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Indoor aquariums -

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this will be my happiest Christmas ever because I have solved the problem of care of tropical fish.
I have returned to Goy because I want to share it with
anyone with a fish tank.
Owing to 9 months disability I could not care for my fish
tank properly. Lots of immovable Algae and water snails.
After 6 years getting the wrong advice I finally got some help from the young manager of the pets dept at Seasons G.C. Burton Latimer, and followed on from there. He said Algae is caused by leaving the light on too long.
Reduced this to 8 hours a day, which even then is a bit too long, he says. They have theirs on 6 hours a day.
They have an Algae Scrub now (news to me) which is
better than the wash up sponges which I was using for
years.
This needs washing before and after use in cold water.
The big break through was to clear out all the gravel.
Wikipedia says Water Snails (seems there are lots of different varieties) are caused by waste food lying in the bottom of the tank.
I cleared it all out, washed thoroughly, put it back in,
and next morning there were about 50 snails climbing up the walls again.
Cleared it all out again, used on Clematis pot to conserve moisture next summer.
I then sucked out all the bits from the base of the tank with the tube into a large bowl.
Using a cooking sieve lined with 1 sheet of kitchen roll
carefully poured all this water through. Then returned the clean water back to the fish tank.
All seemed well.
Then this a.m. I found minute pieces of food still lying on the floor of the tank.
This must be how the Water Snails are forming. This food stays in the gravel.
Repeated the process with 2 sheets of kitchen roll,
returned the cleaned water to the tank.
Will do this every a.m. from now on, to keep the base of the tank absolutely clean. Washing the walls down at the same time with the Algae Scrub.
No more gravel.
I have known so many people who have spent a lot of money on fish keeping, and thrown it all out. This doesnt need to happen. I am thrilled to bits with my
fish tank now. Happy New Year.

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Comments

 

Hello Diane..
You've worked hard on your aquarium.
I'm glad you and your fish will have a merry Christmas and happy 2014.

24 Dec, 2013

 

Hello Diane , Glad to see your aquarium woes are getting sorted. I am a keen aquarist and as I like gardening ,I am also keen on plant growth in the aquarium. Its inevitable you get some algae but good plant growth will minimise nuisance algae and the right filtration(with plenty of benifical bacteria) and regular water changes will have your aquarium a joy to behold .Aquarium shops are OK but sometimes can give differing advice Iprefer the Practical fishkeeping magazine as it has a brilliant Q&A section as well as George Farmer aquatic plant expert.I have gravel in tanks for years and the plants keep it clean.If youve got internet look up Tashiki Amano a japanese aquarist.The secret it is even on a low budget you can have a low maintenance planted tank.

24 Dec, 2013

 

Nice to see you Diane and hear that your fish are thriving with the care they are getting ( snails get everywhere don't they!)
happy christmas x

24 Dec, 2013

 

I am just glad I thought all this out by myself, as have
taken too much notice of advisers for 6 years.
The plants are ok, might get some more.
No more gravel, the tiny bits of discarded food stick to
it, thats what caused the water snail infestation.
Its as clean as a pin today. Yippee !

24 Dec, 2013

 

Lovely to see you back Diane, and to know that you are happy with your aquarium, its frustrating when you cannot keep them clean, I find its very therapeutic to watch the fish in the tanks.
Merry Christmas Diane and Best Wishes for 2014.....

24 Dec, 2013

 

Happy Christmas Diane

24 Dec, 2013

 

Yes, Lincslass, I never thought I would get fond of fish, but they are pets too. I have new little frame covered with coloured plastic flowers in the tank, and 4 new Guppies all coloured with big tails, they give me much pleasure.

Think now its best to suck out any bits every a.m. and
clean the walls of the tank with the Algae Scrub.
Just switch the light on at noon - 8 p.m.

Another school of thought said to sterilise living plants in a thin bleach liquid as they bring in the pests, but the pet shop lady said they never put any kind of chemical in their tanks so I dont know how they deal with this.
Aquarium shops are not allowed to sell any kind of chemicals for fish tanks. (EU?)

Thanks Drc726 - hope for better health in 2014.

26 Dec, 2013

 

Hi Dianne, glad to see you back on here, I know nothing about keeping fish, either tropical or cold water, when I was at junior school, my father gave a huge tank full of tropical fish to the school I went to, and my twin brother and I were called to the headmaster almost daily, to identify the fish for him, unfortunately the school was used as a Sunday school as well, and someone unplugged the fish tank, so all the fish died, and I lost interest, but glad you have solved your problem, and hope you're feeling a lot better now, Derek

26 Dec, 2013

 

Thank you Derek. Sorry to hear about the school tank.
I suppose the heater burned out with no water in it.
My tank is looking much better now. I have to get some of the white base to fill the 1" pots I put the plants into. Potting Compost keeps emerging into the water so has to be sucked out every a.m.
They need to be heavy to hold the plants in position, as the roots grow out from the bottom. My tank is not in direct light from the window.
At the shop they have their plants in black base , but
I like the white best to reflect the light.
My mother used to go fishing where bushes hung over the river; she said the fish were there because they dont have eyebrows, their eyes are permanently open.
So thats where to take the children (anyone who is taking them fishing next summer) she said always teach them to take the hooks out of their mouths very slowly, as fish feel pain, the same as we do. She used to march along the bank and tell them to be very careful .

27 Dec, 2013

 

There is a lot of misinformation Dianne about plants, some plants need substrate to thrive ,gravel suits a lot of rooted plants as long as you feed liquid plant food aquatic fertiliser,( just gently gravel vac the gravel weekly or when you do your partial water change)but if you get plants from reputable sources like Tropica,or plant retailers like Aqua Essentials(on line) they are not expensive and guaranteed snail free.Pet shop plants in the main less good and carry snails or snail eggs. Plus the good advice given is free on line at aqua essentials.Bleach is lethal to fish and will result in fish being killed if entering the tank.Without gravel I recommend floating plants or Java Fern can be tied with cotton to a ornament or rock.

31 Dec, 2013

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