Aquarium Help – What do i have/need/want?
- Thread starter mast3r
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I always do mine from the bottom and if you rummage in the gravel you can suck rubbish up using the pipe as you disturb it
Dude, I REALLY hope that's a typo, otherwise you've got no chance with keeping fish!!
Either stick with your goldfish (remove heater) or with cichlids. What ever fish you go with, make sure they are suitable for their tank mates and the tank size.
Nice 
as has already been said though its not ideal with the coldwater goldfish, parrot/convict hybrids and Wolf Cichlids.
Many moons ago I had a weekend job at my local aquatic shop which kept me in beer money for college/university.
The Parrot Cichlids are very territorial and should be ideally kept alone, you sometimes even get fighting between 2 or more parrot cichlids.
I had some Gephagus Braziliensis originally in a 4 foot tank along with a large (12") plecostamus- there was no chance of growing plants as they used to just tear them too bits and root around in the gravel all the time, they even spawned so I managed to make a bit more pocket money selling the offspring to the shop I worked at
I then decided to concentrate on a planted tank which turned out very similar to the one pictured above (I will post a picture if I can find one). For this reiteration I got rid of my cichlids and replaced with some different varieties of pencil fish, tetras etc.. A couple of high power flourescent lighting tubes (aquatic specific) and undertank heater mat along with a layer of aquatic soil under the gravel and regular plant food ment the plants needed to be trimmed every week.
Best power filter I used during my hobby was the Fluval 303 external filter (if you go for an external just make sure your pipes are tightened up properly !).
as has already been said though its not ideal with the coldwater goldfish, parrot/convict hybrids and Wolf Cichlids.Many moons ago I had a weekend job at my local aquatic shop which kept me in beer money for college/university.
The Parrot Cichlids are very territorial and should be ideally kept alone, you sometimes even get fighting between 2 or more parrot cichlids.
I had some Gephagus Braziliensis originally in a 4 foot tank along with a large (12") plecostamus- there was no chance of growing plants as they used to just tear them too bits and root around in the gravel all the time, they even spawned so I managed to make a bit more pocket money selling the offspring to the shop I worked at
I then decided to concentrate on a planted tank which turned out very similar to the one pictured above (I will post a picture if I can find one). For this reiteration I got rid of my cichlids and replaced with some different varieties of pencil fish, tetras etc.. A couple of high power flourescent lighting tubes (aquatic specific) and undertank heater mat along with a layer of aquatic soil under the gravel and regular plant food ment the plants needed to be trimmed every week.
Best power filter I used during my hobby was the Fluval 303 external filter (if you go for an external just make sure your pipes are tightened up properly !).
Cichlids tend to change colour/shade to show their "moods" - they do this a lot when fighting and also when stressed - e.g. poor water conditions etc...
pH, Ammonia and Nitrite are the most important, Nitrate being the last by-product of the bacterial process. Your probably looking for about a pH of 7.0 with the mixture of fish you have currently.
Soldato
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Fluval are ok but I went through 3 in 2 years (seals are RUBBISH and leaked everywhere!)
Rena are excellent canister filters. Be prepared to pay about £100 for one the size of your tank but they come with the spraybar (as has been noted in previous threads it is good to have the surface disturbed a bit by water flow which aerates tank. Spraybar is a must with a canister filter and I know Fluval used to supply bars as optional extra making them fairly similar price points.
Some people also recommend undergravel filters and I've had a lot of success running both this and a Rena+2 canister filter - very stable water parameters and plants are very healthy.
Also you can get a cheeky inch or two of extra fish with a canister filter as that's a good gallon or two
Edited to say - my Rena canister filter I've had for 5 years and has done very well. 'Charging' canister filters can be a bit of a pain but much more efficient than internal box ones you get with tanks these days.
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Rena are excellent canister filters. Be prepared to pay about £100 for one the size of your tank but they come with the spraybar (as has been noted in previous threads it is good to have the surface disturbed a bit by water flow which aerates tank. Spraybar is a must with a canister filter and I know Fluval used to supply bars as optional extra making them fairly similar price points.
Some people also recommend undergravel filters and I've had a lot of success running both this and a Rena+2 canister filter - very stable water parameters and plants are very healthy.
Also you can get a cheeky inch or two of extra fish with a canister filter as that's a good gallon or two
Had a few Rena internal filters which failed - guess its much of a muchness really.
My first setup (with cichlids and no plants) had reverse flow undergravel filtering fed by the fluval down normal undergravel filter plates and was pretty good.
Good thing with canister filters is you can have more filter substrate and different media.
If anyone in the hampshire area would like a red-tailed shark he's free to a good home.
I've had a to significantly downsize my tank and it isn't fair on him to keep him confined.
I've had a to significantly downsize my tank and it isn't fair on him to keep him confined.
Soldato
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24-25oC
Anyone here used Purigen before? I put a bag in my tank a few days ago and it's turned the water crystal clear (tannins from a wood feature had turned it tea colored). Apparently it also absorbs other nasties from the water as well
Ive not seen it before to be honest. It looks like in a marine environment that it replicates most other bio filtration by recreating highly porus large surface area media which promotes the growth of biological filtration.
I don't think that this is a media for me to be honest, I use the berlin method (the natural method) using as little chemical media as possible and a high tank turnover of 20x plus.
Even weirder is that they claim it can be re-used with a bleech water mix, don't know about anybody else but there is no way I would be putting that back in my tank after 24hours soaked in bleech.
OK Updates.
I have added some plants,
PH is 7.0
Nitrate is between 20-40 (so i call it a 30?)
Ammonia is 0.50
The above results were Prior to a 10% Water change, i syponed approx 10% of tank water to try and clear some of the floating crap and provide a smaller tank with water, i am trying to grow my own plants.
i have since bought a 3" Plec which does not seem to be doing much more than sitting still, it had a little suck on the pump but remains sat under a rock.
I have also added a 2.5" Red Tailed Shark, which for the first 48 Hours was very weary and shy, sat in a cave and only coming out to see what the tapping on the tank was all about, since that he has become very boisterous, chasing all fish in the tank and it seems to be nipping at my Fantails fungal infection, i need to get the fantail treated i know, i am awaiting on a new pump and filter for my spare tank. Is the shark playing or being a bully?
I have added some plants,
PH is 7.0
Nitrate is between 20-40 (so i call it a 30?)
Ammonia is 0.50
The above results were Prior to a 10% Water change, i syponed approx 10% of tank water to try and clear some of the floating crap and provide a smaller tank with water, i am trying to grow my own plants.
i have since bought a 3" Plec which does not seem to be doing much more than sitting still, it had a little suck on the pump but remains sat under a rock.
I have also added a 2.5" Red Tailed Shark, which for the first 48 Hours was very weary and shy, sat in a cave and only coming out to see what the tapping on the tank was all about, since that he has become very boisterous, chasing all fish in the tank and it seems to be nipping at my Fantails fungal infection, i need to get the fantail treated i know, i am awaiting on a new pump and filter for my spare tank. Is the shark playing or being a bully?
I wouldn't add anymore fish for a while, in a stable tank ammonia should be virtually 0 all the time, give the filter and bacteria some time to adjust to the additional load.
Red Tailed sharks can be very aggressive fish, unless you have other dominant fish or a very large tank it will continously chase all other fish he sees to be in his territory.
I made the mistake of getting one in my first tank, I had to give him back to the fish shop in the end, as none of my other fish would come out of hiding.
Fish shops need to give more warning when people buy these fish, they look great and are very small when you buy them, but quickly grow pretty large and have an aggressive nature. If he keeps chasing other fish you may have to return him
Good work on the plants, I think plants make tanks look more natural, and give the fish something to play in. For the plants to really thrive you would need CO2 and some plant food as well, but I wouldn't worry about that now, just something else to read up on in the future!
Red Tailed sharks can be very aggressive fish, unless you have other dominant fish or a very large tank it will continously chase all other fish he sees to be in his territory.
I made the mistake of getting one in my first tank, I had to give him back to the fish shop in the end, as none of my other fish would come out of hiding.
Fish shops need to give more warning when people buy these fish, they look great and are very small when you buy them, but quickly grow pretty large and have an aggressive nature. If he keeps chasing other fish you may have to return him
Good work on the plants, I think plants make tanks look more natural, and give the fish something to play in. For the plants to really thrive you would need CO2 and some plant food as well, but I wouldn't worry about that now, just something else to read up on in the future!
Don
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STOP ADDING FISH.
Stabilise the tank. Ammonia readings will need to be ideally un-detectable before you should be happy.
10% water changes are not sufficient during a cycle. With detectable ammonia readings you will need to be doing 50% daily with that fish load you have in there.
Plecs are messy, grow large. Red tailed sharks grow large and are territorial. They will also nip fins.
Why are you keeping coldwater and tropical fish together?! Gold-fish are not meant for tanks really. They need huge water-volumes or massive regular water changes to keep them healthy and happy.
Stabilise the tank. Ammonia readings will need to be ideally un-detectable before you should be happy.
10% water changes are not sufficient during a cycle. With detectable ammonia readings you will need to be doing 50% daily with that fish load you have in there.
Plecs are messy, grow large. Red tailed sharks grow large and are territorial. They will also nip fins.
Why are you keeping coldwater and tropical fish together?! Gold-fish are not meant for tanks really. They need huge water-volumes or massive regular water changes to keep them healthy and happy.
The tank is only a week old to me, the water was only removed to provide some tank water to another tank, not changed as part of a water change.
I was GIVEN this tank with the fish, my friend had the Cold water fish in this tank before i was given it, so i am in the process of finding them a new home.
I only wanted to add One fish, an algae eater to try and help clear some up, whilst in the shop i was offered the shark for £3 as he was in a tank that needed to be swapped or something.