well hello guys im just moving my post "striking another good deal to here" in tank builds.

Well anyway heres my questions:

1: I have heard lots about these things called canister filters and im not sure if the guy( the person im buying the 55 gal and everything with it) has a canister filter but what exactly does it do and how does it work i have seen pictures of them.

2: how many fish is the maximum capacity to a beginner of a 55 gallon(im adding my fish from my 29 into the 55) he is also giving me his fish but i do not know how many.

3: any tips on laying out the terrain?

1. There are many types of filters: In tank power filters, hang-on-back (HOB) power filters, sponge filters, under-gravel filters (UGFs'), canister filters, and lastly sumps. Canister filters are basically small canisters (the size of a small living room garbage can), which are sealed water-tight and placed under the tank or to the side out of sight. Water is drawn down into the canister by a siphon action (and partial vacuum caused by water being pumped back up to the tank), runs through a filter sleve a.k.a. sponge or filter floss, then through any type of bulk media like carbon, microfiber to polish the water, or bio media to provide a surface for nitrifying bacteria to set up shop, then through an impeller where it is forced back up a tube into the tank. Canisters are much quieter, more efficient, and much less obtrusive than HOB, in-tank, sponge, or UG filters. Conversely, they are also more expensive.

2. Depends on how your tank is arranged as far as livestock goes. If you're not using live plants, you can't have as many fish as if you were to incorporate live plants. Also, if you "layer" your livestock selections, you can load your tank down more. Layering means choosing some surface skimmers like hatchet fish or guppies, then some mid swimmers like danios or tetras, then some bottom dwellers like catfish, loaches, plecostomus (suckerfish), or snails and/or shrimp (though, with the latter two, do not put a loach in or the shrimp and snails will become lunch). Also, keep in mind that many fish that look tiny and harmless at the fish store end up getting HUGE (like bala sharks, tiger barbs, and common plecostomus).

3. Two things: One, when setting up the tank, keep in mind the more you spend on initial investments like a quality filter, quality heater, good light, good substrate, and any other accoutremants will pay off in the long run because you won't need to upgrade or worry about spending any more money later on things like broken hardware or when you geek out like we do. Two, PLANTS!!!!! Live aquatic plants in an aquarium look awesome, remove the need for frequent water changes, remove the need for vacuuming gravel altogether, reduce the strain on your filter, allow you to have more fish, and lowers the stress on your existing fish population by providing them with much more natural environs.

Welcome to the gang!

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Officially fishless until after the move....tune in later for details!

Thanks! I will take all of that into consideration! Well anyway what are some good plants for the soon to be 55 gal? Also the fish I will be putting into the 55 are in my signature under the 29 gallon.

I have always had fake plants and they just look so dumb and corny. also with real plants how do you clean the tank I have always wondered about that especially with something like java moss covering the ground? Do the plants like "eat" (you know what I mean) up the fecal matter like taking the nutrients and everything? So how does that lessen the vacumming of the tank?

That's already a LOT of fish!

With live plants, you don't need to change the water as much and you absolutely can do away with vacuuming the gravel (they love detritus from your fish). They like good high-quality light (not necessarily vast amounts of light, but the right light as in pinkish-red light on the 6700K-5500K spectrum), good nutrient rich substrate (which can also be very dirty substrate), and injected CO2 if you have enough light to go with it. Great beginner plants are wisteria, java moss, and java fern. The javas are low light low maintenance plants, and the wisteria is basically a pretty aquatic weed that is a major nitrate hog and is quite tenacious. I could ship you a few sprigs of wisteria out of my tanks for the cost of shipping if you'd like.

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Officially fishless until after the move....tune in later for details!

That is very generous of you to do that. It would be greatly appreciated from you if you did. But I am not sure if they would survive the trip all the way here to Wisconsin. Do these type of plants grow fast? if i was to put a little sprig in it?

Plus I dont know if the guy has plants already!

Jim, I don't suggest you add any more fish than you already have.

For the substrate you can go with a few bags of Eco-Complete. You would like 2-3" worth of it.

Like Gizmo says Java Moss and Ferns are great to start off with. Other good plants would Anacharis and Anubias because like the Java Moss and Fern, you don't have to plant it, you can just anchor them to a rock or driftwood. Cryptocorynes have to be planted but are also very low maintenance. For nicer and easy plants, I suggest some Vals for the back of the tank, and an Amazon Sword since you're getting a big tank; Both the Vals and the Sword have to be planted.

If you want a lot of plants and a bargain, I suggest SweetAquatics.com there aren't many other places that can beat their prices other than some of the users here and maybe on Aquabid. I ordered from them, and all my plants game in perfect health.

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Good thing you're upgrading. Your 29g is pretty well overstocked. I hope you plan to be happy with those fish....you're not too far off from being overstocked for a 55g.

Yeh, Im not adding anymore fish the only new fish will be his and i think he only has 2 fish. But idk what his fish are. I really do hope he has some real plants. But yeah no more fish for me I am pleased with them right now.

Better hope its not oscars or some other large cichlid as you would probably end up loosing a bunch of fish as food.

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SUCCESS IS MEASURED BY YEARS, NOT MONTHS!!!
220 Tank build
http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/sta...late-3253.html

ok I checked out what they all look like I gonna get some java moss and put it on some driftwood and make it look like a tree. I am definatley gonna get some amazon sword and some vals. Do i need the co2 kit thingy?

Actually not really if he does have a large fish I could then sell to my lfs and get some plants! It would be a win/win scenario! LOL!!!!

There is person on craigslist that is giving away a 4 inch jack dempsey for free, and so I tried to contact him. But no luck yet, it is kinda of a dick move taking advantage of something like this and just trading it in for plants. I doubt he still has it.

Well there is two other people that are selling fish online there is one person who said she is selling mollies, sailfin mollies and red wig platys for $1 each. Should I get them because my current molly is all alone and has no school.

there is another person who is selling 1 PICTUS CAT. 5 TINFOIL BARBS. 2 REGULAR, 2 BLUSHING AND 1 GOLD. 2 RAINBOW SHARKS. 1 REDTAIL BLACK SHARK. for an unknown amount. I have always liked pictus cat's

So should I get the mollies, platys etc and just the pictus?

Or should I get both groups BUT I would just keep the mollies, platys and the pictus. Then I would trade-in the other fish like the tin foil barbs and get some plants?

You're really already overstocked... You should only get plants...

Unless you plan on still using the 29 gallon, maybe you can put Mollys and Platys in there.

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Yeh, I really dont think I need any more fish I just need plants now.

Ok well this is what I am thinking of ordering from sweet aquatics these are some my considerations:

2x Echinodorus Bleheri (Amazon Sword) MED Size: ? $2.70
7x Vallisneria Gigantea (Jungle Val) Size: 12 in. $1.00
3x Java Fern (Microsorium Pteropus) Size: ? $2.50
1x Java Moss (Vesicularia Dubyana) 4 oz. $3.00
4x Anacharis (Egeria Densa) Size: 8 in. $1.35

17 plants Total price- $28.30

Is this a good deal?
Is that good enough for plants? So for the vals and swords do I just bury them in the gravel or do I actually need to put dirt in the tank. Because My fish and everything will be in it? Also the driftwood from the site idk about it. I dont understand how many im getting too!

that sounds like a good mix for a 55g. If anything I would double or triple it but the plants will grow and expand anyway.

You might also look up beaslbob builds here.

I just use a peat moss, sand, pc select (or aquarium gravel) layered sybstrate with 1" layers. the idea is the sand traps in the peat moss. I also wet each layer then level and clean before adding the next. Finally I plant the plants and then finally fill the tank with water poured over a dish.

let things set 1 week.

then add a few fish and wait one week with no food added.

then finally add more fish and start feeding very lightly.

If you already have fish I would collect all the existing water, do the planting then refill the tank and not feed for a week.

no filters, no circulation, no water changes, just replace water the evaporates.

but that's just my .02

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

I also forgot that my soon to be tank is only 13 in depth so I think I might have to cut down on that many plants.

Ok Im really diggin the Dirty tank idea right now. can I just go in my backyard and dig up some dirt and the awsome thing is about where I live i can dig about 3 ft. down and there's some natural undisturbed clay. I could go to a beach and fill up a couple of 5 gallon buckets with sand.

Seeing that the guys tank is already cycled would it be fine if i empty all of the water then put the the dirt/clay mix in put a little water in it to moisten it up then put the layer of sand on. Then put the gravel and stuff on. And seeing that my bedroom is right next to one of my hoses out side, I can have the hose come through the window and fill up the tank very, very, very slowly to a pretty much dribble state on to a plate like beaslbob suggested. So my hypothesis is that there should be close to nill cloudy water and no need to cycle right?

oh yeh almost forget the guy contacted me back about his other fish. He says he doesnt know what it is but its multi-colored and its over 4 inches long.....uh oh.

he said also that there is a fake castle and a large rock but are covered in black algae. I have never heard of this black algae before I am doing research right now on it. I hope its not bad. Im just going to get rid of the castle and rock. and give the whole tank a nice cleaning when i get it.

Jim

interesting diy substrate. should work fine.

You might want to wash/rinse the sand to make sure it is clean.

then use the soil as the firs layer with the sand on top and gravel (small) on top.

The pc select I like for the top layer is actually a baked red clay used for baseball infields and the like. so it sounds like even the clay is close.

keep us posted.

my .02

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

Moved this thread to here: Gonna need help on Dirt Tank Build for a 55 gal.