Getting A New Fish Tank!

[brian2708]

Hello all.

I currently have a Juwel Rekord 600 (63l tank) setup with the following:

4 Neon Tetras
3 Black Tetras
2 Gold Tetras
2 Rosy Tetras
2 Congo Tetras (Which I absolutely love!!)

These were all bought with no real advice from the fish shop and I now know that tetras are shoaling fish and require numbers of at least 6, ideally, so here's the good news.

On saturday, I am picking up a 2nd user Fluval Roma 200 (52 US gallon) tank with an external filter (Fluval 205).

I am going to use my current filter media to seed the new media (although my current tank isn't fully cycled yet, but i'm under the impression it won't matter as it will just start from where it was left off).

I want to take the 2 gold tetras back to the shop (these were misold to me anyway) and I plan on taking the black tetras back too to replace them with a number of Neons and rosys. I want to have about 8 of each kind (so 24 in total, although I'm aware the congo's grow big), would that be ok?

Obviously I'm not going to stock all of that right away, I was planning on taking the 5 tetras I don't want, and getting the neon and rosy numbers up. Then a few weeks down the line, get some more congos.

I would also like to change my substrate to sand. I've heard people use play sand from Argos, is this safe? How much would I realistically need for a fluval roma 200. Base plan is 100 x 40cm, and I would say I'd like about an inch of substrate (unless you advise otherwise)

Really appreciate any opinions, thoughts, advice you guys can give.

Thanks

 

[Randi]

Play sand is completly safe, but it is very dirty. You will want to rinse it in a bucket until the water runs clear which can take a long time. How much sand you need depends on if you are going to have any live plants. If you are only going to use artificial plants 1 inch of sand is sufficient, if you are going to plant your tank I would take that up to 3 inches. I'm not sure how they sell play sand in the UK (I'm in the US) but here, the smallest available package is more than enough sand.

 

[brian2708]

Play sand is completly safe, but it is very dirty. You will want to rinse it in a bucket until the water runs clear which can take a long time. How much sand you need depends on if you are going to have any live plants. If you are only going to use artificial plants 1 inch of sand is sufficient, if you are going to plant your tank I would take that up to 3 inches. I'm not sure how they sell play sand in the UK (I'm in the US) but here, the smallest available package is more than enough sand.

Ah thanks.

I hate fake plants, so real plants it is, and more substrate is obviously required.

 

[fluttermoth]

Your stocking plan sounds fine, except I'd leave off getting the neons for a while if I was you, as for some reason they don't seem to do well in new tanks and I personally consider your tank too small for Congos; they need a 4'+ IMO.

Argos playsand is fine; I have it in most of my tanks; you just need to wash it really, really well; it's much easier done in a bucket than once it's in your tank! You sohuld only need one 15kg bag; I got two bags and I've done a 48"x15", a 36"x12" and half a 36"x15" with it.
An inch is ok, though you might need to put more in if you're planting in it. I've got an inch or so at the front and an inch and a half/two inches at the back.

 

[brian2708]

Is rinsing the sand the same as you'd rinse rice, ie, place it in the container, and run the tap over it to allow if to overflow until the water clear?

 

[fluttermoth]

Is rinsing the sand the same as you'd rinse rice, ie, place it in the container, and run the tap over it to allow if to overflow until the water clear?

Exactly right; give it a few good stirs as well. It's actually quicker to do smaller amounts rather than trying to do too much in one go. You'll find there's a lot of lighter particles in there; make sure you tip those away, as it's those lighter bits that'll cloud up your tank

 

[brian2708]

Ah excellent, ok thanks. I'll be able to let the new tank settle for a while too which will help as the fish will be ok in their current setup for a while.

 

[brian2708]

Ok, so this plonker has let me down, but nevermind.

On tuesday I'm hopefully picking up a fluval Roma 200 with a Fluval 205 External filter.

The only downside is that the filter has no media, and as I've never seen an external filter, wondered what I should be buying for this. I've heard I may need to get a new seal. Is this right? Any help appreciated. Thanks

 

[waterdrop]

I don't know the 205 that well but you can probably supply it with both ceramics (rings or pebbles) and a medium sponge. Even better would be if some combo of rings and coarse sponge could preceed medium sponge material. I would study various web sites to figure out what Fluval thinks it should have and then subtract the carbon if they suggest that and proceed possibly with some variation on the other things they suggest.

It's a great idea to have both fresh seals and spare seals for cannister filters. Often the manufacturer will also sell a silicone grease or lubricant of some sort to help the seal sit well and to help it resist water rot. Some of the members are handy types and can probably tell you a good hardware store thing to get that would be cheaper, although I guess ultimately this is yet another little detailed area where we still have little questions, lol.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[brian2708]

Just out of interest, why do you not recommend the carbon part of the filter?

 

[fluttermoth]

Because it really doesn't do much useful. It won't remove ammonia, nitrite or nitrate.

It is useful for removing tannins from the water if you have a lot of bogwood in the tank and don't like the brownish yellow tinge it gives to the water, and for removing medicicnes either at the end of a treatment or because you need to change to another med.

 

[brian2708]

Ok thanks for your help.