Sqwidge Posted June 11, 2009 Report Share Posted June 11, 2009 ok...right in a couple weeks i want to update the way our tank looks lol! might still stick with plastic plants...but i am fed up of the blue gravel! might take the volcano out for a while and put a different thing in, sunken ship perhaps!? (we have a 'finding nemo' style bubble volcano, so cool!) oh are real plants harder to care for? do they create more algae? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siberian_wolf Posted June 12, 2009 Report Share Posted June 12, 2009 Think we have something similar here but they're called Sea Monkeys? or am i totally off track lol I had a collection of sea monkeys lol hmmmmm, anyone heard of a brackish tank? found another old piece of college work about setting up an brackish tank - tried and tested too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiba Posted June 12, 2009 Report Share Posted June 12, 2009 ugh. I had to move my 125 gallon twice since i got it. Key is to keep your bacteria alive. So the faster you can accomplish the move, the better. And never let your filters dry out. They have to stay submerged. NEVER run a filter without the inlet tube being submerged. You'll blow the motor. and never run a heater out of water or it will shatter. First thing i did was scoop out all the substrate. Sand, wood, plants, rocks etc. Then i unplugged the heater. Then i siphoned out enough water to just barely keep the inlet tubes to the filters submerged. Then i put the fish in a large cooler (the kind you use for soda at the beach) (they were of course in the same tank water) mind you these are huge fish so little buckets would not work. The largest is 13" and can jump quite high Then Proceeded to unplug and unhook the filters. Loaded all that onto the truck, then emptied the tank the rest of the way and loaded the tank and stand onto the truck. When i got to our new house. I set up the tank and filters. (did not turn the filters on yet) Then i started to fill the tank while checking the levelness of the water. Once full i added dechlorinator and made sure it was the proper temp. Then i switched on the filters. Then i added the substrate and then the fish. Bata bing bata boom. I actually changed out my tank from gravel to Pool Filter Sand. I just kept all the fish and water in the tank. Scooped out the gravel. Rinsed the sand, and used a mesh strainer to scoop the rinsed sand into the tank. Since i had tropical fish i had to rinse the sand in warm water so the cold sand wouldnt shock the water to below the normal range. Other than that it was a breeze doing it with the fish still in the tank. Since pool filter sand doesnt change the PH i didnt have to worry about that either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyn Posted July 2, 2009 Report Share Posted July 2, 2009 You should have LESS algae with real plants they will use the Nitrate out of your water (which is responsible for flourishing algae. The other alternative is to get yourself a plecostamus (which feed on algae) Just be careful on species though in relation to the size of your tank, and some plecs grow very large. For real plants to thrive, you really need some suitable substrate, as they will do far better than planting them in gravel. The koi pond: I have photos on my photobucket account, I'll see if I can find some out for you. One daft little thing I really miss is the dragonflies the vegatable filter used to attract (We had bullrushes and stuff in there, which native waterlife loved) we had beautiful dragonflies and damsel flies flitting round the garden. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted July 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2009 Best fish you can get in relation to eating algae are bristlenose catfish ..... They are known by the name "Algae magnets" for good reason .. I currently have 3 in my tank and they dont grow too bit either. Just remember that when you have algea eaters, what goes in must come out, so keep on top of your water changes and try to ensure you pick up as much of the crap as possible when doing them.. I would recommend getting yourself a decent syphon with none return valve for this. Dont usually cost that much and you can pick them up from most fish shops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huskyluv Posted July 26, 2009 Report Share Posted July 26, 2009 Where are the pics? I just read through this whole thread and not a single setup pic. Kinda makes me miss the simplicity of a freshwater tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siberian_wolf Posted July 26, 2009 Report Share Posted July 26, 2009 I dont have a tropical fish tank myself buy here are a few set ups I found on google [ATTACH]2451[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]2452[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]2453[/ATTACH] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huskyluv Posted July 26, 2009 Report Share Posted July 26, 2009 I dont have a tropical fish tank myself buy here are a few set ups I found on google LOL I guess that will have to do. I don't have a FW set up right now either and my SW fish are in a temporary holding tank until we move and I had to sell all my reef tank inhabitants before my last move. :mad: I'm going through withdrawal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siberian_wolf Posted July 27, 2009 Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 You have to get pics of your Salt Water tank! I will be very jealous if you have a yellow tang Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Posted July 27, 2009 Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 Will have to get pics of ours on here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siberian_wolf Posted July 27, 2009 Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 Make sure only the pretty fish are in the pic sarah, we dont want the pic accidently drifting into the wrong thread now do we? lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huskyluv Posted July 28, 2009 Report Share Posted July 28, 2009 You have to get pics of your Salt Water tank! I will be very jealous if you have a yellow tang No tangs here. Actually I sold all my fish along with all my coral, live rock and tank back when I moved across the country. I only kept my mated false percula clownfish pair b/c I couldn't part with them. It was so bad, the lady that bought my tank and all its inhabitants showed up at my house to take them away and at the last second I couldn't help but ask her if I could keep them (and this was AFTER she'd already paid me). She said it was fine and that she didn't want the money back even though I offered over and over. Will have to get pics of ours on here Please do! I'd love to see yours. Do you have FW, SW, or reef...or multiple? lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Posted July 28, 2009 Report Share Posted July 28, 2009 ours isn't anything spectacular lol we've got a tropical tank with Malowies, a lovely snowball pleck and some bristle nosei still need to get some pics lol- the tank looks like this (help google lol) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted July 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2009 Our current full setup is:- Tank: Vision 180 (180 ltr bow fronted) Filtration: 1 x Fluval 4 plus, and 1 x Stock Juwel filter Air: 2 x Strip airstones Lighting: 1 x t10 natual white light, and 1 x natual blue t10 Fish: Malawi Cichlids including Some Anomalochromis, Labidochromis, Sciaenochromis fryeri. Some ancistrous (Bristlenose catfish) and a snowball plec So far so good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huskyluv Posted July 28, 2009 Report Share Posted July 28, 2009 Sounds nice, I love the bowfronts too. My past 46 gallon was a bowfront (no longer have it though, sold a while ago) and was my favorite look, all my other tanks have been standard rectangles. I'd like to get a 72 gallon bf one of these days. My absolute favorite fish of all time is the pleco, you must post pics of yours! Please?!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidjk Posted July 28, 2009 Report Share Posted July 28, 2009 nice post, i could have done with this years ago. i used to have 3 tanks, the largest being 6 foot long. i was forever seeking out advice. in the end i let the tanks die out naturally. good sound advice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huskyluv Posted July 28, 2009 Report Share Posted July 28, 2009 nice post, i could have done with this years ago. i used to have 3 tanks, the largest being 6 foot long. i was forever seeking out advice. in the end i let the tanks die out naturally. good sound advice Aww, did you join a tropical fish forum or something similar back when you had your tanks? I'm a member of several fish and reef forums and they are beyond excellent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahNukka&Shadow Posted November 6, 2009 Report Share Posted November 6, 2009 I got into trops a couple of years ago when a friend was moving down to london and offered me his little 10gallon tank and the 5 fish it came with for free.... boy was that the most expensive free thing I ever got!! I went out an bought a lovly big book and read up all about the fish I had and quickly realised that my friend actaully didnt know squat about fish! He'd given me the little 10 gallon with a balla shark, a ruby barb, a long finned rosey barb, a peppered cory and a electric yellow milawi. He clearly hadnt reserched how big the shark would get, what ph the milawi needed, what an arrgressive fish the milawi was, that the long finned barb shouldnt be kept with a regular barb or.... well anything at all other than the basic water, light, heat and filter. So I then had to go out and get a big and rather expensive 180 litr tank and all new equipment to house the size of the shark, desided that since the milawi had been in the softer ph all his little life it'd be too much of a shock to put him in hard ph so he went in the big tank with the shark and the ruby barb and got a few more ruby's as barbs are a schooling fish really along with a nice plec to eat the algee and even a few nice little aramana shrimp who also eat algee for the big tank and left the gentle little cory and the long finned barb in the smaller tank, inherrited some other small fish from my grandfather who saddly passed away, for the small tank. So now I have two good sized tanks and am very proud that I have two healthly tanks of fish and real plants that can also be quiet difficult to keep well! Oh BTW the plants will also help keep the nitrites down as this is what they use and convert it to oxygen for the fish! Phew! Thats a long post! Sorry!! Lols! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted November 13, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 13, 2009 Dunno if you still have the fish however Milawi's actually need a higher more alkaline PH (7.5 - 8.5), however the water needs to be soft to medium-hard. Im persuming the ones you have are yellow labs or electric yellow (or even Labidochromis caeruleus if ya fancy a headache) . You will need to bring the PH up by adding something to your tank as a buffer such as coral rock or coral sand. Yellow labs can be fine with other of mbuna species of Cichlid but will eat anything a lot smaller than them. They are also rock dwellers so to keep them at their best you need rock in your tank. In your case if your ph isnt being buffered, you may as well get Coral Rock and kill 2 birds with one stone. Been learning quite a lot about Cichlids for a while now from my cousin who is seriously seriously addicted to the things LOL.. I also have a tank full of the things so if you want to know what to put in with them let me know and I'll send you a list. Oh, and if your plants are dissapearing rather quick ... that'll be the milawi .... They like it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohhsweetness Posted December 3, 2009 Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 i use to own a few tanks lol got way addicted to them now i only have a 6 ft 4ft n a 2ft only the 2 ft n 4 ft are running lol i have tropical fish though was reading up on marine fish stuff that lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Posted December 3, 2009 Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 oh a Husky fish! Not seen one of those before lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohhsweetness Posted December 10, 2009 Report Share Posted December 10, 2009 lol haha she actually ate my 10" jack dempsey lol she went swimming in my tank n caught it i was like ugh damn lol ..... patted her head and smiled Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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