The Dempsey\'s & Co.

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NINJAWIZARD

New member
@darthfoley: Do you use this? It\'s for canister filters (probably not with a 20g tank, but thought I\'d ask).

img3038658.jpg


This really helps keep the ammonia levels down. I also use a water conditioner called Prime. Little red dropper bottle, with a flip top. Removes Nitrites, chlorine, chloramines and detoxifies ammonia and nitrates. Good stuff.
 
Sand Rat

Sand Rat

New member
Crap - now I remember the way the cycle works -

Week 1 Clean Water + Dirty Fish = Ammonia

Week 2 Ammonia Eating bacteria arrive

Week 3 - Ammonia becomes Nitrates and Nitrites, stressing fish further

Week 4 - Nitrate and Nitrite eating bacteria arrive,

Week 5 - everyone is happy:D

Personally I recommend hang on the back of the tank type filters that you make your own filter bags for - that way you can personalize the charcoal and nitrate/nitrite remover levels.
 
T

TAB Studio

New member
I love my Oscar he is the best dog in the house. He might as well be one, Tiger Oscar he is and about 8 inches long now had him since a fry.
I am funny to mention it looking on Craig\'s list for a 100-200 gallon tank for Oscar, Did you have really crappy luck through Craig\'s list or what.
I had had salt water for the bulk of my twenty\'s and after becoming pregnant with Stefen had to give it up for cost sake.
Great hobby my son wants the thirty gallon I have now and has decided his first dream is a J. Dempsey. after reading this I worry it will be like having a second Oscar
 
B

Bill

New member
Here\'s a great site with some good info on the nitrogen cycle and other stuff: http://www.fishlore.com/. Also, Darthfoley, it might have been an internal bacterial infection spreading and killing the fish - often has no visible symptoms, or very little, and 14 of my fish died from that. Once the tank is cycled, do a 25% water change every week to try and keep nitrates (the end product) below 20. You shouldn\'t have any nitrites or ammonia at all if you\'re adding fish right once it\'s cycled. Live plants in the tank will help.

Nice Dempseys, Ninjawizard! Beautiful fish. A bit big for me though lol I\'m starting a sanzon-iwagumi style nano tank to keep a freshwater dwarf puffer in. My second tank, I\'m really excited! :D
 
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DrEvilmonki

Active member
Originally posted by steelcult
Crap - now I remember the way the cycle works -

Week 1 Clean Water + Dirty Fish = Ammonia

Week 2 Ammonia Eating bacteria arrive

Week 3 - Ammonia becomes Nitrates and Nitrites, stressing fish further

Week 4 - Nitrate and Nitrite eating bacteria arrive,

Week 5 - everyone is happy:D

Personally I recommend hang on the back of the tank type filters that you make your own filter bags for - that way you can personalize the charcoal and nitrate/nitrite remover levels.
Click to expand...

Close but not quite.
The amount of time a cycle takes varies considerably (11 weeks once when cycling a marine system - only for my 2 year old to tuen off the filter).

Fish waste produces ammonia - highly toxic (and the higher your pH the more toxic it becomes as in lower pH it\'s less toxic ionized form is predominant)

Nitrifying bacteria turn ammonia into nitrite which is still lethal to fish but less so than ammonia

Nitirite is then reduced to Nitrate which is relatively harmless to freshwater fish.



Guppies prefer a highish carbonate hardness (around 8-10) and as most treated town supply has a carbonate hardness of 0 or 1 you should get a kH test kit.

Having said that 90% of issues in fish tanks is from overfeeding. If you are feeding more than once a day you are more likely than not overdoing it. Personally my fish don\'t get fed more than once every 3 days and I have gone away for 2 weeks with no loss of fish at all (although my plants had certainly provided some sustenance)
 
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darthfoley

Active member
I have used a product called Cycle every time I add fish - this is supposed to be one of those bacterial agents to help the ammonia cycle along.

Haven\'t used any of the tablets or anything of that sort, though.

We do have some pH testing strips, which have never given me any result that looked out of place. Our water is harder than the average from what I can tell.
 
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DrEvilmonki

Active member
Originally posted by darthfoley
I have used a product called Cycle every time I add fish - this is supposed to be one of those bacterial agents to help the ammonia cycle along.

Haven\'t used any of the tablets or anything of that sort, though.

We do have some pH testing strips, which have never given me any result that looked out of place. Our water is harder than the average from what I can tell.
Click to expand...

To be perfectly honest I have never used a bacterial additive to any tank I have owned. While the amount of bacteria they claim may sound impressive, when compared to the size of bacterial colonies in a healthy filter system they don\'t add much benefit over all to your tank.

If you are talking about strips you dip in the water for your pH test then I would highly recommend getting a liquid test as the strips really aren\'t particularly helpful.

Also when testing for pH make sure you test in the morning and at night. That will give you a pH range for your tank.

Unless you are either adding a hardness boaster of you have one of the gravel types which add to your hardness it would pay to get your kH tested (most GOOD aquarium stores will test it for you). BUT if you take a water sample to a shop so it half way through your water change cycle, fill the container up to the lid and test it within an hour of bottling it.
 
Sand Rat

Sand Rat

New member
Thanks for the correction DrE - been a while since my tanks were up and running. And yes, I am a firm believer in over filtration.

Just thought of something else DF - what kind of gravel are you using, and do you have any large lumps of coral in your tank?
 
N

NINJAWIZARD

New member
Originally posted by TAB Studio
I love my Oscar he is the best dog in the house. He might as well be one, Tiger Oscar he is and about 8 inches long now had him since a fry.
I am funny to mention it looking on Craig\'s list for a 100-200 gallon tank for Oscar, Did you have really crappy luck through Craig\'s list or what.
I had had salt water for the bulk of my twenty\'s and after becoming pregnant with Stefen had to give it up for cost sake.
Great hobby my son wants the thirty gallon I have now and has decided his first dream is a J. Dempsey. after reading this I worry it will be like having a second Oscar
Click to expand...

I didn\'t have BAD luck through Craigslist, I just guess you get what you pay for. The first tank I bought, that had all the saltwater stuff, I paid $150 for everything, including fish and live sand, 55g tank. Had some scratches that really showed up under the metal halides, but not under the original hoods it came with.
Second 55g I got came with a $150 canister filter. Paid $60 for the tank and filter. Tank is 1/2\" glass, heavy as heck, but has some dings and deep scratches in a few spots.

I just figured it was time to get a new tank, and could justify spending $180 on one.

I added 2 more J.Dempsey\'s last night, for a total of 4. Once I get a mating pair, I\'ll remove the other two, keep my pink convict dither, and start hatching some fry :)

Your son has good taste! They won\'t be like a 2nd Oscar, either. They\'re a bit smarter than Oscars. lol
Not to mention a bit more colorful :)
 
Sand Rat

Sand Rat

New member
Hey - there is nothing wrong with the smarts of an Oscar - we had an albino one at the pet store that would not sell - until I figured out you could pet it like a dog. It sold that afternoon.lol
 
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NINJAWIZARD

New member
Heh, Oscar\'s are cool, don\'t get me wrong. They always remind me of Biff, from Back to the Future. The big bully, who just happens to be a little slower upstairs than the rest of the class.
 
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DrEvilmonki

Active member
You can run a salt water system pretty cheaply, just have to be aware of stocking levels and types of corals you can use.

Get one of the newer complete tanks with the filter in the lid with PL lights. I will try to remember to take some pictures when I visit my aquarium shops next week, they have had a 75 litre system going in both of their stores for the last two years. Nothing exotic in them but great tanks for beginners and pretty cheap.
 
Sand Rat

Sand Rat

New member
Originally posted by NINJAWIZARD
Heh, Oscar\'s are cool, don\'t get me wrong. They always remind me of Biff, from Back to the Future. The big bully, who just happens to be a little slower upstairs than the rest of the class.
Click to expand...

True - but at least they\'re smarter than Pirahna
 
N

NINJAWIZARD

New member
Originally posted by steelcult
Originally posted by NINJAWIZARD
Heh, Oscar\'s are cool, don\'t get me wrong. They always remind me of Biff, from Back to the Future. The big bully, who just happens to be a little slower upstairs than the rest of the class.
Click to expand...

True - but at least they\'re smarter than Pirahna
Click to expand...

Cuter, too! Which isn\'t saying much :D
 
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