Deep Blue Sea? - Dannys Questions & Tropical Build ...

[Daniel97]

Hello!

Ill start at the beginning!

My name is Danny & 2 years ago i owned a thriving Marine aquarium. It was a 4ft tank which was my pride and joy!

Cut forward 2 years and I've moved house, got engaged, had a baby and now have 2 cats and a dog!

Crazy 2 years!

Anyway after a recent trip to a friends house i saw his newly established still cycling tank! Tank envy hit me straight away and ever since I've been tank shopping!

After deciding i couldn't afford a custom build Godiva or similar i opted for a pre built jewel style tank. My specs were fairly simple. Needed to be white and between 81-83cm wide.

Finally settled on a Ferplast Dubai 80 in white. Perfect size, neat and tidy set up with minimal effort required to make it look tidy and price was reasonable!

Now while were discussing price as i now have a family to support i dont have thousands to blow on buying a marine set up spending hundreds on live rock and £50 per fish! - Ive opted for a Tropical set up.

Here is where it gets tricky .. i havnt a clue how to keep Trops! Im not a fish newb but i am very fragile in this area and i DO NOT want to make mistakes so here i am begging for help/advice!

It is a 125 litre tank currently with a base of 2-3cm of black fine gravel. It is full of water and currently cycling using the ferplast easy cycle tablets. Ill add food each day to speed it up etc etc. (Yes im aware of the cycle and testing) I am running 2 x T5 24w lights 9 hours a day.

I am using the tanks inbuilt filtration system for ease and cost - any cons to doing so and anything that i can use within it to make my life any easier?

Fresh plants/fake plants? Again pro's/cons?

I want to keep a school of neon tetras as the little girl will love them .. whats a sensible family to have swimming with it?

Tank decor? Any advice either way as i am currently staring at a blank tank with no background/vegitation/ornaments and its looking rather sorry for itself lol.

 

[Noahs ark6]

Decorations ETC are ultimately up to you (some people like sick coloured gravel some like sand). I prefer a natural look, containing some sort of wood (redmoor is beeaaaauuuttttiiffffuuuullllll) and/or rock. Live plants look (in my opinion) better than fake ones and help maintain a higher water quality compared to fake ones. Easy to care for plants include Anubias, Ferns (Java fern etc) all the mosses (Xmas, Java etc) and swords

You could fill a tropical tank with plants and fish for the price of one of some marine fish it's crazy.
I believe the Juwel bioflow filters are relatively good.

Neons are compatible with most fish of similar size (Platys-Harlequins-Guppys-Bettas (may attack neons if hes a feisty one)-Mollies- any other type of tetra-Corys-Bristlenose catfish-Rams etc). Be carefull if you plan to keep them with big fish such as angels, as they are a food source for angels in the wild, but they can live together if the angel has been exposed to them from a young age. A minimum of 6 neons in a school. The more you buy the better it looks

 

[Daniel97]

When is safe to start putting in plants?

I put 3 pieces of bogwood (i think) in yesterday bought from my local aquatics store and the water is now a horrible green/brown.

I didnt soak them first but i did give them a bloody good hose down outside with the hosepipe!

Do plants need a particular depth of substrate or will any thickness do?

The tank looks mighty boring at the moment without plants so really out for all the help i can get!

 

[Noahs ark6]

It is "safe" to put in plants whenever you want, but it's best to put them in after the cycle, as they can slow the cycle down. Good starting plants are- Java fern (cant be place in the sbustrate, you have to place it on wood) Anubias, Amazon swords, and any type of moss, which also cant be placed in the substrate. A substrate of 4 cm will be fine.

The brown colour is tannin, which is released by wood if it hasn't been previously soaked. WHilst is looks unsightly, it's actually beneficial for the fish. It will gradually go via water changes

 

[Daniel97]

is there a sticky guide somewhere as to what each plant looks like and is called so i know which to pick in the LFS

 

[Noahs ark6]

This link has the name and scientific name of common plants, and a more comprehensive list of easy to care for plants
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/22604-common-aquarium-plants-and-planted-links/

 

[Daniel97]

Okay going to try Pets at Home on the way out later ..

Did a 40l water change at lunchtime today so im hoping the nasty brown water goes soon. Will the filter sponges help this at all or need regular washing?

Imm guessing all i do is take the plant out of the little pots and leave it with its elastic band and weight and just plonk it somewhere in the substrate?

 

[Noahs ark6]

The sponges themselves won't get rid of it, but activated carbon will help remove it. Remember to only wash the sponges in old tank water.

You can plant how you describe, or you cant seperate the stems (for stem plants) and plant them individually, it's up to you
Make sure you cut of rotten/brown/dead leaves and roots before you plant, to avoid them rotting and causing poor water quality

 

[Daniel97]

Here's a photo of what I bought ..

 

[Noahs ark6]

Looks quite nice, very minimalistic

 

[Daniel97]

Would like to add a lot more but my aquascaping skills are null.

Any ideas happily welcomed ...

 

[Noahs ark6]

How about a blue or black background and blanket of vallis along the back. And some java fern attacthed to the wood

 

[Daniel97]

Just added some more plants and some api bacteria start stuff .. How fast do plants grow?

 

[Noahs ark6]

There isn't a fixed time of growth for all plants (as there is alot of variables like light, ferts, CO2 and the type of plant), but I think the plants in your tank will grow relatively quickly, they will start to bunch out in about 3 weeks


There is alot of speculation as to whether or not those bacteria starts actually work, and the general consensus seems to be that they don't. Have a look in the beginners resource centre for information on how to do a fishless cycle

 

[balajake]

If you want to start off right then you need to do a fishless cycle using household ammonia. It will take about a month or so but its the best and safest way