My New 55 Gallon Tank

I recently setup my new 55G tank and added new fish. I cannot decide what else I want to add to it so, it looks empty right now. Any suggestions?

Also, I have noticed an odour in the tank when I lift up the canopy hood to feed my fish, it's a similar smell as in pet stores fish sections where it's warm. I thought because the water is warm (i have set at 81*F-82*F) that's why the smell is coming. I did not add any additional chemicals to the water except water conditioner....any ideas as to why the odour is present in the tank?

Let me know how the tank looks.

I am also wondering how often I should feed my fish. Petsmart told me to feed them twice a day since they are in a big tank and swim a lot and they will need energy. However, I used to feed them once a day. So should it be once or twice a day?

There's no pictures and the more you feed the more waste they will produce so it's up to you, I originally fed twice a day but now feed once a day sine they poop so much with the twice a day feeding. Also turn your temperature down to around 76 might be a little better but best to do it one degree at a time and what fish do you have in your tank, also what type of filteration are you using.

Austin

now I see it

How many watts is that heater, and a black of blue background might make it look nice.

nice tank you have there. Personally i would place a few branches of bogwood along the bottom, if possible pieces with bends in them arranged laterally along the bottom so the bends stick up making use of both the length and height of the tank.

leave some areas with open bottom and plant some quite densely giving the fish some hiding places.


With feeding, i've always fed mine once a day and the fish have been healthy. I see no reason to increase the amount of food they receive.

the tank looks a bit bare deccor wise, you should add plants, some vallis would look nice

i feed my fish twice daily, what size is that heater, it looks a bit small for that size tank, i have a 39gal with a 100w heater and that is a bit small for my tank, the heater you got looks around 25w or maybe 50w.

the smell i either fish food, because if you read the ingredients it might say that the food contains garlic, is it a garlic smell?
or it could be the fish waste, what i do is if i see any fish waste i scoop it out and get rid of it, my tank doesnt smell atall and do what ATMACHINE said and turn the heater down, it should be around 25-27 C.

hope ive helped

He needs around a 275w heater, 5w per gallon, 100w is too small, I use a 150w on my 29.

The heater is 100W. I had two in there but removed one since one was doing the job and maintaining the tempertaure. I am thinking of adding a bogwood in there but shopping for the one I really want. I dont want to rush into buying things and changing it later.

The water temp. has been at 81*F in my old tank and new tank also. My apartment gets cold at night and in the morning, so I have left it at that. I will reduce the temp. in summer.

I'm wondering how long should I leave my tank light open for. For now, I leave the light open for 6-7 hours. I dont want excessive light in there and rapid growth of algae either.

Thanks for your feedback.

Majid said:

The heater is 100W. I had two in there but removed one since one was doing the job and maintaining the tempertaure. I am thinking of adding a bogwood in there but shopping for the one I really want. I dont want to rush into buying things and changing it later.

The water temp. has been at 81*F in my old tank and new tank also. My apartment gets cold at night and in the morning, so I have left it at that. I will reduce the temp. in summer.

I'm wondering how long should I leave my tank light open for. For now, I leave the light open for 6-7 hours. I dont want excessive light in there and rapid growth of algae either.

Thanks for your feedback.

Click to expand...

What color temp are your light bulbs in that thing? I've been looking for them that color but mine always end up with a pink or yellow haze..

Ogrt48 said:

Majid said:

The heater is 100W. I had two in there but removed one since one was doing the job and maintaining the tempertaure. I am thinking of adding a bogwood in there but shopping for the one I really want. I dont want to rush into buying things and changing it later.

The water temp. has been at 81*F in my old tank and new tank also. My apartment gets cold at night and in the morning, so I have left it at that. I will reduce the temp. in summer.

I'm wondering how long should I leave my tank light open for. For now, I leave the light open for 6-7 hours. I dont want excessive light in there and rapid growth of algae either.

Thanks for your feedback.

Click to expand...

What color temp are your light bulbs in that thing? I've been looking for them that color but mine always end up with a pink or yellow haze..

Click to expand...

I have fluorecent light in the tank. Nothing special, it came with the canopy. The light affect is also because of the natural sand color.

your risking it with such a small heater, specially as you have it set so high.


because its small it will have to be on nearly constantly to keep the temp up and this will put some serious strain on it.


i think you should lower the temp a bit too. doesnt matter how cold it is outside the tank, your heater should be doing its job and holding the temp steady.

SamUK said:

your risking it with such a small heater, specially as you have it set so high.


because its small it will have to be on nearly constantly to keep the temp up and this will put some serious strain on it.


i think you should lower the temp a bit too. doesnt matter how cold it is outside the tank, your heater should be doing its job and holding the temp steady.

Click to expand...

I reduced the heater temp to 81*F. I will bring it down to 80*F (if needed). My fish don't look like they are stressed with the 82*F (but I still reduced it). I did some research on the internet and it says the temp. can be 72*F - 82*F. But I brought it down since everyone suggested to do so on this discussion board. It is now 81*F. I read online that mollies prefer to have warm temp. when they are pregnant. I bought a silver molly which is pregnant and I thought I should keep the water warm so it can have a successful birth and at the same time does not stress my other fish.

The heater seems to be doing a great job, I've had it for couple of months now and it maintains the tank temperature well. At first, I also thought there would be stress on the heater, but it's working very well.

Thanks for your feedback.

Great tank!

You could add some plants in there.

What sand is that ?

Qays said:

Great tank!

You could add some plants in there.

What sand is that ?

Click to expand...

Thanks.

I've got natural sand in the tank.

looks brill.

yeah about the heater. i ran a small heater like that in a big tank i woke up one morning and it had stopped working and there where a good few dead fish


as the heater was going full wack almost non stop