Aquarium fish

[BlackCurtains]

Th plants arrived! I cleaned them then put them in a peroxide bath, cleaned them again and added the conditioner to the water. My substrate is volcanic rock and when I added the water, it turned black. I read the reviews and everyone said it will clear up the next day.

In my quarantine tank I only have the plant substrate, I'm not going to add the sand, so some of the plants are hard to get planted. Some of the dwarf grass and one of the amazon swords keeps floating up. I can't see in the tank, even with a light. So I hope tomorrow it will be clear and I can get them planted better.

I also got some java moss which is free floating, and a mix of duckweed and other floating plants. The duckweed smells like a swamp. I cleaned it as best as I could. I don't know if I'll end up transferring it all to my main tank.

I'm boiling my wood now too. I'm really excited to get my main tank all set up, but I need to wait for my custom cut wood slab to come that I'm going to put under it.

[Nella]

Exciting! Would love to see pictures of the progress!

[BlackCurtains]

Definitely!

The water is clearing up, I can see to the other side. Still very cloudy, but I think it should clear up more tonight. I was able to get the plants planted that wanted to float and I added the fertilizer I need to boil the wood more though.

edit: The water is clear!

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My wood is done too

There's a seller on amazon with great reviews that sells cherry shrimp. I'd rather have those than the ghost shrimp. In my Googling it says you can have 12 per 5 gallons, my tank is 7 gallons, but I don't want them to overrun the tank. I think I'll just get 5. But that's still a ways off.

I'm pretty confident that the plants aren't carrying anything harmful. After I used a water clarifier, what I thought might be snails is gone, so I think it was just debris. They were little black specs on the glass.

I'm very eager to set up the main tank. I've tested everything but the heaters. I'll try the cheaper one first, it's supposed to sustain 78 degrees. The other one has a temp dial so you can change it, but it's still small and sticks on with suction cups.

[Eskara1862]

Oh, how lovely! I'm so happy for you that you're getting to set this up and make it as perfect as you want.

I have a 55 gallon with two goldfish. I keep trying to give them plants, but they're hungry buggars and eat them all. I mainly wanted the aquarium in my bedroom so I could use it as white noise; the pump sounds like a lovely little stream to fall asleep next to. I didn't intend to have fish for it, but a friend had some fish that needed rescuing and I had an empty tank, so I got freebies. And they're the best fish ever! I had some goldfish as a kid that had the biggest personalities. Perky could aim and splash you in the face if her tank got moved somewhere she didn't like it. And she would swim up and down excitedly whenever we came home and greet us. My new fish behave almost the same! I keep switching out and moving their decorations to give them enrichment. I want to figure out some toys for them, like neutral buoyancy balls they could push around or something. Whenever I'm adding water, Silky swims to the stream and lets it push her down to the bottom, then zips back to the top to do it again.

[BlackCurtains]

Goldfish are pretty smart! I gave my mom a fancy goldfish for mother's day when I was in 3rd grade. His name was Sammy and he lived in the kitchen. He would greet us in the morning and he loved playing with little sticks and flowers I would find and pick out for him. He lived a long time too. I was in highschool when he passed away. We buried him in the yard.

My tank is done!

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Man, that AquaClear works so well. I had to retake the pics because after I took them and uploaded them, the water was much more clear

It's hard to see because it's black on black, but in the front on the bottom is a shrimp tunnel. I'll be able to see them when they're in there

The brown egg hide and black tube hide are for the betta.

The plants are weighted down and I really stuck them down in the soil, so hopefully the fish won't uproot them. I will let it cycle overnight with the stuff I put in. Tomorrow I'll put in the nitrifying bacteria and start testing.

I want to get a little bowl for the shrimp food and this adorable little boat.

I'm so excited!

[Beldarna]

It's looking good! I've never had an aquarium myself.. I would love a sea water one, but the maintanance on those.. My MIL had a small aquarium and I loved watching her fishes when we visited.

[BlackCurtains]

I did my first test. The water hardness is the highest color the test strip shows, everything else is fine. I forgot I had some dried leaves, alder cones and the mineral rocks for the shrimp. I put those in. I opted not to boil the leaves and cones so they can bring the hardness down.

[BlackCurtains]

The water is brown with tannins from the leaves and alder cones. There's also a film on the top? It's even in the flow of the filter, swirling about. Think it might be bacteria?

The water is still testing high on the general hardness so I ordered a water softening filter and I also got some sponge filters and a small air pump and tubing. The reviews said it helps oxygenate the water and a lot of people said it cleared up their water too. I know Betta can breathe air and in the wild they basically live in mud puddles but I thought of the plants too for the extra oxygen. Speaking of the plants, they all seem to be doing well. Still green.

I'm anxious to get my shrimp and fish, but I know the water has to be perfect first.

[Heart Of Midnight]

Looks interesting and awesome! 

I've also had an aquarium, but its care became too heavy and I lost interest, so I no longer have it.

[BlackCurtains]

The water softener pillow is working! General hardness is down to zero! The other parameters are where they should be too! I want to do a few more water changes, to clear up up the water more. I'll add reverse osmosis water this time.

It won't be long until I have the fish and shrimp!

[Nella]

Sounds good! Be careful though... All these additional adjustments you're adding to the water are temporary. After each water change your parameters will be fluctuating again which will be dangerous for the fish and shrimp.

I'm not sure what the leaves and alder cones (what are they?) do to your algae and if they can cause the film on top of the water? Do you have a picture of that film?

The best thing is to just slowly build it up. Not add all plants at the same time and give the filter the time to develop the necessary bacteria. Keep it a plants only aquarium for the upcoming weeks would be my advice.

[BlackCurtains]

Will do! Thanks for the ongoing tips

The film is gone now. Either the filter pillow or the sponge filter seems to have gotten rid of it.

The leaves and alder cones are for the shrimp. They eat the decaying leaves and the cones are for breeding.

Yes, I plan to do more water changes too. I'd like to figure out how fast new tap water will affect the tank and how much conditioner is needed, etc, before there are any fish in there. I'm having to calculate the amount of additives since most are for larger than 7 gallons. Like the conditioner I have says 1ml per 10 gallons. I bought an eyedropper for exact measurements. I'd also like to get a full test kit, not just the strips. 

I've also decided to go with ghost shrimp after more research. The brightly colored ones can upset male bettas and make them aggressive. I also read that ghost shrimp are hardier than the fancier ones and can tolerate fluctuations better. They are good for beginners Plus the betta might eat the babies, which is good because I don't want to be overrun with shrimp either. Since each female can lay 20 eggs, some population control is needed.

I've left a one and half inch dry area on top, do you think the betta will be able to jump out that high? I did buy a mesh screen that can be cut to fit the filter, etc., but I like seeing the open tank with the floating plants on top.

[Nella]

Great! I'm glad the film is gone now.

I've never had shrimp so no clue on those lol. For my fish I always had a closed lid on my aquarium. Not only to prevent fish jumping out but also to prevent condensation and therefore waterloss. And it keeps the heat in from the TL lights.

[BlackCurtains]

Ooh, good points.

[Taffeta]

Keeping a lid on will also keep a curious kitty at bay.

I had goldfish for years as a kid, our first ones were rescues and we learned fast, but the longest lived one was 9, and they all had personalities. People are mean about (and to) fish in thinking they're stupid and leaving them in tanks with nothing - but you've taken so much love and care for yours, which is amazing

One of my goldfish jumped out of the tank when I was a kid, while we were away. When we got back, the other one was desperately at the edge of the tank trying to tell us something was wrong. It was a lot too late for the fish, of course. It's a trauma that stayed with me through all the years of having fish, and we mostly did not have a lid for the tank. I was always terrified another one would jump out, although none ever did.

I wish we had had a lid!

I have no experience of the type of fish you're preparing for, but it's interesting reading all the things you've been doing to get ready