Hello Again. New Tank Setup

[WhispTech]

Hello again.  Been a long time since I visited these forums.  Back then I had an eclipse 3 gallon and since about a year or so ago bought a 15 gallon tank.  Like the 3 gallon using sand and live plants and seem to do very well with the one plant I have which I forget what its called.  But it seems to grow like crazy so happy with that.  I just switched up my tank in the last few days and recycling it.  Only have one fish in it which is a ruby nose tetra.  Really like this fish since it tells you if its happy or not by how its head turns red.  Anyways, had one of those crappy bio wheel systems which finally started screwing up since because I think its the way the sand sometimes gets stirred up and such and messed with the impeller so got rid of it and did some changes to my tank.
 
K, so kept the sand setup and same water heater I had from before and switched up to a Fluval 106 canister filter.  Have to say that new filter is pretty powerful and I don't think I have seen cleaner water in any aquarium I have owned thru my life plus sits super quiet and I like how easy it is to clean it.  Since this system is all under water and I didn't have the waterfall effect for aeration I also grabbed a Tetra Whisper 20, silicone tubing, check valve along with I chose a air curtain over a air  stone.  Looks nice in my opinion.
 
K so at this point I am doing a two week cycle even though my one old fish is in there and seems to be ok,  Seems a bit stressed after the move and such but seems to be perking up.  Going to do 25% water changes every 4-5 days as well.  Bio system should be ok since when I set up the new filter I ran the old dirty water thru it which was pretty gunky after stirring up the sand.  Hope that helps with the bacteria colony startup.
 
So after two weeks I want to pullulate this new tank but havn't decided what I wanted.  I know I want hearty fish that will like the bubble curtain and the water flow in the tank.  I have been thinking about friendly dwarf frogs.  But I was wondering do dwarf frogs eat excess food and whatever left on the sand like the cories do and stir up the sand a bit for me?  Was thinking maybe 2 or 3 of those.  Then I also want some friendly fish that won't bother the frogs.  Something colourful that I can put in a school of them that are not going to break the bank.  Any ideas, suggestions or if I am missing anything for my tank are greatly appreciated.
 
And of course some pics of the new setup.

 

[Ninjouzata]

Did you save the filter media from your other filter?

 

[WhispTech]

Well its sitting in a container and probably dried out by now.  The fluval came with rings, the other stuff I had is different.

 

[Ninjouzata]

You should still be able to use it I'd think? Just cut it to size if need be.
I was asking because that filter media is what has majority of the bacteria. I'd put it into your new filter if you can.
 
Also are you going to add a background? Tank looks nice

 

[WhispTech]

Here is a pic of the other stuff that I modded my bio wheel filter with.  Bottle of it was put away so would have to pull it out to find out what it is called.  It was still damp.  I took some aquarium water and put it in there but its new water that only been cycled for three days so no idea if it is ruined or not or if I should mix this type with the rings.

Here is pic of the bottle.  This is that rock stuff.  Says it helps with nitrates and ammonia.  No idea if it does same thing as the new rings.  No idea if I can put this in the fluval system although I assume I could.

......

 

[Ninjouzata]

You can use it with the rings. I've heard good stuff about matrix and plan on putting it in my new canister, as well as the rings

I hope I havn't annoyed you, just wanted to make sure you didn't lose the bacteria!

 

[WhispTech]

You don't think that because it was almost dried out the bacteria is gone let alone I added only 3 day cycled water to it?
 
 
And to adding a background think I will leave it as it is, Thats why I added the bubble curtain as a bubble wall as my background.  Was thinking maybe a light led light bar under the bubbles for fun.  Maybe red or blue and something not that bright for at night time.
 
Don't like those posters on the back.

 

[Ninjouzata]

I'm just wondering how dried out it got, since the bacteria have a protective biofilm. I'm not sure how the water would affect it unless you hadn't dechlorinated it?
How long was the media out of water for? I don't think I asked that, sorry
 
I didn't mean a background with a theme on it. A solid colored one, such as black. It makes the fish and plant colors pop, and hides all the ugly wires behind the tank.
Understandable though if you don't like it then don't get one

 
Lights for the bubbler sounds neat!

 

[WhispTech]

Well maybe a black pure background wouldn't be so bad.  The matrix stuff was in a open  container for like 3 days.  It was only slightly damp.  I put aquarium water on it when you mentioned it which was declorinated and ran in the new setup for 3 days.  In the end though if it isn't good anymore thinking I will add some fresh ones to the ring type one tray.  Didn't get many rings with that fluval system anways so don't see how mixing in some extra matrix would hurt it to bulk up the filtartration layer.  I was actually thinking of adding an other layer of filter floss as well on top of the charcoal layer since I have bulk of that stuff along with some black sponge filter material.  All stuff I used to modify the previous bio wheel setup.

 

[Ninjouzata]

If you don't want to buy one from the pet shop you can use a black trash bag. Or maybe do that to see if you'd like that color background.
 
I think the matrix should be fine. Would definitely add it to your filter
 
Oh I forgot to ask, what is your old fish that's still in there? Also I don't think I'd do the frogs as they can easily be out competed for food.

 

[WhispTech]

I also have my old sand from the 3 gallon I havn't used.  Is carib black sand.  Forget full name but can check the bag later.  When I redid this I wanted to switch to black sand to help things stand out but don't think I have enough of it since I only bought one bag back in the day and was thinking probably take two bags to do it.   But I was thinking I could use it to like make a walking path for budha.  Just dont want it mixing in with my white sand though.  I do regular gardening and use those black rubber guards for the mulch.  Do they have anything similar for aquariums for dividing sand?

The fish in there is a ruby nose tetra I saved a few years back from a friends aquarium that was sick.  He is a survivor   lol.  He just a bit stressed out from the move and everything going on but his tail stripes have come back, his head is starting to turn red and he swimming thru the  bubbles and stuff.  Seems like he is ok and is eating and doing his thing.

 

[Ninjouzata]

I imagine it's caribsea super naturals?
 
I am not sure if there is anything like that sold specifically for fish tanks. I'd think the ones you use in gardening would be fine but I could be way off.
I've also seen people use just clear strips of plastic, or rocks, to try and keep the sand from mixing. It is a lovely idea and looks great if done right.
 
Ruby nose..would that be a rummynose? The description sounds exactly like one. Are you going to get more? They're beautiful schoolers. I have 15.
I imagine you don't want me to add this though, most would say minimum for them is a 20g due to their activity levels.

 

[WhispTech]

No idea.  It was stuck in a tank full of sharks and was sick along with two orange ones with black dots on them.  The two orange ones died but he survived way back then.  Ive only had the one fish for like 2 years now.
 
And the black sand was along those lines.  Was some special  sand  that was suppose to be really good for plants and it worked out well but when I got the 15 gallon it had that white sand in it and my plants do well in it so didn't change it out.  When I redid this tank I threw out probably 2/3 of that plant because it grows and multiples so fast and while it looks a bit sparce now I know in  month or two I will be yanking more of it out lol. Forget what its called.  Have to check my old posts from 8-10 years ago on here to recall. Can tell you if you eat it it makes your tongue and lips go numb lol. Probably put the name of the sand in one of my old threads as well.
 
Going to look for dividers of some sort though because I want to put in a walking path.
 
 
Other thing I wanted was a new heater but an external one but because of the hosing on the fluval not sure.  Wanted something like that hydor one that can be hooked up to the output hose.

As for fish I originally wanted turtles.  But because its only a 15 gallon wouldn't be fair to them.  Why I was looking at frogs.  Just wanted something different other then just fish.  Wanted them plus some fish that would not be annoyed by the bubbles that school together and are small.  Thinking like 7 or 9 whatever with 2-3 frogs,  plus the tetra.

 

[Ninjouzata]

Aw I see. Glad you were able to take it in.
 
Ah okay, not sure what that'd be then.
Good luck on the dividers!
 
No idea about external heaters unfortunately..maybe someone else will know Sorry you're having to deal with just me commenting currently!
 
Ooh okay, I see. HERE is a list of some small fish, quite a few that are schooling.

 

[WhispTech]

Here is the sand that I want to use to make my path with.

Also added some matrix and an other layer of filter floss.  I tested water for ammonia and nitrates and looking good so far.  Going to do an other water change tomorrow.  Think I will be looking good to add fish in about a week and a half.