Hi All
I am a newbie, thinking of setting up my first freshwater tank. Have been doing extensive reading up on the www, and finally made up my mind to get the following -
1. A 40 gallon glass tank, with an overhead filter and 80 W fluorescent lights
2. About 10-12 tropical fish - still making up my mind on which kinds of fish though.
3. About 5-7 tropical plants. Will be also setting up a DIY CO2 (sugar, water & yeast) with a CO2 diffuser (using a powerhead)
After researching the internet, I think I have a good idea of the basic DO’s and DON’T’s, and shouldn’t be making stupid mistakes. But I still have some questions, and I hope some of the seasoned experts on this board can point me in the right direction…..
1. Do I need to use chemical/ biological filters for my setup? Will skipping these have any adverse effect?
2. I will be using commercial aquarium sand (~1mm dia, from my LFS) as the substrate for my plants. I have read that using a bottom layer of peat/garden soil will really help. Is this really beneficial, and does it affect fishes in any way?
3. I am using the ubiquitous 2L soda bottle, 2 cup sugar, 1 pinch yeast formula for my DIY CO2. I hope to get good CO2 adsorption using a DIY reactor (powerhead + Gravel-Vac tube). Question is – do I need to worry about excessive CO2 ppm, and/ or the KH, PH of the water. Is it essential to buy test-kits for KH/PH ?
4. I live in Singapore (tropical climate), and the temperature in my house would vary from 24 C (when the aircon is running) to 30 C (afternoon, aircon not running). But I don’t expect the temperature to fluctuate more than 5C any given day. Question is – Do I need a heater, to hold my water temp at around 29 C?
Any other comments/ criticism most welcome….. appreciate your time 8O
I am a newbie, thinking of setting up my first freshwater tank. Have been doing extensive reading up on the www, and finally made up my mind to get the following -
1. A 40 gallon glass tank, with an overhead filter and 80 W fluorescent lights
2. About 10-12 tropical fish - still making up my mind on which kinds of fish though.
3. About 5-7 tropical plants. Will be also setting up a DIY CO2 (sugar, water & yeast) with a CO2 diffuser (using a powerhead)
After researching the internet, I think I have a good idea of the basic DO’s and DON’T’s, and shouldn’t be making stupid mistakes. But I still have some questions, and I hope some of the seasoned experts on this board can point me in the right direction…..
1. Do I need to use chemical/ biological filters for my setup? Will skipping these have any adverse effect?
2. I will be using commercial aquarium sand (~1mm dia, from my LFS) as the substrate for my plants. I have read that using a bottom layer of peat/garden soil will really help. Is this really beneficial, and does it affect fishes in any way?
3. I am using the ubiquitous 2L soda bottle, 2 cup sugar, 1 pinch yeast formula for my DIY CO2. I hope to get good CO2 adsorption using a DIY reactor (powerhead + Gravel-Vac tube). Question is – do I need to worry about excessive CO2 ppm, and/ or the KH, PH of the water. Is it essential to buy test-kits for KH/PH ?
4. I live in Singapore (tropical climate), and the temperature in my house would vary from 24 C (when the aircon is running) to 30 C (afternoon, aircon not running). But I don’t expect the temperature to fluctuate more than 5C any given day. Question is – Do I need a heater, to hold my water temp at around 29 C?
Any other comments/ criticism most welcome….. appreciate your time 8O