Hi Everyone :)

[Mozely]

Hi there,

I have been keeping cold water fish for over 6 years now and have a 4 foot tank dominating my kitchen which I love. I think I will always be one of the few cold water fanatics at heart but I recently decided I would like to give it a bash with a smallish tropical set up. Obviously the cold water experience will be usefull to a degree, the only issue I have never dealt with is temperature...

So, I have a 2 foot standard shaped tank waiting for me to decide what to do with it. If anyone has advice on heaters, what to look for in that department etc will be helpfull. I want just a few small 'fish shaped' fish if that makes any sense. So far the only thing I know for sure is I would like glowlight tetras. I don't know exactly what I would put with them, if anything or even how many I could realistically have. I don't like over stocked tanks, they just don't look nice aside from the fact that it is not fair on the fish.

Thank you for any help.

Lou, x x x x

 

[bellmcc]

Hi there,

I have been keeping cold water fish for over 6 years now and have a 4 foot tank dominating my kitchen which I love. I think I will always be one of the few cold water fanatics at heart but I recently decided I would like to give it a bash with a smallish tropical set up. Obviously the cold water experience will be usefull to a degree, the only issue I have never dealt with is temperature...

So, I have a 2 foot standard shaped tank waiting for me to decide what to do with it. If anyone has advice on heaters, what to look for in that department etc will be helpfull. I want just a few small 'fish shaped' fish if that makes any sense. So far the only thing I know for sure is I would like glowlight tetras. I don't know exactly what I would put with them, if anything or even how many I could realistically have. I don't like over stocked tanks, they just don't look nice aside from the fact that it is not fair on the fish.

Thank you for any help.

Lou, x x x x

 

[bellmcc]

I can tell you something about heaters.If there is anyone like me,who has ruined 3 or 4 heaters during water changes because I didn't unplug them,there are submersible heaters which I now have. The only problem with these are that they can't be turned up or down. So if you get ick or something where you need to turn it up you'll need to keep a regular one just incase.

 

[Mozely]

Well, my goldies are going in a pond some time in the next 12 months, but I don't know what I am going to do with the 4 foot... The 2 foot I want in my bedroom. Ideas for the 4 foot once the goldies have been re-housed will also be much apreciated.

 

[aly_starh]

Tetras are shoaling fish, so in the 2 foot tank you can have around 10, that would look great!
make sure the filter is cycled before you add fish, you can do fish-in or fish-less, there are stickys on the forum to help you with that

regarding heaters, get whatever one you want, 75w-150w is fine for the 2 foot tank. But if the heater is on make sure you unplug it before taking it out, as it will burn out. Look on Ebay for some fair-priced ones.

Regarding the 4-foot tank, you can either do a community, with loads of different fish, or a species only tank. Something big, maybe sharks? The list is endless!

Hope that helps

 

[Mozely]

I think I might have made my mind up about the 2 foot...

I would like just glow light tetras, with dark, maybe black gravel, and a black backing. Then a handfull of white gravel scattered across the bottom, pale, or white stone ornaments and some small live plants, with a bright green colour. How does that sound?

I already have a couple of 2 foot tanks in the loft, filters etc... I know about cycling, which will probably be easier since I can steal some of the filter sponge from the goldies down stairs I think just having the one species will look rather nice.

I've always liked the look of glowlights. They are very pretty little fish and I think they often get added to larger comunity tanks to sort of fill a gap, but I want to make a feature of them. I think they'll show up against black beautifully