Bunch Of Questions

[timmystood]

Me again! I figure I will put all of my questions into one post like other people have rather than just keep asking loads of them - i'm only 2 days old at keeping tropical fish so its all new to me.
If I tell you the background to the tank -
Fish - 3 Head and Tail tetras and 1 male simease fighting fish
Temp - 24 degrees C.
Capacity - 54 Litres
Shape - Rectangle
Extras - Heater, Internal Filter, Gravel and an artificial plant
The fish where put in yesterday after I let the tank stand for a day to reach temp.
I used stuff to remove the chlorine etc. and also stuff the help bacteria grow on the filter on the first day. Yesterday I just used the bacteria stuff and today I used both.

1. Everyone keeps saying about changing the filter floss or something, what is this, where do I get it and how often should I change it? What does it look like etc.

2. I posted this morning about the water being cloudy (i've cleaned my glasses so I know its not my eyesight!!), I got told to a 20% water change today - which I did (still cloudy).

3. I got told to only feed them about a flake a fish for the first two weeks, is this right?

4. Should I use real plants?

5. One of my tetras started swimming lop-sided after I changed the water, why is this?

6. Should I use the stuff to remove the chlorine and the bacteria stuff everyday??? If so for how long???

7. If anything was wrong would they have died by now???

Sorry it's long but this should cover all my questions I can think of for now!
I know it may seem like I haven't done any research, I can assure you I did but it never geared me up for the real thing!

Any help would be appreicated.

THANKS VERY MUCH - YOUR ALL A GREAT HELP

 

[emma12321]

Hello and welcome to the forum,

I think most of your problems are caused by the fact that you didn't cycle the tank first. Fishless cycling is the preferred method but as you already have the fish you will have to cycle with them in it, heres a good pinned topic http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=10099

Although you added the bacteria stuff unless it was the kind that is kept in the fridge in the fish store it doesn't work.

You may have a filter which doesn't have floss, when your tank is cycled if your filter is the kind with sponges you should rinse the sponges in old tank water say one sponge every month.

You need to get test kits for ammonia, nitrate, nitrite and ph, then you will know your tank is cycled when the ammonia and nitrite are 0

I have replied to your other question about plants in the other post

You only need to add dechlorinator when you do a water change.

Your wonky tetra is probably suffering from new tank syndrome.

It can take 6 - 8 weeks to cycle a tank with fish so you'll be doing lots of water changes, read the pinned topic i sent and if you have any more questions feel free to ask.

Hope this helps

Emma

 

[timmystood]

Thanks!

 

[SkiFletch]

1. What type of filter do you have? Either give us the brand/model# or describe it and we can help you with the floss thing better

2. The bacterial blooms sometimes take a couple days to get out via water changes. Go ahead and up your change volume to 30% daily both to get rid of the cloudiness and to keep the cycling toxins out of the water.

3. Yes, and since they're small tetras, crush the flakes up before you toss them in

4. Using real plants is very good, but can be somewhat difficult. I'd go look in the planted tank section to see how people are doing things there. You dont have to go crazy with fertilizers and CO2, but having decent lighting and hardy plants is probably the best way to go for a plant-beginner.

5. The lopsided swimming could be new tank syndrome, or ammonia poisoning. Have you a test kit? If not, pick one up immediately that tests for pH, ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates.

6. You should use the stuff that adds bacteria daily, make sure you shake well. The stuff that removes chlorine you only put in the water you're adding to the tank. It usually works out to about 10 drops per gallon or say 3 drops per litre.

7. Not necessarily. New tank syndrom and ammonia poisoning related deaths can take up to 1-2 weeks before the fish actually pass away. Since you're essentially cycling with fish, make SURE you do 30% water changes daily to keep the toxin levels down. Even then, Tetras of any variety are not the hardiest and usually dont survive the cycling process. If they do pass on, i'd reccomend proceeding with a fishless cycle to finish things off before you add more fish. This is what happened to me. My fish I tried to cycle with passed on and I finished cycling without fish. now I've added all my new fish at once and only had a single new tank syndrome death. Much better if you ask me.

Good luck, and keep reading and asking questions

 

[timmystood]

Thanks so much!

 

[timmystood]

The filter is made by EHEIM (A german company that also made the tank, termomoter and heater) - it has 2007 written on it so I don't know weather this is the model or not.
In the manual (which is in German!) It has descriptions for the 6 things that came with it (already assembled)

1. Pump Head
2. Water Outlet
3. Filter Canister
4. Filter Cartridge
5. Ascending Tube
6. 2 X Suction Cups

Which of these will need changing?? Any?? If so, where can I get them from and how often should they be changed - and how should I change them???
It doesn't say anything in the manual about changing anything!
HELPP!!!!

THANKS!

 

[dwarfgourami]

Inside the filter there would be some sponges which the water is filtered through. These are the bits which may require changing or cleaning out (in old tank water) from time to time: how and how frequently this is done differs from make to make- anyone with an Eheim out there?

 

[SkiFletch]

Does the filter look like one of these:

Or perhaps like this one:

Either way, inside the filter there will be a couple different types of foam or filtration media. These need to be rinsed out in tank water when the flowrate of the filter starts slowing down a lot... This can be anywhere from a month to 6 months. depends how much debris your tank generates

 

[timmystood]

Similar - It's more like the bottom one - except longer - i've been on their website and it says you need to change the filter cartridge but it doesn't say how often or where I can buy the replacements from!

Thanks for your help by the way - i'll just clean the filter cartridge when it needs it - cheers