New Here And Looking For Advice

[wheeler-dealer-1988]

hiya all. my name is shane and im from south wales, 21 and looking forward to the tropical fish hobby..

right tonight i just bought my 1st ever fish tank for tropical fish,

tank spec - B Shape Glass open top tank Cabinet with 2 doors & shelf, its a 120 LITRE tank, measurements are below

Over head light
Fluval 3+ Filter
Carbon FIlter pads (box of 4 but used one)
Foam Pads (box of 4 but used 2)
Polyester pads (box of 4, unopened)
3 x Red plants (artificial)

1 x Green plant (artificial)
2 x Driftwood
1 x Artificial log/cave
1 x Air pump
2 x Rectangle blue air stones
Daphnia sachets food (opened)

Pleco wafers (opened)
Cichlid pellets (opened)

Gold fish food (almost brand new)
Tetra Aqua Easy Balance conditioner (new)
Bottle of TapSafe conditioner (opened)
AmmoLock conditioner (new)
Baby fish trap
Stand - 63cm height, 40cm width, 62cm length
Tank - 60cm height (68cm with light), 40cm width, 62cm length

thats what i just bought tonight used off ebay as a starter kit, i already know i must get a Heater before i add any fish and fill the tank and leave it stand ubt powered on for atleast 2-3 days without adding fish..

what i was woundring will the fish be ok to add after thge 3 days is up, 1 yellow tang & 3 yellow tailed damsels.

also what else would i need to make sure every thing runs smooth. please bare in mind i have never owned a fish in my life b4 so all answers please be simple. non technical lol

also i only bought it and took the hobby up as me and the girlfriend are living together and she loves all bright looking tropical fish, so after a few months i was hoping to add another 1 or 2 to the collection, and whats the most i can put in there, i have a scale off they growth size, needs ect ect but need names off fish that will be similer to ones above

 

[erk628]

The first thing that your going to have to do when you get your tank is to get it cycled. Filling it with water and leaving it set for a couple days is not going to do anything. When you cycle a tank what you are actually doing is cycling your filter. There are two methods to go about doing this a fishless or a fishin cycle. Before I talk about this I noticed in the list of things you got with the tank there was not a testing kit so you will need to purchase one of these. Most of us here us the API master "liquid" test kit. This kit tests for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and ph. Make sure you get the "liquid" test kit and not the strips because the strips are very inaccurate.

Now the preferred way to cycle your tank actually "filter" is a fishless cycle. Seeing how you don't have any fish yet I would strongly suggest you go this route its much easier on you and the fish. What you do with this method is you use a source of ammonia the best and preferred method is to use pure ammonia. All you have to do is add the right amount and wait usually a month or longer. Once the cycle is done then you can add your fish in small amounts tell fully stocked. You can find a link on how to do this in my sig below.

Now the other method is a fish in cycle which I'll tell you, you don't want to do this I'm saying this because I've done it. How to do this method you add some hardy fish your cycle will start. However with this method you have to test your water several times a day and any time your ammonia or nitrites go over 0.25 you have to do a water change. On average you will do several monster water changes usually of 50% or more several times a days for weeks to months.

So to sum things up first thing I would do is get that test kit you will need it before you start your cycle. The next thing you will want to do is read all the links in my sig below you will learn about the nitrogen cycle, how to cycle your tank, and other things that will be very helpful to you.

While your tank is cycling it will give you a chance to do some research on some fish and you can make a list of what you want to put in your tank. I would suggest once you get your list together to post it on here and we can go over it with you and let you know how it will work!

Oops missed that part first read through tangs and damsels are saltwater not freshwater and tropical is freshwater. There are plenty of tropical fish out there though that are very colorful!

 

[drobbyb]

Welcome to TFF! It appears that you are going to want to keep saltwater. Saltwater is another animal than freshwater. We do have a saltwater section and it can be found here. Feel free to post in that section and I am sure that the experts that frequent there will be happy to answer your questions.

 

[erk628]

If you only setting this tank up because your girlfriend likes colorful fish your more then likley not gonna want to do saltwater because it not cheap especially getting started. Just thought I'd give you a heads up!

 

[wheeler-dealer-1988]

hiya all

thank you so much for the replies, also im looking into tropical fish only so thank for that extra bit of advice...

right so i go and buy myself a API master "liquid" test kit and once i got that i shall fill my tank up and wait a month or so with no fish,

what do i do then,just get the API master "liquid" test kit, then fill it up with water and then leave it all powered up for 1 month or so with no fish and when shall i test the water, also have i got to add any thing to the water or just plain fresh tap water with a heater on

also my tank is 120 litres so it that 26-27 gallons and will a 200watt heater be ok in there or shall i get the 150watt heater

many thanks shane
P.S top forum and very helpful ppl, also very fats considering its 2.20am lol

also is this the correct one i am looking for on ebay, item number 300384283314

My link

 

[erk628]

The link doesn't work. I live in the states so its only 930pm here. Like I said in my post above filling your tank with water and waiting isn't going to do anything. You need to add a source of ammonia. Please scroll down and you will see five links in my sig read then all and you will have a much better understanding. Any questions just ask. The test kit will be used to first know how much ammonia to add and second to follow the cycle and see how its going. Then once your tank is cycled you'll have it incase something goes wrong you can test your water to see if its your water conditions thats causing the problem. This is what the test kit looks like

http/www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=4454&cmpid=03csegb&ref=3312&subref=AA&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=0110706000000

You can find them cheaper on ebay but your LFS(local fish store) should carry them to.

 

[wheeler-dealer-1988]

hiya again

i have now just bought a freshwater master test kit on ebay, its the same as the item link you showed me,

also could you tell me if this is the right item im after on ebay its ammonia remover, item number 310088422242

so now i have the 2 things you stated i need, now i will read the link and get ready to start. hope you do not mind checking the ammonia remover for me before i make a mistake, sorry about this but every thing is new to me and never heard off half off this stuff

regards
shane

 

[erk628]

No you don't want ammonia remover you want pure ammonia. You can find this in a hardware store. Here is a link to were you can find this http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=38840

Once you read the links in my sig let us know if you have any questions about anything you read!

 

[wheeler-dealer-1988]

right i found ammonia

they sell it in my local boots store as u stated, its called household ammonia. hope this is the right 1

lol sorry about the lack off reading its just 3am and realy tired and got to be up at 7am for work lol

 

[erk628]

Lol thats fine make sure to read the ingredients on the bottle the fishless cycle link well tell you what to look for.

 

[drobbyb]

It's really important that you read the articles in the beginner's resource center. It can be found here. Everything you need to know to be successful in tropical fishkeeping can be found there, and if you have any questions, many of us would love to help.

 

[vantica]

what i was woundring will the fish be ok to add after thge 3 days is up, 1 yellow tang & 3 yellow tailed damsels.

Also, with the advice given, you won't be able to keep these fish. The yellow tang and yellow tailed damsels are saltwater fish. They can not live in a freshwater tank, which is what you are almost set up to put together. This might have been mentioned, but I've missed it.

 

[FWFishLover]

Goldfish And Cichlids Are not compatibile fish im sorry to say.
also tropical means freshwater not saltwater...i can see how the misconception could have been made.

 

[GAB99]

we are talking about FRESHWATER fish

you are refering to MARINE fish, which im sorry to inform you that
1. the fish you want cannot be in that size tank
2. we have a 100litre marine tank and it has cost us 500$ so far, and you have the wrong test kit and not enough materials to proceed.

please do fresh water there are lots of colorful fish to put there with that size tank. and the fact you are ready to start one up.

first check to see if the ingrediants in the ammonia you have only has water and ammonia, if it has anything else it would be unsuitable to cycle with. then follow erk's directions and you should be having fish in no time.
you might also want to ask the petstore if you can have some of ther used filter media. this will cut the time in half for your cycling.

 

[ellena]

The boots ammonia is fine, I cycled my tank with it
Do have a good read of the fishless cycling links. It can be a bit of a slog, but at least there aren't fish dying every day while you do it!