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29 gal community photo log

28K views 266 replies 19 participants last post by  thekoimaiden 
#1 ·
As I've now started to make some serious changes on my 29 gal tank, I thought it would be neat to share them with everyone. I'll try to get at least one picture a month.

This was the tank about 4 months ago. It wasn't anything to look at. In fact, I avoided looking at it.


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This was the tank about three weeks ago, shortly after I added black sand and more plants. You can also see the half-giant betta that is currently calling the tank home. The plants are Rotala in the back left. Dwarf sagittaria in the back right. Pygmy chain sword in the front right. Water sprite is floating. Java fern is tied to the driftwood, and there's a tiny sprig of anubias rooted to drftwood in the back. See if you can find it! ;-)


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I was comparing this picture to how my tank looks now, and there really hasn't been much growth. The stem plants are showing good growth and the pygmy chain swords show some growth compared to this picture. But I tugged on some of the plants and they seem to be getting pretty good root systems. I just added some root tabs, and I'm hoping those will help, too.

The tank is far from done. I'd also like to add chain sword, undulated crypt, and maybe a tiger lotus, but I'm going to let the tank and substrate mature a while before I add them. I'm also on the hunt for a nice large piece of driftwood for the left side of the tank (which is why it looks so bare). I'd like something tall and rooty. Once I get all the plants in and established, I'll go get my cardinals! (And promptly put them in QT.)

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Because I don't know how much of my other tanks you've seen I'll include the most up-to-date pictures of my goldfish tank and betta tanks just for kicks.


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I'm still battling with the plants to get them to grow. I'm hoping some root tabs for the swords will make a difference. Next time I set up a goldfish tank, I'm doing a freshwater refugium and only have a hardscape in the tank.


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The betta tower! What's the best thing to do when you have too many tank? Stack them! :-D

Also, any tips for tank photography are much appreciated!
 
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#2 ·
I'm so glad you started this thread!
I love that tank, it's looking gorgeous already, and I can't WAIT to see how it develops - I really think it's going to be stunning when it's complete.
I've noticed that it often takes a while for some of my (not stem) plants to settle in and really start cookin' so I'm sure you'll be seeing growth soon.
And I've told you this already, but you seriously HAVE to try to get some pictures of those adorable loaches you have in there - PLEEEEEEEASE!!?
 
#3 ·
Thanks, Ches! I was over studying the pygmy chain swords, and I think I see some new leaves sprouting from the substrate. I don't see too many old leaves floating around the tank. I guess the MTS made short work of them! I really want the dwarf sag in the back to grow up nice and tall to give my cardinals a nice forest to play in.

I've actually seen the loaches playing in the dwarf sag a few times. But the only pictures I can get of them are loach BUTTS!!! They love to hang out under that one piece of driftwood. I think it has some holes that they love to play in, but they always have their heads towards the dwarf sag. So all I ever see is loachbutt. <_<
 
#4 ·
ROFL! Loaches have very cute behinds, I think ;) I've had plants that took off right away, and others that took their time getting adjusted to things... it'll get there! I dunno about your cardinals, but your LOACHES are going to love it when the DS fills in. And the floating plants, too. . . my Kuhli actually play in the floating plants at the top of the water and it's the silliest thing you've ever seen :)
 
#5 ·
Haha! Silly loach! Don't you know you're a substrate fish? :lol: Man I do love loaches. I've got future plans for them in some other tanks. They are some of my favorite fish.

Well I tried to get a good picture of loachbutts and succeeded!! Here is your loachbutt, Ches! Along with the HMPK half-giant who shares the tank with the loaches.
 

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#8 ·
Am I blind? I cannot find the loachbutt in the picture. Also cute, I'm not the only one to call loaches that! XD
 
#10 ·
Olympia got it. He's a half-giant, too. Which means he's a little larger than the average betta. He's been changing color since I got him. He used to have a lot of white, but now it's been taken over by blue. He's a navy blue under the tank light but sometimes shines a turquoise.

Goldfish as monster fish? o.0 Well I guess the commons would be, but my guys could live in a 40 gal. Well not when I add the new one (who is still in QT right now), but right now they could.

Sang, they literally are underneath the log. All you can see is one tailfin in that picture. I'll have to see if I can get a picture of when their little heads poke out. Sometime I'll get the pretty end! :lol:
 
#11 ·
So I think I figured out the secret to tank photography!! :lol: Just kidding. But I did play around with the settings on my camera and get some great shots of my tanks. The dwarf sag hasn't done too much, but the rotala has gone nuts. I've already trimmed some of the stems and replanted them in one of my betta tanks.

It'll probably still be December or so before I add any more fish to the tank.

1) Updated 29 gal (pardon the glare from the other tanks; I need to fix that the next time)
2) Where I put the extra rotala
 

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#12 ·
*WOOT*

This tank is really taking off, girl - I like it a lot, and I'm still super excited to see how it continues on to completion. Your Water Sprite is looking gorgeous, and the Rotala seems to be VERY happy - in all of it's homes! I am a super-huge fan of stem plants, it's so satisfying to be able to watch them grow so quickly and easily! HEY! Is that a loach (or two) I see in that shot??! I think it might be!!!

The betta tank is looking pretty, too. . . is that a 10g divided? I like how you have that partition between the two sides with yummy bacteria grabbing filter foam in there - good idea, and it really divides the two halves and makes the two tanks look like their own separate thing instead of just a divided tank. I like the effect, I have a hard time appreciating divided tanks usually. . .

GREAT photos!!! Tank photography is so tricky . . . these shots turned out great, I think you figured out the settings that work for the lighting - at least this time (I swear it's different with every picture and on every day!) And . . .I kind of LIKE the glare from the tanks in the backround. Easy 'problem' to solve if you don't. . . but it kind of makes me feel happy inside!

Great work, all around!
 
#13 ·
^-^ Thanks, Ches! I'm really happy with it, too. Next step is to find driftwood. I'm trying to take a second part-time job so I can afford something really nice. I'm secretly a fan of stem plants, too. It's why I wanted one in this tank.

My betta tanks are 10 gal divided tanks. I'll never keep betta any other way again. One small water change a week, and I'm done! Well aside from feeding them and ferts. I'm hoping that my chain sword will take off, so I can put some of those in the betta tank with the rotala. I love giving fish a jungle of plants.

Haha, those aren't the infamous loaches. But here is a picture of one! I snagged it a few days ago and have been meaning to post it here.
 

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#14 ·
D'aaaaaaaaaaw! Loachface! I luff him. . .

Refresh my memory, please - what type of loaches are these, and how many do you have right now? It's just the loachlings and the half-giant Betta in there right now, correct? Your plants are really filling in wonderfully compared to the original picture on this thread. . .it hasn't been that much time, so HOORAY! I do wonder how much quickly your plants would fill in if the bio-load of this tank was higher, though. . . free ferts! I think you need MORE LOACHES!

But then again. . . I think EVERYONE needs more loaches!
 
#15 ·
Oh wow, I'm loving the growth on the 29 gallon. Should be beautiful once you get a nice bit of wood for it :3
 
#16 ·
Sang, it does need a good piece of wood to complete it. Still hunting. It's going to be rather strange when people as me what I want for Christmas and I tell them driftwood!! :lol:

Ches, these are brown kuhlii loaches (Pangio oblonga). I got six at walmart years ago, but their numbers have dwindled to just three. That was part of the reason I put the betta in there. He looked pathetic/beautiful in the cup at the store, and I knew the tank needed a larger bioload. I'm working on getting more loaches. I actually had a dream that I found a pet store that carried kuhlis, but it was hit by a tornado while I was in it. I guess that's how my brain combines my love of loaches and my fear of tornadoes. :shock:
 
#17 ·
Wow. It's been a long time since I updated this thread. I finally have some news and a timeline for further updates! Just this week I added DRIFTWOOD! I'm still struggling to get it just where I want it because it's floating just a bit.



And here is a better shot of the wood itself.



Pardon the algae on the glass. I'm letting it grow because now I'm putting a farlowella in the tank! I'm guessing the reason my plants aren't doing so hot is that my water is so soft. I have to order stuff to make the goldfish water harder, so I'm also going to try it in my 29 gal. I'll do that as well as order the rest of my plants before Thanksgiving. And then between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I'm going to finish off the loach school and get the farlowella. After we get back from Christmas vacation, I'll add the cardinals and then the gourami! I'm so excited!!
 
#18 ·
HUZZAH!!!! Time for things to start moving along in there! I love that hunk of wood, and I CAN NOT WAIT for the CRITTERS!!!! :D I've been wondering when we would get another update on this tank - can't wait to meet the new babies as they arrive. . . how exciting!!!
 
#20 ·
Thanks guys! I'm really happy with the way the wood looks in the tank. And I am soo excited to have some kind of plan for this tank! It's been in the works now for over a year, but money and life kinda got in the way. It feels soo good to start work on it again! You can bet I will bombard you guys with photos.
 
#23 ·
Plants!

My shipment of plants from Petswarehouse came in today! I ordered undulated crypt and a green tiger lotus. I'm actually rather disappointed with the way they were packaged. Just thrown in a bag and stuck in a box. No padding at all. Because of that the box and the plants got a little smushed. I hope they'll recover okay. Anyway! On to pictures!!


This is the whole tank. Hard to spot the itty bitty plants.


So here is a closeup! I also cleaned the glass a bit, so my pictures don't come out so fuzzy anymore. I was leaving it up there for the farlowella, but he's like a month off. I'd like a clean picture right now.


Because I stirred up the substrate, I must have stirred up some goodies for the loaches because they were all over the tank today. I tried to get some pictures of them on the substrate, but no luck. Brown doesn't show up well on black. But I did manage to get some pictures of crazy loach circles which they started after I started taking pictures. It's like they were determined to be little blurs.

I'm trying something interesting with my lighting. I'm making a home-made reflector out of aluminum foil. If it generates too much algae then I'll just remove it, but I figure why not give it a shot?
 
#24 ·
The new plants - and the entire tank - look fantastic!!! I love Crypts. . . I really think that eventually I'll end up with a crypt-only tank. They come in so many varieties, and are so wonderfully easy to care for :)

LOVE the loaches! *squeeeee* Mine do that, too. Anytime I change things in the tank, they act like the carnival just came to town. Love those silly little loaches!

Bummer that they packed your plants carelessly. I'm sure they'll recover - probably the Crypt will melt and re-grow anyway, and I'm betting the lotus will, too - so it might not matter. But STILL! That isn't the point! You should send an E-mail complaining. . . *maybe* they'll send you some more for FREE! >.<

Thanks for the update, I'm loving watching this tank grow. It was so empty when it started, it's really starting to take shape now, and looks gorgeous!
 
#25 ·
It was so horribly empty when I started! I went back to look at the initial pictures and MAN! I can see why people would take one look at the tank and wonder if there was anything in there. Now that the tank is planted I hope these plants will take off!

I fully expect the crypts to melt like mad, and I made sure to be very careful with their root systems and give them plenty of root tabs. But they're crypts, so I don't think it will matter. Funny thing is, they actually look better than the lotus right now. Both of the leaves on the lotus are browning. BUT! I do see a baby leaf coming up from the substrate, so I'm hopeful.

I spent like an hour today just laying on my bed and watching the loaches go crazy on whatever goodies are in the substrate. I should disturb the tank more! They're soo cute! I actually got a video of them foraging, but my camera is so crappy you can't tell they are actually fish. T-T

The first fish I'm adding to this tank will certainly be loaches! ^_^ I saw some up on Aquabid the other day. I hope they are still there in January.
 
#26 · (Edited)
I also adore it when loaches go mad! They're such silly squirmy little things :D

I wouldn't be surprised if the crypt melts, either - but, by the same token. . . I wouldn't be surprised if it DOESN'T! Those plants are notorious melters, but in my (limited) experience, they're really random! The cryptocoryne wendtii that I have was shipped to me through the mail, and came from someone with VERY hard water (as opposed to my soft), and it never dropped a leaf. ALSO never melts when I have moved it in my own tank, or from tank to tank inside of my house. It kind of... pauses on growth for a month or so while settling in, but the leaves stay put. On the other hand, my cryptocoryne spiralis melted when I got it, and also every time I move a runner to a different tank within my home - but not when I move a piece to another spot within the SAME tank. Such random plants! Still, even when they melt to the quick, they come back gloriously fast - and it's neat to watch them grow. I'm really in love with the crypts I have, hope you have a similar experience!

I can't wait for those new loaches to arrive!!!
 
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