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Hey guys just starting up my first ever fish tank (30g) and I had a question that I'm not sure has come up. albeit my flooring is sturdy enough to support the tank, for some reason it isn't sitting perfectly flat and is leaving ever so slightly forward. Normally this wouldn't be a problem except that the lean has made a very gradual leak due to moisture on the lid of it. Should I be trying to find a way to level the tank? Or is there a way to stop this leaking from occurring? In a separate note, I'm not staring with any plans as I feel like that's just more stuff to go wrong for a beginner, but I would like to get into it down the road. What Is the process to add on plants f for an established tank? is it just a case of emptying the track for a little bit, planting, then transferring back in the fish and water?
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Oct 12, 2013 07:08
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| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 21:40 |
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So I've just had a platy die after have 3 and a Cory in my new tank for about a week. All the levels seen to be fine, but is there anything I should be looking into. Not sure if it's a case of over feeding or just fish acclimating to the tank or what. Being that I only have the 3 fish right now, I'm also wondering if it's too soon to consider adding more fish to the tank. It's a 20 gallon. So I was thinking of going up to 2 Cory's and 5 platys for now. I also know I'm supposed to switch out about 25% of the water once a week. Should I be holding off a few more days because it's a new tank, or should I do exactly that?
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Oct 22, 2013 18:04
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Well, I guess I didn't change my water correctly. I have 1 of my 2 corys basically sitting still out of sight, and a platy that is currently barely moving on the bottom of my tank... I did another water change to bring down the ammonia levels, and it seems like they are good, but us there anything else I should be trying to do here? As far as I can tell these 2 are goners.
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Oct 27, 2013 21:39
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Dantu posted:w00tmonger, you never answered this. We need more info to help you. My bad. I had assumed at the time that I had a weak fish as I had done a water change and added the couple solutions to our mentioned at the store (I believe a de-chlorinator, bio agent and an anti algae). Did some googling after the post and decided to check the ammonia levels which were quite high considering I had done the water change. Did another water change properly, making sure to drudge up the gravel a bit this time and the levels dropped down to where they should be. Sadly I caught it a bit late and the platy died, but the Cory has recovered as of this morning and it's behaving like a boss. I think the whole mess occurred due to a bad water change as I don't think I tried knocking around the gravel the first time. Edit: On a side note, I wanted to add some plants at some point in the future to my tank, and have considered switching my substrate to something with a finer grain or possibly sand. What is involved in switching the gravel/adding plants to a tank? I know the gravel is a large factor in maintaining the bacteria on the tank, so would it just be a case of letting the new stuff sit in some of the tanks water for a couple of weeks? w00tmonger fucked around with this message at 18:38 on Oct 28, 2013 |
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Oct 28, 2013 18:32
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Dantu posted:The issue is whether or not the tank has cycled yet. When you setup a new tank there isn't much in the way of nitrifying bacteria yet. When you add fish they produce waste, which causes an ammonium spike (technically fish waste contains ammonia which turns into ammonium in the water). This allows the first batch of bacteria to build up and they turn it into Nitrite. This produces a batch of bacteria that break that down into Nitrate. Nitrate is either taken up by plants as food, or removed during partial water changes. I figured as much, and I had the tank sitting for a couple of weeks (arguably should have waited longer). It was a case of having waaay to much ammonia in the tank, and Ill be keeping an eye on it to make sure it doesn't spike.
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Oct 29, 2013 03:58
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I'm looking at switching out the gravel in my 20 gallon to done sort of sand and turning it into a planned tank. Anything I need to be aware of so that I don't kill the fish that are in there at the moment? Right now I just have done platys and some Cory's.
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Nov 18, 2013 19:44
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SynthOrange posted:How're you planning to do this? As long as you keep most of the water and filter, keeping the fish in a spare tub or tank while you're doing the change and let the water clear up before putting them back in, and acclimate them it should be okay. I have some large plastic bins that I've been doing water changes with and I was thinking of moving them into the bin with some of the olds water from the tank (while putting the rest of the water to the side in a 2nd bin. From there, emptying out the old gravel and take plants from the tank, setting up the tank, then adding the fish back to the tank. Would this work, or should u really be doing it with new water etc
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Nov 19, 2013 02:08
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So I had a really fatass platy that I assumed was just overfed, but after a recent water change I noticed 2 small baby platies in the tank. What is the likelihood that I just committed fish genocide on a bunch of baby fish from pulling out and scrubbing all my fake plants and fake shipwreck? 
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Jan 14, 2014 18:13
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Just started my first planted tank and I'm really pumped with how it's looking so far. Just a little 8 gallon I picked up on boxing day, but I plan on making this the test to convert my larger 20 gallon or possibly even go ham and but a 40. Ground cover in the front gave me a bit of problem on the left, but I figure it will fill out with time. 
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Feb 22, 2014 17:17
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So snails and planted fish tanks? I have my little planted 8 gallon going with a couple otos and some shrimp. And it was mentioned that I would want to look into an assassin small at some point. I only have a couple snails in the tank right now, and I've heard mixed things any their benefit to the tank ecology. Should I be holding off on an assassin? Should I be encouraging snail growth somehow?
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Apr 1, 2014 07:07
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I don't have a snail problem right now, but when I went through this planted tank seminar it kept coming up. Being a little 8 gallon, should I literally just be rocking whatever junk snails are in there right now? or should I be going out and getting some from the store? This is my first planted tank, so if there are any beginners mistakes that'll catch me up then I would love to know about them ahead of time. Right now its literally just Shrimp and Otos, so I have a lot of room to work with. I think it would be sweet to have a predator/prey thing going on with assassin snails but I imagine that would be hard to balance long term.
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Apr 1, 2014 18:14
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Alright, so I just found what I assume are some bugs in our planted tank. What the hell am I seeing here? should I be doing anything about it? I've spotted 2, and they are about the length of my cherry shrimp.  
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Apr 4, 2014 23:38
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So I've been trying to get them out, and they're just being huge bitches about being caught. Any tips and tricks? what happens if I leave them in the tank. Right now I just have shrimp and oto's in there...
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Apr 5, 2014 05:05
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RedTonic posted:@ w00tmonger - if those are damselflies, you've got some really clean water! That's kind of astounding. When I was working with a watershed reclamation group, we used damselflies as kind of a marker for determining stream health. Sweet, does that mean I can consider myself not an idiot fish-wise?
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Apr 8, 2014 15:38
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So weird thing going on in my planted tank right now. I've had this dark green algae forming on the ground cover at the front of my tank edging slightly onto the glass at the front. Any idea what this is? Seems different than the other algae in my tank and I'm not exactly sure how to get rid of it as if I try to do so I'll tear up my ground cover...
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May 7, 2014 14:52
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question for you guys. I've been thinking about what it would take to get a little desk-tank for work, possibly with some shrimp and other lower maintenance creatures. I think I would go planted, and probably just something quite small as space is limited. Maybe 2-3 gallon? would it be feasible to get something working on that small of a scale?
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May 13, 2014 16:04
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Just used what I've learned with my little planted 8 gallon and lovely little 20 gallon to start a new 55 gallon planted tank!
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Aug 31, 2014 22:50
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Pukestain Pal posted:what is the substrate you are using? I've already thrown it the bag for the main stuff, but it's some generic dark brown soil pellets. On top of that is leftover Ada soil powder from my other tank.
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Sep 2, 2014 13:50
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A few of the leaves here and there on my ground cover are withering or getting yellow. Anything I should be worried about our is this largely a result of it being a new tank and everything establishing?
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Sep 4, 2014 04:59
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whats a good ph range for a planted tank? I'm just establishing my 55 and I'm not sure what I should be aiming for. For that matter, if its out of a solid range, what can I do to adjust it?
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Sep 14, 2014 01:44
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Chichevache posted:I guess the first step would be to find out what the PH of your tapwater is. Have you measured it yet? Sorry I took forever to get to this. My tapwater sits around 7.6 according to these tests. The water in my new tank is currently around 6.4-6.6 but its still cycling so I'm not sure if its just related to that. If the ph is way off is there anything I can add to my tank once that will take care of things forever? Just want a nice and normal planted tank with some fish.
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Sep 16, 2014 06:54
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Chichevache posted:Is there a reason your tap water and tank water are so different? What is in your tank? Only things in the new tank are some plants to Kickstart it (couldn't tell you which), Some landscaping rocks (river rock) , and some driftwood. My other tank has a more reasonably similar pH, which makes me wonder if it's either the rock, or the pH is just weird because it's still cycling and things are just sorting themselves out. If this isn't temporary, I can only guess that it's my rock? Edit: VVVVV I'm reading through this, and Im pretty sure its at least not limestone as I did the whole vinegar test. Thanks though! w00tmonger fucked around with this message at 16:00 on Sep 16, 2014 |
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Sep 16, 2014 15:05
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No its looking pretty clear. There has been some white poo poo forming on the stumps of my driftwood, so I was wondering if it might have been related.If it is tanins, is it a permanent thing? I do have a bit of a brown algae bloom at the moment but again, just cycling.
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Sep 16, 2014 17:53
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Sostratos posted:You could get a water changer like a Python. It hooks up to the faucet on your sink and can drain and fill with one hose. It's a lot easier than using buckets. My big tank is far from any faucets. Any others?
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Sep 18, 2014 00:52
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One of the Cory's in my new tank looks like it has ick. What's the best route here given that it's a new planted 55 gallon?
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Sep 25, 2014 18:33
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Just noticed a few big white dots in my tank on the glass near the bottom. The tank has shrimp, some big zebra snails and some Cory's. Could they be eggs?
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Oct 13, 2014 04:54
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I fell in love with the idea of adding some shrimp into my big 55 gallon tank, but heard there might be some issues with my ~5 assassin snails roaming it. Are shrimp safe from the snails? Is there some other inveterate that is that could fill the gap without being too aggressive? Dwarf Crayfish look adorable as well but I don't know much about them.
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Nov 3, 2014 20:14
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SocketWrench posted:Heh, I've got Ramshorn, never had an issue with them and shrimp getting along.
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Nov 3, 2014 23:38
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just transferred a couple from my small to big tank..... are they tiger barb safe? 1 casualty so far
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Nov 4, 2014 05:58
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Are there any easy to come by shrimp that would be safe from my green tiger barbs? 55 gallon and I would prefer they weren't immediately eaten...
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Nov 13, 2014 04:45
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GreyPowerVan posted:if it's got a lot of plant cover the shrimp will hide, they're pretty smart and good at hiding. I added 6 cherry from another tank and they were eaten immediately
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Nov 13, 2014 06:48
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I've been treating my tank for fungus as a few of my fish had small spots. one in particular as quite covered on one side and I thought he would likely just die during treatment. Hes still swimming about and I cant manage to catch him with a net so where do I go from here. Will the fungus that is still on him continue to spread or did the treatment render it inert?
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Nov 26, 2014 17:38
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Ive been wondering this for a bit, but is there a certain point where a heavily planted fish-tank no longer has to have the water cycled. I have a small 8 gallon that basically just has shrimp and plants, and a heavily planted/stocked 50gal. right now I'm doing it every 2 weeks
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Jun 11, 2015 17:51
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Anyone have some recommendations for substrate in a planted freshwater tank? Starting from scratch for the first time in a couple years and I can't honestly remember what I should be aiming for. In Canada if anyone can recommend vendors wtc
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Jan 4, 2018 00:26
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Good tips. I'll look into the seachem but will see what I can find for a reasonable place. Ideally I would like to not have to tear the tank down in a couple years so whatever will let me get my tank set up with reasonable maintenance. Own my place now so I'm not planning on moving the tank any time soon
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Jan 4, 2018 19:07
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MrDeSaussure posted:I have a 55g cube that's insanely heavily planted. Last planted tank used some dirt pellet substrate. Is there much to using sand instead? No idea if I need to worry about minerals in the substrate or anything for the plants. Any need to throw different substrate underneath? Last tank had a few layers. Also plan on carpeting it, it's a 55g, and want to properly scape things w00tmonger fucked around with this message at 22:42 on Jan 4, 2018 |
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Jan 4, 2018 22:30
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Sounds awesome, just need to see if I can find a supplier in Canada. Reading it might now be good for bottom fish and shrimp though as it can be sharp. Didn't touch a ton of fertilizer with the last tank so I'll dig in to that a bit but shouldn't be too crazy
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Jan 5, 2018 00:01
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Anyone know where I can buy aquarium filter foam in Canada? Need to cut some for my new sunsun filter
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Jan 12, 2018 20:09
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Stand question for a small tank. If I took a 2x4 Ikea expedit and put it on its side, would it be structurally sounds to put a 9 gallon or 15 gallon tank on top of it?
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Jan 28, 2018 23:25
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| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 21:40 |
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I guess that seals it then. I was worried about water damage on the particle board but I'll sort it outSynthbuttrange posted:
This is basically what I'm looking at doing. Arguably though I'm still cautious. Looking at a 9 or 15g fluvial flex w00tmonger fucked around with this message at 03:26 on Jan 29, 2018 |
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Jan 29, 2018 03:21
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