Your current Fish tank Setups!

I run a sump in my tropical tank.
It means you can run all the filtration in the sump and some also run the heaters in there too the, makes the feature tank look much nicer.
Its also means you can have a much larger filter with more media :)
 
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andy_mk3 said:
Hey guys, I'm having an issue with algae in my tank lately. It got to the point where I had to take the fish out the tank, completely empty the tank, scrub all the glass down which was very green, clean all the bits in the tank and cleaned all the filter out, and changed about 75% of the water, this was also after 2 fish had died in that day. I tested the water before and everything was spot on.

Now it's been around 2 -3 weeks since I did that, and the glass is starting to get green again, and there's like hairy algae growing on things in the tank, getting it off is a nightmare as the paint seems to come off things if I scrub them too hard, and it's just growing like mad.

Any ideas on how to stop this? The tank has been set-up for about 18 months now and never had an issue like this. Will introducing live plants help at all?
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Whilst live plants might help, you need great flow, and adding of ferts to let them grow well :)

The best thing to do it clean like you did before, water-change again, then try a "blackout". I have done this to a tank I had an algea problem on before and it worked great!

Look it up, and you will see how good it can be.

In regards to the fish dying, get a water test kit. It's a good idea to know what you parameters are when setting up a tank, so you know what you are dealing with :)
 
JoeF1 said:
Im on day 4 now, 1 day old fish and the water is getting cloudy. Iv cleaned the filters etc.

Thanks.
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This might be a bloom, sounds like your filter is not mature enough to support your stocking level. Daily 50% water changes till the filter is stabilised. A week or so should get the filter up to a minimal level!

Also, only rinse the filter media (foamy stuff) in OLD tank water. Do not wash in fresh water ever. As this will put you back to step one.
 
JoeF1 said:
The fish are from petsathome and from the cold water section, i told the guy that its going to be cold water as im new to all this. I hope he hasnt advised me wrong. Everything was cleaned before going in, and the tank ran for 3 days which he advised me too.

To do this 50% water change, do i take out the fish until the temp sorts itself out? dont want it to be too cold for them. Sorry if thats a dumb question :p
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Leave the fish in, just make sure you get the water temps similar (stick dry fingers into both and get it close), and use the de-chlorinator before adding to the tank. A small change in temps +/-1 degree should not be too much of a shock for the fish :)

Platys are usually sometimes called "Sub-tropical" so can tolerate temps as low as 20degrees centegrade, but they will be happier in warmer water!
 
andy_mk3 said:
Thanks for your help. Looks like I'll have to give this blackout a try. And I have all the water test kit, everything was at the bottom of the scale, and I think pH was on 7.0. Not had any losses since, I guess Ill have to go for another full-bore clean! Only took me 6 hours last time! :(
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No worries, happy to help, also, if you can increase the flow/throughput of the tank too, that will help a lot with the algea problem usually. Remember, this is expecially important with planted tanks :)
 
I am fairly sure this i not against the rules, as I am not actually selling anything..

Does anyone want a beautiful breeding pair of Convict chichlids. Free to a good home. I am changing the direction of my tank, and these little guys do not fit into my plans. I get new batches of fry every 2-3 weeks almost without fail.

Collection only, from Guildford.

If you are interested, please let me know what tank you have and you current contents, dont want them going to somewhere not suitable :)
 
How many tropical guys run sumps?
It would be interesting if people can post up their tank sizes, stocks, filtration setups and maintenance regimes.

Tank
190litre trigon corner (+40 litre sump)
Sump is a triple layer trickle fed from a homemade overflow, with return pump (zero maintenance)
Fluval 205 (rinse sponges every 6 months in tank water)
Home made moving bed bottle type filter, powered by airstone (zero maintenance)
Temperature maintained at around 25-26 degrees.

Stock
3 clown loach
3 Brilliant Rasbora
3 Assorted rainbows
2 Convicts

In terms of maintenance, I add a watering can of treated water every month or so to cover evaporation from sump, I don't clean algea from the rear glass panels, just the front bowed glass, as this allows a healthy balance. It also provides grazing areas for the fish.

I didnt used to do any water tests once the tank was established and convicts were breeding happily, but I did last week out of curiosity with a new kit and as expected, all the parameters were perfect :)
 
Zatoichi.uK said:
I've had a 2nd fish appear to get dropsy. He's looking more bloated and some scales are sticking out, same as the last fish that died.

I've kept the tank very clean doing 25%-30% changes every 10 days for months now and the levels all seem fine. I'm not overfeeding, or at least I don't think I am. Small pinch for 4 gold/fancy fish.

I hope I don't have to get the clove oil out again. :(
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4 gold fish? How big is the tank? You would need somewhere in the region of a 300 litre tank for that number of fish.
 
Zatoichi.uK said:
It's 120l. I did the calculations at the time and 4 was fine. The two larger fish are around 5" and the two smaller are under 2" still. Will try and put a pic up later.

Here's the tank. I even uprated the filter to a fluval external one good for up to 200l.
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According to even the stingiest recommendations for goldfish that tank is just about big enough for 1 fancy goldfish.

That's the reason most people keep goldfish in ponds and go for tropical or marine fish for indoors.

External filter is no bad thing, it will help keep the water clean at least, but its the "swimmable" size that is the real problem :(
 
I am hoping to use some of your collective experience here OcUK peeps..
I have ordered some marimo balls for my desk at work, I intended to put them into a small filtered tank, of around 1-2 litres.
I was hoping for a tall/square sectioned tank with a small filter to keep water moving. The end goal would be to add at the most 2 shrimp if the water quality was suitable after a few weeks.
However, I am coming up very short on finding a suitable tank. If you have seen anything that might suit, and can point me towards it, that would be great!

I want something on my desk that does not look like a square blob fish tank, but almost a decorative vase, but with a hidden filter.

The closest I have come so far is a small battery powered "fake jellyfish" type thing.
 
Admiral Huddy said:
That's a gorgeous set up mate..


I was wondering if I could ask a question.. I bought some new plants about 3 months ago.. and I've had a bloom of snails.. just can't defeat them. I've tried a water change and used a lettuce leaf to help collect them. I thought I had won at one stage but i've noticed hundreds of tiny ones last night.. I'm restricting fish feeding .. Any suggestions?
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Copper based treatment, if you want a sledgehammer approach. They will all die within minutes. But this could render you tank forever incapable of holding snails/shrimps/etc. But it will work, just make sure you remove all the dead ones afterwards. I did this to a few small betta tanks a few years ago, and it was mental how fast they all just keeled over within seconds. Just check your existing fish species for copper medication tolerance.

Natural method would be to get a botia loach of some kind. They will have a lovely time munching away on them.

Or, just continually remove them manually, every day for a few weeks, you should get close in the end. However, they will come back slowly each time. So personally, I would go manual and then once down to almost none, add a botia loach as a permanent resident to keep on top of them. Oh, and reduce how much you feed forever, not just temporarily. Most people seem to really over-feed fish, and this causes so many problems. I am down to 2 - 3 small feeds a week in my main tank, with regular no feed weeks inbetween.
 
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I found them to a bit too slow in bringing down the population, they were breeding faster than the assassins could eat them. Still, as a control method once you have the population under control, should work well enough :)
 
zootfloot said:
My first foray into fish keeping.

My girlfriend bought me everything you see here (Tank, stand, heater, filter, substrate, plant, drift wood and 5 x neon Tetras) for £20.00!

One of the Neons is really docile compared to the other 4, he just seems to bob about whereas the other 4 are settling in quite nicely, im thinking he just hasn't taken to the water very well....any ideas?
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Neons are a terrible fish for a new tank. They require an aged system to live well. I suspect you will lose most of them. Especially if you did not run a Cycle of some kind before adding any fish.

Neons really need a tank over 6 months old to be happy and live well.

If you are going to do a fish in cycle, then you should use a much hardier fish like a danio, and use a test kit/regular water changes to keep the fish safe untill things are settled.

You should try and get some established filter media asap from a friend, or LFS (local fish shop)to aid the cycle and try to save the fish. Any LFS that advises Neons for a new tank is worth avoiding in future when it comes to advice.

Also, do a 50% (treated water) water change then bring feeding down to once every couple of days, and only what they eat in a couple of minutes, and remove any un-eaten with a net. This should help keep the bio load down. Fish do no need regular feeding, and will survive quite happily on this little amount of food.

Keep testing the water daily and do water changes to suit.
 
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I never use flake. I use Hikari cichlid pellets for the main food, and supplement with frozen tropical quintet, and some sinking pellets.
I also lob in a few daddy long legs, or insects I find when near the tank. My Rasboras and Rainbow fish love them!
 
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