Tropical Fish 2
 

Had a lot of trouble with PH levels and couldnt introduce new fish.. seems OK now

we have
1 red tailed shark
1 blue siamese fighting fish male
2 siamese fighting fish female
2 tetras (was 5)
5 zebra fish
2 cat fish
3 equatic frogs
3 orange thingy ones
5 white thingys


24 total

thinking of going from 4ftx12x12 to 4ftx18 but the logistics of swapping tanks is scary.

also thinking of changing to external filter... thoughts anyone?

also our pumps noisy.. we need a strong quiet pump...

Re: Tropical Fish 2
 

Beware the frogs will eat any small fish, they hunt at night when other fish are at rest.

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Not according to the shop.... and there small frogs.. smaller than any of the fish and shop says they dont grow any bigger... also in shop they where in with other fish... Maybe your thinking of differnt types of frogs?

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do u get all that frogspawn and tadpoles wiht them?

or are they quite hard to breed?

not too keen on a frog explosion in my tank

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Nothing like that happening at the moment thank goodness :)

Sorry had a couple of drinks when I wrote the original.. heres the proper list

we have
1 red tailed shark
1 blue siamese fighting fish male
2 siamese fighting fish female
2 tetras (was 5)
5 zebra fish
2 cat fish
3 equatic frogs
3 orange platties
5 diamond tetras (decent size)


Also since then got a more powerfull and quiet pump

Re: Tropical Fish 2
 

yeah those thingys got me worried too *LOL*

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Spots of green algy on glass.. whats happening :(

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Your VERY lucky if you don't get any, get it cleaned off though, it spreads like hell, is the tank in sunlight? makes it grow quicker if it is, better filtration slows its growth down, I used to use cotton wool in a power filter that skimmed the top of the tank and changed it weekly

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same hre kipax, going clean the glass with this cleaner thing ive got then do a 50% water change i think :rolleyes:

Re: Tropical Fish 2
 

Tank is about 10ft from the window. Its not directly in sunlight. We have no real plants in the tank either, I took them all out after they started dying...

How would you recommend cleaning it off, I have a magnetic glass cleaner(with green scourer bit for the inside of the tank) but that didn't shift it, its on there solid. All the fish seem really content though.

Any help would be appreciated, I dont want it to get out of hand

I have asked on a couple of fish forums but no one answered:(


Thanks

Re: Tropical Fish 2
 

What kind of cleaner have you got JT?

Re: Tropical Fish 2
 

You don't really want to be using one of them, all that does is scrapes it off and lets it float about in the tank where it can re-settle and grow again, I used to use one of the green scouring pads, put your hand in the tank to do it, try and do it in an upward motion and take the pad out after every stroke and wash it out. No-one can tell you how to get rid of it completely as there probably isn't a way, its one of the pitfalls of having a tank i'm afraid, it does look ok in moderation when its on rocks etc

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Thanks K.S.H. I will give that a try and see how things go :)

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failin that

keep the lights off for a day or so

do u have any algae eaters in the tank?

Re: Tropical Fish 2
 

I've been getting same thing on my cold water tank & mines not in direct sunlight either just a few spots of green mould looking on one end of the glass - the darkest area of the tank:confused: dont know if you can get algae eaters for cold water tank:confused: i clean it off do a 50% water change regular to no avail.

Re: Tropical Fish 2
 

Definately better. They usual hold more filter medium and have several compartments so you can add various things like carbon, filter mat and ceramic bits.

So was mine so I put it outside ;). The tank was in the back room so I drilled a hole through the wall and mounted the pump in a waterproof electrical type enclosure. Ran pipes and cable through hole in wall, added a couple of holes in the bottom of box to let air in and you have a totally silent pump inside ( except for the bubbles of course ). Its a shame I did not take a picture of it before I sold the tank.

I had dusk and dawn dimming lights as well, very cool when you have fish that hide during the day and come out when the light start to dim. ALthough catfish are not supposed to be able to see red lights so by adding a red light you can see them but they think its dark :)

Re: Tropical Fish 2
 

Just back from the fishy shop... We now have three ikle algae eaters who will help control the problem...

Algae needs three things... water, some unpornouncable thing in tap water and light... he said leave lights off and it will go.. I said what even the green bits that are on glass and he said yes... algae is live plant..

Also if you have lots of live plants in the tank then the algae cant compete.. but he conceded a tank full of live plants is harder to keep than fish

So plan now is to keep lights off other than an hr or so at night and so algae dies and have the three algae eaters to keep on top of it..

oh yeagh.....and fins crossed..... :)

Re: Tropical Fish 2
 

had my lights off for a few days to be honest and the algae is still there i think its cause its in the lounge which gets a lot of sun all day long. might get some algea eaters myself...which did u get kipax??

Re: Tropical Fish 2
 

Just get one of those large magnet scrubby thingies. All you do is rub the outside the tank bit around the tank and the inside bit scrubs off the green stuff. Get a big one as the small ones are naff.

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got one of them already

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And it all floats around your tank, settles somewhere else if the filter doesn't get it and continues to grow :)
Do it by hand and remove it from the tank at the same time, its easily trapped in one of the green scourers, same stuff thats fastened to the magnetic ones Neil mentioned

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Bought some yesterday 'Otocinclus affinis', im keeping light off as well during the day:)

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otto's in my opinion are good but not the best but they'll do

i got one in my tank - what u really really want is the world champion of algae eaters - the SAE - that one is meant to eat anything and everything. there's alot of them around but to get a true SAE is hard to find - i think they had some in bolton - these local ones may get lucky and get some but rare

http://www.ericschreiber.com/aquariu.../fish-sae2.jpg

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can you get algae eaters for cold water tanks??

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When my goldfish tank goes green I wash it out - Casper Stinky & Stretch are their names! My niece named them about 5 years ago might even be longer but they are still alive...... just!

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kippax you will need to be careful with the red tail shark there ok when there small but as they get larger they become massively territorial and claim the whole bottom of the tank. if anything ventures down it will get chased and attacked. i lost a couple of phantom tetras and it absolutely harrarassed one of my discus to death. in the end i took it back the shop after havin him about 6 months. i loved the fish but he was a menance in the end.

Re: Tropical Fish 2
 

Where Do U Get The Frogs From?

Re: Tropical Fish 2
 

kipax ya wanna get a plec, they sort all the algae out,ive had mine a year and he's called bob(original i know), i do a part water change on my tank every 2 weeks, my mollies are always breeding in my tank so next time they do i'll give you a shout and you can have some, the guppys are good breeders too...as for the cold water tank i have one of those too, i find it hard to keep clean cos the goldfish and oranda i have in there are messy little buggers, i have an undergravel filter in mine that seems to work but i also have an algae guard which sticks to the side of the tank(a magnetic cleaner), and yes you can get algae eaters for a cold water tanks (cold water plecs) they are tiny and like doing laps of the tank

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oh and my plec and the rest of the fish love cucumber, i give it them once a week, it doesnt last long

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Ours has got to that stage now, we weren't told by the shop how agressive they become when we bought him a few months back. Now he's chasing all the other fish everytime we feed them... he's going to have to go back to the shop. Will miss him though :(



PS....armani, we got our frogs from Barlows aquatics on Scaithcliffe St,Accrington :)

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Barlows Aquatics is moving to the end of victoria st/Nuttall street soon:D

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Oh yeah forgot to mention that in think its first week in December they move :)

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LOL a little bit nearer to me hopefully its much bigger premises opening just in time for me needing some more water safe;) :D

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yeah i was speakin to that guy at barlows - seemed quite optimistic - only think i can say its a bit of a side street location not very prominent

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Ann Summers?:rolleyes: :D

Ok. I'll admit it. Blatant fred wander.

On a more serious note... I would love to own a decent, well stocked fish tank, but I spend too much time away from home to maintain one. :(

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We swapped to a massive tank... 4 ft long.. 2 foot high and about 2 foot deep.. summat daft like that.. AccyRed will know as she set it all up.

http://www.kipax.com/mbgfx/fishy2.jpg

Re: Tropical Fish 2
 

Ok folks. Time to 'fess up. Why do you own tropical fish tanks?

I would have one simply because I find it so relaxing and therapeutic watching the fish gracefully swimming about. When I was a kid, I could happily spend hours in the little aquarium shop, at Bastwell traffic lights, on Whalley New Road, in Blackburn, with my uncle, who kept tropical fish.

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Well done sparky.. question and answer all in the same post :)

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Nice tank Mr K. My mother use to breed tropical fish when we live at church, we had a stand made out of angle Irons that ran the length of the wall. I had a 3’ tank when I was married and lived in Fleetwood twenty odd years ago. I’d like one but room is at premium now I’m back working from home. But I do like to see them, like real fire in a way, relaxing and comforting.

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nice tank kipax i want to get a tank with marine fish like nemo has anyone got any marine fish?

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marine are very expensive.. i would have liked a nemo type setup for the kids but your looking at upward to 100 quid a fish.. the actual setup is even more expensive than tropical.. I think thats the main reason most go tropical.. but if you can afford marine then they really are quite impressive :)

Re: Tropical Fish 2
 

Got kipax to take Lenny (my red tailed shark) back to Barlows aquatics today. :bye2:

I spent over an hour trying to catch him and ended up taking almost everything out of the tank to do it...all the kids could do was laugh at me cursing the fish for swimming too fast....:D Kipax ended up catching him in the end because i couldnt... I cant believe i let a fish get the better of me :o

The tank will be a lot calmer for my other fish now but I will miss having him around and Im sure someone will give him a new home soon he is a nice looking fishy :)

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i know im saving up

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Hi Tony,

External Filters are very good and much more effective and also mean you can carry out water changes without a syphon :)

One name for pumps and filters EHEIM.... top quality and always quiet

Fluval would be next on list. Dont waste your money on cheap copies.

Search E-Bay for EHEIM and look at this for reference :)

http://www.aquatics-warehouse.co.uk/..._TROPICAL.html

Re: Tropical Fish 2
 

Fluval's are definately good, efficient & not noisy after replacing my old one of un-named variety as too small, altho mine is an internal filter, I got it cheaper on ebay than aquatic stores, my pump is the noisiest have to keep adjusting it to quiet it down

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Cheers Simon but since I posted that we have a new tank with filter system built in blah blah so all sorted:)

Re: Tropical Fish 2
 

Here's a tip about cleaning filters that I learnt.
Always clean the filter media with the water you have taken out of the tank, never use clean tapwater to clean it, it kills off all the good bacteria that is needed in the tank.
Also depending on your filter and how many sorts of filter media you can put in it, try and fit a bag of charcoal in, not the stuff for BBQ's though :eek:
You can buy it in filter bags at all good aquatic shops. I used to put 4 types of media in mine, ceramic tubes, coarse sponge, fine sponge (like cotton wool) and carbon - in that order.

Re: Tropical Fish 2
 

Another good one to put in is POLYFILTER

It is like a stiff foam and changes colour according to what it takes out of the water, really good at identifying any water problems... and polish's the water like carbon does.

It cost about £13 for one sheet though of good quality stuff.

Just fed my fish at teatime with bloodworm and now the colours they are showing off is incredible, almost marine colours :):)