Aquarium HObbyists!! Post up your tank picks! (56k no way)

[supapoopa]

crazed87- If you are still looking for a fish my friend is thinking about selling his Arowanna. Its about 2 feet long now, probably to big for the 55, but he is also selling the 125 gal tank with everything the fish is currently in. Let me know if interested or if you know someone that would be.

Murdah- That saltwater setup looks sweeeet. Hopefully when I'm out of school I'll have the funds to start a nice reef tank.

Shiba-kun- Love the discus man. I change the water in all my tanks once a week (about 30-40%). All the tanks are doing great with minimal gravel syphoning.

Originally Posted by imp0rted1

what kind of co2 or setup are you guys using to get plants looking and growing like this?? i have no idea where to start...

This tank is actually a low light tank. 6 gal with only a 8-9watt flourescent light. It getting just a little over 1 watt per gallon which is considered low for a planted tank. At that level its not really necessary to have any type of co2 added since the plants that would survive in such low light are slow growers and wouldn't make any use of the extra co2 provided.

For that tank all i use is a very mild liquid fertilizer called Flora-Pride.

If your your looking to keep easy plants in your tank go to http://www.plantgeek.net and check out their plant guide. There are submenues that allow you to select a list of only low light plants. You should find all the information you need to start a planted tank on that site also.

Accord dude- Have fun setting up your new tank. If you don't have an idea of what kind of tank you want to setup, visit some of the sites i previously mentioned in this thread to find all the information you need to properly setup any type of tank you may want to keep.


Keep um coming.

[Leprechaun]

An interesting tank I saw online:

[accord dude]

So I have forgotten but this is a real basic question. So do you let the aquairum set up with watter before you put plants and fish in? LIke get the ph right and that stuff and let it settle and how long does that take? I think I remember that when we put plants and fish in we let them sit in their bags in the watter before letting them out but i cant remember.

[BlazSean]

Originally Posted by accord dude

So I have forgotten but this is a real basic question. So do you let the aquairum set up with watter before you put plants and fish in? LIke get the ph right and that stuff and let it settle and how long does that take? I think I remember that when we put plants and fish in we let them sit in their bags in the watter before letting them out but i cant remember.

yea if its a new setup you let the aquarium sit for about a week or 3-5 days atleast to let the ph settle and let the good bacteria form, and yes you let the plants and fish stay in their bags in the fish tank letting them acclimate before you release them, also let a little bit of aquarium water into the bag so they can adjust better before you let them out

[supapoopa]

LEt the tank run for at least 24 hours before adding any fish. Plants can be added right way as long as you have the proper amount of light for the type of plants you choose. Note about setting up a completely new tank, there will be no where near enough bacteria in the empty tank to start the cycling process without either adding 2-3 small fish and letting it run the time period needed to complete the cycle (3-4 weeks) or adding pure ammonia to feed the bacterial colony of the first stage in the cycle (also for 3-4 weeks). Either way it will be 3-4 weeks before you can really start to add the fish you want to keep in the tank. If you don't want to lose any fish, be patient and do it right the first time by waiting the full 3-4 weeks and checking for nitrite and nitrate levels during the last week to see if the cycle is complete (ammonia=0, nitrite=0, nitrate=<10). Good luck.

Also note that if you can find the product Bio-spira, it is the only product that will truly completely cycle your tank in under a week (usually 1-2 days). Don't bother with other products that claim to reduce the time needed to cycle a tank (Cycle, Stress Zyme). they will help to introduce more nitrifying bacteria into the system but its still not enough to make a big dent in the amount of time needed to fully cycle a tank.


As far as being successful with plants, its all about the lighting, co2, and added fertilizers that will produce good results in lush growth.

Example:
36 watt high intensity lighting, CO2 generator, and adding some liquid fertilizer once a week

Pic i posted 3 days ago of my 10 gal...



How it looked yesterday...




Look at the rapid growth of the bush on the wood in only 2 DAYS! And the plants on the left not only straighted out but grew about an inch!

Read up as much as you can before you set it up because once the waters in there with the fish and completely cycled its a pain to change anything.

[BlazSean]

Originally Posted by supapoopa

LEt the tank run for at least 24 hours before adding any fish. Plants can be added right way as long as you have the proper amount of light for the type of plants you choose. Note about setting up a completely new tank, there will be no where near enough bacteria in the empty tank to start the cycling process without either adding 2-3 small fish and letting it run the time period needed to complete the cycle (3-4 weeks) or adding pure ammonia to feed the bacterial colony of the first stage in the cycle (also for 3-4 weeks). Either way it will be 3-4 weeks before you can really start to add the fish you want to keep in the tank. If you don't want to lose any fish, be patient and do it right the first time by waiting the full 3-4 weeks and checking for nitrite and nitrate levels during the last week to see if the cycle is complete (ammonia=0, nitrite=0, nitrate=<10). Good luck.

Also note that if you can find the product Bio-spira, it is the only product that will truly completely cycle your tank in under a week (usually 1-2 days). Don't bother with other products that claim to reduce the time needed to cycle a tank (Cycle, Stress Zyme). they will help to introduce more nitrifying bacteria into the system but its still not enough to make a big dent in the amount of time needed to fully cycle a tank.


As far as being successful with plants, its all about the lighting, co2, and added fertilizers that will produce good results in lush growth.

Example:
36 watt high intensity lighting, CO2 generator, and adding some liquid fertilizer once a week

Pic i posted 3 days ago of my 10 gal...



How it looked yesterday...




Look at the rapid growth of the bush on the wood in only 2 DAYS! And the plants on the left not only straighted out but grew about an inch!

Read up as much as you can before you set it up because once the waters in there with the fish and completely cycled its a pain to change anything.

could not have said it better , the only thing look up the info on plant and your fish to see if they are compatible, and make sure your fish isnt a species that likes to uproot plants (mainly cichlids), im about to sell my Breeding Jack Dempseys, i just bought some amazon swords and am about to put 3 piranha in my 75 gal and change the lighting levels and i'll post pics up, i cant wait for that

[scottigee]

Wow...just stumbled on this thread...I'll post pics of my setup tomorrow.
My roommate is the guru - he set the whole thing up years ago, but then moved to North Carolina so I inherited it. I'm learning as I go.
My Fish:
2 Bala Sharks
1 Red tailed shark
1 Pink Gourami
1 Blue Gourami
1 Opaline Gourami
2 Blue Rams
1 of those ugly bottom sucker guys
1 African frog
10 Neons

The tank has always had minimal fish in it - he was more into creating a habitat for them with live plants and all. Me...I want a fish show! Honestly it's a little crowded now, but we'll see how it pans out.

[accord dude]

Yeah dude I want a 10 gal tank like you have and I want it to be more plants than fish. Lots of living plants and a few fish.

[The_Producer]

i'll have to post mine, i only have a 20 gal tank, but it's neato

i have a catfish who rules the tank, and a red pacu, a guramee (sp?) and really... all the other little fish i think got eaten by the agressors... hhahaha even the sucker fishes

[2slow2go]

i had a betta in my tank, it died and i just let the sucker rot for months. it just tight how it just rots away. all the bones are gone too.

[supapoopa]

Originally Posted by 2slow2go

i had a betta in my tank, it died and i just let the sucker rot for months. it just tight how it just rots away. all the bones are gone too.

Thats disturbing. Bet the smell freshened up the room too.

[scottigee]

OK here's the tank I inherited from my roommate when he moved to North Carolina. It's a 30 gallon tank. Most of the plants are alive...he did a good job getting a fully functioning eco-system going in there. I'm probably messing it up by adding so many fish, but I like it with more....we'll see what happens.

a screen-cap of a vid of the whole tank


My Red-Tailed Shark and one of my Bala Sharks


My Pink Kissing Gourami


The Pink Gourami and one of two Blue Rams on the bottom right. Also one of 10 neons


My Opaline Gourami


My Blue and Opaline Gouramis, with one of the Blue Rams (there are only 1 of each, the rest is a reflection)


So in total I have
1 Red Tailed Shark
2 Bala Sharks
2 Blue Rams
1 Blue Gourami
1 Opaline Gourami
1 Pink Kissing Gourami
1 African Frog (no pics)
1 Ugly ass algae eater (no pics)
about a million snails.

[BlazSean]

looks good

[Diana]

that is too cute!!


One of my fish died yesterday, it was a gold fish, I think it just got too fat