# My 3 Foot Tank Journey



## arclaveus (Jun 2, 2005)

Hi all here r some pics of my 3ft x 18" x 18". It is now abt 2mths old. Feel free to comment. This is also my first post n i wld like to say a big Hello to all of ya!! Cheers n hope u all like my tank's scape!  
First Picture i took after setting it up for abt 2weeks: 08/04/05









28/05/05









Most recent pictures taken on 22/06/05:









Closeup of Left Side









Closeup of Right Side









Closeup of Tonina Sp.









Another pic from the front of the tank









ENJOY!!!


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## Jdinh04 (Oct 7, 2004)

Thats a sweet looking tank, ferts, C02, lighting, filtration?


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## arclaveus (Jun 2, 2005)

Jdinh04 said:


> Thats a sweet looking tank, ferts, C02, lighting, filtration?


Thanks for the comment!  
Co2: Injected Co2 from pressurized tank via Reactor @ 3bps: 23ppm
Lighting: 2PL x 36W (4hrs/day) 2PL x 55W (6hrs/day)
Filtration: Eheim 2026
Ferts: Dennerle A1, PG7, S7, TR7, E15, V30


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## soniacbt (Feb 15, 2005)

Beautiful tank. What's the plant on the right, left of the rock (in the fourth picture?). Looks really nice.


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## holocron (May 29, 2005)

tank looks spectacular! great plant choices and layout. Whats in the forground?


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## arclaveus (Jun 2, 2005)

holocron said:


> tank looks spectacular! great plant choices and layout. Whats in the forground?


Thanks for the comment! The foreground plant is E. Quadricostatus.



soniacbt said:


> Beautiful tank. What's the plant on the right, left of the rock (in the fourth picture?). Looks really nice.


Left of the wood actually  I'm oso not very sure...  maybe i can take a pic tom of the plant specifically n maybe one of the more experienced guys here can help me ID it


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## Piscesgirl (Feb 25, 2004)

Welcome to APC! 

I like the tank, nice to see the progression. The E. Quadricostatus, does that stay small? Is there a common name for it? I don't think I've seen that in the U.S.?


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## holocron (May 29, 2005)

I think it's referred to as broad leaf pygmy chain sword. I have some in my tank, but it didn't stay that small, it eventually bloomed leaves that were about 6" long.


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## arclaveus (Jun 2, 2005)

holocron said:


> I think it's referred to as broad leaf pygmy chain sword. I have some in my tank, but it didn't stay that small, it eventually bloomed leaves that were about 6" long.


Well bro holocron, u r prob rite abt it not staying small bt as far as i haf noticed, it only grows up to abt 8cm max. As for the name of the plant, i found IDed it from a plant book. This plant is usually used by ppl who haf 5 foot tanks with depth of abt 2- 2.5ft as foreground runners . I'm actually experimenting to see if regularly shortening the leaves wld induce to spring new leaves which dun grow too big. As far as i m concerned i haf tried tis method on one of the plantlets n it seems to b working. I haf thus employed tis method on the rest of the horde n can only really provide results to determine the effectiveness of the method in a few months  .


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## Fosty (Jun 6, 2004)

Your tank looks great! BTW, what its volume? I have a tank with the same height, and length, but its only 12 inches of depth, not your 18. Those extra 6 inches must be nice. Also, what fish do you have in there?


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## Jason Baliban (Feb 21, 2005)

arclaveus said:


> Thanks for the comment!
> Co2: Injected Co2 from pressurized tank via Reactor @ 3bps: 23ppm
> Lighting: 2PL x 36W (4hrs/day) 2PL x 55W (6hrs/day)
> Filtration: Eheim 2026
> Ferts: Dennerle A1, PG7, S7, TR7, E15, V30


Hey,
How are your exactly do you have your lights running? Do the two different kits ever run at the same time, or do they go off when the others come on? Thanks
Great looking tank!!!
jB


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## arclaveus (Jun 2, 2005)

Fosty said:


> Your tank looks great! BTW, what its volume? I have a tank with the same height, and length, but its only 12 inches of depth, not your 18. Those extra 6 inches must be nice. Also, what fish do you have in there?


Thanks for the comment bro! ANyway my tank is abt 45USG or 172L when filled to abt 90%. I haf quite a number of fish in there, will now attempt to list em...here goes  :

1) 15 x Rummie Nose Tetras
2) 2 x Copper Bettas 
3) 9 x Japanese Furcatas(Some ppl call em Gertrudaes or smth like tt)
4) 3 x Tri-band Pencilfish
5) 2 x Upsidedown Catfish 
6) 2 x Loach(dunno their names :-s )
7) 15 x Yamato Shrimps 
8) 2 x Zebra Snail
9) 5 x Otocinclus
10)2 x False Siamese Algae Eater
11) 1 x Florida Flagfish 
12) 4 x Hillstream Loaches

 Hope i gt their names rite!


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## arclaveus (Jun 2, 2005)

Jason Baliban said:


> Hey,
> How are your exactly do you have your lights running? Do the two different kits ever run at the same time, or do they go off when the others come on? Thanks
> Great looking tank!!!
> jB


Hi there! Well, i set 2 timers. One which controls the 2 x 55W lightset with Co2 Solenoid, n the other which controls the 2 x 36W lightset. The first timer will start at 0630hrs n switch off at 1230hrs, whilst the other timer only starts at 0730hrs n it switches off at abt 1130hrs. So during the period where both sets r switched on, the light intensity is abt 182W. I was jus trying to simulate daybreak then strong afternoon sun n finally the coming of dusk  Oh yea...thanks for the comment! CHeers!


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## holocron (May 29, 2005)

arclaveus said:


> Well bro holocron, u r prob rite abt it not staying small bt as far as i haf noticed, it only grows up to abt 8cm max. As for the name of the plant, i found IDed it from a plant book. This plant is usually used by ppl who haf 5 foot tanks with depth of abt 2- 2.5ft as foreground runners . I'm actually experimenting to see if regularly shortening the leaves wld induce to spring new leaves which dun grow too big. As far as i m concerned i haf tried tis method on one of the plantlets n it seems to b working. I haf thus employed tis method on the rest of the horde n can only really provide results to determine the effectiveness of the method in a few months  .


cool idea! I just let the leaves grow, i guess I just didn't have the patience to trim constantly. **** luck with the experiment.


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## Jason Baliban (Feb 21, 2005)

arclaveus said:


> Hi there! Well, i set 2 timers. One which controls the 2 x 55W lightset with Co2 Solenoid, n the other which controls the 2 x 36W lightset. The first timer will start at 0630hrs n switch off at 1230hrs, whilst the other timer only starts at 0730hrs n it switches off at abt 1130hrs. So during the period where both sets r switched on, the light intensity is abt 182W. I was jus trying to simulate daybreak then strong afternoon sun n finally the coming of dusk  Oh yea...thanks for the comment! CHeers!


Thanks for the explination!!! So you are only running your lights for 6 hours total with 4 hours of "super" light? Most folks go 8-10 hours......are you finding any issues with only 6?
Thanks
jB


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

Great looking tank... The Rummy-nose Tetra's look very nice with the scape.


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

Nice tank!

The only change I'd make is to raise the water level to above the trim... Any specific reason that you've kept the level lower?


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## arclaveus (Jun 2, 2005)

Jason Baliban said:


> Thanks for the explination!!! So you are only running your lights for 6 hours total with 4 hours of "super" light? Most folks go 8-10 hours......are you finding any issues with only 6?
> Thanks
> jB


The reason i go for 6hrs is coz i find tt with 8hrs of lighting, i begin to haf to trim my stem plants very often as they grow like mad!!  As far as i've observed, i'm jus getting reduced speed of growth. No algae probs 



Laith said:


> Nice tank!
> 
> The only change I'd make is to raise the water level to above the trim... Any specific reason that you've kept the level lower?


Actually there is a reason y its below the trim...its coz i'm using a surface skimmer n if i feel it to the trim, the tank's bracing ledge jams the surface skimming mechanism below the surface, rendering it useless.... ](*,) Thus the highest i can fill the tank up to abt the same level as the front black portion of the tank's bracing


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## Jdinh04 (Oct 7, 2004)

Arclaveus - I love the foreground as well, I am thinking about getting a tank the same dimensions. How hard is it to maintain, heavy?


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## arclaveus (Jun 2, 2005)

Jdinh04 said:


> Arclaveus - I love the foreground as well, I am thinking about getting a tank the same dimensions. How hard is it to maintain, heavy?


IMHO, i feel tt nt alot of work is required to maintain the tank.  I believe only in the first mth or so is when all the hard work is required to monitor the tank's conditions, for example Co2 saturation, pH, kH n stuff etc. After tt, i feel the only work required wld b the bi-weekly water changes of abt 25% n the dosage of liquid ferts plus trimming of plants whenever necessary.


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