Jezza Posted February 13, 2008 Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 Hello to all, I bought a 36L tank last saturday, my first, set it up carefully for a tropical freshwater set up (washed the gravel etc), went to the beach and gathered some rocks and driftwood (was I allowed tp do this?) soaking them in fresh water for a hour or so... I've added four plant cuttings, turned the filter and heater on and after adding three Nutrafin chemicals as advised I'm still having a few problems, namely: - Two of the plants (the ones with broader leaves in particular) seem to be dying and all the leaves show some signs of decay, is this because I brought them about three hours before I had my tank set up, the hot temperature at the moment? Or is it linked to my second problem... - I can't seem to get the tank temperature down, I have a 50W heater in a 36L tank, and have turned the "temp" (I think) gauge down on it from 26 to 22 and the tank has only dropped from 28 to 27 degrees (I'm assuming the middle reading on the Marina stick on thermo is the right one), any clues..? - Finally I want 1 algae eating fish for the bottom region of my tank (more if advisable?), a single "show" species for the middle of my tank, and 4 - 6 schooling surface feeding fish for the top of my tank. I live in Auckland and Jansens, Three Kings is my closest store, any suggestions on species..? I want to keep numbers low when first beginning, I plan on adding only a couple of the schooling fish and the algae fish this weekend then the others slowly but only if I can get the above problems sorted out first, so PLEASE help, I'm very excited about getting my first ever fish..! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted February 13, 2008 Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 I'll start with the temp - if the tank has a lid, due to its size and the current air temp in Auckland which according to our house thermometer only drops to 22 degrees at night, the daytime heat itself is going to be retained. You may find the heater is not actually coming on which it shouldn't be really. Your plant cuttings will take time to grow roots, what sort are they? Some of the problem may be linked to the time it took to get them in water especially if they started to dry out. What sort of filter do you have? You may need to seed the tank with bacteria from an established healthy tank filter first and then add a couple of fish. I may be able to help as my closest store is the same as yours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jezza Posted February 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 My tank has a lid with a single 14W Sun-Glo lamp... The filter is an ELITE, Hush, power filter, with two filter pads... Not sure of W... The plants, I didn't ask, as the store "expert" said they should grow rapidly in the set up (I'm not too worried as there are a few sprouting parts in the lamp light) but I don't wanna have problems in the tank before the fish even... The three chemicals I added were all made by Nutrafin: Aqua Plus Waste Control Cycle I added them in the recommended doses for new set ups for my litrage... Cheers for the help... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FineArtist Posted February 13, 2008 Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 and a happy little friendship begins Nice helping adodge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
me love fishy Posted February 13, 2008 Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 I probably would have scrubbed the wood and stones and soaked them in boiling water for a day first. The plants may revive themselves anyway once they start to get a bit established and may have just died off due to the length of time out of water and possibly the heat. I would probably add one bristlenose plecostomus, a male siamese fighter and as a school, some cardinal tetras or harlequin rasboras, they are all pretty hardy and will do fine together. I would add the schooling fish first and then the others over a few weeks once your tank has cycled. Others will have other ideas for fish, so its what you like the look of really. All the best with your tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jezza Posted February 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 Thanks... I have noticed that there is some discolouration on the tank walls where the items I got from the beach are close to the wall... I also need to buy a glass and gravel cleaner and some testing kits, any suggestions..? Thanks for the species, I was thinking along those lines... How big will they grow, too big for my tank..? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikekrull Posted February 13, 2008 Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 I have the same size tank as you, and also have beach driftwood and rocks in it. Mine wood floated when i got it from the beach so i soaked it in a bucket outside for a couple of weeks until it sunk. I just gave everything a scrub after the soaking, didn't boil it and it seems to be fine. Its completely normal to have some brown algae with a new tank, my glass ended up with a fairly uniform coating of it, but as the tank settles, the brown algae seems to naturally disappear - i have a little magnetic cleaner i use to clean the glass, but if you want no algae on anything else, you will need an algae eater, thats the only practical way to get rid of it. As for the plants, one of my plants is not doing well - my large-grained gravel isnt well suited for planting, especially for plants that usually take most of their nourishment from the roots. I've also noticed the top sections of my plants are quite yellow, probably due to not enough nutrients in the substrate - i'm going to get some small baskets, fill them with potting mix or peat and replant some cuttings from the plants to tidy things up in my tank in a few weeks. The baskets will be covered with gravel to hold them in place. I cycled my tank with 2 platies - both of whom were in somehwat poor condition from the petshop. I did daily water tests and changes to keep the nitrites at an acceptable level as i didnt want to lose a fish - this will probably prolong the cycling process, as letting it spike will establish the bacterial colonies in the filter faster but the lower levels keep the fish out of distress. Zebra danios are reputed to be the hardiest commonly available small fish, so you could get those as your surface schooling fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeash007 Posted February 13, 2008 Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 Hi From my experience, just make sure the tank is definately glass because there are two types of scrubbing pads you can get, glass and acrylic. Oh and when you gravel clean I do 1/2 of the gravel 1 week and the other 1/2 the next time so you've always got a little bit of dirt in the gravel for plants and beneficial bacteria. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camnbron Posted February 13, 2008 Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 Hi Jezza, I agree with what adoge is saying about the temperature. Me love fishy is on to is stocking wise for your tank size. I would consider a bristlenose for your bottom feeder as they don't grow really big. I like the GBA ones as they are a neat colour and look. Keep away from the plecostomus species like the goldspot and red spots as they can get big - a common mistake by people. For a "single show fish" consider a Male siamese fighter fish - you can get some neat coloured ones, but they don't like having other males in the tank so just one. Not too sure for schooling fish. Neon tetras are readily available and relatively cheap, tetras in general are good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jezza Posted February 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2008 Thanks to all... So if do say a 20% water change on Fri it should be OK to add a couple of small schooling fish on Sat..? Cheers again... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted February 14, 2008 Report Share Posted February 14, 2008 Hi I've sent you a pm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jezza Posted February 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2008 Did you get my reply..? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nemines Posted February 14, 2008 Report Share Posted February 14, 2008 regarding your plants, it could have been that they were cultivated emersed and when submerged they lost some of their leaves, are the new leaves different in appearance? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jezza Posted February 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2008 are the new leaves different in appearance? They look fairly similar, only smaller, lol..! Should I buy more plants to add when I add my first fish or do I want to keep everything as static as possible to help the fish stay healthy..? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted February 14, 2008 Report Share Posted February 14, 2008 Ditto to all of the above, well except for anything re: plants, I only have artificial :-? Test kits are a really good thing to have, so highly recommend them. New tank, add fish slowly because your tank is going to go through the cycling process. If your tank temp is much higher than you require, you could float some ice in a bag, use a fan. I've had to do that sometimes in the summer (winter here now :evil: ). Also, just as a note, when the tank temp goes up, more oxygen is used up, so down the road if needed you could add an airstone to increase surface movement which increases the oxygen (don't know the technical jargon for it :oops: :lol: ). Usually an indicator of low oxygen is fish gasping at the surface. I don't have any driftwood in my tanks, but from what I've read here they will sometimes realize something in the water called tannins which could give the water a brownish tint I think it is :-? , which doesn't hurt the fish by the way. Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jezza Posted February 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2008 Airstone..? Do you mean pumice..? Thanks again to all for the advice... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted February 14, 2008 Report Share Posted February 14, 2008 Nope, not pumice. Air pump, hose...attach to an airstone...creates bubbles. You can get different things regular plain airstones, circular thingies, ornaments, etc. What I've learned here is that it's the bubbles breaking the surface, causing more movement...in turn creating more oxygen, rather than the bubbles themselves supplying the oxygen :-? 8) Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jezza Posted February 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2008 Thank you to adodge for the cycled tank water... Did a 20% water change today (before adding the tank water) and moved all the plants to the rear of the tank and closer to the light one of the plants isn't going to make it I don't think... Also added the Nutrafin chemicals as instructed by the bottles... BUT amazingly (as I haven't put them in there), there are two tiny snails in my tank that are running along the glass, wow..! One week till fish now as I've added the healthy tank water... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted February 16, 2008 Report Share Posted February 16, 2008 You think there are only two :lol:, what shape are they? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted February 16, 2008 Report Share Posted February 16, 2008 oh - I should have said today to drop a small amount (a tiny pinch) each day to help feed the cycling process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jezza Posted February 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2008 oh - I should have said today to drop a small amount (a tiny pinch) each day to help feed the cycling process. Too late..! It all went in one go..! Oh well... The snails are tiny, with cone shaped shells... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naz_Nomad Posted February 16, 2008 Report Share Posted February 16, 2008 The snails are tiny, with cone shaped shells... Ramshorn snails then. Snails on the whole are fairly harmless, though they will nibble away at leaves and plants in your aquarium. I also believe that Ramshorns are asexual breeders, as are many gastropeds, and even one snail will become many in a short space of time. Keep an eye on your snails, they will help in a minuscule way with cycling since snails produce waste as well as cleaning some of it up. If the snails become too common or your plants are suffering overly much, then you'll have to go through the process of removing them, killing them or adding snail-eating fish to clean them away for you. There's plenty of options, some are easy, some more complex. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jezza Posted February 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2008 Thanks... I think I'll remove some if they get too numerous... Any ideas how they got in there..? On the plants..? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkLB Posted February 16, 2008 Report Share Posted February 16, 2008 On the plants..? That would be my guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naz_Nomad Posted February 16, 2008 Report Share Posted February 16, 2008 That would be my guess. Mine too - they appear every so often. Wash the leaves under your tap and gently brush them to remove most snails but the eggs are often tucked away and may be more difficult to remove. Snails aren't too much of a problem anyway and there's always one that'll get through between shop and tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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