Complete Newbie

[nicolabradshaw]

Ive recently bought a 43litre aquacube tank, and hope to add some fish to it on friday.

I have a number of questions (i apologise for being a bit thick)

I have 3 living plants in my tank, and one of them is beginning to appear 'see through' and brown (i have no idea why). It looks like long pieces of grass, (like this http/animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/plan...dc50Dave41.jpg)

How often do i need to test the water?
how do i carry out a water change?
Can i put aquatic frogs in my tank with angel fish, neon tetra and possibly guppies? (in which order should i add these fish to my tank without them becoming dominant over the others?)

Also i have bubbling ornaments with under gravel air tubes, my air pump is rather noisy though, it is a tetratec APS50, as recommended to me by someone in the local 'pets at home'. One of my ornaments has a mouth that collects air before opening to release it, however the amount of air into this ornament is keeping its mouth open 99% of the time.

One last question is, after cleaning the filters with aquarium water, do i put general tap water back into my tank, or does it need to be treated first?

Thanks
Nicola

 

[lilfishie]

before even thinking of adding fish you must cycle your tank, this gets rid of ammonia and nitrite that is harmful to fish and could cause them to die
have a read though THIS <---- clicky, should help you alot
43 l is approx 11 US gal so take a look at THIS(<-- another clicky) topic, it suggests some fish that are suited for your tank

 

[nicolabradshaw]

i have had my tank cycling through since last friday so it will have cycled for a week, would it be worth testing the water before i buy the fish?

 

[stang1]

I'd definitely test the water before adding fish as it can take longer than a week for the tank to cycle. Use the liquid test kit rather than the test strips as they are more accurate.
I wouldn't add an Angel to the tank though as it is far too small.
Neon tetras should be added last as they aren't very hardy and need a more mature tank.
If you get guppies, then you need one male to at least two females. One problem with Guppies is that they breed continually and you may end up with a lot of fry. If you don't want this happening then just add males.

 

[nicolabradshaw]

I'd definitely test the water before adding fish as it can take longer than a week for the tank to cycle. Use the liquid test kit rather than the test strips as they are more accurate.
I wouldn't add an Angel to the tank though as it is far too small.
Neon tetras should be added last as they aren't very hardy and need a more mature tank.
If you get guppies, then you need one male to at least two females. One problem with Guppies is that they breed continually and you may end up with a lot of fry. If you don't want this happening then just add males.

ive just read the first link and it says about adding ammonia, my tank came with two tester sachets of chemicals, they were stress coat and stress zyme, however in the instructions it says i need to wait 24hours before adding fish, (everyone else has said wait a week).

as for angels, i was told in the pet shop that i would be able to put up to 3 angels and a 'handful' of neons into the tank. setting up a tank is more hardwork than i fisrt thought lol.

 

[stang1]

Lol. It's never as straight forward as you think but you'll get there.
Some shops unfortunately, don't give the best advice and are only bothered about sales. There are good ones out there, it's just finding them!
Angels need a bigger tank which is at least 18" high. They will also eat the Neons as this is their diet in the wild.
I would go with adding the ammonia as people have suggested, seems to be the best route for most people. Sometimes it can take 2-3 weeks for the tank to cycle, just needs a little patience. It is frustrating though, I wanted to add fish as soon as my tank was set up but I was lucky enough with my lfs explaining cycling the tank to me.

 

[nicolabradshaw]

going to take a water sample to my local aquatic centre as they will test it for you. still dont know what is wrong with my plant though

 

[h2ofan]

Hi!
I'm new and want to get some tropical fish. I don't know what kind of breeds are good for beginers or what size the tank
needs to be. Overall: I need help!
Please reply and tell me what to do.

h2ofan

 

[lilfishie]

well get the biggest tank you can aford or have space for, generally larger tanks are much easier to maintain than smaller ones, then we can stock around the size of you tank

 

[h2ofan]

Thanks!
Biggest tank i can afford , got it!

 

[adamgreen240]

keep us updated on your tank then!