Your current Fish tank Setups!

wesley · 13 Apr 2015 at 15:38

Spook187 said:
You may have seen in what we bought thread but here it is my pride and joy

Over the next few weeks will be setting up, still need lighting, some flow pumps and a controller to buy.

is that wedge under the cabinet on right front? if so PLEASE dont use the wedge, it'll bend the cabinet and will weaken the glass. fix the floor properly.

Spook187 · 13 Apr 2015 at 16:03

wesley said:
is that wedge under the cabinet on right front? if so PLEASE dont use the wedge, it'll bend the cabinet and will weaken the glass. fix the floor properly.

Have always used shims to level cabinets i have had in the past 25 years with no issues, thanks for the advice though

rebel rebel · 13 Apr 2015 at 16:49

King4aDay said:
Some nice bits of rock there.

Totally jumped the gun and added a couple of montipora to my nano. Parameters have been pretty stable so far so I might get lucky. I'm normally super conservative with my stocking rates but it seems corals can do funny thing to a man.

You are not wrong there, many times I've just gone in the shop for food or something simple and came out with a few treats. That first sps is awesome, I tried getting one just like it a few weeks ago but it was on a piece of liverock and I'm trying to avoid that.

King4aDay · 13 Apr 2015 at 17:48

Yeah the first is a really nice undata. The second is supposedly a superman, although the polyps are more purple than red. It looks equally blue under daylight as it does with the high spectrum bulbs - really electric. Nice shaped frag too, as is the one you've posted.

utajoker · 15 Apr 2015 at 09:17

Spook187 said:
Took me a few goes but i am fairly happy with what i have now

Have you had marine tanks before?

whats your total volume and how much rock is that?

some advice would be make sure the rock has clearance all the way around and get some flow behind it, when i shut my tank down there was so much crap that settled behind the rock.

also get some pics of the inside up, want to see the workings

Spook187 · 15 Apr 2015 at 13:27

utajoker said:
Have you had marine tanks before?

whats your total volume and how much rock is that?

some advice would be make sure the rock has clearance all the way around and get some flow behind it, when i shut my tank down there was so much crap that settled behind the rock.

also get some pics of the inside up, want to see the workings

No just starting out, hopefully don't make too many mistakes as i go along.
Total volume is 350ltr inc sump, i bought 30kg of pukani rock which i have a couple of kg left, fills the tank pretty well given it's porous state, i have indeed created a clearance around the reef to let the water circulate.

nst68 · 15 Apr 2015 at 19:34

HELP!!

I did a water change yesterday (about 30 - 40%) and used the water conditioner as usual.

Came down this morning and had 5 dead cardinals and a very cloudy tank with a nasty smell. the rest of the fish seemed to be gasping for air.
Checked the levels, ammonia and nitrite were zero and nitrate 5ppm.

Since then I've list 4 harlequins.

I've done a 40% change and cleaned the external filter in tank water! there was loads of gunk (maybe lime scale) in the pipes and external heater.

The tank was clear after the change but has gone cloudy now.

Any ideas what's wrong?

arc@css · 15 Apr 2015 at 20:04

^^ Lack of oxygen could well be all / part of the problem. Oxygenation, or lack of, is one of the most common issues in tanks / ponds, and this time of year (spring - summer) tends to highlight it even more. I would buy an oxygen test kit, and then add air stone(s). How big is your tank, and how many times per hour does your filter turn the water over? What temperature is the tank running at?

Re the cloudy water; that could be down to too high a level of phosphates.

nst68 · 15 Apr 2015 at 20:13

arc@css said:
^^ Lack of oxygen could well be all / part of the problem. Oxygenation, or lack of, is one of the most common issues in tanks / ponds, and this time of year (spring - summer) tends to highlight it even more. I would buy an oxygen test kit, and then add air stone(s). How big is your tank, and how many times per hour does your filter turn the water over? What temperature is the tank running at?

Re the cloudy water; that could be down to too high a level of phosphates.

The tank is 125 litre, I'm not sure what the filter turn over us, but it can handle a 180 litre tank.

I'm going to change the filter outlet so it's "bubbling", at the moment it's rippling the surface.

How can I deal with high phosphates?

Temp is 26c

arc@css · 15 Apr 2015 at 20:24

nst68 said:
The tank is 125 litre, I'm not sure what the filter turn over us, but it can handle a 180 litre tank.

I'm going to change the filter outlet so it's "bubbling", at the moment it's rippling the surface.

How can I deal with high phosphates?

Most filters that I've checked out tend to turn over the tank volume (that they are designed for) at least 3 - 4 times per hour, with higher being not at all uncommon. Therefore, I expect you're okay in that regard, though it does depend on stocking, species, etc.

Re phosphates; at this stage, that is only a possible cause, which it might not be. Do you have a test kit for phosphates? Ways to lower the level (caused by uneaten food; fish waste; plant decay, etc) would be to ramp up the frequency of water changes - though I'm generally of the opinion that little & often is better than fewer & very large w/c. Sometimes, though, needs must.

Cleaning the tank inside can also help, e.g. scrubbing rocks / decorations and so forth.

However, as I said, that might not be the issue here, and atm I can't think of anything else, though I am pretty certain you have insufficient oxygen levels. Most people do. I estimate that your levels are around the 2mg mark.

Can you list your current stock and number?

How long have you had the tank up and running?

nst68 · 15 Apr 2015 at 20:42

Stock was :-
1 x Angelfish
1 x Platty
4 x Molly
5 x Cardinal tetra
8 x Harlequin
2 x some kind of stripped bottom dweller (about 1.5 inches long)
2 x Wood shrimp

arc@css · 15 Apr 2015 at 21:04

I'd say you're around the point where you don't want to be adding anymore fish; you may even be (or at least were) a little overstocked. The platy would be happier in a shoal, so perhaps consider reorganizing the spread of numbers a little. Do bear in mind that angelfish can get quite large and are a predatory fish, so the bigger it gets the more chance there is of it feasting on something small like your cardinals (e.g. neons). Your tank size, imo, isn't a long term ideal size for an angelfish either. Angelfish can do well in the likes of tanks which carry quite a bit of depth, though that isn't an absolute necessity. I'd also prefer to keep at the very least two angels together, too.

Mollies do best in brackish water.

How long have you had the tank going? What is your pH and GH?

BigBruiserAl · 15 Apr 2015 at 23:38

Spook187 said:
No just starting out, hopefully don't make too many mistakes as i go along.
Total volume is 350ltr inc sump, i bought 30kg of pukani rock which i have a couple of kg left, fills the tank pretty well given it's porous state, i have indeed created a clearance around the reef to let the water circulate.

My top tips if you would like to consider, make sure you can get a cleaning magnet clearance on the sides, the coralline will build over time and you will want to clean it. Maybe to late now but eggcrate was the worst idea ever in my tank caused me no end of grief

Spook187 · 15 Apr 2015 at 23:57

BigBruiserAl said:
My top tips if you would like to consider, make sure you can get a cleaning magnet clearance on the sides, the coralline will build over time and you will want to clean it. Maybe to late now but eggcrate was the worst idea ever in my tank caused me no end of grief

Yeah i have the new Tunze mag cleaner for the glass.

In what way did it cause you grief, i did read up on it and i thought about it hard to use or not, in this case i have decide to use it, some say great others not so, what i wanted was a stable platform/ take away any pressure points on the glass caused by the legs i made on the rock, nylone mesh or silicon the squares in to stop any waste building up, having said all of this the crate is very low profile and i am sure i made the right choice.

Rybo89 · 16 Apr 2015 at 13:51

Apistogramma cacatuoides (double red)

Just bought a female and male. They are put in a paper bag to carry around. getting out of the car the bag ripped.

Not good. They seem to be fine at the moment but i dont hold much hope for them. was a good drop which split the seem on the fish bag

Malt_Vinegar · 16 Apr 2015 at 14:12

They will be fine, add some stress coat, and keep the lights off for a a day or so just to be sure!

King4aDay · 16 Apr 2015 at 18:35

Yeah I've bounced a couple of fish in my time and they've been OK. Always bounced back, haha.

MagicBoy · 16 Apr 2015 at 18:41

They'll be fine. I had a couple of loaches that jumped out a pipe cutout hole in the lid/back of the tank. Heard a random rustling across the room occasionally for a good five minutes that didn't stop, Went to investigate and found the fish flapping on the floor in some dropped leaves from a houseplant. Popped them back in the tank and they lived for years...

Rybo89 · 16 Apr 2015 at 23:48

I hope so guys. Wasn't the drop that worried me though... More the fact i could not acclimate them properly to the tank with the fish bag splitting open.

Will update in a few days and see if they turn out fine.

BigBruiserAl · 17 Apr 2015 at 00:29

Rybo89 said:
I hope so guys. Wasn't the drop that worried me though... More the fact i could not acclimate them properly to the tank with the fish bag splitting open.

Will update in a few days and see if they turn out fine.

They are pretty hardy mate I have 30 of them in 1 tank at one time great fish