Planted Pea Puffer Savannah

[Madeline]

Hello Everyone,

I've started a new 34 gallon planted tank I plan to keep Dwarf Puffers in. I know pea puffers aren't quite the newbie fish you start with, however, every piece of advise I read says keep the fish you want then build the tank for them.... So that's what I'm doing. I researched loads and loads of fish and fell in love with the mini puffers.

I then spent a good couple of months convincing the fiancé to get a large tank for our home. We have a small BiOrb that belongs to our 5 year old daughter and I've enjoyed caring for it so much I wanted my own tank. We settled on the Fluval f90 because the tank and set up was so aesthetically beautiful that it would be a joy to watch.

I ordered the tank and we proceeded to shop for the decor to make the Pea Puffers a great home. We visited loads of aquarium shops and came upon Pacific Aquarium in NYC, where we spotted this amazing piece of Savannah wood.

The tank arrived on September 14th and we set it up over the next few days. My better half did most of the work!

We put in Caribsea moonlight sand and the Savannah wood then sat back and enjoyed the view.

The cloudiness dissipated after a day... then the tannins set in...

 

[Madeline]

I proceeded to watch the beautiful tank turn brown. My fiancé I'm sure kept his opinion to himself and I set about doing research on removing the tannins. Loads of sites say leave it in, it looks great, and it's so good for fish. If the fish are aggressive they can't see each other... But then I can't see them either!

I'm sorry no. lol

Carbon and Purigen and Chemiblue were recommended along with massive water changes. Also boiling the wood and soaking it.

The wood is huge and wouldn't fit on my stove let alone inside a pot. So, in the bath tub it went for a shower and another scrubbing.... I was super careful not to let it touch anything in my tub except water! Again, gotta thank my fiancé for his assistance in holding it while I sprayed it with water and scrubbed.

Back in the tank it went after a nearly full water change and over 100ml of carbon. We treated the water again and waited a few days and voila... tannins under control.... for now. I added some Java Fern and Amazon Swords that arrived in pretty bad shape and a third plant I forget the name of but will post it later. Bought some Flourish but LFS was out of root tabs...

We also asked my LFS for some free snails for our puffers to eat once they settle in. They were more than happy to give me a bag of 7 Ramshorn snails to get started. They understood the tank would be cycling for a while.

I placed a large order of plants and some other items and am hoping to spruce up the tank in the next few days. Pea Puffers, I've read, love and need a heavily planted tank... so what the Peas want the Peas will get... little by little...

 

[Madeline]

I have the API freshwater test kit and these are the parameters so far.. it's so early these are more a measure of our tap water than anything else of course.

PH 7.6 Tap water
PH 7.0 Tannins Brown Water
Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 0

I have soft water here in NYC and my tap always measures no chlorine... but I treat it with conditioners anyway

 

[SeanTrollope]

nice. very nice

 

[Munroco]

Looking forward to seeing this develope

 

[SnailPocalypse]

The plant in the back with the big leaves looks like some sort of sword which are heavy root feeders.I woul say unless your sand has something adde dyou will need root tabs for those.It is looking good though!

 

[Madeline]

The plant in the back with the big leaves looks like some sort of sword which are heavy root feeders.I woul say unless your sand has something adde dyou will need root tabs for those.It is looking good though!

Yes those are Amazon Swords. I got some tabs into the tank last night. I had to order them since they were out at my LFS when I was looking for some. Also started using the Aquarium Coop brand of ferts so hopefully they get better soon. Thank you!

 

[Madeline]

Last night I got a shipment of new plants, fertilizers and an intake sponge from Aquarium Coop. As you can imagine I was in fish tank heaven playing with the tank.

 

[Madeline]

Loads of new plants but not quite "heavily planted". Im sure when they grow out a bit it will be lush... that is for those few plants that will grow faster than those anubias... I'll post a full plant list in a bit.

I'm considering some water sprite next, that was suggested by H20 Plants when I asked them about puffer friendly plants.

 

[Madeline]

Plants I added last night:

Amazon Swords 2x
Anubias Nana 2x
Anubias Coffeefolia 2x
Banana Lily 2x
Apon Ulvaceus bulbs 2x


Added on 9/24/17

1 Pitiful Amazon Sword
1 Java Fern bunch attached to a piece of coconut
3 Marimo Moss Balls and
14 stems of either .... Lidernis Rotundifolia or Bacopa Caroliniana. I say either because I forgot to write the name of the plant while at the LFS... feel free to clarify for me if you're knowledgeable and can tell the difference.

 

[SeanTrollope]

yip it probably will grow out into a stunning tank

 

[Madeline]

yip it probably will grow out into a stunning tank

Thank you, I hope so.

 

[FroFro]

Thank you, I hope so.

Have you thought of getting a background for your tank. I read online that some people make a sort of java moss wall on the inside but I've never tried this.

And also, I have a large piece of driftwood that turned my tank tea brown within an hour. I can still see all my fish clearly and my tank has a more "natural" look to it instead of the glare of my LED lights.

 

[SnailPocalypse]

Now im getting excited for my 55 gallon build lol.It looks very good now though with the tannins and plants.

 

[Madeline]

Have you thought of getting a background for your tank. I read online that some people make a sort of java moss wall on the inside but I've never tried this.

And also, I have a large piece of driftwood that turned my tank tea brown within an hour. I can still see all my fish clearly and my tank has a more "natural" look to it instead of the glare of my LED lights.

I didn't want a fake background picture. Even though I've seen some that look amazing, very realistic and pretty. The moss wall didn't interest me either, It would be a bigger task than I'm ready for. I'd rather have tall background plants, I think it would make a much cleaner look.

My tannins returned too, not the brown from before, but enough so it isn't crystal blue anymore. I suppose the carbon is at work there. I get what you mean, it does look natural with a slight tint to it. I guess it all boils down to preference, at the moment I prefer crystal clear water. Perhaps it's because I'm new to the hobby? I can see the tannins growing on me, but for now it feel more like a challenge to be rid of as much tint as possible.