# 55 gal Low Tech/Light Planted Tiger Barbs



## mom (Mar 11, 2018)

I'm back and super excited!!! There are so many new members on here since I was called "skabooya". BC aquaria had changed over and my information for some reason would not transfer over. I had to start over. I am now known as "mom" lol. 

Most of my previous aquariums have shut down or are in the process of shutting down because of ... life. 
My husband and kids know how much I love my aquariums so for Christmas they surprised me with a Fluval 55 gal aquarium kit! OMG EXCITED MAMA HERE!!!!
My brother got me a gift card to our local pet store. I went online and spent it all on substrate muahahaha.
I will also be getting a second filter for this aquarium for the flow and quite possibly an air pump and bubbler. Yea I know, not pretty and amateurish BUT the inhabitants I want to keep come from highly oxygenated waters.

Without further time wastage here are the spec stuffs

55 gal Fluval LED aquarium kit- Fluval C4 filter
1890 LED lumens
Fluval heater but I will probably use my Ebo Jagger heater instead.
Add ons: AC 110
Fluval airpump and air stone
Activ-Flora black substrate for background
Pool Filter sand in foreground
Mopani Wood
River Stones (wild collected and treated by moi)
Hydor Korilla power head

Flora: Java Fern
Anubias 
Cryptocorne
Bolbitus

Fauna: Tiger Barbs, Corydoras, Odessa Barbs.


No pictures yet. The aquarium is still in the box lol. 
Wood is currently soaking in the kids bath tub I confiscated last night. Drained all the black water once so far. 
Kids will be bathing in our ensuite for the next couple weeks. Waterlogging and leaching tannins from the wood is more important right now lol.

PS... how do we insert pics now? Is it still photobucket or do we use something else more updated or easier.


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## mom (Mar 11, 2018)

Testing photo insert . Soaking wood, site of aquarium setup and post christmas mayham.


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## mom (Mar 11, 2018)

test


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## mom (Mar 11, 2018)

test. 3rd times a charm ?


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## mom (Mar 11, 2018)

http://imgur.com/JeoQBMv

 area of tank placement test photo.


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## mom (Mar 11, 2018)

https://i.imgur.com/cPICTst.jpg


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## mom (Mar 11, 2018)

Omg this is frustrating. Why are pics not uploading


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## mom (Mar 11, 2018)

This is frustrating. Does anyone know any free host apps I can use to upload photos ? Photobucket is no longer free. Imgur will only post a link and not a photo. The attachment icon here doesn't work at all. Anyone?


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## Hammy (Jul 30, 2018)

I can see all your pictures


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## mom (Mar 11, 2018)

test


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## mom (Mar 11, 2018)

Hammy said:


> I can see all your pictures


 really? Its all showing as broken to me.


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## Knowyourtank (Jun 14, 2019)

I can almost never see pics and they don’t work for me either 
Shouldn’t be so difficult !


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## mom (Mar 11, 2018)

Knowyourtank said:


> I can almost never see pics and they don't work for me either
> Shouldn't be so difficult !


 it wasn't this difficult before when I was a member under a different name years ago. I wrote to admin. I hope the problem can be solved. Sharing pics is such a huge part of helping others in this hobby.


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## mom (Mar 11, 2018)

https://photos.app.goo.gl/WpP261WAeNJTAxLK9 test


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## mom (Mar 11, 2018)

Yasssss i got it to work!!! I think. I just exited the enhanced mobile version. Yay.


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## mom (Mar 11, 2018)

test again


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## TomC (Apr 21, 2010)

Nobody told me there was going to be a test!


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## mom (Mar 11, 2018)

Lol right!


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## mom (Mar 11, 2018)

32 gallon neglected aquarium in the playroom. All but the Cory has found a new home. This will be sold off. This room will be my daughter's new bedroom when the renos are complete.


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## mom (Mar 11, 2018)

sons bedroom aquarium. His betta is almost 2. He is a pig! Eats all the guppy fry and 15 pellets on average a day ! No joke. Brown pelia needs to be removed.







daughters bedroom aquarium. New betta. She has had him for almost 3 months. Her last one was just over a year when he passed. Dainty eater.. not too smart of a fish either.


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## mom (Mar 11, 2018)

I did a water change 2 days ago on the 32 gal. Everything was normal. Yesterday, normal. This morning, normal. This evening.... Heater broken in 2. Literally half the glass on the substrate and the other half still attached. Wires were exposed. I unplugged everything. The water was FREEZING! I cleaned it all up and put in a new heater. Not really new but its what I had from a previous tank. OMG. Now we wait to see what plants and inhabitants die from the sudden temperature changes. 

On a side note. I picked up some pool filter sand for the 55 gallon aquarium. Activ-Flora substrate is also on order for the 55 as well


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## mom (Mar 11, 2018)

The contractor came by today to work on the plaster, painting and cleaning up the trim and base boards before painting those again tomorrow. While the renos are taking place, I was watching some nature vids on youtube for inspiration. Here are some I really enjoyed:











And this documentary was really cool. I enjoyed this one.


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## mom (Mar 11, 2018)

So far nothing has died or suffered from the heater failure, YAY! I put in my Ebo Jagger that I was saving for the 55. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do. 
My ludwigia is perking up. It was near death from the neglect in the 32. It is looking a lot cleaner in there now that I can get into the room to access the tank properly. Everything is perking up. I am dosing Flourish Excel daily. No ferts yet. I am trying to get the algae under control. I cut out every leaf that had bba on it, and there was lots. Cut out any leaf that was dying or damaged in any way. There is a lot of mulm and detritus around the tank that I am trying to clean up as well. The filter is being cleaned out every other day with all the crud its collecting. I feel so bad for my little aquarium. But I need to take care of the plants now and make everything look good before I add them to my 55.

There are so many plant sales right now and it is so tempting! I must resist! 
The wood is still soaking and I am changing out the water every day. Its now a light yellow colour instead of black tea. There is still one piece of wood that refuses to sink! 

I am going to pick up some super glue so I can glue some plants onto wood when its aqua scaping time.

I am aiming for a triangle or U-shaped scape. The open area will be on the left hand side because that is in towards the living room. 

I am drawing up a potential scape because I'm bored and want to get things going. 

Java fern 
Java fern trident
Bolbitus
Crypto Crispula
Crypto windetti
Anubias nana
Anubias nana petit
Bucephalandra
Hygro 53B


Any other suggestions for interesting contrasting leaf shapes? I do not want carpeting foreground plants. That area will stay open. I wonder about green amazon sword in the background... hmmm


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## mom (Mar 11, 2018)

Went to the lfs today to see if my stand was in. Nope, and boy it was empty. They are having trouble getting anything in because there are so few workers at the warehouses due to covid. They are waiting on so many orders. In any case they did have some gorgeous tiger barbs in. Albino, platinum, green, yellow and regular. I got all the regular that were left. 5 . But they are the best I have seen in a long time. I could not pass them up. They are in my 32 gal for now.


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## mom (Mar 11, 2018)

The 32 is coming along now that I can get to it.


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## mom (Mar 11, 2018)

Jan 10, 2021 update: Yesterday 50%-ish WC. Added Tropical liquid ferts and Flourish Excel. Excel is dosed daily.
Purchased 6 Black Ruby Barbs and 3 bundles of "mystery plants" for 1.99 each. They were 12 plants of cryptocoryne windetii 'tropica', another tall crypt, not sure what it is AND a baby hitchhiker of some sort. Its either a hygro or another crypt, but its teeny weeny.

Today: Added my old Hydor Koriala 2 for more flow. The barbs are LOVING IT! Algae is decreasing as is normal now that I can get to the tank and care for it properly. Tank looks better and better every day. Shame its all going to get pulled apart for the 55... but I am okay with that. 
Stand has not arrived yet. House renovations took a step back. Our brand new ceiling had water dripping from it all over the place (kitchen, living and dining room)  Called someone to take a look. Its a new roof and there are no pipes up there. It ended up being from the electricians when they were working up there. They pulled the insulation back and never put it back to its spot. The water was all from condensation. We cranked the heat, insulation was replaced and the water is now drying up. I called the electricians and I was pretty upset. Once things dry we will see what the damage is.


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## mom (Mar 11, 2018)

Finally the stand came in. We picked it up on Saturday. Went hardscape hunting at the river on Sunday, set up the stand and tank and today I filled, planted and put some livestock. Filter media is cycled, plants and wood from cycled tank, bottle of bacteria also added, etc. Its still cloudy but its looking great.


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## mom (Mar 11, 2018)




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## mom (Mar 11, 2018)

This was as of a couple days ago <3 Its getting better. 12 Tiger Barbs, 6 Black Ruby barbs and 6 Peppered Corydoras so far.


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