Newbie, In Need Of Expertees!

[the_lock_man]

Sounds like a perfect excuse to get a second small tank, just for the fighter.........

Anyway, leave a cup of tapwater to stand for 24 hours, and then test its pH, it allows any CO2 to clear, and return the pH to its "proper" level.

I was thinking that too, I'll get this one up and running and then probably look at other tanks in the new year. Out of interest if I have live bearing fish in the tank, will they just run rampant. For example if i mix male and female guppies, are they going to breed like craxy and over load my tank???

If the tank is sparsely planted, then the chances are that livebearer fry will get eaten (livebearers aren't particularly good parents, quantity not quality is the order of the day). Even with plenty of plants, in a community tank, some fry will survive, but probs not that many. I used to keep platies and mollies in a community setting, and never so much as saw a single fry.

 

[fluttermoth]

Out of interest if I have live bearing fish in the tank, will they just run rampant. For example if i mix male and female guppies, are they going to breed like craxy and over load my tank???

Yes, they will; their other name is 'millions fish'!

Of course, you can keep fish (the gouramis and dwarf cichlids we've mentioned) that will eat the fry, but it's probably safer to keep just males.

 

[EX1EY]

I am doing a fishless cycle, not planning on putting anything in their until its perfect or as near as #41#### it.

Ah, now you've made us very happy

The water where I live is pretty soft and last time I checked the PH right out of the tap for something else it was around 6. I would like a few schools (is that right) of fish in their of different species so I'd like to start like that to bein with. Along side one or two bigger but non aggressive fish. I did want a siamese fighting fish in their but after reading I think the tank might be a little big and I dont want it munching away at everything with a nice coulourful tail!

Great; there are more soft water fish than hard
Two shoals (schools are slightly different; it means all the fish swimming in a co-ordinated way, most tropical fish don't school unless they're scared or feel threatened; the neons I have in my bedroom tank school when my son slams his bedroom door, lol!) of different coloured tetras or rasboras and either dwarf cichlids or one of the smaller gouramis would work well and look nice.

Best if, at some point, you have a good look around your LFS and make a note of anything you particularly like the look of, then you can work your stocking around that.

Ive already been round two different LFS, Im excited about this so as soon as I decided I was getting a tank i was already dragging the misses to the nearest shops to check out some fish

I have an idea of what I want because although I said I was a beginner (which I definately am) I had a small tank when I was about 16 years old, about 8 years ago. I didnt do it properly though, I had no filtration or anything like that. And I had some guppies, tiger barbs (mistake) siamese fighting fish and a few others I cant remember. It actually worked out ok for a bit by just doing daily water changes but eventually the barbs just attacked everything, the guppies had babies and it just turned into unmanageable chaos. Obviously im older now and I want to do it correctly

 

[EX1EY]

Anybody know how to upload photos?!

So I had a good look at the filter and heater last night and I have a good idea of how it all works. Heaters working fine but for some reason the filter motor has stopped working and I have no idea why! This is bad news, very bad news. As I have no money for a new one right now

Anyway Ive been looking at fish and I want to start with 4 golden barbs, a brittlenose pleco, a few guppies and a couple of gouramis (not sure which variety yet). Is there any problems with any of these fish? I know some plecos can get quite big but I understand the brittlenose will only get to about 8cm max?

Cheers

 

[the_lock_man]

Underneath the main post entry area, there is an area labelled Attachments. Use the browse facility to select the file and attach the file.

If you can't see this area, then you need to upload the photo to somewhere like FlickR, and then post the img code into your reply.

 

[EX1EY]

Underneath the main post entry area, there is an area labelled Attachments. Use the browse facility to select the file and attach the file.

If you can't see this area, then you need to upload the photo to somewhere like FlickR, and then post the img code into your reply.

Hope that works! Hows my list of fishies looking

 

[the_lock_man]

Golden barbs are shoaling fish, so you want at least 6, and preferably 8-10 of them, so that they feel secure enough to show more natural behaviour.

Assuming you do that, then you'd want one of the smaller gourami species.

And yes, bristlenose plecs stay relatively small.

 

[EX1EY]

Thanks a lot, any suggestions on the filter issue? way to get it going again?

 

[the_lock_man]

Thanks a lot, any suggestions on the filter issue? way to get it going again?

Take it apart and give it a good old clean. The heater looks as though it's covered in limescale, so it might well be there's a load of gunk clogging up the inlet or the impeller blades. Also check the fuse!

 

[EX1EY]

Thanks a lot, any suggestions on the filter issue? way to get it going again?

Take it apart and give it a good old clean. The heater looks as though it's covered in limescale, so it might well be there's a load of gunk clogging up the inlet or the impeller blades. Also check the fuse!

Cheers, I really appreciate your help.

And Im sorry to mither but how would I remove the entire filtration system from this type of tank? Its housed in a fixture in the corner of the tank. I can get a replacement pump for £21.99 which is fine but If I can get working now Id rather that and I also want to check the filter media etc.

Thanks again

 

[Essjay]

As this is a second hand tank, the filter will probably be one of the older style ones - not that it makes much difference, the newer ones have a box of cirax (a ceramic medium) while the old ones just had sponges.

http/www.juwel-aquarium.de/en/standard205.htm?cat=74

This page gives links to all the old style Juwel filters, you'll need to work out which one it is from the dimensions given for each one. The media consists of fine blue sponges, coarse blue sponges, black carbon sponge (not needed, replace with more blue) maybe green nitrate sponge (get blue instead) and white floss pads - these pads need replacing regularly as they go shapeless after a couple of washes. Don't buy Juwel ones, get a roll of filter wool and cut to the same shape as the sponges.


Or you can remove it, I took mine out. It's fixed with blobs of sealant, four on each side. You need a long flexible blade to slice through the sealant, being very careful not to touch the tank's corner sealant. Traces of the blobs can be removed by scraping very carefully with a stanley knife blade. You'll create less of a tidal wave if you take some water out first

 

[moochy13]

there seems to be the majority of your filter internals missing.

i had one of those filters up until about 6 months ago. generally, they are pretty godo and if you stick to teh guidelines on your fish stocking, will be perfectly up to the job - if you had all the bits.

with these filters, there should be a white plastic 'cage' (though its more like a cradle) which would have held your filter media and sponges. from top down it will have had a fine white floss filter, then 2 or 3 coarser sponges, then at the bottom a box of ceramic media. this was in white/opaque plastic mesh box. everything was held in place by the 'cradle', so it could be easily removed in one go. this all seems to be missing, and really needs replacing. or you can get a new, external filter - which is a whole different subject. however, it would appear you need to make this decision before you go any further.

cheapest option will be get bits for the filter, but its still going to minimum 15-20 quid i'd say. as mentioned, you need to find which tank and filter you have. the taller the fiter, the more sponges it needs.

you can see the sort of arrangement im talking about in this link :

juwel filter

 

[EX1EY]

You guys are absolute stars!

After each post everyone of you has made, things make a little more sense, which is great.

Now i think i jnow why the guy i go this off has Given me a bag of small white tray looking thingies, i think its the inside if the filter with no sponges etc.

After already researching (as opposed to working ) this afternoon, it looks like my filter is a juwel 400. Im in need of a new punp for it and all the internal stuffs. Im starting to lean toward buying a brand new one and just replacing it. If i see a knew one all put together in action i'll be set, but trying to piece together the existing one will probably drive me nuts! I also have an under gravel filter that i cant work out so i'll put pics up and any help around that wiuld be great. Are undergravel filters any good?

Thanks again

 

[moochy13]

if you need a new filter look into removing the current one and using an external filter. they are easier to clean, generally better and free up tank space. fi that link i gave you is anything to go by, juwel filters are very epensive for what they are.

 

[fluttermoth]

I wouldn't use the undergravel filter.

It's not that they don't work, they do, but;
they're harder to clean properly, as you have to strip the tank down completely to get underneath the plates where a lot of the mulm ends up, plants tend not to do so well as they don't like the flow around their roots, and if you ever decided to change to a sand substrate, you'd have to replace it anyway.