New Tank

[alexiooc]

Ive at last made up my mind on which tank to buy, the Jewel Lido 120. I went to my LFS today and paid for it even though they had to order it in stock. I think I had a really good deal as it was £220 which included the tank, stand, internal filter and heater and replacement pads etc for the heater. The owner also said he would chuck in £30 worth of free fish when I've set it up and I'm ready to add them. Cheapest I've seen is £260!

I'm also upgrading from a 30litre tank with a male betta, 4 platies and an upside down cat fish. I'm thinking of adding 6 corydoras, a small pleco, and a few shoaling fish (maybe rasboras or rummy nose tetras)

So heres my questions;

1. Would the fish all be ok together? If not any other suggestions would be extremely welcome.
2. How do I transfer the fish from one tank set to the other? (do i have to fully cycle the other tank or would squeezing my foam sponge filter in the new tank water be ok?)
3. If anyone has had/has this tank, how good is the internal on it?
4. Would bogwood and fake plants be ok? as I'm really not good with real plants as my fish always seem to eat them!

 

[ShinySideUp]

I have had a Jewel Lido 120 for seven years, I also have another, bigger tank, but I still keep my Lido going for the smaller fish and the fact that it fits nicely in my spare bedroom.

1) Others more qualified will comment on the fish.

2) Moving media from the old to the new plus the water will be fine. The Lido 120 filter comes with a green nitrate control foam pad (for the very lazy fishkeeper) throw that and the carbon filter out and you'll find plenty of room for your old media. If you can transfer all your old water the extra water you will have to put in will just be like a water change. No problems as far as I can see.

3) Many will tell you to get an external filter but I am still using my internal filter with the original powerhead seven years down the line, I haven't even had to change the impeller. Use new filter wool pads at least once a week (I make my own as you can buy huge amounts of the stuff on eBay for next to nothing) and preferably clean the pad halfway through the week as they tend accumulate slime and block up. Filter maintenance is so bloody easy. Dismantle and clean the motor every two weeks -- I use bottle brushes to get to the difficult bits.

4) Bogwood is fine. Get real plants as they will take up the nutrients that algae will use to grow otherwise. If your fish eat the plants get some variation of sword plant as they are almost indestructible.

NB I had to replace my lighting system after three years; apparently this is quite common with this tank. There are many alternatives; I modified the lid of mine and have 2 x 11w self-contained units in there now.

 

[waterdrop]

Agree with SSU about the transfer of the filter pad. Since your small tank has been cycled for a while it will have bacterial colonies to balance the bioload of fish you have. If you move the whole sponge over to a new filter the colonies will still match your fish load of the same fish. It always makes sense in these cases to be careful though and use your liquid testing kits to be sure nothing has gone wrong, leaving you with ammonia and/or nitrite. Sometimes bacterial colonies can be disturbed by a transplant operation and you want to stand ready to do water changes even to the point of a fish-in cycling process if this should occur. If you accept the new fish from the previous owner you ideally should do that via a quarantine tank but if you plan to introduce them directly you should think about that process being gradual, only two or three fish at a time if that can be worked out.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[BigbruiserAl]

If it a common plec i would leave him out of the tank he will get too big, instead a BN plec should be fine growing out to 8 or so inch