# My 25 Gallon Planted Tank



## Philip.Chan.92 (Apr 25, 2010)

*My 25 Gallon Planted Tank (Update 1- May 25 2010)*

* New updates will be on the following pages
June 10 2010 [page 3]

-Updated May 25 2010 (1st pic is old tank, everything after is the updated one)

Added 2 convict cichlids since last time, and all cherry shrimps have unfortunately been eaten. Major changes is the substrate, it's now silica sand instead of black gravel. Plants are the same, just spread them out a bit so that they grow faster than then I can prune and replant . I also got a red crowntail betta today, can't think of a name yet, gotta see his personality first. He's in 1 gallon holding tank until I get my 10 gallon with neon tetras already in, gonna get that this saturday. Tell me what you think ;P

25 Gal
Current residents:
7 tiger barbs
7 Odessa Barbs
3 Peppered Corys
3 Albino BN fry (1 inch), 2 are being given away when they get slightly bigger.
2 Female Convict Cichlids (Thanks RiceBurner  )
All Cherry Shrimps have been eaten D:

Plants:
Hygro Polysperma
Hornwort
Cabomba

1 Gal Holding Tank
Red Crowntail Betta

Enjoy!


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## BettaBeats (Jan 14, 2010)

wait until the hygro polysperma grows up to the lights. the top of the plants will be pink, and have a very nice 'glow'

i like the use of the coconut husk and the stones. 

do you have any ideas of types of plants you might want to add? 
might be able to give more depth to the 'scape. maybe some anubias or crypts in and around the rockwork. 

let the hygro grow and it will really set the tank off with the pink. 
What type of lights? the plants look very green and vivid.


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## Philip.Chan.92 (Apr 25, 2010)

Thanks for all the praise, should have let them grow to the top instead of pruning lol.

I am planning to get some vals for the back and possibly just some small plants in the front. Need to get more gravel soon to be able to plant stuff in the front, only enough for the back half to be 1 inch thick and the front it half an inch thick.

Lighting is actually improvised atm, A normal light fixture 50 wats incandescent on the right and 13W fluorescent on the left, I basically took apart a desk lamp and it does wonders for my plants. Getting some compact fluorescents when I get the chance.


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## BettaBeats (Jan 14, 2010)

Did you replant your trimmings? That's a big key of turning a small clay ring of stem plant into a nice full bush-like appearance. Replant the trimmings! lol or trade.


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## Philip.Chan.92 (Apr 25, 2010)

I only trimmed the hygros and replanted them, now they are starting to form roots. You interested in trading for some?


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## BettaBeats (Jan 14, 2010)

Philip.Chan.92 said:


> I only trimmed the hygros and replanted them, now they are starting to form roots. You interested in trading for some?


i have my own hygro  I won't have any plants for trade for a bit. I only have a 10 gal


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## igor.kanshyn (Jan 14, 2010)

Nice tank and very healthy plants out there. Good job!


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## Philip.Chan.92 (Apr 25, 2010)

Thanks, my plants do pretty well, sometimes the random holes appear on some leaves but never all over. Planning to rescape soon, Going for part sand part gravel.


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## Fish_Man (Apr 9, 2010)

nice tank  

did you rescape it yet? You got two convicts now too right?

Aren't you still overstocked?


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## Philip.Chan.92 (Apr 25, 2010)

I believe I am overstocked, if I didn't have two filters the bioload would be too much but since my two dominant species are schooling species, the 1inch per gallon does not apply, my tiger barbs school very closely and so do my odessa barbs, which chase each other around. Convicts are always together, they are adorable when huddling together in one of the coconut husks, but then again, they are sisters after all . I will upload the pics as soon as I can along with a list of changes.


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## Fish_Man (Apr 9, 2010)

Philip.Chan.92 said:


> I believe I am overstocked, if I didn't have two filters the bioload would be too much but since my two dominant species are schooling species, the 1inch per gallon does not apply, my tiger barbs school very closely and so do my odessa barbs, which chase each other around. Convicts are always together, they are adorable when huddling together in one of the coconut husks, but then again, they are sisters after all . I will upload the pics as soon as I can along with a list of changes.


cool the convicts are huddling.. too bad they are sisters . You plan to get a male eventually?


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## Philip.Chan.92 (Apr 25, 2010)

Fish_Man said:


> cool the convicts are huddling.. too bad they are sisters . You plan to get a male eventually?


I actually can't the pair requires quite a bit of space if they are to breed and they become way too aggressive when they mate. I specifically got 2 females so they don't start spawning. They are also less aggressive than the males, which is good since my other fish are relatively smaller.


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## Riceburner (Mar 14, 2008)

Looks like they found a great home. And they should start to colour up more soon.

Now....PICS!!!!


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## Fish_Man (Apr 9, 2010)

pics pics pics!!!!


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## Philip.Chan.92 (Apr 25, 2010)

Updated - May 25 2010, deleted all my old pics except for the first pic, so you can compare and contrast. New members to the family are 2 convict cichlids (Jan and Cindy) adopted from RiceBurner Thanks so much  and 1 red crowntail betta that will be going into a 10 gal with neon tetras.


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## Fish_Man (Apr 9, 2010)

nice setup!


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## Riceburner (Mar 14, 2008)

looks like they should be happy.


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## Philip.Chan.92 (Apr 25, 2010)

I found a good piece of wood in my backyard, has a nice little cave for pleco has well. Just soaking it, most tannins are released but it might take a while before it starts sinking. Might start planing things on the driftwood and replace the current rock in my tank.


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

Good looking plant growth.

DO NOT, IMO use 'found' wood. Just too risky. Wood costs like $4 for a decent piece for that tank. FOUR dollars. Not worth it


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## Philip.Chan.92 (Apr 25, 2010)

Where do you get your driftwood for that cheap? BA is pretty pricey ):


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## Fish_Man (Apr 9, 2010)

Philip.Chan.92 said:


> Where do you get your driftwood for that cheap? BA is pretty pricey ):


Goto Frank's if you think BA is pretty pricey for driftwood.

He still has his 50% off on items.


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## Philip.Chan.92 (Apr 25, 2010)

How long is the sale going on for?


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## Fish_Man (Apr 9, 2010)

Philip.Chan.92 said:


> How long is the sale going on for?


End of May but he had it for April too, so maybe he might extend it to June too?
Not sure.


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## Philip.Chan.92 (Apr 25, 2010)

Alright, might go this weekend. Thanks for the notice  We should have a spot in Market section for specials, what is on special and where.


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

At BA's. Just select creatively. It doesn't have to be heavy. There's lots of big curved generally hollow pieces out there that look big but only weigh 2 lbs.


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## Philip.Chan.92 (Apr 25, 2010)

I'm gonna check out frank's apparently he has a 50% off sale


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## Philip.Chan.92 (Apr 25, 2010)

*Update: June 9, 2010*
Not my camera so sorry for lower quality.

Changes
New Plants:
Corkscrew Vals
Hair Grass
Drilled holes into driftwood to make a "hygro tree" 

New Fish:
Pleco - nipped the first few days, now left completely alone.

Removed - ABN Pleco and Cory Cats to another tank due to the aggression towards them from current inhabitants.


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## Riceburner (Mar 14, 2008)

The girls are looking happy. Planning to put some "caves" or over hangs for them?


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## Philip.Chan.92 (Apr 25, 2010)

I took out the coconut shells temporarily. Gonna take pics with my own camera so another update within the next week.


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## Philip.Chan.92 (Apr 25, 2010)

Update June 11 2010

Got a new Electric Blue Crayfish! Converted Hygro tree into Hygro log lolz.


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## PACMAN (Mar 4, 2010)

cool crayfish!


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## igor.kanshyn (Jan 14, 2010)

Nice color of a crayfish. Do they eat plants?

BTW, why don't you fill the tank full to the top? I think it will look better.


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## Philip.Chan.92 (Apr 25, 2010)

igor.kanshyn said:


> Nice color of a crayfish. Do they eat plants?
> 
> BTW, why don't you fill the tank full to the top? I think it will look better.


It evaporated and I used quite a bit to acclimate the crayfish in the bag.


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## igor.kanshyn (Jan 14, 2010)

Philip.Chan.92 said:


> It evaporated and I used quite a bit to acclimate the crayfish in the bag.


I see, I have to add some water every other day to keep my tank full.


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## Philip.Chan.92 (Apr 25, 2010)

igor.kanshyn said:


> I see, I have to add some water every other day to keep my tank full.


I find it better to wait till the end of the week, then I vacuum and then I top it off.


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Do they eat plants? Yes.


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## Philip.Chan.92 (Apr 25, 2010)

Ciddian said:


> Do they eat plants? Yes.


Ya I caught mine taking a nibble, they don't eat it excessively, mine preferred flakes. It would rather walk around the bottom and find leftover than start chewing up plants.


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

yea hopefully he stays that way. Mine loved to mow down any plants. He seemed to do well with tougher leaves so all he got was anubias. lol


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## Philip.Chan.92 (Apr 25, 2010)

Ciddian said:


> yea hopefully he stays that way. Mine loved to mow down any plants. He seemed to do well with tougher leaves so all he got was anubias. lol


Lol I have tons of plants so it should be fine, I just hope it doesn't eat all my hair grass  Ill just kept it well fed, hopefully it'll leave my plants alone. If only it stays its current size, it would be perfect, small and a fighter


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## Philip.Chan.92 (Apr 25, 2010)

*Update June 14 2010.*

Added tons of new plants. Trying to go for a forest type of look, inspired by a dream. A tree with different leaves was in my dream, tried to make it look natural and not "man-made" so I planted things messily on purpose  don't want my tank to look scripted and planned out. My fish appreciate the subdued lighting


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