The Official Asylum Freshwater Tank Thread

[Tikihut27]

I have two tanks up right now. Since I was overseas for 2008, they started out a little shabby this year, but here is how they are right now. (My wife says they die when I am on military duty because they "miss me".)

First tank, 55 long. Use this for schoolers and to grow predators for the big tank. Once they eat the schoolers, they are ready to move! Has in it right now:

2 Red Rainbow (Glossolepis incisus)
1 Bosemani Rainbow (Melanotaenia boesemani)
2 Madagascar Rainbow (Bedotia geayi)
2 Diamond Tetra (Moenkhausia pittieri)
2 Red Eye Tetra (Moenkhausia sanctaefilomenae)
1 Emperor Tetra (Nematobrycon palmeri)
2 Flagtail Porthole Catfish (dianema urostriatum)
2 Bumblebee Catfish (Pseudopimelodus raninus)
1 Banjo Catfish (Bunocephalus coracoideus)
1 Clown Loach (Chromobotia macracanthus)
1 Green Tiger Botia (Botia hymenophysa)
1 Striped Headstander (Anostomus anostomus)
And probably a few I missed



The big tank is a 150 that used to be an Amazonian tank but has morphed a little. Big predators and cats mostly, but I lost the really good ones last year. Currently:

1 Leopard Ctenopoma (Ctenopoma acutirostre) 4"
1 Flagtail Prochilodus (Semaprochilodus insignis) 6"
1 Rhino Pleco (Pterygoplichthys scrophus) 8"
1 Black-Banded Leporinus (Leporinus fasciatus) 10"
1 Lima Shovel Nose Catfish (Sorubim lima) 5"
1 Upside-down Catfish (Synodontis eupterus) 6"
1 Twig Catfish (Farlowella acus) 5"
1 Hujeta Gar (Ctenolucius hujeta) 5"
2 Red Bellied Pacu (Piaractus brachypomum) 2" just got this weekend



Ctenopoma acutirostre



Leporinus fasciatus



Pterygoplichthys scrophus

Cool!!!
Some day I want to have a grown up tank!!
As it is... I'm having trouble with ours - ammonia levels are through the roof and I've only got a black mollie, Silver Dannio and 2 kuhli loaches!

[Tikihut27]

Originally Posted by Churchlady

Cool!!!
Some day I want to have a grown up tank!!
As it is... I'm having trouble with ours - ammonia levels are through the roof and I've only got a black mollie, Silver Dannio and 2 kuhli loaches!

The bigger they are, the older they are, and the more gunked up with organic life they are, the easier they are to maintain, I've found.

Welcome to the board, by the way!

[shaggy]

Originally Posted by Churchlady

Cool!!!
Some day I want to have a grown up tank!!
As it is... I'm having trouble with ours - ammonia levels are through the roof and I've only got a black mollie, Silver Dannio and 2 kuhli loaches!

i am goin thro the same thing with mine....high ammonia and cloudy water....just keep up on water changes and fill it up with some hardy fish

i am goin later tonite to check on a really cheap 10 gal setup i will prolly use for shrimp and hopefully plant it later

[shaggy]

finally finished stocking my 25 gal.

ended up with 2 silver mollys, 7 neon tetras, 3 sunburst platys and 4 otto cats

tomorrow i am suppose to pick up a new 35 gal for wife and i get to start all over again

My wife maintains our 55 gal freshwater tank. It's got some misc tetra types, a hatchet, a huge pleco and an overgrown algae eater. We try to grow plants in it but everything gets eaten except the java fern, which becomes a weed.

[GWN]

Here's our big one. We have a smaller one in my son's room that produces a fresh cloud of guppies every couple of weeks.

[shaggy]

what do u think of the eclipse canopy jeff? i have one on my tank but it is gutted, i use a submersible filter in the corner but have heard good things about the elcipse,,,wondering if i should try to find all the pieces for mine

[Old Sailor]

How do you cycle your tanks guys....I use the amonia cycle....no fish till it's done, had good success with this way.
Now, try to get your hands on pure ammonia with no perfume or other addictive to it.

Add 4-5 drops of ammonia per 10 gallons of water, everyday.

Monitor the nitrites level everyday.

When you see a nitrates spike, drop the addition to 2-3 drops of ammonia per 10 gallons of water, everyday

When you see the nitrites level drop to zero,

Congratulations, your tank is fully cycled!

[Blueface]

Originally Posted by Old Sailor

How do you cycle your tanks guys....I use the amonia cycle....no fish till it's done, had good success with this way.
Now, try to get your hands on pure ammonia with no perfume or other addictive to it.

Add 4-5 drops of ammonia per 10 gallons of water, everyday.

Monitor the nitrites level everyday.

When you see a nitrates spike, drop the addition to 2-3 drops of ammonia per 10 gallons of water, everyday

When you see the nitrites level drop to zero,

Congratulations, your tank is fully cycled!

Dave,
In my years in the salt water aquarium business, I learned how to rapid cycle a tank, even fresh water.
I needed to learn not only for my tank and for the business but more so for those times when purchasing new fish and needing a rapid start hospital tank for quarantine.
Buy a simple product Bacter Vital. Comes in one formula for saltwater and a second for fresh so make sure you get the right one.
Use it for three days.
On the fourth day, the Tank is cycled and ready to go.
I swear I have done this with my tank and that of many customers, each time dealing with thousands of dollars in fish and have yet to loose one.
Stuff is amazing.

I have even experimented with a $5000 fish, with no waiting.
Just added it and kept adding for three days.
No sweat at all.

[Old Sailor]

will have to look for that stuff Carlos.

[Blueface]

Originally Posted by Old Sailor

will have to look for that stuff Carlos.

One word of caution about Bacter Vital, throw away the test kits and don't use them as it will throw off the readings and drive you nuts thinking all is whacked out, meantime, the fish are happy as can be.

[GWN]

Originally Posted by shaggy

what do u think of the eclipse canopy jeff? i have one on my tank but it is gutted, i use a submersible filter in the corner but have heard good things about the elcipse,,,wondering if i should try to find all the pieces for mine

Both of ours are Eclipses and they work well. When the filter gets clogged up, the biowheel doesn't spin that well, but otherwise they're great. Both were fairly cheap at Big Al's.

[shaggy]

i cycled mine with a product called 'cycle'. add a couple of capfuls wait a week and add a couple more and in another week u are done. it is suppose to have the good bacteria in the bottle to give it a jump start.
seemed to work ok for mine...i added fish at the 2 week mark and lost 2 of 10. and one was a neon tetra which is notorious for being a fragile fish.

[Blueface]

Originally Posted by shaggy

i cycled mine with a product called 'cycle'. add a couple of capfuls wait a week and add a couple more and in another week u are done. it is suppose to have the good bacteria in the bottle to give it a jump start.
seemed to work ok for mine...i added fish at the 2 week mark and lost 2 of 10. and one was a neon tetra which is notorious for being a fragile fish.

Cycle works the same as Bacter Vital.
I just got use to one over the other.

Just lost my black mollie! bummer... can you add bacter vital with the fish in?

[Blueface]

Originally Posted by Churchlady

Just lost my black mollie! bummer... can you add bacter vital with the fish in?

Absolutely.
It is an injection of beneficial bacteria for the system.
Just remember it throws off test kits so don't rely on them for a short while once you use this product.
However, if cycled already and running fine, no need to waste the money on it.
If a fish died and temporarily spiked the tank, definitely will help but so will any product like Prime or Amquel.
If anyone buys Bacter Vital, just remember to refrigerate it after opening the package.

Will try it... still got 3 in there I think - kuhli loaches are pretty crafty... can never find them when you're looking for them.

[shaggy]

well i got a couple of new tanks up and running...a 10 gal with a couple of femail bettas and silver tip tetras and the 35 gal with 5 albino plecos and 2 elephant nose fish

[Rabidsquirrel]

Should have the new top finished for the 55 finished by this weekend. I'll take some pictures then.