New(but old..) 50 Gallon

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Alright thank you very much ArtesiaWells for all your help. It's still going to be a few days before I get the filter and all that up and running still working on building the stand right now. I'll also be making a DIY hood with lights for the tank since I can't seem to find anything that'll fit.. So if anyone's interested in seeing how it's done I'll post pics with progress :)

Anyways so I bought a nice piece of driftwood today! I'm thinking it'll probably be the main focal point of the tank. I attached a couple pictures, one up close so you can see what it looks like and one from a bit back to see how big it is in the tank. Still undecided one how everything will be arranged and what type of rocks to get and all that. Pretty sure I've settled on java moss and anubias for the plants. Still up for annnyyy suggestions or anything like that..
Thanks!!

Cool!! (y)
 
Hey! Okay so it's been a couple weeks or so and progress is coming along nicely! :) I'm thinking of doing a fish-in cycle so I should be adding fish in the next couple days.
I've attached a picture of what I came up with for a hardscape using pool filter sand, driftwood, granite stones, beach stones. I put sheets of styrofoam under all of the rocks and driftwood to make sure they don't crack the glass and to make it a bit higher. All that's left are some plants :) I'm thinking java moss for the driftwood and some rocks, few anubias, and jungle val for some background..still not 100% for all that though.
As for the filter I got a bag of BioMax and have had that sitting in my 10 gallon for the past couple days so hopefully that'll help the fish out.. Still no second filter but working on that.
Oh and I'll be getting a black background for sure.
So yeah, hope you like! Any suggestions for scape/plants are welcome, although I think I'm pretty set on how the big rocks are put.
Thanks!:D
 

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It looks awesome! I think you should try and get an amazon sword for a nice big 'bushy' plant. If you do get a sword, you will need root tabs; either ones you buy or make yourself. I think I remember reading the general rule for a fish in is one fish per 10g. Be sure and get a hardy fish that can withstand the cycling process. Is the 10g you mentioned cycled? If so that will help your cycle along. Another thing that will help is if you can get some filter media (from a healthy tank of course) from your LFS.
 
Hey thanks for the input. I'm not sure about the plants because my lighting is going to be relatively low, I think about 4500 lumens. Do you know if the swords could live with that?
As for the cycling I'm planning on getting 5 or 6 danios for that. My 10 gallon is cycled it has been running for like 4 months or so.
 
Hey thanks for the input. I'm not sure about the plants because my lighting is going to be relatively low, I think about 4500 lumens. Do you know if the swords could live with that?
As for the cycling I'm planning on getting 5 or 6 danios for that. My 10 gallon is cycled it has been running for like 4 months or so.

Do you mean 4500k? 'k' and lumens is completely different things. I don't the specifics of what each means honestly but I do know they are completely different. You want to aim for 6500k if possible.
 
Do you mean 4500k? 'k' and lumens is completely different things. I don't the specifics of what each means honestly but I do know they are completely different. You want to aim for 6500k if possible.


Ahh alright well I checked on the box and it says 6500k per bulb. I'm going to be able to put up to 4 bulbs in but going by k it looks like that would be a lot? Maybe if I put 2 in I could grow low-medium light plants without having to add anything like ferts or CO2?
 
Ahh alright well I checked on the box and it says 6500k per bulb. I'm going to be able to put up to 4 bulbs in but going by k it looks like that would be a lot? Maybe if I put 2 in I could grow low-medium light plants without having to add anything like ferts or CO2?

You said you have a 50g?
 
It says it's a 75 watt replacement uses 18 watts

Ok. I would only use 2 bulbs for now. I have a 55g and have 3 13w (60w equivalent) bulbs. To figure out your watts per gallon is simple division: total watts/tank volume. So in your case you would do 150/50, which would give you 3 watts per gallon. I'm not good at all with knowing how many watts is considered low/medium/high light... Hopefully someone will pop in soon and be able to tell you.
 
Ok. I would only use 2 bulbs for now. I have a 55g and have 3 13w (60w equivalent) bulbs. To figure out your watts per gallon is simple division: total watts/tank volume. So in your case you would do 150/50, which would give you 3 watts per gallon. I'm not good at all with knowing how many watts is considered low/medium/high light... Hopefully someone will pop in soon and be able to tell you.

Hm alright well thanks for all your help :) I'll do some looking around the net to try and see what I'll be able to grow with just light no ferts or anything.
 
Hm alright well thanks for all your help :) I'll do some looking around the net to try and see what I'll be able to grow with just light no ferts or anything.

You'll have to have ferts of some kind for plants. If you want minimal effort I think easiest thing to do is stick to swords or crypts that need root tabs; you can either buy them or make them yourself. It's very easy to make on your own. Just go to Walmart and buy either Osmocote indoor/outdoor formula or Osmocote for flowers and vegetables or you can order Osmocote plus from amazon (amazon seems to be the only place that has it). You have two choices...
1. You use an ice cube tray for this purpose only, fill the sections with old tank water and put 6 pellets in each section, freeze and push into your substrate. Or...
2. Buy 00 gel capsules (these can also be bought on amazon as well) and put fill with the pellets and push into substrate near your plant.
Either way they will last atleast a month, maybe even up to 3. All you'll have I do is add new tabs every couple months and you should be fine.
My amazon sword has done very well, I dose liquid co2 (this is optional but it does help) and I use Osmocote cubes to fertilize.
 
You'll have to have ferts of some kind for plants. If you want minimal effort I think easiest thing to do is stick to swords or crypts that need root tabs; you can either buy them or make them yourself. It's very easy to make on your own. Just go to Walmart and buy either Osmocote indoor/outdoor formula or Osmocote for flowers and vegetables or you can order Osmocote plus from amazon (amazon seems to be the only place that has it). You have two choices...
1. You use an ice cube tray for this purpose only, fill the sections with old tank water and put 6 pellets in each section, freeze and push into your substrate. Or...
2. Buy 00 gel capsules (these can also be bought on amazon as well) and put fill with the pellets and push into substrate near your plant.
Either way they will last atleast a month, maybe even up to 3. All you'll have I do is add new tabs every couple months and you should be fine.
My amazon sword has done very well, I dose liquid co2 (this is optional but it does help) and I use Osmocote cubes to fertilize.


Hm I really like that Osmocote idea but it doesn't look like any stores around me carry it. It's not on Walmart's website or Home Depot or anything. Maybe it's not available in Canada? Do you know of any other alternatives? Or maybe something I could make myself. If I were to go with any fertilizer it would definitely have to be low on cost..
 
Hm I really like that Osmocote idea but it doesn't look like any stores around me carry it. It's not on Walmart's website or Home Depot or anything. Maybe it's not available in Canada? Do you know of any other alternatives? Or maybe something I could make myself. If I were to go with any fertilizer it would definitely have to be low on cost..

It may not be.... Doesn't amazon ship to Canada?
 
I would ask your lfs about ferts and root tabs. I know mine here is very helpful. And if you get someone who knows something about fish, they might can tell you a diy version. Or, I guess you might Google it and see what comes up. That's all the help I can suggest. Sorry! BTW - I really like how your tank is looking.
 
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