aquarist Posted July 25, 2014 Report Share Posted July 25, 2014 It's been a while since I done any sort of tank journal so since I am new here I figured I would start out with one! Got some cherry shrimp earlier in the year, and have been keeping them in my Fluval spec 2.5 gallon, but now I am wanting to move them into their new home. This is the first time I've setup an aquarium and have had all the plants for it already, even the carpet! I was super excited to get some glosso last month and have been planning this tank since then and have been saving each and every little piece of glosso for this aquarium. Here the info for the tank: Aquarium: 20 gallon long from the $1 a gallon sale Substrate: Mr Aqua plant soil, small size Light: Exo-Terra 3 bulb CFL lamp, on sale for $12 Filter: cheap sponge filter from Amazon Co2: none yet, working on getting a new ASA valve then will run my paintball canister on it. Fertilizer: EI dosing Just finished planting it Monday around 1:30am. I used that driftwood in previous tanks years ago and it would sink but I forgot to soak it and it almost came up and messed everything up!! So I've it weighted down with a rock for now, hopefully it will absorb enough water to sink on it's own and I can remove the stone in a week or so and not have any more worries. This aquarium sits on the bar that separates the kitchen from the dining room so it'll be viewable from both sides. On to the pictures! The front The back Filling it up Front planted Back Planted I've shown some friends this aquarium yesterday and a lot of people keep asking about the light so I took a few more photos. Box on the floor obviously means it's for kitty right?!? Inside the reflector The bulbs I am using, believe they are from Home Depot or Lowes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquarist Posted July 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2014 Not much has changed since Monday, planted some extra downoi since then. Should have my ASA on/off valve today so I can hook up my co2, things should really take off then! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High5's Posted July 25, 2014 Report Share Posted July 25, 2014 Really nice start! looking forward to your progress. Shrimp and co2 don't mix well, same goes for shrimp and ferts some people do it but its is not suggested Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spialz Posted July 27, 2014 Report Share Posted July 27, 2014 That looks really great! One question though, are those ExoTerra lights waterproof? I have a few from when I kept reptiles, but was always worried about water splashing up and ruining them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puddles Posted July 27, 2014 Report Share Posted July 27, 2014 Looks great! That's a really cool piece of driftwood, I like how you have it set up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquarist Posted July 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2014 That looks really great! One question though, are those ExoTerra lights waterproof? I have a few from when I kept reptiles, but was always worried about water splashing up and ruining them. I'm not sure if they are water proof or not. I've a glass top on the aquarium though so it doesn't get splashed. I've dropped some cheap fixtures into my aquarium a few times and they've always still worked, but they where only in there for a second or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilguppy Posted July 27, 2014 Report Share Posted July 27, 2014 Nice tank set up . View both way.and love cat. I use Mr aqua active soil -small on 3 tanks. I like it alot. But they buffer ph lower bit much. If i use ro water+gh+. Ph goes < 6 Cant read. I use tap water kh4. Then goes down 1-2kh. Ph 6.6. Otherwise.i like it $45- at lfs. Never tried ada amazonia yet. Hope everything goes well. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquarist Posted August 8, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2014 Here some updated pictures. I got a great portion of dwarf hair grass in and was able to split it up and plant the top hill portion a bit more. It should have plenty now to cover the hill in no time! Plus this DHG was grown submerged so it shouldn't melt too much. I also planted about 15 pieces of downoi spread trough out the tank, tried to do it kinda randomly, we will see how it looks when they grow out, I may end up moving some around later. The purple sword is doing great, has a bit if algae on it still but it's not too bad, the snails are doing a good job at eating up the algae that is in there now. I raised my light up some and turn off one cfl bulb, so now only running two bulbs. The algae seems to be going to away and only appears on the glass now. The glosso is doing good, I am going to let it grow for another week before I do a trim. I want to let some of it get big enough so when I trim it, it is big enough to replant. There are still a few places where I would like to thicken up the glosso. I gotta decide what I want to do with the food dish. I kind if like the plastic lids I put in there but there are easy to move around. I figure once the glosso grows in more it will be able to hold the dish in place a little better. The driftwood has absorbed enough water so that it stays submerged, but I am going to leave the rock on there till I move my shrimp into that tank just in case. I've tested it a couple times, but since I am about to go out of town I don't want to risk it. Plus the rock has kinda grown on me idk why. Now on to the photos! This is a photo after one week after start: Front Back Picture from last night free I finished planting all the DHG. Front: Back: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countryboy12484 Posted August 8, 2014 Report Share Posted August 8, 2014 Nice! Lookin good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun Posted August 8, 2014 Report Share Posted August 8, 2014 Very nice setup! Sent from my BlackBerry 9860 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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