Tank start up !!

[dony2020]

Okay guys i made the leap, anyways if this is in the wrong place please let me know, so i finally made my last step to get the tank going I'm using the 20 tall and well the light needs to be changes for a sunlight/ daylight bulb as a 50/50 is not working well with what i want and well all it is right now is sand light and filter next day i will be getting 5 goldfish feeders help kick start the tank for cycling little trick i know anyways here it is let me know what you guys think

 

[bigbird]

a good start. what filtration do you have ? Also what substrate ? Any idea what you wish to keep in it? CHEERS JK :thumbup:

 

[dony2020]

I am using a aquaclear 50- 20-50gl filter, i was thinking of getting the 70 but that would be to much for the little tank for water current with the sand.

the Substrate is a crushed coral/sand mostly sand was going for amazonian riverbed,. and I will be getting some nce drift wood or even redmoor for it not sure about the background yet

and the fish i was thinking like i rather want school of tetras neon's or others, guppies, or some kind of natural schooling fish from the amazon. the plecs i would get I'm still debating is hyphan's or small bristle-nose's maybe just one yellow king tiger

 

[zeebo]

very nice so far !
did you mean crushed coral mixed with sand for substrate ? wont that make the ph kinda high ? not sure if that is correct for the fish you intend to keep , but others may chime in and correct me here.
Good luck with it dony !! Cant wait to see it stocked

Georgie

 

[bigbird]

as georgie stated, crushed coral/sand will/might cause you problems with your PH and increase it which Amazon fish are not in favour of. cheers jk :thumbup:

 

[dony2020]

yeah its crushed coral sand mix and i meant for this the water condition around me are not the greatest and well it leads to my fresh water tanks with extremely low ph even adding a few good sized chunks of coral rocks to the tank wouldn't help and i would still need to add ph 7.0 to it just to help so hopefully this might help if it turns out to be to much i will start over no biggie i have patience and a bucket of black rock white mix from my last hex tank i had

 

[bigbird]

wow that is interesting. what PH comes out of your tap water ?

cheers jk :thumbup:

 

[dony2020]

just tested it it is a dark rich gold yellow witch looks like the next level after 6.0

just tested the fish tank and it is between the 7.6-7.2 more of a darker blue then the 7.2 right now but that doesn't mean nothing till the cycle is complete will keep you guys/gals informed on it, my water plant keep adjusting the chemicals this past year

 

[Lornek8]

Would really be careful with using feeder goldfish to cycle. Probably the worst treated fish in the trade & always carrying some type of disease. All you need is to introduce it to the tank to start a new tank with a disease. Why not run a fishless cycle? Just as fast, if not faster, & no threat of disease.

 

[dony2020]

Thats very true lornek Hmmm, :dk: i guess i was brought up doing that and never really thought about fish-less cycle,,........Well I'm back just transferred the goldfish to the turtle tank now. and inserted some live rocks from my parrot tank, i have some Biozyme fresh water i use as well.

 

[Lornek8]

Live rock doesn't realy work in freshwater as it does in salt. Also, without a food source (ammonia) it'll all be for naught anyway. The filter bacteria you're trying to cultivate needs ammonia as a food source, without it they'll essentially starve.

 

[dony2020]

live rock? lol i meant dead coral rock like the ones they have in the bins next to the red slate bins

 

[zeebo]

hi dony, i also have a prob with my ph due to the wood, so i but a bag of crushed coral in the filter , and that holds it steady for aprox a month,( i also do 10% wc's daily, which helps with the ph and keeps the nitrAtes low) and i change the crushed coral when i notice a drop in ph. I keep my ph at 6.8 for the fish i keep.

not sure if it is the flow of the filter water that helps , but it works. I think the fish prefer a steady ph ,rather get it to a than constantly changing it to specific number,( i learned that here )

for my tanks, i use a netted bag from aquatic store and put about 4 tbsp in there, i suppose it would depend on tank size, tap ph and preferred ph#. Just keep in mind fish dont like a big/fast change in ph, must be done slowly .
HTH,
Georgie

 

[dony2020]

Hey Georgie, i have been testing my ph now for 3 days with the cycle going and for the 3 days i had the drift wood in it as-well and it looks like its steady at 7.2-7.0 i am in shock at this point its staying at the 7's with the wood in-there any ways here is an updated picture of it now

sorry about the crummy pictures my nikon is not working so i am using my phone
Pre goldfish removal

 

[bigbird]

looks good. any caves you will add for the Ls ? cheers jk :thumbup:

 

[dony2020]

i was looking around for some caves not sure what i want and was deciding to put it in the middle where the heater is

 

[bigbird]

good stuff, keep us informed. What fish you want to add later ?

 

[zeebo]

good stuff, keep us informed. What fish you want to add later ?

agree, looks good ! and yes , please keep us updated :thumbup: glad everything is working out . Soon comes the fun part, choosing your fish
which you would want to research before purchasing to be sure they are a good fit for your water, tank size and eachother! good luck

Georgie

 

[dony2020]

Well tanks is till in cycle really high ammonia and nitrites, anyways i think clown pleco's and some tetras, btw what is this pleco and would it work in the tank

 

[Lornek8]

Rhino plec.
Ultimately gets too large for that tank.