Input on 29 Gallon with Bolivian Ram centerpeice! --My build thread--

[PNWaquarist]

I have fine black sand in a new tank, and had a tough time getting the "cloudy" material out via the standard washing method. What I ended up doing was washing 5-7 lbs at a time with 4 x 4 gallon aliquots of water, and adding it to the tank afterwards. After a couple of days, the water was still cloudy. I siphoned all of the water out of the tank, and added fresh water back in slowly with a siphon. I had a 5 gallon bucket up in a 4' ladder and siphoned the fresh water back into the tank, letting it run down the side of the glass, to minimally disturb the sand. Worked like a charm.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[PNWaquarist]

Whatever you end up doing, don't use gravel or sharp-edged sand with Bolivians. They forage for food by taking up mouthfuls of substrate. Large or sharp pieces will injure their mouths/gills.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Daven]

I have fine black sand in a new tank, and had a tough time getting the "cloudy" material out via the standard washing method. What I ended up doing was washing 5-7 lbs at a time with 4 x 4 gallon aliquots of water, and adding it to the tank afterwards. After a couple of days, the water was still cloudy. I siphoned all of the water out of the tank, and added fresh water back in slowly with a siphon. I had a 5 gallon bucket up in a 4' ladder and siphoned the fresh water back into the tank, letting it run down the side of the glass, to minimally disturb the sand. Worked like a charm.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

Yeah i guess thats always an option. But i am naturally picky and would want it as clean as possible going into the tank lol Im sure a better sand will do better, i just dont want my filter clogging up because my future corries were wrestling around down there or something

Whatever you end up doing, don't use gravel or sharp-edged sand with Bolivians. They forage for food by taking up mouthfuls of substrate. Large or sharp pieces will injure their mouths/gills.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

Yeah i heard about that. But im finding it hard to pick out specifics between the kinds out there. Pool filter sand is usually a good bet? Or is it more along the lines of what company makes it?

 

[Bbush]

I'd just cut to the chase & get aquarium sand. Less than $20 for as little as you want. I doubt you would even need to rinse it, although I still would. Also, someone said Walmart sells pool filter sand if you want to keep looking. I do like the idea of taking it slow & letting your new filter germ up.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[t4runnr]

Another idea is to look for a use hob filter and buy it. Preferably the ones that use biobags. Buy a few new biobags and run that in the tank while the sand is settling down. The lighter sand that is still suspended in the water will eventually get sick up into the filter and get filtered out.

I did that when I first set up my tanks for sand. I have a spare hob filter that I use for that purpose.

I've never had to clean my sand and it took only a couple days. But be sure you don't have your normal filter running otherwise that will suck up some sand as well.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Daven]

I'd just cut to the chase & get aquarium sand. Less than $20 for as little as you want. I doubt you would even need to rinse it, although I still would. Also, someone said Walmart sells pool filter sand if you want to keep looking. I do like the idea of taking it slow & letting your new filter germ up.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

I took a drive and picked up some pool filter sand from the canadian tire stores in the next city. Seems this stuff is hard to find right now around where i am lol Had to go to 2 different stores for a 20lb bag each and ended up spending $20 total. So tons better than the $40 bags at the fish stores here which id need at least 2 lol It is a white looking sand so hopefully its not too bad to keep clean. No chemicals and its the #20 size stuff so i got what i was looking for. Time to rinse it up a bit and i should be good!

Another idea is to look for a use hob filter and buy it. Preferably the ones that use biobags. Buy a few new biobags and run that in the tank while the sand is settling down. The lighter sand that is still suspended in the water will eventually get sick up into the filter and get filtered out.

I did that when I first set up my tanks for sand. I have a spare hob filter that I use for that purpose.

I've never had to clean my sand and it took only a couple days. But be sure you don't have your normal filter running otherwise that will suck up some sand as well.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

I can let the sand settle before doing anything of course, i just hope it doesnt become an issue where i move a rock and the whole thing turns into a sandstorm lol But i have gotten quite a few extra small filters that could come in handy for that if needed (cleared out my grandmothers closet full of old aquarium junk)

So i have a couple things i need to sort out now. First is, a couple random rocks (probably 1-2" sized) on top of the sand shouldnt hurt the Bolivian or corries at all right? Smooth ones of course. I have quite a few im going to look through and thought it could add to the scenery.
The other is that this cheap hood thats on the tank only comes with a t12 bulb thats a crummy yellowy-white light so that needs to change. Didnt see any bulbs in the fish store i checked, so im wondering if they sell aquaglows and whatnot in that size? 24" bulb on a 30" wide tank. Im thinking i may just need to upgrade to an LED hood or something, but im not overly familiar with the light output of those in aquariums.

 

[Daven]

So for an update on the pool filter sand, i am very happy with it. A bit more of a grey colour once wet and i think i can work with that! Hopefully still not too light as to cause issues once i get a few waste producers in there lol As for rinsing it, there was a bit of a haze from the first couple rinses from the dust but that quickly cleared up. Seems to settle right after i mess it up, so it shouldnt cloud things much at all i hope. Very uniform grain size. The 40lbs i used got me about 2" high on my 30x12" tank. Hopefully i can get the driftwood peice in soon. The stuff i used is Fairmount Minerals 'Aquaquartz'

 

[PNWaquarist]

Glad to see you have something you can work with now.

Smooth river rock will work great. I use it in both my tanks. As for the lighting, Aqueon makes cheap-ish LEDs that start around $50. Something like that would work fine if you're doing a low-light setup (most SA dwarf cichlids like it in the dim side) and you have low-light plants, like Java Fern. If you need more intense lighting, you're looking at more money.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Daven]

Glad to see you have something you can work with now.

Smooth river rock will work great. I use it in both my tanks. As for the lighting, Aqueon makes cheap-ish LEDs that start around $50. Something like that would work fine if you're doing a low-light setup (most SA dwarf cichlids like it in the dim side) and you have low-light plants, like Java Fern. If you need more intense lighting, you're looking at more money.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

I dont know much about LEDs, other than that their light output is real directed vs other bulbs in my experiences. So wouldnt it have alot of dim spots unless there were LEDs places throughout the entire hood? And is the spectrum that plants like provided as well?

For the rocks, i shouldnt have to worry about specific rocks much right? I got a container with quite a few polished rocks that im thinking might look nice that id assume were use before for this. I have them soaking in vineger and ill wash them off nice to be sure as i always do. Just figured it could help add a bit to the substrate look

 

[arock911]

Rams should probably be in a species only tank they are not aggressive enough to be with other cichlids. I have seen them in community tanks with mollies and some semi aggressive fish like rainbow sharks or bala sharks

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900AZ using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Daven]

Rams should probably be in a species only tank they are not aggressive enough to be with other cichlids. I have seen them in community tanks with mollies and some semi aggressive fish like rainbow sharks or bala sharks

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900AZ using Aquarium Advice mobile app

My other fish will also be non-aggresive schools or smaller fish. The most agressive id say would be maybe some viscous pecks from the guppies lol Although id like to get corries as well so i hope theres not an issue from them all being more towards the bottom of the tank

 

[arock911]

Corys are amazing and do well with a large variety of species danios might also be a good fit and they are top dwellers dojo loaches might also work they are very cool but get to be around 12 in

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900AZ using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Daven]

Corys are amazing and do well with a large variety of species danios might also be a good fit and they are top dwellers dojo loaches might also work they are very cool but get to be around 12 in

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900AZ using Aquarium Advice mobile app

Ive read great things about them and i think thats definately on my list. The schools must be the same colour/designs right? I remember hearing somebody had two different coloured schools of cories and they kept seperate so ill probably just get the same colours. Other than that the other fish will likely be just regular peacful community fish around 1.5-2". Some that caught my eye at stores are Harlequin rasboras and a couple bright coloured tetras

 

[PNWaquarist]

I dont know much about LEDs, other than that their light output is real directed vs other bulbs in my experiences. So wouldnt it have alot of dim spots unless there were LEDs places throughout the entire hood? And is the spectrum that plants like provided as well?



For the rocks, i shouldnt have to worry about specific rocks much right? I got a container with quite a few polished rocks that im thinking might look nice that id assume were use before for this. I have them soaking in vineger and ill wash them off nice to be sure as i always do. Just figured it could help add a bit to the substrate look

For rocks, I usually buy the pre-packaged ones at the fish store. Lots of nickel-containing serpentine soil in my area, so I error on the side of caution. I boil them to sterilize.

Your Bolivian should probably do OK with the Corys if you add the Bolivian after them. But you never know with cichlids - they can have different personalities. I wouldn't do more than 6 or 7 Corys in that tank. Get the same species. Sterbai handle high 70s and low 80s the best.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Daven]

For rocks, I usually buy the pre-packaged ones at the fish store. Lots of nickel-containing serpentine soil in my area, so I error on the side of caution. I boil them to sterilize.

Your Bolivian should probably do OK with the Corys if you add the Bolivian after them. But you never know with cichlids - they can have different personalities. I wouldn't do more than 6 or 7 Corys in that tank. Get the same species. Sterbai handle high 70s and low 80s the best.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

Tanks being kept at 80*F, and i was planning for 5 corries if thats still ok as a school. For the rocks, i beleive they were used previously and i had them soak overnight in vineger+water and scrubbed them with an old toothbrush afterwards so they should be fine i think? Heres a pic of my boring tank only half full (not the greatest shelf for it yet) and without anything really for decor yet. Driftwood has been soaking and im going to find a pot to boil the rest so hopefully i can get that in soon! Currently using another filter (aquatech 20-40 gallon) that i got for free and amazingly enough was never unpacked even. Figured the lower water level might been harder on the pump so why not.

 

[arock911]

Your set up looks good so far and it sounds like your taking all the right steps to building a great tank

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900AZ using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Daven]

Your set up looks good so far and it sounds like your taking all the right steps to building a great tank

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900AZ using Aquarium Advice mobile app

Thanks, I hope so! Definately need to get a better lighting setup for this thing though. The current light reminds me of a refrigerator or something lol Im thinking about that Tetra LED hood, but idk much about LEDs or if that hood will be good for low-medium lighted plants

 

[arock911]

Idk much about plants but in most ways led is superior

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900AZ using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Freakgecko91]

Most cories prefer cooler temps. Look into sterbai if you're dead set on those temps


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Daven]

Most cories prefer cooler temps. Look into sterbai if you're dead set on those temps


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

The "care" pages seem to usually say anywhere from low 70s to some up to 82* is what they wanted. So i will definately take a closer look at that! Only issue is it seems hard for me to keep the tanks much lower than 80-82. Like right now my heater hasnt been on in the last while that ive seen and the temps are still sitting at like 83*. Im not sure how hot the room is, but its been warm here today so maybe im stuck around 80* or so :/ Heater is only set at 72* to maintain 80* before