20g Long

[Ellen4God]

I bought my 20g long today! So begins the long process of getting it cycled and prepped for fish. woohoo!! I really can't wait. I look at it, and my mind just goes around and around with the possibilities that await it. Of course, compared to some people, this tank is still but a wee lass. However, for me, it's twice the size of the one I had set up last summer, and it's a very exciting adventure waiting to happen!!

Join me, if you will, as I set up my tank, taking the appropriate steps this time, and build one that's hopefully exciting and astonishing. We shall see!

So, here's the first picture of my tank. It's currently sitting on a table that's too small for it, but it will soon have and adequate stand built by my older brother.

[Friendly]

Awesome Ellen. Very clean, too thumbs2:

[Ellen4God]

Awesome Ellen. Very clean, too thumbs2:

I sure hope so! It's brand new and hasn't had anything in it at all yet. I'm about to start rinsing some sand to put it in soon though.

[Sir Tristen]

Good choice on sand! I love the look of sand in a tank. I have a 20 long and find it a great size for a small community tank. Water changes are a lot easier than, say, 75 gallons where you have to chage out 15 to 20 gallons of water a week!

[Ellen4God]

Thanks! I had sand in my 10g and loved it. So, I'm going to do it in this one as well. I'm probably just going to use play sand again because that's what we already have. Just need to rinse it a good bit.

I've decided to do the sand later this week. I'm going to run to Wal Mart tonight to get some black trash bags (sad thing to buy a whole box when I only need one... lol) and vaseline to do a background on the tank. I like black backgrounds a lot, so I'm pretty pumped to get this done. Figured I should do this before anything else. Pictures to come once I get the background on, of course!

[Cameron]

looks good so far, good thing you didnt use that table, it looks to be on its last leg ; ) lol

[Ellen4God]

looks good so far, good thing you didnt use that table, it looks to be on its last leg ; ) lol

haha It looks like part of it is sticking out, but that's actually how it's made. Not sure why, but all of the edges right under the top of the table stick out like that.

[Ellen4God]

I have the sand in my tank now. I was going to fill it all the way up tonight, but then I remembered that I have to wait for my stand before I can do too terribly much with it. So, not sure if I'm going to trying starting the cycle now or if I'm going to wait for my brother to finish my stand.

I'm leaning towards the more impatient act. :]

[Wild Turkey]

I have the sand in my tank now. I was going to fill it all the way up tonight, but then I remembered that I have to wait for my stand before I can do too terribly much with it. So, not sure if I'm going to trying starting the cycle now or if I'm going to wait for my brother to finish my stand.

I'm leaning towards the more impatient act. :]

Rock and roll, as long as you replace the ammonia with the water you take out after movin 'er everything should be fine :thumb:

[Taurus]

I have a 20 long and find it a great size for a small community tank. Water changes are a lot easier than, say, 75 gallons where you have to chage out 15 to 20 gallons of water a week!

I'm with you Tristen. I really like my 20 long and my 10. Water changes are a snap and not to expensive. Filtration is fairly simple. My 20 long is 15 months old now, well seasoned, very stable. Replacement filter media isn't even an issue with the AC filters. And I'm lucky with my water supply. The City I live in uses only chlorine and flouride in our tap water. So I can use API Tap Water Conditioner (very economical) even for larger water changes. thumbs2:
So Ellen, you're gonna love yours, also. Just have patience and go slow for the next few months.
Use lots of media from an established tank to get your bacterial colonies started. You're new tank cycle will be very short, or none at all.

[Rue]

Nice tank! When will your brother get the new stand finished?

[Ellen4God]

Nice tank! When will your brother get the new stand finished?

I'm not sure. He said he could make it for me this week, so I'm thinking he'll have it for me this weekend maybe? I also need to paint it, but I'm not sure I want to go through all of that. May just leave it the natural wood for now. I don't know. Reckon I should paint it.

[Ellen4God]

Okay - I filled my tank most of the way up, although now I'm thinking I need to take most of the water back out because the table I have it on is obviously tilted to one side (not noticeable until seeing the water level). I think the table will be fine - it isn't going to fall over or anything, but I just didn't know if it was okay to leave the tank like that?

Of course, my brother is making me a stand. This table is only temporary until I get that. I'm just impatient and wanted to start filling it up! lol

[Sharon]

You'll have to drain it again to move it to the other table...Getting a little impatient???:hmm3grin2orange:

[Ellen4God]

You'll have to drain it again to move it to the other table...Getting a little impatient???:hmm3grin2orange:

Yes, I'll have to drain it, but I was going to go ahead and fill it up and get the cycle going. It'll be fine draining it to move it, I think. Thought I would put the water in it before I got my filters out so that the sand can settle and such.

[Cameron]

idk about a 20 long, but being not closly level can stress the glass. So try to get it at least as level as possible..

[Ellen4God]

I'm going to, yet again, change it to a different table for the time being. lol I've been avoiding having to pull my long white table out, but I think I'll do that since this table is so lopsided.

I haven't had the best day - so I'm definitely in a cleaning/organizing mood this afternoon. Just need to utilize it! lol

I got my hood and light today from Petsmart. While I was there, I got my filter media and decided to ask if they'd give me some gravel from one of their tanks to help seed mine, and I was told that they can't do that. I was pretty shocked as they've done it for me before. So, I'm pretty bummed out right now. I thought about going into NC to a PetCo that's about 30 minutes away to see if they'd let me get some from them (and to just check out their fish selection - haven't been there in ages), but I'm not sure I want to take the time to do that. hmmm

[Ellen4God]

Well, I now have the sand in my tank, a hood for my tank (yay!), and I'm getting the filters ready to start back up. I've been slowly pulling everything out from "storage" for my tank, rinsing it some, and then getting it ready for the tank.

I have to go out to Petsmart today because I got the wrong kind of bulb (thought I was doing good getting one with a higher k value, but it's too high. Go figure!). I also need to get more filter media for my canister filter - forgot it took so much!

I'm going to ask one more time if they'll give me some used gravel to help seed my tank. Hopefully they'll say yes! Here's a picture of the tank right now. Not all the way filled up yet. I have my log thing sitting in there, but that's about it. Not sure how I'm going to set this one up. Fun times are coming!

[Wild Turkey]

Looks good so far! glass hoods ftw.thumbs2:
You might end up having to do a fishless :(

[AABatteries]

Looking good. What canister are you using?

[Ellen4God]

Looks good so far! glass hoods ftw.thumbs2:
You might end up having to do a fishless :(

Yes! I love glass hoods. :] I've enjoyed just looking down into the tank at the sand I have in there - it'll be even more fun when I have fish in there! lol

I wasn't planning on doing a fish cycle. I wanted the used gravel just to help seed my tank. I have looked into using Seachem Stability, but I'm not sure. I read some things online about it, and I couldn't figure out if you had to have fish to do it - it just said you could add fish at any time. I'll look to see if Petsmart has any and decide while I'm there, I reckon.


Looking good. What canister are you using?

I'm using the Tom Mini Rapid Canister filter. I'm using it in conjunction with my AC 20. I was just going to put an AC sponge thing in my canister with some of the AC biomax things - does that sound okay?

[fishlover49]

Very nice tank!!! thumbs2:

[bushwhacker]

ellen i'm kind of worried about that table, a full 20 gallon tanks gonna weigh around 200 pounds, hope your brother gets your stand ready soon

[fishymommy]

Thanks! I had sand in my 10g and loved it. So, I'm going to do it in this one as well. I'm probably just going to use play sand again because that's what we already have. Just need to rinse it a good bit.

Just curious... how exactly do you rinse sand without it going down the drain?

[Ellen4God]

Just curious... how exactly do you rinse sand without it going down the drain?

Well, I did it outside (it was COLD!). I used a one gallon ice cream bucket (empty and cleaned of course), and filled it about 2/3 of the way with sand. I then just used the water hose outside to put water into the bucket. I used the jet one so that the water would shoot to the bottom of the bucket and push things up to the top. After I filled the bucket with water, I would just pour out the water on top of the sand. Then, I would do it all over again! I did this about 8 or 10 times probably.

[Sharon]

....and you can still type with those frozen fingers!!!:hmm3grin2orange:

[Ellen4God]

....and you can still type with those frozen fingers!!!:hmm3grin2orange:

Thankfully they've thawed out since then! :)

[Ellen4God]

Well, here's an update of everything that's gone on with my tank since the last time I posted in here.

I now have my stand for the tank (yay!). It still needs a couple touch ups on the black paint, but that's alright. I'll fix it. :) I did a cinder block and plywood stand. Only cost me about $30 compared to the $100 stands I was looking at!

The first picture is of when I had everything laid out and a coat of primer on it. Next, everything is black! :) Then, there's a picture of the finished stand - yay!!

Last, but not least, a picture of my tank finally filled up! I'm pretty pumped about this!! I love how the black background hides just about everything in the back - i.e. my two filter intakes (and one output) and my heater...except for that silly red dial. I'll have to hide that somehow.

So, what do you think?

I'm pretty pumped.

Now to get it cycled so that I can fill 'er with fish! wooooo!

[Ellen4God]

Alrighty - it's been about an hour since I added the Seachem Stability to my tank (something like an hour...). I just tested the water, and this is what I found...

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 15 (it was between 10 and 20)
pH - 6.8

Sooo...does the water naturally have nitrates in it, or has the Stability done this?

I've attached a picture with my little test bottle things. First is Nitrate, second Ammonia, third Nitrite, and fourth pH.

I'm going to give it a day or two as I test the waters and record the findings until I decide whether or not I should keep using Stability. Anybody have any insights I could use right now? Would you continue using it?

[s72450]

You didn't use any filter media from another tank or anything? Dang if this is true, I'm out to get me some of that stuff when I cycle my 55g.

[Ellen4God]

You didn't use any filter media from another tank or anything? Dang if this is true, I'm out to get me some of that stuff when I cycle my 55g.

Nope - no seeded filter media. I'm going to wait a couple days and do as the bottle directs as I do water tests until I decide if it's really working. lol

....I think I may start a thread in the General Forum to see if I can get more opinions about the product....

[s72450]

I asked on the other thread, but did you get the water from the tap or was it in your other tank?

I've never dealt with Seachem before so I'm curious, and like I said, running out to grab up a few bottles before the 55g cycle, lol.

[Ellen4God]

Well, this is day 4 with using the Seachem Stability, and day 2 with having three neon tetras in the tank. Things are going great so far.

The three tetras are doing marvelous - still schooling like nothing else. And my parameters are as follows:

Ammonia - 0
NitrItes - 0
NitrAtes - about 10 or 15
pH - about 7.0-7.2

Hopefully it'll continue to go well!

[Ellen4God]

Today's readings:

Ammonia: 0
NitrIte: 0
NitrAte: 10
pH: 7.2

I'm going to continue to monitor the tank. If all is still going well, I'm going to get a few more tetras next Thursday.

[Taurus]

Sounds like everything is going great Ellen. I hope all continues well. thumbs2:

[Ellen4God]

Sounds like everything is going great Ellen. I hope all continues well. thumbs2:

Thanks! :)

[s72450]

How is the tank going Ellen?

I went out and bought a similar set up to house my bettas in. It's the same dimensions as your tank, just I had dividers made.

[Northernguy]

I would definately get more tetras!

What kind? lol

[Ellen4God]

How is the tank going Ellen?

I went out and bought a similar set up to house my bettas in. It's the same dimensions as your tank, just I had dividers made.

Things are going well. The tetras look marvelous. Still schooling beautifully. I can't wait to get more to see a bigger school. Good luck with your tank!! :)


I would definately get more tetras!

What kind? lol

I stopped by Petsmart this evening after work to get some fertilizers, and it was so very very tempting to pick up a few more tetras, but I wasn't sure if I should yet or not. I'll be getting more neon tetras - they don't have cardinals.

Just tested my water. Here are the results:

Ammonia: between 0 and 0.25
NitrItes: 0
NitrAtes: 10
pH: 7.2

Water change coming up. I'll check my ammonia again after that.

[Ellen4God]

Just checked my ammonia again. It's at 0. It may have been 0 the first time as well. Wasn't positive though. Seems all is still going okay so far.

[Ellen4God]

Here's an updated picture of my tank. It's not finished at all, of course. Still more plants to come, and of course, fish! woo!

Everything is still going well. Parameters are still good - no problems yet! :) Looks like this Seachem Stability stuff has done its job!

[Red]

looking good :)

[Ellen4God]

Thanks! I can't wait until I get more plants!! I'm finally starting to get an idea for how I want to set the tank up.

I've always only had like a 10g tank, so that "little" log was pretty "big" in the 10g. lol But, now with the 20g long, it doesn't exactly fill the tank like it used to. I also have two other small cave type things that aren't the same color (they're more gray than brown), so I wasn't sure how it'd look in the tank with my log.

I think I've decided to have the log in the middle of the tank...maybe off the the side just a little...with one of the other ornament things more off to the side, a little hidden by the plants.

Doesn't make much sense when I say it out loud (in text), but hopefully it'll work!!

Any suggestions? :)

[Northernguy]

I would definately plant it more but yours will also look great as they fill out.I guess its another patience thing. lol How many tetras do you have in there now?
A nice tall plant would look good towards the left corner.Maybe a few rocks.
Just suggestions though!

[Ellen4God]

I would definately plant it more but yours will also look great as they fill out.I guess its another patience thing. lol How many tetras do you have in there now?
A nice tall plant would look good towards the left corner.Maybe a few rocks.
Just suggestions though!

Thanks!!! I love suggestions. :)

I still only have three tetra in there. I was going to get more this afternoon after work, but I had a meeting and then we had to call an ambulance for my uncle. He's not faring well with his cancer right now, so as an aside to this thread, if you wouldn't mind praying him, I'd appreciate it. :)

Anyhow - I have to work after work tomorrow (sad, eh? lol). But, I'm considering calling in sick on Friday, so if I have a chance then to run out to Petsmart, I'll be getting another 3 neon tetras to put in the tank. I've loved sitting here and watching the three that I have right now - can't wait to have more!

Do you think the log will be enough for hiding and such if I have the tank heavily planted, or would I need more than that? I still haven't decided if I want to use the other things I have yet or not.

[schoolbus]

Add more as You can.
You really got Me going to get a 20L for my Neon. Perfect tank as the like bottom to middle.
Take Your time. I know it will be a sight when You finish. As if any of us can ever finish a tank.

Good luck with it!! Don

[coachfraley]

Nice job so far Ellen!

[Northernguy]

You will be able to decide a lot easier as it fills in.I like a heavily planted tank for hiding places!
I am terribly sorry to hear about your Uncle!
He will be in my prayers!

[Ellen4God]

I got my 3 neon tetras some friends tonight!! I bought 4 more neons to put in the tank. They're floating right now, and I'll start the slow acclimation process soon.

I almost bought an anubias (sp?) plant to put in the tank, but I decided not to since I'm hoping to get a bundle of plants soon.

Oooh, the joys of a tank again. :] I can't wait until it's filled with plants!

Oh yes! I saw a tiiiiny little snail earlier. I'm still deciding whether or not I want to remove it. Hmm...

[AABatteries]

Looking good. Correct me if I'm wrong, you have 3 wisterie and 1 melon sword in the picture. And I just have to ask, what lighting do you have, because the sword is a medium light plant.

[Ellen4God]

It's an amazon sword, but that probably doesn't really make much of a difference. lol I have a LifeGlo bulb on the tank, which is 20W and 6700k. Don't know if that's considered low, medium, or what.

[toddnbecka]

1 watt/gallon is considered low lighting, you should double that if you want to grow plants other than low-light varieties. Do you have a standard fluorescent hood on the tank?

[Ellen4God]

I don't think they have any bulbs that are 40W. I guess it's a standard fluorescent hood. lol What else could I get? Don't really know much about that.

[Ellen4God]

I love how they're schooling! It's so pretty. Can't wait to complete their school. :]

[AABatteries]

Yeah, that would be low lighting. Also, that looks nothing like my Amazon and more like a Melon to me. I had an amazon under 1wpg... and I almost lost it.

EDIT: Just searched the two on google images, and it looks like an Amazon. Not like mine that much though. >_> Maybe mine isn't an Amazon.

[Ellen4God]

Yeah, that would be low lighting. Also, that looks nothing like my Amazon and more like a Melon to me. I had an amazon under 1wpg... and I almost lost it.

Okay. Sorry. Thanks for letting me know about the Sword. Do I need a completely new hood and everything? I literally just bought this one.

[AABatteries]

I hate to break it to you, but more than likely, yes. Unless you'd wanna give it to me for free. :hmm3grin2orange: I'll never turn down any plant. But if do want to upgrade lighting and would mind doing some DIY this (http://www.contractorlighting.com/lamp-watt-fluorescent-double-channel-strip-120277-p-418.html) would be a great fixture and allow most plants.

[Ellen4God]

Well, getting a new hood is not an option right now. I simply don't have the money for it. I won't for another month or so.

The fact that the bulb is 6700k does nothing for me at all?

[toddnbecka]

Is the bulb a standard FL tube or a smaller diameter? If you really want to grow plants a glass top is much better, but the lighting fixtures are rather expensive. I hung a 4' shop light over one tank in the basement and put 2 plant bulbs in it. It grows the hornwort and duckweed quite nicely, but I have an UG filter in the tank so I don't grow rooted plants.

[Ellen4God]

Is the bulb a standard FL tube or a smaller diameter?

I'm not sure I know what you mean by that.

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2754095&keepsr=0

That's the bulb I have.

[lovleeko]

No problem. They have those bulbs with higher wattage. You could always stick with the low light plants. And you could just try the sword. No harm in that if you have nothing else to do with it. I have been doing a lot of research on low light plants. You could always get some moss and java fern and the anubias should do fine in there as is. I'm buying some crypts for my low light tanks. My best friend is growing money wort great in her tank at less than one watt per gallon. It is doing great and she is giving me some cuttings tomorrow. It just depends I think.

[toddnbecka]

That's a standard fluorescent bulb, 24"/20watt = 1 watt/gallon. The 6700k is the spectrum of light the bulb produces, which in this case is best for growing plants. Different spectrums produce different colors, less useful for plants but they make the colors of the fish (and substrate, etc.) stand out differently. There are also bulbs made for SW tanks that produce the spectrum of light necessary for corals; those are useless for growing plants. There are higher-output bulbs (T-5) that produce more light using about the same amount of electricity. They're much smaller in diameter than standard FL bulbs, and produce more watts/gallon than standard bulbs of the same length. If you REALLY want to get serious about plants, then you want to set up a CO2 injection system. That's an expensive way to go, and the CO2 tends to alter the water chemistry and generally cause all sorts of complications for the fish (and the keeper...), but there are some awesome tanks created and maintained by experienced folks. Too much trouble for me, personally I stick with a few simple plants like Najas, hornwort, and duckweed. No roots to worry about, no CO2 injection required, and they grow like weeds.

[Demi ^_^]

IMO, just stick with your low light Ellen :))

I have a light that produces 1.6watts/p/g in my 22g :))

If you go higher, you have to worry about alot of algae/co2/ferts/etc..

Have fun!!!!!!

[Ellen4God]

Yeah. I think I'm going to stick with what I have for right now.

[Ellen4God]

I finally touched up the paint on my stand tonight. I was sitting here looking at it and couldn't take it any longer. lol So, it no longer has cinder block gray peaking through anymore. It looks a LOT better! I'll post a picture of it at some point.

[Ellen4God]

Well, I finally took a picture of the stand. I went out and bought a few baskets to use with the stand. I think it looks a lot better now with the paint touched up and the supplies put away in baskets. I had already turned the light off in the tank, so I didn't want to turn it back on for a picture.

What ya think? :)

[Rue]

Yup! Looks much better! You're stylin' now!thumbs2:

[gm72]

Ellen, looks just great. Nice touches.

As another idea for those out there considering such a stand, you can use velcro tape and wrap the whole thing in a fabric of your choice.

[toddnbecka]

That's certainly the best-looking block stand I've ever seen. I remember back when I moved out on my own and set up a 55 (wasn't able to go larger than a 29 at my parents house) I used a couple of skids and a drop-leaf table top for the stand. I covered the table top with a vinyl table cloth to protect the wood from spilled water and help cover the skids. It certainly wasn't pretty but it held the tank... thumbs2:

[lava]

Very nice! I regret not making a journal when I started my set up.Sorry for the stupid question but I am confused as to how many gallons your tank is. You said it was 20g long? so thats a standard 20 gallon tank right? well the thing is, it looks as big as my 55 if not even bigger >_>" either your camera is making it bigger then it is or I am just stupid. Once again sorry I am still a noob.

[korith]

Well, I finally took a picture of the stand. I went out and bought a few baskets to use with the stand. I think it looks a lot better now with the paint touched up and the supplies put away in baskets. I had already turned the light off in the tank, so I didn't want to turn it back on for a picture.

What ya think? :)

Looks like you touched up the bricks a bit with paint. The baskets are a nice touch. Sadly I still to get a plastic container or two to keep all the fish stuff in.

[fishlover49]

Looks grrrrrrrrreat!!! thumbs2: thumbs2:

[Ellen4God]

Very nice! I regret not making a journal when I started my set up.Sorry for the stupid question but I am confused as to how many gallons your tank is. You said it was 20g long? so thats a standard 20 gallon tank right? well the thing is, it looks as big as my 55 if not even bigger >_>" either your camera is making it bigger then it is or I am just stupid. Once again sorry I am still a noob.

Not a stupid question at all. It is a 20g long, but there are also 20g high tanks. The dimensions of my tank are 30x12x12. A 20g high tank isn't as long and is a bit higher. Make sense?

[Ellen4God]

Thanks, everyone, for the kind words. :)

[Ellen4God]

Well, I was hoping things would continue to go well with my parameters and such since they were great for awhile. However, tonight's readings are as follows:

Ammonia: still hard to tell between 0 and 0.25
NitrIte: between 0.25 and 0.5
NitrAte: still consistent at about 10

We'll see what happens from here...

[Ellen4God]

Well, here are tonight's readings:

Ammonia: 0
NitrIte: 0.5
NitrAte: 10

I forgot to shake the nitrAte thing right away, but hopefully that didn't change the results any.

[Ellen4God]

Accidentally unsubscribed...just trying to subscribe again. :]

[AABatteries]

I would re-test the Ate if you didn't shake it, that's very important.

[toddnbecka]

Some of the test solutions also need to be shaken before using, as well as shaking the test tube after you add the drops.

[bushwhacker]

just for safety i shake everything before doing a test, and make sure to shke the testubes also.. ellen the stand looks sweet the baskets really add a nice touch, i knew you'd do it up right

[lovleeko]

Your almost there with your cycle. Especially since ammonia went all the way down thumbs2:

[Ellen4God]

Well, I was in bed already when it was suggested to test the nitrAtes again - and now I'm at work waiting for my morning duty to begin (oooh, gotta love hall duty!). I'll test everything again tonight.

I do test everything the way I should - I shake what needs to be shaken. I have it down to a science now - I was just distracted by the TV last night. I did shake the tube - just forgot for about 30 seconds. I'll test it all again tonight and see what it says.

[Ellen4God]

Here are tonight's readings. NitrIte is still going up, but Ammonia is definitely 0 now.

Ammonia: 0
NitrIte: 1.0
NitrAte: 10

[AABatteries]

Once those Ite's turn into Ate's your cycle is pretty much done. (=

[Ellen4God]

No school because of ice this morning.

Readings are:

Ammonia: 0
NitrIte: 1
NitrAte: 10

This is the first time that I've really been able to just sit and watch the neons eat after I fed them, and it was great. They're so fun to watch!!

[Ellen4God]

Here's an updated picture of my tank. The nitrItes have started to go down some now. Ready for the cycle to be over!! :)

Plants seem to be growing nicely even with the low light.

[Friendly]

That's an awesome set up Ellen, thanks for sharing :19:

[Taurus]

Well done Ellen! It's beautiful..coming alone nicely. thumbs2:

[Ellen4God]

I haven't been testing my water like I should since my Uncle Mike's death, but I'm trying to do better. Tonight, they read...

Ammonia: 0
NitrItes: 0.25
NitrAtes: 10 (these have been very consistent)

I'm ready to go get a few albino corys - can't wait!! Hopefully I'll be able to by this weekend.

Just to check one more time, how does this stocking sound:

12 neon tetras
6 albino corys
3 oto cats
1 golden apple snail

Sound okay? No?

[toddnbecka]

Stocklist looks fine, just need to finish off the cycle first.

[gm72]

That stocking will be great.

[Ellen4God]

Stocklist looks fine, just need to finish off the cycle first.

Yep - that's what I'm waiting for. :)



Thanks, gm!

[Ellen4God]

Ladies and Gentlemen, my tank is cycled! wooo!!! :19: :19:

Now to get some albino corys. Can't wait!



So, it cycled in 3 1/2 weeks using the Seachem Stability and some neon tetras - is that about average, or is that shorter than usual?

[s72450]

Congrates Ellen!

[Heliwyr]

That you did it with neons is impressive, since they're supposed to be very sensitive.

[Ellen4God]

That you did it with neons is impressive, since they're supposed to be very sensitive.

The neons didn't seem to stress any at all really. My ammonia didn't spike drastically, so that probably had some to do with it. I think the Seachem Stability helped keep it safe for the fish.

[doug z]

Looking good!

But please, say no to albino corys! LOL

Get some cute, non-ghoulish pandas instead!

[Ellen4God]

Looking good!

But please, say no to albino corys! LOL

Get some cute, non-ghoulish pandas instead!

They don't have any pandas at my Petsmart. I'll look again today, but they didn't have any when I looked the past times.

[doug z]

Shwartzi, Julii, bronze.. ANYTHING else.. LOL

Hope they have at least 6 for ya!

[Ellen4God]

Shwartzi, Julii, bronze.. ANYTHING else.. LOL

Hope they have at least 6 for ya!

Should I go ahead and buy all 6 now or get 3 now and the other 3 later?

[doug z]

If they're juveniles (0.5-0.75"), you could get away with 6..

Might want to do 3 at a time if they're adults pushing 2" each, and the lfs can set the other 3 aside for you for a couple weeks..

[Ellen4God]

If they're juveniles (0.5-0.75"), you could get away with 6..

Might want to do 3 at a time if they're adults pushing 2" each, and the lfs can set the other 3 aside for you for a couple weeks..

Alrighty. We'll see what they have. Thanks!

[Ellen4God]

Well, I'm home (finally). I went ahead and got the albino corys. I actually have grown to like them, and I think they'll look great against the black background. Besides, that's all they had other than peppered corys, and they get too big.

I'm going to wait awhile longer for the temperatures to equalize, and then I'll start the drip acclimation. Can't wait until I get to put them in the tank!! :]

[doug z]

How many did you get? How big are they?

[Ellen4God]

How many did you get? How big are they?

I got 6, and they're under an inch still. I told her to get the smallest ones - even the bigger ones weren't that big.

[doug z]

Cool!!!!!!

[troy]

Congrats on getting the corys.thumbs2: They are one of my favorite genuses of fish.

[Ellen4God]

Do corys normally swim up and down the front glass on the tank? They hasn't stopped since I put them in. lol I don't know if they're just figuring things out or what, but they're all over the place. I thought they stayed around the bottom of the tank. If this is normal, that's fine - just didn't expect them to be so all over the place. lol Definitely fun to watch!

[Sir Tristen]

Mine did that for days. They eventually settled down and now rarely go to the surface. Just wait till you give them sinking wafers and watch them go after those, HILARIOUS!

[Taurus]

I've had mine now for 2 months in the ten, and there still all over the place...top to bottom. But they do feed at the bottom. And when they do run down,they rest on the bottom.

[doug z]

Do corys normally swim up and down the front glass on the tank?

Gee, I dunno.. :)

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll54/dougzdanivsky/th_MVI_8518.jpg (http://s285.photobucket.com/albums/ll54/dougzdanivsky/?action=view&current=MVI_8518.flv)

Mine still do it all the time.. Especially when they play follow the leader with the yo-yos..

[Ellen4God]

I'm making a coconut cave right now. Can't wait!!! Trying to cut the hole for the cave part now - hard little boogers to cut!! I'll definitely post pictures when I'm finished.

[MrJim]

lookin' for pictures...:ssmile:

[Ellen4God]

Not much of a picture - just me trying some of the coconut juice (gross!) in front of a painting my friend did. Thought it was the perfect background for the occasion! lol

I'm boiling the cave again right now. We boiled it for about an hour last night (changing the water about every 20 minutes), but I was about to fall over asleep before the water ran clear. So, I'm trying to finish that up today. Hopefully it won't take too long! I'll post a picture of my tank with it in there once it's finished.

[invadertoast]

:hmm3grin2orange: That's awesome!! I always see them for sale at Petco but it just seems silly to buy them when you could make 'em yourself! My b/f and I found a coconut on the beach once (in eastern Canada, lol) and threw it at some rocks. It exploded into two perfect halves... I'm still kicking myself for not saiving them!

[Ellen4God]

:hmm3grin2orange: That's awesome!! I always see them for sale at Petco but it just seems silly to buy them when you could make 'em yourself! My b/f and I found a coconut on the beach once (in eastern Canada, lol) and threw it at some rocks. It exploded into two perfect halves... I'm still kicking myself for not saiving them!

Man, you should have!! The coconut only cost $1.59, and it was a lot fun trying to break it in half and gut it and such. Well worth the time, IMO!

[Ellen4God]

Just a little update:

I added more plants to my tank today! They look great, thanks to Algenco! :) They're just randomly placed around and about right now.

I also bought some Eco-Complete for my tank from bigalsonline.com. It should be coming on Monday evening, so guess what I'm doing Monday night! :shappy: When I have all of that in and ready, I'll place my plants better probably. Can't wait!

Any suggestions about plant placement, send it on! :)

[Ellen4God]

Checked my parameters a little while ago - everything is still spot on. After I get the Eco-Complete in and the plants where I want them, I'm going to go ahead and get a few more neon tetras. I've been very tempted to scoop up a few more corys because they're just so adorable, but I'll refrain. lol

[doug z]

How many neons do you have now?

[Ellen4God]

How many neons do you have now?

I have 7 now. I'm going to up it to about 10-12. I'm also going to add 3 otos and a mystery snail at some point. :) maybe some red cherry shrimp if I can slide them in without anyone noticing. :] lol

[toddnbecka]

Cherry shrimp won't impact the bioload enough to make any difference, but neons will eat baby shrimp. If you want an algae eater skip the Oto's and get a BN pleco. They're much less likely to die for no apparent reason; Oto's are notoriously sensitive to new tanks. Someone on another forum just posted about losing some in less than a day. They had been just fine at the lfs for a month, similar water chemistry, and all the tested parameters looked fine.
Neons tend to be the same way, very particular about their water IME.

[Ellen4God]

Cherry shrimp won't impact the bioload enough to make any difference, but neons will eat baby shrimp. If you want an algae eater skip the Oto's and get a BN pleco. They're much less likely to die for no apparent reason; Oto's are notoriously sensitive to new tanks. Someone on another forum just posted about losing some in less than a day. They had been just fine at the lfs for a month, similar water chemistry, and all the tested parameters looked fine.
Neons tend to be the same way, very particular about their water IME.

I had two otos in my 10g tank for quite awhile with no problems. I'll consider getting a BN pleco, but from what I've read, they don't eat algae all of their lives and they also like driftwood.

EDIT: Now you have me thinking...going to look into some smaller plecos to see what they're like and require. I figure I have time to throw the idea around as my algae grows. lol

[toddnbecka]

If you had Oto's w/out problems you're one of the lucky few (from what I read on the forums.) They wouldn't need as much veggie supplement as a BN in a 20 would.
BN's are one of the few pleco's that do eat algae all their lives; it's the common pleco's that will eat it when small, then move on to other foods. Some species of pleco need driftwood, my L204's are aquatic termites. BN's will clean the surface of driftwood, but they don't have the symbiotic bacteria in their gut to digest it like some species do. I've kept an adult male BN in a 55 for years with Africans and rocks, not so much as a soggy stick of wood though. He does get veggies occaisonally, but no wood in his tank hasn't slowed him down. He still keeps the tank spotless of algae.

[Ellen4God]

If you had Oto's w/out problems you're one of the lucky few (from what I read on the forums.) They wouldn't need as much veggie supplement as a BN in a 20 would.
BN's are one of the few pleco's that do eat algae all their lives; it's the common pleco's that will eat it when small, then move on to other foods. Some species of pleco need driftwood, my L204's are aquatic termites. BN's will clean the surface of driftwood, but they don't have the symbiotic bacteria in their gut to digest it like some species do. I've kept an adult male BN in a 55 for years with Africans and rocks, not so much as a soggy stick of wood though. He does get veggies occaisonally, but no wood in his tank hasn't slowed him down. He still keeps the tank spotless of algae.

Thanks for the info!! I'm going to look into some smaller plecos. Maybe BN, rubberlip (I think that's another small one), and any other I can find information about. I know I've seen tons of threads asking about small plecos! lol

[MrJim]

Driftwood-eating plecos, at some point will they literally eat it all? Sounds like a dumb question, just wondering how much wood a full-grown would eat in a year?

[toddnbecka]

Judging by the amount of "sawdust" my 4 little (not even halfway grown) L204's produce you'd think they would reduce a log to a toothpick in a matter of weeks. However, I have the entire bottom of the 30 they're currently housed in covered with driftwood. Not only to feed the pleco's, but to provide cover for the Botia's.

[Ellen4God]

My tank now has black Eco-Complete as the substrate. :) Took about two hours, but it was worth it! Can't wait until tomorrow when I can turn the light on for the day. I definitely love being able to see my corys swimming around better - they blended in with the white sand pretty well.

My corys seem to be pretty stressed, but I reckon I don't really blame them. Several are still swimming around like they did before, just a little slower. One or two are handing out on the substrate more than ever before. Just hope they rest and perk up!!

Oh yeah - I'll have pictures tomorrow. I tried to take a few, but didn't want to freak the poor fish out too much.

[Wild Turkey]

Cant wait to see pics! Im sure everyone will be much more calm about the changes tomorrow! thumbs2:

[Ellen4God]

Cant wait to see pics! Im sure everyone will be much more calm about the changes tomorrow! thumbs2:

Yep! I think everybody is happier today. At least they seemed to be this morning.

A couple of the corys have some black "dust" around the edges from the tiny particles of EC kicking up some when they swim around. The other corys have knocked it off by swimming around and through the plants. Hopefully everybody will be great when I get home this afternoon.

My tetras were still schooling very tightly this morning, which is unusual for them. They usually school a little, but still roam freely a lot as well.

[Ellen4God]

Well, here's another update on my tank. I put the Eco-Complete in last night, so that's what the picture is!

I was at first a little concerned about how my corys were doing, but they're doing great now! Just gave them a couple algae wafers, and they're happy little corys! :) Nobody has any black "dust" on them today, so that's great. :)

[Lynn Conroy]

Looking good Ellen!
Did you nibble on an algae wafer with the proper wine while doing this setup?

[Ellen4God]

Did you nibble on an algae wafer with the proper wine while doing this setup?

Fortunately, no! :) lol

[MrJim]

I wonder where Ellen went? :sconfused:

[Ellen4God]

I wonder where Ellen went? :sconfused:

Hey. :) I'm here....sort of. I've been thinking about getting on for quite awhile now, just haven't actually done it. I actually just took my tank down about a week ago - sad times. Life has just been very hard lately, and I'm not able to focus on the fish as much as I should. A lady at our PetSmart, whom I highly trust, took the fish and is going to give them to some customers she trusts. My brother took my tank to use with his son.

A little update on my life and what's been going on. I'm in my second year of teaching, and it's going GREAT. I absolutely LOVE my school and the teachers I teach with. I have amazing students and their parents are great as well. Again, I love love it! Some may know that I still live with my parents so that I can save money for a house and just life in general. Well, my grandma started having some pretty rough health problems, so she moved in with us for awhile. I will cherish that time for as long as I live - it was so neat having her right here in the house with us to talk to and just spend time with. She died on December 10th from heart complications. Although I have faith that she's with God and that as a believer, I will see her again one day, my heart still breaks everyday knowing she's not here.

So, yes. Life has been hard these past few months. Sad to say that I just sort of gave up on my tank after awhile, but I'm glad I made the decision to find someone I trusted to take the fish. I may still pop in and out of here for awhile. I've been wondering how everyone was doing. Hope all is well.

[EmmanuelJB]

Congrats! I would be excited too!

[KingFisher]

Hi Ellen, sorry about your loss and hard times. It is good to hear from you and I hope you will come around more often. :22: