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Well here's what it looks like so far:
*abit of an old pic*


*take away the plant near the filter, the grass pieces and the plant at the left back, and that's what it looks like dull and empty I know.

But if I can find a way to move my fish out for a little while, and get rid of my guppies this is how I'd want my tank to look at the end of 2008 or earlier:



With the fish that I'd desire to be in there.

The 2 big fish are a pair of Silver/Gold Angels, the colourful fish near the filters are my pair of GBRS now, the two lil blue lines with silver around are my two zebra danios, the two lil black circles are my Peru Corries and the three silver dots on the sand is my trio of three-lined corries.

The rocks would be stacked up at the back and then lowered as they come forward, and some plant pots will be placed in between the stack, creating any necessary hides.

Have you considered some vallis? Simple but ultimately effective. In addition how about growing some java fern on some of the rocks or pots?

That would seem like a good idea

Thanks for the suggestion.

Do you think the rock stack, with plant pots in between some would work well?
The rocks will most likely be boulder*round* shaped rocks rather then slates etc...

The substrate will be changed to all sand as, it looks better and so far no problems with it, and I had some in my smaller tank, also the gravel I have in now, when i siphon it *ie upturning it* its black... Guessing from waste and uneaten food, and I dont like it.

This would be the desired fish stock:

2GBRS*got*
2 Peru Corys*got*
3 Three-Lined Corys*got*
2 Zebra Danio*got*
2 Golden/Silver Angels
1 Plecostamus*unsure what type*
Then maybe,
3 more Three-Lined Corydoras
4 more Peru Corydoras*@ £8 each i think!*
Algae Cleaning Shrimp of some kind.

^But in order for that, I need to get rid of my 10+ Guppies!!!

Some good news

As my mum is getting her old office back that means the space where I am right now *Dining Room* the desks/storage will be going in her room, then I have to get a smallish desktop for my PC and my mum said I can have another fish tank, right next to my PC down here!!! YAY!

Now I just need to think of what kind of fish tank I want...

I was thinking either:

A Vision 180
A Rio 180
A Rekord 120

It's either a smaller tank near my pc, or if I can a 180 where the dog cage used to be, but the video/dvd/book case will have to be removed and a dvd stack bought in replacement, just need to confirm this with my parents and I'll start saving for the new tank.

If all goes well I won't need to re-do the interior of my current Rio 125 as I'd put that design for the new Rio 180 *hopefully*

...[Starts Dreaming Of The Fish Stock]...

What do you people think about the fish tank size?

If I'm allowed the old cage space:

*What tank do you suggest*

If I'm not allowed the old cage space:

*What tank do you suggest*

I could at a push spend about £400 on the new tank if it was 180litres but it needs to be 101cm *39inches long as that is the max room I have for one.

Well, the natural choice, subject to space, would be the RIO180 - it's a nice tank, and you shouldn't have to spend that much on the tank if you look around.

The GoldfishBowl (www.thegoldfishbowl.co.uk) in Oxford lists the RIO 180 tank and stand for £230.63 - other places (perhaps closer to you) may have similar prices. My local shop is a fair bit higher than that [or at least, they were when I bought my RIO 400 - around £100 saved by driving from Farnborough, Hampshire to Oxford].

AquaOne has a range of tanks that may suit your purposes, but they tend to be (even) taller than the Juwel ones, which for the purposes of general Catfish-keeping is not quite as good.

The third option is to get a "all-glass" tank from for example Clear-Seal, and put together your own kit of filtration, lighting and stand - it's probably not going to save you much money, but there's more choices - for example, I have Clear-seal tanks that are 18" wide, and 15" tall, instead of the usual 18" tall and 15" wide sort of thing.

--
Mats

At my LFS/Garden Centre I got my Rio 125 for £190!!! that included tank,stand,filter,heater,lighting,food and some water treatment products!

So I'll look at them first before anywhere else.

slakey wrote:At my LFS/Garden Centre I got my Rio 125 for £190!!! that included tank,stand,filter,heater,lighting,food and some water treatment products!

So I'll look at them first before anywhere else.

That's pretty much the same as from The Goldfish Bowl, so they are probably able to keep with the price on the RIO 180 too.

It's a shame you can't get a few more centimeters in there (to 120cm), since that would mean you could get a RIO 300 in there instead. Ok, so you wouldn't have much money for decorations, gravel, plants and so on.

--
Mats

I'll have to see what my parents say

Here is my Rio 125 set up, pic is month old and some plants have grown in the back left since. I also include a pic of my babe Queen Arabesque.

Really nice looking tank there

Shame I can't keep mine that clean.

Any suggestions about keeping it clean/free from algae?

I was thinking a BN Plec and some shrimps? Not sure what kind of shrimp though, any able to help in that genre?

The bristlenose will eat algae - but be aware that there are several kinds of algae, and most algae eating fish will eat one or two kinds, and leave any others.

The biggest key to algae is feeding and lighting, however. Algae eaters will only help in the aspect that they remove (some kinds of) algae, but not the source of algae.

Lower the lighting period (make sure no direct sunlight hits the tank), one idea here is to give the fish a "siesta", and reduce your feeding a bit. "Hungry fish are happy fish".

--
Mats

Must agree with MatsP there, my tank is in a secluded corner away from sunlight, I monitor the feeding time to make sure I dont give too much and the rest is down to the fish. Like I say though, it did take nearly two years for it to be so stable and clean and now it pretty much looks after itself.

Yay!!! I bought new filter sponges today, Green, Blue (coarst), white and black all of them are now in and hopefully the nitrate will go down by tomorrow, so I'll do another water test then.

Other News:

It's looking good for me getting a Rio 180 downstairs, think Dad has said yes, as when I was measuring out the space he said something about the width of the tank and does it fit...

So looks positive xP

I have the money now, just not the space atm,

I will wait til next month or the month after that, depending on how patient I am. But if I can free up the space I'll get it sooner

So I guess it's now done to planning it all out, the deco, substrate, plants and fish.

So far I know I want sand substrate, with the plant pots and rock idea, plant will need to be very very hardy.

Not sure whether or not I'll have some wood, as my bits in my 125 are still leaking :@ *dont like tanned water much*

As far as fish go...

I'm interested possibly trying for a rainbow shark or a RTBS. But them again I'm also interested in a pair of angels...

I know if I choose either one of the sharks I'll be limited for other fish as the sharks grow to 6inches max and are "semi-aggresive"

YAY!!! It looks as thought my ammonia is 0ppm!!!
And my Nitrate is still 40,

EDIT: 5mins later ammonia 0ppm, nitrate 40ppm

slakey wrote:Really nice looking tank there

Shame I can't keep mine that clean.

Any suggestions about keeping it clean/free from algae?

I was thinking a BN Plec and some shrimps? Not sure what kind of shrimp though, any able to help in that genre?

I recommend Cherry Shrimp. They have become very inexpensive, adapt to a wide range of conditions and are attractive. They will reproduce well if you have plenty of plants, no-predatory fish and a sponge pre-filter to prevent loss of shrimp larvae.

ok thanks for that.

I shall ask if my LFS can get some in at some point. And as for tuesday I'll try buy a matured pleco instead of babies, considering my ammonia is now 0ppm.

that's one beauty of a tank!

slakey wrote:Yay!!! I bought new filter sponges today.....black

the black sponge will remove vital micro elements which are crucial for your plants to grow on, so you better replace the black one for another green one, because the green sponge is supposed to be a nitrate filter. if the green sponge is in too long, say 6 months mostly, they are 'full' and start giving nitrates back to the aquarium, so be sure to replace them in time

keep the black sponge for removing any medicines out of the water in the future.

Oh okay thanks for that.

I have still got my ole green sponge, would I be able to wash that out and put that in for the black sponge? Or should I just throw out the old sponges?

you can rinse them once or twice, yes. don't rinse them too many times cause they will wear out and become useless.

another option is to place some keramic pipes in your filter, like sera siporax, which is really good

Also, have you tested your tap-water for nitrate - nitrate is present in most watersupply in England, levels ranging from small (10ppm) to quite high (50+ ppm).

Regarding replacing filter sponges: I do not replace the sponges unless they are damaged ("broken" or deformed). Just clean them with tank-water and stuff them back in again. If filter sponges are replaced, you are essentially cycling the filter again (although of course, it will re-establish the filter quicker than if you have an otherwise established tank).

I also don't use the Green sponges. Nitrate is much less harmful than any of the other nitrogenous compounds that you may have, and whilst reducing nitrate is a good thing, it's far better to use RO water to reduce the nitrate content in the tank - an RO unit can be had for £50-70, and that will remove the nitrate (some 90% or more of the original nitrate and hardness levels) from your tap-water. Then it's just a case of balancing feeding levels and water changes (and reintroducing some buffering (KH) to the water, e.g. Kent RO Right).

--
Mats

Yes I have tested the tap water and it comes out at 40ppm nitrate. I will put the second sponge in and buy some more plants soon

slakey wrote:Yes I have tested the tap water and it comes out at 40ppm nitrate. I will put the second sponge in and buy some more plants soon

Sponges may make a difference. You need a serious amount of fast-growing plants to significantly use up 40ppm of nitrate from your tap-water. The ideal concentration for growing Duck-weed (which is a "horrible" water-plant when it comes to growth).

--
Mats

Should I get some plants before buying some shrimp and a mature pleco?

slakey wrote:Should I get some plants before buying some shrimp and a mature pl*co?

I think that's pretty much your decision - if you have the money, get them all at the same time (although a bit of care if you are stocking up a tank - it always takes a little while for the filter bacteria to adjust to higher stocking levels).

Plants look nice, but to make any real dent in the nitrate levels you'll need (at least):
1. Heavy lighting.
2. Micronutrients (iron and phosphorus mainly, but other stuff too).
3. Really fast-growing plants - even Lemna (Duckweed) will probably cause problems due to overgrowing the tank before it's actually used up much enough nitrate to make any noticable effect - if it was that easy to reduce the nitrate levels, everyone would just put plants in the tank.
4. Make sure any dead plant matter and such is being removed from the tank at regular intervals, and trim down any plants that grow beyond your wants and needs.

--
Mats

I have a reasonable ammount of money

I'll buy some Java Fern and other hardy plants, and a pack of shrimp and a mature bn pleco or two?

This will be after I've gave my guppies to a new home, which I may have found just need to ring to make sure

Some new pictures:
*there would be a picture that I just took of my tank, except my memory card reader isn't reading the card :@*


Also my male Ram seems to be chasing my female Ram alot now, and also some sad news, I saw a new born baby guppy get eaten by the older guppies

Nvm Im sure theres more. And I'm trying to free myself of guppies too.

Male rams sometimes chase female rams, yes. Having some plants, caves and other decorations where she can hide will probably help - at least let her get away, even if she can't always avoid being chased.

And most livebearers eat other livebearer babies.

--
Mats

Okay.

Also erm... I used a aquarium calculator, put in the measurements for my 125 litre and it came up saying it was 145litres

slakey wrote:Okay.

Also erm... I used a aquarium calculator, put in the measurements for my 125 litre and it came up saying it was 145litres

Probably because you are using the height as up to the top of the tank, rather than up to the fill-level just below the plastic edging around the top - my RIO 400 is supposedly 60cm high, but measuring the side, it's about 50-55cm depth of water.

Yeah thats probably it.

Do people take out plants, wood pieces and rocks to clean the algae off?

Or should I just leave it until I get the plec and shrimp?