Clean Slate

Hi guys,

As you can see, not only am I new to the site, but I'm new to the world of aquariums too. So, to give you the full picture and some idea where I'm coming from, I'll give you the lead in story........

About twelve months ago I bought (that's me buying, the girlfriend wanting) two yellow belly slider turtles and a small aquarium (very small 60x30x25cm) for them to be initially housed in. The pet shop said two would be ok in there for 18 months (I'm now sure they said that expecting the little things to be dead in 4 weeks). Obviously they outgrew this very quickly, so in november I bought another aquarium, but this time I went much bigger hoping it would last at least 12 months! So they lived happily in a 120x35x50cm until about 2 months ago. There wasn't really enough water in there for them, and it was really difficult to maintain/build a basking area for them, so off I went again and came home with a garden pond for them. Unfortunately we lost one whilst on holiday 3 weeks ago (another long story).

In the mean time I ripped out the basking ledge from the tiny aquarium, bought a top and lights and proceeded to right royally cock everything up. I followed the instructions from the LFS and got stuck with a fish in cycle. Anyways, we battled on and loved the fish so much that I stole an old aquarium my mother used to keep, but had been out of use for nearly ten years (91x30x39cm). I transferred the four fish I had and, being much wiser, the filter that was in the little aquarium. Lastly, after the turtles had been re-homed to the pond and we had finished moving, we decided to get the fish into the biggest aquarium. All is going well, but I'm not too happy with it. Things, however, could be worse and each time I play around with it I'm happier.

As it stands this large aquarium is planted, but I'm not adding any Co2 or anything. Some things do well, others are slowly leaving this world. We have housed our fry in the tiny aquarium, which I have recently changed around to make more attractive and homely for the little things. In doing this I decided to paint the back black and change the substrate to sand. It has two plastic plants, a stone and some floating plants to make them feel safe. In fact, I'm so delighted with it that I have now painted the back of the medium sized tank.

This is the state of play as I type. Small tank, 45L, fry. Large tank, 250L, planted and occupied, though not satisfied. Medium tank, 106L, empty. I have a spare small filter, which I keep in the community tank for emergencies, and a new heater. The lid on this tank died and I wasn't lighting it, but today I have ordered a new light fitting 1xT5 39watt and reflector which should be here late this week or early next for a DIY knock up. I'll take a picture tomorrow of what I have and upload it, repeated when the light comes and when I fit it.

So what to do? I don't really have an idea, and I have less knowledge (I haven't even thought about what fish I want in it). However I want it planted and I want to do it properly.

So there you are experts. You have an empty tank, the above equipment and the ability to DIY whatever you want. What would you do?

One last hitch.......

I live in Poland and don't speak much of the lingo. Sourcing even the simplest things could be interesting! I want to give it a go to see what I can achieve and, if it works well, I'll open up the 250L for a change too. So this is my experiment.

I'll keep a rolling diary/pictures and hopefully someone/anyone may possibly find it interesting.

Please help me!!!

Harry

Ok, so here is the aquarium all cleaned up and shiny.



I can't make my mind up what substrate to use. I love the look of the sand in my fry tank, but this is going to be planted. Remember I've painted the back of the tank black to highlight the plants, so what do you people suggest, normal sand or black?

I've been and bought some Coke for "her in doors" to drink giving me some bottles to set up a Co2 system if needed. What suggestions are there? I'm only having a Sylvania grolux T5 39watt in there and it's 26 imperial gallons. Will I need Co2?

If I do, I can easily get the tubes........... but where the hell will I find nipples for the coke bottle tops and a diffuser? Can I use an airstone instead?

Any help appreciated.

Harry

i would go with play sand personally all my tanks have it its alot easier to clean all the detrius up as it sits on the sand
if you are doing your own co2 system use a 2litre pop bottle put a hole in the bottle top with a xhead screwdriver the same size as the airline run that tube to another bottle just a small pop bottle is perfect put a hole (the same size as the other one in the bottle top) about 2 inch from the bottom put your air tube in and seal it with silicone or glue fill the small bottle half full of water (this is your filter so that no yeast mixture can get into your tank) then put a hole in the bottle top of the small bottle and run another airline to the tank i pushed a bit of sponge into the airline to make fine bubbles
, i also used a airline manifold to regulate the pressure and amount of bubbles in your tank

sorry if this is complicated lol

from right to left
the main bottle (right) with the yeast/sugar/water mixture in , an airline through the sports cap (which seals itself) the middle bottle is the filter bottle with water in which the bubbles have to pass through and then a air line from the bottle top to the manifold (left) and then to the tank

Wow! Thanks Jay!

That's a great help and I've got all the things I need here, but I'm going to wait a little...... I've seen a Co2 kit on Allegro (Polish version of eBay) and it isn't a bad price. I'll wait a couple of days to see what price it looks like getting to before I make a decision. I'm going to go with the sand. It looks great in the fry tank!

So today I've fitted the lighting that arrived this morning and it looks soooooooo much better.

I've also bought an internal filter that knocks out 1000 litres per minute, will this be ok? It's very similar to an internal I have running in my turtle pond, so the question being, can I rip some media from there to speed cycle the tank? My thinking is this....... if it can handle the waste that turtle produces then even only one of the two foam pads must have enough bacs for a little legion of fish........ what do you think?

Ok, a couple more question. Do I plant and leave the tank with no fish for a decent period Would it in any way help? I'm kinda thinking it'd help let the plants root better before they get themselves dug up or pulled out!

Lastly....... I want something that's going to carpet one side, was thinking about riccia or something like that..... I also want to put in something that I can fill out one corner of the tank.

I really know nothing about this stuff, and after seeing Aaron North's journal I have to try it. Any suggestions on plants would be very, very appreciated.

Harry

H. Houdini said:

Wow! Thanks Jay!

That's a great help and I've got all the things I need here, but I'm going to wait a little...... I've seen a Co2 kit on Allegro (Polish version of eBay) and it isn't a bad price. I'll wait a couple of days to see what price it looks like getting to before I make a decision. I'm going to go with the sand. It looks great in the fry tank!

So today I've fitted the lighting that arrived this morning and it looks soooooooo much better.

I've also bought an internal filter that knocks out 1000 litres per minute, will this be ok? It's very similar to an internal I have running in my turtle pond, so the question being, can I rip some media from there to speed cycle the tank? My thinking is this....... if it can handle the waste that turtle produces then even only one of the two foam pads must have enough bacs for a little legion of fish........ what do you think?

Ok, a couple more question. Do I plant and leave the tank with no fish for a decent period Would it in any way help? I'm kinda thinking it'd help let the plants root better before they get themselves dug up or pulled out!

Lastly....... I want something that's going to carpet one side, was thinking about riccia or something like that..... I also want to put in something that I can fill out one corner of the tank.

I really know nothing about this stuff, and after seeing Aaron North's journal I have to try it. Any suggestions on plants would be very, very appreciated.

Harry

Click to expand...

you'll need co2 with the riccia.

can you not use filter media from one of the other tanks rather than the pond? woulda thought that would be better.

some ppl add fish right away, but you'll need to make sure the tank is planted quite heavily to do this without risking fishy damage!
if you do decide to add fish right away, only add a very small amount and build up slowly.

altho personally if i was gonna have co2 i'd wait, you can have higher levels of co2 to make sure all is well with the plants, then when the tank is growing well, lower the co2 and add some fish.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=299827
check out above link for decent info

Yeah, I read that article this morning. Bloody good read and it's what got me thinking.

Whatever, I'm going to add Co2. It'll either be home made or the one from the auction. As for the media, well........ I have guppies and a few mollies that I don't really want in the pond with the turtle. The stats are great on the water, I even get fry in there! Ok, so the nitrates get high quickly ( I have to do a 50% twice weekly water change for the fish), which I assume is because of the waste the turtle kicks out, but there are never any ammonia readings or nitrites. Also, my 250 litre is planted, albeit low-tech, and I'm worried about how much, if any bacs will be on the media there. Obviously the tank is larger and more stable too. Logic would dictate that there must be a bigger and more robust colony to be found in the filter media of the turtle

Anyways, sand will be in tomorrow and then I'm going to look for plants, so I'm more worried about what to include on that front. The fish are a good two or three weeks down the line....... though I'd love a really decent sized school of harlequins!!!!

Harry

home made co2 is abit unstable really and a proper kit would be better (i just can't afford one at the moment lol)

Well, I set up my Co2 today following the recipe I found on here using marmite (yes, I can get the stuff in Poland!). I connected it to the internal filter and just let the thing run... about 2 hours ago.

Now, it's going NUTS! The bubbles are coming through so quickly that I can't count them! Plants seem ok and I can clearly see bubbles coming from the leaves.

I do have 16 VERY small fish in there (see my thread on Trop. Disc. yesterday), so I guess the question is...... will they be ok, 'cuz there's one helluva lot of Co2 going into the tank!?!?

Pics to follow later.

Harry

Hmmm, my Lamp-eye killifish are at the top of the tank, looking like they are trying to breathe air through their mouths. The Harlequins have moved from the middle to the top of the tank but are not at the surface.

This is a home made kit, two bottles running at present on a 106 litre tank. Too much? Should I take one bottle off???

H. Houdini said:

Hmmm, my Lamp-eye killifish are at the top of the tank, looking like they are trying to breathe air through their mouths. The Harlequins have moved from the middle to the top of the tank but are not at the surface.

This is a home made kit, two bottles running at present on a 106 litre tank. Too much? Should I take one bottle off???

Click to expand...

Are you switching back and forth between the bottles? For your tank 4-6 bubbles a second is plenty.

mdwheeler said:

H. Houdini said:

Hmmm, my Lamp-eye killifish are at the top of the tank, looking like they are trying to breathe air through their mouths. The Harlequins have moved from the middle to the top of the tank but are not at the surface.

This is a home made kit, two bottles running at present on a 106 litre tank. Too much? Should I take one bottle off???

Click to expand...

Are you switching back and forth between the bottles? For your tank 4-6 bubbles a second is plenty.

Click to expand...

I only set it up today md.

The bubbles were so quick I couldn't count them. It was clear about an hour ago that it was having a serious effect on the fish. They were all gasping at the surface, so I pulled out the pipes and turned on the air intake. At least they aren't going to die! I'll have a fiddle tomorrow and perhaps drop down to one bottle. What do you think? I put my finger over the intake to check how much that's generating and it is between 2-3 bubbles a second. That ok?

Harry

H. Houdini said:

mdwheeler said:

H. Houdini said:

Hmmm, my Lamp-eye killifish are at the top of the tank, looking like they are trying to breathe air through their mouths. The Harlequins have moved from the middle to the top of the tank but are not at the surface.

This is a home made kit, two bottles running at present on a 106 litre tank. Too much? Should I take one bottle off???

Click to expand...

Are you switching back and forth between the bottles? For your tank 4-6 bubbles a second is plenty.

Click to expand...

I only set it up today md.

The bubbles were so quick I couldn't count them. It was clear about an hour ago that it was having a serious effect on the fish. They were all gasping at the surface, so I pulled out the pipes and turned on the air intake. At least they aren't going to die! I'll have a fiddle tomorrow and perhaps drop down to one bottle. What do you think? I put my finger over the intake to check how much that's generating and it is between 2-3 bubbles a second. That ok?

Harry

Click to expand...

I'd leave the valves closed on those bottles for about the first hour or two of set up, that way you build pressure and you have slight control over bubble rate. For now I would definitely aerate the water for a couple hours and let the fish calm back down. Also if you were to just leave them closed all the time I believe you would get a leak rate of about bubble a second. I run three bottles on a ten gallon using a metal gang valve! According to your design you have yeast bottle, filter bottle, then valve. I would switch it up to yeast bottle, valve, then filter bottle. Also to avoid big bubbles (the nasty kind that build in the yeast bottle) place about a 1/2 table spoon of baking soda or powder to keep those bubbles from forming.

OH just noticed your from poland (different measuring systems right?)

by 1/2 tablespoon I meant 7.4 ml

mdwheeler said:

I'd leave the valves closed on those bottles for about the first hour or two of set up, that way you build pressure and you have slight control over bubble rate. For now I would definitely aerate the water for a couple hours and let the fish calm back down. Also if you were to just leave them closed all the time I believe you would get a leak rate of about bubble a second. I run three bottles on a ten gallon using a metal gang valve! According to your design you have yeast bottle, filter bottle, then valve. I would switch it up to yeast bottle, valve, then filter bottle. Also to avoid big bubbles (the nasty kind that build in the yeast bottle) place about a 1/2 table spoon of baking soda or powder to keep those bubbles from forming.

OH just noticed your from poland (different measuring systems right?)

by 1/2 tablespoon I meant 7.4 ml

Click to expand...

From Poland, but very English!

I'll have a play tomorrow and move the valve. I know you're right because as soon as I limited the flow rate with the vale I sprung a leak in my filter bottle. You got me bang to rights now, thanks!

Also, I used the baking soda I may have messed up, but at least I did some investigating first

Harry