A Few Small Questions

[hives]

im new to this forum so hi all !

Bassicly ive just bought a 1.5 foot wide tank about 2 days ago with a cheap plastic hood, and set it up with a heater an under gravel filter although the tray only covers half the tank and the pump itself doesnt seem to be that powerful. I currently have 2 afican dwarf frogs and 2 guppys which all live happy together and they seem to enjoy each others company the only problems im having is the water seems very misty since i put some new rocks/plants in today and its been misty for around 12 hours now, i dont see why though becuase its bassicly fresh water, no time for pollution and i did clean most of the stoned and rocks before they went in. The only thing i can think of is that its my shoddy filter system so im considering buying a filter that doesnt have a tray and it just a stand alone one but dont know what im looking for, could anyone help? also will a stand alone filter air the water to like my tray filter does? ... thanks for reading anyway, thnx

 

[SkiFletch]

by misty do you mean cloudy?

Some other types of filters will aerate your water, but not all.

What types of plants and what lighting do you have?

Do you have any idea of your water stats? (pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate)?

 

[hives]

Yea i have a light but its not that bright as i DIY`d into the plastic hud and its not a high wattidge, yeah mist as in cloudy. I have 2 plants in there not sure on the names just bought from the local shop. Bassicly i want to know whats a fairly cheap and good filter for a 1.5 foot long tank, ... with the (pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate) i havent got a clue to be honest, i havent added any chemicals or done any water tests. I do keep an eye on my temperature alot though, thanks for the reply

by misty do you mean cloudy?

Some other types of filters will aerate your water, but not all.

What types of plants and what lighting do you have?

Do you have any idea of your water stats? (pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate)?

 

[hives]

Bassicly what it comes down to i think is me not wahing the gravel and rocks well enough, tomorow im going to fully clean it out... wil this be possible tp put the fish in a big bowl and put the heater in the bowl... then totally clean out with fresh water and re-add the fish? i dont really have many options as i cant leave them in the cloudy water.. it not really badly cloudy but cloudy enough to make it not look right. Also im going to purchase a new pump for my undergravel tray tomorow before i do the clean out... any tips on cleaning out would be much appreciated, cheers

 

[SkiFletch]

I wouldnt go nuts like that just yet. What you're experiencing is probably a bacterial bloom of sorts which will right itself in a few days. Do some large dechlorinated water changes for the next few days and you should be fine. The bacterial bloom isnt harmful to the fish so I wouldnt be too concerned

 

[hives]

does having a better air pump make the water cleaner? becuase at the moment i have avery old air pump with an udergravel tray which covers just over half the tanks (lady in the shop said thats fine) but i didnt show her my pump and i know its not to powerfull... doesnt create that many bubbles compared to other anyway. I think buying a more powerfull one will make the suction of the undergravel tray better? is this right? by the way thanks for the reply again much appreciated, its turning into a big of a nightmare

 

[dwarfgourami]

As SkiFletch says, cloudy water is not likely to be that important so I'd leave that for now. Bacterial blooms are common in new tanks.

What is absolutely essential though is to ckeck the water quality. Unfortunately with fish tanks, how the water looks tells you absolutely nothing about how safe it is for the fish. You need to buy a test kit that checks for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. Basically, any reading of ammonia or nitrites over 0.5 ppm is potentially toxic for the fish, doesn't matter if the water is beautifully crystal clear. You need to keep ammonia and nitrites under control by partial water changes (say 20%) using DECHLORINATED water.

You need to read the pinned topic on cycling a tank, absolutely essential reading.

Also, what are your rocks? Did you get them from a shop or pick them up yourself? If they are crumbling or fizzing into the water they could be releasing something harmful in there. You can fish one out and test it by putting some vinegar on it - if it fizzes it is not safe. (Don't forget to rinse the vinegar off before you put it back in the tank though).

 

[hives]

Yeah i did actually get the rocks out of the garden... but there very solid and do not flake/fizz, i im going to get hold of a water testing kit today although its just dust from the gravel it must be... so im going to spend a day sorting it out and cleaning the stones, shouldnt take longer than an hour or so.. hopefully buy some more plants etc to, thanks for ally our advice though and ill try and post a picture of my set-up later on today. thanks

 

[hives]

Managed to get myself a new under graval tray with new air stone etc, just about to full clean out.. it apears it was the old airstone that wasnt good enough, my new airstone is much better... also just bought some more plants, and gravel.... cant wait to get it setup!