# my 100 year project



## 207lauras (Jan 28, 2009)

Here is what I have been working on thus far:
40 gallon breeder tank
Emperor 400 filter
4 pieces mopani driftwood
Nova extreme T5HO lighting (on legs right now but will go on the glass as soon as it comes in)
200 watt heater (cant remember which model)
Currently housing 1 pleco and many fry in the breeder net. Will soon be moving fry to their own 10 gallon and putting the 2 danio and 2 glofish in this one~
I ordered 2 Java ferns and 2 bunches of Java moss which will be arriving on Thursday~
Yay! Cant wait till it's all done
I know it doesnt look like much now but I have big plans! Not sure if i want to add a bubble wand to the empty spot in the center. I also have 3 hollowed out pieces of bamboo coming that I will attach the java moss to and make them look like moss covered logs~ I am trying to go as natural as possible. Still need to get pics of up of my established 10 gallon. I wouldnt call that one natural, I let the kids pick out the gravel (neon purple and black) and the fake plants...Its nice but this new one is ALL MINE hahahahahahha!!!!


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## Kurtfr0 (Nov 2, 2008)

I like everything but the gravel and how its not filled up!

if you pull it off should look amazing.

put 2 huge bubble wands in the back under the gravel for a curtian. thats what I usually do in my 29's.


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## COM (Mar 15, 2008)

I like the look of it. May I suggest a black backrground?


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## 207lauras (Jan 28, 2009)

I was planning to do a black background eventually but that it at the bottom of the list at the moment. I just want to get all the essentials in place and go from there. 

~Do you think I need to add more gravel? I have 50lbs in there already!!


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## Kurtfr0 (Nov 2, 2008)

if you want to make caves i suppose but harder to clean but not much harder.

or add some sand? Idk lol. I make all most of my tanks look like there from a 4 year old girl who loves pink and cute things.


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## Kurtfr0 (Nov 2, 2008)

actually add more gravel.. and in the middle with about 10 inches get some rock and block off the gravel and put sand. and try a sunset back ground, it would look pretty neat.


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## 207lauras (Jan 28, 2009)

whaaaa? You mean make a strip of sand in the center of the tank? I am kinda confused by your suggestion...wouldnt that be a pain to clean the different substrates and keep them separated?


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## Kurtfr0 (Nov 2, 2008)

mm not really. let me find a picture for you.


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## Kurtfr0 (Nov 2, 2008)

http://www.projectaquarium.com/plantedAquarium_Open.aspx

THAT but just the middle, I've seen it done and its amazing, and would look beautiful for your plants


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## 207lauras (Jan 28, 2009)

ooooh thats beautiful!!!! it looks like I would need to clear out my gravel though.... hmmm or maybe start a new tank
decisions....


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## 207lauras (Jan 28, 2009)

that website is amazing...I wonder though if the plants need much pruning to keep them only on the sides? I am just beginning with the real plants so I think i will need to go pretty easy as a newbie!


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## Kurtfr0 (Nov 2, 2008)

most of those doods took it head on. lol. they usually do that in the middle with a VERY Sharp sunset back ground and WOW it looks amazing. I cant find the one Im talking about.. took me forever to find that.


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## trashion (Aug 24, 2007)

I wouldn't recommend mixing gravel and sand. They'll get mixed up and eventually all blend together. Kristin, an old member who was banned a few months ago tried it, and said it didn't comeo ut looking too great after a while.


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## Kurtfr0 (Nov 2, 2008)

you can't just let it dwindle, you have to take care of it. and you dont want cichlids, they will change it on you.

Good care it wont happen and i ASSUME laura is responsible fish keeper!


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## 207lauras (Jan 28, 2009)

I hope I am a responsible fish keeper....
I dont think I will go for it with the sand though, going to try and take it pretty easy with this tank, seeing as how it is the biggest one I have ever had and is going to be the first planted one as well. One step at a time...if most of the people on this forum are any indication, I will be getting the itch to set up another one REAL soon 
Thanks everyone for your feedback thus far
and
Do you think I need to add more gravel? My man says yes but only because he likes to watch me get frustrated over something that I am already obsessing over:chair:


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## COM (Mar 15, 2008)

I think you have plenty of gravel. No need to add more unless you want to.


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## 207lauras (Jan 28, 2009)

Ok, the bubble wand went in this afternoon. Looks good, I am going to try and hide the tubing with one of the java fern... I think I have finally settled on what fish I will be adding, they will be joining my 2 glofish, 2 zebra danios and 1 common pleco:
3 gardneri kiiis
1 betta
10 pygmy corys
6-8 black neon tetras
Hopefully everyone will get along ok. The fry will be going into the 10 gallon by themselves probably tomorrow and when they get big enough I will add a few to the 40 and keep a bunch in the 10 gallon.
Now if my plants would just get here....


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## Kurtfr0 (Nov 2, 2008)

not sure on the fish, but I don't think you need more gravel unless you need to make caves or you were gunna get cichlids.

ANd usually with the sand in the middle you want small tetras who CANT mess it up. so I guess it was good you decided not to


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## COM (Mar 15, 2008)

Might want to research those killies a bit more. I have heard a lot of accounts of difficulty when placing killis in a community.


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## 207lauras (Jan 28, 2009)

Ive searched around quite a bit and spoken to a few knowledgeable people here on the forum and the consensus was to try it and see how it goes. I always have the 10 gallon to fall back on if needed. I guess the Gardneri are the least aggressive of all, and when you get the higher female to male ratio it is supposed to help...So we will see... Keep your fingers crossed for me


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## trashion (Aug 24, 2007)

Seriously, I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend against adding the gardneris. When I worked at Petco, they would eat ANYTHING they could fit in their mouths.

They will definitely attempt to, and probably succeed at, eating your pygmy cories (which may kill the gardneris too, cories have spines that stick in other fishes' throats,) black neons, and danios. 

This is not me just parroting what I've read on the internet, I got very sick of having to move the group of gardneris from tank to tank, pulling bits of fish out of their mouths. Very mean fish, with HUGE mouths.


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## 207lauras (Jan 28, 2009)

Ok so I am still not making any definite decisions on the fish yet, I have a few weeks to slowly start filling up the tank. If I decide to forgo the killis (*sniff sniff*) are there any other fish I could replace them with? i am going to be adding some groups of smaller fish (tetras, danios, corys, etc) and would like to at least get a few good sized colorful surface dwellers who would do good in the community tank...any advice greatly appreciated!!


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## 207lauras (Jan 28, 2009)

*and*

if you have any recommendations in place of the killis, I would prefer a colorful surface dweller that wont shred the plants too badly~
Thanks!!


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## 207lauras (Jan 28, 2009)

What about a few gouramis in place of the killis (still havent made definite decision yet). I like the honey gouramis or the croaking gouramis. Would they get along ok with a betta?


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## Againsthecurent (Jan 22, 2009)

One of my favorites is the pearl grourami. If you get a couple I would suggest only one male and one or two females. The males are more colorful, but I have had to move one male to another tank. It just wouldn't leave the other alone. Of course this is true of all gouramies. It just depends on what you get. Of my two males one grew much faster than the other and began picking on all the other gouramies I had in the tank including a blue, a opaline, and the other pearl. The only one he wouldn't pick on was the paradise that was half his size.

we also have a sunset/honey and dwarf in my daughters tank. My kids love the gouramies.


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## 207lauras (Jan 28, 2009)

I like the powder blue dwarf gourami but have read that they are extremely shy. If I go this route I will be getting at least 3 -4 of them, is there a certain male to female ratio that I should be aware of? I am not getting them strictly for spawning purposes. Also I have read that they are happier in a tank that has floating plants. Are there any good ones out there for beginners?


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## trashion (Aug 24, 2007)

Gouramis + bettas usually don't get along too well. Anabantids don't mix.

How about a school of hatchetfish?


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## jones57742 (Sep 8, 2007)

2l:

I am just throwing this our for your consideration and nothing more.

When I reentered fish keeping after 35 years I contemplated the path which you are headed down, did a ton of research, and discarded my contemplation.

When you get into *gouramis* I believe that you may me limiting yourself with respect to a community tank.

You may be not also.

TR


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## Kurtfr0 (Nov 2, 2008)

I agree with jones gourami's can get mean and sometimes take out smaller fish.

Golden wonder killies could work mine are two inches huge mouths but never tried to eat my neons.

There not aggresive unlesss you have to males then thwy compete for food but really not many injurys.

also they stay at the top usually and be pet.


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## Againsthecurent (Jan 22, 2009)

I agree with jones. If you want to go with gouramies you limit your community tank choices quite a bit. I have had some that were very peaceful and others that would constantly harass other tank mates.


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## 207lauras (Jan 28, 2009)

Thanks everyone for the info...there are just so many options out there but trying to get every species happy in tank together is certainly exhausting. I was told that the killis would probably be fine in a tank with with quick fish such as tetras so maybe I will give that a go sans betta and keep a close eye out for any funny business. If they are trouble makers i will just move them to the 10 gallon. If that is the case I will be back on another post to figure out where to go from there. I looked into the hatchets and am just not that into them for some reason...
My real issue was trying to find a few larger fish that were also colorful as most of the species I will be putting in arent very flashy... Will keep you posted as more develops in the tank!


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## 207lauras (Jan 28, 2009)

*Update!*

The plants have arrived YAAAAAAAAAY!!! I was able to stuff (carefully stuff...) the rhizomes of both java fern into the existing cracks in the driftwood. I got 4 bunches of moss instead of 2 so I stuffed 2 bunches into different parts of the driftwood and have the other 2 bunches sitting in a container in the tank waiting for the bamboo pieces to arrive so I can secure them to that. 
How quickly will the java fern begin to grow and spread? (It looks like I could use WAY more but I know that it grows kind of profusely in good light, which I now have and that I can separate it into bare areas).
The danio and glofish have moved into the new tank and were pretty freaked out at first but are settling in. Tomorrow I will gently move the fry into the 10 gallon so that I can free them from the breeder!
I will try to get pics up in the next few days of the progress!
Now I can ssssllllooooowwwwllllyyyy start adding fish:fish::fish::fish:


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## 207lauras (Jan 28, 2009)

*Update: part dos*

Here it is with the new plants. The fish seem happy and the babies all survived the transition to the 10 gallon. Do I need to add more java fern to the sides or should I just wait till it fills in then re-distribute? If I wait, any idea how long it will take?? (and yes I know I need to top it off, it's low because I took a huge bucketful of water out with the babies and then got lazy...)


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## 207lauras (Jan 28, 2009)

*Update: part tres*

Oh man, this tank is soooooo cursed! The plants came (see above) all was going well and BAM both bulbs blew on my brand spankin new fixture. Called the company, apparently this has been happening recently,but only with the FW bulbs, so they are sending me new ones.... In the meantime my 2 anubias nana and 2 italian vals should be in tomorrow, hopefully the bulbs soon after. Whew! 
Glass came in today so I will get it tomorrow and hopefully get a top on my tank FINALLY!
I have finally nailed down the fish aspect of this (yeah the most fun part) and will slowly be adding:
12 pygmy corys
10 black neon tetra
1 betta (hopefully crowntail)
and Waaaaaay down the line 10 glofish/danio fry that are now growing big and strong in the 10 gallon!
I am hoping that I will not be adding much more into the money pit as I have been affectionately calling it!


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## 207lauras (Jan 28, 2009)

*I just cant stop updating this....somebody please stop me!*

It was a great day for the tank today!! Glass came in and IT FITS!!!!!!! Sooooooo happy about that! Plus I inherited a crown tail betta today also....wooohooo!!!!!
The pygmy corys should arrive tomorrow and the nanas anubias+italian vals on Friday.
ANNNNND, one of my lights started working again so at least I can see in there a little (the water has lots of tannins from the wood) here is the new pic!


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