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 Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 5:12 pm
Gabrielle_AnimalLuver I haven't heard a noise from the filter since I got home. Although it did wake me up a few times last night lol. So yay for that. I threw in about a teaspoon of fish flakes. CYCLING HAS COMMENCED! This week I pick up driftwood, plants and test kit. Plus see if the betta I want is still there. Also, not sure if I mentioned. The heater I have which is supposedly good for UP TO 5gallons, seems to do a good job of heating this tank. With the lights on I had the temp at 80. So saved some money there. Plus I finally got rid of that old 15G which I traded for a 5. So my friend's turtle who was in a 10G will now be in a 15 and I have a spare tank.
Oh that's good news!! And heaters are a lot more lenient than say, filters are for using on tanks bigger than what they're rated for. There are so many factors that go into how easy it will be to keep your tank at the right temp that it hard to put a gauge on wattage.
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Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 9:14 pm
reading about your tanks progress is really exciting, It looks like you picked some good fish choices.
Over the back filters tend to bark when you first turn them on, I found adding water straight to the filter instead of waiting for it to pull it up fixes that.
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Gabrielle_AnimalLuver Crew
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Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 4:59 am
Levina-jade reading about your tanks progress is really exciting, It looks like you picked some good fish choices.
Over the back filters tend to bark when you first turn them on, I found adding water straight to the filter instead of waiting for it to pull it up fixes that. Thanks biggrin Yup, I often add water to the filter to help it cause it does seem to struggle getting started. But then it kept barking when it was running fine. But I haven't heard a noise out of it in 24hrs now so I think I'm safe for now. Sadly I found out the big fish store near me closes as I finish work. So unless my day gets cancelled or I get sent home because of rain. I don't think I'll be getting there this week. Which means I may be stuck with the pet store and they don't have much choice in driftwood. I haven't compared prices yet but I know the pet store is more expensive than my store, so I was hoping to save some money at the fish only store. I'll have to wait a long while if I do. Maybe I can swing by Thursday before Cowboy's physio.
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Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 3:41 pm
Ugh, so it turns out all the pet stores close at 6 Monday-Wednesday. Which is when I finish work. I can't pick anything up before work (except maybe driftwood and a test kit) because it will sit in my car in the heat for 8hrs. which means no plants till Thursday at the earliest.
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Gabrielle_AnimalLuver Crew
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Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 3:49 pm
Don't quote me on this but the plants will probably be fine in the car while you're at work. Just no fish.
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Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 4:10 pm
Vanilla eXee
Don't quote me on this but the plants will probably be fine in the car while you're at work. Just no fish.I know it's not florida, but...It gets pretty darn hot if I don't park in the shade. Also, do the plants come in like a bag of water or something? Lastly, I'm looking into cycling since I need a good refresher. But. the only articles seem to do it by adding fish gradually. There's nothing on using fish food to start a cycle. I just need to know like... Once I have my test kit, well what am I doing? Like depending on the levels am I adding more food? doing water changes? I remember Savage had a GREAT link for cycling for dummies lol. With lots of pics.
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Gabrielle_AnimalLuver Crew
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Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 4:31 pm
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Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 5:22 pm
WOW that's complicated lol. Okay, the part that confused me before was everyone was saying add ammonia and I was like I don't have any! lol. Right so I really need that test kit soon hun? I guess I'll leave early tomorrow. It's sort of on my way.
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Gabrielle_AnimalLuver Crew
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Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 5:32 pm
Gabrielle_AnimalLuver WOW that's complicated lol. Okay, the part that confused me before was everyone was saying add ammonia and I was like I don't have any! lol. Right so I really need that test kit soon hun? I guess I'll leave early tomorrow. It's sort of on my way.
Well they used ammonia in that example because that's another way people do it. Substitute ammonia for fish food since that's what you're using, lol.
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Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 5:43 pm
Vanilla eXee Gabrielle_AnimalLuver WOW that's complicated lol. Okay, the part that confused me before was everyone was saying add ammonia and I was like I don't have any! lol. Right so I really need that test kit soon hun? I guess I'll leave early tomorrow. It's sort of on my way.
Well they used ammonia in that example because that's another way people do it. Substitute ammonia for fish food since that's what you're using, lol.Does it take a long time for fish food to produce ammonia? I'm wondering cause it says to "maintain" ammonia levels at X and that could be tricky if I don't know how much fish food to add
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Gabrielle_AnimalLuver Crew
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Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 5:45 pm
Gabrielle_AnimalLuver Vanilla eXee Gabrielle_AnimalLuver WOW that's complicated lol. Okay, the part that confused me before was everyone was saying add ammonia and I was like I don't have any! lol. Right so I really need that test kit soon hun? I guess I'll leave early tomorrow. It's sort of on my way.
Well they used ammonia in that example because that's another way people do it. Substitute ammonia for fish food since that's what you're using, lol.Does it take a long time for fish food to produce ammonia? I'm wondering cause it says to "maintain" ammonia levels at X and that could be tricky if I don't know how much fish food to add
It shouldn't take long at all to rot enough to produce ammonia, the flakes break down pretty quickly. I can probably find you one that deals specifically with fish flakes, I'll take a look.
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Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 6:02 pm
WOOT! I have PLANTS and a test kit! And it cost me a hundred bucks? confused
Yap, test kit 40, 3 ferns at 9 each, and 2 anubis at 5 each, plus a new thermometer and taxes. Holly damn. Left the driftwood cause I wasn't sure I liked that piece they didn't have much choice gonna check the other store on Thursday.
SO tested my amonia... ZERO! I threw in more flakes lol my tank looks a lil retarded now. Also not sure what to do with my planties. The anubis is okay, I got one anchored with a rock, the other I shoved into my fake wood. The fern has a few lil rocks stuck to it that are sort of anchoring it down for now, but barely. The guy said to tie it to driftwood. Well, I dunno how to TIE a plant, like with string or I use the lil roots and tie a knot or what?
OH also, he betta is still there. I can't buy him (unless I take him when I do) but the guy said it's unlikely he'll be sold cause people who buy betta's are looking on the wall of betta's not in the plant display.
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Gabrielle_AnimalLuver Crew
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Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 6:28 pm
Gabrielle_AnimalLuver WOOT! I have PLANTS and a test kit! And it cost me a hundred bucks? confused Yap, test kit 40, 3 ferns at 9 each, and 2 anubis at 5 each, plus a new thermometer and taxes. Holly damn. Left the driftwood cause I wasn't sure I liked that piece they didn't have much choice gonna check the other store on Thursday. SO tested my amonia... ZERO! I threw in more flakes lol my tank looks a lil retarded now. Also not sure what to do with my planties. The anubis is okay, I got one anchored with a rock, the other I shoved into my fake wood. The fern has a few lil rocks stuck to it that are sort of anchoring it down for now, but barely. The guy said to tie it to driftwood. Well, I dunno how to TIE a plant, like with string or I use the lil roots and tie a knot or what? OH also, he betta is still there. I can't buy him (unless I take him when I do) but the guy said it's unlikely he'll be sold cause people who buy betta's are looking on the wall of betta's not in the plant display.
You can use cotton thread to tie plants, by the time the roots anchor themselves to whatever you tie it too, the thread should dissolve. I usually use green thread because it doesn't show up as much, but use whatever color you like :3
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Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 6:44 pm
Vanilla eXee Gabrielle_AnimalLuver WOOT! I have PLANTS and a test kit! And it cost me a hundred bucks? confused Yap, test kit 40, 3 ferns at 9 each, and 2 anubis at 5 each, plus a new thermometer and taxes. Holly damn. Left the driftwood cause I wasn't sure I liked that piece they didn't have much choice gonna check the other store on Thursday. SO tested my amonia... ZERO! I threw in more flakes lol my tank looks a lil retarded now. Also not sure what to do with my planties. The anubis is okay, I got one anchored with a rock, the other I shoved into my fake wood. The fern has a few lil rocks stuck to it that are sort of anchoring it down for now, but barely. The guy said to tie it to driftwood. Well, I dunno how to TIE a plant, like with string or I use the lil roots and tie a knot or what? OH also, he betta is still there. I can't buy him (unless I take him when I do) but the guy said it's unlikely he'll be sold cause people who buy betta's are looking on the wall of betta's not in the plant display.
You can use cotton thread to tie plants, by the time the roots anchor themselves to whatever you tie it too, the thread should dissolve. I usually use green thread because it doesn't show up as much, but use whatever color you like :3oooohhhhhh. Can I tie them to rocks? Since I don't have driftwood yet? Not sure how much and how big I will get either
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Gabrielle_AnimalLuver Crew
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Gabrielle_AnimalLuver Crew
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Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 8:26 pm
VOILA! This is how I have the plants set up FOR NOW. Actually I moved em around already since I shot this. But just to show you they're not floating but they're not really grounded either. The thermometer IN the tank is gonna come out I got one of the sticker kind. I'm going for a very natural theme. The only fake thing/decoration is the tree stump but the plant coming out of it is real lol. There was a couple decorations I REALLY liked but, honestly the fake stuff is sometimes MORE expensive. Like when it comes to rocks/hides. Anyway, there was a boat/shipwreck, that's two seperate pieces (front and back) sold together. The other awesome thing was the 3D background, but none were the dimensions of my tank. Lastly the lil "rock walls" that you can hook an air tube to so it will bubble. I think I'm JUST gona get some drift wood though. MAYBE a real rock hide. And leave it at that, cause I wana leave some room to swim lol. It's looking awesome, I'm gona take lots more pics soon.
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