My 2.5 tank (piccies)

**aizaspurz** · 9th Dec 2003, 11:35

Hi everyone....

Below was the latest pix of my 2.5ft tank that I wanna share. They were taken about 3 weeks ago.

Also, I have this question to ask:

What would be the 'gauge' to know whether our tank is overpopulated? I ask this cos some feedback I got was that it's currently overstocked. Thus, I intend to sell some of the neons that I have.

Currently, I think I have about 90 neons, 5 SAEs, 4 OTOS, 2 gouramis, and 5 mollies.

Current problem: BBA...but it's getting lesser now.

Things I'm doing soon: Trimmings of the APP which has grown to reach 3 inches height.

Thanx to Fei Miao for the APP

**juggler** · 9th Dec 2003, 11:59

Simple and really nice. Very lush red and green. Didn't notice any BBA.

BTW - can hide the reactor further behind the sword plants, if possible.

**victri** · 9th Dec 2003, 12:04

Nice layout. Very eye pleasing. I love the plant colours!

Only thing, too many fish is quite distracting. If you think it looks crowded now, wait 1-2 months and your neons and SAE will get bigger and the mollies will start reproducing, then it'll get packed like city hall mrt at 6pm.

**wynx** · 9th Dec 2003, 12:12

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On 12/9/2003 11:35:03 AM

Hi everyone....

Below are two of the latest piccies of my 2.5ft tank that I wanna share. They were taken about 3 weeks ago.

Also, I have this question to ask:

What would be the 'gauge' to know whether our tank is overpopulated? I ask this cos some feedback I got was that it's currently overstocked. Thus, I intend to sell some of the neons that I have.

Currently, I think I have about 90 neons, 5 SAEs, 4 OTOS, 2 gouramis, and 5 mollies.

Current problem: BBA...but it's getting lesser now.

Things I'm doing soon: Trimmings of the APP which has grown to reach 3 inches height.

Thanx to Fei Miao for the APP

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Nice tank, you have there! Anyhow, I think it would be better remove/cover the unsightly tubing for your diffuser...which is right in the middle. Shift it to the side [

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Nice effort, I must say. As for fishes' population, a heavy planted tank should be able to take the extra bioload. Hope this helps. Keep on planting

**juggler** · 9th Dec 2003, 12:41

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On 12/9/2003 11:35:03 AM

What would be the 'gauge' to know whether our tank is overpopulated? I ask this cos some feedback I got was that it's currently overstocked. Thus, I intend to sell some of the neons that I have.
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For me, I feel my tank is over-populated if the NO3 hovers high at more than 20ppm. I don't add NO3 to my tanks as I based on fish feeding to provide the NO3.

Or if you feel the tank is &quot;busy&quot; with fish, then remove some.

But so far, it looks OK to me. The neons and livebearers are small eaters and won't produce much NO3.

**Fei Miao** · 9th Dec 2003, 12:55

Nice tank![

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Looks like you'll be giving away some APP soon[

] [

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CT · 9th Dec 2003, 14:23

Nice tank! and the picture you took are nice!

**Sleepy_lancs** · 9th Dec 2003, 15:12

Nice tank. Just wondering, why don't you sell away that red swordtail/patty.. its a little distracting. I think the Neon Tetra makes your tank looks bigger keep them IMO.

**cbong** · 9th Dec 2003, 15:40

I like your tank, beautiful!!!
What is the exact name of the foreground plant? Very lushy and nice. Where to get???

**PeterGwee** · 9th Dec 2003, 16:01

Try to imagine the fishes(family size) as a human family living inside a toilet(tank size) and doing their own &quot;business&quot; daily as usual but not allow to flush the toilet for a week or two(when is your water change routine and how much water you change). Do you still think you have way too much fishes now?

There is a fine line between N produced by critters vs N uptake by plants..overloading the tank might mean the nitrogen produced by the critters might just exceed what the plants uptake and put pressure on the efficiency on the bacteria colony from both the filter and those in the tank. Too much and you get fish issues and algae...

BBA is a classic issue of too low CO2...Check your CO2 level and if it still says good level, try to add more than you think you should and see how it goes. Try to remove as much traces of BBA and work on the CO2 and nutrients. You can beat it if you keep up with things.

Regards
Peter Gwee

**aizaspurz** · 9th Dec 2003, 16:05

Fei Miao - You're right. I'm giving away some soon, In fact, I've given to two forumers already. Tomorrow, another forumer will collect some from me. Yeah, for free of course

CT - thanx for the compliments. But all pics are taken by my brother. Credits to him!

Sleepy_lancs - thanx for he feedback. I think I will retain what I have in the tank....can't see any of them being taken out unless their presence is disruptive.

cbong - the foreground is made up of APP (Elatine Triandra). They're supposed to grow like carpet, but the space is rather cramped that they went upwards.

**aizaspurz** · 9th Dec 2003, 16:19

Thanx PeterGwee.

My undoing, I guess is that I didn't really check the water parameters.

The last time I did that was about two months ago. The pH was at 7 while the kH was at a high of 8.

So far, two fatalities have occurred, a molly and a neon. My water change is about 30% fortnightly, with DIY CO2 dissolved using a 3-ball reactor.

Points noted....thanx again.

**aizaspurz** · 22nd Dec 2003, 20:21

An update

Did some re-scaping few weeks back cos the Elatine Triandra was thickening. Added some driftwoods that had been lying around and finally, my japonicas found some space in front.

The tank is rather messy now. Look unorganized in my opinion. But I like it. Hehe.....

Most plants grew astonishingly well that I have to consistently made cuttings on leaves of the sword plants and both the red and green tiger lotuses. Even the Elatine Triandra wasn't spared and given away to some other forumers.

Look at the two different pixxies. The second pic is rather dark cos my lightings were covered by the tiger lotus leaves. But it's brighter now after I nipped the bigger ones off.

Anyway, the tank has gone from :

.....to....

Now, try spotting the baby green tiger lotus from the first pic! :P

p.s. Hope I get the name of the plants correct

**hwchoy** · 22nd Dec 2003, 21:21

now that you have an chance to play with the aquarium for a while, next to graduate into the natural history of the fish and plants you're keeping

my bias suggestions:

get rid of the run-of-the-mill fishes - neons and platies
read up on some fish families or geographies - is there a special place you fancy, e.g. Irian Jaya (let's assume you do OK)
so what fishes and plants are unique to Irian Jaya/Papua New Guinea? Rainbowfish!
OK, let's google for rainbowfish and see what we find… this might be a good source of info
like what you see? let's do a rainbowfish biotope or community tank!
start with a community tank, it is easier i.e. don't bother about plants yet, just keep various compatible species of rainbowfish, enjoy them and learn about them.
when you get better and you still like them, go on to a biotope!

**MikeKoh** · 22nd Dec 2003, 22:29

Sorry, my comment has nothing to do with your question. I just want to say ... superb photography!

**aizaspurz** · 22nd Dec 2003, 22:36

hwchoy - Oh no....your suggested 'graduation' sounds an uphill task to me.

Anyway, thanx

Mike - thanx for the compliments. But credits to my brother cos he's the one who took the shots for me.

**bluezing** · 22nd Dec 2003, 23:27

yeah...nice tank.and nice pics really.use wat digicam?

**juggler** · 24th Dec 2003, 00:46

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On 12/22/2003 9:21:22 PM

now that you have an chance to play with the aquarium for a while, next to graduate into the natural history of the fish and plants you're keeping

my bias suggestions:

get rid of the run-of-the-mill fishes - neons and platies
read up on some fish families or geographies - is there a special place you fancy, e.g. Irian Jaya (let's assume you do OK)
so what fishes and plants are unique to Irian Jaya/Papua New Guinea? Rainbowfish!
OK, let's google for rainbowfish and see what we find&amp;amp;#8230; this might be a good source of info
like what you see? let's do a rainbowfish biotope or community tank!
start with a community tank, it is easier i.e. don't bother about plants yet, just keep various compatible species of rainbowfish, enjoy them and learn about them.
when you get better and you still like them, go on to a biotope!

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Choy: Yes - you are bias lah.

Some folks like me just like to keep a nice planted tank. The fish in there are just nitrate producing ornaments.

Zaini: If you are more interested in plants of a certain region, you can try to duplicate the environment in your tank. Then select some fish representative of that region. I got some inspiration from this book: &quot;The Natural Aquarium : How to Imitate Nature in Your Home by by Satoshi Yoshino, D. Kobayashi.&quot;

kc · 26th Dec 2003, 08:59

Aiza,

How did you get the tetra to post? The tetra on the 2nd picture was saying &quot;Cheeses!&quot;

PS, please reserve some APP for me. On the next..next pruning.

Hwchoy,

You are a very profound man! You really deep into the subject!