Stu @ M Developments

iTrader: (12)

Having this weekend returned to this hobby after a 4yr break, i wondered if anyone on here keeps fish?

I used to have a 6x2x2ft 162gallon tank with various Cichlids including my beloved 14" Oscar i had for 8yrs (R.I.P )

Just bought a Rio 240 53gallon tank and am just kicking off the nitrogen cycle with a pair of Blue rams and the mandatory clown plec.. lol

Lou Lou.

ive got a 28 gallon corner tropical tank it needs a bit of attention(new plants & stuff) but got an 9" plec, a siamese fighting fish and a few others

need to spend a bit of time sortin it out really all my time has gone on the car lately

james_birch

i wanted to get back into it...when i did keep fish i kept fresh water.(tench,carp.etc) yes in a tank!...raised them for the pond!!!.but dont have enough space for that any more (or a pond). and not enough money for that and my RS....but on another note, i print practical fish keeping! ...very good read ....recomend it to any fish keeper no mater how seasond!!!






i dont recomend carp and gold fish in a sand substrate!

they tear the bloody tank to bit and its looks shit!...after about half hour of them being in there!

serious 1

I have recently invested in a new tank also mate is about 2.5 feet in length and a kind of octagon shape,just got about 20 neon`s in there at mo a couple of leopard plecs and 4 red gaumi dwarfs just to see how things go,My dad used to have a massive tank though with oscars in to start with and had to get rid of 2 then ended up with 1 as got to territorial but cool fish though.

Stu @ M Developments

iTrader: (12)

I just to get that religeously mate, glad to see its still running, il be looking at WHS for it on Sunday


Ive still got a soft spot for shoal's of Neons but my Cichlid preference means they couldnt survive in the community They do look damn cool flitting about


Yeah.... my huge Cichlid community soon dwindled down to 1x Texas 1x Green terror and 1 Oscar due to territorial squables meaning i had to take others to a local shop before they were killed. O's are cool though.. mine used to let me take him out of the tank and stroke him for a while, and used to spit gravel at the glass if you didnt pay him at least a glance every hour or so... moody fooker

serious 1

YEh the neon`s do look cool mate but just means am kinda limited though now to the kinda other fish can put in there wich is a shame,but am happy for now though,what you thinkin of gettin once your cycle is up and running?

Phil

iTrader: (1)

I used to have a few Angel fish, bred some Siamese fighters, and the usual neons etc. Also had some crazy mini-shark like fish that just swam against the glass 24/7! Bloody nutters! I could never find out the name of them!!

A sucking loach is always an essential in every tank

Stu @ M Developments

iTrader: (12)

Im really tempted to go for an Oscar with a couple of other similar south american Cichlids again but on teh other hand id quite like a simple community setup with lots going on inside it, as opposed to one great Oscar doin what he feels like in a tank with a few other tough Cichlids.......

Tricky one at the moment... My local fish shops cool in as much as they will take back the fish ive used to kick of the ammonia/nitrite cycle but for the Cichlids id like i will also have to travel as far as Bolton to get decent examples, which is also a bit of a pain

Stu @ M Developments

iTrader: (12)

Heres a pic of the Rams ive got at moment;


Fancy some of these buggers too;


And these;


Or should i just go with plain old Oscar again?

CossieRich

iTrader: (1)

all i can see is red crosses stu.

pollocks

never been into this or anything but why is the nitrogen cycle so important and etc hows it work never paid much atention at school tbh lol

Stu @ M Developments

iTrader: (12)

Well,
The nitrogen cycle is the single most important thing to grasp if you wish to keep any form of fish, as its this cycle that allows water to sustain life

An Introduction to The Nitrogen Cycle and "Cycling your tank"
In order to understand "cycling a tank, you must first understand the Nitrogen Cycle. When we refer to "cycling" what we mean is establishing the nitrogen cycle in your tank. "Nitrogen Cycle" is a term used to refer to the way waste (Pee and Poo )from the fish is naturally broken down from toxic substances to substances that are far less toxic. This is a natural process that will occur anywhere waste from organisms is present whether it is in a lake or stream or in a fish tank.

When fish (or any other organism, including humans) produce waste, one of the chemicals in that waste is ammonia (NH4). Ammonia is highly toxic to fish and other animals. If it is present in your aquarium at detectable levels, your fish are in danger. Fortunately, there are naturally occuring bacteria that "eat" ammonia. Unfortunately, their waste from eating the ammonia is a class of substances called nitrites. Nitrites are also highly toxic to fish. If there are detectable nitrites present in your tank, your fish are in danger.

Again, we are fortunate that there are other naturally occuring bacteria that "eat" nitrites. The waste from these bacteria contains nitrates.

Nitrates are still somewhat toxic to fish, but not nearly as toxic as ammonia or nitrites. It is acceptable to have relatively low detectable concentrations of nitrates in your tank. For oscars (and other fish suceptable to HITH), you want to keep the nitrates at or below 20 ppm. For other less-suceptable fish, a nitrate concentration of around 40 ppm is acceptable. The only reliable cost-effective way to reduce nitrates in a freshwater tank is through water changes.

Since all of the substances discussed above contain nitrogen, this process of converting ammonia to nitrites to nitrates is collectively called the Nitrogen Cycle. The bacteria that are involved in this process are collectively called "nitrifying bacteria".

There are plenty of test kits available to test your water and worst case scenario, for a small fee your local fish shop should offer this service for you. Once your Ammonia has peaked your Nitrite will follow, this will then drop and be replaced by Nitrate which is then kept in check by your regular water and filter maintainance of course.

Adding too many fish at once is the most common cause of death amongst the innexperienced as it simply adds more ammonia to the tank than your existing bacteria colony can break down and thus poisons the fish.

Hope this helps

pollocks

kinda undersatnd that well my mum didnt say anything about that when she bought her fish and they quiet old now say abut 6-8 years

Kevin Sharp

iTrader: (3)

heres my tank its approx 7ft long by 27"high built in a s a wall divider between the kitchen and living room i built the filter system out of 3 beer kegs and a central heating pump its been running like that for 5 years and has never needed any filter maintenance. i only give it a 20%water change occasionaly (when i can be bothered )



the fish are mostly parrot chiclids and i have a couple of rare altum angels aswell...they are much bigger now as that pic is about 9 months old

Stu @ M Developments

iTrader: (12)

That is properly cool Kev

Surely youve cleaned the filter media out in 5yrs?

Kevin Sharp

iTrader: (3)

Thanks stu

nope the filter system has not been touched...if you have enough filtration media it breaks down the waste like it does in nature in the first keg i have the water entering the bottom and it rises to the top through loads of 1" sectons of overflow pipe i cut...this catches the big stuff.

then into the second keg from the bottom again rising up through fired clay pellets about 10mm diameter

and finally the 3rd keg is filled with fine gravel , then the pump

i,ll post some pics up later

Stu @ M Developments

iTrader: (12)

Yeah, i realise that but it usually requires some quite serious amounts of filter surface area not to start leaching some nasty levels of Nitrate

Id really like to see the pics if you get time kev, i love seeing folks personal solutions to things...








like your scaffolding tower for example

frog

Lovely tanks if I may say so.

We haev always wanted to get a marine fish tank, but the whole maintenance, lighting rig, etc... doesn't really fit in our lifestyle and house decor.

Would love to have clown fish, anemones, etc...

Everytime we pop down to a garden center, we re-consider and always walk away luckily - one day maybe.

Prob have to sell one of the cossies to fund one of them, so that's out of the question anyway...

Kevin Sharp

iTrader: (3)

i,ll post some up later tonight

gimme a shout if you need to hire a scaffold for anything

Stu @ M Developments

iTrader: (12)

Cheers Kev


Dont think my insurance company could deal with anything from "Bankhead Scaffolding Co" after seeing the brochure.. but thanks anyway

Tony Turbo

Oh dear...

I personally can't stand Tropical fish, they are SO boring and colourless. That is why we breed them to feed the Piranha's

We have a 14,000 gallon pond in the garden and a tropical (breeding) system and a Marine system too which is just starting to mature. My brother is more into the fish keeping side of it than I am, I just watch the pretty ickle fishes

xfactor

How about some red devils there erm entertaining, will also prob try bite you when you clean the tank though too lol

Kevin Sharp

iTrader: (3)

here you go stu...fooking good job this cupboard dont have glass doors


and pump


as you can see i have an expanding foam fetish its usually covered up in there

some of my parrot chiclids are 9 years old...i recently lost one that had lived to 11

User 32922

yup i do



got loads of pics of them but trying to convince Kim to let me get a Marine tank. Would like a Reef with 2 clowns ....mmmmmmm

oh well my 2 tropical tanks will have to do for now.

i have .....

Twin Juwel Rekord 120 Tanks

Tank 1

6 Baby Angel
1 RFBS
4 Golden Barbs
2 Platty
3 Bristlenose
1 Coolie Loach
2 Shrimp

Tank 2

1 Angel
1 Male Betta
2 Female Betta
4 Cories
2 Coolie Loach
4 Black Ruby Barb
20 Cardinal Tetra
8 Harlequin

richm

only pic I've got at the moment, 3ft tank came with the house when i bought it
Had a tank similar size for years now, easy maintenance and very therapeutic.

u reminded me Stu... I need to do a water change..

Grahamxx

Bloody hell Rich, you've cleaned that tank, last time I saw it those fish were looking through cloudy water , Oh my tank needs a water change too

L33 BYT

I use a chemical called Stress Zyme which looks out from the Nitrate/Ammonia levels.
Had a night mare of a time getting the water right. Lost a load of fish just recently but every time I test the water its fine.
I'd love a marine setup but just practising with Tropical at the moment.
It is very relaxing watching the fish some times

Stu @ M Developments

iTrader: (12)

Kev, thanks for that, now i see whats its self sufficient... what you call "Kegs" i call bloody "Barrells" you piss artist Top work though pal.. very impressive


Nice tanks Rich and PG Tips

RST Lee,
You will rarely lose fish for nothing pal.... what tests do you do?
Sometimes the local water hardness can be changed by a chemical filtration the watre board have been known to do.. this can be a killer if your unaware of it, although local aquaria stores are usually on the ball with this kind of thing. Have you checked simple ammonia? The filter may be struggling and dieing, which throws you back to square one... 1st clue of this is water that looks like you added a little milk to it.......

RichardPON

So Kev Galbally, how did you come up with that system then?

Stu - I'll post some pics of our tank in the morning. Bloody fish are always on the job - bloody hundreds of them in there now

frog

Stu, when you get a chance could you wirte us one of your famous essays on fish keeping (you already made a pretty good start earlier in this topic) Is there an end to your knowledge

Stu @ M Developments

iTrader: (12)

Top Man


Dont see why not if theres any interest in it... (Doubtfull) but to be honest ive forgotten around 70% of what i used to know with taking such a long break but i am refreshing my memory hourly now im back in the saddle so to speak


Behave
I just make a point of only doing what i do "properly" i dont like half measures and i dont like not knowing what im doing... if i dont understand it i cant bring myself to do it, if you know what i mean?

Anyway.. its good to learn

richm

yeah!! Stu's essays are great, subject matter not important, always a good read!

Christian and Beccy

iTrader: (14)

That must be the worlds greatest understatement.......

You have Lake Sidcup in your garden would be closer to the truth......

We have a 'tiny' 3ft Marine setup. I have always been one for over-kill and have (although don't currently use it all) enough filtration and technology for a tank of at least 3 times that size.

Now for my Fishkeeping lecture.......

I have more than my fair share of dead fish in the past. With Marine, although I am sure it plays a part with all fishkeeping, one of the biggest killers is Stress. Many things can cause it. Having the tank near a door that is regularly opened and closed, Regular changes in temperature (perhaps the tank is near a radiator?), larger more dominant fish in the tank etc etc. Another killer is Copper. This can be introduced in a variety of ways too. Also, many people perform Water Changes using straight Tap Water. This contains a high proportion of Chlorine which as you probably know is basically bleach. Would you like to live in that?!!? The level of Chlorine can be reduced by running the water into a bucket from a tap at very high speed. The air bubbles caused will evaporate alot of the Chlorine. There are also products on the market to de-chlorinate Tap Water, but IMO the best method is to run the water 2-3 days before you need it and stand it next to a radiator to take the chill off it. If you have a spare Air Pump and Air Stone, aerating the water in the bucket will also take the Chlorine off it. Also, a definate No-No is a TOTAL water change. The amount of people that totally empty and clean their entire tank amazes me! The shock of that can easily kill everything. There is alot of bacterial activity in the filter system including the substrate (gravel/sand etc). If necessary only clean 1 part of the filter system at a time, leaving it a few weeks to allow it to re-establish before doing the next bit.

Having said all that, basic Coldwater/Tropical fishkeeping is fairly easy and the fish are fairly hardy.

We travel some distance to buy water that has been through the Reverse Osmosis process. This is basically water that is stripped of all its polutants. Because we then add Marine salt this replaces all the goodness that the RO process removes. I haven't yet been able to stomach paying Ł300+ for my own RO unit!!

It is no myth that Marine Fishkeeping is very hard, but once established the lifeforms that you can see in the tank are fascinating. Just by buying Living rock to 'decorate' the tank, you introduce many many different kinds of life to the tank, including Tubeworms, Crabs, Clams, Anenomes etc etc and the variety of fish that you can choose is great.

I will try and post a pic later of our set-up although it is quite basic. We have just spent 3 evenings cleaning it all up as we neglected it since we moved house in March and it hasn't had a clean or a water change since!!!

Stu @ M Developments

iTrader: (12)

Great mini essay Christian
I especially like this part....

How true

Please Do

Andreas

I used have such too, they are soo cute.

My tank been empty for 2 years now as I cant take care of it with my bad back. Will this have hurt the tank/silicon or is it safe to fill up again?

/Andreas

richm

should be ok, just have a close look round the silicone before u fill it to check..
Mine sprung a leak a few months back - had to cut the front glass off and re-silicone it on..
... oh, and dry the carpet out

Stu @ M Developments

iTrader: (12)

Id say it was pretty safe indeed pal..

I know what you mean about the back, my bad back clicked yesterday as i was filling the tank on teh last bucket of my 10gallon change... gutted... now ive 3 days of pain to go through

Stu @ M Developments

iTrader: (12)

Wounder
Ive always feared that happening

richm

the silicone along the front bottom joint was actually detached along an 18" length Stu - it was only water pressure holding it in place!! until it started to capillary through of course... then it pissed out!!
I'd inherited the tank full when i bought the house 18 months ago, so knew no history of the tank before that....

BlueSmoke

I was dabbling with this up until around 6 months ago. I had to phase everything out as I've moved for Uni and couldn't take my 2 3ft tanks and the 3 or 4 smaller ones. Bred a few fighters, really like those fish.

The pet shop I used to stock my tank was selling some sexless cichlids, they may have been parrots, that had been "grown" in a test tube environment. Very strange. You could order them to colour.