KevinVA's 75gal Journey in Planted Tanks

[JudiJetson]

Just a side note, unrelated to fish... my wife and I are having a baby on Friday (it's a scheduled induction). We're going to the doctor tomorrow for her last exam and my wife's going to the hospital for preparation. Please wish us luck! If I'm absent for a while, you know why. =]

Kevin, that's wonderful!!! I wish you and your wife the absolute best, boy are you gonna be a busy man :D

[KevinVA]

Oh, btw... I'm trimming a lot of my Water Sprite and tossing a bunch of Red-rooted Floaters. If anyone wants any, please let me know. Otherwise, they're getting tossed into the trash. They're algae and snail free... and have been growing absolutely wonderfully.

As you can see, things are getting pretty wild in there:



I tried to get a close-up of the red-rooted floaters, but this is what I came up with:



Here's my canopy. This is a better shot, so you can actually tell there's a difference in colors between the Water Sprite and the Floaters. It's crazy what's going on up there.



Anyway, they're about to get shorter and go missing, so if anyone wants some, throw me a msg or post here. If you can pay for shipping, I'll be happy to donate them.

[KevinVA]

Kevin, that's wonderful!!! I wish you and your wife the absolute best, boy are you gonna be a busy man :D

Thanks Judi, I appreciate that. =] This'll round out our family, since we have an almost 3yr old daughter, too... and a dog. Can't forget Maximus the Magnificent mini Dachshund. ;P

[~firefly~]

Your tank looks like a jungle now!

Good luck with the new arrival! Wonderful news. Get as much sleep as you can now as you'll kiss goodbye to it (so I've heard)!

[KevinVA]

Thanks Firefly!

Oh, you certainly do - at least for the first 2yrs. My daughter is on the verge of turning 3 in July. She was actually a very good baby and slept a lot more than many others we know... so we were really lucky. I doubt I'll strike gold twice, though. ;P

[Taurus]

I sincerely hope all goes smooth for you and your growing family Kevin. And, CONGRATULATIONS!

[gronlaura]

Another aquarist is born.........Congrats to you and your wife on the new arrival!!!

[landscaper]

Congrats on the new baby.


Dave...

[MandyK]

Yay! I hope everything went well for you and your family yesterday!

[KevinVA]

Thank you everyone! Everything went fine and we have now brought a new baby boy into the world. =] His name is Noah and he's very healthy... and he wants to say something:




Meanwhile, my tank... while looking quite pretty seems to be a death trap for tetras and GBRs. =X In fact, after going to the hospital, I had to neglect it for two days... which normally would have been fine. However, when I got home, I found another dead Serpae... then a few days later another dead Serpae, plus a dead GBR, stuck in my Christmas Moss. =X Oddly, the GBR was doing fine just the day before... perfectly healthy looking.

My theory is that since the Serpae's numbers are diminishing, they're becoming much more aggressive and the surviving GBR was the least aggressive of the original two. I think they gave her the beat down... I have also noticed that every other fish in my tank is actually quite aggressive - the Gourami, the SAEs, the Raph cats, the Killies and of course, the Serpaes.

I took parameters today for nearly everything and here are my findings:

Aquarium:
NH3/4 = 0
NO2 = 0
NO3 = 0
PO4 = 0
KH = 2'
GH = 4'
pH = 7.0-7.2

Tap Params:
pH = 6.8-7.0
KH = 2'
GH = 4'

I had thought that my earlier testing for hardness found it to be a bit harder than 2' KH/4' GH, so my water is a quite a bit softer than what I was expecting. This may have something to do with my Serpae deaths, who prefer 5-20'. It's right on the low line for Black Phantoms and perfect for GBRs... so that really doesn't explain their deaths. I'm wondering if both GBRs died as a result of injuries, since I've found that most of the other fish are quite aggressive.

Knowing the above, I'm really going to have to re-think my stocking options.