vallumlj

We have just bought our first fish tank. We bought a bi orb life 30l we got a very good deal. We also bought the stones and heater to go with it.

I have been trying to find some advice on the net and can't really find much. I could do with a good forum to get some advice. We have set the tank up but need more information on how to get the water right and that.

Any tips would be great.

Can someone recommend a big fish shop in kent.

Thanks for the help

David Lock

You won't get many big fish in a 30 litre tank


dl

JDM_Stig

iTrader: (3)

esp in a Bi orb, A female friend of mine wanted one of those until we did a bit of a google on them, they may look pretty but arent very good, your better off with a proper fish tank of reasonable size.

David Lock

https://www.scoobynet.com/non-scooby...-aquarium.html

Nate

iTrader: (2)

For a start, I would not use the water from your tap to fill it up (even with the stabilising chemicals you can get), instead buy some RO (reverse Osmosis) water froma local fish fish, if you have a Pets at Home locally, they usually sell RO at about 10-12p per litre.

Did you buy a test kit? if so, run a few tests to see how your water quality is.

I personally setup my first tank around 7-8 months ago now, and went the Tropical Marine route, which are a little more involved ........ I have a secong tank cycling at the moment and will be picking up my seahorses for it in 2 weeks time

I mainly use 'reef' forums, but I am sure if you were to ask, you would get some helpful advice from users on them, as most people have progressed from tropical up to tropical marine and can offer a wealth of advice.

The main one I use is www.ultimatereef.com

I hope this helps

Hysteria1983

Tap water will be fine, but rather than just adding a load of chemicals to treat the water, you are better off doing a natural cycle and just adding small amount of what is needed.

You will ideally need to cycle the tank for 4-6 weeks before you get all the levels right, and I suggest you do a lot of research about this first as it's not as easy as some might seem.

Also, get a test kit, it is an essential part of fish keeping, and during the first weeks where you cycle the tank you will be testing several times a week, so popping off to your local pet store is not appropriate, and in the long run, will cost a heck of a lot more than a good quality test kit.

Right, now for the tank, a bi orb is suitable for perhaps one small-medium goldfish (i know they are fresh water, but just a example of size).

As for tropical fish there is a general rule of thumb, and you can find info on the 1000's of excelent websites out there.
Basically depending on the size of the fish i'd say for example 6-10 average size tetras or Zebras. Also think about the filtration system and the waste that each fish will produce, and also the surface area. bi orbs are not ideal as a 'practical' tank for that reason, and are more of an ornamental tank.

However, I had a biorb and i'd try and stick to maybe 8 as a maximum just to keep the waste down.

Do some research on the bi orb, like you before I really got into it, I thought, WOW, Stunning tank (this was about 6 years ago). We started it as a freshwater tank with three tiny goldfish in and they were fine, but once they had reached their prime, and left us for the big fishtank in the sky, we went tropical.

Anyway, back to your issue, if you just want some pretty fish, to look good in the pretty tank, get some (maybe 4) cardinals or some neons, and then once they have been in about 2-3 weeks maybe the same amount of something like zebras (danios).
I really wouldn't out any more than 8 small fish in there though. And whatever you do DO NOT have guppies. If they breed, you won't know what to do with yourself, and the waste will most certainly kill all the fish in the tank.

I now have my 300L jewel rio tank, and all is well!

Sign up here http://forum.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/

Have fun.

Leslie

Doesn't tap water become safe to use if you leave it exposed to the air for a period of time?

Les

Hysteria1983

Yes Les it does. When I do a water change I use tap water. You just have to make sure its dechlorinated. You can get some solution that you can add in as you do it.

Nimbus

Some good sites:

http://www.thinkfish.co.uk/

http://www.fishkeeper.co.uk/default.aspx

http://www.tropicalfishcentre.co.uk/index.html

SWRTWannabe

I've found this one helpful in the past too...
http://www.biorbforum.co.uk/

It is not necessarily true that tap water can just be left to stand to dechlorinate it - if the water company treat the water with Chloramine, then it needs to be removed by using a chemical, such as StressCoat.

lord love rocket

There is alot more than meets the eye when it comes to "local" tapwater. It most certainly will contain phosphates which, given the right conditions ( light and poor filtration) will give you a lovely bloom of green stuff.... the dreaded algae. As suggested earlier in the thread, play it safe and start off with either getting yourself an ro filter or buy the ro water form a local aquatic establishment. I use ro water, and "sera" products to make the water suitable for the discus fish i keep. You must take into consideration the fish you are going to keep as regards to the water quality. Different fish like different water chemistry, depending on which continent the originate from.
I would say if your just looking at keeping a few guppys/swordtails/neons, start off with approx 5 fish in the tank.... AFTER the tank has been set up and running for approx 2 weeks with the correct treatment in the water to "cycle" the filtration system.
So long as you have cycled the filter correctly, then you will be fine. If you havent, and you put fish in the tank, then be prepaired for the possiblity of losing fish.
Rule one.. do not overfeed
Rule two.. DO NOT OVERFEED!
Rule three. Tropical fish are not the hobby, the water chemistry is the hobby, healthy, quality fish is the result of hard work.
Hope this helps....

Hysteria1983

I agree 100%. That is why a test kit is essential for keeping fish, nonpoint in buying all the fancy stuff if the free water out of your tap is fine.

Hysteria1983

That is very true, anyone can bung a few fish in a tank, but without getting the water right they have a very small chance of survival.

I don't expect it would take long to cycle the bi orb, but it took a lot of time and patience to cycle 300L!!

I did have the aid of some of the sponges and ceramic media from my old tank and it still took just under 6 weeks to get the water at the right level.

Gordo

You're right about getting the water right, but I don't use any water testing kits, and would never introduce any of the water preparation products. I've owned (and bred) cichlids for many years and have some in the main (4 foot) tank that are now 11 years old, having moved house twice with them. I would never run a tank as small as 30 litres as even if you get the water stable, there's too much potential for big fluctuations to make it uncomfortable for the fish. I monitor temperature, and occasionally test pH (for the latter read every couple of years).

Some simple steps in my head to fish keeping (some are mentioned above):

Setting up the tank
1. Fill it up and run lights / heaters / filtration as you will when you introduce fish. Leave for a couple of days to allow all of the chlorine to evaporate off.

It is important to put in media that will fit with the types of fish you want to keep - e.g. my main tank deliberately has coral gravel to help buffer a slightly alkali pH for cichlids. Importantly, over-filter and over-aerate. I use external filters and always run filtration designed for roughly double the volume of a given tank, and run double heaters so there's a fail-safe (in theory - but still watch the temperature as it's not unusal to have a heater stat fail, at which point the heater stays on and will ultimately cook the fish if not spotted. It helps to have vital spares (e.g. impellors and impellor covers).

2. Find someone who already has a tank (or use another of your own) and get them to wash their filter media in some water for you. Tip that 'dirty' water into your tank - this is vital as it seeds the bacteria.

3. Leave the tank for 3-4 weeks, then introduce a couple of cheap victim fish. Tetra are useful for this as they're pretty hardy in most conditions.

4. Leave them for a month or so. You'll know when it's getting there as the algae will start in earnest. This is a good point to introduce a small plec or algae eater to keep on top of it. They get on with pretty much anything.

5. After another few weeks, you're then free to slowly add more - but slowly (and with a 30 litre tank - which will be less when you've taken up volume with gravel etc - you're not going to get many fish in. And stay small.

It can be an expensive hobby - the tank is a relatively minor cost in a decent set-up.

Good luck!

Gordo

Nate

iTrader: (2)

I have an ATC-800 on my pony tank controlling 2 heaters and fans, this makes sure the tank temp is always kept within 1 degree of the set temperature.

Also safer than relying on just the heater stats themsleves.

Gordo

Thx Nate - good shout - I'll have a look into that.

Didn't know you could keep ponies in tanks - will try that as well!


And just realised I only did the 'setting up the tank' bit....after that it's easy - don't overfeed!!!

vallumlj

I must say this is a lot more complicated than i thought. I have bought the bi orb now so I cant change that.

This is where i am at the moment.

I have filled the tank up and added the stress coat and after 24 hours i added the stress zyme. It said in the book i could add a fish now but i take it i should leave the tank to settle for 7 days. Is this correct ?

I take it i should buy a water test kit. What sort should i buy ?

How many fish do you think i could keep in this tank?

Would i be able to have a shark?

What chemicals should i buy?

Should I add a plant. Any advice will be great?


Thanks for the help

Hysteria1983

I don't think you 'need' to buy a test kit, it's down to personal preferance, but unless you want to be back and forth to a pet store paying to het samples tested, it's just easier to get your own.

Also I wouldn't put any fish in yet. It's not just about the water being right, it's about the filter being able to filter out the waste they produce and keep the environment fresh.
That is why it is suggested that adding 2-4 fish depending on size is the way to go.

Just wondering, do you have any of the ceramic media in the bottom? Just wondering as that will give a few limitations as to what you can put in.

Nate

iTrader: (2)

Not my setup, but someone who recently got ponies in their tank :-

http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/s...d.php?t=379431

Hysteria1983

http://i974.photobucket.com/albums/a...3/8330e3a4.jpg

http://i974.photobucket.com/albums/a...3/6d704a6b.jpg - plants

http://i974.photobucket.com/albums/a...3/86ec9a39.jpg - cave

http://i974.photobucket.com/albums/a...3/bc541af1.jpg - bogwood

I am now just waiting to add some floating plants for the fry when the guppies give birth.

JPL

Vallumlj, you have PM.

shooter007

as everyone above as said dont rush it the filters need time to start working and dont wash them out in tapwater as this will kill the bacteria this is another reason most experienced fish keepers will always have more than one sorry should have said whilst one is running as normal the other is reseeding with bacteria

Hysteria1983

I don't re use filter sponges anymore, I only change one at a time though. I used to re use them in the smaller tank though. Only had one, but NEVER washed in tap water. When doing a water change I use the water taken out to wash the sponge in.

Gordo

Did you read any of the advice above? What are the stress coat and stress zyme for? 24 hours in and you're thinking about putting fish in? Blimey - good luck. You'll learn (the hard way, I fear).

Gordo

Gordo

Not sure why you're binning perfectly good filters - they contain many of the bacteria you want. I'm running the biggest fluval I could get on my main tank and have changed the sponge filters once in the 11 years I've had that particular filter - and then only because they were too knackered to continue. Rinse and squeeze under the tap is fine (i.e. remove the main detritus but don't get rid of all the bacteria). Same with biomedia - the manfacturers would love you to keep re-buying but there's no need. Only thing I change (once every few months) is the carbon. Only fish I've lost in the last 2 years was due to a bad choice of tank ornament - a pastic fan-shaped coral thing a friend gave me got a cichlid stuck in it. Straight in the bin....

Gordo

Hysteria1983

Hi, I know what you mean about bad ornaments. My dad gave me one and it isn't something I'd have picked, but we shall see.

As for the sponges, it's been 7 months since I changed one, i also do not buy from the manufacturor. I agree they just want your cash. So I buy much cheaper alternatives.

I think with all the snail waste it would be very bad fir MY TANK and MY FISH if I were to simply rinse and put back. There are 7 sponges in the filter, and the one after all the snails hatched was filth! So in my opinion throwing that one away did more good than harm.

Never replaced the others though.