New chick with no clue.

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Pinup_Monte

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 22, 2014
14
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Australia
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Hey there.
Thanks if you stopped to read this- can probably use as much help as I can get. Lol
So I'm moving away from the awesome 600L (or 158 gallons I think it converts to?) freshwater tank I currently live with, and have just been given a tank to take with me. It's much (muchhhh) smaller- which is cool, I'm just grateful to have something to play in with my new found hobby!
The thing I'm having trouble with is what to DO with it once I'm settled in the new place- meaning, what the heck do I put in there?!! At the moment I'm used to having to go down and throw the cast net to catch live food for the Barramundi's and Mangrove Jacks in the 600L tank... But there's no way my new tank would be big enough for such cool fish. :( (I live in the tropics in Australia)
So what do I put in there instead?

Actually, now that I think about it, I don't even know how big this new tank is. :-/ Might have to bust out the tape measure and get some dimensions. All I know is I want fresh water, I like hardscaping/ interested in biotope (or whatever it's called lol) and I like anything weird or unusual... Other than that- I'm fairly clueless haha.

Thanks guys/ gals!
Monte

 
with out knowing tank size hard to say.
 
Ahh bugger, yeah thought that might be the case...
Well as soon as the sun is up (it's 5:30am here lol) I'll grab the tape measure and let you know what we're working with.
Sorry- should have thought of that sooner. One of the perks to being a newbie I guess... :/
 
Pinup_Monte said:
Ahh bugger, yeah thought that might be the case...
Well as soon as the sun is up (it's 5:30am here lol) I'll grab the tape measure and let you know what we're working with.
Sorry- should have thought of that sooner. One of the perks to being a newbie I guess... :/
Click to expand...

So you are brand new to this correct? Just to make sure, you know what the nitrogen cycle is right? If you don't I can explain.
 
Pinup_Monte said:
No idea... I'm sure I could have a stab in the dark, but probably just easier if you explain lol.
Click to expand...

Fish produce ammonia which is highly toxic to them even in the smallest amounts and they produce it very quickly. In established tanks there are colonies of beneficial bacteria which convert ammonia into nitrite (still toxic) and eventually into highly less toxic nitrate. Nitrate can only be removed by filters and water changes (which should be done weekly, even if understocked). You can cycle with fish (like me) but you would have to be VERY understocked until the tank is cycled and do water changes of large volume every other day or so. Or you can fish less cycle which is more recommended. Fish less cycling involves manually adding ammonia to a setup via fish food or ammonia chloride and not having to change water. The cycle can take anywhere from 4-6 or even 8 weeks depending whether you have preseeded media or gravel (preseeded means taking filter media or gravel from an established tank and adding it into your new system). I'm sure somebody can come and explain it more in depth but I have a headache now and don't feel like typing a page of information. You can also just go online and search nitrogen cycle or fish tank cycle and find a lot of info that way. If you need any more help with your tank or have some more questions about the chemistry, PM me. I'm always happy to help new hobbyists and I'm sure many others on here are as well.
 
yup, always happy to help. Fav thing to do here, well that and seeing how close I can get to the boot. :ROFL:
 
Lol they'll be staying here in their current tank I'm sorry to say. I'll try take a pic to show you through the day if I can manage to get a good one... Or I'll try vid feeding time! That is seriously FUN to watch! They're SO different when it comes to feeding, it's really quite interesting to watch... And offers some extra insight for my next little fishing adventure! Hehe...
 
I have heard for Australian fish keepers it is difficult to get most of the fish we think are common here in the states, so what fish do you even have access to? What options do you have? And yes pics would be awesome


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