Aquarium Hobby

SauRoNZA said:
If you are doing the water in a bucket the day before you don’t need the dechlorinator, it’s already evaporated.
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Did not know that. Some more savings coming my way! Thanks.

Edit: or maybe not, now that I read the subsequent posts
 
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Binary_Bark said:
Make sure your fish have a great home, natural, well balanced, well fed, with plants hiding places and don't over stock. If you have a great specialty store to go to (not a common pet store) they will assist and tell you what can go with what and when you've got enough. Keeping a Aquarium is very relaxing, you can find yourself staring at it for hours.
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Yeah, now that the algae problem is solved for me. Need to introduce plants and maybe a friend for the goldfish (last resort to get another one)

In any case, ow the heck does one know if the fish is a boy or a girl? I don't want more fishes .. in case the existing one is boy/girl and the new one is the other kind.

Like @RedViking , I also don't like the idea of the fish being a close space hence why we never got another. Been having a discussion with the little one about finding a bigger place for him with friends. Was thinking the schools pond would be great. They have similar sized goldfish.
 
TedLasso said:
Did not know that. Some more savings coming my way! Thanks.

Edit: or maybe not, now that I read the subsequent posts
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I mean I never used any of that stuff for the past 30 years up to about 5 years ago so unless it’s a sudden recent thing I’m not sure it matters.

I always used water overnight and added salt to my tanks for any water change.

Bit of Googling says it’s not a concern in Cape Town and generally not added as such but a result of high ammonia levels converting chlorine to chloramine. I’m no chemical engineer though, just have anecdotal personal experience.

Rand Water and Umgeni seem to actually add ammonia to drinking water which then creates chloramine.

Carbon filter also takes care of it in any case.
 
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PCWARITM said:
Just leave it overnight and test the next day. Chlorine should be near 0.
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Yup, from my experience so far, before adding any stock make sure, the water Ph, ammonia, nitrate and chlorine levels are at almost 0%
Yes there are some fish that like high PH, murky and high bloom tanks, but for everyday this is hard to sustain. If you're going with something like me, natural plant and build, keeping these levels could be easy in the end, but you want hardy fish that can deal with this.
My advise is that when you start out, water tests is a must, to make sure none of your stock dies, no-one wants that, it's not a very good feeling.
 
Binary_Bark said:
Yup, from my experience so far, before adding any stock make sure, the water Ph, ammonia, nitrate and chlorine levels are at almost 0%
Yes there are some fish that like high PH, murky and high bloom tanks, but for everyday this is hard to sustain. If you're going with something like me, natural plant and build, keeping these levels could be easy in the end, but you want hardy fish that can deal with this.
My advise is that when you start out, water tests is a must, to make sure none of your stock dies, no-one wants that, it's not a very good feeling.
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Nitrate is OK. Nitrite is bad.

Nitrate is the end product of the nitrogen cycle in a tank, and is consumed by plants.
 
Binary_Bark said:
Good point, thank you, watching the video about it.(Above)
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Do you know anyone with a tank? The quickest way to get going is to buy a cheap foam filter and ask a buddy to run it in their tank for 2 weeks to get colonised while you get your tank set up and then transfer it to your tank without cleaning it. It will then speed up the rest of your filter media, sand and hardscape getting colonised.

Then throw in a few fish flakes twice a day as if you are feeding fish to keep the bacteria happy and add a snail or two to clean up the flakes. Just be careful of which snails you get as some are a real pain to deal with.
 
:love: this thread - always liked fish tanks, never had the time or space for one.

Maybe one day when I retire

In the meantime, I enjoy them vicariously via YouTube channels - I have an old TV that I may just set up as a a "fish tank" monitor on the wall to the right of my desk....
 
B-1 said:
Do you know anyone with a tank? The quickest way to get going is to buy a cheap foam filter and ask a buddy to run it in their tank for 2 weeks to get colonised while you get your tank set up and then transfer it to your tank without cleaning it. It will then speed up the rest of your filter media, sand and hardscape getting colonised.

Then throw in a few fish flakes twice a day as if you are feeding fish to keep the bacteria happy and add a snail or two to clean up the flakes. Just be careful of which snails you get as some are a real pain to deal with.
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So far all the advice is from the guys in the office that started the big tank in the office and have their own at home, then there is the most valued, I've found a great specialty store that is anal about things. As mentioned earlier, they would not sell you any fish (As a beginner) without seeing photos and most importantly, water tests.

This was intentionally supposed to be a fresh start tank. No tank transfers nothing, entire system started from scratch. More or less.
 
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AfricanTech said:
:love: this thread - always liked fish tanks, never had the time or space for one.

Maybe one day when I retire

In the meantime, I enjoy them vicariously via YouTube channels - I have an old TV that I may just set up as a a "fish tank" monitor on the wall to the right of my desk....
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Take the plunge, you can get some great Acrylic sets. It's well worth it.
You can always go with the cube:


SauRoNZA said:
Oh yeah lots of them around.

It’s only 6 gallons.

There’s a new place McMerwe not too far from me that appears to have become the go to to fish and everything else shop in Cape Town.

I’m sure the old Panorama Petshop I went to for decades is still kicking too.


Only came out a few months ago.
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Binary_Bark said:
So far all the advice is from the guys in the office that started the big tank in the office and have their own at home, then there is the most valued, I've found a great specialty store that is anal about things. As mentioned earlier, they would not sell you any fish (As a beginner) without seeing photos and most importantly, water tests.

This was intentionally supposed to be a fresh start tank. No tank transfers nothing, entire system started from scratch. More or less.
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OK, if you are interested in the process thats great. Seeing how the tank progresses through each of the steps and seeing the test kit light up as you hit a stage is quite interesting. Then there are the various diatomes, algea and bacteria blooms that happen like clockwork. Its amazing how much life is in a tank that we just take for granted.
The only problem is it can easily take 2 months if things don't align perfectly.
 
SHL said:
This was my tank back in the day. All natural plant growth with CO2 injection. Was obsessed with aquascaping. Unfortunately, lack of time and funds at the moment so had to shut it down...:crying:

View attachment 1873246

View attachment 1873247
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Don't even need the fish for a tank that pretty. Underwater planting must be an art. Can one grow flowers under water?
 
SHL said:
This was my tank back in the day. All natural plant growth with CO2 injection. Was obsessed with aquascaping. Unfortunately, lack of time and funds at the moment so had to shut it down...:crying:

View attachment 1873246

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Really nice. Its very therapeutic and rewarding tending to a tank like that but when life keeps you busy it quickly becomes a burden you don't need which is quite sad.
 
I’ll share a photo tomorrow! It’s amazing how much fish can change when they go from a store tank to a happy, well-maintained aquarium. My silver long-finned tetras with the black spots on their fins have really transformed. Their tails have started turning red, and now their dorsal and pectoral fins are developing beautiful bright yellow stripes. They’re still small, but they’re becoming stunning! The Glow tetra has become almost luminous in the water.

Goes to show how a stress-free environment can bring out the best in them. Has anyone else noticed similar color changes in their fish?
 
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RedViking said:
Don't even need the fish for a tank that pretty. Underwater planting must be an art. Can one grow flowers under water?
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If you really don't want fish, go for crustations like prawn. Even just a planted tank needs organisms to keep it going.
 
Binary_Bark said:
I’ll share a photo tomorrow! It’s amazing how much fish can change when they go from a store tank to a happy, well-maintained aquarium. My silver long-finned tetras with the black spots on their fins have really transformed. Their tails have started turning red, and now their dorsal and pectoral fins are developing beautiful bright yellow stripes. They’re still small, but they’re becoming stunning!

Goes to show how a stress-free environment can bring out the best in them. Has anyone else noticed similar color changes in their fish?
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Yes its quite common. A good diet also makes them even brighter. You can also pick up if one or more fish are being bullied or sick if they lose their shine.
 
B-1 said:
Yes its quite common. A good diet also makes them even brighter. You can also pick up if one or more fish are being bullied or sick if they lose their shine.
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I'll get the proper name for these silver tetra, 5 of them with 5 glow tetra's seems to work very well. Both are small and schooling fish. Been observing them sometimes separated and most of the times, swimming together in a single school. They seem very happy together.
 
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