55 Gallon Journal

[bordercollie05]

So, Sunday my boyfriend and I did an early Christmas exchange and he gave me a 55 gallon kit. So, I've got the basics; tank, heater, filter. I won't be setting it up until after my winter break from college, but in the meantime, I'll be planning it all out. Hopefully this thread will eventually turn into a journal and I think rather than create multiple threads, all of my questions and ideas will be here.

So, I need to do a few things over break:
1. Build a Stand/Hood
2. Get the substrate/hardscape materials
3. Decide how to cycle it (possibly clone it or fishless cycle....)
4. Come up with stock ideas for fish and plants


1. For the stand I'm thinking of doing a 2x4 frame and plywood covering it. I'm considering incorporating my 10 gallon betta tank into the stand to save space in my apartment. Either that or build a second stand that stacks two or more of my current tank. Not sure on what I want for lighting yet. I'd like the tank to be high tech, planted, but not sure yet. The tank came with standard flourescent lighting so I could do low light without the extra cost for lighting. One thing I'm not sure of for the stand is how tall to make it. I've noticed that most 55 gallon stands are around 30 inches tall. Would that be about right for veiwing/cleaning/etc.?

2. I have a few ideas for substrate. The requirements are that it needs to support plants and be sandy for the cories I'm planning on having, plus be fairly cost efficient. I have top soil/gravel in one of my tanks and it seems to be working well. Has anyone ever used sand on top of top soil? Would it just mix together and turn into a muddy mess? Another option is to mix a planted substrate (flourite, eco complete, etc) with sand. However I don't really want to mix red/sand or black/sand. Black sand is too expensive. Is there a light colored planted tank substrate? Or a cheap dark filler?

3. Halfway through break, I'm coming back to do maintenance on my current tanks. I'm considering filling up this tank at that time, just bare bottom, and moving my fish from my bowfront along with the filter to the new 55. Also, I'd start the new 55 filter at the same time. If it ran like this for the last 2 weeks of break, would that give the filter a good enough start to support an initial stock? I'm planning on adding fish gradually as I can find the ones I want, etc. Plan B is to let the tank sit empty for a month and then take another month to do a fishless cycle....this isn't optimal as I'll be moving in May (graduating) and would only have a couple of months to enjoy the tank before having to upset it again.

4. As far as stocking goes, I'm not really sure yet. I haven't even thought about plants yet, but have sort of considered a few fish. The only fish I'm pretty set on so far are panda cories. I'd like around ten of them, I would love to see that size school of cories. I'm also considering moving in my striped raphael from my bowfront and maybe getting a second one or a spotted raphael to hang out with him. If I don't do the raphaels, I would like a pleco of sorts. No idea which though. Other fish I'm interested in are:

-Pair of Angels (or a school of like 5, don't know if my tank is big enough though...)
-School of neon rainbows or another small rainbow species (threadfins, etc)
-Cherry Barbs?
-Move in my Rams
-Other dwarf cichlids
-Small tetras i.e. black neons, cardinals, neons, etc.
-Maybe gouramis
-Hatchetfish

Fish I'd like to avoid:
-Livebearers
-Anything too agressive

Any suggestions for fish would be great, I want to be sure I've considered all of my options before I stock this one.

I know I've written a lot, so I bolded my questions. If anyone knows about either of these, I'd love your input! Also, ideas for hardscape and plants are greatly appreciated! I can't wait to do this project, I'm going to really spend the time planning this out and doing everything slowly and correctly.

Laura

 

[loachman]

1. For the stand I'm thinking of doing a 2x4 frame and plywood covering it. I'm considering incorporating my 10 gallon betta tank into the stand to save space in my apartment. Either that or build a second stand that stacks two or more of my current tank. Not sure on what I want for lighting yet. I'd like the tank to be high tech, planted, but not sure yet. The tank came with standard flourescent lighting so I could do low light without the extra cost for lighting. One thing I'm not sure of for the stand is how tall to make it. I've noticed that most 55 gallon stands are around 30 inches tall. Would that be about right for veiwing/cleaning/etc.?

I'll depend on whether you want to look at it standing up or sitting down.

2. I have a few ideas for substrate. The requirements are that it needs to support plants and be sandy for the cories I'm planning on having, plus be fairly cost efficient. I have top soil/gravel in one of my tanks and it seems to be working well. Has anyone ever used sand on top of top soil? Would it just mix together and turn into a muddy mess? Another option is to mix a planted substrate (flourite, eco complete, etc) with sand. However I don't really want to mix red/sand or black/sand. Black sand is too expensive. Is there a light colored planted tank substrate? Or a cheap dark filler?

I used 3M colorquartz for my black substrate. It's around 1/2 the price of normal black sand and comes from pool suppliers typically. With root tabs, I have pretty decent plant growth with it (swords, vals do great, crypts do okay, java ferns have done well).

What plants do you want? Easy plants will grow in just about any substrate with some root tabs.

3. Halfway through break, I'm coming back to do maintenance on my current tanks. I'm considering filling up this tank at that time, just bare bottom, and moving my fish from my bowfront along with the filter to the new 55. Also, I'd start the new 55 filter at the same time. If it ran like this for the last 2 weeks of break, would that give the filter a good enough start to support an initial stock? I'm planning on adding fish gradually as I can find the ones I want, etc. Plan B is to let the tank sit empty for a month and then take another month to do a fishless cycle....this isn't optimal as I'll be moving in May (graduating) and would only have a couple of months to enjoy the tank before having to upset it again.

Plan A should work fine. A filter from an old tank will support the same stock in another tank. It may take longer than 2 weeks for the new filter to get going. You can speed it up by seeding the new filter with crap from the old (wipe the old one on the new filter media).

 

[OldMan47]

I also like plan A. I have a tank that I set up with a layer of plain, unfertilized potting soil (the cheapest stuff at Walmart) and capped with a coarse sand. The plants in it are doing great. I have never tried garden soil so I can't help there. If you do not want a 2 story stand, 30 is not a bad height. If you are going to put a tank into the bottom space, make sure you build tall enough that there is room to easily service the bottom tank. I'll never make that mistake again.

 

[bordercollie05]

I also like plan A. I have a tank that I set up with a layer of plain, unfertilized potting soil (the cheapest stuff at Walmart) and capped with a coarse sand. The plants in it are doing great. I have never tried garden soil so I can't help there. If you do not want a 2 story stand, 30 is not a bad height. If you are going to put a tank into the bottom space, make sure you build tall enough that there is room to easily service the bottom tank. I'll never make that mistake again.

Thanks to both of you, I think I'll probably do a 30" stand. I'm glad to hear that sand on top of potting soil worked for you oldman, I think thats my preference. It's good to know about the black sand too, I'll see whats available around here. Also, I'll plan on running the two filters together for a few weeks to build up my filter.


Oldman, this is hopefully going to work out so I can go to the fish auction for some of my fish, I'm excited to go to it in Jan!


Thanks for your input guys, I'll go back to the drawing board for awhile to keep working on my plans .


Laura

 

[OldMan47]

I'll definitely be at the auction too. Best source for fish is a typical club auction.

 

[bordercollie05]

Well, this project is going a bit slower than expected. It's okay by me though, I've been too busy to enjoy it so I'd rather take it slow. I've decided upon topsoil substrate with sand cover. I've collected a couple of pieces of driftwood which I've scrubbed and run under hot water for as long as I could (they're way to big to boil or bake). The tank will be planted, though I haven't decided what I'll use yet. I'm mostly going to use plants I have in other tanks first and maybe add a couple of swords or something like that.

As far as stocking goes, I'm having a tough time (which is why I didn't go to the fish auction...plus I had no place to hold fish in the mean time). I was pretty set on a school of Bosemani Rainbows and a school of Congo tetras, but they are rather pricey at my LFS. Also, its been hard to decide because I'm graduating in May and there's a good chance I'll have to sell some fish when I move (to I don't know where!)....I don't want to get expensive fish that I'll only enjoy for a few months. I'm thinking to justify getting a few new fish for this tank, I'll probably consolidate my other two 28/29 gallon tanks. Sooo right now the stock for the 55 will probably include:

1 Angel
1 Blue Ram (he killed the female )
1 raphael cat (maybe a second)
5 spotted cories (+ maybe 5 peppered cories/5 more spotted ones)
And I'm not sure what else yet (suggestions very welcome)


Anyway that was a bit long winded, as usual, but here's the pics of the "scape" so far. I need to cut the left end of the long branch to get the whole thing to fit in, but can't find my hacksaw...so just imagine the long branch 6 inches or so to the left .

Without light/background:

Added the lights (one's backwards so the branch fits...)

And with a makeshift background, just to see what it will look like:

Hopefully will work on it some more tomorrow, and will post more pics/updates too!

Laura

PS: sorry for the smudged glass...the dirt just dried on the front...