I have some questions!!!

[DaveW]

Hi,
I'm not realy a beginner, but have not kept fish for some time. I had two tanks with internal filter, one 2ft and one 3ft. My girlfriend and I decided to buy a another tank, so yesterady we did.
We went and brought a 126lt tank, hood, 150watt heater, stand and a eheim classic 2213 external fitler. We have sand as a substrate and will have mainly plastic plants with a couple of real ones. And a nice big bit of bog wood too.
So, first question. Can someone give me an idea how often do I need to clean the filter, the shop assisant said around 2 to 3 months. Is this right?
I've looked on a few site with stock level calculators and they give me different answers. From 90'ish cms right up to 250cms. I'm looking for a guide only but what is the best guide?
Right, now to the fun bit. We would like to stock the tank with the following

3 to 5 Peppered Corydoras
6 to possable 12 Rummy Nose Tetra
2 to 4 Platies

I would also like to have a pair of Rams and/or a pair of Honey Gouramis. I do not want to start changing the water chemistry and don't know what it is. So we looking for fish that can tolerate most waters. I know that the Rummy Noses that I had some years a go looked to be in good health and I still live in the same area(same water source). Can someone give me some advice on 1. can I keep Rams or Gouramis easly?. And 2. would the selection we have planned be OK as a general mix?

Many Thanks
Dave

 

[boxman]

I would clean internal filters every month or bi-weekly, probably monthly is best. Water changes should be done every other week (if water tests are normal) and when you clean out your filter ONLY clean the filter media in the dirty tank water as you'll keep the beneficial bacteria (I personally fill my canister filter up with the dirty water also, you dont have to go that far, expecially as it's an internal that you have).

Do you know about fishless cycling? (Setting your tank up for a couple of weeks and testing the nitrate, nitrite, ammonia and PH) If not read the pinned topic on cycling here.

You said you don't want to start changing your chemical levels - nobody does but you DO need to know what they are - ignorance often leads to mistakes - not saying you're ignorant but you can't ignore the fact that these are living creatures you'll be looking after and it is surely best to make sure the chemical levels are at a good enough level to keep the fish you want to stock happy.

If you see my 22gal sig I've had issues with high nitrates and ammonia spikes but the fish have reacted to them, the loss of a female ram, BGK and an oto was purely down to the person looking after the fish while I was on holiday overfeeding and my levels are still not right and that's 1 month on!!!!

So water tests, even though it sounds a bit geeky or time wasting is in fact important, just to know where you are and may explain why your investment and hobby may not be going as well as you'd hoped - and may explain why it's going really well too!

I personally keep a log of my water levels putting down the stock at the time, any symptoms or problems since the last test and also the frequency of my feeds to see if that sheds any light if there are any problems. Probably too much I know but it doesn't take long to do and can help diagnose possible problems.


If you're getting bogwood make sure you soak it in water for a bit, some prefer to boil it in a pot for a while. Your water WILL go brown if not soaked properly. It will also float if it's not soaked for a few days (I soaked mine for a week).

Your tank is 27.7gallons UK or 33.3gallons US which means you can stock approximately 27" of fish - this is a very rough guide and really depends on the surface water measurements (more surface, more oxygen, more fish) - it can help by having more water displacement - i.e. filter disturbing water by pointing nozzel at surface or using something like a spraybar.

I'm not familiar with your filter but have heard good reports - I'm sure it'll be fine - check out the info on the box to see how many ltrs /hour it filters. The ideal filter should filter the contents of your tank several times per hour.

Your stocking sounds fine, although I would suggest something with an algae craving, something like a candy striped pl*c (hard to find in some parts) or oto's - I would lean towards 3-5 otos.

Your cories should be fine in the sand - that does lead on to another question- what sort of sand do you have? Marine or inert? That will determine the sort of fish you can keep - marine means you can only have brackish or full salt fish, inert is fine for freshwater.

Check out my sig, I've got dwarf gouramis (honey gouramis) and rams (female died) - I personally think rams have far more character than gouramis - but they are nice to have!

I think they should all be fine - rummy nose tetras can be mislabled in LFS' instead of flamehead tetras - there is a difference, see here. Flame or Firehead tetras grow about 1.5", rummynose get 2" - so there is a significant difference if you were choosing a shoal of them!

Sounds like you're asking the right questions - keep up the good work and definately make sure you're going to fishless cycle before you stock the tank. Also put in some dechlorinator and some like to use stresszyme although others dont - personal choice, I use it myself and my fishless cycle took 8 days from total scratch.

If you have any filter media you can put into your new tank you are definately likely to cycle it alot faster but don't neglect getting a good chemical test kit - you should expect ot pay about £20-35 for the ammonia, PH, nitrate and nitrite.

 

[DaveW]

Cheers Boxman for the reply.
My post was a bit misleading, I only have the new tank with external filter. But I do know the Fitler is for a tank 150 to 250lt with a flow rate of 440ph (hope that is good). Cleaning the filter out once a month sounds a lot better than once every 3 months. I remember about cleaning the filter media out in tank water, but thanks. It's little pointers like that I need to remember. The filter came with a spraybar which I have under the water pointing up to disturb the surface.
The surface area is 2800cm2. Going by a formula that 2.5cm of fish per 65cm2 of surface water = 107cm of in my tank? The formula is out of a book from the library. Again it sounds more correct that 250cm of fish. Does that sound about right to you?
The sand is inert and the bog wood has been soaking (a bit big for the pot). We have about a doze plastic plants and will get a couple of real ones in a day or two.
As for the water chemistry, I again was a bit misleading with my first post. I do under stand a little about nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, hardness and PH levels, and I will be getting a testing kit very soon. When I said I didn't want to change the chemistry I ment the PH and Hardness. So it's more "will the fish I would like be happy in most water types"?
Yes, I am cycling the tank now. I set it up on monday, it came with Nutrafin Cycle which I have used. I also have brought a bottle of Stresszyme which I have used before with water changes(with my old tanks some years ago). I'm putting in a bit of flake in each day and will put a bit a little Stresszyme every 4 days for a couple of weeks. So hopefully a week Saturday it might be ready for a few fish. Which leads me on to another question. How Fish should I start with? I was thinking a pair of Blue Spotted Platies and a pair of Sunset Platies, then let it settle for a couple of weeks.
Cheers
Anyones thoughts and pointers are always welcome.

 

[glolite]

Just another couple of points which may/maynot be helpful. Ammonia is quicker to cycle your tank with than flake food. I got mine from homebase, £1.99 for a litre. Add enough to bring ammonia reading up to 0.5 (my 27g took about 200 drops) then add 6 drops per gallon every day until nitrites spike then 2-3 drops per gallon daily until nitrites disappear. If you put some used filter material from your other tanks into the new tank water it will cycle even quicker. Mine took 10 days.

 

[sylvia]

I personaly think you should go for the honey gouramies (which BTW are not the same as dwarf gouramies - the former is colisa chuna/sota, the latter is colisa lalia) instead of the rams because I personaly think the gouramies have more character. A trio (1 male, 2 females) would be perfect. If you go for bolivian rams, then that's a different matter. I like bolivians it's the german blue/gold ones I think are a little less interesting. Also, bolivians can handle a wide range of conditions much better than the blues and are a lot hardier.

Also, the general guideline for stocking is one inch of fish per gallon of water. Though this is vague, it is a good guide. It actualy applies to US gallons so in a 33 gallon tank you can keep about 33" of fish. There are other factors to consider such as displacement and oxygen levels and it only realy is meant to apply to neon-sized fish but it still gives you an idea for fish up to 5" long that don't grow to be chunky (ie: it doesn't work with puffers).

As for beginning with platies, that's the best option. However, you mustn't get them in pairs. Platies (all the colors are the same species) should be kept at a ratio of at least 2 females for every male. Alternatively, get all one sex.

 

[boxman]

Yes, sorry about that, dwarf gouramis are different to honey grouamis, I did know that - either are nice. I have honey grouamis and they are nice - I would say my rams are far more interesting than the gouramis but that's down to individual fish I guess!

External filter - excellent! Again, once a month is fine but water changes every 2 weeks still is best.

Yes, the 1"/fish rule was supposed to state UK gallons, so yes, about 33" of fish should be fine but obviouly allow room for the fish to grow to their stated mature adult size.

Spraybar - excellent, I have two in different tanks, I have to say my filter is too powerful for my tank - if you have this problem turn 1/2 the spraybar (if it's similar to the hagen ones) facing the back of the tank and the other 1/2 out to the front, that way the current isn't blasting the fish - but you're probably more sensible than me and haven't got a filter 3x as powerful than you need!!!!!

A skimmer could be worth investing in too.

Agree with platys, good starting fish after a cyle - I didn't know about ratio but sounds good!

Yup, sounds like you've got it sorted!

 

[Morrgan]

Just a comment about the cories: they're schooling fish and should really be kept in groups of at least 5-6, preferably more.

 

[DaveW]

Glolite, using ammonia might be quicker but personaly I just don't like the sound of it. Thanks anyway.
As for the Rams v Honey Gouramis I think I will go for the Rams, but if I have space in the tank can I keep both?
Cories, I was thinking of 3 because I would like a nice shoal of mid water fish. Would the cories be OK in a group of only 3?
As for the shoal of mid water fish, I was thinking of Rummy Noses as I said before. But does anyone have any suggestions of another fish I could use.
I purchased a couple of live foreground plants, a couple of plastic and a testing kit yesterday. The kit is by Nutrafin and tests for nitrite, nitrate, ammonia and pH. It does around 70 of each for just £20, Good value I think! I done a test of each last night and the pH was 7.5, the rest was 0. Well maybe a trace of nitrite and nitrate but i guess things have not started yet. I've put the bog wood in that I understand might bring the pH down a little, but the fish I'm looking at getting should be happy in 7.5 pH?

 

[DaveW]

PS: what is a "skimmer" for?