Your current Fish tank Setups!

Spook187 said:
Yeah same one I got apart I tested my RO on top, I was losing fish I couldn't understand why, tested my water and came back with dangerous levels of aluminium due to the phosguard I was using.
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I've found it does leach aswell, used to alternate with Rowaphos which kept it under control
 
UTmaniac said:
Very few species are suitable for compact, small volume tanks. I wouldn't put Cardinal Tetras in a tank with its length under 90cm and Platties, at least 120cm.
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Not sure I agree that platties and cardinals need such a large tank as a minimum, they will do fine in much smaller tanks. But you have hit the nail on the head, way too many fish for 46L of water and platties do need a larger tank. You can get away with having cardinals in a 45cm tank, I wouldn't want to restock the ones that were damaged/lost.

There are not many 46L tanks on the market, is it a Fluval Edge? The large Edge tank is very tall and while its a bigger water volume it doesn't actually lend its self to holding many more fish over it smaller 23L cousin because the width and length are the same.
 
We have a dozen neons in a 81cm wide 125l tank, they are a little smaller than cardinals though.
 
Well, I moved the platies in with the goldfish. Both seem to be getting on with each other. The goldfish get a bit curious now and then and go check them out, but they are just far too quick for them. Created a small area of cover for the platies but they seem to prefer being in the open.

unfortunately, I lost almost all of my cardinals. Done a water change last night, eveything seemed ok. Water tests came back in the ok area (can't remember the actual values). But this morning when I went to feed them, only 2 came out from hiding. I just thought maybe there were a few just chillin, but no. Just dead fish in the plants :(.

After finding them, done a 50% water change. The 2 remaining seem quite active/healthy, but time will tell. I won't be replacing the cardinals with more (tank not being the suitable length) and I'm just going to hold off for now before getting more fish.

For now, just for something to look into, can anyone recommend fish that would be suited for this tank? As above, b0rn2sk8 is correct, it is a fluval edge 46L (44 x 61 x 54cm).
 
PiKe said:
We have a dozen neons in a 81cm wide 125l tank, they are a little smaller than cardinals though.
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Tank size is not just about the size of adult fish, there are other things to think about, such as...
How active are the fish?
Are they territorial with others of their own kind?
Are they territorial with other species?
Are they known to predate on smaller occupants in their tank?
Are they a social species that benefits from being in a 10+ group?
Is a new species purchase going to "invade" a section of the tank (top, middle, bottom) where you already have some fish?
etc.

I have a bonded pair of African Butterfly Fish, these fish are usually very sedate (but they have amazing reaction times when they want to escape danger), but they can get aggressive with each other. My pair live in a 60x30x30cm tank, with the surface (where they normally hang on) littered with bogwood and artificial plant leaves that create lots of line-of-sight barriers so they can choose (and sometimes do) spend time away from each other.

My 120x30x37cm tank is occupied by by a single predatory African catfish, Chrysichthys ornatus. Like many predatory riverine fish, this species would ordinarily wait stationary on the river floor facing upstream, waiting for lunch that can fit is "his" ~6cm gape mouth. Until ~2.5 years ago, this catfish lived in my African 6-foot community, until I saw how big that mouth can open up to... It's a miracle I didn't lose several rare Synodontis and Euchilichthys species before moving Ornate to its own tank!

My garage ~150x51x61cm is solely occupied by my community of sub-tropical Mexican livebearers, Limones Goodeids. They might only reach ~10cm or so, but they are very active and incredibly feisty in communities, they can quite easily starve subdued species as well as inflict a fair bit of damage with their teeth.

My lounge 120x41x51cm is very understocked, having only my quartet of Rubbernose Plecs and my small family of ~8 Lionhead Cichlids (two generations of youngsters from parents that died last year). However, if two of the Lionheads decided to breed, they would "pin" all the other fish to the end of the tank furthest away from their breeding nest and I would have to remove the others to prevent them very potentially being killed.

My ~120x51x55cm tank is my community tank of many small (5-10cm body length) and peaceful species (Congo Tetras; Pareutropius mandevillei; Angola barbs; Dwarf Chain Loaches; Upside Down Synodontis; Flash Plec; Synodontis congicus; Microsynodontis sp.1; small male Halfbeak etc.). It's usually a very chilled out tank, but its length gives them room to exercise and decide whether they want to hang out with their own kind or go solo for a while.

Finally, my ~180x40x40cm is the tank of the dynamic African giants, with the exception of my male Empire Gudgeon, who is tiny (~7cm) compared to everyone else (who are these days ~12-30cm). Many of the occupants can go from being quite sedate to have a huge turn of speed, to getting on with their own kind and other species to suddenly wanting their own space! Species like Distichodus; Synodontis (brichardi; schoutedeni; notatus; budgetti; angelicus); Leopard Bushfish; African Knife Fish; Euchilichthys (basically the African equivalent of Bristlenose Catfish, except they are ~18cm and often not appreciative of their own kind).

To a greater extent, many of my tank occupants could safely be moved around, but since my Xmas 2013 RTA I've tried to minimise moving fish between tanks. Part of me would love to create a classic "African oddball" 4-foot tank (Butterfly Fish; Congo Tetras; Leopard Bushfish; Knife Fish; Upside Down Synodontis group) at some point, perhaps when I take the Lionhead Cichlid youngsters to auction.
 
Sorry to hear the cardinals didn't make it, they are not known to be the most hardy of fish, quite the opposite thinking about it.

Mart2912 said:
For now, just for something to look into, can anyone recommend fish that would be suited for this tank? As above, b0rn2sk8 is correct, it is a fluval edge 46L (44 x 61 x 54cm).
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The Edge is really only suited to keeping 1 species and possibly some shrimp.

Endlers (male only) - reasonably active and likely to stay in the free swimming space. Also reasonably hardy.
Cherry Shrimp - Pretty simple, interesting little critters.
White Cloud Minno's - Gold or regular will look nice, no heater needed.
Celestial Pearl Danio - I think these will just hide and you might not seem them, probably not recommended.
Ember Tetra's - nice little colourful fish
 
You could also look at the micro rasbora species if you want a larger school in a smaller tank.

*edit* best in a species only tank as anything too big will eat them! They are teeny. Sometimes can be kept with shrimp too.
 
Cheers for the suggestions. Quite like the idea of either White Cloud Minno's, Ember Tetra's or micro rasbora with a few Cherry shrimp (Assuming the shrimp would be compatible of course).
 
Chilli Rasbora (Boraras brigittae) are the smallest rasbora I know, so do better in smaller tanks. They will not grow larger than 2cm. 18mm quotes is the max and I have never seen any bigger than that myself.
Not sure how easy they are to get hold of nowadays though?
 
I seem to be fighting an endless battle against algae in my tropical tank at the moment - any suggestions would be much appreciated.
Setup is :

- Juwel RIO 125 LED
- Supplied with 2x 14-watt LED lights running ~7hrs at the moment
- Eheim Classic 250 external filter
- Fertiliser substrate under sand
- Gas co2 diffused inline with the pump return - run 24/7 and steady green on the drop checker
- medium planting

I'm currently not dosing any nutrients, but have used dennerle v30 complete on a fortnightly basis which seemed to make matters worse.

Cleaned down all my wood 2 weeks ago with a hydrogen peroxide bath and serious wash down and its beginning to look a bit green again :( . Only thing i can think i'm messing up is the plant stocking or the water flow.
 
How long has the system been set up and what fertiliser substrate is it?

I think not dosing nutrients is likely a mistake, a lack of any nutrient well cause algae. An excess of inorganic nutrients (bottled fertiliser) usually doesn't.

The lights are not particularly powerful so I think that looks ok.

https://dennerle.com/en/products/aquaristic/plant-care/basic-fertilization/v30-complete

Guaranteed phosphate and nitrate free - does not promote algae.
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I wouldn't use this fertiliser as it does not contain NPK (nitrogen, phosphate, potassium). While the marketing isn't strictly wrong, its also not entirely true either.

The current thinking is that a lack of phosphate actually causes green spot/dust algae rather than the other way round, this goes against the last 20 years of planted tank lore.

If the tank is new it could be down to an excess of waste organics in the water, organic substrates like aqua soil dump loads of organics into the water in the first few weeks.

Organics in the water would absolutely cause algae, fertiliser you get from a bottle is inorganic so usually doesn't (to a point). Organics can come from fish waste, uneaten food, plant waste and new substrate.

To fix it I would increase water changes to 50% at least once per week (preferable twice) and start dosing a complete fertiliser which includes NPK like TNC complete or Evolution Aqua 'the Aquascaper' fertiliser. Over time it should sort its self out.

You can put your CO2 on a timer to come on an hour before and go off 30 mins before the lights. This just saves gas and shouldn't effect anything else, the drop checker might now show green when the light come on but they usually take awhile to react.
 
I'm considering the idea of getting a small (25 litre) tank to tinker with. However I have no idea where to start with this, I've looked at some tanks such as the Fluval Spec V or the Superfish Home 25, is this sort of thing any good? Or would I be better off getting a tank and associated lights/filter etc separately?

Cheers
 
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b0rn2sk8 said:
How long has the system been set up and what fertiliser substrate is it?

I think not dosing nutrients is likely a mistake, a lack of any nutrient well cause algae. An excess of inorganic nutrients (bottled fertiliser) usually doesn't.
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The tanks been running for about 8month so hopefully not new tank syndrome by now. I don't remember which fertiliser i went for, I got it from Maidenhead Aquatics in Norwich when I setup.

I've been doing a 40L water change weekly with occasional spouts of increasing that to twice weekly without much luck.

Thanks for the suggestions :) will have a look at some different liquid ferts.
 
Siliconslave said:
The tanks been running for about 8month so hopefully not new tank syndrome by now. I don't remember which fertiliser i went for, I got it from Maidenhead Aquatics in Norwich when I setup.

I've been doing a 40L water change weekly with occasional spouts of increasing that to twice weekly without much luck.

Thanks for the suggestions :) will have a look at some different liquid ferts.
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Have you tried a 7 day blackout? I found doing a proper manual clean, then just totally blackout the tank for 7 days. It's short enough not to kill any established plants (they might look a bit stringy straight afterwards!) but you should have a nice clean tank afterwards! Just do a big water change afterwards to remove any dead stuff.

You need a full blackout, no lights, and completely cover the aquarium. Worked wonders for me on a problem tank I have years ago!
 
Malt_Vinegar said:
Have you tried a 7 day blackout? I found doing a proper manual clean, then just totally blackout the tank for 7 days. It's short enough not to kill any established plants (they might look a bit stringy straight afterwards!) but you should have a nice clean tank afterwards! Just do a big water change afterwards to remove any dead stuff.

You need a full blackout, no lights, and completely cover the aquarium. Worked wonders for me on a problem tank I have years ago!
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i've not gone the full 7 days no, did two separate 5 day full blackouts but may have to try a 7dayer :)
 
At 7 months you really need to be regularly dosing a planted tank with CO2. One thing to also consider is the fertilisers instructions often only cover a moderately planted tank with moderate light. With CO2 you may also need to dose more.

The evolution aqua product includes dosing instructions for low medium and high light tanks with CO2.

I’m also in Norfolk and do get green spot/dust algae flare ups from time to time, there might be something in the water. I tend to beat it with the approach I said.
 
Spec me a fish!

- Pretty to look at
- Easy to keep
- Blue and/or white
- 35l fresh water tropical tank
- Budget £50

Any suggestions for accompanying smaller fish, snails, bottom feeders etc also welcome.
 
Yes, a betta, a few amanno shrimp and you are done.

Pair of Rams could work or Apisto’s. You can also get blue endlers.

You could try cherry shrimp but the betta might hunt the babies or the adults. Really depends on the individual fish.

Most bottom feeders need a bigger tank or a group that wouldn’t fit in a 35L

You could get a few small plants to finish it off:
Anubias nana petite
Anubias banzai
Any buce species
Crypt parva
Dwarf hair grass or montecarlo if the fight is strong enough.
Larger crypts in the back?
 
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