DELIGHTED TO BE BACK ...

[WAG741L]

In a couple of weeks, we will set up our first tank after a 20 year gap. We set up the first one some 28 years ago. Our original tank was community for three years or so, then we concentrated on Kribensis and Angels (they both spawned and raised young). Our last tank was devoted to six young Oscars, which we raised to maturity.

When we moved house in 1986, we gave our Oscars to the local shop, and put our interest on hold, due to dusty and disruptive renovations in our new (old) house. There was always something else pressing to do, and it never seemed the right time to restart something I had once found totally absorbing.

Enough history - it's boring.

How things have changed! There is now so much information available at the click of a mouse! More to the point, there are so many people out there with expertise they are willing and generous enough to share freely, as I have found from browsing this site.

Old advice advocated filling a tank with tap water and plants for a week at least, then adding fish. (Trust me - I have 25-year-old books to prove it). pH indicators were about as sophisticated as it got (anyone ever heard of litmus paper?). Incredibly, I had remarkably few casualties.

Wish me luck, everyone. I will tread softly and carefully, for the sake of my future fish, but bear with me as I ask incredibly stupid questions by today's standards !

 

[MAM]

Welcome! And the only stupid questions are the ones you don't ask.

You're right, much has changed since you last kept fish. There are plenty of great pinned articles here to read to get you started and point you in the right direction. And plenty of folks on this forum to give you advice and share their experiences with you as you get back into this addicting hobby. Look forward to hearing about your new tank (or maybe I should say "tanks", as Multiple Tank Syndrome runs rampant here and is frighteningly contagious it seems ).

 

[WAG741L]

Welcome! And the only stupid questions are the ones you don't ask.

You're right, much has changed since you last kept fish. There are plenty of great pinned articles here to read to get you started and point you in the right direction. And plenty of folks on this forum to give you advice and share their experiences with you as you get back into this addicting hobby. Look forward to hearing about your new tank (or maybe I should say "tanks", as Multiple Tank Syndrome runs rampant here and is frighteningly contagious it seems ).

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Thank you, MAM, for your welcome! Yes, Multiple Tank Syndrome has already set it. Although the first tank is not yet set up, I am already searching for the next addition, and wondering about possible fry! After all, it would be terrible if I hadn't prepared, and it happened!

I am currently browsing water test kits, and growing slightly apprehensive!

We will no doubt speak again!

 

[J_acon]

Welcome welcome

 

[Elisabeth83]

Welcome Back to fishkeeping WAG741L And feel free to ask as many qusetions as you like

 

[WAG741L]

Welcome Back to fishkeeping WAG741L And feel free to ask as many qusetions as you like

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Thank you, J Acon and Elisabeth 83, for your 'welcomes' also!

The tank does not arrive until the first week in September, and I am busy reading up everything that has happened and is now recommended since we last set up. There is a lot of catching up to do!

In the meantime, I am impressed by the wealth of knowledge available here, and people's willingness to share it.

 

[jimbooo]

Hi WAG741L, welcome to the forum and welcome back to the hobby. out of interest were your tanks planted in the old days or not? the reason i ask is there are so many changes regarding the fertalisation / equipment set up you will be amazed.

if your planning on planting your new tank take a wonder over to the planted section and post any questions you like.

something along the lines of - New tank, need ideas always seems to get an interesting response. we all need to stretch our brains every now and then after all

Good luck with the tank
Jimbooo

 

[rdd1952]

Welcome to the forum and back into fishkeeping.

 

[WAG741L]

Welcome to the forum and back into fishkeeping.

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Thank you for your welcome, sorry for delay in replying, I am just returned from holiday and raring to get going! I have become more motivated with anticipation!

I will no doubt bore everyone with my problems as I progress. It will probably be harder for me to start up again, than it would for a complete novice, because I will no doubt have lots of preconceived notions and ideas that would not trouble someone new!

Watch this space ... or you may want to avoid it!

 

[WAG741L]

Hi WAG741L, welcome to the forum and welcome back to the hobby. out of interest were your tanks planted in the old days or not? the reason i ask is there are so many changes regarding the fertalisation / equipment set up you will be amazed.

if your planning on planting your new tank take a wonder over to the planted section and post any questions you like.

something along the lines of - New tank, need ideas always seems to get an interesting response. we all need to stretch our brains every now and then after all

Good luck with the tank
Jimbooo

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Thank you for your comments, and sorry for delay in replying, I have been on holiday.

I was delighted by the pictures you sent, it was exactly this kind of set-up which motivated me originally. I had from time to time seen fishtanks containing three twigs of elodea placed at four-inch intervals, with a rock strategically dumped at centre front. The aquarium invariably contained a vast heater/thermostat, all bright and shiny to begin with (and green and furry subsequently), which for some reason the owner had seen no reason to camouflage.

Alternatively, the planting was restricted so that castles and wrecks could be displayed to maximum advantage.

When I first saw well-planted tanks, it was my ambition to reproduce what looked like an underwater garden. I particularly liked the fact that the numbers of fish were limited, and the interest was in searching for them as they glimmered tantalisingly in and out of the thickly-planted weed, always in sparkling clear water. Because they were uncrowded, and living in a balanced microcosm, their colours were bright and they looked wonderful.

I never achieved the standard shown in the photos here (although I kept trying!) and it cost me a fortune in weed! (No, not THAT kind!) I seemed to spend more time pinching, pruning and replanting than I did in the outside garden. But we were quite lucky, being relatively disease-free, and I put this down to the lush planting in the tank, and not overfilling the tank with fish. On the few occasions when I did take a tank down, perhaps for decorating the room or moving house, when the gravel was disturbed it was not offensive, but seemed to harbour a reddish-brown liquid within it.

We bought a large, 'previously-owned' tank last week, which contained the remnants of a community tank. The tank had been half-emptied, and we were required to remove/bag the fish, and empty the gravel and remaining water. Although I was not particularly interested in the fish, I felt honour-bound to give them maximum chance so we had set up a small aquarium with matured water (and plants!), and we took a bucketful of their own water to add to the 'quarantine' tank already set up.

Of the thirteen (two barbs, two gouramis, three sucking loaches, one red-tailed shark, two red-finned and tailed sharks, two pencil fish, one plecostomus), one barb died en route. Netting may have been too much for him, I don't know. The tank they are in is too small long-term (although well-filtered and aerated), but they stand more chance in that than trying to set up their 4' job and get them into it immediately.

But my point is (at last!), that when we took down the tank, the gravel was black and rancid. It is stained and stinking, and it will have to be washed and steeped in boiling water, I think. It is just too foul to use as it is.

It appears that although undergravel filters were fitted, they were not used in the way that I was familiar with. There were three sockets for uplift tubes, but two had been blocked off, and one end one had been used with a powerfilter . My better half tells me that this does not give the same aeration as the pump system we were used to. I am also curious as to whether it is quite as effective at the other end of the 4' tank! Clearly not, or the gravel would have been in a better state. One can hardly say that a 4' x 1' x 15" tank was overloaded with the above list of fish.

I had never come across a power filter before. Might it have been an Aquaclear 3000? This is what my better half was muttering about. We are learning fast, and the hard way.

I will keep you posted. All fish are fine (four days now), and they will either go back in the 4' job (if it can be got ready soon enough, or I will split half into another small aquarium. I am going to need a fish house at this rate!

Sorry if this post is in the wrong place now we are progressing, I will get the hang of it eventually, I promise!