Fishtank stuff

[sdp]

Does anyone here keep fish?

My dad's got 2 blackmoors and a shubunkin in a tank and they're getting really fat so for their wedding anniversary my mum wants me to pick up one of those really big fish tanks to put in the front room, but there's a couple of things I need to know;

I'll be lumbered with maintaining it probably, so what's the best filter set up and are there any gizmos I could get to help keep it clean? The one we got now has an undergravel filter and it only stays clean for a week or two - I think this is partly because there is too much fish in too little water.

Is it ok putting more fish in with the ones we already got? 3 fish in a 42" tank will look a bit empty I think, so apart from the two I mentioned are there some other good species we could dump in?

Am I likely to find a good deal on a tank on the internet? Cant see any myself..

[Gr44]

Fish, best to ask a local store, some fish can be together, if the sizes arent too far off etc, some fish will eat each other, some need differant water heat etc.

Not sure on the pump, but the main reason for this post if you can get Algea eaters, they suck off all the Algea from the side of the tank and that, saves cleaning too often! ask a shop to see if they are ok with the fish etc

[Zaphan58]

I got into tropical fish keeping myself a few months ago myself, im a regular member at a fish forum listed below and I must say there are some really knowledgeable people there that will help you out no doubt. Sorry I cant help you myself but like I said i started out not so long ago so I cant garunte the advice if I gave it to you.

Follow the link and click on the discussion forum
http://www.aquatics-warehouse.co.uk/

[doopydug]

If I were you mate, I would go for a large external filter with mechanical rather than biological filtration.

Undergravel filters and their ilk (bio filters etc) don't do too well in sub-tyropical temps.

Grab a couple of sucking loaches for the algae and a few nice wee goldfish - highly underrated tank fish IMHO - loooks great when growing in a healthy environment!

[Ferral]

I keep the big American Cichlids in one of my tanks and African in the other.

Undergravel filters arn't really needed for Carp as they require virtually no oxygen in the tank at all so a decent sponge Carbon filter will do it, Recommend getting the brand Tetra. I would have a shop around for some plants though as they eat them, try and find something that won't drop to bits and what they won't actually eat !

Ghost Koi are really nice and so are the Mirror Carp, Gotta watch the mirror though as they can be a bit temperamental at times killing other things in the tank. Also get yourself a few snails and one or two Weather Loach as they eat Algea and detritus. Another good one to get for cold water is the Japanese Orf, they are a gold colour and are torpedo shaped, very mild mannered, but they do require a bit more oxygen in the tank to survive.

You can keep a few tropicals in there also, the ones that I have found in cold water are the Gourami, Tinfoil & Tiger Barbs (If you go for the Tiger make sure that you keep at least 6)

Also putting a heater in there will stop bacteria and ich, These 2 forms of fungus can breed really easily in cold water tanks, so it may be worth getting a heater even though not required to keep the water at around 23 celcius to stop the harmful stuff in the water.

Hope this helps

[Galant]

A large external filter (power filter). Fluval are a good brand.
For your tanks capacity, you need to know the surface area of the tank in inches. That'll let you know roughly how many fish you can keep in that tank in terms of their full grown length in inches.

Bear in mind that some fish are aggressive and/or territorial and wouldn't make happy tank mates! Find a good book on the subject, or ask at a reputable dealer.

Also, it sounds like you're running a cold water tank (no heater). If so, that will the limit greatly the number of species available to you (no tropical fish).

Bigger tanks are more stable than smaller ones in terms of water chemistry, so they require less water changes, but then, fewer changes means bigger changes. So when you get it either do smaller changes more often, of larger ones less frequently.

[Nick]

Whatever you get, make sure the small orange fish with the dodgy flipper can't flick a stone into the filter impeller to block it....











I'll get me coat.

[doopydug]

Originally posted by Deckard
Whatever you get, make sure the small orange fish with the dodgy flipper can't flick a stone into the filter impeller to block it....

LOL - just watched this the other day - massive !

[G4Z]

I keep fish, I have a 4ft tank (20 gallons) basicaly you need roughly 3 foot squared for each fish so my 4 x 6 tank gives... eerrrmmm 24 so I could have like 7 fish. I have four fish 2 large goldfish (one is a koy carp) and 2 bottom feeder things. It doesnt take much to look after really and your best source of info is probably a fish book, I learned everything I neded in one. the other thing about filters, I havea fluval and I use an uplift system for filtering where the grates and gravel on the base of the tank filter the water also, and my bottom feeders eat the algea off it. you really will need to read a book tho, your basically creating a small eco-system and I cant be arsed to post everting u need to know.

[Kezzer]

I don't have fish but i have sea monkeys

[sdp]

Cheers for the advice

wtf is a sea monkey?

[wasabi]

Have a Juwel Trigon 350 tank here

Definetly get an external filter, and a chuffing big one too. Personally I use an eheim classic and its dead easy to maintain. Had an internal before that was rated for 4ft tank and it was pap - needed really good clean every weekend and even then it struggled.

Personally I'm into catfish (pimelodus and royal plecs are my faves) so of course I recommend them.

[shiato storm]

just make sure you ask for the sea snails at the very bottom of the tank...

(go watch duece bigalow if you're confused...)