just set up new tank, questions

[omegasupreme]

At last, I have filled my 75 gal tank this morning and planted some fast growing plants. I have C02 running @ 1bubble/sec and have about 108 watts of light. I'm not sure if i should all the lights at once from the get go for a total of 216 watts. The bulbs are 2 1000k and 2 6700k T5.

I should be getting more stem plants on Monday and the dry ferts from Gregg Watson around the same time. Should I go and get a clean up crew from the LFS. I was thinking 4 CAE's and some amino shrimp. I also wanted to get some neon tetras for starters. Is it too soon to buy fish? Please advise. Thanks in advance. Will post pictures soon.

 

[rich311k]

If you plant heavily from the beginning and stock lightly you will be ok. If you could get a sponge or gravel from an established tank you will be even better off. Since you have the CO2 already once you get your ferts I would turn all the lights on for ten hours a day and start your dosing regiment. Add only a few fish and test for ammonia and nitrites daily. If they the go over .5ppm do a water change. Otherwise once a week of 50% should be fine. I think with a few fish and planted say 75% or so you should see no cycle at all.

 

[omegasupreme]

thanks for the advice rich.


What is the best way to quarantine fish? Would the drip method work best? I think i'm going to get a few bristlenose plecos and about 12 or so neon tetras.

 

[Rupret]

What I would do if I were you, buy some of the neons, or other inexpensive fish, and some bacteria starter, to get the nitrogen cycle started and the tank "cycled". Since you have a 75, I would get many of them or a combination of different inexpensive fish (danios, tetras, and so on). If you do not have a water test kit, buy one that includes: pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, KH, GH, and phosphate. You may have to by one kit and then some of the others separtately. Dose with bacteria starter, place the fish, and monitor your test kit every day, then every few days. You will be looking for a spike in ammonia, then a spike in nitrite, then once your bacteria get started, you will see a spike in nitrate and both your ammonia and nitrite will be zero. Once you reach that level which means your tank has "cycled", you should be set for more fish. Your nitrate level will then decrease and level out, the ammonia and nitrite will remain zero. I wouldn't recommend any expensive fish, such as the algae eaters, until then, due to you may lose some of your initial fish during the cycling process.

Keep an eye on your water chemisty. If you don't have a book, buy on on aquatic plants, and it should have a pH-KH chart which will allow you to determine CO2 content in the water. I have looked at many books and my recommendation is "The Simple Guide to Planted Aquariums" by Barber and Wilson. I am an well experience non-planted aquariumist, but am still pretty new to planted tanks.

Some things I have learned:
-get the book, "The Simple Guide to Planted Aquariums" and read it
-the guys and gals here on AA provide much better advice than my local fish stores
-get the ferts and dose immediately (Greg Watson is an outstanding source)
-improper water water chemistry and ferts contributes to green algae and green water

Check with these people here for further advice. I feel comfortable giving advice on a newly set up fsih aquarium, but I am too much of a newbie to plants to comment much further on the planted aspect. Right now, I am fighting a severe green algae problem, so watch your lighting, water chemistry, and ferts (I have learned kind of the hard way). If you have any green algae, green water, problems, do not use anything like "Algae Fix", it is just a temporary remedy of the problem and can also adversely affect your fish.

I tried some freshwater shrimp in my tank. I have some large angle fish, and as soon as I added the shrimp (about $8 each), the angle fish had a rather expensive snack. It was the circle of life at its finest. Since you don't have such large fish, give the shrimp a try; any thoughts of shrimp for any of you other folks?

I hope some of the more experienced and successful guys chime in for you.

Rupret.

 

[Purrbox]

Just a few comments on shrimp.

They're a wonderful addition to planted tanks and many are excellant algae eaters. As Rupert mentioned large fish will often make a tasty snack out of them. If there are already large fish in the aquarium, then it's a good idea to test with ghost shrimp to see how the fish will react. Ghost shrimp fairly inexpensive, so it's not as big a loss if your fish make a meal out of them.

Adding the shrimp to the tank before larger fish are added is a way to let them get established and improve their odds of surviving long term in the tank, especially if they're a variety that can breed with just freshwater. You can also try adding the shrimp at a time when the other fish are less active and less likely to take an interest in them.

Never add shrimp to an uncycled tank. All inverts are extremely sensitive to Ammonia and Nitrate, so you'll probably loose them all if you add them to a tank that is still cycling.

 

[omegasupreme]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I didn't end up getting any shrimp or SAE's at the LFS this evening. I figured I would let the tank get more established before doing so. I ended up purchasing 12 zebra danio's and 6 albino rasboras.

Is it too soon to begin taking measurements of ammonia and nitrites? Figured I would wait until tomorrow to do so. Thanks.

 

[rich311k]

I said a few fish not 18. I was thinking 6 danios or a couple of algae eaters not two schools of fish. Watch your levels closely. Ammonia plus light plus nutrients = Green water. It is also not good for the fish so keep the levels under .5 ppm.

 

[rkilling1]

I was thinking 4 CAE's

You do not want CAE's. They don't really eat that much algae and when they get older, they are very mean.

What I would do if I were you, buy some of the neons, or other inexpensive fish, and some bacteria starter, to get the nitrogen cycle started and the tank "cycled". Since you have a 75, I would get many of them or a combination of different inexpensive fish (danios, tetras, and so on). If you do not have a water test kit, buy one that includes: pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, KH, GH, and phosphate. You may have to by one kit and then some of the others separtately. Dose with bacteria starter, place the fish, and monitor your test kit every day, then every few days. You will be looking for a spike in ammonia, then a spike in nitrite, then once your bacteria get started, you will see a spike in nitrate and both your ammonia and nitrite will be zero. Once you reach that level which means your tank has "cycled", you should be set for more fish. Your nitrate level will then decrease and level out, the ammonia and nitrite will remain zero. I wouldn't recommend any expensive fish, such as the algae eaters, until then, due to you may lose some of your initial fish during the cycling process.

Rupret.

The problem with that method is the chance you take that NH3 will not be converted ASAP. In a fully planted high-light tank, you should be using the 'silent cycle' method.

The 'silent cycle' is where you have high-light and CO2/ferts and have the tank planted heavily. You add a couple of fish every other week until you are at your stocking limit. You should NOT see any NH3 during this period. As Rich has mentioned, with NH3 present you will have algae issues.

 

[Rupret]

Thanks for the planted tank stocking info and the "silent cycle". Without plants, I have had successful cycling with the method I mentioned, but I also hoped some of you more experienced plant guys would chime in with more info. Again, these guys on AA are definately more knowledgable than, at least my, local fish stores.

rkilling1:
I have gotten some very good advice from you in the past. If you haven't looked over it, would you look over my thread "Recurrent Green Water - Please Help" and give me any thoughts you may have. I have tried to follow all the advice from a couple/few months ago, but I may have inadvertently left something out.

 

[omegasupreme]

here are some pictures. This is my first ever planted tank, so any criticism would be helpful. I'm still awaiting more plants and ferts from gregg watson so hopefully plants will flourish once i begin dosing.

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[rkilling1]

Looking good.

When you do get more plants in, it looks more appealing when they are grouped together. ie not spreading the Rotala rotundifolia around.