Yes but I did not have any saltwater setups and I consider myself lucky for not having any because of the expense. Now I did have two tropical setups and everything in the tanks was natural. No fish lived, and I did have some expensive specimens in one, but it appears the plants are still alive. I'm just going to take them down and start over later. With the baby on the way, I don't have the time to start all over.
I'm very close to getting the first tank up and running. Ike put a major delay and damper on things...Im actually extremely fortunate I didnt as Im not sure I could have spared the generator current to keep the tank alive. Many many reefkeepers lost their tanks cause of Ike. I am setting up two tanks in the near future...the first one is a 46 gallon bowfront tank, and the crappy stand that came with it is not suitable for what I need so I had to get someone to help me build a stand.....we just got it put together a week or so back and I still need to sand it and stain it. Ill post pics later as it is almost gametime. till then....this is the tank I am working on right now....the 125 comes next. http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v328/larsoles/Saltwater Aquarium Pics/
thanks for the read guys, makes me really miss my tank even more, used to have a rather deep and tall 5 ft tanks, it was on a 1metre high cupboard so awesome for viewing, had a bunch of troubles a few years back and at the time with a child on the way, just packed things in..... anyhoo getting the urge again now, plus my daughter is nearly 18 months old and would absolutely love it... probably get back into what i had before rainbows and plants and tetra, maybe even a couple of discus.... used to have great luck with plants, and didn't even use CO2, but had mercury vapour pendent lights which were awesome, had some plants i had to trim every week.....
I have a newbie question. I put together my tank last Thursday and used water conditioner to clean up the tap water I used to fill the tank. It's been running all weekend and I checked the water this morning to see where my chemical levels are and I seem to have high pH (8.4) and high Total Alkalinity (300). These numbers were what the swab tests used. The rest of the chemicals seem to be ok but I'm afraid to put in fish until I get these two numbers down. What would you use to get this in check? I'm also wanting to start the Nitrogen Cycle but I'm not sure what to use. I know you can use a starter fish but everything I have read says that this stresses the fish. I'm wanting to use an additive called Seachem Stability to get this started. Does anyone have experience with this or have any other suggestions?
1) install a filter in your water line and it *should* take out the chloramine that the city puts in the water, then you dont need the water conditioner......there is not a clear consensus among aquarium keepers that the water conditioner products are really worth using. I personally use a RO unit since Im doing saltwater and that comes in handy for my one freshwater tank. Your local fish store should have a RO unit and they will sell you clean water.....the 5 gallon Ozarka(or whatever company) jugs come in damn handy here. 2) put in a piece of shrimp and let it decay for a week or so....that will kickoff the cycle. Test the water every couple of days for ammonia, when the levels get up past 1.0, start also testing nitrItes. Once those levels get up there, the bacteria will start converting it to nitrAtes....once that happens you know the cycle is close to completion. You got questions, I got answers....hit me in here so others can benefit from the answers. btw DD, I changed the link to public, you shoudl be able to view the pics now. Things will start coming together real soon for my small reeftank, the big one(the 125G) will start construction soon afterwards. Ill post pics of the stand later today, looks like a busy day at work for me.....and I still need to do the highlights for the Warriors game. Yeah, Im running late, shoot me.
I've never really had any troubles with pH or alkalinity so I would take R2K's advice. To start the nitrogen cycle, I have always used cheap, hardy fish. These include danios, platies, mollies, etc. These type of fish can handle tough water conditions without getting stressed and they are usually some of the cheapest types so if you don't want them you can get rid of them after the cycle has started. I always kept mine, in fact these were the last fish to die in my tank when my house froze last week due to no power.
1) Using water conditioner is a good thing. It removes chlorine and chloramine from tap water. You can use filtered water, either bought at stores or run it thru a filter unit of your own, it just cost you ~$150 for one. It's really not necessary for fresh water. Filtered water maybe even too pure for fresh water because it removes even the good chemicals from your tap. It's good for salt water tank because you want to use pure water and all the beneficial chemicals will be added thru the salt you use. 2) High alkaline, hi pH means you have hard water. Some area of Houston has harder water than others but it's not a terrible thing for your fresh water fish. Most can adapt to your water. I also bet they already have at the local fish store. It's very difficult to control them anyhow. Many experts advice us to leave them alone. If you really want, using some driftwood as decoration may help to lower your pH. The S. American fish can benefit from low pH water. On the other hand, African cichlids like hi pH. 3) What is more important is the level of your ammonia and nitrite, you want them to be 0, or they kill your fish. It helps to keep the nitrate low also. You need to look up the Nitrogen cycle. It's basically a cycle where you build up your population of bacteria that will eat the ammonia and nitrite for you. You don't want to cycle a new tank with live fish. It's cruel. Using a piece of dead shrimp is ok. Using pure liquid ammonia bought at hardware store is ok too. (I still have a gallon from long time ago Seachem stability gives you a head start by providing you with a population of bacteria, you need a source of ammonia to feed them and your tank still needs to stabilize, i.e build up enough bacteria for the fish load that you have.
Hopefully everything will go good with our home and we will close within the next two weeks. I have two 40 gallon tanks that are ready to be setup. I had one setup before but the fish perished after an ice storm knocked out power to my house for a week during winter. I already know I am going to put basic, colorful, tropical fish in one tank but have not really decided what to do on the other. Any ideas besides the ones mentioned before? I am seriously thinking about saltwater this time but damn if the prices don't scare me away. I've actually thought of somehow combining the two tanks some how into one 70 gallon thing but I'm not sure how that would work. BTW, the Python was awesome until I broke it.
I came into some fish about six months ago from someone who couldn't take care of them due to health. I had aquariums as a kid, but from what I've learned from this experience, I didn't really know a damn thing about them. The fish I got came in a 29 gallon tank that was way too small. I found that I really enjoyed just watching these guys (I can rarely sit still for anything and I can watch fish for hours) but maintaining was killing me on the smaller tank so I moved up to a 55 I found on CL. I've gradually become aware that my bioload is probably too big for the 55. Here's my stock: -6 Silver Dollars - Five are three inches long, the sixth is massive at seven inches long. He eats poop. -6 Giant Danios at just under three inches long each -5 Clown Loaches at around three inches long -3 Assorted Gouramis at around three to four inches long -2 Pink Kissing Grouramis that are about four inches long and growing. And they poop an insane amount of waste. But Brutus (the big Silver Dollar) eats it. Yuk. -1 Pleco at around six inches long -1 Angel around three inches long and growing -1 African Brown Knife, five inches long -3 Cori Catfish, around two inches long As you can see, going off of the not so dependable 1-inch-per-gallon scale, my tank is too small. I don't want to get rid of any of these guys, but I can't really move up in size, either, due to space constraints/feng shui/wife aggro. My filters are two over the back filters : Penguin 350 with bio-wheel and a 60 gallon tetra filter. I also have an airstone for fun. The decoration is fairly spartan: I use pool sand filter sand, a fake half-rock for the hiders and rotate out one or two large plastic plants when I do the water changes. I tend to change about 30-40% of the water weekly but by the weekend it's starting to look dirty. My fish seem really happy and healthy. What I want to do is move up to an awesome filter that can handle the bioload that requires low maintaining. I'd like to be able to move my water changes back to once every two weeks without having to see visible needs to change the water. I would also love some kind of washable, renewable filter media. I'm willing to spend $100-$200 and complexity doesn't bother me. I've looked at filter options online but it's fairly daunting and people tend to be pretty biased towards once type and brand. Currently I'm considering -Eheim -Rainbow/Lifeguard Any ideas/input? Thanks.
They could be, but my choices are limited due to the Silver Dollars- they're voracious plant eaters. They go to town on algae chips, too. EDIT- I'm reading that they won't touch Java Moss or Java Fern. Anyone have any experience with this stuff? Also, I'm reading that it helps keep the tank clean. BTW, I read through this thread and am sorry about you losing your fish during that freeze.
That's exactly why I was asking, plants do help keep the tank clean and can expand the amount of fish that can be kept in the tank by .5-1 inch per gallon and even more in heavier planted tanks. I've had both java fern and moss in my tanks. I really enjoyed both but the moss was best to me. You tie it to a rock, wood or other aquarium detail and it grows into a great looking plant. They can actually get pretty big. Ferns were good in the background of the tank, in my opinion. They're pretty easy to grow to, like I said with the moss just tie it down and let it grow. I also had hygrophilia in some of my tanks because it is an extremely fast grower and is actually illegal is some places because of this. If you're interested, The Planted Tank is a great site on the subject. It has forums, experts, and a marketplace setup for buying/selling/trading. Check it out if you want. Yeah, it sucked that my tanks died. They're actually just sitting in my garage at the moment. I'm hoping to get them back up someday, whenever I have time because I really enjoyed them.
I actually just set up a 20 gallon last night. Its going through the cycle for now. Its my first tank and I think I should try freshwater. I would like to do Saltwater but, is it not something a rookie should try starting out?
I can get a free 30 gallon that has a stand and (what seems to be) all of the equipment needed. How much more cash would be needed to get a decent aquarium going? I would be willing to go with cheap fish in case I kill them. So lets assume the rocks inside the aquarium I replace with all new stuff and get some cheaper fish to fill it.
If you have the time and money to setup a saltwater tank then go for it. I've been told numerous times it is easy, even easier than freshwater but the price has always kept me away. I wouldn't suggest a saltwater setup for a beginner though and your setup might be limited with saltwater and a 20 gallon tank.
