Newbie fish tank advice please

[Pot Bellied Fool]

Hi Folks

After a degree of nagging from the 8 year old, we've bought a tank and told her she can have some fish when they've learnt to drive it... (I'm here all week, try the liver...)

We didn't have much room so on advice from the fish bods (who seemed helpful & knowledgeable but I accept this may not be the case!) in the local Garden Centre, we've got a 25L rectangular tank. Looks similar to this one : https://amzn.to/2qwZGgt

They refuse to sell you any fish with a new tank which I take to be a good sign. The tank has a heater & filter.

I know it's too small to have many fish in but they suggested a small number of Neon Tetras and a single 'feature fish' like a Siamese Fighter.

Two questions:

What temp should I set the heater at?

I know the water has to establish its bacterial population. We put a couple of drops of a Tap Safe solution in - claims it gets rid of tap water chemicals and will also start a new tank's culture. The water was crystal clear for a few days and then went hazy. Coming up to 3 weeks later, it's still hazy.

What should we be doing before introducing fish to clear the water?

Thanks!

[kuro]

Have you tested the water yet?

[Pot Bellied Fool]

Nope, with no fish in it I wasn't sure if I needed to. I'll get a test kit.

[MatthewH5]

You should be adding an ammonia source (eg a small amount of fish food) daily to allow the tank to cycle naturally. The filter must also be running.

A 25L isn't really ideal for neon tetras as they would prefer more swimming space, and as a schooling fish you would want at least 6 of them. Smaller tanks are actually harder to maintain than larger ones as the water parameters can change so quickly!

White cloud mountain minnows would probably be more suited to your tank. They can tolerate a wide range of temperatures but seem to be happy at around 18C. This means they would be fine without a heater in most cases assuming the tank is in a heated room, but I would still keep the heater installed with the thermostat turned down to maintain a stable temperature during colder months.

[Oakey]

I thought Tetras weren't really a schooling fish? That's to say, if there's something large and intimidating in the tank and they feel threatened then they'll school but once they're comfortable in the tank and at ease they all just go about and find their own place in the tank to potter about in. Things like Harlequin Rasbora's and Lampeye's definitely do like to school though.

[designforlife]

take the 25l back, get a 60l minimum, bigger the better in the long run (easier to keep clean, fewer water changes reqd, and fish will get ill less).. also pick up a chem set for testing the water so you can cycle it properly with ammonia before getting any fish, this can take a few weeks.

[designforlife]

if you want something easy and hardy to start with, i strongly recommend platys

[Oakey]

designforlife said:

if you want something easy and hardy to start with, i strongly recommend platys

Just make sure to get all females or something, otherwise you'll have hundreds of the fkers before you know it.

[designforlife]

Oakey said:

designforlife said:

if you want something easy and hardy to start with, i strongly recommend platys

Just make sure to get all females or something, otherwise you'll have hundreds of the fkers before you know it.

they do like to breed, although only one or two ever made it to maturity in my tank on every round of breeding...the resident population of platys, guppies and a pair of gourami used to make dinner out of most of the fry.

[Oakey]

My gourami, molly and pygmy puffers don't seem interested in eating the fry. Maybe I need to cut back on feeding them!

[designforlife]

for me the real population control issue was cherry shrimp...

i bought 6, and when i sold the tank 2 years later, there were well over 100 of the little blighters in there.

[Oakey]

I have that problem too! Thankfully the dumb little fks thin their population by getting wrecked in the filter

[Pot Bellied Fool]

Thanks for the advice folks, I can see the attraction of a larger tank & suspect that will come in time as missus & I really like having the fish to gawp at. Daughter still happy feeding them so that's good too, she's not bored yet!

We haven't really got room for a bigger tank at the moment but I suspect we'll do something in the future when we rejig the room around.

They're all still alive The Siamese Fighter came down with whitespot but soon cured with additive and I upped the temperature a little too. Running about 27C at the moment.

I've just tested the water:

GH: 120
KH: 80
pH: 7.5
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 20


So far as the haziness original question was concerned, I did a 50% water change a few weeks ago and it made no real difference - I wondered if it was gunk in the gravel that was then stirred up again when the water was topped up.

But then it cleared pretty much overnight.

And now on to my latest question...

There's a yellowish/orange/brown growth taking over the rear wall of the tank. Also on the filter, (plastic) plant and ornament. WTF is it? Bacteria? Mould? Algae?

And what should I be doing about it?

My intention is to do a 50% water change and while the water is low, clean it off with a cloth - is the right thing to be doing? (I know not to wash the filter in non-tank water but otherwise clueless).

Thanks for the help so far guys, must be infuriating to have me asking the basics but I think I'm hooked on this fish stuff





Curses, the iphone rotation fairy strikes again - but you can see what I mean...

[deepthought]

Just looks like some form of algae.

I'd take to it before you do your water change being careful not to let to much of it float off in to the water, THEN do your water change, so you're removing water that has the algae elements lose in it.

Light being on too much and / or the tank being situated in a bright place encourages algae growth - though you never really stop it.

Also, are your fish used to a 50% water change? How often do you do it? I think you'd be safer doing a 25% weekly than a 50% sporadically.

Also get yourself some sort of fish tank gravel vacuum cleaner to do as you're changing your water if you havent got one already.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Interpet-Prime-Gravel-Cle...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Release-Aquarium-Vacuum-S...

[designforlife]

try cutting down the hours the light is on in the tank, or make sure it isn't in direct sunlight.

I used to do weekly 25% water changes, it's a ballache, but necessary with a small tank to keep the nasties under control.

gravel vacuum is a must, the amount of crud that ends up in it.

[eybic]

What is your Ammonia reading? That's the most important followed by Nitrite.

The cloudiness you reported will have been a bacterial bloom, they can come and go very quickly but cause the fish no harm.

As has been suggested, the brown stuff is algae, give it a scrub every couple of weeks and all will be fine. I normally scrub my tank just before or during a water change.

Edited by eybic on Tuesday 15th May 09:01

[designforlife]

the magnetic/velco tank glass cleaners are a great little investment too.

[Pot Bellied Fool]

Thanks Guys, much appreciated.

The Ammonia was 0, I just forgot to write it on the post!

I've got a siphon to make changing water easier and that has a vacuum attachment but is a bit big to get in the tank. I'll have a look what's available. The algae is into the gravel in that area too which makes it look a bit manky.

The tank is on the middle shelf of a shelving unit so there's only a few inches of height above the tank to reach in which may make it difficult.

I'll do more, smaller water changes too to reduce the stress on them. The Ich hit after the last one so wonder if it was down to stress on the fighter? The Tetras seemed unaffected.

Cheers.