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Fish arrived, happy and healthy :good:

That is true, I just assumed that the OP would be moving in cycled filter and plants on day 1, or silent cycling, because lights and fish-less cycles are not compatible if one wants to avoid algae as ammonia is algae food. After all, it wouldn't make sense to pay extra for an ammonia rich...

That, again, depends on the setup: I have lights on for around 12 hours, but most people have trouble with lights on for over 8 hours. Some on here claim that 4 hours of light is enough for plants, while most scientific research I have read usually uses 8 hours for research (and almost always...

While it is true that they are schooling fish (so should be kept in groups of 6+), it is not true that they need 500 litres :) What they need are the dimensions: an adult clown loach needs a bottom area of 6*2 ft because they will reach 16 inches in length, but any height tank starting from...

It depends on what you're trying to do with the tank. I am trying out baked clay cat litter under a layer of sand in a lower-tech setup right now, and that's working out pretty well, although I cannot tell if it's making any difference. For most of my aquarium keeping life, I have used just...

+1, please fish-less cycle the filter with household ammonia: it will save you a lot of work and headache! If your friend has a freshwater aquarium, seed your filter with some of their media to speed up the cycle :good: or browse the media donor list on here!

I suspect that stuff like that will not have any effect on other amphibians, but if you're worried, why not get a very basic dechlorinator which does not claim to do any of that stuff, or ask the manufacturer?

Scientific names, not Latin :) some are actually Latinised Greek or other languages. First reason to get up to scratch on them is what Zoddy said: some common names are used for different species and some species have very many common names. Second reason is that most of the species I named do...

If you want an affordable branded tank, look for a second hand one. The old 4 fter was a shop bought "Rio" one (probably not Juwel) that had gerbils living in it for about 20 years before I got my hands on it: my friend's mum used to breed them for some pocket money when she was at uni and...

I used to have two of these tanks, one I used for a community and the other for Rift Lake cichlids. As a tank, it is nice and a good hobbyist "community" tank, although for heavier stocking, I upgraded the filters to externals. If you are serious about good fishkeeping, then I actually advise...

When the light is off, you can look at the bulb itself and that will usually say what it is. The website of the manufacturer states that the fitting takes 1 or 2 39W high output (HO) T5s, which are a type of fluorescent tube. They should be the "36 inch" length of the tube, which is normally...

This forum is about what is best for the fish. If you do not care to take advantage of our experiences or do not care to know how you can improve, then do not post your full stocking unless it is relevant to the question. And I would have recommended that for the sake of the fish, you stick to...

+1, mixing is not recommended. +1 recommend that you improve stocking for current fish before even thinking of new fish. In case no one has recommended the improvements, if that was my tank, I would want to see the final stocking per species look like: * 1m Betta splendens * 6-10+ Corydoras of...

I would not want to put lace gouramis into anything shorter than 4 ft, but in a 4 ft tank, I would keep 1m 2f. It is not the volume, but the dimensions that matter. Your tank is 62*39*52 cm (l*w*h), which basically means that it doesn't have anything more going for it (in terms of stocking)...

That's great! :good: Keep in mind that most of them should reach around 12-15 inches long with time. A bit of a complicated question… in short, plants need CO2, minerals, nutrients and light to grow, but this is where it gets complicated because different plants need different amounts of each...

Bump

It's a shame that this is the first thing I'm saying to you… but it really hurts to see goldfish in such a small tank :no: The tropical tank looks good, the Crypts will spread nicely, but it could probably benefit from more tall plants along the back. The tank holds 150 litres, but it's the...

Equipment make/model/size: 2 digital/electronic timers, the sort that you can plug lights and other equipment into Quantity for sale: 2 Reason for sale: don't need them Delivery or collection: either Sales price: 6 pound each or both for 11 Postage & packaging: second class included in the price...

To elaborate on the size point… If a fish does not have enough room to actually swim, then it is unlikely to be a happy and healthy fish. Small tanks do increase the chance of stunting by quite a lot. The amount of room that the fish need depends on the species: for example, a 2" zebra danio can...

If you mean, do they filter? Yes, they do. Would I use one? No, I would not use them because I use sand substrates (which allows me to consider a much larger variety of fish for the tanks in question), and because I do not vacuum the substrate. So in short, if I used a UG filter, I could not be...

For a second hand tank that is in excellent condition, I expect to pay around 50% of the new price. For any equipment that did not come free with the tank and was in good condition, I would expect to pay around 30-50% of the new price, assuming I actually wanted it. For example, I would...

I have never had problems treating water for salamanders and newts with dechlorinator, and cannot imagine what could be in it that would be actually harmful to frogs.

The only two things I can recommend are doing more large water changes and double dosing a dechlorinator which claims to "deal" with nitrite. At this point, there is really not much you can do to speed up the cycle. Next time you cycle, these points will help you, although they are not much use...

The spike in itself if normal, but to me, the daily rise in nitrite looks quite high for the stocking and volume, which is why I think it's likely to be something else that's not helping. Plant "soil" substrates do have a tendency to release ammonia when first used, so that could be adding to...

Postage is a must, unless you come down towards Norwich/King's Lynn/Oxford areas occasionally?

4" body is probably adult, but 4" including fins would still babies. If they are babies, you will need to watch for aggression with age. If they are adult, you might want to avoid removing one, as that can sometimes trigger aggression between the remaining fish.

Stocking compatibility wise, it should be ok. Personally, I recommend against adding a male and recommend that you work on current stocking, which probably would involve decreasing the total number of species in the tank.

No, severums grow too large for your tank. We're talking about a 12" fish here, it won't be able to do much more than just turn around in your tank, which is not really fair on the fish. Heros spp. are one of the fish on my "want" list that I have never had the space for, and when I finally get...

I think Tom means a "usual" background, which tends to be on the dark side. It is actually not too difficult to do comparisons on how fish act with different backgrounds, but most of us do not have the space, nor the stock to experiment with. For example, if fish feel insecure, they are more...

I'm interested in 2-3 pairs, could you do me a deal on 3 pairs? (Do you consider them to be a pair or a harem species?) What conditions did you breed them in, or do you have a record of the spawn somewhere?

If you get thin black ones, one layer is a black and dark brown job. I did a double layer one for my newest display (so I did not cut the bag in half), and it was a real pain to do. Next time, I'll just buy a glossy one to save on the hassle. Also, it's quite difficult to get all the creases out...

If anyone is up for helping me with an experiment: I'm trying to figure out how to ship larger starter cultures, so want to try things like tupperware tubs, fuller bags, etc. For anyone volunteering for this, I will charge only P&P costs and nothing for the culture.

Do you have any collection data on the parents? What size are the babies?

On the other hand, I can't stand seeing no backgrounds almost as much as I dislike the planted tank shot printout ones because to me, those two options look very messy. I like to see plain, dark backgrounds (black, or just off black) or realistic-looking 3D backbrounds.

As a general trend (although with many tanks, it's been a bit more mixed up with experimenting): - started with the traditional "Dorset pea gravel" (ok, but kinda messy and needed lots of cleaning) - then mixed in sand with gravel (much better for cleaning, and fish dug around in it) - white...

Updated plant list :good:

Not much difference between the dimensions of the two tanks, which is why it looked deceptively smaller… what fertilisers are you adding? Maybe one of them includes an ammonia-based nitrate component, and the filter could be treating it as ammonia, thus giving you nitrite… Not too sure how valid...

84 cm is quite short for a 200 litre! The only option I can see is getting 6 babies and taking them back to the LFS as soon as they've done the job.

Are you sure that's a 60 litre tank? If not, please measure the sides and height and post them here. If the tank is as small as it looks (going by heater, filter and fish size), 5 guppies is quite high stock for a fish-in cycle, which would explain why you're seeing such fast rises in nitrite...

I've got a positive ID on the Elodea/Egeria now (I think): they are Elodia crispa and Egeria naias. The E. naias is quite nice, it's a darker green with redish/pinky tips.