I'm back.
Since my last post, I've started up a 5 gallon Cherry Shrimp breeding tank with java moss and a small internal heater. I've bleached and re-setup my 29 gallon. It is in the process of cycling right now and my water is very cloudy (bacteria bloom?). I put a clump of bacopa and a giant anubias in the tank for now along with driftwood and a few rocks. I'm not sure what fish to add to my 29 gallon now. I wanted to give guppies another shot but it hurts to see them.
My 55 gallon looks fabulous now. The plants are all established and THRIVING! I doubled my dose of DIY CO2 (1 tsp. yeast + 2 cups sugar + 1.75 L water = miracle). I use an AquaClear 70 powerhead as a CO2 diffuser as well as water circulator and mini internal filter.
Current stocking level:
16 x neon tetras
5 x kuhli loaches
>>Algae cleanup crew <<
3 x (Giant) Amano shrimp
1 x Otocinclus (will be adding more soon)
2 x Siamese Flying Foxes (will be adding more soon)
2 x (Giant) Zebra Nerite snails
3 (or more) Red Ramshorn snails
My algae cleanup crew is awesome. Together they make my tank virtually spotless. The only thing they are not eating is green spot algae, but that's been diminishing since I added more CO2.
What they do eat: hair/thread algae, brown/red algae, green fuzz/beard algae, microorganisms...hydra???
My dream of keeping a large school of neon tetras has finally come true. And boy does it look magnificient. I love it when they are schooling together and swish back and forth across the tank. It's so peaceful watching them....
PS. Turns out my 10 gallon was NOT infested with velvet. Corydoras catfish NATURALLY have a golden "glimmer" around their fins/gills/body. I bought another False Julii Cory cat today. He seems healthy and energetic. Hopefully he'll stay that way!! :)
PPS. I FIGURED OUT HOW TO FEED BOTTOM FEEDERS WITHOUT OTHER FISH STEALING ALL THE FOOD FIRST!
The solution is simple really: tie the algae wafer or shrimp pellet or other "sinking" food onto a flat rock with a small elastic band. Make sure it's secure and there's no "wiggle room". Works like a charm. My betta is so angry he can't steal any food!!
*Remove any uneaten food*
Showing posts with label 55 gallon fish tank. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 55 gallon fish tank. Show all posts
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Tragedy and Triumph
I've been unexpectedly hit by an onslaught of fish deaths. Yesterday alone I was forced to bury 5 fish. I'm afraid my guppies won't make it and it's really taking a toll on my self-esteem. I introduced a powerhead to help circulate the water in my 55 gallon tank (which I've decided to go low-light low-tech on) and the powerhead sucked up and killed 2 of my neon tetras. (I knew I should have added a sponge prefilter to block the intake!)
More on my 55 gallon though...it is fully planted and therefore I've decided to cut the filter and let nature work its magic. So far so good. The reasoning is this: I cover the top of the tank at night so when fish & plants respire and emit CO2 that gets trapped inside the tank during the night. Then, during daytime when I turn on the lights, the plants will use the CO2 they emitted throughout the night to support growth. So far, it's working. My pH has lowered to 6.2 due to the CO2 and my fish are doing fine. (pH is down to 7.0 due to the Florabase, and CO2 lowers pH further). The good news is that ammonia is not toxic at all since the pH is low..even if I had a lot of it, it is in its non-toxic form, and plus plants love that stuff! No more yeast and sugar DIY CO2 for me! (It was a hassle anyways...bleck)
My only concern is that there are many suspended dirt/dust particles in the tank that's making the water unattractively cloudy. I tried introducing a powerhead but that turned out terribly...the idea is that it will eventually sink to the bottom of the tank to create "mulm" or fertilizer for the plants.
My hope is that the plants will thrive off the nutrient rich FloraBase layer and I won't get too bad of an algae problem because hopefully there won't be too many nutrients floating about in the water column.
--I read an interesting idea which was that to reduce algae, add floating plants such as duckweed or salvinia..their roots will absorb excess nutrients in the water, thus depriving the algae...hmm. Since my lighting is technically considered "low" for a 55 gallon tank, I'm praying I won't get large ugly brown patches of algae. I do have slight dots of brown algae on the leaves and small hair algae strands, but hopefully that will go away eventually.
My lighting is thus: 2x 32 watt Philips aquarium bulbs (8400 k total) and a Coralife Colormax light bulb (28 watts, 6700 k) This total of 92 watts for a 55 gallon tank is pretty low, but the effect is quite pleasing and still looks pretty bright to me. (I SHOULD be opting for around 110 watts in case you're interested)
I will keep you posted and hopefully take photos soon!!
I highly suggest reading this article for anyone interested in doing a low-light no filter (natural) setup...
http://www.malloftheworld.com/aquarium/part1.htm
More on my 55 gallon though...it is fully planted and therefore I've decided to cut the filter and let nature work its magic. So far so good. The reasoning is this: I cover the top of the tank at night so when fish & plants respire and emit CO2 that gets trapped inside the tank during the night. Then, during daytime when I turn on the lights, the plants will use the CO2 they emitted throughout the night to support growth. So far, it's working. My pH has lowered to 6.2 due to the CO2 and my fish are doing fine. (pH is down to 7.0 due to the Florabase, and CO2 lowers pH further). The good news is that ammonia is not toxic at all since the pH is low..even if I had a lot of it, it is in its non-toxic form, and plus plants love that stuff! No more yeast and sugar DIY CO2 for me! (It was a hassle anyways...bleck)
My only concern is that there are many suspended dirt/dust particles in the tank that's making the water unattractively cloudy. I tried introducing a powerhead but that turned out terribly...the idea is that it will eventually sink to the bottom of the tank to create "mulm" or fertilizer for the plants.
My hope is that the plants will thrive off the nutrient rich FloraBase layer and I won't get too bad of an algae problem because hopefully there won't be too many nutrients floating about in the water column.
--I read an interesting idea which was that to reduce algae, add floating plants such as duckweed or salvinia..their roots will absorb excess nutrients in the water, thus depriving the algae...hmm. Since my lighting is technically considered "low" for a 55 gallon tank, I'm praying I won't get large ugly brown patches of algae. I do have slight dots of brown algae on the leaves and small hair algae strands, but hopefully that will go away eventually.
My lighting is thus: 2x 32 watt Philips aquarium bulbs (8400 k total) and a Coralife Colormax light bulb (28 watts, 6700 k) This total of 92 watts for a 55 gallon tank is pretty low, but the effect is quite pleasing and still looks pretty bright to me. (I SHOULD be opting for around 110 watts in case you're interested)
I will keep you posted and hopefully take photos soon!!
I highly suggest reading this article for anyone interested in doing a low-light no filter (natural) setup...
http://www.malloftheworld.com/aquarium/part1.htm
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