"Plant breeder" tank?

[BeefyG]

Just got plants last night...

[kwc1974]

limestone?

[BeefyG]

limestone?

Not really sure... when we moved in this house there were a bunch of aquariumish stones in the backyard... which are now in my tanks... bad idea?

[Mzungu]

As long as they're not coated with fertilizer, insecticide, etc. you should be all right. :)

Aww, the coconut head has hair now!! :)

What kind of gravel did you end up getting?

As for adding fish, do you have a test kit? Monitoring the levels of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate is the best (and only) way to determine if you're tank is cycled. Once cycled, it's much safer for fish.

Plants will help use up the ammonia during cycling, which will help keep ammonia levels in check, but since you don't have too many plants in there I'm not sure it would make much of a difference...

But plants also provide beneficial bacteria to a new tank, just as using filter media, substrate, or any other decoration from an established tank would. But if the bacteria isn't fed with ammonia (uneaten food, fish waste, etc.) they won't be able to flourish and multiply.

[BeefyG]

All the rocks were soaked in a vinegar water mixture and rinsed really well. Seems to be OK so far.

I really really wanted a black substrate so I went with a couple bags of walmart black gravel. I kinda wish I had gone with the flourite after all but I still had to buy a light. Doing things the right way is just so darn expensive...

At first I put a guppy in there I had gotten for free off of craigslist. He was chasing my new gourami so he needed a timeout anyway. Last night we went past the fish section in Walmart and my daughter wanted a fish so we picked out a tiger barb and a platy. I took the guppy out and put him back in the big tank and put the new fish in the 10 gallon. That should kick start the cycle. They needed a quarantine anyway.

I haven't tested any of my tanks. I usually only add a fish or two at a time. I learned my lesson with the ruby tetras recently. I'm pretty sure I'm going to go ahead and get a test kit soon. I figured I didn't need one if all my fish were OK, but... looks like I was wrong

One other thing... there is some white "fur" growing on the coconut head now. I'm thinking I need to get an algae eater in there. Is that what that is? I had two tiny 40W incandescent spot lights on the tank after I put the plants in. I just bought a clip on lamp with a daylight cfl last night and removed the incandescents...

Do you think people would be interested in coconut heads? I'm considering making some (and hearts and whatnot) and taking them to the auction on the 7th. They're not completely natural decorations but more natural than a bubbling dragon...

[kwc1974]

the white fur is probably a fungus that is growing on the coconut shell. I ususally boil or bleach any wood products before I place them in the tank. I have heard that a molly will take care of the fungus for you. I want this to happen now in one of my tanks to see if the hydrogen peroxide dosing will take care of it.

[BeefyG]

the white fur is probably a fungus that is growing on the coconut shell. I ususally boil or bleach any wood products before I place them in the tank. I have heard that a molly will take care of the fungus for you. I want this to happen now in one of my tanks to see if the hydrogen peroxide dosing will take care of it.

Its been boiled three times and was in my big tank before I put it in this one. The fungus only showed up after using the incandescent lights. I'll move a molly over and see what happens.

[BeefyG]

I put the molly in before I left for work and the white stuff was gone when I came home. Thanks!

[kwc1974]

no problem