Hi Guys

Hi Everyone.

My Name is Fanie Lindeque and i have an my Fish tanks since the age of 14 Years old and im turning 40 This year.

So its been many years and i still get such a kick out of my hobby after all these years.

Its nice to meet you all and hope that that i will be part of this forum for many years .

 

Welcme Fanie

What fish do you keep?

 

Welcome Fanie! 26 years hey. Did we know about water changes in 1985? I was in fish in the 70's and sure do not recall doing it.

 

Hi Vis,
Thanks for the warm welcome .

Well I have 2 x 4 foot Tanks, in the one tank i keep Malawi species . new Hobby so im still learning the differend species, and in my other tank i keep a red tail Cat fish.

In my pond out side i have a few gold fish and guppies that i breed . the pond is hooked up with 3 x 250 watt heaters to keep the fish happy.

And you.

 

Hi Tom.

Yeah its been a long time bud . But its still t6he altimate hobby to me.

Well believe it or not i dont do water changes to my tanks. Becuase with the water that evapurates from the heaters i just top them up every 3-4 weeks . i do however clean my fillters once a week. it keeps the water clean and keeps me fish happy.

 

Interesting, Fanie. Do you monitor any water parameters, such as ammonia and related, pH etc?

By the way, I used to do what you are saying, in those years. I do not recall that many fatalities, but then again, my fish never grew to what you saw in some shops. I tend to think one can not go on your memories, as you tend to remember the good and forget the bad. I do remember I used table salt a lot more in those days, maybe that is what made the nitrates tolerable to the hardy fish.

 

Welcome to TASA. Enjoy the forum.

 

Welkom fanie as kan wys bietjie prentjies

blaar

 

Hi everybody,

THANK U ALL for the warm welcome. Its lekker to chat to other guys out there who shares the same interests.

Hi Tom. As a matter of fact no props up to now, However i use a little copper bar that fits into my my filters Aswell. and since i have been using it i never had any problems.

A Mate of mine on the other hand uses the PH testers and does all his water changes and his fish never lives for longer than 3-4 Months. He actualy wanted to get rid of his tank a while ago , I then told him what im doing and he is very happy at this stage. no losses as yet. and its been 6 months now. so far so good.

I also have Sea Sand in my one tank, (The Malawi Tank) And man does the Malawi's like it. My plants grow exreamly well , My Fresh water Mussels have more than enough food in the sand and its deep enough to hide from the othe fish aswell.

Will post some pics for your guys soon. Its a awsome looking tank.

 

Hi Thysie.

Dankie man.

Sal binne kort n fotos op sit. Dis nou een hobby die wat my nie baie tyd of geld kos nie. maar ek glo daar aan om my oog op my visse tehou.As iets nie lekker lyk nie dan spring ek onmiddilik in .

 

Sharp shoot

 

I could suggest maybe doing some research with regards to the nitrogen cycle. How do you remove nitrates out of your aquarium?

 

Hi Discusguy.

As matter of fact i never checked it, And that is the honest truth.

I will as a matter of fact get it checked out. I simply just dont have any problems. as matter of fact i cant remember the last time i lost any fish due to illnes in my tanks.

It seems that the Rinsed and boiled Ocean Sand combined with the live plands and fresh water mussels has a possitive effect on the water conditions. My water is crystal clear and my filtration system catches a lot of dirt.

Again Thank u for the tip on the nitrogen . i will take a sample to be tested tomorow to the pet shop in boksburg who can get the water tested for me.

 

Must be the plants consuming the nitrates then. Get it checked out. I could reccomend maybe buying your own test kits. They are inexpensive. Water management is key to keeping aquariums healthy and thriving. If you keep a eye on your parameters(testing your water) you can avoid disasters before they even happen.

I'm sure everyone would love to see pics of your tanks. hint hint

 

I Will do so. Thank u for the tip bud.

Its a nice hobby and believe me my malawi's has costed me a bit of cash to build up. i have aproximately 15 - 20 Malaw's in my tank and man it looks good,My tank looks almost like Marine tank, With one big difference, No Salt no salt water fish and no clorinators.

Will most certaily Post pics for your guys soon.

 

Can you tell us more about this?

 

Copper Bar

Hey Bud. its very Simple .

What i have done was as follows . i remember that a mate of mine a few years back, had this little copper bars in his tank. so i asked him what they doing in his tank and he told me it keeps his fish healthy. so he gave me one, i then added the copper bar to my tank and yip u geust it, no more white spot, Fin Rod and so forth. as a matter of fact i have not treated any fish of mine for the last 10 years for any of the common fresh water illneses.

I know that one pet store owner advised me against this practice as the copper apparandly poisens the fish and gives a harfull chemical off. But , after all this time surely i should have encountered some sort of problem. The only problem is i dont have sick fish, So I Will swear by it .

All u do is get your self a piece of copper , sand it down and make sure there is no oil and so forth on it . place it near your filter or like i did mine fits perfectly into my filter. Its not vissible to the eye and what ever the copper does goes thru your filter.

Man i can't remember the last time i had fin rod or white/ Black Spot in my tanks.

Its a small thing but it made all the difference in my tanks.

 

hehe, Fanie, I will believe you, but also listen to my Grandpa. He used to say, "jy kan my vertel perde drolle is vye, maar ek sal dit nie eet nie"

So, I am not going to say I will follow your example very soon...

What does our other members say?

 

Some meds do include copper. That is why you can't dose it with snails and inverts in the tank.
Not sure what the copper would do to fish over the long run.
Maybe the Prof can shed some light on this.

 

Well guys, Like i said , what i have there at this stage is the experience that i got over the years and yes it works for me.
And im more than happy to show my tanks to any one . Its my Pride and joy. And it will be part of for many more years to come. Tell your guys what. If any one feels like to pop in and come and see the tanks please do so.

I live in Homestead Primrose.

U can Contact me on 084-793-8761 . At any time.

Anyway. Im out of here. tIME TO GO HOME.

Enjoy your public Holiday tomorow. Will Chat on Thursday.

Cheers