New To Fish Keeping

[LiQuOrIcE]

Hiya, great Forum!

The girlfriend and I decided to get some Tropical fish as she has always wanted them & the front room got to the stage where it was ready for a nice tank.

We got a 3ft tank, nice cabinet etc. FLUVAL 3 UNDERWATER FILTER, VISI-THERM, and a proper good strip light. Have a few fake plants & 2 bigger deco pieces, one with hiding places.

After 3 weeks of water changing, cleaning etc we finaly got the levels constant and ready for some fish! Started with 4 platies (2 small bright orange ones & 2 blue speckled ones) and left it as that for 2 weeks. Levels were constantly up (bright Red on the nitrite testing) & down but they were always active & very Healthy looking. Levels then seemed to settle, so we got 6 more Platies (4 mickey mouse ones & 2 bigger orangy ones) and the levels were up & down like mad & i was back to every 3 day water changes & loads of Bactalife! Again, they seemed to have settled & all the fish are fine, active etc. I have since added 2 little angel fish (little at the moment!) and the levels are up & down etc but still after 2 months, ive had no deaths & all the fish are active & very healthy looking (great colours etc).

The thing is, every time the fish are near the surface, im worried they are after air, but then they will swin down and race round the tank.

Im very proud that after 2 months ive still had no deaths as i was expected at least 3!

Anyway, to wind up & stop booring you all, any sugestions?

I dont over feed, i still give about 1 flake per fish & have also gone a day or 2 without feeding aswell.

Im thinking, either i need a better filter or some crap eating fish?

 

[CFC]

When you say the levels have settled what exactly do you mean? For the tank to have finished its cycle you need to have 0 ammonia, 0nitrite and a rising level of nitrate. Since you are doing a cycle with fish it will take around 6 weeks for the tank to be suitable for more fish, it sounds like your tank has nearly been getting there and then you have added more fish and put it back to square one again.
If you keep up with the water changes and low feeding and dont add anymore fish then your tank will settle within the next couple of weeks, remeber the tank is not cycled until the nitrites have been at 0 for a week at least and the nitrates have started to climb (in some areas there is nitrate in the tap water supply so you will need to test this first). Bacterlife and other similar products are next to worthless, the bacteria it claims to contain has been placed into suspended animation and only very distinct water parameters which 90% of tapwater supplies dont meet will release them from this.

 

[LiQuOrIcE]

After reading a few more posts on here, i think i maybe cleaning my gravel too much! I have a siphon (spelling?) which gets the poo etc out of the gravel, you see it all going up the tube, but am i also getting rid of the good bacteria?

 

[LiQuOrIcE]

cheers CFC, we dont intend to add anymore fish full stop as we have all we want now, so hopefully that may have been my problem...just rushing it a bit & listening to the advise of the local fish shop (wish i found you sooner!)

I will keep an eye on things and update this post accordingly.

RE: Bactalife, shall i just ditch that then, and just buy a seperate dechlorinator for when i water change?

 

[pendragon]

Hiya, and welcome to fishkeeping!

I am unsure from your post whether you know about the nitrogen cycle (cycling the tank) or not. Some of the methodologies you used to determine when to add new fish is kind of vague (for instance, I don't know what "settled" parameters means, exactly). The cycle is an all-important process that your tank will go through when you add fish - it is the colonization of bacteria that will allow your tank to sustain aquatic life in the long term. Unfortunately (as you no doubt know since you're testing for the toxins) while the cycle is ongoing the levels of toxins in the aquarium build to dangerous levels. If you did cycle properly and I'm just misunderstanding, my apologies. If you don't know about or understand the cycle, I encourage you to spend some time with this excellent FAQ. It sounds as though your levels are all willy-nilly because you're changing the bioload (adding fish) too close together, and perhaps in addition because your initial cycle didn't have sufficient time to complete properly. Based on what you've said, you aren't *way* off base with what you're doing, but I'm not sure if you really understand what's happening, and when, and why. Sounds like your fish are doing okay, though, so I don't think you've done anything too terribly wrong.

The thing is, every time the fish are near the surface, im worried they are after air, but then they will swin down and race round the tank.

Don't sweat it. If the fish are going to the surface for oxygen, it will be obvious. They'll pant and gasp, and they'll hang right at the surface, where the oxygen saturation is better. If you have some surface agitation, you should be getting enough oxygen into the water. I think they're fine.

Im thinking, either i need a better filter or some crap eating fish?

LOL. I'm not sure if by "crap" you mean uneaten food and such, or fish excrement (poo). There is no fish that will eat the poo of another fish, although that is a common fallacy among folks who are not aquarists. The only ways poo gets "removed" is by being broken down by bacteria and vacuumed out during regular gravel cleaning. Some scavenger fish (corys, loaches, ghost shrimp, etc.) will typically pick through the gravel and finish off the uneaten food that falls to the bottom, but they won't eat the poo in the gravel (and they don't like sifting through it, either , so be sure to clean your gravel regularly).

Hope that helps,

pendragon!

 

[CFC]

RE: Bactalife, shall i just ditch that then, and just buy a seperate dechlorinator for when i water change?

Even when using bactalife you need a seperate water conditioner! Bacterlife is not a water conditioner and will not neutralise chlorines, chloromines and heavy metal traces from your water supply.

 

[pendragon]

I have a siphon (spelling?) which gets the poo etc out of the gravel, you see it all going up the tube, but am i also getting rid of the good bacteria?

Vacuuming gravel probably does remove some of the beneficial bacteria, but it shouldn't remove enough to cause real changes in your water parameters. Your most prolific bacterial colony is probably in your filter media. Just to be safe though, it is generally recommended that you only vacuum gravel in sections (only half or one-third of the tank each time), to minimize the disturbance of the bacteria. In my personal opinion, though, you would really have to do some serious violent vacuuming to disturb the bacteria in the gravel enought to cause a change in your tank parameters. I mean, there's no need to vacuum every day, but don't be afraid of regular maintenance once or twice a week. Unless you're doing something excessive, I seriously doubt you're going to disturb enough bacteria sufficiently to cause any harm.

pendragon!

 

[LiQuOrIcE]

God! This is a helpfull forum, really appreciate your time in the replies!

As i said, we dont intend on any other fish, so hopefully the setup will hopefully keep getting better & better.

The saving grace is that all the fish seem fine & dandy! i think i may be worrying a bit too much.

I understood a little about the cycle, but only what i read in books, didnt think to search the net...DOH! and ive gone by what the fish shop had been saying.

You live and learn.

No deaths though, so as you say, i cant have got it that wrong!

Cheers

 

[LiQuOrIcE]

CFC, i have been using a seperate one till the last change as the shop was out, but was told bactalife had it in aswell.....bloody monkeys! so cheers for more sound advice.

Pendragon, when i water change, i do it from the gravel, i mainly concentrate in what seems to be the toilet in the tank, so i dont go over all the gravel, id say about 1/4 - 1/3 of it.

 

[kribs mate]

i think that gravel vacing will harm a cycling tank. just my opinion. i would avoid cleaning gravel until the cycle is well and truely over.

 

[pendragon]

I agree, and should have clarified that - sorry. I do no gravel cleaning during cycling, and don't encourage anyone else to, either. I don't want to risk disturbing the bacteria in the process of colonization. After the cycle completes, regular maintenance begins.

pendragon!

 

[LiQuOrIcE]

Gotcha,

will wait til after it has cycled.

Who needs books eh?!