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Hi everyone! I set up a 5 gallon tank yesterday night to replace the one my female betta smaragdina, Prisca, is in. Here are the specs so far;
Substrate; 1/8th inch turface
Heater; I have not plugged it in yet, but a 50 watt aquaneat heater.
Light; Again not in use yet, but a 575 lumen, 2700k BR20 led bulb. It will be set to be on 6 hours a day when I add plants to this setup; I may eventually increase the photoperiod and/or get a stronger bulb if I can keep this tank algae free.
Filter; An aquaneat internal filter, at 50 GPH (this will also be a makeshift CO2 reactor/diffuser). It has a filter sponge just inside the intake, followed by about 20 ml seachem denitrate and 10 ml purigen.
CO2; From a yeast reactor. I will use a 1.25 liter yeast reactor with this tank (in contrast to the 591 ml reactors for my current 5 gallon tanks), allowing me to go four weeks without changing it due to the small amount of yeast required for a tank this size (it takes only .45 ml instant yeast to give high tech CO2 levels in my current 5 gallon tanks)
Fertilization; Will be present. Exact amounts are TBD, but I will dose macros and micros opposite days of the week and will not fertilize on water change day.
Plants; TBD
I am going to cycle the tank for about a month before adding any plants, and let the tank mature for another month before adding Prisca. This time I am using cleaning ammonia to cycle the tank instead of fish food...I added 1 ppm ammonia last night, and interestingly it was already all consumed by this morning (prompting me to add another ppm). Once the tank starts processing 1 ppm ammonia within 6 hours, I will double that to 2 ppm, then to 3 ppm, and so on...I want a very robust cycle on this tank to ensure it can process ammonia before any algae does. When I add the plants, the tank will receive biweekly 40-50% water changes for the first month, after which water changes will be reduced to once a week; I will also be very conscientious about removing detritus from this tank with a large pipette (or more accurately, using the pipette to put the detritus within easy reach of the gravel vacuum).
I don't have a tank picture yet, but will try to post one later today. Thanks for viewing
Substrate; 1/8th inch turface
Heater; I have not plugged it in yet, but a 50 watt aquaneat heater.
Light; Again not in use yet, but a 575 lumen, 2700k BR20 led bulb. It will be set to be on 6 hours a day when I add plants to this setup; I may eventually increase the photoperiod and/or get a stronger bulb if I can keep this tank algae free.
Filter; An aquaneat internal filter, at 50 GPH (this will also be a makeshift CO2 reactor/diffuser). It has a filter sponge just inside the intake, followed by about 20 ml seachem denitrate and 10 ml purigen.
CO2; From a yeast reactor. I will use a 1.25 liter yeast reactor with this tank (in contrast to the 591 ml reactors for my current 5 gallon tanks), allowing me to go four weeks without changing it due to the small amount of yeast required for a tank this size (it takes only .45 ml instant yeast to give high tech CO2 levels in my current 5 gallon tanks)
Fertilization; Will be present. Exact amounts are TBD, but I will dose macros and micros opposite days of the week and will not fertilize on water change day.
Plants; TBD
I am going to cycle the tank for about a month before adding any plants, and let the tank mature for another month before adding Prisca. This time I am using cleaning ammonia to cycle the tank instead of fish food...I added 1 ppm ammonia last night, and interestingly it was already all consumed by this morning (prompting me to add another ppm). Once the tank starts processing 1 ppm ammonia within 6 hours, I will double that to 2 ppm, then to 3 ppm, and so on...I want a very robust cycle on this tank to ensure it can process ammonia before any algae does. When I add the plants, the tank will receive biweekly 40-50% water changes for the first month, after which water changes will be reduced to once a week; I will also be very conscientious about removing detritus from this tank with a large pipette (or more accurately, using the pipette to put the detritus within easy reach of the gravel vacuum).
I don't have a tank picture yet, but will try to post one later today. Thanks for viewing