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I was unhappy with the original setup I posted before so I went ahead and redid things.

Switched out the gravel for black Tahitian moon sand.
There seems to be alot of debate whether sand or BB is better so I thought it would be fun to try both and let the zebs decide. Half the tank is BB and half has a thin (1-2cm) layer of sand.

Has anyone tried this before or are there any negative effects to this? One potential problem I could see is that if the zebs do prefer one over the other they could all end up on one side. I have plenty of sand to fill in the rest of the tank if needed.

Replaced powerhead with a sponge filter giving the tank 2 filtration systems. Most people seemed to agree that overfiltration is a good thing. The sponge filter creates a nice current in the tank.

Home-made Slate caves. The "Cave condo" has 3 standard size (1.5in x 5in x 1in) caves. The bottom middle isnt really a cave as it has no backing, its more of a tunnel. The top right is a sort of weird shaped cave made from some leftover pieces I had. Its a little smaller than normal but younger zebs might like it. The rest of the caves are also standard size +/- 2mm.


Some of the driftwood is a little on the smaller side so I wasnt sure how to position it in a way the zebs would like and use it.

I have some tiger barbs in there right now to help cycle the water. I will probably move them to another tank in the future if/when I manage to get some zebs.

The sponge filter + air heads create alot of bubbles so the tank should be well oxygenated. I've been keeping the temp at 80-82 F.

PH is 7.6

Semi hard water with KH in ideal range (According to test kit, I forgot to bring in the numbers and I'm at work now)

Please let me know what you think.

very nice and clean.weres all the zebs lol

No zebs yet. The tank is still cycling and I have no idea when and where I will be able to get them but that will be somewhere in future

Very nice indeed....looks like you've done your homework
Just a couple of comments...this setup is good for mature/breeding zebras. In my own experience smaller fry/juvies have no use for the caves & prefer a lot of slate stone formations to hide. If you do get adults or near adults, watch the current, make sure its not shooting straight to the caves' entrance.

I wouldn't torture any fish to do cycling...I do fishless cycling & works like a charm in about a week's time....

Good luck. Dan

very nice, although once you put the bottom feeders in there the sand will no doubt get spread all over.

DanD...nice looking tank.....how big is it?

ApacheDan...how do you do a fishless cycle in a weeks time?

It is a 20G Long tank. I am planning on 3-5 zebs max in this tank.

When I manage to get them I will start up another BB tank for later if/when there are some frys

Lifted193 wrote: ApacheDan...how do you do a fishless cycle in a weeks time?

1/ start a new tank with dechlorinated water
2/ get clear 100% ammonia at any supermarket
3/ add ammonia until you get a reading of 2ppm, should be about 5 drops per 10 gals, depending on your ammonia, which is already diluted
4/ raise your temp to 88-90 F, best for bacteria
5/ this is the tricky part....inoculating the tank. I inoculate with commercial products, like Kent's cycle; but the really good ones you should already have. Get sponges/filter materials from your other tanks and literally rinse them off in the new aquarium....to the point that you can barely see your hand when you put it in. I know this sounds dirty for a new aquarium, but it works wonders & it will clear
6/ use sponge filters on your new aquarium to establish fast bacteria colonies. I use Magnum canisters with sponge on the intake, plus a powerhead with sponge
7/ first day, your readings should read toxic levels of ammonia. There after, you should read high levels of nitrite....good, means the bacterias are starting to work.
8/don't change this water. it will turn murky, meaning bacteria in suspension....looking for surface to grab & establish. Keep doing your daily readings... when ammonia & nitrite levels are 0 cycle is completed. Lower your temperature. Now you can gradually introduce your first fishes (please not the fancy ones first!)
9/ start doing partial water changes...whole process has taking as little as 4-7 days for me....I've heard of 48 hours too!

A weeks time?


Squeeze some filter media/sponge from an established tank to jump start. I have used Bio-Spira by Marineland and it worked perfectly with my Tropheus Moorii Ilangi which cost me something comparable to Zebras and it worked like a charm!

What I would do though is get some good/healthy fish and use the Bio-Spira and keep an eye on the water parameters and then when you get your zebras just swap the fish for the zebras.

Made a few changes:

DanD

much improved
all you need now are zebras

Looks fine to me

nice, will make some zebra's very happy.