My new tropical aquarium setup.

[ColeyS1]

I put 3 plants in yesterday so will probably look at getting an additive to kill the snails. I saw a fish tank that had more snails than fish and wasn't really a fan.
I was quite pleased with yesterday's effort. I cut a piece of 2mm mdf out so I could stick the background to it easily. Gave it a lick of primer all the way around then used some double sided tape (usually for mounting photographs) then used a squeegee to help apply it.

I Think it's a lot better than having a Woodchip wallpaper background for now.
I started to fill the tank and was pleasantly surprised to see all the fish had survived the drama.

I'm now in the position I thought I was in before the crack.

I've just got a much greater respect for the tank not leaking !
Now comes the hard part of learning how to keep them healthy. I'll take your advice Sunnybob and just think about how I can setup the tank before rushing ahead. The fish seem more content then they were before and are using more of the rank instead of just mooching around the bottom.

I had no idea that fish keeping was such a serious hobby !!! Do the shows still happen today ? That looks a big ol fish in your picture !!

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[ColeyS1]

Snail killing options are many and varied...

1) You! Finger, tank, squish.
2) Botia striata, a small loach species, love to munch on snails.
3) Assassin snails - predatory type of snail which is actually quite pretty and will demolish all other snails in your tank.

1 single assassin snail sounds like a good solution. What happens if I accidentally get a pregnant one though and they take over the tank ?

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[Sheffield Tony]

I know very little I admit, but I never realised snails were considered such a problem. We always have some in our tank, they must have come in with the plants. They come and go; got quite numerous at one stage, but at other times there are only a few. We haven't done anything consciously to control them.

We do have a few "bumblebee" snails which were a deliberate introduction.

Never actually had a problem with fish getting too big - they usually expire first Bigger problems have been what the fish shops don't tell you - aggressive little b******s (golden loach, pink kissing gourami), or nocturnal fish which look interesting in the bare shop tank but will disappear under a log never to be seen again when you get it home. Oh, and flamboyant, over-bred fish which are so fragile they are hard to keep alive beyond the fortnight. But that could just be my incompetence...

 

[sunnybob]

But that could just be my incompetence...

yup.sorry, but yup.

Some fish are hard to kill. Some fish are hard to keep alive. Thats the attraction of fishkeeping.

Clown loach will survive perfectly well on its own. But they are more active and therefore more visible in groups.

i know I'm repeating myself, but the key to ALL fishkeeping is feeding.

you have top feeders (gourami's)
you have middle feeders (barbs and tetras)
you have bottom feeders. (catfish, loaches)

Feed the top and not the bottom, you have chaos.
feed the bottom and not the top, chaos again.

Heres a tip. The three levels of feeders can be seen at an instant while looking in the dealers tank..... Where are the lips?
Quite literally, the mouth of any fish will be either pointed, up, down, or straight ahead.
The most extreme top feeder is an arrowana. In the wild it eats flies on the surface, and nothing else.
The archer fish will shoot jets of water up to knock flies off of overhead branches, Now thats a challenge, to keep them happy.
Catfish and loaches need food at the bottom. Not too much, because they will scavenge the dropping from the other two, but if nothing reaches the bottom... expect nipped fins.
Pleco catfish will suck algae from the glass, but in a standard tank theres not enough, put sinking pellets, or even bloodworm which will live in the gravel.

 

[sunnybob]

Really sorry about the quality of these pics, i havent looked at these for over 20 years.

I wont post any more.

 

[Sheffield Tony]

But that could just be my incompetence...

yup.sorry, but yup.

Some fish are hard to kill. Some fish are hard to keep alive. Thats the attraction of fishkeeping.

No apology needed, I know my limits and stick mostly to the easy and cheap fish - mollys, platys (managed to keep them for a couple of generations) guppies etc. Rasbora seem to win for durability- despite not visibly eating anything at all ! Hints on feeding are useful, thanks.

 

[sunnybob]

Rasbora's are very social fish, get a dozen or more.add a dozen neon tetras and few cardinal tetras (much dearer than neons, but put together no one notices) for a really showy procession through the long grass.

Theyre middle feeders. look at the mouth, straight ahead.

 

[ColeyS1]

Really sorry about the quality of these pics, i havent looked at these for over 20 years.


I wont post any more.

Nothing wrong with the pictures Sunnybob. How big would that one be ? It's introduced me to another world I didn't know existed.


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[ColeyS1]

I bought a small piece of bogwood for the algae eater then got a bit lost with how I should introduce it to the tank. A few places recommended leaving it outside in a bucket of water with frequent water changes, the other suggestion was boiling it first. Here I was thinking I should just place it in the tank.

I tested for ammonia earlier and the closest match was 0.5

Would it be too soon to add a few more to the tank ? I think you may have suggested guppies ? It's a shame the gourami didn't make it. That was nicely coloured

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[sunnybob]

Theres no guarranteed way to stock a tank. Someone will always tell you they have bucked the system and can keep brackish water fish along with acid water fish.
Honestly, trust no one.
As you learn, so you want to know more.

The only fish i know you have is a tetra and a molly, Already you you are in trouble. Mollies prefer mildly brackish, tetras are at home in more acidic waters. I would suggest sticking with tetras as they are less hassle and are really at home in a heavily planted tank.
Bottom feeding catfish for a tetra tank include corydoras (hundreds of types) a placo, but looking ahead, a common 3" pleco will grow to 18" given ideal conditions and a few years. If you want to get a bit adventursome, a synodontis catfish will love hiding underneath your bogwood, but then again, they are nocturnal, so you wont see them often.

Are you starting to see the problems (and joys) of fishkeeping?

As i said, I was given a 6 ft tank as my first, from a long time friend who was a fanatic. he had dozens of tanks back in the 60's. Within a couple years I had five other tanks in the lounge, then I moved to importing and selling from the boys bedroom (he was small enough not to mind sharing with his sister), then onto 15 tanks in my converted garage, and then onto a full blow high street shop with a 150 tropical, marine, and coldwater tanks and outside pond fish holding tanks..
It tends to take over.

The royal pleco was a very special fish back then, I think they are more common now, full grown at around 24",
I'm a bit sad as I thought I had several pics of my shop, but no, they have vanished into cyberspace.
An interesting piece of trivia... uptill the late 70's every London Transport bus garage had a fish tank in the canteen, paid for by the management. It was recognised even then that it was a superb stress reliever.

 

[ColeyS1]

150 tanks !! You must have had a huge selection. Wowsers.
I think I need to stop paying attention to the shops labeling system. I thought community fish meant they would ve happy to go with other community fish but clearly thats not the case. I don't want to end up with anymore tanks than I have now if I can help it.
I kinda get that they could be good at relieving stress. I find myself watching them a lot whilst trying to concentrate on the t.v.

The mollie seems obsessed with chasing it's reflection when I've got the light on.

So what would be your method of adding the bogwood? Just place it in the tank, or something different ?


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[sunnybob]

Nothing is simple. Youre dealing with a self contained micro climate of only several dozen litres.
Bogwood, if its natural bogwood, will significantly lower the PH of the tank. Most fish will be happy, some wont.

The problem with bogwood is that demand outstrips natural supply, so dealers make their own out of tree stumps soaked in all sorts of stuff including tea. Not to say that will kill fish, but it will affect the water in different ways.

Similarly, avoid any concrete ornaments, they will leach all sorts of chemicals into the tank.
Dont use coral or sea shore wood because the salt content will severely upset the tetras.

I'm being a bit dramatic showing all the bad things, because in a small environment, even small additions can alter the tank water composition so much that fish will start to die.

I would soak all ornaments for a week with frequent water changes before adding to the tank. And still use a Ph and DH test kit the day after installing anything.
Accept you will make mistakes, but as long as you learn from your mistakes, its an amazing hobby.

I once had a customer complaining that her fish just kept dying, no matter what she did. It took quite a while playing detective asking her about her tank house keeping. i finally got to the problem. She was using spray furniture polish to make the whole tank sparkle. The spray polish was going into the tank and killing everything. She took some convincing, but she came back a month later thanking me because she could finally keep her fish alive.

Slowly slowly wins the race.

 

[OscarG]

Ha..another aquarium addict here! It is addicitve, has anyone mentioned "MTS" to you yet Coley? Otherwise known as multiple tank syndrome! You get your perfect tank and what happens you'll want another. I was up to 3 at one point. I've still got 2.

Here's a screeny of my fave guys, a Siamese fighting fish and my beloved cucumber scoffing Pleco.

I love this fighting fish but he's an absolute wimp! He gets bullied by my tiny cardinal tetras that nibble his tail sometimes. I have to hand feed him, he has a certain spot he swims to in tank and I drop food right in front of his nose, if he has to swim for it, the tetras nick it!

I long for the big 6ft tanks some of you have!

 

[sunnybob]

Nice plants.
I love a well planted tank.
I had a 6ft x 30" x 18" wide tank in the shop window. It was heavily planted. To the point where you had to watch a clear spot and wait for some fish to swim across it. That tank bought me in a lot of customers because I had it lit all night.

The siamese fighter has been bred for hundreds of years to fight its own male rivals. The huge fins slow it down too much for it to be a nuisance to other fish.

How big is the tank?

Good to see cardinals as well, and more than just one!

 

[OscarG]

Thank you! I used to have loads more of huge amazon swords but my plec just munches through them. It's a Juwel Rio 180, was originally ample size for the neon tetras and betta I started with. I rescued a plec from a friend when she had enough of her tank. I started feeding this tiny plec bits of cucumber and it grew into a monster pretty quick! I'm a bit worried as he's about 9 - 10" long now and I fear it's becoming cruel to keep him in a tank that just over 3 feet. As I'm in a flat several floors up, I worry it wouldn't be safe to have a bigger tank.

I'm on my third betta, haven't found they live very long. Had this one nearly a year, completely changed his colour in that time.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I took a foot long plec off a friend - he was in a four foot tank. He grew another couple of inches before I passed him on - he completely stripped a well planted five foot 400ltr tank.

 

[sunnybob]

I had a fishkeeping friend who lived on the 16 th floor. he had many tanks.
The tower block was so warm from all the other flats that he had marines and did not need tank heaters. I've been up there in february with snow on the ground and all the windows open and in a T shirt.
Dont worry about being in a flat.

most plecos grow to well over 2 foot in the wild. Its not uncommon For captives to reach 18"+
With any tank length is always preferable to height to allow fish to actually swim.

In the shop we often had people bring back fish that had outgrown their tanks.
One day a guy come in the shop and asked if we could take a Pacu, that he had bought at 3" long but was now too big.
I said (foolishly) yes.
he came in with this fish that was 12" long and 7" high. I had to scramble to get a 6 ft tank ready for it. Pacu's are vegetarian piranhas, mainly black with silver highlights. We named him " Percy the Pacu"
Percy's party trick was eating grapes whole, and then spitting out the pips. After a few months the novelty for the customers had worn off so i decided he had to move on. Its almost impossible to sell fish that size so I called around and found a garden centre in Wales that had fish and would take him. The only way i could move him was to use a black plastic loft water tank. That damn fish fought like crazy in getting him out the tank. he broke an over head quartz iodine bulb in the process, showering him and me in glass.
We drove almost a 100 miles to this garden centre, only to find they were going to put him in a tank only 1 foot deep that was already overcrowded. I refused.

On the way back we called into Bristol zoo and after i convinced them I didnt want any money, got them to take him. He was put into a huge pool with many others of his kind. we were given a tour of the back rooms of the fish houses. It was a good day.

 

[ColeyS1]

I think I've really slipped up. I added 4 small tetras and 4 guppys to my tank yesterday. I planned on just getting a few more guppys after a couple died but got carried away in the shop. I also didn't do calculations on my tank and just took the shopkeepers advice that I had plenty of room. My 120l tank now has 1 algae eater,7 tetras, 1 clown loach and 8 guppys.
Would adding some of these help with me adding too many too quickly?

It's like everything I learnt from the beginning went out the window yesterday !

On the plus side I love watching the tank. I'll quite often pause the tv in the evening to see what's going on,before realising 5 minutes have passed.
Cheers
Coley


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[Phil Pascoe]

That's why they put them in doctors' and dentists' waiting rooms.
I can't speak for that stuff having never used it, but your tank isn't overcrowded by a mile. You should really have more than one clown - they like to be in groups.

 

[ColeyS1]

That's why they put them in doctors' and dentists' waiting rooms.
I can't speak for that stuff having never used it, but your tank isn't overcrowded by a mile. You should really have more than one clown - they like to be in groups.

That's a relief ! I could get another, but thought I'd messed up when you guys suggested it could grow to 12 inchs and be too big for the tank. I don't think it's grown at all in the time I've had it so getting it a pal does seem like the right thing to do. I'll name it Phil lol !
My cold-water tank in the kitchen was 25 degrees the other day. The tropical one rose to 28 !

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