New RIO 300 tank

[slakey]

Ah ok, was just making sure I understood 100%.

I'll probably put the guppies and the 1 zebra danio in first and leave the rams, cories and kuhli loaches til say 3 days or more?

[slakey]

Woohoo!!!
The carpet is down and I just washed the bag of sand and put it in

The 4 bits of soaked wood are in, and the other 3 or 4 I shall either soak during the cycle or just leave them in there

Need one or more big bags of black sand then I can start to add the water

I would've took pictures but my phone died >:( but I will take some tomorrow.

[slakey]

Right side all sanded up, and wood added.





Also got a nice big fat pay cheque today, which I'm cashing in soon, and I think I'm going to get another big bag of black sand, so then I can put that in and the wood from the 125, then start filling it up

And my dad is taking me to a new fish store that's recently started

[MatsP]

Right now it looks a tad messy, but I'm sure it will be great once you get it filled with water and all things in place.

--
Mats

[slakey]

Lol yeah, but hopefully the water will smooth all the sand out

[MatsP]

Lol yeah, but hopefully the water will smooth all the sand out

Yes, my experience of the same subject says that it will - not hopefully, but definitely.

--
Mats

[slakey]

Ok well half of the 125 water is now in the tank and only one of the Hydor Ario 3's is in.

I will be filling it up later tonight after I've bought a Hydor Ario 4.

[slakey]

It's finally filled up

Pictures




I can only guess lots of bubbles.

[slakey]

And now the annoyances start.

Replaced the first Hydor Ario 4 as it wouldn't work when properly connected. Got replaced, second one worked while I was putting water in... now it's stopped working.

And another thing something is vibrating in the filer and the White Filter Media floats...

Any ideas?

[racoll]

One not working usually means there's a fault. Two not working usually means its your fault.

Are they blocked with sand? How high are the intakes from the sand?

[MatsP]

Is the filter pump itself working?

--
Mats

[Martin S]

...and the White Filter Media floats...

Do you mean the filter floss (polymer wool?) - if you do not have any sort of guard on top of your media, this can be dragged up into the impeller housing, so it needs to be covered with a solid plastic guard.
Look at the image HERE at part no. 7344050 - do you have something similar on yours?
Martin

[MatsP]

...and the White Filter Media floats...

Do you mean the filter floss (polymer wool?) - if you do not have any sort of guard on top of your media, this can be dragged up into the impeller housing, so it needs to be covered with a solid plastic guard.
Look at the image HERE at part no. 7344050 - do you have something similar on yours?
Martin

But that is no a Juwel filter diagram. In the Juwel Internal filter, water comes in at the top, and gets sucked through the filter pads down to the bottom of the tank, and then up a pipe and out again (the filter pump is still just under the surface of the water).

The picture isn't that great, but here's a couple of small ones:
http://www.juwel-aquarium.de/en/filter_full.htm

--
Mats

[racoll]

Ah, this is what an Hydor Ario 4 is.....

A kind of weird airpump

[Martin S]

But that is no a Juwel filter diagram. In the Juwel Internal filter, water comes in at the top, and gets sucked through the filter pads down to the bottom of the tank, and then up a pipe and out again (the filter pump is still just under the surface of the water).
Mats

I have a Juwel tank too, so should have read it all properly before replying...sorry

[slakey]

Right I've found out what the vibrating noise was. Took out the pump and took it away from the plastic casing turned it on and well the rotor jumped out at me, for some reason it keeps jumping, hitting the plastic case and thats making the noise.

As for the air pump I'm going to take it back and get a totally different kind, possibly a bubble wall.

I put it in the tank like it shows in the diagram and still doesn't work so I'm fed up with them now.

Washed the 125 media in the 300 and is murky like anything with a load of brown stuff on the sand lol, real messy like.

[MatsP]

Maybe those Hydor things aren't designed for 50 cm deep water? You need a pretty decent air-pump to get the bubbles to flow through the airstones, I've noticed.

Not sure what could be wrong with the filter pump - mine certainly didn't jump out.

--
Mats

[slakey]

you know what I mean but the plastic casing around the pump bit? like you can take the pump apart by pulling it out, then turn it on and the propeller part jumped out when i turned it upside down and would jump up and down on the side, so possibly faulty?

Could someone maybe take a picture of their juwel filter pump with the plastic casing off, as I'm not sure where the little metal rod is meant to be.

[slakey]

Ok so it's been about a day after washing the 125 media in the 300, and there's a load of brown mucky type stuff on the sand now.

Also there's like a whiteish coating on some of the wood?

Is this ok to add te guppies or should I try clear some of it up?

[racoll]

Also there's like a whiteish coating on some of the wood?

That'll be a bit of mould - perfectly normal!

there's a load of brown mucky type stuff on the sand now

This is the good stuff - leave it, the filter will pick it up eventually.

Is this ok to add te guppies or should I try clear some of it up?

Go for it, but keep testing the water for ammonia/nitrite..........

Seeing as you aren't have plants on account of the severums, I'd say you have too much sand. About 2cm should be right.

[slakey]

The whiteish coat on the one piece of wood did have green mold on it... should I take this out?

More water is still brown, but then I didn't soak 2-3 bits of wood so that's normal and fine.
Can do water changes to sort that out though.

Oh also I won't be getting severums yet.

I'm going to put in the fish from my 125litre first, then once they've gone. I'll consider Severums again.

I will be trying to get some new plants in, just need to decide which ones.

[racoll]

The whiteish coat on the one piece of wood did have green mold on it... should I take this out?

Only if it gets really nasty. Just scrub and return to the tank.

Adding a bristlenose would be a good idea to keep the wood and glass clean.

[slakey]

I have two-three deformed guppies.

One female has what looks like a cist to the rear of her *anal*

One female has a hump back.

and one male, his tail is like drooping downwards.

Should I freeze them and get them out of the tank if it's anything contagious?

[Bas Pels]

The latter 2 are just plain old

killing them would be the humane thing, however, the freezer isquite inhumane. Better would be to decapitate them with a knife

[racoll]

Only kill them if their quality of life is suffering, i.e. they can't swim or eat etc.

Freezing is actually pretty cruel. Best way to euthanise fish is to place them in small tub, and add clove oil (an anaesthetic) until they are unconscious and then dead.

[slakey]

They can eat and swim.

Just wasn't sure if I should do anything.

I was told freezing them is one of the best ways.

[MatsP]

Just putting the fish in the freezer is quite slow in cooling the fish down. If you are going to "freeze" tropical fish, then placing them in water that is already quite cold (close to freezing, not just cold tap of your sink) will lower their body temperature quite quickly, and essentially make them go into a coma.

--
Mats

[racoll]

I was told freezing them is one of the best ways.

A tropical fish-based Mythbusters would be cool. Not very exciting TV though!

[MatsP]

Just to expand on what I said: If the fish is small, and the water close to 0'C, then it will be pretty much paralyzing a fish that isn't evolved to live in freezing climates. Large fish obviously carry enough body mass to warm a small amount of water. In my experience (two or three occasions) where I have used the "freezing" method, the fish pretty much immediately stopped moving when entering near freezing cold water.

--
Mats

[slakey]

Yesterday the first test.

Nitrite: 1.0ppm
Ammonia: 0.25ppm

All the fish are still alive