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Hello plant forum perusers,

Well I'll be starting this one off from the very very beginning - before I even have the tank. Today I sold my 38G tank and stand (wipes away tear from fond memories) to make room for the new one. I want more space front to back to aquascape with, so I've decided on a 50G tank, which is 36x18x20, there or thereabout. If we have them in stock at the store(oops forgot to check) I'll bring the stand home tomorrow, and the tank after the holiday.

As for equipment, I'll be running a Fluval 204 and another filter if necessary(probably just the 204 and a light fish load). I may try a hydor in-line heater to get that out of the tank as well. I'm probably going to go with eco complete as a substrate. Lighting will be dual 96W PCs. I'll be using the pressurised CO2 and external CO2 reactor from my old setup. Ferts will be Greg Watson dry ferts in solution.

As I see it I still have a month or more before I need to decide the plant and fish stock, so I haven't come up with a final-or even preliminary list for either. I'll be doing a fishless cycle, so I won't have to worry about the whole hardy fish/sensitive fish thing. As far as fish go, I know I want a medium-large school of dwarf rainbows of some type- gertrude's, preacox, featherfin, celebes, or something along that line. Everything else is still up in the air. Anybody with some stocking ideas? I'd appreciate it. Thoughts and comments on the setup are appreciated(and needed) so I can get the whole thing up and going.

Thanks

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Matty,



Yeah - a new log from the dark-side-dude

All sounds good to me, except that you are basically copying my 40G Breeder, same dimensions, just a little higher. I also think that the 50G has a middle brace, keep that in mind when laying out the tank as it may create some shading.

Getting the double strip will give you loads of light, I would assume that the second one is only on for a short period per day, right?

About the rainbows you list: I am not sure, but aren't either the featherfin or the celebes from a different water parameter setup? I was considering moving my Neon Dwarfs (preacox) to the 40G as the main school, but I am not sure about that yet. Sometimes, these fish get really startled when I approach the tank and I am afraid that they may jump out with my half open top.

Keep us posted,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

LF - No matter what tank I got it would basically be copying one of your tanks. You have something like 5 going.

Yeah, I'll fiddle around with the time the second light is on, hopefully like 6hrs or so.

I'm not sure about the params of the rainbows yet, but once I pick one, I'll try to research and acomodate their needs as much as possible. I was hoping you guys would help me pick which kind. I'm not too conserned about jumpers, I can work something out to keep them in the tank, but I'm not sure if I want a full glass hood or not. I might use some eggcrate or something for the top.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

If you decide on the Celebs rainbow, ask your fish store if they were raised in freshwater or brackish water. I have heard of breeders using both fresh and brackish water for them. Personally, i would go with the preacox. I just like their looks.
Good Luck

Darkside Matt,
I feel your pain about copying tanks. It is really hard not to steal ideas.

As for fish: Dwarf blues are pretty good jumpers. I had one jump on me last year twice. The fist time he came at me. The second time (right after I put him back) he took the leap of faith to the back of the tank. After moving much I got him back in there. I think I lost him a few days later over it.

LF and I both have the dwarf blues in our tanks. A very pretty fish. I would also like put a vote in for the thread fins. I really like the looks of them. Plus if you want a light fish load then smaller fish = smaller poo. Thus you can have a few more fish in the tank.

On a side note... Don't you hate narrow tanks! All of mine are 12 or 13"s. Makes it hard to work with.

Best of luck!

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Thanks for the info CLfan, I didn't know that about them. I'll ask my boss, though I doubt he'd know. We always keep them in plain ol' freshwater.

Wings - I've placed an order for stand, tank, and glass cover. I decided I didn't want to take any chances, or try to rig something up. They should be coming in 2 weeks at the most. That prolongs the research time, which I don't mind too much. My favorite part is deciding what fish/plants to get. And yes, I hate narrow tanks too, that's why I sold my last one, and am getting a wider one.

I've been thinking...since I can't decide on what type of rainbow, I might just make it a rainbow tank. All groups will be from different genus to prevent hybridization, but I'll still be able to go with preacox]http://members.optusnet.com.au/chelmon/Praecox.htm[/link], [link=celebes]http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/pages/show_article.php?article_id=196[/link], [link=threadfin]http://members.optusnet.com.au/chelmon/werneri_main.htm[/link], and one of the [link=signifer]http://members.optusnet.com.au/chelmon/Signifer.htm[/link](not a great pic, almost looks like a female, google for better pics), [link=furcata]http://members.optusnet.com.au/chelmon/Furcatus.htm[/link], or [link=gertrudae rainbows.

So what does everybody think?

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

I vote for a school of Praecox rainbows and the Gertrudae rainbows. All of them are beautiful though...but I like those two the best.

I am setting up a 55g soon and want 2 schools of rainbows....so I'll be following your log to see how it goes with your tank and which ones you choose...if you dont mind. Just to see which ones work together and what they look like in a planted tank.

*Kristin*

That's:

Praecox - 1
Gertrudae - 1

And you can only follow my log if you pop in and tell me how great I'm doing every now and then.

Really I'd like 4 schools of rainbows: the preacox, celebes, threadfin are near definites unless somebody has a good reason against. I still need to choos between the signifer, furcata, or gertrudae rainbows as the final spot. Might be too many fish, I'm not sure. I might only have 3 schools then. So vote away .

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Ok so I'll also vote for the threadfins...because they are too cool looking not to have them.

And you can only follow my log if you pop in and tell me how great I'm doing every now and then

I can do that..../:'

*Kristin*

Really I'd like 4 schools of rainbows

- I don't think that would be a good idea. Schools of 6 fish each are nice, but barely worth being called a school. Schools of 10 are better. That would mean 40 Rainbows, plus algae eaters, too crowded.

Plus, whenever I see a mixed rainbow tank at the LFS then there are no threadfins and/furcata in it as they seem to be too special to be mixed, may it be for the water conditions or the fact that their fins are too much of an inspiration to nip.

I also don't like the mixed schools thing for habitual reasons, although I am incosequent with it. I simply think that similar fish species (all rainbows) should not hang together. It would be like getting schools of Espei, Hengeli, and Harlequins and throwing them all in one tank. I find this thought to be visually unattractive. I know I have a hard time expressing my thoughts in words, it is more a feeling that I would like to somehow express.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I am with LF on the 4 schools thing. Way too many fish. I really like less schools with larger numbers. That is just me though. What about a rainbow and rasbora or tetra school combo? But it is your tank in the end. So do what you want...

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Hmm...I'll have to think about this. I'm pretty sure there won't be any temperment issues if there are enough of them. Maybe I'll keep two larger schools of rainbows. I like mixing schoolers if they occupy different levels of the tank - furcatas mainly swim near the top, and threadfins swim around the middle. That setup would be nice. I don't really mind mixing schoolers at all really. I had a tank with just cardinals as a schooler for so long, and in the end I didn't really like the setup. I never have any algae eaters, so I don't need to provide room for them, maybe just a couple bottom feeders. I've been wanting to try monkey loaches. Any thoughts on them? Maybe 4 schools would be a bit much, I think you guys are right there, I was stretching a bit. Maybe 2 would work out though. Still don't think it's a good idea? Not all rainbows are that similar, and neither are all rasboras, but you sure picked out the similar looking ones, LF. I've seen a tank with mixed rasboras(including espei and harlequin) and mixed rainbows(though they were the larger types) and found both to be pretty attractive.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Matty,
Sorry I didn't join in sooner. I have my shortcut to FP on my desktop as "Active Threads" so I end up forgetting about new ones.

Anyway, sounds goods. You know me one large school of something. I would wait a long while before adding a large rainbow school keep the water lean of waste for a long time just like LF is doing in his new tank.

Your lighting is same light that is currently on my 72g and your tank is a foot shorter, so I would keep the second strip for a short afternoon burst as discussed.

As LF can attest to Eco is great from the getgo (no rinse) and I still love it 9 months later.

My Scapes

Hey tetratech, glad you could join. I always appreciate your input along with everyone else's.

Yeah, I understand about the rainbows. The tank will be fully cycled before anything goes in, including plants. I'm going to fishless cycle, then add some preliminary fast growing plants until the tank is pretty full, then I'll probably get my first group of fish. So I still have a while to think it over. Toss some ideas around, that sort of thing. I already got one shot down.

Good to hear about the ecocomplete, I think I'll like it better than flourite, but who knows yet. And I'll definitely start the light levels low, probably 9-10hrs with the first light and maybe 1-2hrs with the second and work up from there.

So here's the first thing I actually bought for the tank:

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

So here's the first thing I actually bought for the tank:

So I am guessing this is for cleaning the tank? I have never had a new tank so I haven't had to deal with the pre-cleaning.





55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

So I am guessing this is for cleaning the tank? I have never had a new tank so I haven't had to deal with the pre-cleaning.

Well I guess you could clean with it and don't rinse that well. Wings that's to get the fishless cycle going.

My Scapes

ahh......so in theory could you use it as a fert being some plants like that form of Nitrogen then Nitrate?

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

nope, trace amounts of ammonia can be very problematic with algae and whatnot. It's really just a method of fishless cycling.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

OK,

Fishless cycling is fine by me, 2 schools of rainbows may work better (althoug, don't get hung up on top dwellers vs. mid levelers, your tank will be only 19" tall, not much room for layers), and a 10G Ammonia bottle for whatever is cool too, but:

... before anything goes in, including plants

Why?

To be honest, that makes no sense to me. Maybe you can explain this a little further. Forgive my rudeness, I just finished redoing the 29G a few hours back and I am tired.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

To be honest, that makes no sense to me. Maybe you can explain this a little further. Forgive my rudeness, I just finished redoing the 29G a few hours back and I am tired

I would be tired to after redoing your 29g and watching the Germans lose in the 119th minute. Anyway I have nothing against fishless cycling, but I'm with Ingo, why wouldn't you let the plants cycle the tank along with maybe alittle NH3.



My Scapes