# My Day Job



## travis (Oct 5, 2004)

Here are a few photos of the planted display tanks that I maintain at my day job. I work as the planted tank specialist at Premier Fish and Reef here in Denver, CO and wanted to post some shots of the tanks I get to play with when I'm not at home working on my personal tanks.

First up is our 115X display tank. I don't have it completely filled in yet, but things are starting to come along. It is a unique tank to work with because of its unusual dimensions (36" wide x 30" tall x 24" deep) and it gives me the opportunity to grow some very tall plants that wouldn't really fit in many other types of aquascapes. Maintaining and aquascaping with nearly three-foot-tall stem plants has been a real learning experience for me.

Among the plant species I've introduced to the tank are _Ludwigia inclinata var. verticellata 'Cuba', Pogostemon stellatus 'Broad Leaf', Eichornia azurea, Nymphaea micrantha, Aponogeton ulvaceous, Hygrophila balsamica, Cyperus helferi, Mayaca fluviatilis, Riccia fluitans, Eriocaulon sp. 'Type 2', Blyxa japonica, Hydrocotyle verticellata_, and _Elatine triandra_. The substrate is ADA Aquasoil Malaya with a Powersand Special L base. CO2 supplementation is performed via a store-wide system fed by a 100 pound pressurized tank using an ADA diffuser. Lighting consists of a 4x96 CF fixture with 50/50 6700K/10000K bulbs. Filtration is done by an Eheim Professional 3 canister with UV sterilization on a separate closed loop.

The tank is stocked with a school of very well-fed, four-year-old, wild-caught Altum angels, a group of roseline barbs, several Praecox rainbows, miscellaneous Rams and Apistos, and a number of interesting L- plecos.

The tank:



















The Altums:










Next are a couple of pics of another of our planted display tanks, a 14 gallon Oceanic BioCube. It is also a work in progress and not fully grown-in yet. Among the plant species kept are _Tonina sp. 'Belem', Pogostem helferi, Ammania sp. 'Bonsai', Rotala wallichii 'Long'_, and _Riccia fluitans 'Dwarf Form'_. The substrate is ADA Aquasoil Ammazonia with a Powersand Special S base. CO2 is provided by an ADA mini-system. Inhabitants include a school of cardinal tetras and a couple of hybrid Killifish given to us by one of our customers who breeds them.

The tank:



















A close-up of one of the Killis:










And finally a shot of some of our plant sale tanks (on the bottom row). We currently have five 40 gallon and one 70 gallon high-light, CO2 supplemented holding tanks and are considering expanding that capacity by another five 40 gallon tanks. This allows us to make virtually any types of plants available for our customers and keep them all in excellent health. Having the opportunity to play with this many planted tanks is hardly work


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## jaidexl (Jan 20, 2007)

Lovin the first tank :thumbsup: Nice placement and color!


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

Very nice tanks. I hope this is a trend that will continue to grow with more and more LFS's. A single show tank like the one in the first photo can prompt dozens of people to give the planted side of the hobby a try. I hope the owners appreciate your efforts.

I'm not 100% positive that the fish in the tank are true altums. They're beautiful, but I'd be interested to hear what others think. This might generate some controversy since the taxonomy of the genus Pterophyllum isn't perfectly clear. Altums typically have wider dark stripes than the white space in between. The pre-nuchal notch is seen in altums, but can also be seen in scalare varieties too. If healthy, true altums should be about 12" or more from top to bottom. If the tank is 30" tall, I'd estimate your fish at 5 or 6 inches. These fish appear to have an overall shape, coloration, and size more typical of regular scalares.

In any case, they're certainly beautiful fish displayed to perfection in a worthy setting.


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## Questin (Sep 30, 2007)

I would have to say that those are as large if not larger then 12" because I have seen them a lot in person. The photos are not really doing that tank justice, it is a very nice tank.


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## puttyman70 (Aug 7, 2007)

Very nice and clean tank. Is that a pedestal of riccia of hc in the center of the first picture, just below the furthest right fish? If so how did you do that. Also what are the two plants in the bottom left had corner? Again very nice!


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## windfish (Dec 5, 2007)

guaiac_boy said:


> Very nice tanks. I hope this is a trend that will continue to grow with more and more LFS's. A single show tank like the one in the first photo can prompt dozens of people to give the planted side of the hobby a try. I hope the owners appreciate your efforts.
> 
> I'm not 100% positive that the fish in the tank are true altums. They're beautiful, but I'd be interested to hear what others think. This might generate some controversy since the taxonomy of the genus Pterophyllum isn't perfectly clear. Altums typically have wider dark stripes than the white space in between. The pre-nuchal notch is seen in altums, but can also be seen in scalare varieties too. If healthy, true altums should be about 12" or more from top to bottom. If the tank is 30" tall, I'd estimate your fish at 5 or 6 inches. These fish appear to have an overall shape, coloration, and size more typical of regular scalares.
> 
> In any case, they're certainly beautiful fish displayed to perfection in a worthy setting.


I agree about those angels. They look more like some of the peruvian, possibly hybrid varieties I've seen than true altums.


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## Jessie (Apr 23, 2007)

Ooooh the main display is looking absolutely fabulous Travis! I'm shocked that you get such awesome growth with just CF's.

But it's really a tank that must be seen in person; those angels are larger than my hands. The Praecox and Roselines are full grown or very close to it, too. It's quite an awesome tank!

Travis, how do you supplement those tanks?


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## jazzlvr123 (Apr 29, 2007)

very nice setup reminds me of my day job lol


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## curt_914 (Sep 28, 2007)

They Do look great travis!! Looks Like I am going to be tearing down my 20 gallon and starting over. I am glad to have a store in town who really cares about plants. Most places I go there selection is horriable. But if travis dosent stock it he will see if he can get it!! Keep up the good work,

Curt


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## travis (Oct 5, 2004)

Thanks guys 

I am an African cichlid guy and don't really know the first thing about angel species so I'm sure you're probably right about them. I was told that they were Altums but that could certainly be incorrect. All I know is that they eat like pigs and are easy to confuse.

puttyman, yes that is a Riccia rock in the middle of the picture. If the image was better you might be able to tell that there is a large, gnarly piece of wood in the center of the tank that has several flat spots on which I've placed Riccia. I will try to get a better picture in the next few weeks. The plants in the bottom left hand corner are _Hygrophila balsamica, Cyperus helferi_, and _Hydrocotyle verticellata_.

Jessie, I supplement the tank with Greg Watson's macro ferts I mix myself and Seachem's Comprehensive and Iron for micros. Recently I've been testing out ADA's Phyton Git and Green Gain to see how they work but can't say anything one way or the other yet except that they both smell like Liquid Smoke and make me hungry.


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## lildark185 (Jul 7, 2006)

WOW. What a great day job. Just WOW


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## Jeff.:P:. (Nov 20, 2007)

Are you hiring?  
I'm jumpin on plane now, I'll be right over..


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## Jessie (Apr 23, 2007)

Neat! Are you doing nitrates?

Why do you make it look so easy? haha

I need to come in and buy more Seachem Iron sometime this week.


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## travis (Oct 5, 2004)

I'm only dosing PO4 and K right now. The fish do a great job of providing all the nitrates that the plants need.


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## sean-820 (Dec 26, 2006)

i want that job!


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## rich311k (Jun 24, 2006)

Nice looking tank, and what a day job.


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## Raul-7 (Feb 4, 2004)

Must be a dream job! The display tank looks stunning, definitely an eye-catcher to any customer.

Regarding the Altums. Morphologically, they have all the characteristics of being _Pterophyllum altum_. The variation in coloration could be down to their diet.


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## Amazon_Replica (Nov 24, 2007)

Good job, literally and complimentary lol. You get paid to do this? Sweeeet eace:


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## DarrylR (Dec 5, 2007)

Must be alot of trimming when the plants grow in more .


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## curt_914 (Sep 28, 2007)

Hey Travis how about some update pics for everyone. I was in there last week and The tanks have really filled out and look great!! 

Curt


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## Zippin (Oct 27, 2007)

I am lost for words... just gob smacked.. superb job and how long was i just looking at it i do not know... nicely done


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## taoyeah (Aug 8, 2007)

is the tonia belem dying?


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## Grendel (Apr 11, 2005)

I know Premier changed its name, but I have no idea what it's now called. Anyone know its new name?

Gracias!


G


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## Jessie (Apr 23, 2007)

Aqua Mart Online is the new name =]


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