[Tsi_User]

Well i'm new here but I figure'd i'd share some pics of my tank. It's always a work in progress, and i'm still not happy with it please give me all the suggestions you guys can come up with, becuase i'm still a newbie with alot of this stuff!

Specs:
29 gallon
2 T-5 lights, 2.7 WPG (made for $5, im a poor college student ) on 10 hours/day
DIY CO2 w/glass diffuser
Whisper 60 filter and an additional powerhead to spread CO2
Daily Seachem dosing (Flourish, Excel, Trace, Potassium, Iron, etc..)

Fish: Pair of German Blue Rams, Peppered Cory Cats, Kuhli Loaches, Black Skirt tetras, Ottos, neon/cardinal tetras, Amano Shrimp.

How it currently sits minus the wood (more pics to come):

I just upgraded my filter because my old one gave no cicrulation. My current plans are to get rid of the Neons/Cardinals and adding more ottos, Amano shrimp and small shoal of something, not sure yet though. I am also still fighting some plant problems. First off, no matter what my Vals manage to piss me off lol. They grow so fast that I have to trim 6+ inches off every week, and then they discolor at the tips. Also, my Dwarf Hairgrass is always fighting what I believe is BBA, but I'm not sure. It is the only plant that's still showing signs of an algae problem. I would love a lush carpet of hairgrass around the sides and then use Dwarf Baby Tears in the center. Can you guys make some suggestions?

 

[Tsi_User]

Oh, and also here's a pic of my old layout, I know both of these are nothing compared to alot of people's tanks. Sorry for the not-so-great pics, i'll take some more soon and keep this updated!

 

[Tedison]

You made lights for 5 bucks? I also am a poor college student, so if you have a link to a how to or anything on building those lamps i would love to take a look!

 

[Tsi_User]

You made lights for 5 bucks? I also am a poor college student, so if you have a link to a how to or anything on building those lamps i would love to take a look!

Luckily I live just off of campus at Michigan State University, and when they re-do the buildings they sell off all their lighting and ballasts for dirt cheap. Ballasts are $2 a piece and the lights are around $1-2. I had an old dual-strip housing so I just gutted and rewired with the ballast and lights. Hell, I didn't even buy the connections for the ends of the lights, I just solder them on lol.

 

[Tsi_User]

Well i got tired of trying to do a lazy man's dutch landscape, so alot of stuff has changed around.

-Got rid of the girlfriend's extra guppies, thank god
-Added 6 harlequins and a few more Ottos/Amanos
-Bought some wood for a great deal off of FishandTurtleJunkie
-Added more dwarf haigrass and got rid of ALOT of plants, including 30 Vals.
-Added another ballast to the lighting, now it's two 60 watt T-8s

Im still moving around some plants, fighting a little hair algae thats growing on the java moss and bba on the hairgrass, but overall I'm happy with it. I'm hoping the algae will die down with the daily ferts, more CO2 and a little more lighting but we'll see.

Tell me what you guys think!

 

[chagovatoloco]

I like the new layout, but I fear that if the back is not watch it will over crowd soon. When that for ground grows in it will really set the tank off.

 

[ruger45]

Yeah, i like the setup as well. My only concern would be be the right back corner. The wood adds a nice look.

 

[jackh]

i like it a lot. i really like the branchy wood you got.

what do you have tied to the wood?

how do you like your GBR?

 

[Tsi_User]

Thanks for the comments guys : ) I too thought the back was still too dense, so I did one more reshape. I cant believe how many plants I have gotten rid of in the last month. The tank is on two T-8s putting out roughly 100 watts.

-There's java moss on the drift wood, but because i'm still fighting some algae off it tends to grow pretty damn slow. Hopefully i'll have this fixed within the next week or two. The dwarf hair grass has started growing in pretty dense in the back left corner so I'm hoping that means the algae inst winning anymore

-The Blue Rams are great, they chase some of the small fish a little but never even close to the point of stressing them out. And they've colored up great over the last month.

Here are a few new pics of the new layout. Changing this tank around never gets old to me lol. Please remember that these are cheap t8s and my camera isn't the best, so the pics aren't great.