Starting Again

DaddysLassie

DaddysLassie

AC Members
Jul 22, 2007
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Northern Minnesota - where the winters are cold an
I'm just starting a new aquarium after many years of not having one. So far I have a 30 gal tank, Eclipse 3 Filtration System - that's it! I have ordered natural river pebbles and gravel for the bottom, I've ordered two deep purple Mystery snails (1. because they are very pretty and caught my eye and 2. I know they can keep a tank really really clean!). Both will probably arrive within the next week. I'm looking to order 3 trios of Moscow Guppies (a blue, a green and a purple). I've heard from people and read articles that say to add sea salt to the water - just a little bit - to promote breeding, is this necessary and why? I never did with other guppies I raised and believe me I had no trouble, they did just fine by themselves (lol)! Also what types of plants would be good and can I mix silk plants with real ones? I'm going to finish setting up the tank (water,etc) today so it will run for 3 - 4 days before I get the snails. I won't be getting any fish for at least another 2 - 3 weeks unless I get some gold fish to season the tank first. I'd welcome any suggestions.:newbie:
 
read this first - it explains all about "seasoning" a tank and what you need to know to keep the fish safe

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84598

snails are fun to have and watch, but they are not the greatest tank 'janitors'. you still need to be prepared to clean the tank yourself and don't overfeed.
 
snails are virtually useless when it comes to keeping the tank clean.. at least mystery snails aren't.

definitely read the link in the first reply. it's very informative.

also, no, dont put any salt in. you can mix real/fake plants. PLEASE dont forget to condition the water before you put anybody in the tank. other than that, good luck and keep us posted!
 
Thanks for the good info

Thanks for all the good info. Like I said, it has been many years since I had an aquarium (more than 20 years) and things have changed, which is why I'm asking for help and info. I think I prefer the fish-in cycling, looking at an empty tank is depressing! I realize snails aren't super cleaners but I plan on getting a pleco or 2 in the near future, that should help, but I realize that I do have to keep it clean myself! The only place I can get to without a car is WalMart right now and after watching their fish for several years I don't think I want to get any fish from them. They always seem to be infected, dead or dying! I'll have to see if I can make arrangements to get to the next town to a shop that I've visited before - his fish all looked healthy and active and he had quite a selection of fish - not that I'll get my main fish from him, those I'll order. Again, thanks and I'm open to any suggestions or ideas you may have. I'll keep you posted on how it's going. I ordered the gravel today - Arkansas River Pebbles - it's natural rock but has lots of shading, I should get it in a day or two. Now I want a big piece of driftwood and lots of plants!
 
you dont need to add salt. it is acctually better for the guppies to have regular fresh water.

keep in mind that you may have hundreds of snails soon.

what type of pleco were you thinking of adding? bristlenose plecos are great for cleaning algea, but you will still have to supplelent its diet.

if you want to do a fishy cycle, you'll need to test the water every day and do a 50% water change when the ammoina and/or nitrite gets to 0.5. platies are very hardy and will be good fish for a community tank setting along with the toher fish you plan on adding to the tank.
 
JM1212
Don't know about what type pleco, I've always just had the ordinary variety and watched them grow to surprising sizes with no help from me!
Haven't got a test kit yet, I'll get that next week. I did get the tank put where I want it and got the water in. It kind of looks really lonely though with nothing in it! Rocks and snails should be here tomorrow, another busy day, lol.
Yea, I kind of figure I may end up with a few more snails than I purchased! These ones lay above the water line so the eggs can be removed easily (they're really gross looking) or, if I keep the water way up they won't lay at all!).
I ordered a piece of Cypress driftwood. What's all the noise about tannins? and how do I get rid of them? Anybody know?
 
Update

Just thought I'd let you know what's going on. I'm still cycling the tank, the temp is a constant 78 F. The snails are doing great and they have been joined by two pleco's. The pleco's, unfortunately, came from WalMart but I checked them out carefully - their eyes were bright and the fins all standing up and they were quite active! They have been in the tank for 3 1/2 days now and are doing fine and the dent behind their head is filling in quickly! I didn't have a pleco tube or anything like that for them to hide in so I took a decorative tea pot (it used to be a candle holder) that part of the back had broken out of, it's really fragile, and filed off all the sharp corners etc. and put that in there for them. They finally found it after about a day and a half, how they could miss it I'm not sure, it's not very small! Now they are in there all day when the lights are on and only come out at night!
Thought I had lost one of the snails this morning but after looking around really well, I found him co-habitating with the pleco's inside the tea pot!
Fish should arrive sometime this week along with a couple plants and a couple marimo balls so the tank will look a lot better. Can't put up any pictures, no camera! As soon as I can get hold of a camera I'll put them up.
:thumbsup::dog:
 
To answer your question about the driftwood and tanins.

You should soak the driftwood in a large bucket of water for a few days, if the water starts to brown thats the tanins leeching out. If it dosnt change colour then its right for the tank. Theres really no harm in letting the tanins leach out into your tank (unless you dont like the colour). If you have a carbon filter in your tank the tanins will also be filtered out a bit.

Best of luck
 
common plecos get waaayyy to big for that aquarium. might want to send them back
 
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