Need advise on setting up my puffer tank

[defool89]

A lot of lfs employees dont know fully what they are talking about. Especially large corporate ones. I would barely evem trust the private family owned one for the owner is probably rhe only fully knowledgeable one. The employees probably got a job there by stating they have experience by having a tank at home, and really only kept a betta in a bowl wich is still wrong in my experience with dealing with employees. My lfs is by far one of the best but I hear some ubsurd things from time to time. I once was told an f8 could flourish in fw all its life or brackish to full marinhealthy for many years...he lost all credibility that day but kept a couple points for knowing the word brackish. Forums is where the truth is, for anything from puffers to turtles or spiders and other hobbies like motorcycles IMO. But even then....but even then its just a matter of opnion and you pick and choose whats good for you.

[bertie 83]

Please be aware mixed breeders don't tend to work, one species will always overpopulated the others.

[Pufferpunk]

just let it cycle completely.

Tanks to not cycle on their own: library/water-filtration/fishless-cycling/

[defool89]

Yea he read that already. I got a close eye on this thread, you're living my dream. Wish I started this way...

[boosted23]

thank you again all, i am just gonna fill it up. set up the co2, dial it in as far as vetting the bubble count correct. see how a couple plants doo with that. take some old media from my 36 gallon and run that through one of the canister filters to get the bacteria started. do a major waterchange after a week or so and add more plants. do about 5-10 all together and some grassy style plants with a driftwood cave. get it cycled fully then order my puffer. hopefully the tank will be ready byjanuary to add it so we can finally enjoy the little guy.

really, thank you all for all your help so far. otberwise i could have/would have made a grave mistake by now.

[Fahaka Fakka]

I would have focused my efforts on building a nice looking cave able to house a fully grown Fahaka. I used a lightweight flat stone glued onto to a transparent cake bowl, which I reshaped into a two way channel. My fahaka can pass through it with ease and hide most of his body when resting. He also seems to enjoy hovering around the bogwood.

I gave up real plants and bright lights early as my fahaka's waste combined with heavy overfiltering/ aeriation did not go hand in hand. By using relatively dim T5 plant growth tube lights (at fifty percent capacity) I am very happy about being able to max up filtation/aeriation instead and hence not experience getting algae problems anymore.

I have two large external canisters running a total of 767 gallons or 2905 liters per hour (over 10 gallon filter volume) including a strong air pump for additional aeariation in my 125 gallon tank. 50% weekly wc.

Make sure there is a lid preventing water spills. My fahaka seems to enjoy creating waves by going high speed close to the water surface when there are people in the room passing the tank. These waves splash water out of the tank unless the water level is kept down and the lid is on. He also pushes the spraybar upwards with his head which is also a threat without the lid.

The above works well for me but there are no fixed answer. I am a terrible amateur with plants and parameters beyond ammonia and nitrate and just want that fat active dude stay alive as long as possible with also the least efforts as possible:) good luck

[bertie 83]

If you have used media you should easy be ready in January, remember to feed ammonia to your tanks bacteria or the cycle will never happen. Sounds like you got it sussed but the simple things can be easy to miss. So if you are being told things you already know dont take offense, we want it to run smoothly for you

[boosted23]

ok..... some little mishaps with the sunsun filter and water pouring allover my floor, i have a running tank now!!!!! only thing that is causing me problems now is the darn co2 regulator..... it wont send co2 into the bubble counter.... my lady is gonna take it and the bottle to a welding store to see if they can figure it out.

well, this is the tank so far.will be doing some changes when igo to do the water change and the piece of driftwood finally waterlogs and will stay down on its own. iam tired now and have a headache, iwill elaborate more on my journey to startup tomorrow. criticism is welcome on my picture.

tank by boosted23, on Flickr

[Pufferpunk]

More decor!

[boosted23]

yes p.p. i know. lol i just got done spending $200 on the filter, plants, and driftwood. plus my co2 isnt working right, have to fix that to get the plants that rely on co2'. three pieces of wood was $90 in itself.....

[Pufferpunk]

You asked for criticizem.

[defool89]

lol yea this is the fun part...i predict that you will re arrange everything 285298928359831 times before you make up your mind.... decor is sooo expensive i know but dont rush that part...i made the mistake of thinking i can just buy all my decor and be happy...i now have a box full of decorations i may never use again...lol trust me youll be walking at a store and youll be like damn, that dragon will look soo cool in my tank....and then youll be like damn that dragon will look so cool on that rooock!!! oh god!!! i got carried away there..

[boosted23]

Hahahaha, yes defool, i know exactly what you mean!!! Good part is now the tank is setup, my lady is excited and wants to buy more decor just like i do. Lol. finally got the co2 up and running. Got the ph set to the right setting in relation to my dkh reading and i should be between 20-30ppm of co2 according to the conversiont chart. Hopefully the plants i have will start to grow and start filling in the tank some. getting real antsy to get my puffer.... Tank needs to cycle NOW!!!! LOL

[bertie 83]

Keep a cool head, you don't want to make a mistake now. Pop some used media in and follow the method in the library and your tank will be puffer ready in no time

[RTR]

Clarification: Aquatic plants, when healthy and established, can be effective users of ammonia and nitrate. They do not in generally uptake nitrite - it is too toxic to transport internally for them. Healthy heavily planted tanks commonly need to have locked-in ammonium ion and/or nitrate addition. Even at my usual moderate lighting levels, I add plant-available NH4+/NO3- weekly to support plant growth. But I also do not have heavy bioloads in those tanks. This does not mean that there is normal bacterial nitrification going on in those tanks initially. Plant utilization of nitrogen is independent of bacterial nitrification.

Some non-scientist hobbyists claim that bacterial nitrification is injurious to plants, or will rob plants of nitrogen sources, but I have never found this to be the case. Conversely, I have found that in heavily planted tanks, nitrogenous bacterial filters are reduced in population compared to unplanned tanks with the same bioload. Function bacterial filters do and will develop in such tanks, but at a smaller scale than in a FO (fish only, no plants) tank. Who gets the ammonium ion in such tanks may be light cycle related - the plants get the ammonium iom during the light-on periods, with the bacteria getting significant percentages only when the plants are not in photosynthesis. But both plants and bacteria do share in the nitrogen. A heavily planted tank without a heavy bioload will need nitrogen supplement routinely. Plants do have the advantage of up-taking nitrate, which is otherwise removed only by water changes. But ammonium ion is generally preferred over nitrate ion.

Unfortunately, aquarium micro-ecology is not simple. It is also not "natural". An aquarium in relation to a healthy natural ecosystem, is always eutrophic (i.e., polluted). We use filter, plants, lights, and water changes to support those micro-ecologies as closely as possible to our source water supplies. This is not a simple task. Folks do try to simplify aquarium practices, as what is simple is more likely to be done that things which are complex and laborious. Some tanks appear simple, others appear to be complex (such as FOWLR + skimmer + lighted macroalgae refugium), but all aim at the simplest possible upkeep to provide adequate conditions for our wet pets. Folks such as most LFS staffers do tend to over-simplify to the point of endangering the wets pets housed in our tanks.

HTH