My first fishy forum - Aquarium Advice

TigerKate · 08-22-2008, 04:03 AM

Hi Everyone,
When I was a young child, my gradfather used to have about 50 tanks full of different types of fish in his garage, he was a marine biologist and discovered a species of rainbow fish in the gulf of carpenteria years and years ago in Australia, he was one of my role models when it came to aquariums and when I was younger I always imagined having lots of tanks when I grew up. Unfortunatley he died quite suddenly when I was 14, so I never got the chance to get as much info about fish keeping as I would have liked.
My aquarium career started quite small when I was 21, my parents bought me and 80L tank and the basics, and I have never looked back, my aquarium over the years has just gotten bigger and more complicated over the years. I still have 2 of the original fish I bought when I was 21, 5 years ago, a male angel fish and a tiger barb!
I decided to join this site because I always have questions that no one can ever answer about my tank so I thought if I joined up, there might be enough people out there to help me when my answers.

SO! I have a 220L tank, I have a range of fish in it from angel fish, to tiger barbs, neon tetras, guppies, zebra danios, a bristlenose ( my personal favourite ) and a couple of other species. Now I know a lot of you will say 'ek! whats she doing with all those fish in the same tank' but I have to say, I have no problem, they all get along and they are never aggressive or mean to each other.
I have driftwood plants, and a couple of other plant varieties in there all sitting upon small pebbles. My filter system is an Aqua one, 3 level 'live rock' filter system or CF1200, which then runs through a UV filter before entering the tank again. Otherwise everything else is the usual.. a heater, air pump etc.
I only ever do water changes when the water gets low and when the water gets low thats when I test the pH etc and add things as required. I rarely have any fish loss and it always looks clean apart from a small amount of spot algae on the glass. I probably clean my filter once or twice a year. This system seems to work really well and people always comment on how little maintanence I have to do.

The reasons I decided to join up here is as much stuff as I like to think I know in this area, I still have questions.... and these are:

1. My Gh level is consistently low and I have NO idea how to get it up, Ive tried a few different methods to no avail.
2. My Kh and Ph probably drop to low every 2-3 months, otherwise they are always at the right level....?
3. Whenever I buy snails they die? Why?
4. I have a crystally build up around the top of my tank (I assume caused by water evaporation) it doesn't taste overly salty, I am wondering if it is calcium build up? if it is, is it harmful to the fish?
5. Although my driftwood plants seem fine, all other plants tend to die and I replace them every 3-4 months, my local aquarium owner suggested these C02 tablets, which made very little difference, Im not sure if I want to go the whole hog and buy a co2 distributor...

So thats about it at the moment, I'd love to hear from you all and get some insight into these few problems and hopefully be of help to anyone who needs it. I love my aquarium, its beautiful and relaxing and makes every day a little bit nicer!
Look forward to talking to everyone
Kate

marchmaxima · 08-22-2008, 09:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TigerKate

I only ever do water changes when the water gets low and when the water gets low thats when I test the pH etc and add things as required.I probably clean my filter once or twice a year. This system seems to work really well and people always comment on how little maintanence I have to do.

Hi Kate

Welcome to AA!! I've started an answer to these questions in the other thread you started here. But I hadn't read this post when I answered that one.

On the other thread, can you explain a bit more of your maintenance routine?

When you clean the filter, describe what you do.
When you say you test the PH, and "etc" and "add things as required" can you explain what exactly you test for and what things you add?

That info will be really helpful. But you were right to ask those q'ns in the getting started forum where it will be seen by more of the right people.

**roka64** · 08-22-2008, 12:22 PM

Welcome to the site!

cmor1701d · 08-22-2008, 01:27 PM

**Zagz** · 08-22-2008, 04:38 PM

Welcome to AA!

**melosu58** · 08-22-2008, 04:53 PM

Welcome aboard

fishnutcheryl · 08-22-2008, 08:37 PM

I just joined the site too. I have read so much on here I thought it time to join. Good luck with your tank problems. I am rather new to the hobby (only about 8 months) so I really don't have any advice.

FishEggs · 08-23-2008, 08:41 AM

hello

fluffyntex · 08-23-2008, 10:55 AM

Hi Kate ad Welcome! What kind of lighting do you have on the tank, k rating, watts?

08-22-2008, 04:03 AM	#1
TigerKate Aquarium Advice Apprentice Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Australia Sydney Posts: 15	My first fishy forum Hi Everyone, When I was a young child, my gradfather used to have about 50 tanks full of different types of fish in his garage, he was a marine biologist and discovered a species of rainbow fish in the gulf of carpenteria years and years ago in Australia, he was one of my role models when it came to aquariums and when I was younger I always imagined having lots of tanks when I grew up. Unfortunatley he died quite suddenly when I was 14, so I never got the chance to get as much info about fish keeping as I would have liked. My aquarium career started quite small when I was 21, my parents bought me and 80L tank and the basics, and I have never looked back, my aquarium over the years has just gotten bigger and more complicated over the years. I still have 2 of the original fish I bought when I was 21, 5 years ago, a male angel fish and a tiger barb! I decided to join this site because I always have questions that no one can ever answer about my tank so I thought if I joined up, there might be enough people out there to help me when my answers. SO! I have a 220L tank, I have a range of fish in it from angel fish, to tiger barbs, neon tetras, guppies, zebra danios, a bristlenose ( my personal favourite ) and a couple of other species. Now I know a lot of you will say 'ek! whats she doing with all those fish in the same tank' but I have to say, I have no problem, they all get along and they are never aggressive or mean to each other. I have driftwood plants, and a couple of other plant varieties in there all sitting upon small pebbles. My filter system is an Aqua one, 3 level 'live rock' filter system or CF1200, which then runs through a UV filter before entering the tank again. Otherwise everything else is the usual.. a heater, air pump etc. I only ever do water changes when the water gets low and when the water gets low thats when I test the pH etc and add things as required. I rarely have any fish loss and it always looks clean apart from a small amount of spot algae on the glass. I probably clean my filter once or twice a year. This system seems to work really well and people always comment on how little maintanence I have to do. The reasons I decided to join up here is as much stuff as I like to think I know in this area, I still have questions.... and these are: 1. My Gh level is consistently low and I have NO idea how to get it up, Ive tried a few different methods to no avail. 2. My Kh and Ph probably drop to low every 2-3 months, otherwise they are always at the right level....? 3. Whenever I buy snails they die? Why? 4. I have a crystally build up around the top of my tank (I assume caused by water evaporation) it doesn't taste overly salty, I am wondering if it is calcium build up? if it is, is it harmful to the fish? 5. Although my driftwood plants seem fine, all other plants tend to die and I replace them every 3-4 months, my local aquarium owner suggested these C02 tablets, which made very little difference, Im not sure if I want to go the whole hog and buy a co2 distributor... So thats about it at the moment, I'd love to hear from you all and get some insight into these few problems and hopefully be of help to anyone who needs it. I love my aquarium, its beautiful and relaxing and makes every day a little bit nicer! Look forward to talking to everyone Kate

08-22-2008, 01:27 PM	#4
cmor1701d Aquarium Advice Addict Community Mentor Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Belle Mead, NJ Posts: 3,927 Images: 43	__________________ Click here to Vote for Aquarium Advice on AquaRank . Vote EVERY day! Click Here for a list of commonly used acronyms and abbreviations. ____ Cmor

08-23-2008, 08:41 AM	#8
FishEggs Aquarium Advice FINatic Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Highland, Maryland Posts: 516	hello __________________ ~Matt~ If you put off what you can do today until tomorrow it will never get done cause tomorrow never comes. It's always today.

08-23-2008, 10:55 AM	#9
fluffyntex Aquarium Advice Freak Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Odessa Texas Posts: 277	Hi Kate ad Welcome! What kind of lighting do you have on the tank, k rating, watts? __________________ Hello, My name is Gayla and I have MTS.

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08-22-2008, 08:37 PM	#7
fishnutcheryl Aquarium Advice Newbie Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Evansville, IN Posts: 9 Images: 2	I just joined the site too. I have read so much on here I thought it time to join. Good luck with your tank problems. I am rather new to the hobby (only about 8 months) so I really don't have any advice.