First Ever Aquarium - 240 Litre - Small Fish

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FlyingFish78

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So about 3 weeks ago the missus and I made the decision to buy a tropical aquarium. Neither of us know the first thing about fish keeping so we've had to learn everything from scratch.

We were told numerous falsehoods by the LFS, such as, for example, that it's OK to add the fish after only a few days. He also sold us 60 fish - which we paid for - and we later found out it's way more than the filter can handle.

The tank itself is a Fluval Roma 240 and it comes with a Fluval 306 external cannister filter, which sits in the cabinet underneath the tank. The tank itself looks really nice but the filter outlet is designed really badly and I had to make a DIY fix of the problem which I detail in an earlier thread.

We used 25kg of a basic pea-sized gravel for the substrate and decorated the tank with plastic plants. We chose plastic because it's easier for the beginner to manage. I plan on eventually replacing all of the artificial plants with real ones, but this has been made difficult by the LFS recommending the cheap builders gravel. I've already placed a couple of real plants in the tank; one we bought from the LFS growing on a small piece of bogwood and the other planted straight into the gravel with a small layer of fertilizer underneath.

Anyway, I did a fish-less cycle for 2 weeks and thought it would be a good idea to conduct a practice hoover of the gravel and a practice 50% water change. All went well except...


I forgot to de-chlorinate the new water and ran the tank for another 2 days before I realised by blunder. Disaster.

So I added enough aqua plus to dechlorinate the whole tank after doing another water change.

Well, after learning the hard way I will, from now on, be extremely careful to dechlorinate the water first.

Following this disaster I spoke at length with the LFS. This time it was one of the other assistants and he seemed much more knowkedgeable and sympathetic than the first one we spoke to. He basically recommended using some Nutrafin Cycle and running the tank for a few more days. This we did, and tested the water on day 3:

PH - 7.5
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 30

At this point I felt it was time to add some fish. After doing a lot of research we decided upon Zebra Danios to begin what is most likely a fish-in cycle. We chose them because apparently they're one of the best, if not THE best, fish for beginners; being both extremely hardy and easy to care for.

I went to the LFS and returned with 6 Danios on 2nd of Jan. They seem perfectly happy in their new home. I've been water testing every day and the past 3 results have all been identical:

PH - 7.5
Ammonia - 0.1
Nitrite - 0.1
Nitrate - 30

The ammonia amd nitrite levels are just a trace. The testing kit is a liquid test tube type and the water colour is barely distinguishable from clear, hence why they're both rated 0.1. I've placed an order for an API test kit, which is apprently a lot easier to read and more accurate.

All seems well so far. I'll monitor the water for another 7 days and then gradually begin adding more fish. I'd like another 2 Danios to bring the group up to 8 and probably add some Cherry Barbs, but we'll see. A few Dwarf Gouramis would be a nice addition but they may not like sharing a tank with the highly active Danios. I'll make sure to do a lot of research becore making a decision on which new fish to add.

Anyway, that concludes my first journal entry about my foray into the wondeful world of fish keeping. Any comments or suggestions are greatly appreciated.
 
you need around a month+ to fully cycle a tank.
when a tank is not cycled and the stats of the water fluctuates you are putting the health of the fish at risk and it burns their lungs etc etc.
you shouldn't have any traces of ammonia and should do a water change around once a week to remove it.. which is your normal maintenance.
 
you have a 55 gallon.
so any schooling fish you wish to have you need a min IMO of 6+
so if you want cherry barbs have 6.
dwarf gouramis need a fully mature tank or you'll just kill them easily, and they need to be monitored on eating because they are pigs and over eating.. then die.. which i have learned in the past in the beginning.. so my tip on that.
you should not add more then 6 fish at a time and wait 2 weeks before adding more. also when buy if you see any disease in the store tanks, no matter how tempting don't buy. and never put their water in with yours.. that's how you bump up the chances of getting disease. unless you have a quarantine tank.
 
IMO for you i would hold off on getting anymore fish for around a month.. i know it is a long time, but you want to make sure that any fish you get in the future you don't kill and waste your money... 
so read up on this site for all the info on cycling tanks, maintaining them to feeding.. IMO 3 times a week at most. to water changes each week.. to never cleaning the filter with tap water.. etc etc
 
Hi Fishaholic and thanks for the reply. As it happens my girlfriend just returned from Canada. Sounds a lot nicer than this crappy little country :p

But anyway, thanks for the advice, especially on Gouramis. I understand that you need a minimum of 6 for schooling fish, that's why I bought 6 Danios. I'm going to add another 2 for good measure and bring it up to 8. After which I'll leave it at that for a while until the tank is properly cycled.

Someone on here recommended doing water changes more frequently than weekly if doing fish-in cycling.
 
Looks good, would love to see a picture!
 
You are correct, any time you see some ammonia or nitrite, you want to do a water change. At your pH 0.5ppm would be about the highest I would let the ammonia get before doing a waterchange.
 
Blondielovesfish said:
Looks good, would love to see a picture!
 
I will sort one out at some stage, although I might be a bit embarrassed about the ship wreck haha. My girlfriend's 10 year old wanted some decoration ;)
 
Well today I did another water reading and the results were same as before, with only a trace of ammonia and nitrite; 0.1 at the most.
 
Unfortunately, however, I caused a problem with the Zebra Danios. Last night I decided to vigorously clean the outside of the aquarium with a cloth and this caused the fish to completely freak out. They started darting all over the place, obviously scared. All of yesterday evening and most of today they spent their time huddled together in a tight group in one corner, hiding behind the spray bar. On the rare occasions when they ventured out into the main tank, they'd frantically swim back into the corner anytime someone walked near the tank. I was really worried about this and decided to go ahead with my plan of adding 2 more Danios to the group. I reasoned that a larger group would make them feel more secure.
 
Before I did this I decided to perform a 30% water change (also added some Tetra Safe Start) in the hope this would benefit the mood of the fish. It didn't. So I ventured to the LFS and bought 2 more Danios. After adding the new fish, the others remained in their usual corner for a while, but gradually, throughout the day, they've started relaxing and swimming around the tank.
 
I'm sure that adding more fish has helped, but they still seem extremely jittery and swim near to one of the corners when anyone walks near the tank. I hope that their behavior hasn't been permanently affected by this incident. Before yesterday you could walk right up to the tank and all the fish would do is swim to the surface in anticipation of a feed.
 
Whilst I was at the LFS earlier I had to return the 15 litre bi0rb because they one I purchased had clearly been used and returned; the inside was still wet! They assistant let me swap it for a slightly more expensive 19 litre Fluval aquarium. This should be much better for use as a hospital/convict tank as it's rectangular and has a better filter. I also bought a small bag of dark substrate to go with it.
 
Anyway, I'll conduct a water test every day from now on and once Ammonia and Nitrites drop to absolute zero I'll think about adding some more fish; probably 6-8 Glowlight Tetras. The good news is that any day now an API test kit will be arriving through the post, so my results will be a lot more accurate and easier to read.
 
I would recommend to get some floating plants. All fish love those as the give cover from the top.
 
Tested the water again today and the readings are the same as before.

Ammonia - 0.1
Nitrite - 0.1
Nitrate - around 30-50

The readings aren't particularly accurate, though, due to the poorer quality Nutrafin test kit. I'm expecting the API test to kit to arrive any day now so I'm looking forward to taking readings then. If it shows consistently negligible readings for ammonia and nitrite/nitrate I'll think about adding some more fish in a week or 2.

It's probably a good idea to add some floating plants soon but I'll do a lot of research first and make sure that I obtain a variety which will be suitable for the hardness of the water and which won't cause problems for the aquarium; like duckweed which takes over and you can't get rid of it! 

hobby5 said:
I would recommend to get some floating plants. All fish love those as the give cover from the top.
Will do. I'd prefer something large and leaf-like; certainly not lots of tiny little plants like duck weed.Yuk. Any suggestions for something that will go well in high PH hard water?
 
Tested water again today. Great news.

PH - 7.8
Ammonia - 0.1
Nitrite - 0 <<<<<<<----------- :)
Nitrate - 40

I was so surprised that nitrite is zero that I tested again just to make sure. I think it's due to adding Tetra Safe Start a few days ago. As soon as ammonia reaches zero I'll start thinking about adding some glowlight tetras; perhaps on Monday.
 
Yesterday I added 6 lemon tetras and another plant; a java fern on a piece of bogwood.

A couple of hours later, to my horror I noticed something small moving on the side of the tank. A snail! I quickly removed it and threw it in the garden. The snail must have come from either the fish or the java fern, most likely the latter. Im slightly concerned about this because I dont want snails in my aquarium. Anyway, I quarantined the plant and won't put it back in the tank until after two weeks is up.

The API test kit arrived today; much better than the Nutrafin kit!

Tested the water and the results were encouraging.

PH - 7.8
Ammonia - 0.25ppm
Nitrate - 0
Nitrite - 10

I was planning on doing a 30% water change today but I think I'll wait for another day or two and see if the ammonia rises much, if at all.
 
Looking good!
 
Don't worry too much about the snail, most are actually beneficial and as long as you don't overfeed, they shouldn't populate wildly. If you do find yourself with too many, buy an assassin snail or two, they'll clear the pest snails up in no time!
 
amazon frogbit is a floating plant that is easy to keep under control
plus people are always after some so you can get your money back also :)
 
Blondielovesfish said:
Looking good!
 
Don't worry too much about the snail, most are actually beneficial and as long as you don't overfeed, they shouldn't populate wildly. If you do find yourself with too many, buy an assassin snail or two, they'll clear the pest snails up in no time!
 
I've heard they're beneficial. I still don't want any though. The reason I cancelled an order of bamboo shrimp with the LFS is because I heard that they'd die if the tank was treated with copper sulfate ;)
 
AquaPit said:
anticipating pics soon!!
 
Tomorrow I promise!
photo.gif

 
nortonmad213 said:
amazon frogbit is a floating plant that is easy to keep under control
plus people are always after some so you can get your money back also
smile.png
 
Thank you, that's exactly the type of plant I'm looking for; lotus leaf type thing. Will it fare well in high PH water?
... Oh BTW yesterday I added 8 Golden Barbs because I heard they're hardy. Wow, they're such beautiful fish. If the water tests over the next week are satisfactory I'll add 2 more Lemon tetras and 2 more Golden Barbs. After that I'll wait for as long as it takes for the tests to read zero and then add 6 Neon Tetras. Woop :)
 
mines just above 7.4 and they fare fine
i gave my mate some and his is a lot lower than mine and they also fare well.
you should be fine with them :)
 
If you treat the tank with copper then you can nevrr have invertebrates in that tank
 

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