catshanon

Hi people, I have a planted 25 G and I had used black Tahitian moon sand as the bottom substrate and Seachem fluorite on top of that for a substrate bed that is ~ 4 inches deep. The plants are growing well in there, but what I regret is putting the costly Tahitian moon sand where it can't be seen (I didn't know about this forum when I set that up ). Now I am setting up a 30G freshwater which will have lots of plants ( egeria densa, java fern, java moss, cabomba, anubias and spiral vals). I don't want to make the same mistake so looking for suggestions over here. As Jason had correctly pointed out, substrate is expensive. I want a natural look and cover the substrate with carpet plants. This is what I had in mind so far: 1) Have play sand/silica sand as the primary substrate (4" deep, sloping from the back). 2) A thin layer of laterite or fluorite (1/2" deep). 3) Pea gravel or black substrate as the top layer. (1/2" deep). Looking forward to opinions. Also, where can I get playsand or silica sand in Edmonton? Raj.

Hi Everyone, I got my hands on a used 30G which came with a Magnum HOT 250 canister. However, it doesn't come with the biowheel. I popped by BigAl's today, but they don't keep the bio wheels for Magnum anymore. I was suggested at BigAl's to use the HOT for mechanical and chemical and use a separate filter for the bio part. I see in this forum that Werner had suggested that biological filtration is not required if the tank is well planted. I am planning to plant it very heavily without CO2 injection. Should I go with just the HOT canister and a well planted tank or should I put in an extra filter? I plan to put in 10 cardinals, 10 rasboras and maybe a betta in that. Will this result in overstocking? Thanks in advance for everyone's opinions. Raj.

Hi, Thanks a lot to everyone for their comments. I will rethink my stocking options. I would like to come to the Edmonton auction, but I don't know when or where it is being held. I had checked the calendar on the forum but there is no mention of the auction on the calendar. Hope someone lets me know, so that I can make it there. Thanks a lot again. Raj

Hi there, I never knew that there was an aquatic forum in Edmonton which can be so helpful. I started out with a 10G tank which I got for free and then bought an used 25G and now I have a 30G !!! I just started up from last month, and my 25G freshwater planted has been running without fishes for a month now. The cabombas and myaca are doing great, as are the java ferns on a driftwood. I think myy crypts are dieing(had got them from Nature's Corner) as I don't see any growth in them. I had researched on the net before I started out, so I did fishless cycling on my 25G. I also plan to do that on my 30G. I would like to keep cardinals and rasboras and a betta in my 30G with plants of course... My plan for the 25G is to keep swords, mollies and angels. I will be looking for some driftwood and lots of gravel for my 30G, so I will post requests in the appropriate sections later on. Hope I can be of assistance to newcomers as i become more experienced with this. Raj.