Advice Please.

[helsekia]

I have a 440litre 4ft tank.its been set up 5 months I test the water levels weekly had no fish losses or disease.My readings are
nitrite-0
ammonia-0.25
ph-7.2
nitrate-40

my questions are are these nitrate levels acceptable?they fluctuate between 10 and 40ppm?If not what can be done to reduce them?

I have a slight algae problem with green algae forming on the front of the tank and the sand?any advice?

I do 30% water change on a sunday and a 10% on a wednesday.

We have 2 bala sharks,2 corys,3 parrots,4 gourami,2 clown loach,1 ancistrus,1 puffer fish and a reed fish.

 

[kev_kb]

Are you sure it's 440 litres? That seems a lot for a 4ft tank, what are the dimensions?

A 5 month old tank should have no ammonia reading at all, I would guess your over feeding or your over stocked. The nitrate level depends on your fish so you'll need to research them. I would try two 20% changes per week instead.

If you have a 4ft I would reconsider your fish stocking. I was curious to know what I reed fish so did a quick Google and found they can grow to 36"!

 

[fatguppy]

Sorry - can't help on the stocking but beware the puffer fish! We bought two (on advice from the lfs - silly me) and took them back within 2 weeks because they can be silent assassins. They are SERIOUS fin nippers. Our poor corys and swordtails looked like they had been to war!

Pufer fish need snails as a diet too apparently to stop their beaks growing too large.

My apologies if yours is okay but just thought it may be helpful because although they are gorgeous they are unpredictable.

Jane xx

 

[helsekia]

thanks for the advice.

yes im sure the tank is 440 litres,I checked on both the rena website and in the store I bought the tank from today.

I have been told before that reed (or rope) fish will grow to 16 inches. and make excellent escape artists!

I have bought some nitrazorb for my filter and will give that a whirl
thanks

 

[kev_kb]

Just out of interest which Rena tank do you have?

 

[helsekia]

not sure of the exact model.it measures 48x20x24 and has an external filstar filter.if you look on the members aquarium pages my tank is there along with some fish.I also have a 2and a half foot community tank and we hope to get a bigger tank for our bala sharks soon as we want them to be in a bigger tank than the 4ft.what tanks/fish have you got?

 

[Durbkat]

Helsekia I looked in the members aquarium section but didn't see a thread with your pics in it.

 

[srolfe]

I too usually have readings for ammonia at the .25 range (AP Test Kit).
There is usually some ammonia in the tank because the fish are constantly producing it. Also, When the reading is this low it is difficult to distinguish a reading between 0 and .5. My LFS has said that they never read 0 on their tanks either (same test kit).

 

[helsekia]

theres definately one in there ill have a look for the piccies.

thanks for the advice about levels,I do try to do the best I can but we are all learning constantly arent we.

will go find the lost piccies......................................

 

[helsekia]

found pictures.members aquarium photos top of page 3 .hope you like

found the photos in members aquarium photos top of page 3.hope you like

 

[Fella]

not sure of the exact model.it measures 48x20x24 and has an external filstar filter.if you look on the members aquarium pages my tank is there along with some fish.I also have a 2and a half foot community tank and we hope to get a bigger tank for our bala sharks soon as we want them to be in a bigger tank than the 4ft.what tanks/fish have you got?

Hi

I thought 440 litres was a bit much for a 4 foot tank, so I put the measurements into this calculator
http/www.angelfish.net/tankvolcalc.php

It comes up with 99 US gallons or 377 litres, so a bit less than you said.

Also, I use a master API test kit, and when my tank is running in order, my ammonia reads 0, and never fluctuates.

What puffer fish do you have? I would certainly not keep them with community fish, but others do so.

The Cories, Clown Loaches and Bala Sharks would all benefit from having more tankmates of their own species added, but I certainly wouldn't do so until the ammonia readings were nil.

 

[helsekia]

look at the website
www.aquariumsuperstore.co.uk

my tank is there listed as aqualife classic 120cmx70.5cmx51cm=440litres.

my puffer fish is a green puffer.he seems ok at the minute as he is small,although I realise it wasnt perhaps the best idea to get him.I would love to get another clown loach and bala shark but dont think I have enough room do I?

 

[Fella]

look at the website
www.aquariumsuperstore.co.uk

my tank is there listed as aqualife classic 120cmx70.5cmx51cm=440litres.

my puffer fish is a green puffer.he seems ok at the minute as he is small,although I realise it wasnt perhaps the best idea to get him.I would love to get another clown loach and bala shark but dont think I have enough room do I?

The inches you listed weren't the right ones, 70.5cm = nearer 30 inches than 20, hence the confusion.

The puffer you own is really not suited to the tank to be honest. He's a brackish fish, meaning he needs salt in his water, something which you cannot provide with scaleles fish like the clown loaches. The green puffer will eventually need full marine conditions, something which your current fish (freshwater) will not tolerate. Your only options if you're interested in the good health of this fish are to either return him to the store, or provide a new tank for him (a minimum of 30 gallons). If you maintain him in freshwater sadly he won't survive his full lifespan.

More details can be found under the fish's latin name "Tetraodon nigroviridis" on http/www.pufferlist.com/

As for the other fish, Im not sure what to recommend really. At 440 litres you have a big tank, but at 4 feet long it has a small footprint. I'll leave the advice to someone else with more knowledge

 

[helsekia]

thanks fella for the advice.my mistake about the measurements maths never was my strong point----whoops!!!!!!

about the puffer fish.Yes I know now that he is a brackish fish.sadly I made a mistake and bought him on impulse because I fell in love with him,a lesson for everyone there I think!I hope to either return him to the store or to a friend of a friend who has a marine tank.He seems very happy at the minute but I understasnd his needs will change.I wont make the same mistake again.

I hope to get a 5ft tank at some point to house the balas and clown loach with the aim of getting more of the same species with the possibility of adding a few discus.Any advice?

thanks

 

[annka5]

Sorry to be negative, but the thing with discus is that they really do need fairly peaceful companions, otherwise they get a bit nervous. I think bala sharks would be way too active for them, and clown loaches would be considered "borderline".
If you could arrange it so you had your active fish in the bigger tank, and kept say cory and cardinals in the 4ft/440litre tank then discus would be a possible in a tank that size.
Without wanting to sound patronising, one other thing to bear in mind is that discus are not easy fish to look after and have pretty specific needs so you do need to research them properly and be sure you've got the time to devote to them.