I have some questions ;-)

Hello all,
I am very excited, I'm off to order my new tank tomorrow, a Seashell Pheonix which I think is about 200litres, I'll be getting an Eheim 2215, probably an internal sponge filter too, not sure which? and an external Hydor 300w heater, hopefully that'll be good enough for the tank size, any thoughts on that choice?
I hope to keep some brown longfin bristlenose in there but I can't find any here in Dorset, does anyone have any they would like to sell? I will have to cycle the new tank first so will be a few weeks before I could buy them but I'd be very interested to hear from anyone who may have some available

You might want to look at a bigger filter. I have 2 eheim 2217s on my 200ltr tank and that does amazingly well.

Beebop wrote:

Hello all,
I am very excited, I'm off to order my new tank tomorrow, a Seashell Pheonix which I think is about 200litres, I'll be getting an Eheim 2215, probably an internal sponge filter too, not sure which? and an external Hydor 300w heater, hopefully that'll be good enough for the tank size, any thoughts on that choice?
I hope to keep some brown longfin bristlenose in there but I can't find any here in Dorset, does anyone have any they would like to sell? I will have to cycle the new tank first so will be a few weeks before I could buy them but I'd be very interested to hear from anyone who may have some available

Try looking on Aquirist Clasified for you BN's mate, look under the county listings Dorset or Hampshire I'm sure you will find something there. :!:

Doug wrote:

You might want to look at a bigger filter. I have 2 eheim 2217s on my 200ltr tank and that does amazingly well.

You have two? Crumbs! I didn't know I'd need two. I ordered the slightly bigger tank in the end 121 x 38 x 50cms. What would you recommend filter and heater wise with that do you think?

Thank you for the tip Ziggee, I'll have another look on there as I'd forgotten about that site

There are advantages to using two filters or heaters in that should one fail then there is still some filtration or heating.

If your tank is 200 litres then you want your filtration doing approx 1200-1600 litre per hour, with most filters the figures given for output are usually based on the filter running at optimum conditions, when in actual use the output is usually less. Hense Doug has two filters rated at 1000 l/h but in actual use are probably nearer 800 l/h.

Jim hit it on the head. The eheim 2217 filter normally runs at 660l/h when loaded with media and with a bit of head (back pressure). So i use two of them to make up my ~1300l/h for my 200lrt tank.

With your tank I would suggest doing the same thing. If you have the coin then go for 2 eheims like me. They are bullet-proof and are very nice to your power bill. There are lots of other cheeper options out there for filters but they can bite you when it comes to your power bill. I have used the Proaqua 2200l/h + UV filter for nearly 3 years now on my grow out tank and its working a dream but that single filter costs more to run than the two eheims combined!

in terms of heaters I agree with Jim again, get two just in case one dies. no sense loosing all your fish for the sake of a $30 heater.

Thank you so much both of you, you're so helpful.
I will look at getting two 2217 Eheims and two heaters, can you recommend a good make of heater at all please? The two I have used in the past have stuck on a temperature which now can't be moved.

jager heaters are generally considered to be some of the best. bit pricy though

All the top makers tend to be more reliable, most use a bi-metallic strip that opens and closes to turn the heater on or off and eventually these can fail, as you have found out, the new Fluval E heaters work on a sensor and do not have any moving parts but how reliable the sensors are only time will tell.

You mentioned that you were going to get a 300w heater originally, but the rule of thumb is 1w to 1 litre so your 200l tank would require 200w of heating, unless the tank is in a cold room. Two 100w heaters at opposite ends of the tank should be enough.

I decided on a slightly larger tank in the end which is nearly 230 litres? 121x38x50. I will probably buy one of each, one Fluval E and one Jager and see how I go, will 100w per heater still ok for this size tank? I have heard a few people saying about Bristlenose's burning themselves on internal heaters, has anyone found this to be true? and if so, should I buy a guard or even an external heater? I'm sorry to go on and on, I just want to get this right.

So long as it is not a unusually cold room then 2 x 100w would be fine. I think Jager do a 125w if you wanted to add an extra bit.

The Fluval E heaters come complete with a guard.

Don't worry about all the questions it's nice to see someone who takes the trouble of getting everything right from the start

That's brilliant, I've just looked at the Jäger heaters and you're absolutely right, they do a 125w how do you remember all this stuff!!!
I shall order one of those and a fluval 100w I reckon. The tank will be in the lounge, with husband permission, he doesn't realise how big the tank is yet, he'll soon know once it's been delivered, he may be a little shocked
I'd really like to give my little BN buddies the best home and you've really helped me to do that, thank you so much. If you have anymore tips on making their life more enjoyable/healthy, I'm all ears :albino:
Do you have lots of BN's?

I'm assuming you know that having some bogwood in the tank is a must.

As for knowing about the heaters I have recently been replacing some my old heaters that were getting a bit troublesome.

I've got a few Bn's, never counted them recently

I have three pieces of wood in my 60 litre, 2 bog wood and 1 maponi is it called? I'll get some new bits for the bigger tank, I've just ordered some caves too. They seem to love courgette, not interested in carrot or melon and sort of like broccoli and cucumber but not crazy over it.
Do you have all types of bristlenose?

It's so refreshing to read of someone taking advice and putting it right into practice, love your work Beebop. :o

Thanks very much Mooo, I guess there's not much point in asking if I ignore you all
It really is brilliant this forum is available, I've not met anyone in the LFS's who know much about BN's and they seem to be more interested in selling their stuff which is a shame. Anyway, I'm chuffed to bits with all your help

Beebop wrote:

I have three pieces of wood in my 60 litre, 2 bog wood and 1 maponi is it called? I'll get some new bits for the bigger tank, I've just ordered some caves too. They seem to love courgette, not interested in carrot or melon and sort of like broccoli and cucumber but not crazy over it.

The harder veg, do you give it as it is or do you blanch it first.

Beebop wrote:

Do you have all types of bristlenose?

At the moment I have five species of BN.

I left the cucumber and melon, but steamed the carrot, broccoli and courgette, oh and peas and then shelled them.
5 types, crickey! something for me to aspire to perhaps
I guess you'd have to get them posted to you? I only ask cos I'm a bit wary of having fish posted, I had four baby bristlenose posted to me a while back, none survived I felt completely responsible . I've seen some on eBay that I'd love but not sure whether to try again ?

I have only had one lot posted (Honeycombs), picked some up at local auctions(Commons & L182's) and some of Ebay that were local(Lemons, Ancistrus sp. & L181's), When looking on Ebay I use the sort by : Distance nearest.

How big were the ones that died, some people send them were they are still to young.

They were about 2.5 cms I reckon. I've been looking at local searches on eBay for a while, no luck yet. I think I'll keep looking as I'd prefer to pick up really. I've not heard of auctions for fish though, I'll definitely look into that

Beebop wrote:

I left the cucumber and melon, but steamed the carrot, broccoli and courgette, oh and peas and then shelled them.
5 types, crickey! something for me to aspire to perhaps
I guess you'd have to get them posted to you? I only ask cos I'm a bit wary of having fish posted, I had four baby bristlenose posted to me a while back, none survived I felt completely responsible . I've seen some on eBay that I'd love but not sure whether to try again ?

Check these out.
http://www.aquarist-classifieds.co.uk/php/detail51_249724.php

Hi ya Ziggee, thank you very much for your link, I was really after some brown Longfin's or any of the darker shades. I'd like to branch out a bit more with other colours when I have more tanks, but thanks again for the link

No problem, I do have available a trio of adult browns, ( 2 females & 1 male) also growing on some long fin browns with very striking markings.

Oooooh that sounds brilliant! I already have a trio of brown common bristlenose, but I'd be really interested in the longfins if you want to sell them at some point, that would be great :bounce: