Greetings

[svenrufus]

Afternoon

First post. Came here looking for info on white spot. Seems like a pretty convivial place to be, so thought I'd stick around a while...

Got a tank (FishPod Moon, 39L) for the Little Girl for Christmas, she's been totally into the idea for so long, at least she can stop nagging me now. Obviously I'll be doing most of the work, but getting her involved is already great, she's showing a keen interest in it, and real concern/care for the fish - its really quite touching.

I had a tank years ago when I was a kid, bigger than my current one, only stopped when the thermostat went into meltdown and cooked the fish while I was at school

So, despite some early setbacks (2 losses already, and now white spot), I'm feeling reasonably relaxed about how things are going. We have 6 neons, and 6 red tailed rasbora (which she has dubbed Gold Stripes). She's keen on getting some kind of glass cleaner (we're already getting a bit of algae...), a bottom feeder, and a siamese fighter! Not sure about the last one especially. Any early recommendations about those ideas would be good, but I reckon I'll leave it a month or so before we get any more, so I'll do my real research on it later.

Anyway, look forward to seeing some of you around the forum

Cheers
Sven

 

[ZoddyZod]

welcome to the forum!

You say you had a tank a few years ago so I presume you are aware of the 'cycling' process when setting up a new one? If not, have a good read through the beginners section on the cycling topics.

for a 39L you are already pretty well stocked I'm afraid and should not be looking to squeeze anything else in there.

 

[svenrufus]

welcome to the forum!

You say you had a tank a few years ago so I presume you are aware of the 'cycling' process when setting up a new one? If not, have a good read through the beginners section on the cycling topics.

for a 39L you are already pretty well stocked I'm afraid and should not be looking to squeeze anything else in there.

Yep, tank all cycled. Had water tested at shop (now got own kit) and all fine already. Disappointing to hear you think it is stocked enough already - guy at fish shop suggested about 20 fish that size would be OK. The pump/filter cycles 280L per hour, so rather more than what I've seen recommended - would that affect the stocking level decision? If you're right, I'm going to have to prepare the Little Girl for the disappointment. How do you best calculate stocking levels?

Thanks for the info already anyway.

 

[ZoddyZod]

there's no hard and fast way to determine stocking, it should be based on a couple of things

Ability of the filter to handle the waste
Rate at which waste is converted into nitrate (which will need to be removed with the water changes)
Space required for the desired fish

Since you are considerably overfiltering the tank you could push to have a few more in there, but with such considerable water flow a betta may struggle (they prefer relatively calm water).

Have you considered shrimp or snails? They would work nicely.

for the algae prblem, I'm going to presume you have some brownish looking stuff? That's very common for new tanks and should settle down on its own after a while anyway. How long do you have the lights on each day as that will affect algae growth?

 

[svenrufus]

there's no hard and fast way to determine stocking, it should be based on a couple of things

Ability of the filter to handle the waste
Rate at which waste is converted into nitrate (which will need to be removed with the water changes)
Space required for the desired fish

Since you are considerably overfiltering the tank you could push to have a few more in there, but with such considerable water flow a betta may struggle (they prefer relatively calm water).

Have you considered shrimp or snails? They would work nicely.

for the algae prblem, I'm going to presume you have some brownish looking stuff? That's very common for new tanks and should settle down on its own after a while anyway. How long do you have the lights on each day as that will affect algae growth?

The filter does create quuite a current, it has to be said, so that might be a big issue if they like calm water. Hmm. I'd be happy with shrimp/snails, but will have to sell the idea to someone who is as yet only a semi rational being! The algae isn't a problem yet, to be honest, I only noticed it while sticking my hand in to up the temperature on the thermostat for White Spot, and the knob was slippery ( ) It's actually green as far as I can see, but not much of it to tell yet. The White Spot treatment has given the water a green hue which may be masking the real colour. Lights at the moment are on 12hrs, but I'm going to reduce that this week to 8hrs on a timer.

Cheers for all the help

 

[ZoddyZod]

a 12hr photoperiod will be doing you no favours for the algae problem. 8hrs is much better!

 

[the_lock_man]

Since you are considerably overfiltering the tank you could push to have a few more in there, but with such considerable water flow a betta may struggle (they prefer relatively calm water).

Have you considered shrimp or snails? They would work nicely.

I must agree with Zod. I have a fighter in a 34l, and have had to buy a new pump to slow the flowrate down enough for him (it's about 200lph, which is at the lower end of what's recommended). This is then restricting me to a small shoal of chilli rasboras, and nothing else.

In your tank, with that pump, a fighter will just struggle and he'll end up hiding down at the back in whatever deadspots he can find - in which case there's no point having him.

Shrimp are a good idea though, you could have a lovely colony of red cherries in there, and they'll help with the algae too.

 

[colleen0309]

Good afternoon and welcome to the forum!