# One month in, Aqueon Evolve 8



## leafythegreat (Aug 17, 2012)

A month into my planted betta tank. Way thrilled. Did some maintenance a little before I took this picture.

My driftwood's been soaking for a long time, but was still releasing tannins. A 10% water change every day has been keeping the water crystal clear. Planning on backing down to every other day starting in October.

The java ferns have been chilling in a Critter Keeper in my windowsill for a long time after I found out they couldn't be planted in the substrate; I'm hoping they do well now that they're lashed to my mopani.

Sorry for the shoddy photo quality; I have the choice of my phone or my phone right now. Next time I go home I'll try and remember to grab my camera.










Equipment:
Aqueon Evolve 8 tank, stock light and filter
PetCo 10 gallon heater

Plants:
_Hygrophila corymbosa_ "stricta", or as PetCo says, "Compacta"
_Microsorum pteroptus_, Java fern

Inhabitants:
1x male _Betta splendens_, veiltail, "Mr. Fishie"
4x unsexed _Corydoras trilineatus_, false Julii/leopard cory catfish, as of yet unnamed (Suggestions?)
1*10^20x Cyanophyta, "OUT DEMON ALGAE"

Thinking about taking the cory cats back. They're unstandably adorable, but I really wanted some amano shrimp, which, I think, would be much happier in my small tank. My group of four usually leaves three grouped together and one off by himself, and I feel a little bad. I think they should be in a larger tank. Why didn't I do my research on these? An impulsive buy because of lack of what I really wanted... shame on me...


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

Cories do not school with cories that look different racist fish arent they. Looks nice but beware the jumpers cories and Bettas are jumpers also floating plants would look beautiful. I just love your tanks.


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## teeneythebetta (Apr 29, 2012)

Wow, it looks so nice!


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## Alcemistnv (Jan 29, 2012)

ah, looks cute! 

I love how despite it being a planted tank, you have the rocks on top 

And you're so lucky to have cories! I want some D8

I heard snails are good too for planted tanks, they help with the algae, or osmething or other.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

Teenythe Betta so sorry for your loss. You must have loved that dog.


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## teeneythebetta (Apr 29, 2012)

ChoclateBetta said:


> Teenythe Betta so sorry for your loss. You must have loved that dog.


Thank you. Yes, I loved him a lot...
But he isn't in pain any more. :')


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

Nice tank! Teenythebetta I am so sorry for your loss you cared for him he I now in the dog park of the sky.


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## leafythegreat (Aug 17, 2012)

teeneythebetta: He had a good, long life for a pitbull. 14 years, wow! I know you must have shared many happy years together. We lost our beloved 11-year-old golden retriever a few years back to epilepsy; it was heavy to deal with but it was relieving to know that he wasn't going through that anymore.

Alcemistnv: I like the color and texture the rocks impart to my otherwise rather boring gravel, while still fitting in with the natural theme. Plus, my cories like huddling together on top of a stone as well. I guess the consistent, smooth surface is nice on their bellies. I'm afraid snails would be too much on the bioload; I've heard they're way dirtier than their small size would suggest!

ChoclateBetta: They're all the same species, bought on the same day from the same tank! Funny how they always leave the one with the little dorsal fin spot out. Maybe I'll name that particular one Rudy, like Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, haha. Poor little guy. Mr. Fishie likes hovering behind him, just waiting for him to turn around, then scaring the crap around him when he does finally notice that big blue brute over his shoulder. Also, I do have a lid on the tank; I can't tell if it's on here or not due to the light being funny. Since I took it just after maintenance, probably not. It sits down flush with the top rim of the tank and stays on unless I'm changing water or rearranging decorations. Keeping a lid on was probably my first betta lesson. Poor, crispy, suicidal Cinderella... can't blame him, I kept him in a tiny, dirty bowl...

Everyone: Thanks for the compliments  My boyfriend and best friend are the only other ones who even know this tank exists. It's nice to share it with someone else.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

leafythegreat said:


> teeneythebetta: He had a good, long life for a pitbull. 14 years, wow! I know you must have shared many happy years together. We lost our beloved 11-year-old golden retriever a few years back to epilepsy; it was heavy to deal with but it was relieving to know that he wasn't going through that anymore.
> 
> Alcemistnv: I like the color and texture the rocks impart to my otherwise rather boring gravel, while still fitting in with the natural theme. Plus, my cories like huddling together on top of a stone as well. I guess the consistent, smooth surface is nice on their bellies. I'm afraid snails would be too much on the bioload; I've heard they're way dirtier than their small size would suggest!
> 
> ...


There are different species and strains they only school with ones that look just like them same strain. An 8 gallon is a bit smaller for them but it might work depending on strain my albinos grew two inches some get bigger some get smaller.


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## leafythegreat (Aug 17, 2012)

ChoclateBetta said:


> There are different species and strains they only school with ones that look just like them same strain.


Tempted to try and identify them now. I'm familiar with large saltwater sportsfish of the Gulf of Mexico, but I haven't really looked much into small freshwater scavengers of South America. Wonder if I could find a field guide with a dichotomous key for them way up here in Alabama. I can already hear Boyfriend's eyes rolling in his head while he sighs, "Fish nerd..."

On the other hand, there's an idea for me when I want to get rich. A field guide geared towards aquarium owners, covering maybe 200 species of popular aquarium fish with keys to tell the different strains and species apart and a seperate section for the plants, and maybe even something for... _-trails off-_

(Ahem. I'm a marine biology major. This is what happens when you combine career with hobby, I guess.)



ChoclateBetta said:


> An 8 gallon is a bit smaller for them but it might work depending on strain my albinos grew two inches some get bigger some get smaller.


I'm a little worried about this. If I have correctly identified them as false Jullis, then they'll grow to 2" or so. For now, I think I am going to keep them; they've gotten a little better every day about sticking together nicely, but I'm trying to monitor them closely to make sure they seem happy. They're not climbing the tank walls at much; they seem to enjoy the somewhat dark, somewhat cave-ish area created by the combination of wood and plant cover. On the other hand, if they do get too big for this tank, I have a 20L glass box at home...


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

I have heard the more they surface the dirtier the water is. I keep albino bronze cories love them.


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## leafythegreat (Aug 17, 2012)

Here are some more pictures. I read that it's better when the room is dark and the light is on. Definitely helped the reflection problem! Quality is still bad, but hey, phone camera, what can I do?


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## Relic (Jul 14, 2012)

ChoclateBetta said:


> Cories do not school with cories that look different racist fish arent they.


I have 10 cories of 6 different species and at first they stuck with their own kind...but now that I have them in a larger tank, they all hang out together. One of my albinos appears to be best friends with one of the julii cories.

ltg....good looking tank! I've been eyeballing that same tank for a dwarf puffer.


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## Friendlyfishies (Aug 16, 2012)

glad you like it! I just stocked up on 3 evolve 4's. a bit small :/ but they are super nice! hope they work well for me!


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## leafythegreat (Aug 17, 2012)

Relic said:


> ltg....good looking tank! I've been eyeballing that same tank for a dwarf puffer.


Like Nike says... just do it  The stock light is bright and beautiful and more than enough to grow plants, and the moonlight mode is really cool. (If you haven't seen my Flickr album, I linked it in my last post. One of the pictures is of moonlight mode.)

I don't know if dwarf puffers like a strong flow or not, but that's my only complaint with the tank. You can see that one water bottle later, I resolved that problem, though it does seem to make the filtration less efficient (something about half of the clean water shooting right back into the filter, I guess...)

In any case, it's a beautiful tank, and I love how all of the cords, filter, and even heater are kept completely out of sight, and all you're left with is your plants and fish


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