Show me your aquarium
Discussion
otolith said:
I have a little experiment going, which is either going to result in a useful nitrate sink, or my mbuna have a £50 salad. Anubias and java fern, lots of it. I put half in last Sunday and after they didn’t get trashed, the rest today. So far, so good. And it looks nice.
I've a fancy goldfish tank with anubias and amazon swords...If even they won't eat it, I think you'll be OK with mbuna.
That, or it's because it's a 'plant based leather' that evolved before vegans roamed the planet...
For my tank, I do have to occasionally dose a little vodka to deal with black beard algae.
I've some huge (genuinely, absolutely freakishly sized) amano shrimp in there that deal with any green algae.
Entirely my 'fault' - by definition it's a high nitrate tank, and there perhaps more lumens than there should be because it looks prettier.
No pics. My better half has taken over the running of it since I've been sidetracked by marine - so she's put a bloody dalek in there... Which offends me.
Good job I love her.
For my tank, I do have to occasionally dose a little vodka to deal with black beard algae.
I've some huge (genuinely, absolutely freakishly sized) amano shrimp in there that deal with any green algae.
Entirely my 'fault' - by definition it's a high nitrate tank, and there perhaps more lumens than there should be because it looks prettier.
No pics. My better half has taken over the running of it since I've been sidetracked by marine - so she's put a bloody dalek in there... Which offends me.
Good job I love her.
Hi - my daughter (10) has asked for an aquarium and some fish for christmas. I've picked through this thread and it's a little overwhelming to be honest - as is going into a shop that specialises in these things.
Can anyone give me some pointers towards a suitable setup for a 10 year old - so I'm thinking low maintenance, interesting and not massively expensive (my budget at the moment is circa £200) - I'm happy to buy second hand tank etc if needed.
TIA
Can anyone give me some pointers towards a suitable setup for a 10 year old - so I'm thinking low maintenance, interesting and not massively expensive (my budget at the moment is circa £200) - I'm happy to buy second hand tank etc if needed.
TIA
otolith said:
Use a fresh nitrate test, a liquid one, not a dip strip or out of date tests….my bet is that it is off the end of the scale. Just to be clear NitrATEThen test the tap water…if the tap is below 10-25ppm then some large water changes will help, if the tap is high then you will need to consider ro or ion exchange resins.
Please report back an honest reading as keen to know if my assumptions are correct.
Edited by Caddyshack on Friday 10th December 12:32
We can help, Breeks!
Does your daughter have any preference of what sort of fish she wants? From the sounds of it you need to be hoping that she doesn't want a 'Nemo'
Otolith has nailed the most important piece single of advice in response to your original post. If I was to add one of my own it would be that a larger tank will be more stable and less maintenance intensive than a small one. The lower limit entry level for a beginner with small fish is about 60L in my opinion, but 90+ is a better target.
I have a 'coldwater' (room temperature) tank at the moment, the sort which many assume could only house goldfish, but I'm keeping small fish like Danios or Minnows- I feel that this is a route which is often overlooked. This is probably the easiest kind of tank to keep- unheated but with small fish species which won't make a lot of mess and ultimately outgrow the tank.
It's worth considering that the traditional Goldfish, if you are a successful fishkeeper, can live to the age of 20 years and to 12" in length.
Heat the water and for minimal additional effort you can keep a much broader range of fish and plants from tropical climes including very appealing and classic tropical fish such as Angel Fish and Neon Tetras.
Does your daughter have any preference of what sort of fish she wants? From the sounds of it you need to be hoping that she doesn't want a 'Nemo'
Otolith has nailed the most important piece single of advice in response to your original post. If I was to add one of my own it would be that a larger tank will be more stable and less maintenance intensive than a small one. The lower limit entry level for a beginner with small fish is about 60L in my opinion, but 90+ is a better target.
I have a 'coldwater' (room temperature) tank at the moment, the sort which many assume could only house goldfish, but I'm keeping small fish like Danios or Minnows- I feel that this is a route which is often overlooked. This is probably the easiest kind of tank to keep- unheated but with small fish species which won't make a lot of mess and ultimately outgrow the tank.
It's worth considering that the traditional Goldfish, if you are a successful fishkeeper, can live to the age of 20 years and to 12" in length.
Heat the water and for minimal additional effort you can keep a much broader range of fish and plants from tropical climes including very appealing and classic tropical fish such as Angel Fish and Neon Tetras.
Edited by HustleRussell on Friday 10th December 12:38
Caddyshack said:
Use a fresh nitrate test, a liquid one, not a dip strip or out of date tests….my bet is that it is off the end of the scale. Just to be clear NitrATE
Then test the tap water…if the tap is below 10-25ppm then some large water changes will help, if the tap is high then you will need to consider ro or ion exchange resins.
Please report back an honest reading as keen to know if my assumptions are correct.
It's frequently very high nitrate, yes, because I am often away from home for three weeks at a time. The cat lady will feed the fish, but that's it. It gets a couple of massive water changes while I'm home, which gets it back within reasonable bounds. Getting some heavy plant growth in there is in the hope of reducing the extent of the rise while I'm away. Then test the tap water…if the tap is below 10-25ppm then some large water changes will help, if the tap is high then you will need to consider ro or ion exchange resins.
Please report back an honest reading as keen to know if my assumptions are correct.
Absolutely agree Russell.
Breeks, we're with you every step buddy!
First step being deciding where it's going to live, and how big - remembering water is heavy!
It's a great thing for a child your daughter's age to get into, and a great opportunity to develop a shared hobby to spend quality time together with.
Where are you located in the country? A good local fish store is worth it's weight in gold, and will absolutely help break it down into simple, easy steps (we can help too!).
Only two absolutes I'd say at this point - first, never enter a Pets at Home for anything related to fish keeping (also holds true for the majority of Maidenhead Aquatics unfortunately in my experience). Second, do not even consider for a second saltwater/marine!
As an initial starting point for the 'present', you're going to need a glass box/stand, a filter, and about £50ish of 'decor' and initial 'ancilliaries'. From your perspective, you're not 'keeping fish' - you're 'keeping water' that the fish then live in...
Fluval do great aquaria for beginner fish keepers at a whole range of shapes and sizes.
Breeks, we're with you every step buddy!
First step being deciding where it's going to live, and how big - remembering water is heavy!
It's a great thing for a child your daughter's age to get into, and a great opportunity to develop a shared hobby to spend quality time together with.
Where are you located in the country? A good local fish store is worth it's weight in gold, and will absolutely help break it down into simple, easy steps (we can help too!).
Only two absolutes I'd say at this point - first, never enter a Pets at Home for anything related to fish keeping (also holds true for the majority of Maidenhead Aquatics unfortunately in my experience). Second, do not even consider for a second saltwater/marine!
As an initial starting point for the 'present', you're going to need a glass box/stand, a filter, and about £50ish of 'decor' and initial 'ancilliaries'. From your perspective, you're not 'keeping fish' - you're 'keeping water' that the fish then live in...
Fluval do great aquaria for beginner fish keepers at a whole range of shapes and sizes.
One thing I have noticed with popular aquarium starter kits is that the filters have a replaceable and disposable media cartridge which is, as you would suspect, absolutely a ploy to get you spending money regularly on proprietary consumables. What you do need in a filter is a good chunk of filter foam (which you can easily clean and re-use) and probably some biological media of some kind, or space to install some. Biological media sounds a bit involved but it's just a highly porous material which gives lots of surface area for waste eating bacteria to colonise.
HustleRussell said:
One thing I have noticed with popular aquarium starter kits is that the filters have a replaceable and disposable media cartridge which is, as you would suspect, absolutely a ploy to get you spending money regularly on proprietary consumables. What you do need in a filter is a good chunk of filter foam (which you can easily clean and re-use) and probably some biological media of some kind, or space to install some. Biological media sounds a bit involved but it's just a highly porous material which gives lots of surface area for waste eating bacteria to colonise.
That's where the fluval are great - especially the ones with a 'rear sump' setup. Simple, effective and no proprietary 'consumables'. Sway said:
HustleRussell said:
One thing I have noticed with popular aquarium starter kits is that the filters have a replaceable and disposable media cartridge which is, as you would suspect, absolutely a ploy to get you spending money regularly on proprietary consumables. What you do need in a filter is a good chunk of filter foam (which you can easily clean and re-use) and probably some biological media of some kind, or space to install some. Biological media sounds a bit involved but it's just a highly porous material which gives lots of surface area for waste eating bacteria to colonise.
That's where the fluval are great - especially the ones with a 'rear sump' setup. Simple, effective and no proprietary 'consumables'. 
Fluval are a great brand with some cool modern designs. Juwel have always been good for providing a good kit with sensibly designed internal filter too.Sway said:
Absolutely agree Russell.
Breeks, we're with you every step buddy!
First step being deciding where it's going to live, and how big - remembering water is heavy!
It's a great thing for a child your daughter's age to get into, and a great opportunity to develop a shared hobby to spend quality time together with.
Where are you located in the country? A good local fish store is worth it's weight in gold, and will absolutely help break it down into simple, easy steps (we can help too!).
Only two absolutes I'd say at this point - first, never enter a Pets at Home for anything related to fish keeping (also holds true for the majority of Maidenhead Aquatics unfortunately in my experience). Second, do not even consider for a second saltwater/marine!
As an initial starting point for the 'present', you're going to need a glass box/stand, a filter, and about £50ish of 'decor' and initial 'ancilliaries'. From your perspective, you're not 'keeping fish' - you're 'keeping water' that the fish then live in...
Fluval do great aquaria for beginner fish keepers at a whole range of shapes and sizes.
Thanks everyone for your words of encouragement!Breeks, we're with you every step buddy!
First step being deciding where it's going to live, and how big - remembering water is heavy!
It's a great thing for a child your daughter's age to get into, and a great opportunity to develop a shared hobby to spend quality time together with.
Where are you located in the country? A good local fish store is worth it's weight in gold, and will absolutely help break it down into simple, easy steps (we can help too!).
Only two absolutes I'd say at this point - first, never enter a Pets at Home for anything related to fish keeping (also holds true for the majority of Maidenhead Aquatics unfortunately in my experience). Second, do not even consider for a second saltwater/marine!
As an initial starting point for the 'present', you're going to need a glass box/stand, a filter, and about £50ish of 'decor' and initial 'ancilliaries'. From your perspective, you're not 'keeping fish' - you're 'keeping water' that the fish then live in...
Fluval do great aquaria for beginner fish keepers at a whole range of shapes and sizes.
I'm near Glasgow and had visited a couple of shops two weeks back - one of which (Coral Reef) was very well stocked with everything except helpful staff. The other place was less well stocked (pretty run down) but had very enthusiastic staff - so bummer really!
I'd been working on the basis that cold water fish are easier to keep but seems, according to helpful staff mentioned above, that tropical are feasible as starting fish and are maybe more "interesting" in that more can be added to the tank and there's a bit more variety and colour.
So now I'm screwed as I have a daughter with ideas of shoals of colourful fish in her mind and me worrying that if we get a power cut it'll be carnage!
Anyhow, thinking at the moment is that the tank will be situated in her bedroom away from a radiator and opposite a south facing window so a decent amount of natural light.
Breeks said:
Thanks everyone for your words of encouragement!
...and me worrying that if we get a power cut it'll be carnage!
Most tropical fish will happily survive a gradual drop to 20C or even less, and a gradual rise back to normal (25-27) so a power cut of many hours shouldn't be a problem....and me worrying that if we get a power cut it'll be carnage!
I have a 12v leisure battery and a very cheap 240v inverter so I could power the pump and lights for that sort of time, and I guess I could boil a kettle on the camping Gaz stove and (carefully) top up my tank if we lose power for days
Breeks said:
...worrying that if we get a power cut it'll be carnage!
Anyhow, thinking at the moment is that the tank will be situated in her bedroom away from a radiator and opposite a south facing window so a decent amount of natural light.
Another reason to go for a nice large volume Anyhow, thinking at the moment is that the tank will be situated in her bedroom away from a radiator and opposite a south facing window so a decent amount of natural light.
With tropical, and depending on the temperature of the room obviously, the water is only 6 to 10 celcius warmer- so it's not a desperate life support situation if there's a power interruption. If you are worried you could have some sheets of polystyrene cut to size and ready to go in the event that you want to insulate it.
Note that sustained direct light from a window is best avoided and can lead to persistent algae problems.
ETA: I don’t want to scupper or deter you so I’d just say have a think about your positioning relative to the window and try to reduce the amount of time the aquarium receives direct sunlight. An hour or two in the early morning or late afternoon will probably be fine but several hours in the middle of the day won’t. Algae is one of the enemies to a clean-looking and low maintenance aquarium and it is impossible to make a healthy aquarium inhospitable to algae. Controlling the light is one of the tools to limiting it.
Edited by HustleRussell on Friday 10th December 14:50
otolith said:
Caddyshack said:
Use a fresh nitrate test, a liquid one, not a dip strip or out of date tests….my bet is that it is off the end of the scale. Just to be clear NitrATE
Then test the tap water…if the tap is below 10-25ppm then some large water changes will help, if the tap is high then you will need to consider ro or ion exchange resins.
Please report back an honest reading as keen to know if my assumptions are correct.
It's frequently very high nitrate, yes, because I am often away from home for three weeks at a time. The cat lady will feed the fish, but that's it. It gets a couple of massive water changes while I'm home, which gets it back within reasonable bounds. Getting some heavy plant growth in there is in the hope of reducing the extent of the rise while I'm away. Then test the tap water…if the tap is below 10-25ppm then some large water changes will help, if the tap is high then you will need to consider ro or ion exchange resins.
Please report back an honest reading as keen to know if my assumptions are correct.
Caddyshack said:
I highly recommend growing devils ivy (pothos) on the lid with the roots in the water, being terrestrial it takes co2 from the air and not the water and it thrives on nitrate rich water….grows like mad. Loads of us stingray keepers use it. I also have a constant drip with heavy metal axe HMA filter and nitrate resin on the way in so I have about 10 gallons per day over flow out of the tank and in to the garden.
Yes, I have been considering pothos since you mentioned it previously - we have some I can take cuttings from. Caddyshack said:
test the tap water…if the tap is below 10-25ppm then some large water changes will help, if the tap is high then you will need to consider ro or ion exchange resins.
With my lightly stocked planted bowl, the tap water goes in at 35ppm and by the time I think about changing it, it’s 0ppm 
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