Urgent Help Please

[wheeler-dealer-1988]

hiya all

can any 1 help please with what to have on the tank floor..

can any1 recommend a tank bottom for me that will be eaiser to keep clean and a lot less work,

i have gravel down but i find it always gets the tank dirty and rises the ammonia levels. as some time i accidently over feed. (still learning)

well i just drained my tank and got rid off that gravel and now urgently looking for somthing else. i was told sand but how easy is that to keep clean. my dad said go bare bottom but it just looks nasty as its in my living room...

also i would prefer to put a thin later somthing down so it cant trap the foods...

ALSO
decor

how do i keep my plastic / silk plants down with a thin bottom floor such as sand or what ever else is recommeded above..
as i find if the sand is this they keep pulling up and moving about once you use your garvel pump. can you some sort glue them down with aquarium glue

Please help, i must get a new bottom down withing 3 days as my fish are in my spare tank witch is smaller and also sold

 

[Bebobb]

What size is the tank? Maybe some corys would be good for the tank. They would help keep the bottom cleaner.

 

[wheeler-dealer-1988]

125L fluval

looking at buying a external filter aswell as told that will help.

 

[Bebobb]

What are the current inhabitants? That tank is large enough for some corys. They keep the bottom fantastically clean.

 

[wheeler-dealer-1988]

at the moment

now only got 5 neon tetras and 2 baby discus

 

[Bebobb]

I think that bare-bottom is the best for discus. Discus need a higher tempature than neon tetras do. Maybe you could go for cardinal tetras? I don't think that even Sterbai corys would appriciate the tempature that discus need... Maybe a bristlenose...

 

[spearsy]

sand is ok i have some in my tank i have a mix with gravel coys and plecs like it ref cleaning it its easy most rubbish sits on top
just hover the cleaner above to clean it from time to time ou need to disube the sandto stop gas build up and algie
wont be alot of disubing needed bit a bit a mix of both looks more natural
hope this helps
andrew

 

[GAB99]

you are going to transfer the discus wen they get say about 4" in diameter right?

if so then a schoolof corys would be great to help keep the sand clean, all you have to do is nothting, because the corys would do most if not all the work for you by moving the detritus into the filters way and then it gets sucked up, for decor just place them like any other substrate. you will always have to do monthly sand vacs like any other substrate. this turns to weekly -biweekly if you dont have any cories or bottom dwellers,make sure thesand is not rough so it wont harm the corys tummys


another type of substrate could be just a big slab of slate, you cant have corys, but with weekly vacs it will look good

 

[Channti]

When looking for a bottom for a tank that wouldn't trap food, I ended up going with a VERY thin layer of gravel (just barely enough to cover the bottom... less than a pound per gallon (4.4lbs in 10 gallon) and then used suction cups to secure my fake plants to the bottom of the tank. I keep a trio of peppered corys in that tank to clean up uneaten food. I've also got the tank overfiltered with a 20gallon filter on a 10 gallon tank (it's full of guppies, so over-filtering was necessary to combat the constant state of being overstocked. Overall, that tank is the cleanest one I keep because between the corys, the overfiltering and the thin gravel layer, the gravel stays very clean.

 

[wheeler-dealer-1988]

great help

well il think ill go out 2moro morning and i was told to buy some childrens playing sand as thats safe and same as aquarium sand basically..

well ill get sand and some suction cups 2moz.
also i think ill get a external filter - was told they better
also some corys

so this sound all right. Also prefer the lok off sand than gravel

 

[Bebobb]

Make sure that you rinse the sand very well before adding it to the tank. And did I under stand that you are moving the discus? If so, the corys will be fine. Any idea on what kind you are looking at?

 

[wheeler-dealer-1988]

i planned on keeping the discus for a while untill about 4 inch's as said above, what can i not have the 2 and how big so corys grow, is there any thing that will keep my tank clean and get on well with teh discus

also how do i rinse sand

 

[Bebobb]

You put the sand in a bucket. Then you fill the bucket up with water, then dump the water out. You do this untill the water in the bucket is clear.

And I don't quite understand what you are asking. Most corys get from 2"-3" depending on the species.

 

[wheeler-dealer-1988]

i was hoping to get about 2 corys and keep my 2 discus, do you think that will be ok

also in time i was thinking about selling my discus but just finding it hard to part with them at the moment as i think they look a lovely fish,

sorry i should be more clear but im very tired and its now 2am and got to get up for work at 6am lol

 

[Bebobb]

Corys prefer to be in larger groups than 2. They don't add as much to the bioload as other fish do. You could get 6 corys. And with the discus, I would reccomend Sterbai corys because they tolerate a higher tempature than most corys do. I can't judge your experience level, so I can't really tell you if you should sell the discus, or not. But I have read that discus need a 55 gallon minimum. And you can have 5 discus in a 55 gallon.