Complete newbie needs your help...

[phillips321]

Hi guys.

Fist let me start by saying i have never kept fish before other than two goldfish that i won at a carnival when i was 10. None of my friends keep fish, so i have no where to turn other then here.

I have bought a tank that is 24*12*12 (inches). I think its just over 50 Litres (around 54) and i plan to use it for TROPICAL fish.

I have a 75w Visi therm heater and an ELITE STINGRAY 15 underwater filter. The filter is for aquraiums up to 75L. I also have a small air pump which is pumping an air curtain inside the tank. Im looking to get a light next, do i have to have a light for day and another one for night? I have seen this light on ebay and it looks kinda atractive to look at.

Ebay Moonlight
http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...me=STRK:MEWA:IT

I'm hoping to fill the tank with tropical fish but i was told to wait a week to let the water settle down.

I have added some aquasafe to the tank to neutralise the chlorine.

Now down to the fun bit, but where do i start?

In the end i want to end up with a few of those fish that look like puffers, like the one off finding nemo. I have seen them in the fish shop near me for £10 each.

When i asked the guy if i should have these he said he thinks i should put some more hardy fish in the tank to start off.

I like fish that are active and colourful, what sort of fish are these, remeber, they need to be "hardy".

Another question, how many fish on average will this tank hold?

Also, are there any sites you can point me to for complete beginners like me? I've tried google but they all point me to shops or places for experts.

Thanks in advance.


Matt Phillips

P.s. I have set all this up today

 

[superballs5337]

from what ive read and heard puffers are more brakish (mix between salt and normal water. and for filtration take how many gallons or liters you have and times it by 10. example 75 gallons you would need 750 gallons per hour for filtration. GL hope i helped some.

 

[jflowers]

So many questions, so many answers. Take your time and have a good read of the posts here and they will answer most of your q's

The Clown fish from nemo is a marine fish and only for a very dedicated and experienced fish keeper [EDIT reread your post and it looks like you want a puffer, not a clown, sorry. There are a few FW puffers, go to the oddball section and look at the pinned post on them there]). Start off with tropical FW fish and only after researching them here first (or elsewhere on the net, but we are best )

Jon

 

[maestro]

A few quick answers

You buy one light and turn it off at night, the lights you see over fish tanks are flourescent tubes, you'll need an 18inch 15 watt tube and a starter unit for your tank.

The lights you see in that link are so called night lights, they are led lights that people use at night that simulate moon light once theyve turned the main light off so that they can watch the fish at night

You need to cycle your tank before it is ready to add fish, check out the pinned topics.

The fish in findign nemo are saltwater so therefore not suitable, although you can get dwarf puffers

Fish that would work well are platies guppies neon tetras, honey gourami, dwarf gourami and loads of others, you can do a search for beginner fish

 

[enchanted]

So far you have recieved a lot of good advice, but I want to clear something up by maestro.

The amount of light you have is determined by the type of tank you want to do. For example a fish only aquarium would do well under a 15 Watt light, but if you wanted to add plants then for low light you would want to be about double this and for high light about 4 times this amount of wattage.

I'm not finding much on ebay.co.uk for it, but compact flourescent would be the choice if you are looking at plants. If not you would be fine with the 15 watt light.

 

[phillips321]

cheers guys.

the puffer fish i was talking about is a tropical fish. When i saw them in the shop they're about 1 inch long (babies i think).

Also, the tank seems very murky at the moments, will it allways look this dull? How long does it take for all the tiny bubbles and the murkyness to disappear?

Ive also just found this website, its got the fish that my shop sells, here it is
PufferFish

the website seems quite good, its got alot for beginners.

Sorry about all of the questions but i have one more, what is the correct placement of the filter and heater, they are both squished in the same corner (out of the way) with the filter pushing water into the middle of the tank.

cheers guys (and gals)

 

[3fsh]

First off... I would recommend starting with some "easier" fish first. Then, if that is successful, you can sell those fish or give them back to the LFS and then try keeping the dwarf puffers. (If, in fact, they are dwarf puffers, then they are full grown because they only get to be about 1" long.) I would start off with some guppies, for example. My favorite are the feeder ones because they have much more personality than the long-tailed variety! (IMO) First, though, you need to cycle the tank. Cycling can be accomplished by using either dannios (a very hardy fish) or pure ammonia. The fish method takes about a month and a half to cycle the tank... the pure ammonia method takes about 1-2 weeks.

To answer your question... the placement of the filter is really a personal choice, but the heater should be placed in the center of the back wall of the tank for maximum heating efficiency. It's also a good idea to have the water from the filter flow over the heater. That way the heat gets distributed evenly.

Murkiness... hmmm... is there gravel in your tank? (You didn't specify.) If there is, it's probably just murky because you didn't rinse the gravel thoroughly before you put it in.

Check out some of the pinned topics on this website about starting out, cycling, etc. They are very helpful!

Good luck!

 

[maestro]

It should settle after a few days with the filter running.

I dont know too much about dwarf puffers but as the link says they need a species only tank so you cant keep them with other fish.


The filter is kept in a corner, many people like tohide it with plants or something, the heater can go anywhere where there is water movement so near the filter is a good idea, its best to put the heater at a diagonal , not straight vertically upwards

 

[phillips321]

well i guess thats it, i didn't wash the gravel before putting it in the tank.

Can any1 state why it is best to but the heater on its side,i'm trying to think of the logic of it but for some reason cant. to me the lower it is the better beacause heat rises. But then im just a newbie so what would i know.

 

[charmd2]

The only thing I could come up with on why the heater is better on its side is evaporation, to keep the heater underwater so it doesnt' crack.

 

[NinjaSmurf]

I have a power filter for my tank, so I put the heater vertically along the intake pipe, that way the warmest water gets sucked up into the filter and spewed out into the rest of the tank, keeping it at an even temp. And definetely talk to the people in the oddball section, they know and love their puffers.