Newbie To Tropical Fish Keeping...

[BubbleBlower]

Hi everyone, I'm a newbie

I kept some coldwater fish when I lived with my parents a few years ago but have never kept tropicals before. The bloke in the pet shop assured me they aren't any harder to look after, you just need to keep an eye on the temperature.

I've got my tank all set up (did it yesterday), have added the gravel, ornaments, fake plants, heater, filter, airstone and the water. Also the tapsafe and tank cycle conditioners. Everything's working fine. The temperature is showing at 26c - is that right?

I know I have to wait a week before I can add some fish but wanted to suss out which species go well together first. I have a test kit ready to check the water before adding them. Trying to do everything right!

The tank is 60 litres. The recommended community on the box is 2 corydorma, 2 dwarf gourami (male and female), 4 cardinal tetra and 3 guppies. Would these make a nice colourful display? Are they easy species to keep? I like angel fish - would they be compatible? Would it be wise to start off with just the tetras for a week to see how they go?

Thanks in advance

 

[Miss Wiggle]

hello and welcome to the hobby

you are certainly in the right place to learn and we'll give you all the help we can.

the first thing to consider is how to prepare the tank for fish, unfortunately just leaving it for a week will do diddly squat for your tank. IMO it is best to fishless cycle your tank, here's a topic explaining it all.

as for stocking, your tank is roughly 16 us gallons, the general guideline for stocking is 1" of fish per gallon of water. So you can have 16" of fish.

there's some problems with the proposed stocking from the aquarium box, they don't tend to put a hell of a lot of thought or research into these things!!

2 corydoras - cories need to be kept in groups of 6+
2 dwarf gourami (male and female) - i'd strongly advise against dwarf gourami's, they are very prone to diseases and not strong fish at all
4 cardinal tetra - again need to be kept in a group of 6+
3 guppies - fine, but be careful with the male/female ratio unless you want to be overrun with babies!!

however i think the principal they have is fairly sound, however personally i would go for something like

6 corydoras, get one of the smaller species
6 tetra's (there are lots of different species not just cardinals, just google tetra and find one you like)
1/2 ceterpiece fish such as blue rams

your tank isn't big enough for angelfish unfortunately

if you get your tank fishless cycled before adding any fish then you should be able to add all/most of the fish you want in one go, if you don't fishless cycle however you must be much more careful and add fish slowly while being very vigilant with water quality, you may also loose some fish to poor water quality

 

[dwarfgourami]

Miss Wiggle has covered most of it: I would just add, start by testing the ph and hardness of your tap water, as this will help with your selection of fish. If it comes out as very hard and alkaline, avoid blue rams and neons/cardinals. Bolivian rams are better at coping with hard/alkaline than blue rams. Livebearers (guppies, platies etc on the other hand need this kind of water. So first see what you have and then fit the fish around that.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Miss Wiggle has covered most of it: I would just add, start by testing the ph and hardness of your tap water, as this will help with your selection of fish. If it comes out as very hard and alkaline, avoid blue rams and neons/cardinals. Bolivian rams are better at coping with hard/alkaline than blue rams. Livebearers (guppies, platies etc on the other hand need this kind of water. So first see what you have and then fit the fish around that.

there's two main tactics with fish selection in relation to your pH and hardness of your water;

you either pick fish who are suitable for your water

or

pick fish and make your water suitable for them

pH adjustment is very tricky and can lead to unstable conditions and when it comes to pH stability is generally considered to be much more important than a pH which fits the fish's requirements perfectly.

Most aquarium fish are reasonably adaptable to a higher/lower pH, however there are some notable exceptions like DG mentioned.

personally I would always say pick fish that are suitable for your water nto the other way around. But the other way can be done, you just need to be prepared for more work

 

[BubbleBlower]

Thanks for the replies- very helpful

After I added the water and TapSafe I also added a product called Cycle as I got two small bottles in with the aquarium kit I bought. This is supposed to help mature the tank. Should I continue adding this or do the ammonia method that you linked to? I will most probably introduce the fish gradually anyway. Was thinking of getting some of the hardier small fish to start it off with then add later.

Also when I check the PH of my water, I just do it with water straight out of the tap right?

I'm sure I'll have lots more questions as I go on hehe.

 

[gilaesther]

I've noticed some disagreement about the bottled cycling products on this site. Most people will say they are worthless cause the bactreria inside can't be alive if they have no food to eat while awaiting arrival in your fishtank. Others will say that they've used a certain kind or other, and it helped. I don't think I've ever seen anyone say that if you use Cycle by itself that your tank will be all set to house fish without any regular cycling process.

My personal opinion is that you should use the fishless cycling method if you can, it's well proven, and will give you the most definitive best shot at cycling properly, without harming any fish.

As for the PH, you can have your LFS check it for you, but be warned that PH adjusters are tricky, and if you mess it up, you can seriously harm your fish. Your best bet is to check it once, if you fall outside normally safe parameters, only get hardy fish that can adapt, otherwise, you'll probably be fine with most fish - though some are EXTREMELY picky about water conditions. As always, research the types of fish before you buy them, that way you'll know what you're getting yourself into.

 

[archamfr]

from what i understand the cycle thinsg are OK to use brand new, but thats it.
its sumthing to do with air, and as in the bottle their is ( or should be ) no air, the bacteria stay alive. however when u open the bottle and allow air in, they start to die off, meaning u cant reuse it.

TBH ur best off doing fishless cycling, if you really want whats best for your fish

 

[dwarfgourami]

from what i understand the cycle thinsg are OK to use brand new, but thats it.
its sumthing to do with air, and as in the bottle their is ( or should be ) no air, the bacteria stay alive. however when u open the bottle and allow air in, they start to die off, meaning u cant reuse it.

I think you are thinking about BioSpira (or in the UK Bactinettes); I don't think Cycle actually contains live bacteria.

 

[vinylman]

When your tank is ready for fish, bear in mind that Cardinal Tetras do much better in a mature tank; I wouldn't add them for at least 5-6 weeks. Guppies, too, aren't as strong as they once were, due to massive and consistent inbreeding. Wait until the tank has cycled then test your ph; that will give you a much better idea of which fish will best suit your water conditions. I know it seems like you'll never have any fish, but a little patience now will save your chosen fish a lot of suffering - as well as saving you some dosh. And bear in mind that whatever your LFS tries to tell you, the only thing you need to put into your tankwater is fresh, dechlorinated water at every water change (every 1-2 weeks). Concentrate on getting good quality tankwater and you shouldn't have to worry about your fish. Use the time while your tank is cycling to look at as many fish that prefer the different ph levels as you can, then you can make some lists as to what appeals to you.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

bin the cycle stuff, it's useless really, just a marketing gimmick. go with a proper fishless cycle, it's cheaper and better for the fish