First tank queries

[Adrianne]

Hello all. This is my first post on the site as I am a newbie to freshwater aquariums.

About a month ago I decided that it would be a wonderful idea to start keeping/raising fish. I did what I thought was adequate research through the internet, books and speaking with my LFS, but I browsed this site and thought it would be a good idea to ask for some advice from all you experts!

About 2 weeks ago I purchased a 180 liter rectangular tank and bought UGF with 2 power heads, a dual aerator, along with tons of pea gravel, fake plants, a large decorative cave and driftwood. I did everything to ensure the cleaning and setup was doen properly. I also purchased the Start Right Chlorine and Chloramine remover to aid the first weeks prgoress before the addition of fish.

I tested the water for pH (around 7.2), GH and KH and after a week felt that my tank was ready for its first fish.

My LFS suggested I begin with rainbowfish (I have read they are relatively hardy fish) and so I did just that. He initially gave me 8, but sadly I was given one sick (white growths on the left gill which I did not see in the tank at the shop) booseman rainbofish which died less than 24 hours later. I currently have 7 rainbowfish- 4 booseman, 2 red & 1 turqoise. I was apprehesive about taking such a variety of rainbowfish for starters, but he assured me it would be fine and I read nothing to the contrary.

Here I am a week into the fish being in place and they are all doing great so far. They seem well adjusted and have even started schooling together, which was a woory of mine from the start.

Now, my questions are the following:

1. Water changes during cyccling - how often and what %?
2. I have read many posts here which give me the impression that UGFs are not the best option. My question is, if I keep the UGF, what would you suggest to ensure that I provide mechanical filtration for the tank? Or, what would you suggest I add to compensate for this?


As for stocking my tank once cycled I was thinking of some combination of the following, which I would appreciate feedback on as to the numbers and there compatibility with the rainbowfish:

1. Dwarf gouramis
2. Albino catfish ( school) or perhaps another school of suitable fish
3. Pearl gouramis
4. Rams or kribs ( if bought, the last to be place din the established tank)
5. 1 ancistrus or upside down catfish
6. For top dwellers, wrestling halfbeaks (???, heard they are fairly hardy fish)

I would really like to have a semi-active community of relatively peaceful fish and welcome any suggestions to help me in making the best choices for a successful aquarium.

Thanks for reading and look forward to your responses

 

[Aaron]

1) This forum has lots of info on cycling already stickied.

2) Under gravel filters are fine for small tanks I wouldn't use them for anything over a 10 gallon. The UGF provides the mechanical filtration already I would add a bio-wheel (the brand and cost is your call) they are reliable and easy to maintain.



As for stocking I'll tell you straight away that albino catfish are very hard to keep. They are sensitive to water conditions and may not be the best choice for a beginner.

Now not to play devil's advocate here but if you like rams or kribs why not head on over to the cichlid area and post a few questions on stocking there? You have a good size tank for cichlids maybe it would be better just to skip the community fish entirely?

 

[revfred]

The UGF should do nicely (esp. w/ the powerheads) as long as you will not be adding live plants. As I understand UGF's and having used them long ago, the gravel will eventually contain the bacterial colony providing biological as well as mechanical filtration it is providing now.

Oh, BTW ... Welcome to the "Tank". You are starting out with a very nice set-up and there are many possibilities.

 

[Adrianne]

Thanks for the replies. I do really like the idea of keeping a cichlid community, but I think I'd rather have some schooling fish along with one or two cichlids to make it a more diverse tank.

As for the UGF, I have decided to keep it as I think that despite any negative aspects it will work well if I am diligent with cleaning the gravel and water changes. If I feel a biowheel is of benefit I will add one soon


With what was said about the albino catfish, I will pass on adding them to my tank. However, I was then wondering what sort, if any, of bottom dweller does well with rams?

In any case, I am sure I will be asking many more questions before I come up with a final list of what to add once my tank has cycled.

Appreciate all the help *SUPERSMIL

 

[revfred]

Synodontis catfish will do well with rams ...

 

[dss2004]

If you are looking at Rams I would recommend the Bolivian Ram over the "real" Ram. The real Rams tend to be very sensitive to water conditions. They are usually not recommended as a fish to start out with. The Bolivian Ram is a little larger and a little more hardy. It may not be quite as beautiful as the real Ram but they are still gorgeous and make up for any short-comings with great personality.

 

[Adrianne]

Fish deaths

Well, I have some disapponting news to report. Two of my fish died yesterday.

I honestly don't know what happened. I have already established a routine with them where at 7am I turn on the lights and feed them before heading off to work. During this time, I check that all my fish are ok before heading off to work.

I came home at 7pm to find that one of my red rainbowfish and my neon rainbow were looking very lethargic, staying near the top of the tank and had lost most of their color. *SICK*

I did what I thought was best and made a 10% water change in case it was an ammonia spike that had caused this. The thing is, the other red rainbow and my booseman's were fine, so I was really unsure of what the problem was.

I wanted to give them time to acclimate to the new water conditions and so I let them be and went to bed about 11pm.

My husband stayed up and checked on them repeatedly to see if this had helped. Unfortunately, by 12:30pm they were dead.

My husband said they eventually succumbed to whatever it was that was ailing them and fell to the tank floor lifeless.

Does anyone have any idea what may have caused it? At this point I am really sad that I choose to cycyle with fish if all I am going to do is watch them die off slowly. Unfortunately, I was not fully aware of the fishless cycle until after I purchased my fish.

Any help or advice would be much appreciated.