Bettas dont even need a heater, aslong as you keep it well insulated in the poly box with oxygen in the bag they will survive ages. Bettas survive in glass bowls without a filter or heater for donkeys, as some people do this with them. No fish needs light, that is for our pleasure not theirs.
Your current Fish tank Setups!
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Bettas dont even need a heater, aslong as you keep it well insulated in the poly box with oxygen in the bag they will survive ages. Bettas survive in glass bowls without a filter or heater for donkeys, as some people do this with them. No fish needs light, that is for our pleasure not theirs.
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A day without light would be fine. One of the best ways to kill algae in a tank is a run a 7 day blackout. I have done this a couple of times over the years, and always found it very successful. The fish seem to show no issues other than looking a little washed out colour-wise for a few days afterwards.
Soldato
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Hi guys, i have recently aquired a goldfish, now i know its nothing special but i at least wanted to give it a nice home, so bought a tank with a filter pump - instructions were a little vague to be honest, so ive done my best, but my main question is, can you guys tell me if i have the pump in the right place - seems to be ok to me but the fish aint liking it very much, - its been running for 3 days now without the fish in this tank, up until this it was in a bowl.
Pictures in spoiler tags.
Pictures in spoiler tags.
That looks like a 19l Pets at Home tank? To be honest that's way too small for a goldfish, they produce a lot of waste! Also if it's only been set up a couple of days it's also probably not cycled, meaning there are not yet any bacteria in the filter to break down the fish's waste (saying that, it's probably still better than the bowl!)
If you know anyone with a tank local to you, best thing to do would be get some of their filter media and stick it in your filter - that way you're kick starting the bacteria in your tank.
Failing that, frequent water changes are your best idea to try and keep the water as clean as possible!
If he's not happy with the flow from the filter, you can stick a bit of filter foam over the outlet - held on with an elastic band or cable tie. We had to do that when we had our Betta in one of those tanks.
The tank also looks quite bare, so a few more places to hide would do him some good too - either more plants (fake or real - real will help with the water quality if you have adequate lighting) or some ornaments/caves etc.
Most important thing would be to focus on the water quality at the moment however, possibly grab some test strips (or a liquid kit depending on how serious you are about the hobby) and see what the readings are.
Edit:
Update on our tank as well.
Looking good so far, the new wavemaker is in the opposite corner to the existing one - rear left about half way up. Also repositioned the return outlet so it's flowing against the back of the tank just below the water line.
Got a new skimmer on the way and a TMC v2 auto top-up fitted - so far used about 8L of RODI topping up, so not too bad.
Wondering if we've had a quick cycle or it's not started properly yet. Put a king prawn in (after using the rest for paella
) to generate some waste, and been ghost feeding the tank since the weekend - it's been less than 2 weeks, but ammonia is back down to 0ppm, after peaking at 0.5 (it may have been higher last weekend, but we were away for a few days so didn't test it), and nitrite is just above 0ppm (very slight hint of purple to it), after hovering at 0.5 for a few days. Nitrate was between 20-40ppm (my GF and I couldn't agree which colour it was ), but just done a 10% water change to bring that down a bit.
All testing done with an API saltwater master test kit.
Not had any diatoms yet - going to wait another week at least while testing to make sure it's stable, and then maybe add a couple of snails.
Pretty sure those wavy things are feather duster worms - spotted another couple on top of the rock, along with what appears to be one gradually building up it's tube
If you know anyone with a tank local to you, best thing to do would be get some of their filter media and stick it in your filter - that way you're kick starting the bacteria in your tank.
Failing that, frequent water changes are your best idea to try and keep the water as clean as possible!
If he's not happy with the flow from the filter, you can stick a bit of filter foam over the outlet - held on with an elastic band or cable tie. We had to do that when we had our Betta in one of those tanks.
The tank also looks quite bare, so a few more places to hide would do him some good too - either more plants (fake or real - real will help with the water quality if you have adequate lighting) or some ornaments/caves etc.
Most important thing would be to focus on the water quality at the moment however, possibly grab some test strips (or a liquid kit depending on how serious you are about the hobby) and see what the readings are.
Edit:
Update on our tank as well.
Looking good so far, the new wavemaker is in the opposite corner to the existing one - rear left about half way up. Also repositioned the return outlet so it's flowing against the back of the tank just below the water line.
Got a new skimmer on the way and a TMC v2 auto top-up fitted - so far used about 8L of RODI topping up, so not too bad.
Wondering if we've had a quick cycle or it's not started properly yet. Put a king prawn in (after using the rest for paella
) to generate some waste, and been ghost feeding the tank since the weekend - it's been less than 2 weeks, but ammonia is back down to 0ppm, after peaking at 0.5 (it may have been higher last weekend, but we were away for a few days so didn't test it), and nitrite is just above 0ppm (very slight hint of purple to it), after hovering at 0.5 for a few days. Nitrate was between 20-40ppm (my GF and I couldn't agree which colour it was ), but just done a 10% water change to bring that down a bit.All testing done with an API saltwater master test kit.
Not had any diatoms yet - going to wait another week at least while testing to make sure it's stable, and then maybe add a couple of snails.
Pretty sure those wavy things are feather duster worms - spotted another couple on top of the rock, along with what appears to be one gradually building up it's tube
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Soldato
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Cheers for taking the time to reply, its much appreciated - its the 24L one from them, as it was the only one i could actually feasibly afford at the time - it was either that or the fish die in the bowl 
.
Im just unsure about the placement of the filter, some say at the back, some say at the side, side seems to create less turbulance, but i think its too strong to be honest (more than likely considering the price point).
The flow seems to be very fast thats for sure and its only a little fella about an inch and half if that - Figured it would be better than nothing for now.
Will pick up some more decorations for sure, and i can try adding some of the filter stuff over the outlet and see if that helps - would it not destroy the oxygen capabilitys of it and all that.
Im quite new to the fish scene, done a lot of reading and know i need a 45+ for 1 goldfish, which will happen soon
And i will also grab some strips in the morning from the local petshop (they sell them but naff all else).
.Im just unsure about the placement of the filter, some say at the back, some say at the side, side seems to create less turbulance, but i think its too strong to be honest (more than likely considering the price point).
The flow seems to be very fast thats for sure and its only a little fella about an inch and half if that - Figured it would be better than nothing for now.
Will pick up some more decorations for sure, and i can try adding some of the filter stuff over the outlet and see if that helps - would it not destroy the oxygen capabilitys of it and all that.
Im quite new to the fish scene, done a lot of reading and know i need a 45+ for 1 goldfish, which will happen soon
And i will also grab some strips in the morning from the local petshop (they sell them but naff all else).
Cheers for taking the time to reply, its much appreciated - its the 24L one from them, as it was the only one i could actually feasibly afford at the time - it was either that or the fish die in the bowl
Thought it looked familiar
Your best bet for a bigger tank on a budget is gumtree/ebay - you should be able to pick up a decent sized one for not much - basic tropical tanks seem to go for peanuts, and if you're lucky you may get some additional bits - e.g. better filter, heater etc. with them.
I wouldn't worry too much about the positioning, it's unlikely to make much difference unless you can somehow rig it up to spray directly at the side.
there are a few other things you could do, e.g. make a spray bar, or even a basic baffle out of a drinks bottle, e.g. http://www.bettaboxx.com/betta-care/betta-filter-baffle/
Basically you want something in the way to diffuse the flow a bit rather than it coming out in a strong stream.
In terms of oxygenation, that little flexible tube at the top of the outlet should have a twisty cap on it with a hole in to control how much air is sucked in as the water passes through (although in my experience they are pretty rubbish) - the best way to get oxygen into the water is either an air stone, or to disrupt the surface with the filter flow - I can't remember how those filters work, whether you can have the outlet above the surface or if that will put the impeller out of the water as well, but that may help a bit if it's possible. The filter foam over the outlet wont really affect it the oxygenation, but make sure it's quite a coarse foam, as otherwise it can provide too much resistance and will strain (and eventually burn out) the filter motor.
We all have to learn somewhere; I inherited a tank from a neighbour, knowing nothing at all - steep learning curve and lost a few fish at the start, but 18 months later I'm in the process of setting up a marine tank
As I said, the most important thing at the moment is to make sure the water is in as good condition as possible - as the fish does it's "business", it will be polluting the water with ammonia (highly toxic to fish) - in a mature tank, there will be bacteria in the filter, decorations, sand/gravel etc. which break that down into nitrites (still very toxic) and then nitrates (slightly toxic, but nowhere near as bad).
If you test the water, you should be able to see first the ammonia level go up, then go down, as the nitrites level starts to increase, followed by that decreasing as the nitrates start to increase.
Your goal is to get ammonia and nitrites to 0, however unfortunately those bacteria take time to multiply, so as you already have a fish in there you'll need to change the water to take the toxins out until there is a big enough colony of bacteria.
There are also some chemicals you can add to the water to neutralise the ammonia - Seachem prime is the one I'm aware of, although it is quite expensive.
Ideally you'll also want to add some water conditioner to your tap water when you do your water changes, to remove any chlorine - chlorine is added to tap water to kill bacteria, which is the opposite of what you want in your tank!
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As above.
Making sure you treat the water before adding it, is really important. Chemicals to lock in ammonia are not really the greatest idea, it's not a sustainable method. Water changes are better. It's best to get a proper chemistry going on so you don't need to rely on adding chemicals.
Goldfish types are very tough to keep well indoors.
Ideally you want that fish in a pond really. Then you can have a small tropical community tank with what you have (+a heater). Some people bring them up from tiny to a about the size you have now to move them to a pond more quickly. So it can be done.
There are also temperate tropical fish availabe which are capable of being unheated. These are also better suited to a tank that size.
You can do a "cycle" with fish in the tank, but doing it with such messy fish as a gold type will make it harder to manage for a new keeper.
Stick in a clean plastic plant pot with a clean rock on top to keep it in place. Will help the fish feel safer and give it somewhere to hide till you can get something more suited
Making sure you treat the water before adding it, is really important. Chemicals to lock in ammonia are not really the greatest idea, it's not a sustainable method. Water changes are better. It's best to get a proper chemistry going on so you don't need to rely on adding chemicals.
Goldfish types are very tough to keep well indoors.
Ideally you want that fish in a pond really. Then you can have a small tropical community tank with what you have (+a heater). Some people bring them up from tiny to a about the size you have now to move them to a pond more quickly. So it can be done.
There are also temperate tropical fish availabe which are capable of being unheated. These are also better suited to a tank that size.
You can do a "cycle" with fish in the tank, but doing it with such messy fish as a gold type will make it harder to manage for a new keeper.
Stick in a clean plastic plant pot with a clean rock on top to keep it in place. Will help the fish feel safer and give it somewhere to hide till you can get something more suited
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Soldato
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100 litres for a single "fancy" goldfish and then ~40 litres for each extra one is considered the responsible minimums these days. There are usually masses of second-hand tanks out there to buy at much lower cost than new ones, four of my six active tanks (ranging from two to six feet long) are second-hand and I have another two as spares for quarantine, the total cost of those six was less than my four foot tank bought new (~£350 in 2010).
A new tank and filter with new substrate and ornaments will be as good as complete devoid of the two type of bacteria needed in fish tanks to keep the water safe for fish, ammonia and nitrite levels will quickly turn toxic, especially in small tanks with messy fish like fancy goldfish. "Fish-in cycling" is considered inhumane these days, it creates a lot of stress for the fish in the toxic soup and a lot of stress for responsible fishkeepers, compared to "fish-less cycling."
While "fish-in cycling" you should be keeping the water safe for the fish while feeding new fish enough daily food, typically this will mean changing 50-75% of the tank water with fresh dechlorinated water every day for several months.
In comparison, "fish-less cycling" is far less agro... Set equipment up using dechlorintaed water, add a fish-safe ammonia source to a concentration of 2-4mg/l, test (initially for ammonia, then nitrite as well from ~ third week) and maintain that concentration daily for typically 6-8 weeks (until you find test give zero ammonia). Then you start a "qualifying week" where if you get zero ammonia readings ~12 hours after adding set concentration of ammonia for 7 consecutive days, you then do a complete change of the tank water and go off to buy/collect your fish. One big water change in ~8 weeks versus a big water change everyday for ~12+ weeks.
A new tank and filter with new substrate and ornaments will be as good as complete devoid of the two type of bacteria needed in fish tanks to keep the water safe for fish, ammonia and nitrite levels will quickly turn toxic, especially in small tanks with messy fish like fancy goldfish. "Fish-in cycling" is considered inhumane these days, it creates a lot of stress for the fish in the toxic soup and a lot of stress for responsible fishkeepers, compared to "fish-less cycling."
While "fish-in cycling" you should be keeping the water safe for the fish while feeding new fish enough daily food, typically this will mean changing 50-75% of the tank water with fresh dechlorinated water every day for several months.
In comparison, "fish-less cycling" is far less agro... Set equipment up using dechlorintaed water, add a fish-safe ammonia source to a concentration of 2-4mg/l, test (initially for ammonia, then nitrite as well from ~ third week) and maintain that concentration daily for typically 6-8 weeks (until you find test give zero ammonia). Then you start a "qualifying week" where if you get zero ammonia readings ~12 hours after adding set concentration of ammonia for 7 consecutive days, you then do a complete change of the tank water and go off to buy/collect your fish. One big water change in ~8 weeks versus a big water change everyday for ~12+ weeks.
Bah, having problems with my TMC Auto Top-Up, the suction cup keeps* coming off the glass meaning the unit ends up just floating on the surface and never switches on (thankfully it's not going in upside down and dumping 10L of RO in there). It's not such an issue at the moment, but when it's stocked, I don't want to end up going away for a few days and coming back to find it's fallen off and my salinity is through the roof, or worse, emptied filled the tank with RO, dropping my salinity and putting water all over the floor...
Think I might send it back and get the Tunze Osmolator Nano 3152 which uses a magnetic mount instead - anyone got any experience of this unit?
* I say "keeps". It's done it twice - installed it on Wednesday evening, noticed it had come off yesterday after I got back from work, put it back on and made sure it was on there tight, but I checked it again this morning and it had come off again
Think I might send it back and get the Tunze Osmolator Nano 3152 which uses a magnetic mount instead - anyone got any experience of this unit?
* I say "keeps". It's done it twice - installed it on Wednesday evening, noticed it had come off yesterday after I got back from work, put it back on and made sure it was on there tight, but I checked it again this morning and it had come off again
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Try a small smear of silicone sealant around the edge of the suction cup, press hard. Make sure the glass is clean and dry before applying.
Should stop the air seeping back through the seal. Easily removed later with a razor if needed, and should last a long time.
Should stop the air seeping back through the seal. Easily removed later with a razor if needed, and should last a long time.
Just the standard bathroom stuff you'd get from B&Q etc? (Obviously not the antibacterial stuff) or do I need special aquarium type?
edit: you mean something like this?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/King-Briti...d=1504861109&sr=8-3&keywords=aquarium+sealant
When you say around the edge - after I've attached it, or round the surface of the suction cup before I put it on?
edit: you mean something like this?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/King-Briti...d=1504861109&sr=8-3&keywords=aquarium+sealant
When you say around the edge - after I've attached it, or round the surface of the suction cup before I put it on?
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Haggisman, do you have any suggestions for hermit crabs? I've been doing some reading and trying to make sure i'm covering everything. My wife and i have liked the idea ever since the Maldives.
I've read about food and water requirements but struggling to see many example pictures for tanks.
I've read about food and water requirements but struggling to see many example pictures for tanks.
Just remember with hermit crabs to leave plenty of spare different size shells as they grow, otherwise if you have any clean up crew snails they will kill them for the shell, all crabs are opportunists and will have free meat if it's easy to get, blue leg hermits are pretty cool.
Plenty on fleabay, I scruggle to see any in my LFS.
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Anything aquarium safe will be ok.
I would put it on the inside of the cup on the edges.
They only fail when air gets by the barrier of the plastic edge. If you make it a better seal it will keep the suction for much longer, if not forever.
Soldato
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Bah, having problems with my TMC Auto Top-Up, the suction cup keeps* coming off the glass meaning the unit ends up just floating on the surface and never switches on (thankfully it's not going in upside down and dumping 10L of RO in there). It's not such an issue at the moment, but when it's stocked, I don't want to end up going away for a few days and coming back to find it's fallen off and my salinity is through the roof, or worse, emptied filled the tank with RO, dropping my salinity and putting water all over the floor...
Think I might send it back and get the Tunze Osmolator Nano 3152 which uses a magnetic mount instead - anyone got any experience of this unit?
* I say "keeps". It's done it twice - installed it on Wednesday evening, noticed it had come off yesterday after I got back from work, put it back on and made sure it was on there tight, but I checked it again this morning and it had come off again
I cut the cup off mine and glued a magnet to the little arm part. Then gave up with it as the little float switch gets stuck all the time unless you clean often and bought a tunze and never looked back