Help choosing a tropical aquarium

[Andrew waterson]

Hi All

I’m currently looking to buy a 150 to 200 litre tropical fish tank with cabinet, but need advice or owner experience in choosing the right one

I’m new to tropical fish (I’ve had a small 30 litre cold water tank for a few years) and want to make sure I don’t start off with a bad purchase

There are 2 that fit my budget (ideally under £350) and space, but I don’t have the experience to know how to select in between them

The 1st is the 3ft Boyu 198 litre. This seems a bit too cheap for the size and package (£250) and I’ve seen a few reviews\comments saying that the make (Boyu) have quality issues. Also the in hood filter seems like an unusual setup so not sure if its suitable.

https://www.allpondsolutions.co.uk/198l-84cm-2-9ft/

The second is the Aquaverse 160l (interpret £330). It looks like a more established brand and at 100cm wide (the other is 84cm) it sounds like it will give my fish bit more swimming room although its technically smaller. Its got a CF3 interpet filter that’s rated for 700l and hour (so just covers the 4 * and hr I've seen is the minimum requirement), but is that good enough for a tank of this size?

https://www.completeaquatics.co.uk/...MIvZOVs__u3AIVz7ztCh0lLQCoEAQYASABEgJQRvD_BwE

I’m planning on running it as a community tank with few types of small schooling fish like Danio’s, dwarf neon rainbowfish … etc under 10cm and sticking to the max 1cm fully grown per litre
.I’ll be asking lots more question on water conditions and good tanks mates in the coming months!!

I’ll be also using an additional air pump

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, I must have spent a few days staring at reviews\forums already!!!

Thanks

Andy

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

Can you buy a plain old boring rectangular tank and put it on a stand?

The Aquaverse 160 has a better length and not as tall/ high as the other one and better suited to the fish you want. The other one will be awful to get into to clean unless you are 8ft tall or have Orangutan arms.

Both have crap filters and they should be discarded and replaced with a decent external canister filter or use the one that comes with the tank and add a Rena or other brand of internal power filter. The Aquaverse has a slightly better filter altho it has rubbish filter materials that should be replaced with sponges from another brand like an Aquaclear HOB filter.

For both tanks the lights are fine for fish but might not be that good for plants that need high light levels, and I don't know if you can put a different light unit under/ in the hood.

I don't particularly like either, sorry, but if I had to buy one I would get the Aquaverse 160.

 

[seangee]

Its worth having a look on eBay. Lots of people buy expensive tanks on a whim and sell them almost new when all their fish die because they didn't bother to research cycling or what fish were suitable for their water type. There are often great bargains to be found.

 

[Andrew waterson]

Thanks both, that is really helpful.
The boyu one did seem incredibly tall @ 1.4m +

It seems that most of the package ones have sub par filters and it's recommended to replace them.
But I can't seem to find anywhere that sells the tank without all the extras

Do you know of anywhere that sells tanks separately?

I'll keep any eye on eBay also
I've seen a few good brands (fluva I think) but all are collect in person and miles away!!

 

[Colin_T]

Every petshop in Western Australia sells tanks separately but I don't think you live in Australia

You can ask your petshop to order one in. Most petshops have access to basic glass aquariums and stands. Ring a few petshops and see if they can get in glass aquariums and stands separately and find out what they charge.

You could try contacting an aquarium society in your area and going to a meeting. Then ask if anyone there knows where to get plain old boring glass tanks. Most people that breed fish use plain glass tanks and would know.

 

[Andrew waterson]

I'll give my local fish shops a try to see if they sell them separately.
From memory they only have small tanks, I live in London so space is rareity!!

If I do have to go with the aquaverse one would a smallish external filter (EF 150, up to 150 litre tank) in conjuncture with the internal one do the trick?
I figure 2 internal filters will take up a lot of space and look a bit messy.

I'm going to do a fishless cycle for a few weeks (once I find out what that actually involves, I know it involves ammonia and lots of testing!!) Before slowly stocking up with suitable fish over a couple of months

 

[Colin_T]

Get an external filter that is suited for at least a 200 litre tank. Most filters are over rated and a filter designed for a 200 litre tank will rarely do the volume it says on the box, they normally do less. If you get an external canister filter (Fluval, Eheim or other brands) you probably won't even need the black box filter in the tank. You would just use the external filter.

If you do use an external filter (either on its own or in conjunction with the internal black box filter) you might need to cut a small section out of the hood for the hoses to go into the tank. You should check the hoods prior to getting the tank to make sure you can do this.

--------------------------
A fishless cycle is simply adding a source of ammonia to the water for a while and allowing beneficial filter bacteria to develop. It normally takes about 4-5 weeks and during that time you have no fish in the tank. Once the filters have developed the bacteria you add fish.

You can use liquid ammonia that is free of soaps, perfumes, etc, or you can use a bit of fish food, dead fish or prawn. If you use fish food or fish/ prawn, you add a bit to the tank and let the ammonia level get up to 2-3ppm. then you remove the food, fish, shrimp and throw it away. You let the tank run until the ammonia drops down to 0 and then add a bit more food. Repeat the process until the ammonia & nitrite drop to 0 and the nitrates start going up.

There is more info on fishless cycling at the following link.
http://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first.421488/

--------------------------
You can do a fish in cycle whereby you have a few fish in the tank while the filters develop the good bacteria. You only feed them a little bit every couple of days and do a 75% water change any time there is an ammonia or nitrite reading. It also helps to have some live plants in the tank.

Fish living in a tank while it cycles, are exposed to ammonia and nitrite and this can kill them and can reduce their life span a bit.

If you do a fish in cycle you try to keep the pH of the water around 6.8-7.0 and do not let it go above 7.0. Any ammonia in the water becomes extremely toxic when the pH is above 7.0.

Most people on the forum prefer to do a fishless cycle.

 

[Andrew waterson]

Decided to bite the bullet on the Aquaverse 160 litre (no luck with buying separates without a huge expense)
I've bought a hidom ap-1600 internal power filter, been advised it's very good at creating a good water flow and you can swap the media in the 3 canister's (it rated for up to 300 litres, so should be ok by volume)
Any recommendations on what media to use, it comes with sponge but imagine it's worth changing some (I'm also using the Interpet cf3 that comes with the tank)

Getting lava rocks as the main feature/structure, this should help with bacteria retention and give the plants something to anchor to (do you tie most plants on with cotton until they put down roots?)

I'm planning on moderate planting level, to help with ammonia ... Etc.
Any recommendations for plants at this light level (2 30w daylight led lights), also how long should I have the lights off at night (with a timer)

I've seen it suggested that putting in plants before cycling is a good idea, is that right?

Sorry that's a lot of questions ... And I still have so many more!!

 

[Andrew waterson]

Should have mentioned water will be hard alkaline, tap water will be around pH 7.8

I want to avoid water softening (heard it can be very difficult to balance) and most of the community fish imI looking look fine for it (plus the local fish store will be on the same supply)

 

[Colin_T]

Some good plants to try include: Ambulia, Hygrophila polysperma & ruba, Lugwigia, narrow Vallis, common Amazon Sword plant, and Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thallictroides/ cornuta).

Water sprite can grow on the surface or be planted. The others should be planted in the gravel.

 

[Essjay]

I've seen it suggested that putting in plants before cycling is a good idea, is that right?

That depends on how you intend to cycle.

Fish-in cycling is not recommended as it is cruel to the fish involved, but plants will help by taking up some of the ammonia made by the fish.
However, if you get more than just an odd couple of plants, you can do a silent cycle. The tank needs to be quite heavily planted with fast growing stem plants and floating plants, and they should be allowed to establish before any fish are put in the tank. Fish are introduced a few at a time as for fish-in cycling, and ammonia and nitrite monitored daily. If either show up, a water change is needed.

With fishless cycling using ammonia, there is a lot of ammonia in the water while the bacteria grow, and it can harm plants. With fishless cycling using ammonia, plants should be added after the cycle finishes.

 

[Andrew waterson]

Thanks both.

I'm going for a fishless cycle adding ammonia.
So sounds like I'll add plans as soon as it's cycled.

I'm planning on adding a low stocking level for the first month or so after the cycle is complete. Probably 6 swordtails and 6 Mollie's, so approx 80cms full grown (I know they are live breaders, so this could go up).
So will add plants right before the fish.

Are there any recommendations for bottom feeds with alkaline water, it looks like loaches and corydoras prefer slightly acidic water (pH of 7)

I'm also planning on getting some rainbow fish later on.

 

[Colin_T]

If your pH is less than 7.6 then most captive bred Corydoras will be fine. However, if your pH is over 7.8 then avoid Cories and loaches. Your pH is 7.8 so it is borderline for Cories. They would probably be ok in soft alkaline water but if your water is really hard (GH over 300ppm) then avoid them.

Any idea how hard the water is?
Swordtails, platies & guppies need a GH over 200ppm and Mollies need a GH over 250ppm.

re: getting 6 swordtails and 6 mollies. Get 5 females & 1 male, or all females. They will be pregnant when you get them and produce young for 6 months without any males. If you get all female swordtails, the dominant one might change sex and become a male.

 

[Essjay]

You mentioned earlier that you live in London so it is likely that you have very hard water - some people refer to London water as liquid rock Perfect for livebearers, but too hard for cories and the only loaches small enough for your new tank.

You can check how hard your tap water is by looking on your water company's website.



Just to make sure you've found it, this is the best method for fishless cycling http://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first.421488/

 

[Andrew waterson]

The water is certainly going to be hard!!

Per the water provider for the post code
PH 7.8
Hardness
Calcium carbonate(CaCO3): 268 ppm
Degrees Clarke:19
Degrees German(DH):15
Degrees French:27

I've now got a testing kit (API mater test kit) so will be testing the tap water today

The local store will be on the same supply.
But I'm not entirely sure I trust them after they sold me an approx 20-25l cold water tank with 2 small fan tail gold fish a 6 white mountain minnows (their recommendation) a couple of yrs back and basically told it will all be fine after 20mins acclimating in the bag and water adding a bit of water de-chlorinator!!
I now have 1 very large fan tail and 2 minnows ... they must be very hardy to have coped with this level of overstocking and general miss information!!

Are there any other species (not necessarily bottom feeders) that cope well in high alkaline hard water (from my reading I get that all hard water is alkaline and soft is acidic, is that right?)?

It looks like African cichlids like this kind of water, I'd be avoiding any that go much over 10cms

Thanks