JK

Phosphate! that was it, cheers!

Picked up one of those master kits the other day for about $50. Seems to have most things I need but the fella at my LFS did mention it was missing one thing that may be useful but I cant remember what that was right now!

Hi Just wondering if anyone can point me at any websites that have some detailed information on a wide range of fish. Interested to see things like max fish size, characteristics, compatability with other fish, ideal temprepature and PH ranges etc The link below is just one Ive found but it is a bit lacking so keen to see any others people recommend http://www.aqua-fish.net Cheers JK

Cheers mate Just got home and the tank is looking alot clearer now. Will look to introduce a small hardy fish to get things going on the weekend and also do the 2nd dose of cycle then as well.

Rightio I gave the black fluorite a good wash and also mixed it with some dark grey fine gravel. After washing it I've put it in the tank, filled with water and put in some Aqua Plus. Filter is running and I've also started to cycle the tank but shoud I have actually done this if there are no fish in it? Should I put a wee bit of food in there to create some waste and get things all happening? The tank was still looking a bit cloudy last night (whitish/smokey) but its clearing a bit more each day. I have some rocks and drift wood to put in the tank and set up today. Next thing will be plants. Will also take my first readings tonight and see how things are looking

I'm using a mix of Flourite Black Sand and the fine grey/charcoal coloured gravel that Hollywood Fish Farm sell. Looks the goods so far but only just set it up a day ago and waters still a bit cloudy

Very nice. WIll be looking to get some rams for my tank once all setup and cycled

popped up on the 2nd of Jan and was closed. Would expect them to be open today / tomorrow

Picked up all my bits today. Ending up going with black flourite (sp?) sand. Apparantly its excellent for the plants but can make things a wee bit cloudy when disturbed.

Thanks - someone else actually told me something like that today. Said that sand would cause my PH to be too high around 7.5 for what i wanted to keep. Good to know that certain sand will be ok though!

Will probably go with aquatic mix anyway if beneficial. I presume that with sand you need to be careful when siphoning out water otherwise the sand will get sucked up and all disturbed? or do you just siphon like normal?

Cheers guys You hit the nail on the head re the undergravel filter and the sand David - thats the reason I wanted to go without the undergravel filter so I could go sand. yes will be wanting a fair few plants in the tank so sounds like the aquatic mix is the go. So am I correct in thinking you need to plant into the aquatic mix and then layer the sand on top of the mix around the plants?

Well sometime over the christmas break I will be looking to set up my new tank. It's been a couple of years since I last had tanks so have been re-familiarising myself with the process I need to go through to get it all up and running. The tank is 3 foot and approx 120ltrs and has the inbuilt filter in the hood similar to the aquaones. Are these types of filters sufficent or does one need an undergravel as well?? In the past Ive always had 2 foot tanks and run undergravel filters plus a small external but would be nice not to need to run an undergravel on this setup if possible. Also in terms of substrate, I would like to go sand. Again I'm new to this and have just used good old standard gravel/pebbles from my LFS. From what I have read on here from searching it appears best to start with about 2cm of aquatic mix and then go sand on top. How much sand are we talking here? Another 2-3cm sound about right? I've read about Daltons Propogating sand, is this the one to look out for or just one of many options available? This tank will eventually be a pretty basic community tank with a few rainbows, tetras, corys, pair of blue rams, etc, nothing too hardout. Interested on your thoughts on the above and anything else I may need to consider? Thanks and merry christmas! JK Btw - will keep updating this thread through the tanks lifecycle

Got one of those as well so happy to hear no problems!

Thanks guys So are you using 100% sand or stones on the bottom 1/2 inch or so topped with say 1/2 inch of sand?

Are there anythings different when you use sand that you need to know for cleaning or planting etc?

Hmmm hadnt thought of using sand but could be quite a cool idea. Has anyone got pics of their tropical tanks using sand instead of stones?

is there any problem going higher than this? say a 300watt heater in a 150ltr tank or would it just give a better heat consistency as long as set at the correct temp?

Looks like I may give one of those sun sun tanks ago. Going to check one out tomorrow and see what it's like

yes what other fish do you have in the tank? Any barbs by chance?

Last time HE posted :lol: Yep that was when i was passing my tanks on before going overseas I think. Still not too sure what tank I'm gonna get yet. Still very much in the research phase. No need to rush these things!

Couple of years at least Caper, maybe even 3!!

Never really looked into them too much in the UK but did when I was in greece and spain. Some pretty cool stuff there. Haven't heard of gars....presume they are different to garfish of the saltwater variety aka piper aka kingi bait

Just been doing that Carryl and there's a couple of AquaOne 620 on there so could be a good option. Also a fair few of a brand called Sunsun. Anyone seen these before and are they any good?

Hi guys and gals been a while since I've posted in here but I've been away in the UK for a couple of years and now that I've returned home and bought a new house it is time to set up a new tank. I've been looking around and am after something around 3 foot and on a nice stand (black or very dark brown). Can anyone recommend any good deals at the moment? I've been looking at the AquaOne style tanks and I'm thinking this may be the way to go. Cheers Jade