new to aquriums

[jlk]

i was advised @ the good fish store not to buy any frilly or red colored plants for my tank cause i lacked proper lighting for them ( i have 50 dollar apiece day\night leds that came with the tank, nice lights for what they are ) and was advised to buy the plants i bought which are green, hardy, and have very nice roots....... i dont like to do things unless i do them as seriously as i can afford to do them and fish have already turned from a simple gift for my son into an addiction already lol. i see on ebay i can get two 24 inch 96w 6500k t5 lights with the led blue "night lights" for 80 apiece brand new with a 30 day return unless anyone knows of a good site with better prices and\or a better light, is something like that something i should consider? around $80 a light is all i would be able to afford to spend on lighting and saw in a different thread that a light like that is a "poor mans" plant light if you need one for your tank but i also want to get the best light i can with what i can afford to spend thx everyone for helping

I am not a plant expert by any means here but I did find some decent deals on lights on ebay. Not state of the art but functional for the price. If this is a 50g, it should be 48" in length (unless its a strange shape). I would look into a single 48" light rather than buying two 24" but this is just my opinion. I found dual 48" 65k T5HO lights for @$65 (free ship) on ebay. I would do some more looking & explore all your options!

 

[frshwaterfish]

thx for the light advice ive decided whatever i get will be a 48" with T5HO bulbs. as far as circulation in my tank goes for the 55 im moving 350 gallons an hour right now and am debating adding another 200 to 350 more gallons an hour by adding a second filter ( probally a canister filter) i would have already done it but i have 2 nice plants that go from bottom to top and more that are smaller on the bottom, and some of the things i see i the internet say that if i have a decent amout of plants then i want a slower rate of flow, and other people say i can have the flow upwards of 750 or higher so if anyone can help clear this up for me that would be awesome

 

[frshwaterfish]

i got a gravel vac today now ill be able to get rid of crap on the bottom when i do a wc, i cant wait to see how it will help with keeping control of my ammonia levels

 

[jlk]

Sounds good! In respect to the extra filter, theres nothing wrong with running another one & it wont harm your plants. I run two 400gph filters (in addition to 2 powerheads) on both my big tanks & they are both planted. You can keep your water level high to reduce the outflow from the filters if it seems too much.

 

[frshwaterfish]

took what money i could right now and got another filter that took my gph from 350 up to 500 gph and i did find a light i really liked but its pretty much 200 bucks and looks to be worth it so for the time being i settled for a black 48" hanging 2 light bar with a pair of T8HO bulbs and its better than what i had before and i can still run my blue leds @ night that i already had so with those and the gravel vac im finally able to take a break from buying equipment and save money for future upgrades. this is very adictive lol i went from a starter 10 gallon kit to like 700 bucks worth of stuff not counting fish lol but with how much my son likes all of it its worth every penny. thanks for all the advice so far everyone

 

[frshwaterfish]

also i turned my 25ft gravel vac into a 45 ft by adding 20ft of hose and the fitting for under 10 dollars @ lowes, thats also where i got the light bar for 10 bucks and they actually sell aquarium bulbs there though the selection was slim. i was amazed to see the big box stores where i live wanted 24.95 for a 20 ft gravel vac extenstion like it was something special when you can make one with the same hose and a very similar fiting from a hardware store

 

[Bottomfeeder88]

Gotta love this place! You went from a $50 10 gallon set up to a 55 gallon tank dishing out several hundreds and still adding pieces. In under two weeks! salue to your new found fancy!

 

[frshwaterfish]

picked up a 48" x 10" clear piece of plastic today for a dollar cause they had a pile of mess up cuts by the saw @ lowes and i couldnt say no for a buck. so now when i run my temp better lights i can still cover the top. as far as color of my bulbs and the proper output i need ive been reading about 6500k and 10000k bulbs right now im running t8 6500k and alot of people seem to think highly of 6500k and then there are the same amount that like 10000k cause they say you can get a nice blue color to the light and less of a yellow. as far as my plants are concerned what would be best? all of mine are green and big tear drop shaped leafs,theres nothing colorful or frilly as far as plants in my tank.

 

[frshwaterfish]

ammiona is still my only battle im having in my tank, its @ .5 ppm no matter what ive done ( wc, gravel vac, ect ) and its making me think ive hit a platue as far as me being able to keep up with the daily ammonia output of my 55 gal tank. im currently running two hob filters one is a pengiun 350 and the other a 150 w/bio wheels & i also am running a whisper 60 with an air stone. im determined to make my situation work cause ive seen perfectly fine tanks smaller than my 55 that have more fish than i do in them as far as water numbers being good. i know im not cycled and that has alot to do with my problem. i had overtime money in my check this week and am adding a canister filter to go along with the two hob today. my gph right now is @ 500 and the 3 canisters i like for the cost are the penn plax cascade@ 115 gph that would take me to a total of 615 gph and it costs 94.99, or the fluval 06 or 05 @ 205 gph that would take me to a total of 705 gph and costs 129.99, or the api rena @ 250 gph which would get me to 750 gph and costs 139.99. all of them come with the median ect, but which would be my best chioce and what kind of median would anone recomend for ammonia absorbtion?

 

[jlk]

Just my opinion, but i would opt for the 250gph canister. Dont add ammonia-absorbing media- your tank will never properly cycle if you do. Just up your water changes & have some patience. If you want to, you can consider adding some 'active' cycled filter media to the canister to speed up the cycling process. Many members have had success cycling their tanks with active filters from Angelsplus. You can purchase a couple of active filters & place them in the new canister.

Sponge Filters for aquariums

 

[frshwaterfish]

i was planning on buying a 250gph model untill i saw a fluval 205 it was the last on my petsmart had and i somehow got it for 89.99 it was originally 160 there and i thought it was on sale for 109.99 according to the internet, so i got that one and it moves 180 gph which takes me to a total of 680 gph now( 2 hob and one canister ) and was a little friendlier on the wallet. i also rehomed 6 of the 9 goldies to another tank a friend has and he is going to put them in his pond as soon as it warms up here in michigan, the other 3 goldies i like too much to part with and wil just make the situation work. i also have a betta question if anyone could help i have one twin tail mail betta in a 10 gallon lightly planted with a heater and filter, i want to put another betta in there with him and am wondering which type would make a good tank mate and weather i should get one male or two females to go in there with him? i would really like to get the extra betta today so any advice would really help me out

 

[Lovin Fish]

i was planning on buying a 250gph model untill i saw a fluval 205 it was the last on my petsmart had and i somehow got it for 89.99 it was originally 160 there and i thought it was on sale for 109.99 according to the internet, so i got that one and it moves 180 gph which takes me to a total of 680 gph now( 2 hob and one canister ) and was a little friendlier on the wallet. i also rehomed 6 of the 9 goldies to another tank a friend has and he is going to put them in his pond as soon as it warms up here in michigan, the other 3 goldies i like too much to part with and wil just make the situation work. i also have a betta question if anyone could help i have one twin tail mail betta in a 10 gallon lightly planted with a heater and filter, i want to put another betta in there with him and am wondering which type would make a good tank mate and weather i should get one male or two females to go in there with him? i would really like to get the extra betta today so any advice would really help me out

It is never recommended to house more the one male betta per tank. They will fight and someone will die. Female bettas cannot be housed with a male betta unless both are ready to mate otherwise the male will harrass the female and kill her. If you want to keep more than one betta in the same tank, you can have a tank with at least 5 females. If there is only 2, they will fight. If there is three, the weakest one will become a target. If there are 4, it could work. Keep in mind though that no matter how many you have, 5, 6, 8, you should monitor them for a time to be sure that no one is getting picked on. Even after some time getting a lon, it can suddenly happen that something changes and the harmony is no longer there.

Good luck!

 

[frshwaterfish]

ok, what can i put in my ten gallon with my betta, could i put a small pleco in, or do you know or some cool fish that can live with him? im vry confused about this equal numbers of people saying i can add another betta with my twin tail and those who say i cant. i have room for a structure for hiding if that would help any fish that would work with my male twin tail betta.

 

[Lovin Fish]

I have read that some people are successful at keeping a single male with a harem of 5 females that way no single female gets harrassed by the male. I wouldn't do it myself. Other fish that can work with bettas are species that are very peaceful, and not nip the bettas fins. Here's some possiblities; dwarf Corydoras, Otocinclus and small shoaling species such as Trigonostigma or Boraras sp. Avoid any species with flowing finnage like guppies, as a male fighter might see these as competition and attack them. A woman posted on youtube about how she keeps bettas with guppies but the tank is heavily planted breaking the line of sight offering lots of hiding places for the guppies. It's really cool.

I keep my bettas with corydoras, glowlight tetras, rummynose tetras, kuhli loaches, and bamboo shrimp.

 

[Lovin Fish]

Here ya go: This is a rough idea. Hope it helps.
1 Betta with 8 Rummynose Tetras would stock your 10 gallon by 97%
1 Betta with 8 Glowlight Tetras, 6 dwarf cories= 90% stocked
1 Betta, 8 Cardinal Tetra=98% stocked
1 Betta, 6 Pygmy Coridoras, 7 Neon Tetras=100% stocked
1 Betta, 5 Kuhli Loach= 86% stocked

And this would be absolutely adorable IMO.
1 Betta, 6 Otoccinclus vestitus, 6 Dwarf Pencilfish + 96% stocked
If you choose to use Otos they would need your tank to be mature first...meaning they will need the tank to have algae established. You can supplement their diet though. But they will do much better if the tank has natural algae growing in it.

One more suggestion would be
1 Betta, 6 Otocinclus Vestitus, 6 Harlequin Rasbora (heteromorpha type)

 

[frshwaterfish]

thx for the betta advice lovin fish, i went and got two mystery snails for the time being and my betta scuba steve is getting along fine with them. my 55 is still cycling and im keeping up on all my wc ect and all fish are alive and well

 

[Lovin Fish]

thx for the betta advice lovin fish, i went and got two mystery snails for the time being and my betta scuba steve is getting along fine with them. my 55 is still cycling and im keeping up on all my wc ect and all fish are alive and well

Hey not a problem! I LOVE helping! So much fun Sounds great! My bettas ingnore the snails completely. The woman I got them from had them in bowls with snails; snails didn't last over night! She tried Shrimp, and they ate the shrimpies up! She also tried frogs in the bowls...they got killed. Too small of quarters I spose! I have found bettas in community tanks are awesome! As long as there are not any fin nippers in with them.

I am happy to hear all is going well with your fish and you are keeping up with the PWC! Great Job!!! Thanks for the update

 

[frshwaterfish]

my pinstripe eel is driving me crazy lately but is one of the coolest things in my tank he loves to borrow under my biggest plant and spend the day up rooting it lol... im going to put some more gravel in tonight and see what happens, also am going to clean one of my filter, my pengiun 350 has nasty looking filter pads on the inside i cant imagine how bad it wouldve looked if i wouldnt of got the other hob and canister to go with it.

 

[Lovin Fish]

my pinstripe eel is driving me crazy lately but is one of the coolest things in my tank he loves to borrow under my biggest plant and spend the day up rooting it lol... im going to put some more gravel in tonight and see what happens, also am going to clean one of my filter, my pengiun 350 has nasty looking filter pads on the inside i cant imagine how bad it wouldve looked if i wouldnt of got the other hob and canister to go with it.

Oh cool! Eeels are fascinating I don't have any though. Try putting some cool looking stones around the base of the plant. That'd probably do the trick!

 

[frshwaterfish]

help my parrot cichlid has ick starting on his fins i noticed it last night and think hes the only one with it. what is the best method of curing this im planning on going to the store as soon as i get some advice on this ive read of 3 different ways one was salt and increased heat but all my fish might not be able to handle the extra salt or meds but what do i do to my 2 hob and my canister so the meds dont get taken out of the water?