Finished cycling <IMG SRC="http://www.caudata.org/forum/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":-)" BORDER=0>

[rob]

Hi again
bigger tank finally finished it's cycle last night

and today my chiller arrived so with some help we moved the tank to it's final resting place.
i had to empty a fair bit of water out so we could lift it ok, but i put the same water back in and topped it up with dechlorinated water, so hopefully wont mess with the cycle.
i ended up taking them pine tree looking things out cause they dropped too many little needle things, but they were growing like champions.
hooked up my chiller and pretty happy with the noise level of it @ about the same as my computer setup, just getting the water temp down to 20c so i can introduce my axies to there new home

then going to take the temp down to 16c slowly over a cpl of days.

i'll add some pics after i put my axies in

 

[andrew]

I like it. You have some nice caves there.

I really love new tank setups there always soo clean till you add the axie poo factories.

Your chiller looks pretty sweet. Looks more like a computer case than a bulky square shape that most chillers have adopted.

 

[sharn]

wow rob that looks nice! very natural. bet your axies cant wait to get in there! nice toes too by the way lol (smartass sharn)

 

[rob]

ur right Andrew it looks like a mini computer case

i'm hoping the axie poo will act as a fertiliser for my plants ?
thx Sharn

i am trying to go for the natural look, put my axies in about an hr ago and there just starting to do a bit of exploring

they seem happy so far..
going to get another axie on the weekend, gonna try and get a wild type about the same age..

 

[rheann]

Rob, it looks wonderful, grate job

Was that Hornwort, the one that was shedding the needles?

Hornwort tends to do that sometimes lol.

Your axies look very happy. Axolotl waste will help to fertilize the plants. You should see mine; the plants have grown like sky scrapers! Will take some pictures soon, haven't had any time to prune or trim the plants, been busy with Christmas stuff

But I am sad to say that my red Ludwigia died... so now I just have green plants in the tank. Not sure why it died. It died from the roots up, so let me know if you have good luck with the red plants in your tank, I might just get some lol.

 

[sharn]

awww look at their little foot prints everywhere! thats why i wanted really fine sand. do you know what size yours is rob? looks pretty fine

 

[hayley-jane]

Tank looks great

...and your feet! lol

 

[jojo]

wow!!! It was a long wait but look how your rewarded... they look so great Rob!
Well done! **jelous**

 

[suzanne]

Great job Rob!!! You ought to proud of yourself it's come together very nicely

 

[hailz]

Looks Great! Like jojo said, all good things come to those who wait!
i like that purple/red plant, how do your axies go with the live plants? My axie Gilbert(RIP) used to run a muck through my tank and used the plants to push himself forward when he went walking...little monster he was,lol. so im not sure if i'm game to try real plants again. but yours look unreal!...very tempting.. i also like those long grassy looking ones at the back what are they called?
Ps: You have some spoilt axies there

 

[rob]

thx for the comments guys

sorry Rheann i'm hopeless with plant names, but i will go to where i got em and find out

they were growing like mad, but dropped too much waste and could see em taking over my tank in no time lol..
i think my red one is a Ludwigia, but looks very healthy ? but so did urs lol.i did read red plants arnt so good in cold water ? i think my sword will die but it looks soooo nice

all others seem to be charging

sand is washed play pit sand, sorry sharn dont know the size, but its very fine, i laughed this morning when i woke there were foot prints every where lol, i recon they explored every inch

yes i forgot to cut my feet out in paintshop lol
oooops

ive only had the axies in the the tank 1 day up to now, but no plants moved so far

but theres still time hehe, thats the reason i got the grassy plants cause they have a big root system, i'll find out the name for u Hailz

got a male axie today "wild type" got him in quarantine @ the moment. he's about the same size as my others so hopefully in a cpl of weeks i'll introduce him to my females

i wont be breeding for a while but who knows later on down the track.

i'm thinking the male has some kind of fungus on him so gonna keep a close eye on him, if so give him salt baths..
thx again for all the comments

 

[sharn]

wow hes rather thin! bet youll fatten him up in no time hes quite a nice light colour too. might go have a look for some play sand... i origanlly wanted something that would show their foot prints (so cute!!) but couldnt find anything

 

[rob]

going to feed him every night till i get him a bit fatter

he ate last night out of my hand

"first night" i tried him on small pieces of earth worm, but he didnt seem to know how to handle em lol. struggled for a while then spat em out "they were very small bits" so he got about a cube a beef heart in the end

i was a bit concerned about how fine my sand was @ first Sharn cause it clouded my tank pretty bad when i first put it in and thought my axies moving would cloud it, but no probs

it is like a "silica sand" or pool filter sand is about the same from memory but becarefull of "silica" cause i read some types can be very sharp and cut ur axies feet ? + silica is pretty dangerous to "ur" health... IE: the dust from it.

(Message edited by kharmakazi on December 15, 2005)

 

[hailz]

lovely axie rob, have you named him yet?

 

[rob]

thx Hailz

havnt named him yet, or my gold lol
bloody hopeless with naming petz. only named 1 so far. thats "Medusa" my white one

did some more shopping today lol, got some grass plants in pots, some more java moss and attached it to the top of the cave, some kind of fern looking thing "gotta start getting the names lol" and a driftwood with a plant attached

and got a background pic "photo doesnt do it justice" but looks good, its like moss rock with vines etc. similar colour to the roots.

sorry for all the photos, i cant help myself

 

[jojo]

i am loving your tank Rob.
Im so incredibly jelous right now!!!!
Looks great!

 

[sharn]

that grassy ones 'hair grass' if my eyes see right. yeehaaa what a tank!