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Permalink Reply by John Maloney on February 4, 2013 at 12:45am

i have my 10 gal that i first used in 1987.  when i dirt and fill up my 20 gal, i am planning on putting the fish and shrimp in the 10 for a couple of days with an air stone only. i'm expecting to do a lot of filtering and water changing to get the water clean in the 20 for planting and fish re-introduction.  the question is how will the 4 inch bala shark, gourami, emperor tetra, x-ray cat, pleco, and 2 shrimp to living together in such close quarters?  should i put my fake plants in there to give some separation? i think so.  as far as my new substrate, i'm thinking dirt on the bottom with some clay mixed in.  then at first i wanted to cap it with some fine black inert gravel, but i couldn't find that so now i'm thinking of capping with eco complete because of how it looks and what it does.  

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Permalink Reply by John Maloney on February 5, 2013 at 11:17pm

got a 20 lb bag of eco complete for 10 bucks, a bag of florite red for 25.  gonna build a diy air pump filter for the 10 while the fish are in there temporarily.  how long will that be? ive read that some people wait 30 days, some put fish in the next day. i think ill let my water tests tell me and then just do one fish first.  probably the bala shark bc he gets so big, if i lose him its not that big a loss. although we have had "Sharky" for a while.  Hoping to start tomorrow.

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Permalink Reply by John Maloney on February 12, 2013 at 12:55am

feb 10th we had a massive blizzard on long island so, stuck in the house, i transferred the fish, drained the tank.  added my pre-soaked dirt, florite, and eco complete.  when filling i was pleased with the clarity of the water.  Since I'm using old media and i saved the old water, i believe that im ready to plant and re stock.  Too bad i am working a 6 day shift and will have to   wait till next Sunday to get my plants.  I love anubias and i know the java fern will do well in my low light tank.  not sure what else to get.  trying not to have to do a diy hook to upgrade the lights bc i know it wont look pretty enough for the women in my house

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Permalink Reply by John Maloney on February 17, 2013 at 12:16am

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Permalink Reply by John Maloney on February 17, 2013 at 12:34am

had time on a friday morning before work at 12:30 PM, couldn't wait for the weekend.  Hit the lfs, drained a bunch of water, and started scaping.  so much fun. i got it refilled and everything cleaned up just in time.  I want to make some changes, for instance the red coloring of the ludwigia is lost next to the driftwood so i'm prob gonna switch it with the wisteria.  some more hardscape is needed i think. the micro sword carpet needs to be cut up and tied off to some things. plus i have 3 more bulbs that i'll prob plant in front.  I still want anubias but ill wait a bit until i see how this setup is growing.  i added the light from the 10g hood to this tank by just placing it in the front opening of the 20 gal. i think its going to be a good tank.  will i get lots of snails?  am i going to get a clown loach to eat them?  time will tell.

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Permalink Reply by John Maloney on March 21, 2013 at 11:11pm

maybe 2 snails, no loach coming.  Besides the tri-color shark stirs up the stuff on the bottom something fierce when hes hoovering for food.

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