55 Gallon Tank (Cichlid Showcase)
~~~~~~~~~~
- Equipment:
Top Fin 55 Gallon Tank
Standard Canopy
lastic (wood) with 2x18" strip lights
(2x Eclipse "Natural Daylight" 15 watt T8 bulbs)
Emperor 400 Powerfilter (4x media containers w/floss)
Magnum HOT Pro (media chamber/floss -or- micron filter)
Quickcrete Medium Sand (50lbs)
Pro Heat 300w Heater
2x Adhesive thermometers (each side)
Appliance Timer (lights) set at 10am - 10pm
- Decorations:
100+ lbs Rock (limestone, pagota, slate, petrified rock)
2x small ornate shells
Paper Background (taped on)
-Plants: (removed or pruned from 20 gal tank)
whatever is excess from other aquariums
- Livestock:
1 Blackbelt Cichlid (5" w/o tail)
4 Silver Dollars (1 1/2" each)
1 Electric Blue Crawfish (4" head to tail)
- Routines:
Bi-weekly 25% water changes (using Python)
Bi-weekly vacuuming
Weekly filter pad rinsing
Monthly (alternating) cleaning of filters themselves
Bi-weekly (at least) Nitrate Test
- Feeding:
Hikari Cichlid (staple or gold) pellets
Wardley Tropical Flakes
Wardley Shrimp Pellets
Frozen Foods (Beef Heart, Krill, Bloodworms, Emerald Entree)
Fresh Veggies: (Cucumber, Lettuce, Spinach, Squash, Zuccini)
Occasional Feeder Ghost Shrimp
-all fed on various days. Lots of variety!
- Water Chemistry:
Temp= 77 F
pH= 7.7
KH= 5.4
Ammonia= 0.0
Nitrite= 0.0
Nitrate= <5ppm (after H2O change), <10ppm (before)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
10 Gallon Tank (Solo Tank)
~~~~~~~~~~
- Equipment:
Regent 10 gallon Aquarium
Standard Canopy: plastic (black) with 18" striplight
(Eclipse "Natural Daylight" 15 watt T8 bulb)
Regent 100gph Powerfilter (2x small foam pads)
Quickcrete Medium Sand (15lbs)
Proquatic 50w Heater
Adhesive Thermometer
Appliance Timer (lights) set for 10am - 10pm.
- Decorations:
~5 lbs Rocks
1x 10" Driftwood (has cave in it)
Paper Background (taped on)
- Live Plants:
2x Java ferns
various floating Egeria densa
- Livestock:
1 Jellybean Cichlid (2" without tail)
(this is not a jellybean parrot, btw)
- Routines:
Bi-weekly 30% water changes (using syphon + bucket)
Bi-weekly vacuuming
Weekly filter pad rinsing
Monthly cleaning of filter itself
Bi-weekly (at least) Nitrate Test
- Feeding:
Wardley Tropical Flakes
Hikari Cichlid (staple or gold) pellets
Wardley Shrimp Pellets
Occasional Veggie (same variety as above)
- Water Chemistry:
Temp= 77 F
pH= 7.7
KH= 6.0
Ammonia= 0.0
Nitrite= 0.0
Nitrate= <5ppm (after H2O change), <10ppm (before)
- Notes:
- Very territorial and aggressive, don't want to mix with other fish. Not big enough for the other cichlids, either. This will probably stay a solo tank in my kitchen. I'm moving excess plants from the 20 gallon to this tank to give it a low-tech planted environment.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
20 Gallon Tank (Community Planted Tank)
~~~~~~~~~~
- Equipment:
Standard 20 gallon tank (completely cleaned/re-sealed)
DIY Stained Wood (Pine) Canopy with double 24" striplight
(Phillips 5000k *92CRI!*, 6500k 20 watt bulbs)
(Added 2x 15w Screw-in CFL Bulbs 6500k each)
Penguin 125 (without bio-wheel) Powerfilter (sponge pad)
Duetto DJ-100 (76gph) Internal Powerfilter
50/50 Substrate (Quickcrete Medium Sand/Flourite Red)
Hagen 100 watt Submersible Heater
Adhesive Thermometer
2x Nutrafin (Hagen) "Natural Plant System" CO2 System
(DIY CO2 diffused through Duetto filter via air intake)
Appliance Timer (lights) set for 10am - 10pm
- Decorations:
1x Medium Driftwood
Painted back glass: Black
- Plants:
2x Micranthemum umbrosum (bunch) "baby tears"
2x Cryptocoryne (red wendti)
2x Cryptocoryne (green wendti)
1x Cryptocoryne cordata
1x Cryptocoryne undulatus
1x Cryptocoryne ciliata
2x Echinodorus (bleheri? -or- cordifolius?) "Amazon Sword"
1x Anubias (nana)
2x Microsorum pteropus "Java Fern" (several baby's too)
xx Egeria densa (bunch)
- Livestock:
3x Bronze Corys
3x Albino Bronze Corys
6x Ghost shrimp
4x Ottos
8x Neon Tetras
1x male Betta
- Routines:
Weekly 50% water change
Weekly Filter pad cleaning
Daily (for now) pH, KH, Nitrate, Phosphate, Iron test
Bi-weekly change of DIY CO2 mix (alternate)
Monthly cleaning of filter itself
-Fertilizing regime is being researched-
- Feeding:
Wardley Tropical Flakes
Marineland BIO-blend (tropical) pellets
Marineland BIO-blend (color-enhance) pellets
Hikari Freeze-dried Bloodworms
Hikari Sinking Algae Wafers
- Water Chemistry:
Temp= 77 degrees
pH= 6.8-7.0 (depends on CO2)
KH= 5.1
Ammo= 0.0
Nitrite= 0.0
Nitrate= 5-10ppm
Iron= 0.8ppm
Phos= 1.0ppm
- Notes:
-This is my first planted tank and has been running since about the beginning of March '03. Looks great and is a wonderful new challenge. The plants (if any) in the other tanks is what has been pulled out of, or pruned from this tank. The fish in the 55 gallon eventually eat or destroy the plants.
~~~~~~~~~~
- Equipment:
Top Fin 55 Gallon Tank
Standard Canopy
lastic (wood) with 2x18" strip lights(2x Eclipse "Natural Daylight" 15 watt T8 bulbs)
Emperor 400 Powerfilter (4x media containers w/floss)
Magnum HOT Pro (media chamber/floss -or- micron filter)
Quickcrete Medium Sand (50lbs)
Pro Heat 300w Heater
2x Adhesive thermometers (each side)
Appliance Timer (lights) set at 10am - 10pm
- Decorations:
100+ lbs Rock (limestone, pagota, slate, petrified rock)
2x small ornate shells
Paper Background (taped on)
-Plants: (removed or pruned from 20 gal tank)
whatever is excess from other aquariums
- Livestock:
1 Blackbelt Cichlid (5" w/o tail)
4 Silver Dollars (1 1/2" each)
1 Electric Blue Crawfish (4" head to tail)
- Routines:
Bi-weekly 25% water changes (using Python)
Bi-weekly vacuuming
Weekly filter pad rinsing
Monthly (alternating) cleaning of filters themselves
Bi-weekly (at least) Nitrate Test
- Feeding:
Hikari Cichlid (staple or gold) pellets
Wardley Tropical Flakes
Wardley Shrimp Pellets
Frozen Foods (Beef Heart, Krill, Bloodworms, Emerald Entree)
Fresh Veggies: (Cucumber, Lettuce, Spinach, Squash, Zuccini)
Occasional Feeder Ghost Shrimp
-all fed on various days. Lots of variety!
- Water Chemistry:
Temp= 77 F
pH= 7.7
KH= 5.4
Ammonia= 0.0
Nitrite= 0.0
Nitrate= <5ppm (after H2O change), <10ppm (before)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
10 Gallon Tank (Solo Tank)
~~~~~~~~~~
- Equipment:
Regent 10 gallon Aquarium
Standard Canopy: plastic (black) with 18" striplight
(Eclipse "Natural Daylight" 15 watt T8 bulb)
Regent 100gph Powerfilter (2x small foam pads)
Quickcrete Medium Sand (15lbs)
Proquatic 50w Heater
Adhesive Thermometer
Appliance Timer (lights) set for 10am - 10pm.
- Decorations:
~5 lbs Rocks
1x 10" Driftwood (has cave in it)
Paper Background (taped on)
- Live Plants:
2x Java ferns
various floating Egeria densa
- Livestock:
1 Jellybean Cichlid (2" without tail)
(this is not a jellybean parrot, btw)
- Routines:
Bi-weekly 30% water changes (using syphon + bucket)
Bi-weekly vacuuming
Weekly filter pad rinsing
Monthly cleaning of filter itself
Bi-weekly (at least) Nitrate Test
- Feeding:
Wardley Tropical Flakes
Hikari Cichlid (staple or gold) pellets
Wardley Shrimp Pellets
Occasional Veggie (same variety as above)
- Water Chemistry:
Temp= 77 F
pH= 7.7
KH= 6.0
Ammonia= 0.0
Nitrite= 0.0
Nitrate= <5ppm (after H2O change), <10ppm (before)
- Notes:
- Very territorial and aggressive, don't want to mix with other fish. Not big enough for the other cichlids, either. This will probably stay a solo tank in my kitchen. I'm moving excess plants from the 20 gallon to this tank to give it a low-tech planted environment.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
20 Gallon Tank (Community Planted Tank)
~~~~~~~~~~
- Equipment:
Standard 20 gallon tank (completely cleaned/re-sealed)
DIY Stained Wood (Pine) Canopy with double 24" striplight
(Phillips 5000k *92CRI!*, 6500k 20 watt bulbs)
(Added 2x 15w Screw-in CFL Bulbs 6500k each)
Penguin 125 (without bio-wheel) Powerfilter (sponge pad)
Duetto DJ-100 (76gph) Internal Powerfilter
50/50 Substrate (Quickcrete Medium Sand/Flourite Red)
Hagen 100 watt Submersible Heater
Adhesive Thermometer
2x Nutrafin (Hagen) "Natural Plant System" CO2 System
(DIY CO2 diffused through Duetto filter via air intake)
Appliance Timer (lights) set for 10am - 10pm
- Decorations:
1x Medium Driftwood
Painted back glass: Black
- Plants:
2x Micranthemum umbrosum (bunch) "baby tears"
2x Cryptocoryne (red wendti)
2x Cryptocoryne (green wendti)
1x Cryptocoryne cordata
1x Cryptocoryne undulatus
1x Cryptocoryne ciliata
2x Echinodorus (bleheri? -or- cordifolius?) "Amazon Sword"
1x Anubias (nana)
2x Microsorum pteropus "Java Fern" (several baby's too)
xx Egeria densa (bunch)
- Livestock:
3x Bronze Corys
3x Albino Bronze Corys
6x Ghost shrimp
4x Ottos
8x Neon Tetras
1x male Betta
- Routines:
Weekly 50% water change
Weekly Filter pad cleaning
Daily (for now) pH, KH, Nitrate, Phosphate, Iron test
Bi-weekly change of DIY CO2 mix (alternate)
Monthly cleaning of filter itself
-Fertilizing regime is being researched-
- Feeding:
Wardley Tropical Flakes
Marineland BIO-blend (tropical) pellets
Marineland BIO-blend (color-enhance) pellets
Hikari Freeze-dried Bloodworms
Hikari Sinking Algae Wafers
- Water Chemistry:
Temp= 77 degrees
pH= 6.8-7.0 (depends on CO2)
KH= 5.1
Ammo= 0.0
Nitrite= 0.0
Nitrate= 5-10ppm
Iron= 0.8ppm
Phos= 1.0ppm
- Notes:
-This is my first planted tank and has been running since about the beginning of March '03. Looks great and is a wonderful new challenge. The plants (if any) in the other tanks is what has been pulled out of, or pruned from this tank. The fish in the 55 gallon eventually eat or destroy the plants.
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