BRAND NEW! HELP!

Ok thank you! I'll have a look at proshrimp! I've had a look for numbers and it's saying hardness clark - 12.92? Does that mean anything? Also leicester has a 221.85 ppm?

Ok so if i put plants in i don't need to cycle? Whats the pros and cons of having plants? Do they maintain themselves or will i need to maintain and change? Would i need to wait to add fish if i put plants in?

I'll take a look at k2aqua thank you! I'm going to look at the juwel tank as i prefer the idea that the heater and filter are adjustable!
 
Hardness clark is not used in fishkeeping so we have to convert it into the units which are used.

12.92 clark = 10 dH and 185 ppm. That's not the same as your 221 ppm!

Can you tell us where you got the two figures from? Usually the most accurate is found where you type your postcode in.
 
Hardness clark is not used in fishkeeping so we have to convert it into the units which are used.

12.92 clark = 10 dH and 185 ppm. That's not the same as your 221 ppm!

Can you tell us where you got the two figures from? Usually the most accurate is found where you type your postcode in.
I got it the hardness clark from my water supplier website which is severn trent and the the 221 from a google search. Hold on let me try a different postcode checker!
 
I'd go with the Severn Trent value. They have to get their water tested several times a year and they know exactly what is going down the pipes to your postcode.





Plants.

The idea behind cycling is that fish excrete ammonia which is toxic to them. Cycling is the term we use for growing bacteria which eat the ammonia, and another set of bacteria which eat the nitrite that the first lot make from the ammonia. When enough of these bacteria have grown, they keep the tank safe for fish.
Plants take up ammonia as fertiliser and they don't turn it into nitrite. If there are enough fast growing plants, the take up all the ammonia made by a tankful of fish, and keep the fish safe.
So to keep the fish safe we need to do one or the other.

Plants do need a bit of work. They need fertiliser - plants need more than just ammonia; like garden plants they often need pruning. Some plants are classed as easy, some as difficult and some in between. The difficult plants tend to be harder to keep as they need extra things like carbon dioxide added to the tank, so stick with easy plants to start. Look for the plant company Tropica on-line, and look for their easy plant list.
Floating plants are good for two reasons. They take up more ammonia than lower down plants and they shade the fish. Most of the fish we buy come from waters with overhanging vegetation so they like having something over their heads.
As for plant cycling, with this method you set up and plant the tank then wait till the plants show definite signs of growth. the last thing you want is to get fish then all the plants die. Once the plants are growing well, you buy the first batch of fish and test for ammonia and nitrite every day. if they both read zero, great. If they read above zero, you need to do water changes to get them down. Once you've had zeros for a couple of weeks, you buy the next batch of fish.
This method depends on there being enough plants. Just one or two slow growing plants sin't enough, but something like water sprite or frogbit flaoting on the water will go a long way towards being enough.
 
Help and welcome to the forum! :hi:

As @essjay said, I suggest getting plants. Anacharis is the best for sucking up ammonia, and will cycle your tank much faster than without.
 
I'd go with the Severn Trent value. They have to get their water tested several times a year and they know exactly what is going down the pipes to your postcode.





Plants.

The idea behind cycling is that fish excrete ammonia which is toxic to them. Cycling is the term we use for growing bacteria which eat the ammonia, and another set of bacteria which eat the nitrite that the first lot make from the ammonia. When enough of these bacteria have grown, they keep the tank safe for fish.
Plants take up ammonia as fertiliser and they don't turn it into nitrite. If there are enough fast growing plants, the take up all the ammonia made by a tankful of fish, and keep the fish safe.
So to keep the fish safe we need to do one or the other.

Plants do need a bit of work. They need fertiliser - plants need more than just ammonia; like garden plants they often need pruning. Some plants are classed as easy, some as difficult and some in between. The difficult plants tend to be harder to keep as they need extra things like carbon dioxide added to the tank, so stick with easy plants to start. Look for the plant company Tropica on-line, and look for their easy plant list.
Floating plants are good for two reasons. They take up more ammonia than lower down plants and they shade the fish. Most of the fish we buy come from waters with overhanging vegetation so they like having something over their heads.
As for plant cycling, with this method you set up and plant the tank then wait till the plants show definite signs of growth. the last thing you want is to get fish then all the plants die. Once the plants are growing well, you buy the first batch of fish and test for ammonia and nitrite every day. if they both read zero, great. If they read above zero, you need to do water changes to get them down. Once you've had zeros for a couple of weeks, you buy the next batch of fish.
This method depends on there being enough plants. Just one or two slow growing plants sin't enough, but something like water sprite or frogbit flaoting on the water will go a long way towards being enough.
Brilliant thank you so much! Ok i'll have a look around for some plants that are easy going and go from there with them!
 
Hey! I've always wanted a tropical fish tank, i want to do it properly though, i've looked into keeping tropical fish and have reserached some basics but i need help with whats the best tank to get, which water testing products are best, which fish go with which, heating in the tank, all the beginner basic stuff please!
Before doing anything or buying anything indoctrinate yourself with as much knowledge as you can on the nitrogen cycle.
There is a pinned section on this board, id also suggest watching videos on you tube or reading article on the nitrogen cycle until you feel you have a pretty goid understanding of that.
After that learn as much as you can about PH GH KH and water chemistry find out your water chemistry then research what fish fit your water chemistry namely GH before purchasing any fish. Good luck!
 
I'd like to add something about the test kits.
Years ago I used to keep tropical and used API test kits. Then went to marine and used Salifert kits, I found the Salifert much better and can measure nitrate down to 1ppm.
Now come back to tropical and I'm using the Salifert kits still on freshwater. May be more expensive but you get a full range Including kh calcium mag phos ammonia nitrite nitrate, many more . Wouldn't buy API again
 

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