New Here, Need Help With My Tank

[OwenB86]

Update, I'm having a minor problem with the fish. The fantail seems to be nipping at the moor almost constantly after feeding and is hogging most of the food, it's nearly doubled in size since I bought it and the moor doesn't seem to have grown at all.

Would the larger tank make the fantail less aggressive?

 

[fluttermoth]

You nearly always get one fish that's more aggressive then the others, that's just normal. It could even be they're pair and thinking of spawning; goldfish spawning is quite rough.

In the bigger tank, the moor will have more of a chance to get away from the fantails attentions. If you think you can cope with the possible extra water changes, you could think about getting a third goldie, once your new tank is set up (but not yet!) and that'll stop the fantail picking on it all the time.

 

[OwenB86]

Ok I guess I'll just have to see how they get on in the new tank, I don't want to end up overstocking again. I hope they aren't spawning, I don't know what I'd do with even more goldfish haha

 

[fluttermoth]

They'd probably eat their own eggs, even if they do spawn.

 

[OwenB86]

Ah ok.

I was also thinking I might use the old tank to keep a betta or some small community fish in, once the new one is cycled.

 

[OwenB86]

Got my new tank!

Here's how it was when I brought it home

As you can see it was very dirty as it had been sat outside for quite a while and there were also a couple of cracks in the lid supports that will needed fixing:

It also has no lid so I will probably be making one at some point Other than that it seems to be in good condition, especially for £17. Here's what it looked like after a clean:

I also picked up this on the way back from collecting the tank

Just having a break for lunch now, but hopefully the tank will be ready for the fish by the end of today

Would it ok to use the old filter in the new tank until the external one arrives?

 

[fluttermoth]

Yes; you must keep that media with the fish; I know you're still cycling, but that media may well have the beginnings of a good bacterial colony and you want to keep every bacterium you can right now! When your external comes, put all the media from your old filter into that, as well.

 

[OwenB86]

Update: Fish are in!

The tank is very bare at the moment as I haven't had the time to scape it yet, but the plants look much better separated and the fish don't know what to do with all the space

 

[fluttermoth]

Gosh, they do look tiny! They'll soon grow now they have all that space though, well done

Just keeping up the testing and water changing and I'm sure you'll have very happy fishies. More plants would be good too, when you can

 

[OwenB86]

Thankyou!

I will order some more plants soon, just need to decide how I want the tank to look first.

Unfortunately I think the moor has caught itch as I can see several white spots on him so I'm going to make another thread about it in the right section.

 

[OwenB86]

Update, my filter still hasn't arrived so I'm looking to get some more plants now. Would these work?

 

[OwenB86]

My filter turned up yesterday but unfortunately it leaked all over my floor when it was running last night, so it's been moved until I can find out what caused it Can anyone tell me if those plants are ok?

 

[OldMan47]

Owen, any time you can get a good deal on plants, consider it a recommendation for low light situations. Let me shed a bit of reality here. When a plant is offered cheap it is reflective of the effort that the plant seller has experienced. If he had an easy time growing the plant, it will be offered cheap. If he experienced difficulties, expect to be offered a higher price instead. I find this to be great advice when seeking out a plant for my tank. If it is cheap, I will likely experience less problems with it in my tank.

 

[OwenB86]

Ok thanks Oldman I will probably buy from that seller then. Would 50 plants be too much for my tank though?

 

[OldMan47]

I would stuff more plants than that into a fairly small tank. First off you need to recognize that a plant, in the mind of the seller, may only be a bit of root with 1 or 2 leaves on it. Now just imagine 75 individual leaves spread around your tank. I bet that mental picture looks a bit sparse actually. I have moved more plants than that out of this tank every time I "weed" it.