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Stoca Zola posted:I'm not sure exactly what your filter layout is but generally you want to keep your sponge and just swish it/squeeze it out a bit in water you've taken out of your tank and don't toss it until you have to. Like, if it gets totally clogged and you can't clean it, or if it starts falling to bits. It's got a big surface area and holds lots of your bacteria. Thanks for all this. I was planning on weekly 25% ish water changes and I'll definitely baffle the filter if it looks too strong. Also today I learned that UK and US gallons are different! The tank is 2.5 UK gallons, so 3 US gallons. Gonna take a water sample out with me to the aquatics shop and see what they say today.
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Aug 11, 2016 13:26
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Bit of a late update, but transporting the fish to the new tank proved eventful. Which is to say, disastrous. First I made the mistake of attempting to carry a 95 gallon tank up a flight of stairs with my poor neighbour...  ...who felt terrible about the whole thing. At this point I was in two minds whether to just ditch the thing, but decided to keep it after thinking back on the effort it took my to lug it the two miles village to village. It was otherwise undamaged and the filter looked pretty expensive so I decided to suck it up. First thing's first, clean it up and remove the old panel.  I got a new panel cut fairly cheap... about US$20. Of course, because it's a flat panel the volume of the tank is decreased considerably but a replacement curved panel would have cost about US$250 and I didn't trust myself to measure it properly. The re-imagined tank:  Next I took a trip to Tong Choi Street in Mong Kok, aka, the Golden Fish Market. If you're into this hobby and are in Hong Kong I'd seriously recommend making a trip to this street... the selection of animals, plants and equipment is incredible and all the storekeepers are incredibly knowledgeable.      So... got my plants, got some nice round stones, some aquarium stand... next step is simply fill up the tank and let it cycle, yes? Unfortunately I don't have any photos of this, but after I filled up the tank I switched on the filter and the tank IMMEDIATELY filled with brown sludge. This thing, it seems, had never been cleaned. It was full to the brim with fish poo poo. I cleaned the filter with water from the small aquarium, but the tank took ages to clean up. I gravel vacced the bottom and did about five water changes before it was finally habitable. So... here's the finished product. It's been hacked to pieces and filled with crap but it is, undeniably, mine.  Some shots of the fish in their new tank:     On a sad note the Denison Barbs did not survive in the small tank while the large tank was being cleaned. Sorry guys, blame whichever fool was responsible for your plumbing. On a happier note I got a male betta who lives in the small tank with the Candy Cane Tetras. He's called Flop and, like his Peep Show namesake, is one of the good guys and is old school. 
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Aug 11, 2016 14:24
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dog days are over posted:Hey, sorry for the stupid question. I've had my little 2.5 gallon tank live planted and set up for a couple months now and the nitrite and pH levels are all good and dandy, so I was considering picking up a betta tomorrow or maybe just a few shrimp. Please don't put any fish in something smaller than a 10g.
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Aug 11, 2016 16:26
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ColHannibal posted:Please don't put any fish in something smaller than a 10g. Bettas are perfectly happy in a 1g tank
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Aug 11, 2016 16:42
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You heard it here first folks. Betta aren't fish.
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Aug 11, 2016 18:03
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That's a pretty decent repair, and looks like the tank cleaned up pretty nicely too. Even with that semicircular part missing its still a good sized tank! So as long as it holds water, and the fish are happy and hopefully the hood isn't too wobbly. That bit of the stand where the round part used to be could be quite a convenient bit of shelf space too. Shame that the denisons didn't make it but at least you tried to get them a better home. Gibbo posted:You heard it here first folks. Betta aren't fish. Dog days did say maybe it would be shrimp, they're pretty much not fish too.
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Aug 11, 2016 18:28
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Stoca Zola posted:That's a pretty decent repair, and looks like the tank cleaned up pretty nicely too. Even with that semicircular part missing its still a good sized tank! So as long as it holds water, and the fish are happy and hopefully the hood isn't too wobbly. That bit of the stand where the round part used to be could be quite a convenient bit of shelf space too. Shame that the denisons didn't make it but at least you tried to get them a better home. Thanks, it's now 75 instead of 95 gallons but should be enough for the current inhabitants. I'll keep it this way for a while before adding other fish.
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Aug 11, 2016 18:39
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I had my betta in a 5 gallon and it was definitely more than enough space. The dude would just sit on top of his leaf all day anyway in the same corner of the tank.... for 2 years straight.
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Aug 11, 2016 19:05
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I threw together a low tech planted 10 gallon tank a couple years ago with a finnex fugeray and some cherry shrimp + CPDs. The shrimp were a failure despite best efforts, but the CPDs are doing great, having spawned twice now. The problem is algae. Like, crazy amounts of hair and black brush. Crazy amounts. So, the plan is to go even more low tech. Simple fluorescent hood, basic substrate, nothing planted other than java fern, anubias, and anacharis. Will anacharis survive without any ferts under that lighting? I just have zero time or interest in monkeying around with co2 or ferts anymore, but still want my CPDs to have good plant cover.
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Aug 11, 2016 19:35
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Re: hair algae - How long do you leave your lights on for? I've had my hair algae die off completely, leaving only scraps of cladophora, with a lighting schedule of 4 on, 4 off, 4 on, then off overnight. I initially had a break of 2 hours but switching that to 4 made a bigger difference. Light is a little clip on finnex and the plants seem okay with this schedule. I don't know what black brush algae's deal is, I can't get it to grow at all in my tanks so I have no info on how to get rid of it. My sister has luxurious sheets of it but when I brought some here to see if my shrimp would like hiding in it, it just died in about a week. Maybe it doesn't like harder water? She runs her lights all day and her flow/oxygenation is a lot higher, and she uses rainwater in her tank. No ferts or CO2 so that isnt a causative factor for BBA in her case. I reckon anacharis might be fine, I'd guess lower light and less ferts (or nothing but fish wastes) would just mean slower growth, not plant death. Those things are considered weeds so I'm guessing they're pretty tough and adaptable. I just got a few stems of what looks like anacharis as a bonus with a plant order that arrived today so I'll see how it does in my fairly low lit, sand substrate tank that gets liquid ferts maybe once a week if I remember after water change. I've already got an anacharis-like plant that does okay, but I've never been sure if its elodea or hydrilla or anacharis. The plant I got today has more frequent leaves and a more robust stem but since it was a bonus I don't have a name for it - it really does look like anacharis though. I ordered 2 anubias (unknown type), 2 hygrophila pinnatifida (actually got 3 plants), and some limnophila sessiflora (maybe 10 stems) but the seller threw in 4 big stems of anacharis(?), two huge chunks of bacopa(?), huge quantities of what looks like a red ludwigia, some spiral valisnera, some bits of myriophyllum, a couple odd little stem plants which could be crypts or who knows, and some stems of a plant I've never seen before. Googling maybe its a hydrotriche hottoniiflora? Thick fleshy stems, huge pine-needle like leaves. I thought maybe it would be tough enough to withstand the rosy barbs but they seem to love grass and needle shaped leaves and had uprooted it within minutes. Those plants have been temporarily relocated to the guppy tank for now. I have to say the seller's packing method was genius, he cut the tops off some 1.25 litre coke bottles, put the plants in then taped the cut off parts back on. Stuffed the two bottles in a plastic post-it envelope and then fitted 2 more baggies of bonus plants in the void either side of the two bottles. The plants stayed uncrushed and humid/moist the whole 4 days it took for them to arrive and they were in fantastic shape on arrival. A real clever and cheap DIY method to ship plants. I didn't see any snail eggs either although there were a few little ramshorns here and there. Pretty obvious the guy likes having a plant tank clean out and just posting his cuttings to whoever, and for that I am greatful! Its pretty challenging to keep a planted tank with rosy barbs since they love their greens so much. So far they are leaving the bacopa and hygrophila alone. I put a couple of stems of limnophila in for them, I hadn't planned to because it looks like something they would destroy in seconds flat, but since the seller sent so many stems I figured it wouldn't hurt to let them have a snack if they wanted. I know from previous experience that they absolutely love red plants and rip those to tiny shreds so I didn't bother testing those in their tank. I would have never thought to try bacopa since those little round leaves look bite size and inviting, but they are a tougher leaf than I thought they would be. Thinking about it now, I'm not confident about the anubias actually, I don't think the leaves looked as robust and shiny as the anubias leaves I've seen, and from what I have seen anubias have rhizomes that go sideways with leaves that grow up from that. The two plants I recieved have an upright habit, with a thick stem closer to a piece of broccoli than any anubias I've ever seen. So maybe more of a rosette style plant? The stems are growing roots downwards from along the stem up to the point where the leaves start so I just propped them up vertically above the gravel for now until I work out what they are and whether they need to be buried in substrate or not. They don't look like any crypt I've seen so maybe some kind of sword plant? But I haven't seen swords with such a thick stem either. Or anubias for that matter! I should get a photo in case someone can help me out but that will have to wait until morning.
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Aug 11, 2016 21:14
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I think the anachris will be fine, my 10 gallon just has the lights that came with the hood and tank kit and I fertilize once or twice a month if I remember and it grows just fine. I'm not overrun with it but I definitely get new plant shoots off of my main stem with regularity.
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Aug 12, 2016 02:31
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Stoca Zola posted:Re: hair algae - How long do you leave your lights on for? I've had my hair algae die off completely, leaving only scraps of cladophora, with a lighting schedule of 4 on, 4 off, 4 on, then off overnight. I initially had a break of 2 hours but switching that to 4 made a bigger difference. Light is a little clip on finnex and the plants seem okay with this schedule. I don't know what black brush algae's deal is, I can't get it to grow at all in my tanks so I have no info on how to get rid of it. My sister has luxurious sheets of it but when I brought some here to see if my shrimp would like hiding in it, it just died in about a week. Maybe it doesn't like harder water? She runs her lights all day and her flow/oxygenation is a lot higher, and she uses rainwater in her tank. No ferts or CO2 so that isnt a causative factor for BBA in her case. The only heartbreak is one of the anubias plants is about 6 years old, and has been bouncing around various tanks. It's now covered in black brush, and I'm not positive I'll be able to de-algae it enough to feel confident putting it into the new tank.
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Aug 12, 2016 03:20
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Got some (bad) pictures of my unknown plant but maybe it will be enough to help with ID? The leaves are a little translucent, and the veins appear lighter on the upper surface of the leaf.  Different plant and different angle but you can still see what I mean. There's a central vein with side branching veins.  Looking at the underside of the leaves of the second plant, and you can see the way they come out from the central stem.  A better view of the thick stem and roots. The leaves dont really have a stem like an anubias, the vein just connects straight to the main stem. And that looks like a stem not a rhizome to me, so it really can't be an anubias, can it?  Does anyone know what this plant is?
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Aug 12, 2016 09:02
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My anubias (well, sold to me as an anubias at least) developed a stem like that over time as it grew.
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Aug 12, 2016 15:32
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I picked up 20 neon tetras yesterday. They're currently swimming around in my quarantine tank - how long does everyone quarantine new fish for? They'll eventually be transferred into my planted 75g that has cory catfish and clown loaches. Neon tetras are cute but they look/act dumb as hell, even by fish standards
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Aug 12, 2016 16:58
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Yeah, most schooling fish seem sorta... Not bright. Fun to watch in a giant school though https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBLmmAOh4gE
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Aug 12, 2016 17:42
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My 20 long is slowly coming back from an algae outbreak, think the new plants that I added which grow like mad help a bunch (it's even worse in my 5.5 gallon betta tank, I need to trim them again this weekend). The ghost shrimp/nerite snail probably help a bit too.  This guy is somewhere between 5 and 6 years old, can barely see but refuses to stop owning the tank.  Also spotted a berried ghost shrimp today, with eyes showing up on the eggs already. Maybe I'll have better luck with those guys than I did with cherry shrimp. 
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Aug 12, 2016 17:46
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Sharkbomb, you got any update pics of that 75g? I wouldn't mind seeing how much the plants have grown since the last photo you posted. Regarding quarantine, I think you want to get the fish into a stress-free environment as soon as possible so they can get well by themselves on good food and clean water. I reckon as long as you're not seeing any odd behaviour, loss of appetite or poor colouration, weird poop etc; 2 weeks after the last death in quarantine is a good rule of thumb. Anything infectious there would still be obvious and spreading in that time, giving you a chance to treat it if necessary. Aside from camallanus worms, they can show up in like 6 weeks or longer although for a small fish like a neon tetra I think you'd spot them sooner rather than later. I'm kind of paranoid about those but there's not much you can do; either you preemptively worm your fish with levamisole or fenbendazole and hope you aren't poisoning the poor fish's livers too much, or you wait and watch and maybe don't see the worms until the damage is already done. The first dose isn't too bad of those wormers but as far as I recall they accumulate in the fish and you can't use them too often in the fish's lifetime. So its a judgement call on how you want to handle potential intestinal parasites. I have no idea how often camallanus worms show up in the hobby but they are SO HORRIBLE.
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Aug 12, 2016 18:10
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Stoca Zola posted:Sharkbomb, you got any update pics of that 75g? I wouldn't mind seeing how much the plants have grown since the last photo you posted.  Here's an updated pic of my planted 75g! The tank conditions seemed to have stabilized since I started it early this summer-- I had a huge algae bloom after putting in the plants, but that seems to be under control. Then I had an insane boom of snails but those seem to be under control by the clown loaches. I still have some large snails roaming around - which is fine - but the loaches seemed to have nipped the snail life-cycle in the bud because I no longer see egg sacs and tiny snails. All of my plants are growing well (some too well). Back left of the photo is a Cabomba plant, and next to it is Hornwort. The back right is Water Sprite which I love and may plant more of eventually. I also have some Anubias and Jjava Fern in the tank, as well as Undulata Cryptocoryne (not visible in pic). I've never had a large aquarium before, nor aquatic plants, and I definitely overplanted the Hornwort. That poo poo grows like a weed and I hack out gigantic chunks of it every week as part of my tank maintenance. I have 2 Fugeray Planted+ lights on a timer for 8 hours of light per day. Current occupants: 8 cory catfish, 3 clown loaches. A couple baby catfish that I see sometimes, not sure where they're at usually. Thanks for the tips on quarantine and disease. I'll do 2 weeks with the Tetras and take it from there. Right now, I plan on removing 25% of the quarantine tank water every 2 days and replacing it with water from my main tank. Probably way overkill, but the idea of continuously inoculating my new fish with the main tank's bacteria appeals to the microbiologist in me... Bonus pic of the goof troop in quarantine:  Edit to add: baby catfish 
sharkbomb fucked around with this message at 23:51 on Aug 12, 2016 |
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Aug 12, 2016 20:30
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Here's a shot of my Bolivian Rams,my favourite dwarf cichlid.   And my tank. 
Lord Kinbote fucked around with this message at 14:31 on Aug 13, 2016 |
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Aug 13, 2016 13:58
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I finally scraped up the courage to total up the receipts for my outdoor pond and it comes out to ~$2500. Lower than I feared, but still a pretty fuckoff number for a "fishtank on steroids." Well, at least until the water bill shows up with an extra ~3000 gallons of usage.
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Aug 13, 2016 17:06
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I've never seriously owned fish of any kind. After reading the OP I'm motivated to try. Think I might get a 20 gallon tank but I'm not sure what that means. How many fish can I fit in a tank that size? Are there any Brands to buy or avoid for tanks filters and such? I did look on Amazon at some of the 20 gallon quick start kits but they looked kind of trashy.
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Aug 13, 2016 17:21
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I think the first big question is, what sort of fish are you interested in keeping? Starting from there, you can begin to figure out how many you can have in a tank that size, and what sort of filter you will need (some fish produce more waste than others, some need a filter with more or less flow.) Do any of the fish in the OP catch your eye? From my understanding, 20 gallons is a good starter size. peach moonshine fucked around with this message at 18:14 on Aug 13, 2016 |
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Aug 13, 2016 18:12
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peach moonshine posted:I think the first big question is, what sort of fish are you interested in keeping? Starting from there, you can begin to figure out how many you can have in a tank that size, and what sort of filter you will need (some fish produce more waste than others, some need a filter with more or less flow.) Do any of the fish in the OP catch your eye? I was thinking either female Betas or some gouramis. something colorful that is one of the recommended beginner fishes from the OP.
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Aug 13, 2016 19:02
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I would recommend a pair of Apistograma cacatoides,look them up great beginners into cichlids and great colour.
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Aug 13, 2016 21:00
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Lord Kinbote posted:I would recommend a pair of Apistograma cacatoides,look them up great beginners into cichlids and great colour. Wow those do look beautiful. Is that something I'd have to order, or should I be able to walk into a petstore and ask for one? Tony Doughnuts fucked around with this message at 22:24 on Aug 13, 2016 |
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Aug 13, 2016 22:22
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Tony Doughnuts posted:Wow those do look beautiful. Is that something I'd have to order, or should I be able to walk into a petstore and ask for one? Depends on where you live. Most chain stores will not carry apistos, privately owned ones will. Also check your area for local fish clubs, you can get a lot of great fish and used equipment on the cheap! My killifish group has a meeting every month (heading there tonight) and people often sell or donate full setups because they just ran out of room/need to move poo poo.
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Aug 13, 2016 22:37
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Lord Kinbote posted:I would recommend a pair of Apistograma cacatoides,look them up great beginners into cichlids and great colour. One of my favourite fish people on Youtube just put out a video about these! The guarding behaviour is adorable. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQBBISrV0RM
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Aug 13, 2016 23:13
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Cowslips Warren posted:Depends on where you live. Most chain stores will not carry apistos, privately owned ones will. Killifish might not be a bad choice either.
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Aug 13, 2016 23:31
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How do I find a fish club in my area? I'm in Philadelphia. There's a decent fish store in NJ that I can travel to but otherwise I'm surrounded my PetSmarts.
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Aug 13, 2016 23:50
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peach moonshine posted:One of my favourite fish people on Youtube just put out a video about these! The guarding behaviour is adorable. They are great parents,I've had fry survive in community tanks but new pairs have to learn and don't get it right the first few times. Tony Doughnuts posted:Wow those do look beautiful. Is that something I'd have to order, or should I be able to walk into a petstore and ask for one? They're pretty popular,so I don't see why they shouldn't be hard to locate.
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Aug 14, 2016 00:52
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peach moonshine posted:
I started with 250 and upgraded to 750 in three years
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Aug 14, 2016 18:06
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CrazyLittle posted:I started with 250 and upgraded to 750 in three years 250 is way too large for my space and funds availability. I'll start small and if my interest grows I'll slowly upgrade.
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Aug 14, 2016 20:06
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Tony Doughnuts posted:250 is way too large for my space and funds availability. I'll start small and if my interest grows I'll slowly upgrade. You should get the biggest tank your budget allows it will give you more options plus, if something goes wrong in your tank its more forgiving than smaller bodies of water.
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Aug 14, 2016 21:15
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I bought 38 Neon Tetra in 2 batches over the last few days. My city has been hitting upper 90s temperature and my AC can barely keep my apt below 78 degrees, so my tanks are running hot. I've had about 7 tetra die since they entered the quarantine tank and I'm almost positive it's been the heat. I set up a big box fan blowing on the tank and none of have died in the last 24 hours. Really not a fan of tetras so far - they seem so fragile!
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Aug 14, 2016 21:53
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CrazyLittle posted:I started with 250 and upgraded to 750 in three years I started with my betta and 5 gallon Fluval Chi in February. At the start of the summer, I decided to clean up the backyard fountain that had sat untouched since we moved in and added four goldfish. Now, I'm looking to put the betta in a 20 gallon, and I'm also going to have to make a winter home for the goldfish. My rule of thumb for any future aquariums (aside from the goldfish tank, will which need to be taller) is that I have to be able to touch the bottom by sticking my arm in up to my elbow. I had to move something on the bottom of the fountain one day, and I was in up to my hips. peach moonshine fucked around with this message at 22:09 on Aug 14, 2016 |
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Aug 14, 2016 22:02
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Lord Kinbote posted:You should get the biggest tank your budget allows it will give you more options plus, if something goes wrong in your tank its more forgiving than smaller bodies of water. 20 gallons is still a good size to start though, especially if space is at a premium. Besides, if they really get the bug it'll just be the start.
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Aug 14, 2016 22:27
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If I could go back in time I'd get a 55 as my first big tank instead of a 30, it's just slightly too cramped and hard to get the scale to look right for the plants I am using. But the prices are pretty inflated here so I don't know that I could justify spending that much. You do end up needing "just one more tank" for quarantine, or raising those fry, or rehoming those incompatible fish that you love too much to get rid of, or for setting up a different biotope without pulling down tank #1.
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Aug 15, 2016 02:55
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I set up an alert on Craigslist and got my 75g with a stand for super cheap! I definitely recommend doing that, especially if you're in an urban area. People are constantly selling tanks.
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Aug 15, 2016 02:56
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Lord Kinbote posted:You should get the biggest tank your budget allows it will give you more options plus, if something goes wrong in your tank its more forgiving than smaller bodies of water. You can always dig down deeper and pour concrete if you need more volume.
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Aug 15, 2016 05:02
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