Enter the Noob

[black hills tj]

Hey Everyone,

I'm Mike, and my dad and I are working on running a 29g fw tank. Its been running for a few years now, but I want to improve it. Current specs at this time follow.

29g glass
hood w/ 22w fluorescent
heater
undergravel filter
air pump w/ carbon cartridges
2 standard pleco's
1 black angel
2 cory's
2 cherry barbs
2 silvertip tetra
2 scissortail
2 bala shark
2 red tail black shark
1 phantom tetra
1 black skirt tetra
4 madagascar rainbow
1 emporor tetra(i think)
2 unknkown tetras?
3 ram horn snail
fake plants and rocks
gravel substrate

Okay...for the past few years my dad(its his tank so he mainly runs it) has stocked it, the fish have outgrown it(previously had a few pairs of nonbreeding angels, some tinfoil barbs, other bala's, standard pleco's, yada yada). We are kind of limited to the 30 gallon tank until I can afford something else/something bigger. We perform water swaps every couple weeks, and our chemicals are very well balanced. We never check them and never lose fish.

Now that I look at the list of fish, it looks long. But considering the size of the fish it seems fine to me. that decision is based on inches of fish=gallons.

First...give me your opinions of the setup(i'll include pics later).

Second...I think the emporer tetra(i think that's what it is) has some fin rot on his tail. if I snagged a pic could you guys help me diagnose it and help me come up with a solution?

Third...I'm looking to replace the plastic plants with real plants. I'd like to add some java furn, japanese dwarf rush, anacharis, and maybe some cabomba and/or brazilian sword. What do you think of this?

Fourth...live plants means new lighting. Right now we have a 22w fluorescent bulb. That's less than 1 watt per gallon!!! I think we need to move up to a 50w. Can we put a 50w bulb in the same hood? What bulb would you suggest?

Thanks for everything, and I'll continue this thread for quite a while.

Mike

 

[Zagz]

Welcome to AA! Firstly the pleco's and the sharks will all get way too large for the tank. The inch to gal rule is based on the adult size of the fish. You will have to contract MTS and get another tank.

I'm new to planted tanks as well so I'll defer any comments as I still have very little idea of what I am talking about.

With your bioload, I would do water changes every week. Get a pic of your tetra and post it in the unhealthy fish forum. Your water parameters will help a lot in diagnosis and treatment.

 

[LandGhoti]

Welcome to AA! You will find pretty much anything you need to know here.

As far as your setup goes, the first thing is: you have way too many fish for a 29 gal. In general, the 1 inch per gallon rule should apply (and that means computing fish at full grown lengths). Plecos get too big for a 29-gal and poop a lot, and I can't believe you only have to do water changes every couple of weeks. Did I read correctly that you're not running any kind of power filter and just have the UGF? That's even more incredible with that many fish. 8O

As far as going planted, you are correct: you will need better lighting. I don't think there are 50W bulbs that will swap out in a hood so you'll probably need to buy a double light strip (for 2 bulbs) or switch the hood for a new lighting fixture. (FWIW, I have a 29 gal planted and had to switch out the hood for a glass top and I now have a Coralife single strip bulb above it with 65W going.) I think your plant selection is fine for a low-light tank, although I don't know anything about Japanese dwarf rush (I'm sure someone else does, though).

Someone else will have to chime in about the fin rot!

 

[black hills tj]

Yeah we've had a history of gettin pleco's, bala's, and angel's when they are young and small and them swapping em in once they get larger. Its amazing to see them grow and how fast some of them can grow!




Regarding another tank...i actually have a 20 gallon tank(no equip except a hood), that I raised my iguana in when it was just a youngling. Now its much too large, and I keep him in an open air cage

Welcome to AA! You will find pretty much anything you need to know here.

As far as your setup goes, the first thing is: you have way too many fish for a 29 gal. In general, the 1 inch per gallon rule should apply (and that means computing fish at full grown lengths). Plecos get too big for a 29-gal and poop a lot, and I can't believe you only have to do water changes every couple of weeks. Did I read correctly that you're not running any kind of power filter and just have the UGF? That's even more incredible with that many fish. 8O

As far as going planted, you are correct: you will need better lighting. I don't think there are 50W bulbs that will swap out in a hood so you'll probably need to buy a double light strip (for 2 bulbs) or switch the hood for a new lighting fixture. (FWIW, I have a 29 gal planted and had to switch out the hood for a glass top and I now have a Coralife single strip bulb above it with 65W going.) I think your plant selection is fine for a low-light tank, although I don't know anything about Japanese dwarf rush (I'm sure someone else does, though).

Someone else will have to chime in about the fin rot!

I was surprised that our water stays as clean/stable as it does with the fish we do.

As far as lighting...can you show me some examples of my options?

 

[LandGhoti]

Well, if you go the double-strip route, you'll have to get a glass top for the tank because I don't think standard hoods will hold a double strip.

Here is a link to where I bought my glass top:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produ...ll&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Np=1&N=2004&Nty=1

For lighting, here is a link to fluorescent fixtures. These would hold regular T5, T8, and T12 bulbs, like the 22W that's in your hood right now.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/NavResults.cfm?N=2004+113349

Here is a link to compact fluorescent (CF) lighting.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/NavResults.cfm?N=2004+113345

I am pretty new to lighting and many more people on here know MUCH more than I do. Try a new post in the FW-Getting Started forum and you'll get a whole bunch more (and more knowledgeable) responses!

 

[black hills tj]

How would the twin glass top work with my air rubing and heater running out the top of the back? The current hood as cutouts for them.

 

[LandGhoti]

The glass top doesn't extend all the way to the back of the tank, but comes with a clear plastic part that slips on the edge of the glass to extend it the full depth of the tank, so you can do cutouts (and it's easier to cut through than hard plastic) for your tubing, filter, powerhead, etc. If you look at the picture of it again, you'll notice it.

 

[black hills tj]

Okay I see it now.

Can't I just put a higher wattage NO fluorescent in my current hood or would that not be a very good idea?

If I went with the twin glass top like in your link, would I just run two lights on top and move one whenever I needed access to the tank or what?

Could I run the current single NO light and add the twin-tube NO light in the link here? It seems to be a nice price and comes with 2 17 watt bulbs. I currently have a 22w bulb in the light on the tank right now. That would bring me up around 50w which is ~1.5 wpg. That would be considered moderate lighting I believe which I think is ideal for the plants I'm looking to add.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=13612&N=2004+113349


Thanks again. Ghoti, I see your located in the midwest, near SD at all?

Mike

 

[LandGhoti]

I'm in St. Louis.

I think you should start a new thread in the Planted Tanks forum:
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewforum.php?f=21
There are many more people here that are more knowledgeable than me about lights, and you will really benefit from their expertise. I'm really still a novice! I do think you should not have to buy two fixtures and move one when you need to get to the tank; there are a lot of options.

Not meaning to shove you off, but you'll get a lot more (and better!) ideas from all the other planties on here! Not everyone reads Welcome Wagon.

 

[black hills tj]

I saw your gallery, and you have a full shot of your tank. But Could I get a couple pics ofyour lighting setup. Specs would also be neat

 

[LandGhoti]

Oh, that's an old pic I don't know how to delete it from the gallery. This is what it looks like now, although I'll be pulling out some of that and rearranging soon...

The lighting I have is what's on sale right now at Foster-Smith:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=9871&N=2004+113345

It's a 65W bulb and it just sits on the glass top. It's only 24", though so doesn't extend the full length of the tank. I did buy a 30" double strip but the wattage is much lower so I'm saving that for the 20-gal long I'm planning.

 

[black hills tj]

Wow...that'd be perfect, except it would look kind of goofy sitting on top of my tank which is 30" long

 

[LandGhoti]

It really doesn't look weird at all. It's a pretty big fixture and actually did a lot to hide my HOB filter. Of course, now that I have the canopy to complete my stand, you can't see any of it. But it was out in the open like that for 3 months and looked fine. And it really lights the tank up. I think you might be able to buy a double strip (those come in 30") and put in two 22s or 24s and you'd be fine.

 

[black hills tj]

In general, are the 10,000K or 6000K lights better?

 

[LandGhoti]

That is a question I cannot answer because I don't know. I know my bulb is 6500K. Someone posted on here just a couple of weeks ago showing the difference (with actual pictures) between the two bulbs, so if you do a search for "10,000 6,500" you're bound to come up with something.

 

[black hills tj]

I'll see if I can dig anything up in the planted forum

Right now I'm uploading some pics, so give me a couple minutes and I'll show you exactly what's goin on. Maybe you could help me identify my...mystery tetras :O

 

[LandGhoti]

That would be something for the Freshwater - General Discussion forum.
I don't have tetras and I know very little about them, but there are many on here who do.

 

[black hills tj]

Couple pics

Overall

Closer

Front

Left

Right

Hood

 

[jsoong]

If you are growing plants, you will also need ot get rid of the UGF & get a different filter. Plant roots tend to grow inside the UGF plates & plug it up. If you keep the UGF, you should have non-rooted plants - eg Java ferns or anubias attached to rocks, driftwood.

Cambomba is consider high light & won't do too well at your wpg.

Brazilian sword is NOT an aquatic plant. It will simply rot in your tank (although slowly, so it may last a couple months). Amazon sword is better choice.

As far as lights go, it depends on how much room is in your canopy as to your upgrade options. Generally compact flourescents are best in this regard. (CF are also more effecient & gives out more light than NO - about 1.3x, so you will need only a single 55W or 65W setup, which should fit in most hoods.) Check out AH supply: http://www.ahsupply.com/ for their retrofit kits.

Finally, the stickies on the planted forum contains a wealth of info & will get you off to a good start.

 

[black hills tj]

I've decided on a 24" CF fixture from foster/smith. Puts out 65 watts so I think it'll work great.

Regarding the UGF, i don't really have an option of swapping it to a power filter or something similar so I am going to work around it.