Indira

hi i had a 4ft tank uhm some 12 years ago, so i'm not totally new to fish keeping, but i had/still have a lot to learn!

i've recently inherited a massive 500litre/110 uk gallon tank, measures 5ft long, 30" deep and 15" wide!

it was professional installed (thankfully!) and i have a fluval 404 filter at each end, a heater at each end and we recently added a couple of air pumps/lights which are throwing out masses (read that as too many - bulldog clip being searched for!) of bubbles. water currently a tad too yellow making the tank looks a bit dark, we couldn't find big enough buckets to soak the massive bits of driftwood that we had in there so have to put up with the discolouration for a bit >.< i've bought some more charcoal to see if that will help shift it and clear the water!

tank has been up and running for about 4 weeks now, we let it all run for a week with the lid off to evaporate all the chlorine and to settle the temperature then on the advice of the best LFS we could find we then added 12 danios to start off the cycle. we're now 3 weeks into the cycle, no ammonia, only traces of nitrites recently and for the last 4-5 days we've been able to read nitrate on the chart (about 5). we have only had one dead danio that we've had to take out the tank, but 4 are completely missing, presumably in the filter ? - we realised last night that the filter intake had a hole in it >.< so we've replaced the little basket thing at the end and we still have 8! taking the filter apart is a 2 man job at present until i get the hang of things, so as i've bought some more charcoal and we have a reason to take the suspected filter apart we'll do that tomorrow morning!

LFS said not to do any water changes for a month, still have a week to go for that, all seems well so i'm happy to leave well alone! i'm still scratching my head over how on earth i'm going to achieve this said water change tho.. taking the water out (about 20%?) is not a problem as i have a long length of hosepipe just for that purpose with a pump on it to start off the syphon, but i have 4 very large water containers to fill with water and put airstones into to remove the chlorine (tap tested water showed no ammonia) but i have no idea how to get this water back into the tank? said tank is nearly 5ft high on the cabinet.. the same height as me! would room temperature water be ok to put back in? as i'm a bit worried about changing the temperature in there too quick, if not - any suggestions?

we added 2 itty bitty dwarf plecs last night as we're starting to see algae in the tank and thought it best to put them in sooner rather than later! we also added 2 pairs of swordtails and an extra female, i'll add a few more females at a later date, didn't want to go too fast and add fish too quick.. i know i shouldn't have *really* ... but i'm pretty sure the cycle is going really well and with a bit more activity in the tank it'll give me the much needed patience to go for a while now before adding anything else! honest!

definate in-mates will include a crayfish - i adore these things and had one before, i know i may get a few problems, but am trying to choose the inhabitants wisely and we've set up lots and lots of caves for it to retreat to. we also want a reedfish and some sort of eel, possibly a tyre-track and i've read that both of these are primarily nocturnal? i love mollies and plan to have several pairs of them and some platties for more colour. apart from that i'm a bit stuck as to what else to add.. any suggestions please? i don't like anything small, i'm not liking the danios at all but i think the cray will take care of them for me* and anything tetra is out as is anything that is going to get any bigger than adult molly size, i know this is a large tank but i'd rather go with the 'less is more' theory as i can always add more, but not take any out, so i'm researching as i go to make sure i get as peaceful a tank as possible - the fish will be stressed enough with the cray!

any suggestions/helpful advice appreciated

Boxermom

Please do not add anymore livestock into the tank until it finishes cycling. It only serves to endanger their health and often leads to premature death. There are many articles you can find for information on fishless cycling, which is a much more humane way of doing it. Things have changed a lot in the past 12 years - we no longer recommend cycling with fish. Its unfortunate that your LFS told you to do it, but then what do they care? The fish die, you'll just go back to them to buy more, eh?

*sigh* Please don't think I'm coming down on you about it. I just get really frustrated with LFS/LPS staff who are either stupid, uninformed, or just don't care.

You need to do water changes, even when cycling with fish, at least once a week, or you're definitely going to kill fish.

My best advice regarding is to research, research, and then do more research, on fish BEFORE you purchase them. And for their sake, avoid putting fish together that are incompatible or are highly likely to be incompatible, just because you like them. (Again, this is not a slam on you, just advice after seeing too many people say "but it was sooo cute I just had to have it!" only to find that something gets maimed or dies because they were selfish).

And welcome!

Indira

thank you for your reply, from what i understood of the cycle it *has* just about finished.. only just, but finished all the same! i wouldn't have gone and bought more fish else

the LFS shop i'm going to really does have a passion about his own fishkeeping as well as the stock that he keeps.

it's a huge amount of water, after much discussion from several 'knowledgeable' peeps and listening to this one guy who really does seem to know his stuff (we're not generally peeps that have the wool pulled over our eyes) we decided that the best thing to do was to leave the tank well alone until after the cycle, and that changing x% of water would just prolong the cycle.

i've already stated that i'll research *BEFORE* i buy fish, and i don't consider myself a total n00b at this, i know that the cray may well take out some of the fish in the tank, hence the care in which fish i choose to put in with it, nonetheless i DO want one, and all i can do is be careful what else i put in with it *shrug* i did ask *how* i put the water back into the tank.. until i know how to do that with as least mess and splashes as possible i'll not be able to do any water changes at all

yeah.. welcome...... :

Richard

It seems you have your heart set on getting a Crawfish for your tank,so the best advice I can give you is if you get the Crawfish just after it's born,it's ok in the tank with your other fish..after about four moultings,when it's about twice the size as when you got it,I'd strongly recommend you get it out into it's own tank,because no matter what fish your 'research' leads you to buy,it will hunt them down one by one and kill them..they are extremely fast nocturnal hunters,and their idea of 'territorial' is your whole tank,not just a cave in a corner..and as long as you have plants and ornaments in place,even fish that stay in the upper levels are not safe as Crawfish are constantly climbing,even when not hunting.
* A sturdy two - three step stepladder should allow you enough height over your tank to do any and all maintenance in it..since you're fairly serious about getting back into raising fish,then you already know water-changes are a necessity..your LFS should have just the equipment you need to get water back in the tank(maybe a Python gravel vac can work)..twenty percent water at room temp. added to your tank during a water-change shouldn't have any kind of adverse effects on your fish..cheers.

SunnShadow

Welcome back to the wonderful world of aquaria! I'm anxious to see pics of your massive, wonderful tank as soon as you can post them.
The best way to add water back into your tank is to use a Python ""Clean 'N Fill" (you can order one online from www.DrsFosterSmith.com). That way you don't have to lug 15 or 20 5-gallon buckets up and down a ladder.
Best of luck to you, and please keep us posted on how your tank is coming along!

S.

Richard

Don't be turned-off by all the little headaches associated with getting back into raising fish..having done it before,I'm sure you know it's worth the trouble..and once everything is in place and running smoothly,some pix of the tank and your fish would be most cool..cheers.

hopesmom

hi I was just curious how your tank turned out? did you take any pictures?

lokky.funky

Hi Indira,

from the name, it seems that you are from India. Am not sure which part of india you are from. Could you please tell me where you got the Ammonia test kits from? I have searched for in my city (Chennai) and I couldn't find it.

Regards,
Lokky

Indira

sorry to disappoint! but I am in the UK.

Regards

Indi

lokky.funky

hmm tats ok.

Which part of India are you from?

Indira

errr in which part of my reply did it say that I am indian?

lokky.funky

am sorry if u r not an indian.

your name is an indian name.

thats the reason, i asked this question

i'm sorry if i hv hurt u