Neon tetras are good with....

[Woody781]

So you are saying with the 9 neons you would get say 10 Boraras brigittae and pygmys. If I was left on my own I would've got a lot less fish. I possibly would have had 9 Neons, and maybe got about 3 little ones at the bottom like cories and maybe 6-8 similar size to Neons.

No. I was explaioning the sort of fish that can do very well in smaller tanks (like a 10 gallon). I didn't mean to imply you could add all these with neons. The pygmy cories are still an option though, with the neons.[/QUOTE]

Cool!

 

[Essjay]

maybe got about 3 little ones at the bottom like cories

You need more than 3 pygmy cories. These are shoaling fish which need to be in groups of at least 6. And the three dwarf cory species, which included pygmies, do better in groups of at least 10.

 

[Woody781]

Ok the 40L tank purchase fell through but it's possible that i have found a bigger tank and I collect it on Sunday. I think its about 88.4L from dimensions I got: 62W x 46H x 31D -how much would that weigh. My current tank is on a wooden small table from Ikea and it had how much weight I could handle. If it doesn't handle this new tank I'm not sure where to find one that would be sturdy enough

 

[Byron]

Ok the 40L tank purchase fell through but it's possible that i have found a bigger tank and I collect it on Sunday. I think its about 88.4L from dimensions I got: 62W x 46H x 31D -how much would that weigh. My current tank is on a wooden small table from Ikea and it had how much weight I could handle. If it doesn't handle this new tank I'm not sure where to find one that would be sturdy enough

A sturdy reliable stand is absolutely essential. Even the slightest unevenness can break the silicon seal of a tank and it will leak. Never move a tank with anything in it for the same reason.

What I use for my tanks, when I can't afford a proper cast iron metal stand, is a stand made from cement cinder blocks and a sheet of 3/4 inch (or thicker) plywood. The cement cinder blocks can be purchased at home improvement/construction places for very little. The plywood or particle board must be long and wide enough to extend past the bottom of the tank by an inch or more.

Here are photos of one of my stands which happens to be for three tanks, and the blocks under the 70g, which will give you the idea. If you have the tank in a room where you want it looking "nicer," you can put a sheet of decorative siding along the front to hide the blocks.

 

[Woody781]

A sturdy reliable stand is absolutely essential. Even the slightest unevenness can break the silicon seal of a tank and it will leak. Never move a tank with anything in it for the same reason.

What I use for my tanks, when I can't afford a proper cast iron metal stand, is a stand made from cement cinder blocks and a sheet of 3/4 inch (or thicker) plywood. The cement cinder blocks can be purchased at home improvement/construction places for very little. The plywood or particle board must be long and wide enough to extend past the bottom of the tank by an inch or more.

Here are photos of one of my stands which happens to be for three tanks, and the blocks under the 70g, which will give you the idea. If you have the tank in a room where you want it looking "nicer," you can put a sheet of decorative siding along the front to hide the blocks.

Ok cool, thanks for the idea!! Your tanks are so cool!! What kind of fish do you have in them?

I quite like all your tanks the way the plants are set up. What kind of plants do you have in the tank by itself??

 

[Byron]

Ok cool, thanks for the idea!! Your tanks are so cool!! What kind of fish do you have in them?

I quite like all your tanks the way the plants are set up. What kind of plants do you have in the tank by itself??

Those photos were taken several years ago; I have them just to illustrate the cinder block/plywood stand concept.

I have all soft water fish, as my tap water is very soft and it saves my having to do any water parameter adjustment. Fortunately I prefer soft water species. I currently have 8 tanks in my fish room, with fish from South America and SE Asia. The plants in the 70g are Amazon swords, pygmy chain sword, Java Moss, and I think the floating plant is Frogbit. The photo of the tank is not very good, it was just the stand I was after, and that was some years back, 2010 I think. I've rebuilt that tank at least three times since then. This is what it looks like now.

 

[Woody781]

Those photos were taken several years ago; I have them just to illustrate the cinder block/plywood stand concept.

I have all soft water fish, as my tap water is very soft and it saves my having to do any water parameter adjustment. Fortunately I prefer soft water species. I currently have 8 tanks in my fish room, with fish from South America and SE Asia. The plants in the 70g are Amazon swords, pygmy chain sword, Java Moss, and I think the floating plant is Frogbit. The photo of the tank is not very good, it was just the stand I was after, and that was some years back, 2010 I think. I've rebuilt that tank at least three times since then. This is what it looks like now.

Cool tank!! I'm a little worried about my 34L tank as I found some water underneath the table it's on. I think it's leaking but I put a line on the side of my tank to see if the water drops. My tank is on a table kind of thing -it's kind of like this table but as you can see in picture 1 and 2 the slates go the other way. I did move my tank over a little because it was slightly of the edge of one plank. If it is leaking how can I help this?

 

[Woody781]

Just a question about my filter cartridge has a brown sludge over it and just realised the pipe that keeps the water flowing was blocked a little. I just cleaned the pipe out, should I clean the filter cartridge? Yesterday I checked my water and the PH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrates are sitting at good levels so the water is fine. If the advice is to clean the filter cartridge it'll have to be in the morning because it's time for bed!

 

[Essjay]

If the filter cartridge is blocked with sludge, wash it in tank water. If you aren't doing a water change, just scoop out enough to squeeze/swoosh the cartridge clean.

Was the blocked cartridge causing the water under the tank? If not, there is another possibility - water condensing inside the lid and running down the outside of the tank. An old tank of mine used to do that.

 

[Woody781]

If the filter cartridge is blocked with sludge, wash it in tank water. If you aren't doing a water change, just scoop out enough to squeeze/swoosh the cartridge clean.

Was the blocked cartridge causing the water under the tank? If not, there is another possibility - water condensing inside the lid and running down the outside of the tank. An old tank of mine used to do that.

I'll do a water change tomorrow (Saturday's job usually anyway) and it only just clogged up today possibly due to the fact that I put some plants too close to the filter so I moved them over a bit. I noticed there is a fair bit of condensation on the lid and there was a little water (like a few drops running down the cord from the heater. Since I posted about the water leakage I havent seen anymore but I'll check tomorrow morning to see if there is.

My tank is straight on the table, should I have put anything under it before putting water in it?

 

[Essjay]

That depends.

Is the whole of the bottom glass in contact with the table (a flat bottomed tank) or is there a sort of rim round the bottom edge and just that in contact with the table with the bottom glass held slightly above the table (floating base tank)?
If it is a floating base tank you don't need anything under it as long as there are not gaps under the rim.
If it is flat bottomed, you do need something under it as even a grain of sand trapped between the table and the glass can, in theory, crack the bottom glass. You can use a sheet of polystyrene or a specifically made aquarium base mat. The base mats are more expensive but are usually black so they look a bit better than a layer of white polystyrene.

 

[Woody781]

Update: the water has dropped from last night but I can't see any puddles or even drips of water coming out of the tank. It didn't go down much only about 1-2mm

Is the whole of the bottom glass in contact with the table (a flat bottomed tank) or is there a sort of rim round the bottom edge and just that in contact with the table with the bottom glass held slightly above the table (floating base tank)?
If it is a floating base tank you don't need anything under it as long as there are not gaps under the rim.

I have a 380 Aqua One tank and it looks like it's just the rim around the outside on the base is touching but the centre isn't.

If it is flat bottomed, you do need something under it as even a grain of sand trapped between the table and the glass can, in theory, crack the bottom glass. You can use a sheet of polystyrene or a specifically made aquarium base mat. The base mats are more expensive but are usually black so they look a bit better than a layer of white polystyrene.

Good to know this about a flat bottomed aquarium. I'm picking up a tank that was on Gumtree tomorrow and I think its a flat bottom. I have some polystyrene boxes that i can chop up, I just need to find a solution for a table. I may take up Byron's idea with the cinder blocks but renting at the moment and on tiles so need to be careful of them.

 

[Woody781]

When the tank light is off is it better for fish to be in a dully lit room or naturally lit by the window? -thinking of moving my tank in order to fit the new one. Sunlight would create more algae in the tank -ahh maybe I've answered my own question.

Also I have some lace fern floating on the top of my tank, I think it makes the tank look too crowded with plants but I really got it for my next tank and to see how the fish like it. I think once my other tank gets up and going I'll put it in there. I may get a banana plant to cover some of the light for my Betta.

The light is on with a timer finally and my Neons usually hide when the light is on but at the moment they are swimming around the tank looking happy.

 

[Woody781]

Tonight I sold both Borneos so now I only have my Neon Tetras! -mixed emotions about them going!! I kind of got used to searching for them around the tank. But it has made me want to go fish shopping now! Would 1 or 2 Dwarf Gourami's be ok with Neons. I'm looking at getting some Cories but first I'm going to pick up a new tank tomorrow.

 

[Essjay]

I know you are sad about the Borneos, but they really will be better off in a more appropriate home.

Dwarf gouramis - no.
A 34 litre tank is too small. If the new tank is the 88-ish litre one you mentioned a few posts ago, they would fit, but -
2 dwarf gouramis is a bad number as 2 males will fight and a male will chase a female, often so much the female dies of stress.
And dwarf gouramis are often infected with an incurable disease when you buy them.


34 litres is a small tank, there is very little that will fit in there. If these were my tanks, once you have the new tank up and running - and cycled - I would move the neons in there. At 60 cm (2 feet) long, it is suitable for a good shoal of neons, a shoal of cories and a few more fish.
If you like dwarf gouramis, look at honey gouramis instead. These can be kept as a male/female pair as males are not nearly so persistent if they want to breed. And they don't have the same health issues as dwarfs.
Honey gouramis come in three colours. Natural colouration (tan male, silver-beige female), yellow and red. It is quite easy to tell the sex of the natural coloured ones; yellow are trickier and red are almost impossible. If you do choose honey gouramis I can give you some pointers to sexing the yellow ones as I've kept these fish in the past.

Then I would get a single male betta for the 34 litre tank.