Relaxsea Wall Mounted Aquarium Advice Please

[simey1]

Hi Guys,

Just stumbled upon this forum yesterday and decided to sign up as a member, I have kept tropical fish on and off for years as a kid and have had varying results but I have just purchased one of those Relaxsea wall mounted aquariums http/www.uniqueaquariumdesigns.co.uk/mor...p?product_id=67 and wondered if anyone could give me some advice and answer a few questions about it. I've had a quick butchers around the forums but couldn't find any info on these but apologies if this has already been covered and I missed it.

The heater and filter are located in the side of the tank hidden from view and although I say 'filter', the filter connects to the undergravel system and all it seems to be doing is keeping the water circulating, there doesn't appear to be any filtering action (ie carbon/wool etc to clean the water) so was just wondering how often I should be doing a partial water change considering the fact there isn't any filtering. The instructions say that the water only needs changing once a year but this sounds a bit long. I've had a biorb tank up and running for 5 or 6 months prior to this tank and although I had a few problems at first, the biorb has been flourishing over the last 2 months with healthy fish.

I used 75% of the water from the biorb when filling this new wall mounted tank and topped the rest up with fresh tap water treatedwith conditioner and have plced a mixture of real and plastic plants in the tank and all seems to be well at the moment. I was wondering if anyone could also give me some advice regarding the pump and the airflow system, it says in the unstructions to have the air pump running for a maximum of 20 mins a day but I thought they are usually on constant? I also don't understand much about nitrates and ammonia etc and wondered if someone would give me some advice to try and keep this tank as healthy as possible.

The tank does look amazing on the wall, I managed to get it for around £300 including delivery so was happy with the price.

Thanks guys, really glad I found this place and hope you dont mind a newbie asking so many questions which most of you probably think is basic common sense

Si.

 

[youngfisher]

Someone will let you know but would just like to say..

Welcome to the forum - Don't worry about the amount of posts I have posted loads recently as im new at this.

 

[simey1]

Thanks for the welcome!

 

[K-Holed]

Ignore this post, I must learnt to follow links!

 

[saz326]

I would agree with yearly maintainance to undergravel filters (i.e. remove all the gravel, wash gravel and replace whole undergravel system after good clean) - but waterchanges are going to need to be more frequent dependingon the stocking of the tank.

If you had 1 fish in the tank, that volume of water would dilute down any nasties the fish produced meaning that a yearly waterchange would be quite suitable - but with more fish, plastic plants (i.e. not all real plants) you will need to do more changes.

First off buy yourself a liquid test kit (tests the parameters of your tank water) - many people on here recommend API master test kit (google it) - but you can buy individual test kits. Id recommend NitrAte, NitrIte, and Ammonia test kits as a minimum. Avoid test strips as they ain't much cop -waste of cash.

Is the tank already up and running with a fish in it? If so then test the water daily and perform water changes until your tank is "cycled". You can read up on this "cycling" business on this website. It basically means ensuring the tank can maintain its own water. It does this using bacteria that eat up the nasties like fish poo. Once you have the test kit - pleas post your results up here for us to go through with you. We'll get it all workingin no time!

Air pump 20 mins a day..? Is the top of the wall mounted tank sealed? If so then the 20 mins may be just what is needed to ensure that fresh air is brought in. However - UNdergravel filters are usually driven by air pumps bubbling water up a tube causing the water to circulate....

Id check how the filter is supposed to work and get back to us here. It may be that the filter is driven in another way and the airstone (air pump) is just for aesthetics. In a sealed unit 20 mins of running could make a fair bit of heat, so dont run it for longer until we know whats going on - it may overheat.

Please get back to us with details. Welcome to the forum!

I'd love a tank like that but it would pull my walls down! (cardboard walls!)

 

[simey1]

I would agree with yearly maintainance to undergravel filters (i.e. remove all the gravel, wash gravel and replace whole undergravel system after good clean) - but waterchanges are going to need to be more frequent dependingon the stocking of the tank.

If you had 1 fish in the tank, that volume of water would dilute down any nasties the fish produced meaning that a yearly waterchange would be quite suitable - but with more fish, plastic plants (i.e. not all real plants) you will need to do more changes.

First off buy yourself a liquid test kit (tests the parameters of your tank water) - many people on here recommend API master test kit (google it) - but you can buy individual test kits. Id recommend NitrAte, NitrIte, and Ammonia test kits as a minimum. Avoid test strips as they ain't much cop -waste of cash.

Is the tank already up and running with a fish in it? If so then test the water daily and perform water changes until your tank is "cycled". You can read up on this "cycling" business on this website. It basically means ensuring the tank can maintain its own water. It does this using bacteria that eat up the nasties like fish poo. Once you have the test kit - pleas post your results up here for us to go through with you. We'll get it all workingin no time!

Air pump 20 mins a day..? Is the top of the wall mounted tank sealed? If so then the 20 mins may be just what is needed to ensure that fresh air is brought in. However - UNdergravel filters are usually driven by air pumps bubbling water up a tube causing the water to circulate....

Id check how the filter is supposed to work and get back to us here. It may be that the filter is driven in another way and the airstone (air pump) is just for aesthetics. In a sealed unit 20 mins of running could make a fair bit of heat, so dont run it for longer until we know whats going on - it may overheat.

Please get back to us with details. Welcome to the forum!

I'd love a tank like that but it would pull my walls down! (cardboard walls!)

Ahh thanks saz326 and everyone else who has posted,

I have transferred all the fish from the biorb (6neons, 6 guppies, 6 harlequins, 2 dwarf rams and a couple of platies) and they seem to be doing ok so far. I justed tested the water for nitrates/bacteria and the results were a deep pink colour which tells me on the chart that the tank doesnt have enough bacteria and to add fresh start which i've just done now.

The top of the tank isn't sealed, the 3tube lights are covering it but there is enough space to see the water at the edges. I've always thought the undergravel filters to be connected to the airpump/airstones but this set up has the undergravel system connected to the internal filter pump which basically just seems to be circulating the water and not filtering it and it recommends leaving that running constantly. The air pump is simply connected to an airtube and airstone which is ontop of the gravel.

Fixing the tank to the wall has been a nightmare, with the water included the tank weighs around 25 stone!! I have an old house with pretty good walls but still had to have a builder in to strengthen the walls because all that is supporting this heavy tank is two 8inch steel rods about a centimeter in diameter and two bolts at the top that just keep it against the wall and stop if falling forward, it does look stunning now its up but they really need a professional to fit them properly.

Thanks again for the advice.

Si

 

[-SPB-]

Hi and Welcome to the forum.
Looks like your going to be doing Fish-In Cycling. This is basically the process of building up the beneficial bacteria with the fish in the tank. Here's a link on the good way to do it:

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=224306

It's a lot better doing a fishless cycle as this causes less stress for the fish, and obviously less chance of having fatalities. Do you still have your Biorb running, have the fish been out of it for long, if not you should still have a cycled filter. It may be worth putting them back, and starting a fishless cycle on the new tank. Link here:

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=113861

Hope this helps

 

[simey1]

Thank you SPB, much appreciated!

 

[saz326]

I have transferred all the fish from the biorb (6neons, 6 guppies, 6 harlequins, 2 dwarf rams and a couple of platies) and they seem to be doing ok so far. I justed tested the water for nitrates/bacteria and the results were a deep pink colour which tells me on the chart that the tank doesnt have enough bacteria and to add fresh start which i've just done now.

Testing for NitrAtes shouldnt show anything at the moment unless the tank is fully cycled - which I doubt. did this test kit come with the bacteria stuff..? Is it supposed to be used with or without fish in the tank?

Im a little concerner at the stocking you have though. I dont think the Rams will have enough space in the tank. They like plenty of floor space which they would have just about had in the biorb... What is the footprint of the wall tank (size of the base, 3 inches by 24?) Rams are also quite delicate and may suffer with all the changes and water quality things going on. Remember the biorb filter is a little more hi-tech and can reduce fish waste better than a standard undergravel filter.

Do you still have the biorb up and running? If so id return the rams and neons to it as these fish do not tend to survive lots of water quality changes.

The top of the tank isn't sealed, the 3tube lights are covering it but there is enough space to see the water at the edges. I've always thought the undergravel filters to be connected to the airpump/airstones but this set up has the undergravel system connected to the internal filter pump which basically just seems to be circulating the water and not filtering it and it recommends leaving that running constantly. The air pump is simply connected to an airtube and airstone which is ontop of the gravel.

So there is a pump connected - aH. That means the pump will be sucking water from the undergravel filter, meaning that water will be sucked through the gravel layer. The gravel layer itself works as the filter in undergravel filters. The gravel builds up bacteria on it that break doen fish waste. The water movement ensures that water passes through the gravel bringing waste with it and oxygen to keep that bacteria alive.

The airstone in this case is mainly for decoration. As long as there is plenty of surface disturbance in the tank you dont need the airstone-pump running to add oxygen to the water. The way they actually work to improve oxygen in the tank - is the bubbles hit the water surface and disturb it. It is this disturbance than improves the airation of the water.

 

[simey1]

Hi, no I don't have the biorb up and running anymore, the nest kit I have does have the bacteria to add to the water with the fish already there or without. The internal measurements of the glass tank are approx 4inches out from the wall and 43 inches wide.

 

[simey1]

Just a quick update on my wall mounted tank. I bought myself a proper test kit and initially the nitrate reading was quite high and the ammonia was beginning to rise but I bought a bottle of 'live' bacteria that can be added with the fish already in the tank and I've done a few small water changes and have tested everyday and the ammonia level is now zero and the nitrate level is now between zero and 0.25 so its looking pretty good.

I haven't lost any fish, they all seem to be doing well and the tank looks amazing. Thanks to everyone that replied to me, even though I've kept fish in the past, I never really understood the nitrate/nitrate/ammonia thing so I've learned a lot in the last week and won't make the same mistake again.
Cheers.

Si

 

[-SPB-]

Hope all goes well, good luck.

Have you got any pictures, interested to see what it looks like.

-SPB-

 

[stolt]

hi, i'm new to the forums but was searching for wall hung tanks, i like the aquaplasma.

http/www.onlineaquariumstore.com/acatalo...plasma_130.html

yours is nice but i have dot and dab walls and i'm not sure they would take the weight, can i ask where you bought yours...

thanks