A couple of Questions..

[Thumper828]

Hey all, I believe I am getting pretty close to the end of my fishless cycle. my ammo is dropping from 3-4 ppm to 0 in 24 hrs. My nitrite is reading around .25-.50ppm. Nitrate are 40+ppm.
I am trying to get a stock list together but to be honest there are so many different variety of species, I like to have one everything..lol.. I am probably going to stock kinda slow. Not sure of which direction to start. Should I put some top and bottom dwellers in first or top and middle, etc...... ???
Also, I am going to try and upgrade my lighting. Has any one have in experience with the aqueon colormax t-8's vs the aqua glo? I have a 36 gal BF. Maybe 12-14 plants in there.
I plan on installing some current usa truelumen moonlight leds. The small ones...Aquarium LED Lights: Current USA TrueLumen LED Lunar Lights Does anyone have any cons about these.

Just would like to also say thank you to all who have steered me in the right direction. I am glad I got into to this hobby. Time to upgrade to a bigger tank..lol....

 

[Old Scales]

You have a very happy "problem" deciding on fish for your new tank. Congrats and enjoy!
Take your time and research the fish that appeal to you. Decide if you want schools of smaller fish or fewer, stand alone larger fish. Many decide on a couple of schools of smaller fish with one or two larger "centerpiece" fish. Try and get a balance of bottom dwellers, mid level and top level so that all the areas of the tank are interesting. As a general rule, don't mix livebearers with egglayers as the chemistrys infused into the water is different. They CAN coexsist and many do mix them but if you want optimum conditions for them keep them separate. You can also decide on having a true mixed community tank or one more prone to type groups of fish such as all charicins(tetra types) or mostly cichlids. Try for a good mix of colors(reds, silvers, blacks, yellows and even blues). Also mix textures ie. smooth solid colors and striped/speckled fish. Also pay attention to how big they get when full grown.
Good luck and enjoy! OS.

 

[Thumper828]

You have a very happy "problem" deciding on fish for your new tank. Congrats and enjoy!
Take your time and research the fish that appeal to you. Decide if you want schools of smaller fish or fewer, stand alone larger fish. Many decide on a couple of schools of smaller fish with one or two larger "centerpiece" fish. Try and get a balance of bottom dwellers, mid level and top level so that all the areas of the tank are interesting. As a general rule, don't mix livebearers with egglayers as the chemistrys infused into the water is different. They CAN coexsist and many do mix them but if you want optimum conditions for them keep them separate. You can also decide on having a true mixed community tank or one more prone to type groups of fish such as all charicins(tetra types) or mostly cichlids. Try for a good mix of colors(reds, silvers, blacks, yellows and even blues). Also mix textures ie. smooth solid colors and striped/speckled fish. Also pay attention to how big they get when full grown.
Good luck and enjoy! OS.

That is great advice. I was not aware of the livebearers vs. egg layers chemistry difference. I think I like the thought of having a true mixed community tank. Looks like I have quite a bit more research to do. Any advice on stock ,as far as, species and numbers?

 

[Old Scales]

Starting out, a few I suggestthat are tough active little fish that are also beautiful is serpae tetras, pristella tetras, black skirt tetras, three lined pencilfish. There are several other "blast proof" fish but these are the ones I have had personal experience with. You want hardier fish at first until your tank matures(4-6 months) and is more suitable for the more sensitive fish such as rams, angels and others. Also get a 4-6 shoal of the more common Corydoras catfish for keeping leftover food cleaned up. They are also pretty hardy. Good Luck. OS.

 

[Old Scales]

If you decide on livebearers go with guppies or platys or swordtails. Wait on mollys until your tank is matured also. Livebearers do best with higher pH, kh and a little salt in their water where most egglayers need slightly acidic, soft water and no salt. Indeed mollys are pretty hardy with about 1 tsp salt per gal of water but that much salt is usually too much for most other fish. Also hard on plants. If you want to keep mollys with other livebearers, go with a happy medium of 1 tsp aquarium salt(no table salt) per 5 gal water. I love my tetra tank but I also have a 16g livebearer tank I really enjoy. I love watching the babies grow and color up. OS.

 

[Thumper828]

If you decide on livebearers go with guppies or platys or swordtails. Wait on mollys until your tank is matured also. Livebearers do best with higher pH, kh and a little salt in their water where most egglayers need slightly acidic, soft water and no salt. Indeed mollys are pretty hardy with about 1 tsp salt per gal of water but that much salt is usually too much for most other fish. Also hard on plants. If you want to keep mollys with other livebearers, go with a happy medium of 1 tsp aquarium salt(no table salt) per 5 gal water. I love my tetra tank but I also have a 16g livebearer tank I really enjoy. I love watching the babies grow and color up. OS.

If I was to go the livebearer route, what type of clean up crew would be advisable.? I'm sure snails are out of the picture. And would plant selection be a problem?

 

[Old Scales]

At no more than 1 tsp salt per 5 gal, anubias, ferns, and anacharis would do OK. I've had Ambulia and water wisteria with this much salt and they did ok. Clean up crew could be nerites for algae, MTS snails for clean up. You could even cut the salt down to 1 tsp/10g and it would still be better for the livebearers than none. Through the years I have found that my guppies and swordtails live longer and the fry survival rate is higher with a little salt. I have a local pet shop that is buying all my young guppies at $1 each and the young swordtails for $2 each. Not much but it gives the young an outlet and me a little fish money. I have two albino Corys in the livebearer tank that I slow acclimated to the salt. They are about a year old now and still going strong. OS.

 

[Paul1792]

Good advice Old Scales ..... let me add a little note

You have a very happy "problem" deciding on fish for your new tank. Congrats and enjoy!
Take your time and research the fish that appeal to you. Decide if you want schools of smaller fish or fewer, stand alone larger fish. Many decide on a couple of schools of smaller fish with one or two larger "centerpiece" fish. Try and get a balance of bottom dwellers, mid level and top level so that all the areas of the tank are interesting. As a general rule, don't mix livebearers with egglayers as the chemistrys infused into the water is different. They CAN coexsist and many do mix them but if you want optimum conditions for them keep them separate. You can also decide on having a true mixed community tank or one more prone to type groups of fish such as all charicins(tetra types) or mostly cichlids. Try for a good mix of colors(reds, silvers, blacks, yellows and even blues). Also mix textures ie. smooth solid colors and striped/speckled fish. Also pay attention to how big they get when full grown.
Good luck and enjoy! OS.

********************
Almost totally void of patience ..... I re-entered the tropical fish world Aug 1 and month later, my 38 gallon is fully &/or over-stocked. Anxious to buy more fish, I am waiiting for my 29 gallon to cycle.

I got plain lucky with my selection of fish as far as vibrancy, activity level, interaction, swimming in all places throughout the aquarium with these 45 fish:

4 albino cory (Corydoras Aeneus)
5 black neons (hyphessobrycon herbertaxelrodi
8 neons (Paracheirodon innesi)
5 Harlequin Rasbora (Trigonostigma heteromorpha)
5 Long Fin Red Minor Tetra (Hyphessobrycon serpae)
5 white cloud minnow (Tanichthys albonubes)
5 Red Eye Tetra aka Lamp Eye Tetra (Moenkhausia sanctaefilomenae)
6 Platy (Xiphophorus maculatus) [2 red wagtail & 4 metallic blue wagtail]
2 Gold Dojo Loach (Misgurnus anguillicaudatus)

There's an updated picture in my profile (the flash of the camera kind of sucks the color out) but overall, the tank looks well balanced. I added the red and metallic blue wagtails for color and they do seem to get along fine with the egg layers. My Dojos and Albino corys serve as "centerpiece" fish .... the dojos are like eels swimming all over the tank ... and the corys really stand out and are unusually active ..... swimming throught the tank ...... not just scavenging on the bottom.

However, my mistakes are:

1) Too many fish - it's a bit cluttered. (I am at 100% of capacity based on actural fish size according to aqadvisor.com) ... part of my problem was that so many tetra are suppose to be bought in groups of five.

2) Not enough yellow and gold.

Remedy: Delete the 5 black neons & 5 lamp eye tetra and replace with 5 of something as bright yellow/gold as possible for a total of 40 fish.

Thumper828, I ran this remedy scenario on aqadvisor.com for a 36 bowfront (I believe that's your tank) using 5 lemon tetra for a total of 40 fish.

AqAdvisor - Bowfront

It shows that would be 98% of capacity ..... still too many fish for some people.
[Don't worry about the aqadvisor dojo loach warnings. Mine are doing fine !! By the time they grow ..... you can put them into your new 75 gallon setup

I'm not saying do what I'd do .... just thought I'd pass along what I'd learned ... including the use of aqadvisor.com. If you are not familiar with that site, it provides good suggestions as to temperature, PH & GH parameters .... and which fish do and don't get along with each other. It also evaluates filtration capacity and recommends % water changes.

PS re Food: I threw out a lot of it before settling on NLS (flakes & 0.5MM pellets) + Hikari frozen brine shrimp.

BTW Old Scales: Nice plants you have !!!!!!!

 

[Old Scales]

Thanks Paul,
Note that aquadvisor rates pretty conservatively. It shows I'm at 148% stocked but my Nitrate rate never goes above about 30 at the seventh day WC and my fish are doing great.
I go by nitrate accumulation rate to determine my stocking. Filtration and plant density affects this as well as fish load. OS.

 

[Paul1792]

Thanks Paul,
Note that aquadvisor rates pretty conservatively. It shows I'm at 148% stocked but my Nitrate rate never goes above about 30 at the seventh day WC and my fish are doing great.
I go by nitrate accumulation rate to determine my stocking. Filtration and plant density affects this as well as fish load. OS.

*********************
Your tank doesn't look overstocked to me .... unless maybe fish are hiding in the plants
Did you hit the "juvenile sizes" button on aqadvisors.com?

By default, It rates fish at full adult size. I am at 178% in the "adult" mode.

But the juvenile size mode lets you put in the actual length of the fish ie 2.25 inches. Most of mine are pretty small ...... so it shows me I am at 100% and that still lets me put in a bit more than the 1 inch of fish per gallon rule.

That's why the link above shows:

Selected species: [SIZE=-1][Edit Species][/SIZE]

[SIZE=-1]5 x 1.5inch Serpae Tetra (Hyphessobrycon eques)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]8 x 1inch Neon Tetra (Paracheirodon innesi)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]4 x 1.5inch Albino Cory (Corydoras aeneus)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]6 x 1.25inch Platy (Xiphophorus maculatus)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]5 x 0.75inch Harlequin Rasbora (Trigonostigma heteromorpha)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]5 x 1.5inch White Cloud Mountain Minnow (Tanichthys albonubes)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]1 x 2.5inch Dojo Loach (Misgurnus anguillicaudatus)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]1 x 3inch Dojo Loach (Misgurnus anguillicaudatus)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]5 x 1.25inch Lemon Tetra (Hyphessobrycon pulchripinnis)[/SIZE]

 

[Thumper828]

********************
Almost totally void of patience ..... I re-entered the tropical fish world Aug 1 and month later, my 38 gallon is fully &/or over-stocked. Anxious to buy more fish, I am waiiting for my 29 gallon to cycle.

I got plain lucky with my selection of fish as far as vibrancy, activity level, interaction, swimming in all places throughout the aquarium with these 45 fish:

4 albino cory (Corydoras Aeneus)
5 black neons (hyphessobrycon herbertaxelrodi
8 neons (Paracheirodon innesi)
5 Harlequin Rasbora (Trigonostigma heteromorpha)
5 Long Fin Red Minor Tetra (Hyphessobrycon serpae)
5 white cloud minnow (Tanichthys albonubes)
5 Red Eye Tetra aka Lamp Eye Tetra (Moenkhausia sanctaefilomenae)
6 Platy (Xiphophorus maculatus) [2 red wagtail & 4 metallic blue wagtail]
2 Gold Dojo Loach (Misgurnus anguillicaudatus)

There's an updated picture in my profile (the flash of the camera kind of sucks the color out) but overall, the tank looks well balanced. I added the red and metallic blue wagtails for color and they do seem to get along fine with the egg layers. My Dojos and Albino corys serve as "centerpiece" fish .... the dojos are like eels swimming all over the tank ... and the corys really stand out and are unusually active ..... swimming throught the tank ...... not just scavenging on the bottom.

However, my mistakes are:

1) Too many fish - it's a bit cluttered. (I am at 100% of capacity based on actural fish size according to aqadvisor.com) ... part of my problem was that so many tetra are suppose to be bought in groups of five.

2) Not enough yellow and gold.

Remedy: Delete the 5 black neons & 5 lamp eye tetra and replace with 5 of something as bright yellow/gold as possible for a total of 40 fish.

Thumper828, I ran this remedy scenario on aqadvisor.com for a 36 bowfront (I believe that's your tank) using 5 lemon tetra for a total of 40 fish.

AqAdvisor - Bowfront

It shows that would be 98% of capacity ..... still too many fish for some people.
[Don't worry about the aqadvisor dojo loach warnings. Mine are doing fine !! By the time they grow ..... you can put them into your new 75 gallon setup

I'm not saying do what I'd do .... just thought I'd pass along what I'd learned ... including the use of aqadvisor.com. If you are not familiar with that site, it provides good suggestions as to temperature, PH & GH parameters .... and which fish do and don't get along with each other. It also evaluates filtration capacity and recommends % water changes.

PS re Food: I threw out a lot of it before settling on NLS (flakes & 0.5MM pellets) + Hikari frozen brine shrimp.

BTW Old Scales: Nice plants you have !!!!!!!

Thanks so much for the link. I really thought It would be a lot less fish. I changed my filter to the aqueon quietflow 30, still shows I'm 98% with 26% Wc per week. Thanks for clueing me in. I do appreciate your time!!!

 

[Thumper828]

how to do a screen shot

Sorry about the glare!!

 

[Old Scales]

Nice tank! I love bowfronts. OS.

 

[Paul1792]

Sweet bowfront

Thanks so much for the link. I really thought It would be a lot less fish. I changed my filter to the aqueon quietflow 30, still shows I'm 98% with 26% Wc per week. Thanks for clueing me in. I do appreciate your time!!!

Your tank looks really nice. Where did you get the driftwood? I need to get some for my 29 and it's a rip-off anywhere locally.

You might be kind of "living on the edge" with only a 200 GPH flow rate.
Interesting however to note that your Aqueon 30 has the same flow rate as a top of the line Aquaclear 50.

I hope your filter has room for some Seachem Purigen and customized filter media. I have learned rather quickly from this forum that it's more important to focus on building beneficial bacteria than doing those unnecessary filter cartridge changes. Fortunately, my 330GPH aqua-tech has so much room for stuffing media that I have been able to customize it to the point that my crystal clear water has become truly "polished."

 

[Thumper828]

Your tank looks really nice. Where did you get the driftwood? I need to get some for my 29 and it's a rip-off anywhere locally.

You might be kind of "living on the edge" with only a 200 GPH flow rate.
Interesting however to note that your Aqueon 30 has the same flow rate as a top of the line Aquaclear 50.

I hope your filter has room for some Seachem Purigen and customized filter media. I have learned rather quickly from this forum that it's more important to focus on building beneficial bacteria than doing those unnecessary filter cartridge changes. Fortunately, my 330GPH aqua-tech has so much room for stuffing media that I have been able to customize it to the point that my crystal clear water has become truly "polished."

Thanks for the compliment on the tank. I do want to upgrade my filter in time, as it does not have much room for extra filtration. Interesting to know the Aquaclear is a that good of a brand. What kinda media did you add to get such clear water? Gonna do some research on the Seachem purigen! Any and all advice is greatly appreciated!!!

 

[Thumper828]

Your tank looks really nice. Where did you get the driftwood?

Forgot to tell ya those are fake. I couldn't find any driftwood around here to really suit me.

 

[Paul1792]

Forgot to tell ya those are fake. I couldn't find any driftwood around here to really suit me.

Who cares if they're fake ......... they looked real enough to me !!!!!!!!
So did you buy them on line or what? If so, could you tell me where you got them?

I am using fake "silk" plants since real ones are a PITA.

 

[Thumper828]

Who cares if they're fake ......... they looked real enough to me !!!!!!!!
So did you buy them on line or what? If so, could you tell me where you got them?

I am using fake "silk" plants since real ones are a PITA.

Thanks!!! I found those at petsmart.

 

[Fishdude3233]

Who cares if they're fake ......... they looked real enough to me !!!!!!!!
So did you buy them on line or what? If so, could you tell me where you got them?

I am using fake "silk" plants since real ones are a PITA.

Please do not curse and real plants ate wry nice if you have the right lighting which costs like 200$ to 50$ depending on if you want to do high or low light

 

[Paul1792]

Much to chose from

Thanks for the compliment on the tank. I do want to upgrade my filter in time, as it does not have much room for extra filtration. Interesting to know the Aquaclear is a that good of a brand. What kinda media did you add to get such clear water? Gonna do some research on the Seachem purigen! Any and all advice is greatly appreciated!!!

*************************
My 330 GPH Aqua-Tech with two filtration outlets/chambers allows 8 levels of filtration as follow looking towards the drrty water front (towards the wall) to to the backside side closest to the back of the tank:
8
Before explaining how my setup is, this is how it comes from the "factory.":

Water first enters into an empty dirty water chambers 1X13 inches. No filter media.

Water is then "split" into two out-take chambers each obviously pushing 165 GPH through whatever media is there.

The media on each of the two sides from the factory is:

1) Replacement cartridge filter and carbon cartridge (the super expensive ones that are a joke). Factory instruction say replace every two to four weeks. What they don't tell you is how much beneficial bacteria is destroyed. These should be replaced with some kind of media that can be squeezed out over and over again used aquarium water). Further, the activated carbon is worthless after the first month.

2) BIO-Fiber which instructions correctly state should never be changed but rinsed (only in used aquarium water) as needed.

So here is my setup with the same filter flowing at about 280 GPH due to restrictions of extra media:

Left side:

1) In the dirty water chamber a cut to size Acurel Nitrate reducing pad
2) A replacement pad (holder) ripped open with an aquatic life 100 micron filter pad

Amazon.com: Aquatic Life Media Non-Woven White Pad for Aquarium Filter, 100-Micron: Pet Supplies

and a 100ml bag of Seachem Purigen

3) The original OEM BIO-Fiber which the instructions say correctly should never be replaced but only rinsed (in used aquarium water.

Right side:

1) In the dirty water chamber: A brand new carbon bag from my C3 that I never should have ordered together with a biobag of Seachem Matrix getting ready to replace the OEM Bio-fiber.

2) !00 micron filter pad

3) Original OEM BIO-Fiber........ soon to be replaced by Seachem Matrix when the shipment of Matrix & biobags finally gets here from Amazon delayed shipping.

wo separate chambers in the

Looking from the front of the aquarium:

Left side: