Fish Lovers 3.0 [new poll]

[Lonin]

Hey all me again
After getting my water tested and told it is fine to add fish. I got a little castle for it, and a little Rummynose Tetra who I've named Gilbert. I'm not sure why but when the tank light is on he only stays near the castle I guess because it's the only thing in there, As soon as I turn it off he's swimming around everywhere.

(similar to this but much lighter, not sure how to share private photos)

If you've had the tank a week unless you've added bottled bacteria it probably isn't cycled as it usually takes about a month. A tank is cycled if it converts ammonia to nitrate within 24 hours. How have you been cycling?

Rummy nose tetras are schooling fish and need to be in a group of at least 6. The poor thing is hiding because it's scared and alone :c It'll be coming out in the dark because it feels safer.

[Ad0rem3]

Hey all me again
After getting my water tested and told it is fine to add fish. I got a little castle for it, and a little Rummynose Tetra who I've named Gilbert. I'm not sure why but when the tank light is on he only stays near the castle I guess because it's the only thing in there, As soon as I turn it off he's swimming around everywhere.

(similar to this but much lighter, not sure how to share private photos)

If you've had the tank a week unless you've added bottled bacteria it probably isn't cycled as it usually takes about a month. A tank is cycled if it converts ammonia to nitrate within 24 hours. How have you been cycling?

Rummy nose tetras are schooling fish and need to be in a group of at least 6. The poor thing is hiding because it's scared and alone :c It'll be coming out in the dark because it feels safer.

I got the tank about a week ago, put water conditioner because it is tap water than the bottled bacteria. I have been going to my local aquarium for assistance with the water and stuff like that. I will be getting more just dont really want to dive into the deep end when I'm still learning

[Lonin]

I got the tank about a week ago, put water conditioner because it is tap water than the bottled bacteria. I have been going to my local aquarium for assistance with the water and stuff like that. I will be getting more just dont really want to dive into the deep end when I'm still learning

c: Cool.
We get that, but a small school of rummynoses will be much easier for you to look after than one on it's own. A single schooling fish will be stressed and stress leads to illness. Rummynoses are sensitive to start with so you need to minimise stress as much as possible. It's much kinder for the fish too.

[Echo Revna]

So, I'm hoping to join at some point soon. Just don't have time at the moment.
But I do have a question. I've had fish for years, and I never have any problems with them. But I have always had a small problem with my filters. I was wondering if any of you could tell me what brand you normally use? I have bad hearing and sometimes my family is shouting at me to get my attention, but I can't hear them partially do to my filter. It's not the vibrating that bothers me normally, but rather the water pouring out. I was considering getting a whisper filter, but after some research the water doesn't seem to come out any more quietly. Is there a filter that pours the water out quietly? Or am I gonna have to go back to my DIY fix that looks ugly in the tank...?

Also, just a side thought, our water is very hard, and I can't really go out and buy soft water every time I need to top off my tank because the water in my tank evaporates extremely quickly. Do any of you have any thoughts on how to keep the calcium/minerals from building up on the side of the tank? Would it work to boil the water to get the minerals to settle on the bottom of the pot and then pour the water out without the minerals?

Just in case any one was worried about the health of my fish after all these problems, I have had some of the healthiest fish that I have ever seen so this is all just because I'm not happy, not the fish

[Evils]

So, I'm hoping to join at some point soon. Just don't have time at the moment.
But I do have a question. I've had fish for years, and I never have any problems with them. But I have always had a small problem with my filters. I was wondering if any of you could tell me what brand you normally use? I have bad hearing and sometimes my family is shouting at me to get my attention, but I can't hear them partially do to my filter. It's not the vibrating that bothers me normally, but rather the water pouring out. I was considering getting a whisper filter, but after some research the water doesn't seem to come out any more quietly. Is there a filter that pours the water out quietly? Or am I gonna have to go back to my DIY fix that looks ugly in the tank...?

Also, just a side thought, our water is very hard, and I can't really go out and buy soft water every time I need to top off my tank because the water in my tank evaporates extremely quickly. Do any of you have any thoughts on how to keep the calcium/minerals from building up on the side of the tank? Would it work to boil the water to get the minerals to settle on the bottom of the pot and then pour the water out without the minerals?

Just in case any one was worried about the health of my fish after all these problems, I have had some of the healthiest fish that I have ever seen so this is all just because I'm not happy, not the fish

For the filter, I've been using Fluval for awhile and my newer ones seem to be fairly quiet for the most part!
I'd have to look back on the type as I can't remember which model it is ^^ They also keep water in very well! I haven't had a single problem with a spill on any of them.

[Hime]

So, I'm hoping to join at some point soon. Just don't have time at the moment.
But I do have a question. I've had fish for years, and I never have any problems with them. But I have always had a small problem with my filters. I was wondering if any of you could tell me what brand you normally use? I have bad hearing and sometimes my family is shouting at me to get my attention, but I can't hear them partially do to my filter. It's not the vibrating that bothers me normally, but rather the water pouring out. I was considering getting a whisper filter, but after some research the water doesn't seem to come out any more quietly. Is there a filter that pours the water out quietly? Or am I gonna have to go back to my DIY fix that looks ugly in the tank...?

Also, just a side thought, our water is very hard, and I can't really go out and buy soft water every time I need to top off my tank because the water in my tank evaporates extremely quickly. Do any of you have any thoughts on how to keep the calcium/minerals from building up on the side of the tank? Would it work to boil the water to get the minerals to settle on the bottom of the pot and then pour the water out without the minerals?

Just in case any one was worried about the health of my fish after all these problems, I have had some of the healthiest fish that I have ever seen so this is all just because I'm not happy, not the fish

What sort of filter you do have? Generally closer the output is to the surface the less noise it will make, or even better if the output is totally under the water. I have Fluval U3 and Eheim PickUp 160, both can be very quiet or quite loud depending on how I have them positioned. Loud filter may also be broken one or have air in someplace where there shouldn't be any.

Hard water is only bad for fish that specifically need really soft water. But things like guppies, platies and mollies tend to really thrive on harder water (some south african cichlids like their water harder as well I believe). Boiling won't get the hardness out. Sure some may build on the bottom of the pot but usually this is over long periods of time. Reverse osmosis (RO) is really the only thing that comes to my mind in getting the hardness down, which you could use to dilute the hard non-RO water as RO water usually needs to have some minerals added to it to keep the plants and fish healthy. Unfortunately getting hardness lower is harder than getting it up. :\ But in all honesty if your fish are doing great with the water you have, I really would not start to mess around with the hardnes too much. For the mineral stains, razor probably can scrape them off pretty well (if you have glass tank). Plastic cards do pretty decent job on algae build ups. Vinegar usually is pretty good for mineral stains as well, but if you have to use it on the inside of the tank (like at the water edge area) be very careful not to get it in the water. Corser scrubber sponges (green things, often on one side of average small cleaning sponge, not the metallic ones) do pretty good job as well, but they can sort of shed little particles so I wouldn't recommend using them inside the tank too much.

[Echo Revna]

I've tried fixing it by getting the water level up, but my filter doesn't have a smooth flow, so that didn't really work, that is one of the reasons I kinda want to get a new filter. The filter was in storage for about 4 years, I had an indoor cat for that amount of time (she died about a year and a half ago), I'm tempted to say we must not have stored it correctly and it got messed up...? I don't think I had this many problems with it before, so....

At the moment I have a betta, a guppy, and a shrimp in my tank. Going to get more in the next week or too. All of the fish I have ever had thrive in our water. The build up is on the inside of the tank, there is no build up on the outside. I have tried scrubbing it off, that didn't really work. It's winter time here right now, or else I would just give the tank a total cleaning, and use vinegar on the minerals. I have a hard time toping the water off in the winter as it is, since our house is cold, I can't just fill jugs with water to come up to room temp because it wouldn't get warm enough, and I can't just run warm water because our warm side is hooked up to a water softener. We always have to fill a pot up and warm it up to the right temp on the stove.

Anyway, I feel like I've done more complaining than anything else on here so far, sorry about that
Thanks for all the help! I'll go check out those filters now

[meerkat boi.]

Hello! This is my first time posting on this thread

I reaaallly want to have fish (we've had them in the past) but I don't know what kind to get. I'm happy with freshwater, cold water snf tropical fish. what are really pretty fish I can own that I can get in a pet store?
I have a 14 gallon tank

[Lonin]

Hello! This is my first time posting on this thread

I reaaallly want to have fish (we've had them in the past) but I don't know what kind to get. I'm happy with freshwater, cold water snf tropical fish. what are really pretty fish I can own that I can get in a pet store?
I have a 14 gallon tank

There are some stocking ideas here: http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/wiki/Sto ... allon_Tank it's for a slightly smaller tank but that just means you can have a few extra if you get a schooling fish c:

[Hime]

I've tried fixing it by getting the water level up, but my filter doesn't have a smooth flow, so that didn't really work, that is one of the reasons I kinda want to get a new filter. The filter was in storage for about 4 years, I had an indoor cat for that amount of time (she died about a year and a half ago), I'm tempted to say we must not have stored it correctly and it got messed up...? I don't think I had this many problems with it before, so....

At the moment I have a betta, a guppy, and a shrimp in my tank. Going to get more in the next week or too. All of the fish I have ever had thrive in our water. The build up is on the inside of the tank, there is no build up on the outside. I have tried scrubbing it off, that didn't really work. It's winter time here right now, or else I would just give the tank a total cleaning, and use vinegar on the minerals. I have a hard time toping the water off in the winter as it is, since our house is cold, I can't just fill jugs with water to come up to room temp because it wouldn't get warm enough, and I can't just run warm water because our warm side is hooked up to a water softener. We always have to fill a pot up and warm it up to the right temp on the stove.

Anyway, I feel like I've done more complaining than anything else on here so far, sorry about that
Thanks for all the help! I'll go check out those filters now

If the flow is not even then I would definitely suspect that something is broken or needs maintance. With the fish you have I wouldn't worry about the water hardness too much for their sake, shrimp at least very much like some hardness. Depending on how your water softner runs, you might be actually able to use the water as some softners are just basically RO systems. But if you use the softened water you would either need to add in some minerals back into the water in form of product or mix in some of the hard water. But again for the fish you have I would not go through that hassle.

Hello! This is my first time posting on this thread

I reaaallly want to have fish (we've had them in the past) but I don't know what kind to get. I'm happy with freshwater, cold water snf tropical fish. what are really pretty fish I can own that I can get in a pet store?
I have a 14 gallon tank

Bettas are pretty easy and very commonly available. For 14 gal small school of schooling fish is also possibility. Some of the smaller gourami species might also be an option, though some of them are bit picky about water parameters to really do well. Endlers and guppies could maybe work, but I would only recommend small group of males so that you don't find yourself with more fish than your tank can handle (endlers and guppies are known to breed very easily and quickly).
If you feel totally lost on what fish to get I would really suggest going into your local fish store, or pet store if you don't have fish specific one on your area, and see what they have in stock and if something catches your eye there. Then before you buy the fish, you go home and do research on the species you were interested in to see can you keep them in 14 gal and generally what is recommended. Many stores are also willing to order specific fish for you, if they have them on their stockist lists etc., in case you come across a species you really want when researching but your store doesn't have them at hand when you visit.
Though bit of warning not all fish show their best colors or normal behavior in store conditions, so keep that in mind when looking at fish in stores.