New Tank: Aqua One Aquamode 600

[tenohfive]

I've got a similarly sized tank and considered Angels but personally I'd sooner have some variety in my tank.

If you want some potential combo's lining up give me a shout, I've spent the last 3 months spending every spare moment trying to work out what goes with what, and what I can get in my tank.

 

[vinylman]

Unfortunately, the bacteria you need for your filter don't live in free water; they live (partly) on objects in the tank, but mainly on the filter media itself (as well as the surfaces inside and outside the filter). Ask the shop if they can let you have a little filter media (if they use individual filters in their tanks) which will give you a great kick start. In the meantime, as Miss W said, read as much as you possibly can in the pinned threads here. Read the individual threads too; they should give you an idea of what to watch out for once your tank is up and running as well as the common mistakes made at the start.

 

[rhostog]

You asked about the slight cloudiness in the tank water: could it be tiny bubbles? I think your tank has the same sort of filter system as mine (also an Aqua One), where the water trickles over sponges and ceramic noodles etc. I get these tiny bubbles in the water, which do look like fine white specks, almost like powder under the lights. I've read posts from other people with Aqua Ones discussing the same thing so it seems to be normal for these tanks.
If you switch the filter off and wait a few minutes, does the cloudiness go away, the specks all floating to the top and disappearing? If it is bubbles, then you might be able to reduce them by topping the tank up so the water has less distance to fall. Also check that the little holes it trickles out of are all clear - sometimes bits of ceramic noodle or bits of plant can get wedged into them and disrupt the flow, which increases the bubbles.

Good luck with your new tank!

 

[eBenZo]

Thank you everyone!
I've spent a few hours or so reading up, had no idea how much prep was required.
Most people just dump the fish after a few days and of course, most unsuccessful.

Tenohfive,
I'm trying to message you but the website says I haven't sent anything. Does it require me to add you as a friend?

About the cloudiness, I think it's just dust from gravel rather than air bubbles which are larger.

 

[waterdrop]

Hi Ben,

I've looked over your thread and you've received great advice from all the members here, some of them extremely experienced. You are at a stage that a lot of us see every day here, you've put a lot of thought into your new tank, made a good purchase, tried to think of a lot of details to get prepared and were ready to start making smart choices about fish! Then comes this huge shock that people are saying you should get a big ole test kit and do something called fishless cycling and you suddenly feel like its gotten hard and some of the fun is delayed.

Its not going to be so bad though. This forum makes it actually rather fun to do this stuff. Its technically true that it can be long and boring, but chatting about it here and posting up your tank testing results and constantly learning and asking questions turns out to be fun and it gives you a lot of time to learn a lot of great stuff that will help you be a better fishkeeper.

The fact that you stumbled on this web forum can be a real turning point in your success with the hobby. This is one of the most active and friendliest places out there and a bunch of the most qualified tropical fish folks in the world drop in here and take a look at the topics and make comments. In my opinion its really a rather remarkable place.

OK, so your clear on your first steps, right? Most of us use the API Freshwater Master Test Kit, but there are other liquid based test kits that are good too if this one seems hard to find. Miss Wiggle has good starting links in her message to you. Many starting ones are under Beginners Resource Center, Cycling Resource Center and then of course the rdd1952 is our main working document you will use when you fishless cycle. Reading and re-reading lots of these articles may be the most important thing you do. Also, read the threads of other beginners in "New to the Hobby" as you will learn many things by following along. There is a search tool as part of the forum and it is a very powerful thing to do searches about questions you have. Most topics repeat over and over again over the years.

Once you get your test kit you can practice going through the instructions by testing your tap water a couple of times and posting your results here. Get a notebook and begin keeping a log, mostly for your daily test results, but its great to write down anything you do to your tank and to record other observations. This will pay off time and again later on.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[tenohfive]

Hopefully you got the PM I sent, I'm not the most technologically advanced person in the world but I think it went through ok.

For the perusal/comments of others, heres a brief list of how I'd set my tank up if I were to start again:

3 Dwarf Gourami's/Honey Gourami's (2 female, 1 male.)
4 Panda Cories
2 Sunset Platies
2 Otto's (I know people suggest 4 or more, but I've not noticed any schooling and have kept them on their own with success.)
2 Dalmation Mollies
3 Guppies (1 male, 2 female.)
2 Otto's
Possibly some tetra's, though I'm not sure what I'd go for-theres too many different flavours and I only like the bigger ones.

As it stands I've a completely different setup but thats how I'd set my 65L up if I started again. The only bad point I can see is that alot of the above need a slightly more mature tank-I'd probably put the Platies in first, followed a month or two later by the cories and Otto's then when I hit the 3 month mark the Gourami's, guppies and Mollies.

Thats a pretty similar setup to a friend of mine and its how I'd do it again, though I'd love to know if its practical.

 

[vinylman]

I'd go for the Honey Gouramis over the Dwarves; less risk of disease. I'd have another couple of Corys, too.

 

[tenohfive]

To be honest it can go either way. Dwarf gourami's are inherently weak, but in a mature tank I think its an acceptable risk-and worth it for the way they look.

And more cories is always a good thing

 

[eBenZo]

Ok I've just bought 6 platies...a mixture of sunset, rainbow, and blue coral moons.
4 females and 2 males, is this correct so far?

 

[eBenZo]

UPDATE:
I'm not actually sure which platies I've got in my tank. Need some help identifying.
Also, one of the females looks pregnant, her stomach is bulgier than normal and she tends to hang around the filter or dark parts of the tank.
As for the males, one of them, I think it's called a Mickey Mouse Platy, keeps chasing around the other male, which looks like a rainbow platy.
Here are some pics of them...

Got some new fish as well, 6 neons and 6 cardinals.
I know they both prefer different water conditions, and perhaps the tank isn't mature enough but my mum insisted that we get them because she adores them!
They seem to be doing fine at the moment, only thing worried about is their lack of ability to get to the food! All the platies always get to the food before the tetras can. Fortunately, the odd flake gets pushed down by the trickling filter water only to be chased after by 12 tetras!
Some pics...

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm82/mostroboi/269478a0.jpg[/IMG
[img]http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm82/mostroboi/dbeb85c2.jpg

Planning to get some guppies next week because they look like a nice addition to the tank.
No problems with any fish as yet!

EDIT: (update) I'm starting to get worried about one fish. Specifically, it's the female wag platy.
She keeps hvoering around the dark areas of the tank, only comes out for food and sometimes doesn't even do that!
She is also breathing quickly, like opening and closing her mouth rapidly like shes gasping for air. None of the other fish do that.

What's happening?

 

[eBenZo]

I want to hand feed my fish, how should I clean my hands?