1fish2fish tank journals

[1fish2fish]

I'm doing this mainly for my benefit because I'm too lazy to actually keep a regular journal of all the tank stuff I'll update as stuff changes and add pictures when I get them. I'll also be talking through my cycles and how I baffle my filters, etc, so on and so forth.

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08/28/10
Right now I have 4 cycled tanks running and 6 bare bottom tanks plus a fry tank. I have two big projects coming up...

First, I'm setting up two ten gallons. I'm dividing them 4 ways and I'll be cycling them fishless (hence the fish in the bare bottom tanks). Only giving 2 gallons a fish isn't my ideal but with my current set up and being in the dorms and such it is the only way I can keep my fish and have them all be in heated tanks.

So far I have one tank divided and set up with gravel and plastic plants. The plants are temporary until I can afford lighting and live plants. Once I pick up a power strip I'll be setting up the filter (a Whisper 10i) and heater and begin adding ammonia. In about a week or so I'll add some sponge from my other tanks to help speed the cycle. The other tank was just set up with the dividers today. The glue will need to dry for 48 hours and then I'll add the gravel and plants and begin cycling it as well.

These tanks will house the majority of my males. I have one spot open for a new male if something special comes up, if not that slot will go to the best fish out of the 7 multibabies I have left.






Second project.. I'm giving Poe, my King PK, an upgrade. His new digs will consist of a fully planted Eclipse 12. I'll also be adding RCS to his tank and possibly some snails.

The tank came from my local thrift store (for $15!!) but it did not have the filter so next week I'll be ordering a sponge filter for it. Also next week I'll be buying Eco-complete (red) for the substrate, and the heater. The following week I'll be ordering the plants for it. I'm not sure what plants I'll be adding yet. It's my goal to put enough plants in the tank that I can bypass cycling altogether.

Its going to be a long time setting up this tank because I have to save for everything but once its all put together it should be beautiful

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Last night I noticed weird wormlike critters in Poe and Freddie's tanks. I'm not sure what they are but I think they're nematodes. I'm trying to figure out why they are showing up all of the sudden but the fish don't seem to mind having a nice snack in their tanks. I did waterchanges on both tanks tonight and vacuumed really well so I hope I don't see these again because frankly, they creep me out.

I also re-arranged my fish shelf so I can put a spawning tub on the bottom shelf. I'm hoping to find a way to get lights on it eventually but for now I'm happy.



I'm really excited to finally have an income so I can get rolling on these projects instead of just planning them

I'll update again in a few days with pictures of the divided 10s and their cycles.

[prettylittlefishy]

Nice journal! I love your betta shelf, it looks really good! I've got one similar in my fish room! Keep updating us! :)

[weluvbettas]

I need one those shelfs! Thats definatley on my christmas list!

[Zoelie]

Nice! Where did you get your shelf from?

[1fish2fish]

I got mine from Target. They have a wider 4 shelf version and this 5 shelf version as well as a small 2 shelf version. My 5 shelf was on sale for $35 when I bought it back in April.

Each shelf holds about 200lbs I think.. maybe more. You can adjust them anywhere on the poles you want. Its about 6ft tall, 36 inches wide, and 18 inches deep. At one point I had 16 gallons of water on one shelf ( a 10 and two 3s) which is roughly..170ish pounds and it held fine. Its a very good shelf.

[puppyrjjkm]

Nice setup. Would this be the shelving unit you have? I would love to get one!

5 shelf
http://www.target.com/Seville-Classi...n&frombrowse=0

4 shelf
http://www.target.com/Seville-Classi...n&frombrowse=0

3 shelf
http://www.target.com/Seville-Classi..._gwvub_3_title

In case anyone is interested :)

[1fish2fish]

That looks like it... mine was the Target brand for dorms (REstyle or something like that?). They carry similar shelves and even sturdier shelves at home depot.

When looking for a shelf make sure you look at how much each shelf can hold in addition to what the entire unit can hold. If they don't say how much weight a shelf can hold I would not buy it.

[prettylittlefishy]

My shelves are becoming over whelmed, so my project is to make some outta wood.. if I do it right each shelf will be able to hold close to 200lbs. I'm tired of having my reptile room tanks on the ground, too so I'm gonna make HUGE tables as I have 15+ 100gallon tanks.

[1fish2fish]

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08/29/10

Nothing really new but I thought I'd post anyways..

Today I disinfected all of my equipment. I don't know if everyone does this but IMO anyone with more than 1 betta should do this routinely. Once a month I take all my cups, lids, critter keepers, gravel vacs, buckets, API test tubes, nets, and anything else I can get my hands on and I bleach them.

What I do is fill my sink with hot water, as hot as the tap will go. I then pour about 1/2 cup of bleach into the sink and mix it up then throw the stuff in. I rinse it around a little then rinse with fresh hot tap water and set them out to dry before putting them back.

Its like that old saying "an ounce of prevention"... with multiple fish think of how many times you use a net in different tanks or put a fish in a cup only to put a different fish in the same cup. It is very easy to have diseases spread if your not careful.

I rinse everything between uses so if I net a fish I always make sure to rinse the net before using it again but taking the time to disinfect it is just an extra step.

Every two months or so (or when ever I get the urge) I also bleach all my plastic plants (except those in the cycled tanks) and my bare bottom tanks.

A transshipper in GABBA turned me on to this product. She uses this to disinfect her nets (she also throws them out with each shipment but I can't afford that many nets LOL). I'm going to try it out for my nets so I don't have to bleach those.

It might seem like over kill but better safe then sorry.

[Zoelie]

Originally Posted by 1fish2fish

I got mine from Target. They have a wider 4 shelf version and this 5 shelf version as well as a small 2 shelf version. My 5 shelf was on sale for $35 when I bought it back in April.

Each shelf holds about 200lbs I think.. maybe more. You can adjust them anywhere on the poles you want. Its about 6ft tall, 36 inches wide, and 18 inches deep. At one point I had 16 gallons of water on one shelf ( a 10 and two 3s) which is roughly..170ish pounds and it held fine. Its a very good shelf.

awesome, thanks! Right now (in my room) I've got a shelf that can only hold 4 large critter keepers, so I will have to check into the one you have :)