|
Post by Xander on Jan 8, 2016 11:17:53 GMT -5
10 gallon freshwater aquarium - with plans to upgrade to 20-30 gallon in time - AquaClear 30 power filter - Eheim Jager 75W heater - Artificial plants by Azoo - Hide-Aways by Deco-Replicas - Black gravel by National Geographic - Mopani driftwood by Zoo Med - Lava rocks stuffed into filter, extras spread around substrate, from gabor129 (thanks!) - Java moss from gabor129 (thanks again!!) Planned tank inhabitants: Kuhli loaches Cherry barbs Amano or Cherry Shrimp or other, still researching the varieties I may tackle live plants some day, but for now the most attractive artificial plants I could find. I don't think the tank cycled as I'd hoped with the seed material - first test today only showed ammonia: 0.5 PPM, nitrites not present, nitrates not present. Will be going to Corbret's in a few. Don't love them, but if their barbs look healthy I might grab a couple to get things going. ________________________________ UPDATE (17/04/2016) 20 gallon long freshwater planted aquarium - AquaClear 30 power filter - Hydro Sponge Filter III with Whisper 20 Air Pump - Eheim Jager 75W heater - Hide-Aways by Deco-Replicas - Black sand by National Geographic - Mopani driftwood by Zoo Med - Java moss from gabor129 (thanks again!!) - Hygrophila difformis - Microsorum Pteropus - Cryptocoryne Wendtii 'Green' - Staurogyne Repens Inhabitants: - Kuhli Loaches (x9) - Cherry Barbs (x10) - Short-Nosed Algae Eating Shrimp (x5)
|
|
|
Post by guppyguy on Jan 8, 2016 11:31:44 GMT -5
Looking good and nicely laid out.
|
|
|
Post by Xander on Jan 8, 2016 11:45:01 GMT -5
Thank you. I fussed over it quite a bit and probably will continue to do so before I'm happy. As a somewhat-schooled graphic designer, aesthetics and balance are super important to me
|
|
|
Post by lesfromlakeshore on Jan 8, 2016 18:14:15 GMT -5
You have definitely done a nice job setting up this tank . I must say that the plants even look real . Are you planning on putting any fish in that will take advantage of all those caves?
|
|
|
Post by gabor129 on Jan 8, 2016 18:40:13 GMT -5
Looking very nice Xander!!! Those plants look very realistic! Let me know when you are ready for the loaches! Also if you are interested in other kind of shrimp a good place to start is here..... www.shrimpfever.com
|
|
|
Post by Xander on Jan 8, 2016 19:07:17 GMT -5
Les - the plan is to showcase some Kuhli Loaches, which are well known for being hiders. The more hideouts they have though, the more likely they are to come out, and Gabe has several that he's been looking to rehome. I came along at just the right time~
Gabe - I'm just trying to get my parameters straightened out, and I can take them off your hands then. Treating with SeaChem's Stability and Prime right now, we'll see if that straightens everything up. Thanks for the link!
|
|
|
Post by gabor129 on Jan 8, 2016 21:28:31 GMT -5
No rush, just get things under control.
Just a note Prime will remove ammonia from the water, so your cycle will be longer, or will not happen at all, since the lack of ammonia to turn into Nitrate. Specially with all the established filter media you got from me! Anyway, in my opinion, you should stop dosing anything, and let nature take care of things.....
I'm not familiar with SeaChem's Stability, so maybe someone else can comment on that!
|
|
|
Post by freshwater on Jan 8, 2016 21:55:49 GMT -5
Tank looks Great, nice job on the Aquascape
|
|
|
Post by freshwater on Jan 8, 2016 22:07:43 GMT -5
Just looking at your pics again. One think to watch for with the heater high in the tank and running parallel to the water line, is with evaporation the heater could become exposed to the air. That would cause the heater miss read the tank temperature correctly and may cause the heater to overheat and crack
|
|
|
Post by Xander on Jan 9, 2016 7:31:44 GMT -5
Thanks for the tip, I'll move it a bit lower until I have a good feel for the evaporation I'll see in a week's time.
|
|
|
Post by Xander on Jan 19, 2016 20:33:29 GMT -5
Updates on parameters and such: My tank might've had nitrates present at time of first post after all. I was struggling with reading the colour chart; it didn't look like it was actually reading 0 ppm, yet it certainly wasn't close to 5.0 ppm. I'm guessing it was probably reading 1 or 2 ppm all along. Tonight I got my first results that absolutely guaranteed nitrates were present; somewhere closer to 4.0 ppm. Last Thursday I decided to get my first two Cherry Barbs. I wound up grabbing the last four at Corbret's, all looking very healthy and having been there for a while (the fourth was thrown in for free as incentive to take them all). I was nervous. Four fish is a lot to add to a brand new 10 gallon tank, especially where the established nitrate cycle is a bit of a mystery. I believe this is a testament to SeaChem's Stability product (Prime was only used to condition my water changes). My tank has had no ammonia spike whatsoever in the days since I've gotten them. In fact, it's been reading steady at 0.25 ppm, and today has finally read even lower than that. So this is exciting news for me. The barbs are showing no signs of poor health, and while they're a bit skittish around me, they use the caves until they get brave enough to brave my beaming face. Top to bottom in second pic, I've codenamed them Big Boy; Little Guy (she's female, and the braveling of the bunch); Auntie; and Big Mama. Going to get a second male at some point, probably after the loaches make their way over~
|
|
|
Post by gabor129 on Jan 19, 2016 21:35:04 GMT -5
Looking good! Keep it up, slowly introducing livestock is the key!
|
|
|
Post by freshwater on Jan 20, 2016 12:24:21 GMT -5
The Cherry Barbs look great, have always been one of my favorite fish
|
|
|
Post by lesfromlakeshore on Jan 21, 2016 10:24:01 GMT -5
Looking good! Keep it up, slowly introducing livestock is the key! I couldn't agree more with this . The most common mistake that new hobbyists make is introducing to many fish to fast to a new tank . A recipe for disaster .... Looks like your doing things right and is shows . Good job.
|
|
|
Post by jeffyguy on Jan 22, 2016 14:52:12 GMT -5
I love cherry barbs. They are a great fish and fun to watch
|
|