Nils' Tanks Expedition

[Nils]

Decided to just lump both my threads into this one....

Let me start this off with my new 10 gallon build. A few of you probably have looked at my thread for the 5.5 Just going to be upgrading from the 5.5 to the 10. Planning on dirting this tank, just your average Miracle Gro soil. Cap will be .5" of black sand. Got a couple rocks I'm going to incorporate into the hardscape, thinking sloping up the right corner and planting that down with blyxa into the middle, where the rocks are gonna be. Going to have a lot of crypts in this tank. Got a lot of bulbs and vals to use, plus some other misc. plants. Going to use a 24/7 on this tank, along with a mini canister and maybe the Finnex Cliplight.

For the 16, nothings changed lol. My attempt at raising GBR fry failed horribly. Fine one day, check them the next and most dead. Oh well, no use crying over spilled milk. When the parents lay eggs again, I'll try and raise those....I have a feeling that the reason they died is because I didn't put some sand in, I read that it helps prevent anaerobic bacteria. It was a pretty good learning experience though.

Anyway, that just starts this thread off. Happy New Years guys, cheers to a good year that can be spent with the fishes and your family!

 

[unstopaBULLFish]

Sup Nils, I'll be following..what canister were you thinking? I'm irdering a canister from b day money and I was shown the SunSun602 B on eBay at a good price ($25)


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[Nils]

Sup Nils, I'll be following..what canister were you thinking? I'm irdering a canister from b day money and I was shown the SunSun602 B on eBay at a good price ($25)


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Better than what I paid....$42 for a Zoo Med mini canister. Going to be here Saturday, pretty excited. In your position, I'd go for the SunSun. Cheaper and better.

 

[Nils]

You seen this? Modular External Canister Filter Table Top Nano Aquarium Fish Sunsun 602 603 | eBay

$20 Free shipping!

 

[TheresaM]

Happy New Year to you too! Looking forward to seeing what you do with the 10g

 

[sinibotia]

That's odd Nils, I didn't have any sand and haven't had issues raising ram fry. Do you still have any left? What were you feeding?

Following along of course!

 

[coralbandit]

Following along!
Nice to see you upgrade !
Means you must be something right....
On the GBR fry I can only tell you how hard they are for me to raise.
sini has magic touch/water...
IMO most issues for the fry are food and water related(sounds simple enough?)...
The first two weeks is the toughest...

 

[Fishobsessed7]

Ill be following along


Fishobsessed7

Money Can't Buy Happiness, But It Can Buy Fish Which Is Pretty Much The Same Thing

 

[Nils]

That's odd Nils, I didn't have any sand and haven't had issues raising ram fry. Do you still have any left? What were you feeding?

Following along of course!

I just put the rest (about 6) into the 16 at night so they'd have a chance to maybe find a hiding spot and grow up. Unrealistic, I know. I was feeding frozen BBS, thawed out first though. They were fine for the first few days and then all of a sudden just dead. What was your exact process Sini?

 

[sinibotia]

I just put the rest (about 6) into the 16 at night so they'd have a chance to maybe find a hiding spot and grow up. Unrealistic, I know. I was feeding frozen BBS, thawed out first though. They were fine for the first few days and then all of a sudden just dead. What was your exact process Sini?

Maybe try feeding live BBS? It's really cheap and easy to have enough bbs to feed ram fry. If I had to guess I'd say that's your problem; my biggest fry dieoff came in the two short periods where I ran out of BBS and had to feed just first bites which they didn't seem to take to very well.

My process for the fry was to keep them in a 15 gallon bin with about 8 gallons of water in it, and a very seasoned sponge filter, increased to around 12 gallons over time. Live BBS every 3-4 hours (4 times a day) for the first few weeks. Daily or every other day water changes of at least 20% and specifically vacuum up all the stuff off the bottom. Once they were a certain size I mixed them in with my angelfish fry that were laid on the same date and have been feeding them crushed flake and BBS since then. They're now in a 55 with the angelfish fry and they get weekly 95% water changes.

 

[fish wrangler]

Following this expedition along!

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[Caliban07]

Happy new year nils and all. Be interesting to see how the 10 turns out with dirt and co2. Will you be using clay? Good idea with such a shallow cap. Sand can cause the substrate to be less aerobic but at that depth I don't think you need to worry and you can keep the tank cleaner but just hovering above the sand. Although it's true that dissolved wastes feed the plants try not to let them build up too much because if the plants cannot make use of it all as it is being released it seems to induce algae in my experience. Cram that tank with as much plant mass as possible to begin with and use floating plants if need be.

Good luck.


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[Nils]

Thanks Caliban! I'm going to have lots of plants, so I'm good on that! I'll see if I can get my hands on some clay, I'll have to check out the local craft store.

 

[Nils]

Just won Wranglers RAOK! Getting some pogoestemon octopus from him, going to put it all towards the 10. Have a feeling it wouldn't do so great in the 16.

 

[Nils]

Got the filter today! Set it all up, replaced the included carbon bag with some of my own media and a sponge. Right now I have the first layer as a couple sponges and the second some Bio Max and what was included with the filter. Other compartment has another sponge. I'm going to hook it up to the tank tomorrow, I'll post pics then as well!

 

[Nils]

Not at all impressed with the canister. Was able to fit lots of media inside but that's about it. I have it running on the tank now. I wonder if I should maybe remove a sponge or 2 and see if it helps? The flow is really bad, barely moves water at all. Put the HOB back on because the puffers were at the surface, with the Co2 running and no surface agitation there was probably barely any oxygen in the water. Turned the Co2 off for now. Going to try and see if I can get better flow, I knew I should have gone with the mini SunSun

 

[Brookster123]

Not at all impressed with the canister. Was able to fit lots of media inside but that's about it. I have it running on the tank now. I wonder if I should maybe remove a sponge or 2 and see if it helps? The flow is really bad, barely moves water at all. Put the HOB back on because the puffers were at the surface, with the Co2 running and no surface agitation there was probably barely any oxygen in the water. Turned the Co2 off for now. Going to try and see if I can get better flow, I knew I should have gone with the mini SunSun

Dude, wish I had seen this.. would have reccomended the zoomed mini. It's awesome.. not as cheap as sunsun but well worth it. I like my larger sunsun ' s. Not familiar with the mini though.

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[Nils]

Dude, wish I had seen this.. would have reccomended the zoomed mini. It's awesome.. not as cheap as sunsun but well worth it. I like my larger sunsun ' s. Not familiar with the mini though.

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You've had the Zoo med? Not bad for how small it is, just not going to cut it for my needs. Found the SunSun on Ebay, got the Zoo Med in the box ready to ship back. Puffs are back to normal, can't tell you guys how scared I got seeing them at the top like that.

 

[unstopaBULLFish]

You've had the Zoo med? Not bad for how small it is, just not going to cut it for my needs. Found the SunSun on Ebay, got the Zoo Med in the box ready to ship back. Puffs are back to normal, can't tell you guys how scared I got seeing them at the top like that.

Did you get the SunSun 602B package? I'm getting mine on the 9th..hopefully it meets both our needs!


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[Nils]

Did you get the SunSun 602B package? I'm getting mine on the 9th..hopefully it meets both our needs!


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Haven't ordered it yet...looking at this one


Aquarium External Mini Canister Filter 1 5L External Pre Filter Sunsun 602B CL | eBay

Which one are you getting? If you don't mind could you post the link? Thanks!