Well, its been a hard 3 weeks of testing, adding ammonia, but I THINK I'm nearly there.

I now add 5ml of ammonia each day and its always 0 the next day (120L tank)

Ive just took it back up to 5ppm at 2pm, gonna see how many hrs it actually takes to reach 0

NitrItes were about 40ppm last week, tested today and its on 0.25ppm

NitrAtes are off scale, but not worried about that, will do an 80% water change when nitrItes hit dead 0 (or is 0.25ppm acceptable now?)

Water is still crystal clear tho, although I have a EX700 filter.
Ive not done anything with the filter since I started, will the filter media still be OK?

Need to start deciding on fish now I guess, might get some Java plants tomorrow and put some food in the substrate (gravel).

Any tips etc now gratefully received on types of fish and how many I can have

 

As a general rule its about one inch of fish to every gallon of water. What size tank you got?

 

has anyone got pics of any tanks anlways wanted one..!

 

sounds good mate, nitrates really shouldn't be off the scale tho. Stop adding ammonia and do a 40-50% water change every day to bring the nitrate level down.

Don't add too many fish at once. A 120 litre tank is a good size, but start off with no more than about 5 small fish for a week or so, then add a few more.

Have a look over on www.fishforums.net for some good info

 

And yes, leave the filter alone until the fish are in and you are getting steady 0 readings for ammonia and nitrites.

rich

 

be careful as to what fish you put in together, my brother was losing the occasional small fish (down to larger greedy buggers!)

 

Anyone getting a fish tank, a word of warning..... expect your eleccy bills to go daft!
I work for EDF Energy. People call about their bills going up and usually they have recently bought a new fishtank. People dont know how much elec it takes to keep the water warm etc!

 

I think a lot of the problem is that people put fish in cold rooms, like by the front door, conservateries etc. My two tanks are in my bedroom, which is quite warm anyway, and as the heaters are set at about 24 degrees they are rarely on.

I got some new fish today actually, awesome little buggers.

Oh and my only bit of advice is, you do not need a plec!!!! Pet shops will always try to sell you one, they will tell you that they are good at keeping your tank clean, but they produce such big turds all the time, and some of them grow to 24" long.....

 

i just try to get filter media from another tank to establish a new tank, cant get em running up in next to no time, just bung a few guppies etc in there to help it along

 

I just need to decide on the "look" of the tank

might get somat like ghost fish, few sharks, angel fish, not really sure..

will get some plants tomorrow and some food for the substrate

Thanks for the replies

 

Cool, i've nearly finished my aquarium now after its annual spring clean!! Thought i's try something different with the cars!!!! Been testing the trucks for a good few weeks now seeing if water levels etc change / contaminate and it all seems fine!! Had a couple of fish back in there (kept the others in a spare tank) and they have survived and seem very happy!!!! Just need to add a little more gravel and a few plants and im done!!



Chris

 

Cool!

 

fish tanks look cool but seem a lot of mither checking the water etc...

 

and judging by the plec that i had, that's just the turds

Seriously, get some reasonably hardy fish for your first batch, and don't go spending a fortune on them as you may lose some.

I got some Harlequin Rasboras and Neon Tetras, both of which can survive in even the grubbiest tanks, and arent overly sensitive to water changes.

Also guppy's are a decent fish to get, but beware if you get both male's and females, if they breed they are live bearers, so will start shitting out babies all over the place, which promptly get eaten by other fish. This can give the tank a bit of a shock and you may find you lose other fish when the guppys breed. Really annoying

Stick with just male guppys, as they are nice and colourful, and are rock 'ard

 

Thats looks great!

 

I've got no real plants in my tank at the moment as its only a small tank. Is there a need for them in a tropical tank with only 7 small fish?

 

none of my plants are real mate and never have been and the fish have been fine. Real plants makes the water go dirtier quicker meaning more cleaning out so no interest!!!

 

I wont bother then

It's just my finish enjoy eating the plastic ones

 

I will be doing live plants, plastic ones look pish



Off to the fish shop in a bit to see what they have

 

Right, bought a few LIVE plants, no plastic shit, added them to tank with my kiln-dried wood i bought

Will keep these in for a week or so and maybe then add fish

Still need to move the wood and stuff around, need some weights...

 

Nitrates WILL be off the scale as Ive not changed water and doing a fishless cycle (took a month! LOL)

Now the bacteria has built up, I can add a full tank full, as the bacteria is there to remove the waste.

I'm already on fishforums Awesome forum

 

havnt got any decent pictures of my marine tank but here are my tropicals

 

really likle that tank is that cold cathode lighting??? what size? i sware i got a couple 12" tubes somewere



any more pics? decided to redo mine, the pirahna destroyed the tank its a right mess, down to one fish left mind you hes a big fooker hes about 12" in length and hes a chunky fooker too lol


thing is i cant go buy more of em as he will just eat them so im stuck with one fishy

anyone any ideas? i thought about giving him away so i could restock and redecorate but who wants one pirahna lol

 

yes mate, but i was saying that nitrates shouldn't be off the scale when you have fish in there. sorry if i insulted your intelligence

Anyway just for good measure, here's some pics of my tanks, they are quite old pics tho, i will get some new pics when the tank has been cleaned!!!











rich

 

How much do you pay for a good fish then?

 

that all depends on size , type , salt or fresh water..... gold fish , koi etc etc etc

 

That looks wicked

 

 

heres my little fishy, couldnt get a pic of his teeth tho, hes about 10" long and a right nasty meat head lol

 

thanking you muchly.......

its a pain in the arse to keep clean tho as its fine white sand doesnt stay long for more than a day or two... thinking of changing the decor to a planted tank

 

just got a few better pics of one of my tanks, may be a bit large tho!!



click for full size img
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...iv/fishies.jpg
And a slow shutter speed



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...v/fishies1.jpg

Rich

 

heres my 27" red tail called eric
he likes to eat heaters and sun glasses

 

Anyone keep marine fish?

I've never kept fish but liked the idea (as no doubt a lot of other people around the world!) buying the main characters from Finding Nemo for the kids to enjoy, but heard keeping marine fish is pretty much best left to the die-hard pro's and not lose-interest in changing water amateurs!

 

Wow these pics make me want to get a tank!


Boost mad is that salt water one?


Is salt water tank hard to keep and expensive to buy fish etc?

 

this thread reminds me of deuce bigalow male gigolo here fishy fishy

amazing pictures, im fascinated by all this, would love to keep some but all the maintenance etc of the tanks and water doesnt take my fancy

 

thats one big mofo

does it have to do a 3 point turn to turnaround

 

my discus tank

 

How big You must have a massive living room to fit that in tidy.


Bet that takes a lot of work mate. Any of these tanks Salt water BTW?

 

the tank i have is 6ft long 2.5ft deep 2ft wide 200gallon.
the more water you have, the easyer to look after.

 

Interesting... tell me more!