Laura's 20h

[aaronnorth]

looking good.

 

[Mr Bliss]

Can I order one of those hoods too? I have a dark blue (almost black) plush curtain thing substituting for a hood which has earned my tank the nickname "Rosemary's baby". I should make a proper hood, but hammers and saws and pieces of wood frighten me.

The hygro looks really nice! And it looks like the E. tenellus is doing better now too.

 

[Jayarie]

Hello can i ask what kind of substrate is that where you got it and how much its stunning and btw the tank is looking awesome

 

[bordercollie05]

Hello can i ask what kind of substrate is that where you got it and how much its stunning and btw the tank is looking awesome

Thanks, the substrate is white play sand from Menards....I think it was around 3-4 dollars for 50 pounds. The black stuff is eco complete which runs about 30 dollars for 20 pounds I think. It's a plant-specific substrate that can be found at some LFS and online.

Thanks for all of the compliments!

 

[bordercollie05]

Time for a few pictures and a little update. I got a matching stand on craigslist for 30 bucks about a week and a half ago, until now I've been using an old dresser. The plants are doing well, still growing like crazy. I got a little lazy with the EI for a week or so and have a bit of a hair algae problem. Other than that, things are going great. While doing a WC today, I found 3 little baby guppies (which I moved to my fry tank)! It was a bit of a surprise, as I knew my female was pregnant, but she's been huge for so long I gave up on her....Kinda thought something was wrong with her. She's much skinnier now though


Full Tank Shot w. Stand:

Just the Tank:

Little BN upside-down on the cucumber:

New leaf coming in on the anubias lancelota:

Baby MTS coming out for the evening (took the pics about 15 min before lights out...)

Hope you enjoy the pics!

Laura

 

[bordercollie05]

Well, not much new in this tank other than I added two of my little baby guppies that have gotten big enough (one red/yellow male and one black/yellow female). Also, one of my sparkling gouramis seems to be getting bullied and is very thin. I moved it to a hosp. tank, gave melafix, and hopefully it will give it a chance to beef up.

The sunset hygro is getting kind of stringy, I've been just clipping the tops and replanting them either here or in my other tank. However this time I threw lots away. My tank has become ridden with almost every kind of algae imaginable. I left it for 10 days over thanksgiving break.

I'm not sure what to do about xmas break; I'll be gone a month! Might have to have a friend check on the fish, but I don't really have anyone to dose ferts daily....would it help to dim the lights or shorten the cycle? Any ideas about that would be helpful.

Also, about the hygro, should I cut back the stemmy parts all the way? or how do you all keep your hygro looking full and nice?

Here's the most recent pics:

FTS

Baby Guppies (The male is in the rear, and the pic doesn't do him justice...I really love his coloring):

And sneaking in a pic of the fry tank:

 

[aaronnorth]

While you are awya half the lighting so it slows growth right down, if you can, bag up the ferts and label them monday, tuesday etc.

Tank is filling in nicely, one the plants bush out it shall look good. Cut off the tops of the hygro and it will produce side shoots and bush out.

 

[bordercollie05]

While you are awya half the lighting so it slows growth right down, if you can, bag up the ferts and label them monday, tuesday etc.

Tank is filling in nicely, one the plants bush out it shall look good. Cut off the tops of the hygro and it will produce side shoots and bush out.

Cool, will do. I think I'll do another WC in a day or too also to catch up from my last vacation all the way....there's still lots of dead plant matter and algae. I'll cut the tops of the hygro then too. I'm going to see if my neighbor will be here to check on the fish, maybe she can do ferts a few times or something. I don't think I could ask her to do water changes though....I might have to come back halfway through break to do tank maintenance....It's only a 2 hr drive, so it's doable. We'll see what happens I suppose.

Thanks for your tips aaron, very helpful as always

Laura

 

[lyotim88]

looks great! funny i came across this journal i'm actually in the process of planting my 20H but it's not nearly what you did yet. you're using CO2?

 

[bordercollie05]

looks great! funny i came across this journal i'm actually in the process of planting my 20H but it's not nearly what you did yet. you're using CO2?

Thanks! Yeah, its yeast based...DIY CO2. I haven't quite got the fertilizer/CO2 balance down yet. Still having algae problems, but I'm working on it! Good luck with yours, I'll look out for pictures of it

Laura