New Tank

[Bala Sharker]

so basically filled my new 60l tank today, excited to get it up and running and full of fish. was wondering how many fish would i be able to put in it, wat would fit, what would go together,

saw a little puffer fish in the shop would that be suitable and a little albino rainbow fish too
what about cleaner fish what could i look at getting

 

[NinjaSmurf]

You should really check out the beginners resource pinned topic before you start adding fish to your tank, there are a lot of things you need to consider before stocking a tank, and cycling the tank first is very important, so you won't have fish dying all the time.

A puffer may work, but you'll have to research them first and remember that puffers almost always should be in a species only tank, meaning you only have that kind of puffer in there and no other types of fish, and it would have to be one of the smaller types of puffers, like dwarves.

Not sure what you mean by albino rainbow fish, unless you are talking about an albino rainbow shark, which will get too big for your tank.

Cleaning fish is an interesting question, what exactly do you want it to clean? A new tank won't have enough algae to feed algae eaters, and if you don't over feed you won't need any fish to 'clean' up this extra food. Cleaner fish will not eat poop or make you have to do less water changes, and will in fact add to your stock and need fed as well.


Other than the ones you've mentioned, what kind of fish do you like?

 

[Bala Sharker]

yea sorry it was a albino rainbow shark only new to all this fish lark. the started kit i got said i could have fish in it within two days since i used the nutrafin cylce solution. looking at some neon tetras or tinfoil barbs,

what would suit and give a bit of interest

the puffer i saw was in a tank with angels, sharks and something else

 

[Harlequins]

Hi & welcome

I agree with ninja you will do best reading this link Beginners resource centre, this will also explain about the nitrogen cycle,which your filter needs to go through before fish are safe to swim in the tank.
Nutrafin cycle,doesn't actually cycle your tank in 2 days ready to add fish,if you done it this way,you would end up with a fish in cycle,which is hard and you would need to do daily waterchanges and test water daily with a liquid test kit.not keeping on top of this your fish will either die or have a shortened life span from being poisoned by ammonia &/or nitrite that would build up in the tank...

Sharks,angels will get too big for your tank,so not a good idea,tinfoil barbs can reach up to 14 inches,so definately a no no! neons prefer a mature tank of 6 months or older...

The ideal start would be to do a fishless cycle,adding the said amount of ammonia to your tank etc...

 

[waterdrop]

Hi Bala Sharker and welcome to TFF!

I can tell from the fact that every one of your sentences is packed with the names of fish that you are very excited to instantly have a fish tank! Its a natural desire! The really amazing thing is that you've stumbled on to probably the best place you could go to get lots of advice from a bunch of serious hobbyists, many of whom have walked right down the path you are on, but many years ago!

Unfortunately I have to agree with the others above that to get you started in the right manner, we need to help you realize that the core technology of a modern fish tank, the biofilter, is not "up and ready to go" until it has "qualified" as being "cycled." The terminology itself can be really confusing at first, not to mention the processes involved! The local fish shops (LFSs) are weak-willed and don't really have the guts to tell you that it might take 2 months to get your biofilter up and going.. they fear you would take your business and go elsewhere if they said that (not to mention that plenty of new-hires in the LFS don't have a clue about his anyway!)

So what is the alternative the LFS promotes? Its to just have your cake and eat it too.. just put the fish in before the biofilter is ready and let the fish provide the ammonia to grow the bacteria and get the biofilter started. Never mind that ammonia, even in tiny amounts causes permanent gill damage. Never mind that after some of the first bacterial species grows it will be producing nitrite(NO2) and that even in tiny amounts that causes permanent nerve damage. Heck! Those fish can't talk and "they look just fine, don't they?"

The other unpleasant thing to face is that the LFS will stock, even in most of the tanks, fish that are just totally inappropriate for beginners who have normal sized tanks, tanks like your 15G/60L. In fact, sometimes only a very few of their tanks have fish that are really good for beginner community tanks, sometimes about 6 tanks out of 60 on a typical pet store "fish wall."

So what should you do? Get mad? Ignore all this? Well, the truth is, if you can swallow it and stick with it, you're going to find a bunch of great members here and a wonderful entrance to a truly fascinating and relaxing hobby. The whole point of a fish tank is to relax, to get away from all the hustle and bustle and have your own place that you can look in to and enjoy. It doesn't have to advertise itself, it just has to be there for you. And one of the surprises is that the -process-, the process of learning and making the tank be ready and of maintaining it, can be much, much more enjoyable than you'd think! Anyway, I hope you'll become curious about fishless cycling and about taking the time while that's happening to learn all about the art of stocking your given size of tank with just the right fish for it and you.

~~waterdrop~~