My First Tank, Fully Setup

[A creature void of form]

I'm a little worried about that "holey" rock. Assuming it's real and not plastic, it's probably calcerous, meaning it will raise the PH of your tank over the long term.

Hmm...I'd best remove it right away. It is not artificial - I just got it from an anonymous box with other rocks at one of my lfs. Coming to think of it, I haven't checked my ph in a while, because it has always been stable at 6.4. Thanks a lot for your post.

WOW! Very nice tank setup!!


What type of sand did you use? Out of curiosity?

Thanks! It's 'fine aquarium sand,' aka Silica sand/ Kiln dried sand. It's really nice and changes often, but does have a few drawbacks:

1) Fish waste and other ditritus are conspicuous.
2) Fish prefer a darker substrate and will show deeper colours because of it. I'm planning on putting smal darker pebbels in one half of my tank now.
3) Toxic gasses can build up in the sand over time, and so it needs to be disturded every so often.

 

[jennybugs]

VERY nice sety up you have there

I have to say I love large groups of cardinals myself...much more colourful than the normal neons and a bit hardier too. Nice choice of fish

The limnophila will grow great guns...I have it in my tank and all you need to do is snip it back every now and then when the ends get a bit brown and it regrow all nice and fresh

 

[Tobigara]

job well done it looks a helluva lot better than my first tank. good luck with it