Big Hello From South London Newbie

[Man O War]

Hi Guys, I'm new to the Tropical fish world.
I have just purchased a 15 gallon tank with a large pleco.
From saturday, I'll start buying fishes.

Does anyone have newbie tips for me...?

 

[chrisbassist]

Yup quite a few.

To start with, hold off on more fish. With a plec you'll be in a fish in cycle, which requires lots of water changes, if you add more fish they will be larger changes and more often. Get yourself a water test kit and when it reads more than 0.25 on ammonia or nitrite, do avwater change. When you don't need to do a water change for a full week, then think about more fish.

Secondly, what kind of plec? If it's a common plec take it back. It will grow far too large for your tank. Around 2ft long.

Many people start with a situation like this. You're not the only one.

If you can take the plec back great, you can do a fishless cycle. Either way have a look around and have a read of some of the stuff on cycling in the beginners resource section.

Good luck and welcome to the forum.

 

[Dan-CR4]

Another South Londoner here Welcome to the forum.

I agree with what chrisbassist said above, hold off getting more fish. A fish in cycle will take more of your time than a fishless cycle would, but as you already have a plec and if you cannot return it till you are cycled, then you will have to do a fish in cycle. Have a good read at the beginners section, it certainly helped me out a few weeks back when i was new to tropical fish. If you have any questions just ask the guys here, they are very knowledgable and will see you through any cycle you do.


Danny

 

[Betta5]

Ooooh Im in SE London, where abouts are you guys from?

Tips.. Find a good store for fish. If you can get anywhere neer crystal palace, CPR have lovely clean tanks with healthy fish.

 

[Assaye]

Hi Guys, I'm new to the Tropical fish world.
I have just purchased a 15 gallon tank with a large pleco.
From saturday, I'll start buying fishes.

Does anyone have newbie tips for me...?

Is this a new tank from a shop or a second hand tank that came with a fish?

How large is the plec and what species is it? This is very important as many plecs require 5-6 foot long tanks because they grow very large and will die in a 15 gallon. Unfortunately, these are the plecs that shops sell cheaply and will little information.

The first thing you need to understand is the nitrogen cycle. This is the very essence of the eo-system you will grow in your tank and not understanding it or not maintaining it properly is a leading killer of fish.

Have a look at the information in this link, and particulrly read about the nitrogen cycle, fish-in cycle and setting up a new tank.

These are not exciting tips that are fun and easy to apply. These are the very, very basics of fishkeeping and things that many fish shops will not tell you because they either don't understand them or because they feel they'll lose sales if they tell people just how complex fishkeeping is.

 

[Lacuna]

Ooooh Im in SE London, where abouts are you guys from?

Tips.. Find a good store for fish. If you can get anywhere neer crystal palace, CPR have lovely clean tanks with healthy fish.

I live near Crystal Palace, what does CPR stand for? What street are they on?

 

[krissykat]

Welcome to the forum!

Didnt know there were so many SE londoners on here
glad I aint the only one

 

[Betta5]

Ooooh Im in SE London, where abouts are you guys from?

Tips.. Find a good store for fish. If you can get anywhere neer crystal palace, CPR have lovely clean tanks with healthy fish.

I live near Crystal Palace, what does CPR stand for? What street are they on?

Crystal Palace reptiles. Thats what their online shop is called but I can never remember it. Their address is

54 Westow Street
Upper Norwood
London
SE19 3AF

Opening times
Monday to Friday 10.30am - 6pm
Saturday 10am - 6pm
Sunday 10.30am - 3.30pm

Local buses : 2 3 63 122 137A 157 202 227 249 322 358 361 450 N2 N3

They are great for healthy basics. Worth a look.

 

[Lacuna]

Ooooh Im in SE London, where abouts are you guys from?

Tips.. Find a good store for fish. If you can get anywhere neer crystal palace, CPR have lovely clean tanks with healthy fish.

I live near Crystal Palace, what does CPR stand for? What street are they on?

Crystal Palace reptiles. Thats what their online shop is called but I can never remember it. Their address is

54 Westow Street
Upper Norwood
London
SE19 3AF

Opening times
Monday to Friday 10.30am - 6pm
Saturday 10am - 6pm
Sunday 10.30am - 3.30pm

Local buses : 2 3 63 122 137A 157 202 227 249 322 358 361 450 N2 N3

They are great for healthy basics. Worth a look.

Many thanks, I shall take a look I didn't know there were any decent shops in the area.

 

[onebto]

Welcome to the forum Man O war

I would highly recommend chrisbassist's advice

I am also in the south East London area Carshalton to be exact.

If you need some mature media to kick start your cycle and you can make it to Carshalton then your very welcome to some.

Again welcome to the forum.

As for good shops Maiden head Aquatics in Morden are pretty dam good nice range of fish the plants are tip top and if you have an open budget they got more hardware than you can think off definatley worth atleast one visit

Regards onebto