Noobie Member

[anon02]

Hi all,
My name is Vince and I`m from the north west of England

I`m a complete novice to fishkeeping and seeing as I`m a stickler for doing things right, I thought I`d join this forum firstly for advice then maybe later perhaps contribute to people in my present position

I have been given a tank, Aqua one which I believe is 90 litres and I would like to start keeping just a few tropical freshwater fish of a couple of species that will get on and are not likely to breed, before hopefully moving on to a larger tank once I know what I`m doing

I was wondering if there was a permanent (pinned ?) topic which would talk me through the steps to take having set the tank up on a stand and checking that everything is in working order ( I believe there is a fishless cycle ?)

Thanks in anticipation

 

[Wills]

Hi welcome to the forum! Your quite right the fishless cycle is the way forward all the articles you need are in here http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/277264-beginners-resource-center/ I look forward to seeing how you get on. Any ideas which fish you want to keep?

Wills

 

[anon02]

Hi welcome to the forum! Your quite right the fishless cycle is the way forward all the articles you need are in here http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/277264-beginners-resource-center/ I look forward to seeing how you get on. Any ideas which fish you want to keep?

Wills

Hi Wills,
Thanks for the reply, I have found the resource (should have looked more thoroughly)

I`m thinking of trying maybe half a dozen neons or barbs, they are not going to be expensive and I am thinking that one fatality could be for reasons other than water quality, but 6 would give a better idea

I`m trying not to get any pre conceived ideas until I know what I`m doing, but atm I`m thinking of trying to establish 2 or 3 small schools of small fish that will prefer different strata to give a more balanced look to the tank and also not cause any stress to their tankmates

 

[Wills]

If the fishless cycle goes smoothly for the full process you wont really have many issues with fatality when it comes to adding fish. Altough neons are quite a weak fish and are not the best for adding straight away this is due to the problem that they are mass bred their genes are low quality so its best adding them later on.

Basically what Im saying is after the fishless cycle do not be afraid to add some fish that you really like in first - the reason most people are told to get cheap or hardy fish from shops is due to the tank being uncycled and the waves of cheap and hardy fish will just die one after an other for the first 6 or so weeks but by that point the tank is diseased and most people give up. However because of doing a fishless cycle with ammonia you bypass all those problems and the water is of sufficient stability thanks to the filter that you can add fish with confidence.

For a few examples of what your 90 liter could hold if it were my tanks these are some ideas I would toy around with

Micro community - lots of small fish all getting to around half an inch but tons of colour and activity packed into them. They all create low levels of waste and as a result your stocking numbers are probably the highest with these out of any option
15 x Galaxy Raspbora
10 x Chilli Raspbora
10 x Pygmy Corydora

Asian tank
3 x Honey Gourami
6 x Cherry Barbs
6 x Dwarf Loach

South American tank
3 x Apistogramma Panduro - 1 male 2 female - males are blue females are yellow
15 x Green Neon Tetra or 7 x Green Neon Tetras and 7 x Ember Tetras

tons and tons of other options though.

Wills

 

[anon02]

If the fishless cycle goes smoothly for the full process you wont really have many issues with fatality when it comes to adding fish. Altough neons are quite a weak fish and are not the best for adding straight away this is due to the problem that they are mass bred their genes are low quality so its best adding them later on.

Basically what Im saying is after the fishless cycle do not be afraid to add some fish that you really like in first - the reason most people are told to get cheap or hardy fish from shops is due to the tank being uncycled and the waves of cheap and hardy fish will just die one after an other for the first 6 or so weeks but by that point the tank is diseased and most people give up. However because of doing a fishless cycle with ammonia you bypass all those problems and the water is of sufficient stability thanks to the filter that you can add fish with confidence.

For a few examples of what your 90 liter could hold if it were my tanks these are some ideas I would toy around with

Micro community - lots of small fish all getting to around half an inch but tons of colour and activity packed into them. They all create low levels of waste and as a result your stocking numbers are probably the highest with these out of any option
15 x Galaxy Raspbora
10 x Chilli Raspbora
10 x Pygmy Corydora

Asian tank
3 x Honey Gourami
6 x Cherry Barbs
6 x Dwarf Loach

South American tank
3 x Apistogramma Panduro - 1 male 2 female - males are blue females are yellow
15 x Green Neon Tetra or 7 x Green Neon Tetras and 7 x Ember Tetras

tons and tons of other options though.

Wills

Thanks again,