Brasky's 38 Gallon update... (56k warning)

[Bill Brasky]

I went home to Seattle for the weekend and checked out some of the fish stores in the area... and promptly found out I was being had :( Long story short, my LFS in Pullman is charging roughly 50-100% more on accessories, food, and supplies and over 600% more on fish. I guess you pay a premium when you're the only fish store in a hour and a half drive radius!

Anyways, I visited Blue Sierra Fish and Pet in Issaquah, WA and had an amazing experience... not only was I surrounded by a huge selection of Freshwater fish and plants, there was also a multitude of Saltwater fish and coral/rock available. Oy. I picked up a new light (A Coralife 36" 96w single compact fluorescent), a Red Sea DIY CO2 kit, and 3 pots of Glosso :c3:

Some of you may remember my issues with my vals... the browning in the middle and at the base. I was told that both my iron and nitrogen were deficient and my puny 18w light I had prior wasn't helping. The CO2 and 96w should help out :D. I was recommended some supplements but totally forgot about grabbing them before I left!

Anyways, fast forward to today and all my vals have new, healthy roots showing (white vs. the limp brown roots I had before), I've got a few new leaves on my Anubias, and a few runners on my Crypts! Now, I've just got to find something to put in the front right corner... any suggestions? Should I also put some moss-type plants on my driftwood or should I just leave it be?

Pics!
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edit: as you can see, I still have a slight tannin issue, but the 6700k full-spectrum bulb doesn't really help too much :28:

[~Erik3.8.07~]

that tank looks awesome! nice job!thumbs2:

[gm72]

Ditto. That is a very nice looking tank. Great work.

[dev]

Very nice!

[Drumachine09]

Hehe, nice pants.




Tanks lookin good too.

[tropfish]

really nice tank!

[genitor]

Tank looks great even with the tannins!!

[Bill Brasky]

Hehe, nice pants.




Tanks lookin good too.

Thanks guys!

(those are my PJ pants :sbiggrin: )

Interestingly enough, I went back to the store today again! I picked up a shoal of Boy Guppies (roommate really wanted them) and a powder blue gourami. I think I'm done with fish for now :19:

I also picked up an Amazon sword as well... it got put where the middle crypt is and the crypt went on top of the right stump in a perfectly sized crater :c3:

This is getting to be so fun!

[Incredulous_Ed]

hehe, pj pants.

The tank could easily win the TOTM competition.

[Bill Brasky]

hehe, pj pants.

The tank could easily win the TOTM competition.

O rly?

Enter into the TOTM competition, I will. Coming is the night. Better pictures, I will have!

[zackish]

That looks like a chunk of a river bed.
Really nice man, nice!

[Bill Brasky]

the powder blue finally calmed down a bit so I decided to get some great pictures... i'm bushed! sleep time after this...


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Thinks he can hide from me... Ha! The Nikon sees all!
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[A340]

Very nice tank, no point in me submitting my pics for the TOTM contest ... :ezpi_wink1:

Personally, I have to admit, the tannis really adds a nice touch to it. How happy are you with the Coralife light fixture? I'm picking up one for my 29g this week, any complaints with it?

Also, what Nikon are you using, a D-series or Coolpix?

[Bill Brasky]

Well, the leg mounts were a little scoshe to begin with, but after looking at them, I'm slowly trusting them :p Other than that, it's great. I think I might switch to the 50/50 10k and plant growth bulb, but... megh. It's fine the way it is.

The tannins are a different issue. I don't mind them, but my neat n' tidy apt. mate hates the look of the "dirty water" (so he says). This weekend, I'll remove the extra charcoal that's in the filter and let nature take it's course. My LFS thinks the charcoal is a lost cause. He thinks there's enough tannin in the big driftwood to last a year, if not more!

As for my camera, it's a good ole' fashioned D70 coupled with the kit 18-70mm lens screwed to my trusty Bogen 3001 Pro tripod. I might not have a bunch of pricy lenses, but I still take some good photos with it. Only 9762 shutter activations on it too!

[A340]

D70, huh? Still one of the best DSLR's on the market! And such a low shutter life at that, impressed!

[Lady Hobbs]

Tank looks very nice. If you would resize your pictures to message board size 620x480 they would show up just as well without knocking the margins off, tho.

[Bill Brasky]

Tank looks very nice. If you would resize your pictures to message board size 620x480 they would show up just as well without knocking the margins off, tho.

forgive me, I'm running at a ridiculously high resolution so they already looks like postage stamps :(

[zackish]

Well, the leg mounts were a little scoshe to begin with, but after looking at them, I'm slowly trusting them :p Other than that, it's great. I think I might switch to the 50/50 10k and plant growth bulb, but... megh. It's fine the way it is.

The tannins are a different issue. I don't mind them, but my neat n' tidy apt. mate hates the look of the "dirty water" (so he says). This weekend, I'll remove the extra charcoal that's in the filter and let nature take it's course. My LFS thinks the charcoal is a lost cause. He thinks there's enough tannin in the big driftwood to last a year, if not more!

As for my camera, it's a good ole' fashioned D70 coupled with the kit 18-70mm lens screwed to my trusty Bogen 3001 Pro tripod. I might not have a bunch of pricy lenses, but I still take some good photos with it. Only 9762 shutter activations on it too!

If I am not mistaken the 50/50 bulbs are for saltwater only.

[dev]

If I am not mistaken the 50/50 bulbs are for saltwater only.

You are right, they are made for saltwater.

However, and though I would not reccomend them alone, high kelvin lights can work very well in combination with plant lights, warm white lights or daylight tubes in freshwater tanks. These tubes usually have a blueish color profile which help the light reach the lower plants in a tank, usually placed in the front.

Combining high kelvin with warm tubes can create an amazing depth and contrast in a tank, depending also on the choice of background and substrate.

I use Gieseman Aquablue+ (also a saltwater tube) in my 50 gal.

Tank looks very nice. If you would resize your pictures to message board size 620x480 they would show up just as well without knocking the margins off, tho.

But this board does not have fixed margins, does it? (They are not fixed in Firefox/Windows)

[Bill Brasky]

If I am not mistaken the 50/50 bulbs are for saltwater only.

Current makes a 50/50 10k/6.7k bulb... O.o Sorry for the confusion, this is what i meant.

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