BMonarch's High Tech 29G!

1439 Views 12 Replies 7 Participants Last post by oldpunk78, Nov 10, 2010

Bmonarch

Discussion Starter · Oct 19, 2010

Hey everyone!

Been a part of this forum for a little over a year now but never really got into it. I read every day though! Today, I thought, what the hell, why not put some of my stuff online and actually try to keep up with my thread. I'll be trying to put up new images every week, to get more advice.

Just got all moved into my new apartment about 2 months ago, and got my 29 gallon up and running again. This time, however, I decided to go a lot higher tech with it, new lights, new filter, new CO2 system, the whole shebang.

Anyways, I figured I'd show you what's happened so far. I got a plant package from Crispino Ramos (Thanks man!) and I've been seeing some serious growth since I got the plants in the tank. I'm really digging the set up. I'm dosing EI currently, which is working out pretty well too.

I've got some hair algae growing on the lower parts of my plants, but that's not a huge deal, I just need to get a bigger/better clean up crew.

Tech:
Tank: AGA 29 Gallon
Filter: Eheim 2217
Extra Flow: Hydor Pico Powerhead
Light: 62 Watt Coralife T5 Fixture
CO2: Paintball Tank Set (Soon to be 5 lb tank)

Fauna: (Will compile list later)

Fish:
22 Neon Tetras
2 Otocinclus
2 Corys (Can't remember the name of 'em)
1 RCS (I think he must have came in from the inside of the canister filter I bought off a local Planted Tank enthusiast. I was pretty amused when I saw him chilling on my driftwood.)

Full Tank Shot:

Neons:

Angled Shot:

Favorite Plant:

Anyways, just wanted to show you guys, I'm 100% sure that eventually I'm gonna have questions, because honestly, this is my first attempt at doing high tech.

Let me know if you have any suggestions for me!

See less See more

Save

1 - 13 of 13 Posts

Bmonarch

Discussion Starter · #2 · Oct 20, 2010

Hey, quick question. My CO2 tank ran out of CO2 tonight. Is it going to be okay till tomorrow when I go to fill it, or is it usually a bad thing if I cant get it filled immediately?

Also, I have serious green hair algae outbreaks in my tank. Anyone have suggestions for the best clean up crew for that situation?

Save

Hyzer

· #3 · Oct 20, 2010

Hey, quick question. My CO2 tank ran out of CO2 tonight. Is it going to be okay till tomorrow when I go to fill it, or is it usually a bad thing if I cant get it filled immediately?

Also, I have serious green hair algae outbreaks in my tank. Anyone have suggestions for the best clean up crew for that situation?

Don't worry about waiting until tomorrow to fill up the tank. While fluctuating CO2 levels over time can inhibit plant growth and encourage algae, a day is not going to make much of a difference. If it is going to be more than a couple days, you might think about reducing light intensity, your photoperiod, or both.

Hair algae is a pain, but nothing in your pictures tells me that you have a serious outbreak. A bit of algae here and there is a very natural thing. I deal with hair algae by manual removal. Eventually it will phase out. Some say Siamese Algae Eaters eat this type of algae, but why add a fish to your tank strictly to deal with a temporary algae outbreak. Plus, you don't want your otos to compete too much with other algae eaters. Most of the time, I find thread algae on old plant leaves which should have been removed.

Nice start to your first high tech tank. Hope this info helps.

See less See more

Save

VadimShevchuk

· #4 · Oct 20, 2010

That looks pretty good. Funny thing is that I run a eheim 2217 on my 37 gallon. Aren't you glad you got the 2217 instead of the 2215?

Save

we4wieners

· #5 · Oct 20, 2010

Beautiful set-up. Very inspiring!

Save

Bmonarch

Discussion Starter · #6 · Oct 21, 2010

@ Hyzer

Thanks for the info on the CO2, I got it refilled yesterday and I'm back at full operation now. I just am worried about fluctuating CO2 because I've had serious BBA before and it really scares me.

Today when I did a water change, I did my best to find any plants that had some of the hair algae on them and just removed the leaves. Hopefully that'll keep it down. I won't get any more fish for the issue until it gets bad. I'd like to get some Amano Shrimp too, since I think they would help the problem too.

@ Vadim

Absolutely! The 2217 isn't even enough flow for me. (I really like flow, makes the tank look more natural) I love this thing. I have a 2213 that I'm gonna put on a 20 Long and I'm pretty sure that's not gonna cut it.

@ we4wieners

Thanks man! Glad you like it!

Funniest part! Today, when I was doing a water change, I noticed 4 RCS. Guess that filter had quite a bit in there.

See less See more

Save

Bmonarch

Discussion Starter · #7 · Nov 1, 2010

Had another hiccup with the CO2 system.

I only had it full for about a week and already it was empty. Unfortunately, there is a leak in my regulator, so I'll be taking it apart and trying to find the problem. Luckily, I had a replacement Reg, which is actually my better of the two, and now I've got that operating on the tank.

The tank is suffering from a Staghorn outbreak, and a Hair algae outbreak, something I'm not really enjoying. Out of sheer luck, I went to my local LFS and found out they had some true SAE's available. I picked up 3 of them and put them in my tank. They seem to be happy in their new home. Hopefully they're doing their job too.

So, over the past few weeks I've been enjoying this tank so much that I've been looking into upgrading to a 75 Gallon to replace my roommates two crappy 20 Gallons and my 29 Gallon and make a super tank. I'd really enjoy doing it, so I think I'm gonna give it a shot. I'm looking around for a local used 75 Gallon so that I can get this show on the road. I really think I'd enjoy having my first large tank, so it should be fun. Gotta start saving now....Great!

I'm trying to price out the 75 Gallon to see how much it would cost me. I'd LOVE to try and use Aquasoil for it. How many liters of AS do you guys think I'd need?

I'll put up some new pics tomorrow if I get the chance.

See less See more

Save

Sharkfood

· #8 · Nov 1, 2010

So, over the past few weeks I've been enjoying this tank so much that I've been looking into upgrading to a 75 Gallon to replace my roommates two crappy 20 Gallons and my 29 Gallon and make a super tank.

This is impossible. The only possible outcome is that you will have a 75 gallon, a 29 gallon, and 2x 20 gallon tanks running.:biggrin:

Tank looks good. Everything looks healthy.

You're going to want to move your SAEs to the 75 gallon eventually as they are pretty large fish and as adults will constitute a pretty high bioload.

Save

Bmonarch

Discussion Starter · #9 · Nov 9, 2010

Wow, this is so frustrating! I never had this problem with paintball CO2! Today, when I went to look at my tank, I realized my drop checker was dark blue! The CO2 tank is empty again!

I can only assume that this is what's fueling a massive outbreak of what I think is a form of hair algae. It's like this long green wire of algae that goes for inches and inches. I've been removing it with a toothbrush because I remember someone saying something about that once.

I'm going to go fill up the CO2 tank AGAIN. Anyone have any idea what I'm doing wrong? I'm using a really nice regulator, a Sumo. I don't get what's happening.

I'll post pictures tonight if I get time.

Save

idex

· #10 · Nov 9, 2010

I have the same size tank and lighting but am only running 1 of the 2 bulbs in the fixture. Am interested to see how your tank works out....thanks for sharing.