[akward silence]

Nothing but the saltwater setup

[r_racer11]

Originally Posted by akward silence

racer: Maybe just sell him? It is for his own good, not like you are just tired of him or something.

I'll PM you Protoxx.

Yea ive considered it, problem is im having a hard time finding a store around here that will buy fish, theyll all take them for free but none will do exchanges or cash. Besides that they arent worth much anyways

[akward silence]

Originally Posted by r_racer11

Yea ive considered it, problem is im having a hard time finding a store around here that will buy fish, theyll all take them for free but none will do exchanges or cash. Besides that they arent worth much anyways

That's weird. Where do you live?

[kwik175]

So Ive had my salt water setup running for several months now. Its a 125 display with 55 sump holding about 30 in it. All my water tests are good and all my fish are healthy. Last month I had a blue hippo tang that was small, about the size of a quarter. It seemed well for 2 weeks until I added new fish, a clown tang of comparable size and 3 more clown fish. My blue tang died 3 days later unexpectedly. So I waited a month and bought another one that was larger, about 3" round. He also was healthy and eating at the store. He did well for 4 days interacting well with the yellow tang and foxface. I woke up today and hes dead. Does anybody have a guess about these ? This is the only fish I cant seem to keep alive and it is supposed to be hearty and easy to keep.

[mexican916]

Alrighty, so I have been posting on aquarium forums for beginners about how many fish I plan on having in the tank and almost all of the posters on the forums think I will have my tank overstocked. When I visited my LFS to buy a spotted cory, I explained to the owner what I planned to stock my 14 gal tall with and he thought I wouldn't have any problems with the proper filtration and conditions.

This is what I have:
2 corys
2 mollies

This is what I plan to add:
3-4 neon tetras
1 dwarf gourami
MAYBE 2-3 platys and a swordtail

[akward silence]

Get an arrowana.

I've got to go buy ghost shrimp tomorrow. I have this odd feeling I'm going to end up with a new critter

Edit: Tuesday is one of their new inventory days.

[r_racer11]

Originally Posted by mexican916

Alrighty, so I have been posting on aquarium forums for beginners about how many fish I plan on having in the tank and almost all of the posters on the forums think I will have my tank overstocked. When I visited my LFS to buy a spotted cory, I explained to the owner what I planned to stock my 14 gal tall with and he thought I wouldn't have any problems with the proper filtration and conditions.

This is what I have:
2 corys
2 mollies

This is what I plan to add:
3-4 neon tetras
1 dwarf gourami
MAYBE 2-3 platys and a swordtail

Thats basically what i had in my first tank and that was a 10Gal. With a decent filter you should be fine. I believe the swords like to school with around 4 or more of theyre kind and the gouramis like to be in pairs

[r_racer11]

double post: do u guys prefer sand or gravel? Ive been considering changing out my gravel for sand but ive been skeptical about it after hearing that it tends to cloud up the tank and mess up filters. I want to switch because i know its a better substrate for my eel, plants, loaches and pleco. Just want some extra input on this.

[mexican916]

AAAHHHHH my new spotted cory loves eating up my water sprite roots so I had to re-set the plants. And wouldn't the sand as your substrate be very difficult to clean with the siphon?

[r_racer11]

Originally Posted by mexican916

AAAHHHHH my new spotted cory loves eating up my water sprite roots so I had to re-set the plants. And wouldn't the sand as your substrate be very difficult to clean with the siphon?

from what ive read its actually easier. The dirt and waste sits on top of the sand so you can just use a gravel vac and hold it like an inch away from the sand.

[Rob66]

Originally Posted by r_racer11

from what ive read its actually easier. The dirt and waste sits on top of the sand so you can just use a gravel vac and hold it like an inch away from the sand.

i've heard the same, and i checked out those arawana's and i want one, just need to be able to afford one lol

[USMCpump]

Originally Posted by Rob66

i've heard the same, and i checked out those arawana's and i want one, just need to be able to afford one lol

Aarawanas are very common in Hawaii if you haven't read it put a ping pong ball or something that stays on top of water to keep it from getting drop eye.. My friends jump his tank a couple times to so make sure you got that covered

[akward silence]

Originally Posted by r_racer11

from what ive read its actually easier. The dirt and waste sits on top of the sand so you can just use a gravel vac and hold it like an inch away from the sand.

Get pool filter sand. It's VERY dense, so you will pick it up but it will fall down before it leaves the tank.

It doesn't cloud the tank.
It doesn't clog the filters.
It doesn't cause any of those problems.

Plants, however, do not grow as well in sand because it compacts and the roots have trouble shooting.

Arowana are cheap, but maintaining them sure isn't.

[Rob66]

i can't find one for under 80 bucks, amidoingitrite?

[r_racer11]

Originally Posted by akward silence

Get pool filter sand. It's VERY dense, so you will pick it up but it will fall down before it leaves the tank.

It doesn't cloud the tank.
It doesn't clog the filters.
It doesn't cause any of those problems.

Plants, however, do not grow as well in sand because it compacts and the roots have trouble shooting.

Arowana are cheap, but maintaining them sure isn't.

Ive been reading up on it and from what Ive seen people recommend you use sand made for aquariums, supposedly other sands arent uniform and can create pockets of toxic gas. I also dont believe they sell black pool filter sand. I may consider just going with fine gravel for a median. My tank has plants so i dont want anything that would restrict them from growing.

[akward silence]

Originally Posted by Rob66

i can't find one for under 80 bucks, amidoingitrite?

No, they are like $25 for small, $50 for 6"-8", and $75+ for bigger sizes.

Originally Posted by r_racer11

Ive been reading up on it and from what Ive seen people recommend you use sand made for aquariums, supposedly other sands arent uniform and can create pockets of toxic gas. I also dont believe they sell black pool filter sand. I may consider just going with fine gravel for a median. My tank has plants so i dont want anything that would restrict them from growing.

Pool filter sand is just quartz. It doesn't create pockets of gas. It's like the most common aquarium substrate.

[r_racer11]

Ok ill look into that. The hard part will be finding it in black. Ill probably leave the gravel in my aquarium and change to either fine gravel or sand when i upgrade my tank.

[akward silence]

Yeah, I don't know if it comes in black. It's cheap enough to justify brown though.

[akward silence]

So my clowns eat fish. Cool.
My eel eats fish. Cool.

I have a spare 29g tank that's empty right now. I'm going to try to breed some stupid fish in there, maybe guppies or some ****. Whatever is absolutely easiest. 12 females, 4 males, and a **** ton of plants.


Side note, those 3 eat blood worms and sinking pellets too. I offer them clean feeders to keep them active. It's not a staple in their diet. However, ghost shrimp are ALWAYS offered to my eel.

[ProtoxxPaintball]

Originally Posted by r_racer11

Ok ill look into that. The hard part will be finding it in black. Ill probably leave the gravel in my aquarium and change to either fine gravel or sand when i upgrade my tank.

If you're looking for cheap black sand, Tractor supply sells really cheap black sand. something like 7 bucks for 50lbs.

What I do with my sand to prevent said pockets of air in the tank is clean my tank twice a week. I cut the filter, and run the vacuum in the sand to stir it up a little bit with no siphon started yet.

I've never seen any bubbles and have yet to find any sand in my filters.

Also #1 rule with sand is upon purchase wash the **** out of it.

How I do it is with 2 buckets, Fill one up with the sand, and rinse the hell outta it in the beginning in the one bucket, once it starts to clear up take an old pillow case, scoop a small amount, probably 5-10lbs, and rinse it in there for a while, then once its 100% clean put it into the other bucket.

Continue that until its all clean. Then you can put it into your tank, and fill it up. More than likely it will be slightly cloudy still. stir the sand up, let it settle, and then do a 90% water change, and do that about twice a day till it clears up and you'll never have to mess with it again.


Awk, the mated pair of convicts woulda been perfect.

[Rob66]

Originally Posted by akward silence

So my clowns eat fish. Cool.
My eel eats fish. Cool.

I have a spare 29g tank that's empty right now. I'm going to try to breed some stupid fish in there, maybe guppies or some ****. Whatever is absolutely easiest. 12 females, 4 males, and a **** ton of plants.


Side note, those 3 eat blood worms and sinking pellets too. I offer them clean feeders to keep them active. It's not a staple in their diet. However, ghost shrimp are ALWAYS offered to my eel.

i had some platys in a 30 gal tank and they reproduced on their own, we weren't expecting it. my sister noticed a bunch of small fish swimming around one day. they had like 4 batches of fry i believe.