New to TFF, 105L/23 gallon tank in office enviroment, recommendations needed

[nateb34]

Hey all, hope you are having a great Xmas break!

I've joined the forum since I need a little advice. I have got my hands on a 105L tank from Tetra and have set it up in my company's office. We had two pearl gouramis but they passed away after 2 days. We think the tank wasn't set up correctly.

Regardless, I would love to repopulate the tank with some fish that show our company's colour, which is sort of light, vibrant blue color. I have refilled the tank with water and set the pump and filter going whilst we are on Christmas Break. I return Jan 3rd and have about 1/2 hours of free time each day where I can tend to the tank and get it ready for fish. The heater is set at 25 degrees celsius so I'm looking for recommendations on my next steps for the tank set up and what low maintenace fish you guys recommend?

The tank came with some bits, TapSafe, basic testing strips (pH, nitrate and chlorine levels as far as I can remember, no hardness) fish flakes, slow release fish food for the weekends (don't know how effective this will be?)

I did wash and add some rocks I got at my local pet store, but they look a bit tacky, I was thing of having some plants and some nice white sand, but some people online have said it discolours quickly due to the algae in the tank? I really want and need the tank to be low maintenace as I can't take time away from my work for it, so I was also thinking about some critters that eat the algae so I don't have to clean the glass and sand that often. Thoughts?

Thanks in advance!
Nate

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Hello and welcome to the forum! 105l is a nice size--big enough to give you some stability and stocking options, but small enough that it's fairly easy to maintain.

First thing I always recommend is to determine your water hardness, as that will give some direction what fish can thrive. You can either buy a test kit at your local fish store, or call your water company and ask them. (Personally I enjoy test kits--they make the people at the office think I'm intelligent) Hardness is measured in parts per million or degrees hardness. We can go with either one as long as we know which it is.

What kind of filter does the tank have? What kind of lights?

I'd say the best all-around beginner substrate is play sand or pool filter sand. Filter sand usually doesn't require as much rinsing; play sand is usually cheaper. Both work and look fine. For a 105l you'll probably want 20 pounds (around 9 kg) of sand. If you're going to use live plants, you want about a 5-6 cm deep layer.

Planted tanks can take a bit more time to set up, but I find they require less maintenance than artificial tanks. Even with algae eating fish, you'll still need to clean the glass and do partial water changes, but once everything is up and running it shouldn't take more than 20-30 minutes a week.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Oh, and throw away that slow release fish food. It's worthless and unnecessary. Fish are cold blooded and will do fine with no food over the weekend.

Also, there are some nice blue fish out there; I think we'll be able to help you with that. But that comes after we know your water hardness.

 

[jaylach]

Since I love cichlids I'd have to suggest blue acara as a possible fish. Of course, since they can be aggressive the rest of the fish population would be restricted. Also they prefer softer water.

In an office, huh? Is this an office that has visitors? While you can 'train' other people that work in the office to not be tapping on the glass visitors are a different matter. For many fish species someone tapping on the glass is extremely stressful so would influence the types of fish you would want.

As to the initial fish passing I suspect that the tank was not cycled. Here is a link to an article on this site about cycling a tank.

Cycle Your Tank! A Complete Guide For Beginners

Fishless cycling https://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first.421488/ Silent or plant cycling https://www.fishforums.net/threads/planted-silent-cycling.470400/ Fish-in cycling...

www.fishforums.net

 

[Lajos_Detari]

As @jaylach mentioned, firstly, you need to ensure that your tank is fully cycled. This will prevent high ammonia and nitrite that can kill the fish.
Buy some live bacteria to speed up your tank cycling process.
You can buy Tetra Safestart, Seachem Stability or Dr Tim One and Only Nitrifying Bacteria which will give you the live bacteria.
Anyway, most tank will need at least 3-4 weeks to be fully cycled with live bacteria unless you add some plants.
Fast growing plants like Hornworts, Anacharis Elodea and Cabomba will absorb the ammonia/ammonium in the water.

Secondly, can you give us your tank dimension rather than just the volume for more accurate estimation of type fish to keep.

Since you are living in London, I guess you are having hard water.
You can check your water agency website to find out your tap water hardness.

If you have hard water, then my suggestion will be to get fish like Guppies, Platies or probably Mollies(slightly bigger than the rest).

Blue Grass Guppies or Japanese Blue Guppies have very nice colours.
But whenever you buy Guppies, check carefully to ensure that they are healthy and free from diseases.
One of the main reason why fish die is due to diseases.
You can keep all males only tank.
Avoid females as they will give birth frequently and will require more work.

Avoid white sand as they don't look natural.
I prefer slightly darker colour but not too dark like sunset yellow or grey for better effect on your tank.

Lastly, to ensure easy maintenance of fish tank, keep lower number of fish, keep smaller fish and don't overfeed them.
Also get a good size filter for your tank.

 

[Essjay]

Hi @nateb34 welcome to the forum.

As the others have mentioned, the fish deaths were probably due to the tank not being cycled before the fish were put in the tank. This explains what cycling is and how to do it.

Cycling Your New Fresh Water Tank: Read This First!

Cycling Your First Fresh Water Tank What is Cycling and Why is it Important? Fish waste, and especially fish breathing, plus uneaten food and other organic matter breaking down in a tank all produce Ammonia. This can quickly become toxic to fish if it is allowed to build up to any measurable...

www.fishforums.net

Lajos has correctly said that London has hard water, though it's possible that your office uses a water softener. Is there anyone who would know if there is a water softener?

 

[nateb34]

Hi all,

Thanks for the replies so far!

Here are some of the specifics people asked for:
Water hardness: 280ppm, This is from the water provider's webiste, I will confirm when back in the office and have a test kit to hand.
Tank dimensions: These are from the manufacturer's website, so give of take a cm or two: 76 x 48 x 37 cm
Water softener: Not sure, I have emailed my boss

@jaylach - You raise a good point about the tapping on the glass, I have already warned my colleagues that they have to behave around the fish tank, not throwing things in/at it etc but I'll probably stick a sign on the tank that says do not touch or feed. Besides, I sit right next to it, so shouldn't be too much of a problem!

Thanks for the info about the cycling @Essjay and for the videos @Lajos_Detari , really appreciate the response so far

Cheers, Nate