Freshwater for the Kids! Build

[troy tucker]

Fish Gallery is the priciest place in town but sometimes they will get things no one else has. It's fun to go look at fish Gallery.
Extreme Fish & Pets has lots of odballs. Their prices are good. Its also close to that Houston Aquarium Warehouse,& City Pets drive. Even if you don't find what you want, Its always Fun to look.

[troy tucker]

It's starting to look greener. In a good way!

[AHP]

I just update one of my post that I wasn't able to last night.

[Roshan8768]

Awesome I will have to check out CRA ASAP haha!!

[AHP]

Here is a little update on what is in and how everything is going.




Light are doing great so far all my Swords have about 2 new leaves of growth and what I think is moneywort is staring to grow roots out of the stems. Good Times!



Moneywort and Ludwigia


Anabus (I think Nana)




As of right now when it comes to fish I have:
- 2 siamese algae eater
- 1 red tailed shark (for my son)
- 2 red cherry shrimp

I just tested my water and it is reading.
pH = 7.6
Ammonia = .25ppm (it could lean towards 0ppm but I am being conservative)
Nitrite = 0ppm
Nitrate = 0ppm
GH = 4 Drops
KH = 2 Drops
Temp = 80 (I am having a heck of a time getting this Eheim Jagar 150W to calibrate, it is holding at 80 so I am not going to touch it).

[Roshan8768]

Nice, looking good. Do you have any root tabs in the sand near the amazon swords? Might be a good investment for the future to keep them happy.

[AHP]

I do not have root tabs. I was thinking about DIY'ing some this weekend or next. I just need to research a little bit about what products to use and how to go about doing it.

Also for the first time last night I witnessed the red-tailed shark in action during feeding time. That little dude is a.... I tried pellets for the first time over flakes and he was chasing after everything.

So looks like what I thought was a good cave for him, I will have to make a better one.
I was thinking what about hollowing out a coconut that has been cut in half, making a door and then covering it all with plants. I just need to see if doing that would mess up the system in the tank.

I also ended up buy 5 Neons and 1 angle fish last night. Really looking forward to seeing them this afternoon.

[Roshan8768]

You could probably do that if you dried out the coconut real good. Nice plan for the diying, but I know nothing about how you would make your own tabs. I just buy a big tub of the ones designed for use in ponds (From Nelsons). 1 tub has lasted my tank and pond 5 years and counting

[troy tucker]

Wished I knew your son wanted a red tail. I just gave one away.
Root tabs are good for your plants. I my self use lava rock and root the plants to a baseball size piece. Keep the Geo from up rooting them.
Hope them shrimp hide real good or the angel is real small?
The tank is really starting to look great.

[AHP]

Ahh thanks for the idea of attaching a rock to the plants, I was wondering why one of my plants had one attached when I purchased them.
As for the red tail, I am not sure I want one now. He does not play nice at all, he usually goes after the 2 Siamese algae eaters daily.
The angle fish is a great touch, right now it is 1' long and their are some good hiding spots for the shrimp in case any fish go after them. But it would be nice to still get some plants to increase the hiding opportunities.

Everything is going well so far, knock on wood

[AHP]

Here are a couple pictures of my current stock.

2 -Siamese algae eater




2 -rainbow guppy (I think)


2- Red Platy & 2 - Yellow Molly (Will the molly tail turn all yellow when they become adults?)


2 - Red Cherry Shrimp




1 - Angle fish (my son calls him/her "Pancake")




5 - Neon Tetras


1 - Red tailed Shark



Got a 2 new plant today. one is a crypt parva and the other I am not sure what it is.
Crypt Parva w/ RCS


Not sure what this is

[gambs]

I like all the plants attached to the DW. How did you go about doing that?

[AHP]

They are called Anubias, I used fishing line and on another one I use a rubber band wrapped around a rock.

[gambs]

Doesn't damage the roots having that line tied around it?

[Roshan8768]

Doesn't damage the roots having that line tied around it?

No, usually you're fine if you don't cut into the rhizome. These plants grow better on the wood than in the substrate