General Aquarium Talk

[broccoli]

Originally Posted by Boo Baby

Yes I know it converts them making them not toxic

Sorry, I wasn't clear. The prime only converts it when you put it in, it doesn't continue converting it for more than 48 hours, and you aren't going to know whether you have ammonium or ammonia in your tank because they'll test out the same. Anyway, Tangcla can read up on it if he wants to take that route.

[Boo Baby]

Yup, when you cycle with prime and stability your dosing daily for a week then a 80% water change no more stability. you can cycle straight with stability so you can read the tests results and stability will neutralize the nh3 no2 but dont ask me how this works seachem refuses to let this secret go. Anyways enough on cycling for me, worst part of keeping fish cycling and fighting of disease.

[n3wbi379]

Iv cycled a tank before using fish, didnt lose 1 fish but i did add prime every day.

[Dark Passenger]

pardon the shaky footage was playing and i thought i would post

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMI7HjO7GHU

[Piroteknik]

Originally Posted by DarkYendor

Dark substrate with bright fish often looks awesome. But some fish will actually adjust their colouring over time, so a dark substrate can cause them to go dark (eg. http://forums.loaches.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=22918).

I'm just starting my own aquarium - mainly based around south American fish (Neon Tetras, dwarf cichlids) with some compatible Asian fish. Im using a dark substrate with that, and hopefully planting it heavily.

anyone else noticedmhow fat these loaches were? they were well fed!

[broccoli]

They are whoppers! I wonder how old they are.

What do you think is best when trying to sell a tank? Leave it up and running and the people would have to come back if they wanted it so that you could get the fish out and strip it down or strip it down so that it's ready to go? I don't think I'd be able to move my fish without draining it, because I've got cory habrosus in there and they are impossible to see and very hard to catch. If I get the fish out but leave it running, fishless, I'd have to fill it back up. I suppose the question is whether it's better to be able to grab it if you want it, or whether you want to see that the filter works and it isn't leaking. What do you think?

[deeman111]

Hey guys, im having some lighting issues in my 5" tank.

The standard lighting that came with the tank is getting old and brittle (3xt8 tubes) one of the fluro starter sockets recently snapped to peices when i tried to change the starter, and the fluro holders are looking a bitworse for wear. I was thinking of repairing the whole setup, but i cant source any new starter sockets that will fit the original waterproof housing.

So im thinking of converting to LED lighting, but i need some advice on what is suitable, how many bulbs, waterproofing etc etc

Has anyone had a crack at it? The tank is just cichlids, no plants so im just after something that makes the fish colors look good with the same amount of light output as the 3xt8 tubes

Thanks for any help or advice you have

[Piroteknik]

Originally Posted by broccoli

They are whoppers! I wonder how old they are.

What do you think is best when trying to sell a tank? Leave it up and running and the people would have to come back if they wanted it so that you could get the fish out and strip it down or strip it down so that it's ready to go? I don't think I'd be able to move my fish without draining it, because I've got cory habrosus in there and they are impossible to see and very hard to catch. If I get the fish out but leave it running, fishless, I'd have to fill it back up. I suppose the question is whether it's better to be able to grab it if you want it, or whether you want to see that the filter works and it isn't leaking. What do you think?

Haha, i didnt mean big (They are) i meant Overweight/Obese!

As for your tank, it depends, are you going to sell it with or without fish? If without, move them where they are going, and empty it. If not, leave it as is until someone buys it.

Originally Posted by deeman111

Hey guys, im having some lighting issues in my 5" tank.

The standard lighting that came with the tank is getting old and brittle (3xt8 tubes) one of the fluro starter sockets recently snapped to peices when i tried to change the starter, and the fluro holders are looking a bitworse for wear. I was thinking of repairing the whole setup, but i cant source any new starter sockets that will fit the original waterproof housing.

So im thinking of converting to LED lighting, but i need some advice on what is suitable, how many bulbs, waterproofing etc etc

Has anyone had a crack at it? The tank is just cichlids, no plants so im just after something that makes the fish colors look good with the same amount of light output as the 3xt8 tubes

Thanks for any help or advice you have

What tank is it? More specifically the hood? My large tank has no hood, and runs a Liht that is up on stands (If yours is like this, you can just replace the light fitting with a brand new one)

If its a hood with plastic flap style lids (Like most these days) then you can also get replacement fittings for those too. The other option is to take the hood off, and replace with a light like mine.

FYI, Mine is similar to this:

http://www.flowerhornusa.com/forums/...howtopic=32209

[deeman111]

Tank has a black aluminum hood which used to have 2x overhead filters built into it. Has auto feeder and light control timer on the top and individual switches for the 3 lights on the side too. So i want to keep everything in that hood.

So the hood has 240v going to the switches and controller, then from there i would like to have 3 banks of LED's so i can control the amount of light etc

Thanks

[tangcla]

So my fish seem reasonably content now.
Did a water change over the weekend... added in some used filter media from my dad's external pond (lots of sand, very coarse foam) and will use it again to re-populate my second canister when it arrives.
(I've left my old internal filter sitting in the tank, unpowered, in the thought that I could keep it there until the bacteria populates fully in the new filter. Is this a good idea, or am I just re-releasing all the contaminants that the filters have captured since it's not parsing material?)

Added the heater, and the water is now a comfortable 25 degrees. Added four
bristlenose plecos, and now the white clouds are now swimming towards the top of the tank. Is this because of the temperature change, or the fact that they are staying together since there are a new species of fish in the tank?

[broccoli]

Isn't it a 3-foot tank? (If so, you don't have room for 4 bristlenose). What have your levels done since adding fish?

[tangcla]

Originally Posted by broccoli

Isn't it a 3-foot tank? (If so, you don't have room for 4 bristlenose). What have your levels done since adding fish?

Yes it's a three-foot tank. 36x14x20 inches are the dimensions. My understanding was that the bristlenose shouldn't grow any larger than 5 inches in length, and they usually don't exceed 3?

I haven't had a chance to check levels since I put them in, I've been getting home late from work every day. But I do count my fish morning and night, and they are all alive

[DarkYendor]

Originally Posted by tangcla

Yes it's a three-foot tank. 36x14x20 inches are the dimensions. My understanding was that the bristlenose shouldn't grow any larger than 5 inches in length, and they usually don't exceed 3?

I haven't had a chance to check levels since I put them in, I've been getting home late from work every day. But I do count my fish morning and night, and they are all alive

Gotta keep checking those levels man, and do a water change if they start going up. Without biological filtering, the ammonia can build to lethal levels within days. And you need to let the bacteria catch up to the number of fish in your tank before you add more.

[tangcla]

Will do, thanks for the advice. I am receiving a bulk lot of stuff I bought off eBay either today or tomorrow, so I'll be attaching a second canister filter (yes it's going to be overkill!) to space out my filter cleaning intervals.

[Daft_Munt]

Originally Posted by tangcla

Yes it's a three-foot tank. 36x14x20 inches are the dimensions. My understanding was that the bristlenose shouldn't grow any larger than 5 inches in length, and they usually don't exceed 3.)

I wouldnt keep that many bristlenoses in a tank that size, 2 is more than enough. Make sure they have hiding spots as mine got territorial once the matured.