Some second hand tank questions

kylith

I took delivery of my new 120L tank last night. It looks plenty big enough, for the time being anyway, I just have some quesions about it.


1) It seems to have been used in a hard water area before as there's a white crust on the filter and the sides. What's the best way to get rid of this.

2) The substrate is currently crushed black glass. It looks cool but since I'm planning on using it for goldfish initially it probably needs to be changed. What's the best substrate to use? Pea gravel?

3) It's slightly longer than I'd anticipated at 1 metre. The table I have is 90cm. Would it be dangerous to have 5cm sticking over each end?

Sleepy

Vinegar is very good at removing limescale. For any algae buildup inside the tank, I found a blade to be the best option but very slow.

Crushed black glass? Is that safe for anything?!

I wouldn't recommend this, you'd be creating a stress point on the glass at the base of the aquarium which would, eventually, imho, crack.

kylith

I'll pick up some white vinegar so. Should I use it neat or diluted?

I know! I dug my hand in to pick some up and now I have loads of tiny scratches. Maybe that contributed to why he wanted to get rid of it. When the goldfish has moved on, either to the great Goldfish Bowl in the sky or to an even bigger tank, I'll definitely be keeping some Corys, so the crushed glass has to go.

Right. I need a bigger table so. I think I have something that might suit...

Plans for this weekend: empty tank, dispose of broken ornaments and crushed glass, clean glass with vinegar, locate large wooden box to keep it on, find suitable (natural) substrate (I don't suppose wood chips would be suitable, I have a big bag in the shed), create hiding places, and start cycling. It'll keep me busy at least!

Sleepy

Wood chips would look great but I'd imagine you'd have to weigh them all and they could discolour your water.

I used the vinegar neat on a cloth but be prepared for the stench!

Have a look on adverts for a table, can be a handy way to pick up something like that.

kylith

I'm not too worried about them discolouring the water since, as far as I can find out, the tannins are harmless, and they should absorb enough water to sink by the time the tank is cycled. I prefer natural looking tanks, and I thought that it might be the perfect stuff for the fish to root around in.

kylith

Oh, and while I think of it; the filter. Should I get a new sponge for it in case it's harbouring anything? Everything is dry, so there obviously hasn't been water in the tank for a long time.

Sleepy

Wouldn't bother tbh

Steeping them in boiling water would kill anything nasty. Or, use the same means of sterilising as used for home brew: leave 'em soak in a milton solution for a while before steeping them in the boiling water (the hot water will evaporate off the harmful chemicals from the milton).

Cameron Poe

what type of wood chips? I'd be careful here.

Using vinegar is great for getting rid of limescale but make sure you rinse it well after using it. If there is any left in the tank it will cause your ph to plummet.

Go with sand if your long term plan is to keep corys. Don't use coral sand though, it will give you a high ph and is too sharp which is no good for corys. Pea gravel is too sharp for them.

kylith

I've heard that you can get 'dead spots' using sand. What exactly does that mean, and is it something to worry about.

fungun

what substrate you want depends on what you plan on putting in there. If you plan on putting in live plants, then smaller crushed type gravel is better than large gravel. Its hard to see from your pic what exact gravel you have but some types of special gravel for plants are black and heavy in iron to help plant growth. Google 'black beauty' or 'tahitian moon'.

have a good look, there are lots of types around, see pics at e.g. http://www.aquariumguys.com/aquarium-gravel.html

Silverfish

I think the wood chips are a really bad idea, for what it's worth!

For the goldfish, you'd be looking at smooth gravel, like any aquarium gravel you see in the shops - too small to get stuck, yet big enough not to be swallowed.

The tahitian moon sand is suitable for goldfish as well, so that's worth considering.

fungun

kylith wrote: »

I've heard that you can get 'dead spots' using sand. What exactly does that mean, and is it something to worry about.

just swish the sand around every couple of water changes and you wont have to worry too much...

basically there are 2 kinds of problems - one is lack of water flow and crap builds up on the sand and doesnt move. You can get algae building up in an area if this happens. Getting an air pump/changing your flow can help with this. Secondly you get pockets of gas under the sand building up and if the sand is not moved around it can build up. So for this just make sure to disturb your sand down to the bottom every now and again

m4r10

kylith wrote: »

3) It's slightly longer than I'd anticipated at 1 metre. The table I have is 90cm. Would it be dangerous to have 5cm sticking over each end?

Regarding the table, I would't buy a new one. Just buy a 1m length of plywood to match the color of the table and put the tank over it. Most of the Juwel tanks are build like that, so yours should be fine too.

Cookie_Monster

kylith wrote: »

I'll definitely be keeping some Corys, so the crushed glass has to go.

Corys are brilliant fish

Sand is the way to go if getting them, good substrate for plants too.

kylith

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

Corys are brilliant fish

Sand is the way to go if getting them, good substrate for plants too.

From what I've seen they appear to be great characters, and cute too!

Would this be suitable?

Cookie_Monster

kylith wrote: »

From what I've seen they appear to be great characters, and cute too!

Would this be suitable?

:eek:

I got a bag or "river sand" in petstop for a fiver. Had no probs with it. Dunno how suitable for goldfish it'd be though.

If I were you I'd go and get some small gravel for now, again 4-5 quid a bag and when you make the change to cory simply scoop it out and put the sand in.

kylith

Jesus, I only noticed the price now! It seems, according to a few minutes of google, that silica sand should be ok, as long as some gauze or tights are put over the filter intake to stop clogging.

Silverfish

kylith wrote: »

Jesus, I only noticed the price now! It seems, according to a few minutes of google, that silica sand should be ok, as long as some gauze or tights are put over the filter intake to stop clogging.

If you're putting a goldfish in it first, I wouldn't put sand in, it irritates their gills.

fungun

I only use sand for my cichlids. Always used pea gravel for my goldfish. Have changed to smaller gravel for a planted community tank. Id have to recommend a pea sized gravel, maybe sth a bit smaller if you are thinking of plants.
Also consider the look you want - the background to the tank looks fairly dark....dark gravel can look good if thats the look you are going for, but depending on lighting etc something brighter might suit the tank/the room better.

Ive found maxi zoo in finglas to be pretty cheap for stuff like this, got a Fluval 405 recently and was almost 100 quid cheaper; worth the drive for me. They dont have stuff on their website though so if you know what you want, ring in and get a quote

Cookie_Monster

Silverfish wrote: »

If you're putting a goldfish in it first, I wouldn't put sand in, it irritates their gills.

yeah, go with the cheap gravel for now.

for example. my tank had 2 1/2 bags of the €5 stuff in it, mixed black and white for looks.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=68004607&postcount=20

And later on I swapped it for sand, as you can see further on in that topic.
planted plants directly into the sand and they grew great, too much in fact!

kylith

Jesus, who would have thought it was so hard to suit fish?! What suits one doesn't suit another, picky feckers :rolleyes:

So, gravel to start with, then change to sand later. Right.

I've finally managed to find the one table in the house that big enough to put it on, but it's the OH's 'bits 'n' bobs' table, and getting him to relinquish it could be difficult... Other than that my second option is to make a false top for an old coffee table using very sturdy chipboard, or possibly some old cupboard doors.

kylith

Well, I went with the old coffee table with a new top in the end. Yesterday OH helped me to manhandle it upstairs where I filled it with washed gravel and water. I stuck in the slate that will be the fish's hide/tunnel; I will be attaching anubias and java fern (thanks Fungun) to it when the tank is up to temperature. I'll be keeping it at about 22C since it's for a goldie. The filter that came with it works, but I binned the heater because it looked charred and have ordered another one that should be here any day. Then I fed the empty tank and today it looks like there might be a bit of a bacterial bloom, either that or the water's just cloudy.



Yes, it's in the bathroom.

Sleepy

Any way you can raise it kylith?

Would be very relaxing to be able to watch a tank while relaxing in the bubbles yourself!

kylith

Unfortunately not, without building a stand. The taps are down the other end of the bath though, so I'd have no comfort lying that way anyway. I might move it back to the living room after I get the floors done.

I'm just waiting for my mother to come visit and complain about the fish staring at her while she's on the loo

fungun

java fern can be kept in cold water too so you can just put it in now.

be careful if you get clown loaches.....mine used to come out and watch if i was having sex in the sitting room! Not just one of them, there would be all 6 of them sitting on top of each other right at the corner where they could get the best view! Little pervs with their big beady eyes!!! So they could have a field day in the bathroom!

Edit - and Nim was one of them, Sleepy!

kylith

The Java fern is in there now, along with some Cabomba, and some anubias will be going in there soon too, once I have the temperature stabilised. I got a new heater during the week and will be keeping the tank at 22C. Paul will be moving into his new digs probably next Saturday.

I'm wondering if I could pop a snail or two in there too. I'm considering either an apple or a couple of nerites.



Amm 0
pH 7.5
nI 0
nA <5

fungun

Probably obvious but if its in a bathroom, be sure to get that multi-plug off the ground! Also assuming it gets a bit steamy at times, make sure you have your cables looped properly so they drip to the ground and not into the socket!!

kylith

Fear not, sir. The multi strip is raised off the ground and Santa has promised me an external, thus much safer, extention cord as an early Christmas present.

paddy147

The PH is quite high.

Ours is at 6.5 (Co2 injection system and Discuss),so you need to keep a close eye on the Ph level with regards the fish you intend to keep..

kylith

Gah! While I was away for a week the heater crapped out and plummeted from 28c to 11c, killing both the Nerites I'd put in there for algae cleanup (I was running it warm during the cycle to help the BB). Bugger. It probably won't effect the goldie, though he's not in there yet, but I'll miss those snails.

fungun

To be an annoying after-the-fact person: 2 small heaters is better than 1 big one! Then if one craps out at least the other will keep the temp from dropping toooo much.