Author Topic: Beginner - New to fish keeping, would like some help and advice :) (Read 83208 times) 205 replies

Alostangel · « **Reply #40 on:** May 05, 2019, 09:31:04 PM »

Quote from: Sue on May 05, 2019, 06:31:21 PM

If the wood is still floating, it isn't yet waterlogged and could have air inside. As the water penetrates further it will push out the air, which may be where the bubbles are coming from.

Using a thermometer is the best way to set the temperature as heater settings are notoriously inaccurate. The best kind of thermometer is the one which goes inside the tank and has liquid moving up and down the scale, or more expensively, a digital thermometer with a probe that goes in the water. The kind that stick on the outside and change colour are not as accurate as air temperature affects them.

26 deg is a bit high. Harlequins' range is 21 to 28 deg, and we should aim for the middle of that so around 24 to 25 is better. There is an article somewhere which thinks that we keep our fish too warm - I'll see if I can find it.......

........found it! http://www.seriouslyfish.com/whaddaya-mean-too-hot/

The wood is in a bucket in my garage, not in the tank aha. I decided not to put one bit in just because I don’t see the point in stressing them out twice when it could be once.

I’ll give the article a read and turn the heater down to 25° just before I go to sleep!

Also, is music and my singing likely to stress them out or panic them? I’m not a great singer aha but wondering because it’s not that quiet but definitely not what I would Class as loud.

Alostangel · « **Reply #41 on:** May 09, 2019, 03:57:30 PM »

So, I’m happy to report that all 6 Harlequins are still alive! My wood is almost to the point of sinking and my fish seem to be shoaling. One is quite a bit brighter than the others but from what I understand, they form their pecking order through who’s the most colourful. I’ll edit this bit to show what they’re being fed. I’m feeding them two half scoops each feed, twice a day. They already seen to know that my lifting the feeding flap means food! I’m wondering if I’m feeding too much or too little. I don’t want them to become overweight but equally, would feel awful if I’m under feeding.
My plants are also growing well and one is now over the top of the water which it wasn’t before! I’ll edit some pictures tonight to be able to upload them as a before I got the fish and after. I’m already quite attached to my little guys (still not sure on their genders) and can quite happily imagine filling my tank with just them!
Thought I’d give a bit of an update, let you know how they’re getting on

Sue · « **Reply #42 on:** May 09, 2019, 04:20:37 PM »

It is very easy to over feed. I have Espei's rasboras, a closely related species to harlequins (look at slender harlequin rasboras in the fish profiles). I find mine only eat food from the water; once it has sunk to the bottom they ignore it. Make sure that all the food you give is eaten before it has chance to sink. if any does reach the bottom, use less food. And I only feed this tank once a day.
Fish need less food than you'd think. We use most of our food to make heat. Fish don't do this as they get their heat from the water. And fish can go for over a week without food (except possibly tiny baby fish which need more food)

With a couple of exceptions, freshwater fish only go together as a group when they are stressed. Happy fish spread out all over the tank. Stress can come from being new to the tank and still settling in. My rasboras huddled together until I got some floating plants because they do not like bright light overhead, another possible cause of yours swimming together. Most of the fish from the Amazon and similar habitats in Asia come from waters with overhanging trees which shade the fish from direct light. This includes all the rasboras which look similar to harlequins.

Alostangel · « **Reply #43 on:** May 09, 2019, 05:16:28 PM »

Quote from: Sue on May 09, 2019, 04:20:37 PM

It is very easy to over feed. I have Espei's rasboras, a closely related species to harlequins (look at slender harlequin rasboras in the fish profiles). I find mine only eat food from the water; once it has sunk to the bottom they ignore it. Make sure that all the food you give is eaten before it has chance to sink. if any does reach the bottom, use less food. And I only feed this tank once a day.
Fish need less food than you'd think. We use most of our food to make heat. Fish don't do this as they get their heat from the water. And fish can go for over a week without food (except possibly tiny baby fish which need more food)

With a couple of exceptions, freshwater fish only go together as a group when they are stressed. Happy fish spread out all over the tank. Stress can come from being new to the tank and still settling in. My rasboras huddled together until I got some floating plants because they do not like bright light overhead, another possible cause of yours swimming together. Most of the fish from the Amazon and similar habitats in Asia come from waters with overhanging trees which shade the fish from direct light. This includes all the rasboras which look similar to harlequins.

I knew they were tricking me, fat boys aha. I'll try feeding once a day from now on!
They had just been fed when shoaling so wondering if that was the cause? They also seemed to be congregating around the heater.
I have actually seen them go down and get the one or two bits of food that has managed to float down to the bottom but those pieces just seem to sink as soon as I put them in. They're tiny flakes though, pretty sure they're made for tetras and similar sized fish.
I'll try and get some floating plants to go in my tank, need to do some research on which ones!
Another thing, are otos the best algae eaters or am I better to go for something else? Not such a fan of the idea of shrimp though...

Sue · « **Reply #44 on:** May 09, 2019, 06:53:54 PM »

You don't need algae eaters. It is much better to discover the cause of algae and correct it. Having said that, it is virtually unknown for a tank to have no algae whatsoever; the trick is to keep it under control.

If you like otos for themselves, by all means get some, but bear in mind that they need to be in a shoal of at least 6 and a tank that can grow enough algae to feed a whole shoal.

There are no creatures which eat every type of algae; and there are some types of algae that nothing eats. One of the best algae eaters is nerite snails. They come in various sizes, and the smaller types can get into tight spaces we might miss when cleaning a tank. You can see mine in this thread, though some have died in the three years since I started the thread (one #1, #2 and #3). https://forums.thinkfish.co.uk/gallery-showcase/snail-photos/

Alostangel · « **Reply #45 on:** May 09, 2019, 10:49:57 PM »

Quote from: Sue on May 09, 2019, 06:53:54 PM

You don't need algae eaters. It is much better to discover the cause of algae and correct it. Having said that, it is virtually unknown for a tank to have no algae whatsoever; the trick is to keep it under control.

If you like otos for themselves, by all means get some, but bear in mind that they need to be in a shoal of at least 6 and a tank that can grow enough algae to feed a whole shoal.

There are no creatures which eat every type of algae; and there are some types of algae that nothing eats. One of the best algae eaters is nerite snails. They come in various sizes, and the smaller types can get into tight spaces we might miss when cleaning a tank. You can see mine in this thread, though some have died in the three years since I started the thread (one #1, #2 and #3). https://forums.thinkfish.co.uk/gallery-showcase/snail-photos/

I’m worrying now that my tank isn’t big/well planted enough for otos to do well in... I might get some nerite snails first and build up my plants and other such stuff as well as collecting some pebbles and rocks, etc. for algae if I do decide to get some otos and also for some decor in the tank.

Also, I found out the picture of the tank is just over 2.5mb so should fit into the attachments but still won’t for some reason.

Alostangel · « **Reply #46 on:** May 12, 2019, 05:04:11 PM »

Also, while I was out at my dad’s my mum/her friend got me a thermometer. It sticks on the side of the tank in the water (side furthest away from my heater) and digitally displays the temperature. I still can’t seem to upload the pictures, despite them being less than 3000kb...

Sue · « **Reply #47 on:** May 12, 2019, 05:10:28 PM »

As long as the probe goes in the water it should be fine. It is the stick on the outside ones that are not terribly accurate.

How are you trying to upload pics? Are you getting a message saying that they won't upload because they are too big, or whatever reason?

Alostangel · « **Reply #48 on:** May 13, 2019, 06:19:59 AM »

Quote from: Sue on May 12, 2019, 05:10:28 PM

As long as the probe goes in the water it should be fine. It is the stick on the outside ones that are not terribly accurate.

How are you trying to upload pics? Are you getting a message saying that they won't upload because they are too big, or whatever reason?

I’ve tried from both my phone and my laptop and get the same error message, saying it can’t upload because the files are too big or they took too long to upload

Sue · « **Reply #49 on:** May 13, 2019, 12:17:54 PM »

I just tried attaching a large photo (3.54 MB) and I got the error message because it is over 3.0 MB (ie 3000 KB)

Have you tried resizing the photos? Most laptops come with Paint already installed, right click on the photo, down to 'open with' and select Paint.
If you can find Paint on your laptop, I can tell you how to resize a photo to make it smaller - that is, fewer MB.

Alostangel · « **Reply #50 on:** May 13, 2019, 03:53:53 PM »

Quote from: Sue on May 13, 2019, 12:17:54 PM

I just tried attaching a large photo (3.54 MB) and I got the error message because it is over 3.0 MB (ie 3000 KB)

Have you tried resizing the photos? Most laptops come with Paint already installed, right click on the photo, down to 'open with' and select Paint.
If you can find Paint on your laptop, I can tell you how to resize a photo to make it smaller - that is, fewer MB.

The file is already under 3mb though, it’s about 2.5mb...

Also, I’m feeding Tetra Micro Crisps (complete good for small tropical fish)

Sue · « **Reply #51 on:** May 13, 2019, 04:05:41 PM »

I think the size requirements must be stated incorrectly. I just failed to attach a 2.29 MB photo.

I'll PM the site owner and ask.

Sue · « **Reply #52 on:** May 13, 2019, 04:43:56 PM »

I've just had a reply from Robert and he can't get it to work either. He doesn't know why the server won't allow photos just under the limit but says that 2000 KB or lower should work OK, so photos resized to that should attach OK.
He also gave a link to a site that can be used for resizing http://www.picresize.com/

Alostangel · « **Reply #53 on:** May 13, 2019, 05:28:26 PM »

Quote from: Sue on May 13, 2019, 04:43:56 PM

I've just had a reply from Robert and he can't get it to work either. He doesn't know why the server won't allow photos just under the limit but says that 2000 KB or lower should work OK, so photos resized to that should attach OK.
He also gave a link to a site that can be used for resizing http://www.picresize.com/

Alright, awesome! I’ll give that a go later then and try and upload a now and before photo

Matt · « **Reply #54 on:** May 15, 2019, 10:31:17 AM »

Also worth checking the file type is one of those listed if your still struggling... I know I had a problem once with a file named *.jpeg rather than *.jpg

Alostangel · « **Reply #55 on:** May 16, 2019, 11:33:29 PM »

Quote from: Matt on May 15, 2019, 10:31:17 AM

Also worth checking the file type is one of those listed if your still struggling... I know I had a problem once with a file named *.jpeg rather than *.jpg

I’ll try that as soon as I can!

Alostangel · « **Reply #56 on:** May 17, 2019, 07:31:07 AM »

Quote from: Matt on May 15, 2019, 10:31:17 AM

Also worth checking the file type is one of those listed if your still struggling... I know I had a problem once with a file named *.jpeg rather than *.jpg

Ah ok! I’ll give that a try too then

Alostangel · « **Reply #57 on:** May 19, 2019, 11:04:32 AM »

So I have the LoveFish Panorama 64litre tank from p@h and it comes with a built in feature of a light connected to the filter which flashes every 28 days to remind you to change the filter insides. I had a look on the YouTube tutorial for this but it makes no sense to me?? Surely you should be leaving it alone and not changing it constantly as that’s where the good bacteria is??
Should I be changing it or leave it and ignore that part? I can link the video if it’s allowed (not sure if it is, let me know)

Matt · « **Reply #58 on:** May 19, 2019, 12:00:47 PM »

You should absolutely leave it alone. I've disconnected my reminder light...

Be warned though that the tank doesnt actually come with proper biological media. Only the algaway pad (which compacts quickly so flow doesn't pass through efficiently) and the carbon media. I replaced everything quite quickly to a block of plain filter sponge once I learnt about proper filtration and would recommend you do the same before too far set up.

Otherwise it is actually a very good set up!

Alostangel · « **Reply #59 on:** May 19, 2019, 12:09:40 PM »

Quote from: Matt on May 19, 2019, 12:00:47 PM

You should absolutely leave it alone. I've disconnected my reminder light...

Be warned though that the tank doesnt actually come with proper biological media. Only the algaway pad (which compacts quickly so flow doesn't pass through efficiently) and the carbon media. I replaced everything quite quickly to a block of plain filter sponge once I learnt about proper filtration and would recommend you do the same before too far set up.

Otherwise it is actually a very good set up!

Thank you! I noticed it came on last night but left it as I got in quite late after some wine aha and checked on it this morning but didn’t want to do anything until I had a check with you guys

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Beginner - New To Fish Keeping, Would Like Some Help And Advice :)

Beginner - New To Fish Keeping, Would Like Some Help And Advice :)

Author Topic: Beginner - New to fish keeping, would like some help and advice :) (Read 83208 times) 205 replies

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