29 Gallon tank

mrhelton · Sep 10, 2011

Hello, this is the tank I made when I signed up here. It's progressing nicely so I thought I would post some pictures of it.

Right now I have:

2 Dalmation Molly
1 Pink GloFish
1 Yellow GloFish
1 Boesemani Rainbow
3 Buenos Aires Tetras
8 Zebra Danio
3 Black Skirt Tetra
1 Common Pleco (I'll be moving him to my new 120 gallon tank I'm getting once I move)

I have a mix of real and fake plants, but once my new light arrives, I'm hoping to get a few more plants and remove the fake stuff. I'll keep this topic updated as I make changes and add new things! I did this because I love reading the other picture topics.

Aquali · Sep 10, 2011

Nice tank I do have a question do your danios stay on top mine like to hang around the bottom and I'm wondering if numbers have anything to do with it.

mrhelton · Sep 10, 2011

6 of my danios hover near the top, but my 2 smallest ones normally swim right above the gravel. It's weird. The two new GloFish seem to hang at the top with the normal danios, but I just got them a couple of hours ago so it's really hard to tell yet.

mrhelton · Sep 18, 2011

The water has gotten pretty foggy and I'm not sure why. I'm soaking my Purigen in bleach right now, so hopefully once that's ready again it will clear up.

I just bought 2 pieces of driftwood for this tank that I have soaking right now. Unfortunately I don't have a big enough pan to boil them in.

I also got a smaller piece for the 10 gallon I'm cycling. I'll make a topic for that tank soon too.

bruinsbro1997 · Sep 18, 2011

Um I don't like being the bearer of bad new but...the boesmani rainbow isn't meant for that size tank.

mrhelton · Sep 18, 2011

aww really? I definitely appreciate you telling me though. I checked a site that said it needed 30 gallons minimum, so I thought it was ok. I suppose I'll keep him in this tank until I move and get my 120 gallon tank. Hopefully he won't be too depressed in here

mrhelton · Sep 18, 2011

Well I added the two pieces of driftwood after soaking them in hot water for a few hours. Hopefully the water doesn't turn TOO brown lol. I also ripped out the fake plants and "fake" decorations.

mrhelton · Sep 23, 2011

I took out the 3 Black Skirts and put them in my 10 gallon tank because this one was overpopulated. I was having ammonia and nitrite spikes and I thought that might be causing it. Now I noticed that I only have 7 of my original 8 Zebra Danios, so I think maybe one of them died and rotted without me seeing it, thus causing the spike. Not sure though.

Anyway, I finally set up my DIY CO2 system to help support plant growth with all this light.

The canister

The CO2 out placed under the filter intake

The wisteria plant that quickly grew back where I chopped the top off for another tank. It's just amazing how that works.

Overall tank show now. Took these ones with my phone instead of my camera, so it sucks.

redsea · Sep 23, 2011

Awesome tank! I like the selection of fish. Mollies and Danios are great, Tetras are too!

mrhelton · Oct 1, 2011

UPDATE:

1) Most of my Zebra Danios mysteriously died off. Not sure what happened, but it stopped with 3 left. They looked healthy before they died so I don't know. Not overly concerned.
2) I made a custom CO2 diffuser from a cigarette filter. DIY Aquarium CO2 Diffuser - Cigarette Filter - YouTube
3) I started work on a moonlight http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f20/ghetto-moonlight-progress-topic-pics-172085.html
4) I got a bunch of plants in the mail from user JustinKScott. They look great!

mrhelton · Oct 4, 2011

Look at all this plant growth in just 3 days. I can't get over this. (compare to the first picture in my last post)

absolutangel04 · Oct 4, 2011

Wow, this tank has come a long way! I have to say that it looks WORLDS better with all the real plants in it. What is your stock in it now? I know you said you were moving a few of the residents out when you get your bigger tank up and running. So, what are you ultimately planning to have in there?

mrhelton · Oct 4, 2011

Thanks, I totally agree! I love the live plants and will never have another tank without them.

I had a major Zebra Danio die-off last week so I only have 2 left. Not sure what the deal was, but everything else seems to be fine. Because all of those died, I put the 3 Black Skirt Tetras back into this tank and they're thrilled to be back!

So right now I have:

3 Black Skirt Tetras
3 Bloodfin Tetras
2 Dalmatian Mollies
2 Zebra Danios
1 Boesemani Rainbow
1 Common Pleco (he's already grown to 4 inches, unbelievable)

Once I move (which could be as early as thanksgiving!) and I get the big tank (90-120 gallon), I will move over the Pleco and the Rainbowfish, and then get a bunch more rainbowfish. I'll leave the 29 gallon with what's left, though I'll probably get more Zebras to bring them back up to schooling levels.

absolutangel04 · Oct 4, 2011

mrhelton said:
Thanks, I totally agree! I love the live plants and will never have another tank without them.

I had a major Zebra Danio die-off last week so I only have 2 left. Not sure what the deal was, but everything else seems to be fine. Because all of those died, I put the 3 Black Skirt Tetras back into this tank and they're thrilled to be back!

So right now I have:

3 Black Skirt Tetras
3 Bloodfin Tetras
2 Dalmatian Mollies
2 Zebra Danios
1 Boesemani Rainbow
1 Common Pleco (he's already grown to 4 inches, unbelievable)

Once I move (which could be as early as thanksgiving!) and I get the big tank (90-120 gallon), I will move over the Pleco and the Rainbowfish, and then get a bunch more rainbowfish. I'll leave the 29 gallon with what's left, though I'll probably get more Zebras to bring them back up to schooling levels.

Are you going to up your tetra number so they have proper school? The bloodfins and bst's really would be better off with a school of 6. I would recommend moving the skirts over to the bigger tank when you can, they get large, so a full school would be better off in a bigger tank. If you got 6 bloodfins, they would look awesome with the mollies. You could even get a few more mollies in that instance (once ou move the other fish out). Your schoolers will live longer if they have a full school because they won't get stressed out.
Bummer about the danios. Keep an eye on them in the meantime, they may get pretty manic with anxiety with just 2 of them in there.

mrhelton · Oct 4, 2011

That's some good advice. The tank will definitely be big enough to add these 3 black skirts plus 3 new ones in addition to the school of rainbows. That will make room for 3 more bloodskirts too like you said. I would definitely like to add some more dalmations. They're my favorite fish in the tank for sure. So personable.

I've been watching the danios closely, but they seem to be playing nice. I just wish I knew what caused the near extinction lol

absolutangel04 · Oct 4, 2011

mrhelton said:
That's some good advice. The tank will definitely be big enough to add these 3 black skirts plus 3 new ones in addition to the school of rainbows. That will make room for 3 more bloodskirts too like you said. I would definitely like to add some more dalmations. They're my favorite fish in the tank for sure. So personable.

I've been watching the danios closely, but they seem to be playing nice. I just wish I knew what caused the near extinction lol

Yeah, I think unexplained deaths are the most frustrating for an aquarium keeper. I like the dalmations too. I have kept a few of them. They were the first ones to ever eat food out of my fingers. I like how bold they are, both their personalities, and their looks.

mrhelton · Oct 4, 2011

That's exactly it! They were the first to approach me and eat from my hands. When I put my hands in to work on plants and clean the filter intake, they swim through my fingers and peck at my hand so it tickles. I love them :S