Newbie Aquarist's First Real Tank: 55gal Planted Community... - Aquarium Advice

Aremihc · 06-29-2008, 12:19 AM

So, here's my foray into "real" aquariums. I've had several growing up, mainly Guppies and Goldfish, but they've always been short lived. Mainly because other than dumping Dechlor and pH Up/Down in I(and my parents) did nothing to the tanks. "Ammonia? New Tank Syndrome? Nitrate? What are those?"

I've recently had a Goldfish tank that lasted for over a year, still with the "huh?" attitude. JUST as I began to figure out that there was more to Aquaria than Fish food and a gravel Vac my Goldfish tank went Belly-up. Finrot from overfeeding, Ich from a new fish 2 months later (yeah, I know....) More Finrot as a secondary infection, followed by Dropsy (I believe). On the plus side, the Pleco is happy as a clam despite a 2 week battle with Ich....... of course I now know that in a year or so I'm gonna need to donate him since he'll be too big for me to want. ****...

So my next bright idea... cruising eBay looking at Aquarium stuff for fun.

What? 55 gallon tank near me for (at first bid) 20 bucks?!? Wow...

And so... I now have a 55 gallon tank, and VERY little knowledge of Aquaria. BUT! I have Aquarium Advice, so maybe I'll be okay, or at least have someone to commiserate with me when it all goes belly-up

I'll keep this post updated as I go along, but bear with me, I'm also broke, so it'll be slow going for a while.

Aremihc · 06-29-2008, 12:29 AM

I've had the tank for just shy of a week, so I've already got a couple updates ready.

First thing, the tank WAS a salt-water tank... No problem, fresh water and a good spray nozzle fixed that. Next problem, the tank rim was painted Silver to go with the room decor... er... sorta painted silver...

Next, the stand had been painted Blue.... then Silver.... then Black.... never well:

Two Newspapers, a roll of masking tape, and 5 cans of spray paint later the stand was nice and matte black. The rim however was originally plastic with a faux wood print... Did you know that normal spray paint will strip OTHER paint off of plastic?

Whatever is in spray paint to keep it flowing must act as paint remover/softener.... Krylon to the rescue!!!

SpeedEuphoria · 06-29-2008, 12:33 AM

Nice acquisition! I believe if you are willing to read and take some of the "experts" advice you are in great hands here on AA. Don't hesitate to ask question, also many times using the search function will give you great insight and wisdom.

Good luck and happy fishkeeping!!(from a newly intrigued fishkeeper)

Aremihc · 06-29-2008, 12:38 AM

So, after finally getting it painted I went shopping to let it dry. There's one bad thing about living in Colorado in the Spring/Summer... it rains nearly daily.

I dashed home with some hastily bought plastic drop-clothes, take THAT Cumulonimbus!!!

Finally got it inside and set up in the living room. Somewhat level (had to go buy a 4ft level and some shims). After some searching/posting to AA I figured out the best way to get my background on (Mineral Oil), and it all looks nice.

Aremihc · 06-29-2008, 12:56 AM

Some of you may have noticed my flurry of posts recently, well here's the info I've gathered from here and elsewhere:

I've decided on a Peaceful Tropical Community Tank. I've also decided on a maximum adult size of <3" (ish). I love shoals, and don't see the point of 1 or 2 large fish in a medium sized tank.

Here are the breeds I intend to use:

Zebra Danio Danio Rerio

Glofish

Dwarf Neon Rainbowfish Melanotaenia Praecox

Cherry Barb Puntius Titteya

Otocinclus Cat Otocinclus Affinis

Zebra Loach Botia Striata

Red Cherry Shrimp Neocaridina Heteropoda

Dwarf Green Shrimp Cardina cf. Babaulti "Green"

Aremihc · 06-29-2008, 01:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpeedEuphoria

Nice acquisition! I believe if you are willing to read and take some of the "experts" advice you are in great hands here on AA. Don't hesitate to ask question, also many times using the search function will give you great insight and wisdom.

Good luck and happy fishkeeping!!(from a newly intrigued fishkeeper)

Speaking of search, I get an error when I try...

Your submission could not be processed because a security token was missing or mismatched.

If this occurred unexpectedly, please inform the administrator and describe the action you performed before you received this error.

Aremihc · 06-29-2008, 01:03 AM

I've also decided to make it a planted tank. I don't even have house-plants, so we'll see how this goes. Here are the plants I'm looking at selecting from. All seem to be low-medium light and very hardy. This is pulled from my other post:

This is a sampling of plants I want to put in the aquarium, depending on availability, and seeing them in person:
Ozelot Amazon Sword
Giant Hugrophila
Green Wendtii Crypt
Undulated Crypt
Windelov's Fern
Willow Moss
Dwarf Hairgrass
Java Fern
Tape Grass
Water Wisteria
Dwarf Ambulia
Corkscrew Val
Dwarf Sagittaria
Coffee Leaf Anubias
Brazilian Pennywort

I'm going to eventually hit 2WPG, but initially I'll plant the low-light plants with the existing 40W tube that I got with the tank.

SpeedEuphoria · 06-29-2008, 01:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aremihc

Speaking of search, I get an error when I try...

Your submission could not be processed because a security token was missing or mismatched.

If this occurred unexpectedly, please inform the administrator and describe the action you performed before you received this error.

I'm not sure what the issue is with this, what browser are you using?

As far as plants I would stick to the Ferns, Moss, Crypts, and Anubias until you upgrade lighting. I'm not real well versed on this stuff but always here that those are good for lower lighting

Aremihc · 06-29-2008, 01:27 AM

Well, that's nearly all I have so far, though I've got most of my equipment picked out, which I will profile here. I'm not wealthy, but I don't want to skimp on things too badly, so I've been looking for economy, and plan on it being at LEAST 2 months before a fish sees the inside of my tank. Here's my eventual plan for equipment, with decorations/air basics left out.

Marineland Emperor 400 Biowheel Filter - it seems obvious to me that standard powerfilters are a bad idea since you remove the bacteria everytime you change the filter, and I don't like under-gravel for a couple of reasons: a) I'm going to use Pool Filter Sand, b) I don't like not having access to my filter. I plan on augmenting that filter with a Hydro III Sponge Filter that will also be my Quarantine filter (sponge replaced after QT use and filter bleached of course)

I'm going to use a Tetra Whisper 100 Aquarium Air Pump
for running my airstones/bubble walls with a set of Gang Valves so I can adjust the flow rate easily and vent off all the spare pressure I'll normally have (I plan on having buried bubble walls on 3 sides so I can pump the O2 level through the roof if I need to medicate or some such

). And I figure a pair of Aqueon Submersible 150W Aquarium Heaters should provide plenty of control and heat for my tank, especially since it's on an inside wall.

For the plants I'm going to eventually add a 48"
Nova Extreme HO Light Fixture with 2 54W tubes as well as most likely a CO2 system comprised of a Milwaukee Regulator and Red Sea Reactor that I will add later on.

Man... I need to hit the lottery and get one of these.

Aremihc · 06-29-2008, 01:30 AM

Oh, and one last quick thing. I've tried my hand at my first custom-made aquarium decoration. It's a road, in case you can't tell. We'll see how it looks in the final layout, if it doesn't work, oh well. I made it out of Plexiglass, Loctite Silicone Sealant and aquarium gravel.

Speed, I'm using Safari on a Mac. Maybe that's the issue.

06-29-2008, 12:19 AM	#1
Aremihc Aquarium Advice Regular Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Loveland, CO Posts: 61	Newbie Aquarist's First Real Tank: 55gal Planted Community... So, here's my foray into "real" aquariums. I've had several growing up, mainly Guppies and Goldfish, but they've always been short lived. Mainly because other than dumping Dechlor and pH Up/Down in I(and my parents) did nothing to the tanks. "Ammonia? New Tank Syndrome? Nitrate? What are those?" I've recently had a Goldfish tank that lasted for over a year, still with the "huh?" attitude. JUST as I began to figure out that there was more to Aquaria than Fish food and a gravel Vac my Goldfish tank went Belly-up. Finrot from overfeeding, Ich from a new fish 2 months later (yeah, I know....) More Finrot as a secondary infection, followed by Dropsy (I believe). On the plus side, the Pleco is happy as a clam despite a 2 week battle with Ich....... of course I now know that in a year or so I'm gonna need to donate him since he'll be too big for me to want. ****... So my next bright idea... cruising eBay looking at Aquarium stuff for fun. What? 55 gallon tank near me for (at first bid) 20 bucks?!? Wow... And so... I now have a 55 gallon tank, and VERY little knowledge of Aquaria. BUT! I have Aquarium Advice, so maybe I'll be okay, or at least have someone to commiserate with me when it all goes belly-up I'll keep this post updated as I go along, but bear with me, I'm also broke, so it'll be slow going for a while.

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06-29-2008, 12:29 AM	#2
Aremihc Aquarium Advice Regular Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Loveland, CO Posts: 61	I've had the tank for just shy of a week, so I've already got a couple updates ready. First thing, the tank WAS a salt-water tank... No problem, fresh water and a good spray nozzle fixed that. Next problem, the tank rim was painted Silver to go with the room decor... er... sorta painted silver... Next, the stand had been painted Blue.... then Silver.... then Black.... never well: Two Newspapers, a roll of masking tape, and 5 cans of spray paint later the stand was nice and matte black. The rim however was originally plastic with a faux wood print... Did you know that normal spray paint will strip OTHER paint off of plastic? Whatever is in spray paint to keep it flowing must act as paint remover/softener.... Krylon to the rescue!!!

06-29-2008, 12:38 AM	#4
Aremihc Aquarium Advice Regular Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Loveland, CO Posts: 61	So, after finally getting it painted I went shopping to let it dry. There's one bad thing about living in Colorado in the Spring/Summer... it rains nearly daily. I dashed home with some hastily bought plastic drop-clothes, take THAT Cumulonimbus!!! Finally got it inside and set up in the living room. Somewhat level (had to go buy a 4ft level and some shims). After some searching/posting to AA I figured out the best way to get my background on (Mineral Oil), and it all looks nice.

06-29-2008, 12:56 AM	#5
Aremihc Aquarium Advice Regular Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Loveland, CO Posts: 61	Some of you may have noticed my flurry of posts recently, well here's the info I've gathered from here and elsewhere: I've decided on a Peaceful Tropical Community Tank. I've also decided on a maximum adult size of <3" (ish). I love shoals, and don't see the point of 1 or 2 large fish in a medium sized tank. Here are the breeds I intend to use: Zebra Danio Danio Rerio Glofish Dwarf Neon Rainbowfish Melanotaenia Praecox Cherry Barb Puntius Titteya Otocinclus Cat Otocinclus Affinis Zebra Loach Botia Striata Red Cherry Shrimp Neocaridina Heteropoda Dwarf Green Shrimp Cardina cf. Babaulti "Green"

06-29-2008, 01:03 AM	#7
Aremihc Aquarium Advice Regular Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Loveland, CO Posts: 61	I've also decided to make it a planted tank. I don't even have house-plants, so we'll see how this goes. Here are the plants I'm looking at selecting from. All seem to be low-medium light and very hardy. This is pulled from my other post: This is a sampling of plants I want to put in the aquarium, depending on availability, and seeing them in person: Ozelot Amazon Sword Giant Hugrophila Green Wendtii Crypt Undulated Crypt Windelov's Fern Willow Moss Dwarf Hairgrass Java Fern Tape Grass Water Wisteria Dwarf Ambulia Corkscrew Val Dwarf Sagittaria Coffee Leaf Anubias Brazilian Pennywort I'm going to eventually hit 2WPG, but initially I'll plant the low-light plants with the existing 40W tube that I got with the tank.

06-29-2008, 01:27 AM	#9
Aremihc Aquarium Advice Regular Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Loveland, CO Posts: 61	Well, that's nearly all I have so far, though I've got most of my equipment picked out, which I will profile here. I'm not wealthy, but I don't want to skimp on things too badly, so I've been looking for economy, and plan on it being at LEAST 2 months before a fish sees the inside of my tank. Here's my eventual plan for equipment, with decorations/air basics left out. Marineland Emperor 400 Biowheel Filter - it seems obvious to me that standard powerfilters are a bad idea since you remove the bacteria everytime you change the filter, and I don't like under-gravel for a couple of reasons: a) I'm going to use Pool Filter Sand, b) I don't like not having access to my filter. I plan on augmenting that filter with a Hydro III Sponge Filter that will also be my Quarantine filter (sponge replaced after QT use and filter bleached of course) I'm going to use a Tetra Whisper 100 Aquarium Air Pump for running my airstones/bubble walls with a set of Gang Valves so I can adjust the flow rate easily and vent off all the spare pressure I'll normally have (I plan on having buried bubble walls on 3 sides so I can pump the O2 level through the roof if I need to medicate or some such ). And I figure a pair of Aqueon Submersible 150W Aquarium Heaters should provide plenty of control and heat for my tank, especially since it's on an inside wall. For the plants I'm going to eventually add a 48" Nova Extreme HO Light Fixture with 2 54W tubes as well as most likely a CO2 system comprised of a Milwaukee Regulator and Red Sea Reactor that I will add later on. Man... I need to hit the lottery and get one of these.

06-29-2008, 01:30 AM	#10
Aremihc Aquarium Advice Regular Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Loveland, CO Posts: 61	Oh, and one last quick thing. I've tried my hand at my first custom-made aquarium decoration. It's a road, in case you can't tell. We'll see how it looks in the final layout, if it doesn't work, oh well. I made it out of Plexiglass, Loctite Silicone Sealant and aquarium gravel. Speed, I'm using Safari on a Mac. Maybe that's the issue.