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Aquarium Tank

That’s a great little package. I’m not sure how well that light will do at growing a full carpet, but it will certainly grow plants.
Nothing gained if you don’t try though.
 
That’s a great little package. I’m not sure how well that light will do at growing a full carpet, but it will certainly grow plants.
Nothing gained if you don’t try though.

Would the light be upgradable?
 
Would the light be upgradable?
In terms of replacing it yeah absolutely. I’m only making assumptions though mate so definitely give the light a chance.
On the face of it that seems a very nice little setup and I’d probably go for it myself if I was looking for a setup in that size/price category.
 
If this is all in aid of growing a carpeting plant. Then I think you need to figure out what plant it is you’re looking to grow, I think with the kind of equipment you’re looking at, then dwarf hairgrass would be your limit.
There may be others but I’m no plant expert so someone else might give more options.
 
I have grown a carpet of hc in a 30cm cube with a single Leddy led lamp, lots of nutrients, lots of co2, not a lot of light is a good recipe for a very stable tank provided you’re over the minimum light threshold.
 
I have grown a carpet of hc in a 30cm cube with a single Leddy led lamp, lots of nutrients, lots of co2, not a lot of light is a good recipe for a very stable tank provided you’re over the minimum light threshold.

What co2 would you advice? New to this!
 
What co2 would you advice? New to this!

Again it's going to depend on tank size, but a pretty foolproof system would be a CO2Art regulator, CO2 fire extinguisher and a decent diffuser like the twinstar.

I know it can all sound very confusing at first but you'll pick it up very quickly, and feel free to PM me if you need any advice etc
 
Again it's going to depend on tank size, but a pretty foolproof system would be a CO2Art regulator, CO2 fire extinguisher and a decent diffuser like the twinstar.

I know it can all sound very confusing at first but you'll pick it up very quickly, and feel free to PM me if you need any advice etc

Thanks I appreciate that mate, would one regulator and one bottle only do one tank?
 
Oh right so it’s not actually one rank per bottle etc so it’s not actually as expensive as first thought.

Nope, once you have a decent regulator you can run multiple tanks from it. I was running 2 nano's from one SodaStream bottle using a <Y splitter> and 2 needle vales
 
Oh right so it’s not actually one rank per bottle etc so it’s not actually as expensive as first thought.
CO2 art do attachments to their regulators and will be able to assist in running two tanks. (Not saying you have to use them) but the option is there, they’re pretty good regulators and you get 15% off for being a forum member.
 
40 cm by 30 cm tank - haven't seen it done for the Celestial pearl danio "Galaxy Rasbora" Danio margaritatus before. Possibly depends upon stocking numbers and sexes.
I have no problems in low-tech aquariums growing plants like Micranthemum var. ‘Monte Carlo’ over a bit more time. I have carbon dioxide enrichment quite a bit too, but not so much for green colour schemes.
These fish possibly enjoy low flow, so I usually opt for a Skim-1 when I want to achieve this. At £8 how could I refuse, and I have ditched a lot of externals in favour of them. The fish probably want a bit of shade too.
I'm not fussy when it comes to tanks, but I am a converted Fluval T5 (HO) light bar user. @lurcher also has experience mixing tubes. I'm a big fan of the Fluval units. I do visit a few aquascaping shops, and that is how I came to my own preference, but I also appreciate the build quality and longevity. For most tanks, I tend to get something relatively cheap and open-top, I look for solid designer furniture as the stand, and I work to get something less melamine-commercial and a bit more unique.
 
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40 cm by 30 cm tank - haven't seen it done for the Celestial pearl danio "Galaxy Rasbora" Danio margaritatus before.
I’d imagine there’s plenty of people out there keeping these fish in a tank that size and possible even 30cm cubes, as they’re often categorised as a “nano” species.
Shame because in a larger tank their behaviour is great to watch.
 
I’d imagine there’s plenty of people out there keeping these fish in a tank that size and possible even 30cm cubes, as they’re often categorised as a “nano” species.
Shame because in a larger tank their behaviour is great to watch.
Yeah they’re a bit like kabutai, where there diminutive size isn’t really a guide for the tank size. 45cm having kept and bred them is about the minimum with a 60cm being preferable.

They’re also fine with higher flows and seem to actively choose higher flow areas to spend the majority of the time. I think the lake inle initial collection has given a slightly tilted perspective on keeping as subsequent collections have found them in harder, clear water with “swift” flow but I guess these could be just anecdotal too.
 
Shame because in a larger tank their behaviour is great to watch.
Agreed. I think the biggest problem with many Danios is that they get a bit confrontational over personal space when they are looking to breed or when things get a bit more established. But I do not see them as a being affected much in a smaller aquarium; they will try to develop territories and interact as opposed to feeling the need to shoal, which is mostly triggered when larger fish are around or when the aquarium is larger. I haven't really used tanks that small for a few years now, but I would imagine that a breeding pair would be just fine if they had some cover and followed their natural instincts to dart in and out of hiding locations. It would be worth running the idea past a few breeders like Alex from "The Secret History Living in Your Aquarium" when he is next live streaming on YouTube. He usually has a dedicated slot at the start to answer questions and often has a good mix of amateur and professional breeders or enthusiasts offering advice. He has a few smaller aquariums, but possibly nothing quite in that range. Also, if you dig through some of the older journal posts using the terms "CPD", "galaxy" and "celestial" then it should give an insight as to what members have done in the past. I was thinking with flows that smaller aquariums may need a bit more modulation and that filtration media will be a bit tight to pack in, so some floating plants would be a good shout.
 
“If” I were buying a setup from scratch where I anticipate things to go smoothly and to stay in the hobby I would purchase:
A dennerle scapers tank 55l or a 45x30x30.
I would buy a chihiros slim or twinstar, I forget the range name but the most powerful one. I’d run them at 50% for the first say 4months.
I’d buy a good quiet filter with circa 700lph something like an eheim experience 250
I’d buy a dual stage regulator (not to be confused with a dual gauge, they’re labelled like that to confuse people). Nothing like end of bottle dump for having a bad time.
An in-line diffuser. Up aqua is good but can squeak, co2art/quanvee are better.
I’d buy a bag of tropica soil. Others are available but in my part of the world it’s cheapest per litre.

Plants can be a money pit so pick easier ones up front and look for hobbyists trimmings add the hard stuff once the tank is stable.

Hardscape can be bought or collected. Don’t stress about it. Don’t hunt for the perfect rug to tie the room together, that’s rare, it’s easier to build the perfect wood or fake a larger stone by jamming two together. Or hide something under plants. Rocks are the foundation so they can be just cobbles. My own rock work is nearly entirely from road works.

Accessories are another money pit.
You will need scissors, tweezers/pincettes, a drop checker or a ph tester and a solenoid with a timer.
The timer is the thing I’d not cheap out on but all the others buy as needed. These days I pretty much use only jbl tools. I started with tropica tweezers and small kitchen scissors.

Ph tester is one of those real nice things to have if you have the budget and inclination to do a ph profile, the methodology is better than my spray and pray methodology.
Buy and all in one ferts up front till you have the confidence and stability to move on or if you want to stay that way for convenience. When I started I started with ei salts and it made me hate having to mess about with the salts and scales and ro and urghhhh. But it is cheap. But you have to decide if you value your time.
Everything else is time, experience and water changes.
 
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