New Tank :)

[PrinElla]

Was my 21st birthday yesterday so with the money my aunts gave me headed out to get a second small tank had seen a 50L setup including heater filter and lights for $80 down from $160.

Friend came with me we were going to get matching tanks she works at the biggest aquarium around and is quite handy.

So we got to the shop and she started looking at a 100L with stand filter and lights. So we spent an extra $100 each for bigger matching tanks. She's going to get me a heater from work

Mum really wants a marine tank with coral but thats expensive so the ornament is to make her happy.

Will be planting around the sides and back.

I was playing with the lights.

Currently cycling think im doing it right, i know my other tank i didnt do properly and its a miracle it worked

Using the prime and stability products per directions
Put some of the filter media from my other tank in
Checking parameters every day

Was assuming once the parameters even out at good levels and stay that way thats when I can add fish?

Also any suggestions on stocking??
All i've worked out is as much colour as possible

 

[zophie]

Hey prinElla,

Sorry, I didn;t quite get that. Is this a freshwater tank?
If it is, then I sugesst something like this

8 Cardinal Tetras- a nice, beutiful,more hardy version of the Neon Tetra
6 Emperor Tetras- a slightly bigger,beutiful tetra that adds a splash of purple to your display
2 German Blue Rams- alwayss nice to have a breeding paire, and this one stands out!
2 Bristle-Nose Catfish- Well you always have to have the cleaning part of a tank, at least you can do it with style using the BN


that's just a little sugestion... take a look at the fish and see what you like, also research some fish that you think our cool, and post a list of fish that you would like to have!
Like most people in this forum, I am totally going to recomend live plants for your tank, but you might have a problem there. The coral thingy in the middle of your tank is pretty, but if you are going to plant your tank up, it will not look realistic. I guess you could do it tthat way, but you ould have a pretty wacky looking tank.....
One thing you could always do is out fake coral decorations ari=ound the tank. By sort of desighning your tank like a reef you could make your mom happy, and have your tank look pretty cool! Just make sure that none of the stuff you put in yiur tank is actually real

Well, remember to have fun, and do your research! (god's I sound like a mom!)

Zophie

 

[PrinElla]

Hey,

Yup It's a freshwater tank.

Had thought about the issue of the ornament looking strange but surely there's something I could have that I could get away with. Plan to do a lot of trial and error there!

I like the idea of the blue rams they're so pretty and some of them look a little funny, in a good way
I'm actually not a massive fan of BN not quite sure why much prefer the sucking catfish and today i discovered the marbled ones. DO the sucking catfish do as good a job as the BN?

Not too fussed on the cardinals have had neons for years and I kinda want to mix it up a bit.

Just looked up the emperor tetra seems like it comes in blue and yellow as well as the purple is that right or is it just google

 

[Curiosity101]

If you have removed some mature media from your other tank they you will be ready to add fish straight away. The longer you wait the more bacteria will die. I suggest you stock with some fish right away but keep the stocking light.

Alternatively if you want to go down the fishless cycle route then you need to stick an ammonia source in there ASAP before the bacteria from the mature media die. You can use a handful of fish food or the preferred method of liquid ammonia (it's better cause you can measure out exactly how much ammonia you're putting in)

See...
What is cycling?
The nitrogen cycle
Fishless cycling
Fish-in cycling

You're in a great position in the sense you already have a tank you can take media from. So either you can do a super fast fishless cycle or slowly stock from day one. Either will work, but definitely read the above links to get yourself up to speed

As for the fish stock it's better than GBRs are kept at higher than avg temperature (28-30C) so bear this in mind if you want them cause not all fish are happy at this temperature.
Bristlenose plecs are ok (not a fan myself). But don't get them for their 'cleaning' ability, they make far more mess than they remove. If you want to remove algae from the glass, use an algae scraper. If you want to remove it from ornaments then either keep your tank stable or take the ornaments out for a quick scrub every now n then.

What are the actual dimensions of the tank?

 

[PrinElla]

Tank Dimensions are approx measuring with a bit of string is annoying!! 65x35x40cm
Have been putting pinch of food in morning and night flake and bloodworms.

What other fish will live at the same temp as the GBR?? Since seeing them i'm in love.

Just wanting a general cleaning fish vacuming sunken food little algae patrol but never had much of a problem. Also i like to watch cleaner fish vacumm

I'm also going away for 3 days so i'm a little wary of putting fish in when i cant monitor parameters

 

[Curiosity101]

Hmm well the 28-30C is optimum but people have reported success keeping them at cooler temperatures if they've been tank bred for a few generations rather than wild caught. So you may well get away with 26-27C depending on where you got your GBRs from.

Sterbai corys like things a bit warmer and they snuffle around in the substrate to help turn it over and avoid dead spots, but they are significantly better on sand as opposed to gravel...

Quite a few shoaling tetras don't mind higher temperatures.

Angelfish should be ok at 27C

Hmm not sure what else off of the top of my head, will have a think.

 

[PrinElla]

Don't the sterbai corys grow to massive sizes?

 

[Curiosity101]

Don't the sterbai corys grow to massive sizes?

5-6cm max... not sure what you may be thinking of...
This is a sterbai cory

 

[PrinElla]

maybe just thinking of smaller tanks. I do quite like the cories. have pandas in my small tank they're so energetic and fun to watch!!

 

[zophie]

maybe just thinking of smaller tanks. I do quite like the cories. have pandas in my small tank they're so energetic and fun to watch!!

Yes, you could always get Cories. Don't worry about the whole BN thing, I didn't like them at first to. If you want a algae eater, that's pretty, Otocinclus are for you. They are small and pretty, the only problem with them is they require good water quality, so make sure to add them to your tank last!

Zophie

 

[zophie]

Hey,

Yup It's a freshwater tank.

Had thought about the issue of the ornament looking strange but surely there's something I could have that I could get away with. Plan to do a lot of trial and error there!

I like the idea of the blue rams they're so pretty and some of them look a little funny, in a good way
I'm actually not a massive fan of BN not quite sure why much prefer the sucking catfish and today i discovered the marbled ones. DO the sucking catfish do as good a job as the BN?

Not too fussed on the cardinals have had neons for years and I kinda want to mix it up a bit.

Just looked up the emperor tetra seems like it comes in blue and yellow as well as the purple is that right or is it just google

Let me get some of your Q.'s strait.

Make sure you only get two German Blue Ram's, they will be aggresive if you get any more. Remember to add lots of rocks/wood to your tank to stop aggresion.
The BN is a sucking Catfish- I don't think it's fare to judge some as better/worse they all do a fantastic job!
No problem about the Cardinals, there are tons of great tetras ou there- and there such awsome fish
You are right about the ET they do come in many colours. The most commen though, is a blue/green body with a neon stripe of purple.

Have fun with your tank!

Zophie

 

[rlhirth]

just a thought.... if this is the same lighting system i have... (set up for either a freshwater or ready to do as salt...) you will definatly need something to help with algea... lol the lights are great and they l;ook awesome but are very strong (for the corals) so after only about 2 weeks (im very good at my waterchanges) i have algea starting and my nerite snail aint keeping up lol so tomorrow im going out to see what i can find to help him out....

 

[PrinElla]

Thanks guys

Zophie- The sucking catfish i'm reffering to are the long thin ones i've never known them as anyhting else

rlhirth- let me know what you find i had thought about that but basically was planning on being reckless and crossing that bridge once i got to it.

 

[Curiosity101]

Be aware of your 'sucking catfish' which is actually a chinese algae eater, these guys only eat algae for awhile. As they mature they eat meaty foods, get very territorial and agressive towards other fish (sometimes actually killing them) and they also grow up to 5-6inches long.

 

[PrinElla]

EEEP That's not good i was told by a rather reputable LFS (obviously not the best employee) that they were a version of a catfish and were great in small community tanks.

I quite like Simon I thought he'd stay little and not kill my fish.

What do i do?