I want to start an Aquarium...

Sweet! Thasnks for all the advice, guys...Gastanker, I like the ecology/hydro connection, and I decided to start off with gravel (being a hydro guy )...

Anyway, I'll have to check out the plantedtank forums, because tomorrow is finally(hopefully) the day where I begin to cycle the tank! And my JBJ Picotope is in the mail, shipped today I believe! I was gonna pick up the API Freshwater Master test kit, any objections? And any tips for starting the cycle?

API test are personally my favorite,beside the 100+ dollar sets available. To cycle you either setup the tank as you wish and do it the old school way with fish or you could get a frozen shrimp and put it in a mesh bag or stocking etc. then place that in your tank. Either way the ammonia will creep up when you test water. Then the nitrItes will rise.Then nitrAtes will rise and ammonia should start to go down.Once ammo and nitrites are 0 do a 90 percent water change and your cycled (more or less). All this time you should NOT be doing any waterchanges,this is why i like using raw shrimp it's already dead so the ammonia and HIGH nitrates wont faze them. Plus i always find catching the "starter" fish immpossible in a fully planted aquarium and those fish are usually good as dead if they make it thru the cycle.

OOORRRRRR,you could get ammonia from acehardware or similiar and add that to the water as well. Just add daily in small amounts. Im not very sure of this way of cycling so id google it.

Yup. Basically just get the water "dirty". I've thrown meal worms into tanks before - seemed to work fine. Fastest method is to borrow some dirty filter media from a friend and then dirty the tank - this way you start out with a ton of great bacteria to begin with.

I need more tanks

Shrimp!

[video=youtube;iCM30VXiohA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCM30VXiohA[/video]

Those are some great looking killies man!! I like the setups.

[video=youtube;K9hYc73Pt6c]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9hYc73Pt6c&feature=related[/video][video=youtube;zTJJ68QLfcA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTJJ68QLfcA&feature=related[/video]

THE PUMPKINHEAD said:

Those are some great looking killies man!! I like the setups.

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Thanks! The killies hate the camera and my California Roach love it - makes getting good footage a pain. So pretty though and by far my most interesting to watch fish - very inquisitive and active.

Those your jellies dam? Jelly tank + shrooms = amazing

[video=youtube;-2eU1UeYVkM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2eU1UeYVkM[/video]

I need to order more killi eggs from Thailand. I want some of these - Nothobranchius rachovii

nah not my jellys, they are quite relaxing to watch tho. i could def stare for hrs on shrooms at that

Gastanker, whatcha doing Thanksgiving weekend? Beautiful shrimp, beautiful killies...I've been seeing eBay auctions for Killi eggs...how is their temperment? Anyway, jellies are awesome...I could sit and watch them on shrooms forever too, but those tanks are SO freaking expensive...I was actually on their site yesterday looking at the tanks, way too much unless you have some serious cash to blow!

Metasynth said:

Gastanker, whatcha doing Thanksgiving weekend? Beautiful shrimp, beautiful killies...I've been seeing eBay auctions for Killi eggs...how is their temperment? Anyway, jellies are awesome...I could sit and watch them on shrooms forever too, but those tanks are SO freaking expensive...I was actually on their site yesterday looking at the tanks, way too much unless you have some serious cash to blow!

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I should be in the Bay Area (Marin County) that Saturday, and back home a few hours north on Sunday. Going to be in NorCal for thanksgiving?

I ordered my killifish eggs from ebay - http://www.ebay.com/itm/Killifish-Mixed-6-Type-50-eggs-Artemia-20000-eggs-/270837530138?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f0f2cbe1a

Great company. They have a regular website as well and several different variety packs along with individual species.

I like them, they are like really pretty smart active miniature betas that don't need to be kept by themselves (I guess they are nothing like betas except the looks). Technically they should be kept in a species specific tank but mine doesn't seem too bothered with it's tank mates and like I said before, is the most fun to watch - finds every hole to poke its head in, nibbles on every type of vegetation, investigates every bubble... Always doing something fun and meaningful versus just swimming back and forth.

Killies are not the easiest though. Of the 50 eggs I ordered about 35 hatched, of those 35 I was able to keep ~15 alive for over a week. Of those 15 I ended up with two adults. Now most of this is my fault as I was not completely prepared (don't think anyone can be their first time). When killies hatch they are SMALL!! Like the size of a brine shrimp small. Some species are larger than others and can eat baby brine shrimp from the start but others are so tiny that even baby brine shrimp are too large ( I was unaware of this). You need to make a kind of soup called infusoria, basically boil some spinach in a jar with a tiny bit of water and then set it outside and wait for a week or two until it has broken down into a green jar of liquid sludge - supposedly the tiny tiny ones will eat this up. For $15 shipped from Thailand I'm going to give it another go, I just can't decide if I want to go with another mixed pack or just get rachovii and the type I have now.

Ps - killies are seasonal fish and thus are very short lived (1 year max). Just something to keep in mind.

My mother in law just gave me her 80 gal set up which she didn't have for even a year. I think I'll throw a Frontosa or 2, a few tropheus deboisii, a couple of firemouth, a few clown loaches, & maybe a gold nugget pleco. Then smoke a nice nug & enjoy! I didn't read every single post on this thread so here's m2c. Use good quality conditioners, buy a water test kit for PH, nitrates & nitrites. What I use to age the water is cycle beneficial bacteria (great stuff), but I think there's bigger & better now days. throw some feeder fish to get your water going then in about 2 weeks you can introduce good stock! Good luck & enjoy.

HEY Gastanker,your in NorCal? I figured Paradise Ca as in by L.A. Maybe those shrimp arent as hard to get to you afterall....

THE PUMPKINHEAD said:

HEY Gastanker,your in NorCal? I figured Paradise Ca as in by L.A. Maybe those shrimp arent as hard to get to you afterall....

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Yup, I'm norcal. Paradise is right outside of Chico.

Grabbing them in person would be great but shrimp ship pretty well also. I had 20 sent to me from LA while it was 110 outside and all 20 arrived in great condition.

I'm planning a shrimp tank now. Thinking I'll get a 10g tank and section off one side with tinted plexi for the filter and powerhead. I have a spot to put it so that the filter part wouldn't be visible so the tank would just look like a clean cube. Can't decide on ground cover - HC, Glosso, Riccia, or grass?

Updates? I swear this tank should be in place and at least partially filled by now.

Gastanker id reccomend some eleocharis parvula (dwarf hairgrass) or echinodorus tennelus (microchain sword) ive used both and really like the foreground once it spreads. I really like riccia but since putting it in my tank over a year ago i cant get rid of it now babytears is cool too but a pain in the ass for maintenance. Aside from the chain sword your gonna need co2 im sure or a shitload of excel for any of those foregrounds. May i suggest crypt.....shit i cant think of the name,it looks like little spoons. I use it in that long tank in the picture,its very nice and slow growing. Man the name starts with a P.....

Gastanker said:

Updates? I swear this tank should be in place and at least partially filled by now.

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Haha...I'm sorry, I've been so busy at work, it's not easy to find the free time to get this shit done. I need to move a couch and a desk, and I cant do it alone, and I work evenings/nights like 6 days a week, and my last days off I was swamped with other shit to do...It's gonna happen soon, I promise. I just dont have anyone to help me except my girlfriend, and she works at 7 in the morning, so by the time I get off work and commute an hour, she's not available to help.

Believe me, it's not like I want to have to wait even longer to start adding livestock...lol...I just need to dedicate some time to getting everything set up.

Ok, So I set the tank up, put in 35lbs. of gravel, set up the filter and heater and conditioned the water last night...Today I added 2 sacraficial goldfish to help get the cycle started, I have dubbed them "Fish" and "Chips", so hopefully they enjoy themselves and make it through the cycle. Still need to add some decorations, and maybe some live or fake plants...Prefer live, but none of the plants I've seen in the stores around me look healthy.

Not sure how you feel about giving the address out but ive got some plants to get you started. PM me if your interested.

Where in Cali are you located? I'm off this whole weekend, and I'm looking to get out of town, maybe I could stop by on my way home if it's on the way...