New Aquarium

Discussion in 'Members Hobbies' started by Fat Controller, Sep 2, 2018.

  1. ricky101

    ricky101 Total Gardener

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    Hi @Perky

    Like your idea of using just basic sand/gravel and giving root feeders a tablet vs the expensive 'Soils' which seems they need a long maturation period due to the ammonia they initially release.

    Been looking in a couple of aquatic stores today and the only natural products they have is a nice 5mm small gravel and Silver Sand which I wonder might be too fine ?

    Have some decent River/Sharp sand from the builders yard ( not the B&Q/Wickes stuff) seems to be a decent mix of course sand and some slightly larger pieces, almost small pebbles which I did measure the ph of some time ago and did not fizz when vinegar added, so think that might be better ?

    Any words of wisdom on canister filters, the ones like APS seem a very good price and about half the price of a Fluval or Eheim but when you look at similar units, the APS ones ( boyu make ?) they are rated at about 3 times the wattage of the Eheims, which makes me wonder if they are a lot noisier, which is something we don't want.
    External Aquarium Canister Filters - Allpondsolutions
     
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      Last edited: Sep 9, 2018
    • Vince

      Vince Not so well known for it.

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      Only just seen this FC, not read through all the posts but we have one! I'm just glad I built the "side" it resides on really strong!!! I'll see if we have any pics, if not, we'll take some. Enjoy, I find watching the fish quite therapeutic :)
       
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      • Fat Controller

        Fat Controller 'Cuddly' Scottish Admin! Staff Member

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        @ricky101 - the external filter we bought the other day is one of AllPondSolutions ones, and it I can now (thankfully) say that it is working and not noisy at all. This is the one

        So, as you know, we weren't able to get the external filter working and the hood would not sit down in its place with the filter pipes in place and I was looking at some sort of silicone hoses to sort the issue out..... well, putting it bluntly, I do not have the money at the moment for buying hoses, and as I put in a night from hell pain wise last night, I had quite a bit of thinking time.

        Eventually, it hit me - I was focussing on modifying the pipes, and not the tank itself, so this morning I took a look at the hood and realised that there was a solution! We got the faithful Dremel out, and cut part of the tray in the top where the pipe comes up into the built-in filter - this allowed me to wriggle both of the pipes for the external filter in through that part of the hood; it was a bit of a mission, but we got them in. We relocated one of the air stones to the middle of the tank, so we have one at the left and one in the middle, with both filters drawing water from the right hand side of the tank. The spray bar coming in from the external filter is positioned just to the right of centre and has its 'holes' pointed toward the glass to quieten it down a bit. We have also stuffed a bit of filter wadding into the area where the water comes out of the in-built filter which has quietened it down massively. I did have to chop an inch off the surface skimmer on the intake of the external filter, as it was sitting too high and even adding water still wouldn't have got it into the water.

        It took Mrs C an age to prime the external filter - it is essentially a hand pump that you use to fill the filter itself and then the pipework to purge air before you start the filter. Once running, there was a bit of a gurgling session whilst it knocked out the last of the air bubbles and then we were left with a fairly quiet hum. Better still, it has only been a couple of hours since both filters were switched on and the water is really quite clear now (it was really cloudy with a bit of a greenish tinge to it before they went on)

        We had to add a hell of a lot of water once we were done modifying stuff, and did so using the hose for convenience, so that coupled with the time that we had the hood sitting outside being modified, I reckon we must have stuffed up our good bacteria that we put in yesterday - so we will restart that again today.

        All of a sudden, it is starting to look like a fish tank! Very quick pics, please forgive reflections/mess/water marks.

        20180909_173235.png

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        @Vince - I would love to see pics of your aquarium when you get a chance. Although we have had to put quite a bit of graft into this one, particularly as we are trying to do it on a zero budget, but it is already providing a sort of therapy in as much as it is requiring reading, learning and problem solving; to be honest, I think it is the wee kick up the bum that I needed mentally to get me feeling a bit more 'normal'.
         
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        • Vince

          Vince Not so well known for it.

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          • ricky101

            ricky101 Total Gardener

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            Hi FC ,

            That looks real nice, though taken a lot of work to get there, think you should be very pleased with the results.

            Have been looking around trying to update myself on planted tanks and something about these 'soils' that I am not quiet sure about.
            Seems that most will initially release a good bit of Ammonia for over a month, though not sure if your Caribsea will do that ? if it does you really need to use those test kits as @Perki mentions and ensure both the Ammonia and Nitrite are all gone before introducing any fish.

            Was looking at the smaller version of the APS filter you got, good to know they are not noisy.

            Had thought about using my little old marine nano tank for a planted one, but its just a 30cm cube and has an inbuilt filter so not much space.

            Saw this Aqua One 40cm cube advertised localish, complete with plantgrow led light, cabinet, unused heater and basic bits all for £65.
            The real prize, which I had to see to believe, is that the tank and stand do not have a scratch or mark on them, virtually like new though its been used for a year or two with a goldfish.
            So I will hopefully be close on you heels ! :smile:

            001092.jpg
             
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            • Fat Controller

              Fat Controller 'Cuddly' Scottish Admin! Staff Member

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              Oooooh. that is a wee cracker of tank! I look forward to seeing how you get on with it! Bargain at £65 too.

              I am pleased with the filter from APS - it is in the cupboard under the tank, which helps a bit with noise, but it is much quieter than I thought it would be, and its construction seems to be very robust.

              I have 5-in-1 test strips, which I will start using tomorrow and will knock up a quick spreadsheet so I can monitor what is going which way. I also have specific ammonia test strips, so they will be pressed into service too.

              Having knackered the bacteria that I put in so far, I have had to buy another bottle, so have API Quick Start coming instead; they claim that you can use this stuff and put fish in the same day, but I won't be doing it that quickly - if it gives me a quicker result, particularly when combined with the filtration and air supply, then fair enough. I am thinking of starting with some neons, and maybe a bristlenose plec and then we can slowly build from there.

              And yes, it has been a lot of graft (mostly for Mrs C due to my current state of disability), but it has been worth it as we have a fairly handsome tank even if I do say so myself.

              @Perki - I forgot you asked about the rocks, I'm afraid I cannot tell you what type of rock they are as they were donated by my neighbour; speaking to him and his wife earlier, they don't seem to know either. They did give me one compliment though - they are planning to move in the next few years, and said yesterday that they now know where their fish are being re-homed when they do move! I was chuffed with that.
               
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              • Perki

                Perki Total Gardener

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                @Fat Controller the rock looks like Dragon stone commonly used in aquascaping, I am not sure about the rock on the far right though.

                @ricky101 Its a nice little setup at a good price, I've often thought about getting another smaller tank for aquascaping, I try with my tank now but with the bow front and being a corner tank makes it difficult to scape.
                 
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                • Fat Controller

                  Fat Controller 'Cuddly' Scottish Admin! Staff Member

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                  @Perki - thanks, I Googled Dragon stone, and it looks identical to the stuff in my tank; never seen rock quite like it before. The one on the far right is not actually a rock - it is a bit of dogwood that we picked up at Maidenhead aquatics.

                  I've tested the water for the first time today, and the results are:

                  1st test.png

                  As you can see, there is no ammonia, but I have elevated nitrite and nitrate levels - I suppose that is as a result of me knackering the good bacteria with my lid and filter modifications yesterday?

                  The hardness is something I can't really do much about, but I will get some more driftwood to put in there somewhere and see if that lowers the pH a bit?

                  And yes, I have created a spreadsheet where I can track things, conditionally formatted of course......

                  I have dosed the tank again today with the Bio-Boost, and as there was only a small amount left in the bottle, I slightly over-dosed it, so at worst I suppose any bacteria that are too much will be just die off. The water is fairly clear (we still haven't added the carbon to the filters, and won't do until we have fish in there, and the tank is settled a bit).

                  The Quick Start has arrived, and doing some further reading, it seems that you actually have to put fish in within two hours of putting the stuff in the tank, otherwise the good bacteria will die and you have wasted your time.

                  So, what fish would you guys suggest, and how many?

                  I was initially thinking neons, danios and maybe a small plec - - but, other reading suggests that the neons are not all that hardy (news to me!) and that it should be danios and platys?
                   
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                  • ricky101

                    ricky101 Total Gardener

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                    Hi FC,

                    What would be interesting is to run a test strip under the cold tap and see what Nitrites and Nitrates are coming out of there.

                    Why do you have such a highish level already ?

                    Though the plants will use some of the nitrates and you can buy some medias that absorb it, the most effective way is by water changes.

                    Don't become obsessive about the nitrate value, though lower is better, but its just an indicator of the bio load of the aquarium.

                    Not quiet sure what happened with your bottle of bio boost, did you drop most of it into the tank ?

                    I would say 5-6 Tetras or Danios or Raspbora to start things off and see how they, and you, get on with the tank.

                    Ideally a bigger shoal is better as just a few can lead to problems with the pecking order, but not good to buy and risk a large shoal as the first introductions,

                    As with lots of web information do not believe everything, some of it can be dribble and very biased views, thats why I was earlier hoping others would join in this thread to give you a more balanced view.
                     
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                    • Fat Controller

                      Fat Controller 'Cuddly' Scottish Admin! Staff Member

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                      Hi @ricky101 ,

                      I have just checked the water out of the tap, and the NO3 is 100, NO2 is nothing, and the water is much harder (suggests that the wood and substrate are doing something to soften it a bit?)

                      Nothing wrong with the bottle of bio-boost, but as I had to remove the hood and take it outside to modify it, and then rinse it thoroughly with the hose, and then it sat outside for quite a while, I think that will have knackered the initial dose of bio-boost that I had put in. For this reason, I decided to do the initial dose again, but that virtually emptied the bottle (it is supposed to be 1 dose, then ½ dose the following day, then ½ dose on the third day), so as I only had about 20ml left I walloped it in this afternoon.

                      I now only have Quick Start to hand, and it states that it is for the immediate addition of fish (presumably to keep the ammonia supply up); in fairness, it does say that this is only the case if all the other parameters are met (aeration, filtration and heat).

                      We are going to go back to the aquarium shop we visited at the weekend, and take a water sample with us for them to test - they seemed very helpful, knowledgeable and everything looked really, really healthy (nice 'glint' to their eyes etc), and we can be guided by them. To be honest, I think that they will become our preferred place to purchase fish, as it just seemed to be cleaner and not as dingy as Maidenhead was.
                       
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                      • Perki

                        Perki Total Gardener

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                        You PH is very Alkaline FC, bogwood / other wood will help reduce it slightly. African Cichlids need very alkaline water, they are aggressive so you can only have that type of fish and they are likely to shred or dig live plants up, they are quite beautiful though especially in a large tank
                         
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                        • Fat Controller

                          Fat Controller 'Cuddly' Scottish Admin! Staff Member

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                          @Perki - I had a look oat Cichlids, and beautiful as they are, I think they are maybe a wee step to far at the moment; we are going for more of a community tank, and are looking at things like neons, danios, platys, angels, a plec or two and maybe some shrimp.
                           
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                          • Perki

                            Perki Total Gardener

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                            I've had angels in the past they grow quite quick, with fish anything what will fit in its month it will eat, neon and shrimp will make a nice snack for an angel fish one day. I had a quite large plec about 6inch once that was ok but was getting to large for my tank. I've had danios as well, fish shop said my red tail black shark wouldn't be able to catch them :nonofinger: :sad: I had to take the RTBshark back it was vicious. I've had plenty of neons over the years I find them a bit boring in the tank, they don't move much lazy sods, they are a good beginner fish. They is two types sold under neon tetra at fish shops, one is the true neon tetra, and the other cardinal tetra same colour but the red runs along the body and they are slightly larger.

                            My favourite fish over the past 5-7 years have been my Rummy nose Tetra. Tetra do prefer acidic water conditions but will tolerate different conditions.
                             
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                            • Fat Controller

                              Fat Controller 'Cuddly' Scottish Admin! Staff Member

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                              I remember the red tailed black shark from years ago - a friend had one, and it would nip just about anything it could get near.

                              Oddly, when we had a tank many, many moons ago, we had neons and angels co-existing without any problems....... maybe we were just lucky. I know that neons aren't the most interesting things in the world, but I have a soft spot for them. Some thinking needed as to what we are going to put in there.

                              I quite like guppies, but remember them breeding like rabbits and having to get additional tanks. Do you think I would get away with a bristlenose plec fairly early on? I am keen that we have something cleaning up around the tank, rather than getting to a situation where we are catching up?
                               
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                              • Perki

                                Perki Total Gardener

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                                I can't see why you wouldn't get away with a B plec, Don't consider a Chinese algae eater if you see one. Otocinclus catfish ( ottos ) are small algea eaters, I would wait until the tank settles for these though, Cherry shrimp are easy to start with I've not had them before but recommended beginner shrimp
                                 
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