jinsei888

As I'm sure it will be apparent from these photos, I am new to the planted tank hobby and have found a wealth of information from the APC forums--thanks in advance!

Getting Started
40 gallon - July 20th, 2009












Fish
- Bloodfin Tetra (2)
- Neon Tetra (9)
- Spotted Cory (2)
- Otocinclus (2)

Invertebrates
- Red Cherry Shrimp
- Amano Shrimp
- Pond Snails (ugh...)

Plants
- I'm still too new to know how to identify them...

Fertilizers
- Seachem Flourish, Excel, Iron, Trace, Potassium (Seachem Dosage Chart)

Lighting
- Hagen 36" GLO Dual-T5 Lighting System (ON: 8 hours)
- Giesenmann Aquaflora
- Giesenmann Midday

Filter
- Fluval 303


I'm currently dosing with Seachem liquid fertilizers and going by the Seachem dosage guide, until I find something better. I am still learning and considering the option of going compressed CO2...which I'm sure will become inevitable.

Thanks for looking!

Dan S

Very nice start, it will look great when it fills in! A 40 gal. is perfect to start with, it's the the perfect size to try different things and to experiment with! It is exactly how I started and it is still my favorite tank!!! The best piece of advice I can give though with that size of tank, is be due diligent with your weekly water changes and everything will almost go so perfect for as long you have it! I'm looking forward to the updates!!!

monkeyruler90

i love 40 g tanks. im definitely loving this scape! open space looks great cant wait till that carpet fills in.

jinsei888

My RCS had babies!!! Woo hoo!!!

RCS Baby - 07.25.2009


Clown Killie - Male

Wire Fox Terror

Your clown killie is stunning! Does it eat your shrimp??

jinsei888

Nope! The clown killie is pretty small, about an inch in size and it keeps in the tank's upper zone, where the shrimp are never at. Either way, my amanos and cherrys are well sized to not ever be a problem. The shrimp fry have been doing well to hid in all the java moss, so all is well--then again, like naturaly selection, I'm sure there have been some kills from the tetras.

jinsei888

August 13th, 2009

Updates:

- Purchased and installed a new Eheim 2217 today. (Still deciding on which ADA Lily Pipes to run on this setup )

- Discovered the Redfin Tetras are jumpers...so I've only got one left.

- Had a fight with GW for the past month, but have defeated it with patience and weekly water changes.


Pictures:

Front


HC Growing...slowly


For fun, right angle


...and the left angle



Next Steps:

- Figure out which ADA glass pipes will work best with my tank (P-2, P-4, P-6???)

- Hydor ETH200 Inline Heater

- Start shopping for pressurized CO2...oh gawd...


And again, thanks for all the help everyone!

Tex Gal

Looking so nice. I do think your Neons could and will, if an opportunity presents itself - eat your baby shrimp.

jinsei888

I've actually witnessed it happen multiple times already.

There's a strange sort of balance between the fish and shrimp in the tank. It's like the "smarter" baby shrimp that stayed within the moss have successfully grown to juvenile (read, uneatable) size now. I told myself to attribute it to survival-of-the-fittest logic, haha.

dewalltheway

Very nice job with your layout! Once that carpet fills in it will look even better. Your sloping of the substrate is very nice and the plants compliment each other well.