# first tank.



## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

Well me and my wife decided to get us our fist fish tank. We had it setup now for a month. We had ugly blue gravel in it at first but I just changed it out with black/white gravel. I made a black background for it out of poster board for now. Just order a Aquatop CF400UV 4-Stage Canister Filter with UV 9W, 370 gph. Yea that's a big filter for a 10g tank. I got a very good deal on the filter. 
Stock list 
1. dwarf gourami
3. Neon Tetra 















































Pic with the red light. I'm thinking of putting back in the red light and moving it to our room. I have a blue light but it's 25w and the hood is for 15w bulbs.



























I'm going to try and plant a garden in here and pull out the fake plants. The two plants to the left are real, the rest are fake. Yes I grew them with only just two 15w incandescent plant growth bulb that twist into the hood, I have no ferts. Might add miracle grow organic potting mix under the gravel and try to grown more plants. 












New gravel and I still want to plant stuff in this.


















New pic my dwarf. 










My next fish will be a few dario dario. I been wanting some of these little guys but can't put them in my tank with the dwarf gourami. These nanos are freaking awesome.


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## cossie (Dec 19, 2010)

How much are dario darios?

Like the tank


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

I've seen them online for around $6.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

dario and badis are awesome nanofish. Get a 30-40 gallon tank for that filter. Petco $1/gallon sale is coming soon and PetSmart is expected to match them.


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## OhYesItsMe (Oct 1, 2011)

Wait when is that dollar per gallon I want to get a 40 or 55 I've been waiting for that sale does it apply to ny state do they do those sales locally?
I'm liking the tank btw.


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

I wish that i did have the money right now for a bigger tank but I don't. Maybe by xmas I might be able to get a bigger tank but we will see. I would like to have a dario dario show tank.


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## YellowBelly (Mar 27, 2006)

The dwarf gourami is gorgeous. I had a honey gourami all too briefly, but really enjoyed it.


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

Thanks, he is a little crazy sometimes.


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## jlpropst00 (Jun 12, 2011)

Just as a word of caution. That hood looks like the one that came with my 10g kit and it didn't have a true cover over the tank just little plastic protectors over the bulbs. Watch the bubbles from your bubble wand. Over time the moisture it produces can eat away and short your light socket. At least mine did though it took about six months.


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## ZebraDanio12 (Jun 17, 2011)

Dario Dario are awesome fish. Just got some...

And I can't wait for the $ per gal sale... MY convict fry are going to need a big tank when they grow up and then would be a good time to take advantage of the sale and get them a big tank.


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

Thanks folks, I'll keep an eye on the hood as well. Post a picture of your dario dario when you get them please.


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

My Aquatop CF400UV 4-Stage Canister Filter with UV 9W, 370 gph just got here today. Think I'll be under filter now?:lol:


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

What do you think about this planted idea?


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## ZebraDanio12 (Jun 17, 2011)

I like that. Do you plan to use java moss(or any moss), dwarf hair grass, or what?


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

I was thinking some DHG and Java moss. I want that carpet/lawn look. Something that's easy to grow with little help.


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## ZebraDanio12 (Jun 17, 2011)

Dwarf hair grass, fyi, needs a ton of light to thrive. What is your lighting? Java moss can go from low-high lighting. I tried hair grass once. Complete fail...


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

My light is two 15w screw in hood bulbs. Plus what ever sun light in the room.


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## ZebraDanio12 (Jun 17, 2011)

Hmm it could work...But the light bulbs would have to be a certain kind. We need grogan! He could tell you this a whole lot better. XD Hes the planted guy. Me, I just go for all the low lights so I don't have this problem. X3


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

hmmmmm..you could take out the 2 15 watt bulbs and replace them with some of the screw in cfl bulbs....a 23 watt is equal to a 100 watt bulb so some of the smaller ones could give you a lot of light...


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

I'm going to redo this whole tank with eco-complete or something like that and plant more stuff. I have a empty small 3.83g tank that I'm going to put some organic miracle-gro and that plant I grew to see what will happen. I bought the 3.83 gallon when I changed out the gravel to keep the fish in until I was done. It's a small tank but it won't have fish in it unless it does good I might just get one dario dario


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

I'm going to move them two plants into a 3.8g that I put organic soil in. I'm going to try this stuff out in this small tank before I make a mess in my 10g. I just put the soil in and a little water now I'm waiting for the soil to go down might take all night. I might pick up more bulbs and see if I can grow another plant with this stuff. That's a old desk lamp with a 15w plant bulb. I took out the 100w bulb that was in it.


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

I got a new tank at that $1 gallon sale last week and already had filter for it that I got a month back. Got the filter online because they had it at the wrong price saved a lot of money on it too. Now I need ideas for the 29g.


















Don't recall if I posted these here; got 3 more neon tetras this week so now it's 6 neon tetras and 1 dwarf gourami.


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

It looks much nicer then you first started IMO. What happend to the grow tank with dirt in it?


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

Thanks; I took that down. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the 29g. Ideas?


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

Oh the 29g still isn't set up? The possibiltys are endless with that.


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

Nope I need a hood for it and a heater if I keep the 10g up. I know that I want a black or blue light for it. I was looking at some led thing at petco but not sure if it will stay one color and not keep changing color. Might put some white poster board on the back of the tank. I know it will have sand not sure if I want black or white yet. Give me some ideas here. This thing will be setup in the living room and people will see it and hopefully they will say oh wow that's awesome. My mom seen my 10g and she said she wants one for her house now for her Betta. I want it to look simple but not that crazy. Might try to draw an idea but I'm no artist.


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

I would do a black background that always looks pretty sweet. As for the deco go to any pond or river by you and grab some driftwood. You can find super cheap fake plants at any hobby store that are pure plastic so no new to waste money on fake plants that are packaged as aquarium plants. You can grab a few rocks that always looks good then go to any hardware store and get silica? Sand it's super fine and used for sand blasting plus it's like a white sand if you don't like play sand. And then Add cichlids that's my fab fresh water fish or a couple angel fish


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## Adam (Jun 22, 2012)

I'm a fan of painting the background. Just use acrylic paint on the back of the tank. let it dry and do another coat going the opposite direction to cover up your brush strokes. You can also use a foam paint roller if you wanted instead of a brush. If you decide to use a plasticy background from a pet store, There is a product called "SeaView" which is a background adhesive marketed for aquariums. Don't buy this. It is basically a 7 dollar 1 oz container of mineral oil. You can use normal Mineral oil, or I like Vaseline better, because it's less runny, smear it all over the background with a paper towel, then stick it on the tank and use a credit card to smooth out any air bubbles, then trim the sides with a razor blade. This method is so much better than tape because with tape you can see your background from the front, but if you look from the sides, the back looks like a mirror, if you paint or use an "adhesive" it will be visible from all 3 open sides.


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

Maybe some black sand and some good size rocks with a big piece of drift wood. With color full fish?


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

Thought this was funny.


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

Bingo! Adam I always use windex and a credit card, it sticks pretty good and there's no bubbles. 

I like guppies, I'm staying away from tetras, koi angles are awesome, electic yellow cichlids like in my picture are sweet, plattys are cool under the right lighting. The list goes on and on.

Whatever you do don't get the ugly fake aquarium endless looking backgrounds the key is to make a beautiful aquarium not to have a picture of one. 

I heard pretty good story's about people painting the background on there tank. But remember once it's on it's on. No swapping it out down the road.


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

Coolfish said:


> Thought this was funny.


What a waste of a nice tank. I guess people will do anything lol


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

I just put a piece of black poster board on the back of my 10g. Yea I don't want a pic of a nice tank; I want that nice pic to be my tank.


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

Smart move. Any thoughts of what fish you want to add? A peaceful community tank maybe? Or something else? I always liked my community tanks, in one I have guppies both male and female, plattys males and females, angelfish and it's got the right amount of color to it. Iv got a few live plants a crappy color changing led at night that makes the plattys look super cool. They are one of my favorite fish for community tanks because they are cheap and offer a super bright color


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## Adam (Jun 22, 2012)

Cory1990 said:


> I heard pretty good story's about people painting the background on there tank. But remember once it's on it's on. No swapping it out down the road.


false. if you use acrylic, a razor blade will start and it will peel right off of the glass, the only spots you might possibly have trouble would be around any seams.


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

Hmm guess I never thought of it that way, I have seen people spray paint them and have a @&"" of a time getting it off.


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## morla (Jun 23, 2012)

That tank looks freakin awesome!


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

My tank? Thank. Hopefully I can make my 29g 10x more better looking.


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## IAoddball (Jun 19, 2012)

What i did on my 75 was used dark window tint and had a strip of white led lights around the top rim of the tank. It looked pretty good, plus it was cheap. Always an option


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

I was thinking of window tint too. I will check how much walmart has it for. i want a moonlight for it too but don't want to spend a bunch of money on lighting.


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

Stocking ideas for the 29g? What fw fish look like sw that I could keep in a 29g? So far I'm thinking black sand black background and a moonlight. Where can I get a hood?


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## ZebraDanio12 (Jun 17, 2011)

Coolfish said:


> Stocking ideas for the 29g? What fw fish look like sw that I could keep in a 29g? So far I'm thinking black sand black background and a moonlight. Where can I get a hood?


 I always thought cichlids looked like sw fish...


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

Yea go for some cichlids. There awesome. Mine fallow my finger on the glass and when I tap they come to the top right corner of my tank for feeding.


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

I did not know that cichlids could be stock in a 29g. How man can you keep together?


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

I think some of the smallers ones would be fine.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

don't get 'assorted africans' for a 29. They will eventually need a 4' tank, probably sooner than you think. Shellies or julies would work. Post specifically what you are looking at, pics if you dont' have names. There are hundreds of cichlids.


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

I think one is named a red zebra. There is a purple one I think it's named badis badis. Some yellow looking one but I think you need a 55g for that.


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

I got a hood for my 29g with a fluorescent light today. All I have to do is hook up everything next.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

badis aren't cichlid, they aren't bettas or gouramis either but are similar to all. Those are suitable for a 29. The red zebra will need a bigger tank in a year.


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

I looked around for Dario Dario but did not find none. I'm sure it's going to be the same with the badis badis. What's some other ideas?


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

My neon tetras been swimming kind of like in a square and chasing each other around. Maybe they are just playing around.


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

My DG is sick. He is bloated so what i did was mix epsom salt and a cup of water to treat him. Now we wait and see if he will make it.


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

Guess it was to late he did not make it.


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

Well it's been weeks and all the other fish are good. I been wanting to replace my dg that I lost with something else. I'm think that Dario Dario I was always talking about getting but couldn't because the dg would have killed it. I would have to order one online because nobody sells them around here.


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