Aquariums anyone?

  • Thread starter Boanerges(Inactive)
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I have 2 10gallon freshwater tanks one downstairs and one up in my room jsut because I love looking at them and hearing them. I'm actually trying to fix them up tonight and saw this thread here earlier so I came back.

So the one upstairs is about to look fantastic because the one downstairs needs to be taken apart almost completely. The plants started getting this moss all over them and died.. and the moss spread everywhere. Taking the moss out does no good because it grows back extremely fast. So I threw the plants away and right now I'm moving the fish upstairs. I need some suggestions on how to fix the bottom one. I'm going to take all the gravel out, put it all in different small jars and just rinse them all for a long time, then do the same with filter. What else do I try?
I would try washing the gravel off with bleach first to kill the moss that may be hiding in it and then rinse them off extremely well before putting them back in the tank...then once you get the tank set back up and ready for fish, let the tank operate for several days to get the filter activated as well as allowing time for any "leftover bleach" to evaporate before you add the fish back in.

:fish:
 
I finished the whole cleaning process before I even saw this, and kinda wish I had checked back first. I didn't do the bleach, but I did take all the rocks out and put them into some homemade strainers I created out of 2 liter bottles I poked holes in at the bottom and rinsed intensely with hot water while stiring it all around with my hands. I spent about two hours on this, and now it's going to just sit back in the fish tank with no water for 48 hours or so with the intention of killing the moss that way. I'm not too completely out of my mind for having hopes that this will actually work am I?

I already spent the time cleaning it all and don't really want to do it again, and plus I've already got all my fake plants and statues all back in place. Please say I don't have to use bleach in order to escape the problem.
 
I would not do bleach. Bleach is clorine and even left over traces of it could kill your fish. Real live plants might help, if you want to keep the fake ones though you can try soaking them with aqarium salt.
 
I've just heavily rinsed the gravel, did some near boiling hot water and I think that worked. Anyways, so I put the other tank completely back together, put my sunken ship and some new plants in. I added the fish too, some male and female guppies. Strangest thing, one of the guppies that I bought was apparently pregnant, because I came back to the tank 10 minutes after I set them free, and there's 10 babies!!!

So I dropped everything and netted them all and isolated them inside the big net i hav, which I taped to the wall. I have no idea which guppy had the baby and what kind she breeded with. So it will be interesting to see the colors of which the babies turn out.

WOW is all I can say.
 
Hi everyone! Have been picking up some good tips here. Thanks. Was wondering if any of you guys heard of 'Billabong Bugs'? They are really taking off here in Australia. They are really low maintenance prehistoric looking crustaceans that you hatch from a kit (but they're not 'Sea Monkeys') They might suit someone interested in something exotic for a freshwater aquarium. Google 'Billabong Bugs' or go to http://www.billlabongbugs.com to see photos etc..amazing!!!
 
signing in on the aquarium roster:

Five tanks.
One 30 gallon, needs restocking.
One ten gallon gallon with one Black Moor and a feeder goldfish
Two five gallons, both with bettas. eldest daughter has the male, younger has the female. We may or may not set up a honeymoon suite.
And our neighbors two doors over gave us a tank they didn't want to look after anymore and it is 66 gallons. On its own stand,thank goodness.
It's funny, with the exception of the two betta tanks, all the others have been given to us.
 
I have 2 10gallon freshwater tanks one downstairs and one up in my room jsut because I love looking at them and hearing them. I'm actually trying to fix them up tonight and saw this thread here earlier so I came back.

So the one upstairs is about to look fantastic because the one downstairs needs to be taken apart almost completely. The plants started getting this moss all over them and died.. and the moss spread everywhere. Taking the moss out does no good because it grows back extremely fast. So I threw the plants away and right now I'm moving the fish upstairs. I need some suggestions on how to fix the bottom one. I'm going to take all the gravel out, put it all in different small jars and just rinse them all for a long time, then do the same with filter. What else do I try?

To much algae growth usually signifies two things:
1 Overfeeding- the extra nutrients are like jet fule for nusiance algae growth
2 To much light- try restrciting the time of day your aquarium light is on. Cut it back a few hours at a time till you get a balance
One of the best things you can do in a fresh water tank is to keep a few algae eaters in there. They will severly cut down on your problem.
What most people do not realize is that kiiling algae is not usually enough and in fact the traces of dead algae can be bio fuel for more growth.
I suppose you could put some nitrate absorber into your filtration but that should not be needed if you follow the steps outlined above.
 
Always use a chlorine/heavy metal nuetralizer in your water changes and even after your cleaning procedures.
 
signing in on the aquarium roster:

Five tanks.
One 30 gallon, needs restocking.
One ten gallon gallon with one Black Moor and a feeder goldfish
Two five gallons, both with bettas. eldest daughter has the male, younger has the female. We may or may not set up a honeymoon suite.
And our neighbors two doors over gave us a tank they didn't want to look after anymore and it is 66 gallons. On its own stand,thank goodness.
It's funny, with the exception of the two betta tanks, all the others have been given to us.

Only 5 ? !!:D You guys have a fish farm!:)
 
Anybody here got experience with marine aquariums?

I have been in the process of building a marine aquarium for a few months now and at the moment it is on hold due to the great expense of marine equipment.

I want to do a few experimental things with the lighting etc to reduce costs, so if anybody can help it would be appreciated.
 
I always thought aquariums are beautiful but I never wanted to own one because of the expense and the fact that I hear there are a lot of work to keep up.

Laura:)
 
I always thought aquariums are beautiful but I never wanted to own one because of the expense and the fact that I hear there are a lot of work to keep up.

Laura:)
Freshwater aquaiums are a snap to take care of and not very expensive.
You need a tank, a filter, some gravel, a heater, a light and whatever you choose to decorate it with. Change the filter pad once a month and scrape the glass one a week. Other than buying fish and feeding them that is about it.:)
 
Anybody here got experience with marine aquariums?

I have been in the process of building a marine aquarium for a few months now and at the moment it is on hold due to the great expense of marine equipment.

I want to do a few experimental things with the lighting etc to reduce costs, so if anybody can help it would be appreciated.

Kev are you doing a reef tank (very expensive) of a fish only tank (not so expensive) ?
What size tank are you using? What kind of filtration are you running? What kind of lighting do you have?
 
Wow, this is an interesting thread.

I have a 450 gallon tank.
It has three pumps, one recirculating, and two that operate the flow.
I have a single blue light in the bottom.
It is fresh water, but does still require quite a bit of effort maintaining the ph, clarity, bromine levels, etc.

I clean the filters once a month.

I keep the temperature at a constant 104 degrees.

Never thought about putting fish in it?
But it sure is nice to sit in after a stressful day. :D
 
Wow, this is an interesting thread.

I have a 450 gallon tank.
It has three pumps, one recirculating, and two that operate the flow.
I have a single blue light in the bottom.
It is fresh water, but does still require quite a bit of effort maintaining the ph, clarity, bromine levels, etc.

I clean the filters once a month.

I keep the temperature at a constant 104 degrees.

Never thought about putting fish in it?
But it sure is nice to sit in after a stressful day. :D

You have completely lost me!:eek: 104 degrees sounds like a hot tub .:p
 
Freshwater aquaiums are a snap to take care of and not very expensive.

I have a 20 gallon tank with a sunfish, a bass, a turtle, a freshwater eel and a couple assorted other fish and a very huge algae eater.

Day to day it's not too hard to take care of but every three months I have take out all the fish and critters and clean the gravel and the decorations and fake plants. It takes like 3 painful hours..
 
Kevin, I'm no expert in the marine field, still learning things before I take the plunge and build my own reef system.

If your planning on just keeping fish, you can get away with using T5 lighting, plus some actinics.

If your planning on keeping corals, until better lighting methods are more available, you will need a MH lamp. The general rule is a 250W MH per 2' cube. Depending on your personal preference, you may want to add some actinics too, blue light.

Some people have got away with lighting an SPS dominated tank purely on T5 lighting, but it all comes down to what you want to keep.

LED lights are also starting to emerge, though they are very expensive and arent very good currently.

Filtration.. don't buy a pre made filter, build your own, it will probably also work out cheaper.
You wouuld need a second tank you could put under the main tank, with 3 / 4 seperate compartments.
1st chamber would be inlet, you would have a corner weir with either stand pipes or better still a durso standpipe going through the tank to the "sump", or if you don't feel confident drilling your tank, you can buy an external overflow.
You would need a return pump good enough to handle the flow back to the tank. Then in the middle, section(s) more live rock, a deep sand bed, any reactors you want, phosphate / carbon ect, and some baffles to filter out air bubbles, and somewhere between inlet and the middle sections you would need a protein skimmer.
Another good thing to have in your "sump" is a refugium, you can have a DSB and an algae plant grow in there, flow and size of this area would need to be around 10% of the display volume. Algae grows in the refugeium rather than the display and also helps little critters grow / breed.

If you have a fairly large setup, using 2 overflows / weirs would be a good idea, 1 directly to the first part of the sump, and the second T'd off with a ball valve to contol flow to the refugium and the rest of the flow goes to the first compartment.

I would also suggest getting an RO/DI unit for your water, it will filter it of everything, and make it safe, so then you wouldn't need to keep buying dechlorinator and other water treatment chemicals.

Hope this helps.
 
I had a few fresh water tanks as a teenager and always wanted a marine aquarium. So i decided last year December that I was going to build one. I got a book on what was needed and started to build the stand.

Well the stand is completed (due to much prayer, I am not much good at woodwork) and even if I say so myself it looks pretty good and strong enough to support an elephant. I dont know how I will get it inside the house yet as my wife and myself cannot pick it up. I will have to get some buddies to come help. I will have to bribe them with a braai (BBQ for non za residents). :D

The tank I had in mind is about 1200 liters (317 gallons). What I didnt plan on was the cost of the lighting and the live rock. Maybe I should have done a bit more research before deciding on the size of the tank. I have had the tank designed by a guy who is on a south african marine forum (I confess, I do visit other forums other than this one, although CFS is the best). The tank has a 300 liter sump with built in protein skimmer etc.

He has not built it yet as I am waiting for my year end bonus, but due to the up coming financial meltdown, I may use the money for something a bit more serious, like food.:D

I have made quite a bit of my own rock which will be aquacultured into live rock. This is actually quite easy to do. There are a few web sites which explain how this is done.

What I may do, is buy a decent second hand setup and get that right first before I spend a fortune on this massive tank.

I definitely want a mini reef system, but I want to experiment using the new LED lights which are now available. There are some which are rated higher than 7000K which will easily match any T5 tube. They never need to be replaced and run on almost no power.

My eldest daughter (4yrs) has insited that we get a Nemo fish and a Dory fish.

Thanks for all the advise!

God bless
 
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