# Mysticalnet's ADA 60P



## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

Since Patrick had an ADA sale, I decided to subsitute my old old 10G to a new ADA tank, and finally go the CO2 route. Had been thinking about pressurized CO2 for the last 10 years!

My old 10G:








CO2 !!








Dry start and set up:
























Comments and suggestions please!


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

More to come when the plants grow!


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Love the ADA tanks. You won't regret it. I've been thinking about a slightly bigger one than my cube myself.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Wasn't sure I should comment until I saw your 2nd post. I think you have a problem with a lack of a focal point nearer the centre of the tank. As it is now, the eye is drawn to the right rear corner by the big rock.


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## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

Sweet welcome to the high tech planted tank club 
What plants are you keeping in there? I think I see UG.
I know you probably want to try a few different species to see what does well but I recommend against multiple carpeting plants.


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

Update:









I'm impatient, Filled water!


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## currietom (Oct 10, 2011)

Too funny,
I do love the 60p.
Looks like your ready to giver. What are you using for lighting?


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

currietom said:


> Too funny,
> I do love the 60p.
> Looks like your ready to giver. What are you using for lighting?


Thanks! Just a 24" 55W Corallife 6700K light,; might change to LED in the future.


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

2015.03.09 update - side view


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## jagermelifter (Feb 12, 2015)

lookin good


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

Update: 03.18

Midground and background plants are doing great, but my foreground plant Utricularia gramminifolia is doing really bad, I have no idea why.........


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## jagermelifter (Feb 12, 2015)

i may have the same trouble with my mini hairgrass, im thinking that my light is not reaching it enough to make it grow properly. 

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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

Update 2015.03.29 - plants are doing great, UG completely melted so I substituted with riccia instead. I found out that my check valve was leaking so there was no CO2 ending entering my tank at all, got a new check cake valve.









Front: I had trimmed the plants twice already, they grow so fast with CO2!









Baby cherry shrimp on riccia, had transferred this one 2 days before from old tank to new home, the first explorer!









More cherry shrimps 









Top view:









One of my L144 yellow long fin bristle nose pleco:


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## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

Looking good. Ah from one bladderwort to another  
Riccia is a great looking plant but I noticed that they are totally buoyant. They'll be a time when Riccia will grow off your mesh and float to the top of the tank so trim them regularly.


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

Yes, I noticed that too in my previous tank with riccia, it seems like it almost does not have roots.

2015.03.30 update - crystal red shrimps!










CRS on riccia


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

A picture of one of my L144 yellow long fin bristle nose pleco.


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## eternity302 (Apr 22, 2010)

UG Always melts!
I have yet to acquire a portion that will grow and not melt.
I have many many portions that grows and then after a little while it'll just melt.
Emersed or submersed, either way. If someone has a secret, let me know =)

Btw, lovely tank~ Yes, I can never find the roots on riccia neither! Nice tank!


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

eternity302 said:


> UG Always melts!
> I have yet to acquire a portion that will grow and not melt.
> I have many many portions that grows and then after a little while it'll just melt.
> Emersed or submersed, either way. If someone has a secret, let me know =)
> ...


Thanks eternity302! Yeah! I thought it was the CO2, well it must have played a part but still melted. I've read on many forums and discussions but they are all contradicting! Figured I'll do riccia instead since I'm going to have shrimps I don't want to risk fertilizing too much.

It's hard to find the shrimps sometimes, but when they do come out, they really stand out!


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## eternity302 (Apr 22, 2010)

It's not the CO2
I tested injected CO2, metricide half dose, metricide full strength, emersed single T5HO, double T5HO, 2 inch raise, 3 inch raise, up to 5 inch raise. different moisture levels and different soil. =( none, absolutely NONE!
The only growing way I found working for it to grow was low on nutrients and low on moisture level in emersed. Don't ask why, I have no clue. It grew from 2 inch diameter to 4 inch diameter, and it started drying up. eventually i had to spray some moisture to make sure it survives.. immediately after it melted in 2 days completely.

Anyhow, haha, if you get shrimplets, you know who to call and trade =D


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

eternity302 said:


> It's not the CO2
> I tested injected CO2, metricide half dose, metricide full strength, emersed single T5HO, double T5HO, 2 inch raise, 3 inch raise, up to 5 inch raise. different moisture levels and different soil. =( none, absolutely NONE!
> The only growing way I found working for it to grow was low on nutrients and low on moisture level in emersed. Don't ask why, I have no clue. It grew from 2 inch diameter to 4 inch diameter, and it started drying up. eventually i had to spray some moisture to make sure it survives.. immediately after it melted in 2 days completely.
> 
> Anyhow, haha, if you get shrimplets, you know who to call and trade =D


Wow that's some determination and dedication! Hmm maybe if it's planted in sand it might do better since low nutrients? It's supposed to catch insects for N, C source. I guess you could catch insects for it lol... hmmm if emmersed is already so hard then submerged will be a nightmare! Some people have success with UG though, it's like if it grows okay and gets used to the environment, then it grows like wild fire. Oh well, maybe I'll try UG again some other time.

Yes  I will look for you for shrimp trading! How does your tank look like, you have a journal? I'll look up your profile too


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## eternity302 (Apr 22, 2010)

I hate myself. I hate myself alot for not trying sand!
I have tried ADA, eco-complete (My friend did this one for testing), African violet, peat moss, mix of peat moss, organic potting, organic vegetable, regular black gravel.
Even dosing we have tried different ways.
I can see that it gets use to the environment, and that may be the reason once I started giving it moisture if threw it off balance and melted.
I also know of it being carnivorous, and yes, I threw some ramshorn to see if it made a difference.
I also tried T8 single and T8 dual.
None worked.

=) I thought I share my input with u and hope it helps, maybe we can narrow something down together in the future. So I thought I share with you exactly what everything was done. It was a period of roughly 5-6 months of trying in long different period of times. So it wasn't something i tested for a day or a week and just said it fails. I actually tried extensively.
And no, it wasn't determination LOL! I tell you, I was just furious LOL!!

Haha~ I'll post my tanks later. It's not like it use to be. I use to run two large planted tanks with community and one with mini monsters. I quite the hobby few years back and Just got back to it not long ago. Now i'm just playing with some livebearers since I've never had any livebearers for my last 20 years of fish keeping~
But ur shrimp tank is making me wanna pull out all my darn fish so my RCS can breed!


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## MananaP (Apr 22, 2010)

I rather use mini pellia than UG in my opinion.


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

eternity302 said:


> I hate myself. I hate myself alot for not trying sand!
> I have tried ADA, eco-complete (My friend did this one for testing), African violet, peat moss, mix of peat moss, organic potting, organic vegetable, regular black gravel.
> Even dosing we have tried different ways.
> I can see that it gets use to the environment, and that may be the reason once I started giving it moisture if threw it off balance and melted.
> ...


5-6 months, and trying all those kinds of substrate is determination, I gave up pretty quickly haha!

Yes please post pictures of your tanks, I'll love to see!


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

MananaP said:


> I rather use mini pellia than UG in my opinion.


The green colour is much darker in the mini pellia; though still a very pretty plant. You have some, MananaP? Dawna and I are both looking for some!


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## eternity302 (Apr 22, 2010)

Haha~ Yes. I guess u can call it determination. But my angry side took over me and forced me to go through with it.

I agree with pellia, they are darker in color. And takes maybe 10 times longer to grow than riccia~ =) Im actually doing the same thing as you're doing. Trying to make a riccia carpet! They're also extremely easy to prune!


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

eternity302 said:


> Haha~ Yes. I guess u can call it determination. But my angry side took over me and forced me to go through with it.
> 
> I agree with pellia, they are darker in color. And takes maybe 10 times longer to grow than riccia~ =) Im actually doing the same thing as you're doing. Trying to make a riccia carpet! They're also extremely easy to prune!


Cool! I use broken tiles as anchors, spread riccia on it and then use mesh - actually a new green lufa (for showering) to keep riccia down and then zip tie the lufa underneath the tile.

Good luck with your riccia carpet!


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## eternity302 (Apr 22, 2010)

I use 1.5x1.5 inch clay flats wrapped with mesh and thrown at the bottom
Unfortunately my lovely shrimps and bristle nose love to rip them out of the mesh! How I hate and love them


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

eternity302 said:


> I use 1.5x1.5 inch clay flats wrapped with mesh and thrown at the bottom
> Unfortunately my lovely shrimps and bristle nose love to rip them out of the mesh! How I hate and love them


Your clay flats are pretty small, sounds like a lot of work!


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

Thought I should list out my plants and parameters:

- ammania sp. bonsai
- blyxa japonica
- hemianthus callitritriodes 
- didiplis diandra
- windelov fern
- staurogyne repens
- heteranthera zosterifolia
- red tiger lotus
- utricularia graminifolia (melted haha!)
- riccia fluitans
- rotala macrandra
- proserpinaca palustris
- salvinia natans

Temperature: 23-24 degrees Celsius
TDS: 180 mg/L
pH: 6.4
NH3 and NO2: 0 mg/L
NO3: 5 mg/L
8 hours light
CO2: 0.5 bubbles per second
Minimum fertilization of N, P, K, Fe, & trace.


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## MananaP (Apr 22, 2010)

mysticalnet said:


> The green colour is much darker in the mini pellia; though still a very pretty plant. You have some, MananaP? Dawna and I are both looking for some!


Yes i have some, crazy story is i have them in a non co2 injected tank for over a year and they are growing nicely.
Last few months though i have been cutting down on light which in turn made them a little bit less compacted, when ever you have the chance to come to Surrey let me know.


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

MananaP said:


> Yes i have some, crazy story is i have them in a non co2 injected tank for over a year and they are growing nicely.
> Last few months though i have been cutting down on light which in turn made them a little bit less compacted, when ever you have the chance to come to Surrey let me know.


I'm in surrey!


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## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

Thanks for the updates!


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

Reckon said:


> Thanks for the updates!


Thanks for looking!


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

Update 2015.04.05 - after a plant trim, all plants are doing great except plants behind rock on the right are growing very slow due to much less light blocked by the rock. Riccia carpet growing pretty well though. I still need to trim a little more in the front. 









Side view:









Loach and plecos:


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## eternity302 (Apr 22, 2010)

Everyone's guarding the hidden cave?
Shoo shoo~ Go inside!!!


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

Haha! There's one more hidden cave in right back corner below intake, the biggest pleco loves hiding in that one.


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

Update 2015.04.07 - plants still doing great, did a mini trim and took some pictures of shrimps. I still can't get a shot of my emerald tetras!



















The large pleco is like an ostrich, it hides half of it's body and thinks we cannot see him, funny! 


















Plants really filling in on the left side.


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

2015.04.10
Got some chilli rasboras today from fantasy. Also finally got one stem of limnophila aromatica, hopefully it will do well.





































Some of the plants especially the taller ones seem to be yellowing, so I dosed more potassium, might need to increase CO2 a little as well.

Thanks for looking!


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

Update 2015.04.17:

Went away for a couple of days, when I came back my plants were crazy! This picture was taken after trimming:









The mountaineers:


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## Shary (Nov 6, 2014)

looking nice, whats the name of grass plant you using in the tank.


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## geealexg (Jan 16, 2015)

Grassy looking plant in the Foreground is Blyxa japonica. It needs med-high lighting and CO2 preferably.

Awesome progress on the tank! Love how the riccia is filling up.


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

Shary said:


> looking nice, whats the name of grass plant you using in the tank.


Thank you  It's riccia fluitans.


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

geealexg said:


> Grassy looking plant in the Foreground is Blyxa japonica. It needs med-high lighting and CO2 preferably.
> 
> Awesome progress on the tank! Love how the riccia is filling up.


Thank you for your kind words! Ahh I didn't know he/she was referring to the plant in the left. Yes you're right that's blyxa japonica.


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

Update 2015.04.28

Finally was able to take some shots of my emerald rasboras and still young chilli rasboras.



















Pearling (photosynthesising) riccia and crystal black shrimp:


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

2015.04.29 - some shrimp close up shots!



















Thanks for looking!


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## bigfry (Apr 21, 2010)

Very nice shots. 

Any problems with the shrimps and fish together?


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

bigfry said:


> Very nice shots.
> 
> Any problems with the shrimps and fish together?


Thank you!

Not really, the chilli rasboras even have trouble eating live baby daphnia, their mouths are so small. Emerald rasboras doesn't seem to bother shrimps either, plus, lots of plant cover


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

Update 2015.05.04:

Got new lights today! 










144 crazy bright 7000K LEDs!!









Pulled up some plants on the left and used those plants in my other tank. Added rotala indica and hygrophila polysperma.  yet to grow tall.


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## JTang (Apr 21, 2010)

Everything's looking happy n healthy. Beautiful setup. Wish mine will look half as good. 

Congrat on your new toy! Im still using old school lighting. Haaha


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

JTang said:


> Everything's looking happy n healthy. Beautiful setup. Wish mine will look half as good.
> 
> Congrat on your new toy! Im still using old school lighting. Haaha


Thank you! I'm following your fluval journal too. Looks great! !


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

Update 2015.05.12 - crystal black shrimps, otocinclus and CO2 regulators!


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

Update 2015.05.22:










Plants are getting quite a bunch. Riccia as a foreground plant is getting out of hand, it keeps wanting to be uprooted, I guess it is "fluitans" after all.

Need some suggestions, should I replace the riccia with HC or micranthemum "monte carlo" ?


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## JTang (Apr 21, 2010)

Wow your plants grow like mad! Can't even see your rocks now!


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

JTang said:


> Wow your plants grow like mad! Can't even see your rocks now!


I know! ! Too fast! And I just trimmed it last week too!


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

Update 2015.05.26 - I've decided to get an Ista max mix CO2 reactor, also switch out riccia with hc. Replaced some stargrass and ammania sp. bonsai with some red plants from Reckon, thanks man! Hope they fill up the tank soon!










Limnophila aromatica growing well


















My current plants:

- ammania sp. bonsai
- blyxa japonica
- hemianthus callitritriodes 
- staurogyne repens
- heteranthera zosterifolia
- red tiger lotus
- rotala macrandra
- proserpinaca palustris
- salvinia natans
- ludwigia hybrid red
- alterneathera reineckii rosenaervig
- alterneathera reineckii mini
- pogostemon erectus
- eriocaulon parkeri

Inhabitants:
- six emerald rasboras
- twelve chilli rasboras
- three L144 yellow long fin bristle nose pleco 
- three kuhli loaches
- six otocinclus
- one japonica shrimp
- cherry shrimps
- crystal black shrimps
- crystal red shrimps

Thanks for viewing and reading!


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## mtlister (Apr 15, 2014)

Hope the hc does well for you!


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## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

Looks good! I think you'll like the HC better than Riccia. Move the red plants a bit more to the front if you can. They really need a lot of light.


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

Reckon said:


> Looks good! I think you'll like the HC better than Riccia. Move the red plants a bit more to the front if you can. They really need a lot of light.


Thanks! I actually did hc carpet long time ago, yeah I think I'll like that better. I just need to make sure I trim regularly. I moved my light to the back, will that work?


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

Update 2015.06.05

Added some stainless steel mesh to prevent hc from floating up.

I should probably do a trimming of all plants soon!


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

Update 2015.06.17 - full tank shot and top view of some plants. I think I need more schooling fishes!



















And just for awwws, my sister in law's hamster:


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

Update 2015.08.01


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## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

Thanks for sharing. Looking good! Using CSM+B?


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

Reckon said:


> Thanks for sharing. Looking good! Using CSM+B?


Thanks!! Nope, just seachem root tabs and fertilization in the water column.


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

Update 2015.12.06

Two pregnant crs









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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

2015.12.08

Pygmy cories group picture!


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

Update 2016.03.10 work tank:

So, because I was so engrossed with my home tank: 
Mystical Mountains http://www.bcaquaria.com/forum/tank-journals-16/mystical-mountains-journal-155145/

I totally neglected my work tank.

Before trim, I can't even see any fish!









Before trim, top view, almost no flow, all plants have grown out of the water too:









After trim, I had 6 full hand sized bags of plants:









Side view:









Pygmy cories apartment!









Baby crystal red shrimp, adult one, and a L144 yellow long fin bristlenose pleco:









Pregant CRS:









Kubotai rasboras and galaxy rasboras swimming fast:









Thanks for looking! 

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## wslam (Dec 14, 2015)

Looking great after the haircut


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

wslam said:


> Looking great after the haircut


Thanks! 

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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

2016.03.11 - Some new additions (got some shrimp from April's)





































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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

Update 2016.05.16:

Some pictures of the inhabitants of this tank:





































Limnophilia aromatica









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