New Aquarium Questions 2

"Hamlet" wrote in message
om...
I'm setting up a new tank (my first, except for one I had as a kid 15
years ago) and I had a few questions. Some details:

Me too. Hope you don't mind if I jump in here with similar questions and
comments.

Tank is a 40 gallon breeder (36in X 18in X 16in)
Filter is a Penguin 330 (two wheels for bio-filter)
150 Watt Heater
basic 25 watt fluorescent light


Tank is called a 55 gal but after I measured internal dimensions it works
out to 43 gal approx. Same tank at store is "55gal"??
(interior dimensions: 47.5 x 17 x 12.375 = 9992.8125 inches cubed =
43.258929 US gallons)
Two under gravel filters with two 660 power heads. I also put a Whisper 60
Power Filter in.
200 or 250 watt immersion heater (can't remember now and don't want to pull
it out of tank to see)
40 watt, 48 inch light
My plan (such that it is):

declorinate the water
get temp to 78F
do tests for PH, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates

Assuming nothing bad shows up in the tests,
Set up tank, let pumps run for 24 hrs to allow chlorine to dissipate/water
to age, run tests.
Didn't think I'd find anything but wanted to establish base line and did
find 1ppm ammonia. pH is high, 7.8 (tonight it tested at 7.2 at home).
Everything else 0. Took water to store for free test (they also do
alkalinity, hardness, chlorine, and chloramine and to confirm I'm doing my
tests correct. They find 6.8 pH and 2ppm ammonia. I get White Diamond
Ammonia-Neutralizing Crystals, put into mesh bag and laid in bottom of tank
for several days. Ammonia now 0. I call Makers of my test kit and explain
pH issue and they claim there's nothing wrong with their test (Aquarium
Pharmaceuticals). Store is using strips (Jungle) and Maker says strips not
as good as drops I'm using (is this right??).

start with 5 platys of various colors (following cycling instructions
from The Simple Guide to Fresh Water Aquariums)

Once ammonia was at 0 we put in 4 Red Wag Platys and 3 Gold Crescent Platys
(Mickey Mouse Platys?) *Just lost a pregnant GC Platy this morning*.
We'll leave them for a week or week and a half and add some more. I'm
testing daily to watch the spikes as tank cycles. Looking now for a bottom
feeder to start assisting in tank maintenance. I'm feeding flake in the
morning and blood worms at night.

Questions:

My questions:
1. Why is my tank called a 55 gallon when it holds 45 gallons?
2. Is my filter adequate? Over filtering is good, right?
3. Will the aeration of the filter(s) be enough, or do I need to
supplement it? It keeps the water at the top moving pretty good. Maybe too
much?
4. Real plants are pretty much out unless I upgrade the light,
correct? Would Java Fern be ok or should I just go with plastic
plants?


My interest is to have the platys and swordtails breed a little, but
not overwhelm me with fish. I understand that the fish will eat the
fry, so I'm planning on leaving the fry in the main tank. I will give
them lots of cover (probably plastic) to hide in, hoping that a few
will reach adulthood. Does this make sense? any suggestions?
Me too.



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"JL" wrote in message
news:iV8Rc.10230$pT5.816@lakeread05...
"Hamlet" wrote in message
om...
I'm setting up a new tank (my first, except for one I had as a kid 15
years ago) and I had a few questions. Some details:

Me too. Hope you don't mind if I jump in here with similar questions and
comments.

Tank is a 40 gallon breeder (36in X 18in X 16in)
Filter is a Penguin 330 (two wheels for bio-filter)
150 Watt Heater
basic 25 watt fluorescent light


Tank is called a 55 gal but after I measured internal dimensions it works
out to 43 gal approx. Same tank at store is "55gal"??
(interior dimensions: 47.5 x 17 x 12.375 = 9992.8125 inches cubed =
43.258929 US gallons)
Two under gravel filters with two 660 power heads. I also put a Whisper
60
Power Filter in.
200 or 250 watt immersion heater (can't remember now and don't want to
pull
it out of tank to see)
40 watt, 48 inch light
My plan (such that it is):

declorinate the water
get temp to 78F
do tests for PH, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates

Assuming nothing bad shows up in the tests,
Set up tank, let pumps run for 24 hrs to allow chlorine to dissipate/water
to age, run tests.
Didn't think I'd find anything but wanted to establish base line and did
find 1ppm ammonia. pH is high, 7.8 (tonight it tested at 7.2 at home).
Everything else 0. Took water to store for free test (they also do
alkalinity, hardness, chlorine, and chloramine and to confirm I'm doing my
tests correct. They find 6.8 pH and 2ppm ammonia. I get White Diamond
Ammonia-Neutralizing Crystals, put into mesh bag and laid in bottom of
tank
for several days. Ammonia now 0. I call Makers of my test kit and explain
pH issue and they claim there's nothing wrong with their test (Aquarium
Pharmaceuticals). Store is using strips (Jungle) and Maker says strips
not
as good as drops I'm using (is this right??).

start with 5 platys of various colors (following cycling instructions
from The Simple Guide to Fresh Water Aquariums)

Once ammonia was at 0 we put in 4 Red Wag Platys and 3 Gold Crescent
Platys
(Mickey Mouse Platys?) *Just lost a pregnant GC Platy this morning*.
We'll leave them for a week or week and a half and add some more. I'm
testing daily to watch the spikes as tank cycles. Looking now for a
bottom
feeder to start assisting in tank maintenance. I'm feeding flake in the
morning and blood worms at night.

First lost the pregnant Gold Crescent Platy, this morning lost the second,
this afternoon lost the third. Replaced the first one with another and
seems to be doing alright. I'm not replacing the other 2. The first batch
was bad. Now just have 5 in tank, 4 Red Wag Platys and 1 Gold Crescent.
The last GCP I watched die, was weird (the others we found dead). Fish was
darting around, didn't seem to have any directional control, when not
swimming would rotate belly up and drift with current until it took off
again, like a kid letting go of an untied balloon. Water check every night
and anytime I find a dead fish. Also I take a sample to PetSmart and they
verify. Water is good. Saw some red (blood?) under his scales on his head,
maybe from where he's ramming into the glass?

Questions:

My questions:
1. Why is my tank called a 55 gallon when it holds 45 gallons?
2. Is my filter adequate? Over filtering is good, right?
3. Will the aeration of the filter(s) be enough, or do I need to
supplement it? It keeps the water at the top moving pretty good. Maybe
too
much?
4. Real plants are pretty much out unless I upgrade the light,
correct? Would Java Fern be ok or should I just go with plastic
plants?


My interest is to have the platys and swordtails breed a little, but
not overwhelm me with fish. I understand that the fish will eat the
fry, so I'm planning on leaving the fry in the main tank. I will give
them lots of cover (probably plastic) to hide in, hoping that a few
will reach adulthood. Does this make sense? any suggestions?
Me too.



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