Newbie Help

[dumla]

Hi
I'm after a bit of advice as this is my 1st tropical aquarium!

I brought a Fluval Roma 125L aquarium on friday, got home and set everything up. I've currently got the heater set up for 25°c (is this ok?) I've added some plants this afternoon and i'm getting a lot of air bubbles in the tank which is making the water a bit cloudy, is this normal? or do i need to adjust the waterflow from the filter to reduce the amount of bubbles?
Also how long should i wait before introducing fish? Try telling a 3 year old that he has to wait for fish!!

 

[Truck]

go to the newby section and read the cycling section, youv got a good month till you can get fish if you opt for the humane method.

bubbles are normal

 

[mic8310]

ive done a big water change a few hours ago and still have air bubble on the plants etc but the water has cleared up now so give it a little time to settle
you can do a cycle with fish but a fishless is better. buy him a goldfish whilst you wait

 

[Truck]

buy him a goldfish whilst you wait

why? thats worse than putting tropical fish in there as goldfish produce loads of ammonia, and that tank is only suitable for 2, and they shouldnt be mixed with tropical fish, be patient as patience pays off.

 

[Miah002]

I've got that tank and it is normal to have bubbles. Make sure do the fishless cycle for about a month.

By the way you may get the occasional leaks from that tank.

 

[mic8310]

buy him a goldfish whilst you wait

why? thats worse than putting tropical fish in there as goldfish produce loads of ammonia, and that tank is only suitable for 2, and they shouldnt be mixed with tropical fish, be patient as patience pays off.

didnt mean for that tank! can get little bowls from asda for a few quid.

you try explain to a young child that they have to wait i take it you dont have kids

 

[Truck]

yes and bowls are cruel. they are WAY to small for a goldfish, 125 litres bare minimum, and they produce so much ammonia, you would be doing WC every day.

PS i am a kid.

 

[stang1]

Sadly, keeping a goldfish in a bowl is one of the cruelest things you have to do.
I know it's difficult for children to understand but most are at an age where you can simplify it and explain that the fish will die if added to early.

 

[Colin_T]

Howdee & Welcome to the forum

25C is fine for most tropical fish.

If the air bubbles are very fine (1mm) the filter could be leaking and sucking in air. If the bubbles are normal sized (about 2mm diameter) then it is probably just the filter outlet splashing on the surface and creating them. You should be able to reduce the amount of air bubbles by having the filter outlet just under the surface. Aim the outlet towards the surface and it will create surface turbulence but should minimise the bubbles.

A lot of people do a fishless cycle and allow the beneficial filter bacteria to build up over a month or so before they add fish. However, you can have fish in the tank while the filters develop the good bacteria. This is known as a fish in cycle. Basically you add a few fish to the tank several days after the tank has been filled up. You feed these fish once every couple of days and monitor the water quality for ammonia, nitrite & PH. You will need test kits for this purpose. Try to buy liquid test kits rather than paper strip kits. Some shops will do free water testing for you but it is often easier to do it yourself rather than zipping down to the shop every couple of days. Keep the test kits away from children as they contain toxic chemicals.
If the ammonia or nitrite levels get above 1ppm you do a partial 30-50% water change on the tank to dilute these levels. (Make sure any new water going into the tank is free of chlorine and has a similar temperature to the tank).
After a couple of weeks the ammonia levels should have gone up a bit and then come down. A few weeks later and the nitrite levels will have gone up and come down. Once both of these are on 0ppm and have been there for a couple of weeks, you can add some more fish. It generally takes about a month for the tank to cycle with fish in.

Some good fish to start with are zebra or leopard Danios, rosy, ruby, cherry or golden barbs. These are all schooling fish that need to be kept in groups of 6 or more. Therefore buy a group of 6 of one of these types of fish and use them to get the filters going. That way your little one can see the fish and you shouldn't have too many problems with water quality.
Once the tank has finished cycling you can add some more.

The other option is to get some plastic fish and have them floating around the tank while it cycles.

 

[mic8310]

yes and bowls are cruel. they are WAY to small for a goldfish, 125 litres bare minimum, and they produce so much ammonia, you would be doing WC every day.

PS i am a kid.

making a child wait is cruel when they dont understand.

i usually hold back from making negative posts and mindless insults, you might wanna try it sometime. you might know alot about fish but you might wanna concentrate a bit more on people skills

 

[stang1]

I agree that making a child wait can seem cruel. On the other hand, it's harder explaining to them about a fish dying.

 

[mic8310]

I agree that making a child wait can seem cruel. On the other hand, it's harder explaining to them about a fish dying.

fish die its gonna happen but it be easier to explain it after a few months than a few days when the novelty is still there (i have 2 under 2 years old im not a 19 year old single lad)

i hope theres no workers from a fun fair reading this

 

[beta]

yes and bowls are cruel. they are WAY to small for a goldfish, 125 litres bare minimum, and they produce so much ammonia, you would be doing WC every day.

PS i am a kid.

when i was a "kid" i won a gold fish at the fair - the poor little bu***r lived for 7 years in a 18" * 10"ish bowl - never had a disease was never openly distressed was in my opinion a happy little fish - have things changed so much now that everyone in order to keep fish has to have a tank that potetialy fills half their house that costs a fortune to set up, run and maintain?

p.s can you still get fishes from the fair?

 

[stang1]

I agree that fish die but to help it on its way by placing in a bowl is incredibly cruel.

 

[Truck]

just because it lived in a bowl, does not make it happy etc, im not a 19 year old single lad, im 14, i wasnt insulting you, i was trying to make the OP aware of why it is cruel to keep goldfish in bowls. there body keeps growing but their organs dont and the swimbladder becomes crushed so cannot inflate or deflate, and the fish can not retain its upright position.