aaron11 Posted October 24, 2008 Report Share Posted October 24, 2008 Hi there everyone I have 2 tropical tanks set up I added stress coat in the first one the fish are all doing fine I have 12 guppies, 10 platties, 10 neon tetras and 4 bristle nosecat fish The tank i have is a half circle jebo 760 i got it second hand. and my other one is a plain old 2 foot tank Here is my questions i had a 200 watt heater in the jebo which is out of my turtle tank I brought 2 aqua one heaters 25 w and 55 w I had the 25 watt one in there it just stayed on and didnt really get up to the right temp is it too small? I have put the 55 watt one in there its getting upto 26 I have noticed they drop about a degrees is this normal? how long should the heater stay on and go off Should i get more powerful heaters I change 20 percent of the water once a week and clean the glass is this ok? Also my light broke and im using a long life craft lamp till i can get some new bulbs. Id appreciate any advice My platys are sooooooooooo fat they had babies before they got eaten I have got more plants, should I get a breeding net? thanks in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aaron11 Posted October 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2008 *** from memory the jebo is about 4 buckets and the 2 foot tank is about 5 *** Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsmith Posted October 24, 2008 Report Share Posted October 24, 2008 It depends how many litres your tank is. I'd want at least 100W heater on a 2 ft tank. It's better to have 2 lower capacity heaters than one big one, that way if one breaks your tanks doesn't get too cold. Have you cycled your tanks? If not, you might find all your fish die. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aaron11 Posted October 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2008 hi there thanks thought they were too small didnt know how to ask, oh well i can sell them to someone for a smaller tank I will keep one as a spare. Cycle tank?? my jebo has had the fish in it for 3 weeks now it was running for 3 weeks before i added any How long should I leave my 2 foot tank its been a week since its been going but no heater as i took the 55 watt one out for the jebo And thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsmith Posted October 24, 2008 Report Share Posted October 24, 2008 Basically, you want to cycle a tank to get the biological filtration started. Fish poop and other wastes in the tank turn into ammonia, which turns into nitrite, which turns into nitrate. Ammonia and nitrite is toxic to fish, and even low levels can kill them. Nitrate is also toxic, but slightly higher levels can be tolerated. Before putting fish in your tank, you want to get the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels to 0. There are two man ways of cycling a tank, a fish cycle, where the ammonia comes from a fish, and a fishless cycle, where ammonia is added to get it kickstarted. Very basically, you add a couple of hardy fish (in 50l, I'd add 1 guppy), to get the ammonia cycle started on the tank. When your levels are reading 0, you can slowly add more fish. I suggest you google 'cycling a tropical fish tank' both on this site and on normal google to find more information. What you did for 3 weeks was a fishless cycle - not sure if you added ammonia or not? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aaron11 Posted October 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2008 thanks i dont have an ammonia test kitt the man i got the fish off said just change the water every second day 20 percent for a week The stress coat kills the ammonia? I put that in and i had it emtpy for 2 -3 weeks then 6 platties for a few weeks then i got the rest of the fish what should i do about the heaters? should I put the little one in there as well or just leave the big one see if it goes on and off?? the 55 watt one went on and off in my 2 foot tank my jebo takes less water but thats full of fish and plants so i dunno i will leave it till tonight and see I am on a tight budget i set all 2 tanks up for under 150 as I had filters and stuff from my other fishhhhhhhhh Thank you so much for your advice my ph in the kitt which is hard to read the colour was about 6.6 nothing has died and the fish seem happy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsmith Posted October 24, 2008 Report Share Posted October 24, 2008 if it's turning off and on, it's getting up to temperature. Make sure you've got lids on and it will retain it's heat. It also helps to keep the rooms warm. Do you have thermometers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aaron11 Posted October 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2008 Lms yes its up to 26.5 but on the thing i have the red part on 26 then it says 28 in white so I dont know whats the right bit it turned on and off in my 2 foot now its in the jebo soooooo it should go on and off I will seee i dont want it gonig all blardy day do they use much power? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aaron11 Posted October 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2008 25.5 sorry hehe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsmith Posted October 24, 2008 Report Share Posted October 24, 2008 Wherever the red bit highlights is the temp it will heat to - so if 26 is red and 28 is white, it will heat to 26deg. They're not totally accurate though, so it seems to be doing it's job. It's better to be going off and on than not turning off! If you go into the technical section, there are lots of posts about how much power they use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aaron11 Posted October 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2008 haha ! well next time i will make sure i get more decent ones i could only afford these 2 as I got them both off trademe new cond for 25 thanks for the bit about the red part ha ! i make sure i put it to 26 thats what i had them on before my nans ones are 28 but i think thats too warm Great to find a forummmmmmmmmm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.