Makena95GT Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Yesterday me and my friend picked it up and brought it home. Then 9 hour work day. So today I started with cleaning it. First thing was scrubbing the inside. Look at the prettyness. Used a very mild bleach solution and scrubby pads for this. Then I used a razor blade and the bleach spray to get the hard water spots off. No more line. WOOT. Got a majority of the gravel out and filled it up some so that I could let the debris settle and gravel vac. I would have just tipped it on its side on the ground and sprayed it down with the hose but im a weakling. After that tons more rinsing, filling, and siphoning all the water out to be sure no bleach was left in there. Then time to bleach all the parts of the filters, any decor, hoses, bits and pieces I got all went in the bleachy bucket. The light fixture got cleaned off, as well as rinsing of the ceramic things inside the filter. Rinsed them well (no bleach) and even the filter pads got rinsed off really well. Cleaned up the stand a bit with a wipe down. The inside of the tank still has a bit of muck but if my brother shows up early today then I'll get him to help me out. Tank wont be inside till Friday at the earliest as my brother is having a party here Thursday night. Don't want to risk anything happening to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sifuentes31 Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Cool beans. What you planning on putting in it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Makena95GT Posted January 19, 2014 Author Share Posted January 19, 2014 For about a month.. till it warms up itll be where my pond fish will chill 4 Comet Goldies.. an Oranda.. and a baby Koi. Theyre in a tiny 10 gallon holding tenk right now. After they get koved back to the pond im thinking a semi-aggressive tank. School of silver dollars maybe. I really want a pictus catfish too. Or a bala shark. Some type of "shark" i love the silver tip shark but its brackish and i dont know much about it. I was imagining a "stump" of driftwood in the middle. Dark substrate.. maybe black sand. Planted. Sent from my Z998 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sifuentes31 Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 That black sand will look good against those silver dollars. I had a lot of those growing up. Maybe a knife fish or a loach would look good in there too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Makena95GT Posted January 19, 2014 Author Share Posted January 19, 2014 Yea those knifes look awesome Sent from my Z998 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Euphoric Eulogy Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 That's a nice looking tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 you may know this, but after cleaning everything with bleach use some extra dechlorinator when setting up for any chlorine that is leaching out of pores, seals, etc. i'd use twice as much as needed when first filling and then to be safe redose normally after a week or so. also, that tank is way to small and the wrong shape for a bala shark. they get over a foot long and like to zip around. i had a pictus for almost 10 years and loved it. i also love silver dollars and always have them in my 55. i make them "leaf kabobs" and put some lettuce or spinach on a skewer and poke it in the sand. they love it. i'm dumb. forgot to add that it's a cool tank. very exciting . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Makena95GT Posted January 20, 2014 Author Share Posted January 20, 2014 One day ill get me a Bala Shark... one day. Im going to fill up the tank today with 5x dose of dechlorinator.. let it sit. Dump it.. and repeat a few times just to be super safe. So.. school of silver dollars.. and a pictus cat for sure.. any other suggestions? Im totally open to everyones opinion on this tank Pictus cat will be my bottom buy. Are the SD top or mid swimmers? I feel like they roam the top alot at work but i cant be sure. Research time! Sent from my Z998 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 Cool tank. Are you doing planted or just a hardscape? Not sure I would do them with the silver dollars, but a rainbow tank or congo tetra tank would be good for this size. The footprint is pretty small so I think I would stay away from cichlids unless you want to do some rams or apistos which are both community suitable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 i have a 20 gal planted tank. my silver dollars are about 2" right now. as an experiment i put one of my SD in the well established planted 20g last weekend to see how he will do with the plants. whether he will decimate or not. so far he is not excited about the move, so i haven't noticed him eating any plants. just sort of hanging out in the back corner schooling with his reflection. i will give him a few more days and if he doesn't perk up i will put him back with his friends. i do have a sheet of java moss in the 55g for them to nibble on (sew java moss to latch hook mesh with fishing line). it is against the glass, so they pick one side clean and then i turn it around. i like red tail sharks, they stay under 6" and don't zip around so much. good at picking off algae though. SD seem to swim wherever they have room. i think they prefer middle to top, but anywhere there is space for them to amble back and forth. if you are looking for neat/unusual types. i really like dojo loaches (i think they like to be in pairs). but they are called weather loaches. they don't move around too much, but when the whether changes they go nuts darting all around. threadfin rainbows are really pretty. if you want a semi-aggressive tank and don't want anything under 3-4", my leapord fish were some of my favorites ever. they are often sold as leaf fish, incorrectly. they are ambush preditors. turn out the light and drop in a cricket. they will go into "leaf mode" where they go vertical and sort of curl like a dead leaf and float up towards it. then open their predator style mouth and chomp it one bite. but, they will eat every little fish you have. i had a crawfish that also ate all my barbs. i eventually banished one of the leapards and the crawfish to a tank and in a few days there was some sort of battle royale and both were dead. the other was killed by choking on a cory catfish. i usually do community tanks. my semi aggressive tank died off from attrition. as a fish would die we couldn't replace any of them from a normal store because the fish would be too small to survive with all the well grown inhabitants. it is sad about bala sharks. i want one too. i think my mentor said that you can't ever put one in anything under a 10' tank. we were talking about it looking at his that had a broken dorsal fin when it tried to jump out of someone's undersized tank and hit the lid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Makena95GT Posted January 20, 2014 Author Share Posted January 20, 2014 I'm not a huge fan of cichlids really. Not sure why but they never really appealed to me.. except Oscars I already have one in a 55 at the school. Soon he will get a tank upgrade as well. I was pondering Giant Danios, as they are top-dwellers. A nice school of them. So that would fill out the tank. So 4-6 Giant Danio 4-6 Silver Dollars 1-2 Pictus Catfish I THOUGHT I wanted to have a nice planted tank but we'll have to see how the Silver Dollars do. They are notorious for eating anything green. But I've heard sometimes certain plants they may or may not go after, such as Java Fern. So I'll get a little sprig and see how that goes, if they don't nom it, I'll probably just do the Fern, maybe some Java Moss. --WELL THEN Turns out this is a 44 gallon tank, not the 55 advertised >.> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Makena95GT Posted January 20, 2014 Author Share Posted January 20, 2014 Leopard fish anything like this? http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3924455 That's what we have at the store, adn when you described them it was the first thing that came to mind Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Leopard fish anything like this? http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3924455 That's what we have at the store, adn when you described them it was the first thing that came to mind Yes, those are them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 May have missed it, but you said planted, and silver dollars? Silver dollars are probably the most herbivorous fw fish fish in the hobby. I bet they'd even eat plastic plants. Just keep that in mind. I did the bala shark thing in my 75 gallon despite the warnings. Liked him a lot. Zippy doesn't describe it. They're so fast and skittish. Mine actually crushed his own face in by slamming into the side of the tank late one night when me passing by in the dark spooked him. Had to euthanize him the next day. Sucks to kill a 10" fish you've had for over a year. Lol sorry to be a debi downer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Makena95GT Posted January 21, 2014 Author Share Posted January 21, 2014 I THOUGHT I wanted to have a nice planted tank but we'll have to see how the Silver Dollars do. They are notorious for eating anything green. But I've heard sometimes certain plants they may or may not go after, such as Java Fern. So I'll get a little sprig and see how that goes, if they don't nom it, I'll probably just do the Fern, maybe some Java Moss. Sent from my Z998 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Beauty is plants are so cheap. Easier to experiment with those than corals lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Makena95GT Posted January 21, 2014 Author Share Posted January 21, 2014 Lol I know right. I ended up finding a different safer spot for the tank. Brought it in tonight. Set it all up with my Fluval U3 filter thays been running on the goldfish tank. And my least favorite ugly goldfish that i honestly dont even like anymore is acclimating as we speak. He used to be black. Then as he grew he turned orange. And i dont like gold goldfish lol So heres hoping i rinsed all the bleach out earlier. If he lasts till tomorrow night the rest of the goldfish will get added :3 Sent from my Z998 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Makena95GT Posted January 21, 2014 Author Share Posted January 21, 2014 Sent from my Z998 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Lol I know right. I ended up finding a different safer spot for the tank. Brought it in tonight. Set it all up with my Fluval U3 filter thays been running on the goldfish tank. And my least favorite ugly goldfish that i honestly dont even like anymore is acclimating as we speak. He used to be black. Then as he grew he turned orange. And i dont like gold goldfish lol So heres hoping i rinsed all the bleach out earlier. If he lasts till tomorrow night the rest of the goldfish will get added :3 Sent from my Z998 using Tapatalk If you can put in a little prime or other dechlorinator, you won't have to worry about bleach residue. The tank is coming along nicely! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 prime, hah, two drops per gallon...fun. one, two, threefofive, six, seven, whoa twelve,.....uh 50?, 51, ....86ish, 87ish, 88ish...oh whatever, one big squeeze for good measure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Makena95GT Posted January 21, 2014 Author Share Posted January 21, 2014 Prime = one cap for 50 gallons lol so three caps went in Up to 5x dose is safe to detox nitrites Sent from my Z998 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Makena95GT Posted January 21, 2014 Author Share Posted January 21, 2014 Oh and all the other goldies and Koi went in a little bit ago. Everyone looks happy with all the room. I made a makeshift cardboard hood. Seran wrapped it to make it water proof lol the koi likes to jump Sent from my Z998 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 You should be fine by now with the bleach. It's not very stable anyway and the residual amount would have broken down in a few days even without the prime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Makena95GT Posted January 21, 2014 Author Share Posted January 21, 2014 Whew. Good. hat was my main scare. I forgot to put my Oranda back in the tank. He was still in the bucket for 30 minutes after I "Thought" I got all the fish in the tank. So dark he blended in LOL I feel like a jerk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 Walked by my tank today and half the grass is eaten to the gravel and one of the tall plants was cut off at the base and left. Flat. Ok, so silver dollar in planted tank will end soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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