# Aquarium: Attempt 2



## jesser (Jun 24, 2008)

Hi all, 

So after the cichlid desaster (it was way easier to find adoptive parents for all them than I thought it was going to be), I have decided to try to plant my 30g tank. I figure I won't be emotionally scarred if my incompitance kills plants (kidding..well actually no not really...). 

Anyway, i have some questions, mostly about what to do with my tank after the fish leave (they should be gone this weekend and i'm all eager beaver).


So I've been reading up on this cycling business right, and well i don't find most of it (shtuff on the internet i mean, articles for "beginners") particularily helpful because my tank is already "established". Although the cichlids are all parting, i am going to keep Mr. Pleco and the idiot goldfish (i dont find it fair to burden someone else with the stupid goldfish, nor can i, for some reason, bear the thought of them getting eaten), so i am assuming that all of the stuff for beginners about fishless cycling and stuff doesn't apply to me (right/wrong??)

So how should i start:

- I probably should go buy an ammonia/ph/test kit number right?? this is a must right??

- the tank is really algae-ified. there are 2 mystery snails (i think they are anyway) and they enjoy it (as does the pleco) but is this going to matter? It really doesn't bother me that much that it is so gross and dirty, but i figured i can take care of that later. Would i be able to add new snails and stuff right away to start the clean up? also any other suggestions as to cheap ways of cleaning it (other than elbow grease of course..i suspect there arent many). 

- what kind of substrate should i use? does it matter for plants and shirmp and snails?? currently there are just the standard store bought pebbles in there. could i add some new gravel (possibly to jazz up the colour a bit..the current ones are a really boring blue colour)??


- any other suggestions as per what kind of plants are good to start with(low light, low maintenance, REALLY hard to kill), or some tips on setting up a nice invertibrate tank?

Okay thanks super friendly forum! i'm so glad i found this place !

Jess


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## Harry Muscle (Mar 21, 2007)

I probably won't answer all your questions, but here's a few things that come to mind. First if I recall correctly, Gold Fish eat plants ... so if you are going to go for a planted tank, I would highly recommend finding the Gold Fish a new home. Second, how much of a planted tank are you looking for ... just a plant or two here or there or are you hoping to achive something like you see in magazines or other websites where the whole tank is nicely planted and lush? Based on your answer to that we'll be probably better able to offer advice.

Thanks,
Harry


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## MacFish (Jun 15, 2006)

I'll let the plant/shrimp experts help you on that but as far as the cycle goes, it should be good to go. Do you know what type of filter is on there? 

As long as you haven't washed it out in the sink or something, the beneficial bacteria should still be living in it. Just rinse it out in some tank water as you are doing a water change. 

For algae, it is tough to recommend something without knowing what type of algae it is. Can you describe it? 

The snails and pleco should take care of most of it depending on the type. If it is real nasty, I typically use a razor blade to scrape it off the glass. Have your syphon vacuum ready to suck up the pieces as you scrape it off. 

With proper lighting and water conditions, it should eventually die off if you keep scraping in on a regular basis. The magnetic glass cleaners do a great job of keeping it clean once you've scraped the majority off. 

Sounds like you are taking the correct steps towards a happy and healthy aquarium. Bravo


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## jesser (Jun 24, 2008)

Mac: Nope I havent done anything more than maybe a 10% water change about a week ago when I syphoned out a massive amount of poop. 

The algae growing on the tank is dark green and caked to the glass. It is really just an eyesore more than anything. I think that once I get the fish out and maybe a few more snails the algae problem could maybe get under control. Although, I wonder if I should try the razorblade trick. I tried scraping some off with one of those white pads (like the "gentle" kind for cleaning aquarium glass) and it didn't seem to even make a dent in it...

"Harry": I didn't know that about the goldfish . There are some plants in there now (real live ones), they are long grass like plants (long thin green ones) and the gold fish don't bother with them. They have been in there for a while (the plants) and are pretty established as far as i can tell... Although, if it is going to be a problem, I might just invest in a small tank for dumb and dumber...

I would really like to create a super densly planted tank with lots of plants 

I'll post a pic of my entire tank as it stands later tonight (i think i could do a whole tank pic, individual fish however have proven way to hard to capture). I have no idea about plant placement or whatever and would appreciate some help with that. I'll do some more research as well..

tx 

Jess


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## MacFish (Jun 15, 2006)

I guess I should have mentioned to make sure it's a glass tank if you are using a razor blade. I would imagine an Acrylic tank would get pretty scratched up. 

I typically only use the razor blade on the front glass. Unless it's really bad, I don't bother with the back or sides. 

Since it likely wasn't maintained too well in the past, I would do a major ( at least 50% ) water change once the fish are gone. Once you suck out some water into a bucket, rinse out your filter in there (assuming you have a filter with some sort or foam material in it ). 

What is the filter and someone can likely recommend the best way to clean it without killing the good bacteria.


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## jesser (Jun 24, 2008)

Sorry forgot the filter brand. I knew this  had to go buy new filters for it (the one i pulled out of there was so gross...)
Anyway it is a Penguin 200 filter (I think, penguin or emperor...something to do with penguins hehe)..

Jess

PS - so do a 1/2 water change once the fish are gone..herm...thats going to be a challenge. i am gonna need a larger bucket. 

oh and it is a glass tank (i know that much!)


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## twoheadedfish (May 10, 2008)

also, you mentioned the first post you didn't know what kind of fish the gold one was. have you figured it out? maybe it's not a gold fish. perhaps you should post a pic.


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## jesser (Jun 24, 2008)

oh no there are actual goldfish, and then a yellow (i shouldn't have said gold!) cichlid. he will be leaving on the weekend.

the goldfish are definitely standard goldfish. i was with my roomate when he got them 2 years ago...


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## Harry Muscle (Mar 21, 2007)

If you want a lushly planted tank then I highly recommend reading the following ... it's a post of mine in another thread about someone wanting more help with setting up a planted tank:

***

You've gotten some good advice already ... but here's a few more points and one awesome link that will help a lot ...

I'm assuming you have a single T8 bulb running across the tank so chances are it's a 20W bulb, this would fall into the very low light category ... not impossible though. It helps a lot if you have a good reflector in that hood. The other thing that you have going against you is the gravel. If you can upgrade to a substrate made for growing plants that would help greatly.

You also have to decide what you objective is ... if all you want is to have a plant or two here or there, then an anubia or java fern will serve the purpose just fine ... however, if your goal is to reach for a tank like you see in tons of pictures that looks beautiful then keep reading.

Personally I think the best way for a beginner to start is to follow exactly what someone else did and had success with ... the downfall usually comes when someone changes things just a little thinking they will have only slightly worse results when in reality a small change can mean the difference between a success and a complete failure.

If you're looking for low maintenance then I have the perfect solution for you. There's actually two ways to approach a low maintenance planted tank, but here's the one that's worked for me and I personally prefer:

http://www.barrreport.com/articles/4...2-methods.html

It's super easy, decently cheap, and best of all ... it's actually better not to do water changes in such a tank. Here's a link to what my tank looks like by following the above instructions:

http://www.stonyx.googlepages.com/tankpictures.html

The last water change was about a month or two ago and I keep shrimp and other sensitive fish without any issues.

If you follow Tom Barr's method try to stick to it as closely as possible. You might be OK with the light you have, but it definately is very low. The gravel though is where you will probably run into trouble ... if at all possible change it. Breaking my rule above (about not changing someone else's method  ) you can use flourite instead of the onyx sand mentioned in his article since flourite is cheaper but everything else he mentions I would suggest sticking to otherwise you risk a complete failure.

Hope some of this info help and feel free to ask more questions.

Harry

P.S. Also make sure you follow the advice of planting all your plants at once and not a few now and a few later. Your goal is to outcompete the algae and the only way to do that is to have tons of plant mass in the tank from the beginning, otherwise you'll have constant algae issues. In my tank I started out with about $80-90 worth of plants from Menagerie ... and I only had one algae outbreak that I had to deal with ... not bad. Btw, that's a 55G tank, so you won't have to spend as much ... maybe $40 to $50 ... all depends on the plants you choose.

P.P.S. If you follow all the above advice (including switching you gravel) but are having issues with growth and/or tons of algae problems then you'll need to upgrade the lighting. Just a thought to remember for the future.

***

Ignore the light part in the above info, since I'm not sure which light you have and it was in reference to another thread. But the rest of the info should help.

Harry


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## jesser (Jun 24, 2008)

Cool thanks Harry 

that article was helpful. I'll read it over more carefully when i get home. the only thing i found damn confusing was all of the science stuff. I'm a math nerd not a chem nerd so i have no idea, i guess i will have to brush up. 

Thanks for the link though, I was sort of looking for something like that to follow (I mean step by step instructions of what to do that works for someone else).


I will also check in to my lighting situation. The bf used to be in to agricultre and knows about spectrums and the like, i wonder if it is all diferent for marine plants. Either way I'll look in to it.
thanks again everyone. geez how addicted to this forum am i...

I have read that alot of people buy their plants (and related supplies) @ menagerie. I live extremely close to it (like literally 2 mintues away) and buy all of my other pet supplies from them. I think I will go and ask the fish staff for some advice. I haven't heard of anyone getting taken advantage of or anything so thats good.

Okay checked out other threads. I think I can do this!! Who thought that good plant advice would be found in the "plants" section! 

Jesus...I'll get better at forums, i promise.

J


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## jesser (Jun 24, 2008)

I think i have needlessly killed several kittens at this point. this thread can be killed... I'll post when i get more research done. sorry everyone!


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

jesser said:


> geez how addicted to this forum am i...
> J


Hello everyone, my name is Eric, and I have an addiction....


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## twoheadedfish (May 10, 2008)

mts syndrome is often followed closely by mps - mulptile posts syndrom.


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## MacFish (Jun 15, 2006)

> I'll post when i get more research done. sorry everyone!


No need for an apology. We are all still learning. If you don't ask, you don't find out the answer


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Thought I would chime in and recommend an old credit card for cleaning off your glass from algae. Works wonders.


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## Tabatha (Dec 29, 2007)

jesser said:


> I think i have needlessly killed several kittens at this point. this thread can be killed... I'll post when i get more research done. sorry everyone!


No way, you didn't kill any kittens and don't apologize, you're doing the right thing, asking questions, learning and doing research!


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## Riceburner (Mar 14, 2008)

isn't this post part of the research? Good Luck with the "new" tank.


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