29 Gallon Tank Suggest requirements for my Tank !!! Am i missing anything

HI All,

I am new newbie in to aquarium, from last 2months I was doing huge R&D, reading many articles and finally after 2 times of aquascaping, attached is my aquarium pic

below are things which I am using for my aquarium, as of now everything looks good but wanted to know your suggestions

1. 25 Gallon or 100 litres Tank
2. aqua soil
3. HOB filter (125 gallon or 450 liters)
4. air pump with bio filter
5. 36 watt * 2 lights
6. API Leaf Zone once in a week
7. Seachem Flourish Excel Daily 2ml
8. Seachem Flourish twice a week
9. DIY co2 ( not regularly, facing some issues so need to work on it)
10. 7 Guppies and some 20 fry , 1 Platty, 2 Snails & many babies, 1 shrimp
11. many many many plants ... very hard to count ( I guess around some 100 plants and all are low c02 low lights plants)
12. 2 drift wood & 1 500mg lava stone

below are some of my questions

1. how many more fishes can I go for
2. which is the best aleage eater for my tank
3. can any fish or snail or shrimp eat dead leaves
4. please suggest if I need to add anything else

my aquarium s

 

Its nice to see someone who reads and learns first rather then just jump into fishkeeping. The fish that live in that tank will be very happy. Just make sure you have perfect water perms. Not just the nitrogen cycle, I mean GH, KH and of course pH. Beautiful tank. Just remember that plants only make o2 in the day. Keep air stones around the tank.

 

HI laracroft007,

Welcome to Fishlore! That is a lot of light for a 25 gallon, you may want to run a short photoperiod or run bulb only for most of the time with a short 'noon burst' with both bulbs running. API Leaf Zone contains just two ingredients: potassium sulfate and salt. I would save my money and dose the Seachem Flourish 3X a week instead. If you are going to do DIY CO2 I would forego the air pump bio filter, excess water turbulence at the surface increases the CO2 loss.

As for your questions:
below are some of my questions

how many more fishes can I go for

- With the filtration I would keep about 25" total inches of fish in that tank.

which is the best aleage eater for my tank

- I use Otocinclus to control brown algae (diatoms) and soft, flat green algae. I like Siamese Algae Eaters (SAE / Crossocheilus siamensis) for eating the "hair" type algae. I usually have 1-2 Otocinclus per 10 gallons and one SAE per aquarium.

can any fish or snail or shrimp eat dead leaves

- Most snails will eat dead or dying leaves, some will even eat healthy ones!

please suggest if I need to add anything else

- Depending upon the temperatures where you live you may need a heater or a fan to help control the tank temperature.

 

Thanks Ben and Seattleroy for the detailed description

Sure will consider all the inputs & by the way I do have a heater but as I am in India, I don't require it as temp of the tank is allways between 23 to 25

Can I add aquarium salt in that heavily planted tank for my Guppies, Mollies & platies ....there are lot of fry in that aquarium ... is Aquarium salt safe for both fry & plants ?

 

HI laracroft007,

I don't use aquarium salt in my planted tanks however most plants can tolerate some salt. I would start with 1 tablespoon per 40 liters of water. If the plants seem to do well you might try an additional teaspoon per 40 liters.

 

Sure SeattleRoy,

I will be avoiding using salt for most of the time ... in case if I feel in future it is required then will add

Also I am dosing Seachem Excel daily 2.5ml ... on other post I see people are doing it on other days then daily. Am I dosing too much of carbon, I read carbon does not stay more then a day

which is the right method for heavily planted : daily 2.5ml or trice a week

HI laracroft007,

I don't use aquarium salt in my planted tanks however most plants can tolerate some salt. I would start with 1 tablespoon per 40 liters of water. If the plants seem to do well you might try an additional teaspoon per 40 liters.

 

HI laracroft007,

You are correct, the active ingredient in Seachem Excel and API CO2 Booster (and others) is glutaraldehyde which remains active for up to 24 hours; so daily dosing of those additives provides carbon for plant growth at a more consistent level. I dose glutaraldehyde daily in the morning so carbon is available for growth during photosynthesis.

 

Thanks SeattleRoy for all your help

HI laracroft007,

You are correct, the active ingredient in Seachem Excel and API CO2 Booster (and others) is glutaraldehyde which remains active for up to 24 hours; so daily dosing of those additives provides carbon for plant growth at a more consistent level. I dose glutaraldehyde daily in the morning so carbon is available for growth during photosynthesis.