setting up aquarium

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
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so my SIL is useless with pets and we keep "inheriting" them. now it's fish. the aquarium is small and only filled up about 1/3 of the way. i would like to clean it up and fix it nicely but it's been ages since i had fish so i am not sure what to do.

can i fill it up with regular tap water? we drop chlorine pill in the cistern so not sure if the water is suitable (the cistern is huge and water does not smell like cloro). in poland i used tap water no problem.

water pump connected and running at all times? no need for water heater, i assume?

any advice regarding setting up and keeping pet fish in DR will be much appreciated.
 

jimmythegreek

Bronze
Dec 4, 2008
1,066
4
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so my SIL is useless with pets and we keep "inheriting" them. now it's fish. the aquarium is small and only filled up about 1/3 of the way. i would like to clean it up and fix it nicely but it's been ages since i had fish so i am not sure what to do.

can i fill it up with regular tap water? we drop chlorine pill in the cistern so not sure if the water is suitable (the cistern is huge and water does not smell like cloro). in poland i used tap water no problem.

water pump connected and running at all times? no need for water heater, i assume?

any advice regarding setting up and keeping pet fish in DR will be much appreciated.

It could take you up to 3-4 weeks to get the water just at the correct levels of nitrate, etc. before even thinking to have a sustainable aquarium environment for the fish.
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
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rain water is doable. 3-4 weeks of prep work are out. the fishies are already here. granted, there was 7 of them and they are down to 2 now but i have a hunch that my SIL was forgetful when it came to feeding and the pump noise annoyed her.
 

beeza

Silver
Nov 2, 2006
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Don't over feed them. That's more likely to kill them than under feeding them.

And yes, pump should run 24/7
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
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there are two plugs. one must be a pump: transparent pipe runs to the tiny pump and from there a cable that plugs to the power.
there is also another plug, i think it is connected to water filter? it started making hell of a racket so i switched it off for now.

can i put salt water shells in the bottom? they are washed and clean. how about pieces of coral?
 

bigbird

Gold
May 1, 2005
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I am guessing they are gold fish which are much easier to tend to. You definitely need that pump and filter running. The filter quite naturally is to clean the water but that pump also puts oxygen in the water. No pump, no oxygen, no live fishes............ unless you are constantly changing the water.

If you don't know how to set up the filter at least put that plastic hose in the tank and let it just blow bubbles. That will get the oxygen in the water. You can figure out the filter later.

How large is the tank? in gallons or measurements?
 

beeza

Silver
Nov 2, 2006
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Sea shells and coral stone is fine.

Live coral will die in a freshwater tank.
 

beeza

Silver
Nov 2, 2006
3,480
732
113
You might have two pumps. One is for air, the other for water.

The air pump sits outside the tank, needs to be kept dry and buzzes away. It should have some rubber feet underneath. If not, it can cause whatever it sits on to vibrate. This should feed a clear rubber or silicone hose into your tank to something that might look like a porous stone. This is to aerate the water with fine bubbles. Fish need that for oxygen.

The other might be a water pump to circulate water through a filter. That pump needs to be kept wet. The filter element may be like a sort of sponge that collects particles in the water. It should come apart so that you can wash that sponge filter under a tap. Not as essential as the air pump. Just keeps your water nice and clean.
 

Tradewinds

Newbie
Oct 7, 2017
17
7
3
It's a little more complicated than that...
the cistern water will likely be too alkaline (high pH) due to the concrete construction. The rainwater will be slightly acidic which is better. The rainwater will slowly dissolve the sea shells too, raising the pH. You need test strips that identify all this so you can manage it. A lot of work but a lot of fun.
 

bigbird

Gold
May 1, 2005
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a little more info from dv8 would help as she may have no more than an oversized gold fish bowl............ si?
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
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ok then. air pump is identified thanks to beeza. up and running. i think water pump may be giving issues due to low water level so this is off now. i put a bit more water in (from the tap). will gather some rain water.

aquarium is small. i'd say about the size of the tank for the toilet.

fish are small and thin, about the size of 10 peso coin. reddish. not gold fish.
 

bigbird

Gold
May 1, 2005
7,375
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dump some bottle water in the tank........... sounds like a ten gallon? look up tiger barbs and see if those are the fish you have
 

bigbird

Gold
May 1, 2005
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........ i think water pump may be giving issues due to low water level so this is off now......

outside canister filter? maybe share a couple of pics cuz otherwise you will just be getting guesswork info.
 

dv8

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Sep 27, 2006
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beeza described it well: outside of the tank, with sponge and all that. we tweaked around it and it's up and running too now. i added few shells, fishies swimming around all happy. so far so good.
 

Mauricio

Gold
Nov 18, 2002
5,607
7
38
The apartment I rented from my BIL the past 6 months has a salt water aquarium. What a hassle! I choose a dog over fishes even if I have to walk it myself in the pouring (Dutch) rain everyday. You don’t clean it for three days and the screens get cloudy, at least 2500 pesos of electricity to keep all the filters and pumps running. Three times per week this food for the fish, twice a week that stuff for the coral. If the power goes off for longer than an hour some filter installation will overflow and leave a pool of water in the living room.  

Only the two days after a monthly maintenance done by some experts it looks actually pretty with all the colorful fish. 

Not sure, after we moved out to weeks ago, how many fish survived our care.
 

LTSteve

Gold
Jul 9, 2010
5,449
23
38
so my SIL is useless with pets and we keep "inheriting" them. now it's fish. the aquarium is small and only filled up about 1/3 of the way. i would like to clean it up and fix it nicely but it's been ages since i had fish so i am not sure what to do.

can i fill it up with regular tap water? we drop chlorine pill in the cistern so not sure if the water is suitable (the cistern is huge and water does not smell like cloro). in poland i used tap water no problem.

water pump connected and running at all times? no need for water heater, i assume?

any advice regarding setting up and keeping pet fish in DR will be much appreciated.

If you love them set them free.... in the long run you will thank me. Not worth all the time and effort.
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
31,266
363
0
a bit of an update:
filled the tank with tap water, both pumps running. fishies are called flip and flap (polish translation for laurel and hardy). they look kinda happy, swimming around and coming for food at feeding times. when i brought them in they were hiding behind the plastic bush most of the time. looks like their lives improved.