Hello Everyone!

[Hayden]

Hi Guys,
I am just looking for some helpfull advice on starting my own tropical fish aquarium, id love info on everything! whats the best tank, the easisest kind of fish to keep for a relative newcomer,( i have had 6 goldfish for 6 months) plants, levels for ph, acidity, all the works, etc etc.
thanks i hope you can help me, im loving my goldfish at the moment and would love tropical fish to : )
thanks Hayden.

 

[fluttermoth]

Tropicals are no more difficult than goldifsh; in fact in a lot of ways they're easier, as they produce far less waste than goldies, and come in far more colours, plus you can have alot more fish in the tank than you can with coldwater fish!

What's the pH and hardness of your tap water? As it's easier to choose fish that like the water you have, rather than trying to change it

 

[Hayden]

Hi there,
i wasnt expecting such a quick response, thanks : )
it's great to know about tropi's being easier than goldfish to keep,
im not sure at the moment what the facts are about the water, but i know that our house water is combined tank water and water from the mains,
ill be able to give the facts this time tommorow if it would help?
thanks again for the quick response!

 

[fluttermoth]

This is a very busy forum!
Knowing your pH and hardness will just help you pick fish that will live happily in your water, but most trpicals are fairly adaptable

 

[L_Plates]

Welcome to the forums.

 

[colleen0309]

Good morning and welcome!

 

[Hayden]

hi,
sorry for the late reply to your questions,
i only just got home from holidays, i checked my tap water and its very acidic, around 6.0-6.3, and i asked my inlaws about the hardness of the tap water and they had no idea what i was on about, haha, is there a tester i can buy to check? thanks

 

[fluttermoth]

That's a good pH; most tropicals prefer acidic water

I expect your water's quite soft; most acidic water is and your in-laws would probably know if it was hard, because they'd get limescale all over their taps and kettle elements!

There are testers you can buy, but until you get into keeping wild caught fish or breeding the more delicate species, just knowing 'hard' or 'soft' is enough for the standard tropical fish.

Raising pH and increasing hardness are quite easy anyway; it's doing it the other way around that's difficult

 

[micko]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

 

[Hayden]

yeah the taps are all very clean, no lime on them at all,.
so what range of fish would be the best do you guys think?
also i was wondering about coral? and anenomes? i was just wondering weather or not they are legal or not,

probably a stupid question haha

ps thanks for the warm welcome to!!!

 

[colleen0309]

Sounds like you want a saltwater or reef tank, not a tropical freshwater. I don't know much about saltwater, but I do know that corals and anenomes require strong lighting and alot of water flow. Good luck and welcome!