Help Needed

[puppa]

Hello all. New to all this. Just purchased an Aqua 40 tank. This came with an Aqua flow 1 filter. I purchased a 50w Combi Heater.Spent 4hrs cleaning my gravel and once the water ran clear i started to set up my tank. Added the gravel and then filled with water. On fixing the heater i found some clear tubing and conectors but dont know what they are for cos there is no where to conect them. Then the heater, this has a protector cover, does this need to be over the heater or not? Added Nutafin water Conditioner(Aqua +). After a while i have bubbles covering the heater and filter, is this normal? The pet shop i purchased from has perfect tanks, clean and clear. The owner told me to run the tank from today and wait til Wednesday when the temp should be right; go back, buy a couple of plants and 6 White Clouds. These will help in the running of the tank. I have a nitrite test kit and was told to do it weekly. When the test is clear i will be able to add more fish.
What i need to know is, have i done things right and is the advice right?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

hi there, welcome to the forum and to fishkeeping.

unfortunatley the shop has given some dodgy advice, but at least you have now found out before getting any fish.

What the fish shop has told you to do (without giving you the full facts) is a fish-in cycle, this is dangerous, stressful and all together a bad idea! What we do now is a fishless cycle where you simulate the fish's waste by adding pure ammonia to the tank.

If you read the links in my sig 'whats cycling' and 'fishless cycling' these will explain more and tell you exactly what you need to do. Have a good read through them and then post back with any questions you have. It can be a little daunting at first but trust me, if you take a little time now to learn it you'll find fishkeeping a much more sucessful and pain free experience.

Also if you have a read of the link 'step by step guide to setting up an aquarium' this covers a lot of basic fishkeeping stuff which will help you make sure you've got everything you need.

The clear tubing most likley belongs to the filter, it sounds like a venturi device which is used to add extra oxygen to the water, it's not really necessary tbh, all you need to do to ensure good oxygenation is set your filter up so when it's on it creates ripples across the surface of the water.

The plastic cover will be a heater guard, it's not essential but as you have it you may as well use it. It stops fish from burning themselves on the heater.

The bubbles are totally normal and will dissapear by themselves in a day or so.

You will need more than just a nitrite test kit, but it's a good start! The links I directed you to earlier explain more about the tests, what they all mean and what level they should be at.

 

[puppa]

Ty for your response. Do i need to add some fish flakes to speed anything up cos i read somewhere that you can do this?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

you add pure ammonia, the details are all in the fishless cycling link in my sig, have a read of the 'whats cycling' thread first, then read the fishless cycling one and it'll explain it all!!

 

[Rooster]

Hello all. New to all this. Just purchased an Aqua 40 tank. This came with an Aqua flow 1 filter. I purchased a 50w Combi Heater.Spent 4hrs cleaning my gravel and once the water ran clear i started to set up my tank. Added the gravel and then filled with water. On fixing the heater i found some clear tubing and conectors but dont know what they are for cos there is no where to conect them. Then the heater, this has a protector cover, does this need to be over the heater or not? Added Nutafin water Conditioner(Aqua +). After a while i have bubbles covering the heater and filter, is this normal? The pet shop i purchased from has perfect tanks, clean and clear. The owner told me to run the tank from today and wait til Wednesday when the temp should be right; go back, buy a couple of plants and 6 White Clouds. These will help in the running of the tank. I have a nitrite test kit and was told to do it weekly. When the test is clear i will be able to add more fish.
What i need to know is, have i done things right and is the advice right?

Never ran a heater with a cover - if its "optional" I would leave it off - never had an injured fish, or anything else, in 40 odd years ! Just looks like somewhere for a fish to get stuck to me !

The bubbles forming on surfaces is perfectly natural... they will clear up in a few days.


As for adding plants and fish... this is old school thinking, please read the stickies relating to "fishless cycling" this is a way to setup your tank in a much more healthy fashion - takes a bit more patience, but the rewards are many - and you are far more lilkely to succeed.

Test kits.... as a minimum, I would recommend Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate test kits, you can buy these individually or as a "master kit" probably get a few other tests in there too.
These master kits are HIGHLY recommended to new aquarists.... they will help us to help you in the future, and are a great peace of mind.
Once the tank is running for a few months, you dont really have to test at regular periods... but it does no harm.
The whole name of the game is stability. Its easy to panic over a "non standard" reading, but as long as its close to the norm, then its fine.

Most folk would recommend the API kits... these are liquid based, dont waste money on the "dipstick" types - they are a pain to read correctly.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Never ran a heater with a cover - if its "optional" I would leave it off - never had an injured fish, or anything else, in 40 odd years ! Just looks like somewhere for a fish to get stuck to me !

by contrast i've never seen a fish get trapped in them, but when i had a big boisterous oscar i had problems with him burning himself on it......

i don't think a fish could get trapped in it tbh not even tiny ones!!!

either way though it's an optional thing and i don't think choosing to have it on or off will make a vast amount of difference.

 

[puppa]

HI all. I have my tank running since 16:00 Monday, now the water has turned cloudy, why? The filter is creating ripples on the water and the temp is a constant 26C. Any ideas. Any one near Coningsby Lincs who could offer any assistance?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

the cloudy water is a bacterial bloom, it's part of the cycling process and perfectly normal.

have you been testing the water and doing water changes?

 

[puppa]

How long before the cloudy conditions stop? Tested nitrite last nite and it was clear. Still going to do as man in pet shop told me about cycling with fish, then if anything goes wrong i can blame him! Going to buy a couple of plants today as well as some white clouds as he instructed me.

about stocking. I know i will have to wait a while but my tank is 30x33x37 what fish can i put in? I have thought about neon tetras, m&f guppy, black molly, and an octocinclus. Any problems?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

nitrite will be clear at this stage, how is ammonia? that's the important one at this point in the cycle.

it's all well and good saying you can blame the pet shop man, but what you are doing now is likley to kill or cause permanent damage to the fish you have, you are aware of this and must take some personal responsibility. It's not about getting your money back or whatever, these are living animals and you have a responsibility to provide them with the best care possible. You can't just say it's the pet shop man's fault. You've been given the information to do this the safe way, if you choose to ignore that information that is your choice and your responsibility.

If you get any pet you make the choice for it to live with you, it's down to you to research properly and care for it properly. The animal did not choose to coem to live with you, you should make sure that it does not suffer un-necessarily because of your actions. People think because it's fish it doesn't matter, but they wouldn't dream of getting a dog and not taking it for proper walks or anything like that. It is still animal cruelty if it's fish.

Sorry if that's a bit ranty but it gets me riled up when people make that sort of comment. If you want help and advice we can give it to you, but if you don't want to listen to what we have to say then how can we help?

 

[Rooster]

Why, Oh why do folk ask for advice, then ignore it ? I suspect we'll be hearing from puppa again....

 

[catxx]

*expects a "why have my fish died/why are my fish gasping at the surface/not eating" post from puppa*

go fishless for the fish's sake!

 

[Jazzzz]

How long before the cloudy conditions stop? Tested nitrite last nite and it was clear. Still going to do as man in pet shop told me about cycling with fish, then if anything goes wrong i can blame him! Going to buy a couple of plants today as well as some white clouds as he instructed me.

about stocking. I know i will have to wait a while but my tank is 30x33x37 what fish can i put in? I have thought about neon tetras, m&f guppy, black molly, and an octocinclus. Any problems?

HI all. I have my tank running since 16:00 Monday, now the water has turned cloudy, why? The filter is creating ripples on the water and the temp is a constant 26C. Any ideas. Any one near Coningsby Lincs who could offer any assistance?

How about listening to advice and using it.

At least get some mature filter media for your tank so the fish have a chance

Also are you buy any chance using the white clouds as a tool for cycling your tank hoping they will die so you can get your money back and have a cycled tank as I note your stocking Idea contains no white cloud minnows

The male guppy will hastle the female to much probably leading to death each male guppy should have at least two females in order to divide his attention.

Get the black molly a friend in the form of another molly.

Neon tetras are very delicate and as you have no experiance and will have a new tank they might not be the best chioce.

The cloudy water will probably go did you liberally clean the gravel till water ran through it crystal clear.

 

[puppa]

well here we are again. My tank has matuered superbly. I still have my WCMM. I also have 1male Guppy and 3 female Guppy. I must be doing something right because we have a dozen fry from two of the females within the last 10 days and are waiting for the third one to give birth!


Thanks for all your advice that i received when i first started out.
I now have a Jewel Rekord 60 which has also matured well and has Zebra Danios and Platys in it.

 

[OldMan47]

Congrats Puppa. Fry are always fun in a tank and as you said they do indicate that you are doing something right. The real challenge now becomes finding a home for the fry before they become too much or your tank's biofilter.