Help... (my tank needs some TLC)
- Thread starter NoahLikesFish
- Start date
Your Welcome.
So the next few days while your tank is getting cleared up, take some time (if you haven't already) and look at scaped tanks and underwater pics of ponds, streams and rivers on-line and come up with a plan. This can actually be a lot of fun. Plan out, at least in your head, how you want your tank to look. I've actually drawn out plans using colored pencils. This will help you decide about what kind of rocks, driftwood and plants to get, and how you want to place them. It's cool to see a well-planned scape come into being the way you envisioned it.
You can also find rocks and purchase the wood you want once you have an idea.
At this point you're going to have make some decisions on spending money. You're on a budget, so consider some thiings:
1. It looks like you have a sand substrate, correct? This will limit your plant choices. The only things I've ever had success with in sand are crypts (especially wendtii), vallisneria and those dwarf lilies. I have had success with swords. However, I have to use root tabs on a regular basis with them. So are you going to be happy with a few hardy plants in the sand and then plants that you can attach to driftwood? If not, you'll need to spend some money on a substrate. Buying substrate can add up quick. Since you're on a budget, consider aquarium gravel that is 1/8" to 3/16" in diameter instead of one of the fancy substrates advertised specifically for growing plants.
2. Rocks. Don't spend money on rocks. You can find nice looking rocks all over the place. Unless you live in a big city where everything is paved, you can find rocks in alleys, parks, in vacant lots, and in wooded areas between neighborhoods. I have never bought a rock in my life except live rock, which is another matter. IMO, this is one place where you can easily save money and be very happy with your choices.
3. Driftwood. Depending on how you visualize your scape, this is probably a good investment. Picture it in your mind as you buy it. Think how it will look in your tank. Unless you are very familiar with the types of trees and shrubs that grow around your neighborhood, I recommend avoiding collecting it yourself. Many woods can be toxic and one wrong choice can kill all your fish. Also, using wood that hasn't dried out long enough can be toxic, even if its a type of wood that is normally considered safe for aquariums.
Show some pics of your tank as you start to build it back up, kiddo. I'm sure once it starts progressing some other folks may want to help you, too.
Again, be patient. Rushing things in this hobby can be disastrous.
WYite
My advice would be to go with nice artificial plants unless having live plants is something really important to you. Artificial will cut down your maintenance significantly. Then you would just have to leave the lights off for a couple weeks to get rid of the algae. I would then just do 50% WC weekly which is pretty easy with a 40b. As far as the scape, I would plan it out in every detail, color and type of substrate, size color and location of the plants ( real or fake) and how you want to lay out the hard scape. Look at lots of vids and pics for some inspiration with that. Think how your fish interact with their surroundings, maybe watch some vids. I like to sometimes watch scuba vids of the location my fish are from when designing a scape. I would also think about the background. As far as cheap, scour ebay, Craigslist, offer up and hit up LFS for anything used. Many will have all kinds of decor sitting in the back collecting dust. Even with artificial plants, proper lighting can make a tank look beautiful or not, so take lighting into account as well as things like shadow and shimmer.
Thanks for the maintenance advice I might do what Joey Mullen does and use like fake vines and pothos and do like a diy background and then do real plants for the rest I can show my hardscape off after class
i dont have to worry about substrate all that much I usually use a little plastic bin Tupperware and fill it with dirt then cap it with sand and build it into the scape it has worked very well for me
Is tape fish safe? I was thinking of making a algae scraper credit card siphon combo also when I do the Tupperware I pop s hole in the bottom so roots can expand into the anoxic zone so they can get the phosphate and stuff that builds there
Wyomingite
why is gravel a better planting substrate then sand? Is it because mulm gets trapped inside? That’s my theory of it
I've done that. In theory it accomplishes the same goal as a tiered planted tank. It works okay for stem plants that don't get large root systems, but the container still needs to be large enough and deep enough. I never tried with swords or crypts because the root systems get large and I worry the plant could become root bound just like a potted house plant. I don't do it any more because of the large volume it takes up and I decided the plants don't seem to grow as well. If it works well for you then great, just make sure there is enough soil for the plants.
That's creative but I wouldn't risk it. There is no way to know what chemicals could be absorbed into the water from the glue on the tape or whether those chemicals are toxic or not. You also don't know how quickly those chemicals will take to be absorbed by the water. I use a plastic paint scraper that allows me to replace the razor blade for scraping. I think it cost me like $3.00 at Lowe's, and replacement blades are $5.00 or $6.00 for 100.
Sand compacts and doesn't allow much water flow around the roots, so the roots don't get to absorb nutrients from the water, whereas a gravel substrate allows flow around the roots and more nutrients are absorbed.
As for aerobic filtration, even sand has a certain amount of aerobic filtration happening in the upper portion. Sand doesn't allow oxygenated water to contact bacteria as deeply as a more open substrate, so theoretically the positive effect from aerobic filtration is less when compared to an open substrate like gravel. Crushed lava rock should do the same thing as gravel, and both gravel and the lava rock will provide similar amounts of aerobic filtration. Lava rock may be a little more effective than gravel since it has a larger surface area and more attachment points for bacteria, but I suspect the difference is probably negligible in a substrate.
I'd be wary of a crushed lava rock substrate because I think it could be harsh on digging and sand sifting species like your eel and the cories.
WYite
