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Posted by Christopher Lewis on February 3, 2006, 11:47 am
Please log in for more thread options My girlfriend bought me a 100 litre tank for my birthday a few weeks ago. I
filled it with gravel a few fake plants and water and left the filter and
heater running for a few days.
I then went to my local fish shop and bought some small fish recommended by
them to cycle the tank.
All OK so far right.
Then.... My mother boyfriend turns up at my house after 2 days of the fish
being in the tank with a bag with about another 15 fish in it. They are
gourami's, 2 or three different kinds of mollies, a few red eyed tetra's (i
think thats what they are called), some tiger barbs, some sharks someting or
others (cant remember and i doubt they are real sharks).
So now i am doing a 20% water change every 2 days in an attempt to keep the
ammonia and nitrite levels down. Yesterday ammoina was somewhere between 1
and 1.5 ppm so i did a 40% water change.
Nitrite is about 1.0 ppm at the moment. they have all been in there 2 weeks
now and *seem* OK so far.
Is there anything else i should be doing?
Thanks Guys
Chris
p.s. I'm sure i'm going to enjoy this once i dont have to do water changes
every 2 days!!
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Posted by Mary Burns on February 3, 2006, 12:32 pm
Please log in for more thread options
> My girlfriend bought me a 100 litre tank for my birthday a few weeks ago.
> I
> filled it with gravel a few fake plants and water and left the filter and
> heater running for a few days.
>
> I then went to my local fish shop and bought some small fish recommended
> by
> them to cycle the tank.
>
> All OK so far right.
>
> Then.... My mother boyfriend turns up at my house after 2 days of the
> fish
> being in the tank with a bag with about another 15 fish in it. They are
> gourami's, 2 or three different kinds of mollies, a few red eyed tetra's
> (i
> think thats what they are called), some tiger barbs, some sharks someting
> or
> others (cant remember and i doubt they are real sharks).
>
> So now i am doing a 20% water change every 2 days in an attempt to keep
> the
> ammonia and nitrite levels down. Yesterday ammoina was somewhere between
> 1
> and 1.5 ppm so i did a 40% water change.
>
> Nitrite is about 1.0 ppm at the moment. they have all been in there 2
> weeks
> now and *seem* OK so far.
>
> Is there anything else i should be doing?
>
> Thanks Guys
>
> Chris
>
> p.s. I'm sure i'm going to enjoy this once i dont have to do water changes
> every 2 days!!
>
>
Cyling a tank with a few hardy fish and live plants, no more than about 5"
of fish in a 100 litre (25 USg = about 25" of fish) is usually safe. At the
moment you have, assuming the fish are young and small, a full tank.
Gouramis are usually about 2" when you buy them, mollies about 1.5", tetra
1", barbs 1.5", sharks 2", so with the first few, a lot of inches for a new
tank. Live plants do help a lot, taking ammonia from water first and them
nitrate. You will need to really check the water params carefully, lots of
water changes without disturbing the subsrate at first will help. Can you
get some live plants? You need to bear in mind the full size the fish will
get too. Most gouramis get to 4+" (unless they are dwarf gouramis) mollies
3+", sharks, red/black, grey or bala easily get to 6" or more, tiger barbs
3", tetra 1". With your mix of fish, sticking to 1" per gall is reasonable,
single/dual species tanks are a lot more forgiving and allow more per inch.
My 100 litre has only neons and minnows, small slim fish that get along ok
and enjoy the space. Your sharks/gouramis will need a bigger tank in time.
You may have to think about taking a few back until the tank cycles, as
ammonia then nitrite is not tolerated by many fish and they die. You may
have issues between the gouramis and tiger barbs as they get bigger. Some
gouramis are very terratorial.
Try http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/fishindx.htm to find out
exactly which species of gourami and shark you have, good clear pics to
help. Mary
>
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Posted by Iain Miller on February 3, 2006, 12:37 pm
Please log in for more thread options
> My girlfriend bought me a 100 litre tank for my birthday a few weeks ago.
> I
> filled it with gravel a few fake plants and water and left the filter and
> heater running for a few days.
>
> I then went to my local fish shop and bought some small fish recommended
> by
> them to cycle the tank.
>
> All OK so far right.
>
> Then.... My mother boyfriend turns up at my house after 2 days of the
> fish
> being in the tank with a bag with about another 15 fish in it. They are
> gourami's, 2 or three different kinds of mollies, a few red eyed tetra's
> (i
> think thats what they are called), some tiger barbs, some sharks someting
> or
> others (cant remember and i doubt they are real sharks).
>
> So now i am doing a 20% water change every 2 days in an attempt to keep
> the
> ammonia and nitrite levels down. Yesterday ammoina was somewhere between
> 1
> and 1.5 ppm so i did a 40% water change.
>
> Nitrite is about 1.0 ppm at the moment. they have all been in there 2
> weeks
> now and *seem* OK so far.
>
> Is there anything else i should be doing?
>
> Thanks Guys
>
Sounds like you are doing fine - just keep an eye on the Nitrite level - it
will rocket up very quickly. You need some in the tank otherwise the thing
will never cycle but you need to keep both Ammonia and Nitrite under
control - and it sounds like you understand that.
You'll be able to accelerate the cycling process if you can get hold of
some "used" filter media from somewhere and stick that in the tank near the
filter inlet. Suggest you look into this becuase otherwise you will be in
for 4-5 weeks of water changes before it stabilises.
rgds
I.
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Posted by Altum on February 3, 2006, 12:57 pm
Please log in for more thread options
Christopher Lewis wrote:
> My girlfriend bought me a 100 litre tank for my birthday a few weeks ago. I
> filled it with gravel a few fake plants and water and left the filter and
> heater running for a few days.
>
> I then went to my local fish shop and bought some small fish recommended by
> them to cycle the tank.
>
> All OK so far right.
So far, so good.
> Then.... My mother boyfriend turns up at my house after 2 days of the fish
> being in the tank with a bag with about another 15 fish in it. They are
> gourami's, 2 or three different kinds of mollies, a few red eyed tetra's (i
> think thats what they are called), some tiger barbs, some sharks someting or
> others (cant remember and i doubt they are real sharks).
Oh my. 15 fish?!? I've gotten gifts like that. The sharks are not
real sharks. A lot of fish go by "shark" and none are suitable for
your tank. Red-tailed and rainbow sharks - relatively small,
aggressive cyprinids. Bala sharks, endangered, large, and skittish.
Irridescent sharks, which get huge.
> So now i am doing a 20% water change every 2 days in an attempt to keep the
> ammonia and nitrite levels down. Yesterday ammoina was somewhere between 1
> and 1.5 ppm so i did a 40% water change.
>
> Nitrite is about 1.0 ppm at the moment. they have all been in there 2 weeks
> now and *seem* OK so far.
>
> Is there anything else i should be doing?
Water changes are good. Add 1 tsp/gallon of salt to help counteract
the effects of nitrite poisoning. When you change water, only add the
salt to the replacement water.
Seed bacteria. Get Bio-spira, or gravel, plants or filter media from
an established tank.
Good luck. Unfortunately, you'll need it.
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Posted by Richard Sexton on February 3, 2006, 1:22 pm
Please log in for more thread options >My girlfriend bought me a 100 litre tank for my birthday a few weeks ago. I
>filled it with gravel a few fake plants and water and left the filter and
>heater running for a few days.
>
>I then went to my local fish shop and bought some small fish recommended by
>them to cycle the tank.
>
>All OK so far right.
>
>Then.... My mother boyfriend turns up at my house after 2 days of the fish
>being in the tank with a bag with about another 15 fish in it. They are
>gourami's, 2 or three different kinds of mollies, a few red eyed tetra's (i
>think thats what they are called), some tiger barbs, some sharks someting or
>others (cant remember and i doubt they are real sharks).
>
>So now i am doing a 20% water change every 2 days in an attempt to keep the
>ammonia and nitrite levels down. Yesterday ammoina was somewhere between 1
>and 1.5 ppm so i did a 40% water change.
>
>Nitrite is about 1.0 ppm at the moment. they have all been in there 2 weeks
>now and *seem* OK so far.
>
>Is there anything else i should be doing?
>
>Thanks Guys
>
>Chris
>
>p.s. I'm sure i'm going to enjoy this once i dont have to do water changes
>every 2 days!!
How bout every day?
That's really too many fish for a new tank that size. Add lots of hornwort
and keep changing water. it might settle out but it'll be a decilcate balance/
Lose some of the fish (just stop water changes, a few will die anyway) and
they'll
find their equilibrium.
Give some of the fish back?
How much does she love you? Enough to buy you a bigger tank ? They're cheaper
used...
--
Need Mercedes parts ? - http://parts.mbz.org
Richard Sexton | Mercedes stuff: http://mbz.org
1970 280SE, 72 280SE | Home page: http://rs79.vrx.net
633CSi 250SE/C 300SD | http://aquaria.net http://killi.net
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> I
> filled it with gravel a few fake plants and water and left the filter and
> heater running for a few days.
>
> I then went to my local fish shop and bought some small fish recommended
> by
> them to cycle the tank.
>
> All OK so far right.
>
> Then.... My mother boyfriend turns up at my house after 2 days of the
> fish
> being in the tank with a bag with about another 15 fish in it. They are
> gourami's, 2 or three different kinds of mollies, a few red eyed tetra's
> (i
> think thats what they are called), some tiger barbs, some sharks someting
> or
> others (cant remember and i doubt they are real sharks).
>
> So now i am doing a 20% water change every 2 days in an attempt to keep
> the
> ammonia and nitrite levels down. Yesterday ammoina was somewhere between
> 1
> and 1.5 ppm so i did a 40% water change.
>
> Nitrite is about 1.0 ppm at the moment. they have all been in there 2
> weeks
> now and *seem* OK so far.
>
> Is there anything else i should be doing?
>
> Thanks Guys
>
> Chris
>
> p.s. I'm sure i'm going to enjoy this once i dont have to do water changes
> every 2 days!!
>
>