duncs
Aquarium Advice Newbie
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2013
- Messages
- 6
Hi everyone,
I have just signed up to AA after finding lots of helpful advice on setting up tanks during all my recent research. I am getting in to the hobby with a 30 litre tank (8 US gallons) in which I intend to keep tetra. I am as interested in the plants as much as the fish.
I cycled my water with the plants in the tank and seemed to have completed it within 7 days, which seems really fast, but I did a big water change, added some fish flakes to get the NH and NO2 levels up - overnight they'd converted to 0 and reading of ca.20 NO3. Took the water to a fish shop at the weekend and they said it was fine, so I introduced some fish on Saturday (21st September)
My set up is:
30 litre tank
1 inch flourite substrate
gravel top layer
filter
heater
Temperature - 78 F
pH - 7.5
Water hardness >10d
Flora and fauna so far are:
Amazon sword (though not sure of the type) attached to wood
Dwarf sag
Crinum calamistratum
3 glowlight tetra
I intend on adding 2 more glowlights, 5 neons and 10-15 various shrimp (red cherry, tiger, amano)
How do you guys think I am doing? Does this all sound like a suitable set up? The glowlights seem quite happy after a few days, very active around all the plants, but they don't seem to have much of an appetite. They have maybe one small flake each both times I've fed them.
I have a couple of questions:
Can I add a couple more fish every week?
How long before I can add shrimp? (fish shop guy said not for another 3 months)
Do I need to supplement with CO2 for the plants?
Is a 20% pwc twice a week enough?
Should I have put gravel on top of flourite? Can I just vacuum over the gravel? Don't want to mix up the layers by pushing the tube through both layers
Any and all help you can offer would be appreciated. I want to do this well!
thanks.
D.
I have just signed up to AA after finding lots of helpful advice on setting up tanks during all my recent research. I am getting in to the hobby with a 30 litre tank (8 US gallons) in which I intend to keep tetra. I am as interested in the plants as much as the fish.
I cycled my water with the plants in the tank and seemed to have completed it within 7 days, which seems really fast, but I did a big water change, added some fish flakes to get the NH and NO2 levels up - overnight they'd converted to 0 and reading of ca.20 NO3. Took the water to a fish shop at the weekend and they said it was fine, so I introduced some fish on Saturday (21st September)
My set up is:
30 litre tank
1 inch flourite substrate
gravel top layer
filter
heater
Temperature - 78 F
pH - 7.5
Water hardness >10d
Flora and fauna so far are:
Amazon sword (though not sure of the type) attached to wood
Dwarf sag
Crinum calamistratum
3 glowlight tetra
I intend on adding 2 more glowlights, 5 neons and 10-15 various shrimp (red cherry, tiger, amano)
How do you guys think I am doing? Does this all sound like a suitable set up? The glowlights seem quite happy after a few days, very active around all the plants, but they don't seem to have much of an appetite. They have maybe one small flake each both times I've fed them.
I have a couple of questions:
Can I add a couple more fish every week?
How long before I can add shrimp? (fish shop guy said not for another 3 months)
Do I need to supplement with CO2 for the plants?
Is a 20% pwc twice a week enough?
Should I have put gravel on top of flourite? Can I just vacuum over the gravel? Don't want to mix up the layers by pushing the tube through both layers
Any and all help you can offer would be appreciated. I want to do this well!
thanks.
D.