(01-16-2017, 07:24 AM)Thor Wrote: Hello Fishbone, welcome back!
it has been a long while to hear anything from you.
I am glad you are into fish keeping as well.
As for the new aquarium you are trying to set up for your wife, you can cycle it a lot faster if you get a bottle of Tetra SafeStart. For the plants, you can look them up here - http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/aquar....cfm?c=768
The fish tank and filter are looking good.
I'm pretty good with the basics, cycling, etc. I've used safestart in the past, but a combo of SeaChem Prime & SeaChem Seed is so much better. I also added a bag of Matrix from my other filter to this new one, along with the new bag of BioMax that came with it. I used a couple of bags of CaribSea EcoComplete for the substrate, which has fungi and bacteria for plant health and cycling in it as well. Also, I carefully selected the 3 pieces of driftwood in the tank from three different established systems, so dragging at least a little more bacteria along there too. I'm on day 8 since starting it up, and my ammonia already went to 0 last night after being over 2 most of the first 6 days, still 0 tonight. Nitrite is down under 1.5ppm from ~2ppm yesterday, nitrates steadily climbing. I'm pretty sure this thing will be completely cycled in a few more days, 4-5 at most.
I'll check out the site for plant info, thanks.
Quote:Same goes for the fish. A lot of local pet stores carry low quality fish from Asian farmers where antibiotics are overused. Those fish can easily catch diseases and die once they leave the water full of antibiotics.
Liveaquaria is the live fish and plants sub-site from Dr Frost and Smith. They carry really high quality fish. It is common to hear people's German Blue Ram or any other ram die quickly once got them home. Mine from Liveaquaria lived for years. Although they can't guarantee the male/female if you asked. I got two female German Blue Ram the last time I ordered from them.
I'll check them out. I've heard a few horror stories regarding rams. One thing I've deduced is, I think with them naturally being softwater fish, it comes into play the water you are getting them from and transferring them to. There's an old round here who has a small hobby type fish shop (he runs every tank there on on sponge filters except the discus) who quit buying German blues because they died on him. The breeder breeds & keeps them in soft RO water, this guy keeps everything he sells in tap, pH >7.5, because he says almost all of his customers are using tap. He gets other fish from the same breeder, and they do fine. The German blues can't acclimate quickly enough. Or so it seems.
I know about the Asian and Indonesian farms (some of the same people doing the same things with snakes and lizards.) I'm weary of buying fish. Always gotta be careful.
Quote:Yes, plants need special lighting. I use T5HO lights for made for aquarium use. However, it can still work without good lights if you choose some hardy plants such as Java Moss, Java Fern.
Do you like the T5 fluorescents better than the LED lights? I bought a 5500K T8 plant light because it fit the fixture that went with the tank, and should hopefully be good until I figure out what I want to do long term. I know the high output T5's are good, but everything they've done with LEDs for aquarium lighting the past few years, I am kinda tempted to go that way.
Quote:Personally, I would not try to mess with water PH and hardness. Yes, driftwood will slowly make the water softer. That is fine. But stay away from any unnatural methods such as using commercially available "PH up", "PH down", etc. chemicals. They will bring more harm than good. Most fish can adapt to a wide range of water PH and hardness, given that you did not just dump them into the fish tank once you got them (they will die from sudden change in environment). You just need to acclimate the changes when transfer the fish to their new home.
Ok, this is the tricky part. I agree with you on pHup & pHdown being crap. A side note on that too, they are a tetra product, and completely outdated. If you need to adjust your pH, it's better to use an actual buffering product. Everything Tetra makes has been improved upon by many companies. I'm pretty sure those products are just liquid acids and bases (probably pure ammonia) that create a "quick fix" that usually won't last. Your better off with sodium bicarbonate, lol.
But to the original point, I'm not going to mess with it in that way. It's going to primarily biological. Driftwood, almond leaves, peat, maybe some alder cones, etc etc. But I need to start with the right base, i.e. RO or DI water, either alone or mixed with tap at some ratio. On top of all that biological substrate, I added a few pounds of a carbonate sub, to make sure there is a touch of mineral in the water. But now with tap, it is hard as hell. dKh is 3-3.5 and dGh is >13. I am going to need RO water. Either alone with some trace minerals added, or mixed with a little tap. Not sure which yet.
