29 gallon setup project...from scratch
- Thread starter oscaremmy
- Start date
DAVIDFBT
Extinct? Since when?
I'm gonna have to try that on my 30 Gallon
. I already have peat moss anyways for my FBTs.
irishspy
There is a stargate in my aquarium.
Nice project. I'll be following this with interest. What's your target PH and KH? That peat should soften the water quite a bit.
Hi Irishspy...KH of 6 and pH of 7.2 are my targets. Starting from KH of 18 and pH of 8.4 - managed with...peat, CO2, plants, 80/20 reverse osmosis/well water mix and I will be adding bogwood also, to reduce pH. It will take several weeks, but that will give any inmates time to acclimatize. Because my fish are adjusted to lower pH and KH now, I can't use them to fishy cycle without risking them. I might be forced into a fishless cycle
Or...I could probably 'borrow' half a dozen lfs zebras to assist in cycling the tank and gradually lower the pH and KH so that they acclimatize safely, before transferring fish from the first 10g planted (or some of them, anyway). That would effectively also make the 29g a quarantine tank while the cycle is established. During this time, I would be adding plenty of plants, of course.Cheers
I also note from your signature that your AC 20 is quiet now...mine too...maybe they just needed a 'running-in' period!
irishspy
There is a stargate in my aquarium.
I also note from your signature that your AC 20 is quiet now...mine too...maybe they just needed a 'running-in' period!
In my case, it was the placement of the media. I got rid of the carbon pouch and biomedia* and added another sponge and -voila!- the thing became quiet as a church-mouse. :thm:
*(Of course, that triggered a mini-cycle, but I've thankfully got that under control.)
:topic:
Update 14 days after start of tank.
Update: Set up the tank on 20 April. Have been steadily increasing planting to buffer fluctuations in nitrite levels. Ammonia levels are steady at 0, but Nitrite still gets up to 0.25ppm every 2-3 days, so I do 30% water changes every other day, which knocks it back to 0. Nitrate is slowly building - currently 5ppm, so the biofilter is catching up.
As the original filter was only for a 20g tank, I have added a Whisper 20-40 to this. Both are running at full speed. The zebra danios love the flow and the tank is not unduly turbulent - it certainly does not harm the corydoras or the plants. I have added some of the filter material from my first established tank to each new filter to speed up the process of colonization by bacteria. I have also added 1 tablespoon of aquarium salt per gallon to protect the fish from nitrite problems. One the tank is fully cycled, I will gradually replace water with unsalted by making 25% water changes twice a week.
pH is still too high at 8.2 (faucet water pH), because of the size of water changes. When things settle down, the bogwood and peat will do their thing to lower pH to just over 7. KH is 16, which will come down as I start to do less frequent water changes, using reverse osmosis water to get it to about 3-6 KH, for the sake of the plants.
Speaking of plants: Added large anubia and several bacopa caroliniana plus 3 medium java ferns last night. Updated photos attached.
All inmates doing well - no losses so far.
Inmates: 10 fish total: 6 zebra danios, 1 x 2-inch [FONT=arial,sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Corydoras trilineatus, 1 x 2-inch corydoras paleatus, 2 x 1-inch corydoras melini.
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Update: Set up the tank on 20 April. Have been steadily increasing planting to buffer fluctuations in nitrite levels. Ammonia levels are steady at 0, but Nitrite still gets up to 0.25ppm every 2-3 days, so I do 30% water changes every other day, which knocks it back to 0. Nitrate is slowly building - currently 5ppm, so the biofilter is catching up.
As the original filter was only for a 20g tank, I have added a Whisper 20-40 to this. Both are running at full speed. The zebra danios love the flow and the tank is not unduly turbulent - it certainly does not harm the corydoras or the plants. I have added some of the filter material from my first established tank to each new filter to speed up the process of colonization by bacteria. I have also added 1 tablespoon of aquarium salt per gallon to protect the fish from nitrite problems. One the tank is fully cycled, I will gradually replace water with unsalted by making 25% water changes twice a week.
pH is still too high at 8.2 (faucet water pH), because of the size of water changes. When things settle down, the bogwood and peat will do their thing to lower pH to just over 7. KH is 16, which will come down as I start to do less frequent water changes, using reverse osmosis water to get it to about 3-6 KH, for the sake of the plants.
Speaking of plants: Added large anubia and several bacopa caroliniana plus 3 medium java ferns last night. Updated photos attached.
All inmates doing well - no losses so far.
Inmates: 10 fish total: 6 zebra danios, 1 x 2-inch [FONT=arial,sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Corydoras trilineatus, 1 x 2-inch corydoras paleatus, 2 x 1-inch corydoras melini.
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