Fish Tanks :)

Malt_Vinegar · 27 Jan 2009 at 11:14

I recently set up my first "largish" tank, and thought, why not take a few pics, and see what OCUK thinks! (Because, I am like that, it seems)

The tank is a Trigon 190, with a sand based substrate, filter is an external Fluval 205.

Then, 5 white cloud mountain minnows were added yesterday. I am confident the tank is cycled well, and the mountain minnows will not be staying. They will be moved to the tank currently habited by my Birchir and the Birchir will be living in the new tank

The tank is then going to become a predatory/odd-ball tank.

It should start to look a bit less "new" as the plants grow and take root properly.

Anyone else got any new tanks recently?

Emlyn_Dewar · 27 Jan 2009 at 11:20

Nice looking setup, how many tanks do you have?
I really need to do something about the plants in with my Betta, looks like a mangled mess of out of control roots and surface leaves... :| Not to mention a new snail problem.

You have anything else planned to go in?

Mull3t · 27 Jan 2009 at 11:26

Very nice

I purchase a setup back in September, just got my first bunch of baby fish come from my Dalmation Mollies

Like the thought of a predatory tank though!

Malt_Vinegar · 27 Jan 2009 at 11:27

This is Tank 3 now. They are both small ones and were stunting my choice of fish. I am currently working out my stocking plan, but there is likely to be some garfish and a few other odd-balls

One tank is currently the birchir's growout tank, and this will become a small planted community tank (Its on my bed-side table)

The other contains a Red-Clawed Crayfish female, who is currently about 6 inches long and will eat anything that goes near her. So she is on her tod at the moment. Mightput in some small

Abyss · 27 Jan 2009 at 11:27

Looks really good, I am tempted to get into it myself.

Emlyn_Dewar said:
Nice looking setup, how many tanks do you have?
I really need to do something about the plants in with my Betta, looks like a mangled mess of out of control roots and surface leaves... :| Not to mention a new snail problem.

You have anything else planned to go in?

Clown Loach are excellent at getting rid of snails. My parents tank had a snail problem, 5 days after putting 2 clown loach in every single one had gone.

Mull3t · 27 Jan 2009 at 11:30

Clown Loach are extremely good for clearing away snails, I had a snail problem, got a pair of Clown Loach, and now near enough all have gone.

Snails can also be a cause of overfeeding as well afaik.

Emlyn_Dewar · 27 Jan 2009 at 11:42

These ones came off a plant, I must not have kept it in the salted water long enough... I really need to start getting plants elsewhere now, this has happened a couple of times.

Malt_Vinegar · 27 Jan 2009 at 11:43

I have used puffers to help ged rid of snails before. Had them in the tank for a month or so, then exchanged them at my LFS.

year ago, i had a snail infestation in a small tank, i dropped in a tiny amount of snail away stuff, and within seconds they were all falling to the floor. Put me off using that sort of stuff again, god only knows what else it kills, it was so quick and oviously lethal to the snails!

chrislusty · 27 Jan 2009 at 12:03

Im hopefully getting a tank off my sister in law soon, and will be reading more in to it all, although the tank is only 35L but fine to start, it will be tropical fish.

What type of stand is best, does it have to be a fish tank stand, or are other cupboards etc safe to use?

OP, tank looks good

Siliconslave · 27 Jan 2009 at 12:08

i'm just setting up my first tank at the moment.... we've got a 50L jobbie with a 50w heater and 60L filter (both from tetraTec), some loose gravel substrate (for live plants later in the day)

Next step is cycling it, we got some tank conditioner stuff from the local aquarium shop on their recommendation which they say is fine to do a 3 day cycle with... then putting some hardeyer fish in, probably a couple of neon & black phantom tetras.

couple of quick questions (if you don't mind the hijack) the bit of plastic scenery we have is a little cracked at one point, i was thinking of putting some sealant on it to cover the sharp edge, do i need to use special aquarium sealant or would some normal clear bathroom sealant be alright?

Cheers
Sam

edit: will get some photos when its got the water in.... unfortunately I'm sure it won't look nearly as good as that! Lovely looking tank there!

CliffyBiro · 27 Jan 2009 at 12:09

Looks cool. Would love a tank but seems very costly.

Malt_Vinegar · 27 Jan 2009 at 12:19

Siliconslave said:
Next step is cycling it, we got some tank conditioner stuff from the local aquarium shop on their recommendation which they say is fine to do a 3 day cycle with... then putting some hardeyer fish in, probably a couple of neon & black phantom tetras.

Shop advice is wrong.

Cycling when you are not using seeded media or water from another tank can take weeks. You will need a source of ammonia, this could just be adding small amounts of food to an empty (running) tank, or pouring bottled ammonia into the tank and not adding fish till the water tests have show the cycle is completed.

Also, on a tank that size, i would not stock it that quickly, and if you do want to cycle with fish. Use a couple of danios, or some white cloud mountain minnow which should be able to withstand the conditions better than most.

Putting in too many at once will cause a spike in water conditions, expecially in a small tank, and you might lose all the fish.

Siliconslave said:
the bit of plastic scenery we have is a little cracked at one point, i was thinking of putting some sealant on it to cover the sharp edge, do i need to use special aquarium sealant or would some normal clear bathroom sealant be alright?

Can you not sand down the edge to make it smooth? Otherwise, i could reccomend using an aquarium sealant. I have no idea what the average bathroom sealant contains that might affect the water conditions. It might even have some anti-bacterial properties which would properly kill any cycle that was going on

Siliconslave said:
edit: will get some photos when its got the water in.... unfortunately I'm sure it won't look nearly as good as that! Lovely looking tank there!

Thanks, it should look a lot more established once the live plants have taken control

skippi90 said:
Looks cool. Would love a tank but seems very costly.

I managed to pick up this tank from the bay for 136quid, with the external filter, cabinet, lighting and slate all included.

For a smaller tank, you can get some really amazing deals for 50quid!

Mull3t · 27 Jan 2009 at 12:25

Best to cycle for a good few weeks before introducing at fish, as Malt has said.

I did this, just placed small amount of food into the empty tank, kept running my tests etc untill everything was more or less spot on.

Then I introduced approx 8 fish into the tank, letting them do what they do for 3-4 weeks, then I introduced another 8 fish.

Now I have quite a few in my tank, only in the 4 months only lost 1 fish, which I think is good for my first time.

15x Neon Tetras
2x Dalmation Mollies
1x Red Platy (did have 2 but other 1 (female) died)
2x Clown Loaches
1x Albino Cat Fish

And now 7 Baby Dalmations, in their breeding net for a good 6 weeks until they are big enough, but don't want to introduce the full 7 to the tank, only want to keep 1 or 2

Siliconslave · 27 Jan 2009 at 12:54

yer, thats the sort of cycling i'd read up about, but the guy we spoke too seemed to know what he was on about... i'll check the exact stuff we bought but the instructions seemed to suggest a 3 day cycle :S

Got my master test kit thing so will run it in as they suggest then check the levels before introducing anything to the tank

Shep_Cobain · 27 Jan 2009 at 12:56

Emlyn_Dewar said:
Nice looking setup, how many tanks do you have?
I really need to do something about the plants in with my Betta, looks like a mangled mess of out of control roots and surface leaves... :| Not to mention a new snail problem.

You have anything else planned to go in?

For snails get 2 clown loaches. They look awesome.... really community fish and eat all snails. Dead hardy fish.

Malt_Vinegar · 27 Jan 2009 at 13:14

Siliconslave said:
yer, thats the sort of cycling i'd read up about, but the guy we spoke too seemed to know what he was on about... i'll check the exact stuff we bought but the instructions seemed to suggest a 3 day cycle :S

Got my master test kit thing so will run it in as they suggest then check the levels before introducing anything to the tank

Read this:
http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-cycling.html

It will explain the basics to you far better than I can, you will see that these such products might speed up the cycle slightly. However, from nil-cycled in 3 days with a non-seeded tank? Thats pretty amazing if it is possible!

Malt_Vinegar · 27 Jan 2009 at 13:16

Shep_Cobain said:
For snails get 2 clown loaches. They look awesome.... really community fish and eat all snails. Dead hardy fish.

Clown loaches can grow upto 14 inches!! For a pair, you would need a 100gallon tank I reckon at least. So, 2.5 times the size of my 190litre in the OP. They are also meant to be kept in groups of minimum of 5, meaning you would need a bigger tank still.

Clown loach - Bad idea.

Shep_Cobain · 27 Jan 2009 at 13:25

Malt_Vinegar said:
Read this:
http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-cycling.html

It will explain the basics to you far better than I can, you will see that these such products might speed up the cycle slightly. However, from nil-cycled in 3 days with a non-seeded tank? Thats pretty amazing if it is possible!

My mate bought his tank and he spoke to the guy in the store and he said there is all different types of cycle bacteria but gave him this stuff that he had to pour in his tank. Wait 2 hours and he could add fish.

4 months later and still no dead fish. All as healthy as the day he bought them.

Malt_Vinegar · 27 Jan 2009 at 13:29

Shep_Cobain said:
My mate bought his tank and he spoke to the guy in the store and he said there is all different types of cycle bacteria but gave him this stuff that he had to pour in his tank. Wait 2 hours and he could add fish.

4 months later and still no dead fish. All as healthy as the day he bought them.

THE MAN IN THE SHOP WANTS TO SELL YOU THINGS. Maybe I am wrong, perhaps the whole idea of cycling is rubbish, and thousands of experts on fish and the nitrogen cycle in aquaria are wrong. Yer, on second thoughts, the man in the shop who spoke to your mate must be right. :rolleyes:

I was once like you, and thought it was all rubbish, I learned my lesson

Shep_Cobain · 27 Jan 2009 at 13:30

Malt_Vinegar said:
Clown loaches can grow upto 14 inches!! For a pair, you would need a 100gallon tank I reckon at least. So, 2.5 times the size of my 190litre in the OP. They are also meant to be kept in groups of minimum of 5, meaning you would need a bigger tank still.

Clown loach - Bad idea.

Mate, the fish grow to the tank. It will take 10 years for a clown loach to grow that size, thats why they are £40 + to buy at that size.

I have a pleco that grows to 1 metre but he wont ever do so and ive had him for 3 years and hes the same size.