sup42
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Posts posted by sup42
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If you don't over feed the fish they are not a problem. They have a self controlling mechanism in terms of numbers based of food supply.
They will not breed when there is not enough food around.
I have them in my big tank , I introduced them deliberately, They are never a problem. I just cant catch one to seed my new tank with these invaluable clean up workers.
They are a bit harder for Loaches to kill off.There bio mass versus Loaches if you don;t over feed the tank is possibly negligable,
I'm guessing here but if your tank is fully cycled their Nitrogenous contribution in controlled numbers would be limited.
There positive contribution could outweigh Killing them off.
Lastly if you are seeing them in the day time you are over feeding.
Correct that first imo then make a decision, I am going with Dwarf Loaches because I like them and want rid of my small bladder snail stock.
Good Luck.
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I set up the tank just over a month ago, cycled it and have slowly stocked it up. added the two balloon rams last weekend and that is the only new addition I have made in two weeks. I have been doing at lest 3 water changes a week until last week as everything was on track. All the fish seemed fine (except my bristlenose who had been hiding a bit more than usual for about a week - which has happened to me before) before they died.
I'm no expert but based on my experiences with Fish in Cycling and in my case over stocking, I wonder how much stress your fishes came under during the Cycling and on top of the PH changes whether they have slowly dropped off when you least expect it when the Water parameters are sorted.
Sorry to hear you lost fish. I had a bullied Dwarf Gourami give up the ghost last week because the new tank to move the Bully into took too long to sought out.
Then there was the Mysterious disappearance of our Betta fish ( not even a carcass to be found or a forensic trail of ammonia )
Good luck with finding the Cause.
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Killed two more today on my Swords, Probably see about two a week, neither were mature, they don't last in the ' tank of death'
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I've got the same snail and MTS as well.
I kill the Pond Snails as they appear, I agree with what others have said, Snails are like Canary in coal mines , they tell you a lot about over feeding and water Quality.
I don't get too worried about them , Auckland Water is fairly Soft , they don't really Thrive in my Tanks.
I like them as part of the natural order of things.
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Here's the Controller for the K3 fresh water 90 watt Cree LED ( Got it off TM , I was going to import one from Fishstreet = $500 nz .....TM = $480 from Val Ray ).
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Cree Drivers and Bulbs have the best Rep from what I have looked at on Various forums and articles.
As I understand it 0.6 watts of Cree Lighting is equates to High Lighting in a planted Tank.
Cheaper Chinese Knock Offs using Cree Technology is what I have gone for.....Frankly because I can't afford brands like Maspect, Orphec and Aquaray etc.
The light I purchased costs $ 480.
A 90 watt 7000 kelvin new Model of Fresh Water Lighting for Fresh water plants ( 80cm long ) f.
Being a new Light at entry Level on the Market there is very little info on it in terms of Par Values.
It has three Rows of Cree lamps 3watt White Cree Bulbs and a center strip of Blue.
The Controller is A big Unit and It is easy to use as far as the three separate on off times for sunrise sunset.
The Lamp has Passive Cooling with Fins and Active cooling with thermostatic control of the inbuilt fans ( they kick in at 45 degC).
The Proof will be in the pudding. IN My high tech tank It has been running for two weeks only , I am taking a photographic record of the tank. Increasing ferts etc has meant the plants are still in the adjustment phase to the change in lighting / feeding.
DIY LED Lamps was never an option for me.
So I guess If you cost up the parts including the fans you will need to cool it....versus the lights like mine....you will have a sense of whether making your own is worth it.
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found this while researching a presentation
good little article on lighting smaller tanks
My dad is a electronics engineer and showed me the other day that the Electronics from an energy saver light bulb can be used as a Low heat ballast for regular fluro tubes if you connect the wires correctly to regular fittings, you can even locate the ballast away from the tank to reduce heating issues, but remember don't play round with that sort of thing unless you are 100% confident or even better qualified
Interesting read. I like the way it is broken down in Rexs Article.
Wow that's pretty Cool Your Dad is the perfect guy to Put this stuff together.
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Might have to add a third Lamp to the set up.
Seems that the Reflectors for incandescent bedside lamps like this have no overlap. Therefore Par values need to be taken into account on the periphery of the Substrate directly beneath the Lamp.
Also read the Vertically hung Compact Flourescents (CFL) give significantly more Par above an aquarium than Horizontal set ups ( So that's a Bonus with the cheapy lamps from Bunnings)
For the High Light that I am after I will need the lights to be 3 - 6 inches from the Water Surface. Heat and Electrical safety issues will have to be factored in since I want it to be an open tank ( heat is less of an issue there....so far the temp of the water is a stable 25c )
Watts in an Aquarium situation :
The more I read the less relevant this measure is ( after getting my head around LED Watts / Par eqivalents in crude terms) converting to CFL's was beyond me.
For example Phillips 12watt eco Bulbs claim a 40 watt output......this may be so....but that's in a Household application, from what I have read so far......what I really have is 12watts in an Aquarium scenario x 2 lamps ( 2.4 Watts per Gallon in the old School )
Par readings with the Right Reflectors and distance from the Water Surface / substrate may or may not mean I will need Higher Wattage......But with the Current set up another Lamp is essential.
The Advantage of Three Lamps Is Running separate on times to get the Sunrise / set effect.
In Conclusion :
Probably a Superior way to Go if you want Top end lighting funtionality on the relative cheap and asthetics are not important.....Is a Workshop Style CFL clip on / Hanging type reflector ( I Will cost this up at Bunnings On Payday ) for better light spread...
Lastly , Apparently going over 27 Watts on CFL bulbs in this type set up is not recommended for Aquarium use ( probably heat related ? )
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Boil it. Sinks fine.
I use this method.
Ive tried Lettuce of varying types nothing touched it not even the snails :slfg:
My pleco's wont touch the Algae tabs. Tried Cucumber , no Joy. I was getting worried about them till I dropped in some Brussell sprout for the Ottos....the Plecos went mad on it , Ottos don't touch it , but they like the Cucumber, Cory's love the algae tabs i got for the Plecos....
They are just like kids, Some are Macdonald types others Burger King......
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just went for a warm white, it has a bit more red spectrum to show off the red in the shrimp (and the yellow dot on the tail, looks awesome!!) plus im only after a bit of algae growth so red spectrum should boost it well, it also has a good range of blue if the spots on the gobies are anything to go by. atm its just clipped onto the desk next to it to test it out but would prefer to have it on the tank.
Shrimp ! cool.
My kids are keen on finding some Shrimp for the next tank, We live in Auckland So Finding cleanish water sources with a good population will be the mission.
The Shrimp tank at the moment has substrate and some plants that are meant to go ok in cold water in it ( Java Moss / Fern .....Cabomba etc ) and no Shrimp :slfg:
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Good plan. I'm not too DIY inclined ( if I take something apart that's the death of it ) So I like what you're going to do with yours, I will be interested to hear what Bulbs you chose F15guy and see the end result.good Idea, went with a regular desk lamp, kinda annoying how al the clip on ones have a solid metal bar at the base which makes them unsuitable to clip onto the tank. i'm planning on unbolting it and bending it so it can camp on properly -
The grow wool on plants is inert and does nothing for your plants but restrict the root development.It is used as a holding media when growing with hydro You are right however with the fact that they may carry good bugs. How about a compromise and remove the wool and rinse it in water to be added to the tank.
Yep.
I removed the Grow Wool and planted the Plants after the pots had been sitting in my tank for a few days ( I Didn't know if the bacteria would be disturbed / some lost by rinsing the Wool into the tank.
So put the potted plants near the filter uptake in the mean time.
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100 % agree.No need. Just use basic de chlorinator. You shoudnt be effecting the bacteria when water changing and the balance is already there so no need to add more.I use prime for this purpose. Reading Various websites while experiencing New Tank Syndrome Very few Products met the Standard for being Live Viable bacteria, the ones in Bottles on Shelves with no Oxygen and no Date stamp are a waste of Money since the Aerobic bacteria needed to Cycle a Tank needs to breath, or be in some suspended state that survives long enough to go from production to our LFS.
Two Products that had been shown to work (provided they hadn't passed there use by date ) were not available in New Zealand.
The rest were possibly able to provide conditions that would support Bacterial growth in an Aquarium.
Because I had Escalating Nitrite and Amonia Levels to Deal with ( as mentioned in My previous post ) I followed the advice of an expert who seemed to know what they were talking about and did aggressive Water Changes to ' Slow the negative impact of the Cycle down.
At the Same time introducing real live bacteria from another Tank is worth ten times any bottled Snake Oil and speeds the Cycle up Markedly in terms of reaching a balance.
I didn't Know anyone with a Cycled tank so instead of wasting Money on Bacteria in a Bottle I bought Potted Plants Galore from Animates MT Wellington ( because they keep a Pleco and A Dwarf Gourami in their planted tanks )
The Grow Wool In pots I dropped into my tank 'as is' to seed my tank with live bacteria and increase the bio mass of plants in there to absorb Amonia and out compete Alagae.
The Scound tank I set up has cycled Sponge media from the Big tank , I was thrilled we Cycled the Big tank in three weeks and amazed the Secound tank was instantly Cycled ( having said that i am doing daily water tests for two weeks to be sure ).
So Big Water changes might slow down the Bacteria in you tank but it is balanced by the Clean water you are putting in each time......its a ratio. Once you are fully Cycled provided you don't change all of the substrate and Bio Media in your filter , or over feed your fish , you can water change away merrily.
It's More important that you avoid PH swings and Temperature swings with Water changes.
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do you have a photo of lamps???, my bunnings had stuff all range of suitable lamps the other day and the clip on one I got at the Warehouse had a broken clip when I got it home :an!gry
so gotta wait another day to start on algae growing
I'll put some Picks up this weekend when I have access to A camera. I threw out the boxes of the Lamps , I think they were called Orbit Lamps , anyway I taped them to an old steel U frame from the end of a coffee table to get the right distance etc.
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That grassy plant is called "Hair Grass"
Cheers Li@m.
There is a Tussock like plant in one of my tanks i bought from Animates , I think it's maybe another Bog plant money waster , time will tell.
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So your saying you have 6inch's (15cm) of substrate???
Better Adjust those figures to Centermeters :slfg: that would be half a tank of clay and sand otherwise.
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The gardening staff member at Bunnings Mt Wellington I asked today had never heard of it. I got it from Stone and Water World instead with a Sack of Silica Sand. Think I paid about fifteen bucks for the Daltons and eighteen for the 25kg Sack of Sand.
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Today I stripped down one of the smaller tanks ten Gallon 60cm x 30 x 30 to allow for replacing inert gravel and silica sand with Daltons Aquamix.
The Tank has had plants and some bladder snails in it for a month or so.....the aim with stripping it down was to lighten the Bio load on my 60g established tank and to remove a Bullying Dwarf Gourami from the community.
An Aqua one 30g per hour Filter ( which i'm not entirely happy with due to trouble with priming it ) Cycled Sponge media from my big tank Filter.
Two Clip on lamps from Bunnings with Phillips eco Compact Flourescent 12 Watt ( 40wt output Bulbs after reading a post by SamH )
I went for a four inch deep layer of Daltons with the intention that it will last longer than a thinner Layer ( Bunnings in MT Wellington didn't have any so i picked it up from Stone and water world ).
DIY Co2 with Chop stick diffuser
I used a 2 inch layer of Silica sand over the top of the Daltons.
After reading about up rooting plants with Daltons i went for stem plants that can just be trimmed.
The tank is set up with Hygrophila Polysperma
Xmas Moss
Some kind of Grassy plant
Cabomba ( the orange / brown Variety )
Small Java ferns
Red Rotala
x 1 Amazon Sword
And a couple of plants I haven't been able to Identify through online searches yet.
Live stock :
6 Zebra Danios
2 Ottos
1 x Dwarf Gourami.
I am not sure about the lighting in terms of whether these 12 Watt 6500k rated 40 watt out put bulbs are enough ?
Water Parameters before introducing fish were 0 Amonia 0 Nitrites 0.25ppm Nitrates
Here's the pics
Before the makeover
After the makeover
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Hey mate.
I don't know much about filters so can't give advice there, though with Beta's you need a filter with dispersed flow , not too much current etc.
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Gidday.
I joined recently. Like you i got into it two moths ago. Set up tank three today :slfg:
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Ive got one going at the back of the tank.
It's partially shaded by Some tall Stem Plants and the Little bugger is still growing quite quickly. The idea was to try to slow / retard it's growth a bit.
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Thanks to Li@m for the baby fern and driftwood.
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Yep it's addictive. We started on a secound tank yesterday two months into the hobby :slfg:
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I was wasn't up to date with fish keeping so ended up doing a 'fish in cycle' and even then there were too many for a controlled rate of progression through the Nitrogen Cycle.
So from what i read after the fact i did daily water testing and daily water changes based on the readings , never less that 25 % changes and sometimes 50 % two or three times a week to slow the Cycle down.
Introduction of Cycled media and trying to use plants at the outset for the welfare of the fish to counter the New Tank Syndrome...meant the Cycle took three weeks even though there was a highish Bioload and no visible signs of stressed fish.
Obviously put the Cart before the Horse but I totally agree that plants and regular Water changes can make a huge difference to the health of the tank , provided other water parameters are not fluctuating by the changes themselves.
Anyway most people here know this stuff in more detail than me, but From this experience I find it hard to back off an let the tank do it's own thing, it seems fish keeping is not so relaxing for the obsessive compulsive :slfg:
Advice please - fighting dwarf gourami (males)
in Beginners Corner
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Sorry you lost the Fish.
I had the same experience , had to put a wee dwarf Gourami to sleep. The fish had lost condition from bullying and like yours was lying on the bottom of the tank on his side.
I wrapped him in tissue and put him in the freezer as i read that is the humane way to do it ?
Anyway I have Two females and a male that are going ok now.
The Bullying male was kept in a seperate tank for a week then reintroduced to the old tank to give the Females the Claim on the the big tank.
Most LFS don't stock the bland looking females.