# My first tank! What do ya think? Image inside



## m8d (Jan 9, 2013)

20 gallon long

I have Flourite on the base, and then white sand as the top layer of substraight. The wood I stole from one of my geckos and boiled it to sterilize it of their gecko-ness. Thats an Amazon on the left of the wood and an Anubis in the back.

Beleive it or not I JUST got this up and running.. and I didn't even rinse the sand... Yeah... its pretty clear.. o-o

Still got a ways to go, ganna get more plants, some rocks (hopefully i can find some flat ones, not sure where) I'll probably have to get some cheap plants until the weather here warms up so I can order some, cus the petsmart here doesn't have crap for real plants ;-;

Started my cycling today as well using Seachem's Stability.(couldn't find pure ammonia to do it the old fashion way... I'm serious I checked EVERYWHERE...) so I'll be doing that for a week, and then I'm going to let it run a week, feeding the bacteria fish food and testing just to make sure it's stabalized before going out for fish.

I'm thinking of some bloodfin tetras and Harlequin Rasboras and something for the floor level, not sure what yet.. If you guys have any ideas or suggestions let me know. I want activity on all 3 levels preferably.

Runnin' 40 gallon(171g/hr) filter. I loweered the filter a bit more so the spraybar was a bit into the water so it wasnt AS strong as the water exited the filter. just don't want to put it too low so it wont suck up sand. I'llhave to get creative in cleaning the small half inch space between the sand and the filter bottom hahaha or maybe i'll just take it off every time i clean. XD

My water straight from the tap is 7.8 pH with 5.0 ppm NitrAtes, nothing else. I don't know the GH yet (just ordered API's test kit today should get it by monday)

dont know the tank perameters yet as I just set it up today. I'll test it all tomorrow but I don't expect a huge difference


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

Light ? Given that they are better than a Walmart pet section, a Petsmart has those tubes/w plants and even though most
are at the least skeptical of those, I did get one good plant out of those by getting it as soon as they got in the store.
Only bought one, so not saying I tried several that died. Read up on aquarium plants till you can get some. It will save
you from buying yard plants by mistake as some chain pet stores are known to sell those. Matching the plant to the light
level which you have helps insure success. I'll give you a link which goes by parameters which you pick. Check the column
on the right as this has other info and does fish by parameters also.
Tropical freshwater aquarium fish: Find plants
Root tab fertilizers are good for an Amazon plant as they get nutrients from roots more than most plants do. Anubias will
get algae on the leaves if under strong light because of how slow they grow. If that option is available placing it as far
from the light source as you can if the light is strong cuts that as they will grow in very little light.
Eventually you will need fertilizers to grow plants well. In the long run, you will save yourself some money by asking on here
about what kind/where to get etc. I have Flourite for my sub also but without the sand. I found out after I bought it that
even though the maker says it does, it don't. But it does absorb ferts well so it slowly releases them to the plants if you add them.
Asking first saves headaches some times.


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## m8d (Jan 9, 2013)

I have flourite plant fert as the bottom substrate. so both plants will get ferts. I did my research on plants as well and both only require diffused light which I get enough of from just the window, but on dark days there's a light built into the stand I can turn on, though its kinda bright, but once I get more plants, plan to get floaters too, it'll block the mounted light.

I'll just have to get some fake plants to make the tank look pretty until Spring.




> I found out after I bought it that
> even though the maker says it does, it don't.


Not sure what you mean by this sentence?


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

Sorry, I thought that might not be clear after I re-read it. They say it supplies nutrients, but not really.
This is not verified by me as I have no way to test this. I'm going by what others on here and other
forums say about it. They even have charts on it but I don't know where any of them are. I'm sure
someone else who does will show you one of them. I does have a good ability to soak up nutrients that
it will later release. This creates a good time release system for a tank. It absorbs when the water is
heavy in nutrients and later as the level of them goes down, it starts to release them back into the 
water. I'm skeptical of this myself as "they" tell you not to put metals into your tank because they will
contaminate the water and watch which kind of rocks you use cause they will add Ph in some cases but
then "they" say...but Flourite don't ? See what I mean...sounds contradictory but...
I know that it is in my tank but the plants started growing much better AFTER I added ferts.
Almost every liquid fert is from a little to a lot incomplete so you will need to buy multiple kinds to
get everything that the plants could use. It seems as though most on here use dry ferts as you can get
ones which are complete and since you are not paying for water they last almost or over a year for
about $20 worth. One liquid fert in a shop will be about $8 and you need two or three kinds to even get
close to having all what is in the dry kind.
Anubias will do well with the kind of light you use. Since I don't know about swords you can look at
them on that link to see what they need.


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## m8d (Jan 9, 2013)

aaaaah okay I understand now. So I should probably get some tabs then. expensive, but if they last me that long then its a good investment (just like my gecko food ahhah 20$ every 6 months isn't a huge deal)


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## Akinaura (Nov 8, 2010)

m8d said:


> aaaaah okay I understand now. So I should probably get some tabs then. expensive, but if they last me that long then its a good investment (just like my gecko food ahhah 20$ every 6 months isn't a huge deal)


Actually, for root tabs, the best ones I found (and for cheap!) are these: Shop Miracle-Gro 1.1-oz Foliage House Plants Food Spikes (6-12-6) at Lowes.com

As for liquid ferts, I'd do some research on Seachem's Flourish Excel. It's a CO2 additive that helps plants not exposed to injected CO2. I would caution that it may be best to use that bright tank light if adding the Excel.

My hubby has a pretty good method for getting plants to grow nicely: What nutrient is limiting growth? So if you have plenty of nutrients for the plant to take up, plenty of light, then CO2 is the limiting nutrient for growth. If you have CO2 at high enough levels, plenty of nutrients, but slow growth, it's the light that's now the limiting factor.

^This makes figuring out what your plants are lacking REALLY easy too.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

I was also going to suggest the Miracle grow sticks or even the jobes sticks. Cut them in thirds and place under the root system of the plants.


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

The more I hear about them Miracle grow fert sticks the more I think I might try them. I have no rooted plants, but
the stemmed plants have roots also. I did have one rooted type, a crypt, but it was put in just after I put the new
substrate in which is about 60% Flourite and 40% Laterite so the Crypt had virtually no ferts in the substrate.
Anyone heard anything good about Osmocote Plus tabs as I have a cheap source for them...25=$5.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

I have used those, and would do so again if I had a source. I got mine from JC a few years back, they last a good while. Plants really enjoy them and I feel they are great for crypts. 

PM me a link to your source? LOL.


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## m8d (Jan 9, 2013)

so how do folks do the whole peat moss thing? Do they just shove it in the filter ooorrr...???

Also, does it have to be peat moss? I have a huge bag of Sphagnum moss that I use for my geckos, could that have the same effect?


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

Your Ph is fine so I don't understand a need for something to reduce it but since there is no "water parameters" specific
section on here I would suggest you try that question on "Freshwater Fish Diseases, Algae Problems, and Tank Emergencies"
section IF you don't get any answers here for it. But almost anyone on here would recommend that you NOT use those
chemical things in the stores called "Ph Buffers".


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