[GSAS-Member] Plants and Substrate Questions

[myth <myth@loreseeker.net>]

Hi everyone,

I'm new.  Very, very new.  For the last eight years I've been wanting 
to put together a planted tank, but kept putting it off until I 
settled somewhere more "permanently."  Finally I decided that I'll 
never really have the time or money, so I might as well dive in!

I recently acquired a used 75 gallon tank, a 35 gallon tank, and two 
12 gallons (oddly shaped, used as fry tanks by former owner).  Four 
breeding angelfish (three males and one female) came with the larger 
tank. The angelfish got stressed during the move and came down with 
ich, which I'm treating (I'll get back to that after my general 
questions).

1)  I really want to focus on making the 75 gallon a planted tank, and 
I don't care about breeding the angelfish.  They can have time off.  
:}  I do want them to be happy though, and I'm thinking of copying 
this kind of setup:  http://www.aquahobby.com/tanks/e_tank0509c.php .  
This leaves plenty of room for the angelfish to swim around, and I 
could add a couple of other fish, which I would enjoy. (I haven't had 
time to research types compatible with angelfish yet.  So, here's 
question #1:  Substrate?  I've done a ton of research, but everyone 
suggests something else.  Peat and laterite?  Laterite and sand?  
Laterite and gravel?  Peat and gravel?  Soil?  Clay?  Eco-complete?  
So far I'm thinking of going with 90% fluorite with gravel on top, 
simply because The Fish Store has fluorite, and as far as I can tell, 
no other substrate.  What would you recommend and why?

2)  Tell me about your favorite fish stores in Seattle.  Do you have a 
favorite for equipment? For freshwater tropicals?  What about 
interesting or cheap rocks?   I'm going to need a lot of those.  (The 
35 gallon is going to be set up as a Lake Malawi tank.  It's not my 
first choice[difficulty], but I promised to take some fry for a friend 
whose labs won't stop breeding.)  

3). I want to buy a substrate heater and I think Duplo is the only 
brand out there?  Can I find this locally?  I haven't managed to find 
it so far, but I hate to mailorder if I can help it.  How much can I 
expect to spend for a 75 gallon?  I think it's around a hundred bucks, 
but I'm not entirely sure if there are extra bits I'll need to buy.

4)  Plants!  Once the ich is cleared up I want to get started with 
plants.  Any members out there with extra plants that they want to 
sell?  I'm not sure what I want/need yet, but I'll have a list soon.

5)  I may try to make the CO2 dispenser myself.  Any tips?  I'm not 
terribly handy, but I'm a student, so I'm trying to cut corners while 
still keeping the essentials.  I figure it'll be cheaper than redoing 
everything in a year.  So, advice and tips are very, very much 
appreciated.  If you want to tell me about books you can't live 
without, that would be great!

I've looked at tons of pictures and read a lot.  I'm feeling a bit 
overwhelmed and it hasn't all sunk in yet.

As for the current problem, I'm not entirely sure the angelfish have 
ich.  There are very small white spots on the pectoral fin (er, I 
think that's the pectoral fin) of two of the fish.

When I took the tank home, the gentleman warned me that one of the 
males wasn't going to live long.  He showed me the protruding eye and 
told me it was probably a tumor.  That fish is now showing red streaks 
at the base of one fin.  I'm starting to doubt that it was a tumor, so 
I've got him in a 12 gallon and am treating him both for ich (RidIch) 
and with tetracycline.  I don't expect him to make it, but I had to 
give it a chance.

The other three angelfish are staying in the big tank (75 gallon).  I 
did a 50% water change tonight and added RidIch.  I'm gradually 
increasing their temp (I plant to get it up to 87 or 88 and keep it 
there for the duration of the ich treatment).   My question is this:  
On the ridich bottle, the instructions say to treat water every day 
after a 25% water change, but the instructions here 
(http://www.thekrib.com/Diseases/ich.html) say to treat every 3-4 days 
with a 50% water change.  Which is better?

The four otocinclus (the only other fish I currently have) are in the 
second 12 gallon tank and as they show no signs of being sick, they're 
not getting treated. Likely treatment would kill them and they may die 
anyway, as they're refusing algae tablets and the 12 gallon has no 
algae in it.

I know this is terribly long...I hope some folks managed to stick with 
me and will forgive me for obvious questions.  I'm going to try to 
make it to the next meeting (the 10th, Seattle university, right?)

Thanks!
Alex

There's no longer room in my bedroom for the bed, so a loft bed is now 
in the making.  I'm overrun by the 75 gallon tank!


_______________________________________________
GSAS-Member mailing list
GSAS-Member@thekrib.com
http://lists.thekrib.com/mailman/listinfo/gsas-member