New Tropical Freshwater Tank (Melb, Australia)

[Mick12345]

Hi there,
 
I'm in Melbourne, Australia and I'm looking to start a freshwater tropical tank but I am new to all of this so have a lot of questions!
 
1. Im looking to buy a 3ft tank and will need all the equipment so am looking for any recommendations for the following:
 
- Filter system
 
- Air Stone
 
- Water heater 
 
- Air Pumps
 
- Lights (also a blue light or something for at night)
 
- Circulating pumps
 
- Test kits and Water additives 
 
And anything else I have missed out or possibly got wrong in the top listing.
 
 
2. Fish Compatibility - 
 
I've been trying to work out what fish I would like to add to my tank but I'm not sure what all the most compatible fish are.
 
My preferred fish are: 

Diamond fish
Gouramis
Angels
Rainbow Fish
Mollies
Platies
Tetras
Discus
Rainbow Sharks
Catfish
Cichlids
 
Also, any algae eaters that would be compatible.
 
I know some of these don't get along but could anyone give me an idea of what fish I can put together that would get me the maximum variety
and any other recommendations for nice looking fish that I may have missed.
 
And any other advice anyone has or tips for cycling and general wellbeing for my fish and tank for before I get started would be greatly appreciated too.
 
Thank you!
 
 
 
 

 

[TallTree01]

I use the aqua one brand heaters and I love them. Good quality heaters.
the API master kit is about the only drop kit you'll find in Australia. They're good too. remember to get the liquid not the strip test.
For lights it's not a big issue unless you want live plants. Normally, 1-2 T8 fluorescents is good.ive never found a use for an air stone and if you have a good filter you won't need a circulator pump. If you want a circulator the hydor koralia brand is great.
For filters, you have three main options, hang on back, canister and internal. I personally prefer HOBs and canisters.

With your fish selections it's general a bad idea to have gouramis and angels together. Discus rainbow sharks and most cichlids are too big for your tank also. What are diamond fish?

You should pick one of the following:
1. Dwarf cichlids like rams or apistos
2. Gouramis
3. Angels

Angels may eat small fish so I would go for either one or two. You could get some small corydoras catfish if you like as most other species get quite large or nasty.
You could get tetras, platies, mollies, cories, rainbows or tetras as well as one of the three options mention above.

 

[Ninjouzata]

 to the forum, hope you enjoy it here!
 
For cycling I would have a read of THIS. You will want a liquid test kit. API is a popular brand. You'll also want some ammonia which may be a bit difficult to find there, hopefully THIS or TT can point you in the right direction.
As for water additives, you'll want a dechlorinator. I use Prime as it is concentrated, a capful treats 50 gallons. It does cost a little more though. The brand really doesn't matter though.
 
I use aqueon heaters and havn't had issues with them. For HOB filters I use Aqua-Tech, Tetra Whispers, and Aqueon Quietflows. My favorite are the Aqua-Tech but some would say this is a cheap brand.
I've only been in the hobby for a little over a year so can't vouch for how long any of these are good for. For canisters I have only had two SunSun HW-304Bs.
 
Lighting..like TT said it's not a big deal unless you want live plants, and even with the ones he suggested you could do low light ones, if you want. For the blue you might could find a cheap LED strip light.
 
You want to try to fill your tank in levels, top, middle, and bottom. Angels or gouramis are good mid-top centerpiece fish. They will go all over the tank though. A good top schooling fish are hatchetfish, I like the marbled ones.
For the middle something like neon tetras, rummynose tetras, harlequin or espei rasboras, are good choices. There are tons more those are just off the top of my head.
 
I would go with the harlequins if you do get an angel (how high is the tank you're looking at btw?) since they're more deep bodied.
If by diamond fish you mean diamond tetras, those would also be a good deep bodied fish.
 
For the bottom things like corydoras or loaches are good. For the loaches I would stick to smaller ones like dwarf chain loaches or khuli loaches. There are tons of corydoras to choose from.
A bottom centerpiece fish (or fishes) could be rams or apistos like TT mentioned, or peacock gudgeons. I think the rams and apistos might not be the best for beginners so I would go with the peacock gudgeons.
 
For an algae eater...are you wanting this to clean up algae or do you just like the way they look? I ask because cleaning the tank is your job.
If you do get algae there is likely a reason for it that you can fix rather than adding a fish to take care of it. Plus they usually add more bioload to the tank than they clean.
 
If you do want something like a pleco though, for looks, then I would go with a bristlenose pleco.
They come in a variety of colors (regular, red, calico, albino, leucistic, then peppermint & green dragon but I am not sure if those are the same specie or not) and are available as regular or long fins.
 
You could also go with snails or shrimp. Shrimp could be eaten by the fish though so keep that in mind. Nerites are good for algae but I don't think they're available there