Any fishkeepers out there?

Give Swell UK a go, theyre based in Denton ish area of Manchester. I've used them quite a few times.
 
:plusone: for Swell. They're excellent.

I also use Charterhouse Aquatics quite a bit. Another excellent company imo :)
 
BTW I've decided to break my tank down and pass everything on. I don't have the time or energy to keep on top of it any more :(
 
So, who's working on their tanks this weekend ?

Time for a larger water change this weekend, but I'm fancying there'll be some significant tinkering to the aquascape on one half of the tank. Since the tank was setup in September I've never been fully happy with the left side as it features a large, relatively uninteresting lump of bog wood. I've added Java Ferns etc to try and cover some of the slab sided nature of this piece but still not happy, so I think it'll be getting modified or replaced.

I'm weighing up the option of drilling a large hole in the front, which will open up the side accessible cave and may break up the slab like nature. I don't want a perfect hole so will need to "Distress" it somewhat to make it look a little more natural.

Alternatively, I'm thinking of splitting it down it's length and seeing what I'm left with. I've an idea how it will split, however, I'm also well aware it's unlikely to split how I want :lol:


So, who's tank tinkering then?
 
My major "tank tinkle" was last weekend, so I get this weekend off :)

I did a fairly big re-landscape job. Still not 100% happy with it, but I'm not sure anyone ever is truly happy are they? That was followed by a 50% water change, which is 150 litres of RO :eek:. Then I cleaned out both filters, pipes and spray bars as well as the CO2 diffuser. The whole operation took just over 4 hours!

Glad I only do one of them every couple of months!

Bod, I know what you mean about the time it takes to keep on top of it!

I know I must be mad, but I'm considering setting up a 4ft Lake Malawi tank to compliment my planted tank. At least it would be a lot less maintenance ;)
 
It must be that time of the year :)

As you say, not sure I'll ever be 100% happy, but I just feel there's more that can be done with that part of the tank. Also want to add some shelter caves for the plecs to use (and in time hopefully breed in)

The desire for a second tank is ALWAYS there, just like my wife who keeps pointing out we have no space for a second one :lol: Not that is stops me lusting over some of the others I see.

I've not gone CO2 so that's one less thing for me to do, and the filter is intank so no pipework. I still expect it to take me about 3 hours, but like you say, at least it's not every week :)
 
It's a labour of love :love: I actually do quite enjoy maintaining the tank. As much as it's hard work and time consuming at times, the rewards for the time spend are wonderful :)

Your wife needs to understand that there's ALWAYS room for another tank ;) We've already got rid of a sideboard for the first and I'm sure we don't really need the table the other side of the room. A Malawi tank would be much better in it's place :D

I built a cave using a lovely piece of bogwood specially for our Red Tail Shark. The b****r has never even looked at it, until last night my better half pointed out that he was "asleep" in the cave! Made my day lol :)
 
ha ha, I wish you luck in removing the table, If I don't hear from you again I'll assume the table is still there ;)

As for the cave and the shark, the phrase never work with animals or children rings true :lol:
 
Have to sort my sump this weekend as well as my QT for the first arrival next week, a Sargassum Triggerfish :)
 
Now that is a stunning looking fish!
I do like the Triggers and they were an appeal when I contemplated Marine, but ultimately went with what I knew :)

Looks an expensive first arrival though, I hope all goes well :thumbs:
 
What a beautiful fish :love:

Good luck with it James :thumbs:
 
Jimbob89 said:
Have to sort my sump this weekend as well as my QT for the first arrival next week, a Sargassum Triggerfish :)
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Wow thats a beaut, hope it settles in well as the first one in your tank.
 
Added a few little fish to our tank aweek or so ago as it was a bit sparse.

It's my 4 year old daughter's tank - or at least I make out it is to her as she loves the fish.

Anyway - I added some Lemon Tetra and some mini Neon Tetra. The Lemon Tetra are lovely fish.

So she now has - Lemon Tetra / Neon Tetra / Zebra Danio / Peppered Cory / Ghost Catfish
 
My little experience with triggers left me with minus 5 crabs, I actually watched it blow at them and knock over the crab in its shell and start to demolish it.

Lol
 
AndrewA123 said:
Now that is a stunning looking fish!
I do like the Triggers and they were an appeal when I contemplated Marine, but ultimately went with what I knew :)

Looks an expensive first arrival though, I hope all goes well :thumbs:
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Nothing is cheap with Marine's! I must be :cuckoo:

Grendel said:
What a beautiful fish :love:

Good luck with it James :thumbs:
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Thank you, can't wait :)

Ben6 said:
Wow thats a beaut, hope it settles in well as the first one in your tank.
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He'll be going in with a couple of Clownfish (Yet to be decided but a nice pair of Percula's more than likely).

mattd85 said:
My little experience with triggers left me with minus 5 crabs, I actually watched it blow at them and knock over the crab in its shell and start to demolish it.

Lol
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There are only a few species which are Reef Safe, luckily the Sargassum is one, was tinkering with the idea of a Picasso or Bursa but they will demolish any inverts :thumbsdown:
 
Mine was the Niger trigger, I only kept marine for a few months , but couldn't keep both the 5ft discus set up and a 3ft marine. Way too expensive.
 
Had a sarg in my reef, great characters, always the first fish to greet me!
 
mattd85 said:
Mine was the Niger trigger, I only kept marine for a few months , but couldn't keep both the 5ft discus set up and a 3ft marine. Way too expensive.
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How expensive did you find the discus to keep if you dont mind me asking? Im looking to set up a 5ft discus tank too,
Id also be planting it and installing a co2 kit.
 
Once established, it's relatively cheap, although I was dosing with my own Ferts,I used liquid carbon which can be expensive though.

I also did 200lts a week water change which can become tiresome haha. Then you have to think about the discus, extremely sensitive fish and not as hardy as other cichlids. Water parameters are crucial when keeping discus. If they get ill that may be an added cost.

I know some quality breeders of discus and cichlids if you ever need anything let me know :)
 
mattd85 said:
Once established, it's relatively cheap, although I was dosing with my own Ferts,I used liquid carbon which can be expensive though.

I also did 200lts a week water change which can become tiresome haha. Then you have to think about the discus, extremely sensitive fish and not as hardy as other cichlids. Water parameters are crucial when keeping discus. If they get ill that may be an added cost.

I know some quality breeders of discus and cichlids if you ever need anything let me know :)
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Thanks, really appreciate it. Were you using ro water for water changes or finding that too pure? The waters not too hard by me so think i'll get away with just a slight ph buffer and dechlorinate.
 
The water where I live was nice and soft, relatively low pH and low in chloramines , but you should always dechlorinate. You also need to check what lighting you have. Substrate is also something to consider.

Have a look at http://www.aquariumplantfood.co.uk/, I got my Ferts and carbon from here.

Edit: best thing to do is go on the water boards website and type in your postcode, it will tell you the parameters for water in your area, I would also buy a test kit and check yourself, if its soft and low pH then it should be fine.
 
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That's who I use too Matt! :) Jon is a great guy, really knowledgable and always willing to help and advise.
 
Grendel said:
That's who I use too Matt! :) Jon is a great guy, always willing to help and advise
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When I first started out I would get regular emails asking how things were going etc, its a great company :)
 
Well As planned the rescape to part of the tank and the water change eventually went ahead yesterday. This also allowed for the planting of the two Tiger Lotus (lilly) bulbs as discussed with Matt a week or two ago.

Anyway all was looking good until I looked again and the tow bulbs were lying on the substrate, not 2/3 submerged as they had been. I blamed myself for dislodging them when finishing off the water change, repositioned them.

Looked back 10 mins later and there was one on the surface, and one of the Bolivian rams was picking at the other until it too was on the surface. So it looks like I've inadvertent introduced a new game for the Rams :bang:

if these bulbs ever grow I'll be amazed! :razz:
 
Not sure if I'm adding any more fish atm but no more room for corals now. Just the long wait now whilst they grow :)

A FTS -

tp_zps5335b86a.jpg
 
That looks wonderful Paul. :thumbs:

I do like the cube tanks so often used for marine, it somehow seems to suit marine over tropical (IMO anyway)

This is the sort of tank I'd have loved if I'd taken the Marine approach, more corals than fish. I find them fascinating to watch.
 
AndrewA123 said:
Well As planned the rescape to part of the tank and the water change eventually went ahead yesterday. This also allowed for the planting of the two Tiger Lotus (lilly) bulbs as discussed with Matt a week or two ago.

Anyway all was looking good until I looked again and the tow bulbs were lying on the substrate, not 2/3 submerged as they had been. I blamed myself for dislodging them when finishing off the water change, repositioned them.

Looked back 10 mins later and there was one on the surface, and one of the Bolivian rams was picking at the other until it too was on the surface. So it looks like I've inadvertent introduced a new game for the Rams :bang:

if these bulbs ever grow I'll be amazed! :razz:
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Pesky rams!! Lol, they will sink back down once they soak mate, mine did the same, also try and put a few rocks around it if you can :) any pics yet?

Matt
 
mattd85 said:
Pesky rams!! Lol, they will sink back down once they soak mate, mine did the same, also try and put a few rocks around it if you can :) any pics yet?

Matt
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yeah mate, they've never left the bottom of the tank, very much soaked but they seem to be migrating around the tank :lol:

Not bothered with any pics yet, but I'll get some loaded up, once I do some. hopefully the weekend.

On a plus note, the plecostomus hide/tube had a resident inside the first 2 mins of introduction. he/she has been back and forwards to it pretty much constantly, so I'm pretty happy with that. :)
 
Try and find a spot in your tank where the current is not that strong, or just leave them and see where the settle lol. That's good news about the plec house, they like to hide. Do you have just the one plec?

Matt
 
it appears to be the rams moving the bulbs as opposed to the current, even the acaras don't bother with them.
I'm thinking of sticking them away in a corner and once they've started to grow (one showing fresh shoots already) I'll place them where I want them.

I've got 2 albino bristlenoses only about 2.5" and 2" respectively but growing at a fair rate. There is a rock cave and one seems to like the crevices in the bogwood so plenty of hiding places as there is, but this one seems to have taken up residence. With a bit of luck, once a little older I'll find I have a Male and Female and that they produce lots of little Bristlenoses. Even if they don't breed, they are a nice addition to any tank. And just about the only plec that's not got an asbo when it comes to a planted tank! :lol:
 
AndrewA123 said:
That looks wonderful Paul. :thumbs:

I do like the cube tanks so often used for marine, it somehow seems to suit marine over tropical (IMO anyway)

This is the sort of tank I'd have loved if I'd taken the Marine approach, more corals than fish. I find them fascinating to watch.
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Thanks, it's a 2x2x2 (sumped) and only a few months old.

One thing I am well aware of though is trying to ake macro shots with LED lighting is extremely difficult.
 
need some suggestions

my current tank setup im happy with fish im happy with the but the landscape inside i not happy at all

i was trying to do the plant thing / amazon feel but my big guami is eating everything or it is dieing

so was thinking rock scaping but hte price of rock has got me thinking


any suggestions on plant's and rock's not a big tank , 120 litre i think

most my fish are bottom feeders excpet 2 x dwarf guami's 1x larger guami , 2 x balooon red eye tetra
my bottom feeders are , britle nose , king plec , 4x corydory's
 
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well got a new tank tonight of a good friend could keep it any more and grabbed it at a bargain price with all his fish did a move and full water change almost kept 50 litres spare

3 foot tank so persuming 200 ish litres roughly

any way a quik one from myiphone most of the fish are hiding at min


photo by wegotitugetit, on Flickr
 
This thread seems to have died a death, so I'll bring it back and see how long it stays for :)

Water change night tonight, and a fair amount of rejigging I think. Got a few plants with Hair Algae growing, so they're coming out before it becomes a problem. Seems possible that it's with the stronger light I installed when my other one was past it. Certainly a cleaner whiter light, so may look to drop back down the spectrum slightly to the AquaGlo as opposed to the LifeGlo. It was bought to enhance the plants, but may be a little too much. I'll see how it goes after this water change and rescape.

Plants were fine with other tube, but no algae issues. Nitrate and Nitrite levels both nice and static and well within the usual boundaries (0 and 20 respectively).

So, how's everyone else's tanks doing ?
 
Hi Andrew, my tank is fine, the water column is a constant 26.3 degrees, since I bypassed the heater's internal thermostat and installed an external thermostat in the cupboard below the tank.

All fish are doing well.

:)
 
mattd85 said:
Hi Andrew,


How long are you having your lights on per day?
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Hi mate, The lights are on for 2 periods per day, 6:30-8:00am and then 5-9:30pm

I put in 3 otocinclus in, but they made little to no difference, hence the heavy "Trim" of effected plants tonight :D

I've seen the Siamese Flying Fox before, but discounted them because they're asian, and my tank is otherwise South American. That said, they're not something that would look out of place so I may have a look locally on Saturday and see if I can't get a few :) (always room for another one :))
 
Rob 80386 said:
Hi Andrew, my tank is fine, the water column is a constant 26.3 degrees, since I bypassed the heater's internal thermostat and installed an external thermostat in the cupboard below the tank.

All fish are doing well.

:)
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Great news :thumbs:

Got to be said, I wouldn't be without the tank now. Far too entertaining, even when you decide to rescape and large water change immediately after work :lol:
 
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