Setting up a new tank.(29 gallon)

caudatadude28

caudatadude28

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I am setting up a 29 gallon tall aquarium. I know lots of people think that tall tanks are a waste but it is just laying around. I think it will work out good for what I want. Anyways I am going to plant live plants in it which is something I have never done before, so any suggestions would be great. I have been reviewing old threads and think I will use java fern, java moss, elodea plants. I will be using regular sand as a substrate with an internal filter. Or should I get river stones and a undergravel filter? Also I was thinking of getting cherry shrimp.
 
What do you mean by "regular sand"?

Do you already have an undergravel filter for the tank? If you would need to buy one, I would say it's not the way to go. If you already have one, it might be worth considering, but it could depend on the species you plan to house.
 
I use rinsed kid's "play sand" from Menards. Its the white variety. I dont have an undergravel filter and would rather use sand than river rocks anyways. The possible species are either Mesotriton Apuanas apuanas or Cynops Cyanurus.
 
Don´t want to sound like an a**, but it´s Mesotriton alpestris apuanus and Cynops cyanurus. Latin names are there to be understood by anyone with no mistakes...try to write them apropriately, otherwise what´s the point? xD

The plants mentioned work great, and they are dead easy, no special care needed.
 
Oh, sorry everyone. Mesotriton alpestris apuanas is the Alpine newt and Cynops cyanurus is the Blue tailed firebelly newt.
 
I consider myself a beginner as far as keeping newts but I have used taller tanks with great results. Providing more horizontal floor space verses vertical space is always the key goal but I think when it comes to fully aquatic you do benefit from tall tanks. If the tank is well planted, your aquatic newts will use all the space available to them. For some species, especially larger species I think tall tanks don't serve nearly as well. But as I stated before, smaller fully aquatic species will be very happy with all that space and will use all of it.

As stated before by others I would not go with river rocks because of the way they trap waste. I have only like 6 larger river rocks for cosmetic purposes and they trap a crazy amount of waste. I personally like a very small amount of sand (just enough to cover the bottom) and leave an area bare for feeding. If you want to use river rocks for looks, I would say use them sparely.

I think your off in the right direction.

Mitch
 
Thanks everyone. Now what I am thinking about is what kind of filtration. Should I use an internal filter like a duetto? Or should I use a couple sponge filters? I am not too crazy about waterfall type filters. Has anyone tried the Zoomed 501 mini canister filter and has it worked well?
 
caudatadude28 said:
Thanks everyone. Now what I am thinking about is what kind of filtration. Should I use an internal filter like a duetto? Or should I use a couple sponge filters? I am not too crazy about waterfall type filters. Has anyone tried the Zoomed 501 mini canister filter and has it worked well?
Click to expand...
I use these and they work very well. You do have to be careful of where the water tubes enter the tank Though. Don't allow any space between the tubes and any hole they pass through. Either seal the space with an appropriately sized washer or use silicone, etc. Any gap and newts will climb up the tubes and escape :eek:. As the filter is outside of the tank, much less heat (negligible in my opinion) is introduced into the water of the tank.
 
Is the intake hose dangerous for newts or newt babies? Would cherry shrimp do well with Alpines? Would the shrimp harm the eggs or babies of the newts?
 
Unless you put some sort of sponge(aquarium safe) or some other straining device for the intake hose you stand to lose baby cherry shrimps and larvae. I use a filter bag(meant for holding loose filter media within filters) over one of my intake hoses for my endler tank and it seems to work well and cuts down on filter cleaning. They're very cheap at around 1-2 dollars at any pet store.
 
Also I hear the tubes are short. Does it make noise when it sprays the water back into the tank. The tank will be in my bedroom and I dont want running water noise...
 
Yes, the tubes they supply with the Zoomed 501 are short. They are made to work with a tank 12 inches tall. There is no noise of spray, unless you want it. You can position the spray bar either above or below the water level (assuming you replace the tubing they provide with something long enough to work with a tall tank).

The two species you are considering are not big poopers. You would be fine with a sponge filter, although these can be rather noisy with the sound of the air pump and the bubbling.

From the standpoint of noise, your best bets would be the Zoomed 501 (with longer tubing purchased somewhere) or the internal waterfall filter (placed so that the outflow is right at the water level, so there is no splashing). Or a full-sized canister filter, like a Fluval 401 or Rena XP.
 
What about a sponge filter with a powerhead? I wanted sponge filter or mini canister because they dont produce heat. Would a submersible filter create enough heat to raise the water temp up when the tank has about 20 gallons of water in it? Also with the Zoomed 501 mini canister filter, can a person just buy carbon to fill it up or do I have to buy the carbon replacement?
 
A powerhead would increase the tank temp, just as an internal filter would. If possible, compare the Wattage of the prospective products - it's sometimes written in the fine print on the box. The wattage is directly correlated to the heat produced. I have no idea how the wattage of a powerhead compares to the internal filters.
 
A bit. However, it also agitates the water surface, which increases evaporation, which somewhat offsets the heat produced.

Based on my previous research, I seem to recall that both the Duetto-50 submersible and the Tetra internal waterfall filter use around 3-4 Watts. I haven't looked at powerheads, but the small ones are probably in the same range.
 
So with the two you have researched, could they really produce enough heat to raise 20-25 gallons one degree. I am thinking I will get a sponge or waterfall filter if a submersible filter can acutally raise the temperature of the water when 20-25 gallons is used. When you say tetra wisper filter do you mean the smallest one? How loud are sponge filters used with air pumps. How often do they need replacing? Does this one look good?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Aquarium-Sponge-Filter-Fish-Tank-Air-Pump-Canister-New_W0QQitemZ250456432896QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3a505de100&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C72%3A1205%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50
 
I have decided to probably Go with two Wisper 3i filters. They are a waterfall type filter that uses an airstone to bring the water up the tube. Here look:
http://www.petfish.net/kb/entry/489/

My question is could I buy a more powerful airpump to make the filter stronger? I know I have to block the water flow.
 
FYI it is possible to run a tank without a filter. Just have lots of plants, watch the bioload, and stay regimented on water changes.

I have been playing around with the filterless tank for a bit. On my four gallon I removed my hob filter and my white clouds laid eggs. I did add an airstone into the tank that is slightly bubbling. So we will see. I am going to try the filterless tank next on a 10 gallon. Depending how that goes I will then consider making my two 29 gallon tanks filterless.

As far as the 29 gallon tanks being a waste of space. Personally I don't think so. You just need to get creative with how you set the tank up. It is a lot harder than just dumping sand and water in, but it is possible. I am working on one 29 gallon right now creating false bottoms, fake rock formations etc....I don't expect to have it done for at least another month or so.
 
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