Brentling's 125 Startup Thread - Lots o' Pics

[fwiffo]

nice pics!!! the anubias, i think, look great on the bottom!!! what filters are you going to run? canisters or hobs?

also, if it helps, id find a private seller of discus that's close to where you live. then, buy the fish from him in one batch.

id give advice on which age to pic, juvenile or adult, but im not up on that angle of discu keeping so i stay quiet! www.simplydiscus.com is a great place to start.

 

[Tophat665]

I was at Discus Hans' fishroom last month. I have got to recommend getting your fish from him. They were Breathtaking. http://www.discus-hans-usa.com/

First $750 fish I've ever seen that would be worth the money. Note that that was a single pair of fully grown breeders. The breeders are astronmically expensive. The regular stock is a lot more reasonable.

 

[brentling]

nice pics!!! the anubias, i think, look great on the bottom!!! what filters are you going to run? canisters or hobs?

also, if it helps, id find a private seller of discus that's close to where you live. then, buy the fish from him in one batch.

id give advice on which age to pic, juvenile or adult, but im not up on that angle of discu keeping so i stay quiet! www.simplydiscus.com is a great place to start.

The 'anubias' is actually is actually Lobelia cardinalis 'short form'. I have grown it in the garden and in ponds, now in an aquarium! I am going to run two canister filters; one with CO2, and one with an in-line heater.

I am so very not sure about how to deal with the discus just yet. I have joined Simply Discus and am a little discouraged. They seem to preach 'bare tank, feed 4 times per day and constant water changes. This, of course, will not be possible in this tank. Not even a little bit. I've got to think that a well balanced tank with good water parameters and tons of plants would naturally accomplish what the "sterile" tanks that SD recommends do. I am trying to find some folks who raise discus in this way.

 

[brentling]

Updated w/ Pics

So, I took a bunch of pics today to show some progress. The Glosso that was dying has suddenly decided to live and prosper.




The Crypt wendtii has lost the leaves it was going to lose, and now is growing emersed leaves quite well.


The HC seems to be filling out well, but it is hard to tell as it grows so slowly.




The Lobelia cardinalis seems to be doing extremely well. I am glad, as I really like this plant and it is not too common.




I have a bunch of plants in other tanks that are waiting for this tank to be flooded. Right now I am battling serious algae issues in these tanks. Hopefully I will get that under control before putting them in the 125!



Looks like the filters may not show up until Christmas, so these plants will have lots of time to grow! I am trying to decide on Eheim Classis series or Pro II series. I am afraid that I may have to go cheap on these, though, because my car died and I had to get a new one, therefore have much less money to spend So I may be soliciting advice on "good" "cheap" filters... I know, I know...

 

[Tophat665]

If you can get used eheim classics, those rock. I have also been enjoying my rena XP3. Lots of folks swear by magnum 350s. I don't care for them personally because it's too easy for crud to fall into the impeller and make a racket if your gaskets are loose. Of the three, the Magnums can be found from time to time (less accessories) for as little as $30. A pair of magnums ought to work well, particularly if you can rig the outflows to run through a seaclear full of bioballs or somesuch.

Glosso is looking good. You see it every day, so it's not as apparent to you, but that HC is bounding ahead from this perspective. Diggin on the crypts and the Lobelia. I just picked up some of the Lobelia at auction last week. Groovy stuff.

Have you considered throwing a couple of swordtails or mollies in with your algae infested plants? They will both tear up that green hair algae.


In any case, astounding tank. Be well.

 

[DrNo]

Dude, looks like your plantings are really thriving. Even the glosso is looking strong. I think you'll have some good options on filter; TopHot mentions several that deserve strong consideration. Not a bad time to get a new/used care though... plenty of deals to be had

 

[ChrisK]

Wow!! Just caught this thread great job brent

 

[DAVIDFBT]

That HC looks great, even emersed and in patches. Keep up the good work!

 

[brentling]

If you can get used eheim classics, those rock. I have also been enjoying my rena XP3. Lots of folks swear by magnum 350s. I don't care for them personally because it's too easy for crud to fall into the impeller and make a racket if your gaskets are loose. Of the three, the Magnums can be found from time to time (less accessories) for as little as $30. A pair of magnums ought to work well, particularly if you can rig the outflows to run through a seaclear full of bioballs or somesuch.

Glosso is looking good. You see it every day, so it's not as apparent to you, but that HC is bounding ahead from this perspective. Diggin on the crypts and the Lobelia. I just picked up some of the Lobelia at auction last week. Groovy stuff.

Have you considered throwing a couple of swordtails or mollies in with your algae infested plants? They will both tear up that green hair algae.


In any case, astounding tank. Be well.

Used would be very nice at this point, plus it would fit in with the theme of the tank. I'll have to really start looking. Do you know a good consistent source for used gear? i have had some luck on forums and such, but it is so hit or miss. The CO2 reactor I have has Bioballs in it. I wonder how much help that would be?

Mollies and swordtails, huh? I haven't even thought about such fish for years LOL! They were what we called "spud fish" back in my LFS days. You are correct, though. They would work and do the job. Maybe I could "borrow" a few from my LFS buddy.

Right now the small tank I showed a pic of (with the algae) is rocovering from a terrible tragedy. I had some killifish in there for a bit, until they jumped out and otherwise perished. I had 2 Scleromystax barbatus catfish that were truly happy that I was growing out for the 125. I put an old 100 watt heater that I found in the garage into the tank (violating my 2 watt per gallon rule that I have preached for years) and it got stuck ON and boiled the tank overnight.:mad2: I felt horrible all day on Friday. Those little cats were soooo cool and played all day. It turns out that the killifish left me some little presents, though and I have at least 2 baby killis swimming around that survived the boiling. One Amano shrimp survived and all the snails (that I didn't want) lived too. Once the babies grow a bit, I may try some swordtails, then my breeding pair of Rams is going in there, after I buy a proper heater. The Rams keep spawning about once a week in my 29 gallon Amazon tank, but the water is too hard for the eggs to become fertilized, so I intend to use R/O water and breed those little guys.

So I will look for a couple of cheap used canister filters. I think that will be the plan for now, and save my pennies for a couple of nice Eheims in the future.

 

[brentling]

Dude, looks like your plantings are really thriving. Even the glosso is looking strong. I think you'll have some good options on filter; TopHot mentions several that deserve strong consideration. Not a bad time to get a new/used care though... plenty of deals to be had

Yeah, I managed to find a 2009 Suzuki SX4 for under sticker price and they moved my (lousy) credit score up one category, so I am paying less for the brand new car than the used ones that other dealers were showing me. Thanks for the comments and for the support.