Home Aquariums

[Duke]

Well we finally made the plunge today after dropping back into the local shop impromptu. The guy was very helpful & gave me the confidence to give a small tank a go as my first foray into home fish keeping. I know it's not ideal but we don't have much room & he said my research was obvious & gave him the feeling I should be fine.
So we have started with an 17L AquaOne Xpression Tank which for the money ($90) looks as good as some other brands that are twice to 3 times the cost. It has a full featured filter with all mediums & room to fit a heater in the hidden rear compartment which we have done. With the substrate, heater, all the starting chemicals, gravel pump & with 2 guppy fantails to kick off the tank we spent just over $200.
It took me around 1hr to setup & 30mins of cycling the tank & introduce the fish, so far all seems to be going well but it's a very plain tank right now. But the smiles & joy on our kids faces during this was priceless, something I will cherish for ever.
So our plan is to add at least one live plant (Anubias), something ornamental (log or rock) & obviously more fish once the tank has cycled. I think I could also do a bit better job of landscaping the substrate which I will try do that when adding the plant.
Happy for any advise from the seasoned Aquarium professionals here...

[NeilPearson]

oooh very cool!

FIsh are awesome. my house mates wont let me setup my fish tank, in case it breaks...........

[Vilante]

Well we finally made the plunge today after dropping back into the local shop impromptu. The guy was very helpful & gave me the confidence to give a small tank a go as my first foray into home fish keeping. I know it's not ideal but we don't have much room & he said my research was obvious & gave him the feeling I should be fine.
So we have started with an 17L AquaOne Xpression Tank which for the money ($90) looks as good as some other brands that are twice to 3 times the cost. It has a full featured filter with all mediums & room to fit a heater in the hidden rear compartment which we have done. With the substrate, heater, all the starting chemicals, gravel pump & with 2 guppy fantails to kick off the tank we spent just over $200.
It took me around 1hr to setup & 30mins of cycling the tank & introduce the fish, so far all seems to be going well but it's a very plain tank right now. But the smiles & joy on our kids faces during this was priceless, something I will cherish for ever.
So our plan is to add at least one live plant (Anubias), something ornamental (log or rock) & obviously more fish once the tank has cycled. I think I could also do a bit better job of landscaping the substrate which I will try do that when adding the plant.
Happy for any advise from the seasoned Aquarium professionals here...

That's a great story mate, the kid part especially Pretty cool that you can get a nice tank like that all going for $200. Aqua one stuff is fine, I have a larger Aqua one setup similar to that for quarantine and it goes along perfectly.

You'll have to keep us updated mate.

I got a skimmer in my tank over the holidays, so just need some better lighting (which is amazingly expensive) and I can start keeping some corals

[CLP]

Happy for any advise from the seasoned Aquarium professionals here...

Looks like a good setup

slightly confused about the 30 minutes to cycle the tank bit; it may be a terminology thing though. Have you got a water testing kit? that's the only way you can really work that out. Normally takes a few weeks, perhaps a month depending on the size of the tank. I wouldn't be too afraid of dropping some plants in right now, but I'd hold off on the extra fish. That said, if you have a male and female guppy you don't get a choice on whether you get new fish or not :P

Good luck!

[Duke]

Happy for any advise from the seasoned Aquarium professionals here...

Looks like a good setup

slightly confused about the 30 minutes to cycle the tank bit; it may be a terminology thing though. Have you got a water testing kit? that's the only way you can really work that out. Normally takes a few weeks, perhaps a month depending on the size of the tank. I wouldn't be too afraid of dropping some plants in right now, but I'd hold off on the extra fish. That said, if you have a male and female guppy you don't get a choice on whether you get new fish or not :P

Good luck!

Yeah sorry the terminology was wrong, I meant to let the the start-up chemicals work & have the filter & heater running prior to adding the fish.
Will add the plant this weekend as we borked at it for 2 reasons. To keep the intial setup easier, less things to go wrong & also the cost as the plant attached to a log was $39 on it's own & payday is this week. The fish survived the night & seemed very hungry when feeding this morning but I'm sure this is just usual for fish in general. They seem very happy, so I haven't done anything disastrous so far.
I notice they like going to the surface a lot, they don't stay up there all the time but move up & done the tank quite regularly, is this usual behaviour for Guppy's?

[CLP]

Yeah sorry the terminology was wrong, I meant to let the the start-up chemicals work & have the filter & heater running prior to adding the fish.
Will add the plant this weekend as we borked at it for 2 reasons. To keep the intial setup easier, less things to go wrong & also the cost as the plant attached to a log was $39 on it's own & payday is this week. They fish survived the night & seemed very hungry when feeding this morning but I'm sure this is just usual for fish in general. They seem very happy, so I haven't done anything disastrous so far.
I notice they like going to the surface a lot, they don't stay up there all the time but move up & done the tank quite regularly, is this usual behaviour for Guppy's?

Guppies are idiots.. everything it "usual behaviour"!

They'll always be hungry, because they're guppies.. so be careful of overfeeding.
With them going to the surface, that's what makes guppies so hardy and a good choice to begin with. They're a type of fish that can take air from the surface if they need to (another one is the Siamese Fighting fish). They'll do that normally, though if they're doing it very frequently, that might indicate that there's not enough oxygen dissolved in the water. That in turn might indicate the need for an air pump and some aeration equipment (air stones/pipes).

personal opinion with the plants .. don't bother with the plant attached to the log. Guppies don't dig, so the plants can go straight into the substrate. At a later date, you might take a clipping off your developed plants an attach it yourself to a log of your choosing. If you have a male and female guppy, the plants will be important for the young to hide from hungry parents.


if you're not already familiar with it, here's the nitrogen cycle.
http://www.algone.com/wp-content/upload ... _cycle.jpg

and some info on cycling your tank
http://www.firsttankguide.net/cycle.php

what you're trying to avoid is the spike in ammonia and/or nitrite which will be unpleasant for all concerned. You should be ok with guppies, as long as you do partial water changes while cycling the tank.

Hope that helps!

[Duke]

Legend, thanks Carlos.

[Vilante]

I've already upgraded lol

[pixelboy]

Wow.. Impressive!

What does that kinda rig set you back?

[Vilante]

Wow.. Impressive!

What does that kinda rig set you back?

The tank, cabinet and sump were $2K and you can easily double that with the filtration, pump and other equipment.

[CLP]

awesome setup

[DarrenM]

I bet this one cost a bit

[Vilante]

Amazing! Love the natural light and the crazy home made skimmer. Dude must have some cash but judging by the hillside vista he's doing okay

[Nigel]

Need to get a new tank. The old one doesn't fit will with the new house. So I am going to custom build one to fit in an alcove.

[Vilante]

Need to get a new tank. The old one doesn't fit will with the new house. So I am going to custom build one to fit in an alcove.

Would love too see that Nige, you'll have to share some pics so we can follow along.

[Nigel]

Small setup while the new tank is being built.
I lost a few fish when I moved house. The black widows are the terminators of the fish world. Unkillable.

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[Vilante]

Love the pic

[Duke]

So I have a question, probably for CLP more than anyone else. My aquarium is close to 1 yr old now & the water quality is all fine as tested by myself & my local shop but...
I have only had Guppies in it but find that some seem to die relatively quickly, by quickly I mean anywhere from 3-6months but then I still have one of my 2 starter fish from Jan.
The ones that have died have all been in a similar way, they just start to get less active, stop eating as much, loose some colour then find it difficult to stay upright & swim, they tend to find a quite corner & eventually cark it.
So does this seem typical as everything I have read says they can survive for 1.5-3yrs & typically 2yrs...?

I should also mention that I have only had males, no females. Partly as I was uneducated & by the time I realised I had to many males to add females without overloading the tank & feared they would be harassed by all the males. Could this be part of the cause?

[norbs]

So I have a question, probably for CLP more than anyone else. My aquarium is close to 1 yr old now & the water quality is all fine as tested by myself & my local shop but...
I have only had Guppies in it but find that some seem to die relatively quickly, by quickly I mean anywhere from 3-6months but then I still have one of my 2 starter fish from Jan.
The ones that have died have all been in a similar way, they just start to get less active, stop eating as much, loose some colour then find it difficult to stay upright & swim, they tend to find a quite corner & eventually cark it.
So does this seem typical as everything I have read says they can survive for 1.5-3yrs & typically 2yrs...?

I should also mention that I have only had males, no females. Partly as I was uneducated & by the time I realised I had to many males to add females without overloading the tank & feared they would be harassed by all the males. Could this be part of the cause?

Are they in view of you sim rig?

Maybe put a laptop in front of it and load up GuppieHub.

[CLP]

could be lots of things. but i'll give you some brief thoughts and questions to think about.

The losing colour can sometimes be due to stress. Do you notice any of the other fish (the older, more dominant ones) picking on the soon to pass fish? Does the tank have anywhere for fish to hide? that can help a lot.

Can you see any discolouration on the fins and gills? (white spots, ratty looking tail etc) that might indicate a parasite. That could be the cause of the lack of eating too if the parasite is internal. Potentially that could explain the difficulty in staying upright also, if the swim bladder is affected similarly. This kind of thing you wouldn't pick up in a water quality test. That could also be related to the first point. a fish that's picked on a bit might be more susceptible to parasites. Fish in general will try to remove sick members, so once they're looking weak they continually nip at them until they are gone. Of course, that increases the stress in the fish

Then again, some guppies just die early.

How many males do you have in there? when you can, throw some females in there.. then you'll have a perpetual supply of guppies. About 4 females to 1 male is the generally accepted ratio.

[norbs]

could be lots of things. but i'll give you some brief thoughts and questions to think about.

The losing colour can sometimes be due to stress. Do you notice any of the other fish (the older, more dominant ones) picking on the soon to pass fish? Does the tank have anywhere for fish to hide? that can help a lot.

Can you see any discolouration on the fins and gills? (white spots, ratty looking tail etc) that might indicate a parasite. That could be the cause of the lack of eating too if the parasite is internal. Potentially that could explain the difficulty in staying upright also, if the swim bladder is affected similarly. This kind of thing you wouldn't pick up in a water quality test. That could also be related to the first point. a fish that's picked on a bit might be more susceptible to parasites. Fish in general will try to remove sick members, so once they're looking weak they continually nip at them until they are gone. Of course, that increases the stress in the fish

Then again, some guppies just die early.

How many males do you have in there? when you can, throw some females in there.. then you'll have a perpetual supply of guppies. About 4 females to 1 male is the generally accepted ratio.

4 wives? no wonder they die of stress!

[Nigel]

4 wives smells a bit fishy.

[Duke]

So if it was a parasite how can you tell or how do you get rid of it?

[DexterPunk]

Digging this old thread up. Vil are you still keeping fish/growing fancy coral??? Would love to see some recent pics.

I’ve recently been inspired to get my own tank going... but heading down the planted/aquascaping path.

What I’ve been struggling with, is where to start with a tank. All the purpose built kits (AquaOne, Juwel etc) don’t really have the right gear for most of these types of projects, which means of paying a decent whack of money and only going to be ditching the included gear for better stuff.

I started looking at cabinets I could buy and maybe just buy a tank to place on top and build the tank up with the gear I’m after. It’s amazing how few options are out there for a decent cabinet. So much chipboard/MDF.

I ended up finding this hardwood cabinet for a decent price at an Amart that’s closing down.



And just picked up a polished glass 3 foot tank as a starting point.




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[DexterPunk]

Getting there with my tank... collecting all the bits I need. Grabbed a Maxspect LED light crazy cheap on an eBay auction for $315, and grabbed a Fluval 306 canister filter yesterday. Co2 injection system will be next.






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