Just to give everyone an update, I went out shopping yesterday for a tank. Since this tank is something of a family present, my wife at least wanted to have it in the house for Christmas.
This actually was easier said than done. I suppose I'm not the only one buying an aquarium for Christmas and I had to go to several stores to find something suitable. I finally ended up at a very nice store specializing only in fish.
It is very deceptive to buy fishtanks in a store that has lots of big tanks all around. A 40 gallon tank looks puny next to a 180 gallon tank. I was almost tempted to go for broke (literally) and buy a 55 gallon tank. Eventually, my wallet got the better of me and I had to settle for a 30 gallon tank. The 40 gallon tank they had was high and it was not suitable for the space I have. It was also considerably more expensive and came with a stand I did not like (black MDF). The 30 gallon was just as long as I had hoped for but a little narrower. It's a good thing I chose what I did, too. When I got it home, the tank suddenly seemed to grow in size. What seemed puny at the store was now monstrous! My wife nearly had a heart attack at first. "That thing's huge!" she exclaimed. "Not if you're a fish" I said.
The store had a combo deal on the tank. It came with a hood, light with two 30 watt bulbs, and a nice solid pine wood stand. I'm really happy about the stand. The tank is for my dining room so I wanted something that looked like furniture. It has storage space underneath, too, which is really convenient. I've seen stands like this for considerably more money on the internet.
This being my first tank, I had to buy everything and I made a bit of a mistake here. Although, the store had a good deal on the tank and stand, the rest of their equipment was overpriced, but it was Christmas and I didn't have any more time to go shopping for prices. Sure you can get these things on the internet but you have to wait for delivery and I needed something to put "under the tree". Besides, the salesmen I talked to was friendly and knowledgable. The tanks in the store looked nice and clean (if a bit overcrowded but that's the nature of the business, I guess
) and the store seemed like a place I'd like to do business in the future. So perhaps the extra $50 or $75 was worth it, in order to build a relationship with the store.
In any event, I ended up with an AquaClear 70 filter and a Hydor Theo 150 watt heater. I'm thinking he sold me a heater that's overkill but better safe than sorry, right? I decided to go with a very fine gravel that is really one step up from sand. I put a layer of laterite at the bottom, too, since I want to have plants. The gravel was a very light brown so I also bought some larger reddish colored gravel to put on the top layer. They also had some very nice pieces of driftwood. I bought a few of those as I think it would be hard to find wood like this in the wild. I asked about pH with the wood and I was told that it might leach some tannic acid over time but it shouldn't affect the tank chemistry tremendously. pH in the tank measures about 7.2 right now. The salesman did say that it might give the water a slightly reddish tint, but I figure since I'm looking to create something of a blackwater environment anyway that shouldnt' be an issue.
I spent last night setting up the tank. Everything is running fine. The filter seems to be working properly and the temperature is a constant 80 degrees. The water seems a bit cloudy though. I suppose there is a lot of dust in the gravel. I did wash it pretty thoroughly though so I'm a bit surprised. Is this normal?
So how did I do? Am I on the right track? With a bit smaller tank than I originally anticipated how should I modify my stocking? Everyone seems to say that Corys don't particularly like gravel. Should I stay away from them now? Is there another schooling bottom feeder I could substitute?
Thanks again for all the advice and getting me started on the right track!
