55 Gallon

[StingrayKid]

Okay, I've gone through many ideas and got information and finnaly decided on a 55 gallon freshwater Oddball/Servum tank. Over the past two months I've been debating ideas for my next tank. I don't know if any one has seen my previous posts about ideas (Most were statements that I would be in fact getting the tank I posted about), but Here is what I've gone through.

-First, It was a 55 gallon Oddball tank

-Second, it was a 30 Gallon Marine reef tank. (This idea was iliminated becasue of the price).

Third, it was a 30g Mbuna tank to go under my double-decker 30g stand, along with my current 30g.

-Fouth, it was a 20g Peacock Gudgeon tank.

-Now, I've decided on this.

I'm going with this because I want to get my Ropefish into an adequate enviroment. Plus, I've discovered a package deal at my local Wal-Mart that includes the 55g tank, heater, good power filter, hood and lighting and some other supplies. That's $150 U.S. dollars for the kit. They also have a wood stand thats $80 more. I'm probably going to cycle the tank out with my hardy Black tetras and Giant Danios. I think I'll use fine substrate, allmost like a sand, for my bottom and lots of rock work for the main scenery with lots of Java ferns and other low-light acceptable plants.

Now, I know I'll be putting my Ropefish in here, but I'm not sure on the rest. I may put another Ropefish in there too. As for Servums, I might put some Green Servums in there. Well, I'm kind stumped after this and I could use some suggestions. Any Oddball or Servum suggestions are needed for this size tank. Thanks for any help. (And thanks for reading through my long post )

 

[StingrayKid]

Oh yeah, it would be nice to have a Lima Shovelnose or two. Would they be okayin this size of a tank with a couple of Ropefish and maybe some Servums?

 

[lucky62]

My son dwarfs isn't home right now , but I know he would push for bichirs , and an african butterfly fish , and a surinam geo .

 

[StingrayKid]

I'm not sure what I'm going to put in. I just set it up, but there's no water in it yet. (Finished late, around 10:00 P.M. ) Right now, it has lots of rocks in a giant mound at the right side, which gives my Ropefish a great place to live. I probably wont go for the Shovelnose because I don't think the tank is really geared towards the species.

EDIT: I was thinking about a Purple Spotted Gudgeon, but I can't seem to find a LFS that get them in stock...


Also, I'm kind of worried about cycling this tank. I really don't have the time to do a fishless cycle becuase of my insane teachers who give out WAY too much homework. I was thinking of taking my Danios and Black Tetras out of my 30 gallon, becuase they are so hardy, to cycle it out. But, I'm afraid something could happen to them, like stress or the spikes.

And, I have another problem. I worked on assembling the cabinet stand for this tank for about three hours. This set-up is located in an up stiars room far from a sink. I would normally use my Python to do this job, but, I don't have enough slack. So it's going to be a couple hours worth of buckets for me.

 

[lucky62]

I'm not sure what I'm going to put in. I just set it up, but there's no water in it yet. (Finished late, around 10:00 P.M. ) Right now, it has lots of rocks in a giant mound at the right side, which gives my Ropefish a great place to live. I probably wont go for the Shovelnose because I don't think the tank is really geared towards the species.

EDIT: I was thinking about a Purple Spotted Gudgeon, but I can't seem to find a LFS that get them in stock...


Also, I'm kind of worried about cycling this tank. I really don't have the time to do a fishless cycle becuase of my insane teachers who give out WAY too much homework. I was thinking of taking my Danios and Black Tetras out of my 30 gallon, becuase they are so hardy, to cycle it out. But, I'm afraid something could happen to them, like stress or the spikes.

And, I have another problem. I worked on assembling the cabinet stand for this tank for about three hours. This set-up is located in an up stiars room far from a sink. I would normally use my Python to do this job, but, I don't have enough slack. So it's going to be a couple hours worth of buckets for me.

why not Get a garden hose to extend your python ,and put the filter you'll be using for the 55 on the thirty for a few days to help out with the cycling problem , we love purple spotted gudgeons , be patient , I found my sons first one looking for peacock gudgeons for myself .

to me Mogurndas are very empressive fish strong and fast , they just look cool , big Mo picked me .

 

[StingrayKid]

Good idea with the filter thing. But, my 30 gallon is a "blackwater tank", meaning, its full of tannins from wood. I don't want my 55 to be this kind of tank. If I ran this big old power filter in the 30, would tannins travel into my 55 when it goes baack to it? As for cycling, I'll probably put my tetras in for a week or so.

About the Gudgeons. Up here in Maine, we have VERY strict laws on aquarium fish. Take Koi for example. If you are caught with any type of Goldfish in an outdoor pond, you can be fined up to $1,000 for EACH fish you have in there. There are many fish that are illegal to sell/own up here. Im not sure if PSG's are illegal. If they are legal, I'll most likely buy one.

Oh yeah, as for the garden hose, I'll probably just buy an extenson to my python and an adapter to my sink.

EDIT: Could I dump some of the media "juice" into my filter in my 55 from my 30, if tannins wont follow?

 

[samsung-401]

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat! I wanted you to do the 20g Peacock Gudgeon tank.

 

[StingrayKid]

Here's the tank:

Another angle:

Sorry about glare...

 

[lucky62]

Good idea with the filter thing. But, my 30 gallon is a "blackwater tank", meaning, its full of tannins from wood. I don't want my 55 to be this kind of tank. If I ran this big old power filter in the 30, would tannins travel into my 55 when it goes baack to it? As for cycling, I'll probably put my tetras in for a week or so.

About the Gudgeons. Up here in Maine, we have VERY strict laws on aquarium fish. Take Koi for example. If you are caught with any type of Goldfish in an outdoor pond, you can be fined up to $1,000 for EACH fish you have in there. There are many fish that are illegal to sell/own up here. Im not sure if PSG's are illegal. If they are legal, I'll most likely buy one.

Oh yeah, as for the garden hose, I'll probably just buy an extenson to my python and an adapter to my sink.

EDIT: Could I dump some of the media "juice" into my filter in my 55 from my 30, if tannins wont follow?

you could probably run activated carbon in your filter to remove tannins , maybe more then once though . Not sure how much of the color would transfer from one tank to the other through the filter though .

Boy Maine is a tough state .

The garden hose thing , I thought maybe you were on a budget why , the first thing I had to do after buying my python was to buy and extension for it , didn't reach my tanks either [ had it 14 years ], but in a pinch , a garden hose will work , the threads are the same size.

good luck

 

[lucky62]

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat! I wanted you to do the 20g Peacock Gudgeon tank.

Me too , Stingray , do it anyway .

I love mine

 

[StingrayKid]

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat! I wanted you to do the 20g Peacock Gudgeon tank.

Me too , Stingray , do it anyway .

I love mine

As much as I'd like too, I doubt I can. As it is, I had to go through a lot of trouble to get my parents to say yes to the 55 gallon. I may do it, but it will have to be later on.

I'm going to buy a 40 foot extension for my Python so, I'm all set.

I also squuezed out the filter media into my 55 gallon. It was very foggy at first, but now it is clear again. I'm goin gto add cycling fish tonight if my Ph is correct, along with the temerature.

I'm still stumped on ideas for inhabitants so, keep those suggestions coming!

 

[StingrayKid]

I've had the tank running for about a couple of days or so, with the cycle fish (Black Tetras) And I've put in the "juice" from my medias from my other tanks, should I be okay to add my Ropefish and others by this weekend? I have 4 Black Tetras and they're doing fine cycling it out.

 

[Dwarfs]

Maybe, try to take some gravel from an old tank as well, as long as iit won't mess up the way your tank looks, it should help speed up the cyce even more. If all of the tetras are OK and the readings are OK by saturday, I would say go for it. Ropefish breathe like bettas so they should be a bit more hardy than other fish

 

[StingrayKid]

That's what I figured. I'll make sure everything's okay and then I'll add the Rope and get my new fish.

 

[Dwarfs]

Cool, good luck, big tanks are awesome