Help? New to the hobby and need as much help as possible

[Gemma94]

I recently brought the fluval Roma 240
Which is 240litres 4ft long
I currently am trying to have a planted aquarium and have aquarium soil on the bottom with white sand on top I have a few fish so far and 5 different plants .... any help or advise appreciated

 

[**sarahp**]

Hi there!

Welcome to the forum. What fish do you have already? What plants do you have? What are you trying to achieve with the tank - any specific things you want/like or don't like?

Sorry for all the questions - it will just give us a bit more info so that we can help or advise

Sarah

 

[Toney]

Pics

 

[Gemma94]

Hey so I have got more fish and plants since the post everyone is doing well I don't actually know what the plants are called I have a vid I took of the tank

I just want a nice community tank that looks great and has lots of lovely variety of fish

 

[fluttermoth]

Do you know how hard or soft your water is? You need to be able to match the fish's requirements to the water you have.

What fish do you have so far?

Do you have test kits and is the tank cycled?

 

[Gemma94]

I have test strips they are all about right on the scale on the tube the ph was around 7ish last time I looked maybe 7.6 or 7.4 and I can't remember the rest but it's wasn't showing any thing to be worried about

I have
1x black ghost knife fish
3x angel fish
3x silver/Bala sharks
4x clown loaches
6x black ruby barbs
7x red fin tetra

The tank is very new I haven't done any water changes just yet as I want to let the good bacteria grow before doing water changes as I know that will slow it down

I use fertiliser in the water for the plants I have these aqua balls that you add to the filter to promote good bacteria growth and I also have bio balls and activated carbon in the filter too I also used aqua safe and filter aid in the waters and I leave he aquarium lights on for a minimum of 8/9 hours a day

 

[fluttermoth]

You need an ammonia test, ASAP. In a fish-in cycle, you will need to do water changes to keep the ammonia (and nitrite) down to as near zero as possible, or your fish could get very, very sick, or even die.

You can look at your water supplier's website to find out the hardness.

I'm really sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but most of your fish aren't suitable for a tank of that size; the BGK, clown loach and bala sharks need much bigger tanks. The loach and sharks need to be in shoals, 3 or 4 isn't a shoal.

The angels are also going to be a problem. If two of them pair up, they will bully, and possibly kill, the odd one.

 

[Gemma94]

I use normal tap water
And the fishes I have I know the get bigger I will enventually upgrade to a larger one
Also the pet shops wouldn't let me get more of the shoaling ones in one go
And they recommended me to get that many I can always add more at a later date
I will also get an ammonia test kit too

 

[**sarahp**]

OK, as Fluttermoth says you have some issues going on right now that need sorting or you're going to have a mess on your hands.

Firstly you are doing a "fish in" cycle which means that your fish are swimming around in their own waste right now and that is poisonous to them. You HAVE to do a major water change asap, so 60-70% at least. Then you need to do 50% every day until the cycle is complete. If you don't your fish are going to suffer and perhaps die, you have a lot of fish in a small amount of water so you will have a lot of waste to remove.

Secondly your fish choices, the BGK, the Bala's and the clowns all need a tank approx 6ftx2ft x2ft (roughly) minimum. Do you have the space for a tank of that size? You're also going to need it in the next 12-18months. Also I don't know much about BGK but I think I read that they shouldn't be with boistrous fish like clowns. You need to go to seriously fish.com and do some research asap. I have a feeling that you may have to take at least some of your fish back to wherever you got them from and make some different choices.

Finally (almost) where abouts are you, UK, USA, Aus? It makes it easier to make recommendations for products knowing where you are.

Finally - don't think I'm having a go at you - we've all followed the advice of a local fish shop (LFS) and realised far too late that 99% of them don't actually have a clue about fish and then had to try and sort out the mess we've found ourselves in.

 

[Demeter32]

You will end up having issues with your current stock but compatibility wise only the ghost knife and possibly the angels could cause problems. As has been said, if 2 angels pair up, you will want to re-home the odd one out. I say get a 90gallon and up the numbers of all but the angels and ghost knife. The Ghost knife will get large and start going after the smaller fish (tetras and barbs). I would take him back to the pet store or get him his own tank.

It was probably not the best idea to go the in-fish cycling road. All those expensive fish might end up keeling over. I would definitely look into the nitrogen cycle, get some already established filter media and buy the beneficial bacteria additives to kick start the cycling process.

Love that you're going for a planted tank btw Once the plants start taking off, it's going to look amazing