10 Gallon Rimless

25 March, 2010

Rescape!

Apistos spawned again but I didn't take out the male in time and probably took care of most of the youngins. I ripped everything out there after having moved the male into the 29 gallon and found 3 little fry that had survived! So in a couple of months I will have 4 apistos that I will be selling. I got rid of all the rock and stuck with one piece of driftwood and only using three species of plants this time to keep it simple. HC, Rotala Indica and Microsword. Thinking about maybe adding something to the back, maybe some blyxa japonica, but that stuff might get to big...I really like how it makes this little 10 gallon look so big. The one female apisto is in there alone (with a stowaway cherry shrimp) and will be putting the male back in in a couple of days.

January 26, 2009

I since have moved the apistos into the new 29 gallon that I setup and thinking that none of the fry survived, put about 65 cherry shrimp and 2 amanos in there. I built a stand to get it off of the dresser and drained most of the water to move it. A couple of days ago we got a couple harlequin rasboras to make it a little more exciting, and we spotted a little tiny apisto hiding in one of the rock caves! Pretty amazing that it survived! Then we watched him find a baby shrimp and eat it. So I know that he is eating well! I thought all of that was pretty cool. Here are some new pictures of the new scape that I did a couple of days ago. I just put a black background on it and it looks a little better, but I think it looks nice, doesn't look like a 10 gallon in these pictures.

December 15, 2009

I was looking closely at the tank the other day after realizing the female had started very yellowish and becoming more and more territorial over a cave she picked out. I reasoned from the reading I had done that there was probably some eggs somewhere in that cave. When I looked closer I saw about 15 tiny little free swimming fry staying close to mommy! It was pretty cool! They are terrific parents and have such great instincts. She isn't too hard on the male too when he gets a little too close. I have heard of many cases where they female will kill male after spawning cause of how protective. I originally got 2 females but put her with the angels after noticing a lot of aggression from the other pair, and she seems to be doing fine, maybe I will get another male and stick him in the angel tank with her. I will try to get some pictures up later or a movie so you can see the little buggers.

November 25, 2009

I finally put some fish in this tank! Bob Allen got me some great looking apistos and I am excited to see these get bigger and more intense color. I got 2 females and 1 male.






November 14, 2009

Got this tank set up how I want it to look, just need things to grow in a little. I also ordered a 6700K bulb and got rid of the 50/50 and also put a 15 watt fluorescent bulb with an old desk lamp that I had to give me 5.1 watts per gallon which should be enough to grow just about anything in here. I used clippings from other tanks to get this started up. I am hoping the HC grows in well. Still haven't figure out what I want to stock the tank with. I have 4 cherry shrimp in here, about to have a bunch of little ones soon. As I only have an HOB filter, I am worried about the Co2 levels in the tank, but with some daily Flourish Excel, I think it should be alright.




My amazing wife let me get another fish tank! I wanted to find something cheap and try to use as much stuff that I had. You always end up spending more than you want though. It is a standard 10 gallon that I took the rim off, with a 36W compact fluorescent 50/50 fixture, HOB filter, 100 watt heater EcoComplete substrate, and DIY Co2. I haven't totally decided what I want to put in here, other than some cherry shrimp. But i think 2 blue rams would be cool too, but that would be a no-no on the cherries if I went that direction. Anyone have any ideas about what to stock this with?

October 31, 2009

25 Gallon Planted Angel Tank

So I have become a compulsive classified ad checker now, and I found a really good deal on a 25 gallon high tank with an eclipse lid and so my wife let me buy it. I have heard that because of the design of the hoods they aren't great planted tanks, but I decided to do some DIY alterations to get it working. So, I popped a whole in the hood where I had about 4 inches of space and put two spiral compact fluorescents in there and used some PVC to rig an outflow that wouldn't cause surface agitation on the filter. With a Co2 diffusor that I made out of a powerhead and gravel vac, i started getting some pretty good Co2 levels. I moved the growing angelfish from my 20 and brought the corys too, and then a couple weeks later added some Harlequin Rasboras and some bigger ghost shrimp. The guy that I bought the tank from had gravel too, so i layered fluorite in between. I got some malaysian driftwood from someone off of KSL classifieds and it all started to come together for a lot cheaper than my other setup.

November 18, 2009



I got sick of the old scape, so I found some rocks and pulled all of the plants out, and replanted. It makes the tank look bigger, more space for fish to swim and the composition seems better put-together (thanks to my artist wife who never spares me her opinion). I think it looks way better.

October 17, 2009

Did some trimming of the ludwigia. Got rid of one of the melon swords cause they weren't doing well and to give the rotala more light. The ludwigia glandulosa wasn't doing well either so i put it into my 20.

October 8, 2009

Got a new angelfish from a friend and I repositioned some plants and transfered some from the 20. I took the sagitaria, vallesneria, red myrio, and put in bacopa, and a big bunch of rotala indica. I moved the melon sword to the right to hide the equipment better and moved the ludwigia glandulosa over to the left. I also got rid of the piece of rock i had in there for more room for some stems.

October 5, 2009

Going to need to redo some placement soon, things are growing well

October 1, 2009

The L. Repens has grown a good 6-8" in a little over 2 weeks time. The vals and crypts have melted a little, but I have heard once they adjust to the new water parameters they really take off. It is finally starting to block the view of the filter and Co2 diffusor.

September 26, 2009

Put in the rest of the shipment from Sweetaquatics.com. Some different variations of Valisneria, Dwarf Sagittaria, Red Myrio, L. Glandulosa, Kleiner Bar Sword, Dwarf Hairgrass, Nesea Pedicellata, Cryptocoryne Undulata, and Narrowleaf Java Fern.

September 22, 2009

The L. Repens really has taken off and everything is coming in all right, just the equipment really bugs me.

September 15, 2009

I picked up some Ludwigia Repens, which did really well in my other tank, and the more difficult Ludwigia Glandulosa to test my luck. I also transferred one of my Anubias' to this tank.

September 12, 2009

Just planted a bunch of swords, some crypts, and java moss with some clippings of rotala from the other tank in the back. You can see the PVC at the top getting some good water circulation around the tank. The equipment is unsightly, but when things grow in, hopefully you won't notice it as much.

Progression of 20 Gallon

December 31, 2009

Last photo of the tank before I broke it down. Got a 29 Gallon and going to combine the 25 high and this one to get the 29 started (and to cover the cost). Sad, but I am excited for my new tank!

November 25, 2009

Tank cleared up so I thought I'd post another picture and a video.


November 24, 2009

I put the rotala in the back, and put some more rock in to define the space better. I really love the depth of this design and i think it will be easier to maintain. I really like the way it turned out!



Still is a little cloudy from moving everything around.

I took the microsword out and put it in the 10 gallon and eventually I want to fill that space in with glosso. It is filling in really well and sending runners all over the place. Waiting for everything to grow out so I can try to sell a bunch of clippings, or trade them for some different plants. Someone suggested putting some Apistos in here, but I don't know much about them. Anyone have any experience with these fish?

November 14, 2009





For a while I thought all of the cherry babies were getting eaten by the tetras, but as of now looks like my tank is going to be over run with these guys pretty soon. It is fun to see even smaller shrimp that these.

The glosso is finally starting to fill in better and within a couple of weeks should be a pretty good carpet. I am thinking about taking the microsword out and putting glosso all over the front. Feels good to finally get this stuff to grow.

November 1, 2009





After the Trim....



October 23, 2009


The tank is ready for a trimming. I love how full it looks. I am almost to the point where I wont be able to replant any stems in either one of my tanks. Yesterday picked up 3 more rummynose and amber tetras. Now my tank is stocked and I wthink the fish like the company.

October 17, 2009

Did some minor rearranging and put some java moss on the driftwood.

October 16, 2009

I found some baby cherry shrimp in my tank and it made me so excited! It is pretty hard to make out with this photo, but it is in the little red circle.

October 8, 2009


I got some ideas and decided to redo the scape of this tank, things were growing in nice but that was about it. I was somehow able to make three pieces of driftwood look like one and it really helps to separate and give shape to it all. I ripped out all of the glosso and cut it up and replanted it all. That alone took like 2 hours. But I think it will be worth it once it grows in. Let me know what you think! I think it makes the tank look a lot bigger with more space.

October 4, 2009

Any ideas about what I should do to re-scape this?

October 1, 2009

Waiting for everything to grow in some more.

September 29, 2009

Got another shipment of plants from sweetaquatics.com (my last one for a while, I had to promise my wife). Split the shipment with this and another tank. Added Red Myrio, Ludwigia Glandulosa, narrowleaf microsword, Anubias Nana, Crypt. Wendtii. Also, some new fish I picked up introduced Ich into my tank and have lost quite a few. Oh well, thank goodness it isn't a discus tank.

September 24, 2009

Made a diffusor just from a small powerhead. This helped Co2 distribution a ton, helped clear up algae. Also started double dosing flourish excel along with Co2 and it has done wonders with algae growth.

September 16, 2009

After a trim and some repositioning and another piece of driftwood. Algae has taken over the glass. Transferred angels and corys into other new tank. Also added some cherry shrimp.

August 30, 2009

I made a bell diffusor of sorts to try to get better Co2 saturation to get the glosso and HC going in the foreground, but ended up growing a bunch of algae in the front, preventing it from doing much. Brought home some Otto cats as well.

August 21, 2009

August 8, 2009

I got some small angelfish and a couple cory cats, knowing that I can't keep them in here for long term, but I just love angelfish. The rotala especially has grown in well.

July 30th, 2009

Got a shipment of plants from sweetaquatics.com. The stargrass on the right didn't take the trip very well, but other than things got here in good shape. Did some repositioning. In order to get my watts/gallon up, i gutted my 18" T8 fixture and put in two spiral compact fluorescents at 26 watts each over a glass top. This gives me about 4.5 watts per gallon. But the spiral compacts aren't the most efficient, so who knows what I really have. Before this I had issues with diatoms, especially on the anubias, but this cleared up more or less when I got more light in there, but then came other algae problems.

July 26, 2009

Repositioned a couple of things and put in some neon tetras to start the nitrogen cycle. Almost ready for a trim.

July 17, 2009

Got rid of the junk from Petsmart, and picked up some Cabomba Carolinia. Everything starts growing in nicely.

So my wife has been wanting me to participate in her blogging activities since we have been married, but I haven't done much so far. I recently got an aquarium for my birthday which

has caused a regression into my childhood. I don't remember how old I was, probably 11 or 12 when i got my first 10 gallon tank. As time went by, I saved up for a 55 gallon and had a pair of angelfish that I tried to breed, but couldn't ever raise the fry. Years went by and I always dreamed of the day when I could knock out a wall in my living room and put a 250 gallon tank. That day still hasn't come, but I can make due. I decided that I wanted to do a planted tank and have done so much reading and research online I thought I would blog about my experience. I started with a simple top fin 20 gallon kit from petsmart that was on sale. Doing it over again I would have bought everything used. Would have saved a lot of money that way, and got the equipment that I really wanted. I got a bag a fluorite, and a 18 inch power compact fluorescent fixture with a 50/50 bulb. I didn't know any better and should have got the 24 inch instead which would have given me 65 watts instead of just 36. But with the hood that came with the tank, it was enough light to get things going at a little less than 3 watts per gallon. I started DIY Co2 running it through my HOB filter. Here is what the tank looked like after it was set up and planted with a couple things I got a petsmart, and a couple other local pet stores.

This is July 10th, 2009

I planted Water Wisteria, Bacopa Carolinia, anacharis, hornwort, anubias, and amazon swords. Two others sold were sold to me at petsmart but aren't true aquatic plants, kind of a shame they mark them as aquarium plants. But i got my money back.