Acktually, that might be doable.
I've watched some youtube vids of public aquariums with ray tanks which allow you to touch them, so that's not too far out.
Good luck with the setup and we demand pics of the finished product!
fish for kids?
- Thread starter jyabs7
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I've watched some youtube vids of public aquariums with ray tanks which allow you to touch them, so that's not too far out.
Good luck with the setup and we demand pics of the finished product!
No different than hand feeding a ray that you own.Acktually, that might be doable.
I've watched some youtube vids of public aquariums with ray tanks which allow you to touch them, so that's not too far out.
Good luck with the setup and we demand pics of the finished product!
Alright, i'm looking at a tentative schedule to get my 55 vacant and cleaned out in the next few weeks and decided i'll use that. As of right now, i'm on board to try what AngelPhish suggested, or at least something close to it. I've never maintained an aquarium properly before (most i've ever had to do was keep some feeder fish and feeder crawfish alive long enough to need them to feed to my other animals.) Though i've maintained a pond for a reptile, so some minimum experience already. Either way this will be a learning experience! I'm doing as much reading as I can in my downtime of working on large reptile enclosure, and working full time. My serious planning for this tank will begin once my reptile enclosure is up and running safely. But that takes up a monsterous amount of my time as it's an 8ft long, 4ft deep, and 4ft tall enclosure sitting on a 30" tall stand so it's a beast of a setup.
To keep things moving along nicely, i'm thinking of when i get close to done with the reptile enclosure, i want to order up my substrate, plants, and water conditioners so i can start getting the tank cycled and ready for fish as soon as possible.
I'll be thinking "out loud" here, so feel free to shoot down my ideas, tell me i'm wrong, or what not.
I want it somewhat planted, so I'm thinking of going with SeaChem Flourite black as a substrate. I like the color, i like it can be used as a standalone, and i like the minimum maintenance on it.
Prime, stability, and clarity to get water off to a good start.
Plants? No idea what plants to go with just yet. Still need to browse some low maintenance plants.
The Fluval FX series filters seem to have everything i want. Everything i've moaned and groaned about with my current filters, the fx series eliminates. Undecided of fx4 or fx6 yet, need to do more reading. Definitely doing with an inline heater, and accompanying controller.
Lighting i haven't gotten to yet.
decorations i haven't gotten to yet. But have a few ideas.
Once it's all good to go and cycled i'll start ordering fish and food.
To keep things moving along nicely, i'm thinking of when i get close to done with the reptile enclosure, i want to order up my substrate, plants, and water conditioners so i can start getting the tank cycled and ready for fish as soon as possible.
I'll be thinking "out loud" here, so feel free to shoot down my ideas, tell me i'm wrong, or what not.
I want it somewhat planted, so I'm thinking of going with SeaChem Flourite black as a substrate. I like the color, i like it can be used as a standalone, and i like the minimum maintenance on it.
Prime, stability, and clarity to get water off to a good start.
Plants? No idea what plants to go with just yet. Still need to browse some low maintenance plants.
The Fluval FX series filters seem to have everything i want. Everything i've moaned and groaned about with my current filters, the fx series eliminates. Undecided of fx4 or fx6 yet, need to do more reading. Definitely doing with an inline heater, and accompanying controller.
Lighting i haven't gotten to yet.
decorations i haven't gotten to yet. But have a few ideas.
Once it's all good to go and cycled i'll start ordering fish and food.
If you struggle with plants and kill them off like nothing.
Recommend Elodia, its something still alive in my tank, even with spiny eels and catfish uprooting it.
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For plants I recommend Val’s, crypts, and Anubis
Thanks i'll look into it! I've never had a planted aquarium so basic is best for now until i get the hang of it!
Yay I win!
What do you have in mind for the aquascape? One plant that I don't think anyone has mentioned yet is java fern. I've found them to be quite difficult to kill.
As for the filter, I would go with the fx6, as it's only $50 more. Though another filter to consider is the fluval g3/g6, as they're easy to clean, come with reusable media, along with a bunch of other stuff. I run a g3 on my 16 gallon and maintenance is a breeze.
I don't think I've said this yet... I respect you for doing your research on the hobby, especially how thorough you were. A lot of people go into this hobby blindly and come to this forum when they have a problem, rather than to prevent a problem.
Thanks for the good words. Everything I get into I try to overthink (which is also a fault as much as it is a blessing). I end up being the brains of the operation and then teach my wife what I know so she can help after I already went through the swear words.
Of course another fault with me is that nothing is ever simple, even if i plan it in the beginning to do that....so this "5 gallon fish tank for my daughter" is turning into a costly venture but that's alright. With that in mind, I found a 3d background i absolutely love. I'm going to try that out and see how i like it. i'd like to add some plants, but haven't decided on any yet (haven't browsed much for them either so totally open to suggestions.)
I'll have to compare those two filters. Right now on some reptile ponds i have the zoomed macro 75 and while they work great when they work, i want to smash them until they get to that point. But, i put them through hell with what they have to maintain so i can't blame them too much. I fell for the FX series because of how simple they seem they are, and the added features like the water change valve, automatic prime, and the constant air purge. Things that have plagued me with my macros.
I'm pretty excited about the project, and hope to get started in the next few weeks.
The plants mentioned: Vals / Anubias / Java Fern / Crypts are all pretty good beginner plants...
Although as a heads up expect the Crypts to melt before they regrow as they hate change, so tend to melt back before settling in the new environment...
Anubias are a great choice just because there are a lot of varieties and sizes to choose from which are all pretty bullet proof but slow growing...
Crypts have a lot of choices to choose from as well, although some like the Cryptocoreyne Sp. Flammingo being a bit more expensive...
Also just to throw one more plant species into the mix for when you get more comfortable with plants and decide to go get more, you can check out some of the Bucephalandra sp. of plants which come in a wide range of colors from greens, reds, purples and blues but will require a bit more research into lighting and ferts to get them colored up nicely...
Although as a heads up expect the Crypts to melt before they regrow as they hate change, so tend to melt back before settling in the new environment...
Anubias are a great choice just because there are a lot of varieties and sizes to choose from which are all pretty bullet proof but slow growing...
Crypts have a lot of choices to choose from as well, although some like the Cryptocoreyne Sp. Flammingo being a bit more expensive...
Also just to throw one more plant species into the mix for when you get more comfortable with plants and decide to go get more, you can check out some of the Bucephalandra sp. of plants which come in a wide range of colors from greens, reds, purples and blues but will require a bit more research into lighting and ferts to get them colored up nicely...
