# 30 gallon tank log



## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Hey guys!

So Jim (jimbogregs) was a doll and let me tear down his wonderful planted cube and bring the plants home with me.
I planted and lost some of the plants as i am clumsy at planting.. >.>

I just thought i would share what i have atm. I tend to move things around everyonce and a while, but things are starting to fit nicely.

I know you can see a lot of hardware and i will be triyig to fix that. I am horrid at cleaning class too. LoL So sorry for that.

I did loose a head tail lite tetra from the last i spoke with you Jim, and some of the neons stressed badly, I think i had neon tetra disease crop up but i still have one guy left.  I picked up some cardinals so he doesnt feel so alone.

As you can see if you look close the platy have been hard at work! We have five new babies that are growing well each day ^^

The SAE's are just awesome... 
Thank you so much again James :3

Tips, concerns and comments welcome!


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## wtac (Mar 17, 2006)

Look'n good Cid. Layout has lots of potential .

Don't worry about the visible hardware, as you add more plants, they'll get hidden .


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## nightowl1350 (Mar 19, 2006)

Looks good so far. Planted tanks need time to mature  so don't sweat over it too much. As the plants grow you will see the spaces fill in. I've never been much for plants, but they do look great and in my fry tanks the live plants I do have keep the water quality up and give small fry places to eat and hide 

Give it a month or so then post a new pic.


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Thanks guys! I will 

Its extreamly hard to leave it alone... XD


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Got some of the new lights that harold got in....i must say i am pleased!!!!!!

Makes it easier to take photos too. 
Here's a shot of one of my cardinals.. :3









More tank photos soon... ^^


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Update!

Got a bran new light, a 24inch HO T5 twin strip with two 6700k blubs. Its made my plants go baby crazy...

The wisteria is sending out shoots, the crinkled crypts have already sent out babies. The african fern has sprouted new leaves for me as well. 
Atm i am having some hair algae issues but i have been spot treating with Excel and it did seem to help  I manually removed it.

New additions in mind. 
More plants,
Co2 possibly...
Flying Fox
Amano Shrimp

These photos had been taken Feb6th/07


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## Coyote24 (Jan 26, 2007)

*nice*

Very nice Ciddian,

The plants are growing nicely too and the tetras looks happy 

a.


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Just a few more photos... More updates soon 
My lone neon...  Had a bad wave of neon disease whipe them out when i brought them home from a past owner.








Everyone likes platys.. :3








Some of the cardinals... These guys are huge now!








Just another angle..
















Quick look back. When the tank was first set up! Always have faith in your new tank... It will fill in! ^^


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

So sorry i dont have any dates on these...


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## Coyote24 (Jan 26, 2007)

*hummm*

Very nice Ciddian 


a.


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## mabviper (Nov 25, 2006)

It filled in quite well ^^. I like that plant on the lower right of the picture, the grassy brush plant looks awesome. What is it called?


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## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)

That really is an awesome tank. I love the foreground especially


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

I have no idea..  Someone might be able to ID it..

Thanks so much Coyote and pablo...

Do you think i should put something in the very front? What would you reccomend?


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Some more photos! These are the most recent 

The snail from heaven.... Bought it as a Sun snail, if anyone has know exactly what it is i would love to know. Its much like a nerite snail. It is EXCELLENT at keeping algae off the glass....I love you, you wonderfully wonderful snailie poos... :wub:









Two betta girls from Ontario (think thats her nick on here lol) These two have funny heads... One might be a boy.. 








Female male guppy... My male gets bullied anywhere he goes. Even his girlfriend picks on him... lol. Two oldies 









Old male guppy... :wub:









Busy tank shot









One of the platies...









Flying fox... Love these guys! 









PLaty!









Platy....









Look!....its a platy... O_O









Omg... they doubled!... like rabbits i tell you!









Thanks for looking, hope you enjoy


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## Coyote24 (Jan 26, 2007)

**

Thanks ciddian,

Very nice, I have to take pic of my tank too. It did change in the past few weeks!


Cheers,
a


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## WaterWorld (May 7, 2006)

Tanks looking great. Let us know when you're doing any plant trimming.


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## Brian (Mar 14, 2006)

Its filled in very nicely.

What exactly is the equipment you have on there?


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## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)

The spikey dude is a kind of nerite snail. Call harold he'll tell you the scientific name.


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Thanks guys! 

Thanks pablo, i'll have to get a hold of him and ask. I kinda thought so because it has the same sort of foot/mouth combo... if that makes any sense.. lol

Brian, all i have is an Filstar Xp1 and a hagen twin tube HOT5 
Ooohh and a heater ^^


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## Brian (Mar 14, 2006)

You wouldn't happen to know the names of the plants by any chance and what substrate?

That tank is making me want to do the planted tank more and more.


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Hmmm... might be a dwarf sword
Java fern
African Fern
Brown crypt
A crinkled crypt...dont know the name
java moss
wisteria
Marimo ball
Tall grass stuff isnt doing too well along with the rounded leaf plant. 

All pretty simple plants


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## Fishfinder (Feb 17, 2008)

Hey, Any updates on this??


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## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)

*sigh

Stop trying so hard you're making me feel inadequate.

You know how hard I have to work now to go set something up like that so I'll feel good about myself again?

I'm not looking forward to it 

The platy/cardinal thing works very well I never saw that combo before

For what its worth... I grow a mean algae. Too bad there's no "The Algaed Tank".com


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

awee pablo.. it looks nothing like that anymore.. D:

i'll get an update asap. I think the tank needs a redo.

Sadly the large platies passed away but the cardinals are still doing well  The platies had been originally purchased from another member on the board. He had neons which stressed from the tank change and i ended up going with cardinals.


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## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)

well they do have the genetic diversity of planaria at this point


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

The tall grass like plant in the far left is probably Hairgrass (Eleocharis spp), and the rounded leaf plant may be Bacopa spp., it's hard to tell. At first, I thought it was Hydrocotyle, but the leaves should not grow in pairs (the plant also looks as if it's a stem plant...)

Edit: The Crypt that is just to the left of dead centre might be Crypt. willsii or a wendtii, but again, hard to tell.


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Those two arnt in the tank anymore. Didnt do well.  Lots of stuff is a miss in this tank.. But with tabatha's help i'll prolly start Co2 and such. 

Terrible messy.... ick.









Everything is yellowing out...


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

I cut out a lot of the plants... gave a lot away too. Yanked the wisteria.

Moved junk around...










This photo isnt 100% updated. Tabatha gave me some new rich gravel!  Hopefully everything starts to grow lush again. The plants are so pissed with me with all the moving they dont look great ATM. I was also impatient and tried to plant with a cloudy tank... Looks like i had a case of beer and did it. Hehe..eww. X)

Lost the platies, moved some fish.. added different fish. 














































The harliquins (sp) are new, the cardinals are not... sorry about the flash there too.


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## Tabatha (Dec 29, 2007)

Wow Cid, you take the best close-ups! What kind of camera do you have?!?

It's a great start! All you need now is a little C02 and some ferts!


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## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v63/Ciddian/fishtanks/DSC02905.jpg

What you call messy your fish call ideal. Seriously the tangled non feng-shui setups are what the fish like best.

I liked it too.


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## Tabatha (Dec 29, 2007)

Pablo said:


> http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v63/Ciddian/fishtanks/DSC02905.jpg
> 
> What you call messy your fish call ideal. Seriously the tangled non feng-shui setups are what the fish like best.
> 
> I liked it too.


I know what you mean Pablo. In the beginning, I really wanted to recreate Amano's aquascapes. It didn't take to long to learn that the fish prefer the exact opposite!


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Tabatha said:


> Wow Cid, you take the best close-ups! What kind of camera do you have?!?
> 
> It's a great start! All you need now is a little C02 and some ferts!


Its a sony somthing somthing.... 

I have a photo if that helps. LOL 









Lots and lots of practice and 100 shots later.. i get a few nice ones. X)

I know what you mean pablo.. Its just that the plants started to die. Hopefully now with tabatha's help it should go crazy again. Remeber when i first started? That didnt last too long.. ^_^


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## Fishfinder (Feb 17, 2008)

Ciddian said:


>


That was a monster pruning!!! Yet the right side of ur tank still looks like a crazy jungle! with like savanna grass lands and like an outcropping of plants! That tank must have been so dense considering how many plants i had gotten from you, and u said other ppl got some also. WoW! and plans for the center back section?
Edit: insert idea! : MOSS WALL!!!!


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Hey Ciddian,

Do you want some sunset platies? I have a bunch that I am trying to figure out what to do with...well trained, docile, will deliver!

Seriously though, I have too many and would love to give them a good home. I could give you any stage of their lives...old, mature, teen, child, infant.


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Ooohhhh sunset!  I would love some.. but i have to wait for the moment.  I have three females betta comming from a breeder and i have to see if they do okay in the tank. I am unsure of thier temperment so i'll have to see how things go...

Thank you so much for the offer!

Ha FF!  I know.. there was so much in that tank... those reds in the corner there started from 1 plant. (in one of the photos above) the root ball was plate size when i pulled it out!

About 8 more plants have been moved to different tanks too XD 

A moss wall would be fantastic... i'll have to see if i can mimic Jrs' set up for that.


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## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)

Chris Stewart said:


> Hey Ciddian,
> 
> Do you want some sunset platies? I have a bunch that I am trying to figure out what to do with...well trained, docile, will deliver!


I didn't know you could train something that was essentially a cabbage with the ability to swim


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Well, they have other abilities such as eating, pooping and sex.

My training regimen typically enforces their excellent skills in these areas and tries to transfer the positive reinforcement into other areas, such as math and literature.


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## KnaveTO (May 13, 2007)

The snail in your tank looks like a porcupine snail. I have seen them at Menagerie on a number of occasions.

As for your tank... looks great!


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## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)

Chris Stewart said:


> Well, they have other abilities such as eating, pooping and sex.
> 
> .


A cabbage also eats (Intake of nutrients/co2), poops (excretion of gasses) and has sex (pollenation) and reproduces (seeds)

the fish can get around a lot faster though.


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Actually, Cabbage is interesting in that it will not self-pollenate or be pollenated by genetically similar Cabbage.

Platies, however, have no problem with VERY similar genetic structures. If physically possible, I'm also sure Platies would "self-pollenate" so to speak. So, I would say then that there is a huge difference between Cabbage and Platies!  

Sorry for derailing the thread here Ciddian...haha


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Hehehe no worries at all! 

Sorry i didnt realize i had two of these logs going. eep.. Lemmie update this one a bit more.

Here is a shot from march 12th









And the flag i showed you guys.. I gotta get some shots of the girls somtime. I split them because they spawn -all- the time now. Omg do i love these fish.. They dont mix too cool with betta. learned the hard way. lol (The betta is just fine..  )


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Went to menagerie with tabatha and picked up some new plants! I got some val in the back that is doing poorly.. I hope it picks up cause i really love the look of it.

This is April 21st 08









Spixi, never ending spixi :3


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## Tabatha (Dec 29, 2007)

My val always melts a bit at first but it does recover and spread. Do you have any ferts at home?

- t.


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## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)

That's freaking EXCELLENT Jess. Like seriously. Holy crapp.

That's really really really really good. It was good before but now its freakin wicked good.

You managed to make a tank that is both very organized but looks like it could have happened naturally at the same time. That's just awesome.

I could never pull that off.


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## kweenshaker (Mar 11, 2006)

that tank looks great.
cool snail too....I'm assuming they don't eat plants?


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## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)

Nope. They just run on high octane asolene


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

LOL Thanks so much pablo and guys  You can see the plants and bits with black algae so i'll be clipping that back slowly..You can see the new clean grean growth on top hehe 

I cant wait for it to get bushy and a bit over grown looking.. After ripping it out i didnt realize how much i would miss it.

Naw tabatha.. I dont have much. I have Iron and Excel carbon


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## Tabatha (Dec 29, 2007)

Personally, I love ferts, I see such a huge difference in growth after using them.


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Yup yup, its in the plan


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## Tabatha (Dec 29, 2007)

Is this going to be your uber planted tank jungle?


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

LOL maybe one day.. I am bummed i will have to tear it down for the move bit till then i wont worry about it. 

I gave all the grass stuff a hair cut because it was trying to come back from some algae issues. The boilits (sp?) is growing well now! It did not do well when the tank was low tech.

The grass grew back in, in about a week! LOL

No flash









Flash









( i know you guys hate these... >.> But i love them.. So look away)


















Some of those gold spots i picked up from the auction
I am worried they are a bit too thin still...









I got some ricca from Kash (ty!) to send to a friend in guelp, So i kept it in my tank for a bit till i could send it. I had little bits left over.. The little bits turned into a mat!


















There are two new mosses in there. Some of Jrs'  From what i recall one is weeping and one is christmas but i havent done anything let cause i will be moving stuff around.

Thanks for looking!


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## Katalyst (Jul 29, 2007)

It looks great Jess! Maybe hanging out with you & Tabatha will inspire me to replant my 90 gallon and try again.


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## Tabatha (Dec 29, 2007)

Katalyst said:


> It looks great Jess! Maybe hanging out with you & Tabatha will inspire me to replant my 90 gallon and try again.


Cid, your tank is looking terrific! I need to get some riccia!!!

Kat, I'd love to help you with that project!!!


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## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v63/Ciddian/fishtanks/DSC03239.jpg

I agree this guy needs some more vittles 

Really going to be a nice pleco though

Your tank continues to look nicer all the time. I like how you floated the Riccia like how it is naturally.

Thats a really pregnant looking ram there too eh?

Ever going to carpet the open gravel space with some thatched java moss or something?


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

yup i wanted to...but everyones going to a different tank soon and that tanks going up for sale. 

THanks guys... 

Pablo, whats best to fatten up those guys? i have been giving them lots of zucinni and such, they go crazy on the driftwood in there..


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## Tabatha (Dec 29, 2007)

Our plecos (and everyone else in the tank) go crazy for Sera Catfish Chips, they're expensive but imo, well worth the cost! A 500 mL jar from Doug costs $30.00.


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## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)

Ciddian- food:

Catfish chips as mentioned are good. I used them too when I had plecos. Its a good food its just too bad Sera overcharges for it. Its a good idea to use it just because of the willow and alder wood. Its not a good primary diet though.

Zucchini is mostly water and in my opinion is only acceptable as a treat- others opinions may differ.

The diet I had my bushynose on was:

Sinking pellets- such as- very high quality shrimp pellet, high quality sinking food, such as new life spectrum pleco food, high quality algae wafer (ask Harold I've been out of the loop too long to know for sure which brand is currently best), frozen foods, ideally crustaceans, such as mysis shrimp, and algae/wood they find in your tank.

For a thin pleco that needs to bulk up I find Tetramin Bottomin (the snail grower) is unbeatable.

Remember that many plecos- bushynose for sure- benefit from an omnivorous diet


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## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)

Ciddian said:


> yup i wanted to...but everyones going to a different tank soon and that tanks going up for sale.
> 
> THanks guys...
> 
> Pablo, whats best to fatten up those guys? i have been giving them lots of zucinni and such, they go crazy on the driftwood in there..


Will you be selling it with co2/plants/ everything as is- minus fish?


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## KnaveTO (May 13, 2007)

Ancistrus are omnivores that is true, however they require a very high ruffage content in their diet. Too much meat can cause them to have intestinal issues. My Ancistrus are fed on sinking algae wafers, lima beans, zuchinni, as well as the occasional carnivore pellet and any brine shrimp or blood worm that somehow makes it to the bottom of the tank. I will definately disagree with Pablo on the zuchinni issue. Almost all specialized pleco keepers agree zuchinni is pretty much a staple to their diet. Fresh veggies are a must for these guys. Do not blanch or remove the skin of the vegetable either. Place it in your tank and weight it down with a knife or some other heavy stainless steel object. Do not use elastic bands attached to a rock or other such. The will eat the rubber band and possibly die from the stomach problems that will result from it.


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Ahhhh thanks guys 

Yea i dont blanch Too lazy.. LOL i just shove it in the rocks or let it float and they find it. i'll make sure to add more.. I was throwing in some of those great tablets too pablo, its just the CAE's are agressive... 

We get a bigger tank it will be much better.

The whole stand will be going. Just bare tank thou..


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Well..... So... lol

We had plans on moving. Bob wanted me to give away a lot of tanks and stuff so that we wouldnt frighten the new landlords. So I sold the 30 Gallon and compressed everything into two 20's.

A year and a half later we are still friggin here.. D: Ha.. but thats a whole nother story.

The plants have grown like mad and for the longest time I just let it go.. (I had to transfer everything in one day so it was a very messy planting. The fish dont seem to mind thank heavens..










w/ flash


















overgrown hell.. lol









Flash photos are gross


















BN









Rummy!! I love how red they are.. <3


















Harli









Cards









BN









One of my guppies

















Thanks for looking! Comments, suggestions are always welcomed.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Whoa! I wasn't sure if I saw correctly, but that tank is mad overgrown!!

Time for a huge trim back Jess! But it is kind of cool with all the roots.


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

already done ^^... about 70% of that is just parrots feather... =turtle food. LOL

I am afraid to trim too much out (the main plants) but I'll get to it eventually.


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## Sunstar (Jul 29, 2008)

Holy, I thought my tank was over grown.


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## pat3612 (Jan 29, 2008)

Wow Cid nice fish your plants must love it in there. Want me to sent over one of my landscaping crew.lol


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Yaaa! You do a wonderful job!


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