Author Topic: Restarting sort of (Read 4477 times) 23 replies

barneyadi · « **on:** November 29, 2019, 07:06:31 PM »

Hi all

Havent been around much due to work and a new job but now things are settling down am thinking about my two tanks. Going to plant one up over next 2 to 4 weeks and cycle as normal. I have a couple of questions

Firstly is that my water is not suitable for guppies. My LFS has suggested using aquarium salt to make the water right for the guppies.

Is this good advice?

If I went for a cold water tank, as my LFS has some lovely small fish that don't need a heated tank, would a planted take still work, do the plants need heat to grow?

Thanks

David

Sue · « **Reply #1 on:** November 29, 2019, 07:27:38 PM »

Aquarium salt is no use at all for making water harder for guppies. It is just common salt, sodium chloride. Hard water contains calcium and magnesium not sodium. What you need to make the water suitable for guppies is Rift Lake cichlid salts or remineralisation salts of the type added to RO water. These contain the minerals that make hard water hard.
If you used these, you would make up new water at every water change by dissolving the Rift Lake or remin salts to the bucket at the exact same concentration each time. You would need to buy a GH test kit to test each bucketful to you knew exactly how much to add to each bucket.

There are not many fish that can be kept in unheated water, so given the poor advice you've had from the shop about adding salt I would research these 'cold water' fish to make sure they really are cold water fish. The only ones I can think of at the moment are goldfish, danios and white cloud mountain minnows.

Matt · « **Reply #2 on:** November 29, 2019, 07:49:14 PM »

Not all plants are suitable for coldwater but some are so you would need to do a bit of research here to ensure you get suitable species. Use the coldwater plant collections available at places such as aquarium gardens and other aquatic retailers to guide you here:
https://www.aquariumgardens.co.uk/coldwater-plant-collection-for-36-tank-213-p.asp

A few other coldwater fish to consider include hillstream loach, glowlight danio, black widow tetra, rainbow whiners, variatus platies, zebra danio, quute a few barbs. Please do ensure to research their exact temperature requirementa as some might be considered more temperatue than coldwater and compare this to your likely tank temperature based on average home temperature. A good resource for inspiration here linked below also:
https://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/features/how-to-set-up-a-temperate-tank-that-looks-tropical/

fcmf · « **Reply #3 on:** November 29, 2019, 09:58:27 PM »

Quote from: Matt on November 29, 2019, 07:49:14 PM

rainbow whiners

Rainbow shiners

Matt's predictive text has gone into overdrive again.

barneyadi · « **Reply #4 on:** November 29, 2019, 10:08:29 PM »

Thanks for the replies. All very helpful. Think I will leave the guppies as knowing my luck things would go wrong with chemistry.

The cold water idea is still alive though, got time to research fish. I did see some really small gold colour fish today but cant remember their name.

fcmf · « **Reply #5 on:** November 29, 2019, 10:19:47 PM »

Might have been platies, golden white cloud mountain minnows or possibly orange chelas (laubuka dadiburjori).

Littlefish · « **Reply #6 on:** November 30, 2019, 04:45:11 AM »

Quote from: fcmf on November 29, 2019, 09:58:27 PM

Quote from: Matt on November 29, 2019, 07:49:14 PM
rainbow whiners

Rainbow shiners Matt's predictive text has gone into overdrive again.

This has to be one of my favourite predictive text chuckles. I might even have to rename my gang.

I'm a bit of a fan of temperate tanks & fish.
I have rainbow whiners/shiners, zebra & leopard danios, WCMM, hillstream loaches, peppered corys, and a host of others in my temperate river tank. I will admit it's an Aqua Oak 150, with a lot of water flow, but a few of the fish are fine in slightly smaller tanks with normal water flow. I also have amano shrimp in temperate tanks, and they do well - and are a great addition to a tank.
As for plants, I keep bucephalandra and anubias in my river tank, mainly as they are small enough to cope with the water flow & don't have to be planted (corys & bull dog plecs would dig up anything). They are slow growers anyway, and appear to do fine in an unheated tank which is around 21-22C.

So many options to consider.

Matt · « **Reply #7 on:** November 30, 2019, 06:02:52 AM »

Just been looking back through a few of my auto correct gaffs...

▪We"ve had outraged filters...
▪The time i told someone to get a new hairstyle (rather than airstone) with their air pump...
▪ Recommending homework instead of hornwort...
▪ plenty of miss-spelt fish species, none quite as hilarious as this...

You wouldn't believe how many auto corrects I actually proactively spot and change manually... 2 in this very post.

To draw the attention away from myself a little bit... https://forums.thinkfish.co.uk/general-non-fishkeeping-chat/what-are-you-doing-right-now/msg25410/#msg25410

Sue · « **Reply #8 on:** November 30, 2019, 09:49:07 AM »

Quote from: Littlefish on November 30, 2019, 04:45:11 AM

in an unheated tank which is around 21-22C.

The temperature is important. Many fish sold as cold water are actually temperate, and they need warmer water than cold water fish. I know most people heat the entire house to summer temperatures all year round, but if you are one of the exceptions, make sure the room temp does not drop below 18^oC in the middle of the coldest winter night. I forgot to plug the heater and filter back in two weeks ago and next day the fish tank was at 18^oC. This morning there is a thick frost and I hate to think how cold the dining room and kitchen got during the night. If you get temperate fish, I would also have a heater set to quite low just in case.

jaypeecee · « **Reply #9 on:** December 01, 2019, 12:13:27 AM »

Quote from: barneyadi on November 29, 2019, 07:06:31 PM

Firstly is that my water is not suitable for guppies. My LFS has suggested using aquarium salt to make the water right for the guppies.

Hi @barneyadi

Was it perhaps the staff at your LFS who advised you that your "water is not suitable for guppies"? If not, may I ask why your water is not considered suitable for Guppies? Do you have soft water? Do you perhaps know your water GH? Does your water company classify your water as soft? If you don't know the answer to some of these questions, fear not. One of us will explain further. Apologies if all this is stuff that you know. I haven't gone back over any of your earlier posts.

JPC

fcmf · « **Reply #10 on:** December 01, 2019, 12:24:26 PM »

Much of this has been covered on this thread https://forums.thinkfish.co.uk/general-fishkeeping-advice/moving-house-3232/10/ , @jaypeecee, so that might fill you in a bit on the background

jaypeecee · « **Reply #11 on:** December 01, 2019, 07:25:01 PM »

Quote from: fcmf on December 01, 2019, 12:24:26 PM

Much of this has been covered on this thread https://forums.thinkfish.co.uk/general-fishkeeping-advice/moving-house-3232/10/ , @jaypeecee, so that might fill you in a bit on the background

Hi @fcmf

Thanks for that. Time to crawl back into my shell!

JPC

fcmf · « **Reply #12 on:** December 01, 2019, 09:31:57 PM »

Not at all. The "search" facility and the option to scroll back through a member's previous posts is great, but I have the advantage of being able to remember discussions on some issues from a while back due to being a member of the forum during that time, and so it makes relocating a thread hugely easier than your situation of not knowing if such information is available and potentially trawling through masses of threads looking for something that may not even exist.

barneyadi · « **Reply #13 on:** December 02, 2019, 03:20:33 PM »

Quote from: jaypeecee on December 01, 2019, 12:13:27 AM

Quote from: barneyadi on November 29, 2019, 07:06:31 PM
Firstly is that my water is not suitable for guppies. My LFS has suggested using aquarium salt to make the water right for the guppies.

Hi @barneyadi

Was it perhaps the staff at your LFS who advised you that your "water is not suitable for guppies"? If not, may I ask why your water is not considered suitable for Guppies? Do you have soft water? Do you perhaps know your water GH? Does your water company classify your water as soft? If you don't know the answer to some of these questions, fear not. One of us will explain further. Apologies if all this is stuff that you know. I haven't gone back over any of your earlier posts.

JPC

My water is too soft for guppys. I could add salt but think I will go for a temperate tank, just somethink different from a tropical tank.

barneyadi · « **Reply #14 on:** December 02, 2019, 03:21:18 PM »

Well went back to check what fish my lfs had for a temperate tank. They had various danios and corys, gold and tri coloured barbs, variatus platy, Vietnam cardinal minnow and white and gold (that one I coudlnt remember) mountain minnows. Saw some resin submarines and a 3 hold lava rock arch that caught my eye. Would these look ok in a planted tank? And are air pumps a good idea for any tank?

Sue · « **Reply #15 on:** December 02, 2019, 04:14:31 PM »

I would not put any of those fish in a cold water tank as they are temperate fish. They need water with a temperature of 18 to 24 deg C. Unless you keep your house warm 24/7, the tank will still need a heater.
We've just had a 4 hour power cut and apart from the room with a gas fire, the house was freezing by the time the electric came back on - the bedroom where my husband plays his viola was down to 15 deg C after just 4 hours. Since we don't have the heating on during the night, the house will be as cold, or colder than it was this afternoon.

Guppies don't need salt, they need hard water, or soft water with hardness minerals added to make it hard. Salt won't make water hard.

barneyadi · « **Reply #16 on:** December 02, 2019, 04:17:36 PM »

Yes, will definitely go the temperate route. More choice for a start.

Will leave the guppies as want to keep things simple and think the hardness minerals will complicate things.

jaypeecee · « **Reply #17 on:** December 02, 2019, 07:05:45 PM »

Quote from: fcmf on December 01, 2019, 09:31:57 PM

Not at all. The "search" facility and the option to scroll back through a member's previous posts is great, but I have the advantage of being able to remember discussions on some issues from a while back due to being a member of the forum during that time, and so it makes relocating a thread hugely easier than your situation of not knowing if such information is available and potentially trawling through masses of threads looking for something that may not even exist.

Hi @fcmf

Thanks for the explanation.

JPC

Matt · « **Reply #18 on:** December 02, 2019, 08:47:29 PM »

Quote from: barneyadi on December 02, 2019, 03:21:18 PM

Saw some resin submarines and a 3 hold lava rock arch that caught my eye. Would these look ok in a planted tank? And are air pumps a good idea for any tank?

Yes they will be fine, and air pumps not necessary but also not a bad thing.

barneyadi · « **Reply #19 on:** December 03, 2019, 07:31:39 PM »

Ok, so here is a question.

I have two tanks, both same size. One has been off waiting for me to start aquascaping it. Now, if I move the filter and some of the water, say 70% from the other tank into it and top up the water as a water change, would I be safe enough to transfer the fish over?

Would I be best running both filters in the tank so some of the bacteria from the working filter transfers to the one that is off with the plan to remove the working filter back to other tank?

Hope that is clear enough.

Dave

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Restarting Sort Of

Restarting Sort Of

Author Topic: Restarting sort of (Read 4477 times) 23 replies

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