Brand New - Help Needed

[Hughesy]

Really new to the whole fish game. Had a few goldfish when I was younger but not had anything for ages.

Now im looking at getting a tank that holds about 100 litres and populating with tropical fish or anything else that may survive within the tank.

So I need to know a few things.

1 - How long does the tank need to be set up before I can add anything? Do I need anything to start with other than the tank, water, filter, heater and the ornaments?

2 – I want some aquatic frogs. Need the ones that don’t eat all the other fish, which I believe are the dwarf ones? So can they go straight in the tank or do they need to wait for it to be set up for a certain time?

3 – What fish will be ok with the dwarf frogs?

4 – Looking at the small angel fish, neons, sharks (not sure which, they sell them in pets @ home), green scat and also a cat fish to help clean the tank clean. Will they be compatible? Also looking at adding some small yellow fishes but not sure on the name

5 – Can you add terrapins or turtles to a tropical tank?

6 - How would a siamese fighter fish be in the above tank with the above fish?

Any other advice could be helpful.

 

[ox5477]

1. No def time is alloted. Refer to the topic at the top of this forum (Fishless cycling) about cycling your tank. As soon as your cycle is done, then you can start slowly adding fish.

2. I believe the dwarf frogs are the peacful ones. The african clawed frogs are the big guys that can cause probs with small fish. Wait till the tank is cycled like all other fish.

3. I would guess any fish that won't harrass it would be good. Depends on what kinda fish you like. At that size you can have small shoals of tetra, platty's, guppies, or a pair of NW cichlids (rams or apistos).

4. Angel = Depends on other stocking but prob not if you have tetras or guppies as they are snacks for an Angel. Neons = Would be fine but look at other species, there are actually quite alot of breeds of tetra ( make sure for your tank, that they get no bigger than 1 to 1.5"). Sharks = Prob bala sharks and def not. They can get upwards of 12 to 15" and your tank would only be good for about the first two monthes of their lives. Small Yellow Fish = ??? need mroe info

5. No

6. They are slow moving and would find it hard to get food. Also, their large fineage would be nipped by any breed of tetra.


Just take it easy after your tank is cycled. You don't need to pack the tank with 30 fish as soon as you can. Add at most 5 or 6 at a time (that is tetra size) and only 1 or 2 (if they are 2 to 3 inches)

EDIT: Spelling and added link

 

[dwarfgourami]

Hi and welcome to the forum and the hobby!

1. I would recommend you first to read the pinned topic on cycling the tank, i.e. getting it habitable for fish by growing a colony of beneficial bacteria. Two ways you can do this- fishless cycling has the advantage of putting less stress on the fish and giving you a wider range of first fish to choose from. Disadvantage is you have to wait a few weeks before the fish can go in. Apart from the items you mentioned, you need a couple of buckets, a couple of nets, dechlorinator to treat the water, gravel or sand for the bottom.

2 – The dwarf frogs are the ones that don't eat fish. They may find it difficult to compete for food in a tank full of very active fish, as their eyesight isn't good. I


3 – Small fish and not too greedy. But then again, I think some members have had problems with even the dwarf frogs eating fish- ask in the invertebrates forum.

4 – Looking at the small angel fish, neons, sharks (not sure which, they sell them in pets @ home), green scat and also a cat fish to help clean the tank clean. Will they be compatible? Also looking at adding some small yellow fishes but not sure on the name

Right, first you need to decide how large a tank you are going to set up. Angels need a tank at least 18 inches high (the small angels in the lfs are babies- they will grow) and probably at least 30 gallons of water. Some members have had problems with angels eating neons, but there are bigger tetras that would not have this problem. Sharks - do you mean red-tailed black sharks or bala (silver) sharks. Bala sharks are schooling fish that grow very large- you'd be looking at at least 100 gallons to keep a few of these, and keeping just one would be cruel. Red-tail sharks are the opposite: they are very territorial and will beat up anything that looks like another red-tail shark, so you can only keep one. They are very active and grow to about 6 inches, so you need a decent sized tank- 45- 55 gallons is probably a good idea.
Neons are lovely little fish, but a tad on the sensitive side, so ideally you should only add them to the tank after it has been running with other fish for a few months. If your water is hard, I would forego neons altogether, and go for hardier tetras: black widows, black neons, glowlights, red phantoms, serpas (but only serpas if you have no fish with long fins, as they do nip). Remember that tetras are schooling fish, so they need to be in groups of at least 6-8, otherwise they will feel insecure and be more susceptible to disease.
Scats are brackish fish, so afraid they won't do.

There are several cat fish that would make a nice addition to a community tank- it depends partly on the size of the tank, and what you want it to do (not all catfish eat algae). Unless you have an absolutely enormous tank, avoid the common pleco and the sailfin pleco.
The small yellow fishes- they're not yellow labs, by any chance? If so, these are African cichlids, that need a very special setups, also very aggressive so not really for your community setup.

But first of all, you need to decide the size of tank. If you go for a tank of less than 10 gallons, you are really looking at a Siamese fighter only, or perhaps a few African dwarf frogs.

10 gallons will house a small group of tetras or rasboras or small livebearers (guppies, endlers or similar) or small corydoras.

15-20 gallons will do for a combination of the above, or slightly larger fish, and is easier to maintain than a 10 gallons. Good size for a small starter tank. But even bigger is easier.

55 gallon will allow a much wider range of fish: the above, also a selection of small loricariids (mini-plecs), angels or other small cichlids, larger livebearers like mollies or swordtails, a red-tail or rainbow sharks, or a school of barbs


5 – Can you add terrapins or turtles to a tropical tank? Not if you want to keep your fish.

6 - How would a siamese fighter fish be in the above tank with the above fish?
Bettas can be dodgy as a community fish, at least male bettas. You can only keep one male, and not males and females together. And make sure there are no other fish that might remind it of bettas= nothing with long flowing fins (like guppies) or bright colours (gouramis, platies).

 

[Hughesy]

Whats a 125 litre tank like as a 1st tank? Is that big enough?

So i need some fish that are nice and would be good with the dwarf frogs, any ideas would be welcome?



Also im really new to the whole fish thing so some of your technical terms i may not understand so please explain.

 

[scubadoo]

Two good reply's there.

I can only recommend that you take some time and read the FAQ pinned topics.
they'll give you a basic understanding of most things - then do some further research into potential stocking by looking up the fish etc. that you're interested in in the pinned topic for that.

 

[Silverlady]

Dwarfgourami has given good advice, my advice is don't buy at Pets at Home, my local shop always has dead fish in the tanks. Also don't take any of their advice , they will try to sell as many fish as possible all in one go. They are just after your money.
If you let us know the Area you live in i am sure other posters will point you in the direction of a good local shop.

 

[dwarfgourami]

Whats a 125 litre tank like as a 1st tank? Is that big enough?

So i need some fish that are nice and would be good with the dwarf frogs, any ideas would be welcome?

125 ltrs sounds a good size. This would enable you to keep 3 or 4 different species in proper numbers, which is particularly nice when you're starting out. For dwarf frogs, I am no expert- I would suggest you ask in the invertebrates forum, that's where you're most likely to find people with actual experience of possible combinations. If it were my setup, I think tbh that I would keep the frogs in a small tank on the side, and get a wider choice of fish for the 125 ltrs. But ask the people who know.