Fish tank advice

[AsleepInYorkshire]

Apologies I didn't catch up with you yesterday. I am decorating my daughters Lego room.
AiY(D)

You have a "Lego Room"??

I assume this is a normal room dedicated to Lego, rather than a shonky extension

"We" have two Lego rooms . Yes, they are rooms devoted to Lego, not shoddy extensions

Downstairs the dinning room, which isn't huge and is accessed from the lounge through an archway and a door leading to the kitchen, is slowly becoming a Harry Potter room. There's a fair amount of HP Lego as well as figurines, wall plaques and the like. We've a way to go but over the last week we've come on leaps and bounds. We're turning one of the bedrooms upstairs into a Star Wars room for our daughter. She's a fair amount of Lego too. We'll add some figurines and wall posters for her when the room's progressed.

I am pleased to inform all the denizens of TLF that this afternoon I've got the second coat of paint to put on in the Star Wars room. My painting and decorating skills are very good. But boy am I slow. I couldn't earn a lving from my skill. So the boards will be clutter free for five hours

Anyway I've completely digressed and before I cross the threshold of going off-topic I wanted to show Jess this photograph I took about an hour ago whilst having a cuppa in my local garden centre.

I have no idea if it is inspirational or beneficial, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to put it up anyway.


AiY(D)
James May's stunt double

[JessUK98]

I'm pretty sure James May doesn't have any children, or indeed like them, so I think I can safely assume that AiY is not James May, although I'll allow him the claim of stunt double
My little lad loves LEGO and informed every Santa we went to see that he wanted LEGO Lightening McQueen for Christmas. Had to source some from eBay in the end as it had been discontinued. Problem is he likes to pull it all apart after..........

I was actually looking at decorative bits of "drift wood" for the tank but when I sized it up against the same sized tank in the shop they'd have been too big or taken up too much space in the tank.

I'm enjoying the fish (I'd have not let him have any if I wasn't happy to be the primary care giver myself - the OH already said he wasn't going to walk them ). When he's a bit older if he still shows interest then maybe we'll get a bigger tank. House is not the biggest so space is at a premium really, especially as I now have the spare room as a home office now I'm working from home since covid.

[JessUK98]

So fish are still doing well. I’ve done a 20% water change and kept an eye on the water quality. I’ve spotted food settling on the bottom of the tank though (think maybe I’ve been putting too much in?).

Any recommendations for a way to clean this? I’ve seen those gravel syphons, would one of those be appropriate?
On my next “clean” I’m going to rinse the filter out in the water I take out of the tank as I’m assuming that there will be a build up of fish food in there as well. Would you consider cleaning the decorations at any point?

Jess

[AsleepInYorkshire]

So fish are still doing well. I’ve done a 20% water change and kept an eye on the water quality. I’ve spotted food settling on the bottom of the tank though (think maybe I’ve been putting too much in?).

Any recommendations for a way to clean this? I’ve seen those gravel syphons, would one of those be appropriate?
On my next “clean” I’m going to rinse the filter out in the water I take out of the tank as I’m assuming that there will be a build up of fish food in there as well. Would you consider cleaning the decorations at any point?

Jess

Hi Jess

Glad to hear your fish are doing well. It's easy to overfeed fish when first starting out, so don't worry. The gravel syphons do work, yes. But there's the issue of needing eyes in the back of your head as the fish can, if you're not watching them, get sucked up in the pipe. I'd suggest it might just be easier to remove the gravel by hand from time to time and rinse it out with some of the tank water.

Yes. You should clean the decorations. You can remove them and clean them with a mild mix of water and bleach. Give them a good rinse to remove the bleach before replacing in the tank. Add some dechlorinator to the tank just to be safe. You don’t have to use bleach, but it will remove germs and any algae build up much more effectively.

If you think about one of my earlier posts I referred to water quality as being the first priority in a fish tank. So cleaning the inside of the tank is helpful in maintaining good water quality. But on the upside, you don’t have to go mad with this. Just use your common sense about how often you clean the decorations, the tank and gravels.

AiY(D)

[DrFfybes]

I agree about the gravel vacs - don't want the Mountain minnows taking a Nantucket Sleighride into the collecting bucket, they tend to go West soon after and end up fodder for Felix the cat. You also need to explain to guests what the strange suctionn device is hanging in the bathroom draining.

I wouldn't use bleach, just in case any gets trapped in a little crevice and a fish decides to investigate later. You can get baby sterilising stuff if you want, but the only thing growing on them will be the same bugs as in the filter.

My decorations are all natural rock, but I take them out when they get algae growing on them, soak them in clean hot water, and scrub with a stiff brush.
They've not needed doing in the new tank since I set it up in June 2020.

Paul

[redsturgeon]

I agree about the gravel vacs - don't want the Mountain minnows taking a Nantucket Sleighride into the collecting bucket, they tend to go West soon after and end up fodder for Felix the cat. You also need to explain to guests what the strange suctionn device is hanging in the bathroom draining.

I wouldn't use bleach, just in case any gets trapped in a little crevice and a fish decides to investigate later. You can get baby sterilising stuff if you want, but the only thing growing on them will be the same bugs as in the filter.

My decorations are all natural rock, but I take them out when they get algae growing on them, soak them in clean hot water, and scrub with a stiff brush.
They've not needed doing in the new tank since I set it up in June 2020.

Paul

I see what you did there...very Smart!

[DrFfybes]

I agree about the gravel vacs - don't want the Mountain minnows taking a Nantucket Sleighride into the collecting bucket, they tend to go West soon after and end up fodder for Felix the cat.
Paul

I see what you did there...very Smart!

Showing your age and lack of taste now John

[JessUK98]

So we’ve unfortunately had our first casualty. I counted 5 fish this morning, and couldn’t see the 6th anywhere for love nor money. Tuned out it was down the side of the filter. I had thought maybe it got stuck in the filter and died, but think it more likely that it died and was pulled towards it instead.

It was the smallest fish, and I did a partial water change yesterday and took out all the decorations and gravel to clean and put the decorations back in different places so I’m wondering whether I stressed it out? The others look ok. The other fish have always been bigger, with more colour and a black dot on the tail, whereas the smaller one didn’t (I had wondered if it was a different sex to the others?).

I’m going to assume 5 will be fine as 5? No need to get another?

Jess

[AsleepInYorkshire]

So we’ve unfortunately had our first casualty. I counted 5 fish this morning, and couldn’t see the 6th anywhere for love nor money. Tuned out it was down the side of the filter. I had thought maybe it got stuck in the filter and died, but think it more likely that it died and was pulled towards it instead.

It was the smallest fish, and I did a partial water change yesterday and took out all the decorations and gravel to clean and put the decorations back in different places so I’m wondering whether I stressed it out? The others look ok. The other fish have always been bigger, with more colour and a black dot on the tail, whereas the smaller one didn’t (I had wondered if it was a different sex to the others?).

I’m going to assume 5 will be fine as 5? No need to get another?

Jess

Hi Jess,

Don't over think it or worry. As long as you maintain healthy water, which is through regular water changes your fish should do well. Fish, like all animals die. It does sound as if it was destined not to thrive. Just check the other fish for any visual signs which don't look good. I wouldn't get another.

AiY(D)

[JessUK98]

Thanks AiY, hopefully my little lad won’t notice there’s one missing. He’s at nursery so thankfully wasn’t home when I made the discovery. The other 5 seem normal, so hopefully there won’t be anymore.

[88V8]

I always think that fish tanks look better without the fish and the water.....