[Taryn Nation]

Ok so in my 29 I have Black Tahitian Moon by Carib Sea all natural and I plan to get most of it out and then mix it with Moonlight sand all natural by Carib Sea because it will allow my Plant to grow better or if even at all.

What I have in the is four Nymphoides aquatica, I like to call them Banana Plants. And 1 15 inch thin grass plant with pointed ends and white roots that are thin as well.

I want to get java moss and tie it to my wood. Would any other moss work better or just as well?

Also I would like to get Anbius plants and maybe sword tails. Any suggestions on easy to care for plants that add color? I do want to have a lily bulb too but will this work in the new sand? do i need more lighting?

my 29 has sun glow which is a 20w. Don’t know much about lighting yet. and my 10 has life glow. what kind of lighting do I need?

Do I need CO2 or not and how much is it to get and how dose it work exactly?

Also I use flourish complete in a liquid form.

 

[OverStocked]

Your 29g tank is way overstocked. Raphael cats can easily hit 9 inches. You can't really afford to add more tetras. Regardless of how good of care you take of them, it doesn't make your tank any bigger. If you are already defensive of it, you know you are overstocked. Counting on a tank you don't have is a bad practice... Just ask around. Many, many people do this( i did!) and then life comes along and you're stuck...

I think you need to head over to the low tech section and read up on low tech set ups. Decide what you want to do and take it from there.

Here are some articles every beginner should read prior to going further...

http://www.plantedtank.net/articles/Basics-to-starting-a-Planted-Tank/4/
http://www.plantedtank.net/articles/General-Planted-Tank-Maintenance/15/
http://www.plantedtank.net/articles/Fertilizers-in-a-Planted-Tank/1/
http://www.plantedtank.net/articles/Set-up-your-first-planted-tank/16/

Take the time to read them and then identify more specific questions. Please, please take some time to consider your fish and their adult sizes as well. For the record... those frogs can get HUGE.

 

[bradac56]

Those plants are all low light so you won't need C02 and you should be fine with the sunglow.
I would superglue the moss to the driftwood, I glue it to slate tiles all the time.
Yes the 10gal would be overcrowded without the plattyes.

- Brad

 

[Ariel301]

I would recommend getting a little bit better lighting, that's pretty low wattage, less than 1 watt per gallon isn't enough if those are just standard flourescent lights. Your plant listing sounds good...not sure what kind of 'grass' you are talking about having in there. Some other good easy ones are cryptocorynes, valisnerias, and some stems like ludwigia repens (red ludwigia), green and sunset hygrophila, anacharis.

Your fertilizers are ok (I think, not sure what all is in that one), but it will be cheaper on you in the long run (especially when you get that 55) if you switch to dry fertilizers that you can buy in bigger amounts. They're available for reasonable prices online, and you can find plenty of articles with instructions on how to use them and which ones to get. Or you could stick with what you've got, just for convenience, it's up to you.

Your stocking is pretty heavy, but should be ok for a while if you are planning to move on to a bigger tank in the near future like you say. The shark definitely isn't a permanent choice for the ten gallon, but they grow fairly slowly, so a few months is ok. Just keep an eye on your water parameters to be sure everything is nice and safe for them, keep up on your water changes regularly, and don't overfeed them. If you can't get a bigger tank in the next few months, you will have to thin out some of your fish--the shark and the raphael especially, as they do get large, and your livebearers will multiply like crazy so watch that too. I'm a bit of an overstocker too lol--just don't let it get out of hand, of course!

 

[Solid]

Welcome to TPT!

In my 29 I have black titian sand which i plan to suck most of it out then mix the rest with the soft belly and plant sand thats moonlight. Both from "all natural cariben sea". Its a good company to get sand from.

Wha? I think you mean Tahitian Moon sand and in my experience it has never hurt fishes. It is inert though, so it wont help plants grow but thats ok as long as you dont get demanding plants or you fertilize.

my 29 has a sunglow lamp 20w. my 10 Life glow 15 w. Should i get a better ones?

This lamp will let you grow very low light plants like most anubias, java ferns, and java moss. To grow other plants you will probably need to upgrade your lights.

what do i need to keep those plants alive? I do have florish complete, liquid fertilizer for them so far.

This will probably fine if you stick to low light plants with your current lights. Your plants will get most of thier nutrients from fish waste and flourish will provide micro nutrients. If you upgrade your lights you probably want to upgrade your fertilizers too and you might want to consider adding Co2.

will this be overcrowded the 10 if i put the 3 plattys in as well?

Depends on how many guppies you have, but it sounds like both your tanks may be a bit overstocked but not terribly. The general rule is 1" of (full size adult) fish per gallon, but I like to keep well below that, helps prevent algae and health problems with the fish.

 

[bradac56]

Isn't that Sunglow a T8 or T5 light? It's going to be a bit better that the old T12 WPG rule and for those plants a stock CF fixture should work.

 

[isais]

Im going to address the question issued in the headline of this thread. If you are wanting to add flourite I would suggest going ahead and doing so. The best way to do this with fish currently in the tank (in my opinion only), would be:
1) rinse the flourite well
2) once there is little to no cloudyness left remove your fish and do a 75% water change, keeping as much of the water in a seperate container as you can
3)remove old sustrate and keep enough of it to cap your flourite
4) add the flourite to the tank you want it in (about 1 1/2"-2"), and cap with about 1/2"-1" old substrate
5plant
6 add the water you kept back into the tank, using a plate to prevent stirring up the substrate and clouding your water.
7 top off water and heat as needed once its to temp add your fish back.
As to lighting, I think with the plants you have listed: java moss, anubias, and lily(depending on the type) you should be ok. The banna plant I am unsure about, and depending on the grass you may need more light.
One more suggestion that I would offer if I may is too not let what others have posted in response to YOUR questions upset or limit what you want to do. They are your tanks and your fish ultimately only you know how your fish are doing. Remember however YOU asked for their help, they didnt just give it unrequested

 

[Taryn Nation]

aww that was sweet what you wrote above. And very true. Yes I love this hobby and took it on after quieting a very bad habbit so of course when you switch one addiction for another it can still go over board and be tricky. But I have given fish away when I couldn’t provide the necessary help. I apologize for horrible spelling and lack of accurate plant identification from the 1st post. I was very tired and I’m not knowledge in aquarium plants yet but I am just now on the path to researching the plants and giving the fish a break. I guess I like having a lot of these guys around due to my bfs 3rd shift schedule. Nights get lonely and when he leaves for 4months in special government agent training he wont be able to having any communication to the outside world so I will be extremely lonely, hence why he plans to get me a huge tank before he takes off. Right now we resign in a 1bedroom top floor appnt and have little room plus I doubt this crappy structure could hold the 55 and I would be looking at a law suite.
Anyways thanks for the advise about the fluorite I will be purchasing it within two weeks. I only want my plants to thrive but am not looking to having anything advance and to overtake the tank.
I did try to get a 20l but we have 5tanks already so I must Wait until we move. As I said before if things start to go bad I will give the fish that need those certain fish away

 

[crossbow]

Just a note on the aquarium stores...

Most of the good stores have filtration systems well beyond the standard capability of the average owner, as well as automatic water change systems, etc. Though in many cases their tanks may be overstocked (usually the better stores are only slightly overstocked), all the work behind the scenes counters that.

At one of my local shops, one bank of reef tanks is filtered by hundreds upon hundreds of gallons of live rocks and filter systems. You could say that even though the individual tanks might be 20-40 gallons, the overall filtration volume is probably in the thousand gallon range.

 

[lauraleellbp]

IMO it would be much wiser to wait until after moving and having some larger tanks before adding to your bioload.

Easier on you as well as the fish in the long run.

 

[snoz0r]

IMO it would be much wiser to wait until after moving and having some larger tanks before adding to your bioload.

Easier on you as well as the fish in the long run.

+1 was just about to say the same thing

 

[Taryn Nation]

Ok so Your right about not getting anymore fish except I still want a few rasboras, my poor guy is all alone. For now I will work on getting better lighting, the sand, and fluorite. Then maybe a few decos for the 10 gallon. But one more thing are my guppys just not suitable for a 5gallon? if not i will move them to 10gallon like planed.

 

[lauraleellbp]

IMO a 5gal is too small for more than just 2-3 guppies. And if you've got both genders you'll be overrun in a few months.

 

[sewingalot]

Stay on topic, guys. Also, be polite to one another.

 

[Frogmanx82]

Rafael cat 9 inches? I find that hard to believe. I have a Rafael cat. I've had it since 1984 and its barely 5 inches in a 150 gallon tank.

You can put guppies in a 5 gallon tank, breeders do it all the time. Sure they will have babies, but you just need to move them out as they get crowded. I put guppies in my outdoor fountains that are probably not even 5 gallons just to keep the mosquitoes out. Leave them there all summer, don't feed them, and in the fall I bring in more than I started with.

+1 on what isais said.

Apparently you edited your stocking list so I can't see what you have. Good luck on setting things up. A 29 isn't that big. I've moved my 75 gallon tank many times fish and all. That Rafael cat has had several homes.

 

[Taryn Nation]

Thanks that really helped. I might put them in the 10 gallon its just I'm unsure mixing them with the albino shark a friend had to throw on me. He was going to flush the poor thing. But I know I will be getting a 55. As for now I will stop where I'm at and just work on setting up Plants in the tanks. My bf had a lily bulb and it was doing great till I moved it to a different spot. I read somewhere its good to move the plants. Boy was that wrong. I'm not sure if the lily will make it. I want a strong but colorful plant is the lily a strong Plant?

 

[Frogmanx82]

I have a 4 inch albino rainbow shark with my guppies. He has absolutely no interest in going after the babies. Occasionally he chases the guppies, but I would say they are very compatible.

 

[Karackle]

I can't comment on any of the stocking / which fish in which tank question because it seems you've edited your original post.

As for some of your lighting questions, if you are sticking with the low light plants you mentioned, you should definitely be fine. I have a measely 17w of t8 stock fluorescent light over my 30g tank and if you check out my thread you'll see a grow quite a few plants very well! I have the same 15w bulb over my 10g and the plants in there are thriving as well. If you want to add more color to your tank but stay with the low light then I suggest Cryptocorynes, many species will grow in low light, especially Crypt wendtii (which has quite a few color variants), crypt undulata I recently learned does EXCELLENT in my 30g, i used to have crypt spiralis in my unbelievably low light 20g and it did really well, other good low light plants are sunset hygro which gets really nice pink coloration to the leaves (hygrophila polysperma 'rosanervig'), water wisteria (hygrophila difformis) also is a great low light plant and another new one that has been doing really well is Lindernia rotundifolia sp 'variegated'. You can look most of these up in the plant profiles section at the top of the forum to see if you like any of them. Anubias, java fern species and most mosses will do well with that lighting too, christmas moss, taiwan moss and flame moss all look really nice on DW and do well in low light. Fissidens moss is really beautiful too and would probably work in your 10g, I have it in both of my tanks and it's growing significantly faster in the 10g with that extra bit of light than in the 30. And no, you shouldn't need CO2 with that amount of lighting

As for moving tanks, I recently moved my 30g and my boyfriend's 60g twice in 3 months, we moved them from upstate NY to northern NJ where we lived temporarily for 3 months and then we moved them to central NJ where we live now. We filled 5g buckets with tank water for the fish, filled other buckets with the substrate, and more buckets with the plants. We took the filter media out of hte filters and placed it in the buckets with the fish to keep the bacteria alive AND to keep the ammonia levels in the buckets down. Got the tanks positioned in their new places, replaced the gravel, replaced the plants and hardscape, filled the tanks, drip-acclimated the fish and VOILA. We didn't have any problems during either move (oh that's not true....one of the filters got cracked....coulda been worse! ) I think keeping the filter media in the with fish was key to our success because the tanks hardly had noticeable cycles.

Also, if you are not sure what I mean by "cycle" be sure to google "aquarium cycle" or "aquarium nitrogen cycle" it's definitely an important thing to know about and why those beneficial bacteria on the filter media I was talking about are important roud: (sorry if you do already know about it, I just always like to mention it to self-proclaimed noobs )

 

[Taryn Nation]

Thank you so much for all your help. Ya think my lighting is fine and when we find a more permit place I will look into getting better lighting so I can grow more advance plants.

Also thanks for ideas on what to do when we move. His job requires him to move wherever and whenever for the next three years. I will start collecting buckets!

Frogg man: thanks I’m sure the albino will be fine and he's a baby so he will probably grow up with an easy temperament from being around more peaceful fish. My bf's rainbow shark whose 4inch and 2years old, is so nice and acts as the sheriff, if any fish start picking on another he gets right between them and stops the fight. Luckily all are fish are getting along great.

I had a Chinese algae Eater and I had him in a 5 w/guppys. He did fine but was young. When I moved him to the 29/ with my Raphael fish and coryfish he turned into a huge jerk. Then one day I found him buried in the sand dead. For some reason I think my Raphael fish killed him who is usually very nice. The Raphael fish and Bumble Bee (North American) push each other out of the way when trying to get food sometimes but other than that they get along and sleep in my log together.
:drool:

 

[snoz0r]

if your looking for some heartier stronger plants, you might considering things along the likes of mosses and/or java fern, they are lower light plants that are for the most part slow growers.

just make sure if you get some like java fern to not bury it completely in the gravel/substrate or tie/super glue it to a piece of driftwood etc