ok, so I have many questions I need some feedback on. I apologize for the long winded post but bear with me and I appreciate your input.
Refresher: I have seven juvenile geo red head tapajos (1.5"-2") in a 56 gallon column tank (30Lx18Dx24T) growing out right now. I have a 6 foot 125 I was setting up for them but have run into a setback. It leaks. I decided a simple reseaming will not suffice for this large of a tank so I will be breaking it down completely and rebuilding it. I do not have the space to do this now so it will have to wait until after I move in six months or so. I thought about it long and hard and decided I am not willing to leave these fish in this short tank for that long especially as they do not have any sand to sift through (gravel substrate) and I want them to be as happy and healthy as possible while they wait for their new home. So, I went out and bought a 90 gallon tank and stand (48Lx18Dx24T) I put six inches of aquaquartz pool filter sand in the bottom, six nice pieces of drift wood(from well cycled tanks), two nice river rocks(from well cycled tanks), and one nice chunk of lava rock(also from a well cycled tank). I then installed a fully cycled emperor 400 HOB filter with straight filter pads(no carbon) and two baskets of peat to help soften the water. I also installed a marineland 220 canister filter(fully cycled) with tons of ceramic rings, one tray with pads, and a couple fluval media bags filled with chemi pure elite (not carbon but works towards the same cause). I ran this exact filtration setup on a discus tank and it worked great. I hope it works as well for this tank. I don't like plecos but someone suggested a bristlenose for this tank as it might be less likely to interfere with fry, so I found one 2" today and am surprised by how much I like him. He's in the tank and allready stripping the wood and rocks of algae. I also put in 12 neon tetras (the wife loves em), 6 black skirt tetras (shortfin), 4 cherry barbs, 2 red wag platys (M+F), and two yellow wag platys(M+F). The idea with this stock was to help establish and maintain this tank even though there should be no cycle. I want to maintain/grow my bacteria colony and monitor the water parameters for a couple weeks before puting in the geos. I also really wanted plants in this tank (I know... geos dig.... still gonna try.
) so I put in 12 amazon swords, 6 java fern which were rooted into cracks and holes in the driftwood, one anubis the guy said was a mother plant, and a really cool looking clump of blade grass that I can't think of the name. all were planted in the tank to provide sight breaks and hidings places with the wood and rock, but still left the center of the tank as a mostly open sand bed for grazing (away from the plants hopefully LOL!) ok so questions.
1
oes this sound like a happy place for my geos? if not, what would you change.
2:How long will this setup work? I am hoping for 6 months to a year max.
3oes my filtration sound good? again, if not what would you change. I am not attached to the chemi pure so it could be replaced with more bio-media.
4:livestock- I was not into any of these fish but they served a purpose. Now I am really loving the movement and color in the tank. Who can stay and who must GO? (NO ONE must endanger the well being of my geos!!! LMAO
5
lants- I tried to stay with low light requirement plants as I know the geos appreciate somewhat subdued lighting. I am running one marineland 36" LED light bar (600 lumens) and one 48" single bulb flourescent strip with a 32watt grow bulb. sound ok?
6:layout- does it sound like its layed out the right way to ensure a peaceful tank? I can post pics later.
7:supplements-I plan on dosing with seachem flourish weekly for the plants as directed on the bottle. I also plan on dosing with seachem stabilize sparingly for the next two weeks to try to ensure there are no mini cycles with this system. do you have any negative experiences with either of these additives and would there be any possible negative effects of the flourish with the geos? (I apologize I have very little experience with planted tanks and supplements.)
ok that sums it up for now. Im sure I'll come up with new questions to ask, but I appreciate your input on these.
DISCLAIMER: Before anyone flames me for the tank size or stock please read the entire post and realize that any fish that need to be moved before the geos come in will be moved, and also please remember that this is a temporary setup. Ultimately these fish will all live in a 6-8 foot tank once the dust settles from my move. I really hope this is a short term solution and will provide a very comfortable home for my little geos as I have invested many hundreds of dollars in the last week to do everything I could to ensure they would be happy.
Refresher: I have seven juvenile geo red head tapajos (1.5"-2") in a 56 gallon column tank (30Lx18Dx24T) growing out right now. I have a 6 foot 125 I was setting up for them but have run into a setback. It leaks. I decided a simple reseaming will not suffice for this large of a tank so I will be breaking it down completely and rebuilding it. I do not have the space to do this now so it will have to wait until after I move in six months or so. I thought about it long and hard and decided I am not willing to leave these fish in this short tank for that long especially as they do not have any sand to sift through (gravel substrate) and I want them to be as happy and healthy as possible while they wait for their new home. So, I went out and bought a 90 gallon tank and stand (48Lx18Dx24T) I put six inches of aquaquartz pool filter sand in the bottom, six nice pieces of drift wood(from well cycled tanks), two nice river rocks(from well cycled tanks), and one nice chunk of lava rock(also from a well cycled tank). I then installed a fully cycled emperor 400 HOB filter with straight filter pads(no carbon) and two baskets of peat to help soften the water. I also installed a marineland 220 canister filter(fully cycled) with tons of ceramic rings, one tray with pads, and a couple fluval media bags filled with chemi pure elite (not carbon but works towards the same cause). I ran this exact filtration setup on a discus tank and it worked great. I hope it works as well for this tank. I don't like plecos but someone suggested a bristlenose for this tank as it might be less likely to interfere with fry, so I found one 2" today and am surprised by how much I like him. He's in the tank and allready stripping the wood and rocks of algae. I also put in 12 neon tetras (the wife loves em), 6 black skirt tetras (shortfin), 4 cherry barbs, 2 red wag platys (M+F), and two yellow wag platys(M+F). The idea with this stock was to help establish and maintain this tank even though there should be no cycle. I want to maintain/grow my bacteria colony and monitor the water parameters for a couple weeks before puting in the geos. I also really wanted plants in this tank (I know... geos dig.... still gonna try.
) so I put in 12 amazon swords, 6 java fern which were rooted into cracks and holes in the driftwood, one anubis the guy said was a mother plant, and a really cool looking clump of blade grass that I can't think of the name. all were planted in the tank to provide sight breaks and hidings places with the wood and rock, but still left the center of the tank as a mostly open sand bed for grazing (away from the plants hopefully LOL!) ok so questions.1
oes this sound like a happy place for my geos? if not, what would you change.2:How long will this setup work? I am hoping for 6 months to a year max.
3
oes my filtration sound good? again, if not what would you change. I am not attached to the chemi pure so it could be replaced with more bio-media.4:livestock- I was not into any of these fish but they served a purpose. Now I am really loving the movement and color in the tank. Who can stay and who must GO? (NO ONE must endanger the well being of my geos!!! LMAO
5
lants- I tried to stay with low light requirement plants as I know the geos appreciate somewhat subdued lighting. I am running one marineland 36" LED light bar (600 lumens) and one 48" single bulb flourescent strip with a 32watt grow bulb. sound ok?6:layout- does it sound like its layed out the right way to ensure a peaceful tank? I can post pics later.
7:supplements-I plan on dosing with seachem flourish weekly for the plants as directed on the bottle. I also plan on dosing with seachem stabilize sparingly for the next two weeks to try to ensure there are no mini cycles with this system. do you have any negative experiences with either of these additives and would there be any possible negative effects of the flourish with the geos? (I apologize I have very little experience with planted tanks and supplements.)
ok that sums it up for now. Im sure I'll come up with new questions to ask, but I appreciate your input on these.
DISCLAIMER: Before anyone flames me for the tank size or stock please read the entire post and realize that any fish that need to be moved before the geos come in will be moved, and also please remember that this is a temporary setup. Ultimately these fish will all live in a 6-8 foot tank once the dust settles from my move. I really hope this is a short term solution and will provide a very comfortable home for my little geos as I have invested many hundreds of dollars in the last week to do everything I could to ensure they would be happy.
