Jen's 90 Gallon Tank

[Themuleous]

I hope I wasn't to mean sounding in that previous post about my crypts Sam.. I really love them, and knew they were going to fill in like this. I wasn't trying to come across bitchy at all, honest.

no probs, didnt take it that way at all, promise

 

[Jen]

Well, I am still in the funk with the tank. I don't know what it is right now... I am slacking on my EI, my weekly maintenance has become every other or every third week, which isn't such a big deal since im not doing the EI.

So I don't know if it has just been the business of the Christmas season or something like that, although my life isn't that hectic at all right now. Or if maybe I'm not happy with the layout. I just don't know what I should do to figure it out.

Any suggestions?

 

[Themuleous]

Tricky Jen, I know what you mean, I get very bored of my tanks sometimes, guess its just like any hobby, you cant be 100% committed 100% of the time, I would just keep the tank ticking over and wait until to get back into it.

That or spend a few weeks planning a complete revamp! I always find a rescape helps me get back into the swing of things.

Sam

 

[Jen]

I have been thinking that it might be time for a change. Part of me really misses my jungle, but another part likes being able to see my fish. lol.

I think I want to try a species tank too. I would love angelfish, but they never seem to erm... survive in my tank. I wonder why.

 

[George Farmer]

Hi Jen,

I think a change is good idea and will provide you with new found motivation.

A species tank sounds great and your tank is ideally sized for a group of Angels.

I am unsure why they don't do well for you. In the UK the "overbreeding" tends to produce some weaker specimens that easily fall to disease etc. so you have to pick carefully. I wonder if it's the same scenario for you. You could try finding a decent local breeder, this way the stock will likely be strong and healthy and you may also get a good deal, especially buying in numbers.

The height and volume of your aquarium would allow for some very good aquascaping designs, perfect for such fish. Tall swords, crypts etc. spring immediately to mind.

All the best.

 

[lljdma06]

I have been thinking that it might be time for a change. Part of me really misses my jungle, but another part likes being able to see my fish. lol.

I think I want to try a species tank too. I would love angelfish, but they never seem to erm... survive in my tank. I wonder why.

What are the water conditions in your area? I know we have liquid rock in Miami, FL, yet I can keep angels. I have three right now, a pair in my 36g and a single one in a 20g. All are thriving. What kind of angels are availlable in your area? I avoid the fancy varieties and stick with the natural coloring and finnage. These do best in my area and have proven the most hardy. Does your water have high Nitrates from the tap? Angels, especially the more fancy varieties don't like that much.

Your tank size, however, would give you other options. You could try a tank with Firemouths cichlids. They tolerate plants pretty well and are really pretty amazing when allowed to mature. They also make excellent parents. Another option is an African motif with Jewel cichlids. They are another West African fish and would go well with tougher catfish and larger shoaling fish. That, of course would be an agressive community, but very interesting, and the intense red and blue spots of the male Jewel cichlid really rival some saltwater species when you see it. They make great parents too.

Just spewing some options, you have a large tank, and I definitely see potential to keep some lovely cichlid species. At least, I'm just thinking what I'd do with a 90g. I'm leaning towards the semi-aggressive Firemouth setup. A breeding pair with some larger corydoras (Brochis splendens comes to mind), and a larger tetra would form a fantastic showcase for the firemouths. Makes me want a bigger tank.

llj

 

[Jen]

Thanks for the comments guys. As much as I like the theory behind my current scape, I'm just not in the right frame of mind to keep up with it.

I am tempted to start over, since I do have the next 3 days off... I just dont really want to empty the tank out and start right from scratch. The sand and Laterite is only a year old, and I would hate to waste the money on new stuff. I would love to get more Eco-complete like I have in my 15 gal, but its way too expensive to have to buy 10 or more bags.

Here are my tap water stats:
pH - 7.4
NO3 - 0
NO2 - 0
PO4 - under 2 (I cant find the test card, but the colour is where I remember it always was)
gH - 7° or 125.3
kH - 5° or 89.5
Ammonia - 0.25

I'm not liking that there is ammonia present in the tap water, but I don't know if it's enough to harm the fish. I'm cleaning my CO2 diffuser at the moment, so once it is back in the tank (most likely tomorrow - it was sitting in bleach for a very long time) I will test all my tank stats, but I know I try to keep the pH around 6.6, NO3 15-20, PO4 2 (so I don't add any ferts anymore since my tap water contains enough).

I always buy my angels from the same store, and they are only quarter sized or so. I have had some co2 swings in the past, which would have shot the ph from 6.6 to 7.4, so im sure that could have had something to do with it, but sometimes they die for no apparent reason. All my other fish are peaceful, so it's not bullying.

I did a couple of sketchs at work last night of what I might try to do....

My val/crimium at the back, something big in the middle, and all my crypts making a kind of carpet around it

Val/Crimium on the right, some bushy rotala ro somehting on the left, crypts carpet again, and my lilly in the middle.

Thoughts?

 

[lljdma06]

My guess it's the pH swings that kill your angels, coupled with the prescence of ammonia in your tapwater, which is not good. 0.25 isn't a lot, but it is enough to stress a fish that is already weak from transport, leading to death. I'm wondering if you shouldn't switch water conditioners and opt for one that actually removes ammonia. There are some out there that do this.

I like the second sketch best, as I love your lily and would hate to see it go. I don't, however, see any reason why you can't also add some larger rocks or wood near it so you can have the best of both worlds. When you say start over, does that include livestock as well?

llj

 

[Jen]

I had a feeling it was the pH, and that makes it a big problem. I change 50% of the water weekly or every two, and I don't see how I can match the pH pre-addition. I did buy a solnoid yesterday, and will be adding an air pump at night on the advice of the plant guy at my lfs. With my kH of 6, and lowering the pH to 6.6 with co2, going to 7.4 is a huge change in pH when I add new water, which I never thought to be a problem before. Unless I treat the water to bring up the kH somehow. My fish never seem to mind that swing, but only when the co2 was set too high, and the pH went down below 6. That only happened once, and killed a good deal of my fish, including two angels, and the last died 2 weeks later.

If I can find a way to correct the pH issue, then I would try angels again. I'm not sure if I would trade in all my fish or not. I love my barbs and my black neon tetras, and would hate to part with them. The rest of the fish, as much as I hate the thought of just giving them away/trading them in, I know that it would be better in the long run to allow me to get more angels - my dream fish.

 

[George Farmer]

pH swings brought about by CO2 injection aren't an issue in a healthy planted tank.

Andy has a good point about your tap containing NH3/4. The ammonia/ammonium balance is bias toward the more toxic ammonia (NH3) with pH over 7. As suggested, invest in an "Ammo-Lock" type de-chlorinator. You could also change less water, more frequently.

KH 6 is fine, no need to worry about adjusting it.

An airpump at night isn't necessary. A solenoid with the lights is sufficient. I ran CO2 24/7 for 2 years with no issues.

 

[Jen]

I am giong to test my tap water again for ammonia, just to be sure. Will the Ammo-Lock work as the water is being added? I can't let the water sit - it goes from the tap to my tank...

The pH swing I was talking about happened when the co2 needle valve got turned and was letting out two much gas, and I didn't notice, I'm guessing, for a while.

Should I be concerned with the pH difference between my tap and tank water?

 

[mbbowman]

I live in Wisconsin USA and we also have nitrate in the water. Considering I'm surrounded by miles of farmland, it's not so surprising. I'm still not entirely sure what I should do about this, and it does limit the types of fish that I can have. Mostly I just compare my tank to my tap, and so long as they stay the same, I know I'm ok. Our water is also extremely hard, so we're considering adding a water softener later this year. I'm wondering how I should aclimate my fish to this. Beyond RO water though, there's little I can do.

Question: do you still house rosey barbs with your platys, and do they get along ok? My husband loves the barbs and I know he'd love having some.

Mel

 

[Jen]

Well, I killed all my fish. Every single one of them. My co2 control valve has been acting up lately, and I have a new one on order, so sometime over the past two days while I was away, it must have slipped, and I just came into the room and saw the bubbles absoluetly pouring out, and noticed that i couldn't see any fish... they are all floating on the top.

I know I said I wanted to start over... but not like this.

I am absolutely gutted. I feel like crying.

 

[Themuleous]

Oh Jen, that's horrible, I'm so sorry I would cry if that happened to my fish.

Sam

 

[Jen]

Thanks Sam. If we didn't have company over, I probably would have.

So now, I move on and start over.

I'm almost at the two year mark with the tank, so I could probably switch out the laterite and get rid of the sand. It's so messy and dirty. But all my alternatives are so expensive. Eco-complete and Flourite are $35 and $30 respectively. I would need 10 bags of either, and that's just too much for my budget. What are my other options for substrate? I really don't know what is out there.

For fish, I am thinking about some Kribs. I would still like some angels, but I don't like that they always die in my tank. Any suggestions for fish that would work with them in my tank?