New Aquarium

Hi Ricky

I am glad you posted that info! The woman in the shop actually suggested that we should put three clown loaches into our tank, as they were good for dealing with any snails if we happened to get any (among plants etc); digging out the books that we have, they seem to suggest that they generally grow to 6-inches (up to 12 if they are really happy) and state that a 39" tank would be needed, so I can see how people could end up with fish that are too big for their tank!

Is there any other fish that would be a good natural protection against any potential snails?

Regarding the water quality, the inference there was that the water conditioner would deal with that, at least to a sufficient level for fish that we would get from them or most aquarium shops around our area, unless we were going for some of the more sensitive fish - is that advice wrong? If so, how on earth do we soften the water?

Whilst we have no fish, I do have all the plants due to arrive on Friday or Saturday, so I will need to be getting them into the tank before they expire. Oh, and I did pick up one bit of dogwood - only £4 and it looked nice........ I was going to soak it before putting it into the tank, but am now reading that it might help with the water hardness problem, even if only a wee bit?

Blimey, this fish keeping is a right lark, and I haven't even got a fish yet!

 

Not yet, but I have test strips that will help me determine that. Mrs C has had a chat with her dad - he lives in Cornwall now, but used to live very close to where we are (streets away), and he had tropical fish when he lived here. He simply treated the water with Tap Safe which is the stuff we have, and says he never had any problems.

From what I am reading online, there is a 'pillow' that will fit into the filter that softens the water, but not knowing what filter we have yet makes that a bit of a challenge - - and I am not sure how effective it will be in such a big tank?

Starting to get the feeling that I have opened a can of worms here........

 

Thanks @Freddy - they have definitely been kept locally, both by father in law and my neighbour across the road, and given the amount of houses around here I would bet that there are quite a few others. I looked at a reverse osmosis kit to see if I could work out how it did its thing, but apart from seeing that it connects to the mains water and puts out a certain rate of water as well as 'waste' water, I cannot for the life of me see how it is supposed to be used properly. I certainly don't have space for holding big tanks of water either - nor do I have the thick end of £50 to spend on one. I equally don't believe that everyone around here with fish tanks are spending loads of money on softened water?

 

Evening all

Well, the tank is here and thanks to my neighbours across the road is now happily placed immediately to my right, so I will be able to turn my head and see it. My neighbour is now jealous - turns out that he had two tanks, and the rocks came from one that he got rid of, but he still has a tropical tank; his daughter is a vet at a local surgery, and she popped over with him and gave me lots of advice, and confirmed that our water should be fine as long as I treated it with Tap Safe.

The tank itself is an absolute stunner - it is not bow fronted, but the front corners are curved, so the front and sides are all one piece of glass. The filter is in the hood, and it looks to me as though they have already replaced the filter itself as it is as clean as a whistle - and I mean really clean, and even smells new. I do have a bit of a worry though - the filter media itself is a rectangular strip of that course stuff, a bit like Scotchbrite; now, from what I have read just about everywhere, when replacing the filter media it should be replaced half at a time to retain the good bacteria, so would I just cut it in half?

Also will I have to replace it with the same type of media, or would I better to change it to something else (wool?) come filter change time? Or, should I change it before I even start (assuming it is not expensive)?

The filter pump sucks the water up from the bottom of the tank, and then pushes it through a pipe which has a load of holes in it - the water falls out of these holes into the filter 'sponge', then into the plastic tray below it where it runs through a wee channel on the left side, builds up in a wee chamber until it overflows into a wee pipe thing and then drops back into the tank.

Now, that brings me to my next question. I have filled the tank to leak test it, and currently the water level is about an inch under the top rim which holds the lid - at that level, the water coming out of the filter will be dropping down by about an inch which I suspect will be quite noisy - should I have the water level higher?

We will be draining the tank tomorrow (that will be fun!) and then it wants cleaning - no sign of any algae or anything, in fact it is generally quite clean - just a wee bit grubby here and there, but nothing that good wipe with a J-cloth won't sort out. There are a couple of wee dinks here and there, as you would expect for something that isn't new - oh, and there is one screw missing from one of the cupboard door handles, but I reckon I have one in my tool box (so that is a mission for Mrs C to dig that out!) - other than that, it looks as though it has never been used!

@ricky101 - I bought them on ebay from a seller called plymstarr - he is quite clear that the plants are rinsed etc, so should be free of snails but he doesn't give a 100% guarantee which is fair enough really.

My neighbour is also donating a big bag of something he called Caribian something or other - - apparently it is what I need to put under the gravel for the plants to root into, and he reckons he has plenty in his garage to get me started.

 

Should there be some of these fellows under the sponge for the good bacteria to colonise? Shame I didn't think of this when I had a vet in the house!

 

Sorry, I forgot to include the link - Finest-Filters 1000g (1kg) Ceramic Filter Rings Biological Filter Media in Bags for Aquarium / Pond Filters: Amazon.co.uk: Pet Supplies

I've just watched a few videos on YouTube that seem to suggest that they should be, and that the polyfilter should be cut into sections to prevent it leaking down the back of the tank.

 

Thanks @ricky101, although I am not sure if I am ready to take the blame for another tank. I have done a bit more research (YouTube is a goldmine, and makes things really easy to understand, even for an eejit like me - - it appears that he polyfilter is a replacement for coarse and fine filter media, but it also seems that it is not without its problems - the ceramic rings appear to be better for encouraging good bacteria to grow for a start, so I think I am into getting some of those (probably be the last tenner available on my credit card!) and putting them under the polyfilter.

The other problem with the polyfilter seems to be if they clog up with dirt at the 'output' end, especially if the material butts right up to the end of the channel - which it does on my tank (see, only a few hours and it is my tank.. ) - this causes a backflow into the filter which then overflows right down the back of your tank. So, that coupled with the fact that the polyfilter on this one is one whole piece has led me to decide that I am going to cut a few inches off the output end of the polyfilter to prevent the blockage problem (this seems to be the recognised cure), then I am going to cut the remaining filter into three equal parts, put some of the noodles into the tray and then put the polyfilter on top.

I will get some photos, but I am wanting to be a bit houseproud and get it cleaned and set up before I do - forgive me

There is a bit of me feels really bad that we are really benefiting from someone else's misfortune, not least as this tank is almost new (I don't have a date, but it really can't be that old as it looks pretty close to new, and the cupboard in the stand still has a whiff of that new smell) - BUT, I then look at it sitting in pride of place in our living room and I am chuffed to bits with it! Does that make me a bad person?

On the upside, apparently the donor said when it was collected today that they had sort of hoped that we would be the ones in the family to say that we would take it, as it would be something nice to make up for the rotten start to the year - a really nice thing to say, given that they are now the ones having a tough time one way or another.