# Planting a Tank



## thename123 (Dec 13, 2009)

*Starting a New Tank--------Planting a Tank*

I've been doing my research for a while now and have decided that I am going to start up a 10 gallon Chocolate Lyretail Panchax Killifish tank. The final result will have 4 Lyretails plus maybe a couple juveniles or some fry. I read that java fern. java moss and duckweed is great to put with them, is this true and do you guys/gals have any other recommendations?

I am going to buy some dark brown or black sand (just the basic stuff) my current pH is 7.6 (tap water) but i am hoping to drop that to around 7 before I put the fish in and I am going to use an old filter cartridge and attempt a fishless cycle for my tank. I have a 50 watt heater and an Elite: Hush 20 filter (got it for $7 at Walmart  ).

I would prefer to not us any carbon dioxide as the fish tank will most likely be in my bedroom and I would like to minimize costs.

I have a hood fitter with a single Marineland Natural Daylight Bulb (one of those Long fluorescent bulb), rated for 120 V(AC) 60 Hz and 17 watts.

Any help is greatly appreciated


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## bae (May 11, 2007)

If you use peat it will fly around and get caught in your java moss. Java moss is a good idea because it will let the fish hide from aggressive males. It's generally best to have more females than males, and all the old killie guys say that two males will kill each other but three or more will get along. Put in some chunks of driftwood (you can attach your java fern to them) to break up sight lines and make dark corners for the fish to hide. The fish may also spawn in the java moss, and it will provide a place for the fry to hang out and a lot of tiny critters for them to eat.

These fish, Aphyosemion australe, are probably the most 'domesticated' of killifish. They are very adaptable, as well as being beautiful. Don't worry about hardness or pH. Your fish were probably born and bred in Toronto tap water. Being able to use plain dechlorinated tap water makes water changes so much easier, and clean water is more important.

Your lighting is adequate for a tank like this with low light plants. Aph spp mostly come from heavily shaded forest creeks and don't like bright light. Some floating plants will make the fish feel more secure, and may deter jumping. Killies are notorious jumpers and will get out through amazingly small openings, so be sure the tank is covered really well. 

CO2 is unnecessary for these low light levels and low light plants.

A planted tank doesn't really need to be cycled, especially with a low fish load, but you can fill it with water from another tank if you like.

If you aren't going to use rooted plants, you only need enough substrate to cover the bottom and stop reflections from the bottom glass - no more than an inch, perhaps less.

People can get really obsessed with killifish. I think you'll enjoy yours.


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## thename123 (Dec 13, 2009)

OH thanks for all the great info and help! I will not be getting any peat and will be getting java fern, java moss and duckweed. Any ideas about how many of each plant i should get? (i am not to familiar with the spread rates of these plants)


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## bae (May 11, 2007)

thename123 said:


> OH thanks for all the great info and help! I will not be getting any peat and will be getting java fern, java moss and duckweed. Any ideas about how many of each plant i should get? (i am not to familiar with the spread rates of these plants)


Java fern is relatively slow growing. Java moss grows reasonably fast in good light. Duckweed is the dandelion of the aquarium -- it spreads like wildfire!

I can give you some java moss and foist duckweed of two kinds on you. Also some Amazon frogbit (Limnobium laevigatum) a classier floating plant. I'm raising some killie fry right now, and they like to hang out in it. Unfortunately, I don't have any spare Java fern.

Can anyone else spare some plants for this person? One aquarist's weed is another's treasure!


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

I don't think java fern/java moss will be enough to cycle the tank. I'd try to find someone with something fast growing, like hygrophilia, to cycle. Just pull it out and toss it when you are done with it.


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## bae (May 11, 2007)

Chris S said:


> I don't think java fern/java moss will be enough to cycle the tank. I'd try to find someone with something fast growing, like hygrophilia, to cycle. Just pull it out and toss it when you are done with it.


There's a heck of a lot of surface for biofilm on a wad of java moss! And he's only going to put 4 small fish in a 10gallon. But I suppose it wouldn't hurt to add some mulm and old water from another tank.

If he's going with duckweed, ammonia won't have a chance.


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## thename123 (Dec 13, 2009)

bae said:


> There's a heck of a lot of surface for biofilm on a wad of java moss! And he's only going to put 4 small fish in a 10gallon. But I suppose it wouldn't hurt to add some mulm and old water from another tank.
> 
> If he's going with duckweed, ammonia won't have a chance.


Thanks for all the info and help, a family member is going to give me the java mass, duckweed and java fern but thanks for the offer, but i think that is all he has. do you think i should add more killis and maybe another plant species that would help benefit my tank (if there are any that will suit my tank, light, fish etc.)?



bae said:


> Your lighting is adequate for a tank like this with low light plants. Aph spp mostly come from heavily shaded forest creeks and don't like bright light. Some floating plants will make the fish feel more secure, and may deter jumping. Killies are notorious jumpers and will get out through amazingly small openings, so be sure the tank is covered really well.


now i have a gap roughly 1 inch gap on either side of my filter, what do you recommend I do to cover that? I was thinking shrink/saran wrap but im afraid the killis will jump into the wrap seeing that it is clear. What do you guys think?

and I want to get my killis from Franks Aquarium in Markham, and I like at the border of burlington and oakville, as a result the trip is probably going to take quite a while and I was wondering what the best way to transport the fish from the store to my house is (if you guys know a more local store that sells Aphyosemion australe [preferable chocolate] please let me know) ? I am estimating that the trip will take roughly 1-2 hour and my initial plan was to grab one of those blue coolers and fill it with towels (for shock absorbency and insulation) and put the fish in the cooler, what are ypur thoughts?


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## thename123 (Dec 13, 2009)

*bump bump bump


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## ksimdjembe (Nov 11, 2006)

for openings that need to be not open, you can go one of two ways.
way one - go to big als or another LFS and spend a lot of money on a replacement peice of plastic that is not guaranteed to fit the back of the tank you have. this MAY work if the plastic is meant for this purpose. the LFS should be able to tell you if it will fit.
way two - is to just find some plastic and cut it to fit. I did this once with an old plastic binder I had lying around. it lays about 2 inches on either side of tthe filter and covers everything in so no jumping fish can get out. works great. and $0.


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## bae (May 11, 2007)

thename123 said:


> Thanks for all the info and help, a family member is going to give me the java mass, duckweed and java fern but thanks for the offer, but i think that is all he has. do you think i should add more killis and maybe another plant species that would help benefit my tank (if there are any that will suit my tank, light, fish etc.)?


You could add some hygrophila if you want a rooted stem plant. I'm a fan of vallisneria since it seems to like my conditions. If you want a real thicket, naias will practically crowd the fish out of the tank....



> now i have a gap roughly 1 inch gap on either side of my filter, what do you recommend I do to cover that? I was thinking shrink/saran wrap but im afraid the killis will jump into the wrap seeing that it is clear. What do you guys think?


You've got to cover all openings. Rig up something with scrap plastic and tape, like ksimdjembe suggests. Saran wrap is better than nothing -- the fish should bounce back off it, which will cause less damage than landing on the floor.


> and I want to get my killis from Franks Aquarium in Markham, and I like at the border of burlington and oakville, as a result the trip is probably going to take quite a while and I was wondering what the best way to transport the fish from the store to my house is (if you guys know a more local store that sells Aphyosemion australe [preferable chocolate] please let me know) ? I am estimating that the trip will take roughly 1-2 hour and my initial plan was to grab one of those blue coolers and fill it with towels (for shock absorbency and insulation) and put the fish in the cooler, what are ypur thoughts?


When I'm carrying fish around in cold weather, I put the bags in a styrofoam box. A cooler like you suggest should be fine. If it's really cold, I put a plastic bottle full of warm or hot water in the box, wrapped in a towel so it doesn't contact the fish bag directly. Adding more towels is a good idea too.

From what I hear, Frank is a serious expert on killies. He breeds a lot of species and sells them through other stores in the area as well. He can answer your questions about stocking and care better than I can.


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