Newman's 40 Gallon Planted Tank

[Newman]

If you lived anywhere near me, i would literally just give you the Oranda. I do not need it in my tank. Since i started to really take care of this tank about 2 weeks ago, the goldie really has been looking much healthier. maybe it all the peas, lettuce, and zuccini i've been feeding it
It's nice red-orange and black color really looks good under the 18 watt plant growth bulb. Under the current bulb it just looks like this, but still kinda cool in its own little way.

 

[kenny1tothe6]

If I lived anywhere near you I would've taken all 3[Pleco, Catfish, & GF]...but, as you know, I live in FL. I'll keep my eye out for one...

It hasn't eaten you plants yet has it? I'd recommend keeping it! It's small!! My Ryuk. is growing sooooo FAST! *twirlysmi

 

[Newman]

Well its been munching on that elodia i have floaing in the left corner, but i dont really care for that bunch anyway. It hasnt been sucessful in my tank.

The goldfish hasnt done any uprooting damage to my knowledge yet... I intend to plant my dwarf hairgrass tomorrow if i have the time. Ill keep the goldie as long as it doesnt start uprooting the grass. Plus its a favorite with my mom, who would REALLY filp out if i gave it away.

For now im going to leave it and add my swordtail and platy pair. If the Goldfish gets nibbled, thats its problem. Its fins are in MINT condition right now, so it'd be a shame to give it away with ripped fins...But it stays for now until it pisses me off.

 

[kenny1tothe6]

Well, another idea, Why don't you put it in your down 10gal? You could put the Elodea in there with it and set it up a Semi-Nice tank...

 

[OrangeCones]

Well its been munching on that elodia i have floaing in the left corner, but i dont really care for that bunch anyway. It hasnt been sucessful in my tank.

The goldfish hasnt done any uprooting damage to my knowledge yet... I intend to plant my dwarf hairgrass tomorrow if i have the time. Ill keep the goldie as long as it doesnt start uprooting the grass. Plus its a favorite with my mom, who would REALLY filp out if i gave it away.

For now im going to leave it and add my swordtail and platy pair. If the Goldfish gets nibbled, thats its problem. Its fins are in MINT condition right now, so it'd be a shame to give it away with ripped fins...But it stays for now until it pisses me off.

My bet is the goldie will uproot the hairgrass. Is there no way to find it another home? It's requirements are so vastly different than swordails and the platy pair.

The elodia requires a medium-high light level plant. You have 18 watts over 40 gallons? I do not think it would be enough for it.

 

[Newman]

I realize that. I have an order coming in for a T-5 Fixture that will be housing two 39watt long bulbs, giving me around 2.1 wpg (cuz theres about 37 gal of water in there according to a volume calculator.)

I cant set up the 10gal for the goldfish personal and family reasons. If it does uproot the grass that i spent over 2 hours individually planting...*ALL* its going to another owner.

I'll post a pic of the new grass later tonight.

 

[Newman]

Heres the new hairgrass that tooke me over 2 hours to clean, prune, separate, and plant *ALL*

 

[Newman]

Switched my HOB filter with a Fluval Canister. All used media from the old filter was put into the canister.

Replaced my old 100W heater with a 150W one thats rated for 40 gal.

The current in the tank decreased. Hairgrass doesnt look as agitated anymore.

Hoping the mini cycle thats going to happen wont kill off the goldfish or the plants... *PEACE!*

 

[Newman]

That goldfish is really starting to piss me off, as expected and as predicted by Orange
-__-

Unfortunately i cant replace it with anything cuz the Nitrite and Nitrate readings in my tank are too high for new fish.
Nitrite is at .25 ppm
Nitrate is 40-80 ppm

Cmon plants, do your thing

 

[Newman]

Got a little impatient with the high nitrite and nitrate, so i did a large water change today. Nitrite levels are close to 0 and Nitrate levels are about 20ppm. Gonna do another water change tomorrow and look into buying all the food for my livebearers. Shortly after, ill buy the male blue platy.

And heres a pic of how the goldfish is doin today:

 

[Newman]

Newest tank member (male blue platy)

 

[Newman]

gotta post an update:
Cabomba on the right side took off. soon to reach the surface of the water. Java fern is growing some ipressive baby ferns. A few Cabomba clippings are in the making, one of which can be seen growing in the center. Gonna buy my female blood red tomorrow or the day after.

 

[kenny1tothe6]

WOW!! Your tank is REALLY shaping up! Lovin' that Platy BTW...I've seen some around and was tempted...but I'm waiting until I get my own 55gal when I'll take all my fish back from my mom's 55gal...and my rocks/plants. LOL

EDIT: Just a few suggestions:

Amazon Sword
Ozealot Sword
Crypts
Green & Sunset Hygro
Green Temple Plant
Hornwort
Tiger Lotus

+ for color...how about some tetras to compliment the platies/swordtails/goldfish!

Good luck for whatever you decide to do!

 

[Newman]

Thanks for the suggestions/ compliments!

I think ill stick with the plants i have in there now (i have 7 different kinds) I was thinking about sword plants...but dont think ill have em.

As an UPDATE:

My lighting fixture came in today. the light is 10x better. I cant install it now cuz im still getting a plexiglass cover cut out at a hardware store. It's been on most of the day today, and looks great.

Got a blood red female.

here are some pics of the fish in "new light"

 

[Newman]

I'm thinking of buying a 1-3 gal aquarium kit from an LFS or a chain store, complete with light, and filter (which ill remove).

Reason for this is a want to house some California Blackworms for my main 40 gal as a live food source. I have noted in the past that feeding such worms to livebearers and other fish makes them breed more readily. plus i think itll add to the variety that im feeding my fish.

The plans for this are:

1-3 gal tank
The inlusive flourescent lighting
air pump with air stone
1 Water wisteria bush.
the white gravel from the remodeled 40 Gal. (i also have black gravel but i figure i wouldnt be able to see the worms on black gravel)
kept at room temp. w/o heater
Feedings 2x a week with old goldfish food (pellets/flakes)

Perhaps adding a snail? any suggestions?

Any reflections or suggestions on the overall idea?

 

[kenny1tothe6]

Sounds cool! However, I wouldn't add gravel in a black worm tank...And I think a snail might love them in the wrong way and eat them. The overall plan with wisteria and everything sounds good though!

 

[Newman]

Ok i've advised with Orange cones on the topic, and im going to add a little black gravel, and instead of the cool-looking wisteria ill add a floater plant like hornwort.

I think if i stick to smaller snails, they wont eat the worms, plus snails mostly go for the leftover flakes, and if theres an explosion of them, ill just cut back on the feeding, so that they will die and the black worms will eat the corpses (its a win-win situation)

I'll get started with that project tomorrow or the day after.
I'll order a pound of california blackworms from AB on cuz its the smallest amount i could find on the net, and my LFS dont sell them.
I wonder what ill have to do to all that extra worm mass, as i only need about a half of a teaspoon-full of good worms for the actual breeding tank lol.
Can't possibly feed them all to my three fish. If only i already had like 30 young swordtails in the tank, then itll be a different story

UPDATE:
Installed new cover and fixture permanently. Gonna start dosing with ferts soon.
Pics:

 

[Newman]

Well it turns out my Blood Red female wasnt a virgin, and had fry on her second day in my tank.

This kinda slows my breeding plans a bit because this means that she has already stored milt and will give birth repeatedly a few more times, not giving the platy male a chance to breed.

I guess im going to have to wait till the current brood or the next few broods grow up, give all the males away and only keep the virgin females, then remove the original blood red, and see if any of the females want to breed with the platy.

A bit dissapointed in the amount of survivors too. I've seen the female eat one of the fry today, and the goldfish ate around 5 >_>

hopefuly the 5 or so survivors...survive lol.

 

[Newman]

There are a lot more survivors than just five...in fact i rescued 3 fry from INSIDE my Fluval canister filter. theyre looking active and fine. surprised they survived in there (and their trip through the impeller.) for more than a day.

Unfortunately i couldnt find a 5gal kit so i bought a cheap 2.5 gal tank. Also unfortunately i couldnt find any hornwort for sale so i had to go with wisteria. Replaced the incandecent 15 watt bulb with a 14 watt CFL. Looks bright as ****. more than 5 wpg in there

Gonna place an order on the cal blackworms today.

 

[Newman]

Just for lols im gonna post a pic that i found very funny today. it was my fault for installing this feeder below the water level. the goldfish did this on its own.