New To Tropical Fish - Few Questions

[sophos9]

Hi all, glad to have found a forum on this matter, I'm new to tropical fish but have spend a lot of time reading the basics

I have bought a Fish R Fun FRF-755 which has a built in 3 stage filter, 57ltr capacity, 18w tube, 100w heater and have bought a aqua minder, temp range is min 24 max 27. The dimnesions are Height 54cm (21.5”)x 46 cm wide (18”) x 41 cm (16”) deep

I have set the tank up, added the plants, added I'm looking at keeping neons, a few silver sharks, an algae eater and live plants

The general questions are:

How many fish can I safely keep in this tank?

The 3 stage filter (mech, carbon and bio-rings), is this an ok filter or should I upgrade, not sure of what volume it shifts?

What is the best type of algae/bottom feeder, a plec will easily outgrow this tank - what are the other options?

Any tips on keeping plants alive? I've got 6 potted plants (not sure what they are) mixture of course and fine granute.

What about aireation? Does the 3 stage filter produce enough oxygen, I see some bubbles coming out of the outlet?

I'm going to get a water test kit today and will drop some fish food in to help start the nitrate cycle, oh thats something else, any tips on getting the tank ready for the first deployment of fish?

Well, many thanks for the help

 

[diademhill]

hi,
Lots of questions there...
Your tanks is quite tall so has a relatively small footprint which equates to swimming space so you can't have fast swimming fish or large fish, in fact anything over about two inches unless it is a sedentary will be to large for the tank . This rules out the silver sharks which get over a foot long.
Neons would be ideal as would harlequins and you could have a shoal of half a dozen of each eventually with room for a bristlenose or ottos once the tank matures.
The eventually brings us to cycling. Please read this http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...452&hl=fishless
and come back with any questions it raises.
The filter should be adequate for the tank & provide sufficient aeration.
The lighting is low for the tank depth and some plants will struggle - red ones in particular need special treatment - and you may have some that are not really aquatics.

 

[sophos9]

Your tanks is quite tall so has a relatively small footprint which equates to swimming space so you can't have fist swimming fish or large fish, in fact anything over about two inches unless it is a sedentary will be to large for the tank . This rules out the silver sharks which get over a foot long.

Thanks for clearing that up, was not aware of the adult size!

Neons would be ideal as would harlequins and you could have a shoal of half a dozen of each eventually with room for a bristlenose or ottos once the tank matures.

Excellent, I presume anything over this amount may cause bio problems?

The eventually brings us to cycling. Please read this http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...452&hl=fishless
and come back with any questions it raises.

Thanks for including that, have read loads about cycling and that guide is by far the best! What is the function of the bio-rings included in the filter? Does that assist in ammonia removal?

The lighting is low for the tank depth and some plants will struggle - red ones in in particular need special treatment - and you may have some that are not really aquatics.

Quite possibly, not sure what I bought?!? What 'watt' should I be looking at? What are good plants for beginners?

Thanks for the help, really appreciate it!