Novice With 25 Years Experience Needs Answers

[CEB]

Hi Folks,

I've been keeping freshwater tropicals for 25 years, but consider myself a n00b compared to you lot. I have a few questions for you. I ought to give you background first.

I have been trying to correct 'old tank syndrome' for the last 10 weeks. New fish and plant didn't last long, while existing fish seemed to do okay. I believe I can now begin restocking.

I have a 250-275 litre tank, pH 7.2 to 7.6, hard water, all other readings good. I have a lot of algae since my inherited common plec died; every week or two I clean it all off, but if left more than a week it's back (it's both the dark flat type, and the long green filamentous type).

1. What fish do you recommend? I only have 7 fish; three red-eye tetras, two cardinal tetras, a cherry something, and a tetra that's a pale red colour. I like small fish up to 5cm fully grown, but I am fond of sucking loach (although I read here that they might actually have been some other fish). I had some platties who seemed to peck at the algae. Hardy is good, given recent bad experiences with new fish. Algae eaters would be good, but still need to be hardy.
2. What plant do you recommend? For algae control, I think I need something fast-growing and lots of it. It should also be hardy. I love a well-planted tank but mine is at present, sparse. I have some cabomba but it's weak, and some java fern (I think), but it doesn't grow fast.
3. Fish and plant by mail order? Did I read that fish and plant can be delivered to the door? Is this reliable? The only decent LFS is 10 miles away.
4. Water test kits. I've got the liquid type, but it needs replacing. I've seen the type where all the tests are on one piece of card that you dip in the water and read the colours. They seem much easier to use for regular tests. Are they any good, and which ones do you recommend?

Sorry for the long post, I've been thinking for weeks about all the questions I've got. Thanks for reading.

 

[loachman]

Hi Folks,

I've been keeping freshwater tropicals for 25 years, but consider myself a n00b compared to you lot. I have a few questions for you. I ought to give you background first.

I have been trying to correct 'old tank syndrome' for the last 10 weeks. New fish and plant didn't last long, while existing fish seemed to do okay. I believe I can now begin restocking.

I have a 250-275 litre tank, pH 7.2 to 7.6, hard water, all other readings good. I have a lot of algae since my inherited common plec died; every week or two I clean it all off, but if left more than a week it's back (it's both the dark flat type, and the long green filamentous type).

1. What fish do you recommend? I only have 7 fish; three red-eye tetras, two cardinal tetras, a cherry something, and a tetra that's a pale red colour. I like small fish up to 5cm fully grown, but I am fond of sucking loach (although I read here that they might actually have been some other fish). I had some platties who seemed to peck at the algae. Hardy is good, given recent bad experiences with new fish. Algae eaters would be good, but still need to be hardy.
2. What plant do you recommend? For algae control, I think I need something fast-growing and lots of it. It should also be hardy. I love a well-planted tank but mine is at present, sparse. I have some cabomba but it's weak, and some java fern (I think), but it doesn't grow fast.
3. Fish and plant by mail order? Did I read that fish and plant can be delivered to the door? Is this reliable? The only decent LFS is 10 miles away.
4. Water test kits. I've got the liquid type, but it needs replacing. I've seen the type where all the tests are on one piece of card that you dip in the water and read the colours. They seem much easier to use for regular tests. Are they any good, and which ones do you recommend?

Sorry for the long post, I've been thinking for weeks about all the questions I've got. Thanks for reading.

1. Sucking loaches are really chinese algae eaters. They're decent at algae control, esp when they're younger. They get territorial and a bit nasty as they get bigger though.
Siamese algae eaters are supposed to be great at algae control. Ottos are also pretty good. They're small and peaceful.

3. Can be good, but you'll pay alot more for it. Typical shipping is about $40 and is generally not covered by DOA (dead on arrival) garauntees.

 

[Arimus]

Steer clear of the test strips - the liquid tests are alot easier to read and more reliable. The test strips I had never matched the colours on the results card where as with the liquids it is a lot more clear cut as to which colour is which.

 

[CEB]

Thanks. So that's what sucking loaches really are. Mine was very shy, and would run and hide when you entered the room. Not aggressive at all.

Re the mail order option, I'll give that a miss, thanks.

 

[CEB]

Steer clear of the test strips - the liquid tests are alot easier to read and more reliable. The test strips I had never matched the colours on the results card where as with the liquids it is a lot more clear cut as to which colour is which.

Right, that's another thing off the list. Liquids it is.

Thanks.

 

[t1tanrush]

You might want to add a few more cardinal tetras to help your 2 that are all alone feel more comfortable.

 

[CEB]

Thanks T1. I'll put them on the list. Maybe I'll get 5 or 6 cardinals, and 3 or 4 platties. That would more than double the numbers though. Being a big, mature tank, does anyone think it would be too many at once?

Thanks for the advice.

 

[zoekin8yg]

id add one sort of fish at a time just so to not add too much bioload to your filter at once. You need to give it time to catch up with the increased ammonia production. After a few weeks add the another type and wait again. That way you shouldnt get too much of a mini cycle and the fish shouldnt get stressed by high amonia and nititre levels. You can get chemicals to deal with the alage but not everyone likes to use them. The shipping option isnt always that expensive, it depends where you live etc