Am I Doing Anything Wrong

[Jai]

Hello All,

Fairly new to having fish but having great fun with it so far.

I've been reading some of the posts on here and i am getting a bit worried.

I have a tropical tank (40ltr) with mainly tetras inside.

15 Neon Tetras
3 Lemon Tetras
3 Silver Tips
2 Platys
1 Algae Eater

I change the water every 1-2 weeks. Have some live plants in there and feed them 2 x daily.

I have encountered white spot twice loosing only 1 fish.

But i have not lost anything or encountered anything recently.

Could this be because i use rain water when i water change. I take it out of my water butt. Put it through 2 sieves to make sure there is no bits in there. Warm it up and bob's your uncle.

Using the rain water also means i don't have to use ph subsitutes as it stays perfect for the fish. Infact since using i havn't had to use any substitutes in the tank.

Am i doing this completely wrong or am i just lucky (So Far)

 

[Amunet]

How long has the tank been setup for?
40 liters is about.. 10gallons?
That seems to be alot of fish for 10gallons. Have you thought about upgrading to a larger tank maybe?

Also what kind of algae eater do you have?

 

[waterdrop]

Hi there Jai and welcome to TFF,

As Amunet says, first question is how long its been set up.

I count about 30 inches of fish body at least, not including the algae eater. That's about 3 times too much for the tank. Overstocking problems sometimes don't show up right away on a new tank but eventually they can become a very bad problem. You'll need to ID the algae eater. You can look in the forums here for pictures and try to match it up. When you get a fish name that you think is close you can google images to possibly find many more pictures of that type of fish.

Its great that you've had the energy and care to do the rainwater for your fish. If you begin to supplement that effort with reading and learning here on TFF you fill find there are many things known about how to measure the parameters of the water and what those numbers mean for the fish. The great thing about a place to ask other hobbyists is that some skills are more important than others, and a large group of people will tend to bring out the important things.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Jai]

How long has the tank been setup for?
40 liters is about.. 10gallons?
That seems to be alot of fish for 10gallons. Have you thought about upgrading to a larger tank maybe?

Also what kind of algae eater do you have?

Set up for 4 months

The fish seem really happy and they seem to swim in layers. Platy's toward the top silver tips and Lemon Tetras around the middle and Neons kinda shoal around the bottom. i am going to upgrade to a tank in the next few weeks. not sure on the letreage but it will be 4ft wide to fill a space beside the chimney breast. The height and depth will be in proportion to the width.

I will get on to the algae eater type and get back to you.

 

[Jai]

Its great that you've had the energy and care to do the rainwater for your fish. If you begin to supplement that effort with reading and learning here on TFF you fill find there are many things known about how to measure the parameters of the water and what those numbers mean for the fish. The great thing about a place to ask other hobbyists is that some skills are more important than others, and a large group of people will tend to bring out the important things.

~~waterdrop~~

How many fish should i have in the tank ? I started with 10 neons but the tank looked kinda bare.

I am hoping that using this superb community you have here will help me greatly. I have got quite attached to my fish now but i want to make there life stress free and give them a good life.

Should i remove some ? or leave as is because they seem content ?

 

[Jai]

Also what kind of algae eater do you have?

Algae eater is a "Otocinclus"

or "houdini as we call it. You can never find it. Seems to blend in !!

 

[waterdrop]

Well then I'd say your only problem is probably stocking and it sounds like you are making plans to address that problem.

That frees you up somewhat to delve into learning whatever basics of the hobby you are not familiar with. Doing that by reading articles here and then via questioning about what you are reading is a great way to build up or refine your skills.

Every aquarist needs to understand the Nitrogen Cycle and the key chemical players in it, ammonia, nitrite (NO2) and nitrate (NO3). They need to understand all about the cycling of the filters that are used on aquariums and they need to understand the theory of the filters themselves. They need to understand water changing skills and various things that can happen to tanks over time.

I'd start with the pinned articles at the top of "New to the Hobby" and in particular try to get a look at the Beginner's Resource Center ones. Its fun and informative to read all the beginners threads that you can on the forum - its a really active way to learn and get into it, although some times you will be led off on strange pathways, so always try to get back to the basics of the articles and ask your own questions in your own threads. The members find it fun to take on any and all questions, so don't hesitate.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Jai]

Thanks for the great welcome.

I have taken your advice onboard and i have loads of questions.

I'll go looking round the forum to find out where best to put them.

Thanks again

 

[waterdrop]

For many, many of your beginner questions, especially cycling and water changes and some of the stocking ones, "New to the Hobby" will probably be appropriate but there definately the occassional ones that find a good home in the planted or hardware sections or one of the sections devoted to specific types of fish.

One of the first things you will need to focus on is understanding the problems of ammonia and nitrite and testing kits. All signs are that you have a well cycled filter, but because of your overstocking, you will want to test your water and make sure you are not pushing beyond the capabilities of your filter during this period before a bigger tank.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Jai]

The filter i am using is an underwater bio filter. The one where you use the air stone in the tube.

I have noticed recently a very small buildup of grime on the bottom. I have now bought a device for cleaning this up.

I assume that this is because of the over stocking.

Thanks again

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, gravel cleaning is usually done as a water change. Often the habit is to do it on the weekend. You can use the search tool and probably come across discussions on gravel cleaning and water changing.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Amunet]

Definitely great that you'll be upgrading. When you do, are you going to be moving the fish to it or leaving them in their current tank?
If you leave them, move some of the others to the other tank so you can get a few more otos. Of if you move the 1 oto to the new tank, make sure to get him I'd say.. 5 more buddies.

 

[vinylman]

Great that you're going for a 4ft tank, but don't give in to the temptation to fill it with fish. When you do upgrade, Otos really do best in groups of at least 5 or 6, many fish don't do well as 'loners'. Always ask here before buying any fish, as stocking levels are important, even in a large tank.

 

[Jai]

Definitely great that you'll be upgrading. When you do, are you going to be moving the fish to it or leaving them in their current tank?
If you leave them, move some of the others to the other tank so you can get a few more otos. Of if you move the 1 oto to the new tank, make sure to get him I'd say.. 5 more buddies.

Not sure on how to do it properly yet. I'll keep glued to this forum for info on how best to do it and how best to stock it. Gonna be mabe 2 months before the new tank is up and running. But deff getting more otos.

Great that you're going for a 4ft tank, but don't give in to the temptation to fill it with fish. When you do upgrade, Otos really do best in groups of at least 5 or 6, many fish don't do well as 'loners'. Always ask here before buying any fish, as stocking levels are important, even in a large tank.

I think i will be able to get all the info i need to do this change over. Everyone so far on this site is soooooo helpful and the knowledge base is extroardanary. I'll keep you posted on developments.

Quick question tho, Buy or build ? (the tank)

 

[waterdrop]

If you mean actually silicone the glass together then that's your choice. I'm not experienced with that but I'm sure you'd find plenty of members that are over in the hardware section.

If you just mean whether to buy a kit with all the additional accessories along with the tank then that's a personal choice too, as there are some on here who have some quite nice setups where most of it all comes as one kit. Personally I really wanted and enjoyed researching and picking out my own choices for filter, heater, etc. and I happen to think you can really fine tune things better that way if you have the information to go on.

~~waterdrop~~