SomethingFishy Posted October 15, 2008 Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 Hi everyone, new to this site, excellent stuff! I just added some fish to a well established (6 years) tetra tank. The tank was understocked to begin with.....33 gallon tank with 8 mid sized tetras (e.g. red eyes, diamond, head & tail lights & black skirts...most of these fish have been around as long as the tank). Tank is not live planted but has fake plants, lots of hiding places.. Added 3 bleeding hearts and a school of 10 neons, and 4 plants to one side of the tank, giving greenery a try... Then....watched with trepidation as the neons hesitantly felt their way around their new home, and the fully grown diamond swooped down upon the school with curiousity...much to my relief, no one was dinner. Been watching since and doesn't seem like anyone thinks the neons are snacks, or even much fun to chase around. Should I be concerned at all about big tetras dining on little ones? Right now, I have a tank of happy looking active fish, neons are feeling comfortable enough to go solo exploring. But, back to my main question....how long will it take for my tank to cycle again after the additions? In your experience, is there a certain time period after that things tend to get out of hand? Water quality is excellent, just tested now 36 hrs after adding fish and there is no spikes in nitrites etc. Thanks everyone, H Also, how long should I wait before adding more plants? It looks spectacular even now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qattarra Posted October 15, 2008 Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 Add plants anytime . IME I haven't had any mini cycle events past 3-5 days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SomethingFishy Posted October 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 Add plants anytime . IME I haven't had any mini cycle events past 3-5 days. Thanks....I should probably post this in the planted tank forum, but, can you recommend good hardy plants that will tolerate plant newbie mistakes? It seems to be a complicated science. Also, silly question - do you remove the rubber bands at the bottom of the plants or can you just leave them as is and let them root? Also, if anyone can answer my Q re: tetras eating tetras that would be great. Thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
werner Posted October 15, 2008 Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 Should I be concerned at all about big tetras dining on little ones? It might be an issue- I've had black skirt tetras munch neons before. Make sure everybody's well fed so the larger fish aren't getting hungry and the little ones grow bigger. can you recommend good hardy plants that will tolerate plant newbie mistakes? It seems to be a complicated science. Also, silly question - do you remove the rubber bands at the bottom of the plants or can you just leave them as is and let them root? Yes, remove the rubber bands as well as any bruised/broken parts on the bottom of the stems. Then just stick them in the gravel. Group only 3 or 4 stems together- they're less likely to float away. A good online article: So You Want to Grow Aquatic Plants A really good beginner plant book: Plants for Your Aquarium Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qattarra Posted October 15, 2008 Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 Being a not good plant keeper I can tell you , the java ferns, vals and anubias are still alive lol. The rest I really struggle with. Steer clear of red plants and cabomba unless you have a lot of light. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SomethingFishy Posted October 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2008 Being a not good plant keeper I can tell you , the java ferns, vals and anubias are still alive lol. The rest I really struggle with. Steer clear of red plants and cabomba unless you have a lot of light. Yikes, seems all my worrying about killing my first plants is to no avail...they are growing like weeds! There's a lot of sprouting going on. For basic plant keeping of beginner plants, do I really need all the equipment and extras like CO2 or can I just get by with a flora-glo light and weekly dose of liquid fert? As it is right now I think I will take some cuttings and start my other (empty) tank up too just to have something green to look at all winter...really makes a difference with this instead of plastic plants. Why did I wait so long? PS all my neons are ok, the water levels hardly changed, but just to be safe I did 20% change today. Anyways, sadly, 2 neons got sucked in by the filter intake....I have a filter guard on but they were so small, fit through the cracks...I am wondering if something like putting old nylons over the intake will prevent that? Any other suggestions? Thanks for your advice everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qattarra Posted October 18, 2008 Report Share Posted October 18, 2008 Best advice for plants wont come from me lol. As for intakes , a piece of coarse sponge works very well , both as a prefilter and a baby saver. Just cut a cube larger than your intake, slice a cross cut into it but not all the way through. Push it up onto the intake tube just far enough to cover the cage. Now all the water sucked up must go through this first. Wring it out once in a while so the filter doesn't have to work harder. You should rinse it in tank water (in a bucket or bowl) but if you're not trying to save bacteria I don't think it'll hurt to rinse in the sink. I use tank water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
werner Posted October 18, 2008 Report Share Posted October 18, 2008 For basic plant keeping of beginner plants, do I really need all the equipment and extras like CO2 or can I just get by with a flora-glo light and weekly dose of liquid fert? You're probably fine with what you have. You don't really need CO2 unless you start getting into higher light levels. However, even plants in lower light tanks can benefit from CO2 addition, so if you really want to you could do DIY CO2 or buy one of those little CO2 generator kits (Hagen, Red Sea, etc.). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devocole Posted October 18, 2008 Report Share Posted October 18, 2008 As for plants. Definately get hygrophila. It grows like a bloody weed even in the poorest conditions. Great to put at the back of the tank as it will grow to the height of the tank. I bet in 8 months the original hygro i bought increased in biomass by 10X. I just kept cutting and replanting the cuttings, and so on. I've also found that crypts are also quite hardy. I bought one small potted plant 8 months ago and it has probably increased in biomass by 4X. I didn't use CO2 or ferts. And only plain gravel. My only suggestion is to use fluorescent bulbs. Incandescent isn't really good at growing anything. Although i wouldn't be surprised if the hygro was still able to grow like a weed with incandescent. Java fern is also fine in low tech conditions as well as anubias, but they are slow growing plants. It just depends on what you want. Java moss is also a nice addition to a tank. It is super cheap and grows like stink. It is the perfect plant for small fish and fry to hide in. You can also coerce it to grow on things like wood, rocks etc(this is the same for java fern and anubias actually) The java moss is also really cheap. I bought a baseball sized bunch from a pet store for 3 bucks. I bet someone would be more then happy to give it away for free as well. Good luck Plants make an aquarium more then the fish (IMO) Devon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devocole Posted October 18, 2008 Report Share Posted October 18, 2008 Also don't buy a CO2 kit from a store. You can DIY one for a couple bucks if you choose to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SomethingFishy Posted October 19, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2008 Also don't buy a CO2 kit from a store. You can DIY one for a couple bucks if you choose to. Thanks for that....I'll just see how things go with how things are set up now. As it is, things are growing at an astonishing rate, and yes I got some hygro, along with swordplant, corkscrew and a couple others that I can't remember the names off hand right now. Funny to read that hygro is considered a noxious weed in some parts of the states. I can tell that eventually the tank will look overly full with plant cover, but for now it's just fine....I am going to start up my other tank as soon as I find a hood & light for it and will transplant a few things over into that one. Was reading some reviews about lighting, a lot of people don't like the soft yellow glow given off by sun glo lights, but I think that it looks better and more natural than the bright white light given off by higher spectrum and wattage lights. Re: the DIY CO2, I was reading some about that too...I think for now will see how it goes and will venture into that if I need it later on will try. Cheers, Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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