AnimalKrazed
Aquarium Advice Activist
Man, it has been a while since I lasted hopped on here, can't believe it has almost been a year since I posted on here...
In any case, I'm here to share good news...I got a new tank. A nice 10G Aqueon standard kit. Could of gone larger...but things were easier for me this way. It's currently one week into it's cycling, doing a fish with plants cycle style. Grabbed a couple of male gups and a dwarf gourami, put them in with one of the marimo balls from my other tank and now I'm just waiting...never expected the two guppies to colour up so much though. They were such scaredy cats when I put them in there, but now...they are still scaredy cats but at least they don't hide all the time. Least now I know that yes, there are apparently hollows in the mopani piece I have that are large enough to almost entirely conceal them from view.
I haven't planned much on decoration at the moment. Got a mid-sized piece of mopani wood floating in the tank at the moment, just waiting for it to drop so I can reposition it and stuff. Only other things I got are some plastic decorations my family got for me alongside the tank (it's a birthday present type deal ). Can't say much beyond that cause it's not even started yet, though I think it's looking nice so far. Thing I really like about it is how I lined the bottom with Carib Sea Joe's Creek river gravel giving it a really nice look. I'll post a picture of it all when I get home tonight. I'm unsure if I want to keep my two little Scouts once the cycling is done, but I'm 60% sure they are there to stay. Not sure what else I want to put in there, maybe a small school of Green Neons or another smol schooling fish. I'm unsure if I'm going to stick with the DG for the 10G as the showpiece fish or if I'm going to look for something different. Made sure that when I got the DG it was from a reputable store, and from a tank without any sick/inactive/injured/etc. fish. Still, I'm keeping an eye on it in case any symptoms of DGI show themselves.
My 5.5 gallon from last year has been an experience and a half since i was last on here seriously. After getting it home from the dorm, I added some dwarf sag, which literally took over the tank enough that I had to take some to the local PetSmart. Added a 3/4" Bristlenose pleco after a particularly bad day in late summer, who I plan to add to the 10G ASAP. He's starting to get too big for the 5G, 2.5-3" currently, so I'm hoping I can keep him a little longer by moving over. The Betta I had in the 5G, Buck, was doing alright up until the holidays when he got Ick. Treated him for it to the best of my abilities, meds and higher water temp, and hoped for the best. He shook it, lived the life for a month then one day I come home from the daily commute to university to find him just upside down in the middle of the tank. That was a sad day.
Anyways, I have kind of redone the 5.5G since then. Replaced the substrate, got a nice new filter, that sort of thing. It's pretty much done recycling with all the changes I made to it, just waiting on the nitrates. The five assassin snails I've had in there are on watch duty for any bladder snails, not taking any risks this time around.
Anyways, any suggestions on what to do with the 10G when I'm done with cycling? I already got a plan on what I'm doing with the 5.5G and I'm saving on sharing that until it's in action.
In any case, I'm here to share good news...I got a new tank. A nice 10G Aqueon standard kit. Could of gone larger...but things were easier for me this way. It's currently one week into it's cycling, doing a fish with plants cycle style. Grabbed a couple of male gups and a dwarf gourami, put them in with one of the marimo balls from my other tank and now I'm just waiting...never expected the two guppies to colour up so much though. They were such scaredy cats when I put them in there, but now...they are still scaredy cats but at least they don't hide all the time. Least now I know that yes, there are apparently hollows in the mopani piece I have that are large enough to almost entirely conceal them from view.
I haven't planned much on decoration at the moment. Got a mid-sized piece of mopani wood floating in the tank at the moment, just waiting for it to drop so I can reposition it and stuff. Only other things I got are some plastic decorations my family got for me alongside the tank (it's a birthday present type deal ). Can't say much beyond that cause it's not even started yet, though I think it's looking nice so far. Thing I really like about it is how I lined the bottom with Carib Sea Joe's Creek river gravel giving it a really nice look. I'll post a picture of it all when I get home tonight. I'm unsure if I want to keep my two little Scouts once the cycling is done, but I'm 60% sure they are there to stay. Not sure what else I want to put in there, maybe a small school of Green Neons or another smol schooling fish. I'm unsure if I'm going to stick with the DG for the 10G as the showpiece fish or if I'm going to look for something different. Made sure that when I got the DG it was from a reputable store, and from a tank without any sick/inactive/injured/etc. fish. Still, I'm keeping an eye on it in case any symptoms of DGI show themselves.
My 5.5 gallon from last year has been an experience and a half since i was last on here seriously. After getting it home from the dorm, I added some dwarf sag, which literally took over the tank enough that I had to take some to the local PetSmart. Added a 3/4" Bristlenose pleco after a particularly bad day in late summer, who I plan to add to the 10G ASAP. He's starting to get too big for the 5G, 2.5-3" currently, so I'm hoping I can keep him a little longer by moving over. The Betta I had in the 5G, Buck, was doing alright up until the holidays when he got Ick. Treated him for it to the best of my abilities, meds and higher water temp, and hoped for the best. He shook it, lived the life for a month then one day I come home from the daily commute to university to find him just upside down in the middle of the tank. That was a sad day.
Anyways, I have kind of redone the 5.5G since then. Replaced the substrate, got a nice new filter, that sort of thing. It's pretty much done recycling with all the changes I made to it, just waiting on the nitrates. The five assassin snails I've had in there are on watch duty for any bladder snails, not taking any risks this time around.
Anyways, any suggestions on what to do with the 10G when I'm done with cycling? I already got a plan on what I'm doing with the 5.5G and I'm saving on sharing that until it's in action.