# Got another tnk :)



## sondre (Jun 1, 2011)

Last night when we went to pets shop to buy our new fish , taxi driver offered to give me his tank for free , cos they didnt want it anymore !

I never planned to have another tank,cos we dont have space , but because its FREE,i couldnt say no ! He even delivered it to my door this evening .

The tank is 55 x 50 x 41 cm , about 100 litres , came with gravel,decorations,lights,filter,heater and even stand ! 

It does need a good clean , looks like it hasnt been cleaned for ages !

*** How do i get rid of water marks ? looks like limescale , can i use limescale remover that i use for taps and sink ?


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## Pigeonfish (Jun 23, 2011)

sondre said:


> *** How do i get rid of water marks ? looks like limescale , can i use limescale remover that i use for taps and sink ?


Nononononononono. That will harm your fishies :3

Use a half water half vinegar solution n scrub it a bit, and if it doesn't come off use a razor blade to scrape it off.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

You can go 100% distilled vinegar if you need to.


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## sondre (Jun 1, 2011)

Ok,thank you guys  Will try to lean it tomorrow , got to go to work now ...


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## FAIRCHILD (Jun 30, 2011)

jrman83 said:


> You can go 100% distilled vinegar if you need to.


Just did the same to a new tank I aquired. Good advice!


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

Congrats on the new tank! LOL, no one has room for more tanks.... but you always find more room! Admit it, you are addicted!


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## sondre (Jun 1, 2011)

holly12 said:


> Congrats on the new tank! LOL, no one has room for more tanks.... but you always find more room! Admit it, you are addicted!


haha,i will be getting rid of computer table ....


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## sondre (Jun 1, 2011)

The light unit (not bulbs) is not working on this tank .... 

Replacement costs £60-£70 !!!!

I dont want to pay that kind of money , because i was never going to buy another tank,but as it was given to me free, i couldnt say no .

The tank is Juwel Lido 100 : JUWEL Aquarium Homepage

And the hood is made out of 3 parts , in a middle goes light unit , and then 2 flip lids :
Juwel Replacement Lido 100 Multilux T5 Light Unit 2 x 24w 55cm [4022573463552] - £65.80 : ArkPetsOnline.co.uk

I found some light unis on ebay : INTERPET 15watt Light Unit GWO on eBay (end time 26-Jul-11 20:44:59 BST)

Has anyone used them ? how would i attach them to the hood ? 

Or if i cant get the lights working , would fish be ok without light ? i know plants need light,but do fish need it ?

Thanks


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## PapaM (Jul 10, 2011)

I don't see many light hoods over the rivers,lakes, and seas, just sunlight. Indirect lighting should be ok for the fish.


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

Just research some fish that like more ambient light... there are a lot of them. (For example, Chili Rasboras and Gouramis like floating plants because they block out light).


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## sondre (Jun 1, 2011)

So in the end i decided to spend nearly £100 on a new light unit and bulbs . 
This one will be t5 unit and will have 2 x 24w bulbs in it . How is that for plants in 100 litre aquarium ? low? medium ? high ? 

Now i have seen "light reflectors" under £10 on ebay,which should give more light to the tank , would anyone recommend these ? are they really as usefull as it sounds ? i dont mind spending another £10 on it if it really is usefull


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

If the light is T5HO, it could be considered high light and you may need to elevate it off the tank some. Do you have a link to the light you got?


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

I'd say high light.... and since you have 2 of them... yeah... high light... like Ben said, may have to have them hang above the tank... or have a stand for them to be above the tank.

Bonus: you can have colourful plants!


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## sondre (Jun 1, 2011)

Thank you guys for replies,this is the light unit that i bought :
Juwel High-Lite 2 x 24w Light Unit 55cm  - 47755 - AquariumSuperstore - The UK's Leading Online Aquatic Retailer

and these are bulbs for it : 
http://www.iquaticsonline.co.uk/ind...ategory_id=41&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=53

oh no ... only got t5 light unit because i read its better than t8 ... Why do they need to be above the tank ?


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

T5 is indeed better than T8.You could get away with not being above(many fixtures of T5 have legs to elevate it a little)If you cut the lighting period down some,and have some plants that really enjoy lighting.

That being said,thats a very nice tank for free!You must post some pics of it when it gets setup.Any thought on what type of fishes you will be placing in there?


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## sondre (Jun 1, 2011)

Thank you 

But what harm could it do ? Whats the reason for it to be hanged above the tank ?

I havent decided what i am going to keep in it,need to cycle it first,but was thinking bigger fish,in my other tank ( kids tank really) we got 7 neon tetras , but they are too small,keep getting stuck behind a filter,thats how 3 of them died


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

Too much light without CO2 and ferts can cause an algae bloom.Everything about a planted tank is about balance.

The reason low light setups work as well as they do,is with the small amount of light,then the needs for certain minerials and carbon are small as well,letting the fish respiring take care of the CO2 needs and the poo and waterchanges handle the minerials and ferts.If you increase the lighting significantly then you will need to also increase other aspects.

Hanging it above the tank will make the light less intense,and therefore you wont need as much of the other things to keep algae down,and still get some nice growth.

You can do DIY CO2 with some yeast and sugar water.Your tank is small enough.The addition of some liquid ferts will help as well.


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## sondre (Jun 1, 2011)

Thank you so much for very usefull information ... 

I do use liquid ferts and root tabs in my other tank , so i will use them in this new tank aswell .

Would bubble wall/airstone be enough ?do they actually have any benefits or just looks good ?
i really havent got space to put this bottle of diy CO2 .

Starting to think i made a mistake by ordering this t5 unit,should i exchange it for normal t8 unit & 2x15w bulbs ?

And one more question i need help with , what do you guys do with carpeting plants ? i mean how do you clean/vacum gravel ? I would love to have carpeting plants , cos i think it would look cool,just dont understand how would i have to clean gravel ?


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

I dont gravel vac my tanks.The plants enjoy the mulm.

Airstones are helpful to add oxygen,useful mostly at night from what I understand,when the plants are using oxygen.

As far as a DIY system,a two litre bottle will work fine.I use the ocean spray cranberry bottles,they are the three litre bottles.They fit very easily under the stand beside the canister filter.

I would keep the light you ordered.It will not be that hard to get it set right.If you see algae growth,just cut 30 minutes of the lighting period off,and see how that does.If you see no results after another month,take 30 more off the lighting period until you get it balanced.You may one day decide to go with a nice CO2 setup and will already have the lights to do so.


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

sondre said:


> Last night when we went to pets shop to buy our new fish , taxi driver offered to give me his tank for free , cos they didnt want it anymore !
> 
> I never planned to have another tank,cos we dont have space , but because its FREE,i couldnt say no ! He even delivered it to my door this evening .
> 
> ...


Danger will robinson

danger will robinson.

(or sondre)

MTS


(multiple tank syndrome).

For the heard water marks I just soak the tank and they usually just peal right off. Some us vinegar as well.

for glass tank single edge razor blades do a good job. but will scratch acrylic tanks. With those you may want to try old credit cards or other thin plastic things. 

Best of luck

my .02


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

Nah, you don't need to exchange the lights. T5's are better. Just maybe cut the time they are on during the day a little bit if you are noticing that you are growing algae. Problem solved. (If you are handy, build yourself a stand for them to be up on - if not, I'm sure you will be fine.)


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm


I wonder if MTS now stands for 

multiple tank Sondre

*old dude


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

^ Hahahaha! YES!!! 

If people (*cough cough - Bev, Jordan, Ben and Rob......) are going to dub an extended cycle or a difficult cycle a "Holly", then yes, MTS should stand for "Multiple Tank Sondre!!!

 (We loooove you Sondreeeee!)


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## sondre (Jun 1, 2011)

haha MTS  

that limescale i managed to get off with razor , so thats all sorted now.

And no,i cant do any of my own stands , i cant even hang a picture on the wall without making a complete mess ! I am not good at DIY stuff .

I will have a good search on youtube about these CO2 systems .

And THANK YOU ALL AGAIN for your replies


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

As stated before, if you can't build or buy a stand, just keep an eye out for algae. If you notice it building up, shorten the time the lights are on. You'll be aaaalright!


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

holly12 said:


> ^ Hahahaha! YES!!!
> 
> If people (*cough cough - Bev, Jordan, Ben and Rob......) are going to dub an extended cycle or a difficult cycle a "Holly", then yes, MTS should stand for "Multiple Tank Sondre!!!
> 
> (We loooove you Sondreeeee!)


either is better then what they used to call me on other boards. *old dude


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## sondre (Jun 1, 2011)

What they used to call you ? 

Oh,yeah,i remember you mentioned before that you got banned for something silly ( was it because you dont use filters and dont do water changes???? )


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

Yeah, why did you get banned from so many forums? (You rebel you!)


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

sondre said:


> What they used to call you ?
> 
> Oh,yeah,i remember you mentioned before that you got banned for something silly ( was it because you dont use filters and dont do water changes???? )


yep and more. *old dude



holly12 said:


> Yeah, why did you get banned from so many forums? (You rebel you!)


Probably because of my inmature posting method.

Back in 2003 on the saltwater forums the main in vogue method was deep sea beds (DSBs). Which didn't make any sense to me. As I thought about things I was able to eventually understand why they didn't make any sense. Then a few years later reports of DSB tanks crashing especially after 4-5 years started surfacing. Since then there is more emphasis on algae filtrations. Which is what I was advocating all along.

But meanwhile think of how someone with a large reef tank felt after spending literally $10,000's and I would post someone should add $5 of macro algae. Not to mention using landscape rocks, tap water, no skimmer, normal output shop lights, common play sand, no water changes and so on.

It got especially vicious as I was better able to explain why these things work.

And I also learned about some of the dosing I would have to do so part was my ignorance also.

One newbie on another board started this thread to give you some idea.


HAIL beaslbob..... [Archive] - Reef Central Online Community Archives

So it was basically the planted tank ideas which offended so much.

fast forward to today and this forum instead of being called experimental, dangerous and so on. This forum now has the beaslbob build which I find very rewarding as lotsa people try these techinques and see that they work.

Awwwwwww ancient history. *r2

worth not even .02


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

Give yourself some credit,beasl.Ya know we love you too of course.Thats one thing I love about this forum.People bring ideas over and dont get criticized for it.


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

majerah1 said:


> Give yourself some credit,beasl.Ya know we love you too of course.Thats one thing I love about this forum.People bring ideas over and dont get criticized for it.


+1


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## Pigeonfish (Jun 23, 2011)

I really will change my title to beaslbob believer if my tank turns out a success. *r2


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

I can't believe that! It's YOUR opinion and what works for YOU! You were just trying to give people another option! That's nuts! Sheesh - I'm glad people don't get banned from this site for trying to help others by bringing new ideas into the mix!

Well, it's their loss Beaslbob, and now you're aaaaaallllll ours!!!


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## sondre (Jun 1, 2011)

Guys can you please help me with what fish i could add in this tank ?

I want fewer but bigger (when they are adults) fish . 
What are the biggest fish i could keep in this tank. 
By biggest i mean when they will be adults as i am not planning to buy another tank . 
So if i buy small babies i dont have to worry about what i am going to do with it in couple years when they get too big.
In my other tank(54 litre) i got 7 neon tetras,and they are stupid small fish,which keeps getting stuck behind a filter,now i wish i had only 2-3 bigger,calmer fish instead of these.
The reason i ask you guys,is because i know i will get best recomendations that i wouldnt get in a local pet / fish shop.
I dont really want to have 20-30 small fish,i just want to have 2-5 bigger fish.


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