# Coming back to Freshwater Aquariums -- Need Advice



## CamryDS (Oct 5, 2009)

Hi All,

I wanted to see if I can centralize some ideas for a new 90 Gallon FW fish tank.
I'm coming back from about a year's vacation, sold my 90 gallon FW fish tank last year and tossed my salt water tank since I got board with saltwater (great colors, didn't enjoy the tank after I successfully kept it going for a few months)

I want the tank to be planted, but i was never very good at aquascaping, I mainly had swords and crypts and some java fern

I wanted some ideas on the following:

1 - The most popular and inexpensive away to use gravel (I heard flourite is great!)
2 - The best way to hide a fluval 405 cannister filter valves, and a hydor heater?
- I plan to use non carbon filtering (going with bioballs and sponge) -- any suggestions here?
3 - Since it's going to be a standard sized 90 gallon tank, where should I position the power heads so that it's most appealing? What size powerhead should i get (I heard the hydor evolutions replace the Hydor 2's and those should be good enough for a 90 gallon tank)
4 - I'm going to be using low light hoods (probably a power glow with a sunglow) T8's most likely and it will be 2x 48in tubes, so that turns out to be 80w - 80w.
- Is there any plants for beginners? I was thinking swords, crypts, java ferns, and a few moss balls (I got a bunch of Microbe-lift bloom & grow for my old 90 gallon tank so that is still good to use for ferts.
- I don't want to go C02 route, because of the job that i have, I don't have much time maintaining.
5 - Decoration: I want to make it look as natural as possible without it being a high-tech tank, I just want to be able to look at it and relax in front of it once i'm done and just do minor maintenance.

6 - Here's a list of fish I would like to place in this tank (if there's any further suggestions please let me know)
4 x Clown Loaches (2-4 inches)
10 x Tiger Barbs

This is it so far, any other fish that is compatible would be great, I wanted the tank to be fully planted. If anyone has pictures that they can take to give me some idea of how I can hide tubing and aquascape that would be great.

I'm open to any ideas as far as how, or what type of stones to use or how to position as i'm such a noob at this.

I've done some reading around the forums, but there's no where that has all the information centralized and would like to make it easier. Any help would be great!

Thank You all before hand!


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

This is very much along the lines of my larger tanks, with respect to lighting. I'm attaching some photos of my 90g (which has two 48-inch T8 tubes, no CO2, and plain fine gravel substrate) as it has appeared at different times over the last few years. This will give three similar yet different looks, indicative of what is possible with a natural or low-tech method. First and second photos are of one aquascape, showing the increased plant growth after just 4 months; photo 3 is a different aquascape, and photo 4 is the current river habitat aquascape. Same dark gravel substrate in all.

On fish, I myself would reconsider Tiger Barb. Their aggressive tendencies will limit some other possible fish in this sort of tank. A better barb would be the Black Ruby Barb; I have a group of 8 of these in the current 90g and they provide the black vertical stripe appearance but without any of the nastiness. Congo Tetra is in with these, and few fish have flowing fins like Congo but there is no issue with these barb.

The selection of fish if forest types like tetra, loach, catfish, barb, rasbora, etc., would be best suited with a simple canister filter rated for a 90g. I have an Eheim Pro II on this tank, with the heating element built in. The latter means two less implements hanging in the water, so this is one way to avoid equipment in th tank. And the filter is not very obvious in these photos. But tall standing wood, representing a tree stump, or tall plants are easy ways to conceal equipment.

This will start the thinking. I'd be glad to answer any questions.

Byron.


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## CamryDS (Oct 5, 2009)

Thank for all the help Byron,
question about detritus control in your planted tank, without powerheads and without water flow, outside of your powerhead how do you control dead spots in the water?

where did you position the outlet and the inlet of your tank to filter?
I found a Hydor Inline 300w heater -- wondering if that would work with either a fluval 405 or the Fluval fx -- I want to keep as little artificial stuff in the tank as possible. 

Also with barbs, black ruby barbs = cherry barbs? not too sure I have black ruby barbs around but they look similar. I like them too, but the misses think they look like insects.

thank you for your opinions and images it gives me a starting point to look forward to .


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

> Thank for all the help Byron,
> question about detritus control in your planted tank, without powerheads and without water flow, outside of your powerhead how do you control dead spots in the water?
> where did you position the outlet and the inlet of your tank to filter?


I have a canister on that tank. The spray bar is along the top of the end wall on the right side, and the filter intake tube is in the left rear corner. The spray bar is directed against the glass wall so there is less current. But there is a distincet flow right to left through the tank.



> I found a Hydor Inline 300w heater -- wondering if that would work with either a fluval 405 or the Fluval fx -- I want to keep as little artificial stuff in the tank as possible.


I don't know this heater personally, is it intended to go in the filter? If you use heaters in the tank, you will need two for a 90g, one at the end next to the filter intake and one at the opposite end next to the spray bar. This is the best way to circulate the heat evenly. Though my Eheim with the heating element is better. The temp in this tank never goes more than 0.2 or 0.3 from the set temperature which is 25.5 C (78 F). That's pretty darn good. Been like that for 14 years non-stop.



> Also with barbs, black ruby barbs = cherry barbs? not too sure I have black ruby barbs around but they look similar. I like them too, but the misses think they look like insects.


The Black Ruby Barb is quite different from the Cherry. I kept my eyes open for this fish for months before I finally found some. And they are beautiful, and quite active. One of the best barb for community tanks due to their peacefulness, as is the Cherry, but the Black Ruby is much more attractive. Females look much like Tiger Barb, but males have that intense ruby red anterior region and the coal black posterior.


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## CamryDS (Oct 5, 2009)

Byron said:


> I have a canister on that tank. The spray bar is along the top of the end wall on the right side, and the filter intake tube is in the left rear corner. The spray bar is directed against the glass wall so there is less current. But there is a distincet flow right to left through the tank.


By any chance do you have a picture of the filtering system?





> I don't know this heater personally, is it intended to go in the filter? If you use heaters in the tank, you will need two for a 90g, one at the end next to the filter intake and one at the opposite end next to the spray bar. This is the best way to circulate the heat evenly. Though my Eheim with the heating element is better. The temp in this tank never goes more than 0.2 or 0.3 from the set temperature which is 25.5 C (78 F). That's pretty darn good. Been like that for 14 years non-stop.


It will attach to the return hose on the tank it will be a 1 inch hose to a 5/8" heater to a 1" inlet hose. I heard it's a decent heater and i'm leaning towards it since I want to be able to keep more artificial stuff out of it, but I do want at least a power head.




> The Black Ruby Barb is quite different from the Cherry. I kept my eyes open for this fish for months before I finally found some. And they are beautiful, and quite active. One of the best barb for community tanks due to their peacefulness, as is the Cherry, but the Black Ruby is much more attractive. Females look much like Tiger Barb, but males have that intense ruby red anterior region and the coal black posterior.


I saw pictures of these, they are beautiful! I might pick them up!


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

CamryDS said:


> By any chance do you have a picture of the filtering system?
> 
> It will attach to the return hose on the tank it will be a 1 inch hose to a 5/8" heater to a 1" inlet hose. I heard it's a decent heater and i'm leaning towards it since I want to be able to keep more artificial stuff out of it, but I do want at least a power head.
> 
> I saw pictures of these, they are beautiful! I might pick them up!


Don't know what you mean with the pictures, it is just a normal canister filter that happens to have the heating element in the bottom of the canister.

Provided the heater is of sufficient power, it should work. I would always use two heaters on large tanks as a precaution; first, two heaters will each work less hard to heat the tank so less likely to fail, and second if one should fail you have the other to prevent a disaster. Tanks can cool very fast during a cold night. And the higher wattage the heaters, the better as again they work less hard and last longer.


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## CamryDS (Oct 5, 2009)

Byron said:


> Don't know what you mean with the pictures, it is just a normal canister filter that happens to have the heating element in the bottom of the canister.


Ahh, I mean that I wanted to see the positioning of your inlet hoses (was just extra curious about the way the water return was setup) I know you mention you have spray hoses, but I just wanted to see -- no worries.

I think I definitely have enough information on what I would like to setup.

Now, onto the next step -- gravel, lighting, driftwood, and stones

driftwood and stones are not a big problem, even plants are not a problem since I know what I will need a lot of low light plants.

Gravel is my next problem I have to conquer.
Now I know i'm going to mix Seachem Flourite + quikrete all purpose play sand, but the next question would be how much of each, I want enough substrate but i've ran into problems where I had some bad smelling water in my last tank and pockets of black was trapped in the substrate (hydrogen sulfide?).

I want to try to prevent this, but also not disturb the plants once I have finished planting them.

as for lighting I'm going to be picking up corallife T5 -VHO hood with a 67k light and a all spectrum light, so I'm hoping that helps the plant growth.


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

> Ahh, I mean that I wanted to see the positioning of your inlet hoses (was just extra curious about the way the water return was setup) I know you mention you have spray hoses, but I just wanted to see -- no worries.


If you look at the photos I posted earlier, esp in the last, you can see the spray bar along the end wall at the top, right side. And the filter intake is in the left rear corner.



> driftwood and stones are not a big problem, even plants are not a problem since I know what I will need a lot of low light plants.


Moderate light plants will work too. Swords are one of my favourites.



> Gravel is my next problem I have to conquer.
> Now I know i'm going to mix Seachem Flourite + quikrete all purpose play sand, but the next question would be how much of each, I want enough substrate but i've ran into problems where I had some bad smelling water in my last tank and pockets of black was trapped in the substrate (hydrogen sulfide?).
> 
> I want to try to prevent this, but also not disturb the plants once I have finished planting them.


I would not mix substrates. I have both of these, and they will not work together. Flourite is more gravel-size, so the sand particles would naturally fall to the bottom, leaving the Flourite on top. Now, Flourite does come in a black sand too. This might mix better. However, I still wouldn't mix them.

Flourite is an enriched substrate, but having had it now for 7+ months in my 70g, I would not waste the money on it again. The pygmy chain sword may be doing better in this tank than it is in the other tanks (I also have it in playsand tanks and fine gravel tanks), but it is not sufficiently better for me to justify having spent $180 for the Flourite compared to $12 for playsand sufficient to provide a substrate over the same surface area. I used just playsand when I reset my 5-foot 115g this summer, and I have playsand in the 33g and intend to use it alone in the 29g when I reset that next. I am having to dose Flourish Comprehensive once a week in all these tanks, regardless of the substrate. I have Flourish tabs next to the large swords in the 90g and 115g now. They are probably cheaper long-term than Flourite; they say it never wears out, but that is an impossible claim because the nutrients have to be replenished somehow. Flourite also seems to need regular fertilizer being added to work anyway. Having said all that, if you want a pure black substrate, and the money is not an issue, the Flourite sand on its own should work. For a 90g you will want 6 bags; they are (if memory serves me) 7 kg/15 pound bags. I used six bags in my 70g, and it has the same surface area as the 90g (864 sq inches).



> as for lighting I'm going to be picking up corallife T5 -VHO hood with a 67k light and a all spectrum light, so I'm hoping that helps the plant growth.


This is far too much light. You will have a tank of algae, and the fish will be blind.

VHO [very high output] is intended for reef marine tanks. T5 was in fact designed to provide higher light for reef tanks over the regular T8, so fewer tubes would be needed. T5 comes in NO (normal), HO (high) and VHO. The NO is approximately identical in intensity to T8 of the same type and length; but paying almost double for T5 over T8 for the same result makes no sense, and (probably for this reason) NO tubes are hard to find. HO is approximately 1.5 times more intense than T8 in the same type and length. VHO is obviously even more. Those tank photos I posted all have two 48-inch T8 tubes, and I have to keep the duration down to 8 hours or algae explodes.

Other than my dual T8, the only fixture I would consider over a 90g is a single tube T5. This is slightly less light, which in itself would still be manageable, but considering the considerable cost of the T5 fixtures and tubes by comparison to T8, over time it would not be sensible. Two years ago I tried a dual T5 HO fixture when my old T8 gave out; over the 90g it was just too much light. I tried it over my 5-foot 115g thinking it might work there, but after using it for a week I took it back for a new dual T8. I told the store my fish were asking me for sunglasses. Much too bright. Fine if you have a high-tech setup, with CO2 diffusion and daily dosing of nutrients to balance. But not over natural systems.


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## CamryDS (Oct 5, 2009)

Byron said:


> If you look at the photos I posted earlier, esp in the last, you can see the spray bar along the end wall at the top, right side. And the filter intake is in the left rear corner.
> 
> Moderate light plants will work too. Swords are one of my favourites.
> 
> ...


Thank you for taking all the time to explain it to me.. I've re-reviewed the picture and I see the inlet, it's appreciated. I completely agree about the low tech setup, I might not need the fixture afterall. Though CFL T5's uses about 23watts per bulb instead of 40 for the FL tubes. I guess the wattage doesn't matter.

As far as the light bulbs, if you're using a T8 bulb what type of light are you actually using in the tank, any recommendations there -- because my old tank was a T8 and a T10 a life glo2 and a sun glo.

-edited-
I actually found the bulb type from coralife and they are NO
*http://www.marineandreef.com/Coralife_48_6_700K_28_Watt_T5_Lamp_p/res58593.htm
http://www.marineandreef.com/48_inch_10K_28_Watt_T_5_Coralife_p/res58563.htm

what is your opinion on these? since they are Normal Output they should be okay right?

I've considered pricing, my local fish shops make me pay double of what I find online -- so if it's not money, I think this would be great --
* 
I want the benefits of good light, but also have the colors of both plants and fish pop out -- I never got that with my life and sun glo bulbs, but the plants grew well with them. what's your take on that?

As far as sand, I would like to use black sand or a mix of black and play, the flourite was going to be a sand based flourite so i'm not sure how that would play out. I would love a way for that type of sand to come in black, but there is only petco and that is 15 dollars for a 20lb bag.


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

> Thank you for taking all the time to explain it to me.. I've re-reviewed the picture and I see the inlet, it's appreciated. I completely agree about the low tech setup, I might not need the fixture afterall. Though CFL T5's uses about 23watts per bulb instead of 40 for the FL tubes. I guess the wattage doesn't matter.


You're most welcome. Watts is only the measurement of the amount of energy a tube/bulb uses to produce the light. It is not any indicator of intensity (brightness), except when comparing the identical type of tube/bulb. Example, a GE Daylight CFL bulb in 23w will obviously be brighter than the same bulb in 10w. Watts did provide some guidance when all we had were basic fluorescent tubes (T12 or T8) and over moderate-sized tanks with fewer types of tubes. But will all the energy-saving tubes and T5's and such, it is rather meaningless from the perspective of actual intensity of light.



> As far as the light bulbs, if you're using a T8 bulb what type of light are you actually using in the tank, any recommendations there -- because my old tank was a T8 and a T10 a life glo2 and a sun glo.
> 
> -edited-
> I actually found the bulb type from coralife and they are NO
> ...


The linked tubes together would probably be good, but a caution: these tubes are replacement for the Coralife fixture, and I suspect only Coralife tubes will fit this fixture. The tubes are noted as being 45.75 inches, and I just measured my T8's and they are longer. So the fixture and tubes may be unique. If you should ever want other tubes, they might not fit. Of course, this is T5 and NO is not easy to come by. Given the higher cost of T5 fixtures and tubes, I would stay with T8. You will have more options for less money.

The Life-Glo is my absolute favourite tube. It give a true rendition of fish and plant colours, close to mid-day sun. Your Sun Glo was very warm, more red in the mix. Fine for plants, but if I am reading you correctly you are looking for more "cool" which brings out blues more. I like such a combo myself, a Life-Glo (= full spectrum) plus a cooler white (higher Kelvin) will achieve this. Instead of the Sun Glo, the ZooMed CoralSun will achieve this. I had this combo over my 90g and liked it. There is also a brand called Lightening Rod, and their Ultra Daylight at 11,000K was a good match with a full spectrum like Life-Glo.

If it were me, to keep more options in tunbes open, and for less money to boot, I would stay with a T8 fixture.



> As far as sand, I would like to use black sand or a mix of black and play, the flourite was going to be a sand based flourite so i'm not sure how that would play out. I would love a way for that type of sand to come in black, but there is only petco and that is 15 dollars for a 20lb bag.


This could work, but I would be concerned over the too-obvious salt-and-pepper effect. The playsand is a mix of black, gray, tan, white that looks natural. Adding the pure black Flourite Sand to it might not look so natural. Only a caution, I've never tried this. Personally, I prefer not mixing different substrates. If they are not identical grain sizes, the smaller will fall to the bottom. The other issue is sharpness; I have the Flourite Black regular, and it is too sharp for substrate fish, I had to remove my corys. I've seen the Flourite Black Sand but not felt it, so I would be cautious here too. And it is expensive. The cheapest I can get Flourite is $30 a bag, and it took 6 bags ($180) to do my 70g. Playsand for the same tank was $14. I'm not convinced the Flourite is worth that much more in benefits.

Byron.


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## CamryDS (Oct 5, 2009)

Byron said:


> You're most welcome. Watts is only the measurement of the amount of energy a tube/bulb uses to produce the light. It is not any indicator of intensity (brightness), except when comparing the identical type of tube/bulb. Example, a GE Daylight CFL bulb in 23w will obviously be brighter than the same bulb in 10w. Watts did provide some guidance when all we had were basic fluorescent tubes (T12 or T8) and over moderate-sized tanks with fewer types of tubes. But will all the energy-saving tubes and T5's and such, it is rather meaningless from the perspective of actual intensity of light.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I definitely will keep that in mind, thank you for telling me about your bulb opinions I will also keep that in mind as well. I definitely am trying to get the colors to pop out more, but also have enough spectrum for the plants to grow.




> This could work, but I would be concerned over the too-obvious salt-and-pepper effect. The playsand is a mix of black, gray, tan, white that looks natural. Adding the pure black Flourite Sand to it might not look so natural. Only a caution, I've never tried this. Personally, I prefer not mixing different substrates. If they are not identical grain sizes, the smaller will fall to the bottom. The other issue is sharpness; I have the Flourite Black regular, and it is too sharp for substrate fish, I had to remove my corys. I've seen the Flourite Black Sand but not felt it, so I would be cautious here too. And it is expensive. The cheapest I can get Flourite is $30 a bag, and it took 6 bags ($180) to do my 70g. Playsand for the same tank was $14. I'm not convinced the Flourite is worth that much more in benefits.
> 
> Byron.


Ahh I went for petco's black sand -- I couldn't find a decent place for cheap black sand, so I found 20lb bags for 15 dollars -- bought 4 so that should give me 80lbs. 6x15 = 90 so I'm about 10lbs off, which I may be able to get away with. my previous 90 gallon had only 1inch of substrate so I might not need THAT much, but I'll try to put more sand this time.

I love your pictures and it's giving me great ideas in how to mount driftwood in place. I heard stainless steel plates + screws are best if you want them to stay still and not be roughed around too much. Would stainless steel hurt water chemistry? If not i might experiment by bringing a tank to the office and work on a 10 gallon planted or a 5 gallon planted tank.

One question going back to substrates -- I use to get hydrogen sulfide and I found that it was trapped in the sand below, how can I prevent that without disturbing the substrate? In my past tank, nothing was stable in the planted tank because I had to consistently vacuum the tank's floor in order to get all the waste out.


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

On the bogwood, I only use Malaysian Driftwood (it may have other names, like ironwood, jetti wood...). Petsmart sell it, other places too. Very dark brown in colour, and heavy--it sinks immediately. Tannins are not too bad, some at first but once they dissipate, that's it. And it is very natural looking, and comes in so many sizes. All the wood in my tanks is Malaysian Driftwood.

I leave my substrate alone, and haven't had issues with hydrogen sulfide that I was aware of. If you read my article on bacteria, in the substrate section is goes into this. Some anaerobic spots are necessary for a balance. Keep the substrate shallow rather than too deep, with sand or fine gravel I aim for 2 inches over the entire surface when flat, then I push some of it up in the back with rocks for the larger swords. It will be shallower at the front, where small or no plants are. With substrate-rooted plants, Malaysian Livebearing snails, and not overstocking the tank, there should be no problems.

Byron.


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## CamryDS (Oct 5, 2009)

Byron said:


> On the bogwood, I only use Malaysian Driftwood (it may have other names, like ironwood, jetti wood...). Petsmart sell it, other places too. Very dark brown in colour, and heavy--it sinks immediately. Tannins are not too bad, some at first but once they dissipate, that's it. And it is very natural looking, and comes in so many sizes. All the wood in my tanks is Malaysian Driftwood.
> 
> I leave my substrate alone, and haven't had issues with hydrogen sulfide that I was aware of. If you read my article on bacteria, in the substrate section is goes into this. Some anaerobic spots are necessary for a balance. Keep the substrate shallow rather than too deep, with sand or fine gravel I aim for 2 inches over the entire surface when flat, then I push some of it up in the back with rocks for the larger swords. It will be shallower at the front, where small or no plants are. With substrate-rooted plants, Malaysian Livebearing snails, and not overstocking the tank, there should be no problems.
> 
> Byron.


awesome advice -- I will read up on the bacteria article.

currently my plans to stock the tank are:

5x Clown Loaches << after the tank is a bit more established
1x SAE or 5 Otocinclus' << after the tank is a bit more established
9x Black Ruby barbs (thanks for recommending) << after the tank's initial cycle

Any other recommendations? I want a tank that is going to be fun to look at, but calming.


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

I would not suggest clown loaches. They will be fine in a 90g initially, but eventually a larger tank (length) will be needed. Unless you have a 6-7 foot tank planned, I would go with one of the smaller loach species. There are several that would be good in a 90g, check our profiles. I happen to have Botia kubotai in my 90g, five of them; had six initially but one died after a couple months and the five are quite a social group so I have no plans to add more of these. There are several similar species. Clowns are also reported to uproot plants, probably due to their size and digging activities; something I have not experienced with my other species in 3 years.

As for other upper level fish, there are so many possibles... . Many of the characins will work (there are a few exceptions, fin nippers and such). If you want a larger "show" fish, not much beats the Congo Tetra. A group of 10 (5 male/ 5 female) creates a stunning centrepiece. I've had this fish twice, once back in the 1980's and currently. Every evening the males will pair up, sometimes 3 of them, now and then even a fourth joins in, and have races full length of the tank, fins flaring. Quite the sight. The Diamond Tetra from SA is very similar but lacking the rainbow metallic colouring, and another good centrepiece fish.


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## CamryDS (Oct 5, 2009)

Byron said:


> I would not suggest clown loaches. They will be fine in a 90g initially, but eventually a larger tank (length) will be needed. Unless you have a 6-7 foot tank planned, I would go with one of the smaller loach species. There are several that would be good in a 90g, check our profiles. I happen to have Botia kubotai in my 90g, five of them; had six initially but one died after a couple months and the five are quite a social group so I have no plans to add more of these. There are several similar species. Clowns are also reported to uproot plants, probably due to their size and digging activities; something I have not experienced with my other species in 3 years.
> 
> As for other upper level fish, there are so many possibles... . Many of the characins will work (there are a few exceptions, fin nippers and such). If you want a larger "show" fish, not much beats the Congo Tetra. A group of 10 (5 male/ 5 female) creates a stunning centrepiece. I've had this fish twice, once back in the 1980's and currently. Every evening the males will pair up, sometimes 3 of them, now and then even a fourth joins in, and have races full length of the tank, fins flaring. Quite the sight. The Diamond Tetra from SA is very similar but lacking the rainbow metallic colouring, and another good centrepiece fish.


Ahh, thank you for that suggestion, I might think of a 90g long instead of std size for that then -- only reason would be the other person living in the home likes clown loaches and prefers me to purchase it, otherwise no tank for meh! T_T

I've seen clowns uproot, oh my they are devious at that. I'll definitely look into the kubotai, but the coloration on that is to my liking, but not the other person in the household.

What about killi fish?

Oh I got most of my equipment: (here's the current list)
2x Eheim 300w heater
Fluval 406 Canister
80lbs of black sand from petco
2x40watt T8 fixture + bulbs (2x 10k bulbs)
Found a place that sells malaysian wood for 40 dollars + 6.95 shipping (from small to xl size) http://store.seacorals.net/ << great place to purchase it


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

If those tubes are the ones that came with the fixture, they are probably not much good. They never are, I bought 3 new fixtures over the past year and in every case I bought my own tubes.

Killifish covers a vast number of species with differing habitats and temperaments. I'm not much up on the species but I could probably direct you to good sites. Some might work in a 90g, depending upon other fish; some defrinitely would not, they would be lost in so vast a tank.


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## CamryDS (Oct 5, 2009)

Byron said:


> If those tubes are the ones that came with the fixture, they are probably not much good. They never are, I bought 3 new fixtures over the past year and in every case I bought my own tubes.
> 
> Killifish covers a vast number of species with differing habitats and temperaments. I'm not much up on the species but I could probably direct you to good sites. Some might work in a 90g, depending upon other fish; some defrinitely would not, they would be lost in so vast a tank.


Ahh thank you -- I bought additional tubing 2x life glo II's and a power glo as a backup -- the life glow's are T10's saddly -- but they should fit the T8 socket.

hmm, i just figured out how to do a DIY spray bar in 2 directions and I will want to see how that plays out

1st will be from the back of the tank to the front, the 2nd will be from the right to the left. sorta like an L. maybe a 1/2" PVC pipe to 2x 1/2" pvc pipes that are drilled and capped. the one from the back of the tank will point forward and the one from the right of the tank will point to the left. I might even make one lower than the other -- I think that might create the look I want, but it also might cause the tank to look ugly -- i'll see. I want to be able to hide this asap. i'll have a drawing of this up tomorrow to show yah.


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

CamryDS said:


> Ahh thank you -- I bought additional tubing 2x life glo II's and a power glo as a backup -- the life glow's are T10's saddly -- but they should fit the T8 socket.
> 
> hmm, i just figured out how to do a DIY spray bar in 2 directions and I will want to see how that plays out
> 
> 1st will be from the back of the tank to the front, the 2nd will be from the right to the left. sorta like an L. maybe a 1/2" PVC pipe to 2x 1/2" pvc pipes that are drilled and capped. the one from the back of the tank will point forward and the one from the right of the tank will point to the left. I might even make one lower than the other -- I think that might create the look I want, but it also might cause the tank to look ugly -- i'll see. I want to be able to hide this asap. i'll have a drawing of this up tomorrow to show yah.


Yes, the T10's will fit. T8 and T10 work in the "regular" fixtures. T5 is the one that does not. Life-Glo is good light, I use this over all my single-tube tanks, and as one of the two tubes in my dual-tube fixtures. The Power-Glo also works, though on its own it casts a purplish hue; combined with a LG in dual-tube it would be fine.

My caution on the two filter outlets is current. In long tanks it is best to have the current from one side to the other, lengthwise. This creates a natural stream flow which the fish appreciate, plus it ensures the entire tank volume is being moved.


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## CamryDS (Oct 5, 2009)

Byron said:


> Yes, the T10's will fit. T8 and T10 work in the "regular" fixtures. T5 is the one that does not. Life-Glo is good light, I use this over all my single-tube tanks, and as one of the two tubes in my dual-tube fixtures. The Power-Glo also works, though on its own it casts a purplish hue; combined with a LG in dual-tube it would be fine.
> 
> My caution on the two filter outlets is current. In long tanks it is best to have the current from one side to the other, lengthwise. This creates a natural stream flow which the fish appreciate, plus it ensures the entire tank volume is being moved.


Ahh I will keep that in mind and use both on one side of the tank, this way it will flow to the other side easily. thank you! There was a nice link to a fluval 405/406 pvc custom setup that I might begin to use.


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## CamryDS (Oct 5, 2009)

*Setup a 5 gallon tank to test osmocote*

I setup a 5 gallon tank at work to test the theory for osmocote

10lbs of substrate, 5 lbs of black sand, 5lbs of river gravel that is in the middle and is splitting the 2 other
I have a few mini swords and some dwarf swords and some crypts now in the tank

Changed the light in the tank from incandescent to a CF - full spectrum lightbulb 10watts. should give me 2wpg.
I will be dosing microbe-lift - bloom and grow every week

Cloudy water is due to bacteria starter (will provide brand later)

But I will be adding fish in about 2-3 weeks, hopefully this will turn out to be a good experiment.

Total cost so far is $150 (including all the extras (plants, light timer, hydor heater, etc)

Any suggestions?


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## CamryDS (Oct 5, 2009)

my driftwood came in -- i'm happy!


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

Those are nice. I do like that Malaysian Driftwood, each piece is different (being natural wood) and it gives a more natural look to a tank compared to the resin fake woods, some of which I also have.


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## CamryDS (Oct 5, 2009)

Byron said:


> Those are nice. I do like that Malaysian Driftwood, each piece is different (being natural wood) and it gives a more natural look to a tank compared to the resin fake woods, some of which I also have.


Thanks for the compliment, was really happy how the pieces turned out and all under 40 dollars was pretty cheap!.

The 5 gallon tank now has 2 cherry shrimp to test the waters, 3, but I suspect 1 was pulled into the intake of my filter since he was stuck on it when I turned off the filter this morning.

pulled him out before the tank rotted him.

I'm going to be doing my 1st water change this week and will see how the tank will be doing after.

I was hoping to get an anubias, but i'm not sure how it will look in the tank now.


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## CamryDS (Oct 5, 2009)

New Office Tank Photo:


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## CamryDS (Oct 5, 2009)

New Update - (This Thread has kinda turned into my new 5 gal journal)
Added some plants:

Rotala Rotundifolia
Dwarf Sagittaria


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

That's very nice, good work. Just needs some floating plants...


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## CamryDS (Oct 5, 2009)

Byron said:


> That's very nice, good work. Just needs some floating plants...


Yeah, I tried duckweed. I think i'm the only person who cannot keep duckweed -- they get sucked into the filter and began to just die off.
I just bought a 4.5L worth of osmocote plus and began filling 00 gel caps full of them. I'm going to use them as makeshift root tabs tomorrow -- about 5 of them will do.


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

CamryDS said:


> Yeah, I tried duckweed. I think i'm the only person who cannot keep duckweed -- they get sucked into the filter and began to just die off.
> I just bought a 4.5L worth of osmocote plus and began filling 00 gel caps full of them. I'm going to use them as makeshift root tabs tomorrow -- about 5 of them will do.


Water Sprite would be ideal, as it grows large enough especially in this sized tank that it will not be pulled in to the filter.


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## CamryDS (Oct 5, 2009)

Byron said:


> Water Sprite would be ideal, as it grows large enough especially in this sized tank that it will not be pulled in to the filter.



Ahh nice, I'll look into those too -- I think this tank is going to become my farm until I get my large tank.


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## CamryDS (Oct 5, 2009)

New picture -- I did some pruning and moved my crypt to the back of the aquarium or at least to mid ground.


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

That appears to be a fully submersible heater, so it would be best close to the substrate, same horizontal position. This way, the heated water will rise (warm rises, cool falls in water as in air). Close to the top the heat will more likely partly dissipate out of the water. The heater will also be more hidden down behind the plants.


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## CamryDS (Oct 5, 2009)

Byron said:


> That appears to be a fully submersible heater, so it would be best close to the substrate, same horizontal position. This way, the heated water will rise (warm rises, cool falls in water as in air). Close to the top the heat will more likely partly dissipate out of the water. The heater will also be more hidden down behind the plants.


I was thinking about that too, but the water that comes out of the filter is cooler than the rest of tank, the filter also has enough umph to push the water around the entire tank so it has enough flow everywhere. I'll try to re-arrange it so it's out of the way, but I'm afraid that the plants will cook =)


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

CamryDS said:


> I was thinking about that too, but the water that comes out of the filter is cooler than the rest of tank, the filter also has enough umph to push the water around the entire tank so it has enough flow everywhere. I'll try to re-arrange it so it's out of the way, but I'm afraid that the plants will cook =)


That is a consideration, though the water current would likely be sufficient to prevent this.


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## CamryDS (Oct 5, 2009)

Byron said:


> That is a consideration, though the water current would likely be sufficient to prevent this.


unfortunately it doesn't reach the back and the office is sufficiently heated to 70 degs at least.


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