OK, I figured I had sufficiently stolen Christina's thread (sorry yet again), so I would stop being so lazy and start my own.

In the previous episode, we found our young drummer torn between trying to save a few bucks on a used tank, or splurging an extra $50 and going new. After much internal conflict, and accidentally finding his long lost identical twin who is suffering from amnesia after being kidnapped by the alien terrorists, Derrick decided to go with the new 29 gallon tank. In doing so he felt warm and fuzzy for doing his part to prop up the struggling Chinese economy and that Lin Lin was paid one whole American dollar for her 3 days work.

Robyn has come to the brave yet not-to-bright knaves assistance in helping with fish selection.

There will definately be 6 Black Phantom Tetra's and 6 Zebra Danio's. Our fledgling fish man has waffled on the purchase of the guppies however. Robyn suggested one or two bristle nosed Pleco's. Our hero thinks this is a great idea so long as they don't grow too large, and have been recently imported to his local store. Plus it must be a lot of work glueing all those bristles on such little fishes faces.

So the questions remaining are:

Above mentioned Pleco size, and is they don't have those ones at the store what would be a good replacement for a bottom dweller (besides myself of course),

How would Molly's do in this tank? And before the complaints start, of course I don't mean Molly Ringwald! The poor dear has suffered enough already having no career and all......the store had some Pearl White Molly's. They were very white...and pearlly...but after some research I was reading about people dying fish to make them look like this? Is that true??? How strange we are.

They had a cool looking fish there labelled Pictus Cat Fish. I couldn't find any information on it. But then I remembered the Chinese made the fish labels, so maybe they meant Picture of Catfish...not sure, but I don't want some monster that will grow 4 feet long and I'll end up having to pay for it to go live with Wayne. Child support is one thing, cat fish support is something else...obviously I guess.

I assume all the above metioned culprits would be ok with some plants in the tank? I hate plastic plants. And plastic shoes, hate those too...

Does everyone put gravel on their tank bottoms, or would it be better left bare? And if bare, wont it feel embarrased?

That's all I can think of at the moment. I'm sure there will be many more questions to come however!! :lol:

Derrick

Did you eat paint chips when you were a kid?

C2

You say that like it is a bad thing.... ;)

I think he has the dreaded " High on fishies in the tank" syndrome. or maybe there was some lead in those chips? :o

With R3d posting ,I don't have to watch TV comedies anymore. :lol: :lol: :lol:





What am I doing over in aquariums. I don't even have one.

Just came for the laugh I guess.

HIGH is a good word

C2
LUV YA R3D

For the record, one thing I don't do is drugs of any kind. I like my brain just the way it is, each and every weird little nook and cranny of it. :D

Derrick

Wayne that's why I showed up too. Needed a laugh after working on GF taxes. Tried to collect what she paid H&R block heads last year. Numerous errors which cost her $$. Plus for what took me two hours work they charged her $425.00 Needless to say I only got a "Thank you honey, your the best" which is what I expected. :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Derrick I used to have several Pictus Cat Fish. Their not really bottom feeders but are a fun fish very active and grow to a least six inches. I really enjoyed them. :) :)

FM3

R3D3, you have been drinking too much fish water. :o

But you have to admit he is entertaining! :lol:
I think he is harmless isn't he??

Tia

R3D3! hahaha, I love that one!!
Now I am going to have to string some christmas lights around myself and speak only in little bleeps and blurps! Of course, maybe that was Tia's plan all along....hmmm.... ;)

Thnx Frogman. 6 inches might be pushing it a bit for a 30 inch tanks. They did look like very interesting fish for sure. I'll have to go to "plan B".....I have no "plan B" as yet though.

So that leaves questions regarding Molly's, plants, a gravel or bare bottom....and probably a bunch of other stuff. :lol:

Derrick

R3D2.....Depending on the type of fish and the room temp. of the location of your tank, you would need a heater for your tank. If just goldies no, tropicals yes.

FM3

I have I think what they call a corey cat? very small bottom feeder apx 1 in long if that very active and I think that is all the bigger it gets I may have spelled that wrong. And I have a Kuckoo catfish which will get about 6 in I think and that is semi agressive which I have never seen but that fish is a little pricey and still to new for me to determin how good of a fish it is stunning though.

let us know what you buy today we need pics very excited for ya

when i had the smaller tank i did not use a heater i had the tank on an inside wall of the house and it stayed a constant 72-74 which is a little low now with the big one i have 2 to keep at 76-78 constant
i wouldnt keep a bare bottom (unless it is really pretty)
i go plastic (one less thing for me to kill) but either way
and i like my plastic shoes I like walking in the rain with them they get all squishy
If the tank fails just add 1 part gin and you will have yourself a heck of a cocktail.


GOOD LUCK

C2

Yeah, the one I am getting comes with a heater. Will it be good enough? I guess only time will answer that one!

I doubt Wally's has those fish, but I will check and see. I am trying to keep all of the fish around the 2 or 3" size. Less crowding, more fish that way.

Just working on figuring out what I want for plants at the moment.

Since it looks like it will be JULY before I can work on the pond, this is my replacement project!! :lol:

Derrick

So here is the ten cent drawing of the tank.



Here is what non-fish items are in it:

1. Ornament of some kind
2. A plastic mess grate leaned against the wall for them to hide behind
3. Cryptocaryne Balansae
4. Anubias Lanceolata
5. Plagiomnion Trichomanes
6. Java Fern
7. Anubias Barteri Petite
8. Christmas Moss (climbing the grate)

I don't know what all those Latin names mean, but the pictures looked good and the descriptions all sounded like they would co-exist fine. :D

Derrick

p.s. here is the actual aquarium, although purchasing from Wally's.

http://www.petsr4u.com/proddetail.asp?prod=02009353

Did you get it?

C2

R3D3, it looks like a good tank kit (some aren't so great).

Bristlenose plecos grow to about 3" if you can find them. Other small species of plecos are clown plecos, Queen Arabesque plecos, and some other more expensive ones that Wally's World or whatever it is won't have.

Mollies are pretty good community fish. They do like a good amount of salt in their tank; they are more brackish fish. You'd have to reach a balance of salt that all the fish would like. Plecos and live plants don't like a lot of salt.

There are fish that are dyed. See http://www.deathbydyeing.org/
The pearl white mollies are not dyed.

Pictus cats are nice little catfish but they will eat small fish so they're probably not a good choice if you're getting danios and other small fish.

Some people do have bare-bottomed tanks, and the poo on the bottom can be embarassing. Bare tanks are usually used for raising fry and for quarantine or sick tanks as they are a lot easier to keep clean. For real setups though, it's more natural to have gravel on the bottom.

Did I get all your questions?

That's great Robyn, I think you hit every target (although I'm not sure how my name morphed to get the extra "3" on the end...LOL...I blame either Tia or Christina!)

Why the heck didn't someone warn me setting up a tank is so much work!!!

I just finally got the thing all together after about 3 hours, and it doesn't have any water in it as yet!

I put gravel on the bottom (nice dark blue to match my Toronto Maple Leafs office that it is in). Got one of those cheesy "hide and peek" ornaments for the fish to play in, and a few fake plants so it doesn't look quite so pathetic until my real plants arrive.

That's good to hear about the Molly's, but I will probably hold off on them for now. Have to get the tank up and running for a bit, add the plants when they get here, and just generally tweek everything. Then the Zebra Danio's (being the hardiest from what I have read), get to break in the new pad on their own for awhile! I'll wait at least a week after that so as not to shock the cycle too bad and then add the Tetra's, then a couple of guppies and pleco's (if I can find the right ones). All of the Wal-Mart (Wally World) Pleco's were labelled simply as "pleco" even though they all looked different. The DW told me to stop getting all dark colored fish and get some bright ones (I'm assuming she still meant color), so my actualy fish plans may change a bit yet.

Will one type of tetra (black phantom) school with a different type of tetra (they had the neons there as well)? Just curious if getting 3 of each kind would be as good as getting 6 of one kind.

Anyway, I better get pouring water! My work in progress awaits!

Thanks for all the help! Pictures at eleven!! :D

Derrick

WoooHooo! Pictures!!

Is it eleven yet?

Stupid Wal-Mart crap!!!

Got everything ready, tank all filled, turned everything on.....and heard drip, drip, drip.....%$&&^!!

There is a crack right along the bottom of the filter. So now I have to take the filter back to that hole tomorrow night, explain that there is no way I am taking everything apart to bring it back, and get them to replace the filter alone. Might not be easy since it came as part of a complete package.

Oh well, live and learn. :angry:

Derrick

So, no pictures ... :(

Sorry to hear about the cracked & leaky filter box.
Hopefully they will fetch another aquarium kit from stock and swap out the filter for you.

PG

Oh trust me, I ain't leaving that store tomorrow without a new filter, one way or the other! :angry: :angry: :angry:

Derrick

R3D ahhhh the crack is to bad. Good luck with wally world today I would think they would but then again it would be pretty entertaining to be a fly on the wall if they dont.

My Pleco I did get at Wally world both of them I call like to call them my wally Pleco. That is there offical name. Do you have any fish stores or PET stores in the great white north up there?

i am glad you covered your bottom :rolleyes:

Yes thos tank decor are cheesy but they are fun. I will watch the news make sure I dont see anything going down at WM not like we get a lot of Canadian news but that one may be worth reporting LOL

OH YEAH setting up a tank is very tough when I set my 150 up I was up to my pit in water, I am not sure if i was sweating but then the fish decided to soak me, DRENCHED ME, i still won they were caught and moved HAHAH, they are good to me that way, and then everything under the sun was sprawled across the house even crap that had nothing to do with the tank was out, not sure how that got there, yeah forgot to mention that.

GOOD LUCK
C2

OK THIS IS KILLING ME PICS YET?

"What would you like pictures of young lady?" said in my best creepy old man voice...wait a minute, that was my regular voice...oh oh...

Got the new filter. So I'll get everything back up and running and see if I can get a pic up tonight.

We don't want to p**s off Christina!

Sorry Wayne, she scares me more than you do. :P

Derrick

If feel sorry for you R3D3. You were all proud B) of your new tank then kapluey it went kaput! That must be a real pain in the sitter pon I am sure! :o Hope the new one works like a charm! :) Can't wait for the photos [of the tank]! :)

Tia

R3D3
R2D2 :lol: :lol:

C2

That is toooo funny

and have you been talking to my husband cuz he doesnt know what he is talking about he is crazy you can not beleive a word he says I am tell'n ya Dont listen to him
ok i am ok deeeep breath

:D

C2

I'm not surprised your low budget filter had a hole! Can you mail order supplies where you are? I prefer hang-on-tank filters and mostly have Marineland filters. See, it's good to get the system running before adding animals. Too many people get the fish at the same time, and then something like this goes wrong.

When my brand new 65 gallon tank got a crack in it, they refused to refund or exchange so I had to buy another one. I ended up giving the cracked one away (for a bearded dragon) but wrote it off on my taxes (which doesn't get me all the money back but some). The store told me I cracked the tank and really, really made me mad. The crack wasn't there when I left the store they said which was true because it was a hair line then that broke once I filled the tank at home.

So, is there a Wally's World or Wally's Mart or is that just a knick name you're using for WalMart? I put "Wally's World" in Google and WalMart came up first. Does it have two names. I've never heard that before. I'm confused and perhaps a tad stupid!

I thought of R3D3 myself but didn't want to offend you but since someone else used it, I thought it was okay. Sorry if it's not. I like Star Wars myself, grew up in the 80's and love Sci Fi.

HAHAHA....doesn't offend me one little bit Robyn! :D You should hear SOME of the things I get called in the course of a day!! :o

Yeah, I'm a Star Wars lover myself (first 3, not second 3). And a huge Sci/Fi fan! It's about all I read, with the occassional non-fiction title thrown in to keep my brain from melting (even more).

Wally's World, Wally Mart, ChinaMart,....all = Wal Mart. A Wal Mart by any other name is still a....great big piece of exploitive crap square box ripoff...but it is all we have around here.

The filter is actually a Marineland one that hangs on the side. The 20-40 model. It was an obvious manufacturing flaw, and they replaced it no problems. Just annoyed me (as most things do).

That really sucks about your 65 gallon tank! Stuff like that really burns me. I seldom get really mad, but when I do it isn't pretty!

I took a couple of pics of the tank, but Photo Bucket is not being friendly and wont let me upload them. I'll try again later. I'm sure you all can hardly wait! LOL

Derrick

I am not going to bed until I see a pic.
At least not until 11 pm
C2

OHOH....sounds like Christina is pouting. She probably has a lip on and her arms crossed and is glaring at the computer screen! :o

I'll go say a small prayer to the internet Gods (Gore and Gates) and try Photo Bucket again! ;)

Still nadda. I'll try again tomorrow.

Sorry to get your expectations up Christina only to have to send you off to bed dissappointed....now if THAT ain't the story of my life!!! :D

Derrick

fine

Derrick, looks like Tia is going to have to explain how to make it work. ;) Can't you get it done in one hour!

What's that song by MC Hammer? Can't touch this? ;)

Tia

The question is...WHY can't you touch it? :P

OK, I feel bad that Christina stayed up all night waiting for a photo, so here are a couple. Now she can go to bed and get some sleep!

This still needs a lot of work that will come as stuff is introduced to it. Does everything (bubbler, heater, filter, etc) look like they are in the proper places?





Derrick

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhh AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhh

TAAAAAAAAAAAAA DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaa

Very nice love the lantern! Good job!
That is three days out of your life you will never get back LOL

When you get'n fishes?

C2

slept like a baby btw no thanks to the non picture poster.

Oh well, I have wasted a lot more than 3 days on a lot less enjoyable projects before, so no regrets! LOL

It sure doesn't look like much without some real plants and some fish in it, does it. Kinda looks like a big glass box of water with some gravel on the bottom, a few rocks, and a plastic plants...... :o

Be another few days at least before I try some fishies. I used Cycle in the bio-filter, which is "supposed" to kick start the good bacteria there. Who would really know if that stuff works or not though. So probably the first of the week, assuming the water tests are good, I try 6 neon tetra's. They are small, so shouldn't be a heavy burden on the system, and they are very hardy, so even if everything isn't 100% they should be ok. Once that is done, and my tropical plants arrive next week, things should start to find their balance. A couple of 10 or 20% water changes over the next couple of weeks and everything "should" be running fine after that. :D

Derrick

R3D3, I like the last pic it's darker and shows the color's better. Looks cool B)

Very nice tank and worth the hassle IMO.

Thanks for the pic!
Tia