. I'm sure once there is sand filling in the holes, it will look better. Not sure what to do with the ends... how to cover up the white part of the pipe... *shrugs*...

 

[ziouxpioux]

And some photos now! YAY!
The water was SUPER cloudy w/ the stuff from the sand, but that filter is definitely doing its thing b/c it has cleared up a considerable bit. Still a little cloudy, but at least now you can actually see the stuff in it heh

Full tank shot.. yay We just threw in the stuff that's in there to see how it looked, so things will be moved around once we can start getting the plants and wood in there.

Close up of the castle! heh I want to drill some holes through the top so no air gets trapped. We got this a Looooooong time ago for a 5gal, but it was way too big. Never had room for it in our other tanks so of course had to put it in this one Looks all tiny now

Just some of the rocks and the eco complete coming through the sand heh I know some people would want that clean sand look, but I don't mind a little messy look. It'll be covered by plants, wood and more rocks anyway

And finally my weird fatty meat rock! I dunno why I like it. First time I saw it I said EW... heh I think the garden place might have more like it, so could get some more! Muahahaha

Eco complete. Have you ever used this before? Is this the one that arrives looking kinda like various sized of charcoal? If it is, I bought a bag for my 10 gal and tried it in there with plants, and proper lighting just for plants. My plants hated it!!!! Then when I set up the 20 I put the Eco Complete in the bottom of it with some gravel on top. The plants hated it there too. I just do not like it and will not buy that product again. If it is what I am thinking it is, that is. I need to go look it up and make sure. Do not want to dis a product incorrectly.

You are going to love your tank when it is up and running!!! My 125 is almost 20 years old and has the scratches on the glass to prove it. It has held everyting from doremice, to a snake, to gold fish, to marine tank to fish water. I have gotten my use out of it and still using it. Karen Campbell

 

[Amunet]

Wow... I hope our tank (and the fish that will go in to it) lasts for 20 years That's awesome.

Yeah eco complete is various sizes.. usually doesn't have very big pieces in it and it's black for the most part.
I'm surprised your plants didn't like it though. Were you dosing w/ ferts? What kind of plants were they? If the lighting was too strong, then they could've done poorly b/c of lack of CO2.. or maybe w/ even low light.. I'm not too sure on any of that lol I'm pretty much a newbie at plants myself.
We've gotten eco complete for all of our tanks though and all the plants that were rooted in to it seems to love it.

 

[ziouxpioux]

Wow... I hope our tank (and the fish that will go in to it) lasts for 20 years That's awesome.

Yeah eco complete is various sizes.. usually doesn't have very big pieces in it and it's black for the most part.
I'm surprised your plants didn't like it though. Were you dosing w/ ferts? What kind of plants were they? If the lighting was too strong, then they could've done poorly b/c of lack of CO2.. or maybe w/ even low light.. I'm not too sure on any of that lol I'm pretty much a newbie at plants myself.
We've gotten eco complete for all of our tanks though and all the plants that were rooted in to it seems to love it.

yep checked and that is the product I had in mind. I have no idea what the intensity of the light was, it was simple one for best plant growth. Not a compact, or anything fance. No, I did not fertilize at all. I just had one kind of plant and I am not sure what it was. I bought several ages ago and i do not remember the variety. I left the lights on a full 10 -12 hours daily, Perhaps the tank was just to new and not enough fish in there to produce CO2 as a natural byproduct of life. No, I did not supplement with CO2. I can not afford to go that route. I have no idea what went wrong but I sure did not want to buy it again. Karen Campbell

PS perhap the fault lies with the plants, I purchased them at a chain in one of those tubes that contains the gel at the bottom. First time I ever tried those. My next plants will be coming from fostersmith. Anyone buy their plants from them?

 

[Amunet]

Plants in a tube w/ gel in the bottom? I've never seen that before.
Could've been a lot of different reasons why the plants died, but hopefully whatever you get next time will work

I haven't gotten any plants from fostersmith, but I've gotten wood and the eco complete from them heh. I would hope that their plants are in great condition when ya get them
We've been getting our plants off of ebay. Last 3 times I've bought plants from petnsmiles. I don't like the way they package the plants, but the ones we've gotten so far, for the most part have been pretty nice. And their prices are fair and shipping will be combined for multiple purchases. So you buy 10 plants and still only pay $5 and some change for the shipping.

And for the CO2.. you could always do the DIY method using yeast and sugar. Of course it's not as reliable as pressurized, but it's something

 

[Amunet]

Daily cycle update woot! heh

Added a little bit of baking soda to up the pH some.


The cave is coming along well. Just gotta add a few more rocks and it should be good to go. It might not look like the most natural heh but I'm sure the fish are gonna love it

 

[Amunet]

Daily update inc!

Might just be my imagination, but I think the nitrites look lighter than before. *shrugs* Hope so!

Almost finished w/ the cave. Wasn't really home very much yesterday due to Easter so couldn't work on it. Just have a few more rocks here and there to glue on and then wait for it to dry etc.... so should be testing how it looks in the tank in a couple of days I dunno why I'm even bothering w/ the rocks outside to try to make it look natural.... b/c the white inside is still gonna be showing lol

 

[Amunet]

Did the nightly check at around 8pm... Put in a little too much ammonia this morning so got a 0.50 reading on that...still awesome though heh
And I swear the nitrite is getting lighter. Really hope so!
Also put in the tunnel thing.. it looks so cheesy! lol
But I'm sure the fish are going to love it Just have to decide on the final place for it though... was thinking in the corner where the plants are, BUT I really don't want to move any of the plants. They've finally seem to have rooted themselves in and I don't want to mess with that.
I just gotta face the facts that I totally suck at aquascaping lol. Our planted tanks are always going to look messy and wild. I actually kinda like the wild look though heh.. just makes it feel more natural
Anywho, will get some photos tomorrow once I place the tunnel in it's final spot (maybe heh)

 

[tom_os]

you got some more pics?

 

[Amunet]

Yes yes, I have more photos! heh

Daily cycle update first....
I really do think that the nitrites are getting lighter. Was hoping for a more significant color change this morning, but oh well
Gosh I really hope we can start getting fish next week!

Another photo of the wood still soaking. Tannins aren't as bad as before, but still there. Growing impatient w/ them! heh
Was thinking about putting in the smaller one, but will give it a few more days to soak... still have to wait for the other plants I ordered anyway.

Photo of the nice cheesy tunnel thing
I haven't moved it yet... I'm feeling a bit lazy atm I might take it back out and glue some rocks to the inside of it....... hmmmm...
Anywho, once it is in it's final spot, I'll be scattering rocks around it and putting a few plants around it as well so hopefully it'll look a bit better

Castle shot..... once we get some root tablets.... will probably plant some stuff around it....

And the plants..... looks so messy! heh Most of them are doing ok, but would be so much better if we could just get CO2 in there already. Still trying to find somewhere we can get some. DH is supposed to stop by the welding place today after work, but yeah... we'll see if he remembers

Oops almost forgot the full tank shot... nothing too exciting but oh well

 

[Amunet]

Forgot to post about this in my thread here

I got some of those lily bulb things from walmart the other day and am running a little experiment to see which method is best to grow these things.
I've never had any luck with these things... they usually always grow mold on them.
I have 3 packs of them though so hoping at least 1 of them is good.

First 2 were buried partially in to the tank. Wouldn't have buried them, but they didn't want to sink

Next... I have 3 floating in a small bowl of water. It's sitting in a tray that has a plastic lid over it to keep moisture in. Tray is sitting next to a window for light.

And in that same tray... I planted the 2 smallest ones in to some of those soil tablet things.

Here's where we're at today... it's only been a few days so really no change except the water in the bowl is a bit brown heh.. Going to change that in a bit and replace it w/ warm water.

 

[Amunet]

Daily cycle update!


Woot! I'm not going crazy, nitrites are coming down! YAY! They read between a 1 and a 0.50

Will check pH and nitrates tomorrow to make sure they're still good.

 

[Amunet]

Daily Cycle update!

As you can see.... there has been a setback. BOOO The far right test is the pH, and well... it has crashed.
I suspected this would happen, should've checked it yesterday, but *shrugs*
Added in some baking soda, so hopefully the cycle will pick right back up.
No idea if this is the reason why the nitrites looked to be dropping. As you can see in the photo, nitrites are at a 0.50 reading. BUT there is a small trace of ammonia as well. SO we'll see.
Will check pH again in an hour, and will check other stuff tonight as usual.


ANywho... this is what.. day 18 of this cycle? Not too shabby. Think maybe the mature media did help a little bit, but not as much as I was hoping it would heh.