My Re-arranged Tank

[CroNiC]

I have a externam filter - whisper 30
EDIT: It does smell, however it smells like fish - or maybe aquairum
It has always been smelling like this - for 6 years ?? Is it bad? O and btw it doesnt smell unless I open the lid and try hard to smell something
But are tanks not suppose to smell?

 

[Durbkat]

What it does is that the camera brightens everything. Like when i am looking through the camera its fine, but as i take the pic BAM ... everything gets realy bright and the tank looks green and everyhting. And the reason y i think it is not CRYTSAL CLEAR is because of the rocks. Since some sunlight does reach my tank im guessing the blue rocks reflect blue andtherfore the tank looks a little darker. Thats why im changing my substrate to a more natural "feel."

just out of interest what kind of filter are you using?, i am concerned about the colour of your water, is it smelly at all?

This is why the water looks green. :stupid: Just joking

 

[_Cal_]

Upgrade your filter......Something much more powerful. And no the tank should smell...

 

[Durbkat]

Yeah with filters your supposed to get something alittle more powerful instead of the minumum like with the whisper filter instead of the one you got that only filters 20-30 gallon tanks get one that filters 30 to 40 gallon tanks like mine, in my long 20g I run a whisper power filter 40 that filters 20-40 gallon tanks and thats why I think my ammonia and stuff didn't shoot up with the pleco in it was because I overfilter and clean the tank about every 3 weeks and have never had green or milky water and I think its because I over filter all my tanks.

 

[CroNiC]

Upgrade your filter......Something much more powerful. And no the tank should smell...

K ill do just that. I knew i needed a stronger filter )

 

[sakaspuds]

sorry to ask stupid questions, or treat you like you dont know anything, its just that i have seen many people have cloudy smelly tanks, and its always because the tank isnt cycled or they are very under filtered, even people who have had tanks for years dont know some basic rules, i've never heard of a camera making water look that cloudy or green, but i guess you should know i have thought about buyinh an external filter, but they seem very expensive compared to internal ones....

by the way i always thought a healthy tank should smell only very slightly, and smell like peat, an earthy smell, i know what a bad tank smells like, and its horrible, you know when there is something very wrong with your tank when it stinks

 

[Durbkat]

Yeah I remeber one time when I first set up my 10g (fish cycling it) that the water turned green and it was in the living room and it started smelling exactly like pee and I mean it stunk our living room up and my mom got mad at me because of how it was making our apartment smell that I just stripped the tank down and started it again (I know I shouldn't have but I didn't know and the 3 widow tetras ,1 common pleco, and gourami) made it through it all and I have all of them except the gourami because he got sick and the other fish stressed him out by nipping him.

 

[CroNiC]

sorry to ask stupid questions, or treat you like you dont know anything, its just that i have seen many people have cloudy smelly tanks, and its always because the tank isnt cycled or they are very under filtered, even people who have had tanks for years dont know some basic rules, i've never heard of a camera making water look that cloudy or green, but i guess you should know i have thought about buyinh an external filter, but they seem very expensive compared to internal ones....

by the way i always thought a healthy tank should smell only very slightly, and smell like peat, an earthy smell, i know what a bad tank smells like, and its horrible, you know when there is something very wrong with your tank when it stinks

Yup ...
What i dont get is that my tank isnt green or cloudy. It is prefectly clear but the camera makes it look like that since it brightens up the picture. Yet everyone is trying to give me tips to "clean" my tank. Its perfectly fine just looks like that.
I just need avdise on how to place the plants now how to "clean" the tank because the tank is already clean.
Thx

 

[sakaspuds]

having had another look at your tank i dont think you need any more plants, i think you should get a a nice backdrop with plants on it, and that should 'fill in the blanks'

 

[CroNiC]

having had another look at your tank i dont think you need any more plants, i think you should get a a nice backdrop with plants on it, and that should 'fill in the blanks'

Ya i definately agree with you when you say dont need anymore plants. What im planning to do is take around 4 large and small plants and put it to the right by the filter. So the right will be like the heavily planted area. Then ill take maybe 1 or 2 plants and put it on the left by the filter. And ill keep long bushy type of plants in the back throughout the tank. Ill keep the rock in the middle with 2 very small plants i bought with it. I think this will look good and there will be a lot of swimming place in the middle.

Does it sound good?

 

[sakaspuds]

yeah that sounds like a good plan

 

[CroNiC]

Im gonna go to the lfs store and since its about an hour away i dont go there so much. I was wondering what type of a filter is hould get? Doesnt matter what brand the filter is.
And another question was which fish should i get first, since i will be getting fish. Should i get the 4 C.Aenues, or the 8 cardinal tetras. I think if i do get cardinal tetras i will get 4 then add 4 more after 1 week. Is this a good idea of should i just get all 8 cardinal tetras, if i do get the cardinal tetras.

Thx for all the help so far every1

 

[Durbkat]

I'd get a whisper powerfilter 40 it filters 20-40 gallon tanks and I'd get the black skirt tetras first.

 

[CroNiC]

I'd get a whisper powerfilter 40 it filters 20-40 gallon tanks and I'd get the black skirt tetras first.

I might not get black skirt tetras if my tank gets overstocked after the neons C.Aenues and guppies. Answer the question please

 

[Durbkat]

Alright well then get the corys first and when you get the new filter (and if its a whisper filter) just place the filter cartridge in the new filter and remove the old filter and thats all you should have to do. But if you get a different brand I'd recommend running the 2 filters together for about 3 to 4 weeks so the new filter will be able to get enough bacteria in it and besure to monitor water stats for signs of a mini cycle.