45gal Newbie

[sputnick]

hey guys! im new around here! i have a few questions that hopefully you can answer for me, but first my setup! i bought a 45 gallon tank with wood stand and everything but a air pump about a month ago for 40 bucks from a rummage sale. a few weeks later i set it up, currently running a freshwater tropical. i hAve 2 angel fish, 4 guarmi, a cat picus catfish, a african knife fish, kuli loach, albino rainbow shark, and a 7" peacock eel. everyone seems to be getting along just fine and seems to be doing well. i have a penguin 330 filter set up with no bio wheel. this brings me to my first question. should i be running a biowheel? whats the pros and cons of them? this also leads me to my second question, my tank seemed to cloud up really fast amd got dirty after only about a week and a half, i think it has to do with the fact that the filter head(?) doesnt even go halfway down the back of the tank. alsoive been reading about ugf and like how easy they sound to make (im a big diy person) not to mention cheap. but alot of people seem to be against them and suggest a biowheel or mechanical filter. my step dad has a tank similar to mine set up where his ugf is hooked up to his mechanical filter instead of airstones. i want to do this, but possibly make it take in water from the current filter head like it is now also. if that makes any sence. would this be any different? itseems like best of both worlds to me. thanks for your help guys! im really interested to hear your guys opinions

 

[jkarlson]

First off did you cycle your tank?

Second your tank is unsuitable for some of your fish. And some of the fish are incompatible with each other.


I also suggest getting a biowheel or external filter as these are the best you can get. It costs a bit more money then the regulars but well worth it.

 

[sputnick]

which fish? they all seem to be doing just fine. yes i did cycle it for a few days and after that i put in three fish, i read you need to cycle your tank anywwhere from 24 hours to 2 weeks and that you shouldnt add all your fish at once, and your supposed to add the hardy fish first to help with bacteria. i didnt add hardy fish at first.. i added my two angels and cat fish, i didnt realize that angels were more fragile fish but they both did just fine.

 

[jkarlson]

It takes a lot longer then 24 hours - 2 weeks. What is your water readings? Ammonia, nitrite, etc.


If you haven't already read our beginners resource guide. This will help a ton!

The Pictus will grow quite large, as will the angels. What are the dimensions of your tank?


The angels and eel and gouarmi and knife all have different water requirements as well.

 

[sputnick]

its 36x12x24 us inches. ammonia levels the first day within hours of putting water in were 0ppm, ph was around 7.6-7.8 i added a bunch of ph decreaser over a period of the day but thatdidnt help at all. how different are all their water requirements? my tank is always around 80 degrees F. i need a new heater though mine is old and doesnt stay very constant sometimes at night it drops to around 76

 

[jkarlson]

What are your results as of right now? All 3 of the stats not just ammonia.


Chemical Additives should not be used on your tank as it can mess with the water chemistry. If you do use it however use small doses. Big doses can rapidly alter the PH and hurt your fish leading to shock and death.

The temp should be lower then 80 IMO. And a new heater is definately a need for the winter months, not so much the summer.

 

[sputnick]

tbh i havent checked the other readings, as i have no means to check them.. i only have an ammonia test kit and ph level test kit. i think i saw a 5 in 1 test strip in the box that it came with though. il check tomorrow, and as for chemical additives i havent added any since the first day anf i checked ph levels every 20-30 minutes. no change what so ever. still around the same level, just checked it again today. ill check everything tomorrow if i dont have a test strip ill pick up a test kit saturday, as thats the earliest i can get to the lfs

 

[jkarlson]

Try for a liquid test kit. API MasterKit is one of the better ones to get.


Also please think about your fish and consider re-homing some of them.

 

[sputnick]

alright thanks for the recomendation and ok i dont want to intentionaly harm my fish, i would like to get another aquarium in the near future, do the water conditions that they need very that much from fish to fish?

 

[jkarlson]

A lot of it depends on location.

Your Knife will get big(9-12 inches) and will eat anything that will fit in its mouth. It needs very warm and acidic water.

The Pictus and Rainbow shark will get pretty big(around 6 or so?) and become very active and aggressive towards tank mates(specifically the shark).

The Angels get 6 inches and can be 8 inches in height.

Eels get huge as well.

Loaches need to be in groups!!

As for their specific "water requirements" you need to do research on the fish before you buy them. Simply walking in and saying "ooh this looks cool" usually ends badly. If you are interested our species index below this forum has all the info you need on your fish. Or simply look at google(fishbase is the best source to use.)

 

[sputnick]

thanks for all the info, i knew most of my fish would get large but i planned on getting a larger tank, so id move some of them to that tank. as for right now the angels are maybe an inch long, and the shark is about 2 inches, the kinfe is somewhere around 5 inches, i did research my fish before i bought them so i knew their behavior but i always saw that they were freshwater tropical so i assumed that they all could survive the same water

 

[gundamcichlid]

Good to hear that you did some research before buying the fish.

I have never use this kind of filter before but if you dont want to spend on the bio wheel, try to get another bio media and you can place it in the filter container.

Dont forget to do routine water change and dont overfeed the fish and get some shrimp pellet for the pictus and the ghost knife as both are predator and they will hunt when they are hungry

get the bigger tank as soon as you can as maintaining bigger tank with good filteration is much easier

 

[sadguppy]

Please, please read the info on cycling. You'll soon need to do big daily water changes to keep your fish alive as there are so many in an immature tank. It will be at least six weeks until bacteria establish and the water is safe enough to be changed weekly instead of daily. Best of luck with it.

 

[sputnick]

well i did a 10 gallon water change yesterday, does that count as big? lol you mean everyday? why is that? also i do have a standard filter cartridge in the filter is this the other media yoir talking about?

 

[Flute]

Yes, every day And much more than 10 gallon- you need to be changing 70-90% every day for weeks, maybe even months until beneficial bacteria establishes. And sometimes you might even have to do two water changes a day. That is why fishless cycles are easier and much kinder for the fish!

Think about it like this: If you had to sit in a bath tub, and eat, pee and poo in it, and no one ever changed the water or had some kind of system to filter the waste, you'd become very ill very quickly. It's not dissimilar for fish. They eat, pee and poo in the tank, so if you don't change the water it means ammonia and nitrite levels will build up. These are very toxic for the fish and will make them very ill, and will eventually kill them. A filter houses beneficial bacteria which eat the ammonia and nitrite, and convert them into nitrAte which isn't as toxic(to put it shortly), but you first have to cycle your filter so that the bacteria will form and grow.

This is why it is incredibly important for you to have a test kit. You need to make sure that your ammonia and nitrIte levels are at 0, and your nitrAtes somewhere between 10-20ppm. If you can't check your levels, you have no way of knowing of how toxic your water is.