New 64L Tank...

[lee.barros]

Hi everyone!

Just got my new 64L "Fish Box" aquarium, all up and running, with the filter and heater installed. I am going to let it run for a day or 2 before I start the Fish-less cycle as described on this forum .

The aquarium came with Interpet Filter Start...but I think the best bet would be to go with the pure Ammonia, which I have bought from Boots already.

Regarding the filter, which is the Interpet PF2 - should it be fully submerged or should it be slightly out of the water so as to agitate the surface? At the moment, you can see the surface of the water moving with the current. I have the filter aimed towards the back of the aquarium hitting the heater so as to circulate heat evenly. Need to adjust the heater over the next few days to get it in the "Green" zone on the thermometer.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I should be looking to do next?

Cheers!

 

[Wills]

Sounds like you are on the right track with all of that! With the filter, I used this range for ages a few years ago and gave up because I found them quite unreliable so just a word of warning on them some are pretty good though so dont freak out too much. Also if you want to leave it out the top it will help with surface agitation but it will be noisy so try and find a happy middle point.

But like I say your well on the right track! Keep it up and the next step is to plan what fish you want. Any ideas?

Wills

 

[Liverbird36]

Hi, I have the Interpet PF2 filter. The spout where the water flows out needs to be fully submereged. On the top of the filter there is a switch that you can have either open or closed (closed is less noisy but to be honest not much difference in noise when it's open or shut, I have mine open as it aggitates the surface more) The level of the water needs to be just beneath the level of the switch so that when the switch is open, the water does not flow in. The very top of my filter is virtually in line with the black plastic seal that runs along the top length of the back glass panel (if that makes sense)
Oh and I wouldn't recommend the Filter Start, it messed my cycle up quite a bit and left the tank smelling really bad as things got a bit mouldy in there.

 

[lee.barros]

I done a quick test after leaving the tank/filter running for 24 hours... Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate all showing as 0ppm (using API master test kit). Added 3ml (or there abouts) of Boots Ammonia, will take a reading tomorrow.

I am planning on getting live plants, will having the air bubbles from.the filter cause problems for the plants?

I am planning on going for plattys and neon/cardinal tetras anyone got recommendations for a tank this size? (64L)

Cheers!

 

[Wills]

Bubbles are not a problem infact it will help them at night time when the plants need oxygen As for the stocking plans after the fishless cycle how about -

4 Male Platies
8 Carinal Tetras

I say all male platies to prevent babies in a small tank if the shop tries to sell you a male and 2 females please take my advice and just stick to males because even females in the could be pregnant and then over stock your tank. You could also add a few cherry shrimp and or zebra snails as a bit of a clean up crew.

Wills

 

[lee.barros]

I read that having an airstone with live plants will kill them eventually? They can cause the plants to rott away...

What's the difference between neon and cardinal tetras apart from size, looks?

 

[waterdrop]

Surface water disturbance/movement does tend to be a trade-off in that it adds more oxygen (good for the fish and bacteria and for the plants at night) but it also drives off a bit of the CO2 level usually and that lowers the desirable CO2 for the plants in the daytime or whenever they are receiving light (assuming you have no system to add CO2 artificially.) However, I've never heard that aeration via airstones or any other method is otherwise bad for plants, perhaps unnecessary, but not bad. Its true there are plants that take to movement better than others, just like with fish.

Neon and Cardinal tetras are basically the same fish. They are visually very similar and enjoy the same water qualities. Neons have a section of reflective silver that cardinals don't. Cardinals have a longer, larger section of orange-red that neons don't. In my experience, cartinals have a slightly longer look to their shape, while neons can look slightly taller although overall cardinals usually appear to be able to get slightly larger. How much of this is due to color patterns versus how much would hold up to actual measurements I'm not sure.

I went through a long phase of liking cardinals more, thinking them more colorful, but I've since reversed, now thinking the silver adds more accent and that the reds are a little deeper in neons. There are various myths about one or the other being less hardy, but in fact they are both pretty sensitive fish, liking water that is fairly soft and acid and enjoying tannins from bogwood and other woods. The risk of initial losses is lowered if they are introduced to a tank that has aged at least 6 months and despite this it is often wise to buy one or two extra in case of transportation losses, especially if the specimens are small. The blue/green colors can differ among individual fish, some looking a little more green than others and I believe it can also change somewhat with age. I believe they can get dark sections it the muscle tissue, particularly near the tail when they get very old.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[lee.barros]

Thanks waterdrop!

I was also thinking on going for a betta, seen. some really nice ones at the lfs... would this be possible?

 

[waterdrop]

We have a number of people experienced with putting a betta in with a community so I know it can work, I am just not expert at it myself. The few times I had betta splendens years ago they were mostly in smaller tanks alone although I may have had one that was in a community but its so long ago I can't remember with what! There are also differences depending on which sex the betta is, so I'll leave it to others to make recommendations.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[lee.barros]

Done some tests today in the water. Temperature in tank is about 30c and air bubbles are present from the filter as recommended in the cycling tutorial.

Ammonia = 5+ppm (couldn't distinguish the colour on the chart but was just darker than 4ppm)
Nitrite = 0ppm
Nitrate = 0ppm

Need to make a chart so its easier to post them on here.

Should I get the plants in the tank at this stage as its boring to look at

 

[waterdrop]

Plants during a fishless cycle are totally up to you. There are several ways to look at it. Live plants need light, so you'd need to turn on the aquarium light at least 4 hours minimum per day and in a fishless cycling aquarium that might be enough to serve as a trigger for algae (ammonia plus light triggers algae) and the algae might get on your plants as well as other surfaces in the tank. The reason this is important to mention is that sometimes people are on a tight budget and are expecting their expenditures for plants to be an investment that lasts a long time. If the algae comes along and ruins the plants, they are quite frustrated. On the other hand, some plants are quite inexpensive and/or plants may not seem a big expenditure to some beginners, so thinking of some of the plants as "throwaways" doesn't matter.

Plants don't generally cause changes in the test readings for cycles unless they are grown in very large numbers and dominate the aquarium, in which case they can be in direct competition with the bacteria for the available ammonia.

If you can afford it and want to have some plants to make the tank more interesting during cycling then I'd go for it.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[lee.barros]

Might just wait till the tank is cycled before adding plants as the algae etc will make them look horrible.

Done a test tonight after work and the ammonia is around 4-5ppm, Nitrite and Nitrate both at 0ppm. Should I expect to see the Nitrite go up once the ammonia goes down? As regards to cleaning the filter in old tank water, would this be pointless during cycling?

Also, the temperature of the water is about 29-30c...it does say that this helps cycling along with air bubbles, is this ok?

Will get proper reading results posted as soon as I can

 

[lee.barros]

What's the best option for the PF2 filter in terms of media? Or is the stuff it came with good enough for the job?

Also, I was wanting to go for an external filter in the future, would this mean the cycling would have to be done all over again?

 

[lee.barros]

Bump

 

[waterdrop]

Lee, there's at least one other thread currently where there is an interpet filter discussion going on. It looked like there were some good commentators there. Advisors like me and oldman are in the USA, where I don't believe I remember every seeing any Interpet products, so I think this usually ends up being a UK-specific discussion.

From the sound of it, some of these Interpets seem to work just fine whereas others seem to cause people no end of trouble, eventually leading them buying a Fluval internal, an Aquaclear HOB or one of the major external cannisters (big external cannisters are kind of the mainstay among hobbyists, at least once they can fit them in to their budget, as they are kind of expensive.

~~waterdrop~~