# My NPT. Thoughts?



## Noobalva (Jan 20, 2013)

So i JUST finished setting up my NPT.

Tell me what you guys think....completely behemoths over my 2.5 gal lol, Sherlock's gonna love it.


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## Hadoken Kitty (Jan 24, 2013)

Looks awesome!!! What size is it?


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## Noobalva (Jan 20, 2013)

Lol oh...ya some details would be nice huh? xD

Its a 26 gallon aqueon bow front; put a fluval c3 filter in it. Used Miracle gro organic potting soil and the Plants are:

Giant Hygro(red)
Hygro Pinnatifida
Ech. Tenellus
Tropical Lilacina
Crypt Wendtii(red)
Ambulia
Java moss and java fern
Cabomba(red)
Wisteria
Medium Amazon Sword(or probably just young lol)

Also gonna have a marino moss ball and hornwort(floating) in there when i transfer Sherlock from the 2.5.


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## Fishybitty (Dec 29, 2012)

Oh wow, a lot of room there! I bet he will love it. Looks good!


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## aemaki09 (Oct 23, 2012)

I have that same tank! both of them actually! Only my 26 didnt come with a hood and its impossible to find a versa top or anything to buy for it, so I have to keep it open-topped with my sorority girls.

I think it looks really nice though! I've heard that you are supposed to have about 75% of the ground covered in an NPT with mostly fast growing stem plants to start with just to make it easier on you, but I'm not sure how accurate that information is. 

What lighting is that? I have one of those aqueon flourescent strips with a t-8 15w on mine, and while its bright enough to keep the plants alive, I dont notice any spectacular growth, which is why I'm wondering if you have something better on yours!

Goodluck with it! I'm dying to turn my tanks into NPT's but I dont have the time to spend on setting them up all over again right now. I would love to hear about your progress!


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## Noobalva (Jan 20, 2013)

Lol yea they make great tanks imo...i bought this one as a package deal at my local petsmart, was just over $100. 

Came wih the hood, 30 gal pump(which im gonna give away) lol, anything needed to get started and a full spectrum aqueon florescent light...i might buy a better one cuz i assume they only give you the minimum light requirement for plants, so we'll see; gonna keep an eye and see how my plants do then i'll decide. (EDIT: the internets says it comes with an Aqueon T8 daylight lamp, so probably same as yours Aemaki)

And yea it took me the whole day to set it up, started at 3:30pm and went all the way till 10pm lol, my gf just sat and laughed at my labour all day. So it does take some time.

But yea, i'd also love to share how i do. I'll be sure to keep you posted then...i'm kinda nervous tho, hope all my plants do good. Thanks for the compliments tho, all of you. :-D


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## louisvillelady (Jan 12, 2013)

Looks great! What a spoiled little fishy you will have! Lol are you planning on any tank mates?

Just a small suggestion, which you may already know, get some iron for your cript wendlii. All red plants use lots of iron. Can't wait to see how it looks in a couple months when they start growing out! I love NPT


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## aemaki09 (Oct 23, 2012)

Yeah that's probably the same light as me, it's 6500k so that's a good thing, but only 15w so the highest light plants you can grow would be moderate without changing the bulb.

Yeah 7 hours is something I don't have time for unless I got up before the sun rises or possibly a Sunday if I could get home early enough.

Definitely keep us updated


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## Noobalva (Jan 20, 2013)

louisvillelady said:


> Looks great! What a spoiled little fishy you will have! Lol are you planning on any tank mates?


Well i was hoping to get Endler's Livebeaerer(cuz i love their look), but im gonna go with my 2nd choice, Cardinal Tetra (10 of them), cuz my LPSs don't carry Endler's and im not up for breeding them if i order online, want all males.


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## Caii (Jan 17, 2013)

Wow! Sherlock's going to absolutely love it! ^^

That looks great~ keep us posted!


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## Noobalva (Jan 20, 2013)

*48 Hours in...*

Keeping you guys posted lol, i added the Cardinal Tetras last night and so far so good.:-D










Along with them i also have Watson(mystery Snail), Marty(zebra snail), 4 ghost shrimp, and 6 Cherry Shrimp. They all look like they're doing well and are healthy, including the plants(already look like they're growing! :shock: ).

However, I'm QTing Sherlock right now i noticed some fin-rot on him tonight so im gonna be treating him for that. I must've slipped up on his water care while setting up this bigger tank :-(. Good thing i decided not to move him over right away.

He's still very active and all so im gonna wait till im done his treatment and things settle before moving him. Should be good in about a week or so.


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## Caii (Jan 17, 2013)

Wow! It looks like a great system! I hope that Sherlock feels better soon so he can enjoy his new digs~ 

Hopefully my tank (just set it up today! XD) can look so good!


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## Mr2KiEu (Jan 25, 2013)

Looks good. Lots of nice looking plants. 

Can I make a suggestion tho, I think the tank needs a black background so it can hide some of the wires and heater. It will also make your Tetras & plants' colors stand out a lot more. Just a sugggestion. Hope it helps.


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## Fishybitty (Dec 29, 2012)

Your plants look real nice!


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## Noobalva (Jan 20, 2013)

> Can I make a suggestion tho, I think the tank needs a black background so it can hide some of the wires and heater. It will also make your Tetras & plants' colors stand out a lot more. Just a sugggestion. Hope it helps.


Yea i was thinkin about that, i probably will get one.


Thanks Cai, def keeping an eye on him. BTW, send me some pics of ur tank...i wanna see!

And thanks Fishy, they are coming along nicely.


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## Noobalva (Jan 20, 2013)

*NPT update, 1 week and 2 days*

SO here's an update on my NPT, everything's doing good: only thing is the lilacina lost some leave due to adjusting to the deeper water (and the little less amount of light) but all is well  .

I plan on getting more lighting when they get bigger to make sure light gets to the bottom but we'll see, for now i'm too poor of any of that lol.




























And...Here's a short youtube clip if you guys want a better look at it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xvz_-81dqok&feature=youtu.be

But yea the Cabomba got huge...that and the Hornwort have really been growing fast. Water stays nice and clear -- other than the slight ting it have from the driftwood, but that's alright. So far it looks good and im excited :-D.

Still have Sherlock in QT for finrot tho, so that's a downer(found out i have ammonia in my tap water and it was keeping him from getting better). But he's on the road to recovery, so hopefully he can enjoy it soon. :roll:


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## emeraldmaster (Sep 6, 2012)

On the background thing... Since you mentioned having little money left, you could take a few peices of black construction paper (used for children crafts all the time...) and tape it to the back for now. Just my two cents.

By the way, Love the tank!


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## Noobalva (Jan 20, 2013)

Ooh wow yea! Cant believe i hadnt thought of that lol...thanks.

And Thanks! Im pretty excited to see them all grown and doing well...plants and fishies/inverts. :-D


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## emeraldmaster (Sep 6, 2012)

You are welcome! I actually did this before so...


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## Caii (Jan 17, 2013)

Looks absolutely AMAZING, Noobalva!!! ^^

I can't wait to see when the plants grow a little more... it looks great!


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## aemaki09 (Oct 23, 2012)

emeraldmaster said:


> On the background thing... Since you mentioned having little money left, you could take a few peices of black construction paper (used for children crafts all the time...) and tape it to the back for now. Just my two cents.
> 
> By the way, Love the tank!


 
You just gave me an awesome idea!!
Gonna go to walmart ASAP! lol


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## louisvillelady (Jan 12, 2013)

You can also use a black garbage bag if you have that handy instead of having to buy something else! i have use that before, and you don't have to worry about it getting wet.


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## Noobalva (Jan 20, 2013)

louisvillelady said:


> You can also use a black garbage bag if you have that handy instead of having to buy something else! i have use that before, and you don't have to worry about it getting wet.


Lol i love it! This community is filled with geniouses!

Thanks guys.


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## emeraldmaster (Sep 6, 2012)

That is a good idea!


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