Aquarium Lighting, Co2 And Maintenance Questions

[FingersofFish]

Hello,
 
I have recently set up my aquarium and am on day 4 of a full fishless cycle.

I have come home to notice this growing all over my mopani wood... It's like a see through slime ? Does anyone have any ideas, and what should be done about it?

 
Furthermore I did a lot of research prior to starting out but now have general questions regarding the hobby that i wasn't prepared for! if anyone could answer any of them it would be much appreciated!
 
Questions
#1 Aquarium fill level: My aquarium stated nowhere which level it should be filled to, in the end I ended up searching google for a picture of someone elses and copying the approximate fill level from that. But i can't help feeling like it's not full enough, should it be up to the white plastic? 
 

 
#2 Lighting: I have very bright LED lighting, and currently have it on for 7 hours a day (the tank is lightly planted). the aquarium is in a dark alcove and when the lights aren't on, its very dark indeed. I was wondering if moonlight or a very dim light (backlight) is available that may brighten up the corner? although if this is going to upset the fish or cause rediculous algae growth i'll give it a miss.
 
#3 Condensation: The hood of my aquarium as a ridiculous amount of condensation, so much so that every time i open it water is going everywhere as it drips off the hood - it's in an alcove so my worry is behind it is going to get very wet! This may just be because I am running it at 28/29 degrees during the cycle.
 
#4 Maintenance:  So far i've had two plants float up the surface and had to replant them, I'm finding this very hard as the tank is dark and i can't really tell what i'm doing because of the refraction of light (and if i have the LED's on i get blinded) any tips here from the veterans! also should i be working with gloves or are bare arms acceptable!
 
#5 CO2: I'm planning to plant the tank quite heavily over time and have bought a basic bioCO2 kit, I am cautious about starting it up yet as i'm during cycling and don't want to bother it up, again if anyone has any advice it would be much appreciated.
 
Thanks all for now, i'm sure ill have more in the future! I can't begin to explain how useful this forum to a complete newbie like myself!
 
Thanks,
 
Jacob.
 
 

 

[thefishmesswithmywater]

Hi I am new myself so I'm afraid I can't help much.
What I can comment on is the maintenance!
I have a tall tank which is a pain as I have to stand on a chair! I switch off all electrics when I'm going in the tank and I always end up doing it at night as I have a two year old. I usually let my eyes get acclimatised oh and switch off the tank lights before I do anything.
I go bare hands/arms. I wash my hands/arms, rinse really well and I have a fish towel that I only wash in non bio with no conditioner. I have no idea if that is really all necessary but I would go careful on the soap.
Hope that helps

 

[FingersofFish]

Thanks for the advice, I should probably turn the electrics off. I also have a 1 year old so tank maintenance is reserved for after hai bedtime!

 

[Ninjouzata]

It's normal for wood to do that when it's new. I forget exactly why it does it, unfortunately! But you can just leave it be and it should go away. Or you can scrub it off, but it may come back.
 
1. You can fill it to the bottom of the white plastic. It looks like there would be around an inch of space between it and the lid, right?
 
2. I'm not quite sure what you mean by this, do you mean having a sort of lamp on/near the tank?
 
3. I think it will improve a lot once you've turned down the heat after the cycle. If it's still a problem be sure to ask!
 
4. It'll take a bit for the plants to root in so you don't have to do that anymore. You can use gloves (that you'd only use for the tank and that don't have any chemicals on them) or do it bare-armed. I like getting my arms wet!
When you say you're getting blinded by the reflection, is it that you're looking down into the tank and the light bouncing off the top of the water is too bright? Maybe try looking at the tank from the front while planting? It can be a pain but might help..
 
5. I can't comment on this, unfortunately.
 
Hope that helps a little! Hopefully someone with more experience on the co2 & lighting will come along soon.

 

[FingersofFish]

Thanks that's really helpful. The white is an inch and half so i assume that means it's defiantly okay.

Regarding rhe lighting I mean sort of some other form of lighting inside the hood very low level that's on when the main lights are off, sort of moonlight that would illuminate it just enough to see the fish once I get any!

With the reflection it's almost that the surface of the water is too dark when I turn the lighting off to do maintenance. As I can't leave the LEDs on while working on the tank when the hood is open as they point right into my eyes!