Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => New Fishkeepers => Topic started by: sunshine on March 29, 2015, 08:57:30 PM
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Yes, multiple tank syndrome has set in....I've been thinking about getting a larger tank even tho' I'm very new to fish keeping as an adult and my tank is only a few months old.
I've been checking out ebay every now & again & decided if a bargain appears, I'll go for it even if I don't set it up straightaway. Well last night, I couldn't resist putting a cheeky offer on a 100l Rena aquarium and stand :) :) & then almost fell off my chair when it was accepted immediately! :D
I collected it tonight - it def needs a new filter & maybe a new light. I'm in no rush to get it up & running but I'm really pleased to get it. I have no idea about fish yet altho, I do want to use natural plants and wood.
There is another possibility for it's use & that is my neighbour has 2 goldfish who have grown too big for their small tank so I may temporarily offer it to her as a BIG hint for her to get a bigger tank for them! I have to look after them every time she goes away & I hate it as they can hardly move where they are. :'( She keeps saying her family can't decide where to put a bigger tank but that's not the fishes fault! :-\
Anyway, any advice or suggestions will be gratefully received as usual. I'm sure I will be asking lots of qns once I decide what to do with it.
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MTS is a common 'affliction' amongst us :)
I'll have to say that I'd definitely offer your neighbour the tank for her goldfish in the first instance - the thinking on the size of tanks for goldfish has really changed over recent years, and it's taking a long time to filter (excuse the pun) through to people. It would be lovely if they were to be housed into something more suitable than their current environment - and the offer of a tank, along with concern about them/their health (done in a tactful/nice way), may be enough for her to make that move to either accept it or buy her own. Although the size of tank nowadays seems to be quoted at ~180L for two fish, I'd imagine that this is too far removed from what she has now, whereas the actual offer of a 100L tank might seem and be more realistic for her. [Hopefully she might contribute something towards/in exchange for the tank, if she accepts it - even their old tank, which would hopefully be suitable for shrimps at least.] If this 'goldfish rescue mission' goes ahead with a positive outcome, then we could revisit what to do with what tank/s you have.
Sorry - I have a deep affinity with goldfish, hence advocating them being saved before they succumb to ill-health as a result of a small environment! Others with no such/less an affinity may have other suggestions along the tropical route for you - the world's your oyster (argh - where are all these fish-related puns coming from this evening?!) with a tank that size, but you'd generally be best with fish that fit in with your water parameters (eg PH levels where you live).
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Hi fcmf
Yes, I would love her to accept my offer - I get really upset when I see them in that small tank hardly being able to move :( I think one of the problems is she rescued them from a friend who wasn't looking after them at all so she feels at least she feeds them & cleans their tank. Oh dear....I'll keep you posted!
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Oh Sunshine, lucky you.
If only I'd had room for a 100 L !!
Still, I must be (temporarily!!) satisfied with my 60x30x30 that we've just collected and which is currently cycling. This MTS is a very real illness!
Being twice the size I already had will make a difference to my fish though and that's what matters.
Hope your neighbour takes you up on the offer. Perhaps when she sees how happy they are she'll get a bigger one, even if only bigger than they currently have.
Enjoy your new purchase.
At the moment I am cleaning sand (Tesco play sand. Cheap as chips, not a bad colour and only going to have a small depth)
Having bought it I see a lot of people on the net use Filter sand. We'll see. At some stage I'll need to re-do it. Who knows - it might be around the time I get yet another tank!!
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Hi Sanjo
MTS is a real problem - they guy who sold it to me had 3 other tanks in his front room! No wonder his wife said he had too many! ;)
I'll give it a good clean and check it doesn't leak before offering it to her.....let's hope it's ok! I've just used eco-complete substrate on my 1st tank & have some left so think that will go in the 2nd tank - if/when I do get to use it.
Sand sounds like a bit of a faff - I'm just trying to keep things simple at the mo. :)
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Hi Sunshine
I am also new to fish keeping - 3 months.
I keep having these thoughts about if I had another tank I could set it up as a tropical tank as my current tank runs at 20 - 21oC and the sorts of fish I could get, I may even have list of what I would like. I keep having to remind myself that I need to keep my current fish alive and well for a while longer because I get any more but it is hard.
I do like your idea of keeping an eye out for a bargain and storing it until you decide to use it. Though I don't think I would be as strong willed as yourself - I be cycling it as soon as I got it home, I may already have a spare filter just in case. Damn... I seem to have some of the symptoms, if not the full blown disease. :o
Anne
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Aaaaaargh MTS.......its an epidemic......no known antidote......I'm doomed!
Skittler
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There is an antidote... buy another tank!
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Steve,
If buying a second tank is an antidote, how is it that I know a guy who used to have seventeen. Then he got married........perhaps that is the antidote. I have invited him round to inspect my 125L.....he wants to, but he daren't......he says he knows what will happen.......aaaaaargh!
Skittler
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I didn't say buy a second tank, I said buy another tank. A subtle difference. As for the guy with 17, well some cases are pathological! ;)
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It's not a cure but it holds the disease in check - a husband who objects to lots of tanks. I have three by devious means and that's the limit he's prepared to accept. He does grudgingly allow the QT as a fourth but only for a short time.
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You have 3 tanks or 3 husbands, Sue? :rotfl:
I'm "working" on my need for a quarantine tank which I'm hoping might just happen to become a second tank in due course. Think my other half is slowly coming round to the idea. I've been using examples of folk from here which I think are slowly filtering through eg "How lovely - Sanjo's husband has consented to a second tank for her birthday". Fingers crossed...
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fcmf - Clearly, by devious means, you are trying to infect the unconverted with the contagion. The End of The World is nigh.......aaaaaargh.......now about that shrimpery....
Skittler
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Dragged the other half out to a fish shop and whilst I was viewing what was on offer he wandered around and when I found him he was looking at a huge tank (well it looked huge to me) on a cupboard. "That's the sort of tank I'd like" HE said !!
Well that's fine I answered but where would we put it.
I'm getting there. haha
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My husband always ends up eyeing the discus and oscars. Well, I say, let me have that 8 foot tank and I'll get one or the other.......
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Thanks all - you've given me lots of giggles about MTS. Sue, I want to know more! :D What devious means were they? ha ha! A friend of mine used to buy clothes then drive round with them in her boot for ages before sneaking them into her wardrobe - if hubby asked, she'd say 'oh, I've had them for months!' ;)
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I was intending to do that with the new pump I bought in P@H last week, assuming he noticed it was different.
As it happens I had to confess that I'd bought it as I was intending to take it back today.
It's noisy and iffy. Works when it feels like it.
It was going to be a bit awkward as he decided to come into town with me so I wouldn't have been able to sneak back to P@H.
What is this hobby doing to us
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I started with a 60 litre tank, then bought a 25 litre quarantine tank. So one tank up and running, the other in storage until such time as it was needed. Then I bought a betta and put him in the QT - and kept him there so I had to buy another 25 litre QT. Now I had two tanks plus a QT. Then he said I could get a 125 litre, even bought it for me for Christmas; he thought it was a replacement for the 60 litre, but instead of getting rid of the 60 litre I kept that as well. Now I had three tanks plus a QT.
Though when I upgraded from 125 to 180 I did get rid of that tank. But only because the bracer bar had become detached from the back wall and I didn't want to risk it or try to repair it myself. I gave it away, advertised it on aquarist classifieds with a heading of 'tank in need of repair'. It went the day after I placed the ad, and there were 2 or 3 people after it.
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Not as sneaky as I thought then, Sue..... I was expecting all sorts of shenanigans! ;)
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Ah but he thought it would only ever be the one tank. I only told him about keeping a betta in the QT full time, and keeping the 60 as well as the 125 after I'd got them. If I'd suggested it before I'd still only have one tank.
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Good news! My neighbour has agreed to have the new (secondhand) tank for her 2 goldfish :D I'm soooo pleased at least they'll be able to move in this tank! :)
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Great! Thanks for the update - so good to hear.