# 1fish2fish tank journals



## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

I'm doing this mainly for my benefit because I'm too lazy to actually keep a regular journal of all the tank stuff :lol: I'll update as stuff changes and add pictures when I get them. I'll also be talking through my cycles and how I baffle my filters, etc, so on and so forth.

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08/28/10
Right now I have 4 cycled tanks running and 6 bare bottom tanks plus a fry tank. I have two big projects coming up...

First, I'm setting up two ten gallons. I'm dividing them 4 ways and I'll be cycling them fishless (hence the fish in the bare bottom tanks). Only giving 2 gallons a fish isn't my ideal but with my current set up and being in the dorms and such it is the only way I can keep my fish and have them all be in heated tanks.

So far I have one tank divided and set up with gravel and plastic plants. The plants are temporary until I can afford lighting and live plants. Once I pick up a power strip I'll be setting up the filter (a Whisper 10i) and heater and begin adding ammonia. In about a week or so I'll add some sponge from my other tanks to help speed the cycle. The other tank was just set up with the dividers today. The glue will need to dry for 48 hours and then I'll add the gravel and plants and begin cycling it as well.

These tanks will house the majority of my males. I have one spot open for a new male if something special comes up, if not that slot will go to the best fish out of the 7 multibabies I have left.




















Second project.. I'm giving Poe, my King PK, an upgrade. His new digs will consist of a fully planted Eclipse 12. I'll also be adding RCS to his tank and possibly some snails. 

The tank came from my local thrift store (for $15!!) but it did not have the filter so next week I'll be ordering a sponge filter for it. Also next week I'll be buying Eco-complete (red) for the substrate, and the heater. The following week I'll be ordering the plants for it. I'm not sure what plants I'll be adding yet. It's my goal to put enough plants in the tank that I can bypass cycling altogether.

Its going to be a long time setting up this tank because I have to save for everything but once its all put together it should be beautiful 

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Last night I noticed weird wormlike critters in Poe and Freddie's tanks. I'm not sure what they are but I think they're nematodes. I'm trying to figure out why they are showing up all of the sudden but the fish don't seem to mind having a nice snack in their tanks. I did waterchanges on both tanks tonight and vacuumed really well so I hope I don't see these again because frankly, they creep me out.

I also re-arranged my fish shelf so I can put a spawning tub on the bottom shelf. I'm hoping to find a way to get lights on it eventually but for now I'm happy.










I'm really excited to finally have an income so I can get rolling on these projects instead of just planning them :-D

I'll update again in a few days with pictures of the divided 10s and their cycles.


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## prettylittlefishy (Aug 12, 2010)

Nice journal! I love your betta shelf, it looks really good! I've got one similar in my fish room! Keep updating us!


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## weluvbettas (May 29, 2010)

I need one those shelfs! Thats definatley on my christmas list!


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## Zoelie (May 14, 2010)

Nice! Where did you get your shelf from?


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

I got mine from Target. They have a wider 4 shelf version and this 5 shelf version as well as a small 2 shelf version. My 5 shelf was on sale for $35 when I bought it back in April.

Each shelf holds about 200lbs I think.. maybe more. You can adjust them anywhere on the poles you want. Its about 6ft tall, 36 inches wide, and 18 inches deep. At one point I had 16 gallons of water on one shelf ( a 10 and two 3s) which is roughly..170ish pounds and it held fine. Its a very good shelf.


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## puppyrjjkm (Aug 2, 2009)

Nice setup. Would this be the shelving unit you have? I would love to get one! 

5 shelf
http://www.target.com/Seville-Classics-Chrome-Mobile-Storage/dp/B001A0VYZY/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&searchView=grid5&keywords=shelf&fromGsearch=true&sr=1-4&qid=1283094144&rh=&searchRank=target104545&id=Seville%20Classics%20Chrome%20Mobile%20Storage&node=1038576%7C1287991011&searchSize=30&searchPage=1&searchNodeID=1038576%7C1287991011&searchBinNameList=subjectbin%2Cprice%2Ctarget_com_primary_color-bin%2Ctarget_com_size-bin%2Ctarget_com_brand-bin&frombrowse=0

4 shelf
http://www.target.com/Seville-Class...om_size-bin,target_com_brand-bin&frombrowse=0

3 shelf
http://www.target.com/Seville-Classics-Chrome-Mobile-Storage/dp/B001A0XP0Q/ref=sc_pd_gwvub_3_titlehttp://www.target.com/Seville-Classics-Chrome-Mobile-Storage/dp/B001A0XP0Q/ref=sc_qi_detaillink

In case anyone is interested


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

That looks like it... mine was the Target brand for dorms (REstyle or something like that?). They carry similar shelves and even sturdier shelves at home depot.

When looking for a shelf make sure you look at how much each shelf can hold in addition to what the entire unit can hold. If they don't say how much weight a shelf can hold I would not buy it.


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## prettylittlefishy (Aug 12, 2010)

My shelves are becoming over whelmed, so my project is to make some outta wood.. if I do it right each shelf will be able to hold close to 200lbs. I'm tired of having my reptile room tanks on the ground, too so I'm gonna make HUGE tables as I have 15+ 100gallon tanks.


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

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08/29/10

Nothing really new but I thought I'd post anyways..

Today I disinfected all of my equipment. I don't know if everyone does this but IMO anyone with more than 1 betta should do this routinely. Once a month I take all my cups, lids, critter keepers, gravel vacs, buckets, API test tubes, nets, and anything else I can get my hands on and I bleach them.

What I do is fill my sink with hot water, as hot as the tap will go. I then pour about 1/2 cup of bleach into the sink and mix it up then throw the stuff in. I rinse it around a little then rinse with fresh hot tap water and set them out to dry before putting them back.

Its like that old saying "an ounce of prevention"... with multiple fish think of how many times you use a net in different tanks or put a fish in a cup only to put a different fish in the same cup. It is very easy to have diseases spread if your not careful.

I rinse everything between uses so if I net a fish I always make sure to rinse the net before using it again but taking the time to disinfect it is just an extra step.

Every two months or so (or when ever I get the urge) I also bleach all my plastic plants (except those in the cycled tanks) and my bare bottom tanks.

A transshipper in GABBA turned me on to this product. She uses this to disinfect her nets (she also throws them out with each shipment but I can't afford that many nets LOL). I'm going to try it out for my nets so I don't have to bleach those.

It might seem like over kill but better safe then sorry.


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## Zoelie (May 14, 2010)

1fish2fish said:


> I got mine from Target. They have a wider 4 shelf version and this 5 shelf version as well as a small 2 shelf version. My 5 shelf was on sale for $35 when I bought it back in April.
> 
> Each shelf holds about 200lbs I think.. maybe more. You can adjust them anywhere on the poles you want. Its about 6ft tall, 36 inches wide, and 18 inches deep. At one point I had 16 gallons of water on one shelf ( a 10 and two 3s) which is roughly..170ish pounds and it held fine. Its a very good shelf.


awesome, thanks! Right now (in my room) I've got a shelf that can only hold 4 large critter keepers, so I will have to check into the one you have


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## ReyesBetta (Aug 31, 2010)

Wow thats an awesome shelf both my tanks are on top of my dresser. Good thing I got a wall mounted tv for Xmas or I wouldn't have room!


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

I finally found this thread... I've been looking for it for like 20 minutes LOL

Well.. after I started this thread life got busy and I never got the tanks fully cycled. I found that I couldn't get a decent water flow through 3 dividers.

Now I'm starting over with this plan and a new twist. 

I only have 4 males left  They are Tallahasee, Bowie, Bubba, and my new-found male Lt. Dan (formerly Jenny). I'm going to set up a 10 gallon divided AND PLANTED for them to retire in 

The tank I was going to use cracked >.< and my other divided tank is currently being used as a hospital tank for 3 fish with a small case of velvet. So I went and bought a new tank.

For filters I bought 4 penn plax small world filters so each section will have it's own individual filter. I have a marineland stealth pro 50 watt heater that will go in the middle.

I'm going to divide it like the others, using my home-made dividers. 

I still haven't decided on substrate yet. I don't want a black substrate nor do I want tan gravel. I really want sort of a dark brown so I'll have to see what I can find.

So far nothing is set up. I have the tank, hood (which has 2 10watt CFLs), heater, dividers, and filters. I just need to silicone the dividers in. I still need to get the plants and substrate.

For plants I'm sticking to all low-light. I want some marimo balls, java ferns, crypts, anubias, and saggiteria. I'm hoping to not have every section look the same... I want a different assortment of plants in each.

I'm planning on going and getting the substrate Wednesday. I'll probably glue the dividers in on Thursday night. That way they can be drying while I go home this weekend. Then on Monday or Tuesday I'll put the filters and substrate in and start cycling the tank fish less. I'll also put in my plant order over the weekend.

Once the plants are in as long as my levels are stable I'll start adding the boys. I'll probably add one a week to make sure it's not too much too fast. Hopefully by March they'll all be happy in their new bachelor pad.

Here's the breakdown of my costs thus far...
Heater- $27.81
10 gallon tank- $14.17
Silicone for the dividers plus caulk gun- $17.35 

Filters- $21.95
Terra cotta pots to use as caves-$1.50 for 5 (YAY Thrift stores!!)

Total spent so far:* $82.78*

What do I have left to get? An air pump, air hose, gang valve(s), substrate, and plants. I'm hoping that one air pump rated for like 20 gallons will be strong enough to power all 4 filters, if not I'll get two pumps. All in all I have about $50-100 more left to spend.. depending on how crazy I go with the plants and substrate.

It should be a great project. I'll try to update here but if you don't see anything check my blog (link is the picture in my sig) because I'll be updating that regularly.


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## coolcucumber (Jan 16, 2011)

Ah. dividers dont have good water flow. i have one in my split 5gal, and its terrible. im thinking of adding an airstone to one side, so my poor betta doesnt have to live with gross filmy stuff at the top of the tank.


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

In my other divided tanks I didn't have an issue with the water flow through the dividers. In this case though I found the water flow wasn't fast enough to make it through two dividers so I would get a film on each end section but be fine in the middle.


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

02/08/2011

Today I bought the substrate for the tank. Because I can no longer get eco-complete locally I went with CaribSea Flora Max. I like the look but I'm not sure how it stands up against EC or Flourite. Will be ordering plants soon, hopefully tomorrow or the next day.

The directions said that the substrate didn't need to be rinsed... boy where they wrong! Right now I have the sponge filter from my grow out tank in there because I forgot to pick up the air pump and air tubing today ::headdesk:: Once it clears I'll put the actual filters in there and get them running. I also still need to get the ammonia to do the fishless cycle.

Now for pics..
equipment..









Glued in the dividers last week









Before filling...









After filling..









As you can see I can't do any more work with it tonight. It's completely dark. I put the clearing agent that came with the substrate in but honestly I think the only thing that is going to clear this up is lots of water changes and aeration.

I'm going to paint the background black. I'm searching right now to see what type of paint is appropriate.

Here is a list of possible plants I'm considering. I won't be getting all of them
Java fern windelov x2
Anubias petite x1
cryptocoryne nevillii x1
marimo balls (cladophora aegagrophila) x2??
java fern x3
Echinodorus Parviflorus Tropica x2??
brazilian pennywort x1 bunch
wisteria
rotala rotundifolia
African Water Fern (Bolbitis heudelotii)
Bacopa australis


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

Sorry for the double post but YAY!! I went to walmart and got an air pump for 30-60 gallons, air tubing, and two gang valves and now my filters are up and running.


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

2/13/2011
So I haven't ordered my plants yet because it seems they're going to cost more than I had anticipated. My last order was a great deal because it was a black friday sale and I didn't take into account that prices wouldn't be the same as they were last time. I'll probably order them this week after I make sure all of my human expenses are covered.

I did however finally get my ammonia (yay dollar store!!) so I'm beginning the cycle tonight. I'm following the article stickied somewhere around this forum, adding initial ammonia until it reaches 5ppm and then going from there. Because I don't have my plants yet I'm going to borrow some plants from my other tank, java moss and another fast growing plant that I haven't identified (although I think it's naja grass). I also have a nice java fern already in there that I bought last week.

I bought a tiny bottle of conditioner to use in the tank since I only keep Seachem Prime in the house and that kills ammonia. I'm going to keep using it until I'm sure the cycle is stable.

Hopefully if I order my plants tomorrow or Tuesday they'll arrive the following week and my cycle will speed up. I have about 3 more weeks until I wanted to have the fish in the tank.

Here's an updated pick of the tank with the hood, java fern, and the little terra cotta pots. I got 6 of these for $1.50 at my local thrift store and they're the perfect size for a betta cave. (Holes have been glued and covered with substrate to discourage fishies from getting themselves in trouble).


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## bloo97 (Mar 6, 2010)

I love how each fish gets the same treatment. You do a good job! 

How many gallons is that again?


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

This is just a 10 gallon. Preferably it would be a 20 long but I'm not allowed anything bigger than a 10 gallon in my dorm so for now they're stuck in this. Right now they're living in 2 gallon bare bottom tanks so they're used to 2 gallons of space which is basically what they'll have in this tank once the plants are added.


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## bloo97 (Mar 6, 2010)

Nice.


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

03/03/11

Ok.. so I haven't updated in a while. My plants arrived a couple weeks ago and I was sent enough to not only plant my 10 gallon but also my 3 gallon! I also picked up some black acrylic paint and painted the back wall of all 3 of my planted tanks. I'm amazed with how much better my plants and fish look with the solid background.

My 10 gallon is still cycling so the fish haven't been added. I'm trying not to be impatient but it's really hard when you have such a pretty tank with no fish swimming it in. Here's a bad pic from the day I put the plants in, it's much clearer now.









In the tank I have bacopa australis, rotala rotundifolia "indica", brazilian pennywort, african water fern (bolbitis), java fern and java fern windelov ("lace java fern"), as well as an Echinodorus Parviflorus tropica sword. Each of the terra cotta pots now has christmas moss attached to it.

Here is the 3 gallon. It has some bacopa, rotala, java fern, lace java fern, anubias nana "petite", and also a tropica sword. Since this tank was already cycled I was able to put General Lee back in as soon as I was sure the cycle was safe.









Lee is REALLY enjoying his new tank. Constantly checking things out and exploring. Right now I have a "horned" nerite snail in with him but I plan to change him out for a zebra nerite eventually.



























Once the 10 gallon is done cycling I'm beginning another 10 gallon just like it. Originally I had planned the female tank to just be 3 sections but since I already have another 4 way divided 10 gallon (currently holding male fry) I'm just going to leave it that way. I entertained the notion of trying my hand at a sorority again but I just don't think it'll work out in a 10 gallon, even if heavily planted.


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## vilmarisv (Apr 17, 2010)

Those are beautiful tanks!!
I love the natural plants you added and the color of your substrate. I have such bad luck with plants that I no longer bother with them except in my spawning tanks.


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

3-28-11

The tank is FINALLY cycled!!!!!!!!! Woot!!! Putting the males in tonight. 

From right to left will be Lt Dan, Bubba, new DTHMPK boy, and Tallahaseee.

It still needs to grow in a little. My bacopa australis all but entirely melted as did the penny wort but hopefully with regular dosing of ferts it'll start to grow in better. Overall I'm very happy with how it turned out. I hope the kids like it.

Whole tank









Right side..









Left side..









Lee's Tank is doing amazing as well. The tropica sword already put out 2 plantlets (one of which is planted right beside it). Again the bacopa melted but there is one remaining stem so hopefully it'll come back. The rotala is doing great. I also added a crypt in the front right corner and moved the lace java fern to the back. Lee loves all his plants and doesn't seem to mind his nerite snail roommate.


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## Sweeda88 (Dec 6, 2010)

Very nice! I love it!


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## Waylander (Mar 27, 2011)

I'm not sure if you've already stated where you purchased your plants, I'm running on about 3 hours of sleep here and I believe I read over your posts as best as I could Ha, But I do apologize if this is something you've already said. I guess I would just like to know where you found such good looking plants and what price? Thanks in advance! Bed time for my sleepy self!


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

I got these plants from www.plantedaquariumscentral.com.

The plants are beautiful but she is kind of pricey.. especially since she doesn't give you a choice on what kind of shipping you can do. Including shipping I paid about $50 give or take. But she did send me extra plants besides what I ordered so it kind of makes up for it.


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## Waylander (Mar 27, 2011)

Thank you very much!


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

NEW PROJECT!! ... "The Sorority"

It will temporarily be a 10 gallon but this summer I'm moving off campus (FINALLY... cue hallelujah chorus!!) so once I'm in my new apartment I'll upgrade it to a 20 long.

My ADA Amazonia Aquasoil arrived today. I got it used from a member of my plant forum for $25. I got more than enough for a 10 gallon for that price plus it's used so it's chock full of beneficial bacteria.

The filter I'm using is my new favorite power filter, an Aquaclear 20. Great filter with lots of room for a nice biological filter (I don't use chemical filtration because I'm too lazy to replace carbon all the time). The heater is a 50 watt Marineland stealth which I'm going to hopefully change out for a hydor theo when I upgrade the tank.

I've already ordered my plants which should arrive tomorrow or Thursday. I'm getting..
Brazilian pennywort
rotala rotundifolia
dwarf sagittaria subluata (dwarf sag)
bolbitis (african water fern)
cryptocorne parva
Golden Lloydiella (Gold Creeping Jenny)
hygrophila difformis (water wisteria)
anubias nana 'petite'
bacopa australis

That should be plenty of plants to get me started. I also have a nice piece of driftwood that will be going in.

The hood is incandescent so I will be using two 13 watt CFL bulbs.

I'm setting the tank up this afternooon and beginning the cycle. I'll update with pics of the tank tonight.

This tank will hold 6 females with more likely to be added later on. I'll also be putting in some snails (probably 1 mystery snail and some olive nerites) and ghost shrimp, possibly some RCS if I can find a good deal.


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## vilmarisv (Apr 17, 2010)

Bravo! You soon will be unleashed when it comes to bettas HAHA!
Sorority sounds great... can't wait to see pics. I really hope the bacteria gets settled quickly for you!
My females are too intimidating to go into a sorority... Karen keeps assuring me she's not breeding for giants... yeah, right!


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

Haha... well since half the girls are from Karen they're all around the same size. The little girl from my spawn I'm keeping is the smallest but she can hold her own against the big girls (plus she's quick as lightning!). If the sorority doesn't work out the girls will just be stuck in their jars and this will be my new grow out tank/shrimp tank.

My stupid filter is making a crazy noise. It's brand new. I'm going to be really mad if I have to pay to send it to hagen to get fixed.


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