My 50 Gallon South of the Border Community

[bignellm]

Well, as everyone who's read my 50 Gallon Acrylic Tank Project knows, I've recently set up the huge tank upgrade.

Tanks seeded with 4 week old Fluval Ceramic Rings, filled, and being treated with Stability to top it all off. Recently populated the tank with Flora and Fauna.

Front:
Thread on driftwood is where I am trying to propagate Flame Moss to.
http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/cc412/bignellm/Front.jpg

Left:
http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/cc412/bignellm/LeftSide.jpg

Right:
Note my Molly's little gravel mess. Hehe, gotta sweep the small granules off the rock frequently after they eat.
http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/cc412/bignellm/RightSide.jpg
If anyone noted the bubble wall, it's an LED wall, that heralds in Carnival each morning and night set by a timer.

[bignellm]

CARNIVAL!!!
http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/cc412/bignellm/0326120648.jpg
Just missing the music, lol.

Ok, ok; on to more serious matters. Bottom line, get the remaining stock into the tank. Before I can, two things have to happen.
1: Algae starts forming (food for desirable snails and Oto Cats)
2: Tank must fully age and stabilize (so Rams can move in)

After that, will be editing the livestock currently in the tank, to better form schools and to limit my exposure to Live Bearer overload. Most likely will only keep the wild looking forms of the Swords and Platy. Which are not that many. :14:

[bignellm]

Last night, found I might of starved off a little of my bio-filter in the initial setup. Should of used more used tank water I suppose.

Last night had a 0.5 Ammonia spike. Could of happened b/c of starve off of bb or maybe I added more fish than it was ready for.

Hit it with more Stability and an Ammonia Detoxifier.
Tonight, the Reading is 0.25. So, in very least is on it's way in the right direction.

*crossing fingers* that I can add the Rams in a week or two.

Then I'll work on changing populations of the Diamond Tetra, Platy, Molly, Swords, and Corys. (+/-) some here and there.

[Old Marine]

Tank Is really looking Goodthumbs2:

[bignellm]

Not what I was hoping to deal with, but spike got a bit higher than 0.25 today, so did a 45% change. Will test again tonight and see all parameters and plan on dosing even more stability for the upcoming week.

Maybe I got a dead bottle? Oh well, least all the sensitive stock is safe in the holding pens.

Hopefully the tank chemistry falls into line soon. thumbs2:

[matsungit]

Your tank is cycling normally. The 45% water change will probably just prolong cycling. What kind of detoxifier do you have? See if you can bump up the dosage safely. Seachem Prime can be used up to 5x normal dosage. Stability is actually a good product. It has bacteria that reduces nitrates especially if you have media that host them, i.e. Denitrate or Matrix. The reason ammonia or nitrite is high in your system is that the bacteria strains that consume them have not fully settled in your tank. Large water changes too soon will just start them over again.

[bignellm]

You might be right, but seems I am resigned to a fish cycle from my last readings. Meaning my seeded media starved or never took.

Unfortunately I got a wake up last night on my chemistry, when I spotted my red and blue male guppy; fin fried. <= That should not have been allowed to have occurred. I am so ashamed of myself. Netted the poor guy and his cousin with way more delicate fins (not fried), and put them into a very old established tank. The fried one seems ok. Maybe will recover.

All other fish look like they're tough enough for this kind of torturous abuse.
:imsorry:

Can't believe I'm reliving my newb experience on this large of a scale. Thought I was ahead of the curve here, but got got kicked squarely in the :nutkick: on this one. I've done two 50% changes today, and will be doing a third in a few minutes, with water chemistry at 4.0ppm Ammonia, 0ppm Nitrite, 0ppm Nitrate (didn't test nitrate--assumed, didn't see a point, when Nitrite is 0). Did the Ammonia Test 2x today, so well confirmed.

I only console myself that the remaining fish don't have one or both of two conditions: Blood Red gill inflammation and/or a overall darker methemoglobin accumulating coloration. Very small, but grateful results. And I so deserve to pay the extra in products, to make this right. :darkcloud:

Added Content:
On a side note, I would normally be celebrating this: Algae is formed well enough to include Otos and Snails, if the Chemistry was right.

[bignellm]

Ok, today's chemistry is 1.0ppm Ammonia again, with 3 50% changes. Decided to use a Mulm bomb from my established tanks to try and seed it again. Fed it directly into the filter, via intake tube primer cap. Everything's up and running again. Fish seem ok still. No one listing, gulping, or blood red in the gills.

This setback sucks, but we'll deal with it.

[bignellm]

Been about 10-12 hours, so checked the tank's status. Color for Ammonia is between two hues of green (between 1.0 and 2.0ppm) So, calling this 1.5ppm.
Nitrates are dead set at 0ppm.

Hoping the Mulm deposit into the filter helps move this along to maturity. Tank birth/adolescence is no good place to be.

[bignellm]

After this cycle started up, I began wondering, on like the 30th bucket of water; why I never bought a python? So, after refilling the tank, for the 3rd time that day; I went online to Petsolutions and ordered the Aqueon Water Changer. Though, I was a bit too stubborn to pay the extra overnight shipping and now am paying the price again, in sore muscles, lol. Going to be another 4-6 days, till it arrives to save me.

Probably another 3-5 water changes, before it gets here. :18: :1luvu: Hope it arrives soon.

[bignellm]

Small surprise in today's tests, Ammonia holding at 2 and Nitrites arrived to the party. Just short of 0.25. Hoping this is a sign cycle is going to move on faster than expected.

[bignellm]

Hmm... too early to sound the alarm here. Had 0 Nitrites yesterday, so did a 75% water change to knock the Ammonia down to near 0. Got 1 ppm out of it. Will be testing it again today. All fish seem ok, no abnormal behavior.

Side note, got a pair of BN Plecos to help eat up the extra algae; got something more as well. Something undesirable that I couldn't see, until was in my tank up against the glass. Horrified to see my nemesis has snuck back into my tank. Yes, the BN's had hidden Ich, that blended right in, with their two tone leopard spots.

Just when I was out of the woods, I get dropped off a cliff and sent right back in. Yesterday saw my new tank's first dose of QuIck Cure and higher temps.

[bignellm]

Good news, got my Aqueon Water Changer in yesterday and pounded out a 60% water change in less than 40 mins! Cut my time down from 4-5 hours!!! YES!!!

This is great, now that I have two reasons to do many water changes. The cycle and Ich plague (the idiotic lfs gave me). <<<< yes should of quarantined, and would have if thought my most trusted lfs were a bunch of fly-by-night amateurs. They're off my shop list for anything besides fish food.

[bignellm]

Two new adds to tank, 5 oto's and 2 very healthy BN Plecos. Needed these fellas to help keep my plants clean, so they can starve off some of the Algae.

For a treat, added zucchini and took everyone 12 hours to decide it's food, LOL. Today's chemistry? Ammonia 0.5ppm, 0 Nitrite, and ugh... 0 Nitrate. So, all is confirmed, we are at the starting gate still. Np, got this under control. Most of the plants are growing like weeds and even the Flame Moss is starting to grow. Sweet, cannot wait till the flame takes over some of the drift wood.

[bignellm]

25440
2544125442Thank you geowashlaw for the Purple Cambomba and Thank you Lady Hobbs for the Needle Leaf Ludwigia. They both look awesome. They look soo good in this tank. Never could of done it without either of these plants. :22:
25443Flame moss is back to life, and hopefully will thrive like crazy.:hmm3grin2orange:

[bignellm]

The above growth has prompted me to rescape this tank, slightly. A tinker here and there.

Front:
25444

Plant, that I forgot the name of:
25445

Flame Moss Propagation:
25446

BTW, can someone tell me what the above plant is, that I forgot the name of. Been looking and looking, without success.

[bignellm]

Today's readings are: Ammonia 1.5ppm, Nitrite 0ppm, Nitrate 0ppm. Change from yesterday is a slowing of Ammonia buildup. It only increased .5ppm, however no change in Nitrite--even when gathering samples from bottom of tank.

Performed another water change today with my Aqueon Water Changer and tossed in 5 tablets of Start Zyme. Hoping this is the week, we go into stage 2. :fingerscrossed:

[Old Marine]

Looks nice!

[bignellm]

Thanks, soo cannot wait till the flame looks like:

http://www.aquamoss.net/Flame-Moss/images/Flame-Moss-03.jpg

Its soo gonna set my tank off.

[dlee]

Plants look awesome!

A word of caution about the Aqueon Water Changer.....make SURE your hose is connected tightly! I learned the hard way! While changing water today the end of the hose that connects to the faucet end popped off while I was filling the tank back up. I had stopped the flow with the switch on the tank end for a second to re-arrange a plant, and the pressure build up of water in the hose was too much and the end at the faucet came off! The water proceeded to shoot out the little spout at the faucet, straight across the room, like a mini fire hose and caused a bit of a flood in the kitchen. What a mess. This is actually the second time this has happened to me :screaming:

other than that they are fabulous!!!!

[bignellm]

Plants look awesome!

A word of caution about the Aqueon Water Changer.....make SURE your hose is connected tightly!.... The water proceeded to shoot out the little spout at the faucet, straight across the room, like a mini fire hose and caused a bit of a flood in the kitchen. What a mess. ....

I kinda thought it wasn't robust enough to hold the water back, if I shut the valves. Only did it twice, though not for long.

[Cermet]

Your ammonia levels hitting 2.0 ppm is extremely high - a near 100% water change was in order and I am confused why no one said that. Small water changes (under 50%) are of little value for high readings. ALWAYS use 50% or greater and 75% is best. Yes, the bio-media will slowly grow when WC are done, but fish should not see ammonia levels above 0.25 (even with a aid.) Hope all is going well and good luck. Hang in there and the filter will cycle.:hmm3grin2orange:

[bignellm]

My theory on why no one was calling for large w/c's is one of the type of stock I have in there.

Aside from that, not one of the fish has shown any sign of distress or sickness in this tank. Also, the rate of ammonia toxicity increase has slowed dramatically in the last couple weeks. 2ppm is when i do change it, while sucking the water out from the bottom of the tank. Tests afterwards show 0.5ppm and it increases 0.5 at most each day. I fully expect this to subside completely in the coming week, and move into the Nitrite portion of this cycle.

Weird note, even though this is slowing on the Ammonia, I've not seen any Nitrite on any tests, outside of one 0.25ppm about 2 weeks ago (won't reg. this now). (Seeded the media to begin with 9 weeks ago, might of starved it all off) This cycle hasn't been going exactly as expected, but seems to have progressed.

Anyway, the supplements I've used on this tank include: Tetra Start Zyme, API Instant Start, Stability, and Mulm--from est. tanks.

[bignellm]

Today's chemistry results:
Ammonia--0.50ppm
Nitrite--0ppm
Nitrate--0ppm

So, Ammonia is holding steady, for 2 days now. Got me scratching my head now. I should be seeing Nitrite by now. Especially if Ammonia isn't moving up.

[Cermet]

The lack of nitrites (these will be seen first and often disappears fast) may or may not be an issue (since they can appear/disappear quickly) but then nitrates must show up. Still, lack of the nitrxtes family means the bacteria just isn't growing large enough in the filter media to process the ammonia enough for readings. For most people, cycling takes six weeks but nitrites show within three weeks (some cases.) If possible, raise the temp to 82 F (but the fish will need more air and of course, acidic water to help passivate the ammonia.) By the way, if the ammonia growth rate is slower, the bacteria may be growing enough to start controling it - yet, not enough nitrites to read (yet.) Things seem to be going well but time is what is needed and you can't rush the growth except temp. Good luck. :hmm3grin2orange:

[bignellm]

Temp is currently 85, on account of being stung by my most trusted lfs. Got a pair of really sick Ich infested BN Pleco. So far that treatment seems perfecto. No signs of anyone else with that parasite.

I'm just thinking this tank wants to defy all that I know. Ammonia's leveling/leveled off, so maybe it's all come to the end, without much fanfare. Which would be good, as my Rams would love to move in soon.

[Cermet]

When the nitrates appear and ammonia is zero then you will be done BUT only for that 'bioload' of fish. When you add more fish - the filter will spike: an ammonia signal will be seen depending on the number of fish. The filter will have to have time to grow to remove the increased fish waste. Then after its grows (I think this occurs much more quickly than the first cycle because you already have bacteria to convert nitrites. :hmm3grin2orange:

[bignellm]

For progress, it's a good day; for fish toxicity, it sucks. But here we are, Cycle stage 2. Nitrite is solidly here, with 0.25ppm on the reading scale. That means we're one step closer to the final goal--aging the tank and adding the Blue Ram pair.

Going to throw in another Tetra Start Zyme, before heading off to work.

[bignellm]

Well, today is well; how is this even possible?
Ammonia 1ppm
Nitrite 0.25ppm
Nitrate 5ppm

The first two held steady, and now we have the final. Which means this tank is cycled. Just to test my test, I took a sample to the lfs to be double tested. Yep; 5ppm Nitrate. And a couple weeks ago it was a solid 0. Been fighting weeks and weeks with Ammonia and two days ago Nitrite shows up, now we have 5ppm Nitrate.

And to boot, the Sterbai have given the tank, a 5 egg seal of approval on the glass. The first visible batch. Going to let the tank be tonight and give it a 30-50% w/c and test again in a day or two. Seems by this weekend, we could have a tank ready to house Marcus and Maria, my two Blue Rams. thumbs2:

[Cermet]

A tank is not cycled until both the ammonia and nitrite are zero. Nitrite holding steady just means that the bacteria has a lot more growth needed and your ammonia level is still rather high! That means the bacteria is trying to catch up but hasn't. A 70%+ water change is in order (that will get the ammonia down to 0.3 ppm which is more than high enough for cycling.) Things are moving along and hopefully, no spikes will occur.
Do NOT add more fish until the tank cycles (zero on ammonia and nitrite) and then add fish slowly if you want to avoid a killer spike (note: I just do massive 80% water changes for a few days to a week to keep the spike down - which I am currently doing after introducing a large group of new fish into my mature multi-filtered tank.)
You should read the section on fish cycling because you are not clear on what is going on. You may be cycled by the weekend but becareful - the tank isn't cycled yet. Good luck!

[bignellm]

By cycled, I was implying that all parts of the BB cycle exist. As we have traces of all the parts of the cycle, Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate. So, it's being processed.

No fish have perished and no ones showing signs of distress. Been there on reading Lady Hobbs Fish and Fishless cycle.

Here's what I've been doing:

Mulm bombs, included with each w/c.
1st week--Stabiltiy BB booster
2nd week-this week--Tetra Start Zyme each day.

Been keeping the w/c's going during this cycle when Ammonia goes near 2ppm, Nitrite near 0.50, or when fish show stress (Fish have shown no stress).

I'll admit the first week threw me for a loop, as I thought the 4 weeks of floating bags of Fluval Bio-Max ceramic rings had infact colonized them. Well, if it had, the BB must of starved; while waiting for their food to build up, as I soon had a spike that wasn't measurable. I messed up there, b/c the test I was using up (yes I do have liquid) was near it's exp date. Verified with Liquid and did 3 50% w/c's. Been doing liquid test each and every day since. Sometimes 2x a day.

Today's readings before change:
Ammonia 1ppm
Nitrite 0.5pmm
Nitrate 5ppm (little darker than, but not close enough to the next reading)

After Change:
Ammonia 0.5ppm
Nitrite 0ppm (didn't register on test, but was likely 0.25ppm)
Nitrate 0ppm (didn't register on test, but was likely 2.5ppm)

The last two are assumed after seeing no reading, on account of 40-50% w/c.

[Cermet]

Your cycle is going very well. The zero nitrite after a reading is great news. Appears all is going well but my point about the system re-cycling as you add fish is critical - do keep checking the ammoina and nitrite values after the cycling is complete and you add new fish. Again - looks all is going well and good luck.

[bignellm]

Everyone looked normal in the tank tonight, but still; going to test again in the morning and again in afternoon. If all is well, there will be little to no readings on Ammonia and Nitrite. If things aren't well, we'll be dealing with it. thumbs2: Aqueon Water Changer has certainly makes that easier.

[bignellm]

Well, this morn. checked my chemistry again. For the fun of it, got some practice at Ph.

Ph 7.4
Ammonia 0.25
Nitrite 0.5 or 1 (colors blended together today)
Nitrate 5ppm

Flame moss has yet more pearls of new growth, am psyched about that. Also last weeks clippings have doubled in size (the back drop plants). My only worry plant wise is the green bushy algae attached to some of the larger leaves of some plants.

Am going in to remove the leaves asap.

[Cermet]

Looks good. When the nitrites fall and stay zero - you are cycled. Big water change and carefully and slowly, add fish. :22:

Or add them all at once and keep doing water changes to keep the ammonia levels close to zero (method I use most often - works nice as far as getting the cycled filter up to speed.) :hmm3grin2orange:

[bignellm]

Well, added a DIY Co2 Reactor a few days ago. Since doing so, seen some real activity in some of my plants. Can't wait to see them full grown :hmm3grin2orange:

Other than that, think I was getting a false positive on my Nitrate readings a week or two back. I seemed to have forgotten that my city water has a 5ppm base reading for Nitrate. Oh well, got the green go ahead on Nitrates this morning though. The current read is:
Ammonia: Negligible
Nitrite: Between 1 and 2ppm for the next 5 mins. 50% coming out right now.
Nitrate: 10ppm
Ph: A rock solid 7.8 each and every time.

So, not long for it now, going to have Marcus and Maria added to this tank in near future for sure. thumbs2:

[bignellm]

Ok all done, now to see if the middle child of the Nitrate cycle still wants to act up. :hmm3grin2orange:

Tank's suffering from is typical version of Bubble disease after the w/c. re-attached my Co2 line with suction cups and accidentally broke the cheap air bubble stone diffuser. Oh well, glad I bought a two pack :hmm3grin2orange:

Shook up my reactor and got unexpected results :14:

It gushed the Co2 out like mad, throwing some juice out... opps :11: Glad I was siphoning at the time. Took the stone out to let the line purge the juice as well. Reactor's back building it's payload again. Oh well. N/p... will add a second bottle to the system next week, along with over flow chamber and shut off valves for maintenance.I'll also look into a better diffuser and see if I need to change out my lines. They are the common clear version of air lines. Not sure if it's up to the task long term, but can easily replace if it isn't.

[bignellm]

Well, it's been a couple of days, seems no disaster from Co2 juice infusion.

This morning's results of testing included:

Ph of 7.8
Ammonia 0.25ppm
Nitrite 0.25ppm

After 50% w/c
Ammonia Zip/zilch
Nitrite Zip zilch

Time to build up to 0.25? Since the last day I posted on this blog. Well, seems the tank is slowly stabilizing and even have some new growth on the Amazon. Going to retrofit the Co2 system this weekend with a second bottle staggered in, along with an eruption catching bottle/bubble counter, and a shut off valve/air line splitter. (PennPlax with levers) Will get new photos up of this system asap. :18:

So far, not hating the Co2.

[Rue]

Glad it's going well! And that you're not hating the CO2. thumbs2:

[bignellm]

Yea, not hating the Co2, though the Yeast system is actually able to alter my Ph. Thought my water was harder than that, lol. Will be customizing my Co2 system with upgrades today. A 2nd canister, Penn Plax air flow pressure splitter, and an overflow/bubble counter chamber.

This morning's readings:
Ph 7.2-ish (color match issues)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0.25ppm definitive
Nitrate 10-15ppm (color match issues) Base 5ppm from tap

Almost makes me giddy at the sight of these readings. Hoping it's because I decided to give Stability one last shot. Didn't seem to help with Ammonia at the beginning in my tank. Maybe a chemistry issue.

Hoping it's speeding up the end time, this time. :hmm3grin2orange:
I've decided to seriously up the dosing on this attempt. Says one cap for 50, so doing 1/3rd the bottle instead, since a cap full had noticeably 0 effect my first time using it. thumbs2: <<<=== Soo far, no fish issues. Though on a tradgic side not, Lucky and Blue, my two Apple Snails passed away this week. It's unrelated to the tank, as they died at the same size as my first apple snail, Mr. Personality. I'm thinking they maxed out and died on account of natural causes. :sunshine: Farewell my poor snail friends. Your algae eating machines and odd ball antics will be missed.

Will be out and about purchasing two new snails to keep my last Apple "Pearl" company. Hoping for a Red one this time.

[Cermet]

Off the shelf additives never speed up the cycle - this has been proven. Very special refrigerated ones (with the correct bacteria - very rare) can work but finding one that is for ral, good luck.

Your cycle is going great and you are getting there - great work! :22:

[bignellm]

Well, we know a cap full as per instructions didn't do squat from what I can tell. I think 1/3 the bottle actually did. Yesterday before I hit it with the first third of the bottle the ppm of Nitrite was higher at almost 2. This morning it was 0.25ppm definitively by color. So, who knows, maybe with enough over dosing, this one does work? Not holding my breath, but maybe it does?

Hobbs and others have some measure of confidence in it for sure.

[bignellm]

Looks like we're finally just about done. Maybe the Stability actually did the job, by quickening the cycle at the end for the tank. A couple days ago, the Nitrite was nearer to 1-2ppm and today, looks to be 0.25ppm. A good test for sure.

25609

[bignellm]

25617

As ^^^^ test indicates, today is indeed a good day. We've done no w/c's for last 4 days, and today there is finally, finally no trace of Ammonia or Nitrite in the system.

Seems Marcus and Maria's new 50 gallon paradise is now in fact finally a paradise. I'm just hoping the T5's don't freak them out, when I move them over later. Though, there's tons of veggie hiding places for my little Rams. :cloud9:

So happy, this is finally going to be over. Just wish I didn't screw up the seeding of the ceramic media when I started. Another lesson learned, and learned the best way--the hard way. thumbs2: :cheers:

[Cermet]

Congrats! Great job thumbs2:

[bignellm]

Today's full reads:
Ammonia 0ppm :)
Nitrite 0ppm :D
Nitrate 40ppm :O
Ph 7.6

Time Elapsed since exactly 1 month to the day. <<<== Checked via first post. It's only been 1 month??? It's seemed like 2 or maybe 3, lol. Rechecked the Nitrite 3 times to be sure. 0 each and every time. So, sending my Rams into their new home today. Will get pics up later of their behavior.

Before that, I'm taking a small sample to test for my lfs, which wanted one to verify when it happens. (Don't ask...probably them skeptical still over what I told them about them selling me some very sick BN plecos 2 weeks back)

Then, a partial w/c to bring down the Nitrate and then my Rams get their new home.

[bignellm]

The very first pictures of Marcus and Maria in their new 50 gallon paradise. I never thought I'd see this happen. But here it is. They're home. thumbs2:

2562325624

Almost netted them both out at once, but Marcus freaked at the top and slipped out. Got them into a large container, drip assimilated, and sunk the bowl into the tank, tipped sideways and let them leave of their own accord. They are now swimming about looking for their own territory to claim. They sure look like they're teamed up at the moment :hmm3grin2orange: like there are too many enemies to got at it alone. :hmm3grin2orange:

Only issues, Rams are a bit nervous to new home, colors are their typical defensive posture ones. Hoping changes soon, when they get more comfy.

Absolutely a great day!!!

[bignellm]

So, yesterday I noticed my outflow dropped significantly; so I went ahead and cleaned my filter. Took out the bottom mechanical filter pads and rinsed them out immensely in treated water. Then took out the polishing pad and did the same. Went ahead afterwards and cleaned up the impeller assembly and intake/outflow chambers in the motor assembly. Got it spiffy and reassembled. Filled the canister with treated water (didn't wanna take a big chunk out of the tank level) and hooked up.

Well, apparently either the drop in flow hampered the bio-filter a tad, or I wiped some of it from the filter pads. In either case, the flows back up to max and we're now monitoring chemistry. Took a day, but Nitrite got to 0.25ppm and has since dropped to about half (judging by color and chart). Just a slight, very slight setback. But everything will live.

The Rams have decided to claim the bottom front right corner of the tank as their territory. Marcus is a bit more mellow towards Maria in the breeding off season. I think Maria is almost ready to try again, as her coloring is good and she is staying near Marcus. Marcus has decided to rip up some of the substrate and create a crater in their territory, right next to the slab of stone on that side.

[bignellm]

Cycled all set once again. No fish demises and Nitrite only spiked to 0.25 tops. Slowly declined over course of few days and now we're all set again. To be done later tomorrow, a nice trimming of all my plants and maybe a series of pictures to be taken. thumbs2:

So far, no new Ram mating activity. Still holding out hope.

[bignellm]

Well, it's been a while since I last update this. Cycle's done, performed my first filter maint on Rena Xp3, and did a slight trimming of the plants.

The Amazon's jumped up at least 3", since adding Co2. Co2 system's been pumping reliably for a couple weeks now. Absolutely pleased with what I've been seeing.

And lastly, added some Dwarf Flag Cichlids (Curviceps). I will be getting a new picture up here tomorrow. Tank's been looking good. thumbs2:

[bignellm]

In current production: Mark's South of the Border Aquatic Community
Staring:
Marcus and Maria
The Tetra Squad
Mr Rocky Mountain High
The Platy Family
The Black Terror
Pearl
Leopard
The Dwarf Flags
Guest Staring:
The Otto Clan
The Nerite Group
And The Apple Bunch

Coming to a Blog Theater near you, in about 1 hour. :hmm3grin2orange:

[bignellm]

And for those loyally following this blog, the long awaited melodrama, is produced and available at the following link.
http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aquariumforum/showthread.php?p=1023504#post1023504

[bignellm]

Well, today; I went a bit nuts. Started ripping up the plants and began a major re-scape on the tank. Looks very thinned out, but good. I axed the Flame Moss and Hygro; in the process.

Will post a pic later, but will have to be careful; as I want to enter this rescaped look in the competition later. thumbs2:

[bignellm]

The new re-scape!!!

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/data/1163/medium/0605120803.jpg

[Stlouisfish]

Wow - what a pretty tank - nice job!

[bignellm]

Thanks. Plants were super thick, so I eliminated a couple plant specie from the population. It really opened up the swimming room. thumbs2:

Also made the wife happy, said it doesn't look like a Jungle anymore. Maybe this month will be my month on this :22:

[bignellm]

Been a long while since I last updated this blog.

Well, have had a couple of events. 3 days ago, my Apple Snails left a little gift at the top rear of the tank.
A clutch.
26354

And yesterday, was the last day of life for my little female Blue Ram--Maria.
Rest in peace "My Maria"

[bignellm]

yLH58QmNkMs

Good bye Maria.

[Gogi]

Sorry for your loss Big. Maria looked beautifull in that tank. Congrats on all of your success.

[bignellm]

Thanks Gogi.

[Cliff]

Sorry to hear about your fish

[bignellm]

Thanks Cliff. Just hope her replacement Isabelle lives a nice long life.

[bignellm]

Well it's been a very long time since I last updated this journal.
Well the tank has been redesigned at least four times and I gained a desire for livestock larger than 1-2 inches.

In accordance with this, I have a small group of Angels and have recently added a medium group of YoYo Loaches.

Unfortunately Loach Team Six is still in diapers...so I don't expect many MTS Fatalities until they grow out a bit...

I promise pictures tomorrow.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

[bignellm]

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160425/6b3330d2a7cc59198471f0d0cf3e6d96.jpg

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160425/1a860bbbe414585988d12f8276692f08.jpg

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160425/947e538a4199352c55a66db760ce94d6.jpg

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

[Slaphppy7]

Why the low water level?

[bignellm]

That's not low[emoji14]It's just over the filter out flow, facilitating optimum gas exchanges with minimal splash.

I just did a WC tonight and I always leave that buffer zone.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

[bignellm]

So the short answer.
Habit ;)

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

[bignellm]

Well tomorrow is next scheduled water change. Got home today and I swear a couple of the new YoYos seem a tad larger...
Hoping these guys got their baby teeth... It's time to thin out the MTS herd.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

[Slaphppy7]

That's not low[emoji14]It's just over the filter out flow, facilitating optimum gas exchanges with minimal splash.

I just did a WC tonight and I always leave that buffer zone.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

What kind of filter is on the tank?

[bignellm]

Rena XP3

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk