Southerrrngirrl Posted June 7, 2006 Report Share Posted June 7, 2006 OMG, so excited!! I accidentally found a fish forum! Now I can leave my american based forum, I hope you guys are friendlier and more helpful than they are! OK So obviously I'm new here, I've had tropical aquariums for about 3 years now. My first aquarium was a gift from my husband so of course we had no clue of what to do. The shop had told him to fill it up and chuck some fish in which we eagerly did.. and subsequently suffered many losses, because we were not educated on how to properly run a tank. Here I am, 3 years later and STILL learning. Today I just learned that the new tank we bought in the weekend isn't good for tetras because its not very long... ugh! Well their old home was even worse! Our new tank is an Aqua One 65 litre Half Round, and we're currently searching for ideal tankmates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted June 7, 2006 Report Share Posted June 7, 2006 Welcome to the "NEW" forum SG, I think we, or at least, most of us will meet your criteria. What size is that tank? Dimension wise? As far as not big enough for tetras, it depends what species of tetras you are going to be or wanting to, put in there and how many too. Cardinals or neons and that size can decorate a small tank easily, but "Sharn's" favourites, will not fit in most of our tanks when full grown. They are of course the pacus, arrgggghhhh :evil: :evil: Hope you find what you want here, and we have a chat room most nights at about 9 till when ever, pop in and say hi.. Alan 104 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southerrrngirrl Posted June 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 Thanks, I don't know what the dimensions are, can't recall seeing them on the box, will go home and have a measure tonight though and find out the rest of the specs for the equipment. I have 4 black neon tetras, and 3 silvertip tetras at the moment. Someone on the other forum I had been visiting told me because the tank isn't very long, they won't like it cos they can't school. I'm currently trying to figure out what else (if anything!) I can put in my new tank. Someone said dwarf gouramis might be ok? I like gouramis but had some a couple of years ago and they died fairly quickly and I was annoyed cos I'd paid so much for them. But I think the water was the problem, it had a tendancy to turn quite acidic in the tank (I was doing something wrong, no idea what!) while that was fine with the tetras I had, not so great for the gouramis. I would like to have some again though. Also like the idea of corys, they are so cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 Hi and welcome. We have a few in here from Dunedin and Invercargill. Dunedin has an aquarium club too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 Hi As I always say, this site is great, people are always eager to help! Post pics sometime of your tank :bounce: :bounce: I have neons & don't find they school very much, sometimes they do but most times I don't find that they do :-? Take care & have fun, Caper Hi Mystic, glad to see you back :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 oh yes, stay away from pacu :lol: water will become slightly more acidic as your tank ages, it happens with all tanks (probably bar marine and africans) from the buildup of fish waste etc. however if its crashing that will be due to a low KH (carbonate hardness), your kh is what buffers the water and keeps it stable. i have a problem with the kh of my water so i now have shell grit (the stuff birds eat) in all my filters. crushed coral, shells etc can all help with that too. with my experience in tetras (not much but ive seen a fair few species, kept only rummies, and neons) they very rarely school much unless they feel theyre in danger. ive seen schools of 100+ that dont school tightly in their tanks unless they freak out at something. hope thats of some help and welcome aboard!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southerrrngirrl Posted June 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 Ahh, maybe that was my problem then with the gouramis.. way overstocked and not enuff cleaning probably.. Oh well I know better now! And yes I know about pacu and how they're pretty much a no-no. Re the water hardness I bought a kit ages ago but didn't read the instructions very well so didn't get what exactly I had to do. But last night I read the instructions and did a test on the water. the kh I put 2 drops in before it turned from blue to yellow, and the gh turned from orange to green at about 4 drops.. so that tells me I have very soft water right?? Is that ok? Our water comes from a tank that is rain water which runs off a shed roof - not a chlorinated town supply. Oh and my tank dimensions are 60 wide x 59 high x 32 deep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishboi Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 welcome :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: there are some great ppl here and u'll certainly learn a lot, i know i do. don't worry about ur tetras schooling as they don't really tend to school in a small tank. i find my silver tips get a little nippy in small numbers so u mite want to watch that. enjoy the site Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 gh is fine, its the kh that is a bit low, its very possible you were (and might still be) getting ph crashes :-? perhaps looking at some way to up it and keep it more stable might be beneficial? few methods of doing that come on!!! believe the LFS, they only grow to 20cm :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserole Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 Hi Southerrrngirrl and WECOME I think your tank is just fine for small tetras. as your on rain water you should defiantly keep an eye on your ph or do little water changes daily, the acid nitrates are what may cause ph swings in rain water but easy to fix if it becomes a prob. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southerrrngirrl Posted June 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 Thanks for all your help! I might hold off on getting new fish (as hard as that is!!) I think it would be for the best. I need to closely monitor my water and figure out whats happening with it, see if it changes etc. Caserole, how much is a little water change?? 1 bucket? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserole Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 Southerrrngirrl wrote how much is a little water change?? 1 bucket? :lol: 5% of your tanks water volume = 3 to 4lts daily or 6 to 8lts every other day. I do a 5% water change everyday because 30% of 4500lts sounds like to much hard work :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southerrrngirrl Posted June 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 hehe I find water changes hard work no matter how much water I'm changing.. unless it was like a cup.. now that would be easy! How do you guys change the water, do you siphon? I find siphoning easier, but always get my husband to start the siphoning. He doesn't seem to mind getting a mouthful of fishy water ocassionally :lol: Years ago when I had goldfish I used to have a small tube and syringe without the needle that was ideal to start the siphoning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 Vacuum: I put the large end in the tank...hold the other end in bucket...fill hose with water...soon as it starts to run out, quickly put the part that is in the tank to fill back up. I used to put my finger over the end and fill it up, put large end back in and then take finger off, water flow. But, I've find the other way the easiest if you move fast enough :lol: I've NEVER had to put it in my mouth to start it :roll: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustcooktea Posted June 11, 2006 Report Share Posted June 11, 2006 Good advise, Caper! I usually do the "hold finger over end of hose in bucket while holding up gravel vaccum after filling it with water" technique but I might give your "speed" technique a try. BTW Welcome along! MCT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted June 11, 2006 Report Share Posted June 11, 2006 hold finger over end of hose in bucket while holding up gravel vaccum after filling it with water If you do it fast enough the other way, don't even have to do the above! Thanks Mustcooktea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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