My First Tropical Aquarium

[ravkular]

Hi Everybody,

I am new to this so please go easy on me!

Firstly i want to say thanks to everybody as i have found this site extremely helpful so far.

I have a 35 Litre rectangular (50cm x 25 x 30) tropical aquaruim, with a lamp, filter, 50 Watt Heater, air pump, with air stone,
gravel, and two ornaments - a meduim sized ship with hiding places and a litle shark.

We have had the tank filled now for a week, and have treated the water with nutrafin cycle, and nutrafin aquaplus. We will add a real plant once we get the fish.

We are hoping to get our first fishes this weekend, depending on the results of the water test.

We would like to eventually have the following fish in the aquarium. We would like none of the fish to be any bigger than 2.5-3 inches.

2 x Mollies - 1 x Male (Orange), 1 x Female (White)
2 x Swordtails - 1 x Male, 1 x Female
1 x Male Siamesse Fighting Fish
1 x Cat Fish
6 x Neon Tetra

My questions are as follows,

1) is our tank big enough for all of the fish?
2) are all of the fish Compatible to live in the comunity?
3) in which order should i introduce the fish, and how long should i wait before introducing the next set?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[kiajoon]

Anyone can advice? I am a newbie too and is constantly looking out for helpful information.

 

[Bridie]

Hi,
To choose the right fish, you need to have a look at the water. Some fish prefer very soft and acid water, other hard and alkaline. Put in the wrong water, they won´t thrieve as well, are proun to disease and die early. As it is not that easy to change the water parameters you get with your tap water, go for fish that like your tap water, and that are all happy with the same temperature.
Have a look at the species-index section, it will tell you all about their needs. Most fish mentioned by ravkular grow bigger than 3 inch, and are too big for just 35l.
Some of the catfish grow over 10 inch! But there are also very small catfish like dwarf corys, which can be kept in a small tank. They need to be in a group of at least 6. Other fish, like Bettas, need to be the only ones of their species in the tank, or they will fight (hence the name).
Before you can introduce fish, the tank should be cycled. There is plenty of information available on the forum. Cycling a tank means to encourage good bacteria to settle in the filter. These bacteria will deal with all the fish waste.
Don´t put too many fish in your tank. It will already be well stocked, if not slightly overstocked, with 1 Fighting fish and 6 Corys(if these match your water). A common rule of thumb is the inch (of fish) per gallon or cm per 2 liter rule.
Did you see the "Beginners Questions" in the TFF FAQ section? A lot of questions will be answered there, have a look. And just ask if there is anything you don´t understand, or you have a specific questions that is not answered.
Enjoy your new tank!

 

[WildBerryYogurt]

I have a crowntail betta and i wanted to know if the fish is constantly spinning his fins normal?. I never see him resting. it likes to hug the decoration plants. my tank is a mini bow 2.5 gallons , using the filter it came with. Sometimes when i stare at him, it looks like he is being blown by somethin, then he would swim quickly to fight whatever is sucking him. The filter says uts 120 volts 60 hz model Mb1. Should i get a sifferent filter? The isntructions says if products sold separatelt, i can only use a mini bow products. I did have a bigger a aquarium, but the pump kept sucking in the gold fish and they died T_T. When i found them they were at the tip of the pumps end where it sucks in.

Here's a video watch @ 1:29 until the rest of the video..

Here are some photos i'm concerned about:

The filter:

Notice the tank towards top of picture. Is it okay id its clouding? (tank temperature 75degrees)

Normally it gets hot in my room so i don't think i would need a heater until its winter. Is that okay because if i get a heater, i think i would fry my fish already. Its not hot all day. During night time we have cool air running.

This is my betta: =D

Also when changing the tank,is it okay to store it to a jar to its original water, wait 24 hrs for tank water after adding conditioner because if i were to change 10% of the water every week, i wouldn't know how much conditioner to add. So when i dump 10% :
should i add same amount water taken, add conditioner and wait 24 hrs for room temperature or is it okay to add it to tank?

 

[the biffster]

Hi Everybody,

I am new to this so please go easy on me!

Firstly i want to say thanks to everybody as i have found this site extremely helpful so far.

I have a 35 Litre rectangular (50cm x 25 x 30) tropical aquaruim, with a lamp, filter, 50 Watt Heater, air pump, with air stone,
gravel, and two ornaments - a meduim sized ship with hiding places and a litle shark.

We have had the tank filled now for a week, and have treated the water with nutrafin cycle, and nutrafin aquaplus. We will add a real plant once we get the fish.

We are hoping to get our first fishes this weekend, depending on the results of the water test.

We would like to eventually have the following fish in the aquarium. We would like none of the fish to be any bigger than 2.5-3 inches.

2 x Mollies - 1 x Male (Orange), 1 x Female (White)
2 x Swordtails - 1 x Male, 1 x Female
1 x Male Siamesse Fighting Fish
1 x Cat Fish
6 x Neon Tetra

My questions are as follows,

1) is our tank big enough for all of the fish?
2) are all of the fish Compatible to live in the comunity?
3) in which order should i introduce the fish, and how long should i wait before introducing the next set?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

dont get your fish the tank is not cycled its not
as easy as that. the filter need to mature so that
it can handle fish waste you will also need a api master
test kit for testing your water you will also need pure
ammonia to do a fish less cycle putting fish in a tank that as not cycled is a bad move as the fish will die the best bet is to look through
the fish forum and find out about cycling a tank as it is not my strong point i do a fish in cycle route and involves a lot of testing and doing a lot of water changes not the best for a novice look at link below

http/www.wikihow.com/Do-a-Fishless-Cycle

read this this will run you through what you need to know about a fishless cycle

 

[WildBerryYogurt]

I still waiting for some help. My fish has been avoiding the center part where the water falls from the filter. The fish would sometimes tilt and sometimes pretend or look dead but once i scare it it starts swimming. It tried to rest on the plants because I feel filter might be causing a vortex. Every time the betta tries to rest on the near the surface of the water, the betta tilts sideways. When the filters on, its happy, but when i turn it on it looks like its struggling maybe cuz filter blowing wind that its constantly spinning its fins w/ no rest. I think it tilts from exhaustion maybe, but I'm suprised that it is still alive. Should i remove the filter or get a larger tank ? It uses the plants to stay in place. I'm also worried that whenever i feed it it doesn't want to eat. There was some fruit flies outside the tank and it went crazy when it saw it.

 

[nattetra]

i am new to but can tell you to be carefull with the siamese fighteras they like to be kept in tiny spaces and may die early in a aquarium

 

[FionaF]

Well I will totally agree with the previous post, you must be aware about with the siamese fighters. So take a dissection as soon as possible.