Through a lucky set of circumstances, I’ve got my hands on another fish tank. This one is an acrylic Eclipse 12 aquarium. I didn’t know much about Eclipse aquariums, but I couldn’t complain with this free acquisition. From what I’ve read about these tanks, the filter system is very well done and what I noticed right away was how quiet it runs. Much quieter than the power filter for my 29-gallon tank. I’ve got it running right now with just water as I am currently planning what kind of tank I want to make. Most likely it will be a species tank and if its big enough, a species on the aggressive side. I’ll keep you updated as decisions are made. Thanks for reading.

I haven’t written anything in the blog in a long time, probably because there isn’t much to report. All is well. My power filter wasn’t behaving properly, so I bought another one to make sure the water stays clear.

Somehow, while I was stocking the aquarium with fish, I must of got a snail or two and they have multiplied in the tank. They haven’t overrun the tank yet, which is good because I don’t really have the limit to put in some Clown Loaches to deal with them. For now, they are doing a good job cleaning up the bottom of the tank.

The water is always crystal clear, and although I’ve stopped testing regularly, every time I do test the water its 0,0 & about 10 nitrate. I change 10% of the water once a week, with the help of my 2 & a half year old daughter.  So, all is well as I prepare myself for a long, cold Canadian winter.

I found these little guys in my LFS yesterday and just had to buy them. My Tetra school was two short anyway, so I added these unique looking fish. The picture doesn’t do it justice, as their bodies are just about clear. Immediately after I released them, they started schooling with my Black Skirts. They are truly a unique species that have immediately found a place in my community aquarium…

I didn’t want the two Cory’s I bought on Father’s Day to be lonely for too long, so after monitoring my water paramenters since, I bought two more Cory’s today. With four I think they will be happier. So now the tank so far has: 4 black skirt tetra’s, 4 bronze cory’s, a betta and a pleco. I’ve still got some room for more fish, but I’m not sure what I want to get now. I’ve debated getting two more black skirts, but the four look just fine the way they are. Anyway, stay tuned for more pictures and updates soon…

After weeks of waiting, the aquarium finally got a Nitrate spike with Ammonia & Nitrite being reduced to zero! Finally, the tank is cycled. Its been over 60 days of waiting. I’ve been resisting adding more fish until I got the Nitrate spike. And seeing as its Father’s Day, I treated myself to two new additions. I’ve added two Bronze Cory Cat’s to the tank. I don’t want to add too much to the bioload all at once in my newly cycled aquarium, but I’ll be adding at least two more Cory’s to the tank in the coming weeks.

Well, its official the salt treatment for the ick really stalled the cycle. It appeared the numbers showed the cycle to be close to complete, but I don’t think there is enough bacteria to take care of the ammonia, and my nitrates have stalled. So, I’m doing frequent water changes and hopefully the fish in the tank now will survive my mini-cycle. Time will tell. Thanks for reading.

I’ve always heard that pleco’s do a wonderful job at dealing with the algae in your tank, but I never quite realized how efficient these little creatures were.

Two days ago, I released the pleco into the tank and tonight almost all of the algae is completely gone. The algae in the tank wasn’t out of control by any means, but there was quite a bit of it around. So, now that he’s done such an amazing job I already have to start supplementing his diet. I bought some algae wafers that I’ll start dropping in the tank tomorrow night to make sure the little guy stays healthy and well fed. This species never disappoints when the tank needs a good cleaning. In my humble opinion, one of these little guys are essential to any community aquarium.

I initailly thought I would try and recreate some of my milestones and create posts in this blog about them. As with most things, I change my mind quite a few times before I make what I think is the best decision. I have decided to summarize the happenings in one post, and move on from here. So, here it is:

April 15th
I setup the tank and over the next couple weeks I added a total of six Black Skirt Tetra’s to cycle the tank (two at a time). I researched the best way to cycle, and after much deliberation, I decided the best course of action was a ‘cycle with fish’, and constant toxin monitoring. Things progressed slowly, but steady and the ammonia levels become predictable and my water changes were quite frequent in the beginning.

May 9th
I saw some progress in the cycle (ammonia 0.30, nitrite 0.5 & nitrate 6). I did a 20% water change to prevent higher spikes and was very encouraged by fianally getting some nitrite & nitrate readings. I was doing constant water changes daily, and the nitrite level stayed constant at 0.5. I wasn’t overly concerned as it was not rising at all.

May 13th 
The nitrite level was down to around 0.25 or so, and I thought the bacteria was finally getting established and taking care of the nitrite levels.

May 14th
A black skirt tetra floats dead in the top corner of the tank, appears to be unknown causes as there were no signs of disease or anything. On careful examination of the tank and the other fish, another tetra is covered in white spots. I have my first ick infestation! I quickly did some research online for the best course of action. What I did was I added aquarium salt to the aquarium and turned the heat up so it stayed constant at 84 degrees (gradually of course).

May 15th
The ick infested tetra lost its battle with the parasite. All the other fish seemed to display no symptoms of ick. I continued the salt treatment, doing water changes, and keeping the concentration of salt constant.

May 25th
No signs of ick on the fish since May 15th, and water changes were performed everyday of 10-25%. I decided to slowly remove the salt from the tank and turn down the temperature. My plan for lowering the salt content was to do a 20% water change every day for 5 days. The fish didn’t even seem to notice, and most important, no signs of ick.

During the course of all this, green algae was forming on the glass & gravel.

May 30th
I bought a pleco to take care of the algae and he’s doing a fantastic job at cleaning up the tank!

So now you are up to speed on my adventures. Watch for more specific posts as things happen.

I’ve been hunting for a home for this blog for a while, and finally decided on WordPress. This blog is about my aquarium adventures with my small 29-gallon freshwater aquarium. I don’t consider myself a complete beginner, although I’ve never had much luck with fish-keeping. I didn’t understand the importance of research then, and got some bad advice from my local pet store. I live in a bigger city now with more choices for stock, and I’m doing lots of internet research before my purchases. Despite my best efforts though, I’m sure this time out will be an ‘adventure’ as well so I thought I’d cronicle my progress here for the few who may care. So far I’ve created a basic envorinment required for the types of fish I want to keep. I have some plants (fake unfortunately) and a small ornament in the left corner to create some hidding places. The driftwood in the center is mostly cosmetic, but it adds a nice centerpiece to the tank. On my quest for live plants though, I was able to get my hands on two Marimo Balls (Moss Balls). Technically speaking these are a type of algae, but they grow in spherical shapes. It has turned into a nice conversation piece for the tank.