[Kubalik]

Hello all !

I am setting up a 22 gal tank for blue german rams . It will be semi-NPT . Semi because i ll be using eco-complete as the topper and there will be not much of sun light. i ll be using canister filter for mostly mechanical filtration plus some bacteria holding media.
Thats how its gonna look ( plus soil, eco-complete, and plants).

The plants will be:
Frazeri (Anubias 'Frazeri')
Sword, Red Melon (Echinodorus Barthii v. "red melon")
Hygrophila balsamica (Hygrophila balsamica)
Ludwigia Peruensis (Ludwigia peruensis)
Dwarf Baby Tears (Hemianthus callitrichoides)(potted)
Subulata, Dwarf (Sagittaria subulata) 10 Plants per order
Telanthera Rosefolia (Alternanthera reineckii)
Wendtii, Red (Cryptocoryne wendtii)
Wendtii, Green (Cryptocoryne wendtii)
Wendtii, Bronze (Cryptocoryne wendtii v. 'Tropica')

They will be getting 40 watts for 12-14 hrs and additional 20 watts for for around 4 hours in the mid day(within those 12-14hrs)

Anyone with similar fish/plants setup please share some expieriance.

Thank you .

P.S. Thank you Shiruk for all ur helpful input on PMs . Hope my rams will be as happy as ur goldfish

 

[Kubalik]

Thank you Yum !
I fell in love with this tank once i saw it . Found out that they have a store in Brooklyn NY , went there and came back with it price wasnt too bad neither 3 bucks per gallon They make them from 5 gallons to 39 gallons.
I am just waiting for the eco complete to come and i ll be setting it up shortly . Soil is being mineralized for about 2 weeks now .Weather has been good so it dries fast . New canister filter c-160 just came in today . This time next week it will be up and running I am gonna wait probobly 2-4 weeks before adding blue rams as i read they need well established water .
I ll keep updating this Thread .
Thanks for stopping by yum

 

[Kubalik]

Yeah I like eco-complete for its look and they come with two different colors black and red . I lan to use both colors hoping that its not gonna mix up and stay that way for years .
By the way looks like i am having a spike in my 55 gal which has regular gravel and cheapest soil i could find . every day i see more algees for like 3 days now . i guess i shouldnt worry about it too much but i reduced feeding , hoping fish will eat some of the algea also .

 

[Kubalik]

HI all
Just an update on my 22 gal , I got soil in ...:

notice that the rock is sittting on the glass.

and got eco-complete in :

now just waiting on the plants

another update tommorow i hope.

 

[Kubalik]

Kubalik- Just wondering about that rock in the left corner. Is it sitting on the glass or on top of the substrate? If it's sitting on top of all the substrate, it could cause anaerobic pockets later on.

That big rock is sitting on the glass - did my homework here...
the small ones tho are on the top of eco-complete but they very small and light so i am hoping it shouldnt be a problem

 

[Kubalik]

Ok plants arrived !!!
They are actually different then stated in the first post . I changed my mind and ordered from another source .
here we can see them

left side close up :

right side :

added background and filter and couple of guppies

Didnt plant anything on the forground yet , partially because i like that red in the front and partially bacuase i dont have enough light yet . Just gonna wait few weeks see whats happening and then maaybe add babytears on the forground ...

 

[Kubalik]

Hey cs_gaardener .
Thx for stopping by . I was actually thinking about it . What you say makes lots of sense . I dont have the tweezers that are that long but i am sure i can find smaller ones somewhere . I ll try later on tonight . Thx for the advice

 

[Kubalik]

Ok i replanted the stem plants into small groups 1-3 each :

and side view:

 

[Kubalik]

Hello hello
Finally a day off from work after working 12-14 hrs shifts i am off!!!

Thanks for good words cs_gardener and Shurik

So far not much is going on in my 22 gallons . couple of smaller stems of ludwiga meleted , others have new branches , had to replant couple that came out , guppies look happy .
Original lights are on for up to 12 hrs now ( thats 38 watts ) made a new fixture(had some free time during those long days at work ) with additional 40 watts to come on for 4 hrs mid day.
In my 55 gallons mollies had babies - i saw one little one yesterday evening but looks like they all gone now . But i can see they are working hard to get more babies
Anyways i am off to clean the algees in my 55 now .
More updates will come when more will change.

 

[Kubalik]

Hey all !
Finally got to take some pictures of my tank which is now stocked with 2 pairs of guppies and 4 bolivian rams and just added 5 minutes ago 2 green cories I dont go with german rams yet because i read that they need to go into very well established tank. I got some hair algees growing and italian vals are growing nuts and spreading like crazy ludwigias are slowly growing and Echinodorus Indian Red is doing fine . Only one that isnt growing seems like is Rotala Najenshan , but it isnt dying neither so we will see. I think I am short of some nutrients cuz above mentioned Rotala Najenshan is gorwing lots of roots ... as u will see on the pics , here they go :

whole tank:

left side ( see the roots ? )

and right side :

I read on another thread that plants will grow roots when they short of nitrogen ... i kinds dont know what to do to increase that tho .... any suggestions pleeeaaase ....

Thanks