Little project

msg11

Hi guys looking for some advice. Basically I have this project at the moment, building a fish tank into a computer desk, think the tank is 60 liters.

I have attached some photos the building part of the desk is not finished there is too be a raised shelf on the computer desk just above the tank for access to the tank for feeding, water changes and pump access etc.

On the pump side of things I ordered the Aquarium External Fish Tank Filter 1000L/H + 9W UV Light Free Filter Media All Pond Solutions 1000EF+ mainly due too wanting a UV light added into the filter system as I done some research on wanting crystal clear water and alot of people where saying it was down to the UV light.

I ideally want to keep the tank cold fresh water as I am a bit worried about the electricity bill with a heated tank.

Anyone got any ideas, suggestions ?

Here are some pictures!

CruelCoin

1: swap your screen and tower. Awkward layout for the auld battlestation.

2: Have a look here: http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/fishqa/f/coldwaterfish.htm
Most fish there can handle temps in and around the 15c ballpark.

Sleepy

I have a planted sub-tropical tank set up with White Cloud Mountain Minnows and Zebra Danios in our sitting room. There is a heater in the tank but it's set for 15 degrees and very rarely on as the room it's in would usually be at that temperature or higher, really it's just there to prevent the water getting too cold if we're away for a few days etc.

There should be a pic of it in the pics thread somewhere but it really has been my most successful tank to date: the two shoals mix well and there's lots of movement as they're both active fish.

msg11

Well little update finished the desk and the tank is installed and is just running in at the moment.

Here are some photos.






Just to add I left the option for myself if I ever wanted to upgrade the tank to something larger the gap between the computer and the tank could easilily be used to install a larger tank.

Anyone got any thoughts or ideas? Still not sure if I should go cold water or tropical on the tank.

chriity139

Really like that tank set up

msg11

chriity139 wrote: »

Really like that tank set up

Thanks very much.

So after waiting a little to let the tank run in. I got some Tiger Barbs bit small for me to get a decent picture.



So have four of them in there now. Say I will pick up some more fish the weekend.

Another thing they seem to be hanging around the heater quick a bit, it's just behind the plant thingy. Is the water maybe too cold? I have it at 27'c?

Jen Pigs Fly

Just a thought .... Wonder would the slight vibration from the computer bother the fish .... After all water does amplify sounds and vibrations and such ..

JanneG

msg11 wrote: »

Thanks very much.

So after waiting a little to let the tank run in. I got some Tiger Barbs bit small for me to get a decent picture.



So have four of them in there now. Say I will pick up some more fish the weekend.

Another thing they seem to be hanging around the heater quick a bit, it's just behind the plant thingy. Is the water maybe too cold? I have it at 27'c?

Try leaving the airpump off for a while and see if they change their behaviour as the bubbles may be freaking them out and therefore they try to hide at the plant as tjat looks to be the only hiding place for them?

Sleepy

Careful what you put in with Tiger Barbs. Make sure they're compatible tank mates as barbs can be a bit aggressive with tank-mates.

Oranage2

Fish can be a bit skittery when you first put them in the tank but the vibration from the computer could be it too like the other poster said.

Also have you cycled the tank? Could end up with some dead fish if you haven't.

msg11

xxxJennyxxx wrote: »

Just a thought .... Wonder would the slight vibration from the computer bother the fish .... After all water does amplify sounds and vibrations and such ..

Cheers for the reply, I am not too sure about the computer making noise. It is extremely silent as I built it myself and made sure it would be silent. It's resting on top of the UPC box which seems to have rubber balls for feet the tank itself is floating foam while the top part of the desk is also resting on foam. This was to stop and thumps breaking the glass and to water proof the desk.

JanneG wrote: »

Try leaving the airpump off for a while and see if they change their behaviour as the bubbles may be freaking them out and therefore they try to hide at the plant as tjat looks to be the only hiding place for them?

I did turn the air pump off and they came out but went back in again, at the moment they seem to be out and about. But I might do some adjusting on the air pump to cut the amount of air going into the tank as it seems like it maybe a little powerful for my liking.

Just tested it there again, I switched the air pump off and they seem to be very active. Going to leave the pump off until I can do something with the pressure

Sleepy wrote: »

Careful what you put in with Tiger Barbs. Make sure they're compatible tank mates as barbs can be a bit aggressive with tank-mates.

The guy in Artane Aquatics was quite helpful, as I did say I wanted to keep a few types of fish in the tank so I wanted to buy fish that would be fine with other fish. Reading online it seems the Tiger Barb do fine with other fish in the tank once there is a decent group of them 4/6 fish, as they will pick on each other and not stress one particular fish out.

Oranage2 wrote: »

Fish can be a bit skittery when you first put them in the tank but the vibration from the computer could be it too like the other poster said.

Also have you cycled the tank? Could end up with some dead fish if you haven't.

I did cycle the tank, I will admit I did not cycle to the required time frame of most online information of 14 days, I cycled mine for 7 days. I added some filter medium into the water, the water was also tested before I bought the fish and all was well.

Just on the subject of water. I want to do a 25% water change weekly. What do I do?

I am going to buy a new bucket just to make sure it won't contain any contamination etc.. So the plan is ,

Fill the bucket up with tap water
Add some filter medium
Leave in the room overnight to warm to room temperature
Remove the old water
Add the new water in

Also the water is very very clear, which is what I wanted. But the glass on the inside of the tank is kind of got a light hue on it. I was wonder how I could clean this?

Oranage2

msg11 wrote: »

Cheers for the reply, I am not too sure about the computer making noise. It is extremely silent as I built it myself and made sure it would be silent. It's resting on top of the UPC box which seems to have rubber balls for feet the tank itself is floating foam while the top part of the desk is also resting on foam. This was to stop and thumps breaking the glass and to water proof the desk.



I did turn the air pump off and they came out but went back in again, at the moment they seem to be out and about. But I might do some adjusting on the air pump to cut the amount of air going into the tank as it seems like it maybe a little powerful for my liking.

Just tested it there again, I switched the air pump off and they seem to be very active. Going to leave the pump off until I can do something with the pressure



The guy in Artane Aquatics was quite helpful, as I did say I wanted to keep a few types of fish in the tank so I wanted to buy fish that would be fine with other fish. Reading online it seems the Tiger Barb do fine with other fish in the tank once there is a decent group of them 4/6 fish, as they will pick on each other and not stress one particular fish out.



I did cycle the tank, I will admit I did not cycle to the required time frame of most online information of 14 days, I cycled mine for 7 days. I added some filter medium into the water, the water was also tested before I bought the fish and all was well.

Just on the subject of water. I want to do a 25% water change weekly. What do I do?

I am going to buy a new bucket just to make sure it won't contain any contamination etc.. So the plan is ,

Fill the bucket up with tap water
Add some filter medium
Leave in the room overnight to warm to room temperature
Remove the old water
Add the new water in

Also the water is very very clear, which is what I wanted. But the glass on the inside of the tank is kind of got a light hue on it. I was wonder how I could clean this?

I used a gravel cleaner and used that to take out the 25 percent of water but you should probably leave the gravel alone since it's a new tank just scoop the water out, to add water the only reason to leave the bucket of water out is to dissolve the clorine in the tap water, you can buy a treatment to add to the water and you can use it immediately, also add a few liters of boiling kettle water to heat it slightly. Adding filter medium will do nothing to the water.

msg11

Oranage2 wrote: »

I used a gravel cleaner and used that to take out the 25 percent of water but you should probably leave the gravel alone since it's a new tank just scoop the water out, to add water the only reason to leave the bucket of water out is to dissolve the clorine in the tap water, you can buy a treatment to add to the water and you can use it immediately, also add a few liters of boiling kettle water to heat it slightly. Adding filter medium will do nothing to the water.

Cheers, it says on the back of the filter medium 'makes tap water fish friendly : removes chlorine, ammonium and heavy metals'

I added yesterday;

4 Rummy Nose
1 Mickey Mouse Platy
Not sure of the fish type , it's similar to the Micky Mouse but the fins are different. They all seems to be getting along well

Brings the tank up to 10 fish now, so 6 more to fit in. Was thinking of putting in 4 Neon Tetras and then 2 others not really sure maybe a small cat fish.

JanneG

msg11 wrote: »

Cheers, it says on the back of the filter medium 'makes tap water fish friendly : removes chlorine, ammonium and heavy metals'

I added yesterday;

4 Rummy Nose
1 Mickey Mouse Platy
Not sure of the fish type , it's similar to the Micky Mouse but the fins are different. They all seems to be getting along well

Brings the tank up to 10 fish now, so 6 more to fit in. Was thinking of putting in 4 Neon Tetras and then 2 others not really sure maybe a small cat fish.

what's the name of the filter medium?

msg11

JanneG wrote: »

what's the name of the filter medium?

Easy life.

JanneG

msg11 wrote: »

Easy life.

Actually never heard of it, but by the looks of it it's a normal water conditioner.

I use API's Stress Coat myself...

Sleepy

You're in good hands in Artane Aquatics, Gavin knows his stuff and is very good to deal with.

Don't rush into stocking the tank though: you need to let the bacteria develop in your filter to handle the bio-load you're putting on it. Nothing good happens fast in fishkeeping

When you're doing water changes, leave the filter be. I'd recommend taking advantage of Artane Aquatics free RO water on Thursday nights rather than using water conditioner at the moment. The meter installations around the city are ruining water quality.

ZiabR

Also, if it were me I would have stuck with 1 species of fish. Tetra and Barbs do better in larger groups of 6-10 fish. I would have just stuck with the Tiger barbs and put in 6-8 more.