my new tube tower block

[mickthefish]

scrapped that tower and made two more the highest one is a 1 1/2 inch diameter tubing mainly for the larger loaches as the berdmori was getting peeved that she could'nt fit in the smaller bore tubing .
both towers were held together with zip ties.


mick

[raving_wayne]

in my previous large tank i made sommit similar but i used 1 1/2 inch tubing and sealed it together with aquatic sealant which achored it aswell, my loaches at the time loved it and to make it a little more hidden i coated it in sealant (thin coat) and then dusted it with sand (i had sand on the bottom of tank) it made it blend pretty well and certainly looked the part

[mickthefish]

raving i've done it that way myself but i find these zip ties alot easier plus i can put java moss under the ties to camouflage the tubing as it's upper level in the tank.

mick

[chefkeith]

That java moss idea sounds interesting. Do you know of a good way to quickly grow java moss? I have a small clump of it in a 2 liter bottle that I'm trying to grow out, but it doesn't seem to be growing at all.

[mickthefish]

your asking the wrong guy Keith, but a mate who is a great plant grower put his in a 2 gallon bucket with an incandescent bulb suspended over it grows it for fun and pretty quick.

mick

[Diana]

Java Moss grows slowly under low light conditions, but for faster growth use a tank, not a bottle. Water circulation to bring it nutrients, good light, fertilizer, CO2.
If I was going to set up an 'ideal' tank for it:
20 gallon long, 40 watts of light w/ 6,500K to 10,000K, Aquaclear 50 filter, alternate dosing of macros and micros per EI recomendations, CO2 (DIY is OK for this small tank) and a school of fish such as Otos, Endlers, or similar. Otos to eat algae that may try to compete and Endlers to nibble stuff the Otos might miss, and to provide more fertilizer and CO2.

[chefkeith]

Sounds like a great idea Diana. I already have most of equipment that I'll need.

Thanks Mick, I can't wait till I have enough java moss to make some of those caves.

I got a 20g or a 15g tank that I can use. They both have the same footprint (2ft x 1ft).
I can build an enclosure for a spare 55 w cp light that I have.
I got plenty of ferts to do the EI method.
Also have an automated CO2 system that I haven't used in few years.
Have a few Penguin 100 biowheel filters too. I'm not sure if those would work well with a CO2 system.

I think I will just load it up with Ramshorn snails and Bristlenose fry. I can't seem to keep any Bristlenose fry alive in my paludarium tank because they don't have a good source of algae. This tank could be perfect for them.

Thanks, I love it when a plan comes together. I'll probably start on this over the weekend and start a new thread.