Major renovations

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Try boiling a pot of water and dumping it on the driftwood. The hotter the water the faster it leaches.
 
Finally made the transition! I absolutely love it the sand. I hope I let it settle long enough. I may have turned on my filters too quickly. Everything is working fine though. I will post pics when the water clears. I can't believe I didn't do this sooner. My only concern is that my dw is attached to a slate and I read in another post that toxins can form in the air pockets under the slate. How big of a threat is that?
 
I would not worry about that I have made entire walls out of slate with no problems. Don't know if you can see it in the pic.

ForumRunner_20111118_183510.jpg
 
wow, gorgeous tank! I'm becoming attached to the more natural look. I still don't have live plants...but it's looking better and better;). BTW, I would just like to thank everyone for the advice during this venture. I painted the intake tube and it is practically invisible.
:thanks:
 
Reygan2 said:
wow, gorgeous tank! I'm becoming attached to the more natural look. I still don't have live plants...but it's looking better and better;). BTW, I would just like to thank everyone for the advice during this venture. I painted the intake tube and it is practically invisible.
:thanks:

Thanks its still a work in progress. You HAVE to try live plants. It is really easy! I will never go back to fake. Difference is day light and dark.
 
I actually think the sand settled. The cloudiness looks the same as when you first fill a tank, gravel or sand. So I'm really hoping it is a mixture of leftover residue and air bubbles rather than free floating sand for my filters sake:ermm:. My fish are huddled in the corner, obviously terrified at the change. But I'm sure they'll come around. I remember when I first brought them home, it took nearly two weeks before they would venture out. I only have 8 neon tetra's and 2 cories for now. I am seriously looking for a centerpiece fish.
 
Reygan2 said:
I actually think the sand settled. The cloudiness looks the same as when you first fill a tank, gravel or sand. So I'm really hoping it is a mixture of leftover residue and air bubbles rather than free floating sand for my filters sake:ermm:. My fish are huddled in the corner, obviously terrified at the change. But I'm sure they'll come around. I remember when I first brought them home, it took nearly two weeks before they would venture out. I only have 8 neon tetra's and 2 cories for now. I am seriously looking for a centerpiece fish.

I an looking for a center piece fish as well tried a dwarf gourami but it died really quick....then I heard about dwarf gourami disease...
 
I an looking for a center piece fish as well tried a dwarf gourami but it died really quick....then I heard about dwarf gourami disease...

Ugh. I had a DG in my home tank for a while and one night it just went mad and attacked my small veil angel. It was horrible. It seemed so peaceful before. I rehomed it, but I still have a powder blue DG in my classroom tank. It seems peaceful too. My only reassurance is that my angel in that tank is larger and can hold his own. I have 6 and a half mollies (one baby is still surviving:)) 1 DG, 1 angel, and 2 green cories in that tank (also 29g). I'm going to fill out the cory school soon.

Oh, here's my home tank. Everybody made it fine last night so hopefully I did it right. I put my tetra's and cory's in a plastic tote during the transition. It is still a work in progress and I'm still seriously considering live plants. You can see that it has still not cleared up completely, but it should soon. I'm running an aquaclear 70 and a marineland 50.
 

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I would not worry about that I have made entire walls out of slate with no problems. Don't know if you can see it in the pic.

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I wouldn't be concerned if it was above the sand, but since the slate is buried in the sand I'm afraid that's the problem since it would trap the air. IDK:confused:.
 
A lot of mine is buried. I don't think it will be an issue. Beautiful tank by the way. I would love to have that piece of driftwood! That piece is perfect for a planted tank!
 
A lot of mine is buried. I don't think it will be an issue. Beautiful tank by the way. I would love to have that piece of driftwood! That piece is perfect for a planted tank!

Thanks, that's actually what I had in mind when I bought it. My intentions were to switch to live plants when I did the change, but I feel like I need to research more. I don't keep my light on during the day while I'm at work very often. I like to turn it on when I get home around 5. It stays on until around 9:30. I leave for work at 7:15, so I can't turn it on then or I would have to turn it off when I get home. See the problem? I need plants that would thrive with that short amount of light.
 
Get a marineland light timer. Only ten bucks at petsmart. You set it for when you want it off and when you want it on and it does the rest. I work weird hours and have the same problem. This allows the light to turn on while I am gone so I can actually enjoy it when I get home.
 
I considered that, but do I really need one? Aren't there some plants that would do well with 5 hours of bright light? My tank is close to a window and it gets some indirect light all day. Plus, I leave a lamp on next to the tank. I have what I think is an anubias that is attached to a piece of dw in my 5g betta tank and I don't turn that light on until I get home. I've had it for quite a while and the plant not only looks great, it even bloomed. It was attached to the dw when I bought it. What do you think?
 
I finally found some julii cories yesterday. I bought 2, and I'm now wishing I'd bought another one. I also bought an angel....I'm such a sucker for them. I acclimated them for an hour, slowly adding tank water to the bag. I'm really hoping the little guy makes it. It's barely the size of a nickel, and I know it can be hard to get the little ones to survive. But, I'm going to give it another shot. The one in my classroom tank is doing really well. I've had him for a while now, but he is larger. So in my home tank I'm up to 8 neon tetra's, 4 cories, and 1 tiny angel.
 
I absolutely love neons. I have never kept angels. I always wanted to use a black sand with a black background and then get a couple solid white angelfish.
 
I absolutely love neons. I have never kept angels. I always wanted to use a black sand with a black background and then get a couple solid white angelfish.

Yeah, that would be awesome. My 5 gallon has the black background and substrate. My red betta looks really good in there. That's my avatar pic.

One of my new cories is acting weird. Kind of just staying in one place, and not eating. The kid that got them out of the tank at the fs was pretty rough on them. After he netted them he slid them across the top of the display tank instead of lifting them over, and was too rough while he was trying to get them from the net to the bag. I should have said something. I will next time. I hope it survives.

Forgive me if you've mentioned this previously, but what is your stock and what size tank do you have? I had no idea I'd love the neons so much. My niece talked me into getting them after my tank cycled this past summer and now I'm hooked. My plans are to get a larger tank for the angels, because I know that they will eventually eat my neons. I'm glad that I lucked up and found healthy ones, I've heard some people have a hard time keeping them alive. They are a great addition to a community tank, and they really do a lot better in a school of at least 8 IME.
 
Reygan2 said:
Yeah, that would be awesome. My 5 gallon has the black background and substrate. My red betta looks really good in there. That's my avatar pic.

One of my new cories is acting weird. Kind of just staying in one place, and not eating. The kid that got them out of the tank at the fs was pretty rough on them. After he netted them he slid them across the top of the display tank instead of lifting them over, and was too rough while he was trying to get them from the net to the bag. I should have said something. I will next time. I hope it survives.

Forgive me if you've mentioned this previously, but what is your stock and what size tank do you have? I had no idea I'd love the neons so much. My niece talked me into getting them after my tank cycled this past summer and now I'm hooked. My plans are to get a larger tank for the angels, because I know that they will eventually eat my neons. I'm glad that I lucked up and found healthy ones, I've heard some people have a hard time keeping them alive. They are a great addition to a community tank, and they really do a lot better in a school of at least 8 IME.

I have a 40 breeder with 6 blood fin tetras, 6 neon tetras, and 3 otos. I just redid my 36 bow front and going to make it a neon tank with about 20-25 neons
 
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