30gal Before and After

[AquaScaper]

Here's the old dark and ominous 30gal jungle:
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a125/pet_pics/33galtank111-1.jpg

The algae was so bad I had to eradicate most of the plant life but I'm hoping that with what I was able to save it will spring back once again and fill in (hopefully without the algae this time). I bleached everything including the plants, nothing was safe lol.
I saved all the tank water from the other tank by double filtering it through a pantyhose end attached to the end of my gravel vac hose, the water in the tank is crystal clear with not a particle of anything in sight LOL. The new substrate is EcoSystem, I used a 22lb bag of it and am thinking I need another bag to re-do the 2 10gals, I like this stuff soooo much better than gravel.:yes:

Here's the 30gal after about 8hrs of scrubbing, bleaching and re-setting up yesterday:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a125/pet_pics/30galtank002.jpg

[mixixe]

wow.. i really like it. Both look nice the first one reminds me of a jungle, the second one reminds me of the beach :)

[Corbin]

i like it, are you gonna add more light?

[Melody]

I like both too :smile: . Great work! Question: Why did you filter the water rather than using fresh water?

[AquaScaper]

I like both too :smile: . Great work! Question: Why did you filter the water rather than using fresh water?

Thanks! I only liked the other one because it was such a jungle in there but I hated the gravel and lighting. I've got a new canopy and light coming today and I'm actually thinking of trying to do a DIY Co2 set up for this tank but we'll see.

As far as the water filtering goes, because the tank was badly infested with BBA I didn't have the luxury of using any of the filter contents or gravel and had to bleach everything, but wanted to cut down the cycle process as the 4 fish that were in that tank needed to go back in fairly quickly so I re-used 75% of their water and 25% fresh. I also had some pre-seeded sponges from another tank but it wasn't really enough so I used some gravel from a non-algae infected tank, the sponges and most of their water which I filtered twice through the end of a pantyhose attached to the end of the gravel vac hose and ended up with crystal clear particle and hopefully BBA algae free water. I've used this method before with success and my parameters are all within normal ranges. If I had used all new water the chances of the tank going through a major cycle would be far greater I think.
I also use a product called Stability in conjunction with all this. It's from Seachem and is supposed to help stabilize new tank setups to reduce chances of getting new tank syndrome and all the problems that go along with it. I've used it a few times now and have never ever had a problem with a new tank or the cycling process :yes:.
http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/Stability.html

[CACAdmin]

I like both as well. The new look is great... something I could never achieve... I just keep stuffing plants in... and so have a 'jungle' effect. I hope all goes well and you don't experience any major cycling after all that hard work.

[AquaScaper]

I like both as well. The new look is great... something I could never achieve... I just keep stuffing plants in... and so have a 'jungle' effect. I hope all goes well and you don't experience any major cycling after all that hard work.

LOL if I had been able to save most of the plants it would have still looked like a jungle but most were covered in BBA so I didn't take any chances with them and threw them out, the ones which were still ok, got bleach bath and went into the tank, some of them I have in another tank to see if they can still be saved as the root systems were good and healthy still but the leaves had to all be removed b/c of the BBA so in a few weeks I may possibly have more plants to add to the tank assuming some of the others live :).

[Melody]

Thanks! I only liked the other one because it was such a jungle in there but I hated the gravel and lighting. I've got a new canopy and light coming today and I'm actually thinking of trying to do a DIY Co2 set up for this tank but we'll see.

As far as the water filtering goes, because the tank was badly infested with BBA I didn't have the luxury of using any of the filter contents or gravel and had to bleach everything, but wanted to cut down the cycle process as the 4 fish that were in that tank needed to go back in fairly quickly so I re-used 75% of their water and 25% fresh. I also had some pre-seeded sponges from another tank but it wasn't really enough so I used some gravel from a non-algae infected tank, the sponges and most of their water which I filtered twice through the end of a pantyhose attached to the end of the gravel vac hose and ended up with crystal clear particle and hopefully BBA algae free water. I've used this method before with success and my parameters are all within normal ranges. If I had used all new water the chances of the tank going through a major cycle would be far greater I think.
I also use a product called Stability in conjunction with all this. It's from Seachem and is supposed to help stabilize new tank setups to reduce chances of getting new tank syndrome and all the problems that go along with it. I've used it a few times now and have never ever had a problem with a new tank or the cycling process :yes:.
http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/Stability.html (http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/Stability.html)

There's very little beneficial bacteria in the water column - one of the reasons that UV sterilizers don't effect biological filtration. Its surface bacteria. The sponges will help though. Never tried Stability. You can also squeeze out used sponges onto the new filter media for a concentrated mix that is probably as good as, or better, than anything in a bottle. Good luck with it!

[CACAdmin]

:Eek: Threw the plants out that were covered in BBA??? You should've sent them my way! I'm the fool who puts those in my tank as lunch for the snails. :laugh: They clean off the BBA, then if what's left of the leaves is pretty much toast, they take care of that. After that, new shoots grow from the root and voila, I have more plants!

Just giving you a bad time:DevilGrin: , maybe your plants were beyond salvage... but, hey, if ever you want to toss ones covered in algae... toss them my direction, ok?

[Melody]

She has snails too...lol. I know mine don't much care for the dark red BBA, but love the black, as do Mollies. I've been feeding the snails algae plants for a long time now - they think they're a treat!

[Danzig]

they both look very nice, the 2nd one little nicer IMO.