Fish Tank Setup
 

So the Mrs wanted a pet, dogs, etc - Not enough space. So she bought a second hand fish tank package for $350. Turns out it all looks pretty good and I have began to somewhat take over this project ;)

Anyway, been doing some reading, and it appears to be a case of art vs science. So just putting it out there for any hints and tips as to how to get a sweet tank setup.

I have a 200L Tank, enclosed stand, filter, airpump, heater, lighting etc so totally good to go from the hardware side of things. I am going to be using freshwater as marine doesn't appear beginner at all.

Substrates etc, initially wanted to do real plants, but this adds complexity - Saw quite a few photo's with fake plants and they actually look pretty good. So unsure whether to get a substrate which will support real plant growth (I think the lights that came with it does)

Other than that - Just wanted to kit it out real nice and get it looking as natural as possible (where the art comes in?) So was curious for any good places in Perth to get good onaments? Logs? etc?

Plan to set up the tank, get it all up and running for a few weeks then add fish. (Get thet tank cycled?)

These are some cool ideas i saw for inspiration:

[IMG]http://s3.amazonaws.com/rmft/2/650x453/21670.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://s3.amazonaws.com/rmft/2/650x453/36819.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://s3.amazonaws.com/rmft/2/650x453/33474.jpg[/IMG]

Cheers

Check out [url=http://www.perthcichlid.com.au/forum/index.php?]Perth Cichlid Society Forum (Powered by Invision Power Board)[/url] Heaps of info in there to read up on.

Here is my tank at the moment.
[URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKUt1LiiQiU"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKUt1LiiQiU[/URL]

I think plants can get pretty difficult for a novice, fertilisers, lighting, substrate etc.

The set-up really depends on what kind of fish you will be keeping. Cichilds like high PH so you will need limestone/holy rock or crushed limestone substrate to buffer the water. Other fish like low PH and need lots of wood etc.

Nice one - yeah was going cichilds, good to know re: pH levels - in regard to rock/wood - Looks like I will be going for the rock look rather than wood, that helps to make that decision.

I'm no expert but can try help if you need anything. I have done a fair bit of reading and my fish are going alright at the moment so that's something haha.

That PCS forum has heaps of info on caring for cichlids, you should be able to find pretty much everything you need there.

This link [URL="http://www.aquotix.com.au/advice/management/rift-lake-cichlids/"]rift-lake-cichlids/[/URL] gives a brief run down of what cichlids like in regards to water, food etc (there are other good articles in the advice section also) and this one [url=http://www.aquariumindustries.com.au/Cichlids]Cichlids - Aquarium Industries[/url] gives some care sheets on some of the more common types.

End of the day, if you set the tank up right, have good filtration & do your regular water changes you'll be laughing. They are pretty hardy & easy to look after.

I am picking up a second hand tank on Saturday. Going to get back into the fish tank thing... I've been wanting one for a while, since I got rid of my last 6ft one. I want it to be low maintanece though this time, so I will be going simple.

Tossing up between salt water and tropical...

Do you know any really good fish/aquarium places in Perth?

Vebas in o'Connor.

I like Aquotix & Vebas for fish. Rock & stuff you can either collect near the beach or buy second hand. Fish shops are a rip for rocks ($4.50ish a kg for Texas Holy and that shit is heavy). Limestone is all over the coast, just dont pick it up from the roadside, go further in because sometimes the councils spray along the roadside with chemicals which will kill your fish.

Don't you work near/in the Swan Brewery? Aquotix is just on Bannister road so nice and close. They have a decent range of fish & the staff are helpful. Will bring stuff in for you as well if you're keen and ask them.

Vebas is pretty awesome, huge range and staff know their stuff. Get some really nice fish there.

[QUOTE=KouNtS_UtM;623620]

Don't you work near/in the Swan Brewery? Aquotix is just on Bannister road so nice and close. They have a decent range of fish & the staff are helpful. Will bring stuff in for you as well if you're keen and ask them.

[/QUOTE]

Awesome - Yeah Swan Brewery. Thanks for that :)

[QUOTE=ImPreSiV;623609]I am picking up a second hand tank on Saturday. Going to get back into the fish tank thing... I've been wanting one for a while, since I got rid of my last 6ft one. I want it to be low maintenance though this time, so I will be going simple.


Tossing up between salt water and tropical...[/QUOTE]

Low maintenance and salt water are mutually exclusive Kym.

20 years of running fish tanks and I would not consider a marine tank but I am at the end of the tank ownership desire.

Best advice I can give is:

Regular and consistent water changes.
Log the tank parameters and your chemical regime.
Bigger the better - easier to stabilise / keep stable.
Trickle filters > cannister filters per $ cost.
If aiming for plants set up substrate to suit - too hard to change later as it involves emptying the tank.
Single breed tanks are easier to get to breed / survive.

Best tank setup I ever had involved 30 odd discuss and plants in a 1000l tank. Included CO2 injection which suited the low Ph discus. The discus are spectacular and profitable if you can get them to breed / grow well. Discus are not for a beginner though. Discus are extremely smart and friendly and I could hand feed some of them. I had three tanks at this stage.

[IMG]http://www.bestfish.com/tour/960%20discus.jpg[/IMG]

Not my tank but a good example.

I'm down to one three foot with a single large Golden Severum named "apu". Used to be a community tank but Apu ate all his neighbours ;( He started out at less than an inch long and now he must be close to a 10" in length. He's about 8 years old.

Have always used Vebas as closest to my house in Mexico.

Got all setup today, tank looks wicked.

Get some pics up

Just got the tank setup today, water in, water conditioned, get the pH right. Fish next week I think.

Looks alright for a first timer??

[url=http://members.ii.net/~richard.smith/Fish/]Index of /~richard.smith/Fish[/url]

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXzzizQk1is]IMG 08561 - YouTube[/url]

Looks nice and natural, done well.

A few L168 plecos or peppermint bristlenose would go awesome around the bottom of that tank...

Cheers mate yeah it's all OK. When i look through the tank long ways, it looks a little cloudy. Not sure if this is just because it needs a week to filter, if the rocks are causing it, or if I need to get the pH right.

Cloudy water occurs during setup. Ph shouldn't cause cloudiness. If those are limestone rocks you'll always be buffered alkaline.

Let the tank settle over a week or two then start to be concerned about the water visibility.

What fish are you going to use to get the tank through its starting ammonia/nitrites cycle?

Hey mate.

No idea yet to be honest - Need advice here, how many etc?

Maybe 3 cheap hardy fish. Something like electric yellows will work. The idea is to get them in there eating and shitting. The waste goes through your filter and builds a bacteria colony which then filters and feeds off the future waste. When you first put fish in, ammonia & nitrates will shoot up. You don't want to add more fish or anything expensive until they settle back down.

There is a few good threads on cycling new tanks on PCS.

what kind of wood is good to lower pH?
can you use any branch off the garden?

Be careful just grabbing any wood out of your yard. Some wood could be harmful to the fish, it could have chemicals on it and worst of all it will probably leech tannins like a mofo...

If you're going to do it, chuck it in water for a few weeks before putting it in your tank to water log it and so that the tannins leech out. Saves your tank going brown/yellow.

^^ the reason I got rid of my last tank

I chose not to put wood in at all - My tank is looking pretty clear now, but i decided to be safe and buy an upgraded filter/pump over the weekend, as the current one is right on the limit if not a bit too small for 200L.

i had the same problem with wood made it cloudy then bye bye fish, now i just use plastic ornaments and trees. dont want to risk it again

How often do you have to take all the fish out and clean the tank?

Would love to have a nice tank setup but the maintanence factor has always put me off!

They reckon once a week drain 1/3 to keep it pristine? Tie that in with good pH, filtration etc and you should be winning ..

Do you even need to take the fish out if you're not cleaning the entire thing?

In terms of cleaning the entire tank, once every 6 months, if that - depending on what kind of tank you intend on keeping and how many/messy your fish are. That's why you want to invest in the best filtration you can.

I never take the fish out.

Approx. 1/4 to 1/3 water change every 7-10 days using a gravel vacuum around the areas I can reach. Every 4 weeks depending on how dirty it's getting I take all the large rocks and stuff out and give it a good gravel vacuum then put everything back in. Fish just stay in the tank. I only clean the filter when it starts getting blocked up (6ish months) and even then just rinse it around in a bucket of tank water to keep the bacteria colony going.

All up, probably takes me 15mins most weeks and about 45mins-1 hour once a month. Piece of piss and a small investment in time to have something nice to look and sit infront of instead of the idiot box.

The driftwood you get from the fish stores is usually pretty good, the smaller goldwood type branches dont cloud up the water at all if you soak them for a while first and if you're going to have bottom feeders like bristlenose or plecos you need wood in the tank because they eat it to help them digest food. Bottom feeders are awesome and keeping algae down and keeping the bottom of the tank clean plus the plecos are awesome looking fish. I have 4 bristlenose catfish & 2 plecos in mine.

Edit: [URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jf_tiFxJXbg"]Little video of one of the plecos[/URL]

Drift wood is the easiest. You simply then soak in fressh water until there is no salt left over.

The discolouration, water softening and lower Ph brought on by wood and filtering through peat is necessary for breeding of some species such as Discus.

Water changes don't have to be weekly - I found fortnightly totally acceptable. The aim of water changes is to dilute the final stage of bolgical filtering creating nitrates in the water. Effectively, water changes can be whenever the nitrates are elevated which is easily measurable with a test kit.

I'm running an aquaponics system so it's not for looks.
right now my pH is 7.4-7.6 which is slowing down growth of my veggies.
might grab some driftwood off the beach next time, bit of salt won't harm my fish (silver perch)

Any details or pics of the aquaponics set-up? Would love to set one up with some rainbow trout and/or marron and some fruit and veg.