What Tank To Buy

[PDSimon]

Hello there

So some of you may know my first post was researching a design project, I decided to choose a different route to fish tanks but after doing a bit of research and seeing various fish reminded me how much I want a tropical fish tank!

So I could do with some help please!

Firstly I was looking for some advice on what tropical tank to get. Here is the space:

As you can see there is a door to the left and there is actually the side of a desk about 39inches/1metre infront of that. There is then a gap inbetween that then a bed. So the tank can't be too deep...

up to the light switch is 51 inches/131cm but it can be taller if its not as wide

and from door frame to wardrobe frame is 37 inches / 94 cm wide.

I want something practical and good quality, i liked the fluval edge tanks which i don't imagine are the most practical but the metal box at the back is to wasteful space wise. Price wise would be about 100-150 pound I guess

Thank you for reading help is much appreciated

edit: Secondly... Best starter test kits?

 

[waterdrop]

Wow, is that what a modern UK lightswitch looks like?

Its good to first consider your entire budget. Good filters can be quite expensive and we like to recommend filtering at 5x turnover, so one can plan backwards from that. Height is not necessarily something you want in a fishtank, surface area is more important, but tank shape can also be a big factor for some species that are popular. So getting an idea if there are some must-have fish can be important before people give advice sometimes.

Hard to tell if you have the possibility of a 3-foot tank (36") fitting there, but one good thing to be thinking about is that 57L/15G or 76L/20G are probably a bit of a minimum that still gives you some stocking flexibility. Getting up towards 150L/40G really gives a lot more.

Hardware to be thinking about for budgeting would be tank, stand, filter, heater, lid, light, gravel, decorations, background... while still reserving for fish and plants. It can be an expensive hobby to do right but then again it can be enjoyed at a pretty low cost too if necessary.

For many of us, the API Freshwater Master Test Kit is a kind of "linqua franca" of test kits, but the Nutrafin Mini-Master Test Kit is also very similar. If Truck comes along he will remind us that the best are the Salifert individual kits, which is true! I also like to highly recommend Seachem Prime to beginners as the best conditioner, which is pretty much the only chemical a beginner should ever need. Prime is very concentrated, which means it will last for handling a lot of chlorinated/chloraminated tap water and its also the best for handling ammonia and other problems beginners may run in to in the first year or year and a half.

Filters are the core piece of technology and its good to look for a true "flow rate" spec, which is sometimes separate from the tank size recommendation. We often recommend a minimum of 5x turnover (tank volume times 5, per hour.) Major classes of filters, from smallest to largest are Internal, HOB (hang on back), External Cannister and Sump. External Cannisters are in many ways the nicest, if one can afford them. Many have deep media trays, for good overall media volume, and convenience features like automatic primers and quick shut-off hose connects. Often hobbyists customize the media that goes in to the media baskets.

Filter function is divided in to Biological, Mechanical and Chemical. Mechanical filtration is the most familiar one, the catching of debris and trapping of it within the media bed. Chemical filtration is optional - an example is the use of carbon to remove medications or other things. Most of us don't use carbon in our filters except in special cases. Biological filtration has been the magic of the hobby for probably a century or more and is very important. You can read about it (if you haven't already) in your first two homework assignments: The Nitrogen Cycle and the Fishless Cycle, both in the Beginners Resource Center.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[sic0198]

I have an 24 gallon tank, its by JAD. I have had it since July of last year. I have had no problems with it. Its an all in one and I think there is a UK version. Beauitiful tank. I especially like the design.

My link

Really you should get the biggest tank the space and your budget allows. I can't tell you how many times I see a fish that I wanted and realize my tank isnt big enough.

The API master test kit is a liquid test kit. t costs more but I think its the better of the kits.

I dont guess its that bad.

 

[PDSimon]

Wow, is that what a modern UK lightswitch looks like?

Its good to first consider your entire budget. Good filters can be quite expensive and we like to recommend filtering at 5x turnover, so one can plan backwards from that. Height is not necessarily something you want in a fishtank, surface area is more important, but tank shape can also be a big factor for some species that are popular. So getting an idea if there are some must-have fish can be important before people give advice sometimes.

Hard to tell if you have the possibility of a 3-foot tank (36") fitting there, but one good thing to be thinking about is that 57L/15G or 76L/20G are probably a bit of a minimum that still gives you some stocking flexibility. Getting up towards 150L/40G really gives a lot more.

Hardware to be thinking about for budgeting would be tank, stand, filter, heater, lid, light, gravel, decorations, background... while still reserving for fish and plants. It can be an expensive hobby to do right but then again it can be enjoyed at a pretty low cost too if necessary.

For many of us, the API Freshwater Master Test Kit is a kind of "linqua franca" of test kits, but the Nutrafin Mini-Master Test Kit is also very similar. If Truck comes along he will remind us that the best are the Salifert individual kits, which is true! I also like to highly recommend Seachem Prime to beginners as the best conditioner, which is pretty much the only chemical a beginner should ever need. Prime is very concentrated, which means it will last for handling a lot of chlorinated/chloraminated tap water and its also the best for handling ammonia and other problems beginners may run in to in the first year or year and a half.

Filters are the core piece of technology and its good to look for a true "flow rate" spec, which is sometimes separate from the tank size recommendation. We often recommend a minimum of 5x turnover (tank volume times 5, per hour.) Major classes of filters, from smallest to largest are Internal, HOB (hang on back), External Cannister and Sump. External Cannisters are in many ways the nicest, if one can afford them. Many have deep media trays, for good overall media volume, and convenience features like automatic primers and quick shut-off hose connects. Often hobbyists customize the media that goes in to the media baskets.

Filter function is divided in to Biological, Mechanical and Chemical. Mechanical filtration is the most familiar one, the catching of debris and trapping of it within the media bed. Chemical filtration is optional - an example is the use of carbon to remove medications or other things. Most of us don't use carbon in our filters except in special cases. Biological filtration has been the magic of the hobby for probably a century or more and is very important. You can read about it (if you haven't already) in your first two homework assignments: The Nitrogen Cycle and the Fishless Cycle, both in the Beginners Resource Center.

~~waterdrop~~

Hello and thank you for answering. It's a fairly new light switch/dimmer but nothing special

I have already read about the cycling and the problems with that, although I will read it all over again.

All this stuff is quite confusing, I was thinking of getting it all in one set but I don't want to be having to buy new pumps as well, hence this thread.

What would you recommend a good size tank considering the space? I've been told from Fatheadminnow that the bigger the tank the easier it is to maintain and the more fish!

From this I can work out all the pump sizes necessary and hopefully buy a tank for a decent price.


I was thinking of using mostly artificial plants for now. someone told me that using real ones requires more substrate than just the gravel, and you can actually syphon up some of the dirt but thats not possible if you have substrate for plants? I'm not really sure there. its the mix of beauty of real plants, it being easy to maintain and easy to keep bacteria levels correct but for the sake of this discussion just think about tank price for now

I have an 24 gallon tank, its by JAD. I have had it since July of last year. I have had no problems with it. Its an all in one and I think there is a UK version. Beauitiful tank. I especially like the design.

My link

That does look quite a good deal.

What fish do you have in yours?

 

[Always Learning]

You would be able to fit in something like a Juwel Rio 125, or the equivilent Fluval one I reckon, if you were looking for an all in one. You can pick them up for far less than your budget too, with some spare cash for the rest of the goodies. I paid £40 or £45 for mine for example.. complete with everything I needed and stand

Measurements are 81cm x 36cm x 50cm and the stand is 81cm x 36cm x 73cm, so it would even fit under your light switch.

As for your other question regarding plants.. you can have them in gravel or sand without the need for any fancy substrate. If you wanted, you could use some root tabs or something. There's many low maintainence plants available and if you have a look in the planted tank section, you'll get some good ideas. I find they're cheaper than fake ones to cover the same amount of space, look far better and benefit your tank to boot. Go for it

 

[sic0198]

I have an angelfish, BN Pleco, a frog, kulie loaches and some little red fish.

You can try java moss.

 

[Curiosity101]

If I were you then I'd definitely start browsing the classifieds now. Definitely go second hand.

Fluval roma 124 or the equivalent juwel tank were good suggestions.

But yeah, you know what space you have to start browsing the classifieds. Only thing to remember (as WD mentioned), is that height really isn't overly important. If you want any angelfish then you want to aim for a tank of around 18" high or so, but anything much taller can be troublesome, partly for cleaning (if you're short like me anyways), and planting (again if you're short), and also surface area is the most important thing regarding stocking a tank. Simply going skywards doesn't help all that much.

 

[PDSimon]

You would be able to fit in something like a Juwel Rio 125, or the equivilent Fluval one I reckon, if you were looking for an all in one. You can pick them up for far less than your budget too, with some spare cash for the rest of the goodies. I paid £40 or £45 for mine for example.. complete with everything I needed and stand

Measurements are 81cm x 36cm x 50cm and the stand is 81cm x 36cm x 73cm, so it would even fit under your light switch.

As for your other question regarding plants.. you can have them in gravel or sand without the need for any fancy substrate. If you wanted, you could use some root tabs or something. There's many low maintainence plants available and if you have a look in the planted tank section, you'll get some good ideas. I find they're cheaper than fake ones to cover the same amount of space, look far better and benefit your tank to boot. Go for it

you paid 45 quid for a juwel 125?! The fluval ones look nice but a bit too expensive

Thats good to know about plants thanks. Definately look nicer...

I have an angelfish, BN Pleco, a frog, kulie loaches and some little red fish.

You can try java moss.

sounds nice

If I were you then I'd definitely start browsing the classifieds now. Definitely go second hand.

Fluval roma 124 or the equivalent juwel tank were good suggestions.

But yeah, you know what space you have to start browsing the classifieds. Only thing to remember (as WD mentioned), is that height really isn't overly important. If you want any angelfish then you want to aim for a tank of around 18" high or so, but anything much taller can be troublesome, partly for cleaning (if you're short like me anyways), and planting (again if you're short), and also surface area is the most important thing regarding stocking a tank. Simply going skywards doesn't help all that much.

I didn't even think about second hand really, I understand about the height thing now yeah.. Do you think it would be best to buy the tank second hand and a new pump brand new?

your tank looks awesome by the way

 

[Curiosity101]

Lol. Thanks. It doesn't actually look like that anymore, I just didn't get around to updating my sig.

And definitely go second hand on the tank. And it'll probably come with a filter. Depending on the filter it comes with that might be fine. But often the filters they come with as standard aren't powerful enough for my liking...however each to there own on that front.

Some sites to look for tanks...
Classifieds on here
Aquarist Classified
Ebay
Preloved
Gumtree
And any local forums/fish societies and such are a good idea too

 

[PDSimon]

Lol. Thanks. It doesn't actually look like that anymore, I just didn't get around to updating my sig.

And definitely go second hand on the tank. And it'll probably come with a filter. Depending on the filter it comes with that might be fine. But often the filters they come with as standard aren't powerful enough for my liking...however each to there own on that front.

Some sites to look for tanks...
Classifieds on here
Aquarist Classified
Ebay
Preloved
Gumtree
And any local forums/fish societies and such are a good idea too

ok, thanks for the help

 

[c-dub]

The only advise I can offer is to get a tank of a decent size. Once buying a tank you always want to go bigger! So the bigger the tank you can get the more varieties of fish you can stock in it.

Looks like you may be able to go a taller option, it all depends on what sort of fish you want to keep really.

For your standard community tropical you could get a decent taller unit.

 

[PDSimon]

I've ordered a brand new fluval roma 125

The only advise I can offer is to get a tank of a decent size. Once buying a tank you always want to go bigger! So the bigger the tank you can get the more varieties of fish you can stock in it.

Looks like you may be able to go a taller option, it all depends on what sort of fish you want to keep really.

For your standard community tropical you could get a decent taller unit.

125 is pretty decent for starting size I should hope


I don't get it until next week though time to sort out and organise everything..

 

[chrisbassist]

I have a roma 125, it's a nice tank.

the included filter and heater are good enough to stock the tank fully, so you can get started with it fine.

once you've had it a couple months you'll start wanting an external filter anyway, get rid of the big black box in the tank!

good luck!

 

[Curiosity101]

First things on your shopping list now should be:

Pure household ammonia from boots (can be ordered online)

Liquid test kit (personally I use API Master Test kit. Around £18 on ebay)

Substrate - (Do you want gravel or sand? If you want light coloured playsand like in my sig then try argos and get kids play sand)

 

[PDSimon]

I have a roma 125, it's a nice tank.

the included filter and heater are good enough to stock the tank fully, so you can get started with it fine.

once you've had it a couple months you'll start wanting an external filter anyway, get rid of the big black box in the tank!

good luck!

Thats good to know and thank you!

have you got a picture of your tank?