Tank Conditioning

[ehlim]

Though I intend to plant heavily with the set up of a new 4' tank, are there any recommended conditioners which I can add to aid the cycling of the tank? I intend to have 4 otos and perhaps 20 Amano shrimps when I begin planting. Tks

[michael lai]

Though I intend to plant heavily with the set up of a new 4' tank, are there any recommended conditioners which I can add to aid the cycling of the tank? I intend to have 4 otos and perhaps 20 Amano shrimps when I begin planting. Tks

Dear Lim, I have been using Nutrafin and now Fritz. Both are quite good but Fritz is a little on the high side, cost wise. Performance wise, Fritz has a slight advantage. Btw, observations were done only, no scientic test took place. Might be a placebo effect.

My observations were that the water 'settled' faster maybe by a week, cloudy water. Also my cannister 2215 is filled half with 'Substrate Pro'. Mortality rate among first comers were nil, Oto and shrimps in the first month.

[taz_boy]

can try Nutrafin Cycle if u like, not very ex...buy the 1 lt bottle, more worth it

[kemp]

yup yup
i use that too for my 1.5feet tank

can try Nutrafin Cycle if u like, not very ex...buy the 1 lt bottle, more worth it

[ehlim]

Tks all for the sharing.

Michael, What is "subtrate pro"? In your Eheim, how do you arrange the various filter medias, in particular the "subtrate pro"? I will be using a Eheim 2028. Regards.

[PeterGwee]

Add fresh "mulm" aka dirt that settles at the bottom of a canister filter/substrate or in the foam material of an established tank. You can get it from your old tank/filter/friends with aquarium or LFS (if you know them well..you can always ask for some old bio-media to seed your new tank.). This are far more effective then those bottled bacteria since they are "live".

Regards
Peter Gwee

[michael lai]

Tks all for the sharing.

Michael, What is "subtrate pro"? In your Eheim, how do you arrange the various filter medias, in particular the "subtrate pro"? I will be using a Eheim 2028. Regards.

Hi Lim,
Substate Pro is a filter media from Ehiem, which claims to cultivate bacteria better. I'm using a 2215, so using the blue dense filter pad to hold the media in place. Since you are using 2028, just use 1 of the basket to hold the media. The normal practice is 1 basket hollow rings and 1 basket sintered glass or bacteria cultivating media. You can use both for Substrate Pro if you want.

hollow ring-dense filter pad or carbon pad-sintered glass or substrate pro and normal wool pad.( in order of 1st-2nd basket ). Btw don't use carbon pad if you do not need, especially in planted aquarium or during medication. Hope the info helps.

[ehlim]

Tks. Understand mulm helps to accelerate the settling of a new tank. But unfortunately all my kakis are into fishing and not fish rearing, much less planted tanks. And due to other reasons, I think I will try out Michael's approach. Cheers.

[spilopterus]

For good cycle, not really necessary to buy those conditioner. If you want to cycle your tank, go buy a few stalks of H.difformis and plant it around. Give it some weeks to grow, your tank will be well cycled. During that time, you can do your research and plan. Once ready, pluck out the difformis, some water change and your tank is ready.

Oh, and can throw in the yamatoes and puffer just to keep things in check.

[ehlim]

Tks. Can I get the H Difformis at Teo's? Intend to pay Teo's a visit soon to look for some DW and bog wood.

[ehlim]

From the info garnered from the forum, I intend to embark on the following broad plan in setting up my new 4' tank.

28 Dec - Tank and equipment delivery
29 Dec - Clean tank, add JBL base fert and Lapis sand. Run in Eheim 2028.
31 Dec - Commence planting fast growing background and midground plants.
- Introduce pressurised CO2 at 25 to 30 ppm
- Commence using 8 hours of 4 x 54watts T5s
1 to 2 Jan - Continue to introduce plants
2 Jan - Introduce 2 mollies, 4 otos and 20+ Amano shrimps
- Increase lighting to 10 hours daily
mid-Jan - Commence planting foreground plants and mosses
- Introduce driftwood/bog wood
late Jan - Introduce Cardinal and Rummy-nose tetras (about 50 pcs total)
CNY - A basic planted tank completed!
(note: 40% water change weekly)

Am I being too ambitious? Are there any flaws in this plan or any recommendations to make my journey into planted tank less painful? I am not sure whether the CO2 should be backed off when the fishes and shrimps are introduced or should the shrimps be introduced before the foregroud plants (mostly riccia). What are the basic water parameter tests that should be conducted and the recommended regime to follow?

Tks and best regards

eh

[spilopterus]

Eh, normally driftwood is the first few things you put in. There could be leeching so you got make sure your driftwood is soaked in water first. Oh yah, and sometimes your driftwood will need to be soaked so as to sink. Each driftwood is different.

H.difformis is easily found at Teo. Do you already have an idea about what you want to plant and how it looks? I'm assuming you got your driftwood too already. Considering you got such a big tank, it would be a smart idea to do a dry mock up. Placement of tank and the interior design of your home may call for a slightly different look. Your landscape ideas may take a 180-degrees turn cause somethings didn't turn out the way you expect.

[brianclaw]

You may have to re-think your plan... Adding in the foreground plants after already adding in Yamatos may be a bad idea. They can and will uproot most plants small enough for them to grab.

[ehlim]

Eh, normally driftwood is the first few things you put in. There could be leeching so you got make sure your driftwood is soaked in water first. Oh yah, and sometimes your driftwood will need to be soaked so as to sink. Each driftwood is different.

H.difformis is easily found at Teo. Do you already have an idea about what you want to plant and how it looks? I'm assuming you got your driftwood too already. Considering you got such a big tank, it would be a smart idea to do a dry mock up. Placement of tank and the interior design of your home may call for a slightly different look. Your landscape ideas may take a 180-degrees turn cause somethings didn't turn out the way you expect.

I have conceptualised the layout, thanks to Amano's Vol 1 and 3, and the many beautiful setups in AQ. I have yet to find a driftwood that meets my desired setup, as such, it is only planned to be placed after the tank is running for 2 weeks. I know it sounds silly. But I will definitely boil/soak the dw for at least a week. Tks for the sharing.

You may have to re-think your plan... Adding in the foreground plants after already adding in Yamatos may be a bad idea. They can and will uproot most plants small enough for them to grab.

That's my concern too. I think I will hold back the introduction of the Yamatos till the riccia lawn has a chance to grow. Tks.

[cs_sg]

I have conceptualised the layout, thanks to Amano's Vol 1 and 3, and the many beautiful setups in AQ. I have yet to find a driftwood that meets my desired setup, as such, it is only planned to be placed after the tank is running for 2 weeks. I know it sounds silly. But I will definitely boil/soak the dw for at least a week. Tks for the sharing.

.

Boil the driftwood for at least a week?
Why do we need to boil for that long?
Do you guys usually treat the driftwood for that long time?


I only boiled mine in a pot for 30-60mins at medium flame, soaked in a pail for about 2 nights/ until the water doesn't turn tea colour, and it goes into the tank.

[ehlim]

No lah.. Not boiling for 1 week, just can't imagine the water and electricity bill I learned from an earlier thread to pour boiling water everyday so that the DW would sink and slow down the release of tannic. Cheers.

[gregorsamsa]

boil the DW in a pot for one day for about 1/2-1 hours

if you really cant wait, or that the wood is very big, silicone the wood to the tank first, or screw/silicone it to a piece of rock.

that should do the trick. i think it is better to add the shrimps after the tank has been running in for 2 weeks. Yamatoes are really sensitive shrimps, IMO, and they are expensive too.

[spilopterus]

Do not put in the driftwood after your plants. Driftwood is always before your plants. Besides, you'll either risk crushing it or leaving too much space. Also, with your driftwood, you have the advantage of taking breaks in between planting to see if you have placed the plants correctly or if changes need to be made. If you've read, even Amano places his driftwood in then plants. If you haven't found your driftwood then hold on everything. Or else, what you're doing is like designing and buying all the furniture for a home of which you haven't seen or had the floor plan. You have a 4ft, so any design mistake will take a long time and effort to correct.

In the meantime, just stick in H.Difformis for your tank to condition. You could even leave it for two months with some periodic clearance while you take your time to plan.

On the driftwood boiling thing, ask the shops. There are driftwoods that no amount of boiling will get rid of the tannin. Then there are those that can be placed into the tank immediately without problems. If in doubt, just leave it in a pail of water.

Also concur with greg on the yamatoes. Leave it for later. However, there is another variety of algae-eating shrimp, local variety i think that is much cheaper. That one can buy by the hundreds considering your tank size and dump em' in.

[ehlim]

Also concur with greg on the yamatoes. Leave it for later. However, there is another variety of algae-eating shrimp, local variety i think that is much cheaper. That one can buy by the hundreds considering your tank size and dump em' in.

Tks for the advice. Will try to get the driftwood first. Are you referring to Malayan shrimps, those commonly found in local fishing ponds? I guess I can buy many and use them as fishing bait when the tank has stabilised!

Jie Sheng, tks. May attempt to tie some rocks to the DW, if required.