Diddles

Yes I plan on going live plants. Java ferns and Anubias look good and ill probably find a couple more varieties too. Havent really researched much into plants yet as im trying to get my hands on some driftwood and some rocks (fish store prices are a bit high). Also whats a good gravel substrate to use? I plan on growing a few plants but I dont plan on making it a planted or forest like aquarium.

thanks

Also just out of curiousity do large tropical tanks make much of a dent on your electricity bill? Lighting,Heating,Filtering etc..

Nutter

If you arn't going to go nuts with the plants then I would just stick to a plain gravel substrate with a grain size between 3-6mm or use sand if you don't mind doing the extra little bit of maintainance that sand requires. You could get Eco-complete or some such nutrient substrate but if your not going to have lots of plants it probably isn't worth the extra expense.

Cost of running a large tank is dependant on what it is used for . My rift lake 6x2x2 costs less to run than one of my 4x1.5x1.5ft planted by the time I have paid for co2 & running the extra lights. My old 6x2x2 planted was quite expensive to run. Just the lights over that alone used to cost me $70 a month to run. Then there was nutrient, co2 & the usual water bills & conditioners etc to pay as well.

Diddles

Hey sorry for late reply guys, been having a bit of trouble with my net. anyhow im going for live plants probably some java ferns, anubias and a few other plants. I had a brief look in one of the LFS and Im thinking of going with my original list + a school a Zebra Danios and a couple silver sharks. I also saw this interesting fish called a Black Ghost fish but they seem like they need to be pampered well to survive ><. what are your thoughts?

Also is slate aquarium safe? because i have lots of slabs of slate around the back of the house which have built up dust over time but it occurred to me they might look good in an aquarium . I was thinking of boiling them and cleaning them thoroughly.

Thanks!

Just a quick edit also, Considering using pool filter sand if it is a cheap alternative to gravel, is it hard to keep clean and does it screw up the filters?

Nick Goody

Hi Diddles, Black Ghost Knife fish are awesome! I've got one called Phantom, but I wouldn't reccommend one in a new tank. I'd get the tank up and running, and once it's been established for for a few months maybe get one then. They get pretty big, like 12-18 inchs, but with a 6ft tank you'd be fine.

Beth1965

Diddles! Welcome to FL! Have a good time here.
It would be helpful if you were able to post the "for sure" dimensions of the tank, this way we could certain what stocking list would be perfect for you.
There is a little chart at the bottom of this page which converts size to gallons and vice a versa.

jdhef

Slate should be fine in your tank. My first aquarium actually had a slate bottom. (That's how they used to build them in the olden days!)

Fishnugget43

Hey, Diddles

I had a hard time finding pure ammonia too. Eventually I found it at walmart- it was with the mops and buckes and brooms and stuff along with the cleaning supplies... the reason it took so long to find it there is because that stuff is rigt in the middle of the food section at my local walmart.... although after hearing about TSS i went and bought that... im not sure what I'll use my ammonia for...

Diddles

Thanks for answering the slate question. Also I dont believe you can get pure ammonia in Australia ( we all dont have walmart ). The closest ive seen so far is cloudy ammonia and thats like 10% ammonia so i think its no good. I think ill either try the shrimp method or use TTS with the Zebra danios first as im told they are hardy fish. Btw, my friend has a fish tank with gravel. If I place a handfull of gravel in some stockings and hang it in the water will this speed up the cycle? thankyou.

I''ll find out the proper dimensions soon><

Elvishswimmer

Any local grocery or hardware store should have it (I found some "Safeway brand" ammonia here in Canada. Safeway is a grocery store). Look in the cleaning section and make sure to check that it has only ammonia and water as the ingredients. And shake the bottle. If lots of bubbles form it is no good. But if some bubbles form like if you shake a water bottle that's ok.

any percent ammonia is ok, the problem is that cloudy ammonia has soap in it I think, which is no good.

Fishnugget: You can use the ammonia to clean your house! I use ammonia to clean my tile floors and bathroom. It was actually perfect timing my fish tank came along, because I just ran out of my cleaning ammonia ( lemon-soapy kind) and so having to buy new ammonia wasn't a huge waste.