A Cheaply Done 55-gallon Tank

[Merithyn]

I got a 55-gallon tank and stand for Yule, and I'm incredibly excited! I've set it up in my dining room, filled with water only, to start the fishless cycle. The filter is an Aqua-Tech Power Filter for 30-60 gallon tanks. The lights are unimportant at the moment, as I intend to change them once I'm ready to add rocks and plants. I'm buying things slowly for it to maintain a little control on the money spent, so no heater, rocks or plants just yet . I'll update as I add things.

EDIT: Adding specs for those who aren't interested in scrolling all the way through the thread for the information:

Tank - 55USG used tank bought on Craigs' List ($100 w/ a 65mile r/t drive)
Stand - standard for tank (Free with tank)
Filter - Aqua-Tech Power Filter (30-40) ($40 at PETCO)
Heater - All-Aquarium Submersible Heater (AC 115v, 200W) ($15 w/ free shipping on eBay)
Lights - regular incandescent bulbs at the moment - will update next paycheck (Free with tank)
Substrate - Mix of Hoffman Horticultural Vermiculite (8.8L dry) and Miracle Gro Potting Mix (8.8L dry) on bottom: covers to about 1.5-2 inches; Green thumb Paver Base sand (14L): covers about 1.5-3 inches across the bottom with larger piles for affect; several handfuls of 2-4mm pebbles for affect only (nothing will be planted there), three large aquarium rocks, a small rock pile ($12.75 from local nursery)

12-31-08:

1-21-08:

 

[Esfa]

Nice tank!

Good luck - but having a heater speeds up the fishless cycle as the bacteria multiplies faster im warmer conditions.

 

[Merithyn]

Nice tank!

Good luck - but having a heater speeds up the fishless cycle as the bacteria multiplies faster im warmer conditions.

Yeah, but I promised my husband that I would spend money slowly on this. The heater is on the agenda for the next paycheck.

 

[ICEEGRL]

Nice tank. I know what you mean about watching the spending. It can get out of control quick. I have learned that there are lots of ways to cut corners on cost... it just means more work on up keep and such.
I have also learned that Home Depot is great for substrate, lights, filters, and lots of other stuff. You just have to be creative.

What do you have planned for your tank for substrate, decor and fish?

 

[lljdma06]

Nice tank!

Good luck - but having a heater speeds up the fishless cycle as the bacteria multiplies faster im warmer conditions.

Yeah, but I promised my husband that I would spend money slowly on this. The heater is on the agenda for the next paycheck.

Hey! Champaign, IL! I lived there 3 years when I was working on my DMA at UIUC. Go figure. What's the temp in your home right now? I never did this when I was there (I kept gouramis and bettas), but if you ditch a heater and keep barbs, danios, minnows, corydoras, and the like, you can opt for a subtropical tank and keep the temp in the mid 60s to low 70s. The only problem is Summer, which can be a pain, but if you have good AC, you can easily maintain the tank at room temp, 74-76, and the same species will thrive.

If you're going to densly plant the tank, I also wouldn't bother with a fishless cycle. I haven't cycled a new tank in a long time. If they haven't changed since I've been gone, check out Sailfin Pet shop on Neil. The prices are a bit steep, and the fish are sometimes a little stressed during the Winter as the heating there isn't so great, but they have a lot of experience, and their selection is usually top-notch. I could get a lot of funky species there and some really great plants. Planted tank expert is a bit behind, though.

You have it easy, you've got a great store. There is nothing like Sailfin in South FL. Good luck with your 55g.

llj

 

[Merithyn]

Nice tank. I know what you mean about watching the spending. It can get out of control quick. I have learned that there are lots of ways to cut corners on cost... it just means more work on up keep and such.
I have also learned that Home Depot is great for substrate, lights, filters, and lots of other stuff. You just have to be creative.

My plan is to raid the local hardware stores for lights, substrate, and background (if I can't convince my 14-year-old boys to draw something for me). Things are MUCH cheaper there, and yet still fit the suggested guidelines I've found here.

What do you have planned for your tank for substrate, decor and fish?

Substrate is still up in the air. The tank came with regular river rocks, so I'll likely top the vermiculite with that. Still having a hard time finding the under-soil (vermiculite?) that I want/need but mostly because I'm kind of unsure on what best to use in terms of namebrand, appropriate mixes, etc.

Decor will be river floor, probably. I really like that look, with the smallish, smooth rocks and larger round rocks scattered on the floor. My intent is to find a good, sizeable log that raises the line of sight from the bottom. If not that, a very large, flat rock that stands at least 12" tall at the center of the tank and about 8" across. I want it thin, though, because the tank itself is only 12" deep, so a rock that's only a couple of inches thick but that presents a pretty face would be perfect. Assuming I can find one, of course.

Fish will be honey gouramis, silver angel, black-finned tetras, plecos and the red shrimp, whatever they're called. I love large groups of schooling fish, so I'm looking at only a few types but large numbers of them. I may change up the types of tetras for more color variation, but I'm not sure just yet.

Plants will be whatever I can find and grow. The decor and fish I know what I'm doing... sort of. The plants? Not so much! That'll take a good bit of practice and extra care, so I'm not tying myself down to any particular types. I will say that I like the grass-like plants and the red lillies. If I can make those work, I'll be VERY happy.

 

[Merithyn]

Hey! Champaign, IL! I lived there 3 years when I was working on my DMA at UIUC. Go figure. What's the temp in your home right now? I never did this when I was there (I kept gouramis and bettas), but if you ditch a heater and keep barbs, danios, minnows, corydoras, and the like, you can opt for a subtropical tank and keep the temp in the mid 60s to low 70s. The only problem is Summer, which can be a pain, but if you have good AC, you can easily maintain the tank at room temp, 74-76, and the same species will thrive.

I found a decent used 250W heater on eBay for only $15 (w/ no shipping charges!!) so I've got that taken care of now. Besides, we keep the house cool in the winter and hot in the summer to cut back on utility charges, so I'm not sure I should go without an internal heater in the tank.

If you're going to densly plant the tank, I also wouldn't bother with a fishless cycle. I haven't cycled a new tank in a long time.

I tried to add fish to my 10-gallon tank without any kind of decent cycling, and all of the fish died. Of course, that may have been because I added too many too quickly or because when I changed the water I made it far too hot. I'm not sure. Anyway, I decided that I was going to go very slowly and carefully with the big tank. I'm going to cycle the tank while I save up to get the things that I need to make it pretty. It's not a big deal at this point, since I don't even have the substrate in, but thanks for the suggestion for later.

If they haven't changed since I've been gone, check out Sailfin Pet shop on Neil. The prices are a bit steep, and the fish are sometimes a little stressed during the Winter as the heating there isn't so great, but they have a lot of experience, and their selection is usually top-notch. I could get a lot of funky species there and some really great plants. Planted tank expert is a bit behind, though.

You have it easy, you've got a great store. There is nothing like Sailfin in South FL. Good luck with your 55g.

llj

Yeah, Sailfin is my mecca. They have the best variety of fish in the area, and they seem well-cared for. As you said, the planted tank guy isn't much help, but then that's why I have you guys!

There's also an incredible fish store in Parkview, IL, up near Chicago that I go to for the really rare stuff, or if I just happen to be up there. Either way, I'm not hurting for places to get my goodies.

~Meri

 

[Merithyn]

Okay. Time to update.

I have added a substrate of the following:

Sub-substrate - Hoffman Horticultural Vermiculite (8.8L dry) and Miracle Gro Potting Mix (8.8L dry) on bottom: covers to about 1.5-2 inches
Substrate - Green thumb Paver Base sand (14L): covers about 1.5-3 inches across the bottom with larger piles for affect
Decoration - several handfuls of 2-4mm pebbles for affect only (nothing will be planted there), three large aquarium rocks, a small rock pile

I also now have an All-Glass Submersible Aquarium heater (AC 115v, 60 Hz, 200watts) set at 78F degrees.

There are no plants at the moment as I'm letting the water settle. It's quite cloudy, which I expected with the sub-substrate mix and sand, but I don't mind. As I've said, I'm taking my time with this one, so letting it rest for several days is no real hardship.

For those who are interested, my sub-substrate mix and substrate sand totaled a whopping $12.75 at the local nursery. The decorative rocks were free with the purchase of my used tank ($100 for tank, stand, lights, rocks). The heater was $15 (w/ free shipping) on eBay. I bought an Aqua-Tech 30-60 Power Filter for $40. Oh, and I also have everything plugged into a Power Center Day-Night Timer ($30). So, as of this moment, I've spent a grand total of $197.75 on the purchase and set-up of my 55USG tank. Not bad, I don't think. Patience is really saving me money!

This weekend is a fish auction for local aquariasts where I'm hoping to pick up a few plants to play with. If I can't find anything I really like or that's worth my money, I'm going to go to their swap meet the first weekend of February and see what's there. I have the 10USG to put things in until this tank is clear enough to plant things.

I'll add a pic once things clear up enough to be worth seeing.

 

[Merithyn]

Added four spotted corys, four opaline gouramis, and three baby panda angel fish today. Also got a couple of plants for the tank but haven't had time to add them yet. Will do soon and post pics.

 

[Merithyn]

Okay. I was given a 29-gallon tank with all the goodies - including 20 fish. I've added them to the 55-gallon tank for now. It is thoroughly overstocked at the moment with:

1 plecostamus
1 pakistani loach (Botia almorhae)
1 chinese algae eater (Gyrinocheilus aymonieri)
2 Blackskirt tetras (Gymnocorymbus ternetzi)
1 Neon tetra (Paracheirodon innesi)
3 Red minor tetras (Serpae tetra or Hyphessobrycon eques)
3 Pristella tetras (Pristella maxillaris)
5 Glowlight tetras (Hemigrammus erythrozonus)
6 Red-eye tetras (Moenkhausia oligolepis)
3 Sunset dwarf gouramis (Colisa lalia)
4 Opaline gouramis (Trichogaster trichopterus)
4 Spotted cories (Corydoras agassizii)
3 Panda angelfish (??)

plants:
Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides)
Dwarf vallisnaria
Cryptocoryne willisii
One or two small plants that I'm not sure what they are (given to me by a friend)

Still no decent lighting, very light on plants just yet, and no background, but here is where I am with it:

 

[Merithyn]

I'm guessing that I'm going to need some really tall plants for the left side of the tank. There's a pretty strong current from the filter that the fish seem to avoid. Will large, leafy plants help slow that down? Any suggestions on what kind would be best?

Also, I'm going to be getting some tall vallisnaria for the right side of the tank to cover that entire back corner.

Once I get the 29-gallon cleaned up and running again, I'll be separating out some of the fish, too. I think I'll take the glowlight, red-eyed and serpae tetras to the 29-gallon, and maybe the cories, too. I'll be cleaning that one up tomorrow and hopefully have it running by the next day.

 

[ICEEGRL]

I didn't know you could use potting soil. I figured it would be bad for the fish. (especially miracle grow)
Did it not make a mess when you tried to plant? I figured it would mix with the other substrate and just look muddy. Do the corys not stir it up?
Your tank is looking pretty good so far. Keep us up on how it is going.

 

[Biulu]

This plant looks like an aponogeton to me. Where is your water sprite? Is it still very small?

 

[Themuleous]

Its a good start yeh get some more plants and cram that tank!

Sam

 

[Merithyn]

I didn't know you could use potting soil. I figured it would be bad for the fish. (especially miracle grow)
Did it not make a mess when you tried to plant? I figured it would mix with the other substrate and just look muddy. Do the corys not stir it up?
Your tank is looking pretty good so far. Keep us up on how it is going.

The fish seem to be doing fine in the tank, even with the potting soil. Then again, I have the potting soil mixed with the vermiculite on the bottom covered with about an inch to 1.5 inches of sand. The cories stir it up a bit, but I have a good bit of sand in between so it's not too bad.

When I plant the plants, I just drive the roots straight down and then cover what I can with sand. So far, no mess. Sometimes it'll cloud up just a little bit, but not a lot, and it settles down fairly quickly. I did a 30% water change the other day and was worried about stirring things up then, but it really didn't much. Then again, I didn't vaccuum the sand too much.