# Went Tropical But Less Stressed Out



## SteveLawrence (May 4, 2009)

After the marine tank disaster caused by the heat in my flat I decided the sensible thing to do after the massive loss was to go Tropical.

The tank is not as beautifull as the Marine obviously but its supprising when you get the tropical fish home from the aquarium how good they really look .

I Have 5 fish in it , A red tailed shark a couple of other small fish and a catfish which beieve it or not is my favourite because he darts out from hiding every now and agian and flaps his fins like the wings of a dragon .

The tank doesnt look to bad because it has nice colums of rock and hand size pebbles and a couple of pieces of purple & green quartz . Long and short plants and a picee of mopani root ( Still soaking to release the green tea like dye ) .

I like the criters that hover around the bottom of the tank but I cant have crabs because the lid has to be open a lot and they get out but I have also been told they eat fish .

Doesnt seem to be many sand dwelling invererbrates you can keep in a tropical Tank .

I thought maybe an eel or something which slithers along the sand would be good . Frogs maybe ? But I cant think of anything else that would take away that boring aspect of tropical tanks

I will probably ad in about 5 weeks time a golden algae sucker mouth because of the bright yellow

Golden Algae Eater, Mail Order Golden Algae Eater delivered to your door - AquaticLifeDirect.co.uk

Definately a black ghost knife fish .

Black Ghost Knife Fish, Mail Order Black Ghost Knife Fish delivered to your door - AquaticLifeDirect.co.uk

Maybe one of these Rainbow Sharks to ad some colour

Rainbow Shark, Mail Order Rainbow Shark delivered to your door - AquaticLifeDirect.co.uk

And that leaves about 2 more I can ad with my size tank (97 L ) .

They reccommend no more than 10 for this Nano tank . It has 5 fish already but its certainly not looking as deathly as the marine tank did . In retrospect this is less maintanace so it suits me better anyway although itsd hard to say goodbye to all those beautifull marine corals and fish . Any disaters from here, and hopfully there wont be, will be quite inexpensive and i wont risk being kicked of ther forums for being the worst fish keeper in the world. Could have been worse because aqauriums wont take back dead stock because of a heat wave.

Thought about putting in roman colums or something like that to help alieviate the bordom of tropical tanks and then heard the voice in the back of my head say,

Dont Do It , That is really tacky, That is just so krass and youll end up being discriminated. .

But alls well with the new tropical tank so far , I guess the next few days will tell a lot.

Generally pleased with the decision to go tropical but not the financial loss of the other which was just a very unusual situation and of course it has been extreamly hot whether as well to ad to it all .

Definately less stressed and feel safer with the tank . 

Ill still be watching the thermomitor, like 10 mins and should all this fail Ill go into something really hardy like Rinos , hippa potamus or something


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## Guest (Jun 29, 2009)

How long has it been since you shut down the marine aquarium? Two weeks?

At the moment you are going too fast, slow down and rethink your stocking options. It sounds like you haven't cycled the aquarium, especially in such a small space of time, have you tested the water recently for pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate?

For a start I would scrub the Knife fish, Algae eater and the Rainbow shark. All will grow too large for a 97 litre tank and you can't mix two species of freshwater shark unless the tank is very large.

Apologies for sounding critical but you really do need to do some more research.


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## magpie (Jan 3, 2009)

I agree with all of Pleccys points 

Also, I hate to say it, but I don't think your tank is really big enough to keep the red-tailed shark that you already have...
I remember asking around about sharks, coz my sister wanted one for her tank (90 litres) and I was told by everyone I spoke to that the tank was too small for _any_ type of shark 

And do you know what type of catfish you have? I believe some of them get very big too, and alot of the smaller varieties are better off in groups...

Still, glad you're happy with the tropical tank after the hassle you had with marine!


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## SteveLawrence (May 4, 2009)

Yes , 

They are definatly not to be listened to at oasis . Definately money grabers . The shark jumped out of the tank and the little fish is sick . Ammonium is still high so water changes in order but no more live stock for a while . I hate killing things because of others inconsiderate advises and money hungry attitudes . Hes lying on his side puffing away . No hes died . Poor little penny. The other 3 are really healthy but this one was no bigger that a 2 pence piece . I dont no whether to do another water change today or wait untill toomorrow to get the ammonium down. 


If the cat fish dies or anymore really thats the end of it for me . Its not right . 

Not sure what the cat fish is , but its brown with black spots and has a sucker mouth . 

ITS SLOWLY SLOWLY FROM HERE ON but they they just do not give you any good advise at all and i would not recommend oasis to anybody under any circumstances because its upsetting to loose live things everyday nearly since they first advised me . A death almost everyday is only good for their pocket . 

Iam going to find another aquarium to do business with , This ones a highly inconsiderate nightmare 

Where can you get cheap test kits . This one was £49.00 ? 


I am going to be testing a lot in the next few weeks I guess. 


Steve


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## magpie (Jan 3, 2009)

SteveLawrence said:


> Where can you get cheap test kits . This one was £49.00 ?


I use the API master test kit - you can get it for about £28 at most lfs, or just under £20 on ebay 

API Freshwater Master Test Kit Aquarium Test Kit on eBay (end time 20-Jul-09 14:45:24 BST)


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## shortbackandsides (Aug 28, 2008)

your algae eater sounds like a common plec these can grow very big and when they do they make a lot of mess!


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## SteveLawrence (May 4, 2009)

I thought it looked like a plec . I am really not happy with these ratbags . You go in and all you here is this guy down stairs singing out OH yes get him to spend all his money . Thats what we what spend all your money . 

I though how rude , but its true thats all their interested in and their quick at stinging you as well. 

Ill keep the monstor and see what happens to the rest. 

I bought it to cheer myself up a bit and its a continuos OASIS tragedy. Even the rescue guy who came out took £20 worth of live rock with him and my charcaol filter bag , charged me £65 and then I hear through the store that his thrown it all out UNLIKELY 

How to build customer relationships ???? KILL EM as soon as they walk through the door.


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## Rhiannan (Jun 16, 2009)

Why have you got fish in there already? Like I said in my last message to you, tropical tanks need to cycle too and you cannot put ANY fish in there for a few weeks. 
I'm afraid you have done exactly the same thing you did with the marine tank, the poor fish will be suffering from amonia burns 

Have you read up on keeping a fish tank? I'm sorry to seem so blunt but it appears you have not read up on this hobby at all and made the same mistake twice.


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## SteveLawrence (May 4, 2009)

I know that Rhiannan , but they are so the opposite with their advises at Oasis , . They have said you need fish in the tank for the cycle to take its course . 

I have had to do another full tank water change which involved heating each bucket of the water to the right tempreture so the fish could be put back in and also the declorinator mixed prior . 

If I loose all the fish which I do really find very very distrurbing because I hate killing inocent things as a result of negligence . Ill have to become a medical researcher I think and start conducting medical trials. But I stuck between this beleivable forum and their unbeliveable advises. 


I have never had a fish tanl and plecky was right in thre first place but he though they were good at Oasis , so I listened to them . 

I am stuck in this situation now only having the one tank , So it will be continuous water changes which could kill all the bacteria anyway so the cycle may never happen untill all the fish are dead . 

I cant tell you just how upseting it is and how the is tank has taken over my entire life . Its like a Parexel disaster in my living room born of financially driven abuses .


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## Rhiannan (Jun 16, 2009)

Take the fish back to the shop, exchange them for a book on aquariums and how to set one up.

You are right the water changes are only setting back the cycle process. You do not need ot have fish in the tank to cycle it at all, that is rubbish. You can either sprinkle in a tiny bit of fish food to start the cycle or buy a bottle of Cycle Start. Then after a few weeks you should see that the ammonia and Nitrite have gone to zero and the Nitrate is rising. This means there is now the right bacteria present in the filter to control the waste.

I'm surprised you trusted the shop after the advise they gave you with the marine tank. Please read some indepentant information on the internet about how to cycle an aquarium, you'll find they are easy to keep if you don't chuck them in to poisonous water.

So, take the fish back before they die, have nothing in your tank at all for a month. Do not do any water changes, just have it there and forget about it. Then after a month test the water and see if it is right. If you want you can post your readings on here and we can tell you if it's ready for your first couple of fish.


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