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20 gallon high planted?

Discussion in 'Aquatic Plants & Planted Tanks' started by chickadedede, Sep 30, 2010.

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  1. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    If their healthy plants they should be fine for a couple days.
    Are you dosing them with anything? (fertilizer as in Seachem Flourish, Flourish Excel, Flourish Iron, etc)?
    with the old light and desklamp they should hold up I'd think.
     
    MOD_Dawn, Oct 9, 2010
    #21
  2. chickadedede

    chickadedede Thread Starter New Member

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    I rigged up the CO2 system, but there don't seem to be any signs of life from it anymore. I was going to wait on the fertilizers until everything was ready to go. Should I just give them as much light as I can and not add anything until the new fixture gets here?
     
    chickadedede, Oct 9, 2010
    #22
  3. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    assuming the new fixture will be there in another day or two, and the co2 isn't working... I'd simply just do what your doing (give them light).
     
    MOD_Dawn, Oct 9, 2010
    #23
  4. chickadedede

    chickadedede Thread Starter New Member

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    Pet Mountain's customer service hours only go Monday through Friday. I'm going to call them first thing Monday morning, they only know about the defective bulb that I now need to make sure is defective. Assuming they ship it out the same day, I'm figuring it's going to take until Wednesday if I'm lucky.

    Please tell me things get better after the initial setup.
     
    chickadedede, Oct 9, 2010
    #24
  5. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    haha, sometimes it does get better after the intial setup and other times you get into nasty stuff like algae and ich.
    Finger crossed for ya that everything will be (PERFECT) with your setup once the lights fixed.
     
    MOD_Dawn, Oct 9, 2010
    #25
  6. chickadedede

    chickadedede Thread Starter New Member

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    I didn't even think about diseases. I'm guessing all I can do is water changes, raise the temperature a bit and quarantine whatever's sick?

    Algae and snails I can deal with. I can say this with confidence because I've never had a tank where the light was bright enough for algae to be a problem.
     
    chickadedede, Oct 9, 2010
    #26
  7. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    Keeping a tank is pretty similar to caring for a fur friend.
    Stable Environment, Clean Water and Healthy Diet is key.

    ---
    1. Test the tank to make sure your cycled BEFORE adding any livestock
    2. Perform Partials using a siphon (go from bottom of tank) weekly in the amount of at least 25% AND ALWAYS use a good dechlorinator such as SEACHEM PRIME (if need be, dependant on your water source) BEFORE adding water
     
    MOD_Dawn, Oct 9, 2010
    #27
  8. chickadedede

    chickadedede Thread Starter New Member

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    I just need to read up on what to do when something goes wrong with a planted tank. I can do maintenance stuff okay.

    Thanks for the well wishes, but I'd start to worry if things went TOO perfectly.

    Mammals are so much easier than fish. I don't really consider them pets, more like a small piece of a teeny tiny ecosystem. Cats and dogs tell you when they need to be fed. Dogs will tell you when they need to go outside. There's basic food/poison safety stuff you have to follow, but they're pretty hard to kill. Same goes for a lot of rodents. Rabbits/sugar gliders/whatever are trickier, but if they're dying from air quality, there's a decent chance you are too.
     
    chickadedede, Oct 9, 2010
    #28
  9. chickadedede

    chickadedede Thread Starter New Member

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    Tested the bulb I thought was defective in the working slot and it was.

    Then something weird happened. After I unplugged the ballast, I went to take the bulb out and it lit up! This actually happened once before and I thought it was the reflectors but the light looked like it was from the bulb lighting up. I'm a bit scared to touch the thing now.

    Did I mention the glass popped out of the old canopy? It's still in one piece so I can reattach it okay, but I'm starting to get frustrated with this whole experience. A lot of my problems come from not planning ahead, but even the tiniest things have gone wrong. I did luck out on some of the more important things though.
     
    chickadedede, Oct 10, 2010
    #29
  10. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    Sorry to hear, that's why I try to tell people to buy things in bits and pieces...so you can get the best of the best which in the end makes for less grief and aggrovation!

    This is especially the case when it comes to Saltwater setups...major expenses there (or at least it was in my case when I ran one)!
     
    MOD_Dawn, Oct 11, 2010
    #30
  11. chickadedede

    chickadedede Thread Starter New Member

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    Saltwater setups look amazing, but I doubt I'll have the bravery or finances for one. This was an important lesson though. I'm glad it was only $17 worth of plants and not something really big.
     
    chickadedede, Oct 11, 2010
    #31
  12. chickadedede

    chickadedede Thread Starter New Member

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    I got my new lamp today. Last time the pink lamp didn't work. This time the white lamp doesn't work. Also either I am too stupid to operate the ballast or the front part isn't working again. I'm not sure what to do at this point.
     
    chickadedede, Oct 15, 2010
    #32
  13. chickadedede

    chickadedede Thread Starter New Member

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    Now neither of them work in the new ballast. Neither does the working lamp from the old ballast.

    Here's the thing though, after I turn the ballast off and unplug it, the bulbs light up for a fraction of a second- even in the front part.
     
    chickadedede, Oct 15, 2010
    #33
  14. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    Sounds like you have a short somewhere.
    Send the whole thing back, tell them you want a new one and ask that they test it BEFORE shipping it.
     
    MOD_Dawn, Oct 15, 2010
    #34
  15. chickadedede

    chickadedede Thread Starter New Member

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    A short in two new ballasts though? I might be better off just getting a different model.
     
    chickadedede, Oct 15, 2010
    #35
  16. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    No, not in two ballast...I was thinking somewhere within the fixture though (maybe plug? and it's shorting the bulbs out).
    Receiving broken bulbs/equipment is the only downfall to ordering "breakables" online.

    If your thinking of just returning it outright maybe you can see if a local fish store has the fixture your wanting AND that they'll pricematch. That way you can get things up and going faster?
     
    MOD_Dawn, Oct 16, 2010
    #36
  17. chickadedede

    chickadedede Thread Starter New Member

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    Yeah, that's probably my best option at this point. I guess it depends on whether or not I need to have the defective ballasts shipped to them or if they actually have to get them before I get a refund though. In the meantime...I'm not overly attached to my plants except the Crystalwort and even that's pretty replaceable.

    I'm going to check out the local fish places too, but in the meantime I'm looking at

    http://www.petmountain.com/product/aqua ... ouble.html This is on the Petco website too.

    http://www.petmountain.com/product/aqua ... ndant.html This one has me a bit nervous, it's the same brand as the defective ballasts

    http://www.bigalsonline.com/StoreCatalo ... 12&offset= This one you linked to me on the first page. The reviews said the bulbs were cheap and would need to be replaced soon, but I have less of a problem with that than I did before.

    Maybe I should just go with shop lights.
     
    chickadedede, Oct 16, 2010
    #37
  18. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    hmm...the one I linked you is the fixture I run on a 20g Long and the only issue I had (which I fixed myself) was 1 of the end pieces that the bulb threads in to was too far apart...but I just used a piece of duct tape and I was up and running!
    IMG_0792.JPG IMG_0791.JPG IMG_0789.JPG
     
    MOD_Dawn, Oct 16, 2010
    #38
  19. chickadedede

    chickadedede Thread Starter New Member

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    All of the reviews I read on it were good too. I don't know. Third time's the charm? I don't want to wait another week for another fixture that with my luck won't work. As is, I'm going to have to wait until they give me a refund before I can buy another one anyway.
     
    chickadedede, Oct 16, 2010
    #39
  20. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    Lol, I've had similar issues...Bought a filter off a guy on the forum and he just tossed it in box with no packing- arrived broken (but according to the carrier inspection they felt it was shipped that way), anywho lost out my shipping money but at least got a refund of the price paid for the filter unit itself.

    Then theres the Eheim filter I ordered on ebay that after I hooked it up spurted water EVERYWHERE! (we're talking similar to a small flood) and that took Ebay/PayPal weeks to get my money back to me....but the worse part was I ordered the Eheim Kit (filters, bioballs,etc) for it and opened it of course to put the media in the filter when it was received and for that reason couldn't return it (talking over $100.00 from marinedepot).

    And I've had the heater that decides to malfunction and stay on...luckily I saw the "steam" it was emitting within the tank and got it out right away!

    So I definately feel ya when your wondering if the 3rd time will be all good. Haha!
    (fingers crossed for ya)
     
    MOD_Dawn, Oct 16, 2010
    #40
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