My Tank

[Coleallensmom]

After nearly two months, my FW community tank has been cycled and is now fully stocked. (My first tank bigger than 5 gallons!) Fish include: Zebra danios, Black Skirt tetra, Pristella tetra, and Black Neon tetra along with a few Zebra Nerite snails. Just started adding some plants but I am limited as to what I can do as I am still working on lighting. (You can certainly tell which are real and which are plastic!) The "driftwood" ornament in the corner is a leftover from a smaller tank. Hoping to replace it with a real piece as soon as I find one that fits.

demensions= 30"L, 12.5"W. and 22.5"W

Side view:

Close up:

Black Skirt:

Black Neon:

Pristella:

Zebra Snail:

 

[melosu58]

Looks pretty nice to me. Great looking tank.

 

[fort384]

Looking good.

FYI, those broad leafed white ribbon plants are not aquatic plants. They will eventually rot an die in your tank, as they will not grow submerged. Big chain stores like petsmart sell them marked as aquatic, but they are mislabeled.

Check out plantgeek.net. They have section of "non-aquatic" plants that are often sold as aquatic. It will help you determine what you can and can't buy if your plant source is going to be the big chains. Personally, I would recommend finding some good low light plants on plantgeek.net that you like, and then post in the classifieds on this forum for "plants wanted". People will more than likely be able to ship you several cuttings and starts of plants for next to nothing (usually the cost of shipping plus a few dollars), especially for common low light plants like anubias, java moss, and java ferns.

If you do decide to go with live plants, keep in mind the depth of your tank will make lighting a bit more challenging, being a tall tank. It can definitely be done, you just may need a little more powerful lighting than would be required over a tank of less depth, so the WPG "rule" won't really apply directly to your setup.

Good luck, and thanks for sharing your photos!

 

[HN1]

I agree with Fort.

Beautiful tank though!

 

[Coleallensmom]

Yes, I had assumed that was the case re: the ribbon plants. I bought them when I first got the aquarium because I just couldn't bring myself to fill the tank with all plastic plants and those were recommended by a worker at my LFS. After doing research for low light plants, I realized my mistake, but figured I'd leave them until they die. I *just* last week found two java ferns at the LFS and grabbed both of them. The rest of of the plants are swords..not sure if I'm going to be able to keep them alive either, but so far they're doing ok (I've had them about a month.) We've been trying to research our lighting options, but just haven't found anything affordable that will work for us atm. The depth of the tank is definitely a challenge..had I known, I most likely would have waited for different tank (this one was a Craigslist find). The last few months have definitely been a learning experience.

Thank you for all of the advice, I appreciate it!

 

[fort384]

Well, once you get some rockin' lighting on there, I think it could be a really cool planted tank. I am thinking some Mayaca or Rotala Macranda growing in the background could really look cool since the stems could get so long.

It won't hurt to leave em in... just keep the dead leaves trimmed so they aren't breaking down in the water and things will go fine.

 

[Coleallensmom]

I'm still a bit confused as to what to do in the lighting department. I've been searching online the last few days for lighting and I'm just not sure what to buy. I don't want something so powerful that I need to deal with CO2. (I currently have only a single T8 20W FloraGlo bulb!) What exactly should I be looking for?

My swords are alive and seemingly(?) well, but within the last week I've noticed brown burn-like spots on the ribbons which has me thinking I should just take them out and be done with it. However, if I remove them I'll have little left. Just three swords and the two new java ferns that I just purchased.

 

[fort384]

With that tank, I would do a 48W T5HO fixture with 1 24W 10000K bulb and 1 24W 6500K bulb. I have a couple of current usa fixtures and they have been very reliable, and competively priced.
Nova Extreme T5HOx2 | Current What's Next

Check out the 1138 model at that link. I think that would be sufficient for your tank depth/volume, but wouldn't be so powerful that you would have to run CO2.

When (not if ) you get hooked on the planted tank, you could just buy another of the same fixture, and double your wattage, add a co2 system, and be able to grow just about anything you want.

If you don't like the current usa, there are many 30" T5HO fixtures out there I am sure. A lot of people prefer the T5HO bulbs for growing plants. Compact size for the wattage is great, the bulbs last a year or more, are not overly expensive to replace compared to HQI, and really make the tank pop. Plants love 'em.

 

[Coleallensmom]

When (not if ) you get hooked on the planted tank, you could just buy another of the same fixture, and double your wattage, add a co2 system, and be able to grow just about anything you want.

*ha!* One step at a time!

THANK you, that was SUPER helpful. Just need to do a little shopping to see what I can afford. I am super lucky to have a "That fish place" located not too awful far away. I've never actually been inside out of fear I'll want to buy all sorts of fun stuff while I am there, but this might be the time to go take a look around. I checked on their website and they carry the Nova fixture that you mentioned.

 

[Coleallensmom]

Any idea what size bulb that fixture takes? I tried to google but couldn't find anything.

 

[fort384]

24W T5HO. Not sure of the exact length of the bulb, but there will only be 1 length of T5HO that is 24W. It is probably a ~22" bulb, as it is the same bulb that is in their 24" fixture.