New aquarium diary

Gingham_Ribbon

Abcynthia wrote: »

Its definitely a sucking loach I aquired then. Hes fully mature, but lives with my salvini cichlids and my synodontis so Im not worried about him being a bully.And he definitely didnt deserve the flushing that was threatened.

I think that sums it up. Angels have a bad reputation, but people will insist on trying to keep them with neon tetras! :eek: Given that's what they eat in the wild, it's not surprising the tank becomes a war zone! Keep fish with the right tank mates and the hobby is instantly that bit easier and more pleasant for us and our pets!

DKLS

Gingham, are there any good LFS in Leeds these days?

I drove past 'dying world' the other day and was horrified to see it is still open.

I normally use Tingley Tropicals, as their fish, knowledge and customer service are excellent. They dont have a huge choice of fish but they usually have something in to tempt me.

I note you like plecs, I would love to set up another south american tank when I next move house and stock it with a herd of vampire plecs and a large shoal of neons. There will be no angels in there, as you mention there isnt anything angelic about angel fish.

Careful_with_that_Axe

Gingham. that's a good suggestion about me doing my own diary but (in that over-used phrase) I'm dealing with some stuff at the mo and haven't got the brain power, but when things settlke down I may do. am very much an amateur and only have Gupys, Rasbowotsits and cloud minnows though.

About the testing kits - I've just used the last of the one that was given to me with aquarium - they are about £30 in PAH - is there somewhere else I can get em cheaper? Ebay seller who is reliable?

Guppys disrupting tank at the mo with rearranging the plants bbut that's not a major prob.

Gingham_Ribbon

DKLS, there are 2 absolutely fantastic shops I can recommend but they're a bit of a drive away for you. If you take a pack-up bag or some polystyrene to insulate the bags, they'll be fine though provided you ask them to put oxygen in the bags before they seal them. (I'm sure you know that!)

CWTA, the full kits are about that price. But you're probably likely to just need one or two at the moment, rather than replacing all of them. Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH kits can all be bought seperately and the KH and GH ones can be bought together.

If you're tank is set up and you've had 0 nitrite for a long time, I'd just go for nitAte and ammonia, since, if you've got zero ammonia and your nitrAte levels slowly climb, you're unlikely to have nitrite in it as the tank is cycling properly.

Also, knowing your pH is more important than knowing the KH and GH unless you have extremely soft or hard water (or keep tangs/malawis for example.) So I'd go for them first rather than forking out for all of them in one go. Have a look here.

Also,

DKLS wrote:

I would love to set up another south american tank when I next move house and stock it with a herd of vampire plecs and a large shoal of neons.

:grinheart:grinheart That will look amazing.

Edit - CWTA, I've just realised that if you have to buy all the ones I suggested in one go, you're probably just as well to go for a whole pack.

sodamnfunky

DKLS wrote: »

Thank heavens the OP didn't decide to keep marines or African cichlids.

They would have had an expensive loss with Marines.

It always amazes me how people think you can just 'set up' a tank and it will be fine....6 weeks minimum for a fishless cycle, unless someone can give you a filter squeeze to kick start your filter.

CWTA, get your test kit from Ebay, the best ones are API master kits (freshwater), or try the shop I was telling you about in the other thread.

Gingham_Ribbon

sodamnfunky wrote: »

It always amazes me how people think you can just 'set up' a tank and it will be fine....6 weeks minimum for a fishless cycle, unless someone can give you a filter squeeze to kick start your filter..

It can take a couple of weeks without any help from another filter. Waterlife Biomature is an excellent way to do it (plenty of ammonia in it.)

Tips for making it go faster:

Turn up the heater - 30 degrees works for me.
Keep the pH above 7.5 - use bicarb of soda if necessary.
Don't bother spending money on testing the ammonia. Test nitrIte. Once it gets to 5ppm, wait for it to drop back to zero then do a complete water change, turn down the heater and check your pH again.

sodamnfunky

Gingham_Ribbon wrote: »

It can take a couple of weeks without any help from another filter. Waterlife Biomature is an excellent way to do it (plenty of ammonia in it.)

Tips for making it go faster:

Turn up the heater - 30 degrees works for me.
Keep the pH above 7.5 - use bicarb of soda if necessary.
Don't bother spending money on testing the ammonia. Test nitrIte. Once it gets to 5ppm, wait for it to drop back to zero then do a complete water change, turn down the heater and check your pH again.

I have to disagree with that. I don't like putting unecessary chemicals in a fish tank, and using prawns in the tank are a far better way of ensuring the cycle is chemical free.

Ammonia must be tested for, as should nitrite. I can't stress that enough.

Gingham_Ribbon

sodamnfunky wrote: »

I have to disagree with that. I don't like putting unecessary chemicals in a fish tank, and using prawns in the tank are a far better way of ensuring the cycle is chemical free.

Ammonia must be tested for, as should nitrite. I can't stress that enough.

You don't need to test for ammonia when you're fishless cycling. Ever. It's completely pointless in my opinion. If you're getting nitrite, you've got ammonia in your tank. You don't need to know how much is in there when there are no fish in it yet.

I would argue that using dead prawns in the tank encourages the growth of spores that could be a problem later (and result in having to use anti fungals for example). Ammonia is needed, but it doesn't have to come from decaying matter.

There are several good ways to cycle a filter, and using dead fish or prawns is no better or worse than using pure ammonia or biomature.



I don't like putting 'unnecessary' chemicals in the tank either, but ammonia isn't unnecessary (and it's exactly the same chemical that is to be found in the decaying corpse.)

Gingham_Ribbon

For people setting up a tank for the first time, here are some useful links:

Fishless cycle diary

Why it's important

On stocking

ds1980

Just to let you all know the RSPCA have been around and taken all the animals away....the missus was distraught.

All fish are still fine. Tank is as clean as ever.

2 of the old babies that I thought had died were actually in hiding. They appear to hide in the filter. Is this common? It is fun to watch them try and dodge the other fish when they come out to feed. Is there something else i can give them that they might not have to worry so much about!! Must have been well over a week since i've seen them.

Back to 3 out of 8 babies still alive. Not bad for the tanks first birth especially as it must be such a poor environment in there for them. No breeding tank, just left to fend for themselves so i think they have done well.

New serpae tetras and loach all getting along fine no nipping or territorial activity to describe. Ill trust mother nature for now itll let me know when something needs to be done.

Lastly one of our chickens sadly died today. I did it humanely as always and it tasted very good.