Aquariums, anyone?

[GoosesGeeses]

If you like that style filter, go for it. The 110 is a great option but if you don't want a side-hang filter, not a problem at all.

Snails tend to multiply and get out of control quickly unless you have something in the tank keeping the population in check. Too many snails can mess up your water quality and stress your fish. As a form of algae control, even a magnetic sponge is a better option.

i can feed the snails to my chickens or ducks or geese, right?

 

[azurbanclucker]

it is kinda cold here, below freezing at night, do they ship in a certain way to keep plants warm ?

Mine came in water in insulated foam containers. Caveat, I live in the desert. It doesn't freeze in Phoenix. You might ask them before you order and see. This one I don't have experience with, sadly.

Yes, i plan on grabbing a heater, which do you recommend?

Fluval e200 and e300. The 200 works fine for a 55 gallon, but I find the 300 kicks on less often in that size of a tank so it's a little bit cheaper to run. I've always used fluval heaters and never had a problem, so they're the only brand I know.

 

[azurbanclucker]

i can feed the snails to my chickens or ducks or geese, right?

I mean, I don't see why not.

 

[GoosesGeeses]

okay, thanks!

 

[GoosesGeeses]

I mean, I don't see why not.

Whenever it rains the ducks run around eating all the slugs they can find, snails just have extra calcium

 

[GoosesGeeses]

Do you have any experience with Ram cichlids? Are they aggressive, or could the co exist with my other fish?

 

[debid]

What kind of driftwood? Some is easier to sink than others.

Mopani, for example, is dense, mine only took about a week to settle, no slate needed. I am OK with tannins in the water so I just rinsed it and put it straight in. If yellow water bothers you, you can use a clean bucket to presoak. Dump the water and refresh until it is no longer making yellow water. You can use hot water to try and hurry it but it will leech however much it does, there is a lot of variability. The fish you planned aren't bothered by the tannins.

Your planned lights are decorative but probably not full spectrum. You want the grow light version if you are going to do plants. There are fixtures that aren't terribly expensive and have built in timers to make life easier, I'm a fan of that.

If you are moving all your fish from the 20 to the 55, just move the filter with them and as many decorations as possible. That will move a lot of beneficial bacteria over and then you just run both new filter and old. When you get itchy to set the 20 up with something else, move the old filter back. No waiting out a cycle needed, just don't do anything too quickly.

I use canister filters so I just mix a little currently in use filter media with the new to seed a new tank and then stock slowly.

 

[GoosesGeeses]

Okay, thanks! What lights do you recommend?

 

[GoosesGeeses]

Also, if i get driftwood from Lake Pend Orielle, which is 2 minutes away from where i live, could i just boil that?

 

[azurbanclucker]

Also, if i get driftwood from Lake Pend Orielle, which is 2 minutes away from where i live, could i just boil that?

Grain of salt. I'm overly cautious about potential for organic contamination. Your mileage may vary.

I would boil it no matter where it came from to kill off any existing micro-organisms that may be in there and keep them out of the tank.

Also make sure there aren't rules in place against wood collecting there without a permit so you don't get fined.