pammy172
Fish Crazy
Hi - another newbie to the forum 
Many years ago I had two tanks - not massive - but a nice mix of fish. Loved it but I grew up and left home etc so they went. Back then it was much simpler - none of this testing and filtration was mainly undergravel affairs - very yucky and messy to clean out. But it was fun and I loved the variety of fish.
Then recently we got the bug again. Set up a 35 litre H2Orb that we gathered form the cellar of a family member and following advice from an LFS we set it up with coral sand and pea gravel. Let it cycle then added 5 neons. They settled nicely and seemed quite happy so decided time was right to add a couple more. Called in at a different lfs and got totally opposite advice re the coral sand as the ph of this area doesn't need it!!! The lady seemed really helpful and so off we went with two testing kits. PH and Nitrite. The PH was high so massive water change, using safe start and safe water and removed every scrap of coral and got the ph down to a more neutral level! The nitrite soon settled again too so some days later we returned and got our extras. A pair of dwarf Gourami and a stunning Betta Splendens - have always had a soft spot for these stunnig little animals.
Here's Tyson!! named for a reason - read on!
Tyson and the larger male gourami decided the smaller female was fair game and bullied her pretty mercilessly nipping at her tail and making her pretty miserable. We couldn't let that continue - even just for 24 hours so immedately started thinking about the options - logical first thought - get a bigger tank, then they'll all be happier. So we started trawling the 'net to see what we could find and what we could fit where. However this wouldn't help the little girl now, so we trotted back to the lfs for advice and they offered to take her straight back and nurse her back to health. So we bagged her up and took her back. She will go into a big plant tank where they nurse all battered fishies back to health.
Meanwhile - we are now very seriously looking at a much bigger set up - prob a Juwel Vision or similar so will be spending loads of time here looking for answers to questions that we will deffo have. All feels so different to when I set it all up yonks ago!! Far more daunting and scary
but am so looking forward to it. I love them. Tyson will stay in the orb as he loves it there and seems perfect for him. More photo's will follow as we progress.
So for now - thanks to all those who contribute so helpfully to this really helpful forum, I look forward to benefitting from the wealth of info here.
Many years ago I had two tanks - not massive - but a nice mix of fish. Loved it but I grew up and left home etc so they went. Back then it was much simpler - none of this testing and filtration was mainly undergravel affairs - very yucky and messy to clean out. But it was fun and I loved the variety of fish.
Then recently we got the bug again. Set up a 35 litre H2Orb that we gathered form the cellar of a family member and following advice from an LFS we set it up with coral sand and pea gravel. Let it cycle then added 5 neons. They settled nicely and seemed quite happy so decided time was right to add a couple more. Called in at a different lfs and got totally opposite advice re the coral sand as the ph of this area doesn't need it!!! The lady seemed really helpful and so off we went with two testing kits. PH and Nitrite. The PH was high so massive water change, using safe start and safe water and removed every scrap of coral and got the ph down to a more neutral level! The nitrite soon settled again too so some days later we returned and got our extras. A pair of dwarf Gourami and a stunning Betta Splendens - have always had a soft spot for these stunnig little animals.
Here's Tyson!! named for a reason - read on!
Tyson and the larger male gourami decided the smaller female was fair game and bullied her pretty mercilessly nipping at her tail and making her pretty miserable. We couldn't let that continue - even just for 24 hours so immedately started thinking about the options - logical first thought - get a bigger tank, then they'll all be happier. So we started trawling the 'net to see what we could find and what we could fit where. However this wouldn't help the little girl now, so we trotted back to the lfs for advice and they offered to take her straight back and nurse her back to health. So we bagged her up and took her back. She will go into a big plant tank where they nurse all battered fishies back to health.
Meanwhile - we are now very seriously looking at a much bigger set up - prob a Juwel Vision or similar so will be spending loads of time here looking for answers to questions that we will deffo have. All feels so different to when I set it all up yonks ago!! Far more daunting and scary
but am so looking forward to it. I love them. Tyson will stay in the orb as he loves it there and seems perfect for him. More photo's will follow as we progress.So for now - thanks to all those who contribute so helpfully to this really helpful forum, I look forward to benefitting from the wealth of info here.
to TFF
The main "revolution" you should know about is cycling. Contrary to popular belief, letting the tank stand empty for a week to a month adding majic "bacteria in the bottle" products does nothing to establish the tank. You cycle cannot start untill you have an ammonia source. You can add this the old way with fish (beware, intentionally exposing them to toxins that can kill them) and withstand either lots of waterchanges for a month+, or heavy losses as your little tresures drop like flys, unless you are lucky, or you can add an artificial ammonia source, like liquid ammonia or fish food 
Plus I think we'll enjoy this cycling lark - but must tell him indoors it does not involve yellow lycra 
