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  1. Hi guys, I've gone out and bought a 4 foot x 4 foot x 1 foot above ground swimming pool. It's very light weight, and is only a vinyl/rubber type material with light weight "poles" supporting it. When full, it will hold about 90 UK gallons (108 US?) I'm going to put it in a spare room on the second floor of my house. Considering how well the "pressure" will be spread out, should the floor support this? Thanks for your help Sorry this is all one big messy paragraph - my 'enter' button doesn't seem to be working
  2. Hi everyone, I have had 4 common and 3 comet goldfish for just over a year now in a 50 gallon tank - which obviously was never going to last them, once they started to grow. They've now reached about 5 -6 inches. Despite being 19 years old, I still live with my parents and they've let me get a pond - in the form of a 'frame swimming pool' holding 1500 US Gallons! It's going into our garage (parents have to park their car outside now!) so the lighting, filter and heater part is sorted (the garage isn't heated itself, so during the winter I will put a heater in to keep the temp about 20*C) The pond has been running for about 72 hrs now - got some est. media from my Aunt's pond, and I plan to transfer 2 fish (putting them in gradually) when I can establish the following: * At the minute, there is only water in the pond, and 2 underwater lights... Should I put gravel, ornaments etc in to keep them occupied? * There is no 'bottom drain' - however we've put some slanted wood underneath it so, in theory, all waste should "fall" to the centre of the pond. How do I remove it? Gravel vacuum? * Water changes - when the pond is fully established, how many water changes should I do, how often etc? Thanks for your help :-)
  3. I'm just coming in now to add my 2 pence, but you said "none" to the question "any water conditioners"... Do you not use anything to remove chlorine/chloramines? for example Prime, AmQuel or Stress Coat? I'm wondering if the chlorine could be causing the patches? EDIT: You said Nitrates were 0 ppm? I don't think it's possible to have 0 nitrates in a cycled aquarium. Retest your water to make sure. Also, remember to shake the Nitrate test bottles ALOT. If you don't, it can cause inaccurate readings...
  4. Well, I've always had substrate in my tanks... But that's more for aesthetic purposes, rather than "to help the cycle". However, one time my aquarium had white gravel in it... But after a while, the gravel turned into a horrible...browny, dirty colour. And it really made the tank look VERY unclean, even though my water quality was 0 ammonia, 0 nI and 10-15 nA. So, I changed the gravel to new stuff. It messed up my cycle only a tiny bit... The biggest ammonia spike I got was 0.5 ppm I think. Another reason I'm quite fond of gravel is, it gives the fish something to..."play" with, you know, whenever they're pecking it etc. A pro for a bare bottom is, it makes cleaning up their waste, on a day to day basis with a turkey baster or similar, extremely easy... So in a way, it could perhaps help you keep the tank cleaner... But it really is personal choice!
  5. I've got good news - pond is ordered, and it can supposedly be assembled "with ease in under 30 minutes" (We'll see about that lol!) Secondly, when the Koi gets too big, my auntie will take it. She has a massive koi pond (11 or 12 000 gallons!) I live in the UK where at winter it will get very cold - temperatures in to the minus (celsius) will be common. I'm looking at getting a pond heater so they won't freeze at winter/don't have to bring them inside... But no-one really seems to use them? Is there a reason for this?
  6. Hello, I'm looking at getting an "above ground pond" for out in my back garden. The one I've seen and liked is a hexagonal shape, 2.5 metre diameter (8 or 9 feet?) and 340 US gallons. I currently have six 4 inch common goldfish in a four foot (48 inch) long aquarium by 2 foot by 2 foot. But I want to give them as much room as possible - and I can really only get this with a pond. I had originally thought a 180 gallon tank, but I'm not sure my floor could take it... A problem is, my good friend told me about her "tiny goldfish", which was in a 5 gallon Barbie tank. I told her that was WAY too small etc so she said she'd give it to me, and I could put it in my tank. So anyway, she brought it over to my house and this "tiny goldfish" turned out to be a Butterfly Koi!!!! It was about 3 inches long (obviously stunted), and I put it into my 48 inch long tank, and it seems to love the space. However, it needs a pond. This pond I want, I can order it online, and it will be with me in two working days. My aunt has a pond also so I can get established pond filter media from her, so I suppose this could be up and running in three days, if I ordered it today. My question really is - will that 300 gallon / 8 or 9 foot pond be big enough for the 6 commons + 1 koi? I don't really want to have to upgrade after this... Thanks for your help
  7. Thanks Koko! I have been trying to find Prime online (that was the other one that was highly recommended) and so far, can't find any UK/Ireland suppliers :/
  8. tithra - Thank you I was just very worried as my goldfish mean so much to me, and I was worried for their safety lol Panic over, I guess! Thanks very much for your help
  9. Hi everyone! I've been posting quite alot recently - this forum is EXCELLENT for help! Anyway, my question is about AmQuel Plus. I heard about it via Kokos, but couldn't find it anywhere in the UK. The reviews about it were *so* good, I thought I should order it online...Which I did. It arrived in the post today, and today also happens to be the day I do my PWC. So I read the instructions on the back, and measured the correct dosage. I don't have any water quality issues - and neither did 95% of the people who reviewed it. However, it was only later I realised it said, on the back "does not in general cause pH problems"...... That has set alarm bells ringing. A few hours later, my g/fish are fine! No problems... But what worries me is, after some Googling ... It appears AmQuel + does cause pH crashes..? Is this a likely scenario - or am I being far too paranoid? Thanks!
  10. PS I've noticed the units quite warm and there's a ... plastic smell coming from it? Normal or not?!
  11. Hello, I recently bought a Glo T8 Starter Unit 30 watts by Hagen. I ordered 40 w but a 30 w unit came. I'm getting a 40 w delivered next week. In the meantime, I was wondering if its ok for me to run a 38 watt light in the 30watt unit? I'm currently running a 15 watt.... Thanks!
  12. Nope, don't have a basement - which I hope is a good thing?
  13. I had a horrible mental image there of the floor giving way! It will be downstairs so hopefully that should be ok? Haha fingers crossed!
  14. dodge245: Excellent! I'll go to B&Q tomorrow and find out about it. I made a mistake.. It's 7 foot x 2 foot x 2 foot - the tank below it was the 8 ft one...Works out about 170 UK Gallons or 200 and something US gallons! Hmm... Will the floor be able to support that?!
  15. Ctrl/Cmd+V That's a good idea, I must look up hardware stores and ring them. I just think £600+ for a stand is a rediculous amount of money. More than twice the cost of the tank!!
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