pugmom's 29 gallon community build (newbie)

[pugmom]

Hi all - just got my stand and stand off craigslist this week and am ready to get started!

This will be a non-planted tank with probably some cardinal tetras/corys/bristlenose pleco/glo fish.

Couple questions for now,

when the cycle is over, which/how many fish should I get to start to maintain the bacteria I build up??

I got an aquaclear 50, but I am not sure if I should upgrade to the 70 or just get a secondary filter if I need it...

Hopefully I will have some pics as I go along....

 

[librarygirl]

Nice tank!

How are you going to cycle the tank? If you're going to use ammonia and a fishless cycle you can fully stock the tank right after the cycle is done. If you want to do a fish-in cycle, start with 2-3 small fish.

The AC 50 is ok, if you can go bigger or add a second one you can. Or you can always add a second filter later on.

 

[pugmom]

Thanks!

I am going to do a fishless cycle, but to be honest I am kind of scared to add them all at once at the end since I am a newbie!

Just got done rinsing my sand, but apparently not well enough, very grey water!!!

 

[librarygirl]

The cloudiness is normal. You can rinse and rinse and rinse the sand and they'll probably be some cloudiness. It'll clear up as it settles. With a fishless cycle you'll be adding 4 ppms of ammonia to the tank which will create a very large bacteria colony; unless you severely overstock your tank the bacteria will be able to handle any fish load once the cycle is done. If you understock after the cycle, the bacteria will adjust down to the load you have in the tank, so it's actually good to fully stock it after a fishless cycle to keep optimum levels of bacteria, but you can do it any way you want. Good luck with your cycle!

 

[pugmom]

thanks again librarygirl!

trying to get everything set up for cycling. Trying to apply my background using cooking oil before I set up my filter etc. let's just say, it isn't pretty.....
wishing I would have gone with latex paint - lol.

 

[pugmom]

starting my fishless cycling - yay!

Just added some ammonia - my bottle doesn't have a percentage of concentration on it, so there is going to be some guesswork involved....

tested ph - of course it appears to be in between the high and low test bottles of my api kit, so 7.4-7.6 I guess.

Gave up on applying the background for now and hooked up my filter, heater and dechlorinated my water....

 

[TangoTank]

thanks again librarygirl!

trying to get everything set up for cycling. Trying to apply my background using cooking oil before I set up my filter etc. let's just say, it isn't pretty.....
wishing I would have gone with latex paint - lol.

I don't have a background yet, this sounds interesting! Something new to research!!

Good luck w/ your tank, looks nice!

 

[tamtam]

whats this cooking oil business??
I've got a backing sitting here rolled up waiting to be applied. I've only ever taped it on but got seriously annoyed trying to manage it on my own and gave up. I'll get hubby to help with it but this cooking oil deal sounds interesting

 

[pugmom]

the theory as I read it is - cut the background to size, spray cooking oil to the side that sticks to the tank, stick on and smooth out the bubbles with a cd case or the like.

in practice, for me it went something like this - spray on oil, try to stick it to tank, realize that I hadn't flattened it enough from being rolled - take it off, roll the other way to try to flatten, stick again, could not get the bubbles out to my satisfaction, remove background, clean tank, have non-backgrounded tank

if you try it- I hope it works better for you!! I also read mineral oil would work, I may try that next time......or tape.....

 

[TangoTank]

...in practice, for me it went something like this - spray on oil, try to stick it to tank, realize that I hadn't flattened it enough from being rolled - take it off, roll the other way to try to flatten, stick again, could not get the bubbles out to my satisfaction, remove background, clean tank, have non-backgrounded tank ...

that's hilarious... Sounds like me!! I'm not so sure I want to attempt the oil thing... But maybe I can learn from this! Sorry you went thru that. Yay to fish less cycling--it's an adventure on its own!

 

[librarygirl]

I'm not sure how they make putting backgrounds on look so easy b/c it isn't. lol I actually bought the SeaClear stuff for backgrounds but I always ended up getting bubbles that I could never get cleared off and some of the background looked great and other parts didn't. I eventually gave up and just used tape.

 

[tamtam]

the theory as I read it is - cut the background to size, spray cooking oil to the side that sticks to the tank, stick on and smooth out the bubbles with a cd case or the like.

in practice, for me it went something like this - spray on oil, try to stick it to tank, realize that I hadn't flattened it enough from being rolled - take it off, roll the other way to try to flatten, stick again, could not get the bubbles out to my satisfaction, remove background, clean tank, have non-backgrounded tank

if you try it- I hope it works better for you!! I also read mineral oil would work, I may try that next time......or tape.....

ahhhh. Thanks! I may try this down the road if I feel daring. Certainly not on my own. I can't even manage to get it up behind the tank and stick a random bit of tape or two to get a good look at what section and side of the background I want to use. lol.

 

[pugmom]

at work, but can't wait to get home - should have a big box of goodies for my tank -

driftwood, fake plants, led volcano thingy (this is after all a house with 2 young boys), and my LED fixture.....

good luck on the background tamtam.....I really think I should have just painted the back - lol.

 

[PC1]

New tanks are fun

 

[pugmom]

had fun setting stuff up last night! Here is a shot of the tank (excuse the crappy pic, had to take off angle because of a window reflection). Bear in mind this house has 7 and 3 year old boys, so it won't be as natural as I would prefer

Also have been prepping my new driftwood - 2 pieces probably will be in one of the 2 following arrangements. I suspect option 1 will make fish happier (?) but I think option 2 will look better in the tank....

 

[TangoTank]

Cute!! I have Spongebob's house & squidward's house & a Gary in my tank!! I have 3 kids 7yrs & under also! W/ the DW, could u stack them?? Then that'd make all kinds of nooks & crannies or would it be too much DW & affect pH? Nice DW, BTW!

 

[PC1]

most common tropical fish don't really care if your ph changes some. Theres really only a few types of fish that really need certain params. Stability is whats important

 

[pugmom]

thanks to you both!

I honestly hadn't given much thought to the ph changes - ooops glad to hear it won't be too big of an issue. I am fishless cycling now and hopefully the DW will be in there for a little bit before the fishies are....

TT - I may stack them. Looking at the pics I am not sure if it is clear, I have 2 pieces, one smaller and one longer, I am going to use both and try to arrange them as best as I can. Love the tank in your avatar!! (I am sure your kiddos do to )

 

[pugmom]

cycling is boring - lol. Now downward movement of ammonia - day 6. I know it is normal, but it doesn't help....

Unfortunately my pH was high today (8.2) hoping it is just part of the bumps of cycling....

Added in my driftwood today. Interested to see how much tannin comes out still and if it lowers the pH....

Having issues narrowing down types of fish between my son and I. At least we have plenty of time -lol....

 

[pugmom]

finally ammonia has been around 2 ppm the last 2 days. Hopefully nitrites will start to show up soon so I can feel like something is happening...at 0 now...

pH still pretty high 8.0