Author Topic: Looking forward to learning from you all! (Read 5163 times) 37 replies

AndreaCC · « **on:** September 26, 2016, 10:11:14 AM »

Hi everyone

my name is Andrea and I'm looking to getting back into fish keeping! At the moment I have a 140L tropical tank which I'm in the process of doing up again. I'm sure I'll have lots of questions as I go along so I'm looking forward to your feedback and hoping to be able to contribute some as well

Sue · « **Reply #1 on:** September 26, 2016, 10:51:12 AM »

Hi Andrea, welcome to the forum

We are a nosey lot here and will expect progress reports and photos.....

Paddyc · « **Reply #2 on:** September 26, 2016, 12:25:38 PM »

Welcome along @AndreaCC , looking forward to helping and hearing about your progress...

What are your plans for stocking the tank?
Will you be doing a fishless cycle?

See you around

ColinB · « **Reply #3 on:** September 26, 2016, 02:45:53 PM »

Hello Andrea, and welcome to the forum.

AndreaCC · « **Reply #4 on:** September 26, 2016, 03:25:16 PM »

My 140l is actually running at the moment although I've let it get very sad unfortunately. I've kept up with water changes but haven't bought any fish in about 18 months and have let the plants get really out of control. At this point I have about seven cardinal tetras, 2 black widow tetras from the previous owner, 1 honey gourami from the previous owner and 1 peppermint bristle nose. Plus far more snails than I would like. So I've decided that my first addition should probably be chain loaches for the snails. After that I would like to add some more tetras, some panda cities, lace gouramis and finally some blue Rams. I do however feel like this might be too many fish? If so I wouldn't have a clue which ones to cut :/

AndreaCC · « **Reply #5 on:** September 26, 2016, 03:46:35 PM »

This is a picture of it currently. I took out all my old plants yesterday and replaced them with these. But it's still looking very sparse, so any ideas for aquascaping would be much appreciated

Sue · « **Reply #6 on:** September 26, 2016, 03:56:24 PM »

You could enter your fish and wish list into the Community Creator. Click on Fish Profiles at the top, choose any fish and scroll down to the CC. In order to save your entries you have to register separately from the forum - I just use the same password to make it easier to remember

Just one word of caution - you do know how much dwarf chain loaches cost? You'd need a shoal of them.

ColinB · « **Reply #7 on:** September 26, 2016, 04:00:23 PM »

Nice tank... but, as you say, a bit sparse. There're some free plants on offer in the for sale or give away section of the forum, they may be a good idea to start with. Java fern on bogwood is alway a good addition, too.

If you want to reduce the snail population then assassin snails will do that very effectively (and much more cheaply) than chain loaches.

Did you mean to type 'panda cories' - because they're much happier on a sand substrate as they like to sift through it.

AndreaCC · « **Reply #8 on:** September 26, 2016, 04:05:38 PM »

Thanks Sue, it's an amazing tool! I just did that and it looks like I would definitely be pushing it for space. How many chain loaches would I need? I was thinking 4-5? And how much do they generally cost?

Colin, would assassin snails not breed like these snails do? And I'll knock panda cories off the list if they wouldn't be happy with my substrate

ColinB · « **Reply #9 on:** September 26, 2016, 04:20:01 PM »

Quote from: AndreaCC on September 26, 2016, 04:05:38 PM

Colin, would assassin snails not breed like these snails do?

Nope - they breed very slowly and always in response to the amount of food they have. You can always sell/give away some of them when your snail problem is under control. Clickety-click.

Sue · « **Reply #10 on:** September 26, 2016, 04:26:25 PM »

The cheapest I've seen dwarf chain loaches in recent years is £7.50 EACH. I've just looked on the website of a not too near shop, and they are currently charging £8.95 each. The recommended shoal size is 5 or 6 minimum. They also prefer a sand substrate as they too like to grub around for food - when I had them is wasn't unusual to see them vertical in the water with their nose in the sand.

A website to give you, if you haven't already found it, is Seriously Fish which has more species and more info on each species than the profiles on here.

Paddyc · « **Reply #11 on:** September 26, 2016, 04:26:25 PM »

I have added two assassin snails to my tank to bring the population of Malaysian trumpet snails under control... And so far the initial signs are good. Several shells have been found and I see the snails heading to the surface a lot more so they are definitely having a positive effect. Can recommend Assassin's for your tank, they do look cool

Littlefish · « **Reply #12 on:** September 26, 2016, 04:36:07 PM »

Hi Andrea and welcome to the forum.

I also have assassin snails in some of my tanks and they are very efficient.

AndreaCC · « **Reply #13 on:** September 26, 2016, 05:03:02 PM »

Thank you so much everybody! So chain loaches are also out, not so much for the price but for wanting a sand substrate, and assassin snails are in

that'll also bring my bio load down substantially. Should I look at getting a different species for the sake of having something hanging out in the bottom level, or will the Rams be enough do you think?

Sue · « **Reply #14 on:** September 26, 2016, 05:17:00 PM »

Are you absolutely set on rams?

The reason I ask is that they do much better in soft acidic water (though I don't know what you have

) and a temperature in the higher 20's C. which is warmer than most other fish like.

Alternatives include bolivian rams and apistogrammas.

Both types of rams also like to choose their own mates. Males are territorial and you may have problems with 2 males. There are two ways to get a pair - buy half a dozen juveniles, wait till two pair up then rehome the rest; or study the shop tank for quite a while before making your choice. Once they get used to you staring in at them they'll start behaving normally and you should be able to tell if two are swimming together in harmony, and chasing off all the other fish.

The common apistos are harem breeders, and 1 male, 2 females should be OK in your tank, with 3 caves (1 per female and 1 spare) spaced evenly over the tank floor.

fcmf · « **Reply #15 on:** September 26, 2016, 07:59:19 PM »

Welcome, Andrea.

Your best bet, unless your existing fish are very old, is to increase the size of existing shoals in the first instance - shoaling fish such as tetras do best in groups of 6+ of their own kind (ie black widow tetras being one kind, cardinal tetras another) but the more, the better, as they'll display more natural and interesting behaviour. For example, unless your black widow tetras are quite old, you could increase their shoal size to 6+.

Once you've decided whether and by how much to increase the shoal sizes of each of your black widow tetras and cardinal tetras, then you can focus in more on what other type of fish from your wish-list to get. It's best to get fish that suit your water type - put your postcode into your water/utility company website and find out and let us know what the various readings for hardness are (eg in degrees Clark, German or French measurements), and we'll be able to advise further on what would work best ie thrive best in your aquarium. Seriously Fish, which Sue refers to, gives specific details on suitable water hardness levels - but you may need to translate your unit of measurement into the ones used there.

Hope this is helpful. It's all very exciting for us to read about your tank resurrection and get involved in helping you transform it into a work of wonder.

AndreaCC · « **Reply #16 on:** September 27, 2016, 04:27:15 AM »

I absolutely love dwarf cichlids and I thought Rams would do well in my tank, but actually I would be just as happy with apistos if they'd be easier

I don't think I'd replace the black widows because I don't actually like them very much. But they came with the tank and the seller said if I didn't want them then he'd chuck them into the garden so I took them. I'm considering getting more cardinals but need to think about which tetras I really like. I'm thinking of having two different types with 10 of each? I really like zebra danios as well but feel like they'd need a bigger tank?

AndreaCC · « **Reply #17 on:** September 27, 2016, 04:34:49 AM »

I've just had a look at the water parameters for my area. It says that the alkalinity is 5, the hardness is 5 and the pH is 7.5. Not sure if the alkalinity is relevant lol

ColinB · « **Reply #18 on:** September 27, 2016, 08:04:01 AM »

Quote from: AndreaCC on September 27, 2016, 04:34:49 AM

I've just had a look at the water parameters for my area. It says that the alkalinity is 5, the hardness is 5 and the pH is 7.5. Not sure if the alkalinity is relevant lol

Can you tell us the units for Alkalinity and Hardness, please. It'll probably be dGH or Clark. They're similar enough to be able to say you have reasonably soft water with 5 - best not to keep specific hard water fish like platties, mollies, guppies etc. Any medium to soft water fish will be fine.

The alkalinity is a measure of the buffering capacity of your water, and this tells you how stable the pH will be. If you have very low alkalinity then you can get a pH crash where your tank water turns acidic very quickly (i.e. overnight) and kills your fish. An alkalinity of 5 will be OK as long as you do weekly partial water changes.

Matt · « **Reply #19 on:** September 27, 2016, 08:15:25 AM »

Sounds like the rams are a goer

Looking Forward To Learning From You All!

Looking Forward To Learning From You All!

Author Topic: Looking forward to learning from you all! (Read 5163 times) 37 replies

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