Hello, Brand New To Keeping Tropical Fish

[Lizzie71]

Yesterday, after much begging by my 7 year old son, I took him to our local aquatic centre to buy a goldfish tank. Being a total sap, I let the man talk me into getting a small tropical tank so the kids could get several tiny fish rather than 1 or 2 goldfish. We now have our tank happily set up, complete with some lovely plants, heater, filter, gravel etc, but of course no fish yet.

I have been browsing these forums and I'm wondering if I've done the right think. It all seems so scientific! Don't know anything about nitrites or ph levels. And what the hell is cycling?

I've promised to buy some fish next Saturday but now I'm thinking it might all be a huge costly mistake. I thought they'd be an easy pet for a 7 year old to look after himself, but now I'm not so sure.

Any advice/help/encouragement?

 

[AJGray]

Its actually not that bad although it is costly we found that out the hard way.

i still cant get my head round cycling a tank i leave that to my partner! hehe

what i do suggest is you get a liquid testing kit which you can test ammonia nitIrtes nitrAtes and the pH to make sure you wwater is fine (1st 3 need to be 0 for your fish to live)

live plants also help and spaces for you fish to hide to

not being mean but did you rinse your gravel throughally just we made that mistake and after three days the water was rather cloudy

 

[Ian H]

you wont be able to get any fish for a while.

right ammonia is very toxic to fish, sadly fish waste and rotting food add ammonia to the water. The cycle is when the bacteria in your tank turn the ammonia into nitIrite this is also toxic to fish. good bacteria that lives in your filter will then turn this into nitRate, which is not exactly good for the fish but they can cope with it compared to ammonia or nitrIte, you control the levels of nitrAte by doing a weekly water change (NEVER clean the filter pads, this is where the good bacteria lives! if you have 2 pads then change one pad every couple of weeks/months)

if your lucky enough to live near some one with a tank set up then you can just take some of their filter media to instantly cycle your tank meaning you can add fish. The cycle can take weeks or months, but it'll be worth it in the end since you wont keep killing fish

 

[Tolak]

First of all, welcome to TFF! Yes the learning curve is a bit steep at first, but it really isn’t that difficult. Here’s a link to our cycling resource page; http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=141944

Cycling is all about keeping healthy bacteria that converts the waste fish produce into something less unhealthy for them. Fish produce ammonia as a waste product. Ammonia is toxic to fish, the first set of bacteria convert ammonia to nitrite, a substance less toxic, but still not good for them. The second set of bacteria convert nitrite to nitrate, a substance that is even less toxic and is removed by regular water changes.

All cycling is about is growing these two types of bacteria to deal with the waste fish produce. One bacteria eats ammonia, poops out nitrite. Another eats nitrite, poops out nitrate.

I wouldn’t worry about pH, as long as it is stable, which most tap water is, it is safe for your fish. Most fish commonly found at your local shop can adapt to a wide pH range.

To help your cycling it would be good to know your general location, such as country or state in the US. Many members are willing to donate mature media; this will help you with cycling your tank. If you decide to do a fishless cycle it will be 2 weeks minimum before you can add fish.

Congrats to you & your son on your first tank, youngsters are the future of this hobby. A couple quick hints; it’s better to underfeed than overfeed, and water changes are the best preventive medicine there is.

 

[Lizzie71]

Thanks for your help so far. I did rinse the gravel very thoroughly (I followed the instructions on setting up a goldfish tank and just added a small heater, so hopefully that's ok). I now have lovely clear water which seems to be stable at around 25-26 degrees.

I am in Kent, in the UK. I don't know anyone else who keeps tropical fish unfortunately.

I am taking a water sample to the aquatic place on Saturday, and if they say OK, we'll start with the fish. Do you think I should buy all the fish I want, or start with a couple and build it up?

 

[godsson]

i have a tiny tank and it costed me a fortune.but i got some nice fish and some other things but yes as u say u got plants and all that.if u put a tap water conditioner treatment than you should leave it for about a week and a half before you put fish.i will tell you the best thing you can do is get 2 male guppies and 4 female.costs abut 10 pounds for all 6.then geta breeding net and let them breed after 1 or 2 weeks take the female fish put the into a breeding net. and let them have babies.then you can have over 20 fish. withought you needing going to spend more money.nitrate and ph lvls come from tap waters.if you go now and give them a sample they will find a lot of bad things inside.so yo need to leave it for about a week or so.and then put some fishies inside.but remmeber the best things to get is guppies even if its 1 male 1 female.very low cost and very easy tot ake care of.and the babies are very very good.mine had some 2 days ago about 25. and theyre very good.good luck and i hope i helped i say couple fish and build up and depends how much u got to spend for them.also u have a great temperature.25 26 is perfect.but dont let it go over 26

 

[Tolak]

Thanks for your help so far. I did rinse the gravel very thoroughly (I followed the instructions on setting up a goldfish tank and just added a small heater, so hopefully that's ok). I now have lovely clear water which seems to be stable at around 25-26 degrees.

I am in Kent, in the UK. I don't know anyone else who keeps tropical fish unfortunately.

I am taking a water sample to the aquatic place on Saturday, and if they say OK, we'll start with the fish. Do you think I should buy all the fish I want, or start with a couple and build it up?

A tank sitting for a week with no ammonia source is not a cycled tank. Take all info from any aquatics place with a grain of salt, they are great for misinformation, and are in business to make money. Anyone giving you info here does it for free.

If you plan on doing a traditional cycle with fish you will need to do daily water changes, and start by stocking at about 1/5 your total maximum. If you do a fishless cycle you will have to wait for the tank to cycle, but can fully stock the tank.

Here is a list of people willing to donate mature media; http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=150631

 

[godsson]

yes you can also do this my friend.

you can go there and buy water from them thats perfectly fine.

the just put it in ur tank and make it the 25c temp and then add the fish the same day.

but i siggest to do it as u are now