fish selections.... 10 gal, going to 55 gal soon.

[Frosty]

Sounds like a better deal than the stuff I'm buying, but I have no idea what's in pool sand, I'd hate to use it and kill everything off! What color sand is it? Just standard brown?

 

[Caleb]

More beige then brown...I'll report in a bit, I'll take picture of the bag

 

[Caleb]

 

[Caleb]

Links to DIY backgrounds ? Cichlid-Forum

There's lot of info on building 3D backgrounds...at first I was thinking painting the back of the tank black, but now, I'm thinking about stepping it up.

 

[therewolf]

Tiger Barbs and Neon Tetras are fun to watch. Swordtails are pricey, but nice,

you really have to stay on top of the PH, though. Angels and Catfish are some of the toughest.

 

[Caleb]

Tiger Barbs and Neon Tetras are fun to watch. Swordtails are pricey, but nice,

you really have to stay on top of the PH, though. Angels and Catfish are some of the toughest.

Not a super big tetra fan, but I thought about tiger barbs though. I went with a rainbow shark instead, and the other tankmates are going to be cichlids.

 

[Caleb]

Here's the 55gal...little dated and a bit dirty, does anybody know how to remove hard water stains that won't kill my fish later?

 

[Frosty]

Vinegar works good on the stains, just rinse it off good and let it dry, you don't want it to get in your water, it will drop the ph. Tank looks good, and a 3D background will really make it look good!

 

[Caleb]

Vinegar works good on the stains, just rinse it off good and let it dry, you don't want it to get in your water, it will drop the ph. Tank looks good, and a 3D background will really make it look good!

Soak it or just wipe with vinegar? Also, the old lighting sucks. So dim, I don't see how you can see anything with it. Would new bulbs fix this or do I need to replace the light fixture?

 

[Frosty]

Soak it or just wipe with vinegar? Also, the old lighting sucks. So dim, I don't see how you can see anything with it. Would new bulbs fix this or do I need to replace the light fixture?

Wipe it, if you've got big deposits scrape it off, it takes some elbow grease , but it should do the trick.you can try a bulb change, but honestly, I would look into cheep LED's. As long as your not planning on keeping plants it will be good, and they are cheaper to run than fluorescents.

 

[Caleb]

Wipe it, if you've got big deposits scrape it off, it takes some elbow grease , but it should do the trick.you can try a bulb change, but honestly, I would look into cheep LED's. As long as your not planning on keeping plants it will be good, and they are cheaper to run than fluorescents.

any recommendation on LED color and setup?

 

[Brandon]

Do you have a single 4' bulb or is it 2 4' or 2 smaller?
If it is only one bulb all the way across I would say get a fixture that holds 2 bulbs all the way across. My current tank came with a dual bulb fixture and now multiple bulb fixtures are the only way I will go.

 

[Caleb]

Do you have a single 4' bulb or is it 2 4' or 2 smaller?
If it is only one bulb all the way across I would say get a fixture that holds 2 bulbs all the way across. My current tank came with a dual bulb fixture and now multiple bulb fixtures are the only way I will go.

 

[Frosty]

any recommendation on LED color and setup?

Ones geared for freshwater will have more reds to bring out the colors in the fish. I would say a cheapo from Petsmart would work just fine.

 

[Caleb]

Ones geared for freshwater will have more reds to bring out the colors in the fish. I would say a cheapo from Petsmart would work just fine.

Thought blue is what made the colors of the fish pop

 

[Frosty]

Blues are more for salt, they make the corals fluoresce. Reds will bring out the colors of your fish, but your fish will also be more colorful with a dark substrate. Honestly, I doubt you'll notice a big difference either way.

 

[Caleb]

Blues are more for salt, they make the corals fluoresce. Reds will bring out the colors of your fish, but your fish will also be more colorful with a dark substrate. Honestly, I doubt you'll notice a big difference either way.

Interesting...any way to save a little bit of money and retrofit my current hood with led's vs buying new hoods and LED's?

 

[Frosty]

They have several DIY LED kits, but honestly, I doubt it would save you any money. Let me take a look at a couple places, brb... In two hours when AT&T decides to put some speed behind the internet

 

[Frosty]

Aquarium Lighting & LED Lights: Marineland Single Bright LED Lighting System one of several led fixtures, and you might as well bookmark it and liveaquaria.com

 

[Caleb]

Aquarium Lighting & LED Lights: Marineland Single Bright LED Lighting System one of several led fixtures, and you might as well bookmark it and liveaquaria.com

Cool info...thanks. Judging by the color of these bulbs I have, I say they were intended for saltwater.