My 5G & 10G Aquariums

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AnimalKrazed

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Jan 9, 2017
Messages
103
Location
Ontario
Man, it has been a while since I lasted hopped on here, can't believe it has almost been a year since I posted on here...

In any case, I'm here to share good news...I got a new tank. A nice 10G Aqueon standard kit. Could of gone larger...but things were easier for me this way. It's currently one week into it's cycling, doing a fish with plants cycle style. Grabbed a couple of male gups and a dwarf gourami, put them in with one of the marimo balls from my other tank and now I'm just waiting...never expected the two guppies to colour up so much though. They were such scaredy cats when I put them in there, but now...they are still scaredy cats but at least they don't hide all the time. Least now I know that yes, there are apparently hollows in the mopani piece I have that are large enough to almost entirely conceal them from view.

I haven't planned much on decoration at the moment. Got a mid-sized piece of mopani wood floating in the tank at the moment, just waiting for it to drop so I can reposition it and stuff. Only other things I got are some plastic decorations my family got for me alongside the tank (it's a birthday present type deal :ROFLMAO:). Can't say much beyond that cause it's not even started yet, though I think it's looking nice so far. Thing I really like about it is how I lined the bottom with Carib Sea Joe's Creek river gravel giving it a really nice look. I'll post a picture of it all when I get home tonight. I'm unsure if I want to keep my two little Scouts once the cycling is done, but I'm 60% sure they are there to stay. Not sure what else I want to put in there, maybe a small school of Green Neons or another smol schooling fish. I'm unsure if I'm going to stick with the DG for the 10G as the showpiece fish or if I'm going to look for something different. Made sure that when I got the DG it was from a reputable store, and from a tank without any sick/inactive/injured/etc. fish. Still, I'm keeping an eye on it in case any symptoms of DGI show themselves.

My 5.5 gallon from last year has been an experience and a half since i was last on here seriously. After getting it home from the dorm, I added some dwarf sag, which literally took over the tank enough that I had to take some to the local PetSmart. Added a 3/4" Bristlenose pleco after a particularly bad day in late summer, who I plan to add to the 10G ASAP. He's starting to get too big for the 5G, 2.5-3" currently, so I'm hoping I can keep him a little longer by moving over. The Betta I had in the 5G, Buck, was doing alright up until the holidays when he got Ick. Treated him for it to the best of my abilities, meds and higher water temp, and hoped for the best. He shook it, lived the life for a month then one day I come home from the daily commute to university to find him just upside down in the middle of the tank. That was a sad day.

Anyways, I have kind of redone the 5.5G since then. Replaced the substrate, got a nice new filter, that sort of thing. It's pretty much done recycling with all the changes I made to it, just waiting on the nitrates. The five assassin snails I've had in there are on watch duty for any bladder snails, not taking any risks this time around.

Anyways, any suggestions on what to do with the 10G when I'm done with cycling? I already got a plan on what I'm doing with the 5.5G and I'm saving on sharing that until it's in action.
 
Alright got the photo taken. Wasn’t able to get a good shot of the 3 inhabitants before I had to turn the lights out. Hopefully I’ll manage to do that tomorrow morning. Both of my guppies look really stunning for something scooped out of the randoms box. Im really hoping the wood stops floating soon, don’t feel safe with it floating so much.

Beyond that, I did test the water parameters. Got a pH of 8, an ammonia level of 0.25 and a level 0 for both nitrites and nitrates. So, at least I can be certain the cycle has started. Here’s hoping it’s a quick one and not a months long one like some people experience.
 

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A Bristle nose plec should really be in a 30 gallon tank. But beyond that it's really looking good so far! It is weird tho I have never seen myopani float. Is it leaching bad yet?
 
I know that I’m going to have to rehome my BN soon. Got him with the understanding of that, always planned on rehoming him when he reached 3” due to the fact that I am unable to get a 30G at the moment. I’m just trying to enjoy what time with him I can before that comes around.

Not leaching too badly yet, waters tinted a little but not overly so.
 
Oh, forgot to mention this until I looked into the tank and noticed it again, but I spotted one of the guppies having a long, white dump this afternoon. I started searching online and found that sort of thing is a common sign of internal parasites. Looked to see if there was any way to tell what kind of parasite and noticed something common to livebearers... Camallanus. I check my two little guys to see if they had the red worms thing and noticed one of them did. Went to the store and bought PraziPro, which was advised to me by the guy there when I described what was happening. Currently just waiting on the 24hrs to do a gravel vac.

Do you guys think that having to treat for worms and do water changes is going to affect the cycling of the tank? I'm hoping not, but I'm currently suspecting that it is going to make cycling take longer. Do you guys have any advice on what to do about this?
 
It will, but a fish in cycle always takes longer due to the necessary water changes. It's either water changes or dead fish. Is there any way you can use some the filter material from your smaller tank to help seed your new filter? Maybe a scoop of the gravel?
 
It will, but a fish in cycle always takes longer due to the necessary water changes. It's either water changes or dead fish. Is there any way you can use some the filter material from your smaller tank to help seed your new filter? Maybe a scoop of the gravel?
Already doing that with a bit of the sand in there...which I just noticed I forgot to mention. Oops (-_-; ) my bad. Thanks for tossing that out there though. :) Have it in a little baggy in the filter to help out the cycling process. I'm unsure if adding more sand from my 5G would help seed the process up any faster since the 10G already has some of the 5G's sand in it already as well as one of it's marimo moss balls. I'm thinking that I'm just going to have to wait for now and endure whatever the medication/cycling process throws at me.
 
No visible sightings of the Camallanus since medication started, so no red threads since before I rushed to get the meds. Not getting hopes up since it's only been a day, going to continue medication for rest of the cycling process to ensure that it is gone for good. Only other sign of the Camallanus was a long, stringy poop at 12hrs post medication start. First 50% w/c went well. No sign of the worms on the DG; no threads, good appetite, high activity level.

Fins of one of the male guppies are getting a little beaten by the other. Not sure what to do. I know it's not the DG doing the beating since as I'm typing this I am watching one of the guppies bully the other all the while the DG is just having fun surfing the glass.
 
Alright, I'm ready to share what i'm doing with the 5.5G now. I thought that I would get some experience raising fry, I never have had the experience before, so I got myself some rando-guppies to house in there. Got them over the weekend, and day after I got them home I found fry in the tank. :lol: I have since moved the fry, just 7, over to a multi-gallon container where I am feeding crushed flake feed. Figured out how to crush freeze-dried bloodworms enough to get fry to accept them so I'll be providing some of that to them as well. The behaviour I have seen from both adults and fry so far has been interesting to watch, and I am enjoying everything about this so far. Decided to treat 5.5G with Prazi as well, just to ensure no parasites.

5.5G is looking nice so far, same plant stock as it was last year for the most part except with less variety since I am only taking what I liked. Using Dwarf Sag for a background plant, still growing in for the most part btw, and Crypt Becketti for the foreground.

Got an additional male (a nice red/orange cobra style guppy) with the guppies for the 5.5G so I put him into the 10G, hoping he would get along with the other inhabitants... Unfortunately my DG (now named Chrome, or Chromus when I am feeling ticked at him) is like a bull in that he hates really red colours. For the first couple of days, the new guy pretty much decided to live like a pleco (hiding out at the bottom of the tank, hugging substrate, taking weird positions inside caves, hides, etc.). Whole experience was stressful for him, he dulled out quite a bit. :( Seems like everyone is accepting him now, since I have seen him swimming out in the open more, though he still prefers the bottom half of the tank. Hopefully he gets his colours back. On the way home today, stopped at a LFS on route from university to home to pass away some of the traffic and came across a nice deal on Crypt Wendtii and Anubia Azefii. Decided why not and put some in the 10G. Will share a pic of how it looks now in a moment.

On the whole, camallanus thing, haven't seen any sign of the red threads since Saturday. Done two treatments, and subsequent light w/c 24hrs later on the 10G, one of which was today. Going to start up treatments for week two starting this Sat. Thinking that since I was doing a lot of research on liverbearers when I thought I saw the red threads of doom that I might have imagined it, but I've decided it's better to be safe than sorry with something like that. Going to keep treating for it for one month. If I don't see any sign of it by then, I'll accept that either it's gone or I've successfully wiped it out.

Anyways, that is all for now. :)
 
First Photo is of the 5.5G. I’m feeling pretty good about the scape I got going for it. Still looking for a nice background to protect the tank from sunlight, but for now closed blinds will have to do. The treasure chest in the front right corner was a gift from my mom alongside the 10G. Thought it’d look better in the 5.5G alongside a Dwarf Sag sticking out of it. Never realized how much dwarf sag can look like kelp until that moment.

Second Photo is of the 3 Guppies in the 10G, I said I’d show them off to you guys but kind of forgot due to homework pressures. I actually have names for them since I can tell them apart. Filled out orange male is Clifford. Nice Blue fully in the middle with the orange highlights is Scout Mars. If I had managed to get a better shot of him you’d be able to see a dull yellow tail, white/blue-gray dorsal fin, as well as his nice orange chest. The guppy on the left looks similar to Scout Mars, but unfortunately he turned just as I took the shot. That guppy, Scout Juniper, has a dull blue tail, with green-yellow chest and skull.

Third Photo is of the 10G as it is now. The Mopani wood still hasn’t sucked completely, but it’s only the thinner branch holding it up now. Planted the crypts all over the fore and midground of the tank, amongst plastic plants cause why not. Once those grow out I’ll remove the plastics slowly until only natural remains. The Anubis Azefii that I got I have placed inside of the the plastic stump, and it actually works pretty well together. Just really liking how the composition of the tank is working at the moment. Going to have to rearrange things once the mopani sinks fully but for now it’s all good.

Fourth Photo is of the 5.5G inhabitants. No real names for anyone there yet. Only possible ones I got in mind are Cerbie for the male and Big Boss for the one on the right. That one is the one wearing the pants in the tank relationship. I’m pretty sure she is the mama of the fry I got so far, but not entirely sure. There is one other female I didn’t get in the shot, but she has remained pretty shy since introduction into the tank.
 

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Tested water parameters of the 10G last night. I think that the cycled media I provided from the 5G has helped it cycle real well, since it is showing up 0's for Ammonia, Nitrites, and Nitrates. There has been no sign of the Amallanus since the 16th. Still treating for it just in case, but looks like I managed to get rid of it.

The local fish store had a sale last night so I got some more fish for the 10G to fill it up more. I got 6 Green Fire tetras and 6 Furcatas. I know I'm overstocked by AqAdvisor's projections, but since I'm doing 50% water changes at least once a week anyway, I think I can handle. I also realize that the Furcata can reach up to 2 inches each, so I'll be taking them back when that starts happening. The Furcatas are currently only 3/4 of an inch in size, so they are pretty young. The Green Fires vary in size, with the smallest matching the Furcatas and the largest being an inch and a half.

The 5.5G is doing alright as well. I took back my BN pleco so that continue living a healthy life. I don't want to hinder anything I get, so I rehome when I think I can no longer provide an optimal environment for them. :) I have replaced him, or at least I think the BN was a him with the bristles he was starting to develop, with a tiny Mexican Dwarf Crayfish. The little guy has proved to be fun to watch, as he has decided to ignore both of the nice hideouts I made for him and dug himself one underneath a piece of mopani wood I have in the tank. One of the female guppies in the 5.5G has shown signs of some form of internal parasites with white crap, so I'm treating that tank with PraziPro as well.
 
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