Your current Fish tank Setups!

[JoeF1]

If the people at the pet store were helpful they would have advised you not to put fish in your tank straight away. It is best to leave the tank running for at least a few weeks to build up the bacteria to ensure a healthy tank before adding fish.

The cloudy water is most likely caused by the new stones in your tank, this will clear over time with water changes.

The fish you have look like platies from the picture which are meant for tropical tanks as far as i was aware.

The tank you have purchased is meant to drip down, as long as the tank isn't overstocked it will be fine.

My advise would be to get a small heater if they are Platies and hope for the best or even better return the fish if possible and let the tank cycle for a few weeks + read up on what is suitable for your tank.

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.

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.

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

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

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

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!

 

[JoeF1]

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!

Legend, will do it now!

Thanks again, will let you know how it goes.

 

[andy_mk3]

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

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!

 

[utajoker]

after moving house just before christmas ive moved over my first tank at the weekend.

need to get the scraper in and get the coraline off the glass.

not looking forward to moving my 125L reef setup over here tho.

unfortunately both tanks have been neglected as ive been so busy moving.

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

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!

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

 

[andy_mk3]

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

My filter is a Fluval U4 which is rated for aquariums 130-240L, and mine is approximately 110L so it should be doing ok there, I have changed it to the 'jet' output at the top with the bubbles to and it seems to have stopped it getting any worse. I'll give it another clean and see how it goes

 

[King4aDay]

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!

I would thoroughly recommend getting some floating plants. These will slow down algae by reducing the amount of light entering the tank and are very efficient at using up excess nutrients because they aren't CO2 limited like submerged plants (this will also improve water quality for your fish, so hopefully reducing the likelihood of you losing any more). Reducing your lighting period will also help. You could also try stocking some otocinclus and Amano shrimp which will eat some types of algae.

If you like I can send you some Amazon frogbit and red-rooted floater to get you started, just drop me your address to my hotmail email (in trust).

 

[andy_mk3]

I would thoroughly recommend getting some floating plants. These will slow down algae by reducing the amount of light entering the tank and are very efficient at using up excess nutrients because they aren't CO2 limited like submerged plants (this will also improve water quality for your fish, so hopefully reducing the likelihood of you losing any more). Reducing your lighting period will also help. You could also try stocking some otocinclus and Amano shrimp which will eat some types of algae.

If you like I can send you some Amazon frogbit and red-rooted floater to get you started, just drop me your address to my hotmail email (in trust).

That sounds great The light is currently on from about 4pm to 12.30am, although once I go back to work it will be 6pm till 12am I should think.

Not sure about the shrimp as I think the bigger fish may eat them!

Here's the best pic I can get of what's growing:

 

[utajoker]

if it is just growing on the ornaments take them out scrub them and boil them.

 

[King4aDay]

Yeah, that's black brush algae, plus brown diatoms and green dust algae. Otos/Amanos would definitely alleviate the latter two a bit, but the BBA you'll have to remove manually. Amanos might be OK in there if you can find some that are reasonably big. I think 'true' Siamese algae eaters will eat BBA, but haven't kept them myself.

I'll send you some floaters and some easy to grow fern trimmings which should help, but you might find the BBA just keeps coming back if you don't reduce the amount/duration of light. Don't know what lights you're running, but could you perhaps remove a bulb if there's more than one?

 

[andy_mk3]

You certainly know your algae

The tank has 2 bulbs but they're on separate switches so I'll knock one off.

I'll trust you my address now

 

[Colbaker]

Want some advise please peep's.

Currently got a 180 Litre tank fully cycled and settled for a few years now, Stock is pretty low and i want rid of tank to free up some space for a while, i do have a spare 48 liter tank and a spare 10 liter tank in my loft.

What i am thinking of doing is putting the fish into the 48 Liter tank (as said stock levels are now low enough not to be an issue) and was thinking of using the 10 liter tank as an external filter using the old fully cycled media from the 180 liter tank, Obviously i would need a pump to transfer the water from 48 liter tank to filter tank but how should i set up the filter tank?

Is it good enough just to submerge the pump and place all the cycled media into the 10 liter tank or should i get some sort of direction flow going? i.e so the water has to actually flow through the media before going back into the main tank?

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

knowledge

On all things algea/planted related, King4aDay is much more experienced that me!! Sometimes this forum makes me feel all warm and fuzzy!

 

[Makhaira]

Yeah, that's black brush algae, plus brown diatoms and green dust algae. Otos/Amanos would definitely alleviate the latter two a bit, but the BBA you'll have to remove manually. Amanos might be OK in there if you can find some that are reasonably big. I think 'true' Siamese algae eaters will eat BBA, but haven't kept them myself.

I'll send you some floaters and some easy to grow fern trimmings which should help, but you might find the BBA just keeps coming back if you don't reduce the amount/duration of light. Don't know what lights you're running, but could you perhaps remove a bulb if there's more than one?

Yup, SAE's (TRUE flying fox) will eat BBA.

BBA is down to either poor flow, or not enough CO2/too much light.

 

[King4aDay]

Yup, SAE's (TRUE flying fox) will eat BBA.

BBA is down to either poor flow, or not enough CO2/too much light.

Yup (also unstable/fluctuating CO2). In an unplanted tank reducing your lighting is the only option really.

 

[famas]

Right got the sand and water added.

A few days later I found a really nice bit of bog wood, not 100% sure what wood it is. Can any one tell from the picture?
I didnt have any where to soak the wood so just washed it and put it straight into the tank. I knew it was going to leach tannins but after only an hour i could see the stuff literally pouring out of the wood. I'm not too bothered as i'm going for a natural look but hope it clears up a bit.

I'm going to leave the tank like this for about 3 weeks to let as much tannin out as possible then do a 75% water change and start the filters.

I'm going to "fish free cycle" the tank but not sure whats best to use as an ammonia source. I've seen loads of products that you use at the same time as adding fish but thats not what i'm after.

Can any one recommend something?
I've seen people use kleen household ammonia as a ammonia source so might go for that but its all a bit vague as to how much to use and how? Any one ever "fish free cycled" there tank with this stuff?

lastly all the switches for my lights, air pump, etc are inside the cupboard and its a pain having to reach down and turn them on/off every day. I was going to get some socket timers, does any one use them or know of a specific socket for this kind of thing?

cheers guys.

 

[Makhaira]

Start the filters up now, the tannins won't do them any harm at all, and whatever chemical filtration you have in the filter will assist in disposing of the tannins.

You can use pretty much anything as an ammonia source. A lump of fish food, half a frozen prawn, anything like that. A lot of the time you don't even have to add anything - there's enough natural organic matter in the tank that it will rot and produce ammonia naturally.

Any old socket timer will do, I personally like the mechanical ones since they're easier to faff with in a cupboard.

Also, if you're purely using sand in there, I'd get some Malaysian Trumpet Snails to ensure that the sand is turned over regularly and you don't get any toxic areas developing.

 

[utajoker]

You can use pee for ammonia. It's free!

As for timers. Just get the cheap ones from tesco.

 

[famas]

cheers for the info guys, i'll look into the snails.

Just been doing a bit of reading on lighting and planted tanks and i'm not sure if I might need an upgrade.

I'm going for a fairly heavily planted tank and not sure if my lights will be sufficient.
Currently running two 40w t-8 fluorescent tubes. seems these are old hat now and t-5 have taken over as the norm.
Is it worth looking into upgrading or will the t-8's be ok?
Did a quick search and it seems it will cost between £80-100 for a similar set up in t-5's
A cost I could probably do without.