Opinions on Two Setups

[Rispa]

Hi, I'm pretty new to freshwater. The only tanks I had before my recent two is one my parents set up over 13 years ago and which we only had for a short while, and a number of betta tanks.

I recently set up a 10g with endlers and some driftwood and gravel. I'd like to put some plants in it, but am having trouble choosing which plants to try. My light is nothing special, just what came with the tank when I was given it. What plants would the endlers like most?

My other tank will have 3 male fancy guppies in it in the future, but first I need to figure out what type of filtration I'm going to use. The tank is currently set up with a red tiger lotus and an airline which is broken up by an Egyptian vase decoration I was given. It has gravel, not sand and is 2-3g. The tricky part about it is that is is a cylinder, so HOB are out. My plan was to do the same as I do for the betta tank downstairs and use an undergravel filter, stir the gravel during water changes and when algae starts to grow too quickly, take it apart and clean the entire tank. I actually had a feeder guppy in there that was very pretty, but it jumped two inches out of the tank, a foot off the glass table, and about a foot after that on the floor Before I add anything else to that tank, I plan on figuring out what type of filter I'm going to use. Then I'll get a plexiglass lid cut for the tank and whatever needs to come off the filter and use a piano hinge and some sort of handle to make feeding easier. In addition to the undergravel filter, I found both sponge and box filter suggested for 3g tanks. What is your opinion on these different filters?

Thanks in advance for the advice. Once this is done I get to choose guppy colors

[IvanSanchez]

10 Gallon.
For a list of low light plants... http://www.houstonfishbox.com/vforum...worked-for-you
What fixture does it have?

For the 3 gallon tank i'd use a sponge filter. It'll take care of the bio filtration and it's pretty small in size. Will an Azoo Palm Filter not fit? it seems to be a great HOB. I'd just put a sponge and fine filter in it and you can get clear, healthy water!

[Rispa]

The light is the standard type that comes when you buy a light with the tank. Armethehomeless already supplies me with some beautiful plants, so that part is off my list for the moment.

I can't use any HOB because the entire tank is curved. I think I'm going to end up going with the sponge or an internal filter that I found at Petsmart which is small and has adjustable flow. I wanted to do underground, but it is hard to find something I can cut to size. I was thinking of making my own from the lid of one of these containers, but I haven't found one that has enough of the colored plastic. I'm not really interested in trying to cut different pieces and fit them together like a puzzle. My mom is growing impatient, so for the moment I'm giving up on the underground.

[Bedlamer]

Curved Pico Tank Filtration

Howdy,
Some thoughts on your posted questions. Let me throw some options out there for you. If you really want a round under gravel filter—they make some for goldfish bowls that are round. For example this one http://www.petmountain.com/product/aquarium-undergravel-filters/11442-505207/lees-undergravel-filter-for-fish-bowls.html .

I have about 4 of those Internal TOM filters from Petsmart. I really like them, cheap and fairly reliable. However, as they are so small it doesn’t take a lot of gunk to gum them up. If you start to notice a decreased flow you should take them apart for a cleaning. I like to fit the dispersion bar and leave it just above the surface so the flow is easy to check at a glance. They come with a replaceable cartridge. I like to take a small screwdriver and pry the lid off of the carbon section and fit in 5 ceramic bio-media pellets—the Bio Max ones for the Aqua Clears will fit. Then you just occasionally pop out the cartridge, pop it open and rinse with de-chlorinated water. I guess the sponge eventually falls apart, but I have one I have been using the same one for 10 months so far. Personally I would go that route rather than the under gravel route.

Sponge filters can work great, and are often the only solution to a filtration need. The problem in a very small tank say less than 3 gallons is finding ones small enough and short enough for the tank. I have one of these http://www.amazon.com/Hagen-Biofoam-for-Aquariums/dp/B0002AQGZQ running in a 2.5 gallon Betta Tank—but I had to seal off the bottom air line inlet, ditch the top piece, cut the remaining stem down to 3” and drop in a very narrow airstone, kept down with 2 suction cups—in order to wedge it there. This one would be easier to cut down if you needed it shorter. http://www.aquariumguys.com/spongefilter1.html

The old school box filters can also work, but would sort of dominate the tank in such a small set up.

The TOM internal filter above will be quieter than any of the bubbley style of filters.

You mentioned getting Plexiglass cut for a lid and adding a hinge and a handle. I’ve purchased 2 pieces (12” X 6” by 1/8”) to fit the top of 2.5 gallon rectangular tanks—which I went on to further cut with a jigsaw to custom fit an Aqua Clear 20 and an old school airstone driven HOB on 2 Betta tanks.. I got mine at my local http://www.binswangerglass.com/ location. They charged me over $20.00 for each piece—I nearly choked. I only paid $14.00 for the tank which included a glass top and a handle. http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11164158 (The ones Petsmart sells should include the glass top—just use a piece of black duct tape as a hinge and the power cord of the internal filter will leave a small air gap—leave some air space at the top of the tank for gas exchange. Personally I can’t stand aquariums with a curved viewing surface. To me it distorts the view—whether it’s a jar with a Betta or a 46 gallon or larger bowfront (the big corner units practically give me vertigo).

They do make lights for those 2.5 gallon tanks http://op5.triadinet.com/elmers/nlcatalog.asp?loc=nldepts2.asp $19.99 the last time I ordered them. Wal-Mart sells a 10 watt CF piano format bulb that will fit. http://www.walmart.com/ip/Lights-of-America-10-Watt-Mini-Fluorescent-Aquarium-Bulb-1-ct/10448675 look for it in the pet section not the bulb section. Really though depending on the placement of the tank, I’d be tempted to just have a desk lamp over it (easier to lift up the wee lid—lol)

Then again for maybe as cheap as $43 (shop around) http://turtleshack.com/store/55-gallon-tank-with-hood-p-257.html you could go big time with a 5.5 gallon and hood combo! (Petsmart doesn’t usually carry that size btw). Then go with an Aqua Clear 20 for filtration.I guess the point is by spending a little bit more—you end up with a better tank—that might end up costing you less overall when you factor in the costs of all the little things it will take to get the less than ideal solution to work. Write down all the costs and figure out which fits into your budget best.
You mention taking tanks apart when algae problems arise—I would be very reluctant to do that. Small tanks are by their nature less stable and harder to maintain than larger tanks. I have one 2.5 gallon planted tank that went through about 5 different types of algae take overs. It eventually settled down after some months and now a weekly water change/glass scraping and a mystery snail keeps it looking OK. You can try decreased light, a lighting pattern with a 3 hr gap in the middle, clean up crew critters, glass scraping, increased water changes/substrate vacuuming (removes nutrients), adding more plants to out compete the algae etc. etc.

Your line “My mom is growing impatient” really amused me—is the poor woman pining for guppies? I keep seeing some sort of scenario playing out like this...

Rispa, do you have that new guppy tank up and running yet?

No mom, I’m continuing to do research on how to best facilitate the filtration, lighting, décor, flora and livestock husbandry requirements for the new Poecilia reticulate pico habitat. In fact I just posted some queries to a Houston based aquarium forum, and have been reviewing the feedback.

Houston? Child please! Keeping guppies is not rocket science. You know I’ve been dying to get me some guppies up in here! Now stop all that messing around. Fish forums? That sound like a hot mess—I’m going to go start the car—we off to Petsmart right now! Grab your piggy bank.



Seriously though, I commend you for taking the time to think out the possible problems before they arise and thinking through some solutions that best fit your needs. Good luck with your set up, please post a pic when it’s up and running.

[Rispa]

The scenario you imagined is very close to what happens. Though she's legally blind, so I'm the one driving. We were at the Petsmart yesterday and almost came home with two feeder goldfish. She's determined to have some, but they get big, so I tried to get her to compromise on fancy goldfish. Apparently she's not completely put off from her original plan.

Personally I actually like the idea of the curved tank. It distorts, but it also magnifies, which will let my mom see the fish better. The reason for taking the betta tank apart every few months is because we have an underground filter and the plants in there don't cut it when it come to cleaning up the diterous long term. The tank does get small weekly water changes. Eventually things build up and everything just needs a thorough cleaning.

If I decide to set up a different tank, I'm going with a 10 or 20 gallon guppy tank. I think those are my two small tank sizes. Also I have two 20g that are currently unused, though one is reserved for a planted tank with small fish that I will set up in the future after I've planned things out more.

As for the light, I think I will go with a nice desk lamp. If I can find a bulb for it, I have a metal halide I could use. It's been stored for awhile simply because we can't find the right bulb. If not that, I'm sure I can pick up one elsewhere that will look nice with the tank.

I'm going to give a local place a call to get a quote on the glass. If it's too expensive, I'll go pick up a different tank from Petco and turn the cylinder into a terrarium.

After what you said about the Tom internal filters, I may go with one of them. I didn't even notice the spray bar when I saw it yesterday, just that it is small enough to fit in the tank. If not I'll go with the underground filters. Thank you very much :)