New :)

[niedzial1983]

Hi everyone . Got this set up today fluval flex l. Nice 35l tank with hidden pump on the back and a heater. We will be looking for some fish soon.

Any tips welcome

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[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

If you can afford it, get an ammonia, nitrite, nitrate & pH test kit so you can monitor your tank water quality.

If you can find out what the general hardness (GH) and pH of your water is, it will help later on. You can usually find the GH & pH by contacting your water supply company (phone or website). Alternatively you can take a glass full of tap water to your local pet shop and they can test it for you. Write the results down in numbers when they do the test. You can also buy your own test kits from a pet shop or online and test it yourself. If you do get test kits, try to buy liquid test kits rather than dry paper strip test kits. The liquid kits are more accurate. Check the expiry date on any test kits and keep them cool and dry.

You can read about filtration and cycling an aquarium filter at the following link. If it gets too much then just ask questions
http://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first.421488/

Go to your local pet shop and make a list of all the fish you like. Post the list on here and we can go through it and say what is suitable and what you should avoid.

 

[niedzial1983]

Hi and welcome to the forum

If you can afford it, get an ammonia, nitrite, nitrate & pH test kit so you can monitor your tank water quality.

If you can find out what the general hardness (GH) and pH of your water is, it will help later on. You can usually find the GH & pH by contacting your water supply company (phone or website). Alternatively you can take a glass full of tap water to your local pet shop and they can test it for you. Write the results down in numbers when they do the test. You can also buy your own test kits from a pet shop or online and test it yourself. If you do get test kits, try to buy liquid test kits rather than dry paper strip test kits. The liquid kits are more accurate. Check the expiry date on any test kits and keep them cool and dry.

You can read about filtration and cycling an aquarium filter at the following link. If it gets too much then just ask questions
http://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first.421488/

Go to your local pet shop and make a list of all the fish you like. Post the list on here and we can go through it and say what is suitable and what you should avoid.

Thanks Colin . The only question i have for now is do i need a air pump ? Everywere i read and watch on yt , asking in the shop says no, but im not convinced

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[Colin_T]

I have never used or seen the Fluval Flex tanks running so can't be certain about how much surface turbulence they have. Personally I would rather have lots of surface turbulence rather than none or only a little bit. I'm also unsure if they have a cover on the tank to stop water getting onto the lights, I assume they do but if they don't then having an air pump blowing bubbles in the tank could cause water to get onto the lights. However, if there is a cover on the tank or something to stop the water getting onto the lights, then I would have an air pump blowing some bubbles in the tank. You could have them coming out of the submarine or somewhere else in the tank.

 

[niedzial1983]

I have never used or seen the Fluval Flex tanks running so can't be certain about how much surface turbulence they have. Personally I would rather have lots of surface turbulence rather than none or only a little bit. I'm also unsure if they have a cover on the tank to stop water getting onto the lights, I assume they do but if they don't then having an air pump blowing bubbles in the tank could cause water to get onto the lights. However, if there is a cover on the tank or something to stop the water getting onto the lights, then I would have an air pump blowing some bubbles in the tank. You could have them coming out of the submarine or somewhere else in the tank.

The nosles (2) are adjuatable so i can set as many turbulence as its needed.

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[niedzial1983]

Also i have run the tank for 24h adding only tap safe .

Test results :

NO2 - 20
NO3 - 0
pH - 7.5
GH- 180
KH - 180
NH3/NH4 - 0
Water temp - 24C

Any help with understanding these would be great

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[seangee]

No you don't need an air pump. Depending on what you plan to stock your pump may actually be too powerful. The 35l has the same pump as my 54l. I have installed a less powerful, adjustable pump. It does depend on your fish though so ask if there is a problem with too much flow.

 

[Colin_T]

NH3/NH4 is ammonia and ammonium. Anything that breaks down in water produces ammonia and over time you get beneficial filter bacteria that eat the ammonia and convert it into nitrite (NO2).

NO2 (nitrite) is eaten by different bacteria and converted into nitrate (NO3). Nitrate is removed with water changes and by plants using it. Plants will also use ammonia and nitrite too.

-----------------------
pH 7.5. Distilled water is pure and has no minerals and has a pH of 7.0. Water with a pH below 7.0 is called acid water, and water with a pH above 7.0 is base or alkaline.

A pH of 7.5 is not too bad and will allow you to keep a variety of fish. A pH below 6.5 and above 8.0 are more extreme and can cause problems to some species.

-----------------------
GH (general hardness) is the mineral content in the water and normally based on magnesium and calcium chloride. A GH of 180ppm is just above soft water and at the very bottom end of medium hardness water. This water is fine for tetras, Corydoras, barbs, danios, rasboras, angelfish and other South American cichlids, rainbowfish and platies & swordtails can usually tolerate this GH but should really be in water with a GH above 200ppm. However, there is not much difference between 180 & 200ppm.

KH (carbonate hardness) is the amount of carbonates and bicarbonates in the water. KH helps stabilise the pH and prevent it from dropping. With a KH of 180ppm your pH should not drop.

 

[niedzial1983]

Thanks. So i added the biological enhancer now (3 days course ) and i plan to test the water again and i am ready for the fish ?

The guy in the shop said thay i can get few after 24h but after reading online most add fish after a week ...

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[Essjay]

KH (carbonate hardness) is the amount of carbonates and bicarbonates in the water. KH helps stabilise the pH and prevent it from dropping. With a KH of 180ppm your pH should drop.

Colin, I assume that last part is a typo - with a KH of 180 ppm, it is plenty to ensure pH doesn't drop


Cycle is not highly regarded as far as bottled bacteria products go. You would be better off buying a bottle of Tetra Safe Start. But even that won't work if it has been stored incorrectly at the shop/warehouse/in transit.

Ignore everything the chap at the shop says. So many shop workers will say anything to make a sale. Always do you own research before buying anything, especially which fish are suitable for a small tank.
It takes a few weeks to grow the bacteria we need. If you use a good bottled bacteria product this will shorten the time. The way to be sure you have enough bacteria before getting fish is to buy a bottle of ammonia solution (try Ebay or Amazon) and add enough to get a reading of 3 ppm ammonia. test again 24 hours later for ammonia and nitrite. If either show a reading above zero, the tank is not ready for fish and you should follow this method www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/421488-cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first

 

[Colin_T]

Colin, I assume that last part is a typo - with a KH of 180 ppm, it is plenty to ensure pH doesn't drop

Yeah, my mistake. 3am here so typo. pH should not drop with a KH of 180ppm. Time for me to go beddy bies

 

[TallPaul]

Fluval Cycle has mixed reviews because, apparently, it does not use the naturally occurring bacteria to break down the ammonia and nitrites. If, as suggested, you can return it for a bottle of Terra Safe Start then I would do that.

I was very tempted to buy the very same Fluval Flex 34l but ended up with an Aqua One tank that is the same size. It was originally home to a Betta Splenden (Siamese Fighting Fish) but he was moved to another tank due to being a bit aggressive.

For your tank it is quite difficult to recommend fish. Fast moving fish such as tetra would find it too small as they prefer to dart from left to right in a longer tank.

I think your best option would be a group of nano fish.

Chilli Rasbora
Dwarf Rasbora
Celestial Pearl Danio

Those are some examples. I would recommend to keep it species only as different fish require different temperature and pH levels

 

[niedzial1983]

Quick update . We bought today 2 molly fish for a start up. They look happy

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[Essjay]

I would see if the shop will take the mollies back.

There are 2 reasons:
The tank is far too small for mollies. Even the smallest species of molly needs a tank at least 36 x 12 x 12 inches (90 x 30 x 30 cm) The 35 litre Flex is 34 cm L x 33 cm W x 33 cm H, and the length includes the space for the filter compartment making it smaller than 34 litres.

Your hardness is loo low for mollies. Their minimum hardness is 15 degrees/270 ppm. You have told us that your hardness is 180 ppm so the mollies are very likely to become sick in a GH this low.


You need to look at very small fish fish for this tank; and fish that have 180 ppm/10 degrees hardness in the middle of their range.