FishForums.com - View Single Post

COM · 07-16-2008, 07:17 PM

I decided that I'm bored and I want to 'blog' about my ten gallon tank project.

I purchased a ten gallon tank several months ago to house and grow out fry. After returning from a business trip, I found a then-unidentifiable fry in a big Amazon Sword. I reasoned that if I found one, there must be others. Since then, I have learned that there were no others and that the mystery fry is a female Swordtail. Her parents are Marigold Swords, but this fish is an Albino. (I'm told that is common in Swords).

Here's what the tank looked like originally:

And the original occupant, Nemette:

After Nemette moved in with the adult swords, the tank briefly served as a very overcrowded nursery for some assorted snakeskin and other fancy guppies, roughly five dozen. They have since moved on to a 20 gallon long tank to continue their grow out.

So, after completely nuking the tank yesterday with half a bottle of bleach and my garden hose, I've set it up again.

I also decided to ditch the old filter, a Fluval Internal, and upgrade to a Penguin. I purchased a Penguin 200 yesterday, then thought better of it and exchanged it today for a Penguin 150. I have fitted a foam block over the intake to prevent the sand that I picked for a substrate from getting sucked in and ruining the impeller. So the equipment setup is: Penguin 150, Stealth Heater, Coralife lighting fixture. I've got a great little airpump (from Wal-Mart for $6 with a check valve) that I could run on this tank, but I don't think that it will be necessary.

I also changed out some of the media on my 29 gallon and cut up some gross filter pads and cotton wadding from the well-established filter. I stuck this in a media bag and put it in the primary cartridge area (rear) on the Penguin and put a clean Penguin cartridge in the secondary position (forward) so that the water flow will carry bacteria from the media bag into the cartridge. After about 8 to 10 weeks I'll ditch the media bag, move the now dirty cartridge to the primary position and put a clean one in the secondary.

Here's the basic tank layout:

So far the tank contains seven Cardinal Tetras and five Orange Bumble Bee Shrimp, some rocks, and a few plants including Rotala Rotundifola, Hemianthus Callitrichoides (Dwarf Baby Tears), and an Anubias Nana. I will be adding a few more plants over the next few weeks to fill it out.

Here's a close look at some of the inhabitants. You can see at least three of the shrimp in this shot. They're cool:

I decided to go topless. Therefore, I need legs for the light fixture that is pictured in the top shot. It's a pretty nice setup - 28 watt 50/50 and actinic, so that's 2.8 watts per gallon which I think will be okay for these plants. I will not be doing CO2 as I don't believe in it. We'll see how it goes... Anyway, the legs for the light fixture should be in tomorrow morning's UPS along with some other toys I ordered from Big Al's.

I have some driftwood going for boil number two on the stove. I'll let it cool overnight in a bucket of water and see if it is still leaching tannins like mad. If not, I'll get that in tomorrow, get out the ol' tripod, and snap some better quality pics.

Wish me luck.

07-16-2008, 07:17 PM	#5
COM Rebel Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Buffalo, NY Posts: 690	Evolution of a Fry Tank I decided that I'm bored and I want to 'blog' about my ten gallon tank project. I purchased a ten gallon tank several months ago to house and grow out fry. After returning from a business trip, I found a then-unidentifiable fry in a big Amazon Sword. I reasoned that if I found one, there must be others. Since then, I have learned that there were no others and that the mystery fry is a female Swordtail. Her parents are Marigold Swords, but this fish is an Albino. (I'm told that is common in Swords). Here's what the tank looked like originally: And the original occupant, Nemette: After Nemette moved in with the adult swords, the tank briefly served as a very overcrowded nursery for some assorted snakeskin and other fancy guppies, roughly five dozen. They have since moved on to a 20 gallon long tank to continue their grow out. So, after completely nuking the tank yesterday with half a bottle of bleach and my garden hose, I've set it up again. I also decided to ditch the old filter, a Fluval Internal, and upgrade to a Penguin. I purchased a Penguin 200 yesterday, then thought better of it and exchanged it today for a Penguin 150. I have fitted a foam block over the intake to prevent the sand that I picked for a substrate from getting sucked in and ruining the impeller. So the equipment setup is: Penguin 150, Stealth Heater, Coralife lighting fixture. I've got a great little airpump (from Wal-Mart for $6 with a check valve) that I could run on this tank, but I don't think that it will be necessary. I also changed out some of the media on my 29 gallon and cut up some gross filter pads and cotton wadding from the well-established filter. I stuck this in a media bag and put it in the primary cartridge area (rear) on the Penguin and put a clean Penguin cartridge in the secondary position (forward) so that the water flow will carry bacteria from the media bag into the cartridge. After about 8 to 10 weeks I'll ditch the media bag, move the now dirty cartridge to the primary position and put a clean one in the secondary. Here's the basic tank layout: So far the tank contains seven Cardinal Tetras and five Orange Bumble Bee Shrimp, some rocks, and a few plants including Rotala Rotundifola, Hemianthus Callitrichoides (Dwarf Baby Tears), and an Anubias Nana. I will be adding a few more plants over the next few weeks to fill it out. Here's a close look at some of the inhabitants. You can see at least three of the shrimp in this shot. They're cool: I decided to go topless. Therefore, I need legs for the light fixture that is pictured in the top shot. It's a pretty nice setup - 28 watt 50/50 and actinic, so that's 2.8 watts per gallon which I think will be okay for these plants. I will not be doing CO2 as I don't believe in it. We'll see how it goes... Anyway, the legs for the light fixture should be in tomorrow morning's UPS along with some other toys I ordered from Big Al's. I have some driftwood going for boil number two on the stove. I'll let it cool overnight in a bucket of water and see if it is still leaching tannins like mad. If not, I'll get that in tomorrow, get out the ol' tripod, and snap some better quality pics. Wish me luck. Last edited by COM; 07-16-2008 at 07:28 PM.