My new tropical aquarium setup.
- Thread starter ColeyS1
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Phil Pascoe
Established Member
Yes, on a water change, but it shouldn't take much unless your mains water is too far one way or the other.
water testing will now be a regular occurrance, yes? =D>
PH is a very old testing scale, invented back when equipment was so much more basic than now and it was never intended to be used for kishkeeping, but its that we have.
Possibly a swimming pool test kit will be easier for you to use
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hydroponics- ... db0dd73c35
Obviously you wont be dosing chlorine, but the little tube is very easy to see and judge by.
Plants and pretty fish are happier around 6.5 to 7 because they mostly come from heavily planted rivers and streams. African plant destroyers (better known as rift valley or malawi cichlids :roll: ) require 8 plus a bit because their habitat is mainly rock and slate lakes.
PH is a very old testing scale, invented back when equipment was so much more basic than now and it was never intended to be used for kishkeeping, but its that we have.
Possibly a swimming pool test kit will be easier for you to use
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hydroponics- ... db0dd73c35
Obviously you wont be dosing chlorine, but the little tube is very easy to see and judge by.
Plants and pretty fish are happier around 6.5 to 7 because they mostly come from heavily planted rivers and streams. African plant destroyers (better known as rift valley or malawi cichlids :roll: ) require 8 plus a bit because their habitat is mainly rock and slate lakes.
I will be paying more attention to the ph now Bob.
One of the kits arrived this morning
The photos a bit misleading but it a closest colour match to 6.6ph.
I also found a chinese book of ph strips I bought a while back and that shows 7
Do you still think it's worth altering the ph ?
One more question is my nieces 2 goldfish seem to be doing really well. I feed them once a day. They seem really interactive and are always up at the glass wiggling and following each other around. I tried feeding them twice a day but they still come up to the glass when they seem me walk into the room. Are they just more interactive than small tropical fish ?- They cant be hungry.
Am I right in thinking that a forever tank for them would be better being longer and not as high ? My tropical tank is just over 3ft long,2ft high and 18 inches deep. I thought about getting the same tank for the two goldfish. That size would definitely be preferable to a 5ft long thing. Waddya reckon ?
I'll take in what everyone's said then stop asking so many questions lol.
Thanks guys.
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One of the kits arrived this morning
The photos a bit misleading but it a closest colour match to 6.6ph.
I also found a chinese book of ph strips I bought a while back and that shows 7
Do you still think it's worth altering the ph ?
One more question is my nieces 2 goldfish seem to be doing really well. I feed them once a day. They seem really interactive and are always up at the glass wiggling and following each other around. I tried feeding them twice a day but they still come up to the glass when they seem me walk into the room. Are they just more interactive than small tropical fish ?- They cant be hungry.
Am I right in thinking that a forever tank for them would be better being longer and not as high ? My tropical tank is just over 3ft long,2ft high and 18 inches deep. I thought about getting the same tank for the two goldfish. That size would definitely be preferable to a 5ft long thing. Waddya reckon ?
I'll take in what everyone's said then stop asking so many questions lol.
Thanks guys.
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Back when I had my shop, a little old lady came in and asked me to go to her house because she wanted to give me her goldfish as it was too big for her.
So I went, and there was a goldfish bowl sitting on the kitchen table, and the gold fish was about a half inch shorter than the diameter of the bowl!
She had won it as a tiddler at the fair, and been told it would only grow to the size of the bowl. DUH!
A goldfish can grow to around a foot long quite easily.
Your fish look in good health and you describe exactly what fish should be doing, active, alert, and in your case, possibly mating :shock: or 2 males fighting for superiority as and when a female arrives.
Overfeeding wont hurt the fish, because they cant be overfed due to them having a clever stomach that shuts off when its full and diverts everything to the "ahem, rear end"
.
If you see long strings of gunk hanging from the back of the fish, thats too much food. Overfeeding WILL pollute the tank very quickly.
If they eat what you put in within a few seconds, add more. If they wander away from the food after a minute or two while some is still there, feed less.
PH colour strips have some leeway because apart from printing error and fading, even every bodys eyes see colours slightly differently. As long as you are no more than one colour band away, I suggest watching the fishes behaviour before making any adjustments.
If they are alert with all fins erect and actively eating food, youre pretty damn near. If the fins fold down, and they start to swim at an angle and stay at the surface, you have a problem.
So I went, and there was a goldfish bowl sitting on the kitchen table, and the gold fish was about a half inch shorter than the diameter of the bowl!
She had won it as a tiddler at the fair, and been told it would only grow to the size of the bowl. DUH!
A goldfish can grow to around a foot long quite easily.
Your fish look in good health and you describe exactly what fish should be doing, active, alert, and in your case, possibly mating :shock: or 2 males fighting for superiority as and when a female arrives.
Overfeeding wont hurt the fish, because they cant be overfed due to them having a clever stomach that shuts off when its full and diverts everything to the "ahem, rear end"
.If you see long strings of gunk hanging from the back of the fish, thats too much food. Overfeeding WILL pollute the tank very quickly.
If they eat what you put in within a few seconds, add more. If they wander away from the food after a minute or two while some is still there, feed less.
PH colour strips have some leeway because apart from printing error and fading, even every bodys eyes see colours slightly differently. As long as you are no more than one colour band away, I suggest watching the fishes behaviour before making any adjustments.
If they are alert with all fins erect and actively eating food, youre pretty damn near. If the fins fold down, and they start to swim at an angle and stay at the surface, you have a problem.
Hey Bob
Can I chip in and ask you a fishy question?!
You ever kept cherry barbs?
I recently bought 4 (2 males, 2 females...shop insisted they're sold in pairs) to go in a 60 litre with a tiny clown plec and a betta. Started off fine then the larger male started relentlessly chasing the smaller fella, to the point where the smaller one would spend hours hiding behind filter. After searching online, everyone suggested more females, that they need to outnumber the males for harmony. I went back to shop, they wouldn't sell me all girls, had to settle for 1 male, 3 females. So far after 10 days or so, with 3 males and 5 females, all seems well.
Do you think it's bit crap the shop didn't advise me to get more girls to start with?
Can I chip in and ask you a fishy question?!
You ever kept cherry barbs?
I recently bought 4 (2 males, 2 females...shop insisted they're sold in pairs) to go in a 60 litre with a tiny clown plec and a betta. Started off fine then the larger male started relentlessly chasing the smaller fella, to the point where the smaller one would spend hours hiding behind filter. After searching online, everyone suggested more females, that they need to outnumber the males for harmony. I went back to shop, they wouldn't sell me all girls, had to settle for 1 male, 3 females. So far after 10 days or so, with 3 males and 5 females, all seems well.
Do you think it's bit crap the shop didn't advise me to get more girls to start with?
Phil Pascoe
Established Member
Many fish shoal in nature and exhibit different behaviourwhen you've only a couple - if your dominant male had another couple of dozen fish to harass there wouldn't be a problem.
I think we have a couple seperate issues going on here.
First, to only sell any barbs as a pair is nonsense. Unlike many cichlids, they are NOT monagamous, they breed with whatever female is available and scatter eggs with no parental care, so the shop keeper isnt playing fair with you.
Whether thats a marketing strategy or ignorance, I cant say.
In the wild, any group of animals will always see fights between males, thats genetic selection at work (only the strongest breed). So you will ALWAYS get males chasing other males off. 20 females to a couple males will allow relative harmony( a good example of this is a herd of deer. there will always be one dominant male)
But heres the other question I need to ask, is there enough food for them all?
When you feed, there should be enough food to last for at least 2 minutes. if the tank boils with movement when you feed, and its gone in 30 seconds, FEED MORE.
If food is scarce, males will fight for what is there (even females if it comes to starvation levels.
Time and time again, I had to explain this concept to newbie fishkeepers.
YOU CAN NOT OVER FEED A FISH!
Having made that plain, you CAN overfeed the tank. Food floating around after the 2 minutes, long trails floating from the fish, stinking water, layers of rotten food on the bottom, all scream too much food.
This is why a large tank is easier to maintain than a small tank, purely because a small tank can go from OK to dying in a day, but a large capacity tank will go bad gradually over several days and give you fair warning.
First, to only sell any barbs as a pair is nonsense. Unlike many cichlids, they are NOT monagamous, they breed with whatever female is available and scatter eggs with no parental care, so the shop keeper isnt playing fair with you.
Whether thats a marketing strategy or ignorance, I cant say.
In the wild, any group of animals will always see fights between males, thats genetic selection at work (only the strongest breed). So you will ALWAYS get males chasing other males off. 20 females to a couple males will allow relative harmony( a good example of this is a herd of deer. there will always be one dominant male)
But heres the other question I need to ask, is there enough food for them all?
When you feed, there should be enough food to last for at least 2 minutes. if the tank boils with movement when you feed, and its gone in 30 seconds, FEED MORE.
If food is scarce, males will fight for what is there (even females if it comes to starvation levels.
Time and time again, I had to explain this concept to newbie fishkeepers.
YOU CAN NOT OVER FEED A FISH!
Having made that plain, you CAN overfeed the tank. Food floating around after the 2 minutes, long trails floating from the fish, stinking water, layers of rotten food on the bottom, all scream too much food.
This is why a large tank is easier to maintain than a small tank, purely because a small tank can go from OK to dying in a day, but a large capacity tank will go bad gradually over several days and give you fair warning.
Last night I found out my external filter had been leaking water- nearly 1 litre a week. I've now order a replacement o ring and have the filter stood in a plastic container to catch the water in the meantime. I think I might leave the filter in the container anyway just as a precaution. Is there some kind of switch available that could shut off the water supply should the container fill up or begin leaking at a faster rate ?
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You could buy a small magnetic float switch that would operate a solenoid valve to close off the filter, but this very quickly becomes a nightmare, as you would also need it to shut off the electric to the filter or that would overheat, and operate a warning light and buzzer so the filter isnt off for days without you noticing. If in the tank it could also cause nuisance tripping every time a bigger fish set up a swell wave, or you put your hand in the tank and then made a wave as you withdrew it.
If in the lower container it might work better but you would still have wiring everywhere!
It wouldnt hurt to leave the filter in a white plastic tub so that any leaks could be easily seen at a glance, but this is one of those learning curve moments where now you know it happens you will always be on the lookout for warning signs.
Make sure you dont have any unneccesary joins in the hoses, make sure all joints are tightened with clips, and just practice regular checks.
If in the lower container it might work better but you would still have wiring everywhere!
It wouldnt hurt to leave the filter in a white plastic tub so that any leaks could be easily seen at a glance, but this is one of those learning curve moments where now you know it happens you will always be on the lookout for warning signs.
Make sure you dont have any unneccesary joins in the hoses, make sure all joints are tightened with clips, and just practice regular checks.
I think the best way would be for it to cut the power to the pump if possible Bob. Its filling the container rather quickly, I really should have noticed it before. The tank would survive being turned off for 10 hours and would save 200 litres being emptied onto the floor in a worse case scenario. A floaty switch sounds like the safest bet.
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Stigmorgan
Established Member
ColeyS1":29yomdco said:
Just bear in mind that whilst your tank may survive hours without a filter, your beneficial bacteria in the filter will start dying off rapidly after a couple of hours without water circulating through the media.
I replied to this hours ago but it has disappeared.
Theres no easy way to do what you want.
Replace the damaged O ring. Place a white plastic container under the filter to show you if there are any future leaks. I suspect the O ring failed through your inexperience of using the fitting. They normally last for many years.
Theres no easy way to do what you want.
Replace the damaged O ring. Place a white plastic container under the filter to show you if there are any future leaks. I suspect the O ring failed through your inexperience of using the fitting. They normally last for many years.
Stigmorgan
Established Member
Agreed, the only time I've ever had a seal break is after the filter had been put away for a while and the rubber had dried up and cracked/split. Had the same issue with a couple of air pumps bursting their diaphrams for the same reasons.
Air pump diaphragms can break if you leave the thing running wide open. Just like a car engine revving flat out with no load will blow up.
Slightly restrict the airflow to reduce excessive bounce, even if that means a bigger or doubled up pump to achieve desired flow.
Slightly restrict the airflow to reduce excessive bounce, even if that means a bigger or doubled up pump to achieve desired flow.
The whole setup was second hand so I dont know how it was looked after before. One thing that is mentioned is greasing any o rings to stop them drying out. That's what I'm struggling to find at the moment. I can find food grade grease by the bucket load but am unsure if it would hurt the fish so keep thinking about it. I can keep emptying the container for the time being. The replacement o ring is part of a complete service kit so I want to make sure I do it properly.
I have never had so many things go wrong in the space of a week lol.
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I have never had so many things go wrong in the space of a week lol.
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Theres no need for special lubricant on an O ring. Its neoprene which is resistant to just about everything except physical damage and sunlight. just wet it with the aquarium water when you assemble it. If possible, twist the fittings together to save a straight downwards force which sometimes distorts the O ring out of its groove.
If you are REALLY concerned, food grade silicone grease is fine, but just use the slightest smear or the silicone could gloop up the pump impeller
If you are REALLY concerned, food grade silicone grease is fine, but just use the slightest smear or the silicone could gloop up the pump impeller
Ok Bob. I'll try the new o ring with just tank water and if that doesn't work I'll order some food grade grease to try. Ssearching online suggests a lot of people have had the same leak with fluval 406's. Some have got so fed up they have switched brands.
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Bearing in mind my retail experience is now 30 years ago, but I remember when Fluval was invented. I did stock them because they were cheaper than Ehiem and some people either would not or could not buy the better one. I got a lot more Fluval returns than Eheim.
Is this disconnect fitted to the filter, or just inline? Inline valves can be swapped quite easily.
Is this disconnect fitted to the filter, or just inline? Inline valves can be swapped quite easily.
