Second Hand Tank.

[TLW1]

Morning All
Right here we go, just bought a second hand tank from a friend. (I think is called getting addicted). Its kinda 79cmX39X281/2. Its a Juwel, not been used for a few years so needs a great deal of TLC and I want to try and have a go at a Planted Tank, for a new project, as they all look so beautifull. Thing is I am completely new to it all and wonder if its all worth it or if I should wait a while untill I know a little more about what I am doing. I trawl these messages to pick up advice as its better advice than any book or LFS. I think ill need a new filter...(suggestions greatly accepted) and Definetly a new bulb. The rest ill read up on apart from Gravel , Sand or whatever ..... Whats the best thing to use to plant them in. Im not worried about adding fish just yet as my little tanky is all i need at the moment for my fishies. I just want to get a nice tank going with plants then think of fish later so im in no rush. Am I being very nieve. I know you'll all be helpfull, but not too brutally honest he he

 

[Seidge]

hmm not sure about plants first fish later, i tried this when i set my tank up and when i started adding fish all my hard work on the plants went out the window as the nitrogen cycle killed them apparently, or this is what i was told.

 

[TLW1]

Oh Jeez I knew it was going to be megga complicated

 

[pieman]

The thing is, if you create fantastic planted aquarium like the other on this site which you will puts lots of hard work into, it wouldnt be nice to wake up one morning to see that after you had added fish they decided to destroy your plants!

 

[Themuleous]

Hi Tania,

You sure those tank dimensions are right? 281cm long is a hell of a tank, I make it 230 UK gallons! Or is that supposed to be 79x39x28.5 cm, its prob me being think again!

I’ll assume the latter, which makes 23 gallons. That’s about the same as mine, a good starter I would have thought.

So you want to go planted hey? Not there myself yet, but reading everything you can find about it will certainly give you the best chance of success, I've been planning my first planted tank for months now! (but that’s mostly due to fund shortages ) The pinned articles are the best info I’ve found so far on the net.

I'm not sure about the plants first fish second approach, but plants actually prefer Ammonia and NO2 as a food source rather than NO3, so cycling the tank after you add the plants I wouldn’t have thought should kill them, providing it doesn’t go too high? You could always do fishless-cycling at the same time as you get the plants established? Or run the new filter on your other tank for a few weeks to allow it time to collect some bacteria before you add the fish to the new tank, that should give it a bump start and will hopefully reduce the Ammonia and NO2 spikes, that’s what I doing at the moment. Or you could move the old filter to the new tank when you move the fish; this’ll keep this going until the new one has matured. Depends on how you’re going to do things really.

As for filters, I’ve just added an Eheim 2222 professional to my 90lt tank and its working wonders and really quite. I got mine for £65 quid and you can get them for £75ish with media if that what you decided you want. The internet is your best bet for cheap filters, and you probably wont have to pay P+P as most places don’t change if its over £30 or £50.

I previously had a Interpet DUO3 internal which worked just as well, but these take more maintenance due to their smaller size.

You've probably thought of this but I would check the seals on the tank carefully before and after you add water to make sure they've not degraded since it was last used, you don’t want a leak!

You can get lots of gravel that is designed especially for planted tanks, obvious ones include Flourite and eco-complete, but there are others.

Lastly (yes I'll stop going on now! ) IMO planted tanks are wicked, can't beat them just look at the pics on here! That’s why I'm in the process of changing over myself. A word of warning though, if you go the whole hog you'll probably find you spend lots (I mean LOTS!) of money so be prepared for that too.

Hope this is helpful, let us know how you get on.

Sam

EDIT - Good point Pieman, I take it you're fish are sutiable for a planted tank i.e. they wont eat them? What you planning to add?

 

[karlp]

Hi Tania

Have you checked out the pinned topics at the top ? Lots of useful stuff.

You need to make some decisions fairly early about which way you want to go. From my experience these boil down to:

Low Growth Undemanding Plants Low Cost

No added Carbon dioxide - Moderate lighting (aim for 1.5 Watts per gallon) - add fertilizer to the substrate - choose fairly undemanding plants as far as light and carbon dioxide goes - add water fertilizers fairly infrequently (maybe once a week), infrequent pruning.

Medium Growth Easy to Moderately demanding plants slightly higher cost

- DIY carbon dioxide (basically make home brew with yeast, sugar, water and vent the gases from the mix into the tank - CO2) - Brighter lighting (say 2 Watts per gallon) - add fertilizer to the substrate, add regular fertilizers to the water, pretty regular plant pruning, DIY CO2 can cause algae problems because of unstable outputs which can be a real headache, which is why many who start with DIY CO2 end up with....

High Growth Any plants High Cost

- Pressurised carbon dioxide system, Bright Lighting (2.5Watts per gallon up to 4Watts per gallon), fertilized substrate, Daily fertilizer dosing (do a search on estimative index), 50% water changes once per week, Regular pruning back of plants

If you go for non-CO2 it may be worth thinking about a substrate heater as well, some have success with these, some don't, but they can help to promote plant growth.

Good Luck!

 

[George Farmer]

Hi Tania

Have you checked out the pinned topics at the top ? Lots of useful stuff.

You need to make some decisions fairly early about which way you want to go. From my experience these boil down to:

Low Growth Undemanding Plants Low Cost

No added Carbon dioxide - Moderate lighting (aim for 1.5 Watts per gallon) - add fertilizer to the substrate - choose fairly undemanding plants as far as light and carbon dioxide goes - add water fertilizers fairly infrequently (maybe once a week), infrequent pruning.

Medium Growth Easy to Moderately demanding plants slightly higher cost

- DIY carbon dioxide (basically make home brew with yeast, sugar, water and vent the gases from the mix into the tank - CO2) - Brighter lighting (say 2 Watts per gallon) - add fertilizer to the substrate, add regular fertilizers to the water, pretty regular plant pruning, DIY CO2 can cause algae problems because of unstable outputs which can be a real headache, which is why many who start with DIY CO2 end up with....

High Growth Any plants High Cost

- Pressurised carbon dioxide system, Bright Lighting (2.5Watts per gallon up to 4Watts per gallon), fertilized substrate, Daily fertilizer dosing (do a search on estimative index), 50% water changes once per week, Regular pruning back of plants

If you go for non-CO2 it may be worth thinking about a substrate heater as well, some have success with these, some don't, but they can help to promote plant growth.

Good Luck!

Nice post. Might be worth saving this Fishy Mad as I'm sure it will come in useful again. Thanks

 

[TLW1]

Oh hell Ive adopted you all as my new found family. I love this place its great. ~Its nice people are around to help. Believe me I need it

Themuleous ..... your more than likely definelty posatively right about the size. HA HA seeing as on my Profile I posted that my first tank is a 58 Gallon tank and it isnt at all its 58 litres DOH!...... So there ya go. Thats how nieve I am but for some reason i got the FISH TANK BUGGY. Im hooked and it all started as a flaming birthday present for my 3 year old from his nanny.
Im not planning on moving my old fish to the new tank i want to start another one off alltogether so its ok to put fish in once i have done a fishless cycle. THEN add plants right ? I dont know what fish to put in there so answers on a post card please ...... And please dont apologise for going on any of you, you all carry on i need all the help i can get (as you may have noticed). But then if i dont try what i feel interested in how will I ever learn ??

Thanks Peeps .....all of you, keep the info coming. Then you may one day see my lovely tank on here (dreamily). I may be grey and old by then though but hey it may have been worth it.......

Fishy Mad....... cheers im off to do some Reading now. Its like being back at college its great im a bit excited really. How Sad am I LOL

gf225, I just wanted to add this is all your fault, i have read your journel, become megga hooked, loved it so much, want one !!!!


Wanna do mine for me ? Your tanks amazing!!!!

 

[George Farmer]

gf225, I just wanted to add this is all your fault, i have read your journel, become megga hooked, loved it so much, want one !!!!

I’m glad it’s my fault Tania.

This was the main motivation behind starting my journal, to inspire others to take the plunge into the wonderful world of the planted tank

Wanna do mine for me ? Your tanks amazing!!!!

Thanks and I’d love to set your tank up for you but I’m sure you’ll get more satisfaction from doing it yourself. You’ll certainly get all the help you need from the helpful members on here, as you’ve already discovered they’re a friendly bunch.

Regards
George

 

[Themuleous]

Speak for youself George, I make a point of being as grumpy and unhelpful as I can, what has anyone ever done for me?!

Sam

 

[karlp]

Nice post. Might be worth saving this Fishy Mad as I'm sure it will come in useful again. Thanks

Thanks! I operate on the same principle as the 1000 monkeys with typewriters, if I write enough words, I must eventually post a good one!

 

[George Farmer]

Nice post. Might be worth saving this Fishy Mad as I'm sure it will come in useful again. Thanks

Thanks! I operate on the same principle as the 1000 monkeys with typewriters, if I write enough words, I must eventually post a good one!

Literally LOL, first time in a while, I must be getting old!

 

[Themuleous]

lol indeed

If you do pin/save this thread, might be worth adding a few examples of plants for each catagory, just so people know what to get? (including me )

Just a thought.

Sam

 

[qwikimpss]

I gotta say that George's tank has recruited legions of followers to the planted persuasion! It did with me too!!! Now all I need is pressurized CO2 and to get going on my EI dosing....and more plants...IT NEVER ENDS! But I love it!