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Scott P.

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Posts posted by Scott P.

  1. It's been awhile since I had a tank set up so I decided a few months ago that it was time to jump back in.

    Tank is a 20 gallon that I set up the first week of July. This was after months of reading and studying on the internet.

    I have had fair luck in the past but I wanted to be better at it.

    As stated tank is a 20g. 

    Filtration is a Seachem Tidal 55 HOB and a slow moving under gravel with one lift tube. About 3 inches gravel over the UGF.

    Lighting is a Fluval Aquasky. I'm not a big fan of trying to rush things but this time I did use some ammonia starter.

    Used Fritz Fishless fuel. Followed the directions and dosed it up to 2 PPM ammonia. About a week later I started ghost feeding the tank so it would have a steady supply of waste. It wasn't much. 

    A week or so after I set it up i planted most of the plants on the right side. About a week later I planted the left side. Of course along with the plants came at least one snail. I figured that was coming. No problem. I have been checking water every other day. About a week or so ago the ammonia went away and I started showing a bit of nitrite. Nice, I see progress here. I tested on Friday and it looked like nitrites were going down but was hard to tell. So this morning I check again and ammonia still at 0, and good news, nitrites are also a zero. Nitrates showing about 20-25 ppm. Nitrates did get up to around 40 ppm the other day, likely due to me getting heavy handed with the ferts. I did a small water change to bring it back down. Backed off the ferts also. 

    The last plants I added were the frogbit. At first I let it just go where it wanted but last night it got stuck in a corner without much light. That's when I made a small fence to keep it under the lights. I don't know how much light frogbit requires but if someone wants to chime in on that feel free to do so.

    Any way it looks like the tank is coming along nicely. I'm going to give it another few days to a week, do a partial water change and add a few fish.

    Now lets see if I can add a picture without making a fool of myself.

     

     

    IMG_0237.JPG

    • Like 10
  2. On 7/31/2021 at 11:50 PM, eatyourpeas said:

    I feel TDS is one of those parameters that are vague in terms of interpretation and how to properly get them to the correct levels for a given aquarium. Water companies (like mine) flush the mains periodically, throwing all known parameters into complete chaos when that happens. 🤨

    I agree. I see so many videos saying tds should be x number. I really don't see where any tds reading tells me much of anything. So I have 280 tds? That doesn't come close to telling me anything other than I have somethings in my water.

    • Like 1
  3. On 7/29/2021 at 10:52 AM, ThomasLC said:

    Its just me and I'm new on refurbishing fish tanks.  Starting the skill with a 150 seems to proven to be a double edge sword.  However it is just me working on it and I do not have two others to help tear it down and rebuild so I will be doing the good 1/2 inch bead to reseal it.  How long do I let the sealant set before I can 1.) add water and test 2.) place it on its stand (move it)?

    They say 48 hours but if it were me I would double that just to make sure.

    That's a lot of water. Take your time. Good luck with it.

  4. On 7/26/2021 at 9:11 PM, gardenman said:

    It could have been a WT Grant thing as that's where I got most of my fish back then, but the fish and hamsters were put in those boxes for transport. They'd use a hole punch to make air holes for the hamsters and it was always a race to get one home before it chewed it's way out of the box. Their pet department used to have a stack of the boxes alongisde of the tanks for the fish and hamsters.

    I got my first tank at WT Grant.

  5. On 7/26/2021 at 6:06 PM, Odd Duck said:

    I’m old and have been buying fish for a long time, but never got a fish in a box before!

    I'm old also. I set up my first tank in 1970. I was grown.

    Trouble is I can't remember what stores put fish in back then. I can remember the store but the container?

    Nope, I forgot that tidbit of info decades ago.

    • Haha 2
  6. I also have the Fluval Aquasky. Mine is on a fresh 20 g setup that I am getting ready.

    I am only running mine at 85% at the moment. Been gradually turning it up a tick every few days.

    Don't ask me why I'm doing this because I have no valid reason. LOL

    I love the light though.

    I will post my settings when I decide where I am going to leave it. So far my plants are showing growth, so that's a good sign.

  7. On 7/21/2020 at 3:38 PM, Daniel said:

    I wish there was an underwater remote controlled submarine 4k camera that would swim in my aquarium and stream the results back to my phone. I could watch fish breed and check on fry from anywhere. And if I were in a boring meeting, I could get out my phone and watch my fish instead.

    I like the way you think. I'm into RC stuff so you got my attention with the aquarium submarine. 

    I want one.

    • Like 1
  8. On 7/25/2021 at 3:06 PM, Kevin F. said:

    Ya there are some just still really small.  Behind the drift wood on the right are 2 red flame swords and left of it is a tiger lotus.  They are just really small right now.  The corkscrew val is starting to grow and the scarlet temple is just not doing well at all melting back to nothing. So I need a different stem plant for the back any suggestions?

    I would put 5-6 Amazon Swords in the corners and back.  A tank that big can hold a lot of plants.

    As far as your tiger lotus goes. I've got one that I have had for about a week. It adds a new leaf almost everyday.

    • Like 1
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