Stocking a 16 Widescreen

[Ricky 1]

Your gravel will eventually go under the sand, not good to mix sand and gravel,however not a problem........

[Brookster123]

If you wish to make a river like scene with the gravel use a substrate divider. Walmart sells these paper thin cutting boards that can be easily cut to fit these needs. I use them myself..

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[Nils]

Put all of the water in now, filter filtering and heater heating! Put a ton of cycling material in there like a clump of Java moss, two different filter cartridges (used), a rock from my 10, and a mesh bag of gravel. Also, some duckweed that is going to help cycle......I hope. I have two bags of Biomax in the filter instead of a regular cartridge. Will the Biomax filter just as well as a regular cartridge? Also, I have another list, tell me if it works out please: 1 Bolivian Ram, 6 Cory cats and 5 Amano shrimp. Brookster, I know that you said the Bolivian would like to be with a female but that's just running the risk of getting two males, so I'm going to stick with one. Also, will there be any conflicts between the Ram and the Amano's? Ok, last question everybody! anyone have an Instagram? I know, silly question but it's an easier way to share pictures of each others tanks. Please let me know, and thanks for the advice!

Nils

[Nils]

Can someone please answer my questions?

Nils

[Brookster123]

Biomax will act as your birthday filtration converting ammonia.. the Bolivian will probably eat the amanos when it grows up a bit..

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[Mattyfelts]

@mattyfelts is my insta, going to be interesting to see your build.

[Nils]

Thanks for all the information guys! I now have tons of filter media, gravel and stuff from the 10 in my 16, as well as mostly spring water. I don't have a testing kit yet, but can you guys give me a rough estimate of how long I might still need to wait for it to cycle? Also, I have a sponge from my 2.5 that covered the filter intake, and that carried some BB. I found some pretty cool top dwelling fish, the Half Beak species. I looked into the Celebes, Dwarf and Wrestling Halfbeaks, and the Wrestling apparently require brackish water. Could someone please inform me on these fish? Are they compatible with the Bolivian? If so, does anybody know where I could get them? hanks guys!

Nils

P.S> Mattyfelts I have your Instagram, I sent you some private messages my user is @nils_laicher

[Nils]

My driftwood is still leaching in a different container, and it has been going steady for awhile. Anybody have any tips for making it leach faster and get through the process quicker? Also, I added some plants today from my 10, Amazon Sword and another plant that I can't identify. Can people please answer?

Nils

[michellev512]

Boil the driftwood and add a packet of purigen to the filter. Takes the brown color out...


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[Mattyfelts]

Originally Posted by michellev512

Boil the driftwood and add a packet of purigen to the filter. Takes the brown color out...


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honestly just boiling a while should be fine. no need to spend the extra on purigen


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[Ricky 1]

I soaked mine for ever, and it still leached, so what, the fish love it.........

[Nils]

Probably going to end up boiling, hopefully that helps. It has been set up for exactly a week now, using pure spring water, a seeded filter, tons of seeding material, so do you guys think it's ready for the fish? I can't wait !!!!

Nils

[Ricky 1]

It can't harm your fish Nils my angels live in tannins in the wild, you may have to weight it down with fishing line and a stone..........

[Coursair]

Why using Spring Water ? Won't you use Tap Water for water changes ?


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[PNWaquarist]

The only way to have pure, colorless water with driftwood is not have driftwood. Boiling, carbon media, and multiple water changes per week will not completely get rid of the tannins.

Then again, the vast majority of fish do not live in pure, colorless water in the wild, so don't sweat it. My Cardinals and Rummys seem to appreciate the subdued lighting that it creates.

[Gillie]

Originally Posted by PNWaquarist

The only way to have pure, colorless water with driftwood is not have driftwood. Boiling, carbon media, and multiple water changes per week will not completely get rid of the tannins.

Then again, the vast majority of fish do not live in pure, colorless water in the wild, so don't sweat it. My Cardinals and Rummys seem to appreciate the subdued lighting that it creates.

The fish enjoy it, but his choice of plants likely won't. Light gets horribly dffused in tannic water, that's why you really only see emergent, flooded or floating plants, in those habitats. Aside from any low light plants, Nils would be struggling to keep plants alive.

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[Brookster123]

Ohhh, i have a tannic planted tank! Check it out Nils.

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[Gillie]

Originally Posted by Brookster123

Ohhh, i have a tannic planted tank! Check it out Nils.

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Yes sir, lightly tannic with low light plants.

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[Nils]

Thanks for all the responses you guys! I added a couple new plants, one like a vine with lily pad like leaves, can you guys maybe identify it? And smaller bushier one, all green and healthy! Also, all my plants are low maintenance, and I have the tank at the back of my room so I don't think lighting will be too big of a problem. As for water quality, do you busy think it's ready for fish? If not, I'll wait. By the way Brookster, beautiful tanks!

Nils

[Gillie]

With out pics it will be hard to identify the plants, but the one you describe as a vine with lily pad leaves sounds like some kind of pennywort.

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