Help a Beginner please?

[Smidge]

Hi guys,

It's great to have a forum such as this in existence as it's often difficult to get a straight, easy to understand answer from retailers who are just out to make a quick buck so many thanks in advance.

First things first. I have had a BiOrb (be nice!) for the last couple of years and it works quite nicely. I have some Danio (Zebra and Leopard) and they have been in there for the whole time. How long do these fish live?!? I also have some Platys and a couple of Guppies. Anyway my questions regearding this are to quite different ones.

1. My pump is possibly the noisiest pump in all christendom and it's really annoying. Is there any pump i can buy ( money no object) that is as clsoe to silent as possible and that will be compatible with my BiOrb?

2. I have had 3 Siamese Fighters in my tank over the last year, with varying degrees of success. One of them died of "natural" causes but the most recent 2 were slain by my danio. These are not the only fish that they have done this with either. They also murdered my Neon Tetra and Gourami. Is there any reason for this or should they not be placed in a tank with these other breeds?

Thank you so much for any help and/or advice. It's greatly appreciated. Oh and don't hold it against me but i'm English.

Cheers,

Smidge

 

[JDogg]

Hi guys,

It's great to have a forum such as this in existence as it's often difficult to get a straight, easy to understand answer from retailers who are just out to make a quick buck so many thanks in advance.

First things first. I have had a BiOrb (be nice!) for the last couple of years and it works quite nicely. I have some Danio (Zebra and Leopard) and they have been in there for the whole time. How long do these fish live?!? I also have some Platys and a couple of Guppies. Anyway my questions regearding this are to quite different ones.

1. My pump is possibly the noisiest pump in all christendom and it's really annoying. Is there any pump i can buy ( money no object) that is as clsoe to silent as possible and that will be compatible with my BiOrb?

2. I have had 3 Siamese Fighters in my tank over the last year, with varying degrees of success. One of them died of "natural" causes but the most recent 2 were slain by my danio. These are not the only fish that they have done this with either. They also murdered my Neon Tetra and Gourami. Is there any reason for this or should they not be placed in a tank with these other breeds?

Thank you so much for any help and/or advice. It's greatly appreciated. Oh and don't hold it against me but i'm English.

Cheers,

Smidge

humm... well welcome to AA.

i know nothing about biorbs they seam to be a european thing so i can not help there.

the danios will probaly pick to death anything with long fins.

what is the volume of this tank (gallons is prefered around here, but being a man of science i can handle liters )

what # of each species of fish do you have?

 

[Smidge]

Thanks for replying so swiftly.

I have 2 Platys, 5 Danio and 2 Guppies.

The tank holds 30 litres, sorry i don't know what that is in gallons!

It was really the pump issue i was trying to resolve right now cos my tank (in terms of the fish) seems to be quite a happy place.

 

[O ALX O]

30 litres is almost 8 gallons. here is a link as to what pumps you could try. I would go with a small one. Or any air pump you can find where ever you are.

http://www.petsolutions.com/Air+Pumps-C-10106-C-.aspx

 

[Smidge]

Thanks for that. You guys are ace.

Those whisper pumps by tetratec look good. Does anyone know how well they work in practice?

 

[fish 'n' fries]

I have an old whisper pump (probably more than 10 years old...) that works fine. I do have it sitting on a washcloth to decrease the vibration, but otherwise it's not bad.

 

[Smidge]

I see. Well that's the sort of thing i'm having to do now and i don't like it so i'm trying to fibnd out whether there's something on the market that's almost silent.

Thanks for your help but i'll keep searching.

 

[Zagz]

Try looking for a pump with rubber on the bottoms. I have some whisper pumps that have rubber on the bottom of the pumps and they are the quietest things I have.

Welcome to AA!

 

[tropicalfish]

Get the Whisper Air pumps.. they are blue.

 

[SparKy697]

I was surprised at how quiet these are. Not a bad price either, the model 10 would probably work nicely for you.

 

[Devilishturtles]

Have heard great things from the new Whisper pumps as well. Their new design (the curvy one) is really nice and supposedly, one of the quiestest pumps on the market right now.

 

[neilanh]

I need to hear what a different one sounds like then, cuz I think mine is loud. Granted I'm new and its the only one I have. I've got the 60 size. Got used to it and don't hear it anymore unless I think about it, but I was expecting it to be quieter I guess. Works great however!

 

[SparKy697]

I'm sure there will be subtle differences in all of them. You still need to make sure that you don't have it pressed against something so that sound does not get transmitted. Also I thing the thin bottom of some of the common tank stands will act as a sort of resonator too. Place it close to the edge and not in the middle of the board.

 

[neilanh]

I've got mine on a carpeted floor behind my stand. I guess being there, between the stand and a wall, it could be "echoing" off of the wall and increasing the sound. But if I put it inside the door of my stand, it's really loud in there.

 

[Smidge]

Thanks guys.

I think i'm gonna try one of these whisper pumps but i'm also in the process of trying to get the wife to allow me to have a bigger tank so i might have to wait and see what sort of size i need.

 

[tropicalfish]

Whisper is actually really good. I got a Rena Air pump, and it wasn't much quieter, and weaker... So I went back to using my really old whisper air pump 10 (the gray box ones)... and its quiet AND strong

 

[STARFYRE]

I have tried several different air pumps in my FW tanks. I am in love with the Airmaster from Marineland. It is sooooo quiet compared to everything else I tried. It has the rubber feet. It also has a flow adjuster, and you can turn it down to almost nothing. So the smallest size (which I believe is for a ten gallon) would def suit your tank. The one I have hooked up in my bedroom is on a hardwood floor and I get no noise. It's also the cheapest one I've ever found (which is surprising, and fantastic!). I'll try to find it online so I can send you a link.

 

[Smidge]

Thanks man. You guys are great.

 

[STARFYRE]

Here's the link....
http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/product/productInfo.web?picGroupKey=10411
I'm not sure if the smallest one has the flow adjuster on it. I have the 2000 and 3000 models. Mine has been running for three years now with no problems.

 

[Smidge]

What do you guys make of shrimp? I'm thinking of getting one or two to aid with algae control and cos i think they're interesting to watch. What sort of things do i need to be aware of?