Wife's new pea puffer setup in progress - I do maintenance, and advise, but tank is hers to do with as she wishes. There is a 10g tank to the right (still working on it) that will house a breeding population of snails, and 1 or 2 African dwarf frogs.
~1" of soil from Father Fish (bag for a 29g tank is just barely enough for long 20g), 1/8th inch of gravel, 2" fine black sand on top.
Prior to the putting the the substrate and first plants, tank/water was cycling for about 5 days using a pre-filter sponge and lava rock that spent a week in the filter compartment from my mature planted 29g shrimp tank, along with 5 gallons of water from that tank. The HOB filter has no media, only more lava rock and 3 money plants that likewise spent some time in the 29g filter. Sponge filters were supposed to arrive 3 days ago but have been delayed again.
First plants arrived 4 days ago. More again yesterday. Snails arrived early - yesterday also - before the breeder tank was ready so they were added to the main. In a twist of good fortune, somewhere along the way some daphnia have hitchhiked their way in - and here I thought I was going to have to culture them from pond water
More plants - and possibly wood - to come before we order the puffers. Life interferes and I can't on the schedule I wanted to - which would have been yesterday - to introduce fish, but I'll be adding a black skirt tetra and some neons to help move the cycle along, and transferring them to my 29g tank before the puffers arrive.
~8 days after first putting water in the tank (3 days after putting in substrate and plants), system reads: pH ~7, KH ~60, TA ~60, Cl2 0, NO2 0, NO3 >0 / <10, GH ~50
~1" of soil from Father Fish (bag for a 29g tank is just barely enough for long 20g), 1/8th inch of gravel, 2" fine black sand on top.
Prior to the putting the the substrate and first plants, tank/water was cycling for about 5 days using a pre-filter sponge and lava rock that spent a week in the filter compartment from my mature planted 29g shrimp tank, along with 5 gallons of water from that tank. The HOB filter has no media, only more lava rock and 3 money plants that likewise spent some time in the 29g filter. Sponge filters were supposed to arrive 3 days ago but have been delayed again.
First plants arrived 4 days ago. More again yesterday. Snails arrived early - yesterday also - before the breeder tank was ready so they were added to the main. In a twist of good fortune, somewhere along the way some daphnia have hitchhiked their way in - and here I thought I was going to have to culture them from pond water
More plants - and possibly wood - to come before we order the puffers. Life interferes and I can't on the schedule I wanted to - which would have been yesterday - to introduce fish, but I'll be adding a black skirt tetra and some neons to help move the cycle along, and transferring them to my 29g tank before the puffers arrive.
~8 days after first putting water in the tank (3 days after putting in substrate and plants), system reads: pH ~7, KH ~60, TA ~60, Cl2 0, NO2 0, NO3 >0 / <10, GH ~50
and of course neither of the breed of snails I have in here care for it. I have Amano shrimp in another tank, but I'll be damned if I'm going to try catch them. Upping the lights from 8 to 10 hours a day in the hope that green algae might out-compete it.
