New Member & Newbie To The Hobby

[webbo87]

Hi all @ tropical fish forums
 
Ive recently decided on taking up this fantastic hobby of aquarium/tropical fish keeping and found this website and forums by far the best so here i am a member and cant wait to hear back with some help as there seems to be a bundle of knowledge from members of the site . Ive recently just ordered myself a fluval roma 200 tank and cabinet and plan on going the whole fishless cycle and doing things properly, i ideally want a community tank and to also grow plants too. Over time im sure il be posting with countless questions for top info to keep my tank in tip top shape but to start i have a few questions id like some info on if anyone could help. Thanks in advance     
                                                                                                                       Andy
 
1) The tank comes with a internal U4 Fluval filter now im looking at getting myself a external type before i start and have been looking at the 306 Fluval for around £90 which is about my limit i want to pay maybe slightly less if i could, can anyone recommend me any diffrent external filters for my 200l tank to be looking for or is this the best for price and size ?
 
2) Im wanting to grow plants in my tank could anyone recommend any good starter plants to look for im mainly after background and mid tank plants.
 
3) This question is regards to the feeding of the fish, is it a general rule to feed only one type of food per feed or is it ok to mix say 2 diffrent types at a feed to cater for diffrent fishes preferences e.g frozen and flake, or would this lead to over feeding and messing up the tank.
 
4) Any particular good ph test kit anyone can recommend for testing the water during my fishless cycle ?.
 
 
Again thanks for all time and help sorry about the questions been simple and possibly silly just gathering as much info as possible and cant wait to get started

 

[Wills]

Hi welcome along sounds like you have already done a lot of reading which is great
 
Question 1 - Fluvals externals are okay but the x0x have a bit of a reputation to leaking after a while but Im not sure what the new ones are like. APS filters are pretty good and usually quite cost effective or you have the Ehiems which are the best around I think but are expensive.
 
Question 2 - Not a plant person really but depending on what you keep (if they eat plants or dig) but things like Valis, Java Fern, Camboba, Hornwort, Amazon Swords are all easy going plants.
 
Question 3 - Feeding depends on the type of fish - I feed Tetra Prima pellets every day and then frozen food and some veggies a few times a week. Depending on what fish you get - if you get slow bottom dwellers its worth getting floating food and sinking pellets so the fast open water fish should go for the floating and the bottom dwellers will find the sinking - however if the fish prefer the sinking the floating will be ignored (which normally happens to me lol!)
 
Question 4 - I have always used the APS test kits the nitrate tests are always unreliable as they are so hard to get to read accurately but for me they have always been good
 
Love the enthusiasm though! 
 
What kind of fish are you thinking of?
 
Wills

 

[Blondielovesfish]

Hi welcome to the forum,
I don't know much about the filters but I can answer the other questions.

For number 2, if you are wanting plants to actually plant in the substrate, I would recommend amazon sword and/or some sorts of the crypt plant species. If you are having some driftwood and want to stick some plants on it then I would recommend either java fern or anubia nanas. If you want some moss then I would recommend the java fern. These are all pretty easy hardy beginner plants.

For number 3, I wouldn't mix the foods for feeding, it would be better to alternate over several days.

For number 4, the API master test kit would probably be the best, that includes tests for: ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and high pH.

Hope this helps!

 

[webbo87]

Hi Wills
 
Thanks a lot for the reply bud much appreciated . ive done plenty of research and reading so didnt go rushing in but its always good to get a personal and experienced view on things. Really good thinking with question 3 ive never really thought about that thanks in terms of what to keep ive not really decided yet with it been a community tank ive seen a few of your usual tetras i would like to keep, corys for bottom feeders, love the look of the betta fish which ive read you can only have one male in a tank to avoid death fights any ideas if one in a community tank would be safe ? i have listed a few species down when ive looked around my local aquatic stores if i list the basic group they are from could you tell me if a few of these species are good for a community tank if you have had any dealings with them :
 
guppies
red lined barb (sure ive read they are semi aggressive)
rasbora
black ghost knife
red tail black shark (i love the look of these would he be able to live in a 200l community tank on own ?)
 
sorry about questions ....would you say most of these are similar eaters and be easy to feed if i choose some of them
 
thanks again much appreciated wills
 
Andy


cheers blondielovesfish totally forgot about the moss il look into that also . Would you's say a 200w heater that is supplied with the tank is enough for 200l ? thanks

 

[Wills]

With fish there are so many out there in the hobby its really important to learn about as many species as possible - and by doing a fishless cycle its a good time length to get to grips with what fish you like and the direction to take your tank in
 
With the whole, community, semi-aggressive and aggressive thing its a bit subjective and also not a very accurate representation of the fish or groups of fish. For example if a schooling fish is listed as "semi aggressive" or "aggressive" it more often than not means that they just need to be in a bigger school, so take a fish like the tiger barb - in a school of 5 or 6 you might get problems but up the school to 10-12 you not only get a fantastic visual in your tank you also get more natural behavior with a hierarchy being formed in the school. In the wild all schooling fish are founds in big schools of 100's but its generally accepted that some fish can handle being surrounded by 6 or so fish but in the nippy fish its going to be higher. Or one thing that often annoys me is when people say cichlids are aggressive - yes many are but there are also many that would never hurt any thing but you get the inteligence and interactivity with them at the same time from fish like Rainbow Cichlids, Severums, Laetacara, Nannacara etc.
 
You have some interesting choices on your list as well which is great - just a personal preference but I tend to avoid the really common fish like platies and neon tetras - there are thousands of them in the hobby and if I put all the time to read up on interesting fish and how to keep them I would rather find a more unique species to go in my tank.
 
From your list
 
guppies -  really bread and butter fish - easy to find nice and attractive and easy to breed - only problem is their tails can be easily nipped and sometimes having guppies can limit the larger fish you can have in your tank as they are slow moving so things like cichlids and angels would be ruled out.
 
red lined barb (sure ive read they are semi aggressive)  - not sure I would class them as semi aggressive they are peaceful but very active so can sometime spook slower moving fish, they are a big fish though so would be a real focal point in your tank. Your tank is what I would consider a minimum for them but a school of 5-8 would look great in there
 
rasbora - lots of species of rasbora do you mean the small ones like Harlequins or the larger Scissor Tails?
 
black ghost knife - 200 liters is quite small for these, they are commonly sold for this size tank but they are a very large fish as adult your looking at at least a foot long and quite tall - in the wild they can be over 2 foot. If your tank was a little bigger African Brown Knives might be an option but not sure if your tank is big enough front to back?
 
red tail black shark  -  can be aggressive but depends what you keep them with - they are one per tank as they will fight a lot if they are kept more than one per tank. But can live happily with other fish - a less problematic fish to keep are the Rainbow Sharks - the same as redtails but have red on all the fins and are more laid back.
 
If you take the Red Line Sharks as your center piece maybe a stock list like this would work
 
6 Red Line Sharks - (Denison Barbs)
3 Golden Wonder Killi Fish (1 male 2 female)
12 Harlequin Rasbora (or similar small barb / rasbora)
5 Upside Down Catfish (S.Nigriventus) - nice little oddball catfish
1 Rainbow Shark
 
That gives you a nice Asian/African River tank with a good mix of fish for all levels and lots of colours as well. You will get some interesting behaviors with your upside down cats and the golden wonders as a harem might produce some off spring
 
Wills

 

[webbo87]

Wow superb insight who needs books haha thanks a lot great info here ive seen a few stores with the tiger barbs and i agree 100% with you they are a wonderful sight in numbers with your info i think id love a few in there if possible. The red eye tetras looked nice in one store in a big school but your right they are everywhere tetras very common. I take on board with the black ghost knife i take these grow to some size do they ? i shall also look into the rainbow shark too. So with the Cichlids would you say the peaceful variety have a chance to thrive in a community tank ? or stay away from the risk and leave alone ? in a shot i would leave out guppies in the tank if it meant a angel or a Cichlid in there. Any dealings with the betta fish but i suppose like the guppies a no no with the Cichlid and angel fish correct ? Seriously though this is a great help and i shall use your info to looking into the types you mention and see what takes my eye your knowledge is excellent thanks
.

 

[Blondielovesfish]

The size of your heater depends on two things: 1) the fish you want to keep and the temp they require 2) the volume of the tank but I would recommend following this link:
http/freshaquarium.about.com/od/heating/a/heatersizeguide.htm
You may have to do some additional research but use the above as I starting point!
All those fish on your list look good except the black ghost knife, (I know wills already said that but just making sure you know to stay clear of them)
Edit: with the cichlid the keyhole cichlid is a great peaceful cichlid that only grows to 5" and they are best in pairs. (If you do get some small fish like the guppie etc. make sure the keyhole cichlid is the last fish to go in the aquarium - do a seperate trip to the fish store)

 

[webbo87]

Lovely stuff thanks for the info blondielovesfish im going to stay well clear of the black ghost knife, il do my research get myself a stock list in time and run it by use guys if thats not a problem thanks for the tips and help

 

[Blondielovesfish]

No problem that's what we're here for! any questions make sure you ask here first before going to your LFS as they're not always reliable!

 

[webbo87]

sure thing ;-) thanks again

 

[webbo87]

Can anyone also direct me into which is the best sand to use in a aquarium ?

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Lots of different views on sand.  There are many, myself included, that have used simple play sand, with good success.  My panda cories have been breeding pretty regularly and successfully in my home tank.  Word of caution here, this sand needs to be VERY, VERY patiently rinsed to remove the lighter particles and keep your tank from clouding up.  But, a great option and economical!  It is a lighter color than many folks prefer - darker colors bring out the colors of your fish far better.
 
I've also used black sand (from Petco) which is very clean.  Its nice as well, but pricey by comparison.  And there is also plant substrates.  Some of these can be "sharper" which is a problem for the fish that like to dig in it.  I've used plant substrate mixed with sand, and it looks... ok.  The lighter sand with the darker plant substrate is not great looking.  The darker stuff actually blends together fairly well.
 
 
On the heater issue, the standard number for Wattage in heaters is that you want 4W per gallon, or roughly 1 W per liter.  A note, if you have the extra money to spend (saving money on substrate can make this possible), getting two heaters is a nice option compared to only one.  Not only does it keep the temperature more consistent throughout the entire tank, its also an insurance policy on a heater going bad on you at the worst possible moment. Getting two heaters at the right level (200W in this case) will enable you to not have to worry if one heater gives out unexpectedly.  You can use both simultaneously, or just hold on in reserve for when you need it.  Similar options exist for filters.  I use two identical filters on both of my tanks.  If/when one goes down, there is a lot less panic regarding the replacement of parts or entire filter.  In this case, getting a two filters that together can handle 150% of your tank's volume is a good range to shoot for.  And buying identical filters means that you have the EXACT same media and don't need to worry about stocking multiple items.

 

[Mamashack]

 to the forum Webbo - it's great place for advice and making fishy friends! lol
Some good practical ideas there eagles! Think I'll get a spare filter and run it in the larger tank to grow some FBs in case of emergencies.

 

[webbo87]

Morning guys and thank you some great advice thanks. Untill recently i have swayed towards sand all the way but could someone tell me does it effect your filter (looking at a external) in anyway e.g clogging up ? does the water stay clear once you have let the sand settle ? Was looking mainly at sand because i am looking really at keeping some corys or other bottom dwellers. Thanks again people 

 

[Blondielovesfish]

My LFS told me not to have sand in my tank because apparently it would mess with the filter, my filter is just the one that came with the tank. If he hadnt told me this then I would have been tempted to get cory's but the guy said that until I get another filter to stay clear!
I'm not sure whether or not the sand would affect other filters but that's just what the guy told me!