a buncha pix
- Thread starter Backdraft Bagel
- Start date
I looovve your pearl gouramis...they look great and healthy. Im curious, what do you use for lighting, because it looks nice and bright.
Yep it's a 55 gallon. The lights are a dual PC strip @ 160 watts, I think. It's been a while since I thought about it. I'll have to verify tonight. I feed the gouramis and rummy nose frozen bloodworms, live blackworms on occassion, sometimes flake food and sometimes frozen scrimps. I think the variety in their diet helps them out a lot. In fact, the rummy nose have wacky colors. The white on their tales turns yellow when they mature, and they have a bright green spot on their forehead.
The substrate is laterite, layered 1" deep pure laterite on the bottom, then a 2" layer of mixed gravel/laterite, then a 2" layer of gravel. It's natural river gravel and whatnot.
The co2 is just a DIY deal as shown in the last pic, and there is no air diffuser or reactor - the tube is strapped to the intake on my HOT magnum 250 - so the filter does the dissolving for me, and the outlet points to the water below the water's surface - there is very little agitation.
Ph and hardness is all pretty normal / middle of the road values for my tank's chemistry.
Fertilizer: NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER NEVER!!
Last note: some of the plants are kinda beat up. I recently disassembled all my other planted aquariums and took the refugee plants and put them in the one remaining large one. I don't have time these days to maintain 10 planted aquariums anymore, so now I have two - the one here and a reef tank i am setting up. So those beat up plants are on the mend.
The substrate is laterite, layered 1" deep pure laterite on the bottom, then a 2" layer of mixed gravel/laterite, then a 2" layer of gravel. It's natural river gravel and whatnot.
The co2 is just a DIY deal as shown in the last pic, and there is no air diffuser or reactor - the tube is strapped to the intake on my HOT magnum 250 - so the filter does the dissolving for me, and the outlet points to the water below the water's surface - there is very little agitation.
Ph and hardness is all pretty normal / middle of the road values for my tank's chemistry.
Fertilizer: NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER NEVER!!
Last note: some of the plants are kinda beat up. I recently disassembled all my other planted aquariums and took the refugee plants and put them in the one remaining large one. I don't have time these days to maintain 10 planted aquariums anymore, so now I have two - the one here and a reef tank i am setting up. So those beat up plants are on the mend.
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Yep, it's super easy.
Get these supplies:
A two liter bottle with cap
Some air tubing
2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
an air tube connector
(http://www.thatpetplace.com/images/p8813B.JPG)
optional: a wooden air diffuser
1. rinse the 2 liter out good
2. toss in the yeast and sugar
3. fill with warm water. it must be warm to activate the yeast, but it should not be hot. just barely warm. I think the max temp for yeast is 110 degrees - so barely warm at all. Fill the 2 liter all the way up to the point where it starts to taper in. you need to leave some breathign room.
4. drill a little hole in the cap of the bottle. take care to make it circular, not all rough and shoddy, and just wide enough to fit the air tubing. i use a steak knife to make the hole. nothing fancy
5. push the air tubing into and through the cap.
6. stick the air tube connector to the bottom of the air hose. so that it's on the "inside" side of the cap.
7. pull/push the little connector back up snugly into the hole you drilled in the cap. the air connector makes the air tubing wider, so when you force it into the hole it gets all snug and airtight. no silicone required!
8. put cap on, situate the co2 bottle somewhere safe near tank
9. place the outlet of the air tube in the aquarium. i lash mine to the filter intake so that the filter handles diffusing the co2 in the water for me. if you don't want to do that you can just use a good air diffuser and place that in the aquarium. use a wood one, they make "fine" bubbles.
hope that helps!
good luck!
Get these supplies:
A two liter bottle with cap
Some air tubing
2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
an air tube connector
(http://www.thatpetplace.com/images/p8813B.JPG)
optional: a wooden air diffuser
1. rinse the 2 liter out good
2. toss in the yeast and sugar
3. fill with warm water. it must be warm to activate the yeast, but it should not be hot. just barely warm. I think the max temp for yeast is 110 degrees - so barely warm at all. Fill the 2 liter all the way up to the point where it starts to taper in. you need to leave some breathign room.
4. drill a little hole in the cap of the bottle. take care to make it circular, not all rough and shoddy, and just wide enough to fit the air tubing. i use a steak knife to make the hole. nothing fancy
5. push the air tubing into and through the cap.
6. stick the air tube connector to the bottom of the air hose. so that it's on the "inside" side of the cap.
7. pull/push the little connector back up snugly into the hole you drilled in the cap. the air connector makes the air tubing wider, so when you force it into the hole it gets all snug and airtight. no silicone required!
8. put cap on, situate the co2 bottle somewhere safe near tank
9. place the outlet of the air tube in the aquarium. i lash mine to the filter intake so that the filter handles diffusing the co2 in the water for me. if you don't want to do that you can just use a good air diffuser and place that in the aquarium. use a wood one, they make "fine" bubbles.
hope that helps!
good luck!
oh and be sure to shake it well once you add the water, to mix everything up and fully dissolve the sugar.
also, let it sit overnight before connecting it! you see, as the water and air cool, it contracts, creating a reverse suction. so, you need to let it sit overnight so it doesn't siphon any tank water off, got it?
also, let it sit overnight before connecting it! you see, as the water and air cool, it contracts, creating a reverse suction. so, you need to let it sit overnight so it doesn't siphon any tank water off, got it?