Different Kind Of Setup

guidedbyechoes · Jan 25, 2009

Ok so I currently have a 30 gallon long with water in the ph range of 8.4. I want to keep a pair of German rams. Here is where things get a little complicated.

I want to fill it only with 20 gallons of water. in the remainder of area and some above I want to fashion a peat moss composite waterfall/ filtration system with the appearance of land above the waterline. For planting I wanted mostly submersed plants with maybe a few fully immersed plants. I have not started looking into which ones exactly so far.

For lighting I have a 110 watt fixture. I might have to pull a tube or be creative with planting because I do not want to use c02, and I do not want green or poor water quality.

I was just wondering if this was even worth my time. I saw something similar at a fish store but it was about a 300 gallon with about 100 gallons in it.

oakes · Jan 25, 2009

Sounds interesting, i can't help you on the plant side but 20 gal would be fine for a pair of rams. The pH is an issue though, you will want to get it closer to 7 for the rams. The peat moss may help but it may not be enough given that it is currently 8.4. If that is the normal pH of your tap water you may be better off going for a few dwarf rainbows instead.

guidedbyechoes · Jan 25, 2009

oakes said:
Sounds interesting, i can't help you on the plant side but 20 gal would be fine for a pair of rams. The pH is an issue though, you will want to get it closer to 7 for the rams. The peat moss may help but it may not be enough given that it is currently 8.4. If that is the normal pH of your tap water you may be better off going for a few dwarf rainbows instead.

Yes that was what I thought but I also thought because I would be using wood and a lot of plants it would drop it to some degree. Really trying to avoid getting reverse osmosis. There is also a spring nearby, I need some more tester kits but it might be softer. It certainly has less iron in it.

guidedbyechoes · Jan 26, 2009

Any other idea's stocking wise I could substitute? Don't want to have a ton of stuff in there. I was looking into kili's. I'm looking for a max of 4 fish that are non schooling mostly because schooling fish are usally small and need a larger number. 2-4 inches I think will be fine.