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Finally moved into the 30 Gallon!

9K views 70 replies 12 participants last post by  angella 
#1 ·
Well I am officially moved into the 30 gallon finally! Received some of my plants today, so I planted and moved the fish over along with the Penguin 100 filter that is cycled and was on the 10 also an AquaClear 70 size bag of Bio-max ceramic rings that were in the cycled 10 for a month (thought I was gonna go with that filter so i bought those in advance). Lighting is 4 15 watt 6500K CFLs. Substrate is play sand.

Currently:
8 Pygmy chain sword plants
6-8 Dwarf water lettuce
6-8 Salvinia Cuculatta
The seller also threw in a couple stems of Limnophila Aromatica, not sure if I will be able to grow them but I will try!

Just placed an order for:
6 Vallisneria Spiralis
5 stems Giant Hygro
5 stems Brazilian Pennywort
3 Java Fern
1 Dwarf Lilly

Current inhabitants:
6 Harlequin Rasbora
1 male Sunburst Platy
1 Male Guppy
1 African Dwarf Frog
5 Ghost shrimp

Excuse the pics...the Penguin 100 had to hang on the front since the tank was too close to the wall to fit it on back, and the BioMax is just laid on a rock....







 
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#3 ·
Thanks SC! It is actually 2 pieces. I will get a pic from the side tonight to illustrate. I collected it locally. The wood and rocks I found from a few walks of the James River here in Richmond.
 
#6 ·
I'm loving my Harlequin Rasbora's I just put in some Black Neon Tetra's with them and they have all been schooling together. Can't wait to see a picture once you get the rest of your plants, that driftwood is awesome!
 
#8 · (Edited)
Thanks everyone! The other plants and some MTS should be shipping tomorrow! Think I stressed them out some, took everything out and added more sand yesterday. They are looking better though.

Definitely need to get some more floaters. The 6 salvinia and 6 dwarf water lettuce arent blocking much light and the Harlequins arent as colored up as they were before now that they are under better lights with not much being blocked.

Looking into getting a water pump as well. Draining for WC is easy but then having to get a bucket higher than the tank to refill is a pain. Any recommendations for inexpensive decent pumps?

Edit: Also what is a good all black heater to look at. Want something thats not gonna stand out as much (especially the red knob).
 
#10 ·
Received a dozen MTS today. Plants have an estimated arrival date of Friday!

I think a couple of the Pygmy Chain Swords have already started to send runners. I will post pics tonight to confirm!
 
#11 · (Edited)
Oh yeah...I think a couple pairs of Harlequins are trying to spawn. I went home for lunch (12:30) and there was a pair doing the upside down wiggle dance! Then after I got back to work my wife texted (1:30) and said they were at it again and there was a couple sets doing it! EXCITING! Who knows what will come of it though. Definitely didnt see any eggs and not sure they are old enough.

Edit...This is at 2:00 and they are still going at it. She just texted again and said they are trying everywhere....limbs, pygmy chain sword leaves, sponge filter. But she also said that the guppy is going behind them and looks to be eating off of the spots they are using.....dang it guppy (sidenote, I know he shouldnt be in our soft acidic water, but my wife just had to have him)...
 
#12 ·
Got a couple bad pics of the runner last night but power went out so I couldnt post it. Woke up this morning and the runner (it looks like a stem coming up from the middle of the PCS and curves down toward the sand, has a little bulb on the end and its red...) had doubled in size!

Plants look like they will be here today!
 
#13 ·
My other plants have arrived!!! Went home for lunch to check them out and this is what I have:

Ordered 5 Stems Giant Hygro and received about 8
Ordered 5 Stems Pennywort received about 10
Ordered 3 Java Fern received 4
Ordered 6 plants Val. Spiralis but only got 4

Also ordered a dwarf lilly. It was wrapped in a wet newspaper (everything else was in a bag) and I don't think my wife realized there was a plant in it. Well when I noticed that the lilly wasnt there I went snooping and found it wrapped in the newspaper but the plant had been ripped from the bulb. Can I replant the bulb? Will another plant grow? I dont think I can plant the actual plant without a bulb though right?

As of now everything is just floating in the tank until I get off of work. Can't wait!
 
#14 ·
Here are the plants I got today


And here is the tank after planting!













Won't be too much longer and I will be able to take out that rock in the middle on the driftwood. Took it off today and the wood only came up about an inch so its getting close. The black thing in the middle is the dwarf lilly bulb, hope it regrows another plant. Next I thing I am going to do is put some moss either on the bottom downward branch or on the upward branch just above it.

If you look just right of the lilly bulb you can see one of the Pygmy Chain Sword runners has popped through the sand. 3 others have runners forming as well. Here is the runner pic I took last night. When I looked this morning it had doubled in length and the 2 others have one this length.



What do ya think?
 
#17 ·
The tank looks great! I'm both impressed and jealous!

One thing I noticed along the way is you noted you only had one Male guppy unless I misread and you added one? If you can afford the space, a second one would be magic for your tank (IMO) They are my new favorite fish.
In pairs or greater, they really keep the tank animated. Whatever it is with guppies, they seem to stick together like glue, and always seem to do well in pairs. If you have the space, add one, you'll be surprised at what happens I think. Mine are never more than a few inches apart for more than 30 seconds, but the way they move around, they also to keep the rest of the small tank moving around.

Great looking tank again! I'm still chicken to get into live plants just yet lol.
 
#18 ·
Thanks guys! I love that driftwood too. When I went out to walk the river I knew as soon as I saw those pieces that my hunt was over haha. I really like the way it has turned out so far.

As to the guppy, we won't be adding another. We really shouldn't have this one. Our water isn't right for him (or the platy either technically, we have really soft water) but my wife really wanted a guppy. The two of them (guppy and platy) are almost inseparable though.
 
#23 ·
Thanks Jayy! Want to get another 6 Harlequins to bring the total to 12, another 5 corydoras (Panda, more Melanistius, or Spotfin) and maybe a Bolivian Ram or two.
 
#26 ·
Thanks SC. Yeah I kinda fell in love with these corys when I saw them. Never heard of this species before. And this is my first experience with corys. They are awesome! They are like the hogs of the aquarium world the way they root around in the sand with their "snouts". So cute.
 
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