Hello From South Wales

[Noahh]

Hi everyone,
 
I'm from South Wales, UK and am still a little fresh when it comes to fish-keeping.
 
My other main interests are mountain biking and motorbikes.
 
I had a 2 foot tank for about 4 years and have finally bought myself a 4 foot tank (200 litres). I'm cycling it at the moment to prepare to move my fish into.
 
I love natural looking tanks - brown/grey fish hiding in weeds. It gives more of a sense of discovery when you spot the fish.
 
My favourite fish are 5 banded barbs and ottos.
 
I also love the idea of having breeding fish in my tank so I've enjoyed keeping guppies in the past but they are a bit too fancy for me really.
 
My tank (Fluval Roma 200) is currently empty whilst its cycling but I'd love for it one day to look like this:
 

 
Anyway, nice to meet you all. I would love to hear some suggestions for my new natural tank.

 

[Noahh]

PS I have a tetratec ex700 external filter which came with the tank (second hand) which I am battling with at the moment. It's just randomly leaking from the hand starter pump every few days. Anyone have any experience with this filter?

 

[Blondielovesfish]

Hi, to the forum. 
Sounds like you're already pretty knowledgeable which is great!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I'd like to offer that five-banded barbs are quite nice fish.  A group of them, with a shoal of otos, and maybe a third fish... maybe a group of harlequin rasboras, cherry barbs, or for a real splash of color cardinal or neon tetras.
 
 
If you are serious about the black and grey look, maybe some penguin tetras.

 

[Noahsfish]

Is that your current tank in the picture?? If it is very well done!

 

[DrRob]

Welcome to the forum.
 
For the ex700, check the o-rings around the primer section (if there are any), make sure that they're clear of particles and grease them up with some vaseline (but avoid blobs as this causes leaks too).
 
If it's still leaking after that then it may be a spare part from tetratec. They're not too bad for customer service, but it may depend on how old it is and what the warranty situation is as to whether they charge for it.
 
For breeding people tend to have more success fish that livebear (as you've found) or exhibit parental behaviour. You've mainly got egg scatters there and whilst they can be relatively easy to breed, the fry tend to not do well in a community tank. This is one of the reasons that people get into cichlids. Unless of course you've still got that 2 footer to use as a breeding rig.

 

[Noahsfish]

Oh, must've missed the line before the picture. Good taste though, Lol.

 

[Noahh]

Wow, thanks for the great introduction to this forum!!!
 

I'd like to offer that five-banded barbs are quite nice fish.  A group of them, with a shoal of otos, and maybe a third fish... maybe a group of harlequin rasboras, cherry barbs, or for a real splash of color cardinal or neon tetras. If you are serious about the black and grey look, maybe some penguin tetras.

 
Thanks eagles, I'll take a look into them! Now off to the fish shop to get some ideas for my new set up.
 
 

For the ex700, check the o-rings around the primer section (if there are any), make sure that they're clear of particles and grease them up with some vaseline (but avoid blobs as this causes leaks too).
 
If it's still leaking after that then it may be a spare part from tetratec. They're not too bad for customer service, but it may depend on how old it is and what the warranty situation is as to whether they charge for it.

 
Hi DrRob, thanks for the great advice. I'll have a play with it and try to work out what's going wrong.
 
 

For breeding people tend to have more success fish that livebear (as you've found) or exhibit parental behaviour. You've mainly got egg scatters there and whilst they can be relatively easy to breed, the fry tend to not do well in a community tank. This is one of the reasons that people get into cichlids. Unless of course you've still got that 2 footer to use as a breeding rig.

 
The 2ft tank is still housing my fish whilst I wait for my new tank to cycle. Still trying to decide what to do with it once I've got the new one set up. I have an aqua-one 1ftx1ft tank which I've been using as a breeder tank and that's a nice enclosed unit whereas my 2ft tank has no lid which seems to make the fish a lot more nervous.
 
I've just researched chichlid breeding - I never realised they were so interesting! I always passed them off as being boring colourful fish. Do they come in brown?
 
I love female guppies, they look like 'wild' fish but the males would spoil my tank...
 
Ideally I'd like to pluck some fish from a local river but there must be a thousand reasons why that wouldn't work. I'd love to breed minnows and sticklebacks!
 
Noahh

 

[DrRob]

There are indeed brown cichlids of varying sizes. For the colours you're thinking take a look at the keyholes for small black and whites.

 

[DrRob]

Come to think of it, have you looked at the wild colouration swordtails?

 

[Noahh]

I was looking at some little keyhole cichlids and some green swordtails too at the fish shop this afternoon - you seem to understand exactly what I'm looking for!
 
I've found swordtails a little aggressive for communities in the past but that was two males in the 2ft tank - poor advice by the shop assistant!?
 
Thanks DrRob!
 
Noahh

 

[DrRob]

depends entirely on what you put them with, tank space and numbers, but they can be boisterous.

 

[Noahh]

Just a quick update on the filter. I've tried greasing all the seals and it's still leaking - I've looked it up and it sounds like it was a design fault with the original construction of the filter. I wish the guy I bought it off had been a bit more honest about it's condition! Looks like I'm going to have to fork out more money to get this tank set up than I can afford 

 
So my project is on hold for now until I have saved up enough to get a new filter or I get a pay rise.
 
 
All I can say is avoid Tetratec EX700s like the plague...
 
 
Here are some links of threads on this forum discussing the exact problem I have had with it:
 
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/292754-filter-leaking-tetratec/
 
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/339146-another-leaking-ex700/
 
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/302124-tetratec-ex700-leaking/
 
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/281921-tetra-ex700-filter-is-leaking/
 
 
If anyone could suggest any good budget options or reliable second hand alternatives it would be very helpful indeed as I am going into this completely blind. I hear Eheims are quite good but to be honest that is the limit of my knowledge.
 
Maybe someone could help me find a good thread on filters???
 
Thanks,
Noahh

 

[DrRob]

Filters are one of those issues, one man's meat is another man's poison.
 
For budget, get an oversized (they are big) all pond solutions one. However they are not the best build quality in the world and are power hungry. For slightly more people are singing the praises of the jbl e-series, power efficient (may well pay the difference in electricity bills in the year) and not expensive. If your budget is big then the higher end eheims are very well regarded filters.
 
Still might be worth giving tetratec a bell, they may be willing to send you a replacement part and the filters themselves are good quality.

 

[Noahh]

Thanks again for more great advice DrRob!!!!
 
I tried contacting Tetratec a week ago (couldn't find a UK phone number so had to email), they never got back to me so I went out today and bit the bullet.
 
I've bought a brand new Fluval 206 (the free towel sold it for me!) for about £80. Set it up, plugged it in and my tank has been cycling happily all day. Not a single drip of water!
 
Whilst I was at it I also picked up some plants and have added my old filter media to the tank to help kick start cycling. Can't wait to move my fish in!
 
Anyway - that's enough of an intro from me so I've set up a new thread to get some more advice on plants at cycling - also got some photos there of the set up!!!
 
Here's a link:
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/421732-natural-looking-tank-set-up/
 

 
Noahh