The Fireplace Community :: Tank Log

[mikeyw64]

Ok so first up I'll unashamedly say much of this has been covered in myoriginal "Patience" thread however not all of it and hey, this seems the place to leave a log  

My journey with my first ever tank began on 21st Aug when I ended up buying an 80 litre tank late one night from ebay. The frame itself is made of a granite like kitchen worktop material which even when empty weighs a ton and it was sold as a "coffee table " style tank.

Myself and my GF had been talking about getting some fish for a short while and key to getting this one is that it would fit perfectly in the fireplace in our snug. At this point I knew zilch about fishkeeping.

So the next weekend I took a trundle from Wigan over to York to pick it up before returning home and making what could so easily have been mistake  #1 and that would be not leak checking it first before putting it in position. Fortunately there were no leaks.

This is where with hindsight  I made mistake #2 and that would be not using water conditioner on the initial fill. I did however leave it sit for 2 days before visiting the LFS (see I'm getting the jargon lol) where my education began (and which has improved greatly since finding this community). NB I did actually take a water sample with me on my first visit there.

Came home with 4 Platys (2 Orange & 2 black plus some water conditioner, filter medium, gravel, an Aqua One 102F filter  and a whole load of advice on cycling the tank). At some point along the line I may well have bought a Tardis to "compliment" the plastic plants my GF had bought (TBH if she had had her way the tank would have been filled with fish day 1 as well).

Couple of weeks in I also added in the airstone and sponge filter

The first change was to switch to Sand (which also led to mistake #3, forgetting to switch off the heater when draining the tank) as the substrate as by now I  had a better idea of what fish stock I may be aiming for (Platys, Neon & EmberTetras & Panda/SkunkCorys) and also I was already thinking of switching to live planting.

Wasn't very long before the skull like rock, plastic plants & Tardis were gone to be replaced with 2 more pieces of bogwood and a variety of Swords & Java ferns which is pretyty much where i am today with the residents being the original 4 Platys (which may or may not survive my soft water as discussed elsewhere) being joined last Saturday by 10 juvenile Neon Tetras.

Ebay Pic


Tank V1




Tank V2


Tank V3

[Stephen]

A great start to your log Mike.
I must admit I do prefer the newer versions.
Sand is so much nicer than gravel whilst real wood and live plants are more attractive.
Great job.

[mikeyw64]

So since introducing the Neons on Sat  I've been religiously checking the water parameters (& counting the Neons) every morning and also doing a daily small water change (5-10%)

To bring that up to date (inc today)


Morning #1 Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 5, PH 7.4, Neon count 10
Morning #2 Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 5, PH 7.4, Neon Count 10, <<Live planting + bogwood  introduced after this
Morning #3 Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0.25, Nitrate 5, PH 6.6, Neon Count 10
Morning #4 Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0, PH 7.4, Neon Count 10

Curious, wonder what caused the dip in the PH yesterday morning?


A misreading or chemistry at work given the Nitrates have dropped this morning?

[mikeyw64]

@"Stephen"

The taller piece of wood is the only original feature ;o)

[mikeyw64]

Morning #1 Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 5, PH 7.4, Neon count 10
Morning #2 Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 5, PH 7.4, Neon Count 10, <<Live planting + bogwood  introduced after this
Morning #3 Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0.25, Nitrate 5, PH 6.6, Neon Count 10
Morning #4 Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0, PH 7.4, Neon Count 10
Morning #5 Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0, PH 7.4, Neon Count 10

[plankton]

Looks to be stabilising.

[properphatboy]

[quote="mikeyw64" pid='40595' dateline='1571814743']
So since introducing the Neons on Sat  I've been religiously checking the water parameters (& counting the Neons) every morning and also doing a daily small water change (5-10%)
[/quote]

Ah, counting neons is a fun past time isn't it?

As for the pH, perhaps something is buffering your tank a little, or there has been a change to the tap water? I'd be inclined to test the tapwater first.

Lovely looking tank. I'm also a sand convert, especially as it allows you to keep corys and the like. However, I do like a TARDIS...

Sent from my HTC U11 using Tapatalk

[mikeyw64]

I have plans formulating to resurrect the TARDIS elsewhere ;o)


Tap water hasn't changed and it was only that one day it dropped, other than that looking good.

[properphatboy]

Ah, sorry I misread it. Thought it had gone up. Not sure on that one then sorry.

Be warned, this hobby is addictive. I got my first tank in march. I'm now cycling my third, which is for my daughter of course.

Sent from my HTC U11 using Tapatalk

[mikeyw64]

Morning #1 Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 5, PH 7.4, Neon count 10
Morning #2 Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 5, PH 7.4, Neon Count 10, <<Live planting + bogwood  introduced after this
Morning #3 Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0.25, Nitrate 5, PH 6.6, Neon Count 10
Morning #4 Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0, PH 7.4, Neon Count 10
Morning #5 Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0, PH 7.4, Neon Count 10Morning #6 Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0, PH 7.4, Neon Count 10

Might call in the LFS this weekend for the next batch of residents