swimfin27
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Breeding is the ultimate joy!
Posts: 67
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Post by swimfin27 on Feb 6, 2015 9:35:34 GMT -5
Well, folks, the time is here for me to start my first blog about my first aquarium. I was given a 25 gallon tank, 24x12x20, and I promptly started doing some research and development. Having never started an aquarium I went to AAP for freshwater basics. Let me just say "Holy Crap" there is a TON of information to read through over at AAP(great reads!). I compiled a list of filters and other aquarium needs and sought the advice of the great and wonderful people here at everythingaquatic.com. I am glad I did because I received great feedback and LOVE how AAP and their staff are involved on the forum. So anyway, I submitted my purchase request to the Boss(my fiance) and after some convincing I got the okay to make my large purchase. So now I am sitting here, a week after I placed my order, filled to the brim with excitement knowing my package is just a few miles away just itching to be delivered.
Stay tuned for the next chapter, I will post pictures of the products received and the installation, step by step. Feel free to include your input and I am always open to advice and new ideas.
Zack
P.S.- I have come up with a fish list, let me know what you think and I would like to hear any testimonials on the fish species I have selected.
5x- Skunk Cory (Corydoras arcuatus) 5x- American Flagfish(Jordanella Floridae) 5x- Peacock Gudgeon(Tateurdina Ocellicauda)
This pretty much puts my tank at full capacity IMO. I might add a sixth Peacock to help with pairing.
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Post by devonjohnsgard on Feb 6, 2015 9:54:16 GMT -5
Im excited to see this come along! Thanks for sharing in a tank blog.
I see no problem with the fish selection. It's great you choose beyond the "common" ones.
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swimfin27
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Breeding is the ultimate joy!
Posts: 67
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Post by swimfin27 on Feb 6, 2015 10:00:39 GMT -5
I don't want to offend anyone but in my personal opinion the fish I see at the lfs' are neat but I wanted to start off with species not many people have heard of but are easy to care for. I like the colors and should look great on a dark substrate which is what I was shooting for. Even though I am still wet behind the ears I'am hoping to breed the Peacock Gudgeon and supply the lfs' to get more variety out there.
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Post by Carl on Feb 6, 2015 10:07:35 GMT -5
Thanks for sharing and the compliments! My only thoughts with the fish selection is that Cory Cats can be sensitive and difficult fish, but do not let this discourage you either Here is a AAP Resource: www.americanaquariumproducts.com/catfish.htmlCarl
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swimfin27
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Breeding is the ultimate joy!
Posts: 67
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Post by swimfin27 on Feb 6, 2015 10:33:12 GMT -5
Thanks for the link, Carl! I think I am going to start the tank(after cycling of course) with the flagfish, the the gudgeon then the corys. I think this will also allow some time for a bit of algae to start on the decorations and will give the cory something to do right away.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2015 13:47:29 GMT -5
Greetings,
The Peacock Gudgeons will do very well with the Skunk Cory Cats. The Flagfish are a bit more of a colder water fish and can be very aggressive (I took a Flagfish back to the pet store after only two days as it was way too aggressive). Even though Peacock Gudgeons prefer a planted aquarium, mine are doing quite well with fake plants.
Cory cats are some of my favorite fish. Keep nitrates below 50 ppm and yours will be fine. If the Flagfish don't work out for you, you might consider Neon Dwarf rainbows or Pygmy rainbows. Yes, rainbow fish are my favorite fish.
Please post back how everything works out for you. You may want to add a small pleco (like a clown pleco - or bristle-nose chocolate pleco). They can be quite fun and work very well with the fish you selected.
Panda cory cats would be a nice alternative as they stay a bit smaller. The five skunk cory cats may get too big. I have a variety of cory cats and they all school together. Eleganz and Julii are two more varieties that don't get as large.
Wishing you success!
Judy
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Post by Carl on Feb 6, 2015 16:21:05 GMT -5
Greetings, The Peacock Gudgeons will do very well with the Skunk Cory Cats. The Flagfish are a bit more of a colder water fish and can be very aggressive (I took a Flagfish back to the pet store after only two days as it was way too aggressive). Even though Peacock Gudgeons prefer a planted aquarium, mine are doing quite well with fake plants. Good point! Carl
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swimfin27
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Breeding is the ultimate joy!
Posts: 67
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Post by swimfin27 on Feb 6, 2015 16:37:55 GMT -5
Thank you, Judy, those are very good points I will keep in mind. I'm hoping to get the gudgeons in there first so they can establish themselves then get the flagfish in as juveniles so hopefully they will learn their place. I was reading that the gudgeon and the flag fish are from 2 totally different ecosystems so that might be part of the aggression. I am going to try it and hope for the best. I ordered a large variety of plants and will probably make it a "heavily planted" aquarium with a variety of silk and plastic plants and going to add a number of PVC "caves". Hopefully if I keep the line of sight broken with enough open swim area everyone will play nice.
I might take your advice on the corys and go smaller and get a smaller juvenile pleco species. I have black gravel with little blues mixed in so maybe something brighter that will stand out on the substrate.
Do you have pictures or video of your peacock gudgeon? I would love to see them.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2015 18:21:11 GMT -5
Greetings,
The Peacock Gudgeons originate from New Guinea but most available in the states are tank raised(maybe in Florida?).
With the darker gravel, you might want to look into the albino bristle-nose plecos. Those can be very fun. I actually prefer the long-finned ones.
With the Peacock Gudgeon, you may want more females than males. I actually like the females better in this variety. I deliberately picked out three females, but might add a male or two next time I see that they are available.
My Peacock Gudgeons (three young ladies)are in a 20 gallon with several smaller rainbow varieties (several of the rainbows temporarily kept in the 20 gallon until they are big enough for the 75 gallon). They probably wouldn't show up very well in a photo.
The panda cory cats should show up nicely against your gravel...as will the skunks. Right now, I have six cory cats in my 20 gallon...so... You could go with with more than five. I have five in my 10 gallon (chuckles), but two will move to the 75 gallon soon. I raise my cory cats in my smaller tanks until they are big enough to move to the 75 gallon.
If you really want to have some fun... add a couple YoYo loaches! Mine like to go dancing. The Yo-Yo loaches won't out-grow your 25 gallon - but Clown Loaches will. I have two full grown Burmese Border Botias and one full grown Yo-Yo in my 20 gallon. The loaches do best in softer water - so pass on those if your water is hard.
Yep...with all of the cory cats, rainbows, pleco, gudgeons, botias/loach, and a couple tetras I am definitely over stocked. I run two filters on all of my tanks and do 25% water changes every two weeks. I have a fish "addiction" (laugh-out-loud). It is so hard to tell a fish "No" who wants to come home with me. One of these days, I will count up all of the fish in each aquarium.
Cheers,
Judy
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Post by angelminx on Feb 7, 2015 17:49:36 GMT -5
Hi, Swimfin,
A couple thoughts on the cories...It may have to do with the source, but I always had better luck with them when I lived in California than I do out here in Illinois (near St. Louis). I love cories and usually go for the more uncommon ones if I can. I prefer the Skunks to the Pandas, but that is probably because I've had more luck with them. The Pandas are more common here than the Skunks, but whenever I've tried them, they only seem to last a few months, while the one time I was able to get the Skunks they lasted a few years with no problems. I'd love to try some of the more "exotic" varieties, but they are so much more expensive out here! Unless there's some sort of "fluke", other than the occasional "assorted spotted cories" and Sterbae, the only thing available around here seem to be the Paleatus, Aeneus, albinos, "Julies" and Pandas, and I have to special order them (the only place I can do that anywhere near me is at Petco) to get anything different.
Good luck with your fish.
Angelminx
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swimfin27
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Breeding is the ultimate joy!
Posts: 67
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Post by swimfin27 on Feb 7, 2015 21:40:19 GMT -5
Okay, folks, I have a tank full of water and the filters in place. I unfortunately did not buy enough gravel so I will have to go and get more. I have a few pictures to upload but do not know how to resize them to fit here. If someone with that knowledge could PM me and give me some pointers it would be greatly appreciated.
I did not put any plants or my driftwood in yet(has to soak) because the water was just too darn cold. It is at a whopping 52 F straight from the tap(going to have to keep that in mind for water changes). I added 2.5 cap fulls of stability to start the bio growth. I will do a water test tomorrow before I add more stability. (yes the UV is off while the stability is being added)
For those interested my tap water tested as follows: pH- 7 GH- 120 KH- 80 NO2- 0 NO3- 0
Stay tuned for pictures and updates as things are added
Thank you, All
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swimfin27
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Breeding is the ultimate joy!
Posts: 67
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Post by swimfin27 on Feb 8, 2015 15:07:37 GMT -5
Okay so I got more gravel and I added the plants, Trex cave and LED bubble wand. I still have more plants coming Tuesday. I figured out how to upload images after browsing through some other threads. The temperature is up to 75 F and starting to plateau, the water parameters have not changed since the last test. Well I was trying to resize my photos on photo bucket but nothing would load for me so I will attempt to load and resize the pictures again later. Originally I wanted to be able to "hide" the filters and hoses but that has proved to be futile. I am going to need a bigger tank to achieve that. The UV filter is massive and currently have it semi buried in a volcanic rock, gravel mix and plan to put the drift wood in front of it. I am also wondering if having it buried like that can cause an issue(Carl?) it is hard to determine without the photo so I will try to get those up ASAP. Also currently I am only using Stability to cycle. Should I go purchase food to help with the bio growth? So far this has been a lot of fun, I must admit that as I was setting it up, even though I did tons of research, I still felt like I wasn't doing it incorrectly. Just a bit of newbie syndrome I guess. I love the input everybody, thank you for sharing! Zack P.S.-- Correct me if I am wrong but I should not perform any water changes until the tank is cycled and fish are in. No bio-load no mess to clean up..makes sense. EDIT: Dexter is always eager to "help" whenever Dad is doing something. I love this piece of drift wood! Thanks AAP This is where I left off last night. Freezing cold water and 10-15lbs of gravel short. The finished unfinished result. I put in the needed gravel, a few plants, Trex cave and LED bubble wand
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Post by Carl on Feb 8, 2015 17:38:58 GMT -5
The UV filter is massive and currently have it semi buried in a volcanic rock, gravel mix and plan to put the drift wood in front of it. I am also wondering if having it buried like that can cause an issue(Carl?) This will not be a problem at all and in fact will encourage further bio filtration and mechanical filtration in the gravel around the filter intake. We actually recommend this with high bio load aquariums and ALL ponds Stability will not work correctly unless there is some bio load, whether it be fish or food If the ammonia or nitrites get high while fish are present, small water changes are fine, followed by a dose of Stability BTW; Looking good! Carl
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swimfin27
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Breeding is the ultimate joy!
Posts: 67
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Post by swimfin27 on Feb 8, 2015 19:16:09 GMT -5
Stability will not work correctly unless there is some bio load, whether it be fish or food ---- Do you have any recommendations on the kind of food to use or does it not matter? Also how often and how much food should I use. I dont know if I feel comfortable putting fish in there yet. Well, I am officially in the dog house(woof!). I went on craigslist and someone was selling a 30 gal for 30$ so I jumped on it and bought it. The fiance wasn't too happy because she is worried about where I am going to put it and said I should get the 25 going first. BUT after some convincing I am allowed to sleep in the bed tonight HAHA!
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Post by Carl on Feb 9, 2015 9:57:26 GMT -5
Stability will not work correctly unless there is some bio load, whether it be fish or food ---- Do you have any recommendations on the kind of food to use or does it not matter? Also how often and how much food should I use. I dont know if I feel comfortable putting fish in there yet. I would use about what you would feed a tank this size if fish were present, about 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon of any flake food or fish food crumble. Further Reference: www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Nitrogen_Cycle.html#cyclingCarl
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swimfin27
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Breeding is the ultimate joy!
Posts: 67
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Post by swimfin27 on Feb 9, 2015 12:27:18 GMT -5
Thank you, Carl. I haven't read that article yet.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2015 12:50:06 GMT -5
Hi Zack (?...Did I remember your name?),
Looking good. You might want to look for a background to put on the back glass to hide the wires etc. My 75 gallon was already painted black when my son originally bought it (I wouldn't give it back to him when he bought a house - so we helped him purchase a 90 gallon), but I purchased backgrounds from a local pet store to put on the back of all of my other aquariums.
Glad to see you have a trustworthy helper, Dexter. My cat, Boomer, helps take care of my fish. My other cat, Malika, isn't much of a helper (grin). Must be male cat thing. My son's cats always have to make sure I do things right when I do his water changes (I take good care of my Grandfish).
This made me smile:
>> I went on craigslist and someone was selling a 30 gal for 30$ so I jumped on it and bought it.
The 30 gallon will be big enough for some varieties of rainbows! Maybe you will get a "fish addiction", too.
Cheers,
Judy D.
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swimfin27
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Breeding is the ultimate joy!
Posts: 67
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Post by swimfin27 on Feb 9, 2015 16:21:13 GMT -5
Hi Zack (?...Did I remember your name?), Looking good. You might want to look for a background to put on the back glass to hide the wires etc. The 30 gallon will be big enough for some varieties of rainbows! Maybe you will get a "fish addiction", too. Hi, Judy, yes you remembered correctly but don't ever spell it with a "h" at the end haha. As far as the background goes, I ordered some glow in the dark paint and I was going to by a space themed cosmos background and give the stars a glow in the dark touch(going to laminate it). That way when the lights are off the tank will have a nice glow to it. I wanted to do something a little different. I already have a fish addiction and I don't even have fish yet! I'm not sure about what to do with it yet, there are so many fish species out there! I kind of like the odd ball fish. Once the 25 is cycled I will start establishing the media for the 30 in the 25. I need to get a 10 gallon to use as a hospital tank so maybe that is what I will use it for in the mean time. Dexter's specialty is laying on everything making sure it doesn't "blow" away. I am hoping he will be more interested in the tank when there are fish in there. I can tell he is bored and because of our lease we can't get another cat(we weren't even supposed to have him). Zack
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Post by devonjohnsgard on Feb 9, 2015 19:21:37 GMT -5
Looks like everyone has covered it so far. Coming along nicely. I can tell you burying the filter will not cause any issues. I wondered in the beginning if it would be to much strain on the pump, but the pump still will have no problem sucking up water. I have my pump buried to my sand filter. It has started...fish madness. You can always try to spin it that you need more than one tank for different types of fish and/or growout and/or quarantine. Im in the business of having fish tanks, and I'm still in the dog house sometimes. I can tell you with all the flack I have gotten for my fish, my wife secretly loves them...
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swimfin27
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Breeding is the ultimate joy!
Posts: 67
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Post by swimfin27 on Feb 9, 2015 22:10:07 GMT -5
As I move stuff around and try to imagine where the driftwood is going to go I have quickly come to the conclusion, I need a bigger tank. I can already tell that I am going to outgrow the 30g reeeal quick but I need to put the brakes on and slow it down a bit and just let this tank cycle. I thought I was pretty patient person but only 2 days and I'm screaming "C'MON!!", I want to watch my fishies.
My better(much better)half has had aquariums her whole life(it's her dads fault)so I know she likes having them around. I think she just gets bugged with us having limited space as is.
Tank Update: I noticed the tank a little bit cloudy when I got home for work(UV is still off). I did not change anything except add a 1/4 teaspoon of food and a cap full of Stability. I also added a small chunk of wonder shell to help keep the pH up so the cycling isn't inhibited. Temp- 78 F and holding well pH- 7.0 KH- 120 GH- 120 NO3- 0 NO2- 0
KH has changed from 80 to 120.
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