led full sun, 55 gallon, glow fish help

[Maximus297759]

Hello I’m putting tank together for my son that’s the glow fish, And me that’s the plants. I only runs glowing blue lights at night and super bright led grow lights 7 hours Duing day idk Petco lady told me don’t run to much.

I ordered hardyest plants, I think Amazon sword, Java, micro sword, Java moss and Amazon. I used 5 bags eco substrate black maybe to much idk. 
 

My son got tetra glow fish and question I have had anyone mixed These with shrimp? He wants blue shrimp I’m thinking I can grow dense Java moss across bottom this will keep a population alive?

 

I have tidal hang on filter 110 and aquarium coop sponge filter should be good there?

 

Also I want snails my boy loves bugs so mystery snails I think breed easiest? 
 

I think wait till plants established or algae starts to bloom before I order shrimp and snails? 
 

aquariums only 1 week old at this point 4-17-21 and advise be great thx.

Edited April 17, 2021 by Maximus297759

[Fish Folk]

Hi there! Glad you're posting on this forum. You'll get some great answers. Not sure if this will meet all your needs, but others can chime in as well. Let me go line by line . . .

You state . . . "Hello I’m putting tank together for my son that’s the glow fish, And me that’s the plants. I only runs glowing blue lights at night and super bright led grow lights 7 hours Duing day idk Petco lady told me don’t run to much."

-- You'll need to determine whether the lights you've got will properly grow plants. Some plants are less demanding. Others really need a proper kelvin rating, and PAR throw to make it down to where they're at. I'm not sure about the "glo-light" -- the question will be whether proper growing parameters for plants are met by the light it gives off. My concern is that it may not provide the spectrum your plants will need. 

You continue . . . "I ordered hardyest plants, I think Amazon sword, Java, micro sword, Java moss and Amazon. I used 5 bags eco substrate black maybe to much idk."

-- You can never have too much good substrate, in my opinion. Eco Complete is excellent! Swords, Java Fern and Java Moss are good choices! They should be hardy. However, Swords will require Root Tabs to really flourish. And all plants need proper lighting and fertilization to thrive. I highly recommend Easy Green from the Aquarium Co Op. Eco Complete will absorb that and release it for plants to use.

You ask . . . "My son got tetra glow fish and question I have had anyone mixed These with shrimp? He wants blue shrimp I’m thinking I can grow dense Java moss across bottom this will keep a population alive?"

-- Yes, dense java moss will definitely help. But with your glow lights . . . I'm not sure about how much you'll really see the shrimp stand out. Maybe someone else has experience with that. I'd like to think that the tetras will leave the shrimp alone. One thing that LRB Aquatics recommends is making some small stone piles in the back corners where shrimp can really hide and breed. We did that, thought we'd lost all shrimp in a 10 gal, only to discover that they'd bred and we had a bunch of baby scuttling around shrimp all over the tank.

You share these specs . . . "I have tidal hang on filter 110 and aquarium coop sponge filter should be good there?"

-- Yes! Excellent. I'd recommend a coarse pre-filter sponge if you go with shrimp for the Tidal 110 hang on back. Aquarium Co Op sells excellent Pre-filter sponges. Get the coarse one, or else the filter will struggle.

You ask about snails . . . "Also I want snails my boy loves bugs so mystery snails I think breed easiest?"

-- I'm not sure that Mystery Snails necessarily breed the "easiest." You'll need to do proper research on them. I know that if your water is low in minerals ("soft water") that snails will struggle. You'll need a way to increase the "hardness" (dissolved mineral content) of your water to sponsor a healthy snail environment. Depending on your temperature, Nerite snails are very nice too.

Lastly, you write . . . "I think wait till plants established or algae starts to bloom before I order shrimp and snails? aquariums only 1 week old at this point 4-17-21 and advise be great thx."

-- So, here I must strongly advise you: please understand the Nitrogen Cycle. You can watch a lot of videos on it online, search the Forum, etc. In brief, until you have a colony of beneficial bacteria built up in your tank, your aquarium is not suitable for fish. Plants you can go ahead and add right away -- and liberally, in abundance. But fish need to wait until you can confirm proper water parameters. You'll want to invest in a way to test your water. I recommend the API Master Test Kit. Others have found good success with test strips, or other titration water testing chemicals. As a very brief explanation . . . if you add fish now, you risk them all dying. Why? Because fish live inside their own toilet. Fish waste produces Ammonia. Ammonia is toxic to fish. Beneficial Bacteria colonizes over time in your substrate, in your filters, and on your hardscape in your aquarium water. These colonies of bacteria feed on Ammonia, and convert it into Nitrite. Nitrite is less toxic to fish. Another step in the nitrogen cycle then occurs where Bacteria colonies convert Nitrite over into Nitrate. Nitrate is then good fuel for plant growth, but unless it is moderated, it too must be removed for your fish to be healthy. This is why Aquarists perform regular "water changes" -- removing 20-50% of water every few weeks, and replacing with fresh tap water that is _treated with dechlorinator_. So, until your Bacteria is built up, your tank will not be hospitable to new fish. Once bacteria colonies are built up, your tank is "Cycled."

Hope this helps you out! 

Edited April 17, 2021 by Fish Folk

[Maximus297759]

Thx for the info really appreciated I do understand importance and how cycle works. Thanks for all advise. The glow blue lights only run at night. And the 2, 450watt grow lights will run 7ish hours a day I used them few years back hydro set up. The essentials equal sun at 2 feet away I was thinking if it’s to much I’ll put floating plants to diffuse some idk.

[CorydorasEthan]

2 hours ago, Maximus297759 said:

Hello I’m putting tank together for my son that’s the glow fish, And me that’s the plants. I only runs glowing blue lights at night and super bright led grow lights 7 hours Duing day idk Petco lady told me don’t run to much.

I ordered hardyest plants, I think Amazon sword, Java, micro sword, Java moss and Amazon. I used 5 bags eco substrate black maybe to much idk. 
 

My son got tetra glow fish and question I have had anyone mixed These with shrimp? He wants blue shrimp I’m thinking I can grow dense Java moss across bottom this will keep a population alive?

 

I have tidal hang on filter 110 and aquarium coop sponge filter should be good there?

 

Also I want snails my boy loves bugs so mystery snails I think breed easiest? 
 

I think wait till plants established or algae starts to bloom before I order shrimp and snails? 
 

aquariums only 1 week old at this point 4-17-21 and advise be great thx.

Hey there welcome to the forum! I was in the process of writing a response, but it looks like @Fish Folk got to it first! It was going to say pretty much everything he said, so there's not much point in me repeating it. The only thing to add on is that I would recommend getting some more plants to take advantage of that good substrate! Plants I would recommend are water sprite (super cheap and easy to grow), dwarf aquarium lily bulbs (also easy), vallisneria, and sagittaria species. Also, just a side note in case plants are new to you, remember to plant the Java fern on wood rather than in the substrate. If it is planted in the substrate, it might rot and die off.

I hope this helps, and good luck! Keep us updated on the tanks progress!

[Fish Folk]

49 minutes ago, CorydorasEthan said:

remember to plant the Java fern on wood rather than in the substrate

Yes! Good point. Rhizome plants should not have the stalky rhizome buried under substrate.

[Patrick_G]

Welcome! 
 

A few potential problems I’ve noticed: 

1. Those 450w  lights looks like they are probably way to powerful. If that’s a 55 gallon tank you would probably be very happy with a 50ish watt led light strip. I made the mistake of using to much light and created a nice algae farm the first few months into owing a planted tank. 
 

2. I’ve been told you can’t have to much filtration and I believe it, but between the Tidal, the sponge and the power head you might have to much current. 
 

3. Those Java moss squares are great, but I’d get a few more to start a dense carpet for the shrimp to hide in. 
 

4. I would only run the blue “glow” lights when you’re watching the fish. They can contribute to algae growth. 

Edited April 17, 2021 by Patrick_G