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30 Gallon Journal

52K views 1K replies 31 participants last post by  Elsewhere 
#1 ·
I got my aunt's 30 gallon on Sunday March 24th, 2013. It was filled with sand and covered in Hermit Crab crap. After three hours of meticulous cleaning, everything was cleared out and ready to go. On Monday March 25th, 2013, I set the tank up empty in my living room. Today, March 27th, 2013, I purchased all I would need for the tank, including:
One 22lb bag of gravel
Three 4.4lb bags of gravel
One Aqueon Quiet Flow 30 Aquarium Filter
One Fluval Submersible Heater, 100 WATTS
One Thermometer
One Greek Pavilion
One thoroughly cleaned used Greek vase type thing
One thoroughly cleaned used wood decoration
One Gravel Vacuum
One thing that makes bubbles

I set it up about an hour ago and got it filled with water and running and everything is working GREAT. I have a massive, long plan on how this will work, which I will put on in a minute. This is my stocking plan:
1 Pearl Gourami
9 Bloodfin Tetras
6 Otocinclus
4-5 Mystery Snails
4-6 Ghost Shrimp

Here is my overall plan:
1. Get the tank set up empty and plant-less, run it for two weeks empty to judge the quality of the products.
2. Buy four plants, buy two snails.
3. Two weeks later: buy four plants, buy two snails.
4. Two weeks later: buy four plants, buy two shrimp.
5. Two weeks later: buy four plants, buy two shrimp.
6. Two weeks later: buy 6 Otocinclus, QT for two weeks, add to tank if healthy.
7. Two weeks later: buy 5 Bloodfin Tetras, QT for two weeks, add to tank if healthy.
8. Two weeks later: buy 4 Bloodfin Tetras, QT for two weeks, add to tank if healthy.
9. Two weeks later: buy Gourami, QT for two weeks, add to tank if healthy.

The QT tanks I have are a 5g and a 2.5g, but I'm hoping to keep the 2.5g as a Betta Emergency QT if someone gets sick... Plus, I think these fish are too big for that kind of tank :p

Here are some pictures of the 30g:





What do you think? I've been planning this for months and it will take months more to complete.
 
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#353 ·
Oh. My. God. Ich. One of the Guppies. Has. Ich. I am so incredibly mad right now. Just checked my parameters- their perfect, Ammonia and Nitrite 0, Nitrate 20, pH 7.8. This Guppy had NO raised white spots literally two hours ago. Slowly raising the temp to 85, can't get any meds for it. Hoping the heat alone and daily 30-50 WC will do the trick... Not isolating the fish, as the other girl left in there seems to have two spots as well. I've put two pregnant girls in the 0.5 floater now, as they both look ready to go. Will update with pics soon.
 
#354 ·
Pics-

Ich fish:


Pregnant Guppies:











Before, new 30g spot:


Placement of 5g:


Placement of 10g's:


Norman:
 
#355 ·
OH MY GOD THERE'S BABY GUPPIES! OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD. Well, ONE baby, but there should be more to come! GAHHH! Too small for pics, but I'll make an attempt later!
 
#356 ·
I am just WIPED. And I still have half my homework to do in three hours. We moved the tank. That was the worst thing I have ever experienced in my life. A HUGE shout out to mum, dad and brother for their help- a few words-I-can't-say-on-here to the fish in the tank for being HORRID at being captured. I had to destroy the tank and completely rescape the ENTIRE thing. It looks fabulous, BTW. I'll post pics when it gets darker and my head has stopped pounding from a stress headache. In case you couldn't tell, I get headaches very easily and take a number of medications to keep them at bay. But man oh man, was it worth it- the tank looks GREAT and I'm loving looking over and seeing Soleil begging me for her promised Bloodworms.

There are around four baby Guppies now, and I'm still expecting for their to be more. GREEEAT. Well, actually great. They ate one baby :/ I was expecting it, but it still makes me sad. Watching them like a hawk to keep them away from those babies >.>

The 30g is a little cloudy, since I took the plants out and they had quite a big of gross-ness under them, which I siphoned out. Everyone is having a little panic attack, but are now calming down a smidge-muffin.
 
#357 ·
So in all of the excitement, I forgot to tell you that Demeter passed. It surprises me as much as pains me. I don't know when she went, but before she did she looked very normal for once, which perplexes me. It really kills me that Andromeda no longer has her twin sister. All I know is that I now need a new girl more than ever, possibly two, just in case for Kass.

I also had two egg clutches fall off in the great tank move of 2013, so they're floating on a sponge in a small plastic container. I don't know if they'll make it or not.

On a lighter note, here are the pics!

After:

Huge egg clutch (still hanging on) :

Tank pics:



 
#358 ·
Aww I'm really sorry about Demeter :-( So many Betta death's lately and I'm NOT liking it! Bad juju! lol I hope everyone else stays healthy, healthy! Including you!

And yes on a good note, the tank looks amazing!!! I looooove the amazon swords there! It really looks super nice in there :-D
 
#359 ·
Yeah, I'm just really glad Kass is hanging on. With Demeter it was 50/50, and I was trying to not get too optimistic, but Kass seems 100% better other than maybe two fungus patches that are super tiny. Yeah, same with you! I read your journal- I'm so incredibly sorry about the disease strain. I honestly cannot even imagine how painful this must be for you.

Thank you! I really like this new setup, and so do the fish! Soleil is swimming around and claiming territory as I type this. The Cories finally have some swim time as she does, and hopefully they'll go to a new home soon! I'm PM-ing Catw0man, and hopefully we'll be able to meet up in Toronto sometime for a fish swap! I'm asking her if I can get two girls, now that Demeter's gone. The blue girl and anyone else she may have. I was considering a pet store girl, but I'm so sick of getting the sick fish and having them die or bring in disease even after QT. It's just frustrating. I feel really tired after all of this, and I can't imagine how tired you must feel, Lil :/
 
#360 ·
Yeah, I'm exhausted right now after a good cry session last night lol. it's half exhausting just knowing or not knowing what's wrong with my fish and it's always the favorites....always! I just feel like screaming and yelling at the stupid diseases but I can't and it's tiring. Am not enjoying this >.>

I hope Kass get's fully better, I really do and I hope you can get some pretty girls from Catw0man! She's the best! And the drive will be a lot easier for you than it was for us haha, we did roughly 20 hours of driving with 9 hours there and 9 hours back plus the hour or so going over the border, driving around and crossing back so it might have been more like 22-23 hours of driving >.< as much as it was great to get fish, I don't think I'll be taking a long road trip for a loooooong time haha.
 
#361 ·
Aw, Lil, I'm so sorry. I mean, at least I know what's wrong with Kass, so it makes it better. And it is always the favourites. I cried for days after Themis died- she was my very first little girl. I still have pics of her up :/

I'm so excited about it! She said she could bid on a girl I like on AB and I could get her when we meet, and I won't have to pay for the shipping, just for the girl! You know since Catw0man can pick her up :D Yeah, Toronto is much closer to me than Niagara is to you!

So still only one Guppy baby... Mum's ate one and two died, leaving just the little squirt. One mum looks done with babies, but the other is still HUGE, so I'll leave them overnight and see what happens. Gotta go and do water changes on the 5g, thanks to the ich fish, and give Kass her salt bath. Then homework! Joy of all joys!
 
#362 ·
Did you put any plants in the tank with the guppies? Some sort of moss or plant like hornwort would help the babies survive and not get eaten. :)

Catw0man is the most amazing person ever!!!! She bought me one of my girls (Lynx) and I just had to pay shipping but she just bought me her because she could. I was ever so grateful and of course with the recent trip I just don't know how to thank her enough!! She's just that amazing haha

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I know what's wrong with them now, it's just the fact that it's not curable since there are no known cures for Mycobacteria :-( end of the day ended up being better but still sucks to think about it. Broke down in class when my teacher after knowing her for 3 years asked if I was okay and that I wasn't my normal peppy self and I had to explain to my classmates what was going on. I didn't expect much of them to understand since fish doesn't always equal pet as on the same level as cat or dog but thankfully enough they did and felt bad after I explained what the heck Myco's was.

But if it comes down to it, I am willing to euthanize for the sake of my healthy fish and for future fish. I don't think I could have a tank continue knowing that Myco's live in there and are extremely active and killing off my fish. I'd rather get it done myself and know they won't suffer.
 
#363 ·
Yes, I have a Java Fern, some baby Swords and a couple of Cabombas. Still no new babies, but the ich fish is looking a wee bit better today. Just moving around a lot more, rather than staying in one place. I'd be isolating it, but at this rate I figure the entire tank already has it and treating them all with the 85 water and lots of WC is what's best.

She honestly is. My mum can't go get them, so she's driving all the way down and we're meeting up in a place 40 minutes north of me. I am honestly amazed- AND she said she'd order the fish for me! I've decided to go with her:
http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fwbettasct&1379731439

Not nearly as gorgeous as my perfect girl last time, but I still LOVE her colouration, and I don't have a CT in the tank, so it's perfect!

Lil, that sucks worse than anything I've heard in a while. I know how hard it is to euthanize fish. Heck, tears are coming to my eyes now as I think about poor Boreas. I feel for you, and I just hope things will eventually work out in the end for you. Will you need to toss all of the equipment, too? Like the tank, gravel, filter, etc? Or is it just the fish it infects?
 
#364 ·
Hey. Hey. If you click that link, it's closed. THAT'S BECAUSE CATW0MAN GOT HER FOR ME! She is honestly my new favourite person! She's driving TWO not "tow". Stupid computer... two hours to my town just to drop them off! OH MAH GOODNESS GRACIOUS! I am so excited. My mum probably thinks I'm on some kind of drug, I keep bouncing off the walls! GAAAHH! This is so AWESOME!

Oh, and no more babies for the Guppies. If they do have them I'll risk is in the 5g- it's much too difficult to catch them, plus mama hates that little container. Ich fish is looking much better. I'm using the siphon as per usual this week, but on Saturday I'll disinfect both the siphon and bucket with 20:1, water to bleach, so I don't infect anyone else with this. So far WC and 85 water is helping the little dude, but if need be I can try and persuade someone to drive me out to the good pet stores.

These swords are monstrous. I mean, a LITTLE on the cray cray side. When I redid the tank, I measured them at a little more than a foot. I might just have to find someone with a bigger tank for them, and trade for some more Cabomba or Valisneria or something, because they're just TOO BIG. But Soleil really loves them, and so do the Otos. I need to get them out of my 10g's- there're also little itty bitty baby ones in all of my tanks. Erg, I could start a business! Giant swords, anyone? Five bucks for big, three for middle, two for baby! Haha!
 
#365 ·
!!! I'm so happy you got that girl! She's gorgeous! Yeah, I've got two CT's in my sorority now and I love them both! And that seller is actually the one that I had gotten my last black copper CT breeding girl from! He's a great guy and knows what he's doing so that's great! So happy for you!!!!

I'm not so sad on euthanizing the girls, like obviously I am but for the sake of future fish and whatnot I am willing to do it. The one that severely makes me sad and cry everytime I think about it is Rembrandt. He's the one who started this and made this what it is today and I haven't even had him for a full year yet! December 3rd is his "birthday" although I believe he was just about 3-4 months when I bought him which makes him just a year old now but just the thought of it. I'm almost willing to buy him all the equipment he needs just so I can keep him and have him QT'd basically from the rest of my fish.

So far it's just the girls and him right now, none of the other boy's have showed signs so I'm not really sure. But with equipment I can just soak them in an alcohol based solution and then let them air dry to disinfect. But yes it effects everything so I can also disinfect my plants thankfully but the sand I'd probably get rid of and replace it with Eco-Complete or something to help the plants out. But I have to disinfect everything which means I completely loose my cycle but thankfully I have enough plants that I think I'll be okay.
 
#366 ·
Oh that's great! It makes me feel much better! All of my friends are getting really tired of my outbursts about how awesome she is, hahaha! Aaah, I'm so excited! If only we could agree on when to meet!

Aw, Lil, that sucks so incredibly badly. I know how much you love Rem. If it were Pigg, I wouldn't be able to do it. He's my first love. I don't talk about him a lot or put too many pics of him up (he's camera shy) but I always say if I had to lose all of my fish but one, it would be him. I would do everything to keep him going, even if it meant all new things for him... My mother would kill me, but I'd do it. I'm so sorry about this, it's so hard to do :/

So my friend's mum just came by to pick up her baby Guppy, and she ended up taking the two fallen snail clutches! Oh, and the really big one hatched! I can't see the babies, but the sac has holes and is all cracked up. Maybe a couple will actually live through Soleil and her possible love of Escargot :)
 
#367 ·
I honestly think I will keep Rembrandt but I'll keep him in his own tank, I'll probably keep the 3 gallon now NPT going just for him, get him his own turkey baster since I won't need to do a full water change on it now and he should be good to go until he goes.

I love my girls but at the same time, I've already hit the acceptance stage and I think it would just be better for them to go. Jewel and Little Blue died today, Jewel jumped it must have been Sunday or something since she was very dried up and decaying badly I could hardly recognize her and had to do it by process of elimination. And then Little Blue was eaten...well half eaten :-/ I think it's time to just end it all and start fresh.

I'll stop taking over your journal now lol.
 
#368 ·
Aw, Lil, I keep saying that and I'm so sorry. I need to stop being so Canadian. Some person ran into me in the hall today and I said "Sorry. I mean, hey! Ugh, I'm too freaking Canadian. I gots to toughen up!" I think it would be good for you to start over too. Try and start fresh from all of this awfulness. And you can feel free to take over my journal anytime- I don't mind :)

So I have a little dilemma. I need to put some more water in the 30g, since those snail eggs and their container came out and that took some water from the tank. But my bucket is being used for the 5g and my other bucket is too small and will take a million years just to get it to the right amount. Dilemmas, dilemmas... I'll probably just go for the small bucket and say "Screw it". Ich in all of my tanks is NOT worth it! Ugh, I just realized I have to sanitize my nets, siphon, bucket and like three cups plus the 2.5 on Saturday or early Sunday morning. That'll be GREAT. Fan-fricken-tastic.

Oh, my cousin Josephine, well, Jo, she hates Josephine, but I like the name :p, told us she has a new girlfriend today :) Her last one was... Something else. But we all like this new girl, Ashley! Hopefully I'll get to meet her and scare her away soon, haha!

Ugh, I have a ton of math and still need to set a date with Catw0man and do the 5g... I need to stop delaying my homework and fish-y-ness stuff with the Internet and reading. That and just staring at the fish... That takes a good two hours out of my day...
 
#369 ·
I just realized that when the ich is gone I should still tear down the tank and disinfect, along with the plants... I don't know if I have all that in me... Stupid Guppies. I know they didn't get ich from my care, not after only two weeks and that tank being used countless other times... I should probably let the lady I got them from know...
 
#370 ·
lol, I say sorry quite a bit too but yes, you Canadian's and saying your sorry all the time!!! haha, no worries though ;-)

Sounds like a fun time disinfecting! I'll be doing it right along with you so we can share and swap stories lmao!

Gratz on your cousins new gf! I hope this one's better than the last at least ^_^
 
#371 ·
UUUUUGH AND I'LL HAVE TO BUY ALL NEW SPONGES. WORDSICAN'TSAYONTHISWEBSITE.

Yes, we say sorry more than we say "eh" >.>

So Catw0man and I will be meeting up not this Saturday, not next Saturday, but the one after. Should be quite the long wait :( At least by that time she'll almost be done her QT... I'll probably keep both her and the blue girl (Who I have already named Blooredgard Q. Kazoo, or Bloo. I'll give you extra brownie points if you name the show!) in QT for about a week, also so they get used to their tank mates. I'm starting to wonder if Kass will ever get 100% better... The fungus has been in the same spot for about three days now, not diminishing. That, and I'm running out of AQ salt. I'll have to switch over to Epsoms when I do, I literally CANNOT spend anymore money on fish unless it's worth getting grounded over. Especially with the black CT coming. I'm trying to come up with names for her... For some reasons "Orchid" is speaking to me, though I don't know why.

I'm just realizing how far from a journal strictly about my 30g this actually is... I hadn't even mentioned it until now! But whatevs, it's my journal :p
 
#372 ·
Actually you don't necessarily need to. You can use the bleach solution on them but you need to wash them out EXTRA well and I mean like until you don't smell bleach coming from ANY part of that sponge. So you can either go through the hassle or just buy new ones, so that is up to you.

Yeah, well you have to wait until the girl is shipped out of Thailand which should be soon and then you have to wait for the fish to get here, so she might not actually be here for the full three weeks anyway. Orchid would be pretty though, I know a few on here with girls named Orchid ^_^ all different colors too haha.
 
#373 ·
I think it would just be easier... I'm making an extra 30 bucks babysitting this weekend, so I'll just go to the dollar store and buy some more sponges. Or maybe use the ten bucks at No Frills for an ACTUAL sponge, haha. The other twenty is for new fishy ^.^ I don't trust myself to wash bleach out of those kinds of sponge- they REALLY trap everything in, the dollar store ones I have. I just hate ruining any kind of cycle I might have, and the hassle of having to keep the Guppies in the 0.5 all day while the tank and everything dries out. I'm just going to soak the gravel in near boiling water, because I again don't trust myself with the bleach, and I can't afford new gravel.

Yeah, Catw0man said she might get here next Monday or the on after depending on when she's shipped. She's worth the wait, though! I really wish I could have gotten that girl I found a couple months back, though. She was just... Perfect. Aw well. Can't dwell on that. GOODNESS ME. AN UNORIGINAL NAME. BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD! But seriously, I do like Orchid. I think I'll need to wait and see her personality first. But it's too late with Bloo. I've already started calling her that XD

So ich Guppy, who I should really start calling Aul, is responding well to treatment. She's already lost a couple of bumps, thankfully, and will hopefully get better soon! On the weekend I'll be doing twice daily WC, probably 30-50% each time, just to be sure I suck up all of those nasties out of the gravel before I clean it all out. Hopefully that'll be sometime next weekend, but a girl can only dream. I've gotta go and get Kass out of her salt bath! This will probably be my last post :)
 
#374 ·
I inspected Kass again tonight, and I think the mark on her face is permanently there. When I used the lamp (which is blindingly bright, by the way) I saw it wasn't puffy at at all like it used to be, but still there. There's one small patch of fungus where a scale was bitten off (probably by Jumper), but otherwise she looks good. She's acting normal again, eating like the pig she is, hiding in plants, perking up when someone goes into the bathroom- she seems healthy. If by next week everything remains the same and that small fungus patch disappears, I think I'll put her back in. Again, after two days of floating, to be sure she remembers her sisters.
 
#375 ·
So I'd like to start off today with a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY LILNAUGRIM!!! before getting into things :)

Kass is still looking good, but her heater's stopped working. I might just switch her into the cup and float her now, though I'll probably wait til' tomorrow. Stupid cheap small tank heaters. UUUUGH I can't WAIT for October 5th!!! Eeeee, I'm so excited about the new fish!

So the Cories are STILL HERE. I hate people. I honestly don't know what to do about it. I see them out at night when Soleil sleeps, but otherwise they're just cooped up in that tiny log :/ I mean, 5 FREE healthy Cories? That's such a good deal! That's like 25 bucks at PetSmart, minus the healthiness! Erg!

I haven't seen ich fish yet today, she's hiding in behind the sponge filter. I hope she makes an appearance, I wanna see how the clean and hotter water are doing for her. Oh, and I think within the next month I'll get that Pigg plush from the contest :D Can't wait for that!
 
#376 ·
So I'm sick. YAY. My whole school is. And I do mean the whole school. Everyone is coughing and sneezing and blowing their noses. Three of my teachers were missing today, and in one class five kids. It was only a matter of time before I became infect >.> So cough drops galore and a crap ton of Kleenexes later, I haven't given Kass her salt bath or given the Guppies their WC. I hate to do it, but I think I'm going to spend tonight resting so that I'll be well enough tomorrow to get some actual work done.

Oh, and I think Corinth is ready to have her babies. The black has become VERY prominent. I'm just letting her have them in the tank- I don't have the energy to try and catch her, and I've already stressed the crap out of her with that. Plus, when everyone got bloodworms tonight (because I may have forgotten on Sunday...), well everyone but Kass, strict diet for her, she actually stayed behind and swam in front of the tank at me. I think they're finally settling in and getting used to the filter, and I really don't want them to go and hide in the corner again, because that was frustrating enough on it's own.

And at the disgusting coughing of narsty-ness, I leave you with another HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LILNAUGRIM!!!
 
#377 ·
Haha, thanks Elsewhere!! That made me happy to see that ^_^

I'm glad things are mostly going well now with the guppies and whatnot!! Yeah, people are weird when it comes to free things >.< me? I just snatch it up no matter what it is! hahah.

I hope you and your school get better soon! Although I'm sure it's nice not to have so much homework or anything ;-)
 
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