Hello From East Of England

[fazer fish]

Hi all my name is Nathan I live in Oulton Broad in North Suffolk (anyone near by?)
I have been into Tropical Fish off and on most of my life, my dad used to have/keep fish when I was a boy and I just followed on from him.

In the past I have had some small tanks and if I'm honest I lost interest in the lack of activity in the tank. I then started to move onto bigger tanks which was a good move.I then had about four years out from it and then a BARGAIN come up that I could not say no to.

A 6ft long, 2ft high and 1ft and half in width tank WITH made to measure cast iron stand, lights, pump and lid all for WAIT FOR IT .....................£40..I just could not say no plus I was getting the bug again as my best mate keeps fish and I so badly wanted fish again.The chap who I brought it off was an old man and the had this made to his own requirements the tank sits a little lower than most as it sits in perfect eye level when you sit in a chair to look at it.The tank just got to much for him to look after.

Its been running for sometime now. I have fish, shrimp and aqua frogs and NO DEATHS and they all seem to be getting on fine.I have tried to make the tank like a natural landscape with a few plants rocks, moss balls and a small bit of bog wood. Lots of places for the fish to hide and it seems to be a happy place for them to be. I have even got some baby mollys now which is nice.

I will try to get some pics up later on BUT will have to get the wife to do it for me. as I see you like a picture.

Not much more to say I don't think any advice would be gratefully received.

cheers.

 

[kaivalagi]

Hello and welcome

I'm based on Norwich, just up the road

Sounds like a nice tank, I assume you have African Dwarf Frogs in there?

Can you post what the actual species you have are, that always interests me...I'm into cichlids now, my stock is in my sig.

Oh and I think you meant to say "Not much more to say I don't think, any advice would be gratefully received. " Just reads a bit wrong to me, sounds like advice would be taken the wrong way which I'm sure it wouldn't be

 

[plecostomus-mad]

hi, welcome to tff!

i must see pics! lol sounds like an interesting setup

'' I don't think any advice would be gratefully received '' ......you will get it anyway as we are a helpful bunch of so-and-so's

 

[fazer fish]

Hello and welcome

I'm based on Norwich, just up the road

Sounds like a nice tank, I assume you have African Dwarf Frogs in there?

Can you post what the actual species you have are, that always interests me...I'm into cichlids now, my stock is in my sig.

Oh and I think you meant to say "Not much more to say I don't think, any advice would be gratefully received. " Just reads a bit wrong to me, sounds like advice would be taken the wrong way which I'm sure it wouldn't be

lol yeah you know what I meant...I missed a , out sorry. BUT the advice would be nice cause you never know if the advice the fish shop keeper is giving you is correct and that he`s not just being a salesman..But I am told the bigger the tank the better I will be with in tank fighting as the fish can get away from each other.(and so far no fighting from what I can see or deaths)

I must say the chap I deal with does seem very knowledgeable and knows his stuff and has said I have any problems I can take stock back with no fuss for a swap, so I don't think that's to bad.

But it does seem abit of a mine field with all the info about keeping fish and the things you should and should not do and alot of people say different things.That`s why I`m on here to try and take a little from everyone and learn myself...as there is no way you can know everything.

Will try and get some pics up soon.

 

[kaivalagi]

Good stuff, any specifics questions fire away and you'll hear what you need to

Give us more details on the stocking and setup and we can advise, photos will be good!

 

[Assaye]

Generally once you've managed a humane cycle and avoided any newbie mistakes (like keeping fish that get the 2 foot in a too-small tank and washing filters in tap water), you're good to go =)

Sounds like a great tank. Photos please!

Did it come with fish or did you cycle and stock it yourself? What is your stock list? What sort of frogs are they?

I can't wait to get my paws on a BIG tank. Just need to wait until the man and I are settled in our own place without pesky housemates!

 

[fazer fish]

Please give me some time on photos I have took them Im just waiting on the wife to put them on (do we use photobucket).

From what I can see

 

[simonas]

welcome to the forum!!!

we need pics ha

photobucket is what i use then i copy and paste the direct link to the picture symbol above where you type your post

 

[fazer fish]

Please give me some time on photos I have took them I'm just waiting on the wife to put them on (do we use photobucket).

From what I can see I may have made a few school boy errors going by your dos and donts. I have angels with neons opps.

These frogs I'm not to sure what they are. I am back off to the LFS this Tuesday and I will ask them. On the tank it just said Aqua frog and I was told that they are very peaceful and don't get to large.

This is my stock list if I have gone wrong please let me know and what I could take out put in.

Clown Loach x 2,
Triangle Loach x1,
Albino Tetra x2,
Silver Shark x1,
Rainbow Shark x1,
Guppys x3,
Mollys x5,
Angel x2,
Neons x10,
Glass fish x1,
Pencil Fish x4,
Algae Eater x1
Aquatic Frog x3.

With the sharks I was told they would not fight??.
The glass fish I know he needs to be in a group.
I now know the Angels and Neons will not get on.

What else do I need to know?? I have tried to keep it a nice NO FIGHT ZONE...and like I said so far so good.

I also change the water about 20% every Sunday morning , feed my plants. Feed the fish four times a day and I give flakes, live and frozen blood worm AND THEY SCOFF it up every time with about a minute. little pigs.

So like I said any advice I would take as I am at the bottom of the ladder so to speak in knowledge of TF.

cheers.

 

[kaivalagi]

Quick note on feeding, 4 times a day sounds excessive...it would be okay if the amount was very small but normally it's 1 feed that is finished in 1 minute. If you have problems getting the food to various fish in the tank because of the numbers try using a turkey baster...I got one recently and it makes for easy feeding and mopping up any food not eaten too. Maybe you need to feed 4 times about to target all the fish for food?

Hope that the frog is an African Dwarf Frog and no an African Clawed Frog...if the later they get big and eat fish...

Some people have angels in with neons without too muc trouble, but keep an eye on things

What type of algae eater is it? Chinese algae eaters are nasty and can (not do) feed on the slime coat of other fish with tall bodies such as angels, siamese algae eaters are not so bad...

Waiting for the pics

 

[fazer fish]

Right here goes some photos

The Tank (still need some more plants I think)

 

[kaivalagi]

Nice and big! Very lucky indeed! It's crying out for big cichlids to me, a couple of severums in there I reckon

I'd suggest, if you can get to the back okay, to change the background to solid black, all the fish will stand out so much better, and you'll appreciate their colours a lot more.

Also, I would take that white(ish) plant out in the middle, it is not a proper aquatic plant and will most likely start dying soon releasing ammonia etc...if you see any brown tinting on the leaves get it out....

Great looking tank, just in need of some bigger fish IMHO

 

[fazer fish]

Ok some more pics of my fish and frogs.

1st the frog best pic I have at the moment

My breeding pair of mollys and I think the female is about to give birth again

My Triangle Loach

My two Angels (wife's fav I'm not to keen on them really)

Fish love swimming though this

Now I`m sorry for the bubble bike but I'm a biker and just loved it so in it went but I did try to make it look like it smashed into the rocks <sort of>

 

[fazer fish]

Nice and big! Very lucky indeed! It's crying out for big cichlids to me, a couple of severums in there I reckon

I'd suggest, if you can get to the back okay, to change the background to solid black, all the fish will stand out so much better, and you'll appreciate their colours a lot more.

Also, I would take that white(ish) plant out in the middle, it is not a proper aquatic plant and will most likely start dying soon releasing ammonia etc...if you see any brown tinting on the leaves get it out....

Great looking tank, just in need of some bigger fish IMHO

cheers for the reply...Yes we can get to the back we changed the background the other day and when you could see the white wall behind the tank looked great..SO is the background just for looks?? it does not make the fish feel somewhat better/at home?

I will keep an eye on that plant but at the mo its been getting bigger. I was going to go for bigger fish but I thought get small and watch them grow.

 

[chrisbassist]

Are the front feet webbed on the frogs? If they are they look like African dwarf/Congo frogs. Great at hiding.