I am using stress coat end stress zyme to cycle my tank,
and yes I was thinking of the more standard fish, I dont have a very big tank, and my nana used to have neon tetra's, they remind me of her so that's what I'll propably end up with.
I always thought that the fry got eaten by the other fish, my mistake obviously, can you not bring the fry you don't want back to a fish shop so they could sell them once they have matured enough, saves you having to destroy them, or is this a silly thought, i don't know.
Thanks for looking at my post
Astrid

I agree, tetras are fab to look at and colour up very well also. Remember they are shoaling fish so get at least 6 or 7 of them to see them together and they feel more secure in larger numbers. As for the LFS taking fry,they wont take new fry,they need to be at least a few months old and alot of these fry take time to mature. Mine are 4 or 5 months old nearly and they are still not ready for the shop! Hopefully they will be ready very soon and I can reduce the amount of fish I have!
Fry do sometimes get eaten by other fish,depends on what fish you have. I mean Angels will eat the molly and guppy fry very quick,but the mother fish doesnt always eat their young,a well established tank with enough food for the fish will mean the mother fish leaves the fry alone,also if there are hiding spaces in the tank then the fry will find them and hide their. The filter box seems to be a place I always find them in, which is perfect for them as its full of food for them to eat!
Gavin

Cool thanks for that advice on the tetra , I will get a few of them. In a couple of weeks ofcoarse. And In the meantime I'll have a look in the fishshops to see what else is there and what would be suitable for my tank.
Untill then we are looking at an emty tank if you dont count the filter and the heater.
Still have to source something that would be suitable as a hood, otherwise we might see some floating toys in there shortly, or uneaten lunches of the kids
Husband was mentioning something about clear perspex.
If anyone has any blueprints on how to fabricate a hood, and affix the lightbox to them plz let me know.
thanks
Astrid

I have to say i would be pro the natural or prawn method both give good results

the Organic Aquarium method i am neither pro or against As the last time i was in Petstop they were running a tank with out problem and i know a couple of other sponsors are using it but names escape me(sorry)

there was a recent thread about using bottled ammonia which was interesting informative and a fast track do i would personally worry about new tank syndrome with some of the newer ways and methods.

( www.irishfishkeepers.com/cms/component/o.../catid,517/id,36635/ )


i use the prawn method i find it sightly quicker and cleaner as i do not have to feed the tank daily nor do i have to remove as much debris

I use a stainless steel tea/herb diffuser which means i only have to clean it. i keep it close to my in take thus water is passing through it and the ammonia is drawn around the filter and tank. a lot less messy but position is vital bad position longer to cycle.


the ammonia method in the link i would not use around kids or place were safety must be considered. you will find many hundreds of treads on cycling i think it is a very personal choice



As for the heater well i some times use them flat but i try to keep them up right this seem to reduce the risk of burns but again personal choice


fish wise well neons look great but ensure you get them from a good quality source any of our sponsor also look at cardinals very similar do slightly bigger. livebears very beautiful but if not kept in check will soon swamp you depending on species that could mean double in a few months. do this is easily controlled by reducing tem slightly and by feeding over feed over breed only feed six out of seven days and the minimum required on the feed days this follows nature naturally is best

Fishowner is correct about two thermometers, in fact two of every thing you can never have enough filtration and if one brakes the other is there to do the work, heaters two but have that the tank requires the reason for this is if one brakes you still have the other also if one gets locked in the on position the other will be off this will avoid dead fish that have been cooked by a faulty heater.

i am sure other will have plenty of other advise for you and keep us post on your progress


and remember the only silly question is the one you did not ask

i use the prawn method i find it sightly quicker and cleaner as i do not have to feed the tank daily nor do i have to remove as much debris

I use a stainless steel tea/herb diffuser which means i only have to clean it. i keep it close to my in take thus water is passing through it and the ammonia is drawn around the filter and tank. a lot less messy but position is vital bad position longer to cycle.

Just to get things straight, you would stick a prawn in a teastrainer, near the filter(sorry I am just a bit slow)


the ammonia method in the link i would not use around kids or place were safety must be considered. you will find many hundreds of treads on cycling i think it is a very personal choice

Your'e right about this deffo not being the method for me with my 2 inquisitive monsters/toddlers
they would see me adding a few drops once and when I turm my back to do something they'd have the bottle emptied in there, or worse they might try to take a zip



As for the heater well i some times use them flat but i try to keep them up right this seem to reduce the risk of burns but again personal choice
To be honest I would prefer to have it upright but it just doesn't fit, when I rang the shop I bought it I was told he has all his heaters in horizontally ( maybe he wasn't keen on exchanging it for a shorter heater)



Fishowner is correct about two thermometers, in fact two of every thing you can never have enough filtration and if one brakes the other is there to do the work, heaters two but have that the tank requires the reason for this is if one brakes you still have the other also if one gets locked in the on position the other will be off this will avoid dead fish that have been cooked by a faulty heater.[b]Sorry I don't get this part about the 2nd heater, Do you mean they should have a thermostat that switches off automatically when the desire temperature is reached? ( I feel so blonde sometimes)[/b]

[/quote]

sorry i will try and explain better

diffuser mine is like a metal orb that comes apart i place the prawn in side and close the top part, this is full of hole which allow water in and water and ammonio out while the prawn remain in side they use for herb tea or cooking to save the hassle of removing small bits.

the heater position well my prefrence is up right close to water flow and most types i have had stated the up right position it also seem less lightly to do harm in this position but others will give you more advice on this

two heathers rather than one
if your tank needs a total of 300 watts to heat it then i would use two 150 watts to do the job
because if one brakes the other will keep the temp up for you or as can happen if one is stuck on the other will auto turn off and this will protect your fish

hope this helps
mickey

How would you know how many watt you need to fill up the tank?
(are you sure there are no such things as silly questions )
Thanks for explaining
Astrid

Astrid,
What size tank have you ? That will determine what size heater you will need. The more watts yo have,the quicker it heats the water. Im not sure what size tank you have but if its around the 86 litre size then Im thinking about 150 watt minimum?
Im guessing only at that though so someone may confirm it or indeed correct me!
Gavin

I've a Jewel Trigon 350L which came with 2x Fluval Tronic 300W heaters in it.

Heaters rarely seem to come on and the tank stays at a constant temp for me.

Each heater has a thermostat, when the temp falls the heater comes on to bring the temp back up. Usually indicated by a light in the heater itself. It will go on and off several times during the day to keep the temperature constant. When it gets too warm it shuts off until the temp drops again. During the summer it will drop slower due to the room temp in most houses being up. Winter is different depending on the room temp etc.
The thermostat should never be taken as granted which is why its vital you have at least 1 thermometer in the tank to ensure you can check the temp on a daily basis.
Also having a spare heater is important as if one breaks you will have another to replace it etc.
Hope the post hasnt come across as a basic lesson,I just thought explaining it might help but Im pretty sure you know it already.
Gavin