Upgrade tanks

Question
QUESTION: I currently have a planted freshwater 16 gallon tank. I have low light plants like Java Ferns and Anubis. I want to upgrade to a 25-30 gallon tank and start to expand the plants to moderate light requirements. My question is, for a 25-30 gallon freshwater tank to be able to contain all kinds of different plants (light requirements) what type of bulb/watt/fixture should I look for? Thanks

ANSWER: Rachel,   I wish you had sent a picture. I bet it is just beautiful. Now you really have two ways to go with this when you upgrade as far as fixtures. Glo has a t-50 I have seen them they are very neat to look at they hook to the sides and leave the top open because it does give off heat it is reflected.      http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=19759  You can also stay with the regular hood especially if you have any fish in there and go with a bulb from Hagen called the life glo 2 you should be able to pick that up in your local petchain or they should be able to order it for you free. I would say they are in my opinion about 27% less efficient because of the type of fixture but, still enough to keep your plants very healthy. I am sending you a care sheet about planted aquariums they are like reef tanks which I don't do. I would imagine a freshwater may be more stable. As your tank grows and you are planting more they would probably do well with CO2 shot now and then during the day it helps in growth it is what they live on just like plants outside they take in CO2 and give off oxygen during the day the opposite at night and I have friends who keep java ferns and mosses in his shrimp tanks and he is hooked to it and says it helps in plant growth. So do some more research on how interesting your tank is !!!!!!  I hope the info on lighting helps......Good Luck with your new tank, (oh and I always say bigger is better with tanks), Tina

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QUESTION: Thanks very much for your help. I decided on a 25 gallon tank and I have Coralife lighting with 2 T-5 bulbs. One bulb is a T-5 6500, the other is a t-5 colormax. So far, the tank being set up for almost a month, the plants are doing great. I got some new ones including the java ferns, anubias, wisteria, dwarf hair grass, cryps, and some other plants I do not know the name of :) They all look fantastic so far and are developing strong roots in the Flourite Dark. I also added 3 oto catfish and 8 Harlequin Rasboras. The Oto's have done much better than I expected! I was reading that they tend to stop eating and die but I have had mine for over 2 weeks now and they have full bellies and look great, including swimming around like they love their new tank. The Rasbora's are pretty but a little disappointing. They do not school tightly together as I imagined they would and tend to swim in the plants more so than the open water so I do not see them too much. I might transfer them to my other 16 gallon tank where they might be happier. Anyways, I have a few questions you might be able to help me with:

1. I have noticed a few, less than 10, of those pesky pond (baby) snails in my tank. The ones I have seen I have smashed for the fish to eat but I want to prevent further infestation. Right now it is very difficult to find them but I want to be sure they do not get out of control. I realize they came in the plants and this is something most planted aquariums deal with and I want to get a head start on dealing with them. My question is, what is the best natural way to deal with the baby snails (unwanted)? I have 4 mystery snails that are breeding too, they made an egg clutch above the water but I removed that because I would not want a few hundred mystery snails running around. I have considered getting an Assassin snail but I read that they can attack the mystery snails and that they are actually not that great at killing the snails unless they are in large numbers. I do not want to get more than one Assassin snail because I do not want them to breed. I have also heard that Yoyo loaches are GREAT for snail control but can I keep Yoyo Loaches with Oto catfish? I would remove the mystery snails if the Yoyo loach would be the best option but my main concern would be the Oto catfish. Can the oto's and Yoyo's be kept together? I understand the Yoyo gets bigger and by that time my tank would be upgraded, once I perfect the planted tank. If Yoyo's would work with the Oto's for snail control, how many should I get? Are the Yoyo's schooling fish?

2. I set up a 5 gallon hospital/quarantine tank and am going to keep low light java ferns in that and make it a small planted tank. My question is, should I get a fish to keep in it when I am not using it for hospital or quarantine purposes? If so, what fish? It has a full heater, full filter, and a very basic incandescent lighting fixture (which is why I know only low light plants like java's will work) so it is a complete tank, just tiny 5 gallons.

Thanks for your help. Yes, bigger is better and I wanted a big 50 gallon or bigger but I wanted to perfect keeping a planted tank (and make sure that is what I want to do) before I went head first into the bigger tanks. I think the 25 gallon is a comfortable upsize from the 16 and it allows me to experiment more with plants due to the special lighting. I just need to know what is best, considering my current fish and mystery snails, to naturally control unwanted tiny pond snails. Thanks

Answer
Rachal,    The lighting is perfect coral life is a great bulb. I didn't want to suggest it because people think they are only for salt water , but we all use the same sun and the life glo 2 is probably the same. You have almost a freshwater reef tank.....lol First this snail problem.......make sure you disinfect your plant before(I'm sure you rinse them well)you introduce them to your new tank. Jungle has a product you csan get at walmart it is by Jungle Clear Water. It has potassium permagenate. This kills all snails and if eggs are left they won't hatch. Then rinse well. The snails you have are not mystery snails they are some hitch hiker nuisance snail. They over breed and over run your tank. I never add chemical to a tank unless medication or absolutely necessary. So I am all for the natural way you doing it with the loaches. Little bit on mystery snails they are very kool and you can control their breeding very easily. They are also very beneficial to your type of tank because of the plant waste you will have. These snails are not hermaphroditic they can not breed alone they are male and female. There is a way to sex I think something about space between antennae or something but that is not important. The important thing is that if you keep your water level down about an inch they will lay their eggs there. They do not lay in the water and it kinda looks like a wad of pink bubble gum and you simply get a paper towel and remove them. So at this point my advice is break down tank since your changing over. Get new aggregate your rock and dirt from bottom. Disinfect all your plants from your tank with the jungle product clear water before transferring them into new tank. Get rid of these guys. Oh and the mysterys can live up to ten yrs and get about 5 inches. I haven't seen it often but I have seen them.

       Little adivce on your oaches too.....they are too kool for school. lol They like little caves if you find some flat or kool rocks outside to make a couple small ones or a big one maybe put some of the grass you have on top they will ove it. You can put them in from out side just make sure they are boiled for at least twenty to thirty minutes to ensure not adding a parasite to you tank. The loaches will eat the heck out of your snails but, never keep up with the breeding of your nuisance snails. You could also put a clown loach in or two for some variety.

       If you have a space to keep a hospital tank up. I would. Since its all set up I would just keep maybe a school of four neons or something cheap and maybe a cory cat for the bottom just to keep the ecosystem going in there. Oh, and far as your Rasbora's they have so much to do in there if they don't school much I wouldn't worry. The longer their in there and when you get the bigger tank and they settle they will school more.  Since I don't do planted tank tried but my fish just kept moving them around....lol I have found a really good site for you.

        Oh and I wanted you not to forget that you are going to go through new tank syndrome again. Sometimes after a tanks up and you get a new one you forget about the cloudy bacteria blooms and things. Watch your ammonia levels. I would use some water from other thankk to get it cycling down fast but because of the snail problem I wouldn't take a chance on reintroducing them.      http://www.aquajake.com/blog/planting-the-tank/preparing-a-plant-for-planting/di     Good Luck , Tina