Soupysteve's 40gallon breeder journal

I got a great deal on livestock that I could not resist... it's nice to have an old buddy at the LFS price your goodies more to your liking :D

- 24 neon tetras
- 1 rubber nosed pleco
- 2 oto (this fish is new to me - never saw them back in the day)
- 3 "grey-ish" cory cats
- 1 ram
- one large "baby's tears" plant... looks like duckweed that grows like grass instead of on the surface
- one unidentified plant (I'll post pics when I discover HOW).
All of that = $56 and from what I've read, all the species (except, maybe the un-ID'd plant) are South American - so I am still on target in trying to keep this a South American biotope of sorts...

SCORE

My best friend and I went out shooting at the range - on the way we crossed a bridge over a local stream - nabbed me a bunch of pieces of some tree's root system that I plant to anchor in the tank somehow.

I also find quite a bit of "matching" rock... not sure what it is, but looks great.

I'll be spending most of the night finding a way to "aquascape"...

Anyone have pics of some tanks where the tops of the plants are much higher than the lip of the tank? I hope that makes sense - y'know, like growing OUT of the tank?
 
my update...

I've declared Wednesdays to be called "Weekly Water-change Wednesdays". This tank seems to like it. At the advice of my LFS, I've started (while doing the water change) siphoning out some of the peat moss I put in - phew, that stuff stinks! Is a 25% weekly change too much?
The "baby's tears" plant didn't make it... I would guess this was a lack of lighting issue as all other plants I've introduced to the tank are thriving. I'm starting to see bright green algae appear on the uppermost parts of the "roots" I put in my tank - but the "oto"s munch it down.
Aside from seeing my fish "gasping" to breathe, is there any way to determine if I am over-doing my DIY CO2? I found a good thread or two about using yeast and sugar - and from what I described above, I would say that it's not HURTING my tank to be using it.
Aside from the "baby's tears" not making it, I've had (what I would consider) few deaths: two neons were jumpers - bummer. Today I found two of the larger neons dead on the bottom of the tank. All the fish are nice and plump (I've never seen FATTER neons - honestly).
I wanted to share a pic of the tank with you all. I really want to thank Andr3w again for the link to the biotopes - and whoever it was who had posted a link to neons in their natural habitat (I TRIED to give thanks!).

amazonbiotope.jpg
 
That is a very cool looking tank. Unique design.
 
I like the way the you put in the rocks. Really makes the tank look wider and more 3 dimensional.
25 percent water changes are good. In your case maybe 50 percent would be even better. I would also consider getting a second filter.
How much wattage do your lights put out?
 
neon deaths...

Thanks for the kind words, Slappy and gmh. Believe it or not, but I did all the aquascaping (other than the addition of plants) when the tank was still so cloudy I was doing it blind. I may kick up my water changes to 50% per your suggestion, gmh - but should I be worried about stressing my tank's inhabitants with such a massive change? As far as lighting goes, The fixture I have is a 2x36" one - I wanna say it's like 78 or 84 watts total - does that sound right?
:help:
I've had six neons kick the bucket in the last 3 days. Five of them were BIG ones. After doing some reading I find out that the little punks can die from CONSTIPATION?!?! What the heck?! I guess I'll ease off on the 3 times a day feeding I've been doing...
I've only seen 1 of my 3 cory cats in the last 48 hours. I'm beginning to wonder what is up... The tank isn't set up so I can go looking for corpses, either...
NONE of the fish are acting strange (no crazy breathing or "itching"). I tested my water for NO2 - 0ppm; NO3 - <5ppm; and ammonia - 0ppm. My temp stays between 77 and 79 F. I find the dead neons when I get back from work in the morning. I've heard stories (in saltwater forums) about pH levels dropping overnight - is this a possibility? I'd test my pH, but the kit I have is a saltwater one - and only goes as low as 7.4...
I am open to any constructive criticism or words of advice. I'd really like to end this 2 dead neons per day crap PRONTO!
 
MURATIC Acid = Swimming pool acid. I dilute it 50/50 and stubborn stains I use full strength. Since it is water soluble it can be poured down a drain with running water to dispose of it
 
I would actually prefer twice weekly changes of 25 percent over a weekly 50 percent. Would keep the water more even keel.
Your cloudy issue should improve if you add a second filter. The one you have is pretty undersized for your tank. As far as dead neons, lots of folks having troubles keeping those little guys alive lately. Too inbred as I understand it. Clean water is best way to keep them healthy.
 
TWO water changes!?!? Man, I am too lazy for that! I'm kidding of course, but I guess that would stress them much less than one big 50% one.
I found one of my Corys... dead. I noticed his belly - near his little poop hole was red - same as one of the neons I siphoned out yesterday. I sliced open the neon's belly yesterday to make a pi$$-poor attempt at an autopsy - and its belly looked like it was full of an orange-ish red clay... I assume that this is undigested food?
I'll gladly add another HOB filter if it well help - but I honestly like the tea-colored water I have (thanks to the peat moss and driftwood in my tank). It may be coincidental, but I didn't have any deaths when I was feeding the tank Hikari Algae wafers and Tetramin. Last week I bought some Hikari "Sinking Wafers" and "Micro Pellets".
In case the cause of death for my neons IS constipation, I'll drop to one meal a day. I also read something about giving them peas after you remove the skin from one... ???
Again, thanks everyone for any help - I really appreciate it.
By the way, is there any way I could change the title this thread - as my tank is no longer in the "planning" stages... maybe just change it to "Soupy's attempt at a 40g amazon" or whatever... I don't like having to start thread after thread - I'd just assume come back to this ONE.

Also, I had mentioned in an earlier post that I really liked the video of the neons in nature that someone linked... Here it is for anyone who wants to check it out...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4DaP8HQyBU
 
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also... forgot to ask...

My wife rarely offers ANY input with my aquariums, but she did get a kick out of my DIY C02. When I was griping about my recent neon deaths, she asked if it was maybe some of my yeast/water mixture getting in the tank. I doubt that is happening, as I installed a small check valve, but what are symptoms of THAT happening? I would assume I'd know as soon as it happened, but hey, I'm looking for answers.
 
So, I decided that the one strip light I had across the tank wasn't enough; so I bought a second light.
A buddy gave me a couple nice sized chunks of driftwood.
I am almost certain my neon deaths were due to constipation (makes me feel like a total a$$). I am down to one cory cat - though the ONE can disappear for days; so there is a possibility that I have two.
To replace the 7 neon deaths, I added 12 small ones.
Here is a pic I snapped while having my morning smoke...

lightaddition.jpg
 
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