801: another n00b

[801]

hello fish fans :22:

i'm 801 from around the internet.
you can usually find me at wirefire.org/forum

i'm here now because i recently decided that i want to dust off my 5gallon acrylic and put some life back into it.

i really wanted to put together my very first salt tank, but after reading up on the saltwaterfish.com forums, it looked like a bad idea for a beginner to set up a nano tank. so i'm back to freshwater after many years of not having fish in the house.

i found you guys because i've been looking for information about using sand in a freshwater tank. everyone i've asked said not to do it. so i googled for info, and here i am thumbs2:. i'm very happy to find that it is a possible option. i never liked that fake looking gravel.

so please, take me under your fin and advise me on how to go about setting up a nice 5 gallon tank with sand.

this is my list of hardware:
5 gallon acrylic w/ hood & lights
undergravel filter
air pump

i already have an idea of what kind of fish/plants i want. but the most important part is to first set up this tank with sand and cycle it. any help is most appreciated!
:19:
-801

btw, where can i buy this silica sand i hear you guys talking about?

[Nautilus29]

First of all you probibly dont want to use an under gravel filter with sand, since it will suck under the plate. I dont like them anyways. Just make sure that whatever filter you get you dont have the intake tube too close to the sand or it will suck up sand and break your filter.

[jhargrave908]

maybe I'm not qualified to answer this, but using sand and an under gravel filter probably isn't a good idea. It might be possible to put a cloth or similar unrestrictive material between the filter base and sand to allow water to pass through it but not sand, otherwise your filter will probably get clogged with sand and not work. The easiest way to go is a gravel, a lot of which is natural looking, for instance pebbles, or for a live planted tank...fluorite.

If you still want to go with sand reconsider the filter system. For 12 bucks at wal-mart you can get a whisper filter that sticks the the side of your aquarium and and is run by an aerator, such as this ([Only Registered Users Can See Links.]). However, many filters, such as that one only use mechanical and chemical filtration. This is leaving out the most important kind - biological!

Mechanical is basically a screen that filters out debris. Chemical will filter out bacteria. But some bacteria is vital to the ecosystem of your aquarium, and the biological filter is what puts that bacteria back into the water.

Under gravel filters really don't do much in the way of mechanical and chemical filtration, but from what i hear are fairly good at biological filtration. That being said i kept a couple of alive fish in a 5 gallon aquarium for around 5 years using just an under gravel filter (which also used charcoal for chemical filtration and foam for mechanical filtration in a canister connected to the under gravel filter).

Your best bet for your setup is an over the side filter with a bio wheel.

However, if you really want to get something good looking and more long term, look at a larger tank. From my experience, a 5 gallon setup may only be 1.5 times the price of a 15 or 20 gallon setup. Additionally your startup cost is really the bulk of your money, so buying a bigger setup maybe be more fulfilling for only a small amount more.

Another reason that a larger setup is better is that you have a more stable system. This means that more mistakes can be made and the effect wont be that big AND the response time will be less. For example if you dumped a gallon of ammonia into a 5 gallon aquarium, you entire stock of fish would die...almost instantly. But if you dumped a gallon of ammonia into a 1000 gallon setup, then maybe no fish die.

i know its long but hopefully it will help,

J

[Nautilus29]

Do you have any pictures of this 1000 gallon tank your talking about it sounds amazing :ezpi_wink1:

[801]

thanks for the tips :)

the only type i've ever used before are those carbon cartridges.
i'll look more into one of those hanging filters

as for the size, i already have this tank, and i'm also limited on space in the house. i do have a 10gallon tank, but i just want put something small on the endtable in the living room.

[Nautilus29]

You could get a marinaland penguin biowheel filter. If you could fit it on your tank. [Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

[801]

hmmm... that biowheel one wont work for me coz i like to keep the lid on the tank.
i'm not too sure if the Whisper Internal one will either, but it looks more managable. if i do use this one, will i be ok with it alone, or will i need other means of filtration?

heres some options that i'm looking at for fish:
puffer
dwarf frogs
fire belly newt
thai crab

i also want plants too, but not certain on what yet.

[jhargrave908]

gcnadam29 - yeah a 1000 gallon aquarium would be amazing. Too much work for me though. It would take most of a day to clean, and imagine if that beast sprung a leak....



801 - depending on how much you want to spend, it might be cheaper to get a whole new tank kit. The Aqua-Tech 5 is a five gallon that i have. I enthusiastically recommend it! I comes with everything you need except for a substrate, water, fish, and a heater if you go tropical.

here is a review on it:
[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

Also, don't be discouraged about a saltwater tank. If you are up to the work of a fish tank, then its why not go with saltwater? Saltwater tanks look AMAZING if you do it right, and instead of being the accent to a room, it is the centerpiece! I am absolutely hooked on the cool looking fish of saltwater tanks. I think its worth it. If you have the passion, then the rest will follow. Of course this is coming from a guy that has never had a saltwater setup

regards,

J

[801]

oooh that is a nice tank!
i like how the filter is hidden under the hood.
whats the price on that kit?

i really do like the tank that i have though. it has a nice shape too it. i'll post some pictures of it on tuesday (i'm away from home this new years weekend).

i think i also still have one of those old test tube type heaters. it probably needs to be replaced anyways.

as for a salt tank, yeah i would really like to try it. but from all the reading i've done last week, its a real pain for a beginner to maintain proper levels in such a small tank.

[jhargrave908]

hmmm... that biowheel one wont work for me coz i like to keep the lid on the tank.
i'm not too sure if the Whisper Internal one will either, but it looks more managable. if i do use this one, will i be ok with it alone, or will i need other means of filtration?

heres some options that i'm looking at for fish:
puffer
dwarf frogs
fire belly newt
thai crab

i also want plants too, but not certain on what yet.

A friend of mine has a whisper internal filter and it works very well. We actually just installed it tonight, because his under gravel filter wasn't doing it.

I don't actually know if that internal would be all you need or not. It doesn't have a biological filter, but you might be alright without it. Monitoring the ammonia levels would be advisable. You could get some Cycle and see if that will help. Maybe if you don't use sand as your substrate, you could use both the whisper and the under gravel filter. Also check out the tank i mentioned above, it really is great! I would be careful about investing too much into the fish if you don't have a bio filter since they might die.

As far as plants go, if they are green, then they are generally easier to maintain than some crazy colored plants. I just bought my first live plants a couple of days ago, so i bought my favorite looking green plants. Something about plants that i found out from experience is that you need alot of substrate, i have a good inch and half to two inches for my 5 gallon that was 10 pounds when i bought it at the store. Also, I'm not sure if sand is a good substrate for living plants?

regards,

J

[jhargrave908]

oooh that is a nice tank!
i like how the filter is hidden under the hood.
whats the price on that kit?

i really do like the tank that i have though. it has a nice shape too it. i'll post some pictures of it on tuesday (i'm away from home this new years weekend).

i think i also still have one of those old test tube type heaters. it probably needs to be replaced anyways.

as for a salt tank, yeah i would really like to try it. but from all the reading i've done last week, its a real pain for a beginner to maintain proper levels in such a small tank.


I got the aqua-tech 5 as a gift, so i don't know the price. I'm guessing between 20 and 40 USD.

Whatever heater you choose, get something less than a 50 watt. I bought a really nice 50 watt heater for a 5 gallon and it was just too much. Make sure you buy a thermometer too, they're cheap and a must with heat sensitive fish. These next several days, I'm going to experiment with some different heater sizes, let me know what works for you.

regards,

J

[Nautilus29]

sand wont hold the roots very well if you buy any fish that like to dig around. Make sure you do a fishless cycle. Although with that small of a tank idk if it will cycle very well. Exp. since you wont have a bio filter.

[jeffs99dime]

welcome to a.c.

[Drumachine09]

Are you the same john hargrave from zug.com?

[jman]

welcome to the forum

[nraposa]

welcome you joined a great forum as you can seee

[jeffs99dime]

welcome you joined a great forum as you can seee

i like the new avatar nraposa!! pretty cool!:thumb:

[801]

back on the filters...

i went to a LFS and the kid there said that he likes Marineland much better and was of the opinion that Whisper is bad quality. what do you guys think?

i also went to PetSmart today and saw the Whisper Internal PF 10i. it looks way too big and bulky to put in my 5gallon. they also had Whisper Internal PF 3i. teh box said for up to 3 gallons, but it looks like it much nicer as it is unobtrusive. do you think that will be good enough?

[f1oored]

For a 5 gallon tank I would go for something that is able to filter at least a 10 gallon. Remember you can't over filter. I am a fan of the marineland products also. If you do decide to go that route make sure to print off the web page from petsmart.com so you can get internet pricing (you can save a few bucks). The 100B would be more than enough filter and you can get it for 17 bucks. Aquaclear makes a good HOB too.

[Abbeys_Mom]

Welcome to the forum :)

[jhargrave908]

Are you the same john hargrave from zug.com?

lol....nope...but that is my name

[Chrona]

I would go with the Aquaclear. Penguins are amazing filters, but they release too much CO2 from the water, and so aren't the best solution if you plan on getting live plants. Sand is fine for a substrate for plants, as long as you have something underneath it like peat moss, laterite, etc, and the sand is a fairly coarse sand (extra fine play sand will give you the headache of your life). I highly recommend using a substrate like Flourite though. The pieces are very small and natural looking, do wonders for your plants, and hold plants down much better.

Also, with live plants, you don't want to use activated carbon, as it strips iron and trace elements that plants need from the water column.

[*Sarah*]

Welcome to the forum!

[Severus]

Welcome to the forum!

Haha, this is such an old thread! But Welcome Again!

[cocoa_pleco]

like almost 2 months old. lol