manciniat, 10 gal [Archive]

manciniat

01-17-2010, 02:35 AM

i bought a 10 today from CL.
i thought i needed a quarantine tank after an infestation of the ich in my 75 after only two weeks. i would like this to be a planted tank, so im setting it up for live plants.

so far,
flora-glo bulb, t8, 2800k, 15w
flourite dark substrate
aquaclear 30

hopefully i can get a couple plants soon, and then start the cycle. im going to take one of the seed filter pads from my 75 that i used to cycle it.

what should i put in the tank to keep it cycled, being its going to be a quarantine tank?

manciniat

01-18-2010, 01:44 AM

went today and got a new heater, the one that came with the tank was glass, i bought a 50w steath heater. i need a new thermometer now, i dont think this one is reading correct.

also got some plants, dont know if what i bought are right for the lighting i have, but ill find out i guess.

2 groups of peacock fern
2 anubias nana
2 kyoto grass
3 white ribbon

it looks really cool, i just sit and stare at it, and theres nothing but plants in there. i hope to post some pictures soon.

HomaridNoob6

01-18-2010, 01:57 AM

The anubias should be fine, mine grow like crazy even with cheezy lighting. As for the others I don't really have experience with them. Looking forward to the pics.

manciniat

01-18-2010, 03:05 AM

right after water was added

http://i825.photobucket.com/albums/zz174/manciniat/newtank2.jpg

after adding the plants

http://i825.photobucket.com/albums/zz174/manciniat/newtank.jpg

manciniat

01-18-2010, 04:01 AM

well, now i feel like a real NOOB.

three of the four plants i got arent aquatic plants at all. i should have done alittle more research first, dumbie. so now i will research some more and order my plants from an online aquarium plants expert.

stupid chain LFS !

HomaridNoob6

01-18-2010, 04:13 AM

I just looked at the pics and was about to say the plant in the back left is not aquatic. Let me guess Petco? they have those stupid little tubes that most of the plants look great and then they melt away when you plant them in a tank. Sorry, I have done the same before so don't feel too bad, we aren't the only ones.

Northernguy

01-18-2010, 05:31 AM

I am sure its going to look great once you get it all set up.
The best QT tanks have nothing in them .It makes it much easier to keep very clean.You just run the filter for the QT tank on your 75 and put it on the ten when you need to use it.It will instantly cycle the tank for the new or sick fish.
Are there any other great deals on tens?

Also there is an edit button there to add to a post if you forgot something.Its real easy to use.lol
Please try next time.:22:

manciniat

01-19-2010, 02:07 AM

Also there is an edit button there to add to a post if you forgot something.Its real easy to use.lol
Please try next time.:22:

i dont understand what i forgot ???

anyway, i took the non-aquarium plants out today and replanted them in a glass bowl. i added some leftover gravel and a root tab and put a couple inches of water in it, we will have to see what happens with them.??

i ordered some real aquarium plants from a reputable online company, so hopefully this works better than the first batch of plants. i think i ordered to many and some that will get to big for the 10, so some may be going in the 75, which is fine. i wanted to slowly add live plants to it also.

EmmanuelJB

01-19-2010, 02:10 AM

Nice looking tank so far!! Good luck with your plants!!

manciniat

01-21-2010, 01:33 AM

planted some real aquarium plants tonight. i think some of them might get to big, so they may get transplanted to the 75.

1amazon sword, 1 java fern, 8 corkscrew vals, three groups of dwarf clover, 1 red tiger lotus bulb and i had 1 nana already in there.

manciniat

01-21-2010, 01:56 AM

http://i825.photobucket.com/albums/zz174/manciniat/newtank3.jpg

manciniat

01-24-2010, 04:04 AM

i bought two bolivian rams today at a new LFS about an hour drive from my house. this store is the stuff compared to the options here. i really hope they make it through the QT, i like these fish alot. im going to try and get some pics in the morning sometime.

manciniat

01-24-2010, 03:00 PM

not the best pics, but good enough for now :ssmile:

http://i825.photobucket.com/albums/zz174/manciniat/ram2.jpg

http://i825.photobucket.com/albums/zz174/manciniat/ram1.jpg

manciniat

01-24-2010, 04:00 PM

i just tested, 0 ammo and trites. i really like the instant cycle. thumbs2:

HeatherB

01-24-2010, 05:17 PM

I like the tank!! And those fish are too cute!!

The amazon sword I had in my 10 grew and grew, and when it got too big I just chopped it off and it grew some more! But if it gets too big-you can always move it to your big tank (lucky!)

manciniat

01-25-2010, 07:07 PM

http://i825.photobucket.com/albums/zz174/manciniat/bothrams.jpg

rich311k

01-25-2010, 07:38 PM

Very nice, the rams look great.

manciniat

01-31-2010, 07:58 PM

i just finished my weekly 50% WC.

the rams are doing great, one more week and they will make it to the big tank. my thoughts on the next batch in the QT,

2 more bolivians
2 GB (acclimated very slowly) because i have read their alittle more touchy than the bolivians
or a small school of some sort of tetras.

manciniat

02-01-2010, 11:16 PM

im thinking of tearing out the clovers. i dont think i like them.

ive also read somewhere not to mix bolivians and german blues because they could cross breed. what are your thoughts on that??? im going to see about getting some penguin tetras.

i fed the rams some blood worms last night and they went crazy! today is our fasting day so they hate me right now.

manciniat

02-07-2010, 02:36 AM

hello, i moved the rams to the 75 tonight.

i did a 75% WC and rescaped the gravel and plants. i removed the three bunches of clover because they had become brown and looked like poo, i grouped all the vals together, tied the fern to a rock, moved the sword out away from the back wall, and moved the lotus bulb, which is finally starting to grow. i also bought a light bulb that is for plant growth, after i read that the bulb that girl at "lets fart" sold me is not the correct bulb for plants.

i also added 4 oto cats for the algae i have growing on my sword, and 4 silver tip tetras. one of the oto's could not handle the stress and has died already :scry:

i will try to get some photos up in the morning.

HomaridNoob6

02-07-2010, 05:00 AM

that's a fancy QT tank! Rams look nice.I wouldn't worry about the rams crossbreeding unless you plan on selling the fry. Use them for feeders or just cull them as eggs. Territory will be your main issue with more than one type, or pair of rams, even though they are pretty chill fish. just have plenty of hiding spots, and keep that QT tank up in case there are aggression issues.

manciniat

02-08-2010, 06:16 PM

i came home from work early today and found two of the silvertip tetras had died. i scooped them out and checked the water,

0 ammo
0 trites
10 trates
7.4 ph
78 F

the stress must have got them too, so now i have, 3 oto's and 2 tetras.

lowlight

02-09-2010, 06:00 AM

Give the tank a couple weeks and keep an eye on the water parameters. 3 out of four Oto's is not bad at all, hopefully the other 3 will be ok. Once an Oto makes it past the first week and is always grazing they will most likely live quite awhile. I have 1 thats about 6-7 years old. I don't know about Silver tips. I am sorry to here about your fish loss but it does happen. I know I don't have a 100% store to tank record. Does your LFS have a return policy? If it does read the policy agreement, my LFS requires a sample of tank water with a return.

manciniat

02-10-2010, 02:28 PM

came home from work this morning to find another dead tetra. down to one of four. they are weak fish. perams still 0, 0, 10.

lowlight

02-10-2010, 10:05 PM

Could just be a bad batch of Tetras. How are the Oto's? I noticed in the first thread that you have Flora-gro bulbs rated at 2800K, you might have better luck with a 6700K bulb for your plants. Don't give up on the tank be patient and see what happens but continue with tank maintenance.

manciniat

02-12-2010, 07:41 PM

i went and bought some more tetras today to replace the ones that didnt make it. i bought 7 more silvertip's, im acclimating them very slowly. i hope i can get a couple of these to live.

manciniat

02-14-2010, 05:56 PM

all the tetras are still alive and doing very well, they have settled in much better than the last batch.

the sword is getting huge already and the lotus is growing good, slowly, but good.

im still working on getting some new pictures, soon i hope.

manciniat

02-21-2010, 10:06 PM

here are a few pics i took today. one more week and a new batch of fish should be moving in.

http://i825.photobucket.com/albums/zz174/manciniat/tenfeb21.jpg

http://i825.photobucket.com/albums/zz174/manciniat/ten-fish.jpg

http://i825.photobucket.com/albums/zz174/manciniat/lotusten.jpg

lowlight

02-22-2010, 08:21 AM

Tank looks nice so far.

manciniat

02-28-2010, 03:56 AM

i moved the tetras and the oto's, along with the java fern to the big tank tonight.
i tested this morning,
0,0,10
did a 75% WC after i moved the fish and added
10 tiny cardinal tetras
2 german blue rams, hopefully 1M 1F
1 bristle nose pleco

Rhaethe

02-28-2010, 04:36 AM

I have that exact same barrel-cave thing in my 5g tank :ssmile:

My fishes love it.

manciniat

03-01-2010, 01:13 AM

well, we lost two cardinal's in the intake sometime over last night, one died today from an unknown cause and we found the bristlenose pleco dead when we came back from dinner this evening.
the pleco being dead really sucks, i liked him. the kids had named him ugly.
i put a piece of sponge over the intake to prevent that from happening again.

manciniat

03-02-2010, 02:45 AM

there were little fibers floating in the tank tonight. i think it was from the sponge i put on the intake. so, i removed the sponge and did a 90% WC.

0, 0, 15, 7.4ph

i tested the tap water tonight too, after the pleco died im trying to find out why fish are dying in my QT tank after only being in it for less than 24 hours,
0, 0, 7.5, 7.6ph

manciniat

03-03-2010, 01:37 AM

came home tonight and noticed the female GBR was really colored up and her breeding tube was out. i camped out by the tank and watched her create a pit inside the cave then about an hour later she laid eggs :19: :19: :19:
now the male is chasing her away and looks like he is eating them.
they are very young yet and ive read that the first few times they spawn might not take and as they gain experiance the outcome should be healthy young rams.

tanks4thememories

03-03-2010, 01:43 AM

manciniat

03-03-2010, 01:47 AM

it is my QT, i bought the rams on saturday. this is their third day in QT.

tanks4thememories

03-03-2010, 02:07 AM

it is my QT, i bought the rams on saturday. this is their third day in QT.

Traditionally a QT tank is bare bottom, with no decorations that cant be easily sterilized. This is to make it easier in case you have to medicate. It usually isn't cycled because as soon as fish get clean bill of health you usually "Nuke" the tank and equipment and keep ready for next sick or new fish. I have found best cycle method is to keep a precycled filter attached to an established tank then when I need it I just move it to the quarentine tank - Poof Instant cycle. If it is used as a hospital tank then I use chemical filtration instead of bio because most meds kill bio filtration anyway.

manciniat

03-03-2010, 02:23 AM

tanks4thememories

03-03-2010, 02:33 AM

well, if you like i will start calling it my staging tank,
im in the process of stocking my 75 and every two or three weeks i remove the fish in the 10 and add to the 75. then i add new to the 10 and repeat.

Hehehe your call its your tanks. Just mentioning typical practices since often a Qt tank turns into a Hospital tank when you find that the fish did actually "come down" with something.

manciniat

03-03-2010, 02:44 AM

thank you, i always appreciate advice and comments from the senior members.

tanks4thememories

03-03-2010, 03:18 AM

thank you, i always appreciate advice and comments from the senior members.

No worries, it is a nice looking setup.

manciniat

03-07-2010, 11:08 PM

just thought id post some pics of the new rams.

http://i825.photobucket.com/albums/zz174/manciniat/IMG_0080.jpg
http://i825.photobucket.com/albums/zz174/manciniat/IMG_0087.jpg

i added one of the oto's back in this tank, he looks really skinny

http://i825.photobucket.com/albums/zz174/manciniat/IMG_0083.jpg

and im having a hair algae problem, any advise on that would be cool.

http://i825.photobucket.com/albums/zz174/manciniat/IMG_0081.jpg

manciniat

03-15-2010, 12:05 AM

the GBR's got moved to the big tank today.
i added eight more cardinals, which brings the total to ten.
i also added two more oto's

im having problems with hair algae, sooo, the girl at my fish store suggested three odesa barbs. she said they would take care of the algae and then i can bring them back if i would like.

the stocking as of now,
10 tiny cardinal tetras
3 odesa barbs, for algae control, if they work
2 otocinclus catfish

manciniat

03-21-2010, 03:22 AM

the algae disappeared, the barbs got returned to the store today and all the cardinals but 3 died.
the owner of the fish store thought i might be low on O2, so i dropped the water level 1 inch and added an air stone. i dont know?

manciniat

03-26-2010, 12:20 AM

one of the oto's was dead when i got home from work today.
i did a 80% WC,
scrubbed the inside glass,
cleaned the filter and media,
trimmed the plants,
removed the cave and the rock.
then added a piece of driftwood,
added a root tab for the sword,
and three platies from the big tank ( 1m 2f )

manciniat

04-19-2010, 01:54 AM

havent posted in this one for awhile,

50% WC today, cleaned the filter and the glass

not much has changed, added one more plattie, so now theres four platties and two cardinals. i am going to add more cardinals one of these days.

the sword, lotus and nana are all growing great.