Please Help!

[zozosparkle]

hi all please help. Firstly my partner and i have recently become interested in fish. my sister gave me a tank but about 5 weeks ago we had to change to a bigger tank because our guppy had babies. For the last week or so the water keeps going cloudy but our fish seem ok can anyone please tell us what could be causing this. Also we have now bought a 4ft tank and in the bottom of it under the gravel is a ridged plastic mat with a plastic tube at one end that would go above the water. Does anyone know what this is and what its for? and will we need it when we set up our tank?

 

[glolite]

Hi and welcome to the forums.

The plastic mat with the tube going to the surface is an under gravel filter. An old fashioned method of building up good bacteria in the tank but still good none the less.

You need to read the pinned articles in the "new to the hobby" section entitled beginners resource centre. Here you will learn about cycling tanks and gain all the knowledge you need to make fishkeeping an enjoyable, stress free hobby.

Do a 25% water change on your tank ASAP to reduce the cloudyness and use a water conditioner to neutralise chlorine from the tap water. Seachem Prime is a good one as it neutralises ammonia and nitrite which can cause your fish to become ill and die.

Hope this helps

 

[mickspark81]

Id advise you to look at the 3 main filter types before you set your tank up.

We have.

Internal filters
Cannister filters
Under gravel filters

IMO cannister filters are by far the best option (specially if your tank will be medium to heavy stocked). They dont take up any space in your tank and are easily maintained

Im only suggesting you read up on them first because i wish i had. Would have saved me alot of messing around.

Good luck

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to the forum Zozosparkle.
As already stated, the plastic tube that goes above the water level is the riser tube for an undergravel filter. You have lots of other options for filtering your tank including Hang on back, HOB, filters, canister filters, sponge filters, internal filters, wet-dry filters and of course the UGF that you already have. The most flexible design of them all is probably the canister. It can be fitted with almost any kind of media that is available and can serve almost any purpose in the tank. The most common functions of a filter are biological and mechanical filtration. The undergravel filter uses the tank's gravel as the filter media for both the biological and mechanical functions. An undergravel filter is one of the more difficult ones for a new person to master but can be very effective when used properly. If you will not be using the UGF , it is best to remove it before you set up the new tank because material can become trapped under an unused UGF filter plate and cause water quality troubles.