slakey

Well here's are my fish tanks and the fish living in them

















Enjoy
The bigger tank still has 2 pieces of mopani wood to go in yet. (Currently being boiled)

COBettaCouple

Beautiful fish.. are you planning to move the guppies to the larger tank when it's cycled? do you have a home for the pleco (he looks like a common pleco)?

slakey

the guppies are in the larger tank now to cycle it, so far it's 4 weeks in cycling so added them to speed it up.

and the pleco is a ancintrus? that only grow to 5.5inches max

but if he/she does outgrow the tank, then I'll take him/her back to the store.

slakey

Water Test Results for the 125:





pH: 7.6
ammonia: 0.25 - 0.50
nitrite: 2.0 - 5.0
nitrate: 40 - 80

How can I get down my Nitrite and Nitrate?
It tells me in the book to get API Nitra-Zorb. If I do get this, where does it go in my filter?

jsalemi

The tank isn't cycled; you should have 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites when it is. The best way to reduce nitrates (and at this point, the other two) is frequent 20-25% water changes (every day or every other day) until the nitrates are down below 20.

Nitra-Zorb would be a short-term fix, and yes, it goes into your filter. But frequent water changes are your best course of action.

Butterfly

You could also add live plants to use the Nitrates
Carol

slakey

I currently have five live plants, and 2 days ago done pretty much a full water change, only had a few inches of water left.

but I will do a 25% water change tomorrow.

COBettaCouple

25-50% would be the amount to change at once. Every couple days. At those levels, fish aren't likely to last too long and will be damaged if they do. If you can get a water conditioner called "Prime" or "Amquel+", those can help protect the fish somewhat from the ammonia, nitrite and nitrates.

slakey

any idea of where I could get some from?

slakey

All the fish look fine, not signs of them getting affected. No heavy breathing or gasping for air.

What signs should I look out for?

Some pictures of the lil pleco







And one of my male guppies



Now going to put in the mopani pieces.

slakey

Here's what the tank looks like with the mopani wood in.

COBettaCouple

You might post a thread in the general forum to get input from other members in the UK on where to find Prime or Amquel+ there. You could also order online from websites like:
http://www.fishandfins.co.uk/seachem.htm

Signs of distress from water conditions could be heavy breathing, gill discoloration or illnesses.

slakey

thanks COBettaCouple, I think my LFS has some of the Seachem Prime stuff, so I shall go there when they're open.

COBettaCouple

Sounds good. Oh.. but you're a Tottenham supporter, I take it?

slakey

yeah I'm a Tottenham supporter

Dino

Is the plant on the right side of the last picture in post 11, fake or real.

If it is a live plant, it is not a true aqautic, but a bog plant.
It will probably rot in less than 6 months.

COBettaCouple

I'm a bit partial to Wigan myself. I hope the new manager can get them going and avoid relegation.

slakey

Dino if you mean the one against the filter, I have been told that it's a house plant.
Strange as I got it from a fish store. :/ What could I replace it with?

COBettaCouple - bad loss for Tottenham Hotspur today Ref was biast though.
Since you live in Denver, do you support the Denver Nuggets basketball team?

COBettaCouple

Yes, I pull for the Denver Nuggets in basketball.

slakey

Atleast we support one team :P

DN my basketball team (Y)

slakey

ok I bought some Sechem Prime today and I done a Water Tests before putting the Prime into the tank

I still have high results, but hopefully the Seachem Prime will sort that out

COBettaCouple

Just keep up with frequent water changes of about 25% every other day and you'll be protecting the fish with the Prime.

slakey

Ok will do

slakey

Just done a 25% water change and put in Filter Aid, AquaSafe and Prime.

I'm going to try and buy a air pump this week hopefully before I put in any EasyBalance.

But I have had no losses yet, and the Nitrate and Nitrite are still highish.
The Ammonia has dropped though

Also what plant would you suggest to replace the one next to the filter. The green and white plant, as people say it's a house plant.

slakey

Well long time no update so here it goes:

I bought a Hydor Ario 3, NitrateMinus, Stress Zyme and some Anti Fungus and Finrot.

All seems to be well at the minute

The 1st batch of guppy babies are coming along nicely, I think they are all female

What age/size can you tell their gender?

Picture without the air pump on:


Picture with air pump on:


The air pump is really strong, and the filter waves push it against the left side panel of the glass, so it goes around the whole tank...

I may re-position it so it sticks to the filter, or next to the filter so the bubbles cover the filter nose or on the right side panel of the glass.

Looking to buy a new camera, I currently have £270. It will be for work use *nursery assistant*, fish pics, dog pics, etc etc.

Suggestions?

COBettaCouple

You'll have to watch for the tails starting to get color, then they should be old enough to sex.

slakey

hmm they all have colours on their tails and one or two have got the green/cyan body colour too when the light hits them

think they're all females, or does it take longer for the long fins/tails to grow?

COBettaCouple

They all have the fan-shaped anal fin? They sound like males. Do you have a picture of them to post?

slakey

I could try and get a picture of them, won't be easy though...

COBettaCouple

Ok. They're definitely old enough to be seperated and may have already bred if you have both genders.