finished my 40 gallon tank setup and cycle.... with a pic

[kimura]

i posted a few weeks back asking for stocking advice for this tank. i'm relocating 10 striatas, 5 pandas, 4 ottos and few random loaches to this tank. not sure what to use as dithers but i'm thinking either rasporas, cherry barbs or ghost catfish. there are 4 pieces of driftwood, anubius nana, water sprite, java moss and few broad leaf anubius. its filtered with a fluval 304 and has one 30 watt power glo(best light EVA) with a reflector. i went to petsmart and was happy to find the anubius in great shape for a good price. i'm still waiting for the watersprite to take off..... its growing slow but steady...... once it fills in the back it should look better. i tied the java moss to the wood and its already attached itself. i removed like 20 percent of the filter media from an established tank and ran it with 4 goldfish..... feeding 4 times a day. the tank levels were ok but i wanted to run the tank for at least a month after it was cycled. i've found that loaches dont like a new tank, even if it is cycled. i've been doing like a 35 percent water change every 2 weeks.

[kimura]

everyone seems to have made a good transition so far. the pandas and striata seem to be happy now that they arent being harrassed by my sids.
the ottos wiped out a wall of brown algae in a day. the java moss is taking over and most of the anubius have sprouted a new leaf.

[loachmom]

Lovely tank, kimura.

Your plants have grown nicely since the last picture.

[palaeodave]

What a great looking setup! More pictures with fish, please!

[crazy loaches]

Keep up the good work!

[tariesindanrie]

Great looking tank!

I vote for the ghost/glass cats as dithers- they don't swim about much, but they are fun to watch at feeding time

Kate

[Rubix]

Great looking tank!

I vote for the ghost/glass cats as dithers- they don't swim about much, but they are fun to watch at feeding time

Kate

Kryptopterus minor... i keep a small school of them and love'm. i second this nomination

[newshound]

once that puppy fills out with plants it'll be rockin...
you should place the intake on the opposite side of the tank.
Cross flow rules!!!!!
btw--
I think it is better to do a larger water change. I do 50% every week but when I add the new water I only do about 25% of the total tank volume and then do another 25% to top the tank up about a day later to avoid shocking the fish too much.

[Rocco]

Also, if you notice your fish swimming towards the new water coming in and staying in the current. You might want to try sprinkling some food into that area and watch them eat.

I do that for my cories and they love it.

[kimura]

the lighting in this tank is giving my camera issues but i got a few more pics. final stocking:7 botia striata, 4 ottos, 5 panda cories, 9 rummy nose tetras, and 4 Lepidocephalichthys guntea, i believe. i decided to go with the tetras since it was more fish out of my other tank.... instead of buying more fish.

[kimura]

bit of an update. everything is growing well. i'm getting green spot algae on the back wall which i will probably scrub since its seemed to slow down the growth of my anubius. i'll probably trim some java moss too.

[lf11casey]

Tank is coming along very nicely. Unless the algae is actually growing on the anubias. I wouldn't worry about it.
Algae will grow on the older leaves of my anubias. I just leave it until the leaves look really haggard and then I'll cut the leaf off.

[Whitey_MacLeod]

Your tank looks great. I really like the look of algae on the back glass- it's a lot more natural looking than an artificial background.

[mistergreen]

cool tank...
you should place the anubias on a rock or driftwood.. The tuber tends to rot in the substrate.

[clownloachfan]

Nice tank. I really like your zebra loaches. Just one correction though, you have wisteria(Hygrophila difformis) not water sprite(Ceratoporis sp.). I think if you look at the differences in pictures, you will see this. wisteria is nicer anyways.