watsonja4's 45gallon (My first aquarium)

[Watsonja4]

So after a little over a month of cycling and numerous headaches I have finally started to add fish so I decided to start this thread to show you my hopefully easy and casualty free journey to a 100% stocked tank and also get some feedback along the way.

Equipment:
Aqueon 45gallon
DIY aquarium and canopy
Fluval 306 canister
Eheim 250w heater
Tetra whisper 60 air pump
DIY lighting
all decor came from pet smart

Current residents:
10 neon tetras
3 swordtails
More to come!

First pic to start.

 

[Watsonja4]

Lol and it looks like it's hanging from the ceiling. Sorry for the bad first picture technical support is working to fix the problem.

 

[guppygourami]

Looks awesome! What've you been feeding them?


<g.m.t.a>

 

[Watsonja4]

I am feeding tetra color plus flake food and I also picked up some tetra freeze dried bloodworms to feed once a week. Would you recommend anything else?

 

[guppygourami]

Sounds good. Not sure about the freeze dried bloodworms since I've never tried them with my fish before (I use frozen). Do they all like them?


<g.m.t.a>

 

[Watsonja4]

No I just fed them today and only the swordtails could eat them, my neons tried but they are just to small (they are all less than a inch) so I'm going to look for another processed food. Any good brands you would recommend? I also am curious if I am feeding to much or not enough. I feed once a day, I put a pinch of food in wait for them to eat it and then add another pinch, I repeat for 3 minutes, is this correct?

 

[guppygourami]

Make sure that when you introduce a new food you have them not eating for a couple days before.

San Fransisco Bay is the company I get (frozen) bloodworms from. I feed those a couple times a week at most but for my regular food I have OmegaOne micropellets. My angels also love TetraColor tropical crisps but OmegaOne is the one I'd recommend. I think you're feeding right...

 

[Watsonja4]

Well guys I'm sorry for not keeping this thread updated like I planned it's been a busy month for me and my neon tetras have been dropping like flies, only one left. I have no idea what is happening other than my ph is to high at 8.2. So to save more neons from certain death I have decided to change my stocking plan to 1 gold gourami, 8 dwarf neon rainbow fish, and the 3 swordtails that have been in the tank for a month now. So now that everybody knows my plan here is my newest resident.

Not for sure if you can tell by the pic but I tried to pick out a female since I heard they would be less aggressive as an adult even though she is only about 2.5" now. More to come

 

[Watsonja4]

Well I finally added the last inhabitants this friday and after letting them adjust to their new home and a good feeding I decided to post a few more pictures. New arrivals are Dwarf Neon Rainbowfish, school of 8.

Sorry for the gourami photo bomb, I had all 8 in the photo and my gourami decided it wanted to be in front at the last minute.

 

[Watsonja4]

Here is a updated full tank pic.
Total stock 100%
3 x Swordtails
1 x Gold Gourami
8 x Neon Dwarf Rainbowfish
1 x Neon Tetra
The Tetra is the only survivor out of a school of 18. I guess it was just poor stock or to much stress from my 1.25 hour drive home from not so local fish store. So I guess he will have to make it alone although that Fluval Spec V was talking to me at the lfs the other day.

 

[Barliman]

You did a great job adapting to a difficult start. The tank and new stock look great!

(And I'm a fan of gold gouramis, even if they can be little punks.)

I had a similar problem with neons, losing six of the seven I bought at Petco (I know, I know. ) within the first week. I then went to a reputable LFS and got six more and, so far in their first two weeks at home, they've done great. Hopefully, if you try them again, that LFS will have better stock, or you can try a different one.

Regarding fish foods, people argue over those like they do filters: everyone has their favorite. Good brands are Hikari, Ocean Nutrition, and NLS, among others. I really like the Omega One (from OmegaSea) line. I'm not too fond of Tetra, because many of their foods carry more ash and other filler than I like. Others are happy with it, though.

I ran into the same problem as you trying to feed bloodworms to my tetras. The solution I suggest for small-mouthed fish is to try micro-pellets, which are small enough for them to eat easily. Hikari and Omega Sea make good versions.

And post more pics as the tank develops!

 

[Watsonja4]

Thanks Barliman, and yes they seem to be very good stock as far as color and hardiness goes. I had to order them so I was extremely worried about it but after 2 hours of drip acclimation(first time trying it) they hit the water and where schooling within an hour. I love my gold gourami very much, she added some much needed personality to the tank and she gives my male swordtail some competition for tank nuisance. As far as food goes I am only feeding flakes since I am trying new foods. I did take your advice and ordered some hikari micro pellets so I will see how that goes. Also I have read some articles on feeding fish vegetables such as lettuce, cucumber, and peas, does anybody have any experience with this?

 

[Watsonja4]

I also would like to know since I added 8 fish at one time how long should I monitor water quality for a possible mini cycle. I have been testing ammonia and nitrite daily, my plan is to continue this until Tuesday when I do my weekly pwc. Can I declare myself safe from a mini cycle by then since I usually only test water once weekly?

 

[Barliman]

I also would like to know since I added 8 fish at one time how long should I monitor water quality for a possible mini cycle. I have been testing ammonia and nitrite daily, my plan is to continue this until Tuesday when I do my weekly pwc. Can I declare myself safe from a mini cycle by then since I usually only test water once weekly?

I think so. Any spike in ammonia will have show up by then. You might want to have prepped water handy, just in case you see a big spike in ammonia. But, if you've cycled your tank already, it should handle it.

As far as food goes I am only feeding flakes since I am trying new foods. I did take your advice and ordered some hikari micro pellets so I will see how that goes.

I'm feeding the Omega Sea flakes, too, just crushing them really fine. The tetras still try to grab pieces too big for their mouths.

 

[Watsonja4]

Decided I would give an update on the tank this morning, no pictures unfortunately. I am happy to say no mini cycle ever happened but, we do have some bad news. Doing my first water change with my regular routine of removing the canopy followed by the glass top, all was going well until I started to put the python wc into the tank. This is when one of my male rainbows decided life in the aquarium was not for him, poor guy jumped out and hit the tile floor I quickly put him back in but the impact must have caused internal damage as he could not right himself and died within the hour. So now I'm down to 7, looks like another trip to lfs to get 1 fish. Just thought I would share my latest run of bad luck and to let anybody know who is interested in keeping rainbows KEEP THE LID ON!!!, lesson learned here.

 

[Barliman]

That's a shame.

I like to run my tanks lidless so the plants get better light, but I really need to construct a screen lid so the light gets through, but the fish can't jump out.

 

[Watsonja4]

Boy it's been a while since I've posted anything on here. So I decided I would give an update. Tank has been running for 1.5 years now and looking back at my posts it was a rocky start. As far as stocking goes the tank has changed a lot. After dealing with dwarf rainbows dying. I decided it was time to change fish stores and believe it or not I went to petco and have been problem free ever since. I still have my gold gourami but gave the swordtails away, I then added 5 boesmanni rainbows and a baby rainbow shark that was 1-2" long. All fish have been thriving now for over a year with just weekly maintenance. So here are some pics of what it looks like now.