Journal Jay's 40 Breeder Farm Tank

[techman81]

Starting a journal on my 40 gallon breeder farm tank. I originally threw together a 20 gallon farm tank to hold cuttings from my first scape but found I was quickly running out of space for new plants and a quickly growing population of Neocaridina shrimp, not to mention, the tank had become overwhelmed with bladder snails (yes, I know they can be beneficial). I had plenty of space for the plants I already had but wanted more for future plants for upcoming scapes. I planned to also use the tank as a temp home for fish. The new tank completed cycling about 7/20/25 and I began transferring the following week. Setup details are as follows:
Tank: Imagitarium 40 Gallon Breeder (half-off Petco special)
Filter: Oase Biomaster Thermo 350 (Only because it was sitting unused at the time)
Light: Week Aqua M900
CO2: Yes, inline diffuser
Skimmer: Oase Crystalskim 350
Substrate: ADA Amazonia 2

I purchased a used tank around the beginning of March that was fully scaped with a few fish and shrimp. I tore down the scape and moved the shrimp to the 20 gallon farm. I thought all I had were a few Amanos which I moved to my main display tank and about 7 Yellow Golden Back Neocaridina. The yellows quickly began breeding but I ended up with a lot of wild offspring so one of the original must not have been a yellow. I now have about 100 shrimp but really don't want to use them in an aquascape as mixed wild, so I will start to rehome them to keep the population in check. I've also moved Painted Platys from my display scape to the farm, as they were breeding as much as bladder snails. There are about 15 in the farm tank now and 2 still in the display tank (I think they're both female). I'll be rehoming the Platys as well. I have no interest in being a fish breeder so no more Livebearers for me.

I wasn't sure about wasting space in the farm tank with hardscape but went ahead and put in a few pieces for now. I figured I could use it for epiphytes and hiding places for livestock. Eventually, I'll probably install some 3D printed grates for the epiphytes. Things are a little disorganized to start. I welcome ideas on farm tank organization.

 

[Art]

Great looking farm tank! Looks like a display tank, honestly.

My experience with farm tanks is to consider what your objective is. Some people simply use it as a way to grow other plants. Some as just another display tank. Some for growing out particular species they want to ultimately move to the display tank. Finally, some use them to grow plants to sell and cover the expenses of the hobby.

What's your goal with this tank?

 

[techman81]

Great looking farm tank! Looks like a display tank, honestly.

My experience with farm tanks is to consider what your objective is. Some people simply use it as a way to grow other plants. Some as just another display tank. Some for growing out particular species they want to ultimately move to the display tank. Finally, some use them to grow plants to sell and cover the expenses of the hobby.

What's your goal with this tank?

I only intend for this to be a tank for growing plants for my own use and I may share cuttings with others but don't have plans to sell anything. This tank will stay in the work side of the basement.

 

[techman81]

Put the new RO storage tank and plumbing through it's first real world test today and WOW! I wish I had done this from the start instead of spending time and money on my DIY water change cart.

I used my Sicce Ultra Zero to pull water out and dump in a Brute trash can mounted on a Brute dolly, then filled the tank back up with the hose I have running to a shut-off valve I installed in the laundry closet. Faster, more efficient, and less mess than any water change before.

Also took what I learned from @Dennis Wong's postings/teachings and uprooted a bunch of Rotala Orange Juice after trimming, replanted the cuttings, and added some fresh root tabs.

 

[Sb1415]

Starting a journal on my 40 gallon breeder farm tank. I originally threw together a 20 gallon farm tank to hold cuttings from my first scape but found I was quickly running out of space for new plants and a quickly growing population of Neocaridina shrimp, not to mention, the tank had become overwhelmed with bladder snails (yes, I know they can be beneficial). I had plenty of space for the plants I already had but wanted more for future plants for upcoming scapes. I planned to also use the tank as a temp home for fish. The new tank completed cycling about 7/20/25 and I began transferring the following week. Setup details are as follows:
Tank: Imagitarium 40 Gallon Breeder (half-off Petco special)
Filter: Oase Biomaster Thermo 350 (Only because it was sitting unused at the time)
Light: Week Aqua M900
CO2: Yes, inline diffuser
Skimmer: Oase Crystalskim 350
Substrate: ADA Amazonia 2

I purchased a used tank around the beginning of March that was fully scaped with a few fish and shrimp. I tore down the scape and moved the shrimp to the 20 gallon farm. I thought all I had were a few Amanos which I moved to my main display tank and about 7 Yellow Golden Back Neocaridina. The yellows quickly began breeding but I ended up with a lot of wild offspring so one of the original must not have been a yellow. I now have about 100 shrimp but really don't want to use them in an aquascape as mixed wild, so I will start to rehome them to keep the population in check. I've also moved Painted Platys from my display scape to the farm, as they were breeding as much as bladder snails. There are about 15 in the farm tank now and 2 still in the display tank (I think they're both female). I'll be rehoming the Platys as well. I have no interest in being a fish breeder so no more Livebearers for me.

I wasn't sure about wasting space in the farm tank with hardscape but went ahead and put in a few pieces for now. I figured I could use it for epiphytes and hiding places for livestock. Eventually, I'll probably install some 3D printed grates for the epiphytes. Things are a little disorganized to start. I welcome ideas on farm tank organization.

View attachment 9714

Nice looking farm tank! What is your plant list in addition to the r. Orange juice

 

[techman81]

Nice looking farm tank! What is your plant list in addition to the r. Orange juice

Oops! That post was supposed to be on my other journal, LOL! Oh well, you all get the point. Obviously no need to uproot anything in the farm tank yet.

Current plants:
Monte Carlo
Dwarf Hair Grass
Blyxa "Red"
Blyxa Japonica
Dwarf Sagittaria
Staurogyne Repens
Cryptocoryne Wendtii Green
Cryptocoryne Wendtii "Pink Panther"
Cryptocoryne Parva
Anubias Nana Petite
Anubias Nana Pinto
Alternanthera Reineckii 'Mini'
Rotala Green
Rotala Orange Juice
Rotala Blood Red
Rotala macrandra 'Kochi'
Ludwigia Natans Super Red
Ludwigia inclinata Meta
Pogostemon Erectus
Pogostemon Helferi "Downoi"
Hygrophila Pinnatifida
Mini Bolbitis
Limnophila Arormatica Mini
Bucephalandra Catherinae Red
Bucephalandra Velvet 3 Color
Bucephalandra Kedagang Mini Round
Bacopa salzmannii 'Purple' SG

 

[Sb1415]

Oops! That post was supposed to be on my other journal, LOL! Oh well, you all get the point. Obviously no need to uproot anything in the farm tank yet.

Current plants:
Monte Carlo
Dwarf Hair Grass
Blyxa "Red"
Blyxa Japonica
Dwarf Sagittaria
Staurogyne Repens
Cryptocoryne Wendtii Green
Cryptocoryne Wendtii "Pink Panther"
Cryptocoryne Parva
Anubias Nana Petite
Anubias Nana Pinto
Various types (at least 6) of Bucephalandra
Alternanthera Reineckii 'Mini'
Rotala Green
Rotala Orange Juice
Rotala Blood Red
Rotala macrandra 'Kochi'
Ludwigia Natans Super Red
Ludwigia inclinata Meta
Pogostemon Erectus
Pogostemon Helferi "Downoi"
Hygrophila Pinnatifida
Mini Bolbitis
Limnophila Arormatica Mini
Bucephalandra Catherinae Red
Bucephalandra Velvet 3 Color
Bucephalandra Kedagang Mini Round
Bacopa salzmannii 'Purple' SG

That’s a nice list, many that I would like to try myself.

 

[techman81]

I've been busy lately so the Farm Tank has been just a little neglected and left to do it's thing. Photo is after trimming a couple plants but more maintenance is needed. Plan to devote significant time to it over the next few days. Gotta say though, plants are thriving. The Ludwigia inclinata Meta I recently got from @Burr740 really took off. It's one I had to trim and replant today. At this rate, I'm going to need another 40 breeder soon.

 

[techman81]

Farm tank is a little bushy and disorganized, but it's serving its purpose of providing plants for the other tanks. Most if not all of the Monte Carlo will soon be getting used on the new 25 gallon Brazilian scape and 1 or 2 of the other plants may be going there as well. About to do a big reset on my Waterbox 3620 and will be using much of the Ludwigia Super Red and Rotala OJ there. Just pulled out most of the Dwarf Sag to use as an easier plant for the UNC30 nano tank. Neocaridina and Painted Platies are still breeding like crazy. The Platies blend in well in this photo so its hard to tell there are over 30. Will have to find new homes for the them soon.

 

[BenB]

Looks good. A little unruly isn't always bad.

 

[techman81]

A little update. I clearly don't put much effort into my farm tank. I do keep up with water changes every week but I go too long between trimmings and just stuff plants anywhere I can fit them. I did recently rehome about 25 platies that I had moved here from my main display tank upstairs. There are still 2 in here that evaded capture but I think both are females. There's also still a large colony of Neocaradina, mostly yellow golden back but I also had a good number of Black Rose which I've been gradually moving to the main display tank.

The days, though, are numbered for this tank. A few of the plants will soon be moving to my 25 gallon Brazilian tank and the most others will eventually be moved to a new 60 gallon breeder tank. I hope to set that tank up more as a practice Dutch style tank or at least hybrid Dutch style. Thank you to all here for sharing your knowledge and inspiration. We'll see if I've learned anything from you. A few remaining plants will find homes in other upcoming builds.

I don't think I'll ever need to purchase anymore Monte Carlo.

 

[DutchMuch]

Stunning colors!

 

[techman81]

As usual, the farm tank is a bit of a disorganized mess, but I thought I would post some current pics anyway. I'm going to have to do something about the Blyxa soon as it's going to consume the entire right side of the tank. I love it though. I'd like to do a scape where it's the main focus of attention.

Excuse the upside down rain.
It was raining in KC today as well. We needed it.

Farm Tank 1_8_26.webp

• techman81
• Jan 8, 2026

Farm Tank Blyxa 1_8_26.webp

• techman81
• Jan 8, 2026

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

Beautiful plant growth

 

[Sb1415]

What ferts do you use ?

 

[techman81]

For my 3 mature tanks including this one, I dose daily with APT 3 per the 2HR Aquarist calculator. I started my new 25g tank also with APT 3 exclusively per @Dennis Wong mentioning in one of his posts here about using it from the start. I think you may have done this with your 25g as well. However, there was a GDA explosion, far worse than I had in my other tanks when they were young and I started with APT 1 and then gradually migrated to APT 3. So in that tank, I've reduced the APT 3 significantly and alternate it with APT 1 plus I added a dozen Nerite snails. The GDA is disappearing quickly and plant growth is still great. I'll talk more about that when I update the journal for that tank in the next few days.

Having said all that, I plan to start the next aquarium with dry fert mixes because APT is just going to get too expensive for all the tanks I plan to eventually set up. Will probably try @Burr740's ferts. I'm a bit afraid to switch to it on these tanks because I don't want to mess with a good thing.

 

[BenB]

I love Blyxa, but yeah, when it's happy, it can take over.
Tank looks great!

 

[Sb1415]

I love Blyxas, it also seems to be a plant which is easy to propagate. Yours has crazy pearling! Do you know what your Par rating is at the level of the Blyxa? I see good amount of green in it.

I did start of with apt1 but switched to apt 3 in few weeks. Maybe I did it too quickly but have been battling filamentous algae. Likely to do with tank maturity but not sure if sticking to apt 1 longer might have prevented it from getting hold in the first place.

 

[techman81]

I love Blyxas, it also seems to be a plant which is easy to propagate. Yours has crazy pearling! Do you know what your Par rating is at the level of the Blyxa? I see good amount of green in it.

I did start of with apt1 but switched to apt 3 in few weeks. Maybe I did it too quickly but have been battling filamentous algae. Likely to do with tank maturity but not sure if sticking to apt 1 longer might have prevented it from getting hold in the first place.

This tank started out with an M series Week Aqua and PAR wasn't super high for a long time. I switched to an L series, I think in November, and PAR is much higher, but here's something I've noticed with Week Aqua and it may be similar with my Chihiros lights but I haven't yet done a comparison, The measured par from end to end has a considerable curve, even when measuring directly under the light the whole distance. Currently, PAR at the substrate in the center of the tank is about 98 but at each end of the tank, same depth, PAR is about 78. So where the Blyxa is, PAR at the roots is 78 and at the tips of leaves is between 87 and 90; same depth at center is about 112. That's of course with the settings I run which are well below 100%. I do push my CO2 a little higher in this tank as well.