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Thanks - re filter, comes built in with the 260 litre juwel, so I just use that... if that makes sense? As for plants, I opted for plastic rather than real... Definitely don't want any aggressive ones in there. Plec occasionally throws his weight around a little, but nothing serious I don't think

Hi folks Wonder if anyone can advise or point me in the direction of a responsible website that can advise on stocking numbers. I've a 260 juwel tank - so plenty of room for lots of fish. It's been fully cycled and over the past six months I've slowly been increasing how many fish I have. So...

Hi folks Getting a little worried - though probably shouldn't be. I'm a worrier when it comes to my fish. I've had fish for a while but a few months ago started to introduce some corys: 2x juli corys and 2x pepper corys. Absolutely beautiful fish! Tank is a 260 litre shared with 16 neon...

Meant to say, found that the ph had dropped to around 5.5/6 which I guess could have stalled the cycle... Though the ammonia returned to zero before I could treat the ph drop... so if the ph was a factor the tank continued to cycle properly even with this low ph reading

Hi folks Anyone know if a particular type of tank can affect ph? Reason I ask is I started off with a 30 litre biorb. Even though my tap water is ph 7, the ph in the biorb often dropped down to around 5.5/6, meaning I needed to use water changes and a small amount of bicarb to bring things...

Thanks folks! Used pure ammonia right up to the day before I added the fish. Also had some bogwood in there from my other, fully cycled tank, which sped the processs up nicely. Seems to be fine now - no ammonia for the past 24 hours, testing at 8 hour intervals. Also made a water change. Was...

Hi folks Quick question about ammonia. I recently (I think) completed the fishless cycle for my 2nd tank - getting 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and trace nitrate levels continuously before adding fish a couple of days ago. This tank is a 30 litre biorb which I'm using as a quarantine tank before...

Hi folks Quick question about ammonia. I recently (I think) completed the fishless cycle for my 2nd tank - getting 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and trace nitrate levels continuously before adding fish a couple of days ago. This tank is a 30 litre biorb which I'm using as a quarantine tank before...

Thanks! I'd heard they did huge poos but hadn't ever seen such a long line of poo as that and was just making sure it was OK. Sorry for all the poo talk :rolleyes:

Hi folks this probably isn't an emergency - but I am worried about my plec. Is it normal for them to have 2-3 inches of poo dragging behind them? Hasn't happened before. I hadn't seen her over the past 2 days or so but today she's dragging this long, thin line of poo behind her. Some of it...

Hi folks I have a 30 litre birob - with the usual biorb ceramic media. As this media isn't very nice to look at I'm considering adding the nice looking pebbles you can buy. But I know the pebbles don't do the same job as the ceramic media - so I need to keep this in the tank too. I have...

Hi Curiosity101 The filters sponges are - 2x standard - 1x carbon - 1x Polypad - 1x nitrate removal If I remove the nitrate sponge, would I expect to see spikes in nitrate AND ammonia and nitrite? If so, would this not be a bad thing? And does the above mean I have zeolite in my filter...

Tank had been dry for a good few weeks - maybe a couple of months. Even the filter sponges (it's a juwel 260) were new when I started from fresh. The only things that weren't brand new were some pieces of bogwood which had been dry and out of a mate's tank for over a year and a couple of fake...

Thanks everyone - very helpful!

Hi folks I have a 260 litre tank and am looking to make it as community friendly as possible. I currently have a mixture of cardinals, guppies and catfish but am keen to add at least one more breed. Does anyone have any advice what else to add? I like the way the guppies tend to stay near...

Thanks for the advice folks! Met someone today who has actually just started a fish in cycle. He has a 240 litre tank, waited 2 or 3 weeks and then added 12 neon cardinals. He said that 2 weeks later he still has 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite readings. Any idea why that is? Will the cardinals...

Hi folks My 30 litre biorb is doing great a few months after completing a fishless cycle. So I'm well aware of the benefits of going through the cycle process. But after an awful lot of frustration going through the process, what I'm wondering is if it's EVER okay to try a fish IN cycle - if...

Hi folks Recently added my first fish to my tank - seven guppies, all males I believe. One of them died yesterday - not unnatural I wouldn't have thought given I believe some fish simply aren't strong enough to make it. But what's worrying me is one of the others has a really swollen stomach...

Thanks folks! So just to confirm, if I fit one of these valves then I can indeed place the pump beneath the tank? Cheers Ben

Hi folks I have a biorb 30 litre. At the moment the pump is sitting next to the tank and looks quite ugly to be honest. I'm thinking about putting the pump in the cupboard below the tank - but someone told me the pump shouldn't be placed any lower than a tank. Anyone got any idea if this is...

Hi folks Having now had my small 40 litre fish tank running for a good few months now, I'm thinking of taking the plunge (no pun intended!) and going all out for a 300 litre tank to be the main centre piece in my living room. Is anyone able to recommend a tank to go for - or any to avoid. I'm...

Hi Shelagh Added the 4 cardinals to start with - thought it best not to start with just one given they don't like to be by themselves - maybe a mistake? The test kit is Nutrafin liquid test kit - about 4 months old, bought when I started the fishless cycle. Thanks Ben Hi FHM Are you sure...

Hi folks Newbie here. Have had fish in my 30 litre biorb for about a month now following a fishless cycle. Have 4 small guppies and 4 neon cardinals. Some folk say this is fine for a 30 litre biorb, some folks say it is maybe too much. Anyhow, for the last 10 days I've been getting very, very...

I don't like the look of this. Tank is 30 litres and I'm beginning to question whether 2 male gouramis was a good idea. The two of them are constantly swimming around the tank with eachother. The thing is the blue one is constantly immediately behind the red/orange one, making me wonder...

Hi folks I have 2 male dwarf gouramis together in my tank and in a month or so - all going well - I'd like to add around 5 neon cardinals. Anyone got any advice as to whether they will make a good community? I actually went to the shop today to get cardinals but they didn't have any, so I got...

Hi folks Having apparently completed by fishless cycle - double zeros in 12 hours - I'm now considering what fish to add. Ideally I'd like to try neon cardinals and a single siamese fighter fish. While I've read that cardinals are perhaps not for beginners, I am more than prepared to put in...

Hi folks One more question for you if you don't mind!? Just taking things back a few steps... I found whenever my ph fell down to around 6 then it stalled my fishless cycle and nitrites started to go up again. From what I understand, my ph kept falling because I have softish water. So, I've...

Ammonia levels now consistently dropping to zero in 12 hours Nitrite levels now consistently dropping to zero in 24 hours For the cycle to be finished, am I aiming for the above, or for both readings to be zero in 12 hours? Also, was advised to keep my KH up I should dose with bicard between...

Thanks for the advice Would you say my tank is now cycled and ready for fish?

Thanks folks for the long term ph advice? Will certainly follow it. Out of interest, what do you make of the chemical 'balancers'? I see there are some products which say they will keep ph at 7. And any advice for the short-term? I just can't get perfect results more than 2 days in a row...

Aaaaaagggggh! This is now frustrating the hell out of me now! Wednesday 7pm: Ammonia: 0 Nitrite: 0.1 PH 7 Thursday 7am: PH 6 - added bicarb Thursday 7pm: Ammonia: 0 Nitrite: 0 PH 7 Friday 7am: PH 6 - added bicarb Friday 7pm: Ammonia: 0 Nitrite: 0 PH 7 Today 7am: PH 6 - added bicarb Today...

Hi Waterdrop Yep, have been adding ammonia every day. Not sure why the PH dropped when I added bicard at 7. Will do the water change asap though. Did a large one very recently but this has happened again. Thanks Ben

Hi folks Thanks for all the advice. It's been a case of it feeling like 'so near, but so far' since I last posted. Take the last few days: Day 1: Ammonia level 0 Nitrite level 0 (great!) PH: 7.5 Day 2: Ammonia level 0 Nitrite level 2 PH: 5 *Added bicarbonate Day 3: Ammonia level 0 Nitrite...

Also meant to ask, having done the water change, at this point should I be adding anything to the tap water? My tap chlorine levels are apparently zero anyway. I'm sure everyone's advice is to add a de-chlorifying liquid prior to fish being added but not sure if I need to add anything at this...

Thanks folks! Am trying out the advice above. Unfortunately having probably added too much baking soda my ph is now above 9. Anyone know if there's a particular way I should lower this to aid the fishless cylce? I could add some of that liquid that's supposed to balance it at 7.5 but want...

Thanks!!!! I'm on it - and will report back!

Hi Doresy Only extra things in the tank are some fake plants and a 'cave'. thanks Ben

Hey folks So sorry if this kind of post has been posted a million times before but I'm confused by the huge amount of info on a variety of different sites. I'm trying a fishless cycle with a 30 lites biorb tank. Readings: Ammonia: approx 5 Nitrate: off chart Nitrite: off chart GH: 4 KH: 0 PH...

Thanks!!!

Hi all - apologies is this has been covered many times before but it's my first post and I'm needing some help. In May my girl and I bought a new tank. It's a 30 litre bi-orb which we stocked with just 6 neons. Quite quickly a few died, so we added 5 more, but soon all 11 had died. So we...