editkid Posted November 5, 2007 Report Share Posted November 5, 2007 Being a beginner I made some mistakes in my first tank. It's too dark, has snails, not the right gravel, etc. I'd like to redo my established tank with 12 fish in it. So I'm getting another tank, probably a little smaller, as a temporary home while I rejig my main tank. I have a bunch of questions about the move: a) Do I use water from my existing tank to fill up the temporary tank? b) Do I need to put gravel in the temporary tank? c) My filter - and media - will move from my main tank to the temporary tank and back, along with the fish? d) How do I best catch all my fish? Take half the water and my big piece of driftwood out before catching them? e) I don't need to condition the fish when introducing them into the temp tank if the water stays the same, right? And a bunch of questions about setting up a new tank: f) I'm thinking of using white sand, rocks, moss and possibly a few hardy plants. In all a much more transparent tank look. My current tank is a jungle of wood, dark gravel and lots of plants. Will this change of environment freak out my fish badly? Guess its just like being taken from the shop to a new tank? g) Anyone have any good leads for white sand or nice rocks? h) I'd like to hide the blue rubber tubes of my air bubbles. Any tips? Thanks for y'r help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted November 5, 2007 Report Share Posted November 5, 2007 1. Yes use the same water 2. No you do not need gravel but if you have white poly under it the fish will go very pale. Try to sit it on something dark. 3. Yes move fiter and media across with the fish 4. Remove as much water as possible first into the other tank. Remove all ornaments etc so nothing to catch the nets on. 5. Right New tank Dark gravel is actually good and better for the fish. They colour up more and feel more secure. A fish likes to blend in with its surroundings, especially the substrate, so they are harder to see by prey above. IMO white gravel is for marines. It only looks good for a few weeks and then goes darker as algae and stuff grows on it - as it is supposed to do. If you are changing tanks cos it is too dark - get better lighting, don't lighten the gravel. Hide the blue tubing behind large rocks or tall plants. If they are just running bubbles, consider removing them entirely. No tubing to hide then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editkid Posted November 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2007 Great advice, as always. Thanks Caryl! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
me love fishy Posted November 6, 2007 Report Share Posted November 6, 2007 one way I found to hide blue tubing is to get some of those sucker things that hold your heater on from the lfs and use them to attach your blue tubing to the bottom of the tank under the gravel, you just have to make sure you have it exactly where you want before putting the gravel on top. good luck with your new tank :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editkid Posted November 6, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2007 Thanks for the tips! This is sort of what I want to try and do, albeit on a smaller scale: Two hollow caves with moss on either side with a bright and open valley in the middle. Now how to make those caves... been waking up in the middle of the night with crazy ideas, but nothing workable yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
me love fishy Posted November 6, 2007 Report Share Posted November 6, 2007 Wow that's a pretty impressive tank. I guess for the caves you could try using terracotta pots, or similar, like you put pot plants in, that might work as long as the moss will grow on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editkid Posted November 6, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2007 Yeah, that's one of the top tanks in the world, as voted by Practical Fishkeeping magazine last year I think. And yes, terra-cotta would definitely be an easy solution, although I don't know if I'd enjoy the smoothness of the terra-cotta very much. It might be a bit too clean... I'm thinking either driftwood or some sort of rock on some sort of chicken wire (???) or plastic frame (plastic, like the mesh sort that you get little potted plants in). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted November 6, 2007 Report Share Posted November 6, 2007 editkid, post progress pics as your tank takes on its new appearance. Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editkid Posted November 7, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2007 Oh, most definitely Caper :') I'm going to the South coast of Wellington tonight to look for nice rocks. Any tips for conditioning rocks so that I can safely use them in the aquarium? Any rocks I should avoid? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editkid Posted November 7, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2007 On the topic of rocks, I found this, which seems to make sense: Sure. Most all rocks are "aquarium safe" in a sense. But some do in fact release mineral substances that can raise your pH and hardness to levels that your fish may certainly not appreciate. Try setting the rock in a small bucket of water, testing the pH before adding the rocks and then again about a week later, if the pH has risen then you know those rocks may not be safe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon1990 Posted November 7, 2007 Report Share Posted November 7, 2007 If you get rocks with small holes in them from the beach make sure you boil them well because they have small shellfish crabs and other little creatures in them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted November 7, 2007 Report Share Posted November 7, 2007 I agree with Dixon about boiling I don't have rocks in my aquariums but everything I've read so far re: rocks, people usually boil them before putting in the aquarium. Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editkid Posted November 7, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2007 Nom nom nom, boiled rock! I got heaps of rock yesterday. I took a hammer and chisel and knocked some nice thin slabs off, too, which might be nice to cover another structure - a coconut? - to make a cave and still keep everything lightweight. I'll boil a few different ones and test them in water for a week. And I'll try and take some photos of the process. Might be handy for a little tutorial, if I don't stuff up. Also, I might put silicone on the bottom, so that they don't scratch the bottom of the tank, should they sink to the bottom of the substrate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editkid Posted November 7, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2007 That photo I posted earlier is from ADA (Aqua Design Amano). They have many localised sites and the Australian one has many PDF manuals and beautiful galleries. Check it out! Galleries http://www.adaaust.com.au/gallery/gallery.htm PDF manuals http://www.adaaust.com.au/support/howto_ada.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editkid Posted November 7, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2007 This one seems particularly helpful for natural rock layouts: http://www.adaaust.com.au/support/pdf/c ... iamano.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editkid Posted November 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2007 h) I'd like to hide the blue rubber tubes of my air bubbles. Any tips? The answer seems to be bamboo. Went to Mitre10 and saw these nice long thin tubes of bamboo. Perfect for feeding the rubber hose through to the bottom of the tank. I've just done one to see how it looks and yeah, it's like bamboo growing at the back of the tank. Perfect! In process of making the tubes: 2 bare tubes vs. 1 tube in bamboo (sorry for photo quality...): Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editkid Posted November 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2007 And some of the rocks I got from the beach... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silvia-15 Posted November 8, 2007 Report Share Posted November 8, 2007 lol, its like the same rocks i paid 50 bux for.... :oops: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editkid Posted November 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2007 But your rocks are definitely safe and don't need testing in water for ages Peter's (my) lesson of the day: Organising rocks in an aesthetic and natural way isn't done in 1-2-3. Wax on, wax off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted November 10, 2007 Report Share Posted November 10, 2007 I love the bamboo Looks much better than the hoses Since I don't know what a Mitre10 store is...what kind of store?? Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editkid Posted November 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2007 Hardware/gardening store Note that you'll need to hollow it out with either a long wood drill bit (30cm bit) or a long spike and a hammer. It's mostly hollow, but at the joins between each segment of bamboo, it's closed. That's the little bits you need to knock/drill through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editkid Posted November 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 11, 2007 Wow. What a day. Spent all yesterday rinsing pebbles, boiling rocks, buying plants, setting up tank. This morning, started putting the rocks from the beach in, the bamboo, wicked. Time to tie moss to the rocks. Carefully spraying it every now and then so it doesn't dry out. Wifey wifepants joins in on the fun. Accidentally picks up Shotz glass cleaner instead of water sprayer and sprays inside of tank. Silence ensues. Then a really big cuss :lol: Empty tank, rinse carefully, buy new gravel and sand, repeat. It has water in it now. Think I'll spend next week not worrying about aquariums ha ha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted November 11, 2007 Report Share Posted November 11, 2007 Heh...where the pics???? Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editkid Posted November 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2007 Yes, I have a bunch of photos and will sort them out once the water clears. I used washed river sand and maybe I'll have to re-do the whole thing again. It's _super_cloudy_. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpidersWeb Posted November 12, 2007 Report Share Posted November 12, 2007 Also you can get black air line hosing for around the same price as the blue stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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