My 45 Gallon gateway back into fish keeping

[redcapeman]

Hey everyone! I just bought a 45 gallon aquarium from a garage sale for $20. I think that was a steal. I use to be all over this site about 5 years ago with two 10 gallon tanks.

Now here's the new setup:
- 45 Long
- Aqua Tech Power Filter #3 30-60
- Sand from some local sand dunes
- Water

Status: a bit cloudy, still settling.

5-in-1 test strip:
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 0
GH: 150-300 ppm
KH: ~200 ppm
pH: >7.8 (about 8) (the tapwater here is really hard ??what do i do??)

As soon as the cloudiness settles and gets filtered out ( I have sponge wrapped around the filter intake and sponge in the filter ) I will be cycling, but I would like to do the fastest & most efficient way to cycle. I just dont have the patience for a fishless month-long cycle (I'm just way too excited hah).

So what do you think:

2-3 guppies, and some plants + CO2 then slowly add more guppies? or do i need more? I'm new at the large tank thing.

I would eventually like to stock the tank with something of the following:

15 - 20 neon tetras
6 fancy gupps
4 ottos
amano (sp?) shrimp / glass shrimp
1-2 Siamese algae eaters

and plants:
wisteria
anacharis
micro-sword( or grass of some sort)
cabomba / myrio
some miniature anubius or sword plant

Any suggestions? Advice? Criticism? Comments? I welcome them.

I will try to get some pictures of the setup process soon

 

[MrParker]

HEYY! I am actually redcapeman(the one that posted this thread), i just found my old username, so I'm on here. Still need advice for this 45 gallonator though...

 

[unwritten law]

have you used sand from sand dunes before? Doesn't sound like the safest thing to do.

 

[Newman]

Yea that sounds quite dangerous, you never know what kind of garbage (pesticides, toxic waste, harmful minerals) is in that sand UNTIL you test the water thats been in contact with it for a LONG time. dont be in a big hurry to add fish (especially the real fish) especially because youre using that sand.

I mean i can tell your hella more experienced than me, but just warning you. idk if boiling the sand first will help (lol might be bad idea since its hard to separate sand from the "after boil" thats left.)

a test strip is great and fast but specific liquid tests will tell you loads more about whats in your water/sand mixture.

a ph of around 7.8 is OK since i have about that (7.6-7.8) in my 40 gal with the fish in my sig, and theire doing fine) If your tap tends to be quite alkaline (like 8.0 and above) then concider setting up the tank for African Chichlids. It makes sense to work with fish that tolerate the ph your tap water gives, instead of working your *** off to get (and maintain) acidic water to keep amazon fish. Its all up to you.

to do a faster cycle try buying the (sometimes expensive) live bacteria-base cycling additives. Bio Sphira (or w/e it called) is a really famous one. i use Nutrafin Cycle (and have API Stress Zyme for back up once the nutrafin runs out) and yea adding guppies or fish you really dont care about would help the process, but they(some) will die inevitably.

The pH you have is ok for most plants that youre planning on getting(im also getting some of the same plants [buying cabomba today, and alread got anacharis]) some, like the swords, might need lightly lower pH but try it and see if they adapt.

pics would be great. sorry but thats about everything that i can contribute as i am a newb myself (i wont deny it )

 

[MrParker]

Heres some pics, cloudiness almost settled. I'm going to petsmart to grab some anacharis and wisteria hopefully they have them. I am still hunting for some good black rocks for aquascaping. Kind of like the ones in my old 10 gallon


I will not be adding any important fish for a while, and i'll invest in some liquid water tests in a week or two or so. Petsmart is 30-40 min away sooo...kind of a pain...

Front

Side

 

[Newman]

Looks very nice for a start. liquid water tests can be very expesive, but i think theyre 100% worth it.

 

[jingles]

The plants will speed up the cycle. For a 45 gallon tank I'd image that you'd need more than 2-3 guppies. Maybe 5-10 but I have no idea. In my experience it has been quicker to do fishless. If you by those products that claim they have bacteria in them(like API, I doubt they do but who knows) they'll speed up the cycle also. Its better to do fish cycles with feeder goldfish because they produce more ammonia. Also for the sand, seems like your setting your self up for something bad. Who knows it might all work out ok. I know nothing about sand except patriot fish crap it(when they eat coral). I'd boil it with the water from the tank and then just dump all the water back in. Although that would kill all the bacteria that might have started to grow in your tank.
Good Luck

oh be careful with the algae eater they don't really eat algae and they can get mean.

 

[MrParker]

So I bought some Myrio green, and Moneywort, as well as some hornwort.

The hornwort seems really dark, and has some fuzzies on it that look like some black hair algea (something i dont want to deal with).

But what am i supposed to do with the hornwort? anchor it? let it float? it is rootless...thats weird, i didnt know that.

 

[Newman]

Really what ever you want. anchor it with a weight, or a rock, or tie it with fishing line to a corner in the tank, or just let it float around and get bounce around by the filter(s) If there is light, it will grow. Nitrates also help. its up to you what you want your tank to look like. I dont think it ever produces roots. grows fast, so youll probably end up stimming it often.
VERY sensitive to copper, so i suggest you test for that.

cut any part of the hornwort that has the algae off and toss them. you only want to leave the dark green to light green hornword in your tank. brown, and its outta there.

 

[thejava1]

I'd flush out some of that water with the crap in it- since its still floating around in the water it's probly not sand lol. It could be really salty or even bird poop... yuck theres a lot of stuff that goes down in land sand.

 

[MrParker]

ok this is kinda depressing.

i used dird substrate from behind my house when i did my 10 gallon, and sifted it to get the finer stuff and then rinsed the crap out of it. (this was in san diego and my home water was softwater)

Well i was hoping for the same luck and success getting my own substrate (from the sand dunes) again this time. (I'm now in idaho and i just get straight hard tap water)

my tap water alone is about pH 7.6 (liquid tested) and is 8.2 in the tank with the sand.

I know i am an idiot for not testing the sand's affect on the water first before filling the tank with it and 45 gallons of water. (9 5-gallon bucket trips to the hose).

is it impossible for me to have neon tetras in an 8+ pH enviornment? I will be adding co2, how much can this affect the ph?


p.s. just did a 10 gal water change, and saw some clarity improvements.

 

[Newman]

Sorry to hear that...
Keep doing those daily water changes in the first few days to improve water clarity and lessen the ammonia (if you have fish)
8.2 sounds great for African Chichlids. neons wouldnt like the alkaline water, but you can try with like 3 of them, unless theyre cheap where you live., then buy like 10 and see how they do. dont do any buying yet though.

Dont worry man, maybe the pH might go down slowly by it self (thats a big MAYBE) I have a similar problem with my GH (pH and KH are fine) where my tap water GH is high enough as it is, but the levels in my tank are still astronomically high (590ppm!!, used to be 690ppm but slowly went down.)

if you REALLY want neons, then buy a soft water buffer. youll need a lot for that many gallons and it will likely turn your water to milk for the first few days. (it was so bad one night in my tank that i couldnt even see the bright orange aranda that i have swimming inside, hell i couldn't even see 1cm into the tank!) its no harmful though.

another alternative is adding crap loads of driftwood. i have a mopani driftwood peice, which will cetainly lower your PH to a certain degree IF your KH is medium to low (4-7 dKH)

 

[MrParker]

Well here's an update:

I went out and got some neon tetras(4) and a "sunburst" platy yesterday. Acclimated them over about an hour or so. Then netted them in.

Water temp = 75 F
pH = 8.2
Ammonia = .15
Nitrites = 0
Nitrates = 0
Hardness 250ish



I was most concerned with the tetras because they are the less alkaline preferring fish it seems to say all over the internet. Well, the tetras are so active and seem to be enjoying themselves, regardless of the lack of rocks or places to swim in and out of other than a few plants.

The platy however, is incredibly bashful. He always goes to the opposite side of the tank as i approach. Sort of acts like an abused dog. Is it because he is alone? are they social? I dont think they school....but i could be wrong.

 

[Newman]

Give them a week and see how they do. its impossible to make accurate generalizations about them from just a few days.

Glad to hear theyre doing good. The Platy is displaying stressed behavior. It might calm down in a few days as it gets used to the water and surrounding, or it might die. its kind of a gamble in a cycling tank. you dont NEED to buy another one for it, but its up to you.

By the parameters you listed it sounds like the ammonia is starting to kick in. This could take as long as two weeks, and the ammonia will likely go up to 4ppm and more. this is very high and may kill some of the fish. its normal and is needed for the process. Dont worry if your water becomes milky white in the first two weeks. Whats happening there is that youre seeing a growth of beneficial baceria that convert ammonia to Nitrite. therefore youll see increases in Nitrite gradually as the ammonia decreases.

Good luck man,. itll take patience.

 

[MrParker]

Heres the tank. Water cleared. (plants are currently planted in harvest arrangement until i get my rocks in there) And you can see the red wag platy in the top left, having his anxiety attack.

ps i saw a spider underwater crawling around the plants, with abubble around him. That is wierd.

 

[tropicalcrazy]

looks very nice

 

[bmoraski]

Heres the tank. Water cleared. (plants are currently planted in harvest arrangement until i get my rocks in there) And you can see the red wag platy in the top left, having his anxiety attack.

ps i saw a spider underwater crawling around the plants, with abubble around him. That is wierd.

What do you have wrapped around your intake ?

 

[Newman]

Um get that fuggin spider outta there immediately! the way you described it with the bubble, thats a fishing spider. If its big enough, it can and will get your tetras. get rid of it at once if you havent done so.

Did you get your hornwort-looking stuff from a pond? cuzz thats what it sounds like.

 

[MrParker]

No the spidier was maybe the size of a tetra eyeball. I got all the plants from petsmart. - i dunno where it went.



Also, to everyone, I would like your opinions. I live in an 4 plex on the second floor. a 97 year old lady lives below me. I currently have my tank in my garage ( which is on the first floor attached to my apartment ) because I am afraid to put the 45 gallon tank in the spare room for fear of accident. If there was an accident, it would ruin her apartment. My mother ( who lives over 1000 miles away) says its a very bad idea. What do you all think?

 

[Newman]

Yea you do not want to EVEN THINK about what might happen if that tank cracks. Its always a possibility so trust you own better judgement.

Ok no worries then, the spider probably got eaten if it was that small lol.