Ferg's New Tanks

[waterdrop]

Good that you're looking into gravel cleaners. Basically, one wouldn't ever want to not water change (talking mostly later after cycle now) just because they didn't have their gravel cleaner for some reason but ideally whenever a water change is done, one wants to gravel clean while doing it because more of the things we want to get out of the tank hang low, in the gravel and in the filter. This is true even for things we don't see, not just debris that we do see.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Ferg1985]

30% water change, cleaned the gravel as much as I could, scooped out more dead leaves from the recently deceased plants Other plants seem okay still, no noticeable deteriation. Hopefully new plants will arrive on Monday morning.

Day 8

pH - 7.4 (was in between colours)
Amonnia - 0.2 mg/l (ppm)
Nitrite - 0.5 mg/l (ppm)
Nitrate - 5.0 mg/l (ppm)

 

[Ferg1985]

Day 9

Pretty much the same still, the Ammonia hasn't dropped but the colour is colouration is getting lighter, so it is getting there. Furthermore the Nitrites are getting darker each day, so going in the right direction for now.

Went fish window shopping today, talk about torture - could so easily have bought a couple of dozen but I know better
Turns out my Sister-in-law has a shoal of 6 Serpae tetras that she really doesn't want anymore, so I'll adopt them as my first fish to go into the 5 footer Saw some beautiful fish today though, we're really spoilt for choice haha. Saw these rather hefty tetras that I've never heard of before and because I didn't make a note of their name I can't find them!!! Looked like a bigger version of the Red Eye tetra, beginning with A the name (like Andessa or Addensa or something) they were a good 10cm, if not more 12 and shoaling this 300litre show tank. Saw some Bucktooth tetra too, suprised they'd sell them in an LFS suppose some people might want them mind.

A lot of food for thought though, going to really have to think how I want this big tank to look - so whilst I can't get any fish, I'm going to buy some more mangrove ornaments

 

[Wills]

Sounds like things are going good now Watch out with the serpae tetras as they are really really nippy with most fish even those without flowing fins not sure about the tetras the name is throwing me as is the size could be an african one though? Was it congo tetra? Or Buenos Aries (Spelling)?

Wills

 

[Ferg1985]

Cheers Wills, fingers crossed! I imagine my ebay plants will arrive tomorrow and they should be a little hardier than the last, although again the ones that remain are looking okay so I'm hoping for no more losses. It is looking really sparse (to me anyway) since the two plants went.

I know the Serpaes have a bad rep but I'd hope they'd be less aggressive if they're the smallest fish in the 5 footer, I may just take my sister-in-law's 6 and leave the numbers at that whilst going for larger shoals of the others. Hoping to have lots of resin mangrove roots and in it and basically create a whole 'basement' type area in the tank where not only the bottom feeders can scurry about but any shy fish can safely make their way across the tank out of the way of any boisterous business in the upper levels.

The unknown tetra is really annoying me, they were not Buenos Aires (or Red Eye)tetra's though, like I said they had a big, dark red eyelid and then a black dot at the tail and they were really big bodied, stocky tetras. Like I said probably 12cm in length and I'd say some where a good 4-5cm in depth on the body. They did shoal like Beunos Aires and their name was something like Addensa or something weird because on the way home I accidently called them Odensa tetras because it sounded a bit like that (they weren't Odensa barbs before you ask that either) lol, so I've been googling most of the day different spellings to see if it'd correct me which leads me to think they're under a different common name in general so maybe they're called a '...' characin, I dunno.

 

[Ferg1985]

They were Alestes longipinnis!! Haha, I was way off just found them via google. 'African long-finned tetra', I'd never seen them before and seeing Alestes Tetra on a tank made me even more confused, has they been called ALFT's I wouldn't have been as bemused by them!

They were a great shoal, very active yet peaceful.. Making me rethink my tank now, as the ones in the shop were very short-finned, but perhaps still unsuited to having barbs as tankmates. Says a min tank size of 150cm - which is what mine will be, perhaps instead of barbs and with others, uhm.. yet more choices to research!

-edit-

just found a video on youtube with them in a community tank (if anyone is interested) coincidently there are a couple of Red Eye's in there too, to show the similarities (and size difference) Also there are some short long-finned individuals (oxymoron if there ever was!) like in the shop.. These particular fish seem to have a bit of beef with each other mind as the ones in the shop (they had three tanks set up with them in) where not chasing each other.

Alestes Tetra video

 

[Ferg1985]

Day 9

same as before

Day 10

pH - 7.4
Ammonia - 1.0 ppm (mg/l)
Nitrite - 5.0 ppm (mg/l) !!!!
Nitrate - 20.00 ppm (mg/l) !!!! Think I'm getting somewhere now, lol.

Working all day tomorrow, but I'll try and get another mini waterchange in after work. I've just added another dose of Ammonia (I know it wasn't at zero, so perhaps a little silly) Still waiting for my new plants too!

 

[Ferg1985]

I've just read that the Borneo 'Aquatic' Ferns I've ordered are anything but, seems to be fairy common knowledge too! So I'm a bit angry that I've ordered those over the internet. My thinking is to put raised up in the lid of my API tester kit and use that as a Daphnia container, put some oxygenating tablets in and try and keep them going - perhaps a daft idea. I've actually got it sat on the window sill now with two of the snails I took out of the tank , I know some on here set up those small paludariums but I think the lid of a tester kit might be taking it to extremes!

 

[Ferg1985]

Added Ammonia last night, didn't get a spike in the reading.. 0.25 today when I checked. Nitrates are through the roof, we're getting close lol.. I know the tank is far from cycled but I'm rehousing the 6 serpae tetras on Sunday because they're not playing nice in my brother's tank. I'm hoping that within the next 3 days I can resolve the nitrates and have the tank in a stable state and with constant monitoring, can accommodate their needs.

Also, I've noticed that the dying plant at the back isn't dying as such - it is brown algae on the leaves, it is now on the rocks and CO2 pipe too.. Will a algae eater eat brown algae too? I was thinking perhaps buying 1 on Saturday (if all is well in the tank) who can be cleaning the tank for the arrivals the day after.

 

[waterdrop]

Looking back I see that you first added ammonia on March 17, so you've been fishless cycling a week and a day. We've had a few cases where people decided to switch from a fishless cycle to a fish-in cycle because of fish circumstances (lily-rose tanks spring to mind, with a recent loss of a whole tank of fish) and have had a tough time of it. Re-homing those nasty Serpae back to the LFS or somewhere else would really be a better option if you could make it work.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Ferg1985]

I have seen sense (almost!), the Serpaes are staying put because for starters they don't seem to be causing any problem when I go around to their house. Saying that there is a fish in my tank The levels were staying low but algae was spreading fast, so I've got an SAE and he's been busy cleaning it up since yesterday. Possibly a very foolish move, but I'm imagining even after 2 weeks a single, small fish isn't going to crash the filter (I hope)

 

[Ferg1985]

Day 18 (I think )

pH - 7.4
Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Nitrate - 5ppm

The SAE has been in since Saturday (5 days) and has done a great job of cleaning the plants and seems very happy, just needs a few friends at the weekend

 

[Ferg1985]

So, I'm lying in bed watching my tank. The SAE is nowhere to be found (well, he was eventually.. amongst the Wisteria ) and saw this white dot literally zoom across me at some speed. I hadn't a clue what it was, but as I sat with my nose pressing the glass, I noticed that my tank has not just the SAE but hundreds of varied bugs! there seems to be microscopic worms on the glass, little lice on the glass, flea-type/daphnia-type things trampolining on the moss balls - its a metropolis of midgies! I think I need some fish at the weekend to put a stop to such bio diversity in the tank (but for now they're feasting on my ever growing brown algae blooms, lol )

 

[waterdrop]

If the all look like microscopic white worms on close examination then they're probably Planaria, which are quite harmless and common at some stage of a new tank -- goes away on its own. WD