Dr A Posted September 11, 2012 Report Share Posted September 11, 2012 RIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT, so after reading so much I thought my head would explode I finally got myself a little tank. I wanted something bigger, but after being given the hard word from the woman about not wanting a large, loud, smelly (!?) fish tank in her lounge she finally eased off and said I could maybe get one at some point in the future. Went to the Pupuke Aquarium center and ended up getting a really small tank - Hailea E15 (has a compartment at the rear for a filter and heater). The guy there (Ron?) is really easy to talk with and the service was impeccable. I also grabbed a bunch of plants and small bit of driftwood with fern attached, along with all the other bits and pieces bar fish. My knowledge of aquascaping is limited to what I'd read online, so I figured tall plants to hide the back and small ones at the front was the general idea. I'd also read that floating plants were good for bettas/small fish. The drift wood turned out to be only just small enough to fit in at all... Setup. Complete. (note the floating Indian fern getting caught up in the spray bar, I've adjusted it's position since but it does seem like the mountain minnows enjoyed playing in the flow) Lotus leaf thing escaped the gravel during the move. In position (needs a nice orchid or something beside it to offset the whole thing - cables aren't tidy yet) Not 100% happy with how it's turned out, I think the sharp rock on the LHS of the tank is wasted there and could go all together (that said it's probably the most interesting looking of all of rocks). I'd like a few more tall plants at the back of the tank, or perhaps the ones in there will fill out a bit. Also the front of the tank looks bare in comparison, some small grass or something might sort that out. Need to adjust the sword on the front left too. That along with replanting the RHS rear plant can come when I'm doing a water change. I see you can buy long tweezers to make things easier, but I think kitchen tongs (or even chopsticks) will work. The guy at Pupuke gave me a small bottle of stuff to help cycle the tank right away, but I've popped in a few mountain minnows from my pond/pot in the interim anyway, and have been slowing increasing the temperature in the tank (I left the heater off on Sunday evening and suddenly remembered the plants were all tropical in the morning). Plan now is to go and get a Betta next Sunday (water quality dependent). The only other real question is what to stock along with him... nothing at all, some mountain minnows or something else? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted September 12, 2012 Report Share Posted September 12, 2012 It should take longer than a week to build up levels of microbes to oxidise the ammonia unless you happened to have collected large numbers on the roots of the plants you've added. The plants themselves will also help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr A Posted September 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2012 I thought the instant liquid stuff would do the trick? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted September 12, 2012 Report Share Posted September 12, 2012 I thought the instant liquid stuff would do the trick? If the trick is separating you from your money definitely. Improving the water, not really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted September 12, 2012 Report Share Posted September 12, 2012 depends on the product, I use TLC products and have always been impressed, but have had trouble with stresszyme before Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr A Posted September 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2012 If the trick is separating you from your money definitely. Improving the water, not really. Was a throw-in so not fussed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted September 12, 2012 Report Share Posted September 12, 2012 I thought the instant liquid stuff would do the trick? The bacteria in a bottle are not the same as those archaea that ultimately colonize your filters and decorations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr A Posted September 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2012 I see... What's the point of selling them then? do they just "tide over" the tank until the better bacteria get established? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted September 12, 2012 Report Share Posted September 12, 2012 Profit ... but some of the manufacturers do believe they are providing a useful product. If you have a pond outside, you'd be better off grabbing some gravel from there, and putting it into a nylon stocking and placing into the new tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr A Posted September 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2012 Good idea, I did suggest using some water from outside, but there was concern it would introduce various nasties from outdoors? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted September 12, 2012 Report Share Posted September 12, 2012 But you're already brought the minnows in from outside! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr A Posted September 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2012 But you're already brought the minnows in from outside! Ha, good point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted September 13, 2012 Report Share Posted September 13, 2012 I see... What's the point of selling them then? do they just "tide over" the tank until the better bacteria get established? Depending on what the product is, things like stresszyme and cycle assist by seeding the tank with some beneficial bacteria which aid the cycling process. There are some products around that do more than others. Thereis a really good article on cycling your tank, written by Jennifer, available in the Articles, technical section, of this forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted September 13, 2012 Report Share Posted September 13, 2012 http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi ... ne.0023281 Explains why you're better off getting your bugs from your pond instead of a bottle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted September 13, 2012 Report Share Posted September 13, 2012 Agree, if you have access to a mature system of some form it is a lot better, but the use of live bacteria solutions do work quite effectively if you do not have access to one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Discusguru Posted September 13, 2012 Report Share Posted September 13, 2012 Here is my personal experience with using TLC start smart bacteria in a bottle. Set up a brand new AR980T tank using the filter that came with it only. Wash a sack of new gravel and put it in the tank. Put in a 300w heater. Fill up tank with warm water from the tap and turn on the filter. Pour in a bottle of start smart bacteria and added two sper red map discus, two red melon discus and two red dragon discus. Put in another four golden molly, two clown loach and three dwaft chain loach. Water test everyday and there was no sign of any ammonia or nitrite and the tank had been going for two months now. Thirty percent waterchange twice a week and three feeding per day of colorbit, bloodworm and flakes. Dose TLC freshwater after each waterchange as per instruction on bottle. The ammonia and nitrite level would have gone through the roof if the product don't work or am I just lucky. Discus are even pairing up and breeding in the tank and molly are dropping frys. Ron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted September 13, 2012 Report Share Posted September 13, 2012 my experience includes every time get fish in, add 40 goldfish to a tank that has had one in it for about 2 weeks, add 50mL TLC product for problem ponds, no ammonia or nitrite issues at all, worst I ever got was after adding 50 neons to a 80L tank when the nitrite went up to 0.1ppm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted September 13, 2012 Report Share Posted September 13, 2012 This sounds very encouraging .. a product that works as advertised. Do they say what's in the bottle? And what's the cost? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted September 13, 2012 Report Share Posted September 13, 2012 I came across one review where the guy took a tank with tap water that had been dechlorinated, added some ammonia and then the TLC start smart product. The ammonia disappeared and nitrates formed. It would be good if someone could reproduce the experiment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted September 13, 2012 Report Share Posted September 13, 2012 http://tlc-products.com/ in independant tests they came up with a 96% ammonia removal compared with 16% for cycle and 14% for stresszyme (figures are taken from memory so might be out a bit but the 96% is accurate) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted September 13, 2012 Report Share Posted September 13, 2012 Sounds like a chemical reaction to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godly3vil Posted September 13, 2012 Report Share Posted September 13, 2012 Sounds like a chemical reaction to me. +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted September 13, 2012 Report Share Posted September 13, 2012 Oxidation is a chemical reaction! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted September 14, 2012 Report Share Posted September 14, 2012 Ozidation is a chemical reaction, but I meant chemical rather than microbial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted September 14, 2012 Report Share Posted September 14, 2012 Ozidation is a chemical reaction, but I meant chemical rather than microbial. No, ozidation is a kangarooaction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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