Soldato
- Joined
- 13 Jun 2011
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- 6,053
I use Korallen coral snow and zeobak, works a treat
Thanks spook. Will have a read
Your current Fish tank Setups!
- Thread starter Malt_Vinegar
- Start date
Thanks spook. Will have a read
Ok thanks.
after you have rinsed them off, soak them in some dechlorinated water use whatever you have for doing water changes for about 30- 45 mins mine came up great posted about it here a while back.
https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/posts/32464149
So after a 25% water change yesterday I have water levels 0.50ppm Ammonia, 0ppm Nitrite & 20ppm Nitrate.
Not the worst they've been but I find this frustrating that almost 2 months on I'm still battling Ammonia in particular it seems.
Not the worst they've been but I find this frustrating that almost 2 months on I'm still battling Ammonia in particular it seems.
Man of Honour
- Joined
- 11 Dec 2002
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- 10,872
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- Darkest Norfolk
what are people using for sinking tablets - i've been using JBL NovoTab for my loach and julii cory but the latest batch is clouding the water like mad 
I use all sorts but I tend to avoid the tabs, I tend to stick to granular type foods for the sinking stuff. I have these at the moment, both seem fine and the fish year it. They seem to go mad for the bug bites though.
Fluval Bug bites
Hikari vibra bites
Fluval Bug bites
Hikari vibra bites
got my new tank set up for 2 days now noticed a white thin film on top of the water protean layer possibly ? everythings in bog wood plants fish, new sand substrate using a mature external filter that's been in continual use for 4 years, plus all the water from the temp tank i was using.
what's the best way too get rid of it could buy something like a surface skimmer ? have got a air pump / stone but it's noisy.
what's the best way too get rid of it could buy something like a surface skimmer ? have got a air pump / stone but it's noisy.
Last edited:
Soldato
- Joined
- 13 Jun 2011
- Posts
- 6,053
Best way to get rid of that is to place a bit of kitchen roll on the surface and then rrmove it after a couple of seconds. Sounds like it wont work but it does trust me
Could be a film from anything, cleaning products local pollution etc etc.
Could be a film from anything, cleaning products local pollution etc etc.
Nice looking tank!
So first bits of good news with this tank, leak seems to have been sorted. It's right at the top, so if I keep the water line below we're okay' ish.
Even better I've done no water changes for a week and have checked my levels and I believe I'm finally cycled!
PH - 7.0, Ammonia - 0.50ppm, Nitrite - 0ppm, Nitrate - 20ppm. I'm thinking of doing just a 25% water change and seeing where I am next week. But I'm pretty pleased with the result.
Can't wait to get a bigger tank though some of the penguin tetra are getting pretty big and feisty and while they're plain looking they're fun to watch, I'd like to keep them.
I think one of the female's maybe about to lay eggs though
So first bits of good news with this tank, leak seems to have been sorted. It's right at the top, so if I keep the water line below we're okay' ish.
Even better I've done no water changes for a week and have checked my levels and I believe I'm finally cycled!
PH - 7.0, Ammonia - 0.50ppm, Nitrite - 0ppm, Nitrate - 20ppm. I'm thinking of doing just a 25% water change and seeing where I am next week. But I'm pretty pleased with the result.
Can't wait to get a bigger tank though some of the penguin tetra are getting pretty big and feisty and while they're plain looking they're fun to watch, I'd like to keep them.
I think one of the female's maybe about to lay eggs though
Good news on the tank!
They scatter their eggs iirc, there is a very small chance anything will happen in a home aquarium not set up for breeding. Eggs will get eaten in seconds.
That film is normally protein, strong surface agitation, Air stones or surface skimmers will keep it at bay.
They scatter their eggs iirc, there is a very small chance anything will happen in a home aquarium not set up for breeding. Eggs will get eaten in seconds.
That film is normally protein, strong surface agitation, Air stones or surface skimmers will keep it at bay.
Hi guys, looking for a bit of advice on what I believe is brown algae. It's taking over my cold water tank.
It's not a big tank, 65l with 3 small fancy goldfish. I used to have a couple of java ferns and an amazon sword but these got completely covered by the algae and as such, had to be thrown away.
I've been battling with it for about 6 months, 6 weeks ago I drained 90% of the water and cleaned the gravel as best as I could but it's back with a vengence. After doing some reading, I increased the lighting to 10 hours a day (full spectrum LED) and have upped my water changes and filter cleaning. I'm changing 10l of water every week and filter cleaning every 2 weeks but it doesn't seem to be improving.
I've read it can be toxic in some cases but the fish seem to like it, apart from it looking unsightly.
Any ideas?
It's not a big tank, 65l with 3 small fancy goldfish. I used to have a couple of java ferns and an amazon sword but these got completely covered by the algae and as such, had to be thrown away.
I've been battling with it for about 6 months, 6 weeks ago I drained 90% of the water and cleaned the gravel as best as I could but it's back with a vengence. After doing some reading, I increased the lighting to 10 hours a day (full spectrum LED) and have upped my water changes and filter cleaning. I'm changing 10l of water every week and filter cleaning every 2 weeks but it doesn't seem to be improving.
I've read it can be toxic in some cases but the fish seem to like it, apart from it looking unsightly.
Any ideas?
Algae is caused by having an imbalance between light, nutrients and CO2. I think what you have going on is a bit of a perfect storm to be honest on those elements.
10 hours of light is too much, if you don't have plants now drop it down to 6 or less and dim the light if you can. The fish don't really need it, its more for your pleasure.
You are also not changing anywhere near enough water, 15% a week on a small tank with gold fish in it just simply not enough. The water will have loads of waste organics (nutrients) in it from the fish and the algae will be feeding off it.
I think you have too much fish for that volume of water. The general rule for fancy goldfish is at least 60L per fish and a minimum tank size of 100L, so 3 fish = 180L tank. The fish should get big, like the size of your hand plus fingers and live for the best part of a decade if they are being looked after correctly. They also need a lot of food and poop a lot, hence the tank size needed.
You can do a blackout to try and get rid of the algae, turn off the lights and put some thick blankets over it and no peeking for at least 3 days. Not even to feed the fish.
10 hours of light is too much, if you don't have plants now drop it down to 6 or less and dim the light if you can. The fish don't really need it, its more for your pleasure.
You are also not changing anywhere near enough water, 15% a week on a small tank with gold fish in it just simply not enough. The water will have loads of waste organics (nutrients) in it from the fish and the algae will be feeding off it.
I think you have too much fish for that volume of water. The general rule for fancy goldfish is at least 60L per fish and a minimum tank size of 100L, so 3 fish = 180L tank. The fish should get big, like the size of your hand plus fingers and live for the best part of a decade if they are being looked after correctly. They also need a lot of food and poop a lot, hence the tank size needed.
You can do a blackout to try and get rid of the algae, turn off the lights and put some thick blankets over it and no peeking for at least 3 days. Not even to feed the fish.
Thanks Luke, appreciate the comments.
I agree about the tank size, I would love a bigger tank but it hasn't been feasible in the past. Until last year I'd only had 2 goldfish, the 3rd was a request by my son. The other 2 are probably 15 years old so haven't done too bad. I've always tried to offset the small tank by using a bigger filter, live plants and what I thought were regular water changes. What would you recommend, 25% weeky?
I was under the impression that reducing light would help to combat the algae but after reading quite a bit about it, there were several sources that recommended the opposite and actually increase the light.
I'll cover the tank for a few days and plan to increase the water changes in the short term, and plan for a bigger tank in the future.
I agree about the tank size, I would love a bigger tank but it hasn't been feasible in the past. Until last year I'd only had 2 goldfish, the 3rd was a request by my son. The other 2 are probably 15 years old so haven't done too bad. I've always tried to offset the small tank by using a bigger filter, live plants and what I thought were regular water changes. What would you recommend, 25% weeky?
I was under the impression that reducing light would help to combat the algae but after reading quite a bit about it, there were several sources that recommended the opposite and actually increase the light.
I'll cover the tank for a few days and plan to increase the water changes in the short term, and plan for a bigger tank in the future.
^^I would expect goldfish to eat any snails or at least try.
How old is the tank? As nasher said it does normally go away on its own if it’s diatoms. It could be some other form of algae though.
A big filter doesn’t really help with the dilution of waste, there is no real substitute for water water volume.
Regarding the light, your right you can help battle algae but only when a lack of light is causing poor plant growth. For tanks that don’t have plants then really you want to be putting as little light on the tank as possible.
You can normally fix most algae issues with water changes in tanks without plants so I would start there. 50% will be a good start until it’s under control, you can then tweak it once it’s under control.
How old is the tank? As nasher said it does normally go away on its own if it’s diatoms. It could be some other form of algae though.
A big filter doesn’t really help with the dilution of waste, there is no real substitute for water water volume.
Regarding the light, your right you can help battle algae but only when a lack of light is causing poor plant growth. For tanks that don’t have plants then really you want to be putting as little light on the tank as possible.
You can normally fix most algae issues with water changes in tanks without plants so I would start there. 50% will be a good start until it’s under control, you can then tweak it once it’s under control.