Changed My Tank Around!

[Jess]

Hey,

I posted a couple of weeks ago saying that i wanted to change my tank around - get rid of the mingin gravel and make it look a bit better!! Well... i did it tonight and it does look better... The gravel isnt exactly what i wanted but it looks better than the awful stuff i had before!!!

The only problem is that its kind of cloudy Im hoping it just needs to settle... all of the fish except my RTBS seem perfectly happy... She's hiding next to the filter, i guess she's just a bit stressed! Hopefully she wont die though!!

Anyway, just thought id tell you all... No idea why!lol Ive got some pics but as the tank is cloudy they didnt come out too well... Hopefully it should sort itself out soon! Unless anyone can suggest anything?

Thanks!

Jess

 

[LadyMinion]

Your tank should be fine - they tend to get a bit cloudy when you've been fiddling around and doing large changes.

If it's still cloudy after 24 hours, do a water change. That should clear up any problems.

 

[jams.alaskan]

Well Jess, I for one would love to see some before and after shots...

ALASKA

 

[Jess]

Ok, thanks!!

Ive just checked and no one's died yet...lol Just the RTBS still hiding... bless her

I shall have a look at the pics i took and see if i can get them any clearer!

 

[Jess]

Ok... Pics...

Heres a before one! Though this is a couple of months old now and looks very clean... weird!lol It looked worse than this today cos it had gotten a lot of algae that was impossible to get rid of and was just generally a bit disgusting... But this is the awful gravel!

And heres a VERY bad after pic... sorry!lol The camera flash kept reflecting cos of the cloudiness i think... so this is the only one that you can actually make the fish out in!lol There will be more plants as its looking very bare (they all died!) and i was thinking of getting some bogwood for my catfish! Is the gravel better? Its not great i know but its smaller for the cories to dig in! Any suggestions would be great as im great at buying fish, but not so good at making tanks look pretty...lol

Jess

 

[Jess]

Oooh, i think i may have an idea as to why my tank is cloudy!!

My mum just asked when i last changed the foam things in my filter... I think its been like, over 2 months... i dont usually leave them that long, could that be it? I clean them each week but i noticed they were particularly gunky this time! lol

Would that make my water take longer to settle? Or is that something i need to do AS WELL, and then see what's wrong with the water? lol

Jess

 

[Arfie]

The new gravel looks more natural from what I can see, so I'd say it's better, but I would, mine's like that . My new tank will have sand in, because I want summat different and I'm moving the cory's over to it from the gravel.

It will be cloudy, no matter how much you clean it, you can't get gravel clean, it should settle down though.

Tip for photo, turn tank lights on, room lights off then turn flash off the camera and try again, works for me as you get no reflection and the tank is properly lit.

My Gibbicep loves bogwood, so I'd say get some.

Arfie

 

[Jess]

Hey

Thanks! I was going to try sand but ive heard its difficult to keep clean! I think with some plants and stuff it should look ok in there though

Thanks for the photo tips!

Jess

 

[Jess]

Hey,

My tank finally settled on its own! The fish all seem ok! The shark has been swimming around but hides against the filter which i guess is ok, she's eating and stuff so im not too worried!

Anyway, thought id post a picture now its cleared... Im off to the LFS tomorrow to see if i can get another betta so will pick up some plants if i can find any nice ones!! Sorry about the dirty glass...lol Ive been a bit busy... And it could probably do with a bit more water in it!lol

What do you guys think? Better? Worse? Comments/suggestions would be great!!

Thanks

Jess

 

[clutterydrawer]

lovely much better gravel!

doesn't that shell play havoc with your pH and hardness? or isnt it real?

 

[Jess]

Yeah, its real... Ive never had a problem with PH and Hardness though... should i? lol I just thought it looked different and pretty... and the bristlenose loves to clean it... bless..

 

[clutterydrawer]

shells dissolve slowly causing dramatic rise in pH and hardness, that's why you're not meant to put them in freshwater tanks. some people even use them to raise the pH in tanks for high-pH-loving species. but if you've had no problems you must jsut have a weird shell i guess

 

[Jess]

I didn't know that!!! I shall have to keep an eye on it!! I test everything a couple of times a week and have never noticed anything - the PH is always 6.5 which is what its supposed to be (i put a powder in to keep it at that... or something.. lol) And, luckily, so far at least ive only lost fish when i had an outbreak of fungus from some fish a friend gave me from Pets At Home!! I was stupid and didn't know what to do... Poor fishies...

Anyway, thanks for telling me that, i will definately keep an even closer eye on my ph and make sure everyones looking ok!

Jess

 

[Aquascaper]

Don't knock that old gravel you had......my fiancee has that in her coldwater tank

As for sand, i find it a lot easier to clean than gravel - you just have to clean it more often because everything sits on the top instead of falling between the gravel

 

[Jess]

Maybe sand for my next tank then!? lol

I dont know what it was about that old gravel, but my fish seem a lot brighter and better coloured against the new!! i guess its cos its more neutral!