This will be my last tank for a least a year until I move into a bigger place. It will either stick some ember tetras, dwarf rasbora and pygmy cories or 3 dwarf puffers. Have not decided yet, and it will depend on what I find locallly.
I painted the back of the tank black. It came out OK. It is a play sand substrate, I washed it for about 2 hours, it got really dirty once I filled the tank so I will be doing extra water changes this week.
It will be planted. Have not decided what will go in it, I will take what I can from other tanks.
I have a life glo bulb T-8 bulb and I will be using a sponge filter, which I did not get yet.
Here is a pic so far. THe water is so cloudy, and I need to remove a little sand. I hope the table it is on is OK. It is an Ikea table. It in not solid wood, but it is way stronger than particle board. Everything is level, and I have even sat on the desk before and did not feel any bowing under me.
Well, after two water changes it is still kinda cloudy. I will continue the changes until it is clean.
I put in the Life Glo bulb, added some pennywort, a sword I hope will grow, and a crypt. Can anyone tell what kind of crypt it is?It is very large and I don't know how to trim it, or split it, and i need to know how large it may get because if it gets alot bigger I may put in in my 29gal and add a wendtii red to the 10. I also dosed with flourish.
I will be getting a sponge filter, hopefully tomorrow.Can anyone suggest an air pump. I was looking at the tetra ones. I don't know if I need to get the pump rated for 20gal or 10. I need it to be quiet but sufficient.
Will pond snails burrow in sand? Is it bad that I added a few if I plan on getting MTS? Will MTS do ok in soft to slightly hard water?
I have to figure out what other plants I can add and what rock/ driftwood I want. I have some java fern and more pennywort to add once the water is cleaner.
Oh and it looks like I will be moving more towards the community tank rather than the puffers.
Christople answered on the snails and I agree. On the air pump, the Hagen Elite is the one I have, my old one was not bad for noise, the new one (had to get a larger one to run 3 tank sponge filters) is anything but quiet, but in my fishroom I don't care. You might want to look at the Whisper pumps which supposedly are quiet. Perhaps someone who has one can tell us.
Size of air pump is determined by the number of airstones it will run. Elite uses this method, I got one that would run 4 airstones and with 3 sponge filters I have very good air flow. For a single sponge filter you will probably manage with the smallest.
An air pump should run at full capacity; I have read this will prolong its life. With only one sponge filter, if you adjust it that means the pump will not run full out, so i wold get a dual valve. You can set the one valve to run the filter, and the other can have a 2-3 inch piece of tubing with a airstone on it--you need some restriction on the air or it will take the easiest route and bypass the filter valve.
Size of air pump is determined by the number of airstones it will run. Elite uses this method, I got one that would run 4 airstones and with 3 sponge filters I have very good air flow. For a single sponge filter you will probably manage with the smallest.
An air pump should run at full capacity; I have read this will prolong its life. With only one sponge filter, if you adjust it that means the pump will not run full out, so i wold get a dual valve. You can set the one valve to run the filter, and the other can have a 2-3 inch piece of tubing with a airstone on it--you need some restriction on the air or it will take the easiest route and bypass the filter valve.
I think I'm going to get a 10 gallon tetra whisper as it is the smallest and very very cheap. I read if you put it on carpet to eliminate the vibrations there is almost no noise. However it only has one outlet. So can I take a t valve and do as you say.....one into the tank, controlled by how much air I need, and the other side to an air stone just sitting outside the tank? Do i need an air stone for my sponge filter? or does it depend on a filter?
Great thanks. Yes I have not used an air pump since I was very young. Oh the days of treasure chests that open and close with bubbles..... Posted via Mobile Device
Pretty mad because I went to the LFS to get the pump and filter and forgot to look at the wood and rocks for the tank :/ So it looks like I wont have any new updates untill the weekend.
I set up the filter, but the media is in my 29 gallons canister. I will take it out tomorrow and put it in the 10gal when I change the filter media in my canister. I am also using sechem stability.
I have been neglecting my 5 gallon plants so in the process of cleaning it tonight I moved a piece of wood and java fern to the 10. some of the java fern is black and has holes, could this be because the roots actually grew down the wood and into the substrate?
Could be nitrogen deficiency (ammonium), this comes from fish and bacteria (don't clean the substrate to encourage organics). The roots growing into the substrate is natural, not the issue itself, just so you know.
The tanks chemistry is all off. It has allot of hair algae but the java fern is dying, and that crypt that is now in the 10 (and I made another post before) grows very well. I need to really work on it. I have reduced the amount of light and scrubbed the wood and it has been better. The betta seems to be doing fine and parameters are OK, i just need to finally get rid of the algae and redo the plants.
As for the 10. I will be taking the filter out of my 29gallons canister tomorrow and putting it in the 10. I added a few more plants and I'm using stability. If I can get to the LFS tomorrow ill hopefully find some wood and rock, and I may try some moss. I think im going to do the community tank, and I'm set with ember tetra, just don't know when I can get/find them.
Should I keep the damaged java fern in the tank right now? I'm not concerned with looks as I have nice, healthy green fern from my 29 that I will move into this tank, I just want the plants to start filtering the water so its safe for the fish.
OK so I decided to do the community tank, and bought 7 Ember Tetra 3 days ago. They are doing great, and I really like them, they are really active. This tank is on hold until i get the driftwood to sink in my 29gallon, as the wood in this tank is the old wood from the 29 and but I may have to move it back into the 29 for a while.
While I work on the driftwood issue, I would like to add MTS, but I cannot find them locally
That's very nice. I would only add a pygmy chain sword in one front corner; it will settle and send out runners and you'll have a nice patch of thin-leaf plants around the wood.
If you could find some of the dwarf-species corys... that's an ideal setup for them.
Thanks for the plant suggestion, that is exactly what im looking to do.
Dwarf corys are in and out at my LFS so I will get them, but not for a while, especially because it looks like they are sensitive. My next addition will be some MTS shipped from a forum member hopefully next week.
Also, there are some white spots on the tetra and one had stringy white poop last night, so I need to keep an eye on that.
OK so its been a few days. Ember Tetra are doing great, I added some more plants, and adjusted the wood/heater/filter to the final positions.
I love the ember tetra. They are so active. Still light in color, but I will be feeding frozen food soon so that should help, plus I'm sure they are still getting used to their surroundings.
I will be adding MTS this week thanks to DKRST. He is sending me ~100, mostly small ones. How many should I put in the 10 gallon to be my clean up crew/move my sand around? The rest will go in the 29 gallon with the eco complete. My zebra loaches may enjoy them.
While messing with my 29 gallon, I broke the roots of my dwarf lily off its bulb. Will that continue to sprout or did I kill the plant? If its ok I moved a couple of sprouts with roots in the back right corner to see if it would grow, and I planted the bulb in the 10 so it would grow faster.
I cant decide on final stocking, although I know I want sparkling gourami (donno how many) and a dwarf cory (I was thinking 7). If I did that I don't know if I could add a dwarf rasbora if I ever found them. My LFS has rasbora brittani but I don't like them. I would rather have mosquito rasbora. I would also up my ember tetra from 7 to 10 maybe because I like them.
Here is a pic of the tank now:
What is this on my substrate. Is it snail/ fish poop or junk from the wood/plants?
The stuff on the substrate looks like stuff from the wood imo. Is that the old piece of driftwood you said you had moved over to ur new tank? If so how old is it? Is it soft to the touch? If soo that stuff is probably from the wood and imo should be thrown away. But I would definitely get some others opinion for sure on this. As I am not really experienced on this matter. One thing I am sure of is I would definitely siphon it out of the tank.
In a weeks time it covered a nice part on the tank. I got most of it out after I took this pic. The wood has been in my other tank for about 10-11 months. I also swished my fingers around above the substrate and it started to float an the filter got some of it out Posted via Mobile Device
I would not think that much waste would come from the fish in a weeks time nor the snails. Which makes me think the wood again. Did you notice this mess in your other tank?
anyway, I'm assuming 2 of them have ich, although it is so hard to tell. Two have some white specs on them but they all seem very active and they are not lethargic. They don't scratch or anything although they sometimes swim very close to the sand sometimes. The one sits under a leaf sometimes. I cant get a good pic. Any suggestions?
anyway, I'm assuming 2 of them have ich, although it is so hard to tell. Two have some white specs on them but they all seem very active and they are not lethargic. They don't scratch or anything although they sometimes swim very close to the sand sometimes. The one sits under a leaf sometimes. I cant get a good pic. Any suggestions?
Any chance of a "clear" pic? If there are whitish spots easily visible, probably ich; Velvet has very small spots and tends to cover the fish. I sometimes do nothing if the spots are ich and very few (1 or maybe 2) and only one or two fish, other than normal water changes with a good conditioner. But if it is more advanced, or if it is Velvet, raise the temp to 85F and treat once with Coppersafe at the dose on the label (1 teaspoon per 4 gallons, that is actual gallons in the tank so consider substrate displacing some water). Do this right after a water change of 50%, since future water changes will dilute the Coppersafe. Raise the temp slowly by turning up the heater over a day or two. Leave it for a week, then lower the temp by turning the heater back down. I usually do the next water change after 10 days rather than the week, and I do not add more Coppersafe.
If you have plants, do not use Flourish Comp or any other fert as this plus the Coppersafe will damage many species. Too much copper I suspect.
Yes, that's ich, not Velvet (thank goodness, Velvet is nasty). Earlier advice holds. If this is on two fish, I would up the temp and dose once with Coppersafe. B.
I did a WC yesterday so Im not going to do one again because I dont want to start a mini cycle since its a new tank. Just got back from the store (just in time) with the coppersafe. Thanks!
So far so good I guess. I think that everyone is acting a little better.
My MTS should be here today. I wanted them for this tank, although they will mostly be babies, I guess I can't add them because of the copper safe, right? When will be safe to add them, since the medicine lasts for a month? Is there something else Incan keep them in for now? I don't want to put all of them in the 30 now because of the loaches, and i don't wanna move decor trying to get them later. But my 5 gallon has alot of pond snails, so will there be an issue if I put the MTS there? Posted via Mobile Device
You'd want to avoid putting the MTS in there right now with the copper. They are tough snails, but copper is baaad for inverts.
Just take the package when you get it, find a clean bowl or container of some type (I kept them in an old wonton-soup quart container for almost week before sending to you!). Put the snails in the container, add some dechlorinated water, and you should be ok for a while. Don't fill more than 1/2 to 3/4 full. I'd recommend doing a 100% water change every day in the temporary snail house, just pour off the water and replace with dechlorinated water. Feed an algae disk or two soon. They haven't been fed in a while! The Wardley (spelling ?) algae disks hold together pretty well in water. I bought mine at Petco.
That sounds great! How bout a lid?? Can I have one with some holes poked in it? I have cats so a lid would be good just incase. I cant put them in my stand because they open te door. Maybe I'll leave it in the bathroom for now, and take them out when we shower because it gets hot. Posted via Mobile Device
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