fish tanks

[Scapegoat]

Originally Posted by SovXietday

Would love to, but I went and lost my receipt. If I'm stuck with it might as well use it. I think I'm pretty much determined to get sand at this point. I just like the way it looks, and I'll have to work around all the issues that come up with it. I spent all last night looking at substrates and honestly they all have their own issues so it's whatever.

Oh, another question. Where do you typically buy your plants?

i've bought all my plants from the swap and shop section on the forum i posted earlier. you need to register in order to see it. you get some real good deals on there and nothing in the area comes close to the variety of plants.

w/ low light plants you'll probably be fine hitting up captain nemo's. there is a place in lancaster i have yet to get to that apparently has a good selection as well.

[SovXietday]

I registered on the forum a few days ago, a lot of really good info. Thanks man. Hopefully next week I'll get started on this thing.

[92awdtsi]

Originally Posted by Scapegoat

what size tank is that in??

150 gallon. That should take some of the workload off the fluval 404 filter

[SovXietday]

Well I've got water, driftwood, and substrate in the tank. Been sitting there for about 3 days now not doing much of anything. Canister filter gets here tomorrow, so I'm going to hook it up and get it pumping (hopefully clean up the last bit of cloudiness too) and then I'm gonna go get some plants and start planting.

I also ended up buying a new light fixture supporting two T5HOs that I will be putting above the tank. Plan is to run them from 12-7 and then switch over to moonlight until 11. I'm going to let the tank establish and then start dosing and probably do some DIY CO2 as well. We'll see how things go, going to be a bit of a learning curve.

Also will have 6 assassin snails to be my first little critters in the tank. I want to see how they do and once things level out (I'm reading that cycling with plants is much much faster than cycling without) I'm planning on ~10 tiger barbs, ~6 corys, and probably another type of barb or tetra that will hopefully not clash with the tigers.

[jrtcbmw]

Originally Posted by Scapegoat

i've bought all my plants from the swap and shop section on the forum i posted earlier. you need to register in order to see it. you get some real good deals on there and nothing in the area comes close to the variety of plants.

w/ low light plants you'll probably be fine hitting up captain nemo's. there is a place in lancaster i have yet to get to that apparently has a good selection as well.

Captain Nemos, has changed a lot in the past 2ish months. Before they were all about fish and had all kinds of tanks and set ups and everything fish. Now, after i went for the first time in over 2 months, they have changed over to a general pet store with a big fish selection (always had that). No more big tanks, no more tanks with all kinds of set ups, all the good things you could get there that you couldnt get at the other chain stores is gone. Very disappointing.

Also while i was there (was looking to buy a tank and start my planted tank, that fell threw...) i did look at the plants they had available. To say the least its been downsized like everything else.

I do plan on making a trip down to the Fish Factory in Bristol, i think tomorrow. and i will let you know what i find. hopefully a tank...

[SovXietday]

Let me know Jason, my LFS doesn't really have a huge selection in plants either. A few nice ones that I want but not totally there yet. Gonna have to probably buy stuff online that i like slowly.

[Scapegoat]

Originally Posted by SovXietday

Well I've got water, driftwood, and substrate in the tank. Been sitting there for about 3 days now not doing much of anything. Canister filter gets here tomorrow, so I'm going to hook it up and get it pumping (hopefully clean up the last bit of cloudiness too) and then I'm gonna go get some plants and start planting.

I also ended up buying a new light fixture supporting two T5HOs that I will be putting above the tank. Plan is to run them from 12-7 and then switch over to moonlight until 11. I'm going to let the tank establish and then start dosing and probably do some DIY CO2 as well. We'll see how things go, going to be a bit of a learning curve.

Also will have 6 assassin snails to be my first little critters in the tank. I want to see how they do and once things level out (I'm reading that cycling with plants is much much faster than cycling without) I'm planning on ~10 tiger barbs, ~6 corys, and probably another type of barb or tetra that will hopefully not clash with the tigers.

i would advise against assassin snails as the first critters going in. a) they require other snails as their diet, and b) they're not going to tell you if your tank is cycled. better off with a couple cheap guppies first off.

tiger barbs are the life of the party, but they're very active feeders... most everything else won't get a chance to get a decent meal I gave away 7 2" tiger barbs b/c they were just too rowdy. but they pretty much left everyone alone otherwise since they only picked on each other as they often do.

Originally Posted by jrtcbmw

Captain Nemos, has changed a lot in the past 2ish months. Before they were all about fish and had all kinds of tanks and set ups and everything fish. Now, after i went for the first time in over 2 months, they have changed over to a general pet store with a big fish selection (always had that). No more big tanks, no more tanks with all kinds of set ups, all the good things you could get there that you couldnt get at the other chain stores is gone. Very disappointing.

Also while i was there (was looking to buy a tank and start my planted tank, that fell threw...) i did look at the plants they had available. To say the least its been downsized like everything else.

I do plan on making a trip down to the Fish Factory in Bristol, i think tomorrow. and i will let you know what i find. hopefully a tank...

nemos has been changing over the past couple years. first they put that kid's section in the front and then the birds and now they carry various stuff... i don't like it, but if it keeps them in business.... they honestly were probably wasting space before they started selling other pet items. they still have a really good fish selection and the only thing they lost were some larger, empty, fish tanks up front.

havent been there in a while though... but i wouldnt hesitate to get fish from them. my store of choice is hidden reef though. it's closer and the selection is larger. but they don't have much in the way of plants.

what size tank are you looking for... i always recommend keeping an eye on craigslist, because there is always someone getting rid of something. i've got a 90g in the garage i'm debating where to put that i got as a trade for car audio stuff that was a decade old.

[jpalamar]

Originally Posted by jrtcbmw

Captain Nemos, has changed a lot in the past 2ish months. Before they were all about fish and had all kinds of tanks and set ups and everything fish. Now, after i went for the first time in over 2 months, they have changed over to a general pet store with a big fish selection (always had that). No more big tanks, no more tanks with all kinds of set ups, all the good things you could get there that you couldnt get at the other chain stores is gone. Very disappointing.

Also while i was there (was looking to buy a tank and start my planted tank, that fell threw...) i did look at the plants they had available. To say the least its been downsized like everything else.

I do plan on making a trip down to the Fish Factory in Bristol, i think tomorrow. and i will let you know what i find. hopefully a tank...

Yea, we stopped by Ninos like a month ago and it was a HUGE disappointment. No cool setups and even in the back where the fish were they barely had anything... just a bunch of empty tanks.

[SovXietday]

Originally Posted by Scapegoat

i would advise against assassin snails as the first critters going in. a) they require other snails as their diet, and b) they're not going to tell you if your tank is cycled. better off with a couple cheap guppies first off.

tiger barbs are the life of the party, but they're very active feeders... most everything else won't get a chance to get a decent meal I gave away 7 2" tiger barbs b/c they were just too rowdy. but they pretty much left everyone alone otherwise since they only picked on each other as they often do.

I got a good deal on them so I picked them up, they will be getting their own food for the time being, but my new plants definitely have snails on them so I may have just gotten lucky haha. The test guppies are a good idea though, might have to try that out.

I've been doing some pretty extensive research on the Tigers and honestly, I just want them for some reason, and I want a lot. The good news is my LFS sells youngins, so I'll be going that route once I establish my other fish first. Think I've come to the conclusion that I'm going to run the snails, cories, 2 dwarf powder blue gouramis, and the tigers. I've been reading mixed results with the gourami/tiger combo, but I'm willing to give it a shot.

And here's pics of my tank as of right now. Start of my first planted tank.



Large leaf amazon sword
red amazon sword?
African Blue Hygro (?)
some dwarf hairgrass
a few crypts (actually, a LOT lol)
Java Moss on the driftwood
and the two stemmed plants in the back (green/red) that I don't know. I think they might be rotala indica and magenta? Who knows.



Really like the hairgrass for some reason?



Those are the plants I don't know.

PS - Scape, that canister you showed me is dead on perfect for this tank. Super quiet, can't even hear it running and I'm sitting right next to it. My water has been milky as hell since I filled the tank and after about 5 hours running the water is just about totally clear!

[Scapegoat]

looking good!

I do like tiger barbs. everyone says they're assholes... but they've left all my other fish alone after a couple hours of being introduced. they are fin nippers though and will most likely tear off the gourami's lower fin "things" that hang down.

i would split up the hairgrass more. you're going to have a hard enough time getting it to spread out with low light and no co2. I have some in both my tanks and there is a very obvious difference with it's growth just between where there is highlight and medium light from where the 24" bulb doesnt fully light the 30" tank.

you can split it up and plant it in clumps of 5-10 strands.

and you can pretty much assume that plants will come with snails haha.

that filter is a great buy. it's cheap and works well. just don't be tooo surprised if something breaks. so far mine has been running just fine.

i noticed the other day that my co2 tank is empty... which it shouldnt be, so i have a leak somewhere. so i need to refill it soon or take down the 20g :/ but i was thinking of doing that anyway to build a terrarium. this may be a good enough reason to do so... still need to figure out where the leak is though... somewhere on my regulator set up

[SovXietday]

I actually updated my lighting to 2 T5HOs + original T8 today, and I think I'm going to try the DIY CO2 out. Lots more light in the tank now, amazing how those T5HOs make the single T8 look super dim lol.

Also looking at doing some ferts, what's better? Root tabs or dosing the water column? I have miracle grow mixed in with the Fluval Stratum under the sand, will that negate using root tabs? Lastly, when did you start fertilizing once your tank was set up? Almost immediately or did you wait a month or two to let things settle in?

For the price of that filter I might just buy another one to have a spare if this one for some reason dies. Much better than dropping the cash for an Eheim.

[Rally Sport]

I never noticed this thread before! I have 55g with a four year old severum, and a syno and raphael catfish, full of driftwood and natural rock. I used to have four tanks but i've moved down to just the one.

[Scapegoat]

Originally Posted by SovXietday

I actually updated my lighting to 2 T5HOs + original T8 today, and I think I'm going to try the DIY CO2 out. Lots more light in the tank now, amazing how those T5HOs make the single T8 look super dim lol.

Also looking at doing some ferts, what's better? Root tabs or dosing the water column? I have miracle grow mixed in with the Fluval Stratum under the sand, will that negate using root tabs? Lastly, when did you start fertilizing once your tank was set up? Almost immediately or did you wait a month or two to let things settle in?

For the price of that filter I might just buy another one to have a spare if this one for some reason dies. Much better than dropping the cash for an Eheim.

your amount of lighting will most likely lead to an algae outbreak. at the very least you should now include pressurized co2 and ferts. is the miracle grow organic w/ no included ferts?

i went with dry ferts and mixed my own solution based on http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/f...e-pps-pro.html

i started dosing right away. But i also put 100+ stems of around 14 different species of plant into my tank when it was initially set up.

you're going to get nailed with algae... pick up some flouresh excel. it's liquid co2 basically... not nearly as good as co2 in gas form and in excess can melt plants.

[jrtcbmw]

Originally Posted by Scapegoat

i would advise against assassin snails as the first critters going in. a) they require other snails as their diet, and b) they're not going to tell you if your tank is cycled. better off with a couple cheap guppies first off.

tiger barbs are the life of the party, but they're very active feeders... most everything else won't get a chance to get a decent meal I gave away 7 2" tiger barbs b/c they were just too rowdy. but they pretty much left everyone alone otherwise since they only picked on each other as they often do.



nemos has been changing over the past couple years. first they put that kid's section in the front and then the birds and now they carry various stuff... i don't like it, but if it keeps them in business.... they honestly were probably wasting space before they started selling other pet items. they still have a really good fish selection and the only thing they lost were some larger, empty, fish tanks up front.

havent been there in a while though... but i wouldnt hesitate to get fish from them. my store of choice is hidden reef though. it's closer and the selection is larger. but they don't have much in the way of plants.

what size tank are you looking for... i always recommend keeping an eye on craigslist, because there is always someone getting rid of something. i've got a 90g in the garage i'm debating where to put that i got as a trade for car audio stuff that was a decade old.

Originally Posted by jpalamar

Yea, we stopped by Ninos like a month ago and it was a HUGE disappointment. No cool setups and even in the back where the fish were they barely had anything... just a bunch of empty tanks.

Yeah Nemos has been going down hill. but their big display tanks always had fish in them, and always gave me good idea and enjoyed walking threw them and looking at them.

Their fish selection is been cut down a lot. they still have a lot of fish, just not in the quantity they did before. Most of the fish in my tank have come from there and have lasted, couple here and there didnt.

I did make it down to the Fish Factory. Very good place, just a hike for me. They had a lot of used stuff, unfortunately i didnt find a tank. But their prices are decent noticed about 1-2 more for chemicals, 2-3 more for substrate and about 8 more for canopies (all based on online sites with free shipping and average online sites). just some things i looked at while i was there. There fish selection was really good. had some really cool fish there. There plant selection was that big, they did have some cool plants there just not a whole lot.

Where is the store hidden reef at? Might wanna check it out. need a new store of choice. haha

Trust me i have been all over craigslist looking for tanks. i have found a couple but i really wanna find a 26 or 36 gallon bow front tank. And they seem to be a little harder to come by

Originally Posted by SovXietday

I got a good deal on them so I picked them up, they will be getting their own food for the time being, but my new plants definitely have snails on them so I may have just gotten lucky haha. The test guppies are a good idea though, might have to try that out.

I've been doing some pretty extensive research on the Tigers and honestly, I just want them for some reason, and I want a lot. The good news is my LFS sells youngins, so I'll be going that route once I establish my other fish first. Think I've come to the conclusion that I'm going to run the snails, cories, 2 dwarf powder blue gouramis, and the tigers. I've been reading mixed results with the gourami/tiger combo, but I'm willing to give it a shot.

And here's pics of my tank as of right now. Start of my first planted tank.

Large leaf amazon sword
red amazon sword?
African Blue Hygro (?)
some dwarf hairgrass
a few crypts (actually, a LOT lol)
Java Moss on the driftwood
and the two stemmed plants in the back (green/red) that I don't know. I think they might be rotala indica and magenta? Who knows.

Really like the hairgrass for some reason?

Those are the plants I don't know.

PS - Scape, that canister you showed me is dead on perfect for this tank. Super quiet, can't even hear it running and I'm sitting right next to it. My water has been milky as hell since I filled the tank and after about 5 hours running the water is just about totally clear!

Aaron, looks good. im liking the set up and i have to agree i like the hair grass too.

[SovXietday]

Originally Posted by Scapegoat

your amount of lighting will most likely lead to an algae outbreak. at the very least you should now include pressurized co2 and ferts. is the miracle grow organic w/ no included ferts?

i went with dry ferts and mixed my own solution based on http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/f...e-pps-pro.html

i started dosing right away. But i also put 100+ stems of around 14 different species of plant into my tank when it was initially set up.

you're going to get nailed with algae... pick up some flouresh excel. it's liquid co2 basically... not nearly as good as co2 in gas form and in excess can melt plants.

The lighting thing has me confused. I have two 24" T5HOs that are 24W each + the fairly weak T8 bulb. I've got this figured to not even 2W/G, or is that not really a good way to go about it?

I used Miracle Grow Potting Mix. Has the little white fert balls in it, so I'm pretty sure I do have ferts in the substrate. I worked at Lowes for quite some time and I've never heard of an MG organic potting mix before?

I really want to go with a pressurized CO2 setup now that I've been looking around a lot, I will probably order it next week when I get another paycheck. Hopefully I won't get an outbreak before then.

Thanks again as always, haha.

Jason, thanks dude. Good luck finding your tank!

[Scapegoat]

Originally Posted by SovXietday

The lighting thing has me confused. I have two 24" T5HOs that are 24W each + the fairly weak T8 bulb. I've got this figured to not even 2W/G, or is that not really a good way to go about it?

I used Miracle Grow Potting Mix. Has the little white fert balls in it, so I'm pretty sure I do have ferts in the substrate. I worked at Lowes for quite some time and I've never heard of an MG organic potting mix before?

I really want to go with a pressurized CO2 setup now that I've been looking around a lot, I will probably order it next week when I get another paycheck. Hopefully I won't get an outbreak before then.

Thanks again as always, haha.

Jason, thanks dude. Good luck finding your tank!

you're algae ****ed :p

potting mix is bad, too much ferts. wpg rule is out of the equation any more, we're going with par readings now which some people have done a wondrous job figuring out.

there are some class acts on the plantedtank forum selling co2 regulators, buy one of theirs for under $200. I built a regulator for under 200 by purchasing a dual stage reg on ebay for 35ish and spending another 140ish on parts from someone on the forum. but it would probably cost the same to get one completely prebuilt from them.

first thing i would do though is get that potting mix out of there. If you're near feasterville i can hook you up with some of my mineralized top soil.

[SovXietday]

Yup, just looked it up. I definitely don't have the right stuff in there. Well that sucks.

At this point, I'm just going to wait and see what happens with algae. If I get it really bad, I'll break the tank down again and redo the substrate. The good news is, the substrate it mostly that fluval stuff, I just mixed a bit of the potting mix into it for filler.

*sigh*

Thanks again Scape, lol.

[SovXietday]

What am I, about 2 weeks in now? Maybe?

Things have been good.

I run the 2 T5s from 12-6, and I run the single T8 from 9-12 and then 6-11. So far, I have 0 algae, still crossing my fingers though.
I just got done putting in a pressurized CO2 system. I have it running really slow right now, about 1/2bps (1 bubble per 2 seconds) until my drop checker finally arrives and then I'll dial it in from there.

All of my plants have started sprouting new leaves from their base which is exciting. All of the plants seem to be growing healthier (they were in SAD shape when I bought them), and I haven't lost any despite the old leaves on my crypts totally melting away (they are growing new ones). My hygro is starting to grow kickers and everything.

Fish are all in and are all happy.
-8 Tiger Barbs
-7 Green Tiger Barbs
-5 Peppered Corys
-6 Assassin snails

The barbs are just one big school and have intermingled very nicely. Also, because there is so many of them, they don't bother the cories at all other than the occassional nip when one of the cories swims right through the middle of the pack (dummy, lol). The barbs have a ton of character, way more than any other fish I've ever kept. They come to the front of the glass when its feeding time, and after feeding time they will pick at all the plants and dig around in the sand next to the cories for about an hour getting every last scrap of food they can find. Because of this, I've started feeding the cories sinking pellets when the lights are off. Regardless, cories seem happy as well, and the sand is so much better than my old gravel substrate. When the T8 is on in the morning/evening the cories are all over the place digging around in the sand.

Glad I went with a planted tank, this is a lot more fun then plastic plants and angel fish.

I'll take pics when my new CO2 reactor comes in and I don't have a ceramic diffuser making a ****ton of bubbles in my water and looking ugly as sin doing so.

[Subie_sleeper]

Anyone with a saltwater setup.
My LFS has THREE Christmas Island Flame Angels. 39.99 each !!!!
75 to 85 for this size at most other stores.

[JankyS13]

Originally Posted by Subie_sleeper

Anyone with a saltwater setup.
My LFS has THREE Christmas Island Flame Angels. 39.99 each !!!!
75 to 85 for this size at most other stores.

you might be able to sell them to a store near you, It's actually a common transaction.