# OLD TANK - Jobber's 10 gallon Planted Tank



## jobber

*MY TANK JOURNAL*

*July 28, 2010*

After having some successes and failures, it's time to double up on the size of my fish. I've making the jump from a 5.5 gallon to a 10 gallon. Now at least I can have a few more fish without having to worry about annual tank crashes.

I've just picked up the 10 gallon tank from my buddy. My ill attempt to resist getting a bigger tank has failed!






_(new tank)_

I plan to do some plant propagating and stemcutting to spread out some of the plants.







(_5.5 gallon tank...soon to go to Scholz_)

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*This weekend, I'll be transferring the following over to the 10 gallon:*
*florabase
rasbora hengali
rasbora galaxy
red Nyphaea Rubra
Stargrass
Glossostigma
Fissidens Fontanus
Blyxa Japonica
Green tiger lotus
Echinodorus tenellus
Green lotus
Saggitaria Subulata
Echinodorus bleheri 
Cryptocoryne wendtii
Hemianthus Micranthemoides*







*********************

*More to come....*


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## eternity302

=) I'm glad to hear you took the free tank from your friend!
Good luck on everything!
And wow.. your 5gallon actually looks stunning!


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## Morainy

Your 5 gallon tank does look great, so I'm sure that your 10 gallon tank will look twice as good. I hope that you post some pics.

I'm glad that your 5 gallon is going to go to Scholz. I know he's been looking for some of those for awhile for his new setup.


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## tang daddy

I believe the mystery plant is...... HM aka baby tears (Hemianthus Micranthemoides)

nice start when is the transfer?


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## neven

Congrats! The advantage with upgrading rather than just getting another tank is all your decor, the substrate and the filter are already colonized and you'll be able to skip cycling. Even with using a new filter, you can still use that old one on the tank until the tank is well established. When it comes to propogating your old plants, don't try to nurse plants that don't take to the tank transfer. After several weeks it'll be apparent what doesn't make it, so remove it to free up the light for other plants


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## jobber

Thanks guys. Yeah, put quite a lot of money for the upkeep of the tank, but it's well worth it. Since the my tank is already established, i won't have to deal with all the new tank syndrome. Plus I have a bunch of Seachem bottles around...stability, prime, etc etc.

Tang_d - Thanks for the glosso, 1 strand of Hemianthus Micranthemoides. and 1 plantlet of Saggittaria subulata. You have a strand for me to try. Exactly 5 leaves....look at it now. but most importantly, thanks for the tips!

The 5gallon will go to a good home.


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## jobber

*EVOLUTION THROUGH THE YEARS...Part 1 of 4*

*July 31, 2010*

As I wait for the silicone to set, I'd figure I'll post some pictures of my fish tank and how it has evolved the past 5 years. Yes, I have had this 5.5gallon fish tank for 5 years. If you ask me how I was able to resist getting a bigger tank, well, I did. I had a 2.5gallon tank (one of those Petcetera acrylic tanks) before. I was very successful in breeding my 3 panda corydoras in that 2.5gallon for some odd reason. Once the fry reached adulthood, that's why I decided to get a 5.5gallon.

I joined BCAquaria May 13, 2010, right after i came back from my vacation and found my tank in dire need of an overhaul due to casualties. I've picked up some plants and valuable tips from a few members. I am certain you notice the big explosion in plant growth in my tank after May 2010.

Enough writing. Time to post the pics.

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*March 2005 - right after I transferred from the 2.50gallon*








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*August 2007 - change substrate from flourite to florabase*








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*November 2007 - Fish feeding*









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*November 2007 - Upclose Sterbai, Panda, White Cloud Minnow*


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## jobber

*EVOLUTION THROUGH THE YEARS...Part 2 of 4*

*July 31, 2010*

Continuation of pictures....

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*May 24 - Experimenting with camera*








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*May 24 - Experimenting with camera*








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*Sterbai Corydora - 4 years old*









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*Galaxy Rasbora*


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## jobber

*EVOLUTION THROUGH THE YEARS...Part 3 of 4*

*July 31, 2010*

Continuation of pictures....pruning and tweaking

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*June 4, 2010*








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*July 14, 2010*








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*July 17, 2010 - after some pruning*


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## jobber

*EVOLUTION THROUGH THE YEARS...Part 4 of 4*

*July 31, 2010*

The day before the transfer and upclose pictures of the plants.

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*July 31, 2010 - Plant growth....just 2 weeks since last pruning*








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*Glosso*








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*Hemianthus Micranthemoides*








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*Stargrass*








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*The tank*


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## jobber

*The 10 gallon tank...*

*August 1, 2010*

Doing the transfer from the 5 gallon to the 10 gallon. Took out all the plants and the fish. Picked up the extra bucket full of florabase. Took my time in replanting and rescaping my tank. I found that it's sometimes hard to throw away plants. Tried to leave some room for corydoras to swim around along the floor.

I divided the stargrass and baby tears and hope for an area where some of the rasboras can potentially lay their eggs.

Enough writing. More pictures....

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*August 1, 2010 - the bucket of extra florabase*








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*Florabase in the new tank*








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*Scaping the tank*








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*Flooding the tank*








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*the final product - with cloudy water*


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## jobber

any plant recommendations to beautify my tank more?


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## Scholz

looks great! Keep it up!


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## jobber

*August 10, 2010*

So two days ago, i went and picked up some more galaxy rasboras and was greatful given a small stem of Hygrophila sunset...and also one CRS (so now i like CRS cuz they stand out so well in my tank---so if anyone has a few i can buy off, let me know).

one thing i like to say is this stem grew 1 inch within 36 hour period! i snapped off each section and planted it under my florabase. left my lights on for the entire 36 hours (yes, it's a bit extreme, but i'm forcing my plants to recover from last week's transfer).

1 inch in plant growth. amazing.....


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## O.C.D Fishies

Are you doing co2? How is the glosso doing? Looks good you sound like me. I had my 5.5 for 10 years, then a year and a half ago I went bigger. Now i have 4 set up and a salty on the way. And 2 empty.


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## neven

I'd say take it slow with the plants and let things grow in and propogate, a display can easily get overcrowded when you rush in with all the plants at once


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## jobber

well i've planned the layout of my tank to be swords and lotus' on the right side. left side, i will propogate and trim and replant the stems from the hygro, stargrass, and Hemianthus Micranthemoides.

the plants have now recovered. the stargrass started to turn black and transparent the days after i transferred. glosso has recovered even though there are some that's turned brown. i've actually disconnected my DIY CO2 for the time being until my swords arrive in the mail. thanks to eternity302, i've finally stabilized my water parameters and the fish are more active.

i do look forward to receiving my few plant additions: baclaya longloria and echin. horemani red...i don't want to put too much swords on the right side as they'll grow and take up more space.

here's some pics taken from my blackberry, been quite busy after making the transfer:

glosso








hygro








lonely crs








tank - August 10, 2010


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## eternity302

=) Glad I was of help!

Anyways, I'm very glad everything's working out for you! And WOW.. stunning tank so far!
And it's only matter of time that you'll want a 20g long... and then a 55g... and then a 120g... LOL!
HAHA, I'm never satisfied with the footprint.. it never seem to be enuff!

But as Neven said.. take it slow.. I rushed it and OMG... i have been pruning weekly... sometimes i let it over run my tank LOL! but now I'm trying to slow grow everything~

Good luck =) I'll keep track of progress!


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## jobber

August 15, 2010:

I've decided to post pics up weekly so I can see the difference in growth. Can't wait for another month of so. Also can't wait until my mail-ordered plants to arrive (just gotta remember to rinse it with some bleach....). Picked up a bulb of Aponogeton Natans.

Got the water stabilized with the addition of crushed coral since I have CO2 and few pieces of driftwood in the tank. I can tell the water is good as the fish as the corydoras are active.
Water parameters: 6.8pH, 4GH, does it matter with KH?

the lonely CRS was food for the pygmy corydoras. I think it may have been the drastic increase in temperature. No luck with shrimps in my tank...

now to hit the pool myself...enjoy the awesome weather!


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## eternity302

Nicely done!
I upload pictures every 3 days on facebook instead LOL, easier to keep track! But keep us updated!


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## jobber

*August 25*

Today, come home and find a package. Knew it was my plants from Aquaticmagic but which ones.....barclaya longfolia bulbs. Wondering what it looks like??? if you have a bottle of Seachem Flourish TRACE, it's the red plant on the label. Hopefully i can get this plant to flower under water but before i place them into my tank, going to dip them into diluted bleach to ensure I don't introduce into my tank "piggybacking friends".

here are some pics of the bulbs:


























what it looks like once it grows:








now i'm still waiting for the echino.horemanii and Aponogeton Natans. then i feel my tank is complete and ready to be left alone to grow!


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## BigFatLyre

Is this tank planned eventually for "livestock" or is it plants only?


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## jobber

*End of August Update*

Well, today I received the last of the three purchases made from aquaticmagic. I'm quite satisfied with the purchases. I just had to try out buying plants on ebay.

I also received my order from Big Al's - Rena XP2. yes, that's correct, i'll be running a canister filter on my 10 gallon. The extra 1.4gallon of water inside the canister filter will definately help stabilize the water parameters. With the additional 1.5litres of bio-filtration media, I won't have to worry too much with ammonia/nitrate/nitrite spikes.

Since I've been extemely busy and tired from fishing for sockeye's, I'll probably set up the canister filter this upcoming long weekend.

With all the talk of plants and equipment, I realized I've totally forgot to mention my livestock.

I have in my tank the following livestock:
-8 celestial pearl danios
-5 rasbora hengali
-6 pygmaeus corydoras
-6 panda corydoras


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## eternity302

Thanks for the update! =) Can't wait to see how those plants do!


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## jobber

The bulb plants start growing fast and I mean fast. I put the bulbed plants into the tank 5 days ago and they're already grown 5 to 6 mini leaves about an inch up.


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## jobber

*Update - Sept 10*

Well, it was a busy few weeks. It's amazing how fast time passes when you're in the hunt for sockeye on the Fraser River. This was my first year fishing for 'real' fish and not the scalpins or bullheads off the docks. if you're wondering whether i caught anything. My answer is: "It was nice to get out into the outdoors and seeing others haul in their catches....I caught nothing in my first year." Although I did reaggravate an old knee injury from slipping on a rock. One word to describe getting old..."sucks".

Ok, back to the fish tank. My few month old 10 gallon tank has been growing and doing well. Went through a diatom problem due to disturbing the substrate and allow excess sunlight to beam into my tank.

I've added some floating plants I got from CRS Fan. though the salvinia seems to get pushed down by the water flow, the water lettuce is doing very well and dividing fast. I got rid of all the salvinia and focus on keeping the water lettuce with it's bigger leaves.

my echinodorus uruguayensis didn't do well. started rotting and i just threw it away.

What I have incorporated into my maintenance/dosing regime is the following:

1.) Daily dosing:
-1 capful of excel
-1 capful of Big Al's multi-purpose plant food

2.) Water change every 4th day (30% to 40% Water change wednesday and sunday)

3.) Dose Seachem Trace and comprehensive after every water change.

4.) Running a Rena Filstar XP2 (with a pre-filter sponge) and with the following media:
Tray 1:
-30ppi foam
-20ppi foam
-divider
-9 bio-stars
-bag of clarity (sorb-something) --carbon **will not replace
it when I maintain it in a months time
-two small bags of crush coral

Tray 2:
-1.50 litres of seachem matrix
-Divider
-polishing pad

Water parameters:
pH: 6.7 to 7.0 (depends if i have an almond leave in the tank)
GH: 9 to 11
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 0ppm

Lighting:
2x Hagen Glo compact incadescent bulbs 15w each
3 watts/gallon

Livestock:
-panda corydoras
-pygmaeus corydoras
-rasboras hengali
-celestial pearl danios

Future plans:
**growout the stargrass. then harvest some for others
**resisting on the purchase of the green broad leaf echino. horemanii on ebay. --> failed. made the purchase.
**considering using metricide once my bottle of excel runs out
**considering using dry ferts once my bottles of seachem fertz run out.

here's a few photos I've taken today since I have the time to update this journal. the aponegaton nantas has grown pretty big and has grown a single shoot to the surface of the tank.


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## jobber

*additional pics*

Here's some photo's of the pandas:














Stargrass:








A comparison from a month ago:


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## neven

I think its great that you are using a limited number of stem species in a 10 gallon tank. They take over way to easily but are tempting to use since there are so many nice varieties.

The set up is growing in nicely, i'd say give a bit more time for the plants on the right to grow out before transplanting some stems to that side, you'll always have the option to place them in later, but now you want the plants there now to root quite nicely without having to compete much for nutrients. its hard, but patience pays off in the long run 

If you notice your celestial danios are being too timid, it may be due to the current from the xp2. I had an xp1 on a 10 gallon, and that thing blew all the fishies around, stressing some of my species. Plus the celestial pearl danios natural habitat is densely vegetated and current is still. So if they are indeed timid, just turn the spray bar around towards the glass and a bit up, it'll break the surface a bit, upping the oxygen for the fishies (and plants at night), and since you are dosing with excel/metricide, you dont need to worry about degassing your co2 doing this, this coupled with the venturi knob, will be able to fine tune the current perfectly.

Looking at your ferts, i noticed they are all different forms of trace mix, meaning you are solely relying on your substrate for macro's. This isn't a bad thing, persay, but it can slow down plant growth, so if you notice algae starting to hit, dont wait till all your trace mixes are done, get the dry ferts and start a light EI regime, this way you wont need to play with the lighting quite yet to balance the tank. This also helps with the lack of nitrates in your tank  5ppm is the minimum target, most aim for 10


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## jobber

Thanks nev. oh yeah thanks for suggesting to put a pre-filter on the strainer!

Funny thing was i ran the filter without the flow control and the tank current was like a whirlpool. I have the spraybar about 1 inch under the water surface and having the holes facing upwards so it's aggitating the surface of the water. I don't notice the fish gasping for air as much as before (my cories are teh first to be darting up to the surface if there's a lack of oxygen).

i was very tempted to get some nice sunset hygro's from smiladon a couple of weeks ago. lucky i resisted and waited for the strand i had to grow. i received that one 2 inch strand from april (thanks april) when i bought some CPD. it's not grown into four plants. 

the right side of my tank is a bit bare as there's the rubra lotus and green lotus on that side. i place about 3 sagittarrias and a stem of stargrass. i am going to give it a bit more time for the right side to grow until i start plugging in stargrass along the glass.

it's amazing how fast the plants grow when you just leave it alone for a few weeks.

what is the type of dry fertz you use from aquaflora that is a mix of all the macros and or trace? i'm also dosing hagen plant gro NPK once a week. but once that's done, i'll be needing to get some dry ferts to work with.


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## neven

Aquaflora sells the standard dry ferts for dosing. I bought the standard set from a person in the states a couple years ago, but aquaflora has the exact same thing, and its local, so shipping will be quick 

Potassium Nitrate (KNO3)
Potassium Sulphate (K2SO4)
Mono Potassium Phosphate (KH2PO4)
Plantex CSM+B (this is a trace mix)

I didn't bother with iron, i have a medium light set up so there isn't a huge drain on iron, csm+b adds enough for what i have.

Since you have crushed coral, you dont need to worry about Tom Barr's GH booster, with an xp 2 it'll get that hardness back up after water change in no time. Otherwise you just add this each water change in place of having crushed coral in your filter. You'll notice the cost is insanely cheaper than your standard premixed ferts.

Our site's EI guide tells how to make solutions. I personally dry dose into container and then dissolve it in hot tap water, but for you to do that, you'll need the 1/16, 1/32, 1/64 measuring spoons if you wish to be accurate.


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## jobber

ok. i did my first harvest of stargrass this evening. purchased some fertz sticks, added another 6 pygmaeus corydoras, and purchased the green horemani on ebay i've had my eyes set on for months. now i think i'm content with my tank for the time being. good ole lil 10 gallon nano. now to leave the tank alone, dose it, and see how it'll grow for the next week or so.

picked up some plants generously offered from eternity302. thank you thank you. hope you make full use of the ice pack.


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## eternity302

It's looking awesome!
But one thing I would definitely recommend is throw out all the hornwart i see floating on the top!
Not only is it taking in precious nitrate from your plants, it also gets a little ugly and blocks lighting =) Just my opinion!!!

And thanks for the icepack! That thing is sooooo flexible and good!!!!!
Let me know if you need more plants!
As I said... I'm growing a few other plants, once they start growing good, take some of those! =)


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## jobber

i snipped small clippings of the sunset hygro and the red plant (i think it's some hygro as well); where the rest was placed into the dad's tank. it's his birthday tomorrow, so i quickly spiced up his tank a bit. funny how i dose ferts in his tank behind his back and he brags how his plants grow so well "naturally".

anyways, here's where i placed the new additions i got from you today.














Want to share something with everyone....a hybrid cross of a pygmaeus corydora and some sort of other catfish. this fish has an elongated body with long 1 inch whiskers. not barbels...whiskers! i was going to buy it, but i resisted.


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## jobber

eternity302 said:


> It's looking awesome!
> But one thing I would definitely recommend is throw out all the hornwart i see floating on the top!
> Not only is it taking in precious nitrate from your plants, it also gets a little ugly and blocks lighting =) Just my opinion!!!
> 
> And thanks for the icepack! That thing is sooooo flexible and good!!!!!
> Let me know if you need more plants!
> As I said... I'm growing a few other plants, once they start growing good, take some of those! =)


well those floating plants are actually water lettuce. i don't think my tank has enough NPK because their sucking it dry. reason why there appears hole in the leaves of these water lettuce. i'm just going to let nature do it's course. if they survive, they survive. seems all the high nitrate uptake plants don't survive in my tank. seachem matrix and the good bugs in the tank does a good job..for the fish...but not for the plants :0


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## eternity302

LOL!!! R u serious? You actually dose behind his back?
LOL! hahaha~ I can imagine how ur dad would brag about it.. haha.. somewhat like my dad! Unfortunately he gave up fish keeping.. his next step is a koi pond, at least that's what he says, otherwise, he ain't going fish anymore! LOL!

Nice start on the planting! But like i told you.. the red one is extremely high demand on lights.. there's oly two things that will happen if it doesn't get what it needs.. melt away, or it looses the red completely! I dose quite a bit of CSM+B to bring out that red! =) Gotta luv iron!

And that's one wierd fish!


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## ngo911

Looks great so far! Good job on the aquascape. Where did you get the pre-filter sponge for your xp2 intake?


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## jobber

Ngo911: I got the prefilter sponge at petssmart grandview hwy for $3. Cheapest place I found it for. Works like charm. Give thanks for neven for sharing that idea with me.

Eternity: I do hope it'll grow in my tank. Now got me all curious as to the type of plants it is.

I mentioned previously during my conversations with a few members that a black substrate does makes the colour of the plants come out more. I think that'll be the type of substrate I'll be using in the future. 

Looks like summer is over and fall has arrived out there!


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## eternity302

Ming! I bought my black gravel at JL Aquatics, extremely cheap!
3 bags of $12 each filled my whole 55gallon with about 2.5" deep! =) Can't wait for more pictures from you buddy!
btw.. as you saw my tanks, I dun use anything like ADA or something expensive! But one thing I never do is vaccuum my gravel! HAHA! If you looked closely last nite... it's densely packs with poo!


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## jobber

Funny you say you don't vaccuum your gravel, just make sure not to disturb it. The gravel also acts as a great biological filter too! Found out yesterday that my dads tank also doesn't get its gravel cleaned but there's a mix of gravel and flourite in that tank. I use to have gravel, then changed to flourite. Founf that my corydoras were losing their barbels because of the sharp flourite. So I swapped to florabase. So here I am with florabase for the past 7 years.

Haha. After reading neven's post on adding some shrimps into his wife's tank, I'm thinking now to startup on shrimps....


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## eternity302

PM'd you! =)


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## jobber

no to the idea to shrimps. found out that the pygmaeus cories are good at eating some of the algae off my stargrass and driftwood. seem they have a liking to that then the shrimp pellets i offer for them.


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## jobber

*corydoras spawning*

So after a long day's worth of driving around, meeting numerous great BCAquaria members, and checking out their tanks, I'm finally home.

Taking some of Neven's words of wisdom, I got the dry fertilizers and will begin a light EI dosing regime. I am hoping to take my tank to the next level with more lush plant growth so I'll be dosing the remainder of my Seachem trace & comprehensive, Big Al's Multi-purpose plant supplement, along with the macro nutrient mix I just got. I'd like to thank Tim at Aquaflora for taking the time in providing me with some tips and tour of his place. Great chat and great tour. While I was at Aquaflora, got a hold of some rotala wallichii packaged in a new Aquaflora pouch. Think I'll do a bit of rescaping tomorrow by moving some plants around. Speaking of plants, turns out the three "barclaya longifolia" I purchased were actually nymphaea rubra. After growing out the leaves out this past three weeks, I realized it wasn't the right plant...so the hunt continues for the elusive Barclaya. Since I had a few extra rubra's decided to drop one off to buddy, Bowman00, as he was looking for tall plants. Good luck with that and the wisteria and sagittaria. They'll be more wisteria coming in the next harvest...

OK, so to my tank. I took a look at my tank when I got home and the first I noticed was...."the hell, snail eggs????". yes, i saw a white speck on the front glass. I looked closely and it had three cells inside. So i waited and waited for a few more hours, hence i'm still up at 4am right now (i'm still doing hw). I take a look at the white sac stuck to the glass.....inside the white sac is now a set of eyes. I'm looking all around my tank and underneath the plants, but only see this one egg. I can tell that two other eggs was stuck on the glass but fell off because there are residual marks on the glass.

Funny how I was chatting with eternity302 earlier and he suggested I should breed sterbai.

I'm pretty sure the egg came from the panda corydoras. Why you ask? Here are the signs:
1.) I've introduced this week shrimp pellets;
2.) There is a big difference lately with growth; as the females have grown twice the size of the males (the females are plump with a round belly);
3.) I did a 25% water change last night;
4.) A few hours after the water change, I noticed the pandas swimming up and down along the glass and through the stargrass.

However, having said all that, I've had pandas spawn for me, but it's been a while. The size of this one egg is a bit smaller than what I previously seen with panda eggs, so there still is a chance it's from the pygmaeus corydoras.

What am i going to do next? Nothing, I'm certain that the cories will spawn again when i do another water change in a few days. With the egg, i'm just going to let nature do it's course. I'm going to leave it and see if it can survive in my tank. If I see more eggs in this coming week, well, you'll see me posting a LF: spawning net/breeder box (or if i can borrow one from a member, that'll be great...save me some money...so i'll thank that member in advance). Alright, enough rambling on and on....time to zzzzZzZZzzZ

Here's some pics:


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## eternity302

HAHA!! WOW!! That was fast, and we were just talking about it!
Good luck on THE egg... would of said "THOSE" if there were more! LOL!
But I'm sure there's more hiding that you just haven't seen, it's always hiding or lurking around somewhere!

Btw... why do you say you're overstock? Cuz clearly I can't see any fish in your tank! LOL!


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## 2wheelsx2

eternity302 said:


> Btw... why do you say you're overstock? Cuz clearly I can't see any fish in your tank! LOL!


If you can see fish in a 10 gallon, you're pretty much overstocked.  With plants and substrate, you probably only have 7 gallons of water.


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## eternity302

2wheelsx2 said:


> If you can see fish in a 10 gallon, you're pretty much overstocked.  With plants and substrate, you probably only have 7 gallons of water.


LOL! True... but I keep forgetting that rule that it's not actually a 10 gallon.. cuz of substrate, thickness of glass and all that!  Thanks for the reminder!


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## neven

as long as you plan your species well (bottom dwellers, top and mid) and have decent filtration for a 10 gallon, you have a bit of play with stocking. Especially with EI dosing needing 50% water change weekly. Just make sure your tank's surface is moving to get the oxygen levels decent.


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## jobber

Checklist, done done and done. I love my "overstock" tank.. Haha..+k, I'm not going to mention "overstock" hence forward. Well, they are "nano" fish and I provide lots of vegetation and filtration and water flow. Done my hw and checking it twice. Seen enough setups now to know I can do the same with some TLC. 

Egg is still there today, certain its not snail eggs. The embryo is quite visible now. Now another small water change today...


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## 2wheelsx2

That's very cool. Hopefully, some fry survive. I've never had any eggs hatch and seen fry in any of my community tanks.


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## O.C.D Fishies

Good luck with the eggs Jobber, keep us posted. Very nice looking tank you have.


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## eternity302

jobber604 said:


> Checklist, done done and done. I love my "overstock" tank.. Haha..+k, I'm not going to mention "overstock" hence forward. Well, they are "nano" fish and I provide lots of vegetation and filtration and water flow. Done my hw and checking it twice. Seen enough setups now to know I can do the same with some TLC.
> 
> Egg is still there today, certain its not snail eggs. The embryo is quite visible now. Now another small water change today...


Now you got me curious, as i never had eggs hatch in my tanks! are they sticky? arent' u afraid a water change can wash em away!


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## jobber

Nope. Just took a study break and did a water change. The corydora eggs are very sticky. Going to see I can induce more spawning...


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## eternity302

I heard when you do a 20% water change... the new water should be 2 degrees lower when you fill to stimulate raining!


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## jobber

haha. thas' exactly it. plus the spaybars dripping sound simulates rainfall.


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## eternity302

If you put it at maximum flow, you can also stimulate a whirepool for them LOL~


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## jobber

Oh, I've done the whirlpool the very first time I plugged in the XP2.

Here's my simulated rainfall...


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## eternity302

I think you're dosing excel right? So shouldn't be a problem if the oxygen level is increased!
WOW, you should add a frog or a turtle in there now! Looks nice!!!


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## Diztrbd1

eternity302 said:


> I heard when you do a 20% water change... the new water should be 2 degrees lower when you fill to stimulate raining!


You mean simulate? lol Never heard that but that's what I do and for that same reason lol



jobber604 said:


> Oh, I've done the whirlpool the very first time I plugged in the XP2.
> .


Thats funny, was there fish in it ? Nice water fall .... just created one of those too , in my 33 a little while ago lol I think the fish actually like that


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## jobber

you're a good proofreader john. I didnt' even catch that....well i don't know what some people are thinking when they're on drugs or some sorts..haha

well the waterfall is only temporary to mimic the rainfall. just going to test this out since it is the rainy season in the southern hemisphere...get better results with corydoras during seasonal changes.

john, you have a 33 gallon long?


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## eternity302

HAHAHA! I'm thinking too much about... HAHAHAHAHAHAH! STIMULATE! HAHAHA~ Can't blame me... oxycocete is the bomb!

btw... wow.. must be loud in your room eh?


----------



## jobber

yeah it was. so i filled up the tank with water now. the surface of the water is 1 inch from the spraybar so the splashing of water isn't as loud.

you guys. hilarious.


----------



## eternity302

Good luck! Im praying for something good to happen!
more eggs more eggs more eggs!


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## 2wheelsx2

You got an XP2 on this 10 gallon? Wow!


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## jobber

I've done my homework, researched, seeked consultation, and read some more. More filtration is better than lacking filtration. I still maintain a good regime of water changes and now finding the right balance for tank in terms of dosing ferts.

After many conversations and reading on threads, the thing i've learnt, "each tank needs to find it's own balance".

Thanks for posting all those pictures up of your plecos, 2wheelsx2. Was up all night reading and reading plecos. haha


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## 2wheelsx2

The filtration certainly isn't a problem. I am just surprised that it's not a mini whirlpool in there.  But I guess you probably have that dialed down with the flow control? I got an Eheim 2213 in my 15 gallon and thought it was crazy. I had to drill out the holes in the spray bar to make it more manageable.

Haha....I'm always glad to drive the pleco addiction. You and Jackson are welcome to come and look (but should probably wait until my new 100 gallon cube is set up).


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## eternity302

HAHAHA! Gary, I was trying to talk him into a XP3! Not that much more, and he can get prep up for the next coming tank! HAHAHA! =)

We seriously need to drop by and check it out =) Wait till you're not as busy! You live your life to the fullest, unlike us HAHAHA! or maybe i should just speak for myself! My butt at home for 7 days now~


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## jobber

the whirlpool did happen, that's what made me noticed the higher electrical wattage on the actual motor of my xp2 at 23W. I was wondering why the water flow was so strong. Rena never got back to me on my inquiry and I just let it go. 

I'm pretty glad the xp2 came with a spraybar and flow control valve. I would have gotten a xp3, but I'd rather save the money to stock up with matrix. It was a toss up between the eheim 2215, ecco, and xp's. went with the best "bang for the buck"! so no problems here with filtration.

i read up on your 100 gallon cube....that we shall wait for


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## jobber

buddy, i've been recouperating from my own injuries this past week and a half, hence the drastic increase of time spent on BCA. reading reading reading....looking at pictures....but now, i gotta focus back on the real books and gotta get back to work Monday.


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## Diztrbd1

jobber604 said:


> you're a good proofreader john. I didnt' even catch that....well i don't know what some people are thinking when they're on drugs or some sorts..haha
> 
> well the waterfall is only temporary to mimic the rainfall. just going to test this out since it is the rainy season in the southern hemisphere...get better results with corydoras during seasonal changes.
> 
> john, you have a 33 gallon long?


damn druggies lol j/k..... wouldn't call it proofreading , its more like I like giving Jackson a hard time lol I'm sure he will be watching my post better now to catch me do something like that too lol actually I don't know how I caught that, think maybe I was stoned, lol j/k.... its funny how one letter added to a word can change the whole meaning lol

my 33 is a 36"....my waterfall was mostly from a water change lol I had to add a elite mini filter with a spray bar to get some more O2 in there, Friggin plants I got grow like crazy , namely the watersprite & Hygrophila polysperma 'Ceylon'. they get thick on the water surface , faster than I can keep it trimmed. Even tho my HOB is rated for 40 gal, it doesn't seem to push the water to well thru it as the plant are restricting the overall flow across the surface. I'm eventually gonna go with a canister on that one and my 50g when I can afford to upgrade. As for now, I added the mini filter & spray bar to about 1/2" - 1" above the surface to get some added O2. The waterfall effect, I believe will add more O2 that way,than if it were under the surface so I went with it, I don't mind the extra noise , it's rather calming IMO, plus it seem to add a natural environment as you stated about the rainy season, & the fish seem to like it . Your tank is looking great BTW & good luck with the eggs. 
Getting ready to put that little filter to use finally lol, got a 6 gallon tank off shrimpgirl, nice glass one with rounded/seamless front corners. Gonna set it up this weekend for the cherry shrimps. Thanks again for the filter should be perfect for that and then the 10g when I upgrade them to that later



eternity302 said:


> HAHAHA! I'm thinking too much about... HAHAHAHAHAHAH! STIMULATE! HAHAHA~ Can't blame me... oxycocete is the bomb!
> btw... wow.. must be loud in your room eh?


lmao , so I hear
as for loud, it's not too bad, kinda like living next to a creek. Considering Im in a second floor apartment which is level with the skytrain and to top it off Lougheed Hwy runs under it right there & amplifies the sound of the traffic, all of which are only about 50 yards away from my windows with a line of tall cedars to separate us. I'll take the creek sounds anyday,to help drown that crap out lol damn sounds like i could use some of those drugs ya got lol



jobber604 said:


> After many conversations and reading on threads, the thing i've learnt, "each tank needs to find it's own balance".
> 
> Thanks for posting all those pictures up of your plecos, 2wheelsx2. Was up all night reading and reading plecos. haha


I've learned that too & finding the same with my 5 different tanks

I'm with you on Gary's pleco thread , makes me want to start up a pleco tank too, but that can gat a little costly lol he does have an awesome collection & I hope to see it one day myself


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## jobber

*5 days after...*

Well it's been 5 days. The egg shell remained and the fry is somewhere hiding...though the rasboras made dinner out of the other eggs, i'm glad this one made it to hatching.

What's amazing is when i was just about to do my mid-week water change and while checking my temperature, I noticed something sticking on the thermometre. Further examination found that there are 4 other eggs. these eggs are much smaller than the 'one egg'. Now i'm most certain that that original egg was from the pandas and these new eggs are definately from the pymaeus corydoras. And I was thinking of going to pick up more pygmaeus cories from patrick. Now I must think what i should do with these pygmaeus eggs. To remove them or not to remove them....I wish I had a breeder box right now (missed out of those fancy breeder boxes). I'll think of something....while i do my water change....

here's some pictures to share with you guys. the pictures of the eggs are a blurry as my point and shoot is hard to focus on such a small egg. i've placed circles to point out where they are on the pics.


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## eternity302

just message Frank! He's an awesome guy to deal with! I'm sure he still got a few different breeder boxes lying around!


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## jobber

thanks eternity302 for the suggestion. 

as i was doing my water change, i realized i had snipped some leaves. I went back to examine the leaves and found a few more eggs so now in total, there's 6 eggs.

Thinking back to the past week for what i did:
-allowing the spraybar to act like a waterfall to mimic (simulate) rainfall;
-changing up and rotating the type of food for the fish; and
-do >50% water changes twice a week.

I think I've been successful in triggering the two different types of corydoras to spawn. 

I'm going to see if I can get a breeder box and be successful in raising the hatched fry. Mind you, I'm just going to casually raise them. 

so i'll be a "soon-to-be papa"....


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## TCR

I have a net Like box u can try to use but I think it will limitate the flow


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## jobber

thanks for the offer TCR and I really appreciate your offer but I'm going to drop by the LFS tomorrow to see what's out there....as in I may end up buying another tank! haha (thanks again to eternity302 for putting ideas in my head---)


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## eternity302

HUH? Why are you blaming me? That's absolutely wrong!
Ur the one to blame not calling me to do some fish shopping together HHAHAHAHAA

Wait... do u smell that? A 33gallon long? or wait... maybe it's a 40 long?
Same length and just different height!


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## TCR

Well good luck. I love corys


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## eternity302

OH WAIT! I take that back! Cuz that's the same as having a 55gallon! just different height as well! =)


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## jobber

haha. i just looked at my dad's 30 gallon right now with those stems of plants almost reaching the surface of the water!

no 55 gallon at this point in time. i'm optimizing capacity with my 10 gallon! i will resist and endure. you can keep monster fish while i'll be the keeper of nano's.

i can't compete with the other cory lover (TCR's) massive 150G +120G sump...and his soon to be picked up 250G. haha


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## TCR

Oh but the 150 is for the smaller fish I love and the 250 is for the larger

want to get a veriety of corys. I like how they play and kinda school for a bit and later are all over the tank. I hope u have succsess in ur eggs to fry to fish!!!!

I have big tanks cuz I'm crazy


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## eternity302

To be honest, and I definitely know TCR will agree with me on this, even a 55 gallon is too small!

This is why you need a friend with you when purchasing a tank! To make you more impulsive HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
=) I guess a 40g for you will have to do for now!


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## jobber

that's why i loaded my small tank with small cories. I want to get more and was to prepared to get a few more but now i gotta tend to the eggs and hopefully fries. you could do so much with your 150G. I would have a pack of 20+ of sterbais like AWW...haha. That will give you the "mice invasion" effect along the bottom of your tank.


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## TCR

Nice invasion. That is soooooooo cute

if u want a 55 gal I can hook ya up. I have a friend that's gonna give me one

want a future baby Cory in return


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## eternity302

No more excuses on why not a 55g!


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## jobber

this i brutal. no big tanks yet. parents would serious have a fit and think i'm seriously having some mental issues. they already say i prod and diddle with the tank way too much. yes, i admit it on this forum for others to know. haha

well i'm feeding shrimp pellets for the pygs right now. the plump female finally came out and showed herself and I see she's ready for another spawn. I'm banking for 20+ eggs....they do say that they could lay up to 100 eggs. Now if I go get say more than 80+ eggs, then I'll get a new tank! Wager myself.


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## eternity302

WHAT?
a FREE 55gallon!
How the heck can you say no?
Dun hold back! Just make room in the closet HAHAHAHA hide it


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## TCR

I future Cory makes it a trade lol


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## jobber

that's right. i'm passing on a free tank. haha
resistence and strong willpower is a virtue.

besides, love the nano tanks....and the cories....plus i'm too lazy to catch all the pygmy's iout of the tank (*notice the excuses and resistence to good honest peer pressure).


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## eternity302

I'm pretty much the devil and the worst influence you'll get!
Might as well stop by my house and sit infront of my planted tanks again!
This time i'll blast the A/C and make sure there's snacks and drink ready! LOL! Are you sure you're still not interested in a 55gallon? U do remember my barbs right? how fast they grew within a month and half?!


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## TCR

U know u waaaaant it 

come on ull Like it 

Lol


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## jobber

right now, i would just like my mice eggs to hatch..and to visit a LFS to shop...hehe


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## eternity302

WHY SHOP WHEN YOU CAN HAVE IT ALL FREE FREE FREE!!!!
=) Can you imagine the possibilities?


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## TCR

No Imagine the corys


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## eternity302

TCR said:


> No Imagine the corys


If we follow the inch of fish per gallon! does that mean you can rougly have around 55 cory's in a 55 gallon? Can you imagine the possibilities


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## jobber

yup. 55gallon = 20 pandas, 15 pygmies, 20 of this, 20 more of that...

"nice huge red lotus, swords, green lotus....wow, you're tank looks crazy awesome"

haha


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## jobber

oh gawd. you guys already read my mind.


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## eternity302

I'm sure you've seen this!
But like i've always believe.. without a big enuff environment, you won't see the whole personality of the fish like it would be in the wild!
YouTube -
Can you imagine your cory's doing that?


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## 2wheelsx2

Cories are very cool in big tanks. If you had been able to my Agassizi's in the 125's, you would want a big tank.  I agree with you Ming, don't get the 55. Too narrow. Hold out for a 75 (anything that's 18" or wider, 24" is even better). If you're going to go big, it's easier to do it all at once instead of stepping up one tank at a time. I went from a 20 to a 125 and it took a long time for me to overstock it. 

Big tanks are easier to deal with too. More stable environment because of the volume of water, in terms of chemistry, temperatures and fish load.


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## target

I have to agree with Gary. Hold out for a bigger one if you can. I got my 90 and can't wait to stock it. My next step, when I have the cash, will be to 200+ gallons. Hopefully 300 if I can convince my wife it's a good idea.


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## jobber

Eternity- I've seen that video before haha. Mine does that in a pack of 13 only, the rasboras join in sometimes too. Wish I had more though.

Resistance is futile, I have succumb to the world of plecos! Though they will not be placed in the 10 gallon, they'll be habiting the dad's 30 gallon with lots of algae and driftwoods. Thanks gary for all those pics, made me think of plecos.

I will make the jump to a bigger tank, not now, but definitely in the future---thats why I got the xp2 for, in preparation. I can feel the excitement building but for now, just gotta focus raising the "mice eggs" and get a few to survive


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## eternity302

Good luck on that!

I wish my house could support more tanks, but the weight on the floor is already to it's extreme! LOL!

Good luck on hunting down all those pleco's! Certainly a tough thing to do, and one expensive species ur after! 

btw, how long does it take for the eggs to hatch?


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## jobber

Just picking up some simple silvertip bristlenoses.hahaha...no expensive species for me yet.
They're suppose to hatch 3 to 5 days after, hence the urgency to prep them before they hatch. I've already see it developing inside each of the eggs. Pretty neat. Wish I was able to catch the fish spawning.

Well off work now and onto the LFS...


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## 2wheelsx2

yes, start with some bristlenose. I think Charles is even getting some wild caught adults in. Or some of Davej's long finned calicos. Very nice.


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## jobber

So today, i became a BCA donor. Help the community that helped me build my planted tank up.

well, I picked up the plecs earlier. got a 1 incher, 2 incher, and a 3 incher. One nice gold bristlenose, a silvertip, and another mix of both it seems. See if they can put a dent on the 30 gallon's algae. That tanks looking pretty good with some strong wisteria and hygro growth (thanks eternity for the harvest).

Back to the 10 gallon. I just picked up a good quality breeder box that will be used as the housing unit for the pygmaeus eggs; however, I will transfer the eggs into the box tomorrow with a Q-tip. tomorrow morning will be day 3 for the eggs.

I still need to pick another power bar from Rona's to accomodate a plug for my air pump.

I'll share some pics of the plecs here (i'm still working on how to get good shots of the fish...it's pretty challenging without a SLR or good exposure):


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## eternity302

Nice Pleco's buddy! =)

Try playing with the ISO, turn off all the lights, dun use the flash! It's much easier that way! I know the flash helps the picture not to blur, but you can also play with the ISO setting to get better pictures! Give Neven a minute, i'm sure he'll step in to explain!


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## neven

lol, a minute? i was sleeping! I've actually had no luck with my bristlenose with my point n shoot, and now, since my 6 month old knocked the camera off the kitchen table, it only can focus when set to 2x zoom.


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## eternity302

LOL! I was expecting you to give some info on how to use a point and shoot! NOT how your kid broke your camera! LOL!

Nah, i just recall some tips you posted up from a little while ago on how to use point and shoot better~


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## 2wheelsx2

It's pretty tough to get a good pic when they are on the glass regardless. Try to entice them off the glass with a bit of zucchini or yams. I get all my best pics with food.  Earthworms sticks, deshelled peas, yams, and zucchini. Oh yeah, and Davej put me onto frozen brussel sprouts, but they are messy.


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## jobber

I got a pleco question:

bristlenoses - they come in different varieties or is it a cross-bred? i know for sure one of them is a silvertip w/white spots all over. a gold one? and then one that appears to be a mix of a golf and silvertip. I just never realized there are gold plecs. i've seen albinos.


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## 2wheelsx2

In terms of Ancistrus (proper genus for Bristlenose) there are lots of species:

PlanetCatfish • Cat-eLog • Thumbnails of species

But most of the "common" bristlenose is the Ancistrus cf_cirrhosus: Ancistrus cf. cirrhosus • Loricariidae • Cat-eLog • PlanetCatfish

And most of what people are calling L144 are this species: Ancistrus sp. (4) • Loricariidae • Cat-eLog • PlanetCatfish

But the common bristlenose is kind of like the discus or goldfish of the catfish family. It's been tank bred so long that there are many mutations which are being passed on, such as long fish, mottled colouring (calico), albinos, leucocistic, etc.

So I am not sure what your gold one is, but it is likely a Ancistrus cf_cirrhosus variant.


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## jobber

Thanks 2wheelsx2. i love learning new things...especially fish related. Wish i can focus on my studies more.haha

I wish I could get better pictures of the gold one. I have to admit that their personalities are quite intriguing to watch!


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## jobber

I woke up this morning to find 3 eggs missing. I'm guessing it's either been eaten by the rasboras or hatched. So i'm frantically trying to set up the breeder box and rearrange some things to transfer the remaining eggs. While I was about to do a morning feeding, I noticed the pymaeus were acting hyperactive. I quickly grabbed my camera and took some videos of the pymaeus spawning behaviour. I missed the t-position when the female releases the egg. There guys swam around very fast so it was hard to see where they placed the eggs. Even though I lost 3 eggs this morning, turns out another 3 were laid. I still expect further spawning to happen as I am planning another water change for tomorrow.

While I'm still setting up the breeder box and transfering the eggs, I've uploaded a video to share with you all with a picture of the new eggs. Enjoy!


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## 2wheelsx2

That's a very cool vid. Good job. Hope more of the eggs make it.


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## Diztrbd1

That is a cool vid..Tank is looking great Ming and great job with the breeding. Wish I'd seen you were getting some BN plecos, Anessa has some for sale, small ones 5 for $15 last I seen on here. Nice assortment you picked up tho.


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## jobber

Well I wasn't expecting any of the corydoras to breed so soon, but I guess it shows that all the money I spent to try to find the right balance for my little small bio-system has made the conditions right. I'm quite content.

I've just finished transfering the eggs into the breeder box. Lost two of them when I got startled by a phone call...they floated down to the substrate. Couldn't find them, so i wish those two the best of luck. I managed to salvage 5 which I have placed into the breeder box. Coincidentally, I received some java moss of some sort when I received my green horemanii in the mail the other day. Once these guys hatch, I think i'll be looking around for fry food. Any suggestions?

Here are some pics of the setup I have going along with some pics of the eggs (please bare with me as I'm still am amateur photographer):


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## eternity302

Hikari first bite!!! That's a definite!

Good luck on all of it!


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## jobber

*September 25, 2010*

So I've found some Hikari First Bites as well as was given some great advice from some members to treat the corydora "kittens" to some live microworms once they hatch. Saw a member's video of his fries and they were so healthy and plump after a few days.

Today, I decided to do a water change a day early. I usually do water changes on Wednesday and Sunday, but seeming that the pygmaeus are in spawning mode, I'm going to increase the frequency of water changes this week and possibly the next to further induce more spawning. The two female pygmaeus are quite plump and robust and appear to have a load of eggs still to be laid.

After my water change, I looked around to see if there are any new eggs. I found a few. I looked at the smaller stargrass leaf blades and found a bunch of them. Today, in total I Q-tip'ed and transferred 10 eggs into the breeding box.

I have uploaded two videos onto youtube and linked it here to share with all of you to see. You'll see the pymaeus breeding behaviour, t-position, as well as how the female holds the egg with her anal fin as she tries to find a suitable place to place the egg. You'll also see that there's an egg that's been placed on top of one of the lotus leaves.

Enjoy! and if you have some microworms to help me start a culture with, the pygmaeus fries, my wallet, and I thank you in advance


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## eternity302

OH WOW! They really school together eh?~

Very very very nice!
And gratz on the extra eggs!


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## jobber

they usually school in a pack of 13, but since it's mating season right now for them, they're schooling in pack of 1 female and 2 males. pretty neat to see that. the pandas do their playing around by making rounds and rounds around the tank in like an assembly line. I catch them doing that in the every morning around dawn/twilight. 

I'll try to get more videos up once the eggs hatch.


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## neven

now they know how to have some fun!


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## jobber

If there are any pointers I need to know about, please let me know. Would greatly appreciate any feedback.


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## jobber

*Fry hatched*

Last night as I was taking a study break, I took a peak at my tank when on the corner of my eye, I noticed something squirming along the bare bottom of the breeder box....a fry had hatched. At of today, 2 have hatched. What I am worried about at the moment is fungus. I am trying to remedy that by placing an almond leave within the breeder box in hopes of fungus growing on the eggs. I am trying not to put any chemicals and see if i can take the more natural path.

Here are some pictures I took of the new setup, eggs, and newly hatched fry(notice the improvement in quality as I have finally figured out how to optimize my point and shoots capabilities):
































If you look carefully, you can see a pair of eyes inside some of the eggs.


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## jobber

*fry videos*

Here are a few videos of the fry to keep you entertained:


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## eternity302

Now that is TINY!!
GRATZ!!!


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## Diztrbd1

Nice vid Ming, congrats! your having a good day eh


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## jobber

yes and no. no b/c been bogged down with schoolwork and with the internet offline yesterday couldn't do much researching. yes b/c i'm a corydora dad! haha

I was able to tweak my canon camera to sharpen up the quality of the pictures and the videos. I wish I had a HD camera to present to you better quality clips. I try my best.

Going to be picking up fry food tomorrow (thank you, hoolagirl and mykiss). It'll be exciting to watch these guys grow over the course of the days, weeks, and months. I'll try my best to update my journal with visual media as much as possible. Pictures and videos tell all the story and saves me from typing....


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## BossRoss

awesome cory fry... congrats! very nice subspecies, i like the way they school mid-column


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## effox

That';s pretty cool


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## jobber

wow. come home from work and the front of the glass is littered with eggs. another 18 to add. i noticed a few eggs in the breeder box has turned fungal...guess they weren't fertilized, turkey bastered them out to feed to the rasboras.


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## jobber

It's October now and it's time for an update. It has been about one week since the pygmaeus corydoras have been spawning and the first fry to hatch is still alive and doing well in the breeder box. This eldest cory'kitten' now has about 6 siblings to swim around with. Though the siblings are about three days younger, their doing good as well. Looking at the rest of the eggs in the breeder box, there will be a few more siblings coming out of their shells soon. I'll try to keep up with taking pictures over the next few days and weeks to capture the essense in the fries' development.

Here are a few pics and video to share...:


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## O.C.D Fishies

OH my they are so cute I love the stripes on them already, soon you will have millions of corys. Congradulations granpa


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## jobber

btw, i just had to add this quote from a conversation i had....philosophy to apply in all aspect of life:

"it's amazing sometimes that you have to go through the rough and tough to really come to appreciate the things in front of you. and to analogize using a fish tank.....through all the tank crashes, fish deaths, overstocking,over feeding, money spent, money wasted, overdosing fertz, bad canister filters........the beauty of your tank today is because of all those illed experience from the past. thus explains the health, the beauty and colour of your fish....plus the green'est of your plants!"


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## jobber

O.C.D Fishies said:


> OH my they are so cute I love the stripes on them already, soon you will have millions of corys. Congradulations granpa


i check on them evey opportunity i can. it's amazing how fast they grow. i wake up the next morning and the stripes are there. i wish i had a million corys, because if i was able to sell each of them for $1 each, i'd be a millionaire!


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## 2wheelsx2

Well, if you get enough, I might buy some from you, how's that?  That's the start of your millions.


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## target

LOL, if they would be ok with discus I'd be interested as well.


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## Diztrbd1

I just had a vision of a million cory's in that 10 gal lol If you need another tank let me know, I have a 10 gal I'm gonna reseal soon.


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## 2wheelsx2

Funny I was going to mention I had a 15 gallon with a nice footprint (24x12) that would make a nice tank for Ming. Once I guess get my cube tank going I have no need for it, or the 2213 running on it.


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## Diztrbd1

that 15 would be a perfect upgrade altho if he reaches a million he's probably gonna need every tank he can get lol if you decide to sell that 2213 let me know, I may be interested if he doesn't want it.


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## 2wheelsx2

I'm consolidating my high tech 20 and my low tech 15 into the cube so there'll be lots of equipment up for sale. Keep an eye. Sorry for jacking your thread Ming.


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## jobber

No problem. never jacking anything on my thread...only thing jacking is jacking in to view the videos and enjoying them 

thanks for all the offers for tanks and the prospect of raising a million fries, but i bank my chances on winning today's LottoMax and then starting up my huge fish room. Plus i'll give out free fish on this forum....ahhhh...can you imagine????


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## eternity302

jobber604 said:


> i check on them evey opportunity i can. it's amazing how fast they grow. i wake up the next morning and the stripes are there. i wish i had a million corys, because if i was able to sell each of them for $1 each, i'd be a millionaire!


Great.. guess i should start breeding those oto cats that you thought is prego! LOL!


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## jobber

there are ready. she's so ready since the belly is the roundest and plumpest I have seen any fish. watch them dart around a few hours after your water changes. i'm most certain they spawn in your tank. it's just whether the eggs survive 'the feast'.


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## eternity302

LOL! NotHING small survives in that tank! LOL! Everyone's having a party everyday in there!
I'm waiting for you to get bored of breeding cory's and start breeding my dwarf parrots for me LOL!


----------



## jobber

*Merry Xmas everyone*

Long time no update.

Today as I was looking into my tank to hunt for ramshorn snail to squish, I was surprise to see a batch of eggs. Eggs which appear to be laid by the Panda Corydoras. If you ask me how my baby pymaeus cories are doing, let's just say only 2 of the 40+ eggs survived.

Here are some pics of the newly laid panda eggs.















In the next two months, I'll be in the process of shutting down this 10 gallon and moving onto bigger and more spacious things.....


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## 2wheelsx2

jobber604 said:


> Long time no update.
> 
> Today as I was looking into my tank to hunt for ramshorn snail to squish, I was surprise to see a batch of eggs. Eggs which appear to be laid by the Panda Corydoras. If you ask me how my baby pymaeus cories are doing, let's just say one 2 of the 40+ eggs survived.
> 
> Here are some pics of the newly laid panda eggs.
> View attachment 2300
> 
> View attachment 2301
> 
> 
> In the next two months, I'll be in the process of shutting down this 10 gallon and moving onto bigger and more spacious things.....


I've got a 15 gallon (not very pretty) that's just sitting around......if you're interested.


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## Diztrbd1

jobber604 said:


> In the next two months, I'll be in the process of shutting down this 10 gallon and moving onto bigger and more spacious things.....


bout time


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## jobber

thanks gary. but i'll be picking up a 33gallon long. give some more room for my corydoras to roam along the bottom of the tank. planning to have a shoal of pygmies and adding a few plecos (love the bristlenoses that are in my dad's tank..especially the gold coloured one)


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## crazy72

What a grrrrreat journal! I don't know how I missed it so far. 

Baby cories. Wow. That's as cool as it gets as far as I'm concerned. Awesome job!

I have a 33G Long that I bought specifically to host a school of cories. 48x12x12, would be perfect for cories I imagine. It's been hijacked to host krib fry instead, but I'm still planning to go to cories eventually. I'll likely come to you for advice then! Actually let me start: do they like sand or is it not good for their barbels?

Cheers!


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## jobber

The cories prefer soft substrate like sand, florabase...and other rounded material (eco-complete). Make sure there's no sharp substrate like flourite (i've had flourite before and the barbels were damaged). Sand would be the best solution. i'm actually in the process of deciding the type of substrate I want to use in the new 33long. 

water quality also dictate the health of the cories barbels. 

i'm planning on having shoals of cories and some sort of mid to top swimming fish. 

I saw your post for krib fries.


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## BubBleBee

Informative vid. Is that you or something you stumbled across while looking for info??? Now i know how to use the gravel vacuum i have....thanx


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## jobber

Diztrbd1 said:


> bout time


haha. i just couldn't resist....again.



BubBleBee said:


> Informative vid. Is that you or something you stumbled across while looking for info??? Now i know how to use the gravel vacuum i have....thanx


nope. video was just found on youtube. adds some excitement when cleaning your tank.


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## jobber

anyone able to ID this plant? a type of hygrophilia?


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## Diztrbd1

looks like Hygrophila polysperma [Green Hygro] to me


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## jobber

i'm not too certain that its hygro.polysperma green. i have some of those...it's aka. sunset hygro.


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## Diztrbd1

lol don't know then , I thought there was a standard green and also a sunset, but I think you're probably right tho


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## Kanesska

I'm no expert, but it looks more like a Rotala? Maybe indica or Rotala Macrandra Green?


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## Peterchow

2wheelsx2 said:


> I've got a 15 gallon (not very pretty) that's just sitting around......if you're interested.


Hi Ming,

Gary is a very sharing & generous " Big Brother" and also a very experienced plant keeper. His offer is genuine, with no string attached !!!!!!


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## jobber

I was tempted to take it when i was thinking of doing the swap from 5 to 10gallon. but i'm in the process of acquiring a 33gallon long.

I concur. Gary is a great guy!


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## jkam

That plant is Rotala Indica. It should turn red after some iron/increased light


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## O.C.D Fishies

More eggs Like I said Ming millionaire, your gonna be rich. Will ony take 500,000 spawns with 2 survivers in each to be rich. I would even contribute to your fund. lol


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## jobber

thanks for ID'ing the plant jkam and kanesska. bugs me when i forgot what it's called. 

you won't believe the spawning. it hasn't stop since the first time. if i had more time and patience, i'd take put more care into raising them. but i'm moving onto bigger and more spacious things *wink* as soon i pick it up from jkam....too excited. 

wonder what would be a good gift for BCA members if i was to win the big 6/49 or lottomax jackpot...i've always thought to myself how i can give back to the fish community


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## jkam

I think if any BCA member won the lotto a lot of things on the classifieds would be gone haha. The rest of us would be a little bit richer because of that


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## 2wheelsx2

jobber604 said:


> wonder what would be a good gift for BCA members if i was to win the big 6/49 or lottomax jackpot...i've always thought to myself how i can give back to the fish community


You can get us all Eheim filters....but for yourself, a big house with a centerpiece custom all glass tank with LED lighting 6 feet by 30" and 24" high.


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## jobber

i did a nice gesture today by donating my old desk to the spca thrifty store instead of selling it to a craiglist stranger. i'm trying to do a lot of good in my life. 

so i thought to myself today while driving and picking up my new tank....what would be a good gift for BCA if i won the lotto jackpot.....hmmmm. 

but all i know is that i'll have a biotope of all sorts. haha.

well. it's soon going to be the end to this journal.


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## jobber

Share some pics. Notice the soon to be harvest of stargrass...


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## jobber

Red cherry shrimp. Found some more eggs. One has an embryo inside. Can you find it?


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## jobber




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## jobber

*December 14, 2010*

*Summary*
I think this I learnt a lot from this 10 gallon tank. I had more success with this tank and setup then I did with the 5 gallon. I was successful with plant growth thanks to members on BCA introducing EI dosing and excel vs. metricide. The need for better filtration, where "overfiltration is better than just adequate filtration". Stargrass grows like crazy and so does the rest of the plants. Had success in triggering pygmy corydoras to spawn and later, the panda corydoras. I was able to raise the pygmy fries to about 3.5 weeks before they passed on. At current, the corydoras are still laying eggs, although i've exhausted my efforts in separating them into a breeder tank. I've also learn that there are also alternative fertilizer dosing in the form of jobes spikes or dry ferts.

well, I've met a lot of great members through the countless transactions through the BCA marketplace but there's still more great people to meet and learn from.

There's still lots to learn but I think i'm done with extensive planted tanks. My next project, 33 gallon long Amazonian biotope primary to house corydoras and some tetras.


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## 2wheelsx2

That's a great effort, and a fantastic start. I'm sure you'll be back to planted tanks once you get MTS. Everyone eventually does.


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## O.C.D Fishies

Ah I love planted, and you have also been so helpful. 
Make sure you keep a journal of your next set-up I canèt wait to see it come together.


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## Diztrbd1

Great job with the journal Ming, looking forward to your 33 gallon adventure lol


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## jobber

Thanks guys. Each member I've meet and corresponded with helped sooooooooo much. not just with the tank, but indirectly by give me some pointers in order to help me keep my mind busy with the tank and not on other things. Though i don't have MTS or BTS (i admit i caught a bit of BTS right now) like a lot of other members, BCA has been great. 

mark my words, if i win this friday's lottomax, i don't forget about people who've helped me.


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## jobber

This tank was quite the work horse and now it's time for it's retirement....back to my friend's house.


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