Sushicat's high tech ada 60p planted!

[sushicat]

After some thought, the previous set up was way over planted and had little to no "open space" (driftwood was way too big also), traded the plants for credit. The coral life fixture was giving off way to much heat and I replaced them with finnex ray 2's. I must say these fixtures are amazing and the PAR values on them are great for the price, recommend them to anyone looking for a LED fixture. The tank has settled in for a little under a week and I've been cranking up the CO2 and been dosing through the EI method.

Current Flora:
Lindernia rotundifolia
Ludwigi repen
Eleocharis acicularis
Random Swords

Hoping to get some Blyxa japonica but my plant guy just got them in and is holding them in his nursery for a while. Lily Pipes are still MIA :(
Anyways here is a picture for reference sake, thanks for readying everyone.

IMAG0320.jpg

[talldutchie]

I hope you let this grow in a bit more. This looks like a total newbie's attempt at a planted tank.

Every time I look at pictures like this I always wonder at eheim.... come on guys, you can do clear plastic!!

[sushicat]

They really should do clear plastic pipes. I've had planted tanks before but nothing to the extent of having to use pressurized CO2. Exam period definetly got to me as I rushed a little bit in doing things (something I tend to do when under stress). Probably going to wait a while for things to settle in.

[talldutchie]

Well, that's the nice thing about these. Just let it tick over for three weeks and it will still be there.

[~firefly~]

I'd also like clear pipes for my Eheim. The green ones are such an eye sore aren't they?

Great looking tank by the way!

[sushicat]

Well its been a while so its time for an update. The tank finished cycling about a week ago. Stuff was moved over which was originally in a quarantine then into my 55g. The lily pipes came and gone, broke incredibly easy. I guess you get what you pay for, not going to be buying cheap from ebay again (got a pretty nasty cut from broken glass, was not fun). The DHG all but died off and there was a sale on cuba with my plant guy, it's only been several days since they were planted and I already notice new growth popping up.

Current Flora: Hemianthus callitrichoides, Blyxa Japonica, Dwarf Sag
Current Fauna: 12 Cardinal Tetras, 2 German Blue Rams, 5 Red Cherry Shrimp
Equipment: Eheim 2213, Finnex Ray 2 7000k, ADA aquasoil

Picture shortly after planting blyxa, it went through a some what crazy melting phase before getting to what it is today:
IMAG0323.jpg

Current FTS:
IMAG0340.jpg

German Blue Rams, can't wait for the colors to fully develop:
IMAG0335.jpg

Red Cherry Shrimp, I really love these guys so interesting to watch (his name is monty):
IMAG0342.jpg

Hopefully I can get the Cannon DSLR camera from my brother who recently moved out to get some better pictures. I also have a surprise coming in the next 2-3 weeks something of the large and square variety.
Thanks for reading, Sushicat

[madagascariensis]

looks awesome. sure is amazing the rams and the shrimp get along!

on the topic of eheim filter tubes, they might be green for a reason. along with being Eheims signature color,
the green might blend in better against plants and also disguise all the muck and slime building up inside the tubes.
if you've ever cleaned out any tube in an established aquarium filter, you probably could understand why it won't be good to have that
stuff in plain view...

[~firefly~]

Not sure that's a red cherry shrimp - looks more like a low grade crystal red shrimp to me. I'd be surprised if it doesn't get picked on by your rams once they mature.

[mojosodope]

Nice looking tank, +1 to what firefly said, any dwarf cichlid would annihilate your shrimp population unless there are a lot of hiding spaces for them, which there isn't as far as I can see.

[talldutchie]

That's what kept me from getting rams or apistos. The shrimp does indeed seem to be a crystal red. Not necessarily low grade either. Doesn't matter that much, care is largely the same.

The tank is developing nicely!