I Guess It's Time To End The Hobby.

[BigFish01]

I hope things are looking up for you. Have been following this for a while now and its been a few days! Hope all your fish are doing good and i'm hoping that you got to purchase a new home for them to live in! Please keep us posted!

 

[FishBlast]

I hope things are looking up for you. Have been following this for a while now and its been a few days! Hope all your fish are doing good and i'm hoping that you got to purchase a new home for them to live in! Please keep us posted!

Updates: I did get a new home for them, a 76L 85x30x30 long tank. Got fine white sand, will get more. Got ammo test kit, readings are 0. Got dechlorinator too.
Now it needs a lid and the plants (got money saved up for those plants but dad needs to build the lid).
So at least filter is going well in the ammonia phase. Will get nitrite test later on too.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Very exciting! Good luck with the new tank!

 

[CezzaXV]

Yay! Glad things have picked up for you.

The nitrite test kit is what's most important now as it'll allow you to properly cycle your tank. The lid and plants are nice little added extras for when you have the money/time

 

[FishBlast]

Yay! Glad things have picked up for you.

The nitrite test kit is what's most important now as it'll allow you to properly cycle your tank. The lid and plants are nice little added extras for when you have the money/time

No lid means I cannot use the new tank as I'd risk losing the fish. The lid can be made at home at next to zero cost, we just need to find time to work on it. Or it could be an improvised lid made out of polystyrene and we'll get a proper one later.

Plants will cost very little and it's about all I can afford on my own now.
Nitrite test - it depends on whether dad is willing to spend as much as he did on the ammo kit any sooner. The filter might have cycled by now (I put it in on Jan 18th) but even if it did, I should focus on making the new tank better than this small one as the small one can at any time crash.
So it won't make a difference if I buy them or not except that they'd remove extra bits of ammonia, provide shelter for the fry that might arrive any week now and also (though this is what bugs me as it has happened before and I lost some plants) food source for the swordtails.

 

[BigFish01]

Awesome! I am currently making a DIY canopy for my 55gal. It will house my lights and cover the hob filter area so its not just plain visible anymore! Glad you got your new set up. Your fish will be a lot happier now Maybe you could get us some pics soon?

 

[CezzaXV]

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

 

[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

I have swordtails and hoplos, which are known / I have experienced to jump over the edge. Ok, the Hoplo might hide somewhere in the room but the swordtails don't have a chance at surviving during the morning if they do jump.
My first Hoplo catfish Rex used to jump out and roam the house in the morning and I kept finding him later on hidden under dad's bed or under some table. Unfortunately, one day that brought his demise. Not because of getting dried, these fish could survive 4 hours out there. It was because he froze to death in front of the balcony door on Chirstmas eve. I cried that time because it was the worst "present" I could get as a kid.

I'm not looking for a lights lid, I want one which can permit some level of gas exchange with the exterior but keep the fish from jumping out.

There are some pictures in other threads I've posted but I took one just now with the table that dad wants to put the tank on. It needs legs though so he might get some thicker ones than the original legs the table has. I can then put my salamander on the darker side of the table behind the tank.
One post where I showed the aquarium. >Pic post<

There's also a tiny sand bag in there. White sand and as fine as possible.

 

[CezzaXV]

Looks good. You can drape a towel over the top for the time being. Anything will do really, but of you go for something fabric it should allow at least some gas to pass through. It'll do until you've got your lid done.

Everything is looking up now. Be sure to keep us posted.

 

[FishBlast]

Looks good. You can drape a towel over the top for the time being. Anything will do really, but of you go for something fabric it should allow at least some gas to pass through. It'll do until you've got your lid done.

Everything is looking up now. Be sure to keep us posted.

I was thinking of some polystyrene with a few holes in it as a temp lid (since I'll ask dad to get poly to put under tank bottom too).

Anyway I'll do another ammo test at 6 pm but should I try letting the water changes wait for 1 day and test ammo again? It's been 2 months since the filter has been running so it might even be converting nitrites, but I still need to get a test for that.

Also, I got dechlorinator and it seems to make the fish more active. Even my salamander likes it. Tzuppy started looking for food like crazy on the floor the moment the new water settled in lol.

 

[CezzaXV]

Polystyrene would be ideal if you have some, as it'll help keep the heat in a bit. Just make sure there aren't any bits that are going to fall into the tank as your fish may eat them! Running a flame briefly around the edges of the holes should stop it from happening

 

[FishBlast]

Polystyrene would be ideal if you have some, as it'll help keep the heat in a bit. Just make sure there aren't any bits that are going to fall into the tank as your fish may eat them! Running a flame briefly around the edges of the holes should stop it from happening

I don't know about the flame thing but i can get some compact poly. I didn't think they'd eat that...
Well... I wonder if there's a cloth I can use to cover it. I'll have to look around. But last time I used a net, my catfish dragged it right into the water and ended up caught in it. I had to untie the silly little one.
Other times I had magazines or towels but they still somehow managed to sink it into the tank / bowls when I was doing water changes.

 

[micko]

Cling film is great for a lidless tank if you think you have potential jumpers.

 

[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.

 

[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.