New Fluval 125L Tank And Fluval U3 Filter

[Lancashire Lass]

Good morning.

Sincere apologies if this topic is listed elsewhere but I have searched many pages and haven't found the solution I am looking for.

Two weeks ago I set up a tropical aquarium, the first for many years, equipped with the Fluval U3 filter. Having got it up and running with a few live plants and to an optimum temperature the following day I got the ball rolling with half a dozen Neon tetras and two small catfish. After a week I added 6 Gold Cloud Minnows, 4 Tiger Barbs and a pair of Dwarf Gourami, all recommended as suitable by the fish shop.

The ph is being monitored and the ammonia and nitrate levels have been checked. I have added any pills and potions required.

I had hoped that the tank would be lovely and clear. Two nights ago I noticed a film on the water surface and wondered if the filter was malfunctioning. Turned to be my husband. He hadn't removed the biomax from the bag. I hoped there would be an improvement by the following evening.

Am I expecting too much of this filter? Will I ever get a crystal clear tank? Is it possible that my dearest has assembled the filter with others bits in bags? Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Best regards

 

[chrisbassist]

Hi and welcome.

The tank going cloudy will be bacterial bloom. Nothingbto worry about and will go eventually on it's own, or you can speed it up with water changes.

The filter is adequate for the tank (sounds like you have the Roma like me) but you may get fed up of the box in the tank like I did and go for enexternal.

Neons are an extremely bad fish to start the tank with. They do much better in tanks 6 months old.

What pills and potions have you added? The best way of keeping ammonia and nitrite levels down is water changes.

Since you are now in a fish in cycle, expect lots of waterchanges.

Hopefully I've answered most of he questions.

 

[Wills]

Hi welcome to the forum and the hobby!! You seem to have dived in at the deep end with things, 1 week into a fish tank is a bit early to add fish. But if it was on the advise of the LFS I can understand it, they tell people this quite often.

The reason your water is murky or has a surface stuff could be because your tank isnt cycled. When I say cycled this means that your tank has not been running with a source of ammonia for long enough. When fish poo the poo creates ammonia which is poisonous to fish, in a mature tank the filter bacteria will process this into nitrite and then more bacteria will turn nitrite into nitrate. But in a new tank there is no bacteria to process the ammonia or nitrite - so at present your fish are swimming around in toxic water. You said you had water test kits, which ones are they the drop ones or the strips? What are the results of the ammonia and nitrite tests?

Right now you are in whats called a fish in cycle, this means that the ammonia is being created by the fish. The other form of cycling is called fishless cycling which uses pure ammonia to bypass the need for fish until the filter is ready. But yeah fish in cycle, right now your fish will be really stressed by the toxic water - by this I mean they wont be aware that there is a chemical going through them called ammonia but they will be feeling uncomfortable, the ammonia burns their gills and fins and can cause death and disease very easily. My best advice right now is to test your water and if ammonia and nitrite are about .25 on the test kit then do a water change it is most likley that you will need to do water changes most days for the next few weeks. Dont worry this is quite a common situation that begginers are put in by local fish shops, they need to sell fish so will sell them asap if you have a tank. If those fish die its good for them as you come back and buy more. Sorry to be so cynical but its just what happens.

One bit of really good news is you have a good mix of fish All compatible all from the same area in the wild and should be a good mix in the future, one of the common issues we find with beginners is that fish shops sell them fish that grow way to big for the average tank like the common plec which gets to a foot long or more, bala sharks which get to 14 inches and even iridescent sharks which have an adult size of six foot!! So watch out for monsters like that lurking in pet shops.

Sorry to be harsh but its just best to learn what situation you are in now so you can deal with them quick to save death and disease in the tank. About the cloudy water etc that could be due to a bacterial bloom or a lack of bacteria if the water is starting to discolour by its self I imagine you might have a high ammonia reading.

Wills

 

[chrisbassist]

Listen to wills, he really helped me out when I got my tank.

One more question though. Re Reading you just say 2 small catfish.

What catfish?

There are many different types, from plec and cories to other types... Some stay small, others will grow massive amounts.

 

[Lancashire Lass]

Hi Wills and chrisbassist

Thank you so much for your advice. A lot to take in but it all makes sense. When we kept tropical fish fifteen years ago it didn't seem as complicated as this but heyho!

As recommended we have added Stress Coat+, Stress Zyme and ph corrector (I am just a little off). We carried out a partial change last evening too. As you say the fish shops are always keen to flog you fish before you're quite ready but he said that they would get the bacteria going. The fish seem fine but I did lose the female gourami this morning. She had been staying at the surface of the tank for a couple of days.

Our cat fish are a Bronze Cory and a Peppered Cory, both approx and inch and a half at the moment.

My husband much preferred the undergravel filter we had the last time but I am guessing that, like everything, tank technology moves on.

We shall reread and digest the fab information you have given us and hope for happy tank soon.

Very best regards
Amanda

 

[chrisbassist]

Hi, those catfish will also stay fairly small. Around the 3 inch mark.

The only problem is they like numbers.

Now don't add any more fish until the cycle has finished, but once it has, maybe get some more? 5 of each would be good numbers.

 

[Lancashire Lass]

Hi, those catfish will also stay fairly small. Around the 3 inch mark.

The only problem is they like numbers.

Now don't add any more fish until the cycle has finished, but once it has, maybe get some more? 5 of each would be good numbers.

Hi

Thanks again for the great advice. Fingers crossed!

 

[Assaye]

Have a read of our Resource Centre before getting any more fish - it has a series of posts on cycling a tank, bacteria blooms and general maintainence, as well as approximate time-scales for developments in the tank. Essential reading, IMO, and it will add to what Chris and Wills have said.

The most important parts to read now is the stuff on cycling, especially about what acceptable levels of ammonia and nitrite really are.

I would also be super careful about using pH corrector. It's a harsh chemical and doesn't make for a stable tank, IMO. Unless your pH is crazy bad (like 5 or 9), it isn't generally worth using a pH corrector.