Your current Fish tank Setups!

anyone interested in anything to do with marine fish, ive got a load of stuff left from my tank (a whole set up to be honest nearly) which needs flogging. (tank/light / filter/ RO unit) etc
 
Recently got a tank and decided to go heavily planted. Can anyone recommend a decent way of keeping the glass clean? Not sure what is likely to scratch it.

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If you're putting fish in there, then your answer is otocinclus. They'll want an established tank though as they can be sensitive little critters. I got 4, lost 1, but the other 3 are still going strong many months on, and my tank looks spotless. If you get some amano shrimp too then they'll help with algae on plants/substrate.

That said, the real challenge is in getting the tank balanced well enough that cleaning isn't required ;).
 
Phoenix211 said:
Thanks guys. Might pop St Alban's brach of Maidenhead Aquatics on Saturday to have a look. How long would you need to cycle the tank (say a 125l), from purchase, about 2 - 4 weeks before transfering the fish?
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Don't know what your level of knowledge on fish-keeping is, do you know what a "cycle" actually is?
A lot of people think it's just running the tank without stock for a few days or weeks then dumping the fish in, often to their untimely death!
Size of tank isn't that important; it's just done on a different scale. Generally though, a proper cycle can be 2-4 weeks unless you can put mature media in the filter straight away, eliminating the need for a cycle.
Pretty much all you need to know regarding cycling here

Before you get your new stock, certain species are quite sensitive and shouldn't be added to a brand new tank.
 
Looking forward to doing this again, it's been three years or more since I packed it up, though I thought it always would be temporary - I just didn't think it would be for that length of time!

Next step, plenty of sand and wash wash, and wash! I want an 'even' deeper level of substrate this time.
 
SmallestFrog said:
Recently got a tank and decided to go heavily planted. Can anyone recommend a decent way of keeping the glass clean? Not sure what is likely to scratch it.
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Very nice :cool:

Are you using Co2 or liquid carbon & what ferts do you use?

Just started a heavily planted tank myself, although its still very new the plants are growing very well and I can see a difference every day.
 
Euro_Hunter said:
Very nice :cool:

Are you using Co2 or liquid carbon & what ferts do you use?

Just started a heavily planted tank myself, although its still very new the plants are growing very well and I can see a difference every day.
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Thank you! :D
I'm currently trialling a variety of methods, to see which is best. At the moment, I use Liquid Carbon - Aqua Essentials own brand one. And just today started adding Tetra Plantamin (possibly the most stupid name of any product I've ever bought).

I've read in a few places that provided I don't over-dose with the ferts and carbon I can also add CO2, so I do have a Hagen semi-DIY CO2 system on the way.

I'm also going to be culturing some Daphnia soon-ish, once I get a decent small tank and air pump. Absolutely loving this hobby!
 
Guys got a bit of a problem. I have a coolie loach. That for the last 4 days have been above the sand in my tank, been lying on his back or side. certainly not his normal behavior as normally (i have 2) they are mostly under the sand.

Is he on his way out and is there anything I can do for him.

I keep a clean tank, regular filter/water changes etc. Had him for about 8 months (both of them) and now this one is showing problems.


Thanks
 
Magic_x_uk said:
Guys got a bit of a problem. I have a coolie loach. That for the last 4 days have been above the sand in my tank, been lying on his back or side. certainly not his normal behavior as normally (i have 2) they are mostly under the sand.

Is he on his way out and is there anything I can do for him.

I keep a clean tank, regular filter/water changes etc. Had him for about 8 months (both of them) and now this one is showing problems.


Thanks
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Sounds like swim bladder disease, but those symptoms with fish really can be anything. I'd say get some swim bladder disease treatment pronto and try it. To be honest though I had the exact same problem about a week ago with one of my coldwater goldfish, he started out sitting on the bottom and then got slightly bendier and bendier until a week later, and £10's worth of treatment, he died. :( He was 6 years old.

On another note;

Got my new tank installed! I'm off to America for 4 weeks in a few days though so I'm just going to clean it up and then start cycling when I get home, aiming to put the new inhabitants in around Christmas time.

The tank is a Rio 180 with cabinet, bought second hand for £90!! I'm going to get a Aqua Maniac 3d background, Tetra Tec Ex1200 external filter, and a Hydor external heater, plus black gravel substrate. A lot of stuff yet to buy.

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sorry I never post here I just rewad and try convince my wife to let me own fish, but has anyone been watching the program about fish tanks on nat geo?
 
gort said:
Don't know what your level of knowledge on fish-keeping is, do you know what a "cycle" actually is?
A lot of people think it's just running the tank without stock for a few days or weeks then dumping the fish in, often to their untimely death!
Size of tank isn't that important; it's just done on a different scale. Generally though, a proper cycle can be 2-4 weeks unless you can put mature media in the filter straight away, eliminating the need for a cycle.
Pretty much all you need to know regarding cycling here

Before you get your new stock, certain species are quite sensitive and shouldn't be added to a brand new tank.
Click to expand...

Yeah know all about cycling. Read a huuuge amount plus had the biorb for 2 1/2 years with just the my neon tetras being an issue in it (they lasted a year and then all died off, but that tank was awful for filtration).

Have the new tank now though, a Vision 180. Going for a fish cycle, whilst adding bacteria in a bottle. Got my old flame tetra and 2 sword tails in there and they seem quite happy. No eratic behaviour or heavy breathing/top breathing/ red gills. No ammonia buildup, nitrite is pretty damn low and the nitrate is starting to come up so it's due a water change tomorrow evening. Have a UV filter now as well just incase I get the green water the biorb used to suffer from, plus it gets rid of all the nasties in the water apparently. Need a few more plants in it though as looking a bit bare. At what number do I need to think about co2 etc?
 
I have setup 2 more tanks recently.

The first being my old D&D 24g Nano which had previously been setup as a reef tank but has been closed down for almost a year and just gathering dust in my shed, so I decided to set it up as a home for some of my shell dwellers.

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The second is an upgrade/makeover from a 60l community tank I had, the tank is a Juwel Rio 125 and this time I decided to go for a heavily planted jungle look.

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Phoenix211 said:
possibly needs a few more plants, + get rid of the 2 rubbish ones the LFS sold me. Still cycling atm so will stock up in about 2 weeks.[/URL]
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Getting more plants should help a little bit with the cycling as I can see you are doing a fish-in cycle. One recommendation though: google any plant you want before you buy it. Almost every LFS, big brand or small family shop, sells some plants that aren't aquatic and will just foul your water and make things worse.
 
I have been out of fish keeping for about 5 or so years. I used to have several fresh water tropical tanks. So I am a bit out of touch but do have past experience.

I am interested in a nano or small reef tanks but this would be in my garden office. The office is well insulated but even so temperature can fluctuate quite a bit. How good are these nano marine setups in terms of temperature control? Would they cope?

I could go bigger than nano, I guess up to about 70l without too much bother.

I do have heating in the office with a timer and thermostat so could regulate room temp better than I currently do.

I fancy live rock and corals and may be a couple of fish.

Any thoughts? :)
 
I have had a tank for a while, gone through a few changes. Went for an egyptian theme but our Plec keeps on destroying and moving everything. Will have to wait for him to pass on before we can make the tank beautiful again! Swine he is!
 
SmallestFrog said:
Getting more plants should help a little bit with the cycling as I can see you are doing a fish-in cycle. One recommendation though: google any plant you want before you buy it. Almost every LFS, big brand or small family shop, sells some plants that aren't aquatic and will just foul your water and make things worse.
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Yeah just 2 or 3 I think. All the plants should be ok, I asked them for hardy ones that are aquatic. However, the first lot we got from a different LFS to the second. The second lots of plants look a lot better and have no brown leaves (basically the one in the centre of the pic, behind the bog wood). Thats the only one I'm worried about, although it is growing just with purple leaves :confused:
 
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120 litre tank running Interpet PF3 and Fluval U3 filters. Two baby Oranda and two baby Black Moors. May increase tank size as they get older. They're awesome :)
 
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