ElwoodPDowd
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2009
- Messages
- 16
Hey chaps!
Got myself an aquarium for the first time a month ago, thought I'd share with you how it's going so far, so you can point me in the direction of all the terrible mistakes I've unwittingly made!
It's 62 litres, I'm keeping it at around 26degC. I have the filter pump going most of the time, and spout air through it for about 8 hours a day (until I get whinged at for the noise, anyway).
I got the tank around a month ago, set it up with white gravel substrate, a bunch of plants (and two mossballs) and a chunk of driftwood. I squirted in a good jollop of filter startup juice (presumably some sort of nitrogen-fixing bacteria) with another couple of mL every other day for a week. I didn't even think about testing for ammonia/um or NO2/3.
A week later, I went and got 10 little neon tetras to buzz around in it. Which they do, happily, though they're a bit shy. I changed about 20% of the water at the end of week two, and squidged in another jollop of the bacterial gloop.
At the start of week three, I lost one of my tetras. Poor little guy. I don't know what from; my spangly test kits say ammonia's a little higher than it should be but it's been dropping steadily, and everything else is as it should be!
So here I am at the middle of week four; I decided to give my little guys some company. First I went to the nearest big aquarium and scrounged a bunch of algae (I know, I know, mad to put algae in) and let it sit about for a few days. Then, I went and got the new friends.
My LFS (Woo, I'm down with the lingo) provided me with four mollies (three very pretty dalmation girls, and a silver boy who is no doubt having the time of his life) and a beautiful wee plec. Sadly I've completely forgotten the name the chap in my shop called it by (diplomat? something like that).
The plec is being very shy (well, I prefer to think of it as coy), but the mollies are real characters. They come up and say hello, and they eat everything that's not bolted down. Lovely wee guys.
Here's the plec, in case anyone knows what variety it is!
Got myself an aquarium for the first time a month ago, thought I'd share with you how it's going so far, so you can point me in the direction of all the terrible mistakes I've unwittingly made!
It's 62 litres, I'm keeping it at around 26degC. I have the filter pump going most of the time, and spout air through it for about 8 hours a day (until I get whinged at for the noise, anyway).
I got the tank around a month ago, set it up with white gravel substrate, a bunch of plants (and two mossballs) and a chunk of driftwood. I squirted in a good jollop of filter startup juice (presumably some sort of nitrogen-fixing bacteria) with another couple of mL every other day for a week. I didn't even think about testing for ammonia/um or NO2/3.
A week later, I went and got 10 little neon tetras to buzz around in it. Which they do, happily, though they're a bit shy. I changed about 20% of the water at the end of week two, and squidged in another jollop of the bacterial gloop.
At the start of week three, I lost one of my tetras. Poor little guy. I don't know what from; my spangly test kits say ammonia's a little higher than it should be but it's been dropping steadily, and everything else is as it should be!
So here I am at the middle of week four; I decided to give my little guys some company. First I went to the nearest big aquarium and scrounged a bunch of algae (I know, I know, mad to put algae in) and let it sit about for a few days. Then, I went and got the new friends.
My LFS (Woo, I'm down with the lingo) provided me with four mollies (three very pretty dalmation girls, and a silver boy who is no doubt having the time of his life) and a beautiful wee plec. Sadly I've completely forgotten the name the chap in my shop called it by (diplomat? something like that).
The plec is being very shy (well, I prefer to think of it as coy), but the mollies are real characters. They come up and say hello, and they eat everything that's not bolted down. Lovely wee guys.
Here's the plec, in case anyone knows what variety it is!