New To Aquariums - Doing Research

[Sarla]

Hello. I've been reading and learning lots for at couple of weeks now. Im completely new to aquariums and fishkeeping as a hobby, but find it wildly interesting. I have nothing set up and have no tank yet, but hope to have one within 6-12 months or so (I'll be seeting aside some money and doing some research in the meantime). Right now a 200L (52g) is probably the max I have room for. (I have something like the eheim incpiria 200 in mind). What would be the best filter solution for something like that?
 
I would love the stocking to be:
6-8 panda corys
6-8 congo tetras
8-10 gold mountain minnows
 
and if there is room for it 10+ red neon.
I like smaller shoaling fish.
 
 
 
Do you think its possible to keep these together? Temp wise it seems 23'C would be ok for all of them, but I have moderately hard water from the tap 18-21*dH  - how would that Work?
 
Do I need an algea eater? I like the oto cats, but would rather have room for other fish....could a uv-sterelizer help me instead? (and of course taking good care of the aquarium with plants and and algea.scraping and waterchanges).

 

[Akasha72]

Hi and welcome!
 
It's so nice to read a post like this. I'm so used to reading something down the lines of "I got myself a new tank and now all my fish are dead, what am I doing wrong?" It's refreshing to read that your doing your research first.
 
Have you had a look at Juwel tanks? I ask because they come fitted with a fantastic filter and come with a heater too. The build quality is brilliant too. I've had 3 Juwel tanks and I wouldn't look at another brand now.
 
As to the fish idea's. I'd say be cautious. The fish you've listed are all soft water fish. They come from an area where they won't see a pH reading over 7 and so putting them into water that is hard will damage them. They're just not evolved to live in that. The damage will be invisible too as it damages the internal organs and they don't live a good life.
There are ways of softening the water though. You can do it naturally with things like bog wood or adding peat as a substrate but this can be difficult to understand when you are a beginner and so I'd suggest you look to fish that are evolved to live with the water you have.
 
We tend to point people towards seriouslyfish.com as it generally gives you all the information you need clearly and easy to understand. I'd also recommend you get yourself a fish book or two (or borrow some from the library) that way you can flick through and pick out fish you like the look of and then research further online from there.
 
As to an algae eater - you don't need one and with hard water you might struggle to find one that is happy with that. With hard water though snails might be a good choice. Soft water tends to affect their shells due to the lack of calcium but you won't have that problem and there are some really lovely aquatic snails out there.
 
Hope that helps and if you've got any questions about anything - no matter how silly it might seem - don't be afraid to ask  

 

[Byron]

I second what Akasha posted respecting water parameters and fish.  With water that is fairly hard, groups of fish you could look into are livebearers, Central American cichlids, and some of the rainbowfish.  Rift lake cichlids is another group.  Not all of these will work together of course, and this is a very general list; there are some other fish species that would probably manage here.  And obviously, tank size will be important, so when looking at these fish groups check the numbers (some are shoaling fish that must be in a group) and suggested tank sizes and go from there depending what size aquarium you decide on.
 
You asked about a UV sterilizer...I wouldn't waste money on this.  It will do nothing for water parameters, and little if anything for bacteria or protozoan or pathogens.
 
Welcome to this wonderful and fascinating hobby.
 
Byron.

 

[Efishent]

 
As to an algae eater - you don't need one and with hard water you might struggle to find one that is happy with that. With hard water though snails might be a good choice. Soft water tends to affect their shells due to the lack of calcium but you won't have that problem and there are some really lovely aquatic snails out there.
 
 

Yeah, but algae eating fish can be awesome Some plecos are awesome. 
However, Sarla, do not get a common pleco. Be warned. 

 

[jag51186]

Rainbowfish are amazing and come in a ton of varieties, and they would love your hard water!! Most of them are decent sized and like groups (6+) just to warn you. But, there are also a fair number of smaller varieties. The Boosemani Rainbow is especially stunning!

 

[Gruntle]

If you're looking at a filter for a 200l, look for something that is rated to turn over at least 1000l per hour (for example I have a 200l with an Aqua One Aquis 1000 filter).
 
Or if you buy a tank with a built in filter, most of the recognised brands (such as Juwel) have a big enough filter for the quantity of water.
 
I second everything said before about researching before you buy, and I'm impressed that you're looking for a "big" tank. In my experience, most people decide as a beginner to get a little tank, whereas the bigger the tank, the easier it is to manage (if you end up with any issues, the more water you have, the longer you have before the adverse conditions start affecting your fish).
 
One other point, if you're looking at cories, plan on a sand substrate rather than gravel.
 
Best of luck, it's a wonderful hobby!

 

[Essjay]

I've just looked on Eheim's website where it gives the dimesnsions of the Incpiria 200. It may be a 200 litre tank but it is a short, tall tank; dimensions 70cm wide x 55cm deep x 65cm tall. (In inches that's 27 wide, 21 deep and 25 tall). It's almost a cube.
This is going to limit the choice of fish compared to a more usual shaped 200 litre tank, which would be over 100cm wide. For example, I'm not sure I'd even put dwarf rainbowfish in a tank with those dimensions.

 

[Byron]

Sue has raised a very important aspect involving tank length versus volume for certain species.  Generally, longer tanks are better than high tanks, with the same volume.

 

[Sarla]

Thank you for taking time to answer me. I'll certainly keep learning and researching before making desicions

 

[luca1980]

In terms of tank dimensions, the bigger the footprint of the tank, the better. 'Longer and wider' is better for fish than 'skinny and tall' as there is a larger surface area of water, even though they may hold the same volume of water. Maximising your surface area is what you want to do for the wellbeing of your fish.
 
In my experience, seachem make a great range of water conditioners. They are very economical and do a great job. I use 'seachem prime' and 'seachem safe' for my two tanks. New life spectrum have a great, high quality range of food for all types of community fish as well as specific species.
 
Also in my experience, Siamese algae eaters are great for black beard algae - but keep in mind they get big and need to be kept in groups so it will depend on how big your tank is. Bristlenose plecos and featherfins are also great vacuum cleaners
 
And, good on you for getting stuck into research rather than getting in over your head