Fish For A Interpet 64L Tank

[pablothebetta]

Just out of interest is there a easy way of filling your empty fish-tank full of water without disturbing the gravel/ornaments (i have got a hose pipe if need be), i have read various ways in books and on the net of filling a tank but just wondering how you experienced folks do it....Cheers Colin

You could try putting the hose near to the gravel so as not to disturb it too much and not have it on too high-a flow. In my tank, I've got sand, so when I do a water change, as it is smaller than yours too, I tend to use a cup and pour the new water in over some silk plants as they disrupt the flow of water to the sand underneath. Not sure if the latter idea would work for you, though.

Must say, +1 on the pygmy cories - they really are great little guys. You'd be able to have a decent sized group in your tank too. I personally would say 8-10 would do great with a siamese fighter and a group of neons. I've got a fighter, and he's a pretty awesome little guy. He swims up to look at me whenever I go near the tank and even gets excited when I show him his food packet. Most should be fine with neons/cories, particularly the cories as they aren't too brightly coloured and will stay more around the bottom half of the tank, whereas the fighter would be nearer the top. You could do some other cories such as panda or peppered instead, though you wouldn't be looking at so many of the guys and personally, pygmys are just my favourite

 

[welshviking]

Ok 64L tank has been full of water for 48 hours, heated up nicely and now constant at 26 degrees. I added Interpet fresh start to the water when i filled it and i added interpet filter start on the 1st night. The tank water is now very cloudy and i added my 1st helping of ammonia (2.5ml) about 2 hours ago. I cannot take a tank reading yet as Royal fail are being nightmares and i have still not had my api master test kit but as soon as it arrives i will start putting readings on here. Just one last question is 2.5ml of ammonia enough and should i carry on putting the same amount in each day....Cheers Colin

 

[fluttermoth]

I find a nice rock arrangement with a flat one on top, in the corner you refill from, is invaluable; you can direct the water over that

There's a calculator on this site that will work out the amount of ammonia you need to add; calculator

 

[welshviking]

I find a nice rock arrangement with a flat one on top, in the corner you refill from, is invaluable; you can direct the water over that

There's a calculator on this site that will work out the amount of ammonia you need to add; calculator

Cheers Fluttermoth, unfortunately i have not got enough room in my tank for rocks as i have 3 ornaments and a few plants, cheers for the calculator link and according to that i need 3.37ml of ammonia for my 64L tank...Cheers Colin

 

[fluttermoth]

Pour your water gently onto one of the ornaments then

 

[welshviking]

Just one question to ask is there any need to leave my filter running 24 hours while cycling, i obviously leave the heater on constantly but i have been turning the filter off at night cause there is no fish in the tank yet....Thanks Colin

 

[fluttermoth]

You need to leave the filter on all the time; the bacteria need a constant flow of water and ammonia to feed on.

 

[welshviking]

You need to leave the filter on all the time; the bacteria need a constant flow of water and ammonia to feed on.

Cheers for the reply, Luckily i only switched the filter off for about 6 hours last night, the wife left it on the 1st night. Still no master testing kit (royal mail aarrgghh !!!) so will test it when and if the kit finally arrives.

 

[welshviking]

Right my api master test kit has finally arrived i have only done 1 test so far i took 5ml of water out of the fishtank and done an ammonia test and added 8 drops of bottle 1 and 8 drops of bottle 2 and the test tube went very green (according to the card 8.0 ppm) not sure if this is good but what other tests do i need to do at this early stage.....Cheers Colin

 

[welshviking]

Probably did not have to do all these tests but these are the results, i will not be here now till Friday evening to do my next tests due to work.

PH TAP WATER 7.1 PPM
PH FISHTANK 7.6 PPM
AMMONIA FISHTANK 8.0 PPM
NITRATE TAP WATER 7.0 PPM
NITRITE TAP WATER 0.0 PPM
NITRITE FISHTANK 0.0 PPM

I actually enjoyed doing these tests, pity i have not got a clue what they mean !!!!

 

[welshviking]

Just returned after working away for 4 days in Cumbria these are my latest test results.

PH FISHTANK 7.3 PPM
AMMONIA FISHTANK 8.0 PPM
NITRITE FISHTANK 0.0 PPM
NITRATE FISHTANK 2.0 PPM

Any suggestions what next ?

 

[the_lock_man]

Just returned after working away for 4 days in Cumbria these are my latest test results.

PH FISHTANK 7.3 PPM
AMMONIA FISHTANK 8.0 PPM
NITRITE FISHTANK 0.0 PPM
NITRATE FISHTANK 2.0 PPM

Any suggestions what next ?

I think you need to do a 50% water change, to get that ammonia level down to about 4ppm. At the higher level, I believe that the wrong species of bacteria is encouraged at that level of ammonia.

Other than that, sit and wait for the bacteria to grow. Once the ammonia level has dropped to 0ppm, lower your dose to 3ppm, and dose every day, until the nitrite drops to 0ppm within 24 hours. That's the long part of the process.

And if you can find a friend, colleague, family member to let you have a small proportion of the filter media from their mature filter, it will help no end. Or beg some from your favourite LFS. Or steal some from your least favourite LFS.

 

[welshviking]

Just returned after working away for 4 days in Cumbria these are my latest test results.

PH FISHTANK 7.3 PPM
AMMONIA FISHTANK 8.0 PPM
NITRITE FISHTANK 0.0 PPM
NITRATE FISHTANK 2.0 PPM

Any suggestions what next ?

I think you need to do a 50% water change, to get that ammonia level down to about 4ppm. At the higher level, I believe that the wrong species of bacteria is encouraged at that level of ammonia.

Other than that, sit and wait for the bacteria to grow. Once the ammonia level has dropped to 0ppm, lower your dose to 3ppm, and dose every day, until the nitrite drops to 0ppm within 24 hours. That's the long part of the process.

And if you can find a friend, colleague, family member to let you have a small proportion of the filter media from their mature filter, it will help no end. Or beg some from your favourite LFS. Or steal some from your least favourite LFS.

Ok cheers will do a 50% water change in a minute or so, when you say "lower your dose to 3ppm" i am guessing you mean the ammonia and if so how many ml of ammonia is 3ppm. As for the mature filter i am afraid i do not know anyone who has tropical fish and i have not visited any lfs.

 

[the_lock_man]

Sorry, yes I do mean ammonia.

At the bottom of this page is an ammonia calculator. You have a 64l tank, so assuming your ammonia solution is 9½% (which most seem to be), then a 2ml dose will give you 3ppm. 3½ml will give you 5ppm.

If you can't get mature media, then it's no big deal, it helps speed things up a bit and that's all.

 

[welshviking]

Right i have done a 50% water change using the hosepipe and added some fresh start water treatment and 2ml of ammonia, shall i test it tomorrow morning when the temperature gets back up to where it is suppose to be before i did a water change. Just one more thing that is puzzling me if i am trying to get my ammonia reading from 8ppm to 4ppm why am i adding ammonia (i cannot get my head round that !!!)....Cheers Colin