Show me your aquarium

[PurpleTurtle]

Thanks for you help folks - this is where PH really is a great resource.

otolith said:

You are where you are, though. I would do a big water change as a priority. It might be worth adding another bacterial culture - the only one I have any real confidence in is Dr Tim's. Other products may be good, but that's what I've used.

I did a 50% water change last night and will do another over the weekend and have dosed with nitrifying bacteria, the six surviving neons seem fine thus far.

Turn7 said:

And also, stop using MA , as I’m guessing that’s where you bought from ?

Any particular reason? They seem to dominate the market and the only places local to me other than Pets At Home, which other people will tell you to avoid too.

Caddyshack said:

lots of helpful stuff

Thanks, all noted. I have found KaveMan Aquatics to be a really useful resource on YouTube.

His delivery is a bit "Hey fish guys, wassup!" but that's the same with many YouTubers to encourage engagement.

He seems a decent guy and explains things very clearly, to the newbie at least. I just wished I'd happened across him and this thread first.

[ThunderSpook]

Nothing whatsoever wrong with Maidenhead and nothing wrong with Pets at Home. Anyone who tells you otherwise is just a snob.

Go by the condition of the fish, if they look healthy they probably are.

[Turn7]

ThunderSpook said:

Nothing whatsoever wrong with Maidenhead and nothing wrong with Pets at Home. Anyone who tells you otherwise is just a snob.

Go by the condition of the fish, if they look healthy they probably are.

Nothing to do with being a snob at all.

Poor advice being given regularly to new fish keepers however......

[ThunderSpook]

Turn7 said:

ThunderSpook said:

Nothing whatsoever wrong with Maidenhead and nothing wrong with Pets at Home. Anyone who tells you otherwise is just a snob.

Go by the condition of the fish, if they look healthy they probably are.

Nothing to do with being a snob at all.

Poor advice being given regularly to new fish keepers however......

Not taking their advice is a different matter. I wouldn’t necessarily take advice from either shop, but I’d happily buy fish from either.

[Turn7]

ThunderSpook said:

Turn7 said:

ThunderSpook said:

Nothing whatsoever wrong with Maidenhead and nothing wrong with Pets at Home. Anyone who tells you otherwise is just a snob.

Go by the condition of the fish, if they look healthy they probably are.

Nothing to do with being a snob at all.

Poor advice being given regularly to new fish keepers however......

Not taking their advice is a different matter. I wouldn’t necessarily take advice from either shop, but I’d happily buy fish from either.

But that assumes prior knowledge…..

[EdT]

Portofino said:

Used to have a large tropical tank 10 years or so ago.

Fancied getting a simple setup as I love watching them & the therapy they give.



Just a mix of colourful Plattys. Very pleased with it.

Edited by Portofino on Sunday 25th February 20:59

Same. Went from 200 litres, to 25. Near Zero maintenance, and just as fulfilling

[budgie smuggler]

ThunderSpook said:

Nothing whatsoever wrong with Maidenhead and nothing wrong with Pets at Home. Anyone who tells you otherwise is just a snob.

Go by the condition of the fish, if they look healthy they probably are.

Tell that to my daughter who just lost 20 guppies she'd had for a year after adding one from a Maidenhead store (she collects all the different patterns/variants)

I've got 10+ years in marine and freshwater experience, I had a very close look at it couldn't see anything wrong with it.

Over a couple of weeks, all the fish died one by one with internal hemorrhaging. Some kind of bacterial thing I suppose.

Obviously you can't get anti-biotics any more so i treated with the best products I could get and kept the water pristine, but they all still died.

More fool me for not quaranting on the way in I guess, but then why should I even be having to consider that to have a few bloody guppies in a kids tank?

eta: pre-empt the replies, i know this can happen from any store it's just such a frustrating hobby, i needed to vent!

EdT said:

Same. Went from 200 litres, to 25. Near Zero maintenance, and just as fulfilling

Very nice, i keep thinking maybe I'll do that with a fancy betta or maybe a pair of clownfish and a bubbletip nem.

Edited by budgie smuggler on Tuesday 12th March 12:19

[S11Steve]

budgie smuggler said:

Very nice, i keep thinking maybe I'll do that with a fancy betta or maybe a pair of clownfish and a bubbletip nem.

Edited by budgie smuggler on Tuesday 12th March 12:19

And that's exactly where the trouble starts....!

[Purosangue]

bought a second hand 200 litre tank last July set up in my sons bedroom ,as he wanted an aquarium , with the caveat that he had to look after it.

fresh water , with aquarium plants , and freshwater fish , Fluval U4 filter and oxygenator

needless to say it didn't happen ............ and I ended up cleaning the tank etc.



working away for 4 weeks returned to find green algae had permeated round the tank , coated all the plants ,rocks etc the filters had been cleaned weekly after decanting a litre of aquarium water , but they were supposed to be replaced every two months , these were in since July so 8 months !! amazed the fish survived


so last weekend I ordered new filters and changed the water and saved 50 litres , Then carefully removed the fish to a separate container and drained the tank removing all the plants carefully to a container , these were washed in aquarium water . as were the rocks , wood etc ,

saved the gravel and pre washed the sand , We decided to move the tank downstairs . to the Dining room , it took two of us bloody heavy even empty , eventually , relaid the soil and topped up with new sand , then replanted the plants and rocks , put back the 50 litre of aquarium water and added 100 litre of treated water , left to circulate for two hours then re introduced the fish

so far everything fine , all the fish survived

[White-Noise]

That looks great Puro. I'm a bit of a lurker on this thread. I will get into this some time when the time is right. We had cold water fish when I was a kid but it never ticked the boxes for me. My friends dad had some whopper exotic maybe 2 or 3m long aquarium with all sorts of stuff and lighting. It really was beautiful and inspired me.

[Turn7]

I miss my 600 litre Malawi tank….

3 external Eheims and LED lighting….

Tank by ND, stand etc by me.

[JFReturns]

Lurker (but soon to be contributor) here and looking for some advice

I have my heart set on a small, heavily planted tropical tank with a shoal of cardinal tetras and possibly a few danios. I’ve found what I think is a suitable aquarium (Fluval Flex 57 litres) and started research on general placement, cycling, plant requirements etc.

But this biggest snag so far is we’re in a very hard water area which isn’t ideal for Amazonian tetras (appreciate they’re bred here and maybe slightly accustomed to harder water).

I don’t want live bearers or cichlids that love hard water so any advice on how to proceed appreciated!

I live a few miles from a shop that does RO water so could go there once a week and lug over the water. Is it better to install an RO system?

Thank you

[PArbor1]

Not quite a conventional aquarium but I have 5 juvenile diamond back turtles:
2x Northern Diamondback
1x Concentric Carolina Diamondback
1x Texas Diamondback
1x Mississippi Diamondback

Size wise, they are between 2.5 & 3in and are in two large tubs.

I have a 60x24x24in tank on order for them to grow out in then I’m looking at a much larger tank.

Once they been through the 60in tank, I’m hoping to set it up as a tropical aquarium.

[PArbor1]

I have bought a 24x18x18in set up from ND aquatics which was in their clearance section, I am going to set it up as a pea puffer tank. I know it’s not big but I can start off with this.
I have spoken to the fish barn and there were extremely helpful and knowledgeable, so thanks to this thread, I will be ordering everything I need through them.

Just out of interest, are there any decent fish shops in the South west? Not Watermarque Bridgwater or southern aquatics. Dedicated like the Fish Barn.

[Sway]

PArbor1 said:

I have bought a 24x18x18in set up from ND aquatics which was in their clearance section, I am going to set it up as a pea puffer tank. I know it’s not big but I can start off with this.
I have spoken to the fish barn and there were extremely helpful and knowledgeable, so thanks to this thread, I will be ordering everything I need through them.

Just out of interest, are there any decent fish shops in the South west? Not Watermarque Bridgwater or southern aquatics. Dedicated like the Fish Barn.

Glad you got on well with Elliott at the Fish Barn. He's a good chap.

Tank plans sound really good.

[PArbor1]

My 60in tank from N D Aquatics has been delivered today, excellent workmanship and Andrew was a pleasure to deal with.

[Sway]

PArbor1 said:

My 60in tank from N D Aquatics has been delivered today, excellent workmanship and Andrew was a pleasure to deal with.

Nice, what was the lead time?

I'm after a custom sump, and ND is on the list.

[PArbor1]

Couple of weeks max. I originally ordered a 50in and it was done within the week, I called to say if you haven’t started can we change up to a 60 and Andrew said it was done. Luckily someone called that afternoon for a 48in and he said they could have the 50in, I think that was two weeks ago.

Andrew is a decent straight up guy, called me a couple of days ago to say that the tank is finished but on the back there is 1mm of difference between the back panel and the base. I said that I don’t mind and he gave me a bit of discount. I’ve looked at it today and if I hadn’t of been told I wouldn’t have noticed it at all. It’s well packaged to stop it breaking aswel.

[PArbor1]

Sway said:

Nice, what was the lead time?

I'm after a custom sump, and ND is on the list.

What size are you going to go for? I may well get a marine set up but that will be another learning curve.

[Sway]

PArbor1 said:

Sway said:

Nice, what was the lead time?

I'm after a custom sump, and ND is on the list.

What size are you going to go for? I may well get a marine set up but that will be another learning curve.

Thanks. It's a slightly odd size as I'm aiming for a direct replacement for the stock D-D sump, but completely different layout/setup.