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Fishnet

If you have a fish pond, fish tank or are seeking advice about keeping tropical fish, you can find advice on our Fish forum.

SO EXCITED!! NEWBIE and loving it.

115 replies

NoWittyName · 29/01/2012 22:00

We were given a 130 litre tank months ago, but did not have the money to buy filter, light, heater etc to get it started up....but then I got money back from overpaying tax!!! I know!! Never heard of such a thing!

So we set it all up...waited patiently...and today we bought our first fish!
6 zebra danios and 4 tiger barbs.

Got them from a fantastic shop (won lots of awards and v knowledgeable) and am now having to wait until next week before we can add more. Loving it already and cannot wait to get some more in there!!

Just wanted to share!
xx

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befuzzled · 08/02/2012 21:04

marking place

NoWittyName · 08/02/2012 21:22

This is where I think it may all go wrong for me................

.............tank was only up and running for a week (on advice from friend) but with balls in whole time. Haven't got ammonia test kit.

What should I do about nitrite - I assume a water change, but how much etc.?

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EauRouge · 08/02/2012 21:22

On a fish thread?! Are we popular now? Grin

EauRouge · 08/02/2012 21:26

Ooh, it won't have cycled before you added fish then. Did you add any ammonia to it before you put the fish in?

So how long has it been since you added the first lot of fish? Can you give a breakdown of what you added and when if you can remember?

Yes, water changes will help for now. You can do a couple of water changes a week, I would do around 30-40%. Keep testing to check the nitrIte level. You can keep adding the balls as well, they may help, but once the filter is mature then you don't need to add them routinely.

NoWittyName · 08/02/2012 21:33

No ammonia added. (is this getting worse as you're reading it?)

First lot of fish (4 tiger barbs and 6 zebra danios) was Sun 29th Jan.
Second lot of fish (4 neon rainbows, 7 cardinals and one algae eater) Sun 5th Feb.
3 smallest cardinals killed immediately by tiger barbs eating tail fins!
Third lot of fish (2 more tiger barbs to try to reduce aggressiveness and 4 'giant' cardinals so they wouldn't get eaten again!) Tue 7th Feb
No more planned fish increases for at least 2 weeks.

Am worried about chilling fish when I add such a quantity of water which clearly won't have been heated - what do you do about that?

I feel like I'm a mum who's given birth and social services are about to be called. :(

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EauRouge · 08/02/2012 21:58

Well, you haven't had an ideal start but it's pretty common and fixable so don't worry about it too much- you might have to do a bit of extra work on it over the next few weeks though.

So, if I've counted right you've got 6 tiger barbs, 4 neon rainbows, 6 zebra danios, 8 cardinals and 1 algae eater (Crossocheilus reticulatus). Have I got that right? That's a hefty amount of fish in a small amount of time for such a new tank. I would suspect you've had a big ammonia spike and that's what's causing some of the problems. This happens when there is a sudden increase in ammonia- new fish added, a dead fish, food left to rot in the water can all cause this- and there isn't enough bacteria in the filter to cope with it.

Another problem I can foresee is that all these fish (with the exception of the fully grown cardinals) are going to get bigger. The algae eater is going to get too big for your tank, and needs to be in a group anyway so the easiest way to fix that problem is to return the fish to the shop.

I would think about returning some of the other fish too, that's a lot of livestock for a 130 litre tank. As a very rough guideline, just to give you an estimate of how many fish you can have, you should allow 1 gallon of water for each inch of fish (using adult sizes). Not including the algae eater, you've got a potential of 55 inches in a 28 gallon tank.

Your tank would be more manageable (and less work so more fun for you!) if you were to stock it more lightly. For sure, you can't fit any more in.

So, sorry it's bad news but if you set it up properly now then it'll be running like clockwork in a few months and you'll be able to relax a bit. Fish are meant to be relaxing Grin

As for the chilling fish, you can just add a bit of boiled water from the kettle to your bucket of clean water before you add it to the tank. Not too warm , just to raise it a couple of degrees from cold tap water. You could test it with a thermometer if you don't trust your elbow. Don't forget to dechlorinate!

Hope all that makes sense.

befuzzled · 09/02/2012 00:48

Am about to get some fish - dc have finally worn me down - I am befuzzled by all the prep you have to do, getting tank this weekend so am planning to copy exactly what it says in this thread! (I am sure in my day we got goldfish, put tap water in a bowl, and dumped them in with the bag water ....)

NoWittyName · 09/02/2012 09:12

Do I need to also buy a separate ammonia tester or is that part of one of the other tests I gave the results of?

Will do my water change later today and report back.

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EauRouge · 09/02/2012 09:33

Yes, you can get separate ammonia tests so you can carry on using the kit you already have to test everything else.

Befuzzled- start a new thread if you want and I'll talk you through everything. :)

NoWittyName · 09/02/2012 10:21

Okay. x

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NoWittyName · 09/02/2012 13:50

Have done a check on thinkfish's stocking level calculator and they calculate that I can get 87 inches of stock in my tank. Confused

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EauRouge · 09/02/2012 17:50

That's over 3 inches per gallon, that can't be right. What are the dimensions of your tank?

NoWittyName · 09/02/2012 18:37

It's an unusual shape. It's basically a corner unit but with the side corners 'chopped off' so it's a sort of cut diamond shape. I'll look again on thinkfish in case i did calculation wrong.

Have got water sitting waiting to come to a slightly friendlier temperature so I can get on with this water change!

OP posts:
NoWittyName · 09/02/2012 18:39

Just checked again:

stocking level in cm - 221
stocking level in inches - 87

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EauRouge · 09/02/2012 18:43

That sounds totally wrong to me, it's 130 litres, right? What are the measurements?

Corner tanks have to be stocked even more lightly because there isn't the length for fish to get away from each other.

NoWittyName · 09/02/2012 19:43

Yes, it's 130 litres with external filtration. Greatest length is 66cm across. Just had a better look and it's better described as a square with a corner cut away.

66cm square with one corner cut away at 22cm.

How long after a water change would you re-check levels?

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EauRouge · 09/02/2012 19:56

I'd probably be testing every day at the moment just to be on the safe side.

Have a go on this one- www.thinkfish.co.uk/calculators.php?calc=stocking

EauRouge · 09/02/2012 19:56

Bugger, sorry Here.

NoWittyName · 09/02/2012 20:02

That's the calculator I used. The big difference seems to be when you put in the type of filtration you have. If I only had undergravel it says 51 inches, but with external filtration it says 87 inches.

I'm going to buy a separate ammonia testing kit tomorrow as I just feel so pooh about potentially killing my fish through ignorance. I really wanted this as something nice for number 1. Can't quite believe how stressed it's making me feel. :(

OP posts:
NoWittyName · 09/02/2012 21:30

Woohoo!! Tonight's readings are basically the same as yesterday, but nitrite is 0mg/l.

Relief.

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EauRouge · 10/02/2012 00:30

You could try this one as well although I think it also has a tendency to overstock. Glad the readings are looking better!

Don't bear yourself up too much, this happens to nearly all new fishkeepers. It's hard to come by accurate information unfortunately :(

EauRouge · 10/02/2012 00:31

*beat yourself up.

NoWittyName · 10/02/2012 10:57

Thanks for that link eau. Unfortunately it doesn't allow for calculation of odd shaped tanks. Am away until Monday now so will update when I return.

Have a good weekend.

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NoWittyName · 13/02/2012 21:27

Home and all fish still alive! :) :) :)

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NoWittyName · 19/02/2012 19:25

Hi Eaurouge, not sure if you're still around on the thread.

Have just spotted that we have a mini snail in the tank - I assume it must have come in on a plant right at the beginning. Is this okay or is it a problem? All levels are fine and fish seem to be happy (although I don't profess to be a fishie psychologist!)

Hope to hear from you soon,
NWN

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