Second Year Tank Anniversary

[steelhealr]

I stole my first anniversary thread to post my second anniversary thread. I have tried to be honest about all my mistakes, most of which occurred early on. Thanks again for support from the mods and members here who got me out of the newbie stage, but, heck, I'm STILL learning and STILL enjoying salt as well. SH

Tank Summary

Setup Date: November 2004

Tank: 46 gallon AGA, bowfront with AGA black wood stand

Theme: Family tank

Temperament: Community

Cycling Method: fish, 6 weeks to complete cycling

Filtration: AquaClear 70, single sponge, Biomax, filter fiber

Substrate: 1/8" natural brown gravel

Heater: 200 watt Ebo Jager

Lighting: Single strip light, 30 watt AquaGlo with DIY 8 Blue LED 4000 MCD moonlights on timers

Temperature: 75 degrees

Plants: hornwort, cryptocoryne lucen

Inhabitants at first anniversary:
2 boesemani rainbowfish, Melanotaenia boesemani
2 congo tetras, Phenacogrammus interruptus
3 white skirt tetras, Gymnocorymbus ternetzi
6 turquoise danios, brachydanio kerri
2 clown loaches, Botia macracantha
2 albino aeneus cory cats, Corydoras aeneus
3 glass cats, Kryptopterus bicirrhis
2 irridescent sharks, pangasius
2 Singapore flower shrimp, Atyopsis moluccensis
1 blue lobster, quarantined to species tank after attacks

Losses as of second anniversary

1 boesemani, was healthy, found unexplainedly floating on top of tank disease free
1 white skirt tetra to old age
1 glass cat, unknown etiology

Feeding Schedule
-daily morning feeding of alternating Tetra flake, dried bloodworms; 1-2 times per week enriched frozen brine shrimp or mysis shrimp
-alternating daily pellets for bottom feeders, Wardley shrimp pellets, Tetra sinking pellet, spirulina algae
-nightly pellets for nocturnals
-occasional shelled frozen peas
-rare squid

Average Parameters
pH 7.0
Nitrite and ammonia 0
nitrates 40-80
gH 1
dKh 1-2

Maintenance
-weekly 30% water changes, Python hose and dechlorinator
-gravel vac 1-2X per month
-weekly filter fiber change
-other routine filter maintenance,etc.
-occasionally supplement water with bicarb when pH drifts downward

Tank Afflictions
-ich during cycling
-cloudy tank syndrome; took 2 months to clear
-irridescent shark suffered a small laceration to its body, unclear if lobster related or self-injured; healed on it's own

Myths Busted

-do not use activated carbon on a routine basis
-do not change the BioMax ( rinse with tank water)
-only change my sponge when it is in bad shape (gotta love that bacteria)

Losses
2 German rams, lobster attack
1 male swordtail, ? lobster attack
1 clownfish to wasting disease
1 white skirt to ich during cycling
6 cardinal tetras during early tank setup
2 dward red gouramis during early tank setup
Several plants, eaten and insufficient lighting

Successes:
-successful treatment of ich during cycling
-overall good health of the tank despite heavy stocking; no losses to illness or aggression since completion of cycling and maturation
-DIY moonlight adds beauty to the tank at night
-maintaining several plants under very low lighting conditions
-saved 1 out of 2 gouramis to fungal disease during early cycling with Melafix
-good community balance; have seen no aggression, tail nipping, etc (except for the lobster)
-four orginal fish alive since inception, 2 irridesecent sharks and 2 white skirt tetras

Errors and Failures
-buying irridescent sharks as a 'newbie' with lack of fund of knowledge; both are original tank inhabitants and are now 5-6 inches in length and nocturnal. I take good care of them but they will eventually have to leave the tank
-trusting a blue lobster to be a community denizen (see above)
-the newbie urge to get evey fish under the sun during early tank setup and tank is heavily stocked, but, all are doing well with consistent water changes; present fish embargo until population naturally diminishes

What Would I Have Done Differently?
-purchased a larger tank; 46 gallons seemed huge initially; 72 gallon would be better
-probably have done a fishless cycle
-having a marine tank now, I would have considered doing a cichlid tank
-stocked lighter; not purchased irridescent sharks
-would have added driftwood, increased lighting , added more plants, but did up the ornament thing for the kids; that all might be later on
-focused more on schooling than having large amount of variety

Hope this helps someone out there. SH

 

[lljdma06]

Great post, SH. It's great to see a system that is up and running after 2 years. I'd love to say that about my planted tanks eventually. Great source of inspiration.

llj

 

[joannestevenson]

Very interesting post, im sure that will help many people including me! Cheers

 

[chibi]

Nice post! Glad to hear of your successes. May I ask about the moonlight lighting, though? How did you do it?

 

[steelhealr]

Actually..if you have a little bit of dexterity, the moonlighting was very easy. Just a quick overview:
-all you need are blue LEDs
-a wooden ruler
-solder/soldering iron
-an old cell phone adapter or similar
-small resistors

You basically drill holes in the wood ruler; push in the LEDS....solder them together with the resistors....connect copper wire...attach to the adapter. Voila. I might still have the .pdf if any one wants it. SH

 

[steelhealr]

Well, my tank has surpassed over 6 years. I've lost much since then but believe it or not, I have 2 originals left. These two are reminders of the mistakes we make as newbies. I have two pangasius fish left, purchased at a mere 1 1/2 inches, they are now 6 years old and gargantuan. I also have one boesemani and one clown loach left from the above post and one turquoise danio. Not too bad for a beginner back then.

Like any aquarist who makes the mistake of purchasing iridescent sharks, they have outgrown the tank and I am having difficulty re-homing them. The larger one eats about 3-5 algae discs at a time. The tank has mostly a kids theme but since they have grown a bit, it's almost time to remove the plastic stuff from the tank.

As I've posted to many others before as a mod, I think the key to doing well is quite easy once you survive the initial cycle:

• regular weekly water changes
• do not overfeed and vary the diet for good nutrition
• watch your compatibilities between fish and water needs
• periodically check your parameters

Still enjoy my tanks. SH

 

[myrtle]

That was in interesting read! I'm glad you still have one of the bosemani, they looked lovely in the old photo! I was so lucky finding this forum before I even got my tank, it's saved no end of heartaches. Keep up all the good work

 

[lljdma06]

Still an ispiration...

My oldest planted tank (the 36g) is 4 years old and that one will be taken down before long, so it'll never reach 6 years. Ha ha, can go much longer than you between waterchanges, though. Granted, I don't have iridescent sharks, only small rasboras. I go about 2-3 months between waterchanges.

Would be great to see that tank turned into a full-out low-tech planted, though... Not possible with those sharks. Totally possible with that lighting...

 

[-Craig-]

I have a 8 year old tank, Since i was 10, I'm 18 now and i have 3 original left, I did the same aswell Weekly water changes, No over feeding, The original fish i have left are a Wild Angelfish, Siamese fighting fish (They only suppose to live for 2 years and yea the angel is harmless to him, my betta is more likely to take chunks out of the angel than the angel taking chunks out of the betta), and a African Knife fish, Actually my betta is going to die soon, it is getting really lazy and is looking really down its losing its colour and is not taking chunks out of my angel any more but yea I think the tank is a really healthy one for the betta to live for 8 years. I like your tank though, can you post a picture of what it looks like now?