In At The Deep End.

[Nikolz]

First or foremost i know people may see this post 10 times a week but me humor me.
I apologise for any idiotic suggestions aswell as i am completely new to the hobby.

I thought it best that i set my self a clear goal which would be...
I would like a nicely presented aquarium with a medium "community" of variying fish. 2-3 Slightly larger fish 6-7 Active smaller fish an then a few "hide away" fish.


My first dilema which i hope a kind soul can give me the pro's & cons on is Tropical or not...
Secondly real Rocks & plants or not....
Any particulary variety recommendations on the above....
Brands of tank? I understand Jewel make good tanks.....?

I am feverously reading the articles which are of great help but if any one could give their opinions please?

Thanks in advance

 

[jacko9901]

First or foremost i know people may see this post 10 times a week but me humor me.
I apologise for any idiotic suggestions aswell as i am completely new to the hobby.

I thought it best that i set my self a clear goal which would be...
I would like a nicely presented aquarium with a medium "community" of variying fish. 2-3 Slightly larger fish 6-7 Active smaller fish an then a few "hide away" fish.


My first dilema which i hope a kind soul can give me the pro's & cons on is Tropical or not...
Secondly real Rocks & plants or not....
Any particulary variety recommendations on the above....
Brands of tank? I understand Jewel make good tanks.....?

I am feverously reading the articles which are of great help but if any one could give their opinions please?

Thanks in advance

first of all i would read on Fishless cycling.


i would go for real rocks and plants. also some bogwood.

personally i would get a tank size of around 100 litres or more.

what type of fish do you like this would help.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

glad to see your here asking questions and researching before jumping in and getting fish. if you plan it out well and do your research then there is absolutely no reason why you can't have what you like.

the link in my sig 'step by step guide to setting up an aquarium' will help you out loads on everything from equipment selection to cycling and stocking, so have a good old read of that and the links within it.

i would suggest the best thing to start with his freshwater tropical (this basically means warm water with no salt in), the majority of the small colourful fish you see in the fish shop will be freshwater tropicals, they're easy enough to keep, pretty low cost and maintenance and there's loads of variety.

if you start looking into saltwater (marine) you can hike up the cost by about 20 x and also significantly increase the amount of knowledge/research needed. That's not to say you can't start out with marines if you like, just to be aware what you are getting into before hand.

If you go coldwater you're limiting your choices for fish, there are some lovely coldwater species, but not half as many as with the tropical freshwater.

Decor is basically down to your asthetic preferences, the fish won't care if you have natural wood/plants or a bright pink sunken castle. So just go for whatever you like the look of. don't be put off by real plants, they're not that hard to keep again so long as you do a little bit of research. There's a handful of dead easy to grow species which are readily available cheapily in a lot of shops, so little bit of research and you'd be fine with those. Unfortunately a lot of fish shops also sell houseplants as aquatics which will only live for a month or so submerged then rot away.

remember the only stupid question is a question unasked - so read away and fire away with any questions, we'll do our best to help you out.

 

[Nikolz]

To be honest i must agree i am leaning towards Fresh water tropical.

I have seen a few that i like so far and i *think* around 100L should do me fine.

I want some sort of bottom staying fish in there

Eg.
Gold marble bristlenose catfish
Raphael catfish
Then 4/5 middle and 3/4 top

On the above would i be ok with 100L ? is it too large, small.

If what im reading is sinking in would 3/4 weeks be a normal setup time before introducing fish ?
Can i do this on a budget of £250?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

To be honest i must agree i am leaning towards Fresh water tropical.

I have seen a few that i like so far and i *think* around 100L should do me fine.

I want some sort of bottom staying fish in there

Eg.
Gold marble bristlenose catfish
Raphael catfish
Then 4/5 middle and 3/4 top

On the above would i be ok with 100L ? is it too large, small.

If what im reading is sinking in would 3/4 weeks be a normal setup time before introducing fish ?
Can i do this on a budget of £250?

i would say the BN Catfish would be fine, alternatively a group of corydoras catfish would work. i wouldn't bother with the raphael, they're so secretive and nocturnal that you will never see them. I emptied a tank once and found one in there I'd forgotten about literally hadn't seen him once in months and forgot he was there!!

depends how you want to set the tank up, if you plan to doa fishless cycle which is what most people here would recommend you're looking approx 4-6 weeks, but it's very variable so can't give an accurate prediction.

yup could easily do it on £250, but you won't be able to get a brand new top of the range tank on that budget, if you look on ebay you can pick up some v good deals for second hand, or you could do it with all new tank, equipment etc but get a plain glass box non-branded tank, hoos nad stand.

 

[tyyrlym]

By finding my tank, filter, air pump, gravel vac used I was able to get my 55 gallon tank set up for half that budget. That's in Florida however so local prices may vary but that should be a healthy budget to start a tank on.

Real vs. Fake. Real rocks and driftwood because the fake stuff is just as expensive and you'll never be able to create large rock formations with the fake stuff. Plants its a toss up. I went with fake plants to save on the start up costs of plants and to eliminate one more head ache from the process. I wanted to focus on keeping the fish alive first and foremost.