My First Deecnt Tank

[Sweeden]

Many years ago my dad bought a tank and filled it with nearly 25 fish of all differents colours etc. then some of these died and my mum thought she'd clean the tank and used 'milton' killing most of the fish overnight. a day later the whole tank was floating and the reason.... mother had turned the heater on full whack! So we the parents gave up and stuck the tank in the loft where it was to stay

Untill April 2010 when their eldest son (Me) wanted some fish at university as his room looked bland. So i bought some gravel bit of bog wood and 4 beautiful goldfish. They lasted all the way up untill i went on holiday and my brother cleaned the tank, as you can guess the fish died.

So i thought i would fill the tank up with tropical fish again to be more of a display tank than anything. so i found this site and over the past couple of weeks have read through quite alot and asked a fair few questions with brilliant responses. After my research and questions i'm looking at getting cardinal tetras, cherry shrimp and a plec/loach if i can find one that want grow huge!

So today i started to cycle my tank after setting it up nearly two weeks ago. so this morning went to homebase and got some household ammonia (9.5% ammonia hydroxide) and added 50ml into 50ml of water. i did this because i cant see 1-4ml on my srynge. so i used the calculated which says for a 10G tank to add 2.5ml so i added 5ml of my solution. I've just tested the water with my master kit and it comes out at 4ppm spot on! so now its just a waiting game.

Hope you all enjoy the story of my tank and will pick me up where i go wrong on my travels.... oh and if my nan gets what she wants and my mother doesnt then i should have a 4ft x 1ft^2 tank soon with a bigger filter/air pump etc.

 

[Assaye]

Many years ago my dad bought a tank and filled it with nearly 25 fish of all differents colours etc. then some of these died and my mum thought she'd clean the tank and used 'milton' killing most of the fish overnight. a day later the whole tank was floating and the reason.... mother had turned the heater on full whack! So we the parents gave up and stuck the tank in the loft where it was to stay

Untill April 2010 when their eldest son (Me) wanted some fish at university as his room looked bland. So i bought some gravel bit of bog wood and 4 beautiful goldfish. They lasted all the way up untill i went on holiday and my brother cleaned the tank, as you can guess the fish died.

So i thought i would fill the tank up with tropical fish again to be more of a display tank than anything. so i found this site and over the past couple of weeks have read through quite alot and asked a fair few questions with brilliant responses. After my research and questions i'm looking at getting cardinal tetras, cherry shrimp and a plec/loach if i can find one that want grow huge!

So today i started to cycle my tank after setting it up nearly two weeks ago. so this morning went to homebase and got some household ammonia (9.5% ammonia hydroxide) and added 50ml into 50ml of water. i did this because i cant see 1-4ml on my srynge. so i used the calculated which says for a 10G tank to add 2.5ml so i added 5ml of my solution. I've just tested the water with my master kit and it comes out at 4ppm spot on! so now its just a waiting game.

Hope you all enjoy the story of my tank and will pick me up where i go wrong on my travels.... oh and if my nan gets what she wants and my mother doesnt then i should have a 4ft x 1ft^2 tank soon with a bigger filter/air pump etc.

Sounds wicked! Your story was amusing but poor fish, lol!

Good luck with the new tank and with your cycle - let us know how you get on

 

[Sweeden]

Sounds wicked! Your story was amusing but poor fish, lol!

Good luck with the new tank and with your cycle - let us know how you get on

yeah i'll keep this updated as much as possible.
anyway heres a picture of the tank as it stands

as you can see theres a slight film developing on the inside of the tank. but other than this i'm going to get some black vinyl for the back of the tank on monday and maybe a different bulb to give a more blue-ish light any suggestions??? what goes best with cardinals?

 

[Carlovel1]

You should wait atleast 6 months before adding Cardinal tetra into newly established tanks.Otherwise they will die

 

[Sweeden]

You should wait atleast 6 months before adding Cardinal tetra into newly established tanks.Otherwise they will die

Ahhhh! Now thats screwed up my plans. ok well what fish can i have?

My preferences are
- small
- easy to care for
- colourful as possible

Tested Tank this morning and we're still at 4ppm i'll give it a few days before next test

 

[Assaye]

Hmm, alternatives to cardinals . . .

How about chilli rasboras, ember tetras or green neon tetras? Glowlight tetras are also pretty cool. How many gallons is the tank?

 

[ian]

when did this rule about Cardinals appear?? Its true about neons, but cardinal are a totally different fish. They are IME one of the hardiest tetras going. PFK also did a article about Cards being more hardy a few months ago. I added 20 cardinals to a tank that was a month old (cycled with mature media), and everyone of them survived.

 

[Carlovel1]

The rule applies to the Green Neon Tetra too!
The Glowlight Tetra should be ok but IMO Glowlight Danio are superior. Very active, always shoaling, very pretty!

 

[ian]

Carl, green 'neon' tetra the clues in the name...Cardinal Tetra is a different species all together and should be treated a little different. Google 'Hardy Tetra Cardinal' and you'll change you mind.

 

[Carlovel1]

In the PFK article about Cardinals it says 'In well-kept aquariums Cardinals are hardy, easy to keep and generally not disease prone.'

A 'well-kept' aquarium is an established tank with weekly water changes and good water stats.

 

[ian]

well kept means 'good water'. Do you have any experience with Cards, Carl?

To the OP, Cardinals are an option for you, if you want a bit of colour.Neon Tetras would need a mature tank
as these fish have been so overbred they don't do well with fluctuations, however Cardinals are mainly still wild caught which means they are from better stock and if well acclimatised will flourish.

for the record, Cardinals don't need a mature tank. They need clean water.

 

[Carlovel1]

well kept means 'good water'. Do you have any experience with Cards, Carl?

To the OP, Cardinals are an option for you, if you want a bit of colour.Neon Tetras would need a mature tank
as these fish have been so overbred they don't do well with fluctuations, however Cardinals are mainly still wild caught which means they are from better stock and if well acclimatised will flourish.

for the record, Cardinals don't need a mature tank. They need clean water.

Yes I do have experiance with Cardinals.
I had 5 Neons, 5 Cardinals and 5 Glowlight Danios a few years ago in a new tank. Within a week, the cardinals all died, the neons survived for another month or so then they too died.I had perfect water I was left with 5 Glowlight Danios which I still have and thats why I recommend them, they ARE hardy in new aquariums

 

[Assaye]

The rule applies to the Green Neon Tetra too!
The Glowlight Tetra should be ok but IMO Glowlight Danio are superior. Very active, always shoaling, very pretty!

As far as I know, green neons are far hardier than neon tetras and perhaps hardier than cardinals. They are a difference species. It isn't a random rule for anything that resembles a neon tetra.

Glowlight danio are very pretty.

I've heard a pretty much 50/50 split in people saying cardinals are hardy and people saying cardinals need a mature tank and excellent water quality. It's enough to make me cautious.

 

[ian]

So...do they need a 6 month matured aquarium...no they don't and you'll probably find no evidence to back the comment up. All I'm saying this for is that sometimes bad advice is given on this forum and on the internet these comment start rumours and stick. BTW that pro article is not the one I'm thinking of, it was by heiko.

As said before, cards need the right acclimatisation into a tank, once acclimatised they should be fine. When I say acclimatised properly, they do best with the airtune and drip technique.

 

[Assaye]

So...do they need a 6 month matured aquarium...no they don't and you'll probably find no evidence to back the comment up. All I'm saying this for is that sometimes bad advice is given on this forum and on the internet these comment start rumours and stick. BTW that pro article is not the one I'm thinking of, it was by heiko.

As said before, cards need the right acclimatisation into a tank, once acclimatised they should be fine. When I say acclimatised properly, they do best with the airtune and drip technique.

I don't remember the article but I'd be pretty happy with anything Heiko had to say, tbh. Massive respect for that man. Can you remember what issue it was in?