Freshwater for the Kids! Build

[AHP]

You could say that a fish auction provides a very unique anniversary date !
Glad to hear you got your stand leveled. I think it's a very nice-looking one. Love the beadboard doors.

Funny you said that... I tried talking to her today about it and she just blew me off and told me, not only no but HELL NO!

Thanks on the stand I couldn't have done it without Troy reassuring me I was not ocd.

[AHP]

BTW here a fish list that I was thinking about...

- Cardinal Tetra's
- Otocinclus Catfish or Trinidad Pleco
- Celestial Pearl Danis
- Dwarf Gourami or Neon Blue Dwarf Gourami
- Red Platy
- Redtail Shark
- Tigar Barb
- Red Cherry Shrimp
- Maybe, Lemon Cobra Guppy

If you can think of any more that are compaitable or semi compatiable, I am intersted.

For Plants I am still looking at that. Here is what I will be using for the sand and lights
Sand:
Super Naturals

http://www.caribsea.com/itempage_freshwatersubstrate_supernaturals.htm

Lights:
buildmyled.com
Fish Focus Blue 13000K - Medium Light (I wanted the fish to pop but also support some plant growth, I know I am not encouraging the best growth but I am only going to have about 4-5 plants).

http://www.buildmyled.com/fish-focus-blue-13000k/

We define medium light as being most suitable for lo-tech planted tanks (with your preferred fertilization schedule) and soil tanks. The “medium” light level provides enough PAR that almost any plant will thrive -- though growth rates (speed) will be limited by the absence of the CO2 injection found in a hi-tech tank. That said, it is also perfectly acceptable to use medium light with CO2 injection -- in which case plant growth rates will be higher

[AHP]

Sorry I didn't post this sooner but here is day two of the fish-less cycle.

So far I have 50/50 mix of RO and waste water. I have add 125ml of Purigen in a bag within my canister that had previous used media already in it.
So now we wait and test the water... Say every 3 days or should I wait a week? I was hoping by this weekend or next I could get some plants.

Here are the pictures:








and... Here is a little something I wanted to test out, a little DIY tank cover.


My lights should be coming in some time last this week or next, so I am still looking for plants!
Tell me what you think!

[AHP]

***Update***
Lights have been installed and they look great. I will post the pics later because I am not at home.

Also I ended up doing a water test and I am thinking there is no way that I have cycled the tank in less than 4 days.

pH = 7.5
nitrite = 0ppm
nitrites = 0ppm
Temp = 84 (I am still trying to calibrate the Ehiem Jagar. I am trying to get it at 78-80 but I have to wait 24hr each time to make sure it is working correctly).

I am going to test again in 2 days and if it is still the same. If it is still the same then I am going to put some plants in and test ever week along with putting fish food in every night.
If I am doing it wrong please let me know.

[troy tucker]

It looks great. I'm looking forward to seeing it lit-up.
As a tank cycles the water will get cloudy and then after a few day it will clear up. Cycle over.

[AHP]

I will try to post them tonight; I do have to say that I love the lights. I just hope they work with the plants I am looking at.

As for the cycle, I had a lot of cloudy water for the first 2-3 days but didn’t have lights on. I also put some Purigen it the filter so i am not sure if it has cycled or I am in the new stages. Also the canister I have had about 50% use media and substrate, so I am not sure if that has helped.

[AHP]

Here is what it looks like with lights on and a new scape.

[troy tucker]

Looks Fantastic!
You are cycled and ready for plants. Do them first. When you ad fish you may have a minni cycle for adding a bio loud. The Plants will help that.

[AHP]

Thank you! I am hoping to cover the moss rocks and some of the DW with moss and plants.
Any good suggestions on LFS for plants? I can always do an internal search but I wanted to get suggestions.

[troy tucker]

I have never been to the new store in CincoRanch But its the closes place to you. City Pets has plants Extreme Fish and pets. But my Fav. LFS. is Houston Aquarium Warehouse.

[AHP]

I have never been to the new store in CincoRanch But its the closes place to you. City Pets has plants Extreme Fish and pets. But my Fav. LFS. is Houston Aquarium Warehouse.

Ahh great, thanks! I was thinking about Houston Aquarium Warehouse and City Pets because they are close to one another.

[Roshan8768]

Cinco Ranch Aquariums has some plants, but you're better of going somewhere else for what you have in mind. Fish gallery has pretty good deals on plants, the pricing is much better on their plants than their fish. Also, they have a huge selection

[AHP]

Yea we went to Fish Gallery two weeks ago. I was impressed with the store just not the prices for the fish. I did see some different plants and the price was ok.
Thanks for the heads up.
CRA is a nice place and i could see my self buying fish from him. Plus Hector is not trying to up sell everything.

[Roshan8768]

Don't take my comment the wrong way, I'm a huge fan of CRA. I've only been there once and it was right after Hector opened up, he has a fantastic shop!! All I meant is he may not have the fish you were looking for since he just started up... I'm sure he'd be able to get them for you if you wanted. I need to go by that place again... great prices on everything, especially the saltwater stuff.

[AHP]

For some reason I cant post what I am writing I am getting an error but here is the picture. I will edit my story in later.



This is the third time I have tried to write something and I guess I am timing out.
Long story short the family and I went to Houston Aquarium Warehouse and noticed that they didn't really have a big selection of plants, just mostly swords of all different kinds. Which is fine, John is a great guy and I can see myself going back just to look for fish.
On the way home we stopped by CRA were I found a couple of Anabus (I think Nana) for 4.99, some moneywort for 6.99 & Ludwigia for 6.99 as well.

On top of all that when we walked in the door Hector must have gotten a huge shipment of SW stuff. Corals, cleaning crews of all kinds, starfish & I noticed a couple of pipefish. So I thought I would post so everyone could go take a look.

Anyways I will let this run for a bit and then do another water test. Here is one that I did yesterday before the plants got wet.
pH = 6.0
Ammonia = 0ppm
Nitrite = 0ppm
Nitrate = 0ppm
KH = 5 drops 89.5ppm
GH = 2 drops 35.8ppm
Temps = 80