# Dennis's 29 gallon journal



## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

I jus tmoved to a new place and decided it was the best time to set up a new and different aquarium. It was a lot of work moving all our belongings to a place, plus breaking down all my tanks but its all done now and I can focus on my new project.

The move was frustrating and I lost a lot of plants due to heat and time issues. Downoi, Tonina belem, Ludwigia arcuata, L cuba and Pogostemon stellata were a total loss but fortunately the Rotala macranda green, R indica, R vietnam, and some others made it just fine. I lost all my Cardinia japonica and SAEs but the otos and Corydoras pygmeaus (thank God, my favorite fish) handled the move just fine!

So, down to buisness:
Untitled aquascape (I am so bad with names)
29 gallon (actually ~25) 30x12x18 inchs
2x65 Orbit Satellite currently 1 tube on for 8 hours and one for 5 
eheim 2217 
Pressurized CO2 ~1bps on during lights, pH 5.9-6.4
Eco-Complete/Onyx mix with HTH pool filter sand forground
Manzanita wood and local rocks

Flora:
Rotala indica
Ludwigia arcuata (if it lives)
Rotala macranda green
Heteranthera zosterifolia
Rotala sp green 
Rotala vietnam
Mayaca fluviatalis
Didiplis diandria
Rotala colorata (soon)
Crypt cordata(?)
Cypress helferi (will not stay)
Anubias coffefolia
Anubias nana var. Petite
Riccia flutians
Bylxa japonica
Eriocaulon sp.

Fuana: 
Otocunclus affinis x5
Corydoras pygmeaus x6
Horned snail(?) x4
Tiger Nerite x1
Psuedomugil gertrudae (eventually) x12
Lemon tetras (eventually) x8
Cardinia japonica and or SAE (eventually)

Now for the pics....

Setup of substrate and hardscape:









Initial planting:









and more planting:









and finally Day 7:










Thanks for looking!


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## bigstick120 (Mar 8, 2005)

Looking good!


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## tslabaugh (Mar 11, 2006)

Wow, I really like that! It looks good for being recently set up!


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## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

Good start, more pictures as it progresses please


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## jeff63851 (Feb 23, 2005)

Wow! Looks great at day 7! I like your driftwood positions. Keep us posted!


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## banderbe (Nov 17, 2005)

What's the tall plant in the rear right? Looks like my C. spiralis.


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

That plant is Cypress helferi. It will probably be for sale soon

Thanks for the comments all. I will definately update with photos as the tank fills in.


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## banderbe (Nov 17, 2005)

Wow your C. helferi is huge. Mine is getting there but hasn't propagated itself like yours has..

Did you say you too were having issues with green spot on the older growth of your C. helferi?

I may get rid of mine eventually too if I can't cure it of getting a light bit of algae on older leaf ends.


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

Algae on the Cypress is not really an issue for me now. There was a time when it got a little ugly but fixing CO2 and dosing issues with the tank solved the problem. Trim off any old ugly leaves and you should be all set.


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

Nice Dennis. It's a shame I never got to stop by to see your 50 in person. Keep updating the photos over time. Fewer rocks than last time?


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

Thanks GB. Its to bad we were moving at the same time adn I never got to really wish you good luck in person. There is still APC though, home away from home

Yep, very few rocks. I planned on basically copying the latest arrangment from the 50 but the rocks were jsut way to big for the 12" deep tank. The piller arrangement is something I plan to go back to one day and the rocks are in a bucket in my ew basement. I really had no plans with this tank and truely threw it together in about 3 hours. The wood and rock sort of went where the "peices fit".

I just added 4 _Aphyocharax rathbuni, _aka Green Fire Tetras. Pretty little fish and all that the LFS had. Here is a photo, not mine, and here is a good article about them. Literature says they won't like my 6.0 pH but time will tell They are destressing at the moment and starting to look happy. Cute little buggers. I ordered 6 Cory pygmeaus and they said they will get in a large batch of the green fire tetras later this week. I decided against the lemon tetras after seeing how big and agressive the males acted. I will probably add 6-8 more green fire tetras and later maybe some cherry barbs or little rasboras or the Psudeomugil gertrudae or.....


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## wiste (Feb 10, 2006)

The angles on the driftwood are pleasing. What source of water did you use?


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

Thanks wiste. I ended up just using straight well water from a tap before the water softener. Gh about 24 and kH about 4.5 CO2 runs the pH down to about 6 so I don't think I will have many problems. 

I am already seeing good growth from all the plants in the tank. The Rotala vietnam is showing the most change, the growth is slow with super tight node spacing but the growth is a healthy red color with no stunting. Things should improve even more (knock on wood) as the fert levels build up to acceptable levels and everything stabilizes. The plants, wood, rock and Eco-Complete were all from my other tank, as was the filter and filter media so this one is basically pre-aged. I am also dosing lightly at first and running the lights for a short duration as the plant mass was originally very short and the fish were stressed.


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## neonfish3 (Feb 12, 2004)

Thats another great looking tank from you dennis! 
Love that driftwood!
Did you enter the 50 gallon in the AGA contest?

PS.
I'd like to get in line to buy the cypress when you decide to get rid of it


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

Thanks Steve. PM me about the Cypress and we can work out something.

Here is a photo of my new fish. Sorry for the poor quality.

_Aphyocharax rathbuni_:


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

Looking good Dennis. Out of curiosity, why are you ditching the Cyperus? I had some for a while, and really liked it, except it was an algae magnet.


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

I just feel it is to big and does not fit into my plan.


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

Not sure why that did not work before but here is Aphyocharax rathbuni:


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## raven_wilde (Nov 16, 2005)

Pretty fish! I assume that in person they are much greener, I've seen them once or twice at the LFS and if they're healthy their colours are beautiful. I like the idea of having cherry barbs in with them, same kind of body shape, except red, a good contrast.


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## Roy Deki (Apr 7, 2004)

Beautiful Dennis!!! Off to another great start, as usual.

Can wait to see the final product.


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

Photo update: Nothing has changed much. Added a few plants and have trimmed a time or two, nothing heavy though. I have not added more fish yet, though they are still on order. Please ignore the fuzzy glass, I am trying the "don't touch it for two weeks and it will go away" technique. I still don't think I like the cyperus....

7/17/2006 Day 31


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## Jdinh04 (Oct 7, 2004)

Looks good, is that normal riccia you have there or is it dwarf? and is that ammania sp. bonsai in the back left corner?


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

Thanks John! It is regular riccia and the plant in the back left (and also some hidden in the back middle) is the true Rotala indica, though it was labeled for a while as Ammania sp Bonsai. I have a thread with photos in teh "plants New to the Hobby" forum.

One interesting thing to mention, I just noticed tonight that the Eriocaulon is forming flowers. I seem to remember this means it will be melting and going dormant soon. I am not sur ewhat casued it but I am guessing it has something to do with the 95-100 degree temps for the past 4 days, maybe coupled with the high lighting burst mid day the plant thinks its time to flower and move on..... I hope I don't loose it, the bloody thing was expensive


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## Jdinh04 (Oct 7, 2004)

Oh okay, yeah those rotala indica and rotundifolia are really confusing. Sucks to hear about your eriocaulon, hope it doesn't melt for you. I got one about a week ago.


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

Beautiful - coming along very nicely. APC took a hit when you stepped down as aquascaping mod. That manzanita wood really takes on a great color after a while. Maybe what is bothering you about the Cyperus is that it's a bit too tall. I've tried Blyxa auberti lately and it might make a good substitute. It still provides some vertical, thin-leaf texture but it's a little shorter (at least in my tank so far).

I like the look of the Riccia too. I tossed mine a while ago since it was a pain to keep trimmed back, but I find myself missing it. The texture really is unique against the larger-leaf plants.

BTW, Bailin thinks that the "Didiplis" that I gave you is actually Rotala sp 'Nanjenshan'. I dunno. It looks like Didiplis to me, but he's usually right.


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

Looking good Dennis. I see some strands of algae from the C. helferi. I had that plant for a while, and while I loved the color, it was an algae magnet. I no longer have it.


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

Yeah, it does attract some algae in new setups but I find once the tank is balanced the problem goes away. The algae on the Cyperus is no worse than on the Anubias, not that that is a good thing.

GB- Thanks for the kudos man. The plant you gave me is definately Didiplis, having at one time grown it right next to R. nanjenshen, I can promise the ID is correct. Thats not to say Bailin is not IDing your plant correctly, cause if I remember correctly, I gave you some of the Rotala after you gave me some Didiplis. I like the riccia also, my original intent was to grow out my little portion and sell it all, but I think I like it. It deeds divided though, so I think I will add one or 3 more stones of it. Thanks for the B auberti tip, I may consider that.


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## Texex94 (Jul 29, 2004)

Looks great Dennis. I can't wait to see it after it's had some time to settle in and mature.

The plant that I babysat for Bryce did look like Didiplis, although I still think it's R. sp. "nanjenshan". I always remembered Didiplis having "seeds" at the internodes and the leaves didn't quite come to a point as I've seen with Didiplis. I'd like to get other opinions on whether I'm accurate or not. I may be wrong in this instance.

Bailin


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

Bailin, try the PlantFinder here at APC. Its a great resource!

I definately have Diandra in my tank; although, that by no means indicates you were not babysitting nanjenhsan for GB

From the PlantFinder:
Rotala sp "Nanjenshan":









and Didiplis diandra:


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

Oh, and thanks for the nice words


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## Texex94 (Jul 29, 2004)

Do you recall how many leaves come off of each internode? That would definitely let me know what I was working with. Bryce???

Bailin


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

At each internode there are exactly 2 leaves, 180 degrees apart. Each internode is arranged 90 degrees apart from the one adjacent to it. From above, the leaves look like they come out forming a cross or x. If it is Didiplis, I'm a little surprised at how well it's recovering in this rock-hard water. It's putting out new growth like crazy.


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

Sounds like Didiplis. Does it look like teh photo I posted? For what is worth, re: hard water, I have Gh24 adn kH 4.5, mine is growing like crazy.

A little photo update. I did a major trim yesterday and a thorough cleaning. Also, i got 9 more Green Fire Tetras, A. rathbuni on Thursday. They all seem happy and healthy and are beginning to school. They are not tight schoolers but no worse than many types of bait.

Photo update, day 37:


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## Jdinh04 (Oct 7, 2004)

Looks good dennis! I see that you split the riccia and made more stones. It'll look great once its grown back, but for some reason that Cyprus looks odd, it seems to big to be in the 29g ... probably crypy. retrospralis or what ever its called could replace it ...


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

Wow. Major buzz cut. It looks like the Eriocaulon is still doing ok - I seem to remember you were worried about it. What species of Bacopa (?) is that in the left back corner?

I think the entire foreground would look pretty cool if it were covered in Riccia, but it isn't exactly the easiest thing to maintain.


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

The Eriocaulon is actually sending up flower/seed bud and from other's experiences, when that happens the plant eventually melts, although I belive it should come back, and with babies. I jsut hope it does not start to look bad at an inconvient time because I don't have anything else to do with it.

In the back left corner is Rotala indica and the taller green one next to it is Bacopa sp. "Araguaia". I actually like that plant a lot and its really the only Bacopa I like. Teh stem and leaves are covered with a fine hair and the color and veining of the leaves is way cooler in person.

A full Riccia forground might be cool, and the idea has crossed my mind, but I still want to keep the white sand for a while. I've always wanted a tank with the ****e forground. Maintaining the riccia would not be to bad, really. You can go for a month without redoing the rocks and then there is nothing to replant, just pull out the rocks and rety everything up in the counter, or sitting at the table. If I were going to do the whole thing I think I would use larger rocks, thin pieces of slate broken into roughly the correct shape


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

This layout never really turned in to anything I liked. The layout itself was not all that good but then I got busy. Life, algae and the collectoritis mentality messed things up even further. About three weeks ago I rescaped the tank and this is how it looks today. The glass is pretty grungy, the sand foreground needs cleaned up and the photo is not very good..... Alright! enough complaining.


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## Kelley (Aug 27, 2006)

I think that your tank looks just great! I have a 29 and it looks horrid right now! Every algae known to man has tanken hold. Yuck!

I think that you have utilized the space quite well. The background stems look a bit hap-hazard. Maybe if you used a single species or used larger groups? Perhaps when things grow in a bit it will be fine. 

I really like the long "road" of Anubias nana 'petite'. It is a nice contrast with the rocks. 

Thank you for showing me how good a 29 can look!


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## Steven_Chong (Mar 17, 2005)

IMO, this layout is the best one so far for this tank. Defeat the collectoritis, get the different plants each some good space, and it'll be really beautiful I think.

It sets me at ease as if I'm in a tropical jungle


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

Thanks for the good comments Kelley and Steven. I agree that the background plants need definition. As always, a few of the species or bunches are there until the next club meeting or until they have grown out enough to sell. I wondered if the Anubis on the rock was too much?


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## Steven_Chong (Mar 17, 2005)

IMO, anubias nana/petite groups can almost never be too thick. They have their best look when thick.

Maybe for me, because I know it's so easy to buy an anubias bunch and stick it in, anubias that's relaly thick and developed makes me feel like it's more matured but, it really does look better I think.


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