Heater/aeration Advice

[boc]

Hi guys,
i'm completely new to keeping fish, and am getting my first tank tomorrow:

Light System: Fluorescent tube (with on/off switch)
Filtration: Advanced (3-stage) filter built into hood
Volume: 9 Gal/ 41 L
Dimensions: Height 41cm (16.2 inches) x 51cm wide (20 inches) x 30cm (11.8 inches) deep.

The tank comes with lighting and a filter (as above), however it doesn't have a heater or any aeration,
I'm hoping to have some live plants and maybe some coral in the tank, and was wondering what your advice would be for heating,
I'm in the UK and have a few specialist shops near by.

I am also aware that the filter is probably very basic as it comes as part of the aquarium package, so any advice on whether I should get a new one, or one to work alongside the current one would be appreciated,

I'd also like an 18" bubble wall running along the back of the tank, is this a good idea? and if it is practical what sort of air pump would i need to get to achieve this?

thanks
x

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to the forum Boc.
The air pump and air stone is not essential to a tank setup. If you have good circulation of water near the water surface, lots of oxygen will end up dissolved in the tank water. If you want plants and end up using CO2 to enhance the plant growth, the air stone will make the CO2 come out of solution faster because it will significantly increase that surface water circluation. It sort of fights what you do with the CO2. If you do not intend to get into the more difficult plants that require special lighting, the CO2 will not really be needed and the bubble wall will be fine. Some fish like to play in the bubbles.
The heater will be essential if you decide to get tropical fish and will not be needed if you keep things like gold fish and similar cooler water fish that do not need the heat.
One of the first things that would help you sort things out is to look at the stickies at the top of this forum. There are a number of threads there about cycling and about setting up your first tank that will help you get off on the right foot. As you are doing your reading, if you find anything confusing, please come back and ask more questions. It is always better to ask than it is to make the mistake by not asking.

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, agree with all the advice oldman47 has given, he's very experienced. There's a good planted tank section with experts that are willing to help with various advice. Often in smaller tanks the CO2 can come from DIY kits or from chemical carbon liquid products like Flourish Excel. Plants, however, are usually of secondary importance to beginners, who often need to spend there time learning how to "cycle" thier filter. It can take quite a few weeks on average to prepare a filter before its ready for fish - all that is covered in the pinned articles.

Other suprising things for beginners are that carbon is generally not needed in the new filters they are trying to prepare and that liquid test kits turn out to be quite important for the beginner cycling process.

Good luck and welcome to TFF,
~~waterdrop~~

 

[boc]

thanks for the advice, i had a read and settled on a 100W heater, and have left the bubble wall for a while, whilst i'm cycling and figuring out what it is exactly i want in the tank

thanks again
x

 

[Miss Wiggle]

hi there, just a quick note that the two posters above seem ton have missed, you've said you want corals, corals are only for salt water set ups.

fine if you want to go down this route but it's much more expensive (need more equipment and running costs are higher added to which even the cheapest fish is around £20 whereas the cheapest tropical fish are around £1) and requires a much greater understanding of water chemistry so you'd have a lot of research to do before jumping in.

not to say it can't be done by beginners, but it isn't often as people will tend to take the first step with tropicals and the with a bit of experience under your belt step up to marines.

helpful link for you from my sig 'step by step guide to setting up an aquarium' will be all sorts of useful stuff in there for you so have a good read

 

[boc]

hi there, just a quick note that the two posters above seem ton have missed, you've said you want corals, corals are only for salt water set ups.

fine if you want to go down this route but it's much more expensive (need more equipment and running costs are higher added to which even the cheapest fish is around £20 whereas the cheapest tropical fish are around £1) and requires a much greater understanding of water chemistry so you'd have a lot of research to do before jumping in.

not to say it can't be done by beginners, but it isn't often as people will tend to take the first step with tropicals and the with a bit of experience under your belt step up to marines.

helpful link for you from my sig 'step by step guide to setting up an aquarium' will be all sorts of useful stuff in there for you so have a good read

aah thanks for that, i didn't realise corals needed salt water,
i guess i'll leave that one for a little while
x