Hi everyone! So I'm super excited to get this thing going. I got a 29 gal during the petco $/gal sale (definitely wanted to go bigger but don't have the space)
I have an aqueon 30 gal filter from a cycled tank and a 100watt Marineland heater.
I am still looking at lighting options so input would be great!!
Here's the tank so far!
Hard scape:
Fluorite base
White sand cap
Spider wood
Dragon stone
Flora: (so far)
Amazon sword
Dwarf hair grass
Bronze crypt (don't know the spec)
Pogostemon Stellata
Anubius Nana
Some kind of fern
Dwarf Lily
Val
Fauna:
Dwarf Gourami male
2 Botia Loaches (one almorhae, one kubotai)
Planning on a few tetras
I loved my old yoyo and the kubotai was just too pretty to pass up! Such personality with these guys.
I'm debating if I want to get my gourami a female or not, he is a good looking guy.
The tank was just by itself so I'm still looking at all my options
In nature, plant coverage follows the light, I think your grasses would have done better in the bright spot right under the light.... maybe it is something you could work with.
I suspect you will see wore growth towards the center than on the one in the corner.
Your botias will enjoy 2 or 3 large leaves on the bottom for cover. I find aged oak leaves, picked up from the ground work well.
The light I have is temporary, when I buy one for the tank, it will be more uniform throughout the whole thing. I might still switch the Val and the other green stems though.
CO2 is very important, especially with the grass. Plan on spending $150 to $200 on CO2 equipment. The gourami reminds me of discus. The loach might not be a good idea with the grass. I had to get rid of 7 corydoras, because when they swam by, they uprooted my dwarf hair grass.
I'm gonna try and go without a CO2 setup for now, will probably give in eventually though. I do have some API ferts I can dose if I think I need anything for the time being.
If the grass becomes an issue, I'd get rid of it first before giving up my loaches! It's pretty deep in the substrate though so we will see!
I'm gonna try and go without a CO2 setup for now, will probably give in eventually though. I do have some API ferts I can dose if I think I need anything for the time being.
If the grass becomes an issue, I'd get rid of it first before giving up my loaches! It's pretty deep in the substrate though so we will see!
They nest and mate for about 60 days, it is highly disruptive and they can move whole plants roots and all to build those nests. I'd skip the female idea for now.
MY LIGHT CAME!! I love Amazon Prime so much.
These current systems are crazy (in a good way). I have the 5 gal solo cube from them too and love it. The set up is very easy and you can mess with all the color combinations, which I am still doing.
I moved some stuff around this morning looking for some better placement (mainly the fern and the dwarf lily). I'm worried about the dwarf getting too much light where it is, but we will see for now. My hair grass got a little yellow yesterday but I didn't have a light on it so that's probably why. Excited for everything to settle in now and look for some tetras!!
The new fluffy plant and hair grass look like they may need some KNO3 (potassium nitrate). Check your nitrates 1st then you will now if you need KNO3. Let me know your nitrate level and I will give your more info.
So I was planning on a fish shopping trip tomorrow to get some tetras, but of course, I had to take the puppy to the vet. Fish money turned to dog money and I have to wait a couple more weeks.
I finally got my tetras!! I asked for 5 and came home with 8 so we will see how my water parameters hold up[emoji23]
So now the stock is:
Male Gourami
2 Botia loaches
8 runmynose tetras
Okay so I figured I would do an actual update today since I did some maintenance. So I got my rummynose yesterday! They are all colored up and doing well so far.
You can see my pretty Botia in that pic as well[emoji7] He always swims around with them.
An update on the botias, turns out I have a male and female and they act like they are mating all the time. The female has a nice round belly now.
I have gotten some more plants too, some AR in the middle and a Madagascar lace on the left infront of the rock.
Might still move that around. The lily has had a lot of growth! Sending up a new leaf everyday.
I also saw my hair grass thinning out and was getting super confused, until I saw the nest my gourami is building for himself. So guess I just have to hope for the best and hope he doesn't tear it all up[emoji16]
Tetras and everyone else are doing great!
Tank on the other hand has been having some algae issues. I've decreased the light period by a few hours a day. It still persisted so I went and got some nerites. Hopefully they survive the loaches while they feast!
I honestly don't know. The timer is set for 6 hours a day but it doesn't work all the time. I am only dosing the synthesis and API CO2 boost.
If I can figure out my light timer I will try the 3 on/3 off!
I honestly don't know. The timer is set for 6 hours a day but it doesn't work all the time. I am only dosing the synthesis and API CO2 boost.
If I can figure out my light timer I will try the 3 on/3 off!
I use Excel in one tank and it is great to use. It adds a carbon source for your plants to use and is hard on algae but it is also hard on some aquatic plants, like Vals. Your Vals may not like it so consider that before using it.
The higher the light the more need to keep up with nutrients (macro and micro) and with CO2. If you don't want get into a pressurized CO2 system there is always DIY. Or you could lower your light level...I think with your light you can dim the output as well, correct?
My suggestion is to try and balance out your light output (both intensity and duration) to the minimum amount for the plants to grow and follow this method:
Thank you all so much! The algae seems to be going away. So the snails and the lower light seem to be working!
I have read all the instructions on how to set up the timer and have done it multiple times, but it's still not working properly. Might be something I am doing, might be the timer.
I do eventually want to get a CO2 system, just need to save for it right now! I also think I'm moving my tank so I want to have everything settle in its new spot before I add anything else.
I have read all the instructions on how to set up the timer and have done it multiple times, but it's still not working properly. Might be something I am doing, might be the timer.
I do eventually want to get a CO2 system, just need to save for it right now! I also think I'm moving my tank so I want to have everything settle in its new spot before I add anything else.
Sounds like it is time to contact Current USA for it is still under warranty. Tell them what you have done and see if they have any suggestions.
I am beginning to start a Paintball Co2 system. Wondering if my build was cheaper than a Co2 system with a regular tank I started a thread asking what other's had spent. Even though I didn't save much I still prefer the paintball tank because of limited room for it. Plus what would happen if something malfunction with a big tank scares me.
It's good to hear that the algae is going away. I agree with Hilde that you should contact the manufacturer soon. That is the reason why I went with fluorescents (for now) when I set up my 75g tank. I found alot of good LED lights on Amazon but when I would read the reviews, I would always find people saying their lights stopped working, sometimes right after the warranty ran out. The possibility of having to mail the light back at my expense and having to get light in my plants somehow in the meantime turned me off. I decided to do a diy LED project in the future. I figure if I built it, I would know how to fix it. I don't mean to rain on your parade though. If it is indeed malfunctioning and you have to send it back, you could put cheap CFLs (6500k/daylight) on your tank temporarily while your waiting, if the light you were using before your LED isn't sufficient. I'm not sure if you would need 1 or 2 for your tank but you would just need a clip on lamp from Walmart or something to reflect the light down. I have seen some impressive low-tech projects on here using CFLs like that. @Hilde I will definitely check out your paintball co2 thread. I am considering doing the same.
So I moved my tank! Everything is settled but I lost both of my botias[emoji30]
Being how sensitive they are I wasn't all that surprised, still a bummer though. I will get some progress pics when I can!
So here's a pic of the tank on its new stand! I obviously need to do some housekeeping, but things are all stable.
In other news, my friend really wanted to buy me a fish (of course I didn't object), but she randomly went to the store without telling me and came back with a pleco and a female Betta. At least the pleco was a bristle nose, so I can actually put that in my tank, but I already have a male Betta in my 5 gal. Looks like I'll have to set up another little Betta tank with some cuttings.
Pleco is already enjoying his job and is always eating something.
Bad news today, my dwarf gourami died. He was acting super weird for about a week and I finally went to put him in quarantine after work and when I got home he was gone[emoji17].
In other news though, @Monrankim sent me some new plants that I'm waiting to grow in a bit until I get some pictures!
Bad news today, my dwarf gourami died. He was acting super weird for about a week and I finally went to put him in quarantine after work and when I got home he was gone.
Finally a quick picture! I saw some tetras at my LFS today that I kind of fell in love with, soooo I came home with 3 of them. I forget what they were calling them but it was some weird series of numbers. Here's a picture of them
Only one of them has the black spot on the dorsal fin, I love the look of them!
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