starting over with small tank

[krap101]

One thing about bamboo shrimp, Petco (at least here) usually doesn't have very good stock, and usually die pretty quick. They need an established tank with tiny stuff floating around, but will scavenge for flakes if they're hungry. If they do this, it means your tank isn't ready. Ime, they'll probably die after this period.

 

[dkpate]

10% ammonia? I think you are supposed to use pure ammonia, with no surfactants.

 

[design1stcode2nd]

I figure I’ll start with the tetras once the tank is cycled and then after a couple weeks add the bamboo shrimp. I can feed them some algae wafers or crushed up fish food I’m sure.

MT,
Well its the Ace ammonia that everyone has mentioned, say 10% ammonia on the bottle, I'll take a pic tonight. Shook it and no bubbles.

 

[dkpate]

Oh ok, good deal.

 

[mommytron]

i'd say about 2 teaspoons will get you to 4 or 5ppm. i don't know the size of your cap, but i just did two cap fulls of mine.

 

[design1stcode2nd]

Well I got everything set-up tonight:

• Strapped the stand down.
• Put some foam on the bottom rim of the tank to even out any pressure and protect the stand.
• Put in my two bags of eco-complete, I did a mix of red and black.
• I had to fill it about 3/4 of the way to get the filter to draw.
• Then I put in 2-3ml of ammonia, using a clean baby-motrin cup, need to track down a syringe, I'm sure I have some around from baby meds.

Then I figured I’d break out the test kit and see how it worked. I tried the PH and high range PH since my PH registered off the chart. You can see the test below. Seems like a really high PH for just substrate and de-chlorinated water. Going to have to monitor that and if need be get something to bring it down.

I also tested the ammonia and it seemed to be around 4ppm or more not as green as the 8ppm mark but it's hard to tell.

Here is the tank as it stands now

I’ll get a powerstrip and mount it under the stand so the wires won’t look crappy like that. Need to get a black background to tape on the back of the tank to hide wires too I think.

I dumped out the water on the Mopani root and it was very discolored so that’s going to take a while. I know the look I’d get if my wife caught me boiling wood so I’ll just soak it for a week or so and use purigen if I have to.

I need to slip over to Petsmart and return a bulb I got that was the wrong size and pick up some aquarium safe silicone. I want to rough up and break a few rocks I got to make a cave or two. Can’t have it failing down and squishing the fishies.

 

[mommytron]

i love the substrate! the red and black look so cool. although they will probably be fully mixed in no time with PWC's and vacuuming. i think it will still look good though. and your pH was probably testing so high because you added ammonia prior to testing. ammonia will raise the pH of your tank, no doubt.

 

[design1stcode2nd]

So while I’m waiting on my tank to cycle and the tannins to leach out of the driftwood and before I buy plants I need help with stocking. My original idea was to go with cardinal tetras, a small Pleco and a Betta. Well the more I read the more it seems that other fish don’t like Bettas and the Betta doesn’t like other fish (except for cory’s, otos or similar bottom dwellers). That doesn’t mean that can coexist just depends on the fish.

Next idea was perhaps German Blue Rams or Electric Blue Rams. Seems like they are difficult fish to keep as they are more sensitive to water parameters so I’ll skip that those.

While I like Cardinal tetras I don’t just want a large school of them and a pleco so I need some ideas. What are the most impressive looking colorful fish I can get for a 20h figuring either 1 pleco or 3-4 small cories for the bottom area?

Couple of Apisto Agassizi or Bolivian Rams (M/F pair I assume) and tetras or dwarf gourami?

One male swordtail and a couple females? Swordtail and tetras?

I like bumblebee goby’s but they seem to like at least some salt which isn’t good for a planted tank.

Summary:
Want pretty fish that aren’t a bad choice for a beginner.

 

[BigJim]

I have four bettas in a community tank with no problems. They don't exactly pal around with the other fish, but they don't bother anyone either. Bettas generally aren't a good idea if you have other anabantid family fish, fish with long fins, or fin-nipping fish. Some people have had problems putting bettas in community tanks, but not me.

Guppies, platies, and swordtails are great colorful fish for a beginner. Swordtail males will fight, so you can only have one in your tank. Also, only get one sex of fish if you don't want to deal with huge amounts of fry.

 

[design1stcode2nd]

I put in my driftwood, it's been soaking for about a week and the water in the bucket seems pretty clear. If need be I'll pull it out for another couple of days but it will need to go back in when my plants arrive on Wednesday.

I also broke up some sandstone rocks I got from home depot (checked them with vinegar and they don't bubble), washed them in tap water and tested them for layout. I've since taken them out as they need to dry and I need to caulk them together with aquarium caulk.

The question I have for everyone here is does the cave look like too much?

I want to have room for fish that like caves and the driftwood has some nice areas but I wanted another space on the other side of the tank in case some get territorial.

Note: Water level is low so I can plant easier, may even take some out when I plant.

The tank will be heavily planted, with Anubias nana on the driftwood and probably on top of the "cave" so I expect a fair amount of the stone to be hidden eventually. There will be a number of plants occupying most of the substrate.

Here are some other shots (camera phone quality):
Left:

Right:

"Cave":

 

[mommytron]

looks great to me!! don't worry about the DW staining your water, it will not hurt anything. if anything the tannins will lower the pH a little. some fish even like the darker water. don't bother taking it out, your weekly PWC's will clear it right up. if it keeps staining your water and really want to, you can add filter carbon to your filter which will reduce the tannins.

 

[BigJim]

It looks good to me. I might have gone with thinner slabs of stone to make the cave, just to reduce the overall massiveness of the structure. Cover it in plants and it'll look very nice.

 

[design1stcode2nd]

Is it possible to have Nitrite levels of at least 5ppm after only 7 days and one dose of ammonia? Ammonia was near 0 or maybe was 0, I dosed it again.

 

[mommytron]

it is possible, especially if you used some seed material. make sure to keep an eye on the nitrates, too. if nitrates get too high it will stall out your cycle. when they get above 40ppm I would do a PWC to get it back below 20ppm or so.

 

[design1stcode2nd]

It’s a new tank with all new equipment. The only thing I did was 24 hours prior to testing on the 7th day I put in some java moss I got from a friend’s tank. I did rinse the moss with tap water first so I figured any bacteria would be gone.

My new plants are out for delivery (UPS) so I expect a lot of planting tonight.

I'll check all levels prior to planting.

 

[BigJim]

Are you sure you didn't read the nitrate test by mistake? Some tap water will have 5ppm of nitrate in it out of the faucet.

 

[design1stcode2nd]

It was the closest color match. I should test my tap water with just de-chlorinator and see what it is.

 

[design1stcode2nd]

Results are in and they are a bit odd. Tap water has no nitrites, tank has 5ppm or more, test stops at 5. Nitrates in the tank look to be about 5ppm as well. The same size dose of ammonia that brought the tank up to 4-8ppm when I started the cycle a week ago today is at 2ppm and I dosed yesterday.

All the plants are in but I felt like such a noob with plants floating back up and coming out when I tried to plant others. I tied several down and wedged some into the driftwood. No idea if anything will survive.

I had to remove the Java Moss just to have room for everything. Took some camera phone shots that I'll upload later.

Update:

I pushed this in a little deeper, will probably rearrange some of it tonight or tomorrow.

 

[design1stcode2nd]

Tests last night:
Ammonia - .25ppm
Dosed it again with 2.5ml ammonia and back up to 4-8ppm. Expecting to see it back to 2ppm tonight and .25ppm tomorrow.

Nitrite - 5ppm or higher, same as before.

Going to continue keeping ammonia at 4-8ppm until I see nitrite drop. If a couple of weeks go by and nothing changes I'll start looking to see what could be causing the high nitrite readings.

 

[design1stcode2nd]

Things are still the same, I am noticing some plant growth, was worried when I saw some melt away but looks like they are coming back.

Just need to wait on this Nitrate phase.