Thinkfish.co.uk

Posts: 17

Hi all, my name is Richard.

Came across this great website called Thinkfish purely by accident Very Happy

. infact that is how I became the owner of really nice piece of furnature and a tank, purely by accident.

This is way of an introduction, never kept fish before but Sharon (better half) did want a large piece of furnature to compliment our dining room. So, I have passed ******* Aquatics numerous times when traveling to work, never ventured through the doors until one Sunday morning, we (royal we) stopped to have a gander, wow !. Neither of us realised what variety was available in tanks, stands (furnature), plants, fish etc.

Long story to a short one. We spent 2 hours talking to a customer and about thirty minutes talking to the assistant. We placed an order one week later. I am now on that massive learning curve. The articles within this forum hold loads of valuable information and knowledge, thank you and of course this all comes from your wealth of experience.

I have attached a couple of photgraphs to show where I am at present. We go away in a couple of weeks on our hols

http://www.thinkfish.co.uk/forum/userpix/23672_Photo0368_1.jpg

http://www.thinkfish.co.uk/forum/userpix/23672_Photo0374_1.jpg

http://www.thinkfish.co.uk/forum/userpix/23672_Photo0369_1.jpg

and so have resisted the temptation to stock even with a few fish until our return. Looking forward to participating in the forums as I learn, regards Richard

Posts: 265

Hi Richard

Welcome to the hobby, watch out for the fishkeeping bug, once you've been bitten you will be looking all over your house for places where you can fit your next tank Very Happy

And what a nice first tank you have, what size is it? The way you have set it out with the wood and plants you would think you have been doing this for a while Smile

Have you started to cycle the tank yet, or are you waiting until after your holiday to start, there are plenty of articles around on how to cycle a tank so if you havent looked start having a read through a few to get your noggin round it all, its pretty simple really once your into it. Some people and even shop staff still advise people to cycle thier tank with fish, some don't even mention cycling, rule is don't always listen to what shop staff tell you. Cycling with fish is still practised by some but is considered cruel by the majority, read about fishless cycling and you can't go wrong.

I'm sure you will have plenty of questions and feel free to ask anything and everything you like, there is plenty of people on here that can help you.

Enjoy.

Posts: 17

Hi Jan,

Thank you for your reply, I was told that bigger is better to deal with as a novice, get it wrong in 30lts of water and you can wipe out a whole community.

Size of the tank? I have calculated roughly it is about 360lts ish and Sharon tells me she can fit circa 18 bottles of wine beneath in the rack. I don't think she realised that a 1/3rd of the area below the tank would be housing a suitable filtration unit (Fluvel FX5).

We have spotted very small snails in the tank today, must have hitched a lift with the plants. They seem to love grazing on any algae that is present.

After our hols I will kick start the fishless cycling, actually can't wait now to get the first small shoal in. Any thoughts on a good hardy fish that would be happy in a group of say 5-6 and then possibly add to take up to a dozen or so?

Posts: 265

FX5 thats some heavy filtration nice Very Happy

Cycling can take a while, patience is vital, its the hardest part the wait but it will be worth it to see out the full cycle before adding fish. If you haven't got your self a test kit then get one as you will need it during the cycle, also when it comes to choosing fish knowing you PH will be helpful.

fish wise there is a lot of different species that would love to be kept in a nice large shoal in that size tank. Tetra's, barbs, rainbowfish.

Have a look through the database on this site, it has information on many of the most commen community fish and might help you choose. Also doesn't hurt to go around a few fish shops and have a look around at what they stock. The hard part then is keeping your self from impulse buying which many people do and I think we are all guilty of now and again, this can lead to problems when we later research what we have bought. have a look around and make a note of what you like, go home and research them or ask about them on here or look them up in the database, its the best way to make sure you have a happy community of fish.

My own personal choice would be a nice large group of Denisoni Barbs and a group of one of the smaller loach species as well as groups of small fish like rummynose tetra's. But there is so many and its your aquarium after all. Angel fish and huge amount of Cardinal Tetra's for instance could look stunning, with a few clown plecs and Cory's. Oh endless possabilities.

Posts: 427

Jan - Whoa!!! you're getting over excited!!!! Laughing

I can see why though! What a gorgeous tank Very Happy

Richard asked for suggestions on a hardy FIRST fish. I thought Tetras (certainly Cardinals & Neons) are an absolute no-no for first in. In fact, Neons & Cardinals are LAST in arent they? They need a tank of a good 6months or more.

Richard - Im right behind Jan in welcoming you Very Happy

Congratulations on your stunning setup Very Happy

I look forward to seeing how it progresses after your hols. I notice you have sand in the bottom. You might like to do a bit of research on how to properly maintain sand in an aquarium to avoid "dead spots" building up. These are areas of undisturbed sand (under/around ornaments, logs, etc) where pockets of (gas I think) can build up and could be lethal to your fish. I dont know a huge amount about it as I have gravel, but its one of those things you would rather know about now so you can avoid it happening to you, than find out the horrible hard way later. Snails can help keep the sand turned as they burrow underneath, but Im not sure which type do this other than the Malaysian Trumpet Snail.

Dont get alarmed!! Plenty of folk have sand so you should be able to find a few people to give you some tips.

Wink

Posts: 265

True enough Chuck about the Cardinals not being the hardiest. But if a cycle is seen through to the end then the fish won't need to be to hardy, but yes some fish have more chance in a mature aquarium of 6 months old.

I'm not sure what is considered a hardy species anymore, and the thing about adding hardy fish to begin with is then you are stuck with them in a sense, it has to be a fish you want to keep long term otherwise whats the point.

Those little snails will bury themselves in the substrate, majority of them will stay there during the day and only come out at night, the odd stirring of the sand now and again is all thats needed to make sure it doesnt go anaerobic. Some loaches will dig in sand and help to stop dead spots, they will also eat those snails. Khuli are the best for digging, but they are nocturnel so you might not actually see them in the day, I have 5 in one tank and I completely forget that they are in there, I only ever see them if I go down to the kitchen at night and turn on the living room light and catch a glimpse of them out for a split second before they shoot off.

Posts: 427

Presume you have sand then Jan Very Happy

Indeed its difficult these days to know what fish are hardy anymore. What Im doing, is adding any fish I like to a list. I then research them lots and cross off any that arent suitable for one reason or another (aggresive/too big, etc). When Im done doing that, I will choose the ones I like the most and cross off any that arent compatible tankmates. This will leave me with a list of fish I want and are suitable together. From that, I will try to put them in order of "hardiness" so I know which to get first (or last!).

Richard - I forgot to say that Malaysian Trumpet Snails (MTS) dont eat plants either. At least, mine dont! With the lovely plants you have, you probably want to be careful of what livestock you get - including the fish!

Wink

Posts: 17

Thank you Jan & Chuck for both of your replies.

It must be a camera trick Cool

, it's not sand, it is JBL Manado as suggested by the team that supplied the equipment for our setup. They had a display with said subtrate in supporting a whole host of plants and as I did not know any better, ay ho, that's whats in the bottom of the tank. Everything seems to be shooting and growing, so no complaints presently.

Want a laugh?, yes I hear. Black Apple Snails, don't eat plants or so I was led to believe. Wrong, I placed 2 into the tank and thank goodness it wasn't just before retiring for the night. Wow can they eat or what ! ! both now back with their previous owners Embarassed

We learn by our mistakes. Always investigate a species before the introduction ay?

Posts: 427

We all make em Richard!!! Laughing

At least your mistake was a small one and easily rectified! The best tip I can give you is to not trust what a fish shop tells you. Do plenty of your own research and ask here for help & advice before buying fish stock etc. My latest boo-boo was going to buy one Siamese Algae Eater.... and coming home with 6!!! Embarassed

Fortunately Im getting another tank so I can put some over into it.

JBL manado.... something bugged me when I read thats what you've got in your tank. I had a dig around and found it. Heres a quote from one of my threads a while back when I had a shrimp disaster:

Bad news for shrimps keepers. JBL Manado raises pH and gH but no kH. How do I know?
I put 5l of manado into the bucket. I added RO water [kh 0, gh 0, pH below 6] After 24H I`ve checked pH, kH and gH:

pH 6.6 [RO was below 6] after a week stir -> 7.5[!!!]
kH 0
gH 6[!!!]"

The issue first came to light on some German shrimp breeding forums there were lots of complaints to JBL apperantly, they are said to be looking into the matter!

And a link to the full thread was also posted:
http://www.irishfishkeepers.com/cms/component/option,com_fireboard/Itemid,28/func,view/id,60127/catid,6/limit,10/limitstart,0/

I will point out that my disaster was nothing to do with this substrate (I have JBL Aquabasis Plus). I lost all my shrimps at once due to putting new plants in my tank. I now soak new plants in a bucket for a couple of days with a polyfilter running. However, as you have this substrate, you might want to do a bit of research on it to find out the extent of its issues. Believe me, its not nice to find all your shrimp dying right before your eyes faster than you can net them out the tank Crying or Very sad

Id hate for you to find out the hard way that your substrate isnt suited to certain fish.

Wink

Edit: I have just looked at the link I gave you. From what I can gather, you might well get a pH spike at first, but it should settle down after a while. But dont take my word on it - I have enough trouble getting my head round my own chemistry problems!!! Embarassed

Have a read for yourself Wink

Posts: 304 Location: Devon

Jan if you want a burrower you either want a Pakastani (yo-yo) loach or a clown loach I can garuntee
_________________
I am the Circle and the Circle is me

Posts: 17

Chuck,
Thank you for the information and links re Manado. i can confirm that spike in PH in the first ten days whilst a consistent PH reading from the tap supply. Too much a novice to understand what had caused it, however everything has settled nicely and plants growing like it's a race.

I have purchased a

http://www.thinkfish.co.uk/forum/userpix/23672_Photo0381_2.jpg

very low wattage LED light to try and get that dappled effect. See photo below, looks better in real life.

Posts: 265

Don't get us started on LED's Richard have you not seen the other 10 page thread on the subject Very Happy

As far as PH is concerned it can effect what species of fish you want to keep. For instance, most African Cichlids need to be kept in a high PH 8+. While many south american species of fish will prefer around 6.6 - 7. Although many species have been bred and conditioned to live happily in water outside thier natural PH. But you have to be careful with a swinging PH, large changes in PH will cause shock and death to most fish. If your finding your PH keeps changing you are going to need to try and find a way of making it more stable, some movement is fine and natural between day and night, but they must be minimal as possible, large and quick changes will be problamatic.

Basically get that PH test out and start testing twice a day for a couple of weeks and document the results, also important to get results before and after your water change, as you might find you need to do more frequent small water changes so not to effect PH to much in one go.

Posts: 265

Forgot to add that KH (carbonate Hardness) can make a PH more stable, the higher the KH the harder it is for the PH to change. This might have been the trouble for that German bloke chuck. So if you find your PH is unstable then raising the KH is one of the ways to try and rectify the problem.

Posts: 122

I think water in general is pretty hard in Germany, certainly from my experience (I lived in Germany for a year in the nineties) in Mainz and Berlin that is true. This should buffer the pH from any effects from Manado. I also have some experience of Manado and didn't experience any pH spikes in the few weeks I used it. I got rid of it because I found it impossible to do any thing with it. It almost floats, and when in the tank, the bottom has the consistency of a soft sludge. Plants just float free from it.

I'd be interested in the type of LED that richard bought and it's cost. It seems to justify my point about getting the effect of LED lights by adding a point source to your tank.

Posts: 427

LEDs

Im not saying a word.... honest! Wink