Amanda's 55g ~~tons & Tons Of Pics!

[john starkey]

I have not managed to make myself take a tank down yet. It is so hard to do...

Thanks... I will keep you up on changes... when I finally make some.

Thanks... My Dad is coming home today for the time he has left. They delivered his hospital bed this morning.

Thanks for looking and posting. I hope to have time in the next week or so to do some work on my tanks.

Hi Amanda, sorry to hear about your dad i will pray for you and your family, i lost my youngest son two years ago to liver cancer so my heart goes out to you, keep doing your scapes it will be good therapy for you, thinking of you regards john

 

[ShoC]

Hi Iceegirl,
I was having similar issues with the same algae as yourself.

I managed to rid mine by sucking my sand in the affected area,
then doing a 3day black out....
then lights back on for 2 weeks then 3 day black out again..
not returned since.

Hope thats of some help and the tank looks sexy

 

[ICEEGRL]

Thanks everyone. I have still not managed to take any tanks down. Not only that... I am getting a 60g next Saturday and 2 small ones! The mts is bigger than me! My livingroom looks more like a fish store than a livingroom... I have 4 tanks in just that one room now. I have them everywhere now...
I still have the algae issues... I broke down and got an algae eater (common pleco). I know they are not well suited for this tank, but it is the only kind I can get around here. I can't afford the price to mail order. He is helping out a lot. My lily plants don't like him munching on them though.
My Dad is going down fast. I have been spending as much time with him as I can. I am there everyday. I don't think it is going to be much longer. Soon I may need all my tanks running to keep my mind busy for a while... I will need more plants and substrate to get them all going though. I think I have everything else pretty much covered. I may get the old funky stuff that I used before, and set up a couple of tacky tanks just for amusement. I have lots of that stuff in the shed...
The biggest problem will be finding a place to fit them where there is a plug for the equipment... I am already having to stack them... I guess I will have to stack them a little higher. I hope my floor is strong enough.
I took some pics today, but I have not had time to process them yet. I will add some soon.

Thanks again everyone

 

[Themuleous]

There is always room for one more tank, hey?

You electricity bill mush be huge!!!

Sam

 

[ICEEGRL]

The water bill is the one I am afraid of...
I have been looking at my tanks and have decided what I think I want to do... I need more vals and anubias...
I am going to move some of the fish around and change the scapes in all of them. I have to get the money together for substrate and some more plants before I can really begin though...
My pigmy val is starting to grow and spread nicely... I like it a lot! Now if I can get the italian and corkscrew to do the same...
I need some different wood too. I have some that is beautiful, but it refuses to sink... I have had it soaking for several months, and it absolutely refuses to sink! I can't even tie rocks to it and get it to stay down. Maybe I will get lucky and find some branchy stuff. I doubt it though. I have been hunting some for 2 years and haven't found any yet. I can still hope though.

It will be a couple of months probably before I can start any real big changes. I stay too tired right now to start anything big. I have started the planning process though. I am also waiting to get some filters from Tolak. I can't do much without them.

I am considering trying a natural aquarium with one of the smaller ones too. That would be different... Can you imagine the algae I could grow in one of those?

 

[ICEEGRL]

It isn't pretty, but this is how the tank looks right now. It is in need of some attention... as you can see. I have just been letting it grow as it pleases.
The main thing growing is the snails. I have decided that a loach is a must! I just don't want to get one that will hurt my other corys. I have heard that they can have a tendency to hurt the corys or bite/poke their eyes...
Is there one that eats snails, but won't hurt my corys?

Thanks for looking and posting.

Amanda

 

[aaronnorth]

still looks pretty to my eyes

i have 2 x clown loaches with some bronze cory's but no trouble and no marks or anything.

 

[ICEEGRL]

This look is temporary. I removed the rotala rotundifolia. It was full of snails. It is in a bucket waiting to get cleaned and replanted. I sort of spread everything out a little and left it. I am not sure if it will go back in this tank or move to another one yet. I have not decided yet.

I like clown loaches, but I have some long fin fish. I wonder if that would make a difference... I may try it and see what happens. Is a 55g tank big enough for them? I was also told they should be kept in groups of 5 or more. Is that not true? Are they hard on plants?

Thanks for looking and posting.

 

[aaronnorth]

They shouldn't botther long finned fish, they are not 'nippers'. i have kept them with gouramis which have long whiskers (dont know name lol) I have 2 kept together and have had no probs, they are the best fish i have got, if there is any trouble then you will need some more, once they get older/ bigger about 10" then they will have a nibble at plants but they are slow growers. (and you won't have to worry about those snails in your rotala!)

 

[ICEEGRL]

I will check into what their needs are to see if my tank meets them...
How much might they do to my plants when they get larger? I won't be getting anything larger to move them to, so I will have to think about what they will do long term... I don't want to get them and have them for a long time then have them start destroying my tank...

Thanks for looking and posting...

 

[aaronnorth]

I will check into what their needs are to see if my tank meets them...
How much might they do to my plants when they get larger? I won't be getting anything larger to move them to, so I will have to think about what they will do long term... I don't want to get them and have them for a long time then have them start destroying my tank...

Thanks for looking and posting...

I think they nibble at the stem part and they can uproot some, not totally sure.

here is a profile about them -

http/www.loaches.com/species-index/clown...ia-macracanthus

thanks, Aaron

 

[ICEEGRL]

Thank you for the link. I read it. It said you need to keep them in groups of 5 or more and they require a tank that is 75g or larger.
My tank is only 55g. It would not be big enough for them. They get huge!
They are beautiful, and if I had a large enough tank I would definately get some. I am not planning to get a tank that big though. I do not have room for a tank that big.
It suggest that I look into a smaller botia species for smaller tanks. I guess I will do that. Any suggestions of some that would work in my tank that don't get huge?
I will do some google time and see what I come up with.

Thanks for looking and helping.


View attachment 50805
This is what my tank looks like right now. I am currently looking for a place to get more val that doesn't cost a fortune. I want to fill in with assorted val and keep it grassy. (I need a lot more to get the look I want) I am also still hunting branchy wood. I am beginning to understand that I may never find any though...

 

[aaronnorth]

the yoyo loach or pakistani loach stays quite small.

Gill said he got some cheap vallis from last trading post on ebay, there is also plants alive.

 

[ICEEGRL]

What do you all know about botia striata? They look good, only get about 4", and eat snails... The temp range and food needs fit too. Now I need to know if anyone keeps them in planted tanks or with corys. I need to know how they act...
I guess this is where google comes in...
Any additional info is greatly appreciated.

 

[aaronnorth]

i only keep clowns so i cant help with any others much, i might get some if they eat snails and stay small, if you get some please let me know they get on

google...