[danieldavidson216]

I think I made another big mistake and that is knowing more maybe then I actually did, having smaller fish tanks and having no problems, went for a bigger tank, 60L and have been overfeeding my fish, when I did a water change a lot of waste food started floating around, water was getting cloudy and ammonia, nitrates were fine, but also think the filter I have may not be up to the standard required. After listening to the shop keeper who sounded confident when I bought it all, when I went back for advice seemed unsure. I bought a fish r fun filter which says up to 3ft/36in with a flow rate of 450 L/H. The tank I have is a 60L.

I have bottom feeder bronze cory's x 2, neon tetras x 4 and some orange gourami x 2 in the tank, so using two types of food. Love fish brand flakes and pellets for the cory's.

To rectify this I am doing regular gravel cleans taking no more then 20% the water out so the temp stays within the safe zone for the tropical fish on a morning and night, so will start feeding them less, but how often is best, at moment I put one pellet in every couple of day, going to chop it in to 4 and thinking maybe put 1 maybe 2 smaller pieces in a couple days depending if they get eaten, and with the flakes put less in but still keep it at twice a day or should I do only once. I also have 2 plants in the tank as well.

 

[SeaHorse]

I think you should feed once a day with the flakes and every once in awhile, some people do this weekly... skip a day. I won't advise on the Cory's as I clearly don't feed them properly... they don't ever survive for me long term.

Do you have a thermometer to set you water temperature when you do a water change? They are cheap and would allow you to change more than 20% if you wanted to.

60L... that's a 15 Gallon?

 

[danieldavidson216]

thanks and yes I have a thermometer on the side, usually the tank temp is around 72-73f but when I do the water change usually I stop around 69-70 so it can heat up again quick enough. First time with bottom feeders myself when I had them when I was younger thing they lasted a week, so lasted longer already.

Noticed my artificial plant was right in front of my filter as well, so not sure if that was stopping it working efficiently so moved things around just in case. Got back from work, can see the gravel dirty but tank water itself it clear to my surprise.

60l is 15 us gallons.

 

[Romad]

Hello and welcome to the forum :wave:

You should be vacuuming the gravel with each water change. If you still have gunk in the gravel, do a 50% water change/gravel vac. Then minimum of 25% weekly water changes with gravel vacs.

You can get your new water within a few degrees of the tank water before adding it - no?

And as for feeding, feed lightly or whatever the fish will eat within 30 seconds or a minute. The corys will take advantage of any flakes that make it to the bottom. For cory pellets, wait until tank lights are out at night and drop a small sinking pellet or two in for them a few times a week. It all depends on the size of the pellets/wafers you're using. The ones I have are about the width of a pencil eraser.

I typically do that once or twice a week for my little army of bottom feeders.

 

[danieldavidson216]

Pellets about an ince in length and as wide as a pencil, So I chop them into discs so there like little wafer discs, the light went on the tank so I need a new one, although water seems to get in were it is, not sure if its caused permanent damage yet.

yeah the temp gets back to normal in a few minutes, so will do that 50% water change, I tried putting my filter just under the water as when I did a search on it, all the photo's showed it under, with that though the water was not getting the oxygen in it for the fish to breath and were at the top of the tank a lot. going to be going for the fluval 2 or 3 maybe.

have got on top of the worst of the mess out the tank, but a 50% water gravel clean will not harm for the rest next week, gives me idea how to judge better.

thanks again for the advice, amazing how much you think you know from a long time ago can change in your mind.

 

[danieldavidson216]

Old unit This is the unit I have in my tank, replaced the bulb today and still it is not working, but not sure if its to do with the housing or the starter transformer, but do not want to be spending a fortune trying to repair or replace parts, but saw this Would this do the job seems cheaper but in comparison how do they compare to the flouresant bulb and can I get these anywhere cheaper/recommended alternatives. Would be looking for an 15w 18ince white daylight bulb as this seems to be recommended for the tank unless you can advise better.

Now I worked this out, This is the tank I have. It is a second hand fish tank £45 for the tank and stand together, so far with the fish inside, ornaments and bulb today just spent £120. So I cannot argue if I have to spend I little but trying to keep it low.

Ideally I want something which I can take out the casing of the old and have above which is water proof as the unit I have is definitely not, so I could get same problem in another year or 2 which is another concern.

On another note looking to getting some pictures of my tanks sorted out soon, so you can all see what I have and how far I have to go

 

[danieldavidson216]

Update

Tank has stop been cloudy, fish are a lot more active, took a few things out the fish tank and been moving it around, I think the are small snails in the tank, as now and then there are small black things on the grass or side of tanks sometimes only noticed 2 next time I see them going to get a photo.

Am looking to add more fish now, unless safe to add 2 of each will just add 4 more 1 pair of 2 types. Ones thinking of getting is Boesemani Rainbow, German Blue ram, Kribesis and rainbow fish.

 

[Romad]

Your tank is far too small for Boesmani rainbows or the rams You can get away with adding a few more each of the tetras and corys as both do best in groups anyway.

 

[danieldavidson216]

oh well, would like to have one more species in there but don't want to overfill the tank, I like them having the space, I definitely have small snails in the tank managed to get a picture.

will they do any harm or are they okay been left in there?

 

[Romad]

Snails are fine - just be careful not to overfeed or you will end up with a million of them.

 

[SeaHorse]

I have to agree on the Boesmani Rainbows. They need min 48" and mine run out of room fast. Cute sub!

 

[danieldavidson216]

I suppose the snails counts as the extra species lol, just a few more neon and corys now

 

[schoch79]

As for feeding the bottom feeders I feed my tank all at once...bottom and top. I'll put in flakes first then some sinking shrimp pellets...api bottom feeder. It seems to me that most will ignore the flakes and swarm to the pellets no matter what kind of fish it is. Really you could probably make your job easier and feed only sinking pellets. That way you can easily control how much you feed and the bottom feeders will be sure to get food. Also bottom feeders have long been considered clean up crew so to speak. This is somewhat untrue...fish like cories and the like need their own food...they wont survive long term on food scrap that made it to the bottom only. I think that is where a lot of people fail with them.

 

[danieldavidson216]

I am feeding them every morning, breaking a pellet up into smaller bits and only putting a couple pieces in to help avoid waste just after putting flakes in. Amazing how small amount a food they actually require. The gravel looks good and has been for last week, so finally got right amount going in food wise. Ammonia has stopped as well, took 3 weeks.