Allido
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Hey everyone, I want to start off thanking everyone here who helped me on this tank. It was my first "true" aquarium build.
Little bit about the tank:
Plants:
Java Fern 5
Moss Ball 1
Micro Sword (2)
Anubias Nana (2)
Undulata Cryptocoryne (2)
Water Sprite (2)
Anacharis (3)
Cabomba (2)
Tank Specs:
60 gal tank (48"x13"x24")
substrate : sand
light : 108watt T5 HO
filter : AquaClear 110
heat : Aqueon 200watt
ferts : PPS Pro (I use an extremely low dosage around 2-3 ml once every 2-3 weeks depending on algae growth)
Seachem Flourish Tabs
Fish:
Cardinal Tetras (6)
Rummy Nose Tetra (5)
African Dwarf Frog (2)
Red Cherry Shrimp (9)
Assassin Snail (2)
nerite snail (lol)
The goal of the tank was to have a minimal amount of setup. No C02 was planned for this tank and I am still running it without dosing or having any sort of C02 injection system. It was to be a community tank with a tetras being the main focus. I love schooling fish and wanted that to be the main activity of the tank. The rummy nose tetras are wonderfully active fish and love to swim back and forth through the filter's current. The tank is currently well under stocked. I wanted to be safe; start small establish the school, make sure the ADF didn't eat anything, be clear of new tank syndrome in my mind lol.
This is a picture of the tank when it was first planted / filled :
Jumping in head first. I started with a fishless cycle. I ran that for about three months, dosing seachem stability and aquavitro synthesis for plants during that time. Looking back it cycled around the end of month two, but again since the only who who cared about having a fishless tank in my room was my fiancee it really didn't affect me to let it run for another month
.
I started dosing PPS Pro after month two of the fishless cycle. I started with a 15ml dosage since I didn't have a C02 system in place and to promote a little plant growth before the fish were added. This was a mistake... Huge algae bloom of hair algae and brown algae. Managed to get rid of all the brown algae but Im still in a battle with the hair algae.... stuff just wont go away...
Well we have almost reach month five. The fish above have been added and are doing great. I did lose 7 of the 8 cardinals when I first added them to the tank over a period of two days. It was either a bad stock from the fish store or a bad acclimation process on my part...or a combination of the two. But a few days later I replaced the stock from a different store 5 cardinals and 5 rummy nose 2 assassin snails. All of which have been doing great.
Month 5:
Ive seen some great plant growth considering the setup. I still have a long way to go to be a fully planted tank, but we are getting there. Im looking to add a few more tetras to bring the schools up around 10 or so. I am also looking to add some swordtails to bring some larger fish into the community.
As you can still see from the pictures I still am battling algae. But weekly 35% water changes as well as vacuuming the substrate has helped.
As always I am open to advice and feedback. Again thank you all who have helped me get this far. I really love the hobby.
Little bit about the tank:
Plants:
Java Fern 5
Moss Ball 1
Micro Sword (2)
Anubias Nana (2)
Undulata Cryptocoryne (2)
Water Sprite (2)
Anacharis (3)
Cabomba (2)
Tank Specs:
60 gal tank (48"x13"x24")
substrate : sand
light : 108watt T5 HO
filter : AquaClear 110
heat : Aqueon 200watt
ferts : PPS Pro (I use an extremely low dosage around 2-3 ml once every 2-3 weeks depending on algae growth)
Seachem Flourish Tabs
Fish:
Cardinal Tetras (6)
Rummy Nose Tetra (5)
African Dwarf Frog (2)
Red Cherry Shrimp (9)
Assassin Snail (2)
nerite snail (lol)
The goal of the tank was to have a minimal amount of setup. No C02 was planned for this tank and I am still running it without dosing or having any sort of C02 injection system. It was to be a community tank with a tetras being the main focus. I love schooling fish and wanted that to be the main activity of the tank. The rummy nose tetras are wonderfully active fish and love to swim back and forth through the filter's current. The tank is currently well under stocked. I wanted to be safe; start small establish the school, make sure the ADF didn't eat anything, be clear of new tank syndrome in my mind lol.
This is a picture of the tank when it was first planted / filled :
Jumping in head first. I started with a fishless cycle. I ran that for about three months, dosing seachem stability and aquavitro synthesis for plants during that time. Looking back it cycled around the end of month two, but again since the only who who cared about having a fishless tank in my room was my fiancee it really didn't affect me to let it run for another month
. I started dosing PPS Pro after month two of the fishless cycle. I started with a 15ml dosage since I didn't have a C02 system in place and to promote a little plant growth before the fish were added. This was a mistake... Huge algae bloom of hair algae and brown algae. Managed to get rid of all the brown algae but Im still in a battle with the hair algae.... stuff just wont go away...
Well we have almost reach month five. The fish above have been added and are doing great. I did lose 7 of the 8 cardinals when I first added them to the tank over a period of two days. It was either a bad stock from the fish store or a bad acclimation process on my part...or a combination of the two. But a few days later I replaced the stock from a different store 5 cardinals and 5 rummy nose 2 assassin snails. All of which have been doing great.
Month 5:
Ive seen some great plant growth considering the setup. I still have a long way to go to be a fully planted tank, but we are getting there. Im looking to add a few more tetras to bring the schools up around 10 or so. I am also looking to add some swordtails to bring some larger fish into the community.
As you can still see from the pictures I still am battling algae. But weekly 35% water changes as well as vacuuming the substrate has helped.
As always I am open to advice and feedback. Again thank you all who have helped me get this far. I really love the hobby.
