aquashelle's 55 gallon tank diary

[aquashelle]

Welcome one and all to my tank diary!

I sold my 30 gallon two nights ago, and last night, came home with a nice 55 from a fellow member.

It came with the following fish:

5 leleupi
3 Cyprichromis leptosoma Mpulungu juvies
3 julie transcriptus (sp?) (1 proven pair)
1 daffodil

With the tank in the truck, we headed off to home depot, where we purchased a 50# lb of play sand, and headed home.

I stayed up until 12 getting the sand cleaned and added, then filled it up! Had fish sitting in a bucket with an air stone, but right at 12 I acclimated them all in, even if the tank was foggy, I had no choice. I had the whisper 60 running all night, and this morning woke to a still cloudy tank.

Did a 20gal wate change, and now I'm letting it settle before continuing on..

I plan to make a trip to a local LFS soon to pick up around 8 more cyps to join my others, especially since I lost one in the night that was struggling..

I plan on adding some holeyrock, mexican beach pebbles, and possibly some large round rocks from the local stores..also might try to riase some live plants, if I dont go artificial..

Anyway, here's the first set of pics!

Just added sand, getting the hose started



Beginning to fill it up!



Fish in the bucket, waiting to go into the tank

[TaTeR ToT]

play sand is going to take a while to clear, personally i would have went with pool filter sand from leslies pool supply.
it clears with an hour or 2 and you hardly need to rinse it.

tank and stand look great, fish look very nice, good luck and keep us posted.

[aquashelle]

play sand is going to take a while to clear, personally i would have went with pool filter sand from leslies pool supply.
it clears with an hour or 2 and you hardly need to rinse it.

tank and stand look great, fish look very nice, good luck and keep us posted.

I was actually planning on using pool filter sand, but my dad insisted the play sand looked cleaner..:furious:now I'm paying for it in waiting an entire day and my tank still isn't cleared..lesson learned.

Anyone have any ideas on how to help the water clear other than a water change?

[Fire_chair]

As many filters as you have, and stir it up as much as you can to get all the floaty bits out. And, wash the sand little by little in a bucket next time.

[Somefishguy]

you may be able to put some pantyhose over a fishnet and skim the water to help catch some sand

other than that you just have to sit and wait. Play sand needs to be rinsed before used.

[aquashelle]

Thanks for the suggestions. I did clean and rinse the sand, but I guess I simply didn't do it enough..

[Complexity]

I know my idea won't be popular, but given how cheap sand is, I'd honestly remove it and replace it with Leslie's PFS. I put 100lbs of Leslie's PFS in my 90g tank directly from the bags. No problems at all! It had a tiny bit of debris, but that cleared up in nothing flat.

Unless you work to clean out the play sand, every time the fish dig in it, it'll stir up more crud.

Plus, looking at the amount of sand in the tank, I think you need more sand, probably another 50lbs. Leslie's PFS isn't just cleaner, but it's overall a nicer sand. Nicer grain consistency, nicer color, and it has a better way of laying in the tank (maybe heavier? not sure why).

I'd catch the fish, remove the sand (put it in the yard to fill in low spots), clean up the tank with a water change to remove the crud, and then fill the tank about 1/2 full with water and dump 2 bags of Leslie's PFS in. Do a water change, then let the filters run for an hour at most, and your tank will be very ready for the fish. The stress the fish will endure in the short run will be repaid with clean water in the long run.

[aquashelle]

Thanks for the reply Complexity, I just read your thread about returning the sand. I will consider this, but it may be next weekend before I can get it done, seeing as school is starting and all. I'll see what I can do.

In the meantime, I'll simply enjoy my dirty sand..D:

[Somefishguy]

The sand will clean up eventually. Ive used it in the tank before and after it settled down it was fine. It should cloud up much afterward, unless you stir it up for a reason.

I would clean your filters impellers well every now and then while it cleans up as the sand can get stuck in them and mess them up.

[Complexity]

Yeah, I got lucky and asked about the grain size before using the play sand which is when everyone suggested Leslie's PFS. I wouldn't have believed it was that much different if I hadn't just had both types of sand side by side. The difference is enough that I honestly think it's worth switching out if you can.

[aquashelle]

Thanks somefishguy, that is encouraging to hear.

I think I'll just wait it out, and see how the tank comes along. If worst comes to worst, I can change out the substrate.

[Zulaab]

Play sand -- problem is that the grain is so thin that it will almost become a hard surface in a tank. Gas buildup is your first problem. You are going to have to stir it all the time. Which means the water will look like junk every week from stiring.
PFS grains are bigger and when stir'd up it will settle asap. Play sand.. hangs in the water column.

I am going to agree with EVERYONE here.. take everything out. Remove the sand, rinse out the tank. (go outside and rinse it out.. its simple quicker this way) Return tank on the stand -- put Leslie's PFS in to tank, scape fill tank with water, start filtration again. Within 10 minutes of having filtration started again return fish.
I know, its not fun but you will LOVE your looks so much better and will be so much happier.. Yes PFS is more expensive than play sand ($4 a bag vs $10 a bag) but the return is so much better than with play sand it pays itself back in full within seconds.

Ohh I forgot.. check all your filters.. you will most likely find a ton of play sand in them right now already

[aquashelle]

Thanks for the advice Jesper, I'm really convinced I need to switch it out now...I'll try to get some PFS soon, but school shall come first I'm afraid..Hopefully I can get the change done next weekend.

As far as stocking goes, I planned on keeping everything that came with it, and adding 8 or so cyps. That, or trading everything in for a breeding trio of peacocks, as breeding is what I'm aiming for..Any opinions on this?

[Zulaab]

Personally I moved away from Malawi fish. They are beautiful fish to look at, but they dont have the personality of a Lake Tanganyika fish. I would choose the cyps over peacocks any day. Personally I just love looking at cyps breeding :)
What fish came with the tank ? besides the cyps ?

[aquashelle]

I have the following in the tank right now:

1 pair of julies Transcriptus (Along with a juvenile)
5 leleupi
1 male daffodil
2 cyps