Aquerium - what makes one do much more expensive?

[ChuckMeFarley]

Do we need heaters in this country ?
Are guppies considered tropical ?

I just want a bigger space for my little guppies

If you want a bigger space for your guppies that means you care about them. Heaters help keep a constant temperature in the tank (think winter and night time temp dips) so as not to stress the little critters. Think of the heater as an extra care package for them .

Edit: view this link - https://guppyexpert.com/guppies-minimum-water-temperature/

 

[Cius]

Do we need heaters in this country ?
Are guppies considered tropical ?

I just want a bigger space for my little guppies

We tried guppies a few years ago just in a bowl when we got them as gifts and not knowing better we did not use a heater. They lived a few months but the first major cold snap in Winter killed them, so yes, they do need a heater now and then but only really when the temperature is well bellow 20 degrees from what the fish store guy told me. We had ours in the tank for a few days without the heater and they where far more active and happy after I put the heater in on 24 degrees.

 

[Ecco]

You need the heater.

Keep in mind in summer the water temp might actually go higher then what you plan - on some tanks you need a chiller - not that you need one, just saying.

Not that our MyBB members dont know about these things, but there are dedicated forums for people in the hobby, check those out for information too.

Sometimes you can pick up second hand bargains on tanks on the classifieds on those forums.

Be careful this hobby can get addictive, but enjoy

 

[SauRoNZA]

Let me think a little more.

Considering that we're in 2021, they should combine probes / smart features into a tank ...

Considering they have that side chamber to hide a heater and filter already - they should hide probes and have built in temperature / ammonia / dissolved oxygen meters to display neatly on the site.

View attachment 1014002

They should should also have a neat clip on spray / dripper / waterwall thing that can take water from the chamber and drip / spray it down, to create a mini waterfall

View attachment 1014006

No need for any of that really. An accurate heater is it’s own thermostat.

Waterfalls tend to splash water everywhere and also cause more evaporation.

Also it all will make it even more expensive.

 

[SauRoNZA]

Do we need heaters in this country ?
Are guppies considered tropical ?

I just want a bigger space for my little guppies

Water can definitely drop below 24-degrees and that’s kind of the bare minimum you want for most fish, guppies included and yes they are tropical.

Lower than that and fluctuations all the time will stress them which directly affects their colouring as a start but also obviously can be a health concern.

Even guppies can live in excess of 5+ years.

Then you get those baby murdering gold fish owners who think they’ve kept one for a year in a crappy bowl and they are good fish keepers. Meanwhile they are meant to grow massively and not be stinted as they are and live in excess of 30 years.

Just because a fish is resilient doesn’t mean it’s happy or healthy.

 

[Dolby]

Not that our MyBB members dont know about these things, but there are dedicated forums for people in the hobby, check those out for information too.

... I thought I could use this to bond with Sauron

Jokes aside, I've registered and add a few Facebook groups the last few days.

This is what I'd like to for my guppies

 

[RedViking]

It’s like buying an Apple product over crappy Androids.

Koi Fish Live Wallpapers 3D - Apps on Google Play

Decorate Your Mobile Screen With Moving Koi Fishes

play.google.com

 

[Dolby]

With regards to a heater, does it automatically switch on when cold ?

 

[SauRoNZA]

With regards to a heater, does it automatically switch on when cold ?

Correct it’s got a thermostat and you set it and forget it.

The need for temperature sensors is a direct result of crap analog heaters where you have no idea what it’s rather is.

Proper ones have a temperature scale on and you set it and that’s it, assuming it’s sized right for the tank which won’t be an issue for you.

Usually I’ll use an old thermometer I happen to have to just verify it once and then remove it. But if I started out now I’d probably just use my instant read food thermometer.

Even better just put a Sonoff TH on there to control the pump/lights whatever and have the temperature probe check the stats.

You generally want to time your lights for both your personal benefit and algae growth. They can’t just stay on 24/7. So a Sonoff TH would be great for that.

 

[Nirv]

With regards to a heater, does it automatically switch on when cold ?

Yes they are combined thermostats and heater elements. Definitely recommended even for guppies as in winter they will struggle or even die. It also allows you to keep other tropicals with them in the future; the selection of true cold water fish is very limited.

 

[Ecco]

With regards to a heater, does it automatically switch on when cold ?

Yup, its got a built in thermostat

 

[Dolby]

Sorry for all the n00b questions - but how does this work ?

https://fluvalaquatics.com/us/product/2-in-1-digital-aquarium-thermometer/

• Wireless – easily mounts to aquarium exterior glass with no need for probes or messy wires

A wireless probe, I guess ?
I thought wireless & water don't work well ?

 

[Hemi300c]

Sorry for all the n00b questions - but how does this work ?

https://fluvalaquatics.com/us/product/2-in-1-digital-aquarium-thermometer/

• Wireless – easily mounts to aquarium exterior glass with no need for probes or messy wires

A wireless probe, I guess ?
I thought wireless & water don't work well ?

The heater has a built-in thermostat

 

[Snyper564]

This was mine in 2017 - was a high tech c02 led light 60L



This can become an incredibly expensive hobby, when I broke down (tank not me ) and sold my tank think I got around 15K for everything. Some of the plants are very rare and hard to find and can easily be R400 each.

Join TASA or APSA two massive fish forums.

I no longer had the time to maintain this so took it down after about 4 years or so.

 

[gregmcc]

The heater has a built in thermostat, so when it reaches the set temperate it turns off. Anything colder and it turns on. Heater is watertight and sealed although they can go faulty and leak or rare occasions.

Some fish are not that hardy when it comes to water temp. If it changes too rapidly it will stress them out which can lead to infections, or even death. (This is why when you do water changes the replacement water should be the same temp as the tank)

Remember to cycle the tank correctly before putting fish in. Make sure you do water changes regularly (and treat the replacement water), test ph/nitrate/nitrate levels, check temps etc. Just because the water looks clean doesn't mean it's good.

It's a great hobby - I've got 2 x 180L tanks and been doing it for almost 15 years.

 

[Ecco]

Sorry for all the n00b questions - but how does this work ?

https://fluvalaquatics.com/us/product/2-in-1-digital-aquarium-thermometer/

• Wireless – easily mounts to aquarium exterior glass with no need for probes or messy wires

A wireless probe, I guess ?
I thought wireless & water don't work well ?

In my opinion, when you starting out you don't need a fancy thermometer, in fact unless you have some fish or plants which are really temperature sensitive you don't need one at all, your heater will keep things in check. An ordinary thermometer will do.

In the begging, you feel you need all these extra things to keep your tank in check. Go simpler, once you settle your tank down and get comfortable with your maintenance routine, you will trust yourself more and rely less on all the gadgets to tell you whats going on.

With any aquarium, patience is the key.

 

[Dolby]

This was mine in 2017 - was a high tech c02 led light 60L

View attachment 1014202

This can become an incredibly expensive hobby, when I broke down (tank not me ) and sold my tank think I got around 15K for everything. Some of the plants are very rare and hard to find and can easily be R400 each.

Join TASA or APSA two massive fish forums.

I no longer had the time to maintain this so took it down after about 4 years or so.

What sort of maintaining, other than the water changing ?
I thought when most the stuff is in balance, it's much easier ?
So certain plants absorb nitrate (duckweed) etc ?

As I'm getting twins in a few weeks, I'm not keen on lots of work ...

 

[Dolby]

I got this about a month ago and only afterwards, did I start reading up ... (my bad)

So now I realise that i's far too small, which is why I want larger. But as far as work goes, here hasn't been much in the 1.5 months aside from water changing (I do this often because of the tank size - so every few days it's a few minutes). Everything is growing perfectly and even the fish look happy - but that's what started it

 

[Snyper564]

What sort of maintaining, other than the water changing ?
I thought when most the stuff is in balance, it's much easier ?
So certain plants absorb nitrate (duckweed) etc ?

As I'm getting twins in a few weeks, I'm not keen on lots of work ...

If you keep the plants simple maybe water change once a month is sufficient on high tec tanks the plants grow so quickly a weekly trim is needed and can take a few hours. Google low tech planted tanks for what would suit you best. Also never do more than 50% water change esp in that size will be a big shock for the fish

This shows growth speed in high tech tank




Look for anubius nana and buce slow low light growers and perfect for your tank do not buy plants until you research them a bit some will take over a tank your size

 

[Dolby]

So ...

I've just started with a larger tank ... it's a 19l Fluval Spec 5 with a 210-300L/H filter (11* the volume of the tank).

This photo was taken yesterday (Day 2), so it's not green or established as yet - but I reckon it'll be nice and green in a few weeks time. This was my very first at trying something like this, so I picked up a few issues :

I think I use too much substrate at the from of the tank. I was going for the slope to the back, but I just got too exited and things ended up being placed randomly.
The Fluval Spec 5 is an awesome tank - but it's a bit too narrow to actually do too much.

But hey - it's a start and it's an upgrade to what I had