deus ex machina

Howdy,

I'm thinking of planting a 29 gallon tank [not in my possession yet] Using just the aqua clear 200/50 as the filter, and maybe an airstone, although without would be great. I'm going to add about 22 fish 6 zebra danio, 6 cherry barb, and either 6 lemon tetras 6 rummynose tetras or 6 harlequin rasboras. With first being 4 otoclinus. The cute little suckers after I have it planted and up and running with possibly these assortment of plants the plants minus the micro sword.

I'm looking to have the tank either fertilized with fluorite, or eco mixed with regular store gravel. Unless I can just use the reg gravel. If needed I can buy Leaf Zone from API, but if theres alternatives let me know.

Now about the lighting, Im not sure what light I'd need for the list of needs I have. I don't want anything in the blue range, I guess somewhere close to 10000 range right? That would keep algae somewhat at bay, although would I need to worry if I have 4 oto's? I'm assuming the store lamp wouldn't be efficient?

As for my 10 gallon I was thinking of adding 5 or so cory's and 1 betta, but would like to perhaps plant an anubias nana. I have again a store bought light, I'm not sure of the intensity don't see any numbers for it. And I bought the aquarium over 12 yrs ago. All I can tell you the color is a purple hue, would I need a replacement? I'm assuming it's closer to the blue range, haven't had any algae. Although there are no plants.

If I decide to do a java moss carpet floor what kind of lighting?

Oh right the depths, well the 10 is 12 h inches, while the 29 would be 18 h. Thanks for any input.

potatos

For lighting, get at least 2 watts per gallon, unless you only want low light plants like anubis, java fern, and java moss. 4 ottos, along with cycling your tank before adding them and frequent water changes will probably be good against algae, do not get a common pleco, they will get ginourmus. if you realy still worried you could add a mystery snail or two. be sure to add your fish slowly, and not to overstock the tank. java moss dose not need too much light, but if you want a carpet, you will need more than normal. it waill also need trimming, because it will gorw upwards as well, and not stay totaly horozontal, i have had trouble with micro swrds, they never seemed to make a through root system for me, and introduced algae into my tank. if you have sufficient light, you will probably do better than me. is your bulb 12 yr old? i would imagine a replacement would be good, but i have no idea how lights age. the light you get with the tank will probably be a single 20 watt light, which will not be enough. you can get a second light strip and a glass hood to increase your light, as well as adding reflectors into the light hood.

mathas

I would actually add the otos last, were I you. They are notoriously sensitive to water conditions, and would do best introduced to an established tank.

All of the plants in your link, with the exception of the micro sword, are what I would consider to be low-light plants. In a 29g tank, 40-60W should be sufficient.

10000K should theoretically be white, or maybe have a very slight blue tinge... but I've seen some 10000K bulbs that look quite blue to me. It depends on the bulb in question and your eyes.

What color the light appears to you has little bearing on algal growth... it has a slight bearing, to be sure, but getting a light that doesn't look blue to you won't necessarily do anything to inhibit algae.

And otos aren't an algae-proof either. They eat some types of algae, but there are dozens of varieties.

Avoiding algae in a planted tank, in my opinion, is a matter of keeping your lighting, nutrients, and carbon in a relative balance.

"A purple hue" isn't enough information to base a replacement decision upon, unfortunately. There should be an indicator on the ballast or the bulb itself that tells you what type/power of lighting you have.

Nutter

I still get confused by people that claim Otos are a "notoriously sensitive" fish. I've had literally hundreds of them & never suffered a fatality yet. They are the first thing I introduce to every planted tank I have ever had. Other than that small point I agree with everything Mathas has written. It is also very true that Otos will only eat some forms of algae, not all. They will keep your tank clear of some algae but not all. I use combinations of algae eaters in my tanks & there is still some algae that none of them eat. The best way to avoid algae issues is exactly what Mathas says, good maintainance & the correct balance of co2, light & nutrients. Remember that there will always be some algae in every established aquarium. So long as it doesn't get out of control, it is nothing to worry about & can in fact make the aquarium look more natural.

If you end up having more than one tube for your lighting, use a combination of tubes to give a broader range through the light spectrum. Mix & match to get the look you are after. Lights that are strong in the red & blue areas of the spectrum are generally the best for plant growth but can look a bit odd if used on thier own. I like the combination of a Sylvania Gro-lux tube with either a 10,000k or 6,700k tube.

mathas

It may be a regional thing, but I've yet to see a single plump, healthy oto in a store in my area, even the shops with otherwise decent quality stock.

SkepticalAquarist has a reasonable-sounding explanation of why this may be, if you scroll down quite a ways: http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/doc...atfishes.shtml

mosin360

Nice link.

If it's true that if the conditions are right and the internal bacteria is allowed to die or get so low to not be able to recover, it could explain why some regions are fine and others bad. If you think about it, if you live very close to the source then obviously have fish who have been in transit much less than say a fish in the US midwest.

From all my research, they need a well six month tank to have the best chance. One of my LFS does have them and usually has them. Thou, I could not say if it is the same fish or new ones. Either way, I'm waiting till my tank is at least six months before I bother if only to allow some algae to grow.

callichma

Re the corys with the betta, I had a leopard cory and an albino cory in with my betta. He lived peacefully with the albino, but chased and flared at the leopard cory. I finally had to find another home for the poor spotted guy. The betta later got agressive with the platys. He's now in his own 5g (as recommended on this forum)with a mystery snail.

If I were you, I wouldn't put a betta in with other fish.

Nutter

Good link there Mathas. Possibly a reasonable explanation. I'm not sure of the origin of the ones that I get but they have come from several different aquarium stores so I know they have come from different suppliers as well. If they are shipped from South America though then it would blow big holes in that theory as I live on the opposite side of the world. In reality I guess it's a case of who really knows. I can only speak of my experiences with them & clearly they don't match up to what most americans seem to experience with the same fish.

deus ex machina

How about a mixture of a snail or two, with the oto's, such as a mystery snail? Anyone know what kind of algae would be growing on any one of those particular plants? Or is there several different types depending on conditions of water and bacteria lighting and nutrients?

Also as for the light in the 10 gallon tank, there are no markings on the bulb, thats why I was trying for a bit of luck on here. I couldn't even tell you which company the tank and hood were produced by @>@

And from what I understand it's basically a see what works for the betta, if anything, while working on the 29 gallon, instead of adding a species I was thinking with my danio, like say a lemon tetra or cherry barb or rummy nose tetra, I'll wait and see what happens with the betta if the cory's are being harassed then I could move them over to the 29 gallon as a supplement to one of the other species I would have added.

But if I don't go the betta route, what would be a good loner fish that would work with cory's in a 10 gallon tank?

Nutter

Snails will be fine with any fish except for loaches which will eat any snail eggs & baby snails. Just make sure you don't end up with a snail type that will eat all your plants.

There are thousands of different kinds of algae & which ones you encounter depends entirely on the individual conditions within your aquarium. If you get the balance of it all right then you won't have to worry too much about algae. You can also look into keeping different species of algae eater in the same tank as I do so that each species eats a different kind of algae. I usually keep Otos, SAE's & some kind of Pleco in my planted tanks & then have my other fish stock as well but it can become impractical in smaller tanks that you are more limited in the amount of stock you can have & you can still end up with algae that the critters don't eat. All my planted tanks are 50gal or larger so it's not a problem for me. could be a bit tight to do that in a 29gal though.

If you can, post a pic of the light fitting & tube/bulb in question. Chances are that someone here can ID it for you. If you can't post a pic, give the length & diameter of the tube.

deus ex machina

It's alright about the bulb, I've had the tank over 12 years and never changed it to begin with, I'll just find something around the 20 watt range to replace it. Should be enough for my 10 gal. Especially if I'm ticking with something like an anubias.

Well I'm heavily ino keeping the schooling fish between the lemon rummy tetras, to my danio and or barb with possibly a replacement of a group with albino cory or panda. I think I'll stick with the oto, 4 or 5. I'll just keep being tight on the cleanings, lighting, and water changes.