Bruno Posted July 24, 2013 Report Share Posted July 24, 2013 Thought I would start a journal of our tanks if for no other reason then to look back later and see where we started and hopefully how far we have come. So our journey into fishkeeping started with my 8 year old son asking for fish. When the desire didn't pass after some time we decided to get an aquarium. I picked up a Marineland 20G LED kit and we were on our way. We had lots to learn and relied a little too much on LFS advice, but here was the first tank: We had 9 Kyathit Danio (we were advised to do a fish in cycle and when we asked how many he said you want 6, but will likely lose a couple - so we bought 9, and still have all 9) Water changes every day or 2 for what seemed like an eternity got us thru our aquarium introduction. During that time we visited LFS's frequently, my son's stocking list changing frequently. He wanted Cory Cats, so we made plans to change from gravel to sand. Other then settling on those his list changed frequently, but we also realized he was going to be limited by the size of the tank, and we were disappointed we hadn't done research ahead of time and bought a larger tank. Around that time we were given a 37G tank (just missed out on a 60G from another friend) so we set that up and started a fishless cycle on it. I'll start another thread on that one too as we now have both tanks running and I want to track the progress of both. Once this tank cycled we bought a couple of guppies from a LFS, but sadly we lost them about 2 weeks later. Water tested fine the whole time, and danios never had any issues, so we are not sure what happened. But the experience scared me that maybe they had been sick/diseased when we bought them and we could have introduced that to our tank, so we also at that time bought another 20G to use as a quarantine tank. We then decided to wait for the 37G to finish its fishless cycle before adding any more fish. to be continued... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted July 24, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2013 Once the 37G was cycled, we set that up for my son, and the 20G became mine. I wasn't as fond of the gravel and plants he had, so I took them all out, put some sand in, some driftwood and a couple of plants. I picked up an Amazon Sword, Java Fern and an Anubias Nana. The danios stayed in my tank for now and he added fish purchased at auction to the 37G. So here was how the tank looked then: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted July 24, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2013 I had problems with the amazon sword floating out of the sand, I was replanting it daily. Around this time we also went to our first CAS meeting and during the auction I picked up some guppies as well as some more Amazon Swords, a Golden Melon Sword, a Remi Sword and some Watersprite. I added them but again had problems with the sand being too fine and the plants drifting out. So I decided to try Eco-Complete and did another substrate change. I kept monitoring my water parameters and had no issues with the changes. So the tank now looked like this: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted July 24, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2013 I have loved the look of the GBR so I purchased a couple from the LFS, put them in the QT for a couple of weeks and then added them. My son wanted the guppies so we moved him to his tank, but I got a surprise as I found 9 guppy fry swimming in the tank. They were still very tiny so I left them in my tank, not sure if they would be eaten, but I left that to nature. My dad liked our tanks and decided he wanted one and asked us to set him up. I was not a fan of the danios so decided to rehome them to him and went and got some Rummynose Tetras. We also picked up some Sunburst Platies for my dad and some stock for my sons tank, all finding there way into the QT for now. So at this point my plan was to have Rummynose Tetra, the 2 GBR and if any guppy fry survived they could stay. A couple of weeks later I moved the danio to the QT to wait on my dads tank and moved the Rummynose in. I did it late at night before heading to bed, and sadly missed seeing one of the GBR jump out of the tank. I didn't realize it was missing till the next morning and found it dried out under another piece of furniture to the side of the tank I did have a pleasant surprise though and seen 8 of the guppy fry were still alive and now big enough they could avoid being eaten. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted July 24, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2013 (edited) When I added the plants I switched lights from the LED light the kit came with to the T8 I got with the QT tank. I swapped the bulbs for Flouramax, but found the light was a little dim looking for watching the fish. So I added a hidden 18" LED to the front lip inside the tank and now run both the T8 and the LED. I am adding Flourish Excel and API Leaf Zone each week following a water change, and will also add a dose of the Excel mid week. My dad suffered some health issues and had to forgo taking his tank. The QT was in an ackward spot I promised my wife would be very temporary, so the danios went into my son's tank and the platies into mine. As the guppies grow I am going to need to figure out what to do. I want a bigger tank, but wanted to wait until I felt like I knew what I was doing, but now both our tanks are over stocked I did add a second Aquaclear 50 to my tank so I am now running 2 of them to be sure my filtration is as good as I can get it for now, and I test my water every few days to be sure everything is OK. Here is the tank as of today: So I still feel like a confused newbie, stocking being the hardest part to get my head wrapped around. I am loving the hobby though and can't wait to see what the future holds. Edited August 1, 2013 by Bruno Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted August 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 1, 2013 Yesterday I set my QT tank up again, this time in the garage for now. The garage is not heated but is insulated/drywalled and an attached garage, so the temp is not too much of a concern till it gets real cold outside. I had 2 bags of biomax in each filter in the main tanks, so I moved one bag to the QT tank for an instant cycle and then moved the Platies out there as the guppies are getting quite big now. I am going to have to come up with a population control plan for the guppies as I have 8 more fry that have survived being eaten. I did setup a small 9.5 Gallon cube tank I found for free on Kijiji with a sponge filter, dropped a bag of biomax from the other tank in beside it (hope that helps BB growth in there) and moved the newest 8 fry to it while I figure out the guppy issue. I know guppies are known for this, and I can't imagine there is any market for them because of how easily they breed, but if nature is not taking its course on them, I am not sure what to do. I may have to start a new thread on that problem... For now that is 4 tanks up and running, which means lots of water tests and water changes... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted August 1, 2013 Report Share Posted August 1, 2013 Once you get the hang of what an HEALTHY system looks like - you test the water, read the results, then READ THE TANK. If you know what a good tank looks like, you will easily be able to tell when something is amiss without needing to break out the test kit every day or week. The last time I used a test kit this past decade was for a specialized set up. You'll soon get the hang of what healthy fish and plants look like. When they don't look like that, then break out the test kits! But, until you're comfortable, keep the test kits handy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted October 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2013 (edited) I need to get some new pics now, but the 20 Gallon has become a bit of an 'overflow' from the new 55 G coming into the house, the 37 becoming a cichlid tank etc. So it is now a black gravel, fake plant/decoration tank now that is home to the danios and the guppy fry that have grown to the point I can't call them fry anymore. I think some of these will be rehomed and we will add a couple of dwarf Gourami's to the mix since the danios are always skirting along the gravel and the guppies are at the top begging for food. Edited October 7, 2013 by Bruno Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted February 20, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2014 Been a while and time for an update.... so this tank was retired (in fact it became a QT tank for my dad who bought a 75G setup) so no more updates for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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