Just Starting And Looking For Advice

[freshfish20]

Hello everyone,

I was recently given a 55gal pentagon corner tank with a custom made cabinet. I want to take up building a fish community but I dont really know where to start. I know that i want to have all freshwater fish to start off with because i know that saltwater fish are very expensive and i dont want to test my skills on expensive fish. So what i am hoping for is a little guidance as to what are good starter fish or what to do (it may sound girly but id like some pretty looking fish, or at least a good amount of fish that can co-exist with a menacing presence that roams the tank). Can anyone out there help me or at least tell me if i am thinking way off base here?

Thank you so much

 

[rdd1952]

First off, welcome to the forums. This is a very good forum with a lot of very knowledgeable and helpful memebers.

It's good that you are researching first. Your life (and your fish's) will be a lot easier. I would definitely suggest that you do a fishless cycle before you get fish. Here is a link to a pinned topic on it. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions. And whether you do a fishless cycle or cycle with fish, you will definitely need a good liquid master test kit to test ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH. It would also help to have a KH and GH test kit too.

There are a few things you need to consider in deciding what fish you want. Go walk through the local fish store and see what they have. Decide what type fish you would like to have if you could get any that you wanted? Then go back and research them. Check to see if they need to be kept in groups or can (or should) be kept alone. See how easy they are to care for and what their minimum tanks size is.

Test your tap water to see what the pH is and if you get the kits for KH and GH, test them too. If not, take a water sample to the fish store and have them test it. Make them tell you the actual number, not just that it's soft or hard water. It is much easier to get and keep fish that are suited to your water than to try to alter the water to suit the fish. But having said that, most fish can adapt to a pH that is outside their optimal range. The key is that it stays stable and doesn't bounce all over (caused by using pH adjusting chemicals).

You will also need to decide what substrate you want. Some fish such as corys and loaches, prefer sand to gravel. The corys use their barbels to find food and the rough edges of gravel can damages them. Some loaches like to dig in the sand. If you want to try cichlids, you will probably need to go with a substrate such as crushed coral that raises your pH, KH & GH. You will also have to decide if you want live plants or not. That will also influence your choice of substrates.

Also, compare different species to make sure they are compatible. Some fish such as tiger barbs are very aggressive and will nip at the fines of other fish, especially slower moving ones. They are definitely not good fish for a community tank. Angelfish and neon tetras shouldn't be together as neons are the natural prey of angels in the wild. Some peopl have had success with mixing them by putting them both in the tank at the same time when they were small.

As for good starter fish, most community fish such as tetras, corys, rasboras, loaches, etc., are relatively easy to care for. Some are more delicate than others so be careful if you decide to cycle with fish that you get hardy fish that can handle the ammonia and nitrite (both toxic) they will have to contend with.

Last but not least, read the pinned topics at the top of each sub-forum. There is a lot of very useful information in them. I know I have left things out that you need to consider but it's late and the brain has about shut down for the day. I'm sure someone else will add to the list. Good luck.

 

[Yazan]

Also I'll add is that if your are willing to do a cycle with fish than you need some hardy fish such as a "white cloud" and "zebra danio". The "zebra danio" and the "white cloud" need to be in schools of 6 or more.

 

[Aisling]

Hiya, welcome to the forum! I'm a newbie myself and the best advice I would give you would be to do a fishless cycle. I had a small 30L tank and didn't have a clue when I started about the ammonia cycle or types of fish or anything! I didn't do a fishless cycle and to be very honest it was absolutely disasterous! The fish were always sick so I eventually bought a much bigger tank (180L), fishless cycling is so much better because it gives your tank a nice amount of good bacteria to begin with which is a great start for any fish that you'll eventually put in there. The other piece of advice I'd give you is PATIENCE!!! It's so important to wait until your water readings are just right before adding any fish, just keep in mind that fish who are exposed to any levels of ammonia or nitrite are uncomfortable which really isn't fair!

Anyway, I used some stuff called BioMature by a company called Waterlife to cycle my tank and it took about a month with this ... actually I kept a diary and was gonna post it up for any newbies 'cos I thought it might be useful ... I just have to find the time!!! It contains Ammonia and some nitrite bacteria to kick start the whole thing ... have a chat with your lfs if they have it and they should be able to advise you on how to use it. I also used some stuff called Cycle just to top up the good bacteria ... some people say this doesn't work but I had a good experience with it! Anyway, I have a tank with platys, zebra danios and guppies in there at the moment and it's fabby!

Best of luck!