29 Gallon Planted Tank Setup Journal - Tons Of Pics!

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Brilliant thread. Tank is looking great. Love the idea with the clay! Keep up the good work.
 
Thanks everyone for the compliments!  Time for an update!
 
 
Look what I've found in my tank!

 
 

 
 
They are only three right now, but I will continue to add slowly until they reach about 10, maybe 12.  If I decide to go for a species tank, I might get more than that.  However, the footprint of the tank isn't too big so that might not be optimal.
 
Anyway, these little cuties (2 female and 1 male I believe) were only startled for about 30 seconds.  After that, they began sifting in the sand all around the tank.  They are definitely not camera shy!  This behavior is night and day compared to the skunk cories I failed at keeping in a gravel tank.
 
Was dealing with sand worth it just to keep cories?  YES IT MOST CERTAINLY WAS!
 
 
And here's a video of them.  The one in front seems to have some derp in him.  I love it!
[media]http://youtu.be/khzzznqURso[/media]
 
Pandas!! they are so cute!! Yes! would love to see them getting more in a group!

update us with more pics and vids! :)
 
I drilled the spray bar on my Eheim 2215 to expand the existing holes to lower the current in my tank.  I did this cause I want to keep an apisto in the future. 
 
From most places I looked online, the general consensus is that pandas love medium-high current.  Now that the current has been lowered, my pandas have been exploring all strata of the tank (highs and mids) instead of just the bottom.  I think I made the right move by lowering the current. 
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  Also, now their food doesn't blow around in the water column anymore.
 
 
Anyway, here are some pics!
 
FTS, February 1st, 2014.  Can you find the cories? :)

I don't think I've ever listed the plants in here, so here it is:
 
Amazon Sword - Echinodorus amazonicus - big 'ol plant at the left 1/3rd focal point
Red Tiger Lotus - Nymphaea zenkeri - red plant just to the right of the middle
Red Ludwidgia - Ludwigia repens - stem plants along the left wall of the tank
Rotala rotundifolia - stem plants along the back wall of the tank
Jungle Val - Vallisneria americana - tall plants along the back and right wall of the tank
Dwarf Sagittaria - Sagittaria subulata - sparse(ish) middle foreground plant
Anubias barteri var. nana - left foreground plants
Amazon Frogbit - Limnobium laevigatum - bigger floating plants
Duckweed - Various species from Lemnoideae subfamily - small floating plants
 
 
The two most middle leaves are new leaves (and are huuuuge)!  You can also see the newest ludwigia leaves, which are the bright green.  They took a while to acclimate, but they seem to be taking off now.

 
 
Young red lotus leaves!  Dwarf sag is growing as well.  Saw 3-4 runners pop out recently.  Can you find the cory?

 
 
North half of the tank featuring jungle val, anubias, red tiger lotus, dwarf sag, and rotala.

 
 
Southern half of the tank featuring the beastly amazon sword, ludwigia, and my tank equipment.

 
I'll try and get a video of the cories for y'all soon.  They got two new tankmates (still pandas) to make a total of 5.  Still winging it in terms of stocking, but the current plan is more panda cories, and maybe an apisto!
 
Very nice! I have never thought of the clay ball trick. And the clay is pretty cheap too.
 
A quick update in the form of a brief story!
 
I was at my LFS (which has earned tons of my appreciation and respect recently) to pick up some MTS to keep my sand aerated.  While there, I checked out a tank of German Blue Rams and saw a gorgeous female!  I kind of fell for her
wub.png
.  But I decided that I would wait for an apistogramma cacatuoides like I had planned.
 
So I paid for my snails that were pretty much free, and the store threw in some free bloodworms because they knew I had cories.  I got to my car, sat down, and put my snails down safely.  But then I thought about that ram...  I went back and bought her.
 
 
 
Everyone, meet Minerva!  Here she is, day one in the tank.  Her colors were understandably washed out.

 
 
Here she is today, three days in.  Her colors are popping now!  I believe they'll get even better as the week goes on.

 
 
I'm still toying with the idea of one female GBR (Minerva) and one Apistogramma, perhaps cacatuoides.  Do you think Minerva and the Apisto will have problems?
 
I tried to get a video but my iPad was shooting very poor quality videos for some reason.  I'll try again later.  Stay tuned!
 
GBR! In love with them too! I have two of them!

Cant wait for the video!
 

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