Starting Again

Yea, I know pleco's get too big for this tank, but it was either this or let them die at WalMart and that I couldn't do. I was at the Salvation Army today and in walked a lady with a 10 gal aquarium with pump, heater, hood (no lights, but no prob I can do that), gravel, plastic plants, a couple of ornaments that aren't too awful, a pump and filter and replacement cartridges for the filter, I got it for $10! Figure it will be good for guppy babies when they come. I'm going to set it up now and start cycling so that it will be all ready when the time comes! I knew I was hooked!
 
Thanks for the advice about the tannins. I had read on one web site that it could/would kill the fish. I checked with the lady whose getting it for me and she recommended either boiling it or soaking it in really hot water to get rid of any "critters" since it's been in the swamp for such a long time. I'm planning on removing most, if not all, of the bark and tying some type of fern on a small part of it so it looks more natural. I'm really glad that you said it wouldn't hurt the fish, I was a little bit concerned about that (OK, a lot concerned!). Again, thanks.
 
Apple snail are different then the ordinary pond snails. The pond snails are the ones you have to watch out for since they are so prolific and will reproduce day and night. As long as you remove the eggs that are above the water line from the apple snails you should no have a problem with a snail infestation.

Marinemom
 
If the hood on the 10 g has regular sockets look for small florescent (curly bulbs)to fit in it."Noma" has 9 watt bulbs that should fit.Very good for plants.
 
Thanks, yourchoice, for letting me know about those bulbs that's a big help.
It's got two sockets for bulbs, would one of the "energy saver" type bulbs be OK? I have a couple of very low light ones that I use in my desk lamp. I'm not that worried if the snails decide to reproduce at least one time, I'd like to see the little ones hatch out and if I get too many I can give them away to some kids here in the apartment who want pets but their folks don't or else they can't afford a pet. I also know a 3rd grade teacher who would most likely take a few, maybe one for each child! Or I might try to sell a few of them. I really don't know but I would like to see babies.
The "new" tank is a very old fashioned style with chrome on each corner and around the top and bottom like a frame! I haven't seen one of those in a long, long time! It's all washed and ready to be set up, I used vinegar and hot water to clean it up, it really wasn't that dirty. But over the years I've learned that vinegar is a multi-purpose, natural, disinfectant, deodorizer, and great for washing windows (no streaks) and it evaporates very quickly, it's also great for hard water build-up in glasses, around faucets, and, Oh, just about everything even rinsing your hair!
 
Just an update. My Blue Moscows arrived today and they are gorgeous and very lively. As a surprise, the guy sent me 7 more than the bid was for plus, as a surprise, a HB Yellow, very pretty fish. I acclimatized the fish to my tank water by setting them free in the styro packing box that they came in and dripping water slowly from my tank into the styro. After about an hour and a half I put one guppy in my tank and watched to see it's reaction, well there was no reaction she just swam around checking things out, after another half hour I transferred the other 17 (!) into the tank and now all are happily swimming around and looking good. Except for the HB, the rest are still pretty young but old enough to tell if they are male or female. I was looking at all of them and if the gravid spot means they are pregnant then I have 6 pregnant females right now! If not that's fine too. I just started cycling the smaller tank this morning so I will be ready in a couple weeks for whatever decides to happen. I'll put some of the water from the big tank into the small tank in order to speed up the cycling process. Hey, the snails even came out of hiding as did the pleco's when I put the new fish in, they stayed long enough for a really good look at them and then went back to sleep. It's has only been six hours but so far so good. Oh, I named the HB Surprise, because that's what he was!
 
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