Just bought a fish tank
Discussion
I use one of the two piece magnetic scrapers to remove most of the algae from the glass & a bit of filter pad by hand (the latter at water change time when the level is lower) to remove the remainder at the bottom near to the sand to avoid getting a grain of sand trapped on the magnetic one & scratching the inside of the glass.
If you've seen one baby platy, there will be a dozen more you can't see!
I kept Koi for around 15 years before I had to fill in the pond before renting the house out. I went a year without fish, then bought a 180l tank on impulse. Then a few months later a 120l Marine system, then another 180l tropical, then a 40l pygmy puffer set-up... then a 6ft, 1200litre mixed reef tank.
You're now on a slippery slope!!
I kept Koi for around 15 years before I had to fill in the pond before renting the house out. I went a year without fish, then bought a 180l tank on impulse. Then a few months later a 120l Marine system, then another 180l tropical, then a 40l pygmy puffer set-up... then a 6ft, 1200litre mixed reef tank.
You're now on a slippery slope!!
Hi Jacko.
Sounds like it is going well, chuffed for you.
As suggested above, patties make good food for adult fish, I had to be in there quick with the net years ago to get them into a nursery tank as the angels just loved them. I had one pregnant platy in a breeding trap, and as soon as a little one popped out the back, she would turn around and immediately eat it if it hadn't dropped through the grille to safety. Quick as a flash, not too maternal at all.
I put some extra red shrimps into the shrimp tank a few days ago to mix up the breeding gene pool and keep colours strong. They are probably 4 generations into incest now, so they will be dropping brown ones soon.
For a splash of different clolour in the tank, I also added 5 black and white striped crystal shrimps to see if my water conditions suit them (should be ok). If so, will hopefully start to build a little ecosystem of those by adding another 5 and putting some Barry White on for them.
Nice shrimps, but at £6.95 a pop - woh, they had better live!!
Sounds like it is going well, chuffed for you.
As suggested above, patties make good food for adult fish, I had to be in there quick with the net years ago to get them into a nursery tank as the angels just loved them. I had one pregnant platy in a breeding trap, and as soon as a little one popped out the back, she would turn around and immediately eat it if it hadn't dropped through the grille to safety. Quick as a flash, not too maternal at all.
I put some extra red shrimps into the shrimp tank a few days ago to mix up the breeding gene pool and keep colours strong. They are probably 4 generations into incest now, so they will be dropping brown ones soon.
For a splash of different clolour in the tank, I also added 5 black and white striped crystal shrimps to see if my water conditions suit them (should be ok). If so, will hopefully start to build a little ecosystem of those by adding another 5 and putting some Barry White on for them.
Nice shrimps, but at £6.95 a pop - woh, they had better live!!
S11Steve said:
If you've seen one baby platy, there will be a dozen more you can't see!
I kept Koi for around 15 years before I had to fill in the pond before renting the house out. I went a year without fish, then bought a 180l tank on impulse. Then a few months later a 120l Marine system, then another 180l tropical, then a 40l pygmy puffer set-up... then a 6ft, 1200litre mixed reef tank.
You're now on a slippery slope!!
Oh wow that is stunning.I kept Koi for around 15 years before I had to fill in the pond before renting the house out. I went a year without fish, then bought a 180l tank on impulse. Then a few months later a 120l Marine system, then another 180l tropical, then a 40l pygmy puffer set-up... then a 6ft, 1200litre mixed reef tank.
You're now on a slippery slope!!
I am really enjoying being back into it, so much more info easily available via the net nowadays, the Facebook group is very helpful, you get instant answers from knowledgeable folk.
The Brown Algae (Diatoms) that bloomed is goign now, apparently a new tank thing, fish seem happy, water parameters good.
the whole family are interested which is nice, my youngest (17) particularly, he has been sending his mates photos and my wife likes it, she keeps checking on the baby Platty that is lurking (wisely) behind the filter stack.
We have definitely seen two, but only one of late but they are good at hiding, hopefully it will survive.
One day I will have a marine tank and have always wanted a pond.
SeeFive said:
Hi Jacko.
Sounds like it is going well, chuffed for you.
As suggested above, patties make good food for adult fish, I had to be in there quick with the net years ago to get them into a nursery tank as the angels just loved them. I had one pregnant platy in a breeding trap, and as soon as a little one popped out the back, she would turn around and immediately eat it if it hadn't dropped through the grille to safety. Quick as a flash, not too maternal at all.
I put some extra red shrimps into the shrimp tank a few days ago to mix up the breeding gene pool and keep colours strong. They are probably 4 generations into incest now, so they will be dropping brown ones soon.
For a splash of different clolour in the tank, I also added 5 black and white striped crystal shrimps to see if my water conditions suit them (should be ok). If so, will hopefully start to build a little ecosystem of those by adding another 5 and putting some Barry White on for them.
Nice shrimps, but at £6.95 a pop - woh, they had better live!!
Yeah I paid £7.50 for mine, he is a Bamboo Shrimp I think he is called "Genghis" now according to my son, the baby Platty is called "Dinsdale", as he sticks his head out like the Hedgehog from Monty python and is likely to be someones Din Dins.Sounds like it is going well, chuffed for you.
As suggested above, patties make good food for adult fish, I had to be in there quick with the net years ago to get them into a nursery tank as the angels just loved them. I had one pregnant platy in a breeding trap, and as soon as a little one popped out the back, she would turn around and immediately eat it if it hadn't dropped through the grille to safety. Quick as a flash, not too maternal at all.
I put some extra red shrimps into the shrimp tank a few days ago to mix up the breeding gene pool and keep colours strong. They are probably 4 generations into incest now, so they will be dropping brown ones soon.
For a splash of different clolour in the tank, I also added 5 black and white striped crystal shrimps to see if my water conditions suit them (should be ok). If so, will hopefully start to build a little ecosystem of those by adding another 5 and putting some Barry White on for them.
Nice shrimps, but at £6.95 a pop - woh, they had better live!!
Would like a tank for the other living room now, I think she might go for it, currently there is a solitary 15 year old Goldfish in there, he mate died before Christmas and was cremated in the log burner one night over a drink, better than what most Goldfish get !
We probably spend more time sat in front of the tank than the TV - there are so many different areas with different fish and inverts all doing different things, it's like having multiple soap operas all running at once.
The thing to remember with any tank, fresh or marine, is that nothing good happens in a hurry. Certainly in the first 6-12 months I'd recommend testing water weekly once it is cycled and get to learn how nitrates etc adjust with water changes and stocking levels. Mine have all got to the point where I can see the onset of a problem before it becomes serious or even before I test the water. If the corals aren't as active or bright, I know my nitrates are creeping up, if I'm seeing a bit more algae, I'll address the phosphates, if the fish seem less active or less hungry I'll look at oxygen and salinity levels for example. It all develops over time.
The great advantage with a supersized tank is that the water is relatively stable now, and as long as I clean out the skimmer every few days, top up 50l of RO each week, and a monthly 10-15% water change, everything is easy. I scrape the glass every other day, have a regular feeding regime, and top up a few trace elements weekly.
The great disadvantage is that big tanks cost. As a rule of thumb, anything marine up to 6ft is around £500 per foot to get wet - lights, pumps, skimmers, rock etc. Over 6ft, and it's not far off £1000 per foot. Most retail products, equipment and chemicals for example, only really cope with up to 600l or so. Start getting into 1000l+ marine tanks, and everything is aimed at commercial set ups.
But it is a slippery slope... very few people with a keen interest will settle with just one tank!
The thing to remember with any tank, fresh or marine, is that nothing good happens in a hurry. Certainly in the first 6-12 months I'd recommend testing water weekly once it is cycled and get to learn how nitrates etc adjust with water changes and stocking levels. Mine have all got to the point where I can see the onset of a problem before it becomes serious or even before I test the water. If the corals aren't as active or bright, I know my nitrates are creeping up, if I'm seeing a bit more algae, I'll address the phosphates, if the fish seem less active or less hungry I'll look at oxygen and salinity levels for example. It all develops over time.
The great advantage with a supersized tank is that the water is relatively stable now, and as long as I clean out the skimmer every few days, top up 50l of RO each week, and a monthly 10-15% water change, everything is easy. I scrape the glass every other day, have a regular feeding regime, and top up a few trace elements weekly.
The great disadvantage is that big tanks cost. As a rule of thumb, anything marine up to 6ft is around £500 per foot to get wet - lights, pumps, skimmers, rock etc. Over 6ft, and it's not far off £1000 per foot. Most retail products, equipment and chemicals for example, only really cope with up to 600l or so. Start getting into 1000l+ marine tanks, and everything is aimed at commercial set ups.
But it is a slippery slope... very few people with a keen interest will settle with just one tank!
Cheers, is there a minimum size for Marine ? I do get that the water volume buffers issues to a certain extent but a small marine tank would go nicely in our lounge.
Failing that, have seen smallish tanks for one Betta, is that cruel, I dont mean the super tiny ones with no filtration, heat or air.
Also, when you change water (tropical) do you just add it with Tapsafe in it that has had five mins to do its stuff or do you warm it in some warm, I added a kettle full of boiling water so it wasnt ice cold.
Do you make your own RO water ?
Failing that, have seen smallish tanks for one Betta, is that cruel, I dont mean the super tiny ones with no filtration, heat or air.
Also, when you change water (tropical) do you just add it with Tapsafe in it that has had five mins to do its stuff or do you warm it in some warm, I added a kettle full of boiling water so it wasnt ice cold.
Do you make your own RO water ?
Edited by J4CKO on Thursday 12th January 13:40
No minimum size as such, I know a few people that keep a 30l marine tank with a few corals and inverts, but it's certainly not recommended for beginners! As a beginner, and from personal experience I'd look at maybe 150-200l and just a pair of clowns, crabs, snails and soft corals - all pretty resilient, and there are mnay people selling this sort of size as they upgrade.
The betta tanks are on my agenda, or more on my other halfs agenda - they are not a good community fish, and we struggled with ours in the 180l tropical tank. They are quite stressy and prone to illness, so we're looking at a 30-40l tank for one of them.
Water changes on the tropical are easy, I just use warm tap water in one 20l water cooler bottle liberated from work, add the tap safe and a bit of filter boost, siphon out 20l from the tank into another bottle, and siphon in the new water. I have a thermometer with a probe on a wire to check the water is roughly the same temperature though.
I don't make my own RO at the moment as we are short on garage space for a pair of 200l barrels, but I work next to a decent fish shop, and they sort out my barrels for me while I'm at work with either RO or mixed salt. Once the new garage is built, an RO unit is going to be plumbed in.
The betta tanks are on my agenda, or more on my other halfs agenda - they are not a good community fish, and we struggled with ours in the 180l tropical tank. They are quite stressy and prone to illness, so we're looking at a 30-40l tank for one of them.
Water changes on the tropical are easy, I just use warm tap water in one 20l water cooler bottle liberated from work, add the tap safe and a bit of filter boost, siphon out 20l from the tank into another bottle, and siphon in the new water. I have a thermometer with a probe on a wire to check the water is roughly the same temperature though.
I don't make my own RO at the moment as we are short on garage space for a pair of 200l barrels, but I work next to a decent fish shop, and they sort out my barrels for me while I'm at work with either RO or mixed salt. Once the new garage is built, an RO unit is going to be plumbed in.
My marine days were a long time back. Smallest I had was a 4foot tank, quite tall probably just over 300 litres from memory (sea bray iirc). I ran the biggest Fluval canister filters I could buy which would just fit into the cabinets to turn it over multi times per hour, and a third slower filter with UV in the line to take out protozoa. 4 x different tubes, no skimmers, just 10% water change weekly using my own RO remineralised. Fish were fine, corals were ok, could have been better with better lights. The tank even at that volume was was a bit of an issue in hot summers keeping it cool.
WRT the tetra, might be a bit late to back it now. Talk to the aquarist about it, maybe take a pic and see if a meds bath (outside the tank, you will kill your cycle and shrimp otherwise) might help if it is fungal.
I still use RO in my trop tanks as I cannot get tank nitrates diluted when it comes out of the tap here at 40ppm !!
WRT the tetra, might be a bit late to back it now. Talk to the aquarist about it, maybe take a pic and see if a meds bath (outside the tank, you will kill your cycle and shrimp otherwise) might help if it is fungal.
I still use RO in my trop tanks as I cannot get tank nitrates diluted when it comes out of the tap here at 40ppm !!
Cheers !
the baby Platy is about 1cm now and is getting bolder and venturing out of his hiding spot, I reckon he is going to get eaten,
Dont think the dollars will bother they mainly eat my plants and Platty turds, they are like hippy Piranhas.
platties, dunno, thick as mince eating machines, depends on whether it is too big to fit in their mouths
Panda Corys, nah too small, low down, not arsed with anything that isnt on the bottom
Gourami, think he would but seems to be too quick so far.
Genghis the Shrimp, too small, too fixated on poo
the baby Platy is about 1cm now and is getting bolder and venturing out of his hiding spot, I reckon he is going to get eaten,
Dont think the dollars will bother they mainly eat my plants and Platty turds, they are like hippy Piranhas.
platties, dunno, thick as mince eating machines, depends on whether it is too big to fit in their mouths
Panda Corys, nah too small, low down, not arsed with anything that isnt on the bottom
Gourami, think he would but seems to be too quick so far.
Genghis the Shrimp, too small, too fixated on poo
Reorganised the tank last night, ot rid of the plant my Dollars had decimated, cleaned everything, changed 20 litres of water, scrubbed the sides and realised the pump wasnt flowing that hard, adjusted that and then relaised why the airstone wasnt bubbling that well, pipe was kinked. The fish seem to love the higher flow and swim at it and then get carried back, quite funny to watch.
Anyway, came down this morning, the water is crystal clear and the fish are super active, it is mesmerising, that moment when you feel its all come together, and my baby Platty is still alive.
Going to go to the fish shop in a bit,
Might replace the Gourami that died, it was bullied to death by the other one, get some different food to give them a change, need a net as I ordered one and it never turned up and might get a fry box as I think another Platty is preggers.
Plattys are always givign birth, usually to ses who can swim round witht he lagest turd hanging from their back end, the Dollars and stuff you never see poop, Plattys you never see without.
So glad I got another tank.
Anyway, came down this morning, the water is crystal clear and the fish are super active, it is mesmerising, that moment when you feel its all come together, and my baby Platty is still alive.
Going to go to the fish shop in a bit,
Might replace the Gourami that died, it was bullied to death by the other one, get some different food to give them a change, need a net as I ordered one and it never turned up and might get a fry box as I think another Platty is preggers.
Plattys are always givign birth, usually to ses who can swim round witht he lagest turd hanging from their back end, the Dollars and stuff you never see poop, Plattys you never see without.
So glad I got another tank.
I was told that the fish with a line of poo coming out of their bottom ( sorry don't know the technical terms) were suffering from fish influenza and that could be treated with ( i think it was a grain of potassium pomamgenate in the water with infected fish). Can anyone knowledgeable confirm?
condor said:
I was told that the fish with a line of poo coming out of their bottom ( sorry don't know the technical terms) were suffering from fish influenza and that could be treated with ( i think it was a grain of potassium pomamgenate in the water with infected fish). Can anyone knowledgeable confirm?
Ive been led to believe its due to constipation. condor said:
I was told that the fish with a line of poo coming out of their bottom ( sorry don't know the technical terms) were suffering from fish influenza and that could be treated with ( i think it was a grain of potassium pomamgenate in the water with infected fish). Can anyone knowledgeable confirm?
I asked the guy in the fish shop said it is normal Platties are s
tting machines, all my other fish seem to find a quiet corner but these just go round trailing it like a lead, he said just seed them a bit less.Noticed my Gourami is staing near the filter and at the top all the time, not sure whats going on there, I know they are top dweller but seems something is wrong, everything else is very active
J4CKO said:
I asked the guy in the fish shop said it is normal Platties are stting machines, all my other fish seem to find a quiet corner but these just go round trailing it like a lead, he said just seed them a bit less.
Noticed my Gourami is staing near the filter and at the top all the time, not sure whats going on there, I know they are top dweller but seems something is wrong, everything else is very active
Platties are like that. Gouramis can be quite shy with nipping stuff in the tank. Also, you have just changed your plants around and cleaned. Maybe he is using the filter as cover for the moment until he settles back to the new tank planting plan. tting machines, all my other fish seem to find a quiet corner but these just go round trailing it like a lead, he said just seed them a bit less.Noticed my Gourami is staing near the filter and at the top all the time, not sure whats going on there, I know they are top dweller but seems something is wrong, everything else is very active
If other fish of the same size were struggling (the big guys typically struggle first when for example oxygen is depleted) I would say look at your water obviously and then oxygen levels when you have fish hanging at the top, but iirc while typing, you said you had increased oxygen to the tank by unknowing the airline and levels are ok, so probably not that.
So, platy, normal s
t trailer, gourami - shy, maybe bored with not having a mate to fight or play with.... difficult to say really. Probably not a lot you can do other than keep an eye on it for the moment.Gourami was dead this morning 
Rest seem fine, the flow rate of the pump was too low so I turned it up to get some decent flow and apparently Gouramis dont like that, not sure if that would kill it though, they seem like hard work to be honest, loads of stuff about them just expiring, a lot of diseased ones, they even have their own disease that only affects them.
my baby Platties are surviving, saw both at once today
Rest seem fine, the flow rate of the pump was too low so I turned it up to get some decent flow and apparently Gouramis dont like that, not sure if that would kill it though, they seem like hard work to be honest, loads of stuff about them just expiring, a lot of diseased ones, they even have their own disease that only affects them.
my baby Platties are surviving, saw both at once today
My two Gouramis have been doing okay since August now, even if they do hate each other. What kind did you have?
I was looking at some small orange coloured ones in Pets at Risk the other week and noticed one of them had dropsy, it looked ridiculous. Like some sort of bizarre puffer fish.
Steve, is that a Juwel tank? Which is it? I want a bigger tank, can't decide whether I'd rather have a Juwel 180 or a Roma 200.
I was looking at some small orange coloured ones in Pets at Risk the other week and noticed one of them had dropsy, it looked ridiculous. Like some sort of bizarre puffer fish.
Steve, is that a Juwel tank? Which is it? I want a bigger tank, can't decide whether I'd rather have a Juwel 180 or a Roma 200.
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