We hope that you will find them of value but we can't guarantee success - there are just too many variables in fishkeeping (especially if there's a vital fact you omitted to tell us in the first place!)
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First of all you must understand that whilst a certain amount of hardware is necessary, the u/g filter isn't a case of fitting a filter box under the substrate. The 'filtration' it offers is more a purification process than a store-the-dirt-in-a-box idea.
All the hardware does is maintain a current of water to travel through the gravel (both upward and downward systems are possible). The oxygen in this current of water sustains colonies of bacteria which, in succession, convert toxic ammonia first into even less toxic nitrite, then into nitrate.
Many freshwater aquarists feel that such systems adversely affect plant growth but, for many years, in marine aquariums where aquatic plants are few, this was the recommended method of keeping ammonia-based compounds down to a minimum. In recent years, the advent of Living Rock coupled with protein skimming has made the undergravel filter system redundant and the need for deep substrates.
First of all have a look at a reply (below) to an earlier enquiry
Now to your particular situation.
Using cement is not a good idea due to the amount of lime that leaches out into the water. Sealing any 'cement boot' you might make for your wood would also be difficult and, also, how would you hide the join between wood and cement so that it was not obvious in what sounds might turn out to be a fantastically furnished tank?
There are a couple of practical options to prevent your wood floating.
If your tank is not too completely furnished and if you can clear away some of the substrate then try this: find a piece of flat sheet (plastic, perspex, dual-wall polycarbonate or a piece of slate) which can fit across the base of the aquarium and attach it to the base of your piece of wood either with aquarium sealant or plastic screws.
Lay the sheet on the bottom of the tank, holding the wood down, and re-cover the plate with substrate material. If the plate projects long enough away from the wood then you could even stand a rock on the substrate to add more down-force.
Obviously this will give the effect of the wood being semi-buried in the substrate. If you don't want to bury it too far then another trick is to tie a plastic tube or bottles to the back of the wood (nylon fishing line is invisible underwater). Fill the tube or bottle with substrate, and this weight will also hold the wood down.
Alternatively, trying jamming the top end of the wood (if it's tall enough) under one of the glass shelves running around the tank, or, site the wood up one end of the tank so that any branches of the wood touch the side and/or the rear glass and silicone seal these contact points against the glass (you should be able to razor-blade them off should you need to do so in the future).
Hope it works out well. PREVIOUS NEXT
Holes in fins can be due to several causes.
One often unsuspected cause is not due to disease at all, but other occupants of the tank.
Some fish have a habit of biting the fins of resting fish, usually overnight.
The Yellow Tetra , Hyphessobrycon bifasciatus ; is a good example of this and many a Corydoras catfish has awoken to find its fins have been attacked. Large Suckermouth Catfish are obviously at risk.
Damaged fins can also be due to fighting amongst fish, but these splits usually regenerate quite quickly. Where they do not do so, and if they develop fungus growths on the splits, then water quality should be examined. 'Fin Rot' is not a disease in itself but a secondary one, where infection has been encouraged by poor water conditions.
A proper diet is very important in maintaining the fish's immune system; if by 'sucker cleaning fish' you mean an algae eating species, then it is important that they are provided a suitable diet containing vegetable matter. They most certainly need this once they've done the job of cleaning up your aquarium. PREVIOUS NEXT
The bad news is 'no!' There is always something in the water that feeds algae, usually nitrates, phosphates etc. So, one theoretically possible way of killing off algae - by removing all fish and any other waterborne life you can catch from the pond and letting it 'lie fallow' for a period of time - isn't possible at all. Algae can be introduced into a pond by any visiting animal or by airborne spores, as well as by new fish or plant stock. Once in the pond, algae loves to feed on nutrients built up by over feeding.
If you want to prove this existence of algal life in a so-called 'lifeless' environment, just place a jar of tap water on a sunny window sill for a few days and just see how quickly the green water develops!
You can clear green water by using an ultra-violet lamp in conjunction with a pond filter. The green stringy Blanketweed algae is best controlled by regular physical removal or by using Barley Straw.
Check out Greenwater & Blanketweed Problems HERE PREVIOUS NEXT
Whilst we have had several enquiries about the dangers of water dripping from tannalised timber into ponds, I don't think we've ever heard of any fish fatalities in this respect. However, better to be safe than sorry.
The most popular sealant for ponds is a product called G4. According to its description:
'G4 is a single part air drying polyurethane finish which is used on rendered surfaces in order to seal out lime and provide a gloss or satin finish to pond walls and floor. It is simple to apply with brush or roller and is normally applied in two or three coats. 2nd and subsequent coats must be applied whilst the previous coat is still tacky. When using coloured G4, use two coats of clear followed by two coats of colour to provide the necessary depth of colour. Should only be applied to clean, dry surfaces.'
Naturally, you will be more interested in the 'clear' version than the coloured. As your requirement is for 'above water' as opposed to sealing underwater cement-rendered pond walls, you may be able to get away with less than three coats.
G4 is usually available from aquatic dealers in garden centres. PREVIOUS NEXT
I have problems with Whitespot invading my reef tank. Water tests are OK and I have tried various treatments but to no avail. I have lost half my current stock please help.
Like tropical freshwater aquariums, the marine aquarium can also suffer from a similar disease to White Spot usually called 'Marine Ich' or Cryptocaryon irritans. There is also a very similar disease, 'Velvet', Amyloodinium ocellatum which has smaller spots.
The real main problem in your case lies in the words 'reef tank' as the normally effective cures against these diseases cannot be used safely, as any invertebrate life is at risk from copper-based remedies. This means that any infected fish has to be treated in a separate tank so that copper-based remedies can be used.
The ideal solution would be to transfer all the fish to a suitably-sized aquarium (in which all the water conditions are the same as your present tank) and treat all the fish together. Keep them in this tank for at least two weeks after all trace of the disease has gone before moving them back into the reef tank again. Some people suggest that lowering the Specific Gravity slightly in the treatment tank helps defeat the parasites.
It is possible that any remaining free-swimming stages of the disease (both Marine Ich and Velvet have these stages) could be killed off by using an ultra-violet sterilizer on the reef tank whilst the fish are being treated separately elsewhere. Leaving the reef tank 'fish-less' for a month or so could also ensure that there any remaining parasites die off without any host fish to prey on.
However, whilst a successful remedy is to be hoped for, causes of the infection should be examined. In this 'instant world' too many people disregard the value of quarantining new stock and, sadly, their fish learn the hard way. PREVIOUS NEXT
Norma
Unless the faeces are long, slimy with intermittently clear sections, it sounds as though your Plec's having a great time with a wonderful diet!
Certainly a different 'complaint'. Let's hope the aquatic plants benefit from the regular mulchings. Anyone else care to comment?
Mine poops all the time. Diet is varied, tank is clean.
What is wrong with
him?
We trust your 'varied diet' includes vegetable matter - some folk leave pieces of potato or courgettes etc in the tank for the Plecs to graze on. Many suckermouth type Catfishes also will munch away at bogwood.
I have built a small pond in my garden, and I have also planted some plants.
When is the best time to buy my Goldfish and put them in the pond?
Should I wait until the Spring or can I buy them now?
Thank you for your help.
Margaret J.
It really depends on two things - how impatient you are to get things going or how the fish are currently being kept at where you intend getting them from.
For instance, if the fish are normally kept outside at, say, the garden centre's aquatic area then they should not feel too stressed at being moved to a similar 'climate' albeit in another pond. Bear in mind that at this time of year, pond fish are generally quite lethargic and appear to be less active than usual. At this time too they will be at their most prone to stress and less able to counteract any disease that may strike. After the Spring temperatures arrive and the fish 'wake up' from their winter time rest, their immune system kicks in and they can tolerate being moved much better.
However, if the fish are being offered for sale from indoor ponds or tanks then it might be better to wait until the outside temperatures warm up a little.
In the meantime, the water conditions in your new pond will be becoming stabilised although the plants will not be doing too much until two or three months have passed.
On balance, give it a little more time. Perhaps curbing your impatience might be coupled with a little reading up on how to care properly for your fish. Incidentally, when you do get around to getting fish, don't be tempted to buy those varieties that have over-exaggerated fins such as Orandas, Lionheads, Pearlscales etc as these varieties are more suited to an indoor aquarium life. Fish such as Shubunkins, Common Goldfish and Comets are all hardy and well suited to outdoor culture. If you have any further queries on fish or pond care, feel free to ask! PREVIOUS NEXT
Upon reading some articles from your website I have found Tropical Freshwater fish to suit my requirements best, and was wondering if you could offer advice as to the exact species (and their requirements) you think I should look at. I will only proceed in buying fish and aquarium if I have all the information I can get as I am serious about this idea. As for the aquarium I have no problem with spending money to get a good one; an article on your site mentions that ready-built aquariums can be purchased. Also, and most importantly, I am aware that fish need a certain amount of space in which to live and so was hoping you could advise me on the number of fish to get depending on the size of the aquarium.
Helen
To answer some of your questions, there are no hard and fast rules for stocking levels of fish in a tank - so much depends on the species of fish you are keeping, the size of the individual fish, how much growing they still have to do, the quality and the type of filtration you have, the water temperature and chemistry plus a lot of other variables but, as a general rule, you could reasonably stock about 2.5cm of fish (body length excluding tail) for each 75 square cm of surface area (it does not matter how deep a tank is, it is always the area of the water surface that determines how many fish can be safely kept in it).
A good size tank to start off with is probably one about two to three feet long (60cm to 1 metre) by a foot (30cm) wide. There are several types of fish which would be suitable to start off with but, for ease of keeping and breeding, you would probably be best off with some of the more common livebearers.
Guppies, Platies or Swordtails for instance are all colourful, relatively easy to keep and to breed. All these species give birth to live young instead of laying eggs. Whatever you choose to keep, the most important things are that you do not purchase anything that will grow too large for your tank (all the above mentioned fish only grow to between 2.5 and 6 or 7 centimetres and so are fine) and that you do not purchase anything that is likely to swim around your tank eating all your other fish! The shopkeeper that you purchase your fish from should be able to help you in this regard.
Whatever you do, do not fully stock your tank in one go. Set it up with heater, filter, lights, etc and leave it for a week or two (adding any plants you may wish to after a few days). This will give the water and the filter a chance to mature. After this time, add a couple of fish but no more. You can then gradually add more fish, up to the number you have decided upon, week by week. This will give the filter a chance to mature and cope with the extra work it will have to do in extracting the poisonous chemicals excreted by the fish.
A filter does not just work by taking out the solid waste from the fish, colonies of friendly bacteria build up in the filter and they take care of the chemical waste from the fish (mainly ammonia) by converting it to nitrites and then into relatively harmless nitrates. Because of this, whenever you do a water change only change about a third of the water and, if you are cleaning the filter at the same time, clean it only in the water that you are throwing away. The chlorine in fresh tap water will kill off all these friendly bacteria in the filter. When you replace the water you have taken out, use only water that has stood in a bucket for 24 hours or water that you have treated with a good aquarium de-chlorinator.
Remember also, that if you intend to breed your fish, you will need room for the youngsters, preferably a second, smaller tank, at least until they have grown sufficiently to survive in the main tank (most species of fish will eat the eggs and the fry when they are small).
It would be a good idea for you to join a local club if there is one near you. If you go along to their meetings there will be people there who will be able to give you good advice as you set up your tank and start to keep your fish. If you wish to do so, let me know the area you live in and I will try to locate your nearest Club and put you in touch with them.
Good luck with your endeavour and with your D of E Award. PREVIOUS NEXT
My 320 litre tank is currently freshwater but I am targeting a 1.005 salinity content. How much salt do I add to achieve this?
Randy
I would suggest about 1 - 1.5 teaspoons of a good synthetic sea salt per gallon (4.5 litres) but I would have doubts as to whether your Jewel Cichlids, Jack Dempseys or your Plecostomus would enjoy salt in the water. It might be worth considering a separate tank for your Puffers, Archerfish and possibly your Bumble Bee Gobies if you have enough space.
Good luck with your brackish water fishes. PREVIOUS NEXT
I do like Les Pearce's attitude to Goldfish because I think exactly the same about them. I've kept them for many years and whenever they've got too many I've dug a larger pool. After being a widow for 5 years I remarried a diver who loves fish but has so far dug out 3 ponds. Now we're retiring to France and I'm insisting on taking my fish with me which means he's got to start digging again and it's giving him a lot of stress thinking about it, plus the fact that we've got to transport them, although I have found a removal company who will do it and I've said we'll hire a digger.
I'm a vegetarian and believe that all life is precious (including fish, which most people think is mad) and I'm afraid to sell them to anyone else because I'm not certain they'd be as well looked after as they are with me. I always insist on a cover to stop herons getting them, I don't feed them in winter, unless it's wheatgerm, etc. etc. and I can't really give anyone a list like that when they take the fish. I have about 250 Goldfish and 3 baby Koi.
The thing is, I've been told by DEFRA that if I take them to France I can never bring them back so that means if we don't like living there and want to come back I will have to do something with them before we come back, and I'm probably less likely to find someone there than I am in the UK. This combined with the fact that eventually when I pop my clogs someone is going to have the bother of re-homing them, I think it's time I found them a home now. Can you give me any advice please?
Hazel Whitehurst
Thank you for your email and for your kind comments. You certainly seem to put a lot of time and effort into looking after your goldfish properly. I am not sure I am able to help with such a large number of fish but, if you wish to re-home them, the best suggestion I can make is to donate them to a large public aquarium or water garden such as Stapley Water Gardens in Cheshire. I do not know whereabouts in the country you are but there is probably somewhere near to you who would give them a good home. They will probably not want to give you anything for them but you would be safe in the knowledge that they are being looked after by someone who should know what they are doing.
I do know that DEFRA are clamping down on the importing of non-native coldwater species and with very good reasons. Although probably not the case with your own fish, it is quite possible to introduce diseases which could potentially wipe out or seriously deplete our own native species. Some foreign coldwater species could also prey on our own species or occupy their habitat and this, of course, is both undesirable and very detrimental to our native species. Again, I am sure that this would not apply to your own fish but I feel certain that DEFRA will not be able to make exceptions. Good luck with your move. PREVIOUS NEXT
Tina Mason
Yes, they are indeed black when they are young. This is quite normal and, as they get older and larger, they will begin to colour up. Some will develop the same colour as their parents (presumably gold or gold and white), some will turn an olive green colour and will stay that colour. This is a natural reversion to the wild form, the gold colour being selectively bred over many generations.
Depending on the parents, some may develop into nacreous fish which means colouration similar to what you may be familiar with as Shubunkins. The parents will eat both the eggs and the small fish so, depending on the size of your pond and how many hiding places there are in it (such as plants, rockwork etc) will depend on the survival rate of your youngsters.
You will certainly have already lost a great number of them both as eggs and, later, as fry. Those that you still have, if they are large enough to see properly, are probably the survivors.
I hope this answers your question, please do not hesitate to ask if you wish to know any more. PREVIOUS NEXT
Have any experiments been done on the survival of 'living rock' in Tanganyika water, would any of the algae survive or would it just die and pollute the tank? Caribsea aragonite supplies water with numerous minerals suitable for marine fish and all of my fish are thriving in what seems close to sea water. I know salinity and all that come into the equation, but I would be very grateful for any information you could tell me.
Paul
At first glance, your argument seems quite logical for trying living rock in your African Cichlid setups - after all, both sea-water and the Lake waters have a high pH and mineral content. Certainly the aragonite substrate does much to maintain high calcium levels and buffer the pH to a certain degree too.
However, living rock is cultured in the sea and comes with saltwater -acclimatised animals within it and it is highly doubtful if these would thrive in any way in freshwater conditions, even if the calcium and pH levels were the same as their original water conditions. Secondly, the hard, mineral-rich waters of the African Lakes do not contain anywhere near the same level (if any at all) of salt - sodium chloride - that the sea does, around 35 parts per thousand. To verify this, apart from tasting the difference, test the Specific Gravity of your tank water and compare it with the sea's S.G of 1.024.
Then there is the question of nitrites, nitrates and phosphates. The sea, and consequently marine aquarium conditions, requires these to be at absolutely minimum levels if algae is not to proliferate. Many of the natural microscopic inmates of living rock will not tolerate the levels of nitrate especially as found in the normal freshwater aquarium.
It is quite likely that the aragonite-based sand is providing all the benefit it possibly can in maintaining water conditions to suit your fish: setting up a suitable external filter with porous material to act as nitrifying and denitrifying agents should not be difficult and you will achieve the same results that living rock brings, without risking a massive pollution problem from any die-off of animals.
A final fact might also deter from experimenting -living rock is expensive, especially the best quality - £200 won't even fill a modest three foot tank - and your rock-dwelling cichlids would probably need a fair block of flats for them to have their own hideaways! PREVIOUS NEXT
K Curtis
Bogwood is often used to provide an alternative to rocks in furnished aquariums. Its usually dark colouration makes an excellent background against which decorative fish, such as colourful Tetras, really stand out. Always choose a piece of wood that is obviously long-dead or petrified. New branches or root materials will develop mould on their surfaces when kept underwater.
Bogwood generally comes with two problems - floating and staining the water - to which there is one answer: soaking. Immersing bogwood for a long period (around 2-3 weeks at least) with several frequent changes of water along the way serves to waterlog the wood and also eventually gets rid of any tannin which otherwise stains the aquarium water. Any further staining of the water can be removed by using activated carbon in the filtration system.
At one time, painting the whole piece of wood with polyurethane varnish was thought best to 'seal' the wood but this often peeled off in time. Some people advocated boiling the wood to release the staining material but this usually destroyed, or weakened, the wood's cell structure.
Any tendency for the wood to float can also be cured by attaching a flat piece of slate, or stiff plastic sheet, to the underside (with plastic screws or aquarium sealant) and burying this under the substrate. PREVIOUS NEXT
Last updated March 22, 2005