DeeTee

I have a syphon/hose but need to discharge it into a bucket as my tanks are not close to the outdoors or a sink - so bucket is needed it to transport it there (and carry fresh water back). Have to be careful where I locate tanks to be clear of a) too much light and b) the other half's hi fi equipment! Its a very sophisticated set-up I know - but short of training the man :roll: or getting a self-mobilising bucket I'm not expecting much to change!!! Lol.

Gee and it takes me an hour to do my one 100L tank if I'm doing a good clean (i.e., vaccuuming gravel, scrubbing ornaments, glass, cleaning filtration system, and bucketing the water in/out in 12L lots 'cos I can't handle heavier. Now if it was the MAN of the house who was the fish-o-phile things would almost certainly be expedited - he's the technician, sadly, I'm not! Lol! :nilly:

Wow, how do you find time to maintain all that???? Your offer is really appreciated - wish there were more people like you in the world! I wasn't looking forward to having to sell the lot and start again. We haven't set our travel dates yet - but will probably be July 2011. Would just have to work out fish transport logistics though - I have a couple of small 20L tanks that would transport okay if needed - e.g., for the fighter - I guess a series of plastic bags and a box for the rest!! Whereabouts are you exactly?

Thanks for the tip. I used little envelopes when I went away for a short time but a pill box would be good. What I am really worried about is having someone to clean the tanks. The big one especially is pretty crowded, and whilst it can go a couple of weeks without a clean - 4 would risk disaster!

That's a very kind offer - I live in Ellerslie. I'm happy to pay someone to care for them for me, but I just don't know anyone who shares my hobby and/or that I could trust to do the job!

Hi, I've been keeping tropical fish for about 2 1/2 years. Slowly getting better at it. Have 100L tank that's a bit overloaded but seems to keep fine with a weekly clean and 30-40% water change. Currently I have a couple of blue gourami, a gold sucker-mouth, a couple of loaches (supposedly yoyo but I'm a bit suspicious they're not?), one corydoras (one died this week ), 6 cherry barbs, 6 platies, 2 x 5-stripe barbs, 5 x-ray tetras, 2 emerald eye rasboras, and 3 glowlight tetras. And I have 2 small tanks with a betta and a collection of platies that I accidentally bred. The problem is that I have to go overseas for a month in the middle of next year and I don't know anyone who could look after the tanks. Does anyone know of any people or service than cares for tanks in these situations? Or am I just going to have to sell up my collection? (I live in Auckland)

Thanks for all the input. Here's where I have got to with it all: Rang the agents who handle these tanks and the canister filters that come with them (Blue Planet range). They advised me that the retailer had failed to provide me with some information that was on the packaging and a special leaflet (neither of which they claimed existed when I enquired). This would have told me that although the tank has a nice black framing top and bottom and appears to be one that you would be able to fill to the base of the 3-4cm black rim around the top of the tank - you can't. The canister is designed so that the outflow comes from underneath - there is no spray attachment available, and unless you have at least a 3-4 cm fall it fails to create the necessary surface agitation. So no surprises - my problem WAS poor oxygenation. Now I have the issue that the tank does NOT look very great with the water sitting below the framing like that (and it was supposed to be a feature in the living room) - something the suppliers generously acknowledged!! - AND as I grimly pointed out - judging by my measurements it won't be holding 100litres of water as claimed either. I shall be taking this up with them. Meantime, I am keeping the water level where it looks best, and employing an airstone to create the oxygenation. I would prefer not to have it, as the pump is noisy and it creates rather more agitation than I'd prefer - but its the lesser of evils at present, while I decide on my next move..... A case of caveat emptor, I guess. PS: As regards oxygenation influencing PH - I disagree that the impact is negible - an article I found noted that aerating 20litres of water for 4 hours changed PH from 7.8 to 8.6. Aerating my 100 litres overnight changed it from approx 6.6 - 6.8, up to 7.4. Of course water hardness would also be a factor in how much change occurred - I suspect my water is probably fairly soft. I'm not worried about the PH now because the 7.4 reflects my tapwater PH and more importantly its remaining stable since the airpump - it was the inexplicable rapid fluctuations that were worrying me (and the fish stress - which has also resolved).

I have been running the filter constantly - and was led to believe it was also sufficient to aerate the water - clearly this is not the case as unlike my other hang-on filters, this one doesn't create surface water movement.

Thanks for all that - my tank is 100litres - so its not THAT small. No, I don't have much in the way of live plants at this stage. And yes, I am now running the air pump 24 hours. I will be checking my water hardness out of interest when I get a test kit (shop sold out last weekend) and I'm leaving my water alone at this stage! I've found an article that indicates PH rises with increased oxygenation due to higher levels of OH ions as opposed to H+ ions which make it more acidic. If thats the case all this acidity / alkalinity stuff has indeed probably been a red herring. The gasping fish and likely the initial ?toxic condition that developed after I left the tank fish-free for a few days (as indicated by a slight sulphurous smell and clouding) seems likely to have been due to one factor - poor oxygenation, and the PH fluctuations also secondary to that, and not of themselves all that important. Yes, I did get stressed outwhen my fish did - the rapid PH variation was the only potential cause I had at that stage. I'm learning. I intend to contact the manufacturers direct about the oxygen issue - surely I shouldn't have to be running the airpump fulltime - you don't expect to shell out for a supposedly complete new tank and end up with all these problems - or am I being naive????

I am totally confused now. After battling my new tank mysteriously turning acidic overnight for 3 weeks, and having checked/cleaned everything thoroughly, I tried it again with my platies and they all started surface gasping immediately. So I put them back in the old tank, and I got some inexpensive fish (x-ray tetras) and started again. They seemed fine for the first couple of days - and then, hey presto, surface gasping again. Water was also turning slightly cloudy. I was suspicious after reading all your comments that although there is a good water flow from my filtration system, it might not be causing adequate oxygenation, as it has an exit pipe below the waterline that points straight down into the tank, and the surface movement is negligable. I had bought a cheap airpump/airstone and quickly got that up and running and within 10 minutes all the gasping had stopped. Ran it for a couple of hours, turned it off, all well for a few hours - then sure enough, gasping again. Quickly resolved again when air had pump on for a few minutes. I've been running water tests every couple of days and now, guess what, the water is highly alkaline - at top of scale on my narrow range test kit (7.6). (My tap water is similar to this, but the tank water had previously been around 6. 8 ). I have not added any buffers/treatment agents other than a water conditioner/dechlorinator. I do have some "PH down" but 'm reluctant to rush around tinkering with my water willy nilly - any ideas as to what is happening? Is there a link between PH and oxygenation levels (or the lack of them)? PS: Fish seem active enough at present although haven't touched any of the flake food I've offered and I've had to try and remove it - they haven't eaten in 4 days ??

FINALLY .......... some progress. Fed up with this whole tank business I decided there just couldn't be anything that bad wrong with the tank any more. I checked the PH once again and ???? it was closer to neutral - around 6.8. I hadn't even touched the water but I had removed that live plant I'd put in from my other tank and put it in a separate bucket - I discovered it turned the water acidic in a matter of hours ?? Anyway, its not going back in after that. I think my water is not well buffered but unfortunately they'd sold out of KH test kits, however will get one asap and if that proves to be true, will add a little buffering material. Also suspecting my platies were wimps - and perhaps needed longer to acclimatise than I gave them. I got some new cheap fish to put in my tank. 5 x-ray tetras. They've been in there 36 hours - swimming about happily - no gasping, no fuss. :bounce: So far so good. Now we start the cycling process........................ Thanks for all the input everyone - I've learned a lot more through all this........doubtless there will be more to come! :roll:

I'm inclined to agree that the whole PH thing must've been a red herring - but I'm not using any aerosols, the tank is right next to the old one - I've rinsed it thoroughly (more than once) with fresh water, clean cloth (no antibacterials, cleaners, etc etc ) replaced filter material, rinsed and wiped all ornaments, gravel was boiled to be on safe side, even rinsed the live plants - so I can't think what could be wrong. I am at a total loss......... Temperatures were set the same in both tanks at 26 deg (and according to thermometers about the same). I did turn the lights off as an experiment (they ARE brighter than my old tank), but the fish came straight back to the surface and remained there - I could try leaving them off for a longer period and seeing what happens - maybe my fish are just stress-bunnies??? It still seems extremely odd though - you'd think they'd want to hide not sit right under the lights - unless there's something wrong with the oxygenation - but there are very few live plants and there's 100 litres of clear water only a couple of days old - surely not?!

Thanks, will try your tip but........... I put some platies (4 ) in the new tank the other night (after putting them in a container with some of their old water and then adding some new tank water to let them acclimatise for 10 minutes or so) Didn't expect a problem as the PH was almost the same in both tanks (6.2 vs 6.4) - BUT all the fish were at the surface almost immediately - thought it was perhaps a stress response so left them but they remained there for the next couple of hours. You could see their gills going 90 to the dozen the whole time - so I ended up returning them to their old tank fearing I might have dead fish by morning!. They seemed to come right after a short period in their old tank - not a sign of surface breathing! What is going on???. This happened the last time I tried to put fish in the tank (before I discovered the whole PH thing)

Well here's the progress report.......... Water was a little hazy after all my work (very mild, looked like ? a little bit of carbon or maybe noodle dust perhaps - despite my soaking) - its cleared today so that bit seems okay. BUT overnight after filling the water went from 7.4 or 5 to 6.4, and in the next 24 hours dropped to 6.2, where it is now. I've checked the tap water - left that overnight and retested next day - very slight shift of around 0.2 to 7.2 - so perhaps part of my problem is poor hardness - will investigate testing for that - can you buy kits for this? BUT if it is the problem - why has one tank (a 28 litre with 10 tetras and cherry barbs and a pair of gourami in it) remained stable over 2 weeks with only a small water top-up??? I no longer suspect my media in the tank, as I've replaced the noodles, wool, carbon with another brand. I've boiled the nylon bio balls. My only other hypothesis at this stage is some bacteria from the overloaded 35litre tank, which is also going acid, because I did put one relatively small live plant (which had got a bit tall and straggly) from that tank into the new one when I first set up. It got soaked and rinsed prior to being put into the tank again, but of course that wouldn't destroy all the bacteria on it. If this is the problem, it still seems a pretty rapid change in 100 litres of water from one small bacteria colony. Any thoughts everyone - not sure what to do now. My overloaded tank inhabitants mightn't mind the low PH given they're managing in low acidity now - but it doesn't give me much buffering for cycling and I don't like something like this that I can't understand!!

No, I don't know the KH of my water - I will look into this. However, the small tank I have that is NOT overloaded is pretty stable - after a week it tends to be around the same as my tapwater - about PH7.5. The overloaded tank was also similar - I used to add a little PH down in fact to get it a bit closer to neutral for my rasboras and tetras. However, it has now got a tendency to become extremely acidic after a few days - and I have put that down to being impossibly overloaded. I'm coping with more regular partial water changes and hoping to get my big tank going asap..... As to the big tank - it was changing rapidly without fish in and with total water change. I broke the whole thing down today and it had a slight sulphurous smell to the water - the media smelt of this too. So I replaced the carbon and filter wool, and the noodles with some Aquaone stuff. The plastic "bio balls" I boiled for a few minutes (they stood that okay). Then I rinsed the new media in some aquarium water and started again (after boiling the gravel, thoroughly rinsing out the whole tank, the ornaments, fake plants, a couple of live plants, the filter canister ............ took hours ). Fingers crossed ............... :-?