Just Wanted To Say Hi

[djjohny1986]

hi am john been keeping fish for about 16 years now had most fish at min i have a 5ft reef tank which i love but wanting to set up a fresh water tank in the bed room

 

[Noahs ark6]

Hi John

to the forum. Do you have any plans on what you're going to keep?

 

[djjohny1986]

ive seem a tank on ebay full set up with African Cichilids and plecs and clown loaches are the cichilids easy to keep thats 1 fish i dont have a clue about lol what ph to keep at and temp are the main things and do i use tap water or as like marine us ro water

 

[Noahs ark6]

I've never kept African cichlids before but i do know they prefer a higher PH, so an R/O unit wouldn't be usefull as it lowers the PH. Tap water will be fine. 25- 26 degrees would be a good temp

 

[djjohny1986]

i do have a spare 200l tank that i could set up as a tropical tank i used to them 1 of theses before i went to marines but cant remember a lot of it lol like what ph i need should i use ro water or tap temp filteration ect i would want to have live plants 2 ive heard about ppl useing dirt under there garvel any advice i would be very grate full thanks

 

[Noahs ark6]

As above, R/O water has a lower PH, so would be ideal for fish that like a low PH (like Discus) but not for those that like a high PH (like lake malawi cichlids). The PH will vary depending on which fish you want to keep, test your tap water and get fish that would be appropriate for that PH (however, most common communtiy fish like neons, platys, mollys etc will be fine in anything from 6.5 to 7.5). If you do go with R/O water, remember that you shouldn't use 100% ro water, 50/50 is a good ration between RO and tap water. Filtration- for a tank that size, an external canister filter would be ideal. These filters are highly regarded within this forum. Live plants are awesome, but i've never had experience with using dirt under the substrate. Again, the temp will vary depending on which fish you want to keep, but most commonly kept community fish will do fine in 25 - 26 degrees.Lighting- different plants will require different lighting levels, low light plants (like Ferns mosses and anubias) will only need low to medium lighting (which is about 1.5-2.5 watts per gallon). Whereas high light plants would prefer around 3.5 watts per gallon. There are two main type of bulbs, T5 and T8, T5's are more energy efficient and brighter, and are just better , T8's produce more heat and are not as energy efficient. The canopy on the tank will either need to have t8's or t5's, so check before you go and buy them. What tank is it by the way?

Plants will benefit from the use of a good quality plant fertiliser, and budget depending a Co2 system