# Mysterious



## rountreesj (Aug 14, 2007)

The stand is similar to an ADA stand, but my own style. 36"x18"x42".

Tank: Custom 36"x18"x16" total rimless made with 1/2" glass. (glasscages.com)

Lighting: 4x75 watt spiral compact flourescents. 6500k on for 3 hours for 2-4 weeks, then 5 hours. Later going 2x70 Metal Halide from fishneedit.com

Filtration:2 Eheim 2213's

Co2: 10lb. catalina cylinder 2bps.

Hardscape: Manzanita and locally collected rocks...lots of rocks...

Floura:
Needle fern
Bolbitis
Anubias nana "petite"
Rotala sp. green (narrow)
Rotala rotundifolia
Rotala colorata

Fauna:
20-30 white cloud minnows
4-6 ottos

Things I still need: another eheim 2213, maintenance tools(specifically thin scissors), 3 stainless or brushed nickle soap despensers for ferts, flow pipes for intake and output, and a background.(let me know if I need anything else)

Anyhow...some pics:

Rocks anyone?









That might not look like much rocks, but believe me, it was about 75-100lbs!!!

re-nourishment for all those calories I burned carrying those rocks a clouple of miles on my back.









This is how I attach the ferns. Just get a piece of wire, stack the ferns on it, and then twist it onto the wood. Piece of cake!


























All in all I'm pleased with it. I can actually see some of the rocks I worked so hard to get, and it looks more complete. Now I just need the stem plants.

Imputs welcome

Regards,
Stephen Rountree


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## rountreesj (Aug 14, 2007)

I took the ferns out and re-attached them. there are less of them, but they will grow in better now I think. the ferns are a tad thin right now, but they grow fast, so in a few months they will be just right...

pics today at 12:45(lunch time)

































I'll be getting some colorata from another member on plantedtank, so the back won't look so bare...

comments critiques welcome.


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## Jdinh04 (Oct 7, 2004)

I like it! this is similar to the route I want to go with eventually when I get a bigger tank. It will take some time for the ferns to fill in, but it will look nice if you do nourish them with the right nutrients.

What kind of sand are you using?


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## rountreesj (Aug 14, 2007)

the sand is from home depot. It is desert sand in like a liter bag for $4 it looks nice IMO. A mixture of colors.


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## Pinto (Mar 22, 2008)

Nice tank.
Wow sands only $4. NICE!


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## hooha (Apr 21, 2005)

I really like this setup and hardscape. The plant selection so far lends to a sustainable aquascape. Great job! Keep us posted


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## rountreesj (Aug 14, 2007)

maybe it wasnt a liter bag...i had to buy 4 of them, so it was probably a quart or so...I have closer to $20 in sand, but still, it looks good.


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## rountreesj (Aug 14, 2007)

quick update:

No Algae at all (of course no new plant growth either...) I have two 2213's now with a water change faucet plumbed in...

I will be getting MH pretty soon...but the spiral fluorescents will have to for now(they are the reason for little growth in the plants...

Some pics of the setup. Tank looks almost exactly as a few weeks ago...

The reason people ike to go starfire...although this is more blue than in person...









A better representation of the glass color...

















Now the in stand shots and the water change faucet...









See the faucet...it will pump water into the tank through the intake and return of the filter it seems to work well. I won't turn the water pressure all the way up, but that would blow crap all over my tank anyhow...









quick shots...

















I got some more pics, but I have to head back to work...

As always comments/critiques welcome.

Regards,
Stephen Rountree


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## NowMed (Feb 10, 2009)

Sweet :thumbsup:


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## king oz (Jun 27, 2007)

very nice, cant wait to see the new pics. I like the sand i just rescaped my tank and now have the middle section open for sand I will have to go take a look.


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## Ajax (Apr 3, 2006)

I really like your hardscape..shows a lot of potential once it fills in. I also like your water change idea, but I have one question. How do you dechlorinate the water before you fill up the tank (if its chlorinated water to begin with)? Pumping chlorinated water directly into your filter would be harmful to the bacteria for sure.


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## rountreesj (Aug 14, 2007)

I understand where you are coming from with the chlorine, but I've been doing water changes of this sort for about 3 years now. As long as at least 1/2 of the water is original tank water...the chlorine seems to have little or no effect on the tank. I usually only do 25% changes if there are fish in, lately, I've been doing 75% changes, but there are no fish...


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## baboo_jenge (Apr 6, 2007)

i really like ur tank... 
nice rocks by the way


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## hooha (Apr 21, 2005)

It's coming along nicely, great job!


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

I'd use dechlorinator regardless of how much water you are changing. I lost my angels and shrimp once when I forgot to add dechloreinator. The money it costs to buy the chemical is worth it if your fish are guaranteed not to die. On the other hand, if your water supply doesn't use chlorine or chloramines (like well water) then there is no point adding it.


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## hooha (Apr 21, 2005)

dechlor does add some safety if your water company decides to do some sort of change to your water supply. I've lost a whole tank of fish after a water change when the water company decided in the spring to start chloramines instead of chlorine.....


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## Fabac (Jul 2, 2006)

Looks really good!
On the 3rd picture from the back, is that co2 injection?


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## MARIMOBALL (Jun 20, 2007)

The whole set up looks nice and clean. I like the scape once you plant some stems it will soften the hard scape. Bolbitus would look awesome here. Im not a fan of red plants so If it were up to me, I would use many shades of green plants. Do you have a pic of your stand? Two 70watt Mh is a wonderful Idea not too much light great light spread across the tank, and really cool pendants. Great job overall.


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## Travis.808 (Apr 2, 2009)

Love the overall composition and use of space! Great work. Keep the pics coming. op2:


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## rountreesj (Aug 14, 2007)

I do have co2 injected into the tank. Right now I'm only pumping in about 1 bps because the minnows are young(oh got the minnows, that's an update) and i think with the low plant mass, the o2 levels wouldn't be sufficient. 

I did a slight re-scape and removed the curved piece of wood to the far right. I removed a clump or two of needle fern, and added some more petite. Now it looks slightly more symmetrical...but hopefully the stems can be trimmed to change that. I have more driftwood, and the needle fern is all in the 10 gallon, so if I need or want to add some back I can. I also have some more petite in the ten I will more than likely add. I am going to re-scape the 10 with sand and only use fizzidens and ferns, so I think the petites will go to the big tank, or to the swap-n-shop. 

Still zero algae. I want to add some ottos, but they would die I'm afraid. That is not a bad issue I don't guess. the HQI's are still planned, but I really want to wait for my federal check to come in as I don't want to use all of my money to get them. The spiral lights are doing the job, but they will never get me anything other than green out of my rotundifolia of colorata.

The twin filters are great! I will get two sets of glass intakes and outputs eventually. I'd like cal-aqua, but I think ebay has some that can compete and that my wallet will like much better. I also plan on attaching the two intakes near the filters and injecting the co2 so that the co2 goes into both filters. 

The water changer works good. No issues there. The chlorine didn't do any damage after the fish "stocked" water change, But what I didn't think of is the possibility of the water authorities changing the "recipe". I will stock up on some dechlorinator, in a lil' bit and feel safer.

pics when I get a chance. and then you can critique/comment...on the scape...

Regards
Stephen Rountree


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## rountreesj (Aug 14, 2007)

So updates...

Compare the old to the new...

Old:









New:

























See I still have plenty of room for stems!!! :









I tried to get a pic of the fish, but got a cool reflection pic instead:









Some closeups:

































Bolbitis growing OK:

















Gotta love petites!!! : 

































The fish (some of them):









I tried to get a good pic of the sand:









The stand:

















In-stand shot:









Custom double reg:









My tripod:









My favorite angle to view the tank from!!! :









Another cool angle:









anyways that's all the pics for now. Comments/critiques welcome.

Regards,
Stephen Rountree


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## Gliga (Feb 26, 2007)

Very nice and natural!!rayer:rayer:


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## hooha (Apr 21, 2005)

Looking good! What's the other CO2 for?


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## rountreesj (Aug 14, 2007)

the other co2 is for the 10 gal on my dresser...


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## Pinto (Mar 22, 2008)

Awesome lamps!
Still looking great


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## Scouter (Mar 3, 2008)

I love this tank! it looks like the epiphyte-only tank i've been planning on doing. (i know you have stems in it, but currently it looks like there's only epiphytes) I like the changes you made-makes it appear like two smaller bushes/trees and to me, more balanced and realistic.


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## skinns (Apr 8, 2004)

Great Job. Never seen lights like those. Very interesting. 

What happen to your carpet?


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## Darksome (Feb 15, 2009)

So rugged yet so natural. I like how everything just falls into place.


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## rountreesj (Aug 14, 2007)

thanks all for the compliments.

about the carpet...my parents are still deciding on which hardwood floors to get...


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## hooha (Apr 21, 2005)

any updates?


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## amphirion (Nov 13, 2008)

yes. i do love 'petites' speaking of which, this might seem like a no-brainer but im going to ask anyway. how did you manage to plant them? is there a proper technique to do it? when i try to, the roots end up all over the place sticking out of the substrate.


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## chadly (Dec 19, 2005)

very nice looking scape. It really inspires me.


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