Redo times two

[DMD123]

Time to work on the 65B!

The heater guard "skeleton" needed to be removed and a full guard put in to protect these fish that have a tendency to gather around a hot heater tube and burn themselves.

All sand removed and spiderwood in place. new full heater guard in place too.

The "sand" of choice, Peace River. Was dirty and required several rinses. It is a large grain sand so some call it small gravel. Whatever you want to call it, I love this stuff. I use this in my 300 gallon tank also.
Comes with this clarifier which I decided to use to help clear the tank up quicker

Finished with adding sand, needs like 5-10lbs to look complete but not too bad for 40lbs of sand
All the fish went for the familiar wood home. Im sure it is quite a different sensation to now have sand as opposed to a bare bottom tank.

Will likely go to Bonney Lake tropical fish store and pick up 1 bag of peace river sand to finish this and maybe pick up a couple small schooling fish to fill in the top area of the tank till I figure out what I want to do.... There are some fish I want to buy and grow out. Need to figure out some more decor for this tank too... plastic pirate ship maybe?

 

[DMD123]

Got a small piece of spiderwood for the 65B

Put some temporary plants in the 30... Not really liking it. Maybe something more bamboo looking

 

[DMD123]

The 65B community tank is getting to be a favorite. Having small community fish is fun. I really love the way the angel fish interacts and swims. The monk tetras are a very tight schooler and thats interesting.

I do need to thin down the pleco population. Got 4 bristle nose and they are just poop machines! lol


It still looks very empty so I need to figure out what to add...

 

[Betty]

I think a pirate ship would be cool.
That made me think back to the community tank I used to have when I was a kid. Guppies, platies, swordtails... and a diver with a treasure chest that hooked to an airline and bubbled. Blue gravel too! I like the natural looking tanks best, but also like a fun tank as well. I have a 38 gallon that is full of fake skulls and bones.

 

[DMD123]

Visiting this one again. The 30 gallon containing the puffer is quite a boring tank. This particular puffer is an ambush predator so I dont see a lot of activity in this tank. The arrowhead likes to bury himself and pops out to feed. I catch an occasional puff up from him but otherwise boring. Glad I took him out of the 65B! I still hate his decor. The Mopani in the tank is way out of scale. Its just too big and it divides the tank is a weird way. Thinking i will look for something more in scale for that tank. This one might benefit from live plants too.

The 65B is getting to be a mess of spiderwood. It still is a community tank but I am getting ideas to change it to something else. Still trying to be happy with this one, but not there yet.

 

[FishBeast]

I agree that turning the arrowhead’s tank into a planted one, maybe adding some interesting rocks and stuff might perk it up. As far as wood goes, something more horizontal and less bulky might work better... Here are $6.99 pieces I got recently from Midway. Labeled as “Asian” driftwood... they had a decent selection but I had to dig through a few pieces.

 

[DMD123]

The thing I really hate about the puffer is the solo nature of it. I really cant even put in anything else for fear it might get ate. I always pictured adding white clouds to the 65b with the hairy puffer and some kind of small pleco like a rubberlip pleco. Then I would love to have something like a hillstream loach or two with the arrowhead. I know its not going to happen but it would add some other interesting aspects to the tank. I guess this is where good aquascape needs to come into play. Live plants would help...

 

[FishBeast]

The thing I really hate about the puffer is the solo nature of it. I really cant even put in anything else for fear it might get ate. I always pictured adding white clouds to the 65b with the hairy puffer and some kind of small pleco like a rubberlip pleco. Then I would love to have something like a hillstream loach or two with the arrowhead. I know its not going to happen but it would add some other interesting aspects to the tank. I guess this is where good aquascape needs to come into play. Live plants would help...

I think turning it into a planted tank with small fast fish like white clouds or tetras is a great idea! The puffer probably won’t waste time trying to chase them down

 

[DMD123]

I think turning it into a planted tank with small fast fish like white clouds or tetras is a great idea! The puffer probably won’t waste time trying to chase them down

Well a visit to Pet Works and talked to another puffer owner. Longest he had any fish work was 2 years. It was an eel and he thought it was all good and found it missing its head one day. He did white clouds and they last for about 6 months but eventually they get ate. This was in a 50 gallon, heavily planted tank. He tried bristle nosed pleco, cory cats and a combination of different things.

 

[FishBeast]

Well a visit to Pet Works and talked to another puffer owner. Longest he had any fish work was 2 years. It was an eel and he thought it was all good and found it missing its head one day. He did white clouds and they last for about 6 months but eventually they get ate. This was in a 50 gallon, heavily planted tank. He tried bristle nosed pleco, cory cats and a combination of different things.

Yikes

 

[fishguy1978]

If I get white clouds I buy the feeders and grow them out since they are so cheap. I keep a school out in the pond for mosquitoe control. They might spawn out there but there are several gold fish too which would eat any eggs or fry. You could do the same just keep a cycle of grow outs to replace any that get munched.

 

[DMD123]

Thats a good idea. I know the white clouds are supposed to be easy to breed. This would be an ideal way to keep the tank stocked.

 

[fishguy1978]

I don't know that I would mess with spawning my own since they are so cheap, but they are suppose to be easy

 

[DMD123]

Do the white clouds winter well outdoors? Whatever I do would be an outdoor venture with them.

 

[fishguy1978]

Do the white clouds winter well outdoors? Whatever I do would be an outdoor venture with them.

Yes, mine are on their second winter.

 

[DMD123]

What stores sell them as feeders? I might pick up some to try. If it doesn’t work then the puffer got a treat.

 

[fishguy1978]

What stores sell them as feeders? I might pick up some to try. If it doesn’t work then the puffer got a treat.

AP is were i have gotten them

 

[DMD123]

AP is were i have gotten them

Thanks, I will check next time I am there.

 

[cjag]

Visiting this one again. The 30 gallon containing the puffer is quite a boring tank. This particular puffer is an ambush predator so I dont see a lot of activity in this tank. The arrowhead likes to bury himself and pops out to feed. I catch an occasional puff up from him but otherwise boring. Glad I took him out of the 65B! I still hate his decor. The Mopani in the tank is way out of scale. Its just too big and it divides the tank is a weird way. Thinking i will look for something more in scale for that tank. This one might benefit from live plants too.
View attachment 7143
The 65B is getting to be a mess of spiderwood. It still is a community tank but I am getting ideas to change it to something else. Still trying to be happy with this one, but not there yet.
View attachment 7144

Where did you get the bigger piece of wood in the 30g? It's exactly what I'm looking for.

 

[DMD123]

Where did you get the bigger piece of wood in the 30g? It's exactly what I'm looking for.

That is a piece of Mopani. It was one of those sight unseen online purchases. I want to say it was from pet mountain or live aquaria.