Whole new Tank DIY

Thanks @JCL

Will have a look today and get 2 lights and make the reflectors

PS dont worry you dont have alzhimeirs :laugh:

 

Hey Guys, here is a bit of an update, completed the canopy and also hooked up a 1500l/ph canister filter, i know its a litle bit of over kill but one can never have enough filtration right?

 

Okay Guys i want to start up the tank this weekend

Here is my shopping list for saturday morning:


T5 lights 2x39W 1x65000k and 1x80000k
Black Background or 3d( depends whats availible
Filtermedia
CO2 system (complete)
Test kit + water treatments
Thermometer
Some firts
Rock
Wood
ADA aquasoil and ada sand/Cal aqua black earth premium...

Question1: Have i overlooked anything?
Question2: Do i get the plants the same time?

Thanks in advance

 

Hey guys, so went to one of our sponsors and pretty much spent my paycheck, here is an update

 

looking good:congrats:

 

Thanks, still waiting for the water to clear and for cycling to complete, but i recon its a good start

 

Comming along nicely.

 

Water cleared up just enough so far to be able to id the plants, the guy who helped me to pick them named them but for the life of me i cant remember what they are called

 

Now been 4 days since the startup and the water is still cloudy, thinking of adding some very fine filter floss to the canister and see if it clears it up

 

Just some more info on that ive got so far:

Substrate: Flourite Dark only

Filter: Dolhpin c700 canister with seachem matrix 1l, mech filter sponge, also some ceramic rings (Rated 1500l/ph, set donw to approx 900 l/ph)

Co2: presurized at 2 bubles /sec(indicator showing light green)

Lighting: Diy t5... 2x 39w t5's (8000k sunlight white) running +/- 9 hours per day

Water: tap water treated with Seachem prime

Ferts and other:
dosing Seachem Stability 1x per day for 1st week
dosing Seachem comprehensive 2x per week
Dosing exel when needed
dosing iron when needed

Temp: 100w heater set to 26-28"C

Planning on 33% water changes per week


Any sugestions welcome

 

Not sure whether the water has cleared up by now. But with Flourite you have to wash it before you put it into your tank. I usually do it bucket by bucket (1/2 bucket flourite and the rest water) and rinse it out until the water is fairly clear (first rinse produces coffee). This means that I usually fill the bucket (and empty the water from it) about 8-10 times.

Not sure whether you rinsed your flourite often enough.
Perhaps also look at your flow in the tank, if it is too high, this may prevent the finer particals from settling down. Perhaps reduce it until the tank has settled.

 

Add Seachem Purigen (not cheap) to your filter, you'll be amazed how quickly your water clears!

 

You can run your tank at 24 degrees no problem. 28 is reasonably high and you just waste electricity - assuming you have power

 

Hey Guys, the water has cleared up nicely eventhough i did a bit of a rescape over the weekend, @JCL , unfortunately i didnt rinse the flourite at all before i added it to the tank so that was pretty much the problem @AdrianT , yeh i was struggling to keep the temp below 28 actually but i have since added a cpu fan to the lid and its working wonderfully, temp now constant @ 26'C

 

so some new pics: (the actual colour isnt as white as on the pic, lol need a camera)

 

Hey guys, put some fish in last weekend and they are doing great

1xbronze corry (was the only one in my brothers tank)
2x female guppies (Gift from a friend)
2x male guppies (Gift from a friend)

Now obviously i wasnt planning on guppies but oh well

For the fish to be happy im going to have to get more female guppys and more corrys so im going to get:

5x bronze corrys
4x female guppies


the offspring of the guppies will go in a seperate tank

any other stocking sugestions?
i will be adding 4-5 fish per weekend till i hyave all i need

 

The corydoras are sociable creatures. They will enjoy the mates you're going to add.

Be careful with guppies, they breed quicker than rabbits!

Tetra's are often a good choice for a community tank. I enjoy them. Galaxy rasboras too, harlequin rasboras. Just check up the fish you wish to buy before buying and do not rely on advice from a LFS. They often are clueless...

 

@AdrianT , yeh i was planing on getting the corry's anyway since last time i had them i really enjoyed them, did not plan on having guppy's at all, and from previous experiance i dont much like them, oh and just to ad extra salt to my wounds i saw fry in the tank this morning lol

I also have learnt not to believe anything a person working at a lfs has to say(my arowana set up ended up costing me alooot of money back in the day, i think his words were: "a 4ft tank will be more than big enough" i ended up having to get a 2000l tank....)

im thinking of black neons and a pair of dwarf gourami's but ill have a look at the rasboras too

 

Yesterday was bitter sweet, the lone bronze corry spawned so eggs everywhere whats nice is i now know my tank is doing good, the sad thing is all those eggs and no male to fertilize

 

Lol. -So much for guppies breeding faster than rabbits.
Your bronze cories might outperform the guppies.
I got various cories but only bought 1 pair of bronze cories. They decided to spawn and by now I have a ton of them. Just hope the others follow in their footsteps.

Anyway, get some males and enjoy the challenges of raising the fry from eggs to real fishes.