Big changes coming this weekend.

ErinGoBragh · 04-13-2005, 07:20 PM

My wife is sick of having a green tank in the dining room, so in order to keep her happy, and still have a SW tank (I am now down to the crappy one.) My FW 20 gallon will now house my shrimp and Clown, and my 75g will now house my monster Jack Dempsey that will not tolerate ANY other fish in the tank.

I'm not too happy about it, but In 10 years of marrige, I have learned to choose my battles, and I am saving the big one for the purchase of an airplane.
I can see a couple of benifits out of all of this...
1. I will only need about 10-15 more lbs of LR
2. weekly 1 gallon water changes are a heck of alot cheaper than 10-12 gallon changes.
3. 40w pc for a 24" tank-$75

Now I just need to keep from having 20 gallons of green water, but I figure If I only keep about 20% of the SW, and the other 80% new clean distilled water, I should be ok.

So far, this is what I will do this time to help insure a headache free tank~
NO MORE TAP WATER!!!

I will be doing 5% water changes weekly, so I believe no skimmer will be necessary

I will be going ssb this time to avoid future algae problems

I have a hob type filter (not ideal, I know) that I will be removing the wheel on, and I will be running carbon inside the filter. What filter would be the best in this case?

And I will not add anything to the tank for another 6 months (at least)

If you have anything else to add to make the transition a smooth one, please let me know

Cosine · 04-13-2005, 07:58 PM

sounds like you have it worked out pretty well.
shouldn't be too difficult to get setup.
good luck

DataDude · 04-13-2005, 10:22 PM

Sounds like a good plan. I learned a long time ago, "When Momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy".

VWD · 04-13-2005, 10:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DataDude

Sounds like a good plan. I learned a long time ago, "When Momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy".

Now that is WISDOM

Vince

wanareef · 04-14-2005, 07:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ErinGoBragh

My wife is sick of having a green tank in the dining room, so in order to keep her happy, and still have a SW tank (I am now down to the crappy one.) My FW 20 gallon will now house my shrimp and Clown, and my 75g will now house my monster Jack Dempsey that will not tolerate ANY other fish in the tank.

I'm not too happy about it, but In 10 years of marrige, I have learned to choose my battles, and I am saving the big one for the purchase of an airplane. we all know who the boss is heh heh
I can see a couple of benifits out of all of this...
1. I will only need about 10-15 more lbs of LR
2. weekly 1 gallon water changes are a heck of alot cheaper than 10-12 gallon changes.
3. 40w pc for a 24" tank-$75

Now I just need to keep from having 20 gallons of green water, but I figure If I only keep about 20% of the SW, and the other 80% new clean distilled water, I should be ok. ro/di or you will stil get green water unless your water is great

So far, this is what I will do this time to help insure a headache free tank~
NO MORE TAP WATER!!! see above

I will be doing 5% water changes weekly, so I believe no skimmer will be necessary

I will be going ssb this time to avoid future algae problems doesn't matter- if you don't change something in the tank ie: add flow to keep junk suspended, skimmer for junk export,

I have a hob type filter (not ideal, I know) that I will be removing the wheel on, and I will be running carbon inside the filter. What filter would be the best in this case? ditch the filter and get a good HOD skimmer - bak pak2

And I will not add anything to the tank for another 6 months (at least)

If you have anything else to add to make the transition a smooth one, please let me know

tdwyatt · 04-14-2005, 08:18 AM

Get the skimmer, a good one, even for 20 gallons, you will thank me later. At 20 gallons , a weekly purchace of 1 gal of distilled water (with a few backups just in case) are cheap enough that you don't really need a RO/DI filter, but it would still be in your long term best interests.

Good luck on the transition, keep "the boss" happy

ErinGoBragh · 04-14-2005, 11:18 AM

I know I will still have to deal with the algae problem I currently have in the new tank, but the ssb is because I don't want the look of a bare bottom tank. what I am trying to avoid is the outbreak of hair algae in the future. (I have heard around 4 years several times.)

I have a power head from a previous incarnation of my 20g tank I am thinking with the hob filter (for now), and the PH I should be fine with flow, and until I get the hob skimmer, should I do larger water changes weekly? maybe 10%?

As far as the boss thing~

I have found that if I give a little, I can gain much more. And Arguing (sp?) over little things is a waste of time and effort.

DataDude · 04-14-2005, 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ErinGoBragh

As far as the boss thing~

I have found that if I give a little, I can gain much more. And Arguing (sp?) over little things is a waste of time and effort.

I couldn't agree more! Life's too short, eh?

tdwyatt · 04-19-2005, 11:22 AM

yeah, I am fortunate in that when we have social gatherings here or a dinner for guests, etc., if the aquarium room is in some form of transition (as it is now with the two new 125's going up), then we can just close off the doors (although one set of doors are french glass...

)

It really doesn't seem to matter if the tanks might not be perfect though, because everyone always wants the nickle tour...

ErinGoBragh · 04-19-2005, 11:39 AM

Well Everything is done, and the tanks look very nice. I only used about a gallon of the old SW, and I used all 20 gallons of the FW tank. both tanks are as clear as can be now. I am going to a private trout hatchery to get more info (what water temp, ph, and so on.) this weekend, as I have been thinking about it a lot again lately. Who knows what will happen with my 75.

The inhabitants of the 20g sw tank are very happy, but I am kind of bummed that in switching tanks, I lost all the snail eggs, and they looked to be doing well. Hopefully they start again in thier new home. My next expenditure will definetly be PC lighting for the tank. I have browsed the Nano Forum, and it seems to be the concensus that a skimmer isn't all that necessary on a tank less than about 30 gallons. So I will keep on doing weekly water changes until I have one.

Here is a question, since the sand and rock is from an established tank, will I go through another cycle in the tank?

Cosine · 04-19-2005, 12:37 PM

If the rock wasn't out of the water long I don't think you'll see much of a cycle

tdwyatt · 04-19-2005, 12:48 PM

Although the tank will run successfully without a skimmer, the use of a small skimmer will prevent any rapid buildup of organics in such a small volume. It is not necessary, even in large tank, to have a skimmer, but the export helps controll what may or may not become nutrient issues for any size tank. There are small skimmers that HOT and work for small volumes. so you should be ble to find something that will work for you.

JM2CW

ErinGoBragh · 04-19-2005, 12:50 PM

it was out of the water just long enough to move from the tank to the rubbermaid tote I used as a temp home while I got everything ready. so probably a total of about 5 seconds. so I will check, but I don't really expect a cycle.

ErinGoBragh · 04-19-2005, 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tdwyatt

Although the tank will run successfully without a skimmer, the use of a small skimmer will prevent any rapid buildup of organics in such a small volume. It is not necessary, even in large tank, to have a skimmer, but the export helps controll what may or may not become nutrient issues for any size tank. There are small skimmers that HOT and work for small volumes. so you should be ble to find something that will work for you.

JM2CW

I will get one, (I know, I have been saying that forever) but it seems at this time that lighting is more important. Am I incorrect?

Thanks