# Beginner Tank



## Tabatha (Dec 29, 2007)

Training wheels on, criticism, suggestions, advice greatly appreciated! (sorry about reflections, will try more tonight when dark.)


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## ozi (Aug 23, 2007)

It's a good beginning, but you need to work a bit on the rock arrangement in there, cauz right now they're not really "saying" anything. You should google for Iwagumi, to learn more about creating a nice hard scape with your rocks.
Here are two links that i think might be useful:
http://www.aquatic-eden.com/2007/02/iwagumi-and-sanzon-iwagumi-aquariums.html
http://www.aquatic-eden.com/2007/02/aquascape-analysis-6-gallery-22-iwagumi.html


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## XbrandonX (Nov 22, 2007)

Wow those links are fantastic Ozi!

I would love to try and get something like that going later on when I'm a little more practiced at this aquathumb business...

I like your set up, personally I have one big piece of wood and some hornwort floating at the top.. yours looks about 25X better than mine ; )

The ones in the links however... whoah...


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## Tabatha (Dec 29, 2007)

*Biocube 8G Update*

After much messing around with the rocks and plants, here's my final (rock) layout. I've tried to follow the rule of thirds, I think I'm pretty close. I cut up my moss ball into smaller pieces so it wouldn't so dominant. Obviously all the plants need to grow and mature 

I added Cardinal Tetra as well as Harlequin but I think the Cardinals stick out too much so will move them to another aquascaped tank in the future.


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

i like that layout much better!


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## dekstr (Oct 23, 2007)

Nice looking tank!


Only thing I can comment on is your fish list. 

Maybe you know this already, but I see a lot of schooling fish that aren't schooling! They'll be fine in the current number, but if you really want to see their natural behaviour (harlequins, cardinals, red phantoms) you will need to up each species' number to at least 6. In the wild, most tetras school in the thousands--so maybe mimicking nature by just a bit wouldn't be too bad!

However, seeing that it's a smaller tank, it might not be possible due to overstocking and swimming space limitations. The tetras are mostly mid-level dwellers, so you can't add more in the current system without confusing swimming patterns.


Maybe adding new tank(s) and moving all the other tetras except for one species, then increasing the numbers for all of them? Or a bigger tank? (All this calls for new tank syndrome!  ) Anyways just my $0.02.

Good luck on your tank!


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## Tabatha (Dec 29, 2007)

Ciccian: Thank you, I do too and it was driving me nuts before!

dekstr: I agree. I'm looking around for a 10g (home) and a 5g for the office both for aquascape purposes. I'd like to include shrimp in both. I'd put the Cardinals in the 5g and maybe the Harlequins in the 10g since they're WAY more active than the Phantoms. I would like to try the 5g as a heavily planted low tech tank - no filtration. Has anyone had any experience with this? I saw a really nice huge vase at Loblaws yesterday which I'm considering ($30.00).

Will be making my first aquatic trip to Menagerie after work this coming Friday, can't wait! My girfriend was there yesterday and said the staff was great.

p.s., has anyone noticed how easy it is to net Cardinals as opposed to other Tetras?

p.p.s., I've been reading some shrimp blogs and it seems that people put ALOT of shrimp into 1 small tank. Is this common?


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## dekstr (Oct 23, 2007)

Tabatha said:


> dekstr: I agree. I'm looking around for a 10g (home) and a 5g for the office both for aquascape purposes. I'd like to include shrimp in both. I'd put the Cardinals in the 5g and maybe the Harlequins in the 10g since they're WAY more active than the Phantoms. I would like to try the 5g as a heavily planted low tech tank - no filtration. Has anyone had any experience with this? I saw a really nice huge vase at Loblaws yesterday which I'm considering ($30.00).
> 
> Will be making my first aquatic trip to Menagerie after work this coming Friday, can't wait! My girfriend was there yesterday and said the staff was great.
> 
> ...


For low-tech non-co2 heavily planted tank, go here for the most useful information. If you want no-filter, you still need some method to get water movement so nutrients can go around, maybe a small airstone or powerhead. You can also google "Diana Walstad" for her low-tech low-maintenance tanks.

For your vase idea--be wary of the water surface area of the vase. For a low-tech, you want as much air-water exchange as possible in order to facilitate oxygen saturation in the water.

You won't regret going to Menagerie.

Most fish are easy to net, just need to take some time to play mind tricks on them. Most tetras are schoolers, so you can gently herd them like sheep or cows with one hand into a net instead of chasing them around (which is stressful for both the fish and you).

Edit: Dwarf shrimp have small impact on the bioload due to their miniature size and small diet, so you can fit quite a number of shrimp in a tank. However, the # of shrimps also depends on the filtration (including plants' biological filtration), water volume, how many WCs you do. Technically, you can fit as many shrimp as food can be processed by filtration, but it's just a lot of maintenance and impractical.


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## Tabatha (Dec 29, 2007)

*I Caught them Schooling!*

I was focusing on the rock texture and was lucky enought to catch the Harlequins schooling.


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## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)

hi i like your tank but IMO its a little small for a lot of that stuff... I would put white coulds or something in there with your shrimp and keep the water cooler...

Honestly raspboras/tetras arent going to be too cheerful IME


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## Tabatha (Dec 29, 2007)

I agree, when we got the Raspboras and Cardinals, we thought we'd lost a Phantom which would have been 8" for 8 gallons. I am looking for another (affordable) tank to move the Rasboras as they seem to be more active than any of the tetra.

What temperature do you recommend for what's in there now?


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## dekstr (Oct 23, 2007)

Tabatha said:


> I agree, when we got the Raspboras and Cardinals, we thought we'd lost a Phantom which would have been 8" for 8 gallons. I am looking for another (affordable) tank to move the Rasboras as they seem to be more active than any of the tetra.
> 
> What temperature do you recommend for what's in there now?


For 8" for 8 gallons, do you mean the fish per inch rule? That only applies to non-planted tanks, and even then, is a poor measure of fish load in a tank.

Tropical weather is between 24-28? I keep my fish on the lower side at about 25 degrees celsius to save a bit on heating cost. Also, fish metabolism is slower at lower temps since they're cold-blooded. So I don't have to feed as much since they swim slower, which costs less as well. Depends on the fish.

Most people keep between 25-27.

Most cichlids and discus prefer warmer temps. 
Goldfish prefer lower temps.
White cloud minnows and panda cories (at least wild caught ones) prefer cooler temps.

That's all I can think of in my head.

Go to mongabay.com for some specific fish species info.
skepticalaquarist.com is good for technical stuff.
But use your own judgement, not everything is true. I might be wrong!

Edit: Dwarf shrimp species prefer cooler water as well.


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