New aquarium diary

ds1980

Posted back in January as just set up a new tank got lots of good advice but there seemed to be a lot of contradiction also. I also got somewhat slated for buyign my inital fish from Pets at Home (PAH) which I was actually quite impressed with.

Anyway wanted to start a diary for anyone that has just started to give them any clues and ideas as there is a lot of info to take in.

Started with the initial tank set up as instructed with most tanks. Mine has real plants and smallish gravel.

"Cycled" the water for about 1 week some people had suggested a lot longer....1 month perhaps....but i chose to start slowly and just introduce a few fish at a time. PAH tested my water they said it was ok so i bought 6 x platies. £2.50 each i think. I thought that was quite expensive for little fish.

One was pregnant when we put her in and she had some fry within a week. Think about 8 have 3 left. Not bothered with a breeding tank so theybe just been left to fend for themselves. I think another is pregant so will see how many she has.

Today i went past an aquatics place so poppped in to have a look and fancied that it had been long enough to get some more (about 1 month). Dont really know why but i bought 6 x serpae tetra's (i think??? forgot when i left the shop!!) and 2 x golden sucking loach. All seem happy will update as we go. Would be interested to see if these are suitable my research before said that they should be. Think the tetra's need to be in groups but not sure about the loaches.

Things ive learned.

Be careful with the plants as ive got loads of snails and keep having to get rid of them think the eggs must have been on the plants?

dont feed too much.

i have nt cleaned my tank yet. i am told i am meant to do water changes often as well as changing the filters in the water pump but i havent so we will see how we go. Have just given the side a little scrub. the bottom of the tank is getting a little grubby but all in all not too bad.

I am no expert so can only go on my own experience but what i thought was going to become a long a tedious hobby i have found takes up very little time really. I have had no problems that i can see wiht any of the fish yet.

spankymonkey_2

i was told that the filter has to be cleaned when its been in the tank around 3 months,due to the fact it has to make bacteria from the poo!
the filter i have has charcoal in the centre i was told to change this in 3 months time and if the foam of the filter is really dirty rinse it out in a container of tank water. later on cut the foam in half and only replace half of it, the tank will not have to produce lots of bacteria to compensate for what you have taken out.

Froglet

So you haven't tested the water for ammonia and nitrite spikes? You haven't done weekly water changes and gravel cleaning.?Y ou haven't rinsed out the filter material?

The first few weeks of a tank becoming mature are THE most important and the above are the most basic of requirements.So no,you haven't been given good advice at all.The fish may not show signs of sickness yet but they will,believe me unless you start following basic and important maintenance.

As i said to you last month,i believe,please get proper advice from people who know their stuff.


http://forum.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/ everything you need to know is here.

ds1980

maybe you misunderstood?

I took on board all that good advice but i am choosing to ignore most of it. The fish are happy it seems so why would i waste my time?

The adding of the two sucking loaches has made an immediate impact the sides of the tank and gravel were starting to get a lot of brown residue. Overnight a lot has dissapeared.

I am planning on doing my first water change but not until i think the tank and water looks dirty and at present it doesn't so i will leave it. THe tank has been going a month without anything. Surely if there was a problem the babies would have died long ago? There still swimming and growing. If its not broken dont fix it.

I am not advocating any advice just relaying my own experiences (which is very little) if anything changes i will let people know. i havent needed to do anything yet. I would attend more to it if i had the time but i dont.

I have only been feeding the fish flake food is their anything cheap and simple i could use to go along side it perhaps once or twice a week.

ailuro2

ds1980 wrote: »

maybe you misunderstood?

I took on board all that good advice but i am choosing to ignore most of it. The fish are happy it seems so why would i waste my time?

Please folks, don't feed the troll.:(

Froglet

Troll or not,Ailuro,it is quite common for people to think fish are an easy pet,and that all they need is a bowl and water :mad: if she hasn't the time or inclination to look after them properly then why bother in the first place.And as for,"yes i know the advice,i just choose to ignore it",do you really think i am being wound up here?

I do hope so, i would hate to think of anyone being THAT uncaring and obstinate.

~Chameleon~

ds1980 wrote: »

maybe you misunderstood?

I took on board all that good advice but i am choosing to ignore most of it. The fish are happy it seems so why would i waste my time?

How do you know you're fish are healthy unless you regularly test your water? By the time they start exhibiting signs of ill-health the damage is already done and they would have been in severe pain and discomfort for some time prior to this.

Do you realise that they can suffer burnt gills from raised levels of ammonia and nitrites? It also causes severe stress to the fish which can then cause fungal infections of the skin.

You really don't deserve to be keeping fish unless you commit to caring for them properly which includes monitoring water chemistry, doing frequent 25-30% water changes and rinsing the filters (in a bucket of the removed tank water so as to maintain friendly bacteria) ... these are the very basic requirements!!

It is my guess that you'll be back here in a week or two complaining your poor fish have keeled over and died and then blame PAH for providing you with poor quality fish!!


**Yes, I know PAH fish are often of substandard quality but not all their fish die and some deaths have to be attributable to poor standards of husbandry by the owner.

Fire_Fox

Blatent troll, any idiot knows health is not defined by whether an animal is dead or not.

faded_flowers

ds1980 wrote: »

I am planning on doing my first water change but not until i think the tank and water looks dirty and at present it doesn't so i will leave it.

You can't SEE ammonia and nitrite in your water, that doesn't change the fact that they're there poisoning/burning/suffocating your fish.

A weekly 10-15% water change takes about 10 minutes.

Idiot.

eklynne

Never had problems with Pets at Home. We got our two Oscars there 4 years ago and they're fit as fiddles!

ds1980

Woah! You guys have got far too much time on your hands and i'm now cruel to animals? We have chickens, fish, birds, cats, dogs, etc etc they all get treated very well thank you but at the end of the day they are pets. I have no affinity to any of them but that doesn't mean they get neglected or mistreated they have a better life than most animals would. I'm sure you all buy organic food and are thoroughbred vegans!

Look this is a money saving website. I'm just trying to put the point across that it doesn't have to be as expensive or time consuming as people make out.

I have no idea but going on what recommendations are suggesting but a rough estimate i could be looking at the following. Filters every week = £5-10, testing kit = £20 each, water additives £5-10 a month, etc etc. Lets put this into perspective, would i rather fork out for these "pointless" gimics or perhaps put this money towards people in Haiti or Cancer Research?

Time is money for me so the less i can spend on the pointless bits the better. When someone can prove to me theyre not pointless then ill let you know. The fish are fine and will always be fine. If things change i'll be the first to let you all know.

The next thing you'll be telling me is to get a testing kit for the pond!!

Move on guys you'll feel better for it.

diary update

new fish doing well 2 babies gone but 1 left doing well and getting bigger. Not sure they will last though. Am going to leave them alone for another month or so before thinking about the next fish. Think i only have room for 6-8 more?