150 Gallon Build Thread ... From the Start

A few close up of the plants and inhabitants ... (sorry about the crappy camera)

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jenazen69 said:
Well I too just went thought the whole thread. First your dedication to research needs to applauded. Second gorgeous home build on the stand and hood. Really professional quality. I wish my husband was as understanding about my passion for the hobby, as your wife seems to be. The driftwood pieces in your tank must have been pretty pricey. I know driftwood is very expensive where I live. Your choice of lighting, co2, substrata, and fertilizers has really paid off. The choice of plants and positioning is fantastic. As far as fish I think I read the first fish were a couple dozen danios, then there must have been an addition of an unknown number of rummy nosed tetra ( I confess I may have dosed off somewhere in the middle), 10 red line Tetra, and 5 German Blue Rams. I love the selection so far. Rams like to have caves too, so you might want to add a few small ones to make them more comfortable. I have 3 in a 29 gallon that is well planted and has a cave. They are the boldest and least shy fish I have ever kept. I am sure they will get more inquisitive soon. I also think you will find these fish will quickly become your center piece fish. Are you planning on any kind of algae eater/ bottom feeder? This thread was a joy to watch, and i look forward to further updates.
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Thank you for all the compliments - planning and a ton of patients are definitely the keys.

The Manzanita was only about $50 delivered - I got it from a member on here if I remember correctly.

The danios were only to help w/ the original cycle of the tank. I robbed some media from our 45 - the tank essentially cycled in 24 hours. There is 1 lone danio remaining (I haven't been able to catch him yet).

Right now, in addition to the danio straggler, we have 24 cardinals, 28 rummies, 3 pearl gouramis, 10 red line torpedo barbs, 5 rams (2 wild caught and 3 bred - there is a bit of a cave for them BTW) a stick cat, and 3 SAE's.

The torpedoes and the rummies school - both separately and together (pretty **** cool)!

Thankfully the plants have been able to eat up most of the nutrients and choke out a great deal of the algae. We have been able to get by w/ a limited clean up crew.

Thanks again for checking out the thread and all the kind words!
 
DrVader said:
What has it been, 2 weeks since I last logged on to do anything other than check PM's or unread messages?

Loving the barb addition Coy. Are they showing any signs of nippiness?

Really confused by the nitrate testing of zero. I am 100% sure your tank is cycled by now... plants soaking it all up? Hard question to answer but if true, would consider leaving lighting where it is (for now) and increasing fert dosage for N in particular.

I'm going to try to check in more regularly but it's getting tough... work is rolling and my free time does this....
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Glad you are back (for now)! I certainly know how time can go down the crapper!

The torpedo barbs have all been very well behaved. They will school (even w/ the rummies). No nipping, no problems so far! When they grow up they will definitely be the center piece of the tank (fish wise that is - lol)!

I was thinking about turning the lights up from 160W to 240W. We would have to take the canopy off (oh boy) and switch a couple of bulbs around. What we have running now are 2 x 80W at 6,000k Geisman. I also have a couple of Geisman's aquafloral (I believe is the name) and a Geisman 11,000k. Just don't like the color the aquafloral and 11,000k put off. The 6,000k is a much more pleasant (slightly greenish) tint. I ordered another 6,000k (it got here today). If you remember, we are wired w/ 1 ballast running three bulbs and the other running two. We will likely switch it around to run 3 x 6,000k, 240W total; at the same time, upping our daily ferts a bit to compensate for the additional lighting.
 
Upping the light?? you crazy?? lol if the plants are growing so great now why change anything.. Trust me its all fun to grow the weeds but eventually you will want to stick with slower growers and focus on preserving a certain look of the tank without having to do weekly trims. But so far the tank is looking full of life and extremely healthy.
 
Bk828 said:
Upping the light?? you crazy?? lol if the plants are growing so great now why change anything.. Trust me its all fun to grow the weeds but eventually you will want to stick with slower growers and focus on preserving a certain look of the tank without having to do weekly trims. But so far the tank is looking full of life and extremely healthy.
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Seeing those photos Coy, Bk is right. What are you thinking??!! Don't touch it... spectacular.
 
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