New Tank - Go Tropical Or Coldwater?

[welshgirljo]

I've bought myself a new 54 litre tank. In the past I have had coldwater fish but I'm thinking of going tropical this time. What are your opinions? Should I stick with coldwater as that is where my experience is?

Also, I have thought about having some Guppy's. I have read they can be cold water or tropical. What conditions are best for them? Temperatures etc?

 

[fishboy619]

tropical tropical tropical!!! so much better ( no offence to coldwater fish) once a heater is added, the range of fish avaiable widens hugely.so many more colors, personalities, species.a 54litre is app. 13 gallons. good for a starter in tropical. the best thing to do, is look around some fish shops and noting down all the names of fish you like, then on the internet and this forum, research that fish as much as possable.also what you have to decide if do you want a species tank or community.writing all this makes it sound difficult, but its not, once you have had a look around and do a bit of research, its easy.
sticking with coldwater make keep you in the safe zone, but everybody who keeps tropicals has to start somewhere.you may have more expertise in coldwater, but give it a few years and you will be a wiz at tropical aswell.
i personaly think tropical is the best type of fish tank to keep, (marine, tropical, freshwater, brackish,etc)its easy to set-up and maintain and looks lovely in any home.
guppies are not cold water fish.they are tropical(or at the very least sub-tropical) because they are hardy and can survive in cooler waters, doesnt mean they should.the temp. for my guppies are 25oC.they have lived in tat all their lives and have been healthy, even the fry has been born and bred at the temperature.

 

[mark.w.jones]

I've bought myself a new 54 litre tank. In the past I have had coldwater fish but I'm thinking of going tropical this time. What are your opinions? Should I stick with coldwater as that is where my experience is?

Also, I have thought about having some Guppy's. I have read they can be cold water or tropical. What conditions are best for them? Temperatures etc?

Tropical are much easier to keep than coldwater and there is so much more variety. You basically look after them in exactly the same way as cold water species you just need to spend £20 on a heater. As long as you research fish to make sure theyre compatible with each other then you'll be fine.

As a starting point read all the articles and faqs at the top of this foum and the tropical chit chat one. Please consider fishless cycling your tank before adding any fish (link in sig. and follow thw add & wait method.) 54 litres is 14 US gallons so you can have roughly 14 inches of adult fish to stock your tank with. i.e. 14 fish which all grow to an adult length of 1" or other combinations. Don't be tempted to exceed this in the beginning as disaster is sure to follow.

I hate guppies with a passion and think theyre the rat of the fish world, constantly breeding and filling your tank with live young which you don't know what to do with. Theyre reasonably easy to keep although not as hardy as they once were and still popular in the hobby. I would consider other options though. Galaxy Rasboras, tetra species, cherry barbs etc B4 guppies but that's just my taste.

 

[mark.w.jones]

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[Amunet]

Hey, nothing wrong with guppies! They can come in a variety of colors and are just full of personality. If you don't want to worry about breeding, just get all males

 

[welshgirljo]

This all started from my 3 year old son wanting a goldfish. No just getting something simple for me! Think I'll go for tropical. Do I need internal filter, undergravel filters etc in same way as I would for cold water?

 

[Jozlyn]

Yup, but personally I wouldn't use an under gravel filter, given that they don't actually take any of the muck out of the water they just suck down under the gravel, which means you'll have to pull your tank down once a year to clean it all out properly. Yuck!

Get a nice internal filter that processes more water than you need it too, so that you're over filtered, it's sooooo much easier

I love Guppies too and I only have males so I have no fry issues, they're so active and colourful, however they can be a bit nippy toward other fish which may limit your choises a bit, as are Neon Tetra's. There are so many beautiful fish, I can't wait to get another tank so that I can get some Boseman's Rainbow Fish or maybe a pair of German Blue Rams, I just can't decide which I like better!

Good luck with your new hobby and keep us posted on what stock you decide to get.

 

[bobross]

just thought of something...does this tank have some kind of filtration yet?

 

[cjohnston]

Agreed with Jozeln, under water gravel filters are much harded work (tried and tested). Internal much much better

 

[welshgirljo]

I've got an internal filter (Fluval) also got the undergravel thing but I'm not going to fit it. I've been out and bought a heater for the tank now too.

Has anyone got any suggestions for what fish I should get? I know i obviously need to be careful what I put together. What would people recommend? What temperature should I run tank at for them?

Thanks for the help so far

 

[apac]

jo, tropical are definately easier in my opinion and experience. the heater will regulate the tank temp so there will be less rising and falling of water temp. the temp you want will be between 75 - 80 degrees.
as for fish, one thought could be, .. do you wnat an active tank with fish darting about, or a layed back dossile tank with fish slowly bobbing an gliding about. or maybe both.
everyone will have preferences with fish. for instance, i hate guppies, always have done since i was a kid. don't like barbs, as they bully and nip other more peaceful fish. siamese fighting fish -'bettas' have never lasted long for me as they only live for about 2 years and you don't know how old they are when you buy them (lovely peaceful fish though). i like cardinal tetras which shawl together and give off lovely bright colours but they sell for about £2.00 each and you want at least 8.
but remember to give your tank time to mature before chucking loads of fish in eh! B) you don't want the fish dying shortly after you bought them from a build up of ammonia from their poo and fish food.

 

[ali 4 fish]

I've bought myself a new 54 litre tank. In the past I have had coldwater fish but I'm thinking of going tropical this time. What are your opinions? Should I stick with coldwater as that is where my experience is?

Also, I have thought about having some Guppy's. I have read they can be cold water or tropical. What conditions are best for them? Temperatures etc?

hi being new to the tropical fish but had coldwater fish for years it would be a hard choice tropical are lovley all different colours and choices ,
but coldwater are more affectionate well mine is i have had my silver orlando goldfish for over a year and he is now 6 inches and a little bit more
he always comes looking for food all day you can even stroke him on his head we call him{ big guy} i think you should get whatever you are most comfortable with in your comfort zone

 

[tengtou]

I've bought myself a new 54 litre tank. In the past I have had coldwater fish but I'm thinking of going tropical this time. What are your opinions? Should I stick with coldwater as that is where my experience is?

Also, I have thought about having some Guppy's. I have read they can be cold water or tropical. What conditions are best for them? Temperatures etc?

Tropical are much easier to keep than coldwater and there is so much more variety. You basically look after them in exactly the same way as cold water species you just need to spend £20 on a heater. As long as you research fish to make sure theyre compatible with each other then you'll be fine.

As a starting point read all the articles and faqs at the top of this foum and the tropical chit chat one. Please consider fishless cycling your tank before adding any fish (link in sig. and follow thw add & wait method.) 54 litres is 14 US gallons so you can have roughly 14 inches of adult fish to stock your tank with. i.e. 14 fish which all grow to an adult length of 1" or other combinations. Don't be tempted to exceed this in the beginning as disaster is sure to follow.

I hate guppies with a passion and think theyre the rat of the fish world, constantly breeding and filling your tank with live young which you don't know what to do with. Theyre reasonably easy to keep although not as hardy as they once were and still popular in the hobby. I would consider other options though. Galaxy Rasboras, tetra species, cherry barbs etc B4 guppies but that's just my taste.

LOL i think its funny how you have a guppy as your avatar.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

IMHO (in my honest/humble opinion), a 13gallon tank is too small for the majority of coldwater fish either way. Its not anymore difficult to keep tropical than coldwater, pretty much the only difference in a tropical tank and coldwater tank is the temperature of the water at which you keep the fish- the maintence of such tanks is the same though.

 

[welshgirljo]

Tank has cycled and I have now added 5 zebra danio's. What else do people suggest to go with them. I'd like a kind of active tank, mainly for my son as he loves to watch them zip about.