A Bit Fed Up.

[fishyfeet]

i hope she shows you what to do with them

 

[the_lock_man]

i hope she shows you what to do with them

Yeah, mine certainly does. I could watch her all day.

 

[PWW]

"Oh" dear, I get sillier as I get older LOL !Good Morning by the way, I havce just posted somewhere else on here because I could not find this one !! Now I AM confused !
Anyway folks, my water well the water in my fish tank LOL, is a good 80% clearer than it was yesterday, I done a water change, took out a good three quarters and filled it again and there is definately a good improvement.
Still cloudy, not perfect, but it is getting there.

What really gets "up my nose", when, like me, you go to the retailer to look and probably buy your tank and whatever else, to start with and you know "nowt" about it, you ask questions like me and get 50% fobbed off.
When I went to the garden centre who overall have a good name for their stock in all departments, and definatley not cheap in anything, they have a wonderful Aquarium dept, so I had a look round at the tanks for sale and taking into consideration the room I had at home I chose the one I eventually bought. So I spoke to the chap behind the counter and yes, he was helpful in telling me what I needed to buy to go with the tank, such as gravel, a heater, a filter and that was it. WHAT HE DID NOT tell me was anything about the setting up cycle, what I should expect or what could happen and what else I would need. All he done was get me to buy the basic set up things as I said above, which in my eyes is wrong. For a complete novice like me, or anyone that is not sure, the information from these people should be more forthcoming and people like me would know exactly what we are letting ourselves in for and what we can expect.
As you know I "winjed" yesterday and was completly "cheesed off" about the whole situation because none of it had been explained to me. Thankfully since joining here I feel a lot better and more cheerful.
But it is wrong you know, the retailers should be more open about any problems or things that happen at first, I mean it is not a cheap hobby to get set up in is it, you cant "cut corners" in this hobby unless you want further problems can you.

Still I suppose it is modern day selling techniques.

Have a good day everyone, now I really am going to get my tea and toast !

Peter.

 

[CezzaXV]

Often it's not fobbing people off. Especially in bigger shops and garden centres, the staff genuinely dont know how to look after fish, and how are they going to advise you if they don't know themselves?

Best thing to do is research and ask around online.

We all make mistakes. As a child, me and my sisters kept goldfish. The tank was way too small, we had no filter and minimal aeration, knew nothing of the nitrogen cycle and I'm sure we overfed them. They lasted quite a long time though I have no idea how! Nobody told us any different and I hate to think the suffering we put those fish through! Can't beat yourself up about it though. Fishkeeping can be an expensive hobby and the rewards aren't immediate, but it's worth it when you get there.

 

[KittyKat]

Glad to hear that your bacterial bloom is going now

But it is wrong you know, the retailers should be more open about any problems or things that happen at first, I mean it is not a cheap hobby to get set up in is it, you cant "cut corners" in this hobby unless you want further problems can you.

Still I suppose it is modern day selling techniques.

There isn't really anything modern about it… part of the problem is that some LFS employees don't know much about fish keeping, some don't care, some are not allowed to not promote products, some get paid commission on sales, some have given up because people don't listen (I am lucky that most of my experience working in LFS was not actually dealing with customers on the shop floor, or I am sure I would have long since given up on humanity)…

So my next question folks is, as a new starter to the hobby, when I eventually put two or three fish in the tank, any suggestions what sort I should start with please ?
My daughters partner, reckons that I should get a couple of Guppies, what do you think ?
I am not intending to put a lot of fish in, I only want about 4 or 5 maximum and that will be it.
Because if I can get this new set up working right, despite my earlier "winjing" about the initial set up procedure, see how it goes and then in the back of my mind I am thinking of getting a bigger tank in another room.But that will not happen for a couple of months, get this one sorted first.
So what about those Guppies....any good ?

Just to be sure, your tank is an AquaStart 500 by AquaOne? So the dimensions are 50 cm long * 34 cm deep (front to back) * about 40 cm tall?
I think 5 male guppies would be an excellent choice, especially if your tap water is somewhere in the neutral to hard region (if it isn't, that can be improved with the addition of some shells or reef bones as part of the décor). You need to be a bit careful about where you get them from as ones at LFS are not always that great.
Best thing to do is get them from a breeder, but keep in mind that unless you get young fish, they might not live that long. Guppy life span is around 4-5 years usually, and breeders of "show quality" fish usually sell the adults which are 3-4 years old. On the other hand, they also have "culls" (fish which will not be used for breeding), which are usually cheaper (you will need to ask for these specifically normally. Anyway, here's one link: http/www.fancyguppies.co.uk/page6.htm and here's another: http/www.fancyguppies.co.uk/page5.htm
Or you can buy them from normal hobbyist breeders, in which case you don't need to worry about the age usually, here's a link: http/www.aquarist-classifieds.co.uk/ and ask in the classifieds section on here: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/forum/116-livestock/
I said 5 males specifically because females are capable of giving birth to up to 200 young every 4 weeks (although 30-60 is more common), which would quickly cause problems in a tank that size.
Also, if you want only 5 fish, cycling with 3 ppm of ammonia (which should completely be processed into 0 ppm nitrite and nitrate) because the recommendation for 4-5 ppm is for full stock and 5 guppies is not full stock

 

[PWW]

Good Morning, thank you for that, I have taken note.

Went to get some fish yesterday..........no, not for the new tank (yet), but my General Manager (er indoors") has got a pond in the garden and although we have only just got a tank for indoors, she has had her pond for about two years.
She loves her goldfish in there, and I must admit they have made me appreciate them, Why ? Well last winter we had heavy snowfall and nothing in the garden could be identified it was all covered in heavy snow for quite a few days including the pond, and those fish came through that looking great and even now they are thriving..brilliant.

How it came about was, I had to go to the D.I.Y. store one day, I was doing a job in the garden and I wanted some coarse sand, chippings and a dozen slabs, anyway my dear lady came with me and whilst I was out getting what I went for, she wandered off so there I was pushing this heavy barrow and I found her looking at the pond fish...... I think a pond would look nice in our garden dear, she said, anyway I knew she wanted something because she called me dear ! Usually it is "you" or "im" so I thought about it and there and then I bought some liner and all the "gubbings" to make a pond, anything for a quiet life LOL, and that was it, and we ended up with a pond and the fish have nothing but thrive, even through a hard winter with a good snowfall.

One question folks,whilst I am here,is there a facility on this forum where members can be notified by e mail to any replies to posts please ? I am a member of a couple more sites, (not fish related) and if there are replies to threads of which I have posted on, I get an e mail telling me so.
It is a good idea because it lets you know and it makes sure you dont miss any replies to reply to.

Thanks

Peter.

 

[KittyKat]

One question folks,whilst I am here,is there a facility on this forum where members can be notified by e mail to any replies to posts please ? I am a member of a couple more sites, (not fish related) and if there are replies to threads of which I have posted on, I get an e mail telling me so.

Top right, there is a button which says "Watch topic" or something like that, that will do it (you need to select the option which will send you an email). You can set this to happen automatically somewhere in the user preferences so that if you reply, you are automatically subscribed to the topic.

By the way, did you know you can speed up your cycle if you take some media from the pond filter and put it into the tank filter?

 

[PWW]

Helooo, only me, thanks for your reply, yes I think I have "cracked it" with the notification "thingamybob", so that will be good.

No, I did not know that about pond water.......see, a forum like this is a brilliant place to be, the knowledge that is within is truly amazing.

I ought to change the title of this thread, to read "I am not fed up now" .

By heck, I nearly got succumbed when I went back to the Aquatic dept, I had to tear my self away LOL, they had a lot of tanks for sale, obviously, and there was a beautiful long one there "Marina" make, and it came with a pot of fish food, Fliter, Heater and two different small pots of water treatment. It was double the size of the one I bought, but I was a good chap LOL, I said no to myself.

Peter

 

[CezzaXV]

I think I have that Marina tank you were looking at. It seemed massive when I first got it (was originally gonna pay £80 for a 40L, so I couldn't not pay £100 for a 60L when I saw it) but it seems tiny now. Eyeing up a 120L one but it's so expensive. Just as well really or I'm sure I'd have bought it by now.

I'm quite good at not buying stuff as I know it's not what my fish need, but I can't help spending long periods looking at stuff in the LFS nonetheless!