JDigital

I have both Tunzes and the Koralias- the Koralias being a recent addition. I switched over because of the really wimpy mounting system for the Tunze nanostreams. They break CONSTANTLY. Tunze will replace the mounting brackets, but it's still a major PITA. Go with the Koralias for surface movement, IMO. They stick out a bit more (the Tunzes just blended into the background), but the extra durability in the mounting system is worth it.

I love the magnetic mounting feature of the Koralia's! Wish it was a bit stronger magnetic force though... Similar to a Mag-Float cleaner.. so u could move the powerhead without reaching into the tank.

I would have to join most ppls comments.

I got 2 Koralia #3's in my 54G... they move ALOT of water, quietly, and efficiently!

Wow... nice looking discus!

You don't need an anemone to have a clown and you don't need a clown to have an anemone. You don't need coral to have an anemone either. You should have LR as it is great biofiltration and gives the nem somewhere to attach. If you do want to keep an anemone or coral what you need are good lights. www.canreef.com has lots of info. in it's library that can help you to research the requirements needed to keep anemones/corals/sw fish.

Thanks sharuq... I'm sure I will be picking your brain a bit here in the near future.. I just started my 54G SW tank tonight (originally planned to be live plant tank), but with my roommate doing his 20H Nano, I couldn't resist giving it a try... I already had the lights.. now its just getting enough water flow taken care off..

Mmmmmm 90gs would make a schweet reef man! Nudge nudge.

Yup, they sure do... this is my buddies 90G... It's never the same tank when I go round his place... Always changing.

BTW, very nice tank setup... your pics are amazing too...

As far as the clown, are you going to have an anenmone in the tank as well? The symbiotic relationship between the two is a sight to see.

Do need coral to have anenmone? or will live rock be enough? or do u even need either?

Currently running 1 55G FW, and I have a 54G in the 'build' state for a planted freshwater... However I am looking at starting at 20G SW nano tank.. Live rock, maybe some coral, and a couple fish... We'll see.. If it keeps raining this week, I know I will get bored sitting at home waiting to return to work (outside stuff that doesn't mix with rain.. haha) and want to get something rolling with w SW..

Hola!!

Welcome to AA!

OK- take all the regular 'rules' of filtration and forget them for this tank (gasp, choke!). Keep in mind that the plants will be sucking up the NH3/NH4 (and NO2 and NO3), so you won't need nearly the same level of biological filtration (if any). The filter will be more useful for mechanical filtration and water flow. And you don't want too strong a water flow either. You shouldn't be needing charcoal, or any other chemical filtration. Ceramic rings (or whatever) with some coarse foam and fine floss should be sufficient.

If you do end up adding CO2 down the road, you don't want a really strong water flow. Surface agitation will allow your CO2 to escape into the air. ACs and other HOB filters aren't really recommended for this reason. Canisters are great since you can position the spray bar just under the water surface to create a slight ripple.

I think you should stick with the XP1. Spend the extra $40 on more plants, or a bag of Flourite, etc.

Would a Fluval 305 be overkill for a 55G planted tank then?? Would it be possible to get away with a smaller model (205 perhaps?)

That's gorgeous! Wow!

Wow... I'm so sorry to hear this. Kinda makes my fish loss a bit easier to take... I couldn't imagine loosing what you lost.

RIP to them all!

Are your test kits new? It does seem odd that your fish are in distress and your nitrite and ammonia levels are 0. Gasping for air often comes from a nitrite spike.

Please do take up the offer of babysitting , a GREAT offer I might add. It may take another week or more to finish cycling the fishless way , it is worth the wait.

My experience with cloudy water other than a non cycled tank , is too much food or wastes. I always tell people to stop all feedings, vacuum the substrate and do a 50% water change. If the fish look unhappy add 1tbls of aquarium salt per 5 gal. of water to help ease them. Adding a bubbler is also a good idea. Resume small feedings after 3 days.

Yea, I think my kits are new... New from the store anyways, only had it for the week or so I have had the tank. A friend of mine thought they maybe expired and that is why Im not getting any results. I tried a second ammonia kits (that I bought before this master kit) and it also gave me a 0 reading...

The remaining fish seem alot better right now... swimming around alot, no heavy breathing, not at the top gasping for air, etc.. i have stopped all feedings for now.. Like I mentioned the water level is down to just at the spout of my outtake nozzle from my canister, which is creating alot of bubbles along the surface.... However the water is still somewhat cloudy... I need to do another water change I guess..

I have PM'd Fish Frenzy to take her up on the babysitting offer... I must agree, that is quite an great offer from a stranger.

I would have to agree with fatpuffer and geleen. I am pretty sure your Angels will not make it thru a tank cycling. The molly might make it...cories are iffy too.

Where in calgary are you? I am willing to hold your fish in my hospital tank and give you a bunch of filter goo (good bacteria) if you are able to come and drop them off and pick up the goo.

Tammy

Hi Tammy,

I am in the NW end of town. Tuscany to be exact. That would be awesome if your willing to do that for me. Send me a PM please.

With starting new tanks, I have used a product called 'Cycle' with good results... I usually dose the tank as per the directions and then a bit more.

I have been using Cycle since day one too as per the directions.

After getting home tonight from work I can see that my angels are doing better (swimming around and such). I dropped the water level down to just at the outlet from the filter to try and produce abit more oxygen flow, as it seemed like they were gasping for air this morning..

I don't know what happened, Its a fairly new tank.

I performed my tests this morning after seeing the water and 1 dead Angel. Ammonia 0, Nitrtate 0, Nitrate 0, pH 7.6.

Only thing different was a 10-15% water change last night, using Prime. And addition of 3 Corys which actually look more calm today that yesterday.

I am still missing one angel, I can't seem to find it. The other 2 are swimming right at the top of the water level, along with my Molly.

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks

EDIT: The feelers on the other 2 angels are pretty much limp!

When I have to catch fish in my planted tank I don't feed for 2 days, Have 2 large nets ready and drop small amounts of food in the tank. When they come for the food they get the net instead.

Now there's a smart idea!! :thumbs:

:welcome: Enjoy you time here.

:welcome: and have a safe trip across country... Welcome to Alberta eh!

Tropical fish keeping is alot of fun, also super addicting ask some of these AA Members who have MTS. Going through withdrawls on empty tanks, they start to shiver, shake, itch and get hives ... You'll witness some of these symptoms here.

MTS = Multiply Tank Syndrome. Incrediable need to add more tanks. It's ugly, drooling, sweating and digging through their garages for any item they can find to make another tank stand. Hours of drawings, hammers not used for anything else important in the home finally get used.

You can't tell them they need help, especially here they are all enablers. Encouraging other members to do crazy stuff like how to build a super sized tank, showing them pictures of incredible tanks.

Pictures of planted landscaped tanks, screaming in their ears just ONE MORE Tank, "then I can have that Pretty fish that I had found for sale." Reason and square footage does not stop the MTS addicted member...

Sigh... but omg what fun !

:thumbs: A member of the MTS addicted World :tongue: -roll-

OMG... I think I have MTS and I have only been here for 5 days... I got my 2nd tank today... its sitting empty.. patiently awaiting live plants.. lol

wph, Welcome to the board. Enjoy your stay

What about adding salt for a single molly that is living with 4 angels (55G tank)... is it necessary? I read mollys do better with abit of salt... but i don't want to add it if its not gonna help my angels..

That webpage is amazing. I just read the article and because i'm going through my first cycle in a tank i would strongly recommend you take the fish back to the store. It's allot less stress on yourself and the fish. If the fishless cycle isn't an option then at least buy an Ammonia test kit. The other product i have found that was recommended and does more and a better job than ammo lock or any similar product is Called Prime. It's also SUPER concentrated so you get Way more bang for your buck. It's in a red bottle.

I bought Cycle and added about 50ml last night when i noticed ammonia was getting a bit Too high along with 10ml of prime (enough for normally 100gals) I tested again and my levels are down to .8ppm of ammonia(?)(stressfull but safe) and 0.25ppm of nitrITES, Basicly it Helps LOADS.

One trick is to put bacteria supplements directly on your filter sponge or whatever you have as a medium for bacteria. I put it in my Whisper and turned it off for a minute to let the Cycle bacteria settle onto my medium before the filter water flow washed them all out.

I hope my little experience can help you if you can't do the fishless cycle. It's taken weeks for me to figure allot of stuff out. :boxed: :chair: I bought at a pet store and the sales lady was nice and good at just briefly skimming over the scary stuff and telling the customer twhat they really want to hear. Mostly just basic basic info. Check out the entirety of the webpage fatpuffer gave and it should prevent all the worrying i've done lately.

Have a wonderfull weekend

L

P.S. I forgot to mention that Cycle and prime both seem to have the bacteria nessasary for a boost in the nitrogen cycle so the only reason i recommended Cycle as well as Prime was because it stated that you can't overdose hence my 50ml addition last night I'm going with the Philosophy that more can't hurt and sure seems to help(allot)

I am going to choose to go ahead with a Fish"ful" cycle... I picked up both Cycle and Prime today along with a Full Test kits (ph, high range PH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate)

Along with this site, I have a few friends that I can turn to for rush info (if needed)... I'll try out this Cycle and Prime, do a few tests, and see what my results are... Will also remove the carbon from the media...

EDIT: Added 10 caps of cycle (5 to the filter, 5 directly to the water) and 1 cap of Prime directly to the water....

EDIT#2: DAMN!! forgot to take out the carbon..

Take the carbon out. You will need the ammonia to "feed" the bacteria. The carbon will impede the cycling process and will have spike once you remove the carbon.

Can you take the fish back and do fishless cycling instead?

Js

I'm not sure if Riverfront takes returns...

Can I replace the Carbon with Fluval Ammonia Remover? (i read its recommended for new aquariums??)

OR your other option would be to get some old filter floss from an established tank. Try your LFS for this and put it directly in your filter. It will at the very least cut the cycling process. What kind of filter are you using? What are you parameters (ammonia, nitrIte, etc)?

Js

I am running a Fluval 305 (bottom 2 media have carbon, middle 2 media have 1 carbon/1 bio-max, top 2 media have Biomax)

I ran an Ammonia test yesterday, and it came out between 0.00 and 0.25ppm on the chart. I haven't performed a Nitrite test yet.

Hey everyone, I have started my first tank ever... A 55G Freshie. I have 4 Black Angels and 1 Silver Molly. I am just curious what I should be keeping an eye in the first couple days/weeks of the cycling process, etc.

Thanks.

Welcome to AlbertaAquatica.... I'm new as well.

We started with basic tropicals like Angels, Bala Sharks, Rainbow Sharks. They sure taught us a lot, and they were very patient with us as we moved them into bigger and bigger tanks, with newer and weirder friends (african dwarf frogs, rope fish, apple snails, cichlids, ID shark, scissortails, you name it! We had a very... "Eccentric" tank).

Hope you enjoy your fishy adventure!

I will have to check out these Bala and Rainbow Sharks... :thumbs: How big do they get?

Beautiful tank - and welcome to AA. Do you have a use for more gravel? I have about 150 pounds of that exact same stuff!

You will find all kinds of cool stuff here on the forum.

I'm sure I could use some down the line. :thumbs:

I just noticed your tank edges are a bit bigger than your stand. Everyone correct me here if I am wrong, but if it was my tank I would put a board underneath it over top the stand so that it takes the whole weight on the edges.

Hmmm.. I think its too late... its full of water..

EDIT:

Updated pic

Ooh nice tank. What are you going to put in there?

To be honest I haven't decided... haha.. I'm still doing some reading to figure out what works with what. I have been leaning towards Angels thought to start.