20 gal long planted

[freshfishies]

Hey all!
Picked up this tank and thought I would breed my Pygmy Corydoras (pygmaeus) in it.
The substrate has peat I believe (check the pic..sooo murky!) So I'll have to have it planted (what a shame... ) hehe
For plants, so far, I've got:
Blyxa Japonica
African Water Fern (the corys seemed to love this in their other tank)
2 clumps of Moss Balls
Java moss
Cryptocoryne Wendtii 'Mi Oya'  
Maybe some val, haven't decided yet

Just playing the waiting game now for it to clear up so I can start the fun!

The bottom pic is just to show the 'fun' of taking down one tank to set up another 

 

[bizfromqc]

Should be fun! Can't wait to see it progress...

Is that a toys bin from Toys'R Us? Good idea, I've got one of those lying around that I can probably use for WCs, only problem is it's full of toys LOL

[freshfishies]

Should be fun! Can't wait to see it progress...

Is that a toys bin from Toys'R Us? Good idea, I've got one of those lying around that I can probably use for WCs, only problem is it's full of toys LOL

haha yep it is
I have used those for soooo many fish moves, changes, etc. Normally use them for laundry around here. Just dump the junk out of them, give 'em a rinse, once you're done do the same! hehe. Everything can be utilized for fish use! haha

[pm]

Pygmy corries are awesome.  Never thought about breeding them, but a big "school" would look great!  Best of luck.

Btw the brown water might just be unrinsed fluorite.

[charlie]

The joys of Flourite, when i used it & had to rescape( which is often with me  ), i had to wait a couple of days to see what i was doing 
Please do update us as the build progresses.
Errol

[exv152]

Pygmy cories eh? I love pygmies. Have you bred them in the past, if so, are they easy to breed?

[fischkopp]

A muddy start is always a good omen for a great planted tank.

The pigmy cory breeding might work better in a dedicated tank, like a 10 gal bare bottom. That way you will actually notice if they breed, can adjust certain things to trigger spawning, take out the eggs easier etc etc ... Yes you breed fish in planted tanks, but I find it's a lot easier to keep things apart, the planted tank aspect and breeding that is.

[freshfishies]

Pygmy cories eh? I love pygmies. Have you bred them in the past, if so, are they easy to breed?

I haven't actually bred them before, but the little school I have, bred without me knowing and there's 2 babies I didn't know about until I just took down the tank. They are fairly easy to breed from what I understand, just gotta make sure there isn't any predators and they have lots of spots to hide from the parents.

Flourite! I didn't think of that, that's probably what it is.

I'll update again as soon as I can!

[freshfishies]

Here's my first update! I'm really happy with how this turned out. Now just to wait for the plant growth and babies! :p
I went with:
Blyxa
African Water Fern
Red Tiger Lotus
Crypt Wendtii 'Mi Oya' (runners from mother plant)
Crypt Wedtii "green' (runners from mother plant)
Potamogeton Gayii (clippings from mother plant)
Small regular Val

Stock:
8 pygmy corys (3 females starting to fatten with eggs already)
2 dwarf corys
2 oto cats
2 polka catfish (very tiny & live in the substrate most of the time)
1 longfin green dragon bn
1 baby balloon platy
1 'tequila sunrise'? guppy
The 2 livebearers were kept for a splash of color in the tank (and my son would have been heart broken if I got rid of them!)

The corys have been schooling like crazy all over the tank, and have even brightened up a bit. Not sure if they'll pick the spot behind the fern again to spawn, but I'm keeping an eye on them so I can keep track.
I would have gone bare bottom like Robert suggested, but I love the natural look of the plants and watching the fish zigzag all through them.

[bizfromqc]

I like the overall look of the tank, looks sweet!

If in the end your goal is to breed the corys though, wouldn't you want to take the pleco and other cats out of the tank to increase your chances?

I just always assumed that plecos were notorious egg eaters.

My A. cacatuoides were just about to have their second batch of wrigglers (eggs had been laid for about 4 days) and BOOM, all eggs were gone the day after I added the BN pleco (yes, it was a questionable move but I didn't mind, my goal was not to breed them again). I'm pretty sure it wasn't the parents who ate the eggs.

In any case, I digress  Tank looks great, good luck!

Eric

[exv152]

The tank looks real nice. What is that spiny stone thing in the center?

[freshfishies]

Thanks guys!
It's true that I shouldn't have the pleco in there, but I wanted to let him grow out a bit before adding him to one of the 'big boy' tanks   The corys bred once already in a tank swarming with predators, so I think they'll be okay for now; but I do want to dedicate the tank to them once things are more established.

The rock in the middle is just a piece of slate. It had a neat shape to it though, so I saved it for this tank.

[freshfishies]

Wait..I see what you mean...it's not the rock (duh..on my part) it's a piece of clear tube from an old busted siphon that I glued rocks on to the top of so they would think it's a cave :p
So far they all love it.