Updated info on the vet school display tank!!!

[Misskiwi67]

WOOHOO!! I'm officially co-chair of the fishtank committee!!! Now I can finally get some work done!! We have a 150 dollar budget, but if we make proposal and present it to SCAVMA, chances are we can get more money. We also have plans to have a "keep or kill the alligator" fundraiser where people will donate 25 cents per vote to keep or remove a cheesy plastic alligator run by bubbles that is currently in the tank. We can probably make another 20-50 dollars this way...

The dimensions of the tank are 6 ft long, 18 inches deep, and 24 inches high. I believe this makes the tank a 125 gallon.

There are two 48 inch SALTwater aquarium bulbs, and they are 2 years old. There are also 3 normal bulbs from lowes. Other than that, we have no specs since the catalog they were ordered from was destroyed by spilled water. I believe its a mute point anyway since the lights are more than a year old, and will need replaced.

There is a fluval 304 canister filter and a magnum 250 filter. We have plans to purchase another fluval and dump the old, worn out, leaky magnum... any suggestions?

The pH starts out high, but drops to about 7.0-7.5 after 24 hours according to my committee. We are planning to start adding a teaspoon of baking soda per 10 gallons as per the instructions of one of the fish researchers on campus for buffering. We cleaned the tank today, and we'll be doing some follow-up maintenance on Friday including a full range of water tests...

I believe part of the problem with the plants may be due to the high levels of salt the former caretakers were adding. When we cleaned the tank under her supervision today we did a 30% water change, and she added 15 heaping Tablespoons of salt. I'm pretty sure thats a little too much...

We also want to put in a substrate more suitable for plants. We want to stick to something with JUST gravel, because we need to "keep it simple, stupid" for the people who'll be taking over the tanks care next year. I would love some suggestions on substrates. One of the people on the committee suggested fluorite. Are there any other suggestions???

Thats all for now... any help and suggestions are highly appreciated, and sorry its such a long post!

Smiles,
Alinda Buckingham
VM2, Iowa State College of Veterinary Medicine

 

[Jen]

Welcome to the forum! You have come to the right place for ideas. There are tons of very helpful and knowledgable around here are are always around to answer your questions.

Looks like you have plenty of plans for the tank. You will have to keep us updated on it's progress.

Not to sound rude here, but how much do you know about fish already? Have you been keeping them for long? It'll help us give you the right amout of help. No point going over the basics if you've been keeping feish for years, and we don't want to get all technical if you're brand new.


To start, why are they adding so much salt? There are any fish that can't tolerate salt in the water. If you are going purely tropical, there really isn't much need for salt. I used it when a few fish were sick, but quickly learned that it was berly harmful to my corries.

Going all out with the planted side is very expensive. You need TONS of light; you'd ne al least 250 watts on a tank that size... and probably something ilke a power compact bulb - mine cost 400CAD. And then carbon dioxide on top of that. Either the DIY method it alot of work... changing the mixture every week. And going the CO2 tank is also quite pricy. The tank is 100CAD up here.

You won't be able to get to heavy into the plants unless you go all out. Thats's not to say that you can't have any plants. There are many plants that thrive in low light situations, and they can be awesome.

Do you have any ideas on the kinds of fish you want? That'll help with deciding on plants. Some like lots of hiding spots, some will eat all of your plants.

 

[Misskiwi67]

I don't have much for fish now, just 4 mollies in a planted 10 gallon with crypts. I've been keeping fish since I was 7, have had up to 5 tanks and 50 bettas at any one point in time, and have successfully bred and raised some pretty nice bettas from show lines, although nothing I ever produced was great. I've got a good handle on things like pH, hardness, the nitrogen cycle and things like that. I've read about CO2, but never tried it. Lighting is beyond me, but I have committee members who are knowledgeable.

There are currently 7 platies, 5 rasboas, 3 black skirt tetras, 1 redtail shark, 1 ancient butterfly fish, 2 giant danios, 1 cherry barb, a single cory, a bushynose pleco, and a random blind catfish. There are plans to rehome some fish, and add rasboas and black skirt tetras to make better schools.

I have NO idea why they were adding so much salt. I think its supposed to be a disease preventative, but that only works in correct dosages... which they obviously weren't doing correctly.

The lighting I think we can manage, if that kind of wattage can be fitted into 5 bulbs within a reasonable budget. CO2 is out of the question however. The tank is managed by a new crew of volunteers from the sophomore class of the veterinary college each year, and we have no idea what kind of qualifications or time commitment future fish tank committees will have. I'm blessed with a very knowledgable (half know more than me!) and hardworking group, but I can't say that it will be that way in the future.

Smiles,
Alinda

Oh, and here's the photos for those of you who didn't see my other post. The tank has been cleaned and looks MUCH better now, but you get the gist of what we have to work with...

 

[Misskiwi67]

OH, one more thing. Does anyone have any ideas for a centerpiece fish. I was hoping for angels, but others on the committee said they've had problems with angels eating rasboas. I'd like to find a larger species that will be a sort of "main event" in the tank, but will be completely compatible with whats currently in the tank.

 

[Jen]

If you arent going to go co2, then there isn't much point in going all out with lighting. It will only cause algae problems - trust me on this one. I've had green water so bad that I couldn't see 2inches into the tank. That's from too much light and not enough co2.

If you have high light, and low co2 and low fertilizers, the plants will suck up only enough light to match the co2 and ferts. Then the algae will then take over and dine on the extra light.

You have to have all three elements at the same level or it will only creat problems.

That being said... you can still have a beautiful tank with all low levels.

 

[Jen]

A beautiful fish is the neon rosey barb (it's my favourite).

They aren't agressive like other barbs. The males are a brilliant orangy red, and the females are a netural creamy yellowy beige. Very lovely in a school, and they haven't bugged any of the fish I keep.

boy

girl

Just a suggestion.

 

[Misskiwi67]

If you arent going to go co2, then there isn't much point in going all out with lighting. It will only cause algae problems - trust me on this one. I've had green water so bad that I couldn't see 2inches into the tank. That's from too much light and not enough co2.

If you have high light, and low co2 and low fertilizers, the plants will suck up only enough light to match the co2 and ferts. Then the algae will then take over and dine on the extra light.

You have to have all three elements at the same level or it will only creat problems.

That being said... you can still have a beautiful tank with all low levels.

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Ok, something else everyone should know.... The tank lights are set on a timer, but the room lights stay lit 24 hours a day. So I'm guessing there is nothing we can do with plants except to either get CO2, or fight algae forever???

Is this tank even a good tank to have live plants in? Another forum has been pressuring me to rehome all the fish and get cichlids instead.

Thanks,
Alinda

 

[Misskiwi67]

Dug out the test kit and got some more info:

Nitrate 10ppm
GH 6 dH
KH 1 1/2 dH
pH 8
Nitrite <.3
Ammonia 0

The light wattage looks like it will end up being about 1.75 watts per gallon. We're planning on doing a fluorite and playground sand mix for substrate.

Do you have any plants to recommend besides amazon swords and crypts, and what ratio of fluorite to sand would you recommend to minimize algae growth???

Would bala sharks be a good focal fish, or will they eat the plants?
Do you think blue or yellow gouramis would be too aggressive to live with the tetras when fully grown?

 

[houndour]

I reckon you could try Vallis, don't forget anubias species. Nymphea stellata ( ? ) might do OK...gorgoeus lily plant.

You can have 100% fluorite if you can afford. I dont know the impact of fluorite has on algae growth. People who don't have the money/or like sand go 50/50 sand/fluorite, but you will find bits will come to the surface. If your planning on getting corydoras or other fish with barbels I would go for 50/50 sand/fluorite.

You may be better off asking you fish questions in the appropriate forums. I think bala sharks get quite large and need to be in groups, but I might be making that up! I know you have a big tank...but perhaps that big tank to a bala shark is like a 5 gallon to a guppy. Thats just my opinion.

7 platies, 5 rasboas, 3 black skirt tetras, 1 redtail shark, 1 ancient butterfly fish, 2 giant danios, 1 cherry barb, a single cory, a bushynose pleco, and a random blind catfish

125 gallons = approx 125 inches of fish.
7 platies approx 14"
5 rasboras = 10"
1 RTBS = 5"
butterfly fish?? //edit - is this the fish you have? http/www.aquahobby.com/gallery/gpantodon.html
2 giant danios = 8"
cherry barb = 2"
cory = 2"
bushy nose = 6??
catfish???
OK, well thats over 50" of fish when/if they get fully grown. (please dont take my estimates as fact...just trying to give you a rough idea...)

Just googled: Bala sharks apparently grow up to 16"!! Another site says 14", either way quite large I'd say.

So if you wanted them you could only get a few then nothing else really.

You have over 50" to play with and if you go fairly heavily planted a nice shoaling fish would look great. Ultimately it's up to you...

My recommendations would be another 5 or 6 cories and 30 cardinal tetras

I can't really talk about the 1 inch per gallon thing though as I just overstocked my tank....