Child’s first fish(es)

[anonymous-user]

budgie smuggler said:

two small bags of Siporax media @ £3 each. It will take a month for those settle in

They’ll be dead in a month, if not a week.
Also, what about all the other variables that have been mentioned? How do I keep those all stable whilst the filter settles in? That’s assuming it is a filter issue anyway. It’s just throwing more stuff in it and hoping.....

[anonymous-user]

otolith said:

Must get some fish bought for it.

D’you want ours? If you’re used to a tank without seeing fish in it they’d be ideal.

[anonymous-user]

I’ve used a combination of Seachem, Fluval and some cheap’n’cheerful P@H stuff.
Surprisingly, the latter appeared to be the most effective.

[anonymous-user]

Newsflash!
Some improvement....
The two newest additions are starting to venture out again, grazing on some of the algal growth. Still skulking around in the only bottom two inches of the water though.

[anonymous-user]

budgie smuggler said:

two small bags of Siporax media @ £3 each. It will take a month for those settle in, no potions needed. Just old school bacteria growth. They are very high surface area and due to their design, the pores do not block up.

I take it you mean the little tube variety and not the tablets?
How do they insert in to the main filter element? All I can see on Amazon is loose filter media.

[anonymous-user]

dave_s13 said:

I refer you back to my post on page 4

Get a dog!

I never stepped in fish poo or had someone else’s goldfish jump up at me without invitation, with the owner gleefully declaring “He’s just being friendly!” from afar.

[anonymous-user]

dave_s13 said:

I refer you back to my post on page 4

Get a dog!

I never stepped in fish poo or had someone else’s goldfish jump up at me without invitation, with the owner gleefully declaring “He’s just being friendly!” from afar.

[anonymous-user]

AlexC1981 said:

...weekly water changes, gravel vacs...

I’m thinking this has a lot to do with it.
First few weeks they were actually doing ok with just a weekly 25% water change.
Then one died.
It was assumed this was because of the tank and thus I started fannying around with magic potions, increased cleaning, more frequent water changes and so on, and ever since then it’s been a disaster.
Maybe the problem was just a sick fish and in trying to solve a problem that was never there in the first place it’s made everything far worse.
I’ve backed right off and am just leaving then to it for now on the basis it can’t make thing worse. Reduced the feeding right down, relaxed the water changes. Just see what happens.
The two newest have actually emerged a bit more but are still just skulking around the bottom and the last of the original three hasn’t been seen in about three days which admittedly is a bit of a shame as it was going really well and visibly grew in size.
If they die, they die and it’ll be a lesson learnt.
Chucked a couple of hundred quid at keeping some £2 fish going.....enough’s enough.

Edited by anonymous-user on Sunday 27th October 16:09

[anonymous-user]

Nah, I’m done with test this, test that.
Spent more on test kit alone that the fish.

[anonymous-user]

budgie smuggler said:

No the little bags, they are the perfect size for a rear sump filter

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sera-siporax-mini-Profe...

Ah thanks. Bit late though. Decision’s been made. Not spending any more on it.

[anonymous-user]

.....and I’ll add a bottle of something, change the water, reduce feeding or whatever, then tomorrow it’ll all change again.

[anonymous-user]

budgie smuggler said:

Testing and maintaining the water is part and parcel of fishkeeping.

Yes, I get that and was prepared for it.
What’s killed any interest is doing all of that for nearly five months now, and still having what amounts to an empty tank where they won’t come out from hiding. There’s also been no consistency to it.
One big water change sorted things and perked them up briefly, so the next time they flagged I repeated the big water change but on that occasion it just made them even worse. It seems what works one day is the very worst thing possible the next.
Some people can’t cook, others are useless at DIY. With me, it’s obviously aquariums.

Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 29th October 15:14

[anonymous-user]

The poor quality stock issue is what I keep coming back to.
Water tests come back as largely inconclusive, with occasional minor blips, the shrimp are thriving, one of them’s got really big now, the algae is thriving, the plants are thriving.
The only thing that isn’t is the fish.
Logic suggests the fish are the problem.

[anonymous-user]

Turn7 said:

What area are you CFK ?

An area of uncertainty.
I’m so undecided about it. I don’t want to simply give up as this was partly an exercise for CFK Jnr in caring for living things but on that basis it’s failing.
On the other hand it’s just been massively disappointing and a source of unrequired stress.

(We’re in NE Hampshire)

Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 29th October 18:40

[anonymous-user]

otolith said:

Is the temperature stable? What's the heater set to?

It’s a cold water set up.

I have enough trouble with Mrs CFK covertly tweaking the thermostat for the house by a few degrees up all the time without worrying about fish as well.

[anonymous-user]

Bordon isn’t that far. Used to live there in fact.

[anonymous-user]

Ok, thanks. Will take a look.

[anonymous-user]

So I get home from work this morning and the annoying little fuxkers are flitting about the tank, happy as Larry with a look of “.....what?” about them.

[anonymous-user]

FFS!!!!
Why the bloody hell are they being sold as cold water?
Jesus bloody wept. This explains it all.

[anonymous-user]

Sadly a larger tank isn’t really an option, much though I’d love to.
We just don’t have the space,.