Karl's 20long

[Forumsnow]

Ive been putting this off for too long so finally decided to post my tank. All i had was my ipod for a computer so it did not make for good pictures or easy posting. I wont get to into things at the moment but here is a basic run down of the tank.

Tank and eqiupment:
-El cheapo 20 long(24x12x16)
-Rena XP-1 with Sera 1000 reactor and Hydor 200w heater inline. Run with the "powerhead jet"
-Hydor Korali Nano 240
-Hagen GLO 24" 24watt T5HO about 12" above the tank with a Zoomed Flora bulb
-Clip on light with 13w cfl and 6500k bulb also about 12: above the water as a small accent light
-Viktor HPT500 from maknwar. Running a burkett solenoid into a Ideal and Fabco NV55 needle valves. At the moment the Ideal is running the reactor and the Fabco is running a Atomic in tank atomizer i have under the Korali blowing across the front of the tank

Fauna:
-2 dwarf puffers, a male and a female. The male is named Sparticus and he lives up to his name as he is huge and bullys everything!
-2 Ottos for clean up crew. Can't keep even amano shrimp as Sparticus eats them all!

Flora:
-Rotala Colorata (from Frank at ada, a real nice bush if i do say so myself and it grows like a WEED)
-Rotala Macranda "Japan Red"
-Ludwigia "red" (from Tom soon to be replaced with the Pantanal he is sending me)
-Crypt Lutea (massive plant that has some great tiger stripes to it)
-Crypt Parva
-Unknown Anubias
-Java Fern
-Oriental Sword (one of the first plants i got and does not belong in the foreground)
-Echinodorus 'Vesuvius'
-Didiplis Diandra
-Cabomba red?
-Soon to be ET for a foreground. I had ordered some from Tom the other week but the post office lost it along with the pantanal:livid: Should be here this week as Tom was such a stand up guy to send me replacements
-Have had Tom's tonina lotus blossums and erios type3 in there but they were lost to a bad hair algae outbreak. Countless other plants have come and gone from this tank

Here are some pics hopefuly. Was going for a semi dutch(mostly collectoritus) theme. Please let me know what you think. This is the first time i dont feel totaly embarrassed about sharing my tank and the plants are growing very good. I have been getting 5-6" of growth out of the Macranda a week so i think that's a good sign i am on the right track. I do still have some hair algae kicking around in the red ludwigia but those will be replaced.

Sorry this has been so skatter brained please share any thoughts you may have and hopefuly these pics load. I also have a 40g spotted turtle tank i am turning into a riparium and when i move in 2 weeks i will be setting up a 12long, cant wait. Anyway onto the pics.
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Apparentley can only attach 5 pics per post so i will add more after.

 

[dutchy]

Your plants look good. I think the improvements are more about cosmetics. I'd choose for a different, more natural coloured substrate. You could also cut back on the collectoritis a little back. A true Dutch scape (and I kow, I'm Dutch) has no more plant species than 1 per 4 inch of tank length.

 

[Forumsnow]

Just a few more pics.
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FTS
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And my baby spotted turtle "Speedy Clack Clack". Found her at my work after hurricane Irene iirc. She wasnt even as big as a quarter when i rescued here and now she is as big as my palm. Truely amazing animal with an insatiable appetite for earthworms and her pellets. She is the reason i started keeping fish in the first place.
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[Forumsnow]

Thank you very much dutchy! Means alot coming from you that my plants look healthy. This is my first planted tank and kinda have been more into learning how to actually grow plants then this aquascaping aspect of it lol. I agree with you 100% that is in no way shape or form a "dutch" style haha not to sure why i even wrote that. And yes the gravel is absolutely hideous but i forgot to write that it is getting replaced with AS in 2 weeks when i move. Ths tank started out as a turtle tank and my fiance chose the gravel. Well she quickly out grew it and i decided to turn it into a planted tank. I didnt not want to remove all the old gravel (which was a huge mistake in hindsight) and simply capped it with Flourite. Well all the puke gravel has worked it's way up of coure! I have a 12long i will be focussing more on aquascaping with and try to learn that side of the hobby.

I really do appreciate your input though and will try to tidy things up a bit when i redo the gravel.

 

[Forumsnow]

Well I squirted about a half dose of Tetra AlgaeFix on the little bit of hair algae I had left before work this morning. When I returned tonight it was absolutely nuked! This leads me to believe I already had it on the outs!

I am getting growth like I never believed was actually possible except in the "gurus" tanks. I pulled the red Ludwigia to make room for the pantanal Tom is sending me. I think this will be a great "upgrade" as long as I can grow it.

The et will be coming with the pantanal so I can finally cover up the puke blue gravel that has worked it's way through the flourite. I have moved the atomic diffuser to blow across the front of the tank where the et will be going. This should give it a good jump start on growth. Can not wait to have a nice foreground again!

I am hoping the plants will be arriving tomorrow or Saturday and I will update then. Really getting excited for the move. Only 2 weeks from tomorrow!! And setting up my 12 long for a nice seriyo scape with hc maybe some et and a background bush of colorata. Not totally set in stone yet, just looking forward to being able to get AS and stones in it after it had been sitting in the attic for the past 3 months since I got it!

Enough of my rambling, will update this weekend. A major trim is in store with all these weeds I have finally growing like the weeds they are!

Cheers,
Karl

 

[Forumsnow]

Little update:

Tank is starting to look good again. Switched from my sera reactor and atomic diffuser to a eheim 1103 NW pump. Super super happy with the mist it creates and the plants are loving it. Only downside is that i got them for $50 onn close out at amazon and both pumos showed up leaking from the face plate. Really wanted to run these externaly but for now i have it in tank hooked up to a loc-line spraybar. Not to sure how i will get it to stop leaking, have tried a new o-ring even silicone but nothing seems to work! VERY ANGRY!!!

Thankfuly it seems the plants are doing good though. Both the rotala colorata and macranda "japan red" grow atleast 6"s a week. The japan red is especially threatening to take over my tank. Have headed dutchy's advice on removing alot of the plant species i had in there before. I have cut down the back to just 3 main plants. Really digging the new look and am starting to work on my pruning techniques with the colorata. Thinking i may hack that way down in the next couple weeks to get a nice bunch of clippings for my 12long when i fill that..

Just recently aquired 2 erios japans off of TPT for $5 a pop and a ban ba wah for $15! Not a bad deal if i do say so. The ban bah wah isnt in the greatest of health but i think it will make it. The 2 japans will be going into my 12 long once i flood it, will be making a thread on that when i am done here. I think the ban ba wah will stay as it looks to big for the 12.

Also of course my 5lb tank decides to run out the day of the big hurricane!(why i am not at work today) Thankfuly Airgas was open this morning and i was able to upgrade to a 10lb. Unfortunately the first tank they gave me was empty!!! Just what i wanted to be running around for as a hurricane is bearing down on us. I was able to get a replacement thankfully, now if only the hurricane doesnt wipe out the power like last year. I have 20 gallons of water set aside in case it does. Will just do water changes everyday until it comes back on!

Ill rap this up since it's really starting to get windy out there. Might go for a longboard and see what's happening out there!

A FTS
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[Forumsnow]

Feeling super super bored not sure what to do with my self. So here's a few more pics.

The rotala colorata is really starting to color up and grow like a weed again now that my co2 is good. Going to let these grow out some then really go to town and trim them way down. Probably do that this weekend, they should be to the surface by tomorrow night.
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And my puffs begging like the dogs they are. These little guy and girl have more personality then any fish i have ever seen. Always want black works and love watching me work in the tank.
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[Gerryd]

Plants look really nice and healthy in all the pics...I think a darker substrate would provide a nicer contrast...Love the turtle...

 

[Forumsnow]

Thanks Gerry means alot coming from you. Almost all the plants are growing how they should and are getting excellent color.

Everything except the ET lol. When I first got it it grew like crazy. But then I switched to the nw and it just keeps dying on me. It gets new growth but then the old growth pretty quickly gets pinholes and turns to mush. I know it is not no3 cause I dose 1/4tsp of it every other day, so it has to be co2. But it seems like nowhere how much co2 I blast at it nothing is working again. I even added back a koralia 240 to try to blow more carbon it's way and I feel it is getting more than it was but still nothing.

I agree about the gravel 100 million percent haha! This tank was the turtles tank when we first got her and I first started keeping a tank. I have tried covering it with fluorite and AS but everytime it works it's way right back up. I will rescape the tank once the puffs die but hopefully that is a few years away still. Maybe I'll set up a 10gallon I have and redo it this winter. Idk I really really really HATE it myself.

That turtle is one of the coolest animals I have ever owned. I found her after the hurricane last year. She has grOwn from the size of a quarter or less to now as big as my palm. She eats non stop and spends a lot of the time in the corner of the tank closest to whoever is near by, begging away. Spotted turtles are supposed to be a very very shy turtle. I think we got her young enough where she does not know any better and will let you pick her right up and hold her. I hope to keep her for the next 20 something years. I can't help but think my soon to be born son will fall in love with her and she will be another member of the family.

Thanks again for the kind words, definitely motivation to keep working at the tank.