Fish tank equipment

[spekulatius]

Just want to make sure I've got it right as the fish behave as bit odd and the water gets dirty really quickly with algae. I've asked EAU before about the filter pump but I'm still not sure I've got it right. I've got a Juwel tank so the filter sponges and the pump are in the corner. where is the water supposed to come out? There is a hole in the corner compartment where the pump sticks out a bit and a little pipe that attaches to it, that's where the water comes out. The pipe is under water, pointing into the tank, is that alright? I'm worried about not enough oxygen but from what I understand an air pump is not necessary if the other pump is working properly? I've got a leaflet from Juwel which shows how to set up the tank but it's not very detailed but the picture looks like mine. Mainly concerned as one of the Platys usually always hides all day but has been swimming up top. The tanks gets also extremely dirty really quickly, more than usual. I've only got 8 fish now. Also, at the moment I've got only plastic plants should I get some real one? How many and how to I get them to stay down? How often should I feed fish and are flakes ok? I really want everything to be right so that I can get some more fish

Well, if it has a thermostat (which it should), it will switch off when it gets to the right temperature. But if it does go wrong then it will cook your fish in half the time.

Had some water lettuce and java fern delivered, is it normal that the java fern is about 30cm long? Was really surprised, i've had it before and it was really small and didn't grow much but always looked good. It has spots under the leaves, that's fine, isn't it?

What, you mean the leaves or the rhizome? Yes, the leaves can get quite long once it gets going. It's a slow grower even in the right conditions. Don't forget you need to grow it on a rock or a bit of wood, if you plant it in the gravel then the rhizome will rot.

Do the spots look like this? They are spores, so could grow new plants. Quite often you will see a new little plant growing on a leaf. If you want to keep it then wait until it's big enough to attach to something, then snip it off.

Yes it's the leaves. Spots are like those in the pictures yes. I've attached them to some wood. Looks a bit funny . I also bought some Anubias, I asked for Java Fern and that's what they said it was but it's not. The Anubias is covered in black spots all over the leaves, is that normal?

And is 4 Platys enough for them to be happy?

Anubias doesn't usually have black spots, it could be algae. It's easy enough to just wipe it off the leaves. If it doesn't come off then the leaf might be dying, just snip it off with some very sharp scissors and the plant should keep going. I've had leaves sprout from what has looked like a dead rhizome. It's a pretty tough plant.

4 platys is OK, just. More would be better but only if you have the space.

Got a few more problems. 2 Neons died, though i only found one of them. The water lettuce didn't do well at all. It seemed to be pushed into a corner by the water ripples, I tried moving it away to the other side of the tank but kept going back there. Such a shame, looked really pretty. Elodeo is doing well and makes the tank look much better and the Platys come out now and like swimming around there. Are Platys very aggressive, wondered if they did something to the Neons. They all love the bloodworms .

Platys shouldn't be aggressive but you couldn't rule it out completely, especially if the neons are weak. Have you ever seen them nipping? I wonder if the neons have some kind of bacterial infection, they seem to be dropping off one by one.

No never actually see them nip the neons. I did add eSha2000 after I found the neon. They don't seem distressed, that's why I was surprised. Water test yesterday was Ammonia 0.25, Nitrate 5.0, Nitrite 0, ph 7.8.