Right, so I bit the bullet and bought a tank...

**fongalv** · 1st Apr 2011, 12:32

Hi guys,

Been reading alot over the last few weeks, as well as travelling around the whole island visiting the mroe popular lfs to check out the various equipment, flora and fauna before deciding to commit to a tank.

Heres what I have bought so far:
1) 60cmX23cmX28cm curved front tank,
2) ehiem ecco pro 200 2234(kinda overkill but I have a larger tank that my dad decommissioned several years back that I can use should I upsize,
3) 2 ft 55W PL aquazonic lamp,
4) amazonia II 9kg,
5) some rocks,
6) some marimo, some anubias petite, some xmas moss, some us fissidens, and some long grass like plants for BG,
7) some rocks and a chunk of driftwood

After cycling the tank for 4 days, I realised I should add some hardy fauna to speed up the process and thus bought 2 amano shrimps and 4 cory nanus to put into the tank. It was only after I bought a digital thermometer that I realised that the water in my tank is 29-30ºC.

This far, the corys have been doing pretty well, the amanos have been extremely shy, hiding behind/under the driftwood.

For now, I have some questions:

1) Testing for water conditions:
Should I buy some sort of testing equipment to test the ph/hardness/etc of the water? Is there any recommended ones that do the basic tests that are not too costly?

2) Water Temperature
I would ultimately like to hold some crystal blue shrimps(If I can find them), some dwarf corys, and even dwarf puffer if I can find one. What kind of temperatures should I be looking at? Possible via fan without posing a danger to the shrimps/corys?

Right now even some of my plants don't seem to like the warmer waters. Bought some nice looking flowering plants from polyart but the flowers melted within 2 days and now I'm finding more leaves turning brown.

I did try aiming a desk fan at the top of the tank, but with the 55W PL switched on at night, the temperature dropped to lowest ~28ºC. The recommended temperature for cory seems to be 22-26ºC, so I am still way off to even try breed them.

While I'm partial to getting a nano chiller, I'm more concerned about the monthly bills than the costs of getting one...can anyone recommend me one that is known to be efficient and reliable?

Thanks for reading!

**Wolfgangs246** · 1st Apr 2011, 15:23

Hi fongalv,

Welcome to the hobby! Hope you will have lots of fun with your new setup and look forward to seeing some of your pictures soon.

Here are some quick answers to your questions.

1) Test kits are imperative if you plan to keep any fauna that are sensitive. The basic ones you should be buying are the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph test kits. These are to help monitor your water parameters and can help identify problems in their early stages before you see your fish start to die off. It's generally recommended that you buy those drop test kits rather than strips which you dip into your tank water as they are more accurate.

2) Water temperature can be regulated by using fans but limits your ability to regulate the temperature by 1-2 degrees. You can conduct research through google to help identify fish that will be better suited to your expected water temperature to avoid any fatal disappointments.

3) It's strongly recommended that you check for compatibility issues before you start mixing fishes. For example, puffer fish will devour an invertebrate population. That includes snails and shrimps of any size. Also be careful not to throw territorial fish into a community tank.

4) If you have just setup your tank without using old filter media, you should expect your water conditions to turn toxic/problematic in the next 1-2 weeks. This is because your tank is missing beneficial bacteria which will help decompose bio-waste into harmless components. This can be observed through a rise and then decline of ammonia, nitrate and nitrite in the first 2-3 weeks of a new tank setup. Bacteria has to establish itself to process those 3 different types of chemicals separately. Based on your bio-load of 4 fish and 2 shrimp, resist the urge to add more fauna until you see your filter media start to turn dark with bacteria.

Other than that, good luck! :-)

**Peanut8787** · 1st Apr 2011, 23:12

Bro you forgotten the most important source of food for plants, CO2

**fongalv** · 2nd Apr 2011, 13:55

Hi wolfgang, and thanks for your detailed advice. So those drop type test are better right? Think I will just go get some this afternoon.

As a the fishes, I'm still quite torn about the dwarf pf because as far as I can see, where else has it for now. But if it eats inverts then I guess that will have to pass. Amanos seem to not like the temperature/light and is constantly hiding under my drift wood. I've tried adding ice to it does have a fan constantly blowing at the top of the tank but it seems to hover around 28-29.

Peanut, I'm trying to keep things simple for now, co2 is on the list but I'm still trying to settle the basics first before exploring the high tech options. Eitherways, and I am on the lookout, any recommendations for chiller or co2 setup for this tank size?

**|squee|** · 2nd Apr 2011, 14:11

If you bought a T5 light set instead of a PL one, your temperatures will be lower. T5 is also more efficient than PL, if I'm not wrong. My T5 light set is only warm to the touch, whereas my old 55W PL light set was scalding.

Buying a overpowered filter for your tank is good because once you factor in the driftwood and rocks and plants, maintaining water flow in the tank is going to need that power.

For CO2, just get the standard set that almost everyone will have. The 2L or 3L CO2 tank itself, bubble counter, check valve, good CO2 tubing if you can, and your choice of diffusor/reactor is up to you.

**fongalv** · 8th Apr 2011, 00:16

Aw dang. I decidedly bought the PL one because I thought it being a higher wattage and considerably cheaper, was a no brainer...The PL light isnt scalding, I can rest my hand on it for as long as I want, its just uncomfortable. As for the temperature, it seems like it has come down the last couple of days to a constant 26-28 in morning/evening. Unable to monitor it since I'm at office in the day. I'm quite surprised how much more efficient the small aquarium fan is as compared to the desk fan!

I suppose my filter is considered to be overpowered for my tank right? Its rated 600L/H and my tank is only 40L tops, and I turn it down abit to give the corys an easier time.

I would actually like to give DIY CO2 a try before I go all out on it. Currently still trying to gather the components together to make an inline system.

I have got the tank running for about 2 weeks now, everything seems fine except for 1 dead cory earlier this week for some unknown reason. For the record, the remaining 3 corys and 2 amanos are doing perfectly fine. Have also been using 1/2cap of seachem stability daily.

I'm now back with more questions:

1) There is a fine film of some oily looking stuff floating on top of the water, how can I remove it?

2) Can I use a rainbar so that I can run the filter at max rate? How would this affect my future plans of adding Co2?

3) While the fan lowered temperature effectively now, the evaporation rate also increased dramatically(about 1cm a day). I have read that I should not just top up water as it will cause a concentration of the bad stuff in the water. So do I have to do a 10-15% water change everytime I want to top off the water(currently doing it every 2 days(about 2 cm down)?

4) I try to feed the corys twice a day with just a half a tablet, but I find that they don't finish most of the time, or get snactched by the larger amanos but still end up having to fish the uneaten gooy bits of food out. Anyone one familar with C.Nanus or even the dwarf corys to share how often they should be fed? I'm considering to buy some other "higher quality" food instead of this ocean free sinkin stuff...

5) I intend to do some major rescaping this coming weekend as the current layout was more for testing/cycling, is there any recommended way of doing this? I'm currently thinking of placing the corys/amanos in a pail with the water pumped out from the tank, leave about 5cm of water above the substrate then do all the replanting. Any rough guide as to how long I should wait until I return the fauna back to the tank? The amazonia usually takes about 3 hours to clear but I read something about stirring up toxic sediments.

6) Another reason I suspect for the higher temperatures and the hiding fauna is because my tank is relatively shallow(28cm), hence the light is actually alot nearer to the fauna as it should be? I too find the light getting in the way of the narrow tank, thus am considering some DIY method of hanging the light abit higher. Is there any recommended height for this? Assuming my 40L tank is ~10gallons, thats a good 5.5wpg!

Thanks in advance for anyone who replies!

**|squee|** · 8th Apr 2011, 13:36

When your tank becomes full of plants the filter won't be overpowered already!

The oily looking stuff is normal in planted tanks. Search "protein film".

Having a rainbar above the waterline will result in loss of CO2 due to the water surface agitation. Usually if you use a rainbar in a planted tank, people put it below the waterline.

It's ok to just top up the water as long as you do your weekly water change. If you just top up without a water change, then it's true that the bad stuff will build up.

Rescaping wise, how you described it is how I usually do it. I try not to mix up the substrate too much. Usually I wait a day before putting back the livestock. But your tank is new.. you might want to put off rescaping until your tank's stablised for another week or so. Just my thoughts.

Can't answer on point 6 and 4.

**fongalv** · 8th Apr 2011, 22:42

Just noticed that the shyer amano just molted! Almost thought I had another casualty since it looked exactly like the real shrimp except that it was totally transparant lol.

Unfortunately I also spotted a small snail(about 2-3mm) sized, and another barely 1 mm. Totally didn't see them before this. Should there be any cause for concern? Ironic since I previously almost wanted to get some snails from the lfs but now that I got them free, I'm worried they might multiply out of hand...

Thanks for answering my queries squee. With regards to the rain bar, its alright(CO2 speaking) as long as its beneath the water surface then? I actually never intended to use it above the water line, more like along the side of the tank somewhere in the middle of the water column or maybe even just above the substrate pointing upwards. Will this cause any issues with the filtration system? Even as of now, I find that alot of the loose moss bits settling onto the substrate and the intake can barely suck them away. My current layout is a short output at the rear top left hand side of the tank near the surface of the water, and with the intake at the back bottom right hand side just above the substrate. Any advice on this?

**o2bubble** · 9th Apr 2011, 10:28

I would suggest getting a chiller for sensitive shrimps and to avoid topping up water every other day. Cold water is good for live stocks and plants generally. Also get a drop checker and good co2 kit to ensure co2 level is high. This reduces algae growth effectively.