Sascha D. Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 Fifteen Cardinals would definitely go fast with an Oscar in there. I would recommend 5-10 Clown Loaches. They're bottom feeders, they aren't destructive, they will eat pest snails and they look fantastic when they school. I had a school in my 55g planted for a few years and they were awesome. I've never seen one above 4" in captivity but LA says they can get larger. Of course no FW tank is complete without a betta. They're like clownfish, it's like a law or something. Then a couple of dwarf blue or red Gouramis and an angel or two. Oh, I'm getting excited just talking about it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo662 Posted May 12, 2015 Author Share Posted May 12, 2015 I've got 2 albino cories in the QT tank and 3 more on order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo662 Posted May 12, 2015 Author Share Posted May 12, 2015 Clown loaches will more than likely be on the list too. I think I had 3 in my last planted tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 Clown Loaches are the only ones I like. The rest like to dig and you'll hardly see them. I once had a Kuhli Loach that disappeared for three years. I found him when I broke the tank down and he was HUGE! Cory Cats are cool, but I always forget to use the white net and they get stuck in the green and blue ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Jimbo, which shops in Austin are best for stem shopping? No Lfs here in ole college station besides the big box places and I already cleaned out their limited offerings. I really like the Reds and some of the needle leaf type stems. Any shops carry those types plants? I could honestly attempt to stock strictly red plants and would be happy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo662 Posted May 15, 2015 Author Share Posted May 15, 2015 I haven't really looked at the plants in the locals yet so don't know what each carries. Niko is starting to add more plants but don't think he's got much right now. Fish Gallery probably has the largest set up for plants followed by Aquatek then Aquadome. RCA has a tank or two also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo662 Posted May 17, 2015 Author Share Posted May 17, 2015 Quick update. I finished a couple of mods today. I added a valve on the return lines to reduce the flow a little. I was worried about it being too much for angels and the other day I noticed the cardinals seemed to be huddling in a corner most of the timie now. As soon as I started it back up and dialed it down a little the cardinals are now swimming around the entire tank. I picked up a couple of angels at Niko's yesterday so once I get them into the tank I may adjust the flow a little more. The tank temp has been rising a bit during the day so I decided to add some vent holes in the top of the hood and while I'm at it I might as well add a fan also. I found a little desk fan that would fit on the outside of the hood over the existing hole to blow air inside. I drilled a new hole on the end for the power cords to go through. Pic on the box. I removed the front grill and stand, added some spacers to raise it up a little because the hole was about 1/2" too small and the blades wouldn't fit inside. Holes in the top It seems to be working great. I can fill air coming out of the hole at the far end of the hood. i decided to buy the BRS dual reactor for my CO2 reactor. That arrives on Monday so hopefully sometime this week that'll be up and running and ready for plants! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 Oh it did turn out to be too hot? I remember we had talked about those BML running pretty hot inside of that hood. It looks like you modded the canopy very well though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo662 Posted May 19, 2015 Author Share Posted May 19, 2015 Thanks Sascha. A couple of more updates. Got a 3rd EB8 installed on my apex and moved some plugs around. I've got to get to Lowe's to pick up some tubing that'll fit inside the reactor canisters so I can get the co2 going.Moved the angels this morning and as I suspected there was too much flow. After less than 5 min they found the back corner with no flow and just hung out there. Took three attempts to get the return pump dialed back enough that they seem to like it and are starting to explore their new home. I've got 15 harlequin rasbora's on order that'll be here tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo662 Posted May 22, 2015 Author Share Posted May 22, 2015 Finally making progress and getting to the end...sort of! Got my co2 hooked up and running. The dual BRS reactor seems to be doing a great job. You can barely see fine fine fine bubbles in it and I'm not seeing any bubble from the returns into the tank. I've got it running at about 1 bubble per second. I'll slowly increase it over the next couple of days.Picked up some plants so thought I'd take some pics while they still look good. I got a red tiger lotus, anubius, some crypts, dwarf sags and wisteria. I also picked up some celebes rainbows that are now in the QT tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Makena95GT Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 Wherehaps did you get the dwarf sag? Looking for some for the betta tank. One of my fave plants I had in the old shrimp haven Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo662 Posted May 22, 2015 Author Share Posted May 22, 2015 The dome has some. I got several that have bloom stalks on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Makena95GT Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 Ahh man such a long drive lol. Ill have to compare gas costs to just ordering some online. Peabodys paradise used to have them and $8 flat rate shipping but not anymore. Bummer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo662 Posted May 22, 2015 Author Share Posted May 22, 2015 Yeah, traffic was a nightmare trying to get down mopac and on to 71 and back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo662 Posted May 23, 2015 Author Share Posted May 23, 2015 Forgot the pics of the CO2 reactor. :-) You can see where the outflow feeds right into the return pump. I upped it to 2 bubbles / sec and still don't see any signs of micro bubbles flowing into the tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reburn Posted May 23, 2015 Share Posted May 23, 2015 Looks good buddy. Love the reactor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo662 Posted May 23, 2015 Author Share Posted May 23, 2015 Thanks, it seems to be working well. I almost ordered those Pentek canisters you recommended but when I started thinking about having to figure out what other pieces I need to put it all together I decided to give this route a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted May 23, 2015 Share Posted May 23, 2015 What kind of pump are you powering it with? Think a mag 5 would be excessive? Run externally no sump? I may go this direction vs the atomizer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo662 Posted May 23, 2015 Author Share Posted May 23, 2015 It comes with a Cobalt MJ1200 pump that sits in the sump. Not sure if a mag pump would be too much for it. I wonder if you can run the return line from your canister through it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reburn Posted May 23, 2015 Share Posted May 23, 2015 With a cerges reactor it's all about dwell time and pressure. You want your reactor to be under some pressure so you should add a ball valve on the output side. They certaintly can be used after a canister filter. That's how my new setup is going to run. Tank-canister filter-inline heater-cerges reactor-tank. This will reduce your flow so if you have the exact flow you want from your setup you will loose some pressurizing the reactor. The big thing to remember is you are running the canister filter backwards. You flow water in the output side of the can, down the down pipe and out the input side. You do want to not get a gas pocket at the top as this will make the reactor loud and hinder the dissolve rate. If you start to get a gas pocket try to increase the reactor pressure. As you can see Bpb, Jimbo has the outputs (labeled inputs) of his reactors throttled with ball valves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo662 Posted May 28, 2015 Author Share Posted May 28, 2015 Well, I'm coming close to completing my stocking. Here's what I have so far:2 angels5 albino cories3 albino bristlenose plecos25ish cardinal tetras15 harlequin rasboras12 celebese rainbows4 praecox rainbowsPlanning to add several more of the praecox and possibly another type of rainbow and a pair of GBRs.Should be getting an order of plants tomorrow or Sat and ferts any day now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo662 Posted June 23, 2015 Author Share Posted June 23, 2015 All the plants are growing nicely. Did my first trim and replanting over the weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo662 Posted June 23, 2015 Author Share Posted June 23, 2015 And some fish shots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo662 Posted August 11, 2015 Author Share Posted August 11, 2015 Finally took the time to get some vids of the tank. Side 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDRC_lVSLDg Side 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPVd1ijEpY8 Had a bad case of dark green algae on the sand but it's almost all gone finally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted August 11, 2015 Share Posted August 11, 2015 Dude. Bang up job getting that planted. I don't even recognize it. Is that dwarf sag in the first video? I hate how misleading the name is. My "dwarf" sag has 20" grass blades. It's a legit background plant. Nicely done though are any of your angels veil tails or all just standards? I'm torn whether to get any veil tails. They'd have a harder time hunting down guppy fry (which I actually want them to do Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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