BenBOMB

This is my first NPT. I did it because I got this tank cheap and I knew that NPT don't take much equipment and would not cost me much, and so far the only cost it gave me is the fish i'm going to be adding in there. The lighting, gravel, heater, powerhead, dirt, plants, decor, shrimp, fish (that's in there now) where all already on hand. Lets go through what I have going on. I named this tank "Foreign Stream" because when I just sit there and watch the tank it reminds me of a shallow stream and most of my plants and fish are foreign to the states.

Equipment:

• Aquarium Systems Maxi-Jet 400 Power Head 106 G.P.H.
• Aquarium Systems Visi-Therm 50 Watt Heater
• Coralife F/W T-5 Aqualight Double Strip Light-30" (36W)

Plants:

• Hygrophila polysperma 'Rosanervig' "Sunset Hygro"
• Limnobium laevigatum "Amazon Frogbit"
• Ceratopteris thalictroides "Water Sprite"
• Microsorum pteropus "Java Fern"
• Pogostemon helferi "Downoi"
• Lilaeopsis brasiliensis "Microsword"
• Vallisneria americana v. 'Biwaensis' "Corkscrew Val"
• Cryptocoryne wendtii "C. Wendtii"
• Bacopa Caroliniana "Bacopa"

Inhabitants:

• Platydoras costatus "Striped Raphael Catfish"
• Neocaridina heteropoda 'var. Red' "Red Cherry Shrimp"
• Corydoras pygmaeus "Pygmy Cory" (soon)
• Variety of Snails

Decor:

• Natural Driftwood From Local River
• Large Rock
• Estes Shallow Creek Regular Gravel
• Dirt From Outside

Step by Step Setup of "Shallow Foreign Stream":

First I found a south window to place the aquarium in front of.


Next I cleaned the tank and set it in front of the window.


Then I added the dirt and filled it with water just above the dirt line. More like mud now, ha ha.


After that I added the gravel around the edges.


Next I planted the plants and added gravel around them, then I put down my decor and filled in the rest of the gravel.




When I was finished with the gravel I started to fill it up, after half way it wasn't that cloudy so I continued till it was full. I used a small dish so I wouldn't disturb the substrate.



Here is a full tank shot the day after filling it up.


On the day I took the last full tank shot I added my Striped Rafael Catfish and 10 or so Red Cherry Shrimp. I didn't count the shrimp I just took a net swoop through my RCS breeder tank. I'm hoping to add plants over time but letting it do it's thing for now. I ordered 10 Pygmy Corys i'm going to add them in this tank, they should be here next Wensday. I'm still debating what I should have for my showcase fish. At first I was thinking a pair of Apistos would be great but I don't want fish that will eat the adult shrimp, just keep the shrimp population contained. I'll have to search the web and see what I find.

I'll try to keep this as updated as possible. Always open to any suggestions because i'm going through a learning process, I accept all criticism as well .

Regards,
Ben

cs_gardener

I'd add a lot more plants (so there's about one stem or plant every inch) to try to avoid too many algae problems. Since you're only using a powerhead and not a filter and you don't have many plants, it would probably be best to hold off on adding more fish.

I like the wood you're using and it looks like a nice setup. I'm worried you'll have a crash with such a new tank and very few plants to provide filtering.

BenBOMB

Yeah I know I don't have many plants, I tried to just use plants I had on hand and trimmings and such because I don't have the money right now to spend on plants. I will have some money though this weekend so i'll probably throw that in my bank and get myself some plants.

Yeah i'm also worried about the algae out break i'm going to have, but hopefully it will hold on until I get more plants. I'll also hope to get some ottos as well after I get my plants. Also i'm not super worried about the bio load and stuff because all I have is some shrimp and a 1 3/4" raphael cat.

Tanan

Well
I dont usually start an aquarium till I ve got everything to finish it in first place.Too little plants in a NPT is really asking for trouble man,put some extremely fast growing plants like wisteria,anachris,hornwort etc to compete with algae and they are quite cheap,u can even get some free if u just ask around.
And lovely wood peice,I just wish I had something like that when I started my NPT(jst one week ago !).

BenBOMB

Well I honestly didn't think that algae would grow in the first couple weeks anyways and i'm getting more plants next week. Once the tank is established algae can begin to grow but I just recently planted it. I know that fast growing plants are added to fight algae, that's why I have amazon frogbit for now but there is no sign of algae so far anyways.

Jesse2504

Just a though, is that desk you have it sitting on able to take the weight? It looks kind of fragile.

BenBOMB

That desk could probably hold a 125G. Not worried about that.

dwalstad

You need to get plants growing as soon as possible in any new tank setup. Plants and algae compete. If total plant growth is poor, algae will become a problem.

BenBOMB

Alright, yeah i'm ordering 6 or so more plants with a good amount of stems each. So hopefully that will help with the whole algae problem. If not i'm sure I can try to rescape some of my other tanks to receive more plants for this one.

BenBOMB

I'm getting 5 new plants to add to the tank, one of which I already have just more stems of it.

Bacopa caroliniana "Giant Bacopa"
Hemianthus micranthemoides "Pearlweed"
Myriophyllum heterophyllum "Red Foxtail"
Sagittaria subulata "Dwarf Sag"
Rotala Sp. 'Green' "Rotala Green"



I'm also getting some new fish for this tank, some pygmy corys. I'll be receiving 10 of them for this tank.


I'm also hoping to ordering some Central Mudminnows Umbra limi. They are cool little fish that look natural and I think would fit will in the aquarium.


I'll post new pictures once I receive the new plants and fish.