Getting Sorority home ready

[iamtetsuo]

So going to be doing a sorority this time around. LFS guy is thrilled said he's never had a customer try one before. Anyways spent today setting up the tank:





Here we have a jaguar skull that doubles as a cave, as well as a red melon sword in the background. It's a bit beat up but I got it 50% off because of that



And here we have the centerpiece driftwood which has been planted with anubis nana and java fern. The centerpiece driftwood has a natural cave in it too! In the back we have more java fern on another piece of driftwood. And at the edge there we have my pirate skull which also doubles as a cave.

The tank is a 20 gallon, substrate is Eco Complete, 75watt Jager Heater, and Duetto 100 sponge filter.

[laughing]

I would add some type of val or grass plant for more coverage. Maybe add some "top" decor, too?

I love the driftwood and skulls! I think it'll look amazing when all the plants grow out! C:

[Thunderloon]

Be careful not to exceed the Duetto's capacity.
You'll probably also have to siphon sweep often underneath it; I'm betting debris will collect down there.

With it against the wall some kind of back-drop might be a good idea. I've a friend who grows herbs in a tray behind her tank for the color, they use the tank light as well.

How many girls are you thinking of getting?

[laughing]

Personally, I think 7 or 9 girls would look wonderful. ^^

[iamtetsuo]

Going to be at least 6 girls. I might add some albino corys too, so I'll start with 6 and go from there.

The Duetto is rated to 20 gallons, even so it's mainly there just to provide current and make the water clear. The plants provide most of the filtering capacity.

I might add a background, but that's going to be difficult now that the tanks full of water

Just bought a crypt at the LFS, not sure on where I'll put it yet though.

[kathstew]

I would add alot more plants, and taller decorations, so they have coverage around all levels: top, bottom and middle. Without coverage they WILL fight. The more plants, the more coverage the better.

I LOVE the jaguar head!!!!! Its sooooooo awesome!

[Thunderloon]

Try to avoid putting stem plants close to the walls, I've got a crypt that has root coverage of half a ten gallon, it was suppressing one in the corner. When I moved the corner one to a hex-5 it just exploded in size and took over the bottom too. Crypts seem to get along ok with other plants but they like to have circular root pattern so best to give em at least three inches of room from the side.

Six is a good minimum... don't buy all your girls at once just to "fill" the tank though, you run the risk of having to buy more girls all at once when they all get old. I started with three and got two more a month later when they got big enough to be territorial. Then I moved up in filtration capacity and then tank size. Still have my 5gal mini-bow but I only use it for a place to protect my canister baskets when doing maintenance.

With the 20 you should be fine at twelve girls. I'd suggest for aeration and extra bio-filtration that you get a "size two" sponge filter (one that uses just an air pump and UGF lift pipe) and place it near the opposite corner from the Duetto. You can get meter lengths of UGF lift pipe from most places and cut them easily with a hacksaw blade, you'll want to leave a 3 inch gap between the top and the expected surface level.

I also advise the same "size two" as you can use a hand pump or little DC battery pack pump to keep the tank alive in case of power outage and it will collect a lot of the small debris that would otherwise clog up the Duetto. To clean up such debris you simply lift the sponge filter up a little and scoop it up with a larger net then lift it all from the water... boom! net of garbage!

Remember to use finer (smaller particles) of food or products like fry flakes so the girls get an even chance at diner and one can't hog several girls worth of food.

[JKfish]

It looks awesome~ Though, I definately agree you need more coverage. Try floating plants like water lettuce. I had that in my sorority, and it was awesome, the roots grew long enough (3-4 inches) where the girls could hide in them and sneak up for air if necessary.

[LucyLoofa]

Originally Posted by JKfish

It looks awesome~ Though, I definately agree you need more coverage. Try floating plants like water lettuce. I had that in my sorority, and it was awesome, the roots grew long enough (3-4 inches) where the girls could hide in them and sneak up for air if necessary.

^^^+1

This is going to be a great tank. :) Can't wait to see it finished!

[iamtetsuo]

Going to try and find some floating plants, the two LFS's around here just stock rooted plants. Guess I'll cruise by Petsmart sometime this week. Was going to stop by to pick up a snail anyways, the piece of driftwood in the back brought along a bit of fungus from its previous enclosure (thought I had got it all off but apparently not). Any recommendations for what kind?