Intro And My Fishy Project - Cora

Hi everyone. After lurking here for a few weeks I thought I'd officially join and donate to the site.

Last July I moved out of my parents' and bought my own house. It has taken a long time to get it looking and feeling like a home, but now finally it does. Except the main bathroom, but more on that later...

So, what could possibly add to the attraction of a relaxed conservatory than a relatively small fish tank (hereafter referred to as 'aquarium' because it sounds posher...).

At first I wanted goldfish because I've always loved them. There is nothing "common" about the common goldfish; they are wonderful creatures. As a teenager I had a three foot tank which started out as coldwater (temperate really) and evolved into a tropical tank. But the fantails and shubunkin I had got along just fine. (Only in hindsight do I realise how much fishkeeping knowledge and techniques have moved on in 20 years!). As the fish grew old and died I didn't replace them. Eventually I sold the tank and what (who) was left to my sister.

So when I decided to get a tank in my own house I wanted a couple of goldfish in a small aquarium. Why? Because goldfish are hardy and easy to maintain and a small tank is less hassle, right? Apparently not. After speaking with a friend and reading ThinkFish I decided that actually a tropical tank with lots of smaller fish (hereafter referred to as fishies) would be much less hassle. I wanted the aquarium to be a nice feature, not a full time job...

So with my mind made up I went tank shopping. I eventually settled on a Juwel 70L (white, including stand - to match the conservatory) with internal filter.

I know what you're thinking: conservatory, really? Well, my conservatory doesn't actually get direct sunlight and loses heat quickly. Plus the thermostat I bought (Fluval electronic 200W) should easily be able to maintain water temp even in the Arctic. The other reason is that the conservatory is literally the only room in my house in which to place the tank. The other rooms already have features, and upstairs the aquarium wouldn't be seen often!

I decided to go with artificial plants. I set up the decor and filled with water to begin the cycling process. This is where the lack of research and some poor advice comes in. What I realised I was doing is trying to start with a fishless cycle and switch to a fish cycle. I used lots of "quick start" bacteria of different types and dosed as recommended. If you followed the instructions you would genuinely believe that all that's needed is to dose with these magical bacteria solutions.

I cringe now, having learned so much more (again, mostly from this site), about my poor preparation for this tank. After the stated timeframe of bacteria dosing, coupled with fish food in the water, I decided it was time for the fishies. I went to a private seller, who seems to know his stuff, but in hindsight (and after using the community builder here) it seems I have definitely overstocked.

3 x Scissortails (not provided by the fishie seller, in all fairness)
3 x mollys (2F 1M)
6 x penguin tetras
2 x coolie loaches
2 x pakistani loaches

I know some of you are reading this and cringing. Yes, I know. But because there's hopefully going to be a happy ending to this story I wanted to be honest about my current fishy situation and admit my mistakes.

(I was told the loaches wouldn't add to the bio-load of the tank, which is only half-right at best.)

The fish settled in fine and there were no problems. I was testing the water (with strips) and doing water changes.

I learned quickly that these strips are not entirely functionally useful for specificity of purported measurements to an acceptable level, which is the most polite (and verbose) way of describing them without using a four-letter word. And we have standards on these forums, of course.

The strips reported NO nitrite problems but didn't test for ammonia. I bought an API testing kit with reagents and these indicated a different story! I have since done frequent water changes, even two 50% changes, and am still unable to get a zero ammonia reading. Perhaps my tap water itself contains some? I should test this asap...

Most of the fish continued to be fine though. The Scissortails are constantly relaxed, but the tetras went from shoaling often (and often the Scissors and Penguins would shoal together) to going off doing their thing. One possibility which I've read is that in situations where they feel very relaxed and safe they don't feel the need to shoal. This may or may not be true in my aquarium...

At this time (1-2 weeks ago) I myself began to develop symptoms of a personal nature. It begin with thinking about the fishies, often at work. Then the dreams began... test kits and feeding the fish, more fish, more fish! Another tank, a bigger tank!! aaaahh! I woke up screaming "fishy". Fortunately I was alone this night. I found my hand soaking wet. Had I been sweating? Nope, I'd just sleep-walked down to the fish tank to stroke them in the night. (This story is only partially true.)

After further research I turns out I have contracted MTS. (My GP didn't seem that impressed with my self-diagnosis and muttered something about wasting NHS resources. Pfft, what am I paying for??)

I learned quickly that I had not given my aquarium project the research or preparation it needed, and I felt bad about this. And I had overstocked it, quite a bit.

We've had some lovely days of weather recently (you might have noticed; turns out that hot bright orb in the sky is not actually a weather balloon) and the temperature in my tank was averaging 26-27 instead of the 25 for which I was aiming. (These are degrees Celsius, by the way. Anyone who still uses Fahrenheit, feel free to join us in the 21st century...via the 20th...)

Some of my fish have displayed disturbing behaviour: the golden molly (ostensibly female, yet it chases the black and white (definitely a male) molly everywhere) was shimmying rapidly from side to side and breathing heavily. This was very worrying, but every morning I saw her (?) back to normal. Most disturbing was an outbreak of WHITE SPOT on the tetras. That was this week - Tuesday night in fact. It came on so suddenly and AFTER I'd already done a 50% water change. I believe I'd just stressed them out and the sudden temperature didn't help. I rushed to the store the next morning (I was late for work, but I'm the boss, so it's ok) and bought a white spot treatment. I applied half the recommended dose (because I have loaches). But one of the tetras was sat in a plant looking in a very bad state, and I doubt he was just depressed about the economy. (Incidentally, I had already used API aquarium salt in the water from the start.) When I returned home later that day, I found him dead (not floating, just mid-tank, upright, near a plant). But, the white spot had disappeared from all the other fish, who were behaving fine.

I made up my mind - I have made mistakes but I'm going to fix them. I do want to keep fish, and do it properly, with all the care that involves. I had been ignorant, but not careless. I resolved to buy a much bigger tank and prepare it properly, and I'm sure my current fishies will survive until then. It won't be cheap, but then who needs a new bathroom anyway...

So, here we are. This is what I have ironically dubbed PROJECT: FISHY 185, because the only thing worse than an ambiguous name is a pretentious one.

I'm going for a 185L community tank (white, including stand). It's going to have an external filter (All Pond Solutions 1400L/H + 9W UV) and be completely planted. I am going to follow the fishless cycle guides here and have it fully prepared. (I was planning to use carbon dioxide tablets, plus carbon solution instead of using a CO2 system and diffuser. Any thoughts on this are welcome.)

The gravel will be black, to make the fish more relaxed, and I'll be using lots of bogwood because it just looks great. I plan to transfer at least the Scissortails to the new tank, and probably the Mollys too. I think the tetras might be too small for what I have in mind for the 185.

This post was partly inspired by paddyc's long thread documenting the journey for his setup. I don't know if I will do anything as descriptive as that (certainly not as well as paddy did, anyway) - but if anyone is interested I'll post pictures of the journey as it unfolds and let you know how the current setup proceeds over the next month. All I can do it keep monitoring and cleaning the 70L until the new one is ready. Again, I wish I would have planned and been advised properly from the beginning... I'm sure that won't be a problem now that I'm here.

But if all goes well, in a few weeks (or longer) I'll have a much larger, beautiful, planted aquarium with an appropriate load, and which will ultimately involve much less maintenance, far less worry, and far more time just watching the fish, which is, after all, the whole point

Finally I should say that I think this site is great and thanks to those who make it possible and contribute daily.

Hello and welcome, Cora.

Great post - nice and informative. You're not the first, and won't be the last, to fall for this instant cycling scam. Glad you've found this site as there's a wealth of info to be gleaned.

If you're going down the road of a planted tank then you might want to read up about substrate - a suitable soil-based base layer topped by suitable grain-size capping. Called the 'Walstad Method' it's the least hassle way of growing decent plants without getting obsessive..... and doesn't need CO₂ if you've chosen 'easy' plants.

I've seen a big shoal of penguin tetras in a tank and it's a lovely sight. I like the idea of large numbers of smaller fish.

Ah-ha. I see that Sue has beaten me to some of the things I was going to say. Saves the typing fingers..... and more time for drinking wine!!! woopee-do

Hi Cora and welcome. 

What a great first post! I really enjoyed reading your account and I had a grin on my face for most of it. This bit though,

So, here we are. This is what I have ironically dubbed PROJECT: FISHY 185, because the only thing worse than an ambiguous name is a pretentious one.

made me laugh out loud!

It's great that you've realised your mistakes and taken quick action to remedy them. Most of us have made similar mistakes.

I look forward to hearing how you get on ...

Hi Cora and welcome!

What a thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining read, even if some of your experiences are of a serious nature - the overnight experience and MTS diagnosis part was particularly amusing.   I think you'll fit in well on this forum and you've done the right thing in coming here.

There is nothing "common" about the common goldfish; they are wonderful creatures.

Absolutely - couldn't agree more! I owned goldfish, then, for a variety of reasons, moved into tropical fishkeeping after my beloved one died a couple of years ago.

Envious that you're setting up a comparatively bigger tank. Good choice to have a dark substrate - that's what I ought to have done. If you put a background on it, I'd also recommend black rather than blue or any other colour - I swapped from black to blue and regret it as it looks much less natural.

Good move in going down the fishless cycle route. Like you, I tried the fish food method and kept adding more and more flakes although nothing seemed to be happening. What I also didn't realise at the time was that, with a natural KH of 1 (ie pretty much the same as yours) and my limestone rock being in a brand new tank with new water and not having had the chance to leach into that, my fishless cycle stalled pretty much from the beginning - nothing seemed to be happening. Ultimately, my cycle ended up being a "stalled/not-getting-anywhere fishless cycle followed by a Tetra Safestart plus fish-in cycle combo" which I wouldn't advocate at all in light of the helpful and friendly advice available on here to help you through a much more ethical fishless cycle. I would therefore make sure that you try to increase your water hardness for the cycling process, either through having some limestone rock in the tank for several weeks before you even begin the fishless cycle or putting crushed coral in a muslin bag in the filter or use bicarbonate of soda - can't remember the specifics of this off the top of my head.

When considering additions to your tank, given your very soft water, the types of fish I have in my "Community Creator" (see the footnote) would therefore be suitable for your tank too but there will also be other, larger ones in the "Fish Profiles" section which would be suitable for you. You'll probably have to make the decision about whether to go for lots of small fish or whether to go for fewer large fish. The temptation is often to go for lots of different species but there are definite advantages to large shoals of one species which is an understated beauty to watch. One factor to consider is how far away the tank is from where you usually sit - and work out whether you'd want larger or more patterned fish to be able to see them individually or not.

Hope this is of some help. Looking forward to reading of your progress.

Hi Cora and welcome to the forum. 
I'm glad that you have decided to join us.
I can't wait to see how Project Fishy 185 goes and I'm looking forward to seeing your pictures.
I also have self-diagnosed MTS. I'm sitting in my living room surrounded by 12 tanks of various sizes (in  my defence 1 tank is for breeding snails for the dwarf puffers, 1 tank is housing aquatic plants while I'm planting my other tanks, and 1 tank is empty for quarantining new fish). You have come to the right place as everyone here is very tolerant of MTS symptoms. 
I also feel that your writing style will also fit in very well. 

Sorry to hear about the two tetras. 

Aw - sorry to hear about the tetras.

The one point I'll mention - only because there are a lot of myths and "sworn by" methods out there, held by long-term fishkeepers in particular - is that the most humane and ethical method of fish euthanasia involves clove oil (+/- vodka). Hopefully this is in line with what you used but, if not, hopefully useful for future reference. 

You won't hear anyone on here say it's only a fish. We all take our responsibilities seriously and I'm really glad to hear you are, too. We've all made lots of mistakes..... but we've all learnt from them. You'll have a fantastic tank in a while, with lots of happy fish.

Precisely!

Glad you used that approach, so that will hopefully make you feel a little better in the difficult circumstances.

You're correct - it looks from the Thinkfish Profiles and the Seriously Fish profiles that both shortfin and sailfin mollies need much larger tanks than 30 litres.

The feeling of lack of enjoyment is absolutely normal in your circumstances but, once the situation gets back under control, the situation will change - you'll notice a thread on the forum called "Lost the will to keep shrimp" which is a perfect example of this.

New day tomorrow and all that - onwards and upwards for the remaining fish.

Hey Paddy. I feel like a know a tiny bit about a lot of people here just from lurking. And I read every page of your thread. I'm glad things have worked out for you. I'm very pleased with the house I have but must confess to a little envy at your abode, inside and out

I can report that as of this morning, no more deaths - although the loaches are now shier than they've ever been, and I only ever see one (the same one??) at a time.

I'll be posting pics here of the tank shortly.

PROJECT: FISHY 185 UPDATE
Tank to be delivered on Monday.
External filter delivered today or Monday.

Next immediate purchases:
Good Substrate + dark gravel
Selection of easy-maintenance plants (probably from Amazon)
The more plants I can get at the start, the better.

Cycle prep:
Jeyes Kleen-Off Ammonia - check
Bicarb - check

I'm going to research the type of fishies for the soft water tank. My sister has volunteered to give the Mollys a good home in her big tank where hardness doesn't seem to be a problem.

Oooo - exciting times.

May I suggest J Arthur Bowers Aquatic Compost for the substrate, and a 1 - 2mm grain-sized gravel topping.
See this thread and this thread (which has an *ahem* 'lively discussion') for more ideas.

This is an excellent place to buy plants from: Aqua Essentials

This is a great place for ideas and info, and it splits the plants into Easy/Medium/Advanced which I found very useful: Tropica

Hope this helps.