godzilla
Aquarium Advice Regular
Just wanted to say hi. My wife just got me a 55G kit for my Birthday and I am thrilled! I have been reading here regularly for a week or so now and it seems like I can make this as easy or difficult as I want!
I started off on the wrong foot. Stand she got me was missing a piece...no big deal right? We finally get the tank on it (after going back and getting the missing piece) get 50+lbs of CC and 40+ gallons of water in it, when we hear water dripping on the floor.....ARGH....so we siphon out, remove substrate, return to store...very frustrating....
Now that the stand is complete and the tank holds water, I have a few questions.
I plan to fishless cycle the tank, and from what im reading I have a few options to help speed things up. I will probably go the raw shrimp route, but I wanted to ask if I could also add live plants during this time, or if I should wait. I am going to go with some low light hardy plants, just to get some life into the tank until its time to stock...is that ok to do?
My pH is a bit high (7.8 ) but my choice to use CC is most likely to blame. As I read this forum, it seems CC is not the substrate of choice, but I like it
I also have a question about lighting, My hoods are generic 24" hoods with 15W, 18" T12 bulbs in them. I did some reading on how to calculate WPG and in my case its very easy (1+1=2)...but what options do I have aside from replacing the hoods to get more light into the tank for live plants? I cant seem to find a T12 18" bulb in higher wattage, so am I SOL or do I have options I am unaware of? I would rather not replace too much as it might offend my wife!
Sorry for the long post, im the kind of person that cant just start a hobby easily. I always go feet first and usually end up getting the most out of everything I try. I hope this experience will be the same...
Thanks!
Mike
I started off on the wrong foot. Stand she got me was missing a piece...no big deal right? We finally get the tank on it (after going back and getting the missing piece) get 50+lbs of CC and 40+ gallons of water in it, when we hear water dripping on the floor.....ARGH....so we siphon out, remove substrate, return to store...very frustrating....
Now that the stand is complete and the tank holds water, I have a few questions.
I plan to fishless cycle the tank, and from what im reading I have a few options to help speed things up. I will probably go the raw shrimp route, but I wanted to ask if I could also add live plants during this time, or if I should wait. I am going to go with some low light hardy plants, just to get some life into the tank until its time to stock...is that ok to do?
My pH is a bit high (7.8 ) but my choice to use CC is most likely to blame. As I read this forum, it seems CC is not the substrate of choice, but I like it
I also have a question about lighting, My hoods are generic 24" hoods with 15W, 18" T12 bulbs in them. I did some reading on how to calculate WPG and in my case its very easy (1+1=2)...but what options do I have aside from replacing the hoods to get more light into the tank for live plants? I cant seem to find a T12 18" bulb in higher wattage, so am I SOL or do I have options I am unaware of? I would rather not replace too much as it might offend my wife!
Sorry for the long post, im the kind of person that cant just start a hobby easily. I always go feet first and usually end up getting the most out of everything I try. I hope this experience will be the same...
Thanks!
Mike