Your current Fish tank Setups!

Cocky-Roach · 13 Oct 2011 at 06:18

crap pic taken with phone but you get the idea,

180L

2 parrot cichilds
and a few everyday gourami's, danios, tetras, cories and some kuhli loaches that we see once in a blue moon

1uke · 13 Oct 2011 at 07:03

arc@css said:
I used to feed mine once a day or sometimes once every other day. You won't lose any fish due to starvation, they need so little to thrive.

I have 2 Tetratec 1200s on my 250ltr tank which is being replaced very soon with a 450ltr tank.

From all the research I have done fish like to eat 3-4 times a day. But I give small amounts, Only what they will eat. I have done this for 7-8 years now my tanks always cycled nicely never had a problem and my fish have always grown very well etc. I will try find some stuff to prove what I have said if I get time later. I'd like to know how that other person knows how much fish eat in the wild? from what I could imagine they would be constantly searching/ eating food.... Thats what small brain animals normal do.

Minxy · 13 Oct 2011 at 07:25

ShadowMan said:
fish will eat as much as you give them. So if it goes in the tank they will eat it. They don't eat everyday in the wild and are happy not to. Oscars may need more due to size and behavior but not 3-4 per day. Honestly think you are overfeeding and a lot of waste going into you tank. How much are you overfiltering by? Oscars are notoriously messy at the best of times.

I'd agree with the above. Fish will take whatever it provided to them and feeding them a lot is just waste. I've never owned a tank of fish yet that will ignore food when it's put in. Obviously fry need to be fed more regularly. Some sites recommend that you only feed for 30 seconds, if they don't take it straight away then you stop feeding which sounds like a sensible theory.

http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/feedingfish/f/howmuchfood.htm

In nature fish eat whenever they are hungry and food is available. If food sources are plentiful, they will eat several times a day. On the other hand, if food sources are scarce, they might go for days between meals. For this reason, fish are very opportunistic and will eat whenever they have a chance. That means that if you offer them food, they will usually gobble it up even if they aren't starving.

dfarrall · 13 Oct 2011 at 07:56

What goes in must come out though, so either way the more you give the more waste and eventually nitrate youll be putting into your take.

You can get feeding blocks that last around 2 weeks, invest in one of those. Much cheaper than an automatic feeder.

ShadowMan · 13 Oct 2011 at 09:25

1uke said:
I have 2 Tetratec 1200s on my 250ltr tank which is being replaced very soon with a 450ltr tank.

From all the research I have done fish like to eat 3-4 times a day. But I give small amounts, Only what they will eat. I have done this for 7-8 years now my tanks always cycled nicely never had a problem and my fish have always grown very well etc. I will try find some stuff to prove what I have said if I get time later. I'd like to know how that other person knows how much fish eat in the wild? from what I could imagine they would be constantly searching/ eating food.... Thats what small brain animals normal do.

You are overfiltering by quite a bit with the 2 x 1200's so no wonder you dont see a lot of waste. I have to ask however. 7-8 years experience and yet you have put and Oscar in a tank with Discus, Small Plecs and a Betta? I know you said you put in what your son chooses but that seems a very bad idea to me.

The water chemistry required for those fish is so very different that some of them must not be in ideal conditions! Ignoring the fact your Oscar is going to soon become sole inhabitant when he grows up anyway.

I would love to have an Oscar tank but it would be a 5 foot minimum and his only friends would be plastic pipes glued to very heavy rocks or an armoured pleco.

All of the reading I have ever done on fish keeping says feed once per day maybe twice at most if doing very small amounts.

arc@css · 13 Oct 2011 at 10:47

1uke said:
I have 2 Tetratec 1200s on my 250ltr tank which is being replaced very soon with a 450ltr tank.

From all the research I have done fish like to eat 3-4 times a day. But I give small amounts, Only what they will eat. I have done this for 7-8 years now my tanks always cycled nicely never had a problem and my fish have always grown very well etc. I will try find some stuff to prove what I have said if I get time later. I'd like to know how that other person knows how much fish eat in the wild? from what I could imagine they would be constantly searching/ eating food.... Thats what small brain animals normal do.

I agree that there's nothing wrong with feeding fish regularly if done sensibly as in your case. In my fish keeping days there were also times when I fed more frequently than others as well. I think it tends to be a more of a pitfall for beginners, not experienced keepers such as you or myself.

King4aDay · 13 Oct 2011 at 12:47

As winter draws ever nearer (in Scotland anyway!), I thought I should take a few shot sof the rather nice light that diffuses into the tank in the mornings...

g_tripwood · 13 Oct 2011 at 12:50

Did have a 60L BiOrb but was a bit disappointed with it.

Plus the sheer size of the thing made it impractical in our house.

As we only have 2 fish, we've migrated back to a smaller tank and got rid of the Orb

arc@css · 13 Oct 2011 at 14:54

Very good pics, King4aDay, especially the first one.

1uke · 13 Oct 2011 at 19:06

Very nice pictures/tank King4aday!! I guess you inject co2? I did for a while but got bored with it and now seeing what I can get to survive on the liquid co2 stuff and having some good and bad results so far.

Tune · 13 Oct 2011 at 19:55

MadMacs said:

LOLLLL

Brookert · 13 Oct 2011 at 21:14

Will get some pics up of my tank when I've got the water crystal clear again.

anyone got any tips for getting water clarity back. I'm trying frequent little water changers at the moment for a green algae problem, as well as making sure minimal food is used for my fish, and light is restricted to 8 hours of light.

I cant vacuum the gravel as the tank is taller than it is wide (94 litres) with lots of plants. Thought of using a uv sterliser but cant afford it at the mo

Any ideas?

_Gizka_ · 13 Oct 2011 at 21:17

Brookert said:
Will get some pics up of my tank when I've got the water crystal clear again.

anyone got any tips for getting water clarity back. I'm trying frequent little water changers at the moment for a green algae problem, as well as making sure minimal food is used for my fish, and light is restricted to 8 hours of light.

I cant vacuum the gravel as the tank is taller than it is wide (94 litres) with lots of plants. Thought of using a uv sterliser but cant afford it at the mo

Any ideas?

Havent had any experience with removing algae (of any kind) but this might help:

http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm

Good luck

1uke · 13 Oct 2011 at 21:26

Have you changed your dosage of plant food or anything? I find if I dont feed the plants the same amounts regulary I get green algae outbreaks. I also use Seachem flourish excel which is a co2 supplement and has an anti algae supplement in it also. Or another possibilty is your fish tank near a window or in direct sunlight? That can also cause green algae.

Brookert · 13 Oct 2011 at 22:04

Don't feed the plants, they seem to be growing well without any fetiliser, one of them was only a quarter of the height of the tank, now its near the top!

Ive got 2 shrimp who constantly go through the detritus at the bottom, but I can't seem to get the water clear, slight tinge of green and cloudiness

Kristoph · 13 Oct 2011 at 22:12

I've been trying to get rid of cyanobacteria and have reduced food, dosed a liquid CO2 supplement (doubt its that effective) dosing nutrients and also dosing some potassium nitrate I made myself.
Also reducing the length of time I have the lights on.

Brookert · 13 Oct 2011 at 22:45

Kristoph said:
I've been trying to get rid of cyanobacteria and have reduced food, dosed a liquid CO2 supplement (doubt its that effective) dosing nutrients and also dosing some potassium nitrate I made myself.
Also reducing the length of time I have the lights on.

What length of time do you have your lights on? and whats the watts per litre of your tank.

I've got mine down but not got rid of them

ShadowMan · 13 Oct 2011 at 23:01

tried a fine wool in your filter to polish the water? Takes out more than you think it could. Most lfs's should be able to supply for your filter.

greengiant · 14 Oct 2011 at 20:28

My Juwel Rekord 700. Been up and running since August. Still only stocked with 4 Pentazona Barbs. Recently switched from pea gravel substrate to tesco play sand.

Hoping to get a few more fish next week, possibly a few Zebra Danios in there, and hopefully a couple of small catfish later on.

Brookert · 15 Oct 2011 at 14:56

Nice looking tank. Mine was also set up in august, but the water hasn't stayed so clear