Az3rix's First 55 Gallon Tank

Entry #1:

Hello everyone! I have just received the 55 Gallon tank that I was gifted and I just set up the stand and everything is looking great so far! Once I receive the plants later this week, I will be setting everything up and will post another update once I do. For now, this is what I have planned for this tank:

10 Pygmy Corydoras
10 Albino Corydoras
20 Harlequin Rasboras
10 Cherry Shrimps

Filter: Tidal 75 which plenty of bio media and pre filter sponges on the intake and skimmer


Substrate: Either pool filter sand or Caribsea Super Natural Moonlight Sand that it came with. I'll be using the Aquarium Co-op Root tabs and their liquid fertilizer to keep the plants fed and healthy.


Plants:
Corkscrew Vallisneria (A Few)
Dwarf Sagittaria (A Few)
Red Root Floaters (Enough to Start)
Java Fern and Windelov Java Fern (A Few)
Red Dwarf Lily Bulb (2)
Anubis Nana (A Few)
Red Melon Sword (A Few)
Cryptocorynes (A Few)
Dwarf Sagittaria or Java Moss. Not sure which one yet (Enough to Start).

I am planning on adding a float ring on top for the Red Root Floaters so it has less of a change of clogging up the skimmer.

For the lighting, I was just going to use the hygger 42w light but the tank came with a hood with led lightings in it. I attached a picture of the tank below, do you guys think it is strong enough for all the plants I have listed? If not, I will probably buy a glass lid for the hygger 42w light to shine through.

I'll also be adding an airstone just to help with oxygenating the tank and adding a cuttlefish bone later on for the shrimp too.

I'll be following this guide here for the cycle process.

Overall, I am pretty excited to start this journey with this tank and I again will be posting another update on it once I have everything set up either later this week or the next. Again, if you guys have any tips or advice, please don't hesitate to reply down below, thanks!

Following! Looking forward to seeing other updates

When you say "gifted aquarium" the image that comes to my mind is always an old crud full, of mineral deposit with doubtful methylene blue seal, missing parts and maybe a crack somewhere...

That thing looks brand new out of the box !!! I'm jealous

I never had real success with any plants with de-facto lights, so if it has dimmer control you can add your hygger for sure.

Instead of an air stone, I would use a large sponge filter, it gives the same results at keeping the surface clear and good aeration of the water it's good supplemental water polishing with added biofiltration. You can also run it with battery powered air pumps in emergencies.

And the shrimps love to graze on the micro particles of food the sponges draws from the water.

It a win-win-win-win-win situation, compared to just an air stone.

Can't wait to see it come alive !

post pics when you get the pygmies!!! they are some of my favorites!

MaloK said:

When you say "gifted aquarium" the image that comes to my mind is always an old crud full, of mineral deposit with doubtful methylene blue seal, missing parts and maybe a crack somewhere...

That thing looks brand new out of the box !!! I'm jealous

I never had real success with any plants with de-facto lights, so if it has dimmer control you can add your hygger for sure.

Instead of an air stone, I would use a large sponge filter, it gives the same results at keeping the surface clear and good aeration of the water it's good supplemental water polishing with added biofiltration. You can also run it with battery powered air pumps in emergencies.

And the shrimps love to graze on the micro particles of food the sponges draws from the water.

It a win-win-win-win-win situation, compared to just an air stone.

Can't wait to see it come alive !

Click to expand...

Right? I was expecting that too but it seems they upgraded to another tank right when they got the 55 gallon and they were looking for takers, so I went up for it. I was thinking about adding a sponge filter too, so it might be a future addition too!

kpewv said:

post pics when you get the pygmies!!! they are some of my favorites!

Click to expand...

I most definitely will and the other fish will be getting their own photoshoot too, haha.

Entry #2

Just finished setting up the tank! Got most of the beginning plants I wanted, but there were some decorations missing, so I added some temporary decorations for now like the Spongebob ones, haha. I just wanted to get it set up as soon as possible to start the cycling process. Got it to 3 ppm in ammonia now and added some old filter media my friend had on hand, so I might be done with it soon and be able to adding fish in quicker than I thought. Don't worry, I'm following this guide so I won't be adding fish before I know it's cycled for sure. I know adding old filter media isn't a guarantee to a quick cycling process. I know the picture shows it a bit bubbly and a bit cloudy, but I took this picture a couple of hours ago, and it has cleared up very nicely. My next update will probably be adding the fish to it, but might be an update when the cycling is done too. Now to play the waiting game.

The SpongeBob classics!

CassCats said:

The SpongeBob classics!

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Haha, yup you got that right!

Entry #3

I would like to start off by saying that this not not abandoned! I've had some scheduling issues to fix on my side but didn't have enough time to be active again until I got all that fixed, which I can say I have! My tank has been doing pretty good! The dwarf lily bulbs have sported out great and has some big beautiful leaves on the bottom and the ones it sent to the top! The crypts have slowly been spreading and the ferns haven't died yet, which I can say is a plus for me! I was dealing with a huge brown algae problem but I seem to finally have it under control. You can still see some of the remnants of it, but trust me, it was much worse a few weeks ago, haha. I actually got purple harlequins with a few regular harlequins mixed in since it was the only one avaliable at my LFS, which I'm not upset about because I think they still look great. The pygmy cories and the albino cories have been doing great as well, no issues. The cherry shrimp have also been doing great and one of them is carrying eggs, so I might have some shrimplets soon! I added frogbit instead of red roof floaters and they have been florushing too and have even sent out some long roots, which I think look pretty great. Overall, the tank has been doing amazing and I will have another update soon! Other than that, enjoy the few good pics I was able to snag, haha.

Jealous of your lotus, I can't keep them alive

CassCats said:

Jealous of your lotus, I can't keep them alive

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Haha, wish I could tell you what I did different, but I'm not even sure how they're prospering in my tank.