# Setting up my 55 gal



## ColdServings (Oct 8, 2007)

I'm getting my 55 gal ready to move my fish into. It's in the process of cycling. In addition, I just got the first round of plants set in.

For plants, I got the "hard water plant package" for a 55 gal tank from thatpetplace.com and a bunch of dwarf sagittaria sublata for the foreground. It's in place now.

And now I'm waiting for the rest of my CO2 system to arrive (I picked up a 5 lb CO2 bottle today), and the 130 watt Coralife PC light. And, of course, for the tank to finish cycling before moving the fish in.

Here's a picture.










I plan to put some driftwood or a rock formation in that blank area in the middle.


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## DonaldmBoyer (Aug 18, 2005)

Cool.....looks like you are off to a fine start! Good luck and keep us posted on your progress. I would recommend that you remove the air bubblers, as it could cause the CO2 to quickly de-gas out of your water.


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## Jeff.:P:. (Nov 20, 2007)

> I would recommend that you remove the air bubblers, as it could cause the CO2 to quickly de-gas out of your water


2nd that.


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## ColdServings (Oct 8, 2007)

Okay, I can remove the airstones, but then I'm a bit concerned about keeping the water properly oxygenated for the fish. Goldfish do tend to be a bit "resource intensive."

Also, will using a wet/dry trickle filter have the same effect of outgassing the CO2?


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## f2eight (Apr 14, 2007)

ColdServings said:


> Okay, I can remove the airstones, but then I'm a bit concerned about keeping the water properly oxygenated for the fish. Goldfish do tend to be a bit "resource intensive."
> 
> Also, will using a wet/dry trickle filter have the same effect of outgassing the CO2?


I hope your dwarf sag doesn't grow too tall like mine does or it'll take up all the front glass  I put mine in the back and it gets pretty tall, up to about 7+ inches. If you modify the wet dry, it should be alright. I have a wet/dry on my 55g and although I haven't accurately measured the CO2 levels, my plants are doing fine ever since I switched to pressurized (had DIY before).

*EDIT* Although, a majority of people will say wet/dry is not a good setup for planted tanks. I did my research on it and you can make it work - a lot of others have. If you don't have a wet/dry, I wouldn't buy one though - I'd rather get a canister.


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## ColdServings (Oct 8, 2007)

Okay, how about the oxygenation issue? In the end, this has to be a good home for 4-5 goldfish.


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## f2eight (Apr 14, 2007)

If your plants are healthy, they _should_ produce a good amount of oxygen for your goldfish. Maybe hook up the air stones on a timer for when the lights go out?


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## ColdServings (Oct 8, 2007)

That's a thought. The "power center" I bought has three sets of outlets: two for "daylight" two for "night" and four "always on." I could put the air pump on nighttime with the lights and CO2 for daylight.


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## ColdServings (Oct 8, 2007)

I'm experimenting with the air pump on only at "night" (meaning when the main lights are off) on the 29 gal at the moment. With three goldfish in it (and the reason for moving to the 55) there hasn't been any trouble--no "gasping" or anything like that--so I feel confident it should work OK on the bigger tank.

Instead of the DIY trickle filter I was planning on, I just went ahead and ordered a Fluval cannister filter. (Sometime I may want to tinker and see if it's possible to do a practical cannister filter as a DIY project.)

Today, I bought some driftwood for the tank, not from our favorite LFS, but from one we happened to be near when we were doing some shopping today. I think it looks nice in the tank, but it's not quite complete:










I'll probably be getting another piece, maybe a bit smaller, maybe a bit lighter colored, to run off at an angle to the left from this one.

At the moment I have the light that came with an old 55 (one that "bowed" when I filled it and so I rejected it for use) on one side and I've borrowed a 38 watt light strip from the 29 for the time being for the other. The 38 doesn't really fit this since it's meant for a 30" tank and this one either calls for 2 24" or one 48". As a result, it overhangs the edge, but it serves for the time being.

I need to put a backdrop on the tank--mainly to shield against sunlight and help prevent against excessive algae since this thing is sitting by the window (only place I had room). I don't plan to use any of those "aquascape" types, but maybe just a solid color--dark blue or something. Suggestions?

In addition, we see falling ammonia (down from 5 ppm to about 1 ppm) and rising nitrAtes (somewhere in the 40-80 ppm range). I can't say what nitrItes are because one day when my wife was home with Athena she appears to have let Athena play with the color reference cards--and now I can't find the one for Nitrite. Still, even without the cards I'd be able to recognize "no nitrites" in the kit.


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## ColdServings (Oct 8, 2007)

The regulator for my CO2 system arrived today. I also got the extra driftwood that I wanted, but some of the pieces aren't sinking yet. It's a matter of waiting until they soak up enough water, I guess. I also got a couple of pieces of "Texas Hole Rock" so when the driftwood finally sinks, I should have a hardscape with lots of nooks, crannies, mini-caves and the like to explore. Pictures to come when the driftwood finally sinks. Finally, the Fluval 404 cannister filter I ordered should be arriving tomorrow as well. I'm very close to having the tank ready for the fish (basically, as soon as the cycle completes.

I've currently got the CO2 system "always on" until I convince myself that it's working right. When I move the fish, I'll move the timer power station from the other tank so I'll have Light and CO2 on during "day" with a "moonlight" and the air pump on at "night." (I'm still a bit nervous about keeping the water properly oxygenated, so I've ordered an O2 test kit which should be arriving shortly.)

One thing that puzzles me. In the standard DIY CO2 test, you use the relationship between pH and dKH to determine CO2 percentage. The usual method described for a DIY drop checker is to start with distilled or RO water, mix it up to a set dKH, then put in the pH test solution. The idea is to get a fixed KH without anything else in the water to complicate the results. However, the Red Sea drop checker that I bought says to use 1 ml aquarium water and add two drops of their test solution. Now, either they are using completely different chemistry than the dKH/pH relationship or there's something I'm missing here. Can anyone help me out here?


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## ColdServings (Oct 8, 2007)

The Fluval cannister arrived today and I got it set up. At the moment only two of the four baskets contain media--the bio media that came with the filter. I'm thinking of going the pot scrubbies route for one of the remainder and maybe A foam pad for polishing in the last.

The ammonia stage of the cycle is done. I'm now just "feeding" the tank about 1 tbsp of ammonia daily to keep the first stage bugs fed while waiting for the nitrite stage to complete.

Finally, one of the two remaining pieces of driftwood finally sank and I've got it in place. Just waiting on the last one to complete the hardscape.

Incidentally, while I'd thought my guys were pretty good about not pulling up plants, I think Hoshi is mad at me over his quarantine (bit of an internal infection, treated with Medi-gold, tub-to-tub, salt, and erthromycin in the water-I don't do things by halves). Shortly after I reintroduced him into the main tank, he managed to pull up all the Ludwigia. As least I presume it was him--he's the largest of the three and since the uprootings occured right after he went back into the tank. . . .


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## ColdServings (Oct 8, 2007)

oops daughter accidentally hit reply.


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## ColdServings (Oct 8, 2007)

And now we're in the "frustration" part of the tank setup period. Ammonia is gone. NitrAtes are appearing in the water tests. But now we wait, and wait, and wait, and wait for the NitrItes to go away.

Holding steady for the last several days at about 1 ppm.


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## ColdServings (Oct 8, 2007)

The tank is coming along. I'm still in "frustration phase" waiting for NitrIte levels to come down (holding steady at 1-2 ppm), but other than that I'm reasonably happy.










I've done several things since the last update.

All the driftwood is sunk now so the hardscape is pretty much complete. I have no planned changes but you never know when the mood to tinker will strike--the artist always reserves the right to have a better idea. 

A lot of the leaves on the Bacopa were turning brown, as were the stalks (came that way and I just planted them "as received." I spent some time today trimming off the brown bits and replanting the remaining portions of the plant.

One of the plants I received looked sort of like a Java fern but had crepe-like leaves of a light green-brown. Well, after a while in the tank, those leaves got remarkably fragile. I came to the conclusion that it was a java fern--a dead one. So I took it out of the tank today (and have been chasing fragments ever since). I don't know if this kind of "loss rate" is typical of plants ordered online, but I can't say that I'm terribly happy.

The trimmed bacopa filled less space of course (now it's all on the left rather than in two patches, one on the left and one about 1/3 of the way in from the right) and with that extra "java fern" gone, I was left with some gaps in the coverage. While I was out at the pet store today, I picked up a sample of Dwarf Sword, an Amazon Sword plant, and a bundle of the fuzzy stuff you can see about 1/4 in from the right end which I think is green cabomba.

You can see the intake and outlet of the cannister filter on the right (Fluval 404) and I've still got the Penguin Biowheel 350 on the left. I've got the CO2 system set up with a 5 lb tank feeding into a Red Sea reactor 500. I'm using somewhere on the order of 3-4 bps to get the Red Sea drop checker nicely in the green.

As of today, I've reduced the daily ammonia feeding to 1/4 tsp which, I hope, will keep the ammonia eating bacteria fed--so long as that amount is comparable to what the fish will produce when I put them in there the reduction may help get the nitrite under control sooner. I am told elsewhere that many people find the nitrite portion of the cycle to drag.

So that's where we are. I hope we'll be able to move the fish into the tank soon.


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## Paul Higashikawa (Mar 18, 2004)

ColdServings said:


> The tank is coming along. I'm still in "frustration phase" waiting for NitrIte levels to come down (holding steady at 1-2 ppm), but other than that I'm reasonably happy.


No need to be frustrated, man. Enjoy the process which is what it is. Compare to my situation, your tank is doing well. I need to get rid of the brown algae that is plaguing my tank in its beginning stage


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## ColdServings (Oct 8, 2007)

As I said, the artist always reserves the right to have a "better" idea. I've made a slight modification to the hardscape, specifically setting the larger piece of hardscape upright rather than laying down. I may want to put some taller plants next to it--perhaps some java fern or some swords.










And while I'm still waiting for the tank to finish cycling, I've cut down on the lighting. The light I'm using is pretty bright (a 48" fixture with 2X65 PC lights and a 30" fixture with 2X18 T5 lights) but I'm cutting it down to about 4 hours a day since I'm getting some diatoms and some green dust algae. I suppose I could just leave them and let them run their course.

Tank is being dosed with the Flourish products per Flourish's recommended levels for Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, Excel, and Trace (not using the base "Flourish" nor Flourish iron at this time). I've got an order in for dry ferts for NPK and the CSM+B recommended in the estimatve index sticky. CO2 levels are good per the Red Sea drop checker (nice green). I'm thinking I may want to reduce the CO2 a bit just before introducing the fish once the cycle completes. Not sure how much CO2 the fish's metabolism is going to add to the mix, but just to be safe....

Oh, and when the lights are on, I'm definitely getting photosynthesis--getting "pearling" on the java fern and the trimmed ends of the water onion leaves and some of the larger plants in the right rear actually send up a continuous stream of tiny bubbles.

Even with out the fish in it, the tank is kind of nifty to watch.


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## ColdServings (Oct 8, 2007)

At long last the cycle is finished, held stable for a couple days, and I have moved the fish in. Since the last pictures, I've added some watersprite around the centerpiece piece of driftwood to try and blend it into the rest of the aquascape. I've also added some coral rocks picked up beachcombing in the Bahamas. It's nowhere close to "natural" to a cold fresh water environment for goldfish but I thought it looked nice. Lights and CO2 are now on a timer.

I'm getting a lot of diatoms and green dust algae but most of what I've read on those is "treatment" is mostly a matter of waiting out the life cycle.

Pic:


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