My 48L Journal

[andy_gtfc]

Hello everyone for christmas I got a tank, after begging my parents to get me one (I still live at home as I am a teenager, nearly 18 to be exact). I have loved watching the tank that we have downstairs and for a while I have wanted my own and they finally bought me one, a 48L to begin with that is up in my room. I am no expert at this, so sorry in advance if I ask any 'dumb' questions as well. To begin with I have gone with gravel as my substrate (I know its multicoloured, I am changing it in the summer) and the plants that I have are fake.

Since I have had it, I have had the bacterial bloom, which has gone and basically just waited for my tank to mature and now it finally has. On Friday, I took a sample of water to the LFS and everything came back fine. To begin with I only have 5 silver-tipped tetra's in the tank, but in a couple of weeks when they have settled I am going to get some more so I am open to suggestions on what to get

Here are some pics of the tank I have:

A couple of full tank views (sorry about the reflections, I only just noticed them when I uploaded them)

And here are the silver-tipped tetra's:

Some future plans that I have for the tank are:

• Change substrate to black gravel
• Have real plants
• Breed some of the fish
• Expand and get a bigger tank if possible

Any suggestions for plants/fish/substrate/scaping is welcome as well

Thanks for reading, and I will keep you all updated

 

[Joshwainwright]

MY EYES!

The first thing I would do is get rid of the terrible gravel and get the black sand like you have said. Then I would find a small piece of bogwood and put some java fern on it, possibly have some java moss and then maybe have some vallis for the background...

 

[andy_gtfc]

MY EYES!

The first thing I would do is get rid of the terrible gravel and get the black sand like you have said. Then I would find a small piece of bogwood and put some java fern on it, possibly have some java moss and then maybe have some vallis for the background...

Yeah, the gravel is going to go as soon as I get the new gravel, which may be by this time next week. Bogwood should be relatively cheap for my tank as it is quite small and P@H have it on offer at the minute 3 for the price of 2, so I may have to take a trip there soon. I will probably change from fake to real plants, during the summer when I have a lot of spare time on my hands as well.

Thanks for ideas on plants as well

 

[FishFanatic04]

I know you mentioned the substrate already but GAWD you've got to change it Maybe consider sand. Black gravel would be pretty. It just seems like most people end up with sand in the long run. I love having sand in my tanks. Black sand is nice with green plants.

A few good plants to start with could be:

Bacopa- I have some in all of my tanks and love it.
Cabomba- grows very tall, and quickly.

Anubias- to attach to rock or wood {my favorite plant of all, there are a few varieties, most have lovely broad green leaves}
Java fern- to attach to rock or wood


The bacopa is really good! Just saying it twice...

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

How exciting!! You have the same tank as me

I'm looking forward to seeing how everything progresses. Your tetras a really nice

Only suggestion I would make is to rotate the cone shaped thing on your filter outlet so that it is pointing towards the surface of the water, this will move the surface of the water and increase oxygenation in your tank. Point it so that the water is pushed diagonally (from corner to corner) to improve circulation of the water. (I had mine the same way as yours for AGES!)

 

[andy_gtfc]

I know you mentioned the substrate already but GAWD you've got to change it Maybe consider sand. Black gravel would be pretty. It just seems like most people end up with sand in the long run. I love having sand in my tanks. Black sand is nice with green plants.

A few good plants to start with could be:

Bacopa- I have some in all of my tanks and love it.
Cabomba- grows very tall, and quickly.

Anubias- to attach to rock or wood {my favorite plant of all, there are a few varieties, most have lovely broad green leaves}
Java fern- to attach to rock or wood


The bacopa is really good! Just saying it twice...

Thanks for the ideas on the plants I will certainly look into these when choosing the plants that I will get.

How exciting!! You have the same tank as me

I'm looking forward to seeing how everything progresses. Your tetras a really nice

Only suggestion I would make is to rotate the cone shaped thing on your filter outlet so that it is pointing towards the surface of the water, this will move the surface of the water and increase oxygenation in your tank. Point it so that the water is pushed diagonally (from corner to corner) to improve circulation of the water. (I had mine the same way as yours for AGES!)

Hopefully everything will progress well, but at a steady pace. I have changed the filter outlet now so that it is going from the top right corner to the bottom left (if you are looking over the top of it) now. Thanks for the advice on this

 

[andy_gtfc]

Any more suggestions on how I can improve apart from the gravel? The gravel should be in my tank by next week as I will pop to the LFS on Tuesday to see if they have any in

Also any more suggestions on potential fish or plants that I could get as well? I would prefer fish at the moment to get the tank stocked up a bit more than what it currently is. I have a few one's that I have spotted and liked in the LFS and I just need to see if they go with what I currently have and the tank that I currently have.

Thanks in advance

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Good stuff, well I think you're on the right track with the decor. Pets at home and dobbies carry black gravel that I know of. Why don't you tell us the fish that you like the look of, and then someone can tell you if it's a good idea or not and maybe how many you could have

 

[andy_gtfc]

Good stuff, well I think you're on the right track with the decor. Pets at home and dobbies carry black gravel that I know of. Why don't you tell us the fish that you like the look of, and then someone can tell you if it's a good idea or not and maybe how many you could have

I will nip into the LFS that is closest to me and is straight where I get off the bus. I know the people in there so I am sure that they will order me some if not. I have a list somewhere of what I would like in the tank, but I can't find it at the moment. From the top of my head it was mainly various types of tetra's, electric blue guppies, honey gourami, peppered corydoras. I will try and get the full list for everyone tomorrow though

 

[andy_gtfc]

Following on from last time, I have now bought and just finished changing over to black gravel. Whilst I was at it, I did around a 40% water change as well, so just waiting for everything to settle in the tank. Will get pictures over the weekend for you all.

Once again, suggestions for the tank will be taken as well. I am mainly looking for more fish now.

Thanks and I hope that you're enjoying it.

 

[andy_gtfc]

Another small update (without pics will get them soon). I have got a few Harlequins for my tank and a tiny Bristlenose Plec for it as well. The Bristlenose is only around a few centimeters long but once it outgrows my tank, I will transfer it to the larger tank that we have downstairs.

I will try and get pics soon though

 

[andy_gtfc]

Here are the pictures of what has been done since last time

This is a front shot of the tank with the new black gravel in it. There is the odd piece of gravel in the bottom of the tank from last time as well, but you can hardly see it.

This is the Bristlenose Plec that I bought. Very small at the moment as well, as you can tell by the size of it (unsure on whether it is male or female yet due to it being small). I dropped in a Plec tablet for it last night before I went to sleep, but when I got up it was all gone, so I think the other fish might have eat some/all of it instead. Any other ideas on what it can be fed at this stage?

This is one of the Harlequins that I bought as well. They have seemed to go well with the silver-tipped tetra's that I have, no fighting or anything like that yet which I can only see as a positive.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

I think you've got espei rasboras there instead of harlequins. This is actually a good thing because harlequins are too big for your tank IMO

 

[andy_gtfc]

I think you've got espei rasboras there instead of harlequins. This is actually a good thing because harlequins are too big for your tank IMO

If someone could clear this up, I would be grateful

 

[FishFanatic04]

Looks like my espei's.