Am I doing things right or wrong

Hi to All,
I have restarted this hobby after many years (My last tank was when I was a youngster). I started two Aquariums in the last 9days thanks to my daughter who wanted Goldfish for a tank she used for breeding her hamsters a few years back. This sparked me off again to start my aquarium but a tropical aquarium. I have a 3Ft aquarium with a Via Aqua VA-F130 internal power filter, a Dophin 7500 air pump, DARO Platform corner filter large, ViaAqua 250Watt Glass heater, DARO Flo Glo 2ft 20W florescent tube with the DARO 20W electronics ballast. I have the following fish in my aquarium:-
1x Black Ghost Knifefish
1x Pleco
2x Redtail Shark
2x Rainbow Sharks
1x Tetra Green Fire
3x Color Glass Fish (I found out that these are not naturally born this way. One died it got stuck between the corner filter and the tank)
4x Penguin Tetras
2x Lemon Tetras
4x Neon’s (Blue/Red)
4x Black Neon’s
6x Glo Lights
1x Siamese Fighter
5x Female Guppies
4x Male Guppies
I hope that I am not messing up some where. I would like to get another Black Ghost as I am “Hooked†on this fish.

Thanks
Andrewv

 

Hi Andrew. Welcome to the forum.

It's always good to see people rekindle their interest in the hobby.

Some advice from my side would be to read through this thread as it provides an overview of the nitrogen cycle which is absolutely vital to understand when starting up a new tank: http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/showthread.php?245-Nitrogen-Cycle-for-Aquariums-How-NOT-to-kill-all-your-fish-with-your-first-tank

Starting you tank is one thing, but you need to ensure that it is cycled correctly and I'm not sure your tank is. You have added a large amount of fish at once which could lead to ammonia poisoning as the filters are not yet fully established. I made the same mistake when starting up. The excitement of setting up a tank gets the better of you and you can't wait to add more and more fish to the tank. Patience is key to a successful tank.

The second bit of advice would be on the fish itself. Not all the fish you mentioned are compatible and it's always best to research fish before purchasing them. You've got 4 semi-aggressive sharks in the tank which is not ideal. It's best to keep only one shark of the two types you have as they can be aggressive towards each other.

The biggest problem with your selection however is the Black Ghost Knife. It's is an amazing fish but not at all compatible with the rest of your selection and tank. They do grow fairly big, +-50cm, and require a tank of at least 400L. It's also carnivorous and will eat the smaller tetras. If you can, I would suggest you either return the Ghost Knife or set up a bigger tank for it. I understand you "hooked" on this fish but you should not get another. As with the sharks, it's best to keep only one due to their aggressive nature.

Monitor you fish over the next few days and feed them in moderation.

Research is key and if you not sure about something ask the questions here and we will answer. We also love pictures so post many of them.

Regards,
mxz

 

Welcome. Good to see ppl getting back into the hobby. Agree 100% on the advice given above, with emphasis on the Black Ghosts.

A bigger tank for them would be awesome.

 

@Andrewv: Firstly welcome, secondly I would suggest you invest in better filtration for your tank. A internal power head and Daro corner filter won't cut it for your setup and the amount of fish you have, you might want to invest in a canister filter. The filters you currently have is not adequate enough for your fish's needs.

Also you might want to look at a new home for the following fish: Black Ghost Knifefish they get very big up to and above 50cm same with the common Pleco. Also the Red Tail shark will get aggressive when it gets bigger it is a very territorial fish. Hope that helps.

 

If you are going to keep the tetra you need to get them into bigger schools. Average tetra should be kept at 6 or more. Also look at increasing your female guppies. Look for a 1m:2F ratio so in your case 4m:8F. Also, your pleco gets to 50+cm and quickly. They generate a lot of waste...

 

Hi All,
Thanks to all for your replies above I really appreciate all the info supplied to me. WOW things have become complicated these days as there are so many different products available out there. OK, I thought that the filtration will not do it for me, now “WHAT” Canister filtre should I buy, should I go for a bigger one than the tank needs, I have always believed that one should always be prepared for the worsed case senario. All info will be welcome, Thanks Andrew.

 

Hi Andrewv

Its always better to over filtrate than to under filtrate.
The tank you have there is heavily stocked in my opinion so you would need some decent filtration.
Also as mentioned above the ghost knife and pleco will grow too large for your tank.

I'm running the Dophin 1300 canister filter on my 4 foot , something similar with your setup should provide more than enough filtration. The filter costs about 1k new.



Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

 

Ok thanks for the input. I now have less fish in my aquarium as three fish have died, my 2x Coloured Glass fish and my Black Ghost Knifefish. I am really upset about my Black Ghost as I really like that fish, I now do not have to worry about moving it to another tank. As for the Color Glass fish I read that they are Not natural fish and they are injected with Florecent Dye, how can people do this to the poor fish. I only found out once I started to write down all my fish names and trying to get the technical/biological names for them. I am really learning fast now that I am here on the forums and reading all the info, I should have read up more before buying the fish. My stupid mistake, but I will not repeat this in a hurry.

 

Live and learn, and expensive lesson. But we all had to start somewhere

 

Yip I agree with that, I did not want the fish to die on me, as said I hoped that the Black Ghost survived as I really liked it the most and was my most expensive fish in the aquarium, so sad. OK now that I can not change that what next. I need to sort out the flitration. What filtre do I buy next. I would like to buy just once so I will not spare the cost here. I also would like to know what medication I will require to settle the aquarium now that I have lost those fish, I have a pH testor but nothing else. What now .............. Thanks for the input in advance.

 

Hi @Andrewv

Regarding canister filters, with the amount of fish you have in your tank it would be best to cycle at least 5 times the volume of water per hour...
I would recommend either the Hydor 350, about R1400 +-...or some eheim canister, they seem to be the best, but i have never used eheim before, so maybe someone else could give you more insight..

Test kits, get a quality test kit, to measure nitrates and ammonia aswell as ph, they are R500+- but you do get 80+ separate tests out of them...

I think Seachem Prime can help lower toxins in your water if your tank has not cycled through...

If your tank has not cycled...make sure to do atleast 10% water changes daily to prevent poisoning of your fish...

Someone else might have different advice but this is what I would have done in your case. HTH

Kind regards
Krefie

 

Get some Seachem Stability asap, use as directed. (Daily)
It will sort your cycle problem out.
With the amount of fish you will have to schedule weekly/bi weekly water changes.(30% enough)

 

Thanks Krefie
I think any help at this stage is in a positive direction. The main aim here is to keep the fish alive at this stage, later will be to keep the tank clean as a whistle where possible. Ok then my aquarium is +- 100L as it is a 3ft standard DARO product. So I need a filtre system that can pump at least 500L / H or more, Am I correct on this?? Thanks for the info, Andrew.

 

yes you are correct, come to think of it, a hydor 250 should be sufficient

krefie

 

Tetra Easy Balance also really good to settle things. What temperature are you running? Suggest 24 C. Higher temperatures put more stress on fish as the water holds less oxygen than at lower temps. Make sure your tank is well aerated. Aeration means an air stone or a flow of water breaking the water surface. The more surface agitation the better. Once things have settled, you can relax this a little again.

 

Hi iamdieter, thanks for the advice. The temp at present is 26C. I have 1x +-200mm flat airstone and 1x dia20x40L round and the corner filtre that supplies air then I have the Power Flitre breaking the top surface as well. There is plenty of air in my aquarium as I like to see the bubbles and I know then there is enough air/oxygen for the fish. I did expect the Colour Glass Fish to die as they where not born with the Dye in them and was put in at the LFS, I am going back there to tell that AR*EH#LE what I think of him doing that to the fish so Not Cool.

 

The colored glass fish are a disgrace. It's not the lfs that does it, but rather the breeders in Asia. Lfs is guilty of promoting the practice by ordering and selling them.

Your aeration sounds plenty. Get yourself some Tetra Easy Balance to stabilize things.

 

I agree with you, I did not know this until I tried to find their Biological names and thats when I found this lot out. I now only have one left that might die and there is nothing I can do but wait. I did put 2x product in the tank for around 4days while cycling the tank the one is a beige powder that they told me to mix around 1/2 teaspoon into the water. The second is a product called SERA bio nitrivec Bio-Filermedium Liquid Biological Filtre Medium which I had to put everyday a little in. I hope this helps to explain in what I have done so far. One Question is If a purchase a new filtre do I leave the old one in and from how many days UNTIL I remove it. My reasoning is to allow the new filtre to establish it self before taking out the old one. I do not want to shock or upset things too much.

 

Hi Andrew,

Personally I would not remove anything for a couple of weeks at least. Add the new filtration and leave it running for 3-6 weeks to allow the various bacterial colonies to grow and develop. After that, if you feel like removing one of the filters, keep in mind that you will be removing some of the bacteria as well and you should expect to see a spike in the ammonia/nitrites until they other colonies in your filtration has had time to catch up. This shouldn't take too long, and if your new filter is strong/big enough, you may not even notice it.

 

as long a u have seachem prime and stabilty u dont need much els, for me this works the best and with prime u get your moneys worth. for every 5ml can dose 200L of tank water and it last longer as well!

u cant go wrong with eheim there cannisters and heaters is built to last with top shelf quality, u can look also in to resun and tetra cannisters used all and they work well!