Fish and ..............Part 2 - from 17/04/06

I knew I would need a new heater so was prepared to fork out my hard earned cash for a new one and as I had received some extra money from work, I decided to renew the contents of the filter.

I took the filter apart, for the first time since I bought it, and found parts that I didn’t know existed. There were four separate filer sections each with their own filter material. The first section contain a sponge, the second, a finer sponge like material inside a frame, the third, two blocks of what looked like lava rock and the fourth, small pieces of clay like substance that looked like elongated washers. I placed all these into a bag and off to Tropiquarium I headed. A great shop where they are very helpful and sell everything you need to keep fish.

The two guys in the shop, brothers I think, looked at me as I entered. Their faces seemed to light up as if business had been a bit slow and I had the feeling they were not going to let me go until I had purchased something. I removed the contents of my bag and placed it on the counter. They looked at each other, then at me, their expressions quite puzzled. I explained what had happen and that I wanted to renew all of the filter materials. They took one of the items I had placed on the counter and, with disappointment in his voice one of the guys said they did not stock the make of filter or the materials I needed. Nor did they have the heater I thought I needed for the size of my tank. They asked me a couple of questions regarding my tank and assured me that a smaller heater would suffice. I bought the heater from them and they directed me to a shop, Mar Pets, which they were sure, stocked the type of filter and materials I needed.

I had been to Mar pets several times before but never to buy fish equipment. My parents used to keep Canaries and we used to go there to buy hemp seed and various other bird related items. I was feeling quite optimistic that I would soon be going home with all I needed to set up my tank.

Once again I took out the contents of my bag and placed it on the counter. Once again the man behind the counter looked at me with a quizzed expression on his face. I explained that I had been to Tropiquarium and they had said he would have what I needed to replace the materials in my filter.
‘Ummm’ he murmured, more to himself than me, ‘No we don’t stock that make, but I can order it for you. It will take about four days to arrive’
I agreed this would probably be the best thing to do and he set about looking on his computer for what I needed.

The first two items, the two sponge like items, were easy to find and he proceeded to click on my ‘shopping basket’ to add them to my order. As for the lava like rock and the clay like washers, they were nowhere to be found. He took another look at them, from all possible angles and tried again, still no luck. At that point I came to the conclusion it would be a lot easy to buy a completely new filter.
I looked around the shop and spotted a filter that would suit my tank. They have to be the right size or the water in the tank wouldn’t get cleaned properly, leading to more dead fish. I took the filter to the counter and handed over my switch card. The man was very helpful, telling me all about my new filter and showing me the filter material inside. This comprised of just two sponges, both the same size, which he assured me he stocked. I gathered up my now useless items and my new filter and made my way home.

Still more to come, don't forget to return and read the concluding (I hope) part,

The tank so far