Journal 75 Gallons of Bliss!

Well, hopefully it works out that way.. I am not convinced there wont be some “Blood, Toil, Tears, and Sweat” along the way. A common saying during WW2 in Europe was that the road home went through Berlin…


The stand is built and moved in to the bedroom. I have completed Spring cleaning the bedroom and rearranging furniture in the room.


I moved my 2 tier fish tank stand across the room. This frees up space by my recliner. Puts the CO2 tank between them so I dont need to route the hose in front of the door, and gives me much nicer access to my closet.
I like the extra room by the recliner. I feel much less cramped and it gives me better viewing of the 29 gallon across the room rather than next to me.

Thats my Grandfathers Grandfather clock. He built it in 1976. He passed 12 years ago at 96. I remember him building it. My parents gifted it to me as the chiming kept my mother awake. To me the chiming is soothing and drifts me off to sleep at night..



Power strips mounted on the cabinet side out of view. The strip closest to the front will power the Inkbird, canister filter and any other in tank electrical devices added. 1 switch to flip shuts off power to all in tank conductors before sticking my hands or tools in. And the lights will stay on…

All the wires will be coiled and have tie wraps to prevent wire spaghetti on the floor. And if I spill water on the floor I wont have to worry about it getting into the power strips..


I mounted a magnet strip on both doors. Now I just need to find the rest of my Aquascaping tools and maybe I can avoid misplacing them again…



Also nice storage for magnet scrapers too…


I bought some storage bins…

And filled them, organizing fish meds in one, equipment in another, testing supplies by themself, cleaning supplies in another. I just need to make some labels for the bins..

I have never been this organized in my life…

I am hoping Petco has a half off sale on tanks for March..

I plan to update this journal as I progress with the build…

 

[Phish Tank]

So how are you finding the imaginarium tank vs aqueon ? Do the imaginarium seams look good? Is the black rim around the top thinner? I'm hoping to get a 75 next fall, and one thing I like about rimmed tanks is hiding the waterline in the black rim. I'm hoping the imaginarium rim is the same height as aqueon, since petco is phasing out aqueon

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

Looks great! Whats that beautiful red crypt in the center?

 

[Pepere]

So how are you finding the imaginarium tank vs aqueon ?

No idea. I had the Aqueon overnight…I didnt think to meausre rim height.

I have no complaints over the Imagiterium.

I did notice the Imagiterium is a few inches taller than the Aqueon and the internal dimensions footprint wise was a little less. But overall I am fine with it.

If anything the silicone work on theImagitarium is a little better than the Aqueon was. Petco mentioned the glass was a little thicker. The tank was noticeably heavier to move.

I built my canopy to extend over the black rim on top to hide it. I also bought some molding to trim around the bottom of the tank to hide the frame there as well, but have not taken the time to cut install, stain, and varnish that as yet…

 

[Pepere]

Looks great! Whats that beautiful red crypt in the center?

Thank you. It is a Pink Flamingo Crypt.

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

Thank you. It is a Pink Flamingo Crypt.

How long did it take to get that size. I’m currently growing one and it’s painstakingly slow to take off. I have some good sized leaves but man.

 

[Pepere]

How long did it take to get that size

It came from another tank. I have had it maybe 2 years.

I’m currently growing one and it’s painstakingly slow to take off. I have some good sized leaves but man.

I originally bought three plantlets. This one originally had damaged roots and I doubted it would survive. One of the other two died within a few weeks, and the third languished for months doing nuttin…. I finally moved a tiger lotus away from it, and excavated around it and sunk some amazonia 2 around it before it finally took off.

This particular one in the photo had gotten huge in a 20 gallon tank that I had mesh bags of aquasoil around it and was overpowering the tank. I pruned off a lot of leaves to make it more manageable and then after a while shut off the co2 on that tank since it sits at floor level, and at 59, pruning and trimming a tank at floor level weekly is a bear…

With CO2 shut off leaf morphology changed to a smaller leaf with a longer stem, and the color changed to an olive red.

I put it in this tank a few weeks ago, and the old leaves are slowly being pruned as the start to fail and it is sending out lots of new leaves that are more pink..

At its most vigorous it was maybe 30% taller than it is now.

They tend to sit for quite a while seemingly developing a root structure and they do seem to prefer a nutrient rich soil to dig into.

In this tank I have mesh bags of a combo of roughly 30% each Safe T Sorb, activated Carbon, and Amazonia 2 aquasoil directly on the UGF plates about 3/4 of an inch thick capped with 2-3 inches BDBS .

 

[Pepere]

Here is another group of plantlets that really havent done much of anything in 6 months, though the leaves are now free of black beard that had been bothering them for quite some time.

Eventually they will get to a tipping point and take off…

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

Wow, just awesome. Thank you for than in-depth explanation of how you’ve gotten it to work for you. I’m assuming mine is the same scenario, it has now reached my mesh bags of soil and is starting to actually grow. I was afraid it was going to stay small and not fill the area but I’ll stay patient and let it mature for sure. I now have C. Florida sunset and I’m looking forward to those taking off as well.

 

[SkaleyAquatics]

tank since it sits at floor level, and at 59, pruning and trimming a tank at floor level weekly is a bear…

Even at 31 this is a bear. Tanks at floor level are just not fun.

C. Florida sunset

I'm jealous I have been looking for this for awhile. I was pre-ordered some around Christmas time but it never came in.

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

Even at 31 this is a bear. Tanks at floor level are just not fun.


I'm jealous I have been looking for this for awhile. I was pre-ordered some around Christmas time but it never came in.

Buceplant has it get you some

 

[Pepere]

Thank you for than in-depth explanation of how you’ve gotten it to work for you.

I also have a 20 long in my basement experimenting with @sudiorca method of aquasoil, no co2 and hob that I put a planter in.

I think I need a better light for it, as my Rotala OJ is not doing anything much, but the Pink Flamingo is showing signs…

 

[Pepere]

Last Friday, @Unexpected sent me a whole bunch of new plants to play with…

As such I needed to make space…



I was pretty ruthless. Tossed a whole bunch of healthy plant mass out. Everything I threw out, I had duplicates in other tanks…




No attempt to scape, just put stuff in where there was space and let it soak in the soup, photons and co2. A week later most of the plants are showing new growth. Eriocaulen Lineare is the only plant doing not so great with obvious melt.

Giving it a few more weeks, and will work to learn the names of everything and read up on care and attributes……


Then I will ruthlessly hoe out other tanks as well and start redistributing .

My 2 29 gallon tanks will be gettinghorizontal reactors installed this weekend, and I am contemplating setting up a farm fank in the basement..

Here are some close ups…
















Crowded for sure and exceeds species count for Dutch rules, hence the thought of setting up a farm tank.

 

[Naturescapes_Rocco]

Ok, WHAT is this beautiful bushy plant I've never seen before? Some Hygrophila sp?

Thanks, beautiful plants!

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

Pretty sure it’s just a very healthy clump of Kompakt @Naturescapes_Rocco

 

[Pepere]

Ok, WHAT is this beautiful bushy plant I've never seen before?

3 stems of Hygrophilla Corymbosa Compacta that regularly gets pruned of older leaves as they start to get tired..

 

[Naturescapes_Rocco]

3 stems of Hygrophilla Corymbosa Compacta that regularly gets pruned of older leaves as they start to get tired..

Where did you get it? I think I need some...

 

[Pepere]

Where did you get it? I think I need some...

I got mine at Modern Aquarium a few years ago.

 

[Phish Tank]

I think your cute cat wants a fried rasbora sandwich for lunch!

 

[Pepere]

I think your cute cat wants a fried rasbora sandwich for lunch!

Mittens the kitten walked into my life a week ago. Literally….

I was just leaving the door with an armfull to run errands and she walked in.

She was scrawny and doing her best to tell me “You need a cat in your life, and I am available seeing as I have no prior engagements.”

I am soft hearted so I cracked open a can of salmon and served her a little, but not enough to upset her tummy at first, and went to get an old dishpan and some safe t sorb as temporary kitty litter..

Once I saw her use the box, I headed out to get my errands done and bought some proper litter and a proper litter box.

She was young so I couldnt bring myself to put her out as we live next to a busy road…

Later that day the tank lights came on and she was astonished and captivated with the Fish Channel with multiple screens…

She fits in well…

Checked with Animal control and shelter and no lost kitten reports…

Got a flea collar and dewormers.. i think she is a keeper…

I sort of look at cats being similar to duckweed. Dont go looking for them or buying some. They will show up on their own sooner or later…

I have had 6 show up over 60 years….


She is much more intrigued with the corydoras scurrying around the substrate and between plants than the harlequins. And she likes the neons in another tank…

I need to make canopies first my other tanks as she insists on laying on the glass lids….

 

[Phish Tank]

She is much more intrigued with the corydoras scurrying around the substrate and between plants than the harlequins. And she likes the neons in another tank…

I need to make canopies first my other tanks as she insists on laying on the glass lids….

It looks like she found a great home, canned salmon for lunch!

Our cats used to be fascinated by cory cats too.

Maybe she likes the top down view on the glass top, but you probably don't need the cat teetering on top of expensive aquarium lights.

Now, if you can teach Mittens to do water changes..... that would be something!