My fish tank

IcE-ColD · 14 Feb 2008 at 17:29

Heres some more fish from the four tanks. Sorry for the picture quality my camera is really bad with things that move.

Monkey Puzzle · 14 Feb 2008 at 17:49

Lamo said:
That is the same make and model of tank that I have WebMonkey. It's not big but I find it nice for having in the corner of the living room.

I did away with the under gravel filter and just put in a Fluval +1 filter it keeps the water lovley and clear.

I only have 6 neons in mine just now. I had 3 clown loaches but they got a terrible case of whitespot last week and pegged it. I have a Java fern growing a small peice of bogwood that the nenos love to chase each other through.

I think I will be adding more fish in next week when my 3 stage white spot treatment has finished and all my levels have been checked.

Not sure what to add. I want to add a good algae eater that will keep the walls of the tank clean but I need something that won't grow to big as it is only a 28Ltr tank. Any thoughts?

A couple of ancistrus bristlenose plecs. They only grow to about 3-4" and are peaceful community fishes. They also have funky bristles on their noses.

lukechad · 14 Feb 2008 at 18:08

Ive had my new 30L coldwater tank up and running for a couple of months now, I cleaned it out once so far and a fish died shortly after but I think that was down to rapid finrot.

What sort of basic cleaning procedures should I take? I checked the filter this morning and it was pretty dirty inside and water flow was very very slow, so I gave the wool and other bits a quick shift about and its flowing again, the water is starting to look cloudy too. I hear that I should only replace 1/3 of the water and not clean it out fully, is this right?

Just a few points on what to do and dont would be great!!

webmonkeyuk · 14 Feb 2008 at 18:16

im off to get some new gravel or sand tomorrow and im gonna try and find some better decorations as the one in is way to big for the tank. The loach's are going to go to a friend as they are gonna get to big and there strating to scrap already and i think i might get some Otocinclus as they only get to 2"inches.

Angus02 · 14 Feb 2008 at 19:19

lukechad said:
Ive had my new 30L coldwater tank up and running for a couple of months now, I cleaned it out once so far and a fish died shortly after but I think that was down to rapid finrot.

What sort of basic cleaning procedures should I take? I checked the filter this morning and it was pretty dirty inside and water flow was very very slow, so I gave the wool and other bits a quick shift about and its flowing again, the water is starting to look cloudy too. I hear that I should only replace 1/3 of the water and not clean it out fully, is this right?

Just a few points on what to do and dont would be great!!

First of all 99% of all issues are down to water quality - when you cleaned it
out did you use tap water to clean everything ? - If so you have killed all the
bacteria and you are basically starting from scratch.

Fin rot will take place when the fish are stressed and run down (normally
caused by poor water quality)

DO NOT clean your filters out with tap water,just rinse then out in some
water you have taken out of the tank.

Buy a gravel cleaner to carry out your water changes as this gets rid of
decaying material at the bottom of your tank.

Water changes should be carried out around 20-30% weekly.Less and often
is better than doing major changes as the fish just get stressed.

Buy Water Conditioner when doing water changes as this will take out the
nasty chemicals etc from the tap water.

Take your water to a pet shop ASAP and he will test it (FOC if he is decent)
this will let you see if there are any underliying issues like undersized filter
which will cause Ammonia / Nitrite and PH which will stress the fish if it varies
tomuch dependant on what they require.

Also find out the PH of the water where you are buying the fish as again this
will save the fish getting stressed.

If you have Ammonia / Nitrite traces this is down to lack of filtration which could be down to the tank not being mautured yet or it being overstocked.

Cut feeding down to once every 2/3 days until your sure the water quality is
okay.

Any more questions just give me a shout - more than happy to help.

lukechad · 14 Feb 2008 at 22:24

Thank you very much, i do have water treatment as mentioned above and know the correct dosage to put in when changing 5L of water, so I think I will get into the routine of doing that once a week. 5L is 20% of the tanks capacity.

Thanks for the tip on cleaning the filter out, what I think I will do is just replace the wool in there, everything else Im supposed to leave alone as the other bits (that look like hula hoops) aparantly help the good bacteria to breed, does this sound right?

I will get a home test kit for the PH/nitrates/ammonia.

The fish that died had only been in this tank for a matter of weeks, I think it probably just got stressed out with the complete change of environment and died from that, all the others I purchased at the same time are all fine.

Thanks for the help!

[SKR]Phoenix · 14 Feb 2008 at 22:58

lukechad said:
Thank you very much, i do have water treatment as mentioned above and know the correct dosage to put in when changing 5L of water, so I think I will get into the routine of doing that once a week. 5L is 20% of the tanks capacity.

Thanks for the tip on cleaning the filter out, what I think I will do is just replace the wool in there, everything else Im supposed to leave alone as the other bits (that look like hula hoops) aparantly help the good bacteria to breed, does this sound right?

I will get a home test kit for the PH/nitrates/ammonia.

The fish that died had only been in this tank for a matter of weeks, I think it probably just got stressed out with the complete change of environment and died from that, all the others I purchased at the same time are all fine.

Thanks for the help!

Yes, just change the wool. The wool is the main mechanical filtration and will take out all the little bits in the water leaving it crystal clear. Depending on the filter, I would change the wool once a week. The sponges (if you have them) I would clean very rarely - only if they are causing slow flow. Also the hex nodes/balls do help with the bacteria levels, so don't bother cleaning them unless water can't flow through them.

In a small tank, 20% water changes weekly should be fine. Try and temperature match the water though, as a sudden change can shock and kill the fish. I do a 50% water change weekly, but that's because I have a fair amount of fish, lots of plants and the bogwood still leaks a small amount of tannins.

[SKR]Phoenix · 14 Feb 2008 at 23:09

jonno.co.uk said:
yes looking at growing slower tougher plants that my fish won't nibble on so much - java fern, java moss, anubias, amazon sword and vallis etc - all fairly low light plants.

think i'll eventually get this co2 kit, upgrade standard tubes and dose using the same products as you do and see how i get on before i start doing DIY jobs

what co2 kit are you running or is it DIY? do you use a solenoid valve to shut it off at night?

Hi,

I use the Nutrafin Co2 kit. It's basically a commercial version of a DIY Co2 kit. What's nice is, not only do you get a dispersal ladder, you also get a solid container and the right amounts of yeast and stablizer. I found that getting the levels right with the yeast in a DIY a bit awkward. The last thing you want is too much and the yeast leaking into the tank. I was going down the whole pressurised route, but as you can see, my plants grow well enough

I don't switch the Co2 off at night. That's because I have enough movement at the surface of the water to ensure enough air passes into it. If you don't understand what I mean, check out a few websites about the subject. Most people thing airstones/bubbles put air INTO the water, they don't. What they actually do is distub the surface of the water and this allows gas exchange. Movement cause the oxygen to get into the water, but also drives off Co2. So providing there's plenty of movement/ripples, the oxygen level will be no different to the daytime.

lukechad · 14 Feb 2008 at 23:14

[SKR]Phoenix;11105598 said:
Yes, just change the wool. The wool is the main mechanical filtration and will take out all the little bits in the water leaving it crystal clear. Depending on the filter, I would change the wool once a week. The sponges (if you have them) I would clean very rarely - only if they are causing slow flow. Also the hex nodes/balls do help with the bacteria levels, so don't bother cleaning them unless water can't flow through them.

In a small tank, 20% water changes weekly should be fine. Try and temperature match the water though, as a sudden change can shock and kill the fish. I do a 50% water change weekly, but that's because I have a fair amount of fish, lots of plants and the bogwood still leaks a small amount of tannins.

Again thanks for the help! its great being on here, no matter what the problem or query, someone on here is able to help and advise! Much appreciated!

webmonkeyuk · 18 Feb 2008 at 13:57

Alittle update for you guys, ive managed to get my tank changed around, now its got sand as a substrate and some better decorations which means theres a lot more room and they seem to swim together now, but i was just wondering how do you clean the sand without disturbing it all and making a mess. Oh and the sick panda died on saturday-his tail had rotted away and he was dead on the morning when i came down. Funny thing is i have noticed the neons having a quick peck at the remaining panda are these ok to be together? as im going to get a few more of the pandas so theres a group of them but i dont want to get them if the neons bite them.

Lamo · 18 Feb 2008 at 14:01

I have have albino and speckled cory's now and they seem to get on fine with the neons. Should not be a problem.

Would be nice to get some pictures of the new set up.

neodude · 18 Feb 2008 at 14:02

You should also consider an under-gravel filter with a decent powerhead as these promote the growth of bacteria which will help keep your water healthy. I ran my tank for 5 years with one and it never required a complete clean out. Just a hoover of the gravel and a half water change every month, never had a single death.

kai · 18 Feb 2008 at 14:10

I have the Aqua One 320 its been running for a few months now, currently i think its Wayyyy over stocked

11 Neon tetra
1 Siamese fighter
1 small sucker fish (only comes out in dark)

*there was two angel fish in there aswell but they died*

webmonkeyuk · 18 Feb 2008 at 14:43

heres the pictures

the standard pump that was in the rear right corner was just jamming up with the sand so i had to take it out, tbh the blue one thats in now is miles better as its got a filter in it where as the standard didnt. should be ok with the one in shouldnt it. next job is somemore plants maybe tomorrow as the shop didnt have what i wanted today. must admit it looks like theres a lot more space in it now

kai · 18 Feb 2008 at 14:46

Right this has sensed me to go to local shop tonight, what pump is that? and how easy was it to remove stones and add sand how you go about doing that with fish in there already

Oh also how do you clean the sand

merlin2k6 · 18 Feb 2008 at 15:15

Heres a few pics of my fish... They are Pygocentrus Cariba (Piranhas) imported from venezuela. They are 11-12" and are kept in a 500l 5x2x2 tank, 2x fx5's for filtration, and a seio 10000lph powerhead.

heres a short vid of the munching on some whitebait.

webmonkeyuk · 18 Feb 2008 at 15:15

the pump was a cheapy one from "pets at home" shop £15, this is the same one just it in the USA

http://www.petco.com/product/12147/Penn-Plax-Small-World-Pump-and-Filter-Kit.aspx

to remove the stones i took all the fish out, theres no way you could do it without taking them out. once there all out it was easy just put the tank water in another bucket and remove stones/ad sand. im not sure how you clean the sand once you have all the fish back in though i guess i will find out in a few weeks

kai · 20 Feb 2008 at 18:22

Finally went down got sand and some new stuff here it is, personally it looks 100% better.

lookitsjonno · 20 Feb 2008 at 18:59

merlin2k6 said:
Heres a few pics of my fish... They are Pygocentrus Cariba (Piranhas) imported from venezuela. They are 11-12" and are kept in a 500l 5x2x2 tank, 2x fx5's for filtration, and a seio 10000lph powerhead.

woah always loved piranahs, lovely tank

LFS had some red bellies in last week, if only i had a tank big enough i would have bought them streight away

are they easy to keep? do they bite you when you clean the tank out?

DarkShadow · 20 Feb 2008 at 19:15

Raymond Lin said:
I am more excited at seeing Spongebob in the tank than the fish

Hahaha ditto

Very nice though