Matt's 40 Gallon CA Tank

[Matt724]

Ok, so I just realized how stable my rock work really is. One of the driftwoods was lifting since it isn't waterlogged yet, so i went in and lightly tried to adjust it back and then it all toppled over. I managed to put it all back together, but now I'm afraid what will happen if a fish accidently hits the driftwood and the rocks all topple over hte cave entrance and traps the loaches that are always in there. Hopefully the driftwood will waterlog soon. and what do you guys think of the plants? I just want a second opinion since originally I didn't want to deal with plants again, but since I had so much java fern left, I figured why not?

Plants: Yes?
Plants: No?

 

[Matt724]

UPDATE: sorry i haven't been updating the progress on the tank and the fish, but there is a good (bad?) reason for that: While the fish were in their 1 week quarantine tank, as i was going to take them out I saw the worst thing I could imagine, ich, all over my cardinals, who were also sharing the quarantine tank. The herotilapia weren't hit that bad, maybe one spot, but they were acting wierd, jerking forward and sideways, hiding behind the decorations. I managed to snatch the ebjd, which thankfully didn't look effected yet and tossed him in the 40, so he's safe. That was 2 or 3 days ago. Two nights ago, I went to the local PETCO at 8pm and asked the "fish expert" what treatment to use. She right off the bat said "pimafix". Worst decision ever. When I added the correct dosage to my q tank, the bubbles from my sponge filter started making popping sounds, which meant the water had started getting thicker and more viscous. Next day, 4 cardinals down. Today, one more down and I can't find two others. So far, they are the only ones i have lost, but the rest of the tank occupants don't look happy, and more white spots have appeared. After the first night, I stopped dosing the pimafix and tossed the $8.99 fish killer into the trash. I looked online for treatments and so far the one that everyone seems to support is the heat+salt one. So far, I've gotten my tank up to about 82 degrees F (trying to get it to about 84/6), but I haven't added any salt yet. I heard multiple opinions on this subject, whether to use aquarium salt or just plain old morton's table salt? So this is my question, which should I add?

Also, I accidently added one herotilapia to my 40 as i was transfering the ebjd because he was showing no signs of disease, but now he's developing some white spots. I've tried to get him out, but he keeps on hiding in the rock work, how should I get him out before those white spots fall off and become free-swimming?

 

[watnazn]

Update please

 

[sick_lid]

Try the Jungle Ich Rid stuff - tablets that come in a little box. I used it in the past, with no temp rasing or salt, and it was cleared within a couple days. I am very happy with jungle medications..

Tank looks great too. If your fish don't mess with the plants, I would definitely keep them in there.

 

[russll_13]

That's really nice aquascaping, It looks great. Good Luck with the ich, it got into my tank last week luckily claimed no lives. Sorry about your cardinals

 

[Matt724]

Here's a pretty long update since I've been gone. Sorry about the long wait, but timing is just never on my side. First off, I've been fighting ich for about a month up until 5 days ago, when I finally won, if that's what you wish to call it. 10 fish out of the starting 22 or so fish. I lost 2 or 3 multispinosa, 7 cardinals, and i think 2 ottos. I transferred them on thanksgiving, at which point I realized my EBJD looked very unusual (I hadn't noticed since in the Q tank he was always hiding), but he looked alot darker than usual with a slightly plumper stomach, but i dismissed this as just a little stress due to the transfer conditions. Well today, he died and I have no idea how or why, which is why I'm freezing his body and taking him to my LFS to perform an autopsy. Well, that leaves room for another centerpiece fish, i guess.I was thinking maybe a firemouth cichlid, something with a completely different color than the multispinosa. But first I gotta find out what's raising the pH in the tank. My pH is around 7.6 - 7.8 and my tap water registers 7.0-7.2. It's probably one of the rocks. I plan to reaquascape soon with the inspiration of Nutty's CA tank: http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=177754&highlight=nutty. BTW, he's a god of fish and I envy him eversomuch . Thanks for keeping up and here are some picks:

BTW, does anyone know if I should add almond leaves? is blackwater common in CA tanks?

And is anyone interested in buying some of my fish? I'm willing to let go of the none CA fish so I can buy some some more multispinosas and maybe another centerpiece cichlid (PU only, trust me you don't want me to try shipping fish):
1x corydora, 1x angelfish, 4x harlequin rasboras, 2x chinese algae eaters, 1x bolivian ram, 1x unknown loach, 1x yoyo loach.

 

[bl00]

The tank looks awesome. Great choice wit the rainbows as well...I really dig my pair. Good luck with the rest of your work on the tank.

 

[Nutish]

Some plants in the center will do gud!!

 

[Matt724]

Yea I plan to get some biotope plants in there, but my source, Robert G, says that anacharis is somewhat common there; but anacharis needs bright light, and I only have 50 something watts of light on that, so maybe if I get some new lights. Till then, I'm going to try and keep to just driftwood and rocks after Nutty's aquascape. Thanks for the comments you guys!