Beginner Needs Helps

[BUGMANIA69]

hi guys so ive set up my tank its a rekord110 everything is ready to go i have 3 small catfish in there 5 small tetras 2 mollies and my huge goldfish who has taken to the temp etc, my filter is getting really clogged up and some say its due to my goldfish?? also i have tested the ph which is fine but how can i do further tests to make sure everhtin is cool any kits to get etc? also i need an aquirium hoover for the bottom of the tank any ideas would be great?

bug mania

 

[rebrn]

hi guys so ive set up my tank its a rekord110 everything is ready to go i have 3 small catfish in there 5 small tetras 2 mollies and my huge goldfish who has taken to the temp etc, my filter is getting really clogged up and some say its due to my goldfish?? also i have tested the ph which is fine but how can i do further tests to make sure everhtin is cool any kits to get etc? also i need an aquirium hoover for the bottom of the tank any ideas would be great?

bug mania

Hello and welcome to the fourm. I am not sure about your fish combination so I will leave that up to the more experienced people to comment on. However, the first question that needs to be answered is ... Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? If your answer is no or are not sure then you are now in a fish-in cycle. The following link is to the "Beginners Resource Center" which is esentially fish keeping 101 ... it has a lot of very good information and talks about cycling your tank with fish.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=277264

As for your filter getting clogged it may be due to the goldfish, I have never kept them myself, but I have heard that they are "dirty" fish. You may want to rinse out you filter media, make sure to rinse it in tank water. When you do your water change just rinse the filter media in the water you removed from your tank ... that should help to elimate the clogging that you have but it probably won't prevent it from happing again.

As for testing, there are 4 crucial tests (espically if cycling the tank) ammonia, nitrAte, nitrIte and your pH. Most people on the fourm advise using a liquid test kit, API seems to be the popular choice. They are readily available on-line and in most stores (at least in the US, not sure about UK though). They run around $30 us dollars, a little more expensive then the test strips but much more accurate and realible.

As for an aquarium hoover, you can find them on line or in most pet stores that sell aquarium supplies. In the states they range in price from $5 to $50 depending on the size, brand and how "hi-tech" they are. If you can't find one try looking on-line for "Gravel Vacuuum" or "Gravel Siphon". But they are pretty much available anywhere so just ask you local fish store chance are they sell them.

Also you may want to try moving this to new to the hobby ... I would do it for you but I am not sure how.

Hope that helps and again welcome.

 

[waterdrop]

Excellent advice from rebrn. I agree with all of it. Welcome to TFF!

If you are indeed in a Fish-In cycling situation then the advice to read about and begin doing large water changes will be rather urgent and you will need to start with 50 to 70% daily water changes if you don't yet have the testing kit and therefor don't know what the ammonia and nitrite(NO2) situation is.

The goldfish will need to be re-homed. It is a coldwater fish rather than a tropical like the others but more importantly it would probably need a larger tank or it would need to have the 29G/110L all to itself at the very least and I doubt that's what you want to do. Fancy goldfish need 20G for the first goldfish and 10G for each additional. Plain goldfish need 30G for the first goldfish and 10G for each additional. Indeed rebrn is right, they need extra filtration and maintenance because they are mostly plant eaters and need a much larger volume of food material going through them than the other tropical species you have in there.

You've got a good tank though and are off to a good start now that you've found this place. The members are great and will get you up to speed no matter what your situation!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[MoneyMitch]

hi guys so ive set up my tank its a rekord110 everything is ready to go i have 3 small catfish in there 5 small tetras 2 mollies and my huge goldfish who has taken to the temp etc, my filter is getting really clogged up and some say its due to my goldfish?? also i have tested the ph which is fine but how can i do further tests to make sure everhtin is cool any kits to get etc? also i need an aquirium hoover for the bottom of the tank any ideas would be great?

bug mania

no idea what a rekord 110 is, stop trying to gloat the "name brand" and just tell us what the size is, the goldfish needs to be rehomed, as you obviously dont know they REQUIRE cold water colder than everything else in the tank, if you cannot supply him with the temp he REQUIRES eventually he WILL get SICK and SPREAD it to the other members of the tank. when you say your filter is "clogged" what do you mean? is just the media "dirty" or is the actuall inlet tube clogged? do you maybe have a algae problem that is growin in your filter? pretty funny how a fish could clog a filter, the only way that would happen is if they got sucked up the inlet tube.

as far as a gravel vac goes go to a home store get a length of tubing then get a 16oz plastic pop bottle and cut the bottom half way or so, then on the mouth of the bottle affix yout tubing and boom insta vac for less than 10$

The most IMPORTANT test to get is ammonia nitRite PH GH KH and nitrate. . . Look for the API freshwater MAster test kit, its the best on the market but does NOT include a gh/kh test

 

[Harlequins]

Hi and welcome

Nice tank the rekord ,i agree with rebrn and waterdrop,It would be best to rehome the goldfish,i use to keep goldfish and was regularly rinsing the filter media in tank water because it kept clogging up,they eventually went to a big pond.
Removing the goldfish will also give you more room later on when your tank has fully cycled.

How long has your tank been set up?

Edited to add if you live in the uk,pets@home do sell gravel vacs for £3-£5

 

[BUGMANIA69]

HI THERE THANKS FOR THE COMMENTS MY TANK HAS BEEN SET UP NOW FOR AROUND 4 MONTHS. ALL THE FISH THAT I BOUGHT WERE BOUGHT FROM ADVICE FROM THE FISH STORES. AS FOR THE GUY WHO RIPPED ME ABOUT STATING THE FISH TANK AS IM NEW I JUST TRYIN TO GIVE AS MUCH INFO AS I COULD. APPRECIATE ALL THE HELPFULL COMMENTS. i ONLY PUT THE GOLDFISH IN THERE AS THE FISH STORE SAID I COULD TRY IT IF HE TAKES TO IT THEN COOL. HE LOVES IT IN THE TANK HOWEVER LIKE A FEW OF YOU SAID THE PRODUCE ALOT OF CRAP. I WILL TAKE HIM OUT AND SEE HOW IT GOES. I PURCHASED A TANK VAC TOO. ALSO ANY FISH RECOMENDATIONS ANYONE??

REGARDS BUG MANIA

 

[OldMan47]

I am also one of those people that have never seen a Jewel Rekord tank. They are simply not sold in the US. Can you tell us how many litres or gallons of water the tank holds so we can begin to help you with stock ideas? This is not a bashing but merely shows my own ignorance of the Jewel product line.

 

[backtotropical]

Juwel are a German aquarium manufacturer, very popular in the UK. I'm not sure why they don't seem to trade in the US.

Here's a link for you guys across the pond.

http/www.juwel-aquarium.de/en/aquarium.htm

 

[OldMan47]

I get it now BTT. The rekord 110 is, much as I suspected, not a 110 litre tank. In my way of thinking about it, it would be a 20 gallon or slightly bigger tank.

I am forced to agree with some of the others here that it would be best to find a new home for the goldfish. It is a rather small tank to keep even a single large goldfish in. In general a goldfish, the first one, would require a tank as big as yours with no companions. Each added goldfish would require half again that tank volume. When you mix goldfish with tropicals, you also have the temperature problem that the warmest temperature for goldfish is close to the coolest temperature for most of the other fish. It works out better if you just have fish for a particular temperature range together. That way you don't have to worry quite as much about the actual temperature of the tank as long as it is stable.

Once the goldfish is out of the tank, an increase in the tetra population strikes me as a good idea. Most tetras like to be in larger groups and show better when they are. Do you know what kind of catfish you have? Things like Corydoras do better in larger groups too, just like the tetras, but the plecostomus types are often quite territorial and are best kept in only small numbers in a small tank like yours.

I love my mollies but try to keep them in a larger tank because they do not grow to their potential size in a small tank. I have often kept a few in a smaller tank like that but was disappointed in how little they actually grew in it.

 

[BUGMANIA69]

HI AGAIN, CORYDORAS ARE THE CATFISH I HAVE I HAD 3 BUT ONE DIED EARLY ON SO HAVE TWO AT THE MOMENT WOULD YOU SUGGEST GETTING MORE. I REALLY APPRECIATE THE HELP BTW GUYS, THIS IS A GREAT SITE FOR SOMEONE LIKE ME. I HOPE I DONT SOUND NAIVE AND THAT IVE JUMPED INTO IT TO EARLY YOU JUST DONT RELAIZE HOW MUCH WORK YOU NEED TO PUT INTO THEM FIRST. MY GOLDFISH WAS JUST AN ORDINARY ONE FROM A PET STORE BUT SINCE THEN HES GROWN HUGE SO FROM SPEAKING TO YOU GUYS I THINK ITS BEST TO GET HIM OUT OF THERE. JUST A QUICK ONE I KNOW MY GOLFISH EATS EVERYBIT OF FOOD IN SIGHT BUT RECENTLY I NOTICED ONE OF HIS POOS WERE LIKE 4-5 POCKETS OF AIR??? DOES HE HAVE WIND OR EATING TO MUCH? WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT REAL PLANTS TOO GUYS? I HAVE QUITE A LOT IN THERE AT THE MOMENT? MAYBE I HAVE TOO MANY? I OPTED NOT TO GO FOR A SOIL IN THE TANK, I USE THE PLANT FOOD LIQUID FORM. P.S MY TANK IS 110 LITRE

CHEERS GUYS

 

[OldMan47]

THERE IS NO NEED TO SHOUT BUGMANIA.
You are going to lose some of the plants to the goldfish eating them. Goldfish really like their greens. In my own experience, there is no such thing as too many plants. They help stabilize water conditions and remove nitrogen and metals from the water as long as they are growing well. If your goldfish is overeating, it may well develop gas problems and can lead to a swim bladder problem in the long run. I have seen it get so bad that the fish could no longer swim upright. One of the folks in our fish club had a goldfish that could only swim upside down and could not swim to the bottom of his tank. According to the vet, the fish was probably overfed for a long time and it caused the swim bladder to grow too large.

 

[BUGMANIA69]

sorry about the shouting lol my password is in caps and forgot to change it lol im going to take my goldfish out as i think hes causing more harm than good hes about 5 inches and i know the water is warm at the moment but do you think i could release him into an outdoor pond??

thanks pal

 

[OldMan47]

If you have an outdoor pond that does not freeze completely in winter, goldfish are often quite happy in that environment.