I Guess It's Time To End The Hobby.

[Ruskull]

What makes you think you'd lose the fish if you didn't have a lid? Many people don't have lids for their tanks and evaporation is the only downside really.

If you've got the ingenuity to make one yourself that's great though

My son's 20 gallon has no lid, just the T5 light fixture clamped to the top edge of the tank. I too was worried about a fish possibly jumping out but none have ever come close to even attempting it. I keep the water level down about an inch or more from the very top & that also aids in letting the filter outlet produce more of a rippling effect producing more oxygen in the water. Win/win.

Yeah but in my case I'd have to make the water reach 20 cm and leave 10 cm from the surface so that my Hoplo won't go overboard. He jumps like a torpedo if he's startled by strangers, who's to say he won't consider doing that at night like my Rex did? I had a fair distance from the top and the water and he still ended up on the floor many times.

Cling film is like some kind of cellophane? I don't know... I don't have anything to hold it on top of the tank. Unless it has glue on it but then if the fish splash it, the drops off it will fall into the water and pollute it.

Maybe you could try an old window screen? Just make sure the mesh isn't metal..................

 

[FishBlast]

What makes you think you'd lose the fish if you didn't have a lid? Many people don't have lids for their tanks and evaporation is the only downside really.

If you've got the ingenuity to make one yourself that's great though

My son's 20 gallon has no lid, just the T5 light fixture clamped to the top edge of the tank. I too was worried about a fish possibly jumping out but none have ever come close to even attempting it. I keep the water level down about an inch or more from the very top & that also aids in letting the filter outlet produce more of a rippling effect producing more oxygen in the water. Win/win.

Yeah but in my case I'd have to make the water reach 20 cm and leave 10 cm from the surface so that my Hoplo won't go overboard. He jumps like a torpedo if he's startled by strangers, who's to say he won't consider doing that at night like my Rex did? I had a fair distance from the top and the water and he still ended up on the floor many times.

Cling film is like some kind of cellophane? I don't know... I don't have anything to hold it on top of the tank. Unless it has glue on it but then if the fish splash it, the drops off it will fall into the water and pollute it.

Maybe you could try an old window screen? Just make sure the mesh isn't metal..................

We don't have that, would have been epic if we did.
I'll try either a cloth that will hang somewhat heavy on the edges or if I can find any non-toxic cellophane, I'll put that on top.

 

[Ruskull]

By the way, I'm glad you decided not to abandon the hobby, at least yopu care about your fish's well being. Too many others getting started just throw a bunch of fish together & hope for the best.

 

[micko]

I don't know what you mean by cellophane but cling film is non toxic, it grips the side of the tank as it will cling to itself too. I suppose its like shrink wrap, have you heard/used that stuff before? Once wet it won't cling properly until it dries up and save electric by stopping heat get out of the tank. It could just be used as a tempoary fix.
Let us know what you decide to do.

 

[FishBlast]

By the way, I'm glad you decided not to abandon the hobby, at least yopu care about your fish's well being. Too many others getting started just throw a bunch of fish together & hope for the best.

I was so sad when I even thought of parting with my favorite catfish. But now I'm happy that he'll not only stay with me but will have a playground and will also keep his two new friends. He seems to be hanging out a lot with my swordtail female. She's acting like him, sniffing the floor and kind of shoaling with him.

I don't know what you mean by cellophane but cling film is non toxic, it grips the side of the tank as it will cling to itself too. I suppose its like shrink wrap, have you heard/used that stuff before? Once wet it won't cling properly until it dries up and save electric by stopping heat get out of the tank. It could just be used as a tempoary fix.
Let us know what you decide to do.

^ that plastic thing that is used to cover food and such.
And I still don't have a proper heater. Too scared to use that other one because i don't know if it is dangerous due to the cracks in the rubber side where you can set its temp. It is a good heater in terms of being adjustable and such, but not really willing to kill all 3 fish in one zap because of improper isolation.

 

[micko]

Aye that's the stuff but it is a lot more sticky than that. Comes in a roll, like tin foil.
Cannot help on the heater unless you heat the room at a constant temp. What heater do they have now? Getting a new heater shouldn't be to bad, go for a better one rather than the really cheap ones as you really get what you pay for when it comes to heaters.

 

[FishBlast]

Aye that's the stuff but it is a lot more sticky than that. Comes in a roll, like tin foil.
Cannot help on the heater unless you heat the room at a constant temp. What heater do they have now? Getting a new heater shouldn't be to bad, go for a better one rather than the really cheap ones as you really get what you pay for when it comes to heaters.

I don't have a heater in it, it's the external heater that heats the room. Electric one. So basically room temperature like it's always been.

The current heater I have (not in use) is Techmic. It's cracked at the end where you change the temp (it's made of rubber and I don't know if that is a danger or not if it is cracked/water can enter through the dial).
It is one of these but shorter:

And slips easily off the support.
If I'll have to buy a new heater, that will have to wait until I get money. I cannot afford a new heater as I've spent almost all my savings on tank, dechlorinator, fish food and i only have money left for a few plants (cheap plants like Elodea).
Dad already bought me some sand and test kit for ammonia. Speaking of which, I'm doing another test now on the water to see the results. Seems yellow so far.

EDIT: Still yellow after 20 minutes.

 

[FishBlast]

The shop where dad got that cool sand is going to be open barely on Monday... -.- At least we can figure out what to do about the table tomorrow, I want it to have shorter legs so that it will be more stable and I can put turtle pool under it.

I didn't change the water today as I want to observe the ammonia status over the days, today it's at 0 still and I took a scoop from the deepest area of my tank. Tomorrow I will do my first water change with fresh tap water with dechlorinator, as opposed to left over night water without dechlo.

But once the new tank will be settled (like another 1-2 months), can I get another hoplo (but smaller)? Or my one is about all I can keep in the tank?
Can I get a shrimp or two in case I cannot have 2 hoplos? They seem kind of cute but I don't know what to pick that would be larger, not tiny and if possible colored.

 

[The Taffy Apple]

Taking a water reading from any part of the tank shouldn't make a difference, unless you had no filtration or no current movement at all.. if you have visible areas of still water, try taking a reading from that. I believe it would be the same as the dirtiest part of your tank.

Terry.

 

[FishBlast]

Taking a water reading from any part of the tank shouldn't make a difference, unless you had no filtration or no current movement at all.. if you have visible areas of still water, try taking a reading from that. I believe it would be the same as the dirtiest part of your tank.

Terry.

I've read somewhere that ammonia may go to the bottom of the tank more than to the top. I'm not sure how true that is, but I took it from deep just to make sure there weren't any fake readings.
I will test tomorrow before water change too, if it's still 0 at least i'll be sure that at least ammonia is being processed as fast as possible by the filter.
I hope I can get the nitrite test soon so that I can be 100% sure no nitrite is building up (though it should be consumed by now too since the ammonia eaters survived this far - 2+ months).

 

[FishBlast]

They survived their first water change with dechlo yesterday (though I still left the bottle for about an hour, not sure if it is true how fast the dechlorinator acts on the water so better safe than sorry). Ammo was still 0 after 1 day of no water change.
Today I've tested, ammo still appears yellow. I'm expecting the new tank to be ready by tonight unless something else comes up. And I still need a few more kg of sand, I have 2 kg so far. How much would a 85x30 cm base tank need? Are around 10-12 kg enough?

Side note: The smell of the ammo kit tester drives my nose away all the way to the South Pole!

 

[CezzaXV]

They survived their first water change with dechlo yesterday (though I still left the bottle for about an hour, not sure if it is true how fast the dechlorinator acts on the water so better safe than sorry). Ammo was still 0 after 1 day of no water change.
Today I've tested, ammo still appears yellow. I'm expecting the new tank to be ready by tonight unless something else comes up. And I still need a few more kg of sand, I have 2 kg so far. How much would a 85x30 cm base tank need? Are around 10-12 kg enough?

Side note: The smell of the ammo kit tester drives my nose away all the way to the South Pole!

When I was fishless cycling, I obviously had a bottle of ammonia. I had no idea how badly it would smell. It practically blew my nose off. If I was ever of the mind to torture someone, I'd tie them to a chair and expose them to ammonia fumes every minute or two.

 

[Tizer]

I should have read this thread with the sounds of violins playing in the background.

 

[FishBlast]

They survived their first water change with dechlo yesterday (though I still left the bottle for about an hour, not sure if it is true how fast the dechlorinator acts on the water so better safe than sorry). Ammo was still 0 after 1 day of no water change.
Today I've tested, ammo still appears yellow. I'm expecting the new tank to be ready by tonight unless something else comes up. And I still need a few more kg of sand, I have 2 kg so far. How much would a 85x30 cm base tank need? Are around 10-12 kg enough?

Side note: The smell of the ammo kit tester drives my nose away all the way to the South Pole!

When I was fishless cycling, I obviously had a bottle of ammonia. I had no idea how badly it would smell. It practically blew my nose off. If I was ever of the mind to torture someone, I'd tie them to a chair and expose them to ammonia fumes every minute or two.

I know the smell of ammonia, my turtle pool sometimes stinks during the summer after she's done eating / doing her duties and leaving it.
If I'm not at home to throw the used water away, I come back to smell something like rotten eggs. My eyes begin to tear Q_Q and nose goes runny. LOL. Good thing the turtle's smart enough to leave once she's done.

The test kit on the other hand, smells like some toxic gas (well it is toxic a bit) and my nose goes runny only.

I would have fishless cycled if I could, but my mom would probably put the aquarium over my head WITH the ammonia. (maybe the basement would have been a good place to do that though, but then the neighbors would think something died there)

 

[FishBlast]

Ok so tank is in test-drive mode...
What should I do to make sure I won't be putting all my fish in there and they would end up all poisoned if the silicone isn't washed well enough? I rubbed it with a sponge all over, the tank has been without water for almost a week now, i washed the aquarium as well as I could.

Should I put one of the small swordtails for a few hours to make sure it's safe (I know, it sounds like a tough decision, but there's no way I can test the silicone)? I dechlorinated 20L of water and put it in the new tank. No sand in yet, I want to make sure I won't be putting the sand in and then having to take it all out if something bad happens. Another problem is that I cannot put the filter in there either, for the same reason - not sure if silicon is toxic (although the salesman told me it is specially for aquariums and it did harden within a day).
If I would put the swordtail in, how long should I wait till the dechlorinator does its work? I dosed it enough for the 20L, but last time I used it, I waited 1 hour.
If I'd put it in, I'd carry over some of the old water too, just to make sure it's same PH.

So what to do? I don't want to be losing all my fish in case there are toxins in there.