I have a fish tank

[Uncle Fester]

Chesters is right about the powerheads having an air inlet, some internal filters had them as well. I used to have Hagen powerheads which did. The bubbles don't so much add oxygen, but assist with the circulation of water. You can also help oxygenation by having the outlet of a pump or airlift exiting at the waters surface. This has the effect of increasing the surface area of the water a small amount,which bubbles on the surface do also and will drive oxygenated water from the surface around the tank. Remember that you are not only trying to oxygenate, but also to allow toxic gasses from the fish wastes to escape into the atmosphere.

Did you use new water when you moved the tank or move it as a whole (heavy)? Just concerned that the biological side of things might be in shock.

Your tank looks beautiful, and is obviously giving you a lot of pleasure already, but if you can get them to breed that would be a wonderful experience. Do you actually have a pair of the same fish? Cichlids do like "meaty" food, and you might find a dose of live food of some sort might just spur them on. Once they have bred, they will keep on doing so at intervals, but you will need to find a source of grub for the little ones. This does give you a perfect excuse for another tank though! My only success (apart from livebearers who freely do it all themselves) was with bristle nose catfish (plecos) which I managed to reer about 6 broods from and got the petshop to buy them from me, which was nice. The female eventually died, and that was the end of that.

I had a breeding pair of marine clowns who laid eggs off and on for years, but the eggs always disappeared before they hatched.

From the photos, I don't think you have an undergravel filter, if so the fish doing damage to the gravel won't be an issue, and the gravel looks very coarse, so they won't so much dig, as carry the stones around in their mouths and deposit it where THEY think it should go.

Have Fun

Phil

[chesters1]

i went to an aquariam show in london years ago ,they had planted ones that were stunning but fish and plants dont mix they either eat them, fight them or dig them up .

modern plastic ones are very good for show ,fish proof if fixed to the mest supbstrate but need cleaning often .

after having a garage full of tanks i found that 1 pair of fish (especially south american cichlids) far more entertaining than a tank of neons or swordtails etc ,a 6ft tank with a pair of oscars is the top of the chain ,they actually know people by sight.

never went further than cold water marine ,thought about it but ozonisers and protein skimmers just made it more work than fun one mistake and a water quality collapse isnt cheap

 

[ 09. December 2004, 12:07 AM: Message edited by: chesters1 ]

[John S]

I beg to differ - if you choose the right fish you can have (for eg) a heavily planted tank with just a shoal of neons or cardinals to provide movement (the Dutch system). Don't just put the plants into the gravel though, you will have to use a growing medium under the gravel (available from most good aquarist shops). Undergravel filters are out, but an internal filter can be nicely hidden in one corner (it isn't necessary to have the filter going full blast either, in this system the tank is not very heavily populated, though most of the cleaning will have to be done with a hand-held cleaner). If anyone is interested, I can draw a diagram of the system I had and post it....

 

I agree with the oscars though, they do learn who-is-who in the household. Whenever I appeared in the room mine always shot towards one corner of the tank where I always fed them.

 

Tropical marine is a pretty expensive way of fishkeeping, though you can get away with not using ozonisers and protein skimmers if you stick to weekly 25% water changes.

 

I haven't bought any marines for over 10 years but even then some shrimps were costing over 30 quid each!

 

I'll tell you one thing though, re-arranging the decor in a tank with a piranha can be interesting!

 

Tight lines

[bikenut]

One Piranha would probably poo itself, but a tankful would make for a very interesting experience! You would need another water change after that. Neat way of disposing of the mother in law though.

I wish I had tried native cold water marines, but never had the bottle to installing a cooling plant, I remember a post from Chesters saying he cadged a cooler from a pub. Even trops can overheat in summer.

I had an Emperor Snapper which fed from my hand, but never fancied oscars, went for Discus instead and wished I hadn't. I agree with being able to do away with ozonisers and skinners, with regular water changes and a low fish to water ratio. Love the smell of ozone though.

A nice big tank, full of plants and bogwood, with just a shoal of Cardinals would look superb, or maybe Congos as well. I also like Emperors, not so spectacular as the others, but beautifully subtle as adults. Mind you, its not difficult to spend more on plants than fish.

Phil

[MrWiggly]

Best tank setup I had was years ago ..

 

Tank No:1 3 LARGE Tinfoil Barbs.

 

Tank No:2 1 Massive Pacu.

 

Superb !!!

[John S]

bikenut:

A nice big tank, full of plants and bogwood, with just a shoal of Cardinals would look superb, or maybe Congos as well. I also like Emperors, not so spectacular as the others, but beautifully subtle as adults. Mind you, its not difficult to spend more on plants than fish.

Phil

In the system I described, you certainly will be spending more on plants than fish, but the good thing is that these plants will flourish (given the right lighting conditions) far better than if they were just stuck in gravel. After a while I was giving some to friends/relatives that kept fish, or 'selling' some back to the shop in return for food etc.

 

The most fish I had in that tank (4') was a shoal of about a dozen or so neons and a few khuli (sp?) loach. Really the species varied, but you get my drift However I started with about 50 clumps of vallis which fairly quickly established itself to the point where I had to do weekly pruning. When I get round to setting up a coupls of tanks again, that (and a marine set-up) is what I will go for.

 

Tight lines

[John S]

MrW, I used to have a pacu as well at one point, it used to freak g/fs when I put my hand into a tank with a piranha in it

 

Backfired a bit when I bought a nattererers piranha and she wanted me to put my hand in the tank again....

[chesters1]

i had some piranhas when i first started but i found they (despite their image) in a group of 6 (maybe not enough) took fright whenever i approached the tank and battered themselves on the glass in fright (it may have been just ME approaching )

i did have a Pacu as well but it suffered with the introduction of the Oscars (although being bigger ) and i "gifted" it to the aquarium at Birdworld Farnham.

the Oscars got to over a foot long and not only recognising individuals they used to lift the condensation cover on their tank and let it drop back untill they annoyed me enough to give them another tip-bit

Unfortunatly oneday in a big clean up (they wreck tanks) i left the cover off and returning an hour later i found one on the floor dead the otherone just pined away ,killed any others i put in to replace his friend and starved itself to death

if you keep oscars put toys in for them ,it takes their interest away from trying to rip the armour plating off the filters and heaters

 

[ 09. December 2004, 07:52 PM: Message edited by: chesters1 ]

[John S]

chesters1:

i had some piranhas when i first started but i found they (despite their image) in a group of 6 (maybe not enough) took fright whenever i approached the tank and battered themselves on the glass in fright

I only had one in a specimen tank, and that seemed happy enough on its' own. Most of the time he acted pretty innocuous, but whenever our dog walked past, he (or she) would keep on lungeing like hell at the front of the tank!

 

chesters1:

i did have a Pacu as well but it suffered with the introduction of the Oscars (although being bigger ) and i "gifted" it to the aquarium at Birdworld Farnham.

Mine eventually outgrew the tank and had to be returned to the shop, I think they sold it to an aquarium somewhere.

 

chesters1:

the Oscars got to over a foot long and not only recognising individuals they used to lift the condensation cover on their tank and let it drop back untill they annoyed me enough to give them another tip-bit

They certainly do have a character all of their own. I think now I'm going to have to set up three tanks; heavily planted, specimen oscar and marine fish. And marine inverts - make that four tanks....

 

chesters1:

if you keep oscars put toys in for them ,it takes their interest away from trying to rip the armour plating off the filters and heaters    

You mean like a Playstation?

 

Tight lines

[Elton]

If the Plec is what I think it is.....

 

When I first met my wife, she had a fishtank. It had a Gourami and this weird thing that stuck, mainly, to the side of the tank.

 

She told me that she'd had more, but they died.

 

After a few weeks together, I bought her some new fish. They all died with a couple of days!

 

I took a sample of water to the pet shop and they freaked - some test they did showed it to be like battery acid!

 

Anyway, the Plec thing survived and still lives in my brother-in-law's tank. It has outlived umpteen fish! How long do these things survive?