29 gal fresh-start follow along

[Mloyko]

Hi again all,

So unfortunately from my last thread my fish did not make it through the illness that hit the tank. I set up a quarantine tank and medicated it but needless to say it failed and my barbs have passed on.

Anywho, I decided to start over fresh on my 29 gal tank. I removed all the rocks and plants and drained all the water. I wiped down the sides of the tank. To help with water quality I bought and installed a Fluval 206 canister which will be teamed up with my existing Marineland 200 hanging filter (after that is done being dosed in the quarantine tank). I did not clean the sand so I'm think I might have to medicate the tank just incase. What do you think? Also should some of the bacteria that was colonizing before still exist since I didn't clean the sand?


As for the habitat I want to use less river rocks. In one corner I want to find a piece of driftwood that gives the impression of mangrove roots or an amazon looking root system. I can't seem to find anything like that. I'm also going to mix in some live plants, not sure what kind though and some small river rocks maybe making some small caves and hiding places. When sterilizing river rocks how long should I boil them for?

As for stocking I wanna make up a list before it is cycled to be prepared. I'm going to do a fish-in like I have my whole life starting with Zebra Danios after I let the tank sit a week or so.

Here is a list of different species I was thinking of adding, but nothing is a definite yet just some ideas. I plan to upgrade to a 125 gal down the road so if I were to choose anything that gets too large for a 29 gal it will be transferred to the 125+ tank.

My ideas:

2-3 Electric Blue Ram or 2-3 German Blue Ram (can they be mixed?)
1 Bristle-nose Pleco
1 Red-tailed Shark
5 Zebra Danio
2 Cory undecided type
2-3 Angel's
5 or so Neon Tetra
1 Clown Knife.

Like I said this isn't THE list of fish, this is just some options of species I was thinking could work. In any combination would really love some feedback maybe some combos or something that may have slipped my mind. Does anyone have any info on Black-banded Sunfish kept in aquariums?

Excited to get this going.

 

[KJG86]

I'm a newbie so I don't have any advice but I just got my 29 gallon up and running so I'm going to follow your thread and see what what advice others give you!!

 

[Scottyhorse]

Hi again all,

So unfortunately from my last thread my fish did not make it through the illness that hit the tank. I set up a quarantine tank and medicated it but needless to say it failed and my barbs have passed on.

Anywho, I decided to start over fresh on my 29 gal tank. I removed all the rocks and plants and drained all the water. I wiped down the sides of the tank. To help with water quality I bought and installed a Fluval 206 canister which will be teamed up with my existing Marineland 200 hanging filter (after that is done being dosed in the quarantine tank). I did not clean the sand so I'm think I might have to medicate the tank just incase. What do you think? Also should some of the bacteria that was colonizing before still exist since I didn't clean the sand?


As for the habitat I want to use less river rocks. In one corner I want to find a piece of driftwood that gives the impression of mangrove roots or an amazon looking root system. I can't seem to find anything like that. I'm also going to mix in some live plants, not sure what kind though and some small river rocks maybe making some small caves and hiding places. When sterilizing river rocks how long should I boil them for?

As for stocking I wanna make up a list before it is cycled to be prepared. I'm going to do a fish-in like I have my whole life starting with Zebra Danios after I let the tank sit a week or so.

Here is a list of different species I was thinking of adding, but nothing is a definite yet just some ideas. I plan to upgrade to a 125 gal down the road so if I were to choose anything that gets too large for a 29 gal it will be transferred to the 125+ tank.

My ideas:

2-3 Electric Blue Ram or 2-3 German Blue Ram (can they be mixed?)
1 Bristle-nose Pleco
1 Red-tailed Shark
5 Zebra Danio
2 Cory undecided type
2-3 Angel's
5 or so Neon Tetra
1 Clown Knife.

Like I said this is THE list of fish, this is just some options of species I was thinking could work. In any combination would really love some feedback maybe some combos or something that may have slipped my mind. Does anyone have any info on Black-banded Sunfish kept in aquariums?

Excited to get this going.

Hi, sorry your last tank didn't end so well, but I am glad you are trying again. I think everyone should enjoy having fish successfully at least once in their life.

I like your idea of scaping the tank! Good, easy plants that would fit your theme are Vals, Crypts, regular Java Fern, Wendlove Java Fern, maybe even Christmas or Java moss. Amazon Swords are also another great one!

If you were starting with a 125G, I would say go ahead with the stock. But since you might not for more than a few months, I personally would hold back. If you are interested in those types of fish, I would say go with something like:

2 Rams (pair or two females)
1 BN Plec
5 Zebra Danio
5 Cory Cats
10 Neon Tetras

I think that would be a good stock, then when you get a larger tank, you can add more. I will warn you if you don't know already, the clown knives can get to 40". Usually less in aquariums, but, they will still need a huge tank. I have no experience with those big guys, so I will leave others to that.

Over all, I think you have a pretty good start!

 

[azmodan]

Hello!

In terms of your aquascaping I'd recommend a nice sized branch of manzanita to go for that particular root look.

http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/biotope

(Not my tank)

 

[Mloyko]

I bought a piece of Manzanita off of Manzanita-driftwood.com. I'm just curious but can lighting affect water clarity? I just filled the tank 2 days go, there is nothing in the tank save the sand that I never removed and the water seems to be slightly hazy, but more-so near the top of the tank. I have an LED bar that came with my kit. Is it just reflecting off particles in the water? Also what is everyone's opinion on LED, I always used florescent growing up these are my first LEDs.

 

[azmodan]

Does your water have a slight tea-color tinge to it? If it does then it's probably tannins being leached from your driftwood. It's perfectly harmless though (in fact a lot of fish like it) and will go away in time.

LED lighting is great, although most kit LED lighting systems are not very equipped to deal with live plants. Some LED systems though are fantastic for planted tanks, so we'd need to know what type you have since you're going down that path eventually too.

 

[Mloyko]

No it can't be the tannins because there is because there is absolutly nothing in my tank yet except for the sand (black very tiny pebbly sand from petco), the heater, and the input/output nozzles from my filter. No rocks/plants/driftwood/fish. It's actually gotten much cloudier since the post before this one. It's more of a gray haze. Thinking about changing the sand

 

[Mloyko]

Just an update, I added the rocks back and the plants. The water was still cloudy after I did this (yesterday) woke up today and the water was better, just got home from work and it is virtually clear. At least to my liking, I believe with a little more patience it should clear up all together. Before adding the rocks I tested them all (after boiling for an hour) with vinegar and found that the slate-type pieces I had in there before fizzed like noones business. I left them out this time and the water seems to be doing fine. Gunna wait a couple more days to get my Danios to start the cycle.

 

[Mloyko]

Update: Today the water is back to cloudy but I did nothing to the tank so I'm pretty certain it's passing blooms of bacteria. Took water parameters and did pwc just now.

Pre-water change.

ph: between 7.0 and 7.2
Ammonia: .25 ppm
Nitrite: between .50 and 1.0 ppm
Nitrate: 5.0 ppm

Do these numbers seem accurate after restarting the tank? Or does the fact that I didn't clean out my sand and reusing the filter contribute?

 

[Mloyko]

Today's results:

ammonia: .25ppm
nitrites: .50ppm
nitrates: between 0 and 5.0 ppm

cloudiness increases and decreases as the day goes by.

 

[librarygirl]

What test kit are you using? Have you tested your tap water for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate? If it isn't coming from the tap, then the ammonia and nitrites were likely in there from when you had fish which could have contributed to their illness. If you're going to do a fish-in cycle I'd start it quickly before the bacteria start to die off, or start adding some pure ammonia to feed them. If you are going to add fish though do a couple of full water changes to ensure that ammonia and nitrite are 0 before adding them (unless your tap has some of these, it's best to check).

The cloudiness could be from stirring up the substrate and changing the sand, etc.

 

[Mloyko]

Well I never changed the sand after draining the entire tank after the illness hit. I have fish in now all of which seem happy and healthy. Just tested my tap and this is the results.

pH: 6.4
Ammonia: .25ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: little under 5.0 ppm

I bought the API freshwater master kit.

 

[Mloyko]

Update:

pH: 6.6
ammonia: .25ppm
nitrite: .50ppm
nitrate: 5.0ppm

They seem to be holding steady at these numbers.

P.S. I saw people in other threads using Prime so I picked some up

 

[Mloyko]

So here's another update... I really don't know if I'm making any progress or not. Only thing I do know is the levels don't really change much and cloudiness is present always (sometimes thicker than others) getting a little discouraged.

pH: 6.4
Ammonia: .25
Nitrite: Between .25 and .50
Nitrate: below 5.0

any input?

 

[sharle66]

Regular water changes is your greatest tool right now. Time and patience will win out in the end. Trust me, you will be so glad that you took the time now when you have your established aquarium up and running. All the best w

 

[Mloyko]

Thanks, doing a water test and water change now. Readings before change are as follows.

pH: 6.8
Ammonia: .25 ppm
Nitrite: 1.0 ppm
Nitrate: between 10 and 20 ppm.

Last night I added a little dose of cycle from nutrafin. I'm also still dosing with Prime during water changes.

 

[Richi106]

Hey.

Just wondering what barbs did u have?
And what happened to them. Ave got 2 now which look like they won't last very long.

Thanks!

 

[Mloyko]

Hi,

I had 5 Tiger Barbs, they didn't survive an ich invasion even with treating them with medication.

.........

In regards to the post water change water test here are the results.

pH: 6.8
Ammonia: .25 ppm
Nitrite: Below .25ppm
Nitrate: same as before.

 

[Mloyko]

Also wondering if anyone could help me out and let me know what this is on my plant. It looks like roots with green new growth above it, but half way up a leaf?

 

[adamx457]

Remember when stocking a tank to be sure of the fish you want. buying a school of tetras and then finding out they may not work in your aquarium could cause trouble. ive been thinking of some aquarium combinations. feel free to mix and match them, here they are

1 or 2 angelfish
7+ threadfin rainbows
1 bristle nose pleco

2-3 rams (german blue, gold, bolivian, electric blue,etc)
-electric blues are the same as german blues just different color(will breed)
7+ spotted blue eye rainbowfish
5+ corys

2-3 rams
7+ rummy nose tetras
5+ corys

Dwarf Cichlid Tank
2 apistogramma borelli
2 german blue rams
1 bolivian rams
7 tetras

*I left room on most of these for any fish you may choose to add in the future.