Another go after 20yrs

[luke33]

Hello everyone, glad to be posting an introduction. I have been a fish enthusiast since i've been alive basically, having and breeding tropical fish when i was ten and then just stopping the marine hobby roughly 3yrs ago(hey, i have a 3yr old daughter too...interesting ha). The last 15yrs i have been pretty involved with growing and selling sps coral, but now i'm planning on putting together a nice build with avacado puffers in a 55g planted tank. So stop me if i'm making a poor decision! Currently i have a 55g tank, two 200 marineland filters(couldn't believe how inexpensive these have become), two sicce powerheads (540gph each) with a sand substrate(crushed aragonite). I am adding in 20lbs of lace rock with a few decorative bonsai type of branches and filling in with some live grass's/plants. I also have an LED purchased from amazon that is 72w full spectrum with built in dimmer and timer. I'm sure alot of what i'm doing isn't the perfect way to go but moving forward i'm sure i'll get there. PH is a bit high around 8.2, temp 77, ammonia at zero. I have a few tetra's in there right now but other than that just waiting to add the rock, bonsai and then some live plants and snails. tank has been up about 2.5weeks.
Thanks,

Luke

 

[Wills]

Hi welcome to the forum Sounds really interesting set up but couple of questions The Aragonite sand will be raising the Ph and so will the lace rock (if this is the sort I'm thinking of? - Like a white ocean rock but quite intricate). The high ph and buffered water will not help the plants and will limit the types of fresh water fish you can keep.

When it comes to puffers they can be quite tricky to keep as they are often quite aggressive. From what I know of the Avocado Puffers they are quite aggressive and will seriously limit the other fish you can keep. If you wanted to build a community around a puffer or a few you should look at South American Puffers or Schoudenti Puffers - the Schoudenti are the easier of the two as SAPs often need you do a bit of dentistry to keep their beaks in order but the Schoudenti are quite expensive.

Wills

 

[jonny-5]

Welcome to the forums ?

 

[luke33]

Thanks for the welcoming Wills and Jonny.

Ive looked at the spotted Congo and they are a bit pricey and tough to get. I’ve also seen the avacado in groups, not so much community, and they seem to do well but I’m still figuring it all out. Luckily I’ve got time

As far as the amazon puffers go, they are also an option. I prefer the avacado but the amazon is another choice i'm looking into. I just added in my rock last night as well as some decorative pieces. I'm hoping to add in some more easier to take care of that can handle a higher PH plants this weekend. Then start up a snail colony. Then after all that is going, get the puffers. Then get them healthy, eating well, deworming...etc. Not going to be a process i can speed up, but all we have is time!

 

[ClownLurch]

Welcome.
I love the different project aspect to this place and forums in general.Stuff I wouldn’t get involved with myself is brought up, mulled over, altered, debated, problems solved etc etc. Keep us informed please. Educational.