New And Starting Out

[tr0p1cal]

Hello there everyone im new to this forum and was reccomended here by a friend.

Ive yet to start a Tropical tank but am looking to do so in the near future jsut been doing alot of research on what i need a were to get it. I have a few friends with Tropical tanks and they will be helping em get started, i wouldnt like to do this without so help.

I have read alot about the fishless cycle and will obviosly be doing this, im alittle unsure as to how it benfits me from taking Mature filter? from a friends tank and adding that to my new one, is it jsut going to speed the cycle up for and get the process moving faster, im not that bothered about speed i jsut want the water to be fine for the fish and not put them in a tank to die

So basically im looking to get a tank of about 3 feet wide, ive been looking at the Juwel Rio 125 liter tank with the stand, ive seen it around for about £200, im then goona be needing all my equiptment to run so was wondering where best to get it online? is it really safe to buy fish online, i dont wanna order some and they arrive dead , im looking at getting some black sand for it and just wondered if anyone has had any experience with it, does it look as good as i think its gonna im looking to get some real plants also but i dont really no much about them atm, what are nice ones to get and easy to maintain? im not 100% sure what fish to go for either so starting out with some hardy's and moving on from there i guess. How much are you spending say a week/month on maintaing your fish?

If you can answer any of the questions then thanks alot

 

[Miss Wiggle]

hiya there, welcome to the forum and to fishkeping.

always nice to see someone here asking questions before buying fish so you get some brownie points right from the start!!

the process of fishless cycling is to grow some bacteria in your filter. if you get mature media from a friend's tank then that already has the bacteria in so no need to cycle the tank.

what i would suggest is as follows, buy the tank, fill it with water and switch everything on, just let the equipment run for a day or two. anything that's manufactured you'll occasionally get a dodgy model off the production line. running for a couple of days means if you have got anything dodgy then you've time to sort it without ricking the lives of fish in the tank.

you then get a friend of yours to donate some mature media which you can put into your filter. add 5ppm of ammonia to the tank like you would with fishless cycling, test the tank 12 hrs later and see if the ammonia and nitrite drops to 0. they should have done, however doing this will just make sure you're ready to go. if they haven't then just add your 5ppm until they do as you would with a fishless cycle. should just take a couple of days.

when you're comfortable that the media is functioning as it should do then you can add some fish.

financially, the outlay can be expensive at the start, but once you're all set up, got a supply of food and medicines and stuff the running and maintenance costs are pretty minimal, we maybe spend £10 a month, unless we decide to treat ourselves to something!

yes it is safe to buy fish on-line, but use a reputable supplier, i'd recommend tri-mar.

personally i prefer the natural look so i go for normal sand and real plants, however it's really down to personal preference. do what you think will look good.

there are plenty of easy to grow plants if you want to go down that route, check out the plant section of this forum for species and so on.

regarding fish selection..... well where to start! give us some clues as to what you like and we'll take it from there.

 

[tr0p1cal]

Thanks alot for the reply ok fish well im jsut looking for something colourfull really i really like the look of sharks but i need to find out more about them baby ones first. i like the idea of having them in groups i feel id kinda get lonely if i was the only one of my kind in a tank so guess maybe the fish might i like the look of Guppys but think perhaps summit like neon tetras to start with (think thats the name of the small little ones) and perhaps adding a group of say 6-8? ive read to start with you should only add a few a week, would this matter as tehre small fish? or does the fact i would have aded mature filter media help alot?

one other thing about the filter media, i have a friend who has a 3feet tanks 18inches high and i have a friend who has a tank that is 6 feet long, im guessing as the conditions for fish are similar it wouldnt matter, but if it did and i best to take the filter media from the smaller tank as its more like mine or from the bigger tank, my friend with the bigger tank has been doing it for longer.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

do some reading up about fishless cycling and fish in cycling, it'll explain why it was traditionally advised to add fish a few at a time. you don't need to do it if you've got a good amount of mature media, but you still need to understand the process as it's one of the fundamentals of fishkeeping. so research time and you'll find the answers!

take the media from whicher tank you feel is healthier and more stable. you'd assume this would be the person who'se kept the longest but never having met the people or seen the tanks i can't say which is healthier!!

each species have their own requirements for group sizes. there's a species index on this site, i think you're best bet is to go to a fish shop, write down the names of all the ones you like, then come back and check their details on the species index. you'll need to pay particular attention to adult size, pH requirements and aggression.