Catfishguy's 29 Gallon Build!

I bought this 29 gallon from petco for the $ per gallon sale! It will be for my paradise fish, 1 bn pleco, and 10 zebra danios. I already have the paradise fish and the bn pleco.

Substrate will be BDBS (as always)

Filtration will be the Marineland Bio-Wheel Penguin 200, That's enough, right?

I have already cycled media, but while at Lowe's for a bag of BDBS I will be looking for lava rocks for filter media. I crush it up into small pieces, right? I need a little mesh bag for it too, I believe. I will ask my mom if she can sow me a small mesh sack, she's good at that kind of stuff.

How should I scape the tank? I'm not going to be able to order good and fancy driftwood or ohko stone. I might be able to get some plants but boy I'm low on funds.

Will the fish be okay with just sand and flowerpots? I can drop in a piece of driftwood from their current tank.

Another, more important, question: Is glitter glue aquarium safe? My mom used it and decided to dry whatever she was working on inside my tank. A few droplets got onto the bottom and sides of the glass, which gives me a tad bit of anxiety if it isn't aquarium safe.

Here are pictures of the equipment+the paradise fish+The glue spots. The tank is on the chairs until I get the tank set up, then it will be on a stand.

Pictures look way better when you're taking them.

 

You can easily scrape the glue off.
I know some of my glitter glues are water soluble, so depends on the company who made it.

That's a pretty fish, and I'm glad you got another tank!
Can't wait to see your next tank

You can also use pool filter sand, but it's usually white.
I wanted bdbs but didn't want to order it, and the pool sand was actually a lot cheaper in store.

They will be fine with only a few plants at first, all my tanks start that way.

Adding the driftwood would probably be a good idea too.

 

Get the glue out of there. The tank is empty so it shouldn't be a problem and why would you chance it? Just do a slow build and add elements when you can. Start a build thread so we can watch the progression. I love those!

 

You can easily scrape the glue off.
I know some of my glitter glues are water soluble, so depends on the company who made it.

That's a pretty fish, and I'm glad you got another tank!
Can't wait to see your next tank

You can also use pool filter sand, but it's usually white.
I wanted bdbs but didn't want to order it, and the pool sand was actually a lot cheaper in store.

They will be fine with only a few plants at first, all my tanks start that way.

Adding the driftwood would probably be a good idea too.

Thank you for your answers, interest, and suggestions!

I think I'll move everything from my 20 long (current home for the paradise and bn) into the 29, meaning 2 handmade and kinda ugly pleco caves, a piece of driftwood, and a lot of anacharis.

The problem is, I have 2 plecos that will be staying in the 20 long, so I don't wanna take away their driftwood. Should I just stop by petco and buy a quick piece of driftwood? My LFS is closed on sundays and I wanna get the most out of today.

Oops, I forgot to send. I typed this an hour ago.

Get the glue out of there. The tank is empty so it shouldn't be a problem and why would you chance it? Just do a slow build and add elements when you can. Start a build thread so we can watch the progression. I love those!

I just finished cleaning it. Now it's time to go out and buy buy buy!

I'll do my build as thoughtfully as possible, but getting the basics up and running (light, filter, substrate, other fish specific essentials for life) is something I can do fairly quickly.

Just updated the title, This will be the build thread!

 

Okay! after a bit of a mental breakdown because my bag of BDBS was in the very back of my very cluttered garage (the great wall of china but with tables and boxes.) and you can never start the build without a part missing, it is the end of the beginning!

Long story short, a LOT of cleaning had to be done. I found my siphon though! So I can finally clean the gravel in my other tanks!!!!!

Anyways, the filter media is all lava rock + a small bag of bio rings. The bio rings are the seasoned media.

The 'scape' right now is temporary, as I will incorporate this rock one way or another.

Here are the pictures!!!!

 

Alright, so an hour and a half later I'll ask, when do you think it'll be ready for fish? It's only going to house the paradise fish if it can. I'll need to get a thermometer to see how cold the water really is, it's pretty cold though. Feels almost freezing tbh.

As I write this, I realize that the tank is definitely not ready for fish. But do you think it will be ready by tomorrow? I know paradise fish can withstand temps as low as 60 degrees, but I know he'll appreciate the temp a bit warmer.

Here's how stocking this is gonna go; I'm gonna add the paradise fish when I can, the next day I'll add one bristlenose pleco (which one? I have a normal male, an albino female, and a normal female. The remaining two will stay in the 20 long, then later go into a 55 that will one day have 5 firemouths), the week after I'll add x zebra danios, and every week after I'll add that same amount until I get 10. What do you recommend x should be?

Is there room for any more fish that prefers cooler water? I had a balloon molly that would've gone in there but she sadly died. Is there space for another fish? I probably won't get an extra fish because understocking is always the best way to go, but I am 'overfiltering' (filter rated for 30-50 gallon tanks) so another fish or two is most likely possible.

 

You'll need driftwood if you're going to put a BN in there. It's an important part of their diet.

 

You'll need driftwood if you're going to put a BN in there. It's an important part of their diet.

oops, forgot to add, the bn won't be the first addition as I need to buy an extra piece of driftwood. There are 3 bns in that 20 long (I know, overstocked, I'm gonna move them into appropriate tanks asap) and since I'll only be removing one, I'll need wood in both tanks. Plus the new stock for the 20 is gonna have a clown pleco, so the wood will have to stay in that tank no matter what.

 

Ok! So my cycle is most likely intact, I gave the tank a few flakes last night bcs I have no alternative on standby. My test kit will be here tomorrow. Should I add the paradise now?

The temp in the new tank is actually a tad bit warmer to the touch, and the only thing that concerns me is the chemical imbalance that is likely present. I conditioned the water last night, the moment I finished filling he tank.

Can I add him if I acclimate him fully? (opening the bag and adding a bit of water every 5 minutes after like 20 minutes of temp acclimation)

Oh yeah, Pictures!

 

First fish is in! Brian, welcome to your forever home! I also got a piece of driftwood that makes me wonder if I spent my $5 well.

Water is still cloudy because the filter has a very high flow and it's pushing a lot of stuff around, I'll try to adjust it soon.

 

Test kit came in today! I checked all my params and idk what's good or bad, I'm guessing these are all bad. Help!!
pH:7.6
Ammonia: 1 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 5-10ppm, maybe even 20, I can't even tell in a well lit room.

I'm not cycled, right?

I know these are newbie questions but I never paid attention to what measurements are good since I never had a test kit to understand this all.

 

Well you are producing nitrates...unless you have nitrates in your source water. You need to test your source water. If that water has no nitrates, then the addition of the fish led to the 1 ppm ammonia. That is deadly for fish. I would do a 75% water change.

 

Well you are producing nitrates...unless you have nitrates in your source water. You need to test your source water. If that water has no nitrates, then the addition of the fish led to the 1 ppm ammonia. That is deadly for fish. I would do a 75% water change.

I am using all the test tubes to test my 20 long, so the source water test will have to wait. The water change can be done, but it'll take a pretty long time. Will do asap though.

 

Ok everyone! Update!! I had another update but I left the SD card at my mom's job (long story). Pictures of that later. I have to post this with phone quality since I have no SD in the camera. I got Prime (finally) and I'll dose the whole tank with it. Ammonia is at 0.25 now, after weekly 50% water changes. Fish are active, eating, happy, and uninjured!

Can you guess the new addition?

(Water looks clouded because of the light+camera quality. It's very clear when you look at it with no lights)

 

I got nothing....

 

I can see it but can't guess... No idea those kinds of fish.

 

I didn't give any info other than a bag. Y'all will see yet another journal, this time for the new fish. Look for it sometime this week!!

 

Okay! I have a good shot or two of the new guy. It's a Jack Dempsey! He/She is at 0.75" right now, and the paradise fish co-habitates well with him/her. The new addition might not be staying long though, He/She's a bit too small to climb 18" upwards for food, plus the absolute hog of a tankmate he/she has. The JD might starve, and I don't wanna take my chances.

Here's the new one! You'll see him/her in here when he/she is older!




(spots on the tail are not ich, just sparkles. I too got a bit of anxiety when I saw the tail.)

 

I moved the JD out in exchange for the striped raphael in my 20 long. All my fish have actually made peace. I feel as if it may be the calm before the storm, but precautionary measures have been taken and I am ready to split up any conflict.

I added a light from a 10 whose light I finally found, leaving me with an extra. So now I have 2 of the same light running on this 29.

Nothing else really new here. Pictures will be taken and posted as soon as I get the SD card to transfer s over!

 

Ok, I finally found this dang card!! All the fish have been pretty okay. The raphael still just hides in his cave though. I have pictures now though!! The water level is low on purpose, I do water changes, I just don't want my paradise to jump out and I don't have a lid. surprisingly the new anacharis isn't thriving as my other anacharis does.

 

Hey everyone! I haven't been posting because of stress from ich. It's hit the 29. So far has killed the male bn pleco and the raphael. I got a new tankmate, a male JD about 2" long in an extremely healthy tank, none around it being diseased either.

The male JD and the paradise are lethargic and the JD has a ton of white spots, whereas the paradise has none. I don't have a heater for this tank, I'm gonna get the eBay one though. It's cheap and the brand hasn't let me down with lights.

I also got duckweed (also from a healthy tank, this one had discus that were doing pretty well) for free. It looks good.

I have only done 1 water change this week. I will do another tommorow. Tomorrow will be water change day for all my tanks!

Let's hope my guys pull through!

 

Ok so after a long while gone, I've got a few updates. The only survivor is the paradise, what a trooper amirite?

I added a butt ton of stuff and did a few water changes. I'll test the ammonia tommorrow or something. The duckweed is doing better in here than any of my other tanks. Here are some horrible android quality pics of the tank bcs I don't have my laptop to transfer pics from my camera. The paradise is very dark right now because it's around the time I gotta turn off all the lights, plus I popped up out of nowhere.