New tank, debating on fish/plants...
Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2011 7:02 pm
It's been a really long time since I have been on here. I had to take down my tanks because I moved and then when I was just about to set them back up I got orders for a deployment. So I just got back in January and have decided to set up my tank. I got rid of my other, smaller, tanks and now I have a 45 gallon.
I have not decided what to put in the tank yet, fish/plants, but I do know that I had to have this piece of driftwood, the thing was huge so I had to cut it up and modify some of the branches (meaning screw them onto different parts to achieve the look I wanted) because my tank is only 18"x18"x36" (inside the tank measurements). These pictures do not even come close to doing the driftwood any justice. It has sooo many nooks, crannies, crevices, and holes in it for fish to swim around in. I was at a petstore and I was looking for some driftwood. They wanted INSANE amounts for the sinking driftwood ($45 for a peice that was 14"x6"x7") so instead I decided to go check out the reptile wood. I found this piece which was 23" long x 24" tall x 20" deep that had a huge hole that went right through the middle, amazing hollowed out tree stump, for $20. So I took it home and sure enough, this thing could be used as a life preserver if someone couldn't swim. So I went to Lowe's and got a 16"x16"x2" concrete block and drilled a few holes in it, screwed it to the wood, and then tested it out in the bathtub. Viola! It no longer floated. I then had to set up the tank. I got some pure laterite to put below the sand, play sand from Lowe's ($4 for a 50 lb bag!) so that the plants, if I got any, would have something to get at least some nutrients from besides fertilizers. I laid this first, after rinsing of course, and then put about an inch of sand on it, also after rinsing, and mixed them together. Then I put in the driftwood, which weighed a TON (more like 50-60 lbs) on top of this and then slowly put in more sand, and random lace rock pieces around the driftwood until I got the look I wanted, may need some more rocks though, we will see. The glass got a little messy in the process... My cat watched the whole time (Me and my wife named her "The Peach". Not "Peach", not "Peaches", just "The Peach"). She's pretty creepy sometimes... This is what the tank looks like so far. Kinda cloudy still, I know. I went to set up the filter and when I plugged it in... nothing happened. I dropped it on concrete when I was doing the final cleaning on it before I left for "the sandbox" and I thought it would still be ok, but it wasn't... RIP Fluval. So I am now waiting on one I just got off ebay (kinda iffy on it because it was Really cheap, $60, and a brand I have never heard of, Jeboa), until then, I will just have standing watter in the tank. Here is now my cats favorite place in the whole house... sitting, and even sleeping, on top of the tank light. I think she likes the warmth. So now I am open for opinions. I am thinking either:
- One GSP (my wife hates this idea because she thinks it is stupid to have 1 fish in such a large tank, her opinion, not mine)
- 2-3 Figure 8s with 4-8 BBGs and maybe 1-2 Knight Gobies or maybe even a Dragon Goby
- 10-15 Dwarf Puffers and 6-8 Ottos
- 8 Dwarf puffers, 6 Ottos, and 2 German Blue Rams.
- Or *GASP* no puffers at all . 2-4 German Blue Rams, 10-15 Raspboras, Neon Tetras or Rummy Nose Tetras, some Zebra Nerite Snails, and an Albino Brushynose Pleco. Another maybe is a Red-Tailed Shark.
- I could always do the above, with just 2 Rams and no Red-Tailed Shark, 10 Raspboras, the Albino Brushynose Pleco and put 2-4 Dwarf Puffers in there too.
As for plants, I am thinking just some large Java ferns as well as some Anubias to attach to the tree stump. May add some fake plants also, but still unsure. These will do well in both freshwater and brackish setups, so I will probably have all of the aquascaping done well before I make any decision or I get any fish.
So what do you think? Any opinions on the fish or plants? any ideas that I did not think of that you think would be cool? Let me know.
-Dave
I have not decided what to put in the tank yet, fish/plants, but I do know that I had to have this piece of driftwood, the thing was huge so I had to cut it up and modify some of the branches (meaning screw them onto different parts to achieve the look I wanted) because my tank is only 18"x18"x36" (inside the tank measurements). These pictures do not even come close to doing the driftwood any justice. It has sooo many nooks, crannies, crevices, and holes in it for fish to swim around in. I was at a petstore and I was looking for some driftwood. They wanted INSANE amounts for the sinking driftwood ($45 for a peice that was 14"x6"x7") so instead I decided to go check out the reptile wood. I found this piece which was 23" long x 24" tall x 20" deep that had a huge hole that went right through the middle, amazing hollowed out tree stump, for $20. So I took it home and sure enough, this thing could be used as a life preserver if someone couldn't swim. So I went to Lowe's and got a 16"x16"x2" concrete block and drilled a few holes in it, screwed it to the wood, and then tested it out in the bathtub. Viola! It no longer floated. I then had to set up the tank. I got some pure laterite to put below the sand, play sand from Lowe's ($4 for a 50 lb bag!) so that the plants, if I got any, would have something to get at least some nutrients from besides fertilizers. I laid this first, after rinsing of course, and then put about an inch of sand on it, also after rinsing, and mixed them together. Then I put in the driftwood, which weighed a TON (more like 50-60 lbs) on top of this and then slowly put in more sand, and random lace rock pieces around the driftwood until I got the look I wanted, may need some more rocks though, we will see. The glass got a little messy in the process... My cat watched the whole time (Me and my wife named her "The Peach". Not "Peach", not "Peaches", just "The Peach"). She's pretty creepy sometimes... This is what the tank looks like so far. Kinda cloudy still, I know. I went to set up the filter and when I plugged it in... nothing happened. I dropped it on concrete when I was doing the final cleaning on it before I left for "the sandbox" and I thought it would still be ok, but it wasn't... RIP Fluval. So I am now waiting on one I just got off ebay (kinda iffy on it because it was Really cheap, $60, and a brand I have never heard of, Jeboa), until then, I will just have standing watter in the tank. Here is now my cats favorite place in the whole house... sitting, and even sleeping, on top of the tank light. I think she likes the warmth. So now I am open for opinions. I am thinking either:
- One GSP (my wife hates this idea because she thinks it is stupid to have 1 fish in such a large tank, her opinion, not mine)
- 2-3 Figure 8s with 4-8 BBGs and maybe 1-2 Knight Gobies or maybe even a Dragon Goby
- 10-15 Dwarf Puffers and 6-8 Ottos
- 8 Dwarf puffers, 6 Ottos, and 2 German Blue Rams.
- Or *GASP* no puffers at all . 2-4 German Blue Rams, 10-15 Raspboras, Neon Tetras or Rummy Nose Tetras, some Zebra Nerite Snails, and an Albino Brushynose Pleco. Another maybe is a Red-Tailed Shark.
- I could always do the above, with just 2 Rams and no Red-Tailed Shark, 10 Raspboras, the Albino Brushynose Pleco and put 2-4 Dwarf Puffers in there too.
As for plants, I am thinking just some large Java ferns as well as some Anubias to attach to the tree stump. May add some fake plants also, but still unsure. These will do well in both freshwater and brackish setups, so I will probably have all of the aquascaping done well before I make any decision or I get any fish.
So what do you think? Any opinions on the fish or plants? any ideas that I did not think of that you think would be cool? Let me know.
-Dave